posted on October 9, 2003 11:58:43 AM new
I can tell you why trousers and pants are plural!
waaaay back when, you willl shudder to know this, you men all walked around with your family jewels hanging out in the breeze. Actually, you wore a long shirt which more or less covered things. On your legs you wore stockings, which you tied with string to keep up, and through the years the stockings got long enough to reach your hips, and each one tied around your waist. At some point- about 1400 AD, actually, probably during an extra cold winter- some genius tailor had the idea of wrapping extra fabric around as well- and the Trousers was invented. Each trouser covered one leg, get it? it's a plural garment!
The Pope issued an edict saying that a covered bum was unhygenic and ungodly. In those days before Scott Tissue, it sure was- and for many hundreds of years more there was still a gap in between those pants legs which was covered by a clever (and decorative) gadget called a codpiece, precursor to the fly... It all got sewn together maybe during the 1600's I'd have to google and I'm running out of steam here...
The Bra was invented by a frenchie named Brassier, and came late enough on the timeline to get shortened to Bra- and recognised as a singular item....
"And All Shall be Well, and All Shall be Well, and All Manner of Things Shall be Well"
posted on October 9, 2003 04:53:28 PM new
ebay guy are you asking that as a real question?
because the answer is that apes and humans all evolved from the same ancestor. There are very few Ape species alive at this time, and only one Human species, no matter what the "White Power" fools want to believe. This is, unfortunately, a sign of a non-viable genus- a really good family tree has lots and lots of species. Like, you know, canids, felids, or bovids.
There have been , by the way, many humanid species but only one survived. Luckily, we are able to harbor enough genetic diversity within our species to make us hardy- what kills off one group, like for instance the Black Plague, will not decimate another group.
The Cheetah, for some reason has very very little genetic diversity. It looks like the entire species arose from perhaps a group of maybe four or five animals! If any viral illness ever attacks them it could potentially kill every single Cheetah on this planet. What a shame that would be!
"And All Shall be Well, and All Shall be Well, and All Manner of Things Shall be Well"
posted on October 10, 2003 09:19:48 AM new
twelvepole, you are confusing evolution with procreation. Related, but different things...
Poor Bear! He just wanted us all to have a chuckle!
"And All Shall be Well, and All Shall be Well, and All Manner of Things Shall be Well"
posted on October 11, 2003 08:25:17 AM new
the hyperdictionary says;
"An orange is the fruit of an orange tree, one of the most common citrus fruits, widely grown in warmer climates, and distributed worldwide. Oranges are orange in color Ð the color is named for the fruit, not the other way around. .... The fruit originated in India (some say Viet Nam) and was called na rangi in Sanskrit. The na rangi or naranja was translated as "norange", and in English usage a norange was back-formed into the more acceptable an orange. The same thing happened in French and Italian, but in Spanish it is still naranja....
Sanskrit, you know, *of Course*, is the "Mother Tongue" that most of the european languages stem from.
Good question! LOL
"And All Shall be Well, and All Shall be Well, and All Manner of Things Shall be Well"
posted on October 11, 2003 09:40:01 AM new
lol!
sorry Helen, for some reason my schoolmarm button got stuck! Language is a kind of hobby for me.
I really think it's cool that we are using a word that has been around for more than 6 thousand years.
"And All Shall be Well, and All Shall be Well, and All Manner of Things Shall be Well"
