[Vhfcn-l] Wednesday musings (crazy week)

[VHFCN1 Pilots and Crew]

A rumor without a leg to stand on will get around some other way.

John Tudor

 

Nature abhors a vacuum, but not as much as cats do.

Lee Entrekin

 

Those who speak most of progress measure it by quantity and not by quality.

George Santayana

 

Let's have some new clichés.

Samuel Goldwyn

 

When we got into office, the thing that surprised me the most was that
things were as bad as we'd been saying they were.

John F. Kennedy

 

I have given two cousins to war and I stand ready to sacrifice my wife's
brother.

Artemus Ward

 

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Blivet and nitnoid

 

Blivet is by far the better known of the two words and dictionaries of
American slang suggest it dates back to American servicemen in World War
Two. It is frequently said to be any small, useless, unnecessary or
superfluous thing. It looks like a mixture of blip and widget, though common
engineering slang usage suggests it could instead be from blip plus rivet.

 

It’s often described as ten pounds of horse manure in a five-pound bag
(though the quantities vary between tellers) and the excuse to retell that
“explanation” to a naive onlooker is often the reason for using the word. I
am told that in the 1950s the term could be used to describe a person who
was either self-important and full of himself or grossly overweight, for
whom this description was all too apt.

 

Some mentioned that they knew blivet as the name of an impossible
two-pronged trident thingy, otherwise known as the Devil’s pitchfork. It is
sometimes said that the name derives from “believe it”, which is doubtful.
Others remember blivet as a military term for rubberized bladders that were
used by various air forces for holding fuel at temporary locations, usually
small airstrips. Once drained, the bags would go flat and be easily stored
until required for use elsewhere.

 

Nitnoid is also American slang, though nothing found indicates its origin
(the earliest example found is from 1992, but it clearly must be
significantly older). There are references to it online that suggest it can
be a niggling small matter of no consequence, or something that’s
nit-pickingly frustrating, or a pedantic person intent on squashing the life
out of some subject by considering every detail. This suggests a derivation
from nit plus the suffix -oid to indicate something of a given nature (plus,
to be nitnoid about the matter, an interpolated n to make it easier to say,
and perhaps a trace more humorous). Examples include “he has written a book
chock full of nitnoid detail”, and “this man is a nitnoid perfectionist”. A
rare example in print appeared in the Atlanta Constitution in September
2001: “We need to appreciate every moment we have with each other and just
be nicer and not get lost in the nitnoid frustrations of life.” 

 

Many have said it is derived from the Thai nit noi, meaning “just a little”,
with the suggestion that it was brought back to the USA by servicemen
returning from the Vietnam war. No evidence has been found to directly
confirm or deny this one, though the gap between the Vietnam era and the
first appearance of the word might count against its being the source.

 

A little bird told me

 

The text 'a little bird told me' doesn't appear in any version of the Bible,
but the root source of this expression probably is biblical, from
Ecclesiastes 10-20 (King James Version):

 

"Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy
bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath
wings shall tell the matter."

 

Various authors over the centuries, including Shakespeare, have made
reference to birds, feathered or otherwise, giving messages. The first that
comes close to our current version of this phrase is Frederick Marryat, in
Peter Simple, 1833:

 

"A little bird has whispered a secret to me."

 

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Who was honored with the first toast ever made at a White House dinner?

A: Lafayette. President John Quincy Adams proposed the toast on September 6,
1825, as the Marine Corps Band played the "Marseillaise."

 

Which U.S. president has the greatest number of American communities named
after him?

A: Thomas Jefferson, with 37. Lincoln and Washington are tied for second
with 32 each.

 

What president-to-be released the trap door on the gallows at two hangings?

A: Grover Cleveland, while he was sheriff of Buffalo, New York, in the early
1870s.

 

What jellybean flavors were Ronald Reagan's favorites?

A: Coconut and licorice.

 

Who wrote the words to the American Presidential anthem, "Hail to the
Chief"?

A: Sir Walter Scott. They're from his poem, "The Lady of the Lake." English
tunesmith James Sanderson set the words to music and the song was first
performed in London in 1811.

 

What were the names of Abe Lincoln's four sons?

A: Robert, Eddie, Willie and Tad. Only Robert lived to maturity.

 

Who posed for the statue of Alexander Hamilton that stands in front of the
Treasury Building in Washington, D.C.?

A: Strongman Charles Atlas.  The statue was unveiled on May 17, 1923.