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"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." (Lord Acton (link))

No, "donkey's" is just an abbreviated form of the phrase "donkey's years". More information on phrases.org.uk.

*sigh*

It's, "He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches."

See here. My personal favorite adds, "he who cannot teach, writes books."

While it's great that you're obviously a "glass half-full" kind of guy, I think you have the meaning of this phrase wrong. It really is meant to be disparaging of the teaching profession - painting it as a refuge for those who have failed to make a success of their chosen vocation in the "real world" and are instead relegated to telling others how it should be done. It's most often attributed to GBS, though the idea possibly predates this.

As a disclaimer I'd like to point out I'm just identifying one of the origins of the saying, above; not stating my personal opinion.

Google is your friend

You could start with: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/106700.html which gives a nice little history of the origin of the phrase.

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/coin-a-phrase.html

I hate to break this to you, but 'goal-oriented' is, to coin a phrase, 'old hat'.

"to cheat, swindle," 1889, Amer.Eng., probably short for Gypsy.

The "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997) has a second theory in addition to the "gypsy" one. "GYP - According to the popular etymology, to 'gyp,' 'to cheat,' derives from the name of the much maligned gypsies, who got their name because 16th-century Englishmen erroneously assumed they hailed from Egypt. ....
Then there's the "Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Volume 1, A-G" by J.E. Lighter, Random House, New York, 1994: GYP or GIP v. 1.a. to cheat; defraud; charge exorbitantly - sometimes considered offensive to the Roma (Gypsies). Now colloq. b. to disappoint. 2. to steal, filch.

Then again, there's George Bush. Bush, of course, is too civilized to use suicide bombers. He uses Cruise Missiles, F-15s and gunships.

"Hamas use rockets to target civilians, which is active terrorism."

Israel regularly fire hellfire missles into the most densley populated area on earth, Israeli snipers have shot many reporters and even school children sitting at their desk, Israeli armoured bulldozers are used for collective punishment or simply clear and steal the land for new settlements, sewerage, water and electrical infrastructure is deliberately destroyed with explosives, shit they even used tanks to rob a palestinian bank and demolish a local zoo while the animals were still in their cages - state sponsored terrorisim or war crimes, take your pick.

Hamas use antisemitic propaganda.

And....? Everybody in international politics uses anti-"the other guy" propoganda, what's the moral difference between Iran denying the holocaust and Israel denying a different 20th century genocide? - Don't answer, it's a trick question - they are both playing politics. Yes the holocaust was beyond doubt the most highly organised example of hatred seen in the 20th centrury but what has that got to do with Israel creating an open air jail for several million people just because they want to keep the demographics of their "jewish state"..well..jewish? (Before you answer by accusing me of also being an anti-semitic: I have both jewish and muslim friends.)

"When some Austrian nuts was in the government, Austria were isolated."

And....? If you read my post I said the same strategy has been used over and over again, also which particular "Austrian nuts" were you thinking of?

"Let us see..."

Leave me out of it, the comment that follows that quote reads like a cryptic crossword - if you have something to say then say it in plain english instead of beating around the bush so much that it devolves into gibberish.

"You have realized that all countries have double standards in their foreign policy...."

At least you understood the last line of my post.

"....and lie about it?"

Lie about what? - I agree with that statement...oh look, is that your strawman I see going up in flames? OTOH: If you think I am factually incorrect please point out where and state your sources without calling me a liar.

"(-: You are a bit slow or quite young, aren't you? :-)"

I forgive your crude attempts at insulting me because english is obviously not your strong point, and at 48 I'm probably old enough to be your farther.

"Sure, it was even worse during the Cold War."

Like I said I am 48 and lived thru vietnam, the bay city rollers, and most of the cold war including the duck-and-cover exercises in a 1960's primary school. The basic "modus operandi" hasn't changed a bit - all these bullshit wars and tin-pot dictators are simply proxies so that the veto-weilding members of the UNSC don't have to fight each other directly. Think about it and read up on why the UNSC was created in the first place, if I'm wrong then why would the CIA train OBL in the art of "creative chaos", why would the west supply Saddam with fighter jets?

