The meanings of liff
Discussion
I have to get some expanding builders foam for a pipe burying job. Is it foam that expands, commonly used by builders? Or is it foam used by builders who are expanding?
In similar vein, I once had to write an article about a retrim on a Morris Minor. The seats were filled with rubberised horsehair. However, the company concerned couldn't advise about a source of rubberised horses.
One must be clear about these things.
In similar vein, I once had to write an article about a retrim on a Morris Minor. The seats were filled with rubberised horsehair. However, the company concerned couldn't advise about a source of rubberised horses.
One must be clear about these things.
davhill said:
JagerT said:
I'm sorry but what's a liff ?
Ask Monty Python. Liff: A book, the contents of which are totally belied by its cover. For instance, any book the dust jacket of which bears the words "This book will totally change your life".
In Life*, there are many hundreds of common experiences, feelings, situations and even objects which we all know and recognize, but for which no words exist.
On the other hand, the world is littered with thousands of spare words which spend their time doing nothing but loafing about on signposts pointing at places.
Our job, as we see it, is to get these words down off the signposts and into the mouths of babes and sucklings and so on, where they can start earning their keep in everyday conversations and make a more positive contribution to society.
- Douglas Adams & John Lloyd
- And, indeed, in Liff.
Just caught the TV ad for The Happy Egg Company. I'm told happy hens lay tasty eggs.
Really? AFAIK, hens aren't given to moody spells and I've not heard of their feeling the need to form self-help groups. But I'm nonplussed - how could a hen's state of mind in any way affect the taste of its eggs?
Similarly, is the company that's happy or is it the eggs that are delirious with bonhomie? Since eggs aren't sentient, I can only conclude that the former applies.
Really? AFAIK, hens aren't given to moody spells and I've not heard of their feeling the need to form self-help groups. But I'm nonplussed - how could a hen's state of mind in any way affect the taste of its eggs?
Similarly, is the company that's happy or is it the eggs that are delirious with bonhomie? Since eggs aren't sentient, I can only conclude that the former applies.
Long before the term 'milf' was coined there was one in our village. Caroline was tall, slender and blonde, and as fit as a butcher's dog.
One summer Sunday afternoon, word spread. "Caroline's washing the caravan in her bikini!"
And a stirring sight it was. However, how she got a caravan in her bikini was never made clear.
One summer Sunday afternoon, word spread. "Caroline's washing the caravan in her bikini!"
And a stirring sight it was. However, how she got a caravan in her bikini was never made clear.
davhill said:
Long before the term 'milf' was coined there was one in our village. Caroline was tall, slender and blonde, and as fit as a butcher's dog.
One summer Sunday afternoon, word spread. "Caroline's washing the caravan in her bikini!"
And a stirring sight it was. However, how she got a caravan in her bikini was never made clear.
That reminds me - there was a knock on the door late at night one evening last week - I opened the door to the visitor - the neigbourhood policeman - in my pyjamas. How that thieving b'gger became the local copper I'll never know...One summer Sunday afternoon, word spread. "Caroline's washing the caravan in her bikini!"
And a stirring sight it was. However, how she got a caravan in her bikini was never made clear.
Well, the original is the legendary small ad. Table offered for sale by a lady with Queen Anne legs.
My next door neighbour - she's late now, poor soul - said ,"Today, I saw a man on a bicycle with glasses".
Then there was that exchange from the Goons, when they were faced with a stuck door...
Spike: "Try the knob on your side."
Peter Sellers: "I haven't got a knob on my side."
My next door neighbour - she's late now, poor soul - said ,"Today, I saw a man on a bicycle with glasses".
Then there was that exchange from the Goons, when they were faced with a stuck door...
Spike: "Try the knob on your side."
Peter Sellers: "I haven't got a knob on my side."
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