The only reason Hamas has been sent to coventry, despite being elected by a "landslide" that was judged "fair and open" by the UN and other observers, is that Hamas doesn't have a veto-weiling sponser in the UNSC. The isolation certainly can't be because they are "terrorists" since the west has far more objectionable "friends". It seems to me that Hamas was supposed to dissapear into obscurity after the popular vote but since they inconvienently won in a democratic landslide the UNSC have cut them off from the outside world and ignored the consequences for a couple of million civilians. I'm betting they will continue to do so until the palestinians do as they are

"...they set it up as a negotiating tool amongst themselves."

I agree, and the above quote succinctly sums up my point. The other point I was struggling to make was: if you not a member you are expendable. I support the UN even with the UNSC(*) but I don't have any idea how they or anyone else could stop the cruelty we inflict on each other, it's simply way too easy for humans to rationalise the deeds of war into "us/good vs them/evil". Clear away the layers of civilization and we are simply territorial animals fighting for resources, we cannot help but react to fear with a dog like "we are pack" mentality because to panic and get seperated from "us" means death "or worse" (whatever that may mean to a particular individual).

(*) - Historically speaking we have been exceptionally polite to each other on a global scale since we learned how to destroy cities at the "push of a button" half a centry ago. Even the millions of dead and "scorched earth" of Stalin and Mao did not tempt anyone to push it simply because everyone fears panic in a "mexican stand-off". (Strangely I've come full circle, my original post was about the hyperbole of comapring "Ima DinnerJacket" to Hitler and the anti-war movement to Chamberlin.)

The line is indeed "let slip the dogs of war". From Julius Caesar.

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/105600.html

Thomas Edison said that genius is 1% and perspiration is 99%. It's nice to see scientists proving him right.

Will snopes.com suffice?

http://www.snopes.com/language/notthink/deserts.ht m

If not, try this one:

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/just-deserts.ht ml

Diebold's slogan is "We never rest."
Compare to the popular phrase: "There is no rest for the wicked."

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/257500.html

Explanation of the joke: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/186700.html

"No doubt it was a very, very popular gift, and no matter how well you plan on the server side of the equation, there are always times when you get caught short."

SCO's lawyers have used brilliant stalling tactics. The longer the case is before the court, the longer the FUD lasts; the longer some people stay out of jail (Darl could be in real trouble because of some of his public statements.) There could be real trouble because of Lanham act violations. AllParadox and Marbux (lawyers) seem to agree that Darl and co. will be found personally liable to the extent that they will lose all their assets.

There is also reason to believe that IBM may not wish this case to end as quickly as it otherwise might. What the judge and the SEC and the AG do to SCO, and everyone involved with this scam, will serve as a warning to anyone else who thinks they can pull a similar stunt. It is not for nothing that IBM's lawyers are nicknamed the Nazgul. What matters to most of us is that the judge will find that Linux is pristine wrt the taint of any Unix code. That's important to IBM because they seem to have bet the farm on Linux. Unix, AIX, Dynix, mainframe, etc. are slowly subsiding and IBM will have trouble surviving in a Microsoft only world. They need Linux and they need the business community's confidence that they can use Linux without being sued.

The other thing that might have been lost if the case ended sooner is Goldfarb's (Baystar finance) declaration in which he fingers Microsoft as being behind at least some of SCO's litigation financing. A couple of years from now, when we have a new president, the Microsoft antitrust settlement could be re-visited. If Microsoft is found guilty of financing SCO's lawsuit (it's illegal to do so) then Microsoft could be facing breakup again.

This is all big stuff for IBM and they do have some reason to want to see the wheels of the law grind exceeding fine. origin of quote

Nice theory, but it doesn't seem to necessarily be correct:

E.g. this guy
"I imagine that the original image in the minds of those who developed this expression was a donkey or mule laden with cargo rather than being ridden, with its master alternately holding a carrot in front of the animal's nose (by hand, not on a stick) and threatening it with a switch"

Not does wiki, for what that's worth

Here's a better source "Combining a promised reward with a threatened penalty"

This is closer to your ideas
: CARROT AND STICK - Yes, this phrase has been discussed here previously. I thought the origin of this expression was pretty clear. But it turns out there are two schools of thought - 1. carrot ON a stick (a carrot dangling on a string on a stick before a stubborn mule) and 2. carrot and/or stick (alternating punishment and reward).

You are school 1 obviously, but 2 seems valid too, and the way I have mostly heard it used.

common hypercorrection. no. it is wet. in fact, the phrase predates "whet your appetite" by centuries. to whet means to sharpen (as in to make keen, like a blade or a sense, not sharp like a musical note). you cannot whet your whistle, unless you mean to take the metallic instrument to a grindstone to turn it into some insane woodwind weapon. :-)

It's interesting that a Grammar Nazi can't spell "for Pete's sake" correctly :)

"Hear hear!! (or however that's spelled)"

As it's already been pointed out, the phrase in England is "being in the red" http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/202000.html, obviously they both have the same origins but "red ink" is definitely not a common phrase in the UK.

You also link to an article from the Economist, an English magazine, yet the article appears to be written from Washington, DC. Perhaps the article was written by an American reporter for the Economist? or perhaps it was an English reporter who picked up phrase whilst in the States? My point is that it doesn't prove that the term "red ink" is used extensively over here.

...apparantly. See dog's bollocks (meaning). Coincidentally similar meaning to the nuts in poker.

That is to say, it's about to shuffle off this mortal coil?

...inside an enigma. That's what this is.

You are correct about it being an adage as I misused the term "euphemism" however you are completely dead wrong about the meaning.

Please look at this reference which states rather clearly that the meaning is that you cannot use something up and still have it to enjoy. It has nothing to do about work.

I think you're confusing one with the royal we.

(and no, that has nothing to do with the use of the royal toilets.)

not being entirely sure of the phrase's meaning:

Cut out of whole cloth

CUT OUT OF WHOLE CLOTH - "Wholly false; without foundation of truth. Back in the fifteenth century, 'whole cloth' was used synonymously with 'broad cloth,' that is, cloth that ran the full width of the loom. The term dropped into disuse along in the eighteenth century, except in the figurative sense. In early use, the phrase retained much of the literal meaning, a thing was fabricated out of the full amount or extent of that which composed it.But by the nineteenth century it would appear that tailors or others who made garments were pulling the wool over the eyes of their customers, for, especially in the United States, the expression came to have just the OPPOSITE meaning. Instead of using whole material, as they advertised, they were really using patched or pieced goods, or, it might be, cloth which had been falsely stretched to appear to be of full width." From "A Hog on Ice" by Charles Earle Funke (1948, Harper & Row)

So when they say "they're creating a competitor to Blackberry out of whole cloth", what are they implying?

Don't give me the bullshit that "Everyone Knows Its A Game". The evidence is mounting high right in that article that more than a few take the metaphor very seriously... and our current political shift... blowing off debt and lives without care... show it is growing indeed. Shallow, mindless politics from shallow mindless ethics.

"Everyone Knows It's A Game"

You're suggesting that video games are responsible for some kind of growing lack of concern for human life? That video games contribute to a "kill 'em all" world view?

Long before video games, and long before video, people thought this way. And they'll think this way long after Age Of Empires is finally taken out of the Best Buy Bargain bins.

The truth is, a lot of people, if not most, will think nothing of slaughtering an entire village or town or city or even civilisation just to make a point. People in general, really don't care unless it's happening to them. For evidence of this see Carthage, Bèziers, Auschwitz and in fact, most of the rest of the Guide.

The phrase "supping with the devil" comes from the old saying:
When you sup with the devil, you should bring a long spoon (or other variants).
Google reference to its use in the 14th century, here.
It is used to mean that one should take care to distance oneself from corruption, in case you suffer for it. It sometimes has an added part to the effect of "or you may become the meal".

The PROOF is in the pudding, so they say

Actually, they dont.
The saying you are looking for is:

"The proof of the pudding is in the tasting"

(BE) ON A HIDING TO NOTHING -- "Face annililation. Or, less dramatically, 'face insuperable odds,' 'be without a prayer,' i.e., with no hope of success. 'Hiding,' in this expression, is synonymous with 'thrashing,' and a 'hiding to nothing' means 'a thrashing to bits.'" From "British English: A to Zed" by Norman W. Schur (Harper Perennial, New York, 1987).

Throwing out the whole PC seems a bit excessive.

Not at all! The expert system that suggested this also favors throwing out the baby with the bathwater (classical potential failure of AI system).

I had to go to a bit of trouble to make sense of the below. That kind of insensibility is what makes spelling/grammar important during written communication.

...it's the plural of pete as a substiture people in general and possesive...

Did you mean "...as a substitute for people in general and possessive...?" How difficult would it have been to read your own message carefully enough to spare me the time trying to figure it out? Simple typographical errors are easy to overlook (one third of yours was obviously that), but when I read a finished product like the above, I have to assume that the writer either
1) just didn't care
2) was in such a hurry to post that he/she didn't bother to preview
3) was just lazy.

If you don't care enough to make your message understandable (while correcting someone else's post at that!), why should I care what you have to say? If you're in a hurry to post, I have to wonder why. If it's laziness, why'd you bother to write at all? Correcting someone's mistakes with a spelling error, a typo, a word omission, and possibly a factual error of your own doesn't seem worth the time.

Seriously, I struggled with whether "substiture" was a word I hadn't encountered before; even if it were, the structure still didn't make sense.

What's your reference if you meant what I think you did? I always thought the Pete in "For Pete's sake" referred to Saint Peter. This belief appears to be born out here. In which case the error would be to fail to capitalize it.

I typically try to reply to the content rather than form of posts, but this seemed the right topic for the type of reply I've authored.

Here here!

Where, where?

Jeez! Next you will be saying "dutch courage" came about because the Dutch are pissheads.

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/1/message s/2119.html

Right tool for the right job. See this.

consoles just don't cut the muster

is it "muster" or "mustard"?

• mustard
• tie?
• muster
• mustard

nobody seems to know for sure

First off, it's jerry-rigged, not jury-rigged.

Try again. Besides, it's in common usage, so it's as good as part of the language.

Hardware manufacturers are more in the dark ages than many software companies as far as open specs. The hardware interface aren't your crown jewels hardware guys... you can infer a certain amount from it, but not everything. Please, just release specs... we just want to make it work.

You don't understand. Most modern hardware relies heavily on features provided in SOFTWARE. For example, a digital camera can handle video, still shots, zooming, brightness adjusting, etc. because the SOFTWARE knows how to do it. The hardware only provides simple access to a sensor. With this currently being the case, the specs of the hardware tend to be useless. (Unless you want to write all of the replacement functionality yourself.)

This leads into the problem that many hardware manufacturers purchase software components to shorten their development time. Since they don't own this software, they have no right to release its source. (Which they may not even have!) Thus it is more important than ever to provide proper support for binary drivers.

Phrasefinder gives the meaning of this reference to Petards. Funny, I always thought petards were a suicidal Age of Empires 2 unit...

Actually those are two separate things.
You're right about the 'jury rig' stuff, not disagreeing with that BTW.

Some dictionaries will say that 'jerry rig' means the same as 'jury rig' (that is what dictionary.com would tell you, for example). But you can find explanations of the differences. Basically think: Jury rig = temporary, quick-fix solution, possibly a novel implementation & Jerry rig = not necessarily temporary, junk solution.

See the Wordorigins.org J-word page, as well as this WordCourt page or this Phrase Finder post

... I have never heard of the phrase ending in 'Styx' instead of 'sticks' and nobody I know has either.
[Google says:]
"I live out in the Styx": 4 pages.
"I live out in the Sticks": 924 pages
Do you have any references? ...

Not quite (or maybe you'd say "not quiet").

Hear, hear
Meaning: A shout of support or agreement.
Origin:Originated in the British parliament in the 18th century as a contraction of 'hear him, hear him'. It is still often heard there although sometimes used ironically these days.

No, actualy the root word of news is new, what you have my friend is a folk entymology. From the first link:

news - 1382, plural of new (n.) "new thing," from new (adj.), q.v.; after Fr. nouvelles, used in Bible translations to render M.L. nova (neut. pl.) "news," lit. "new things." Sometimes still regarded as plural, 17c.-19c. Meaning "tidings" is 1423; newspaper is first attested 1670, though the thing itself is much older. Newsreel was first recorded 1916; newscast is from 1930. Newsletter is attested from 1674, but fell from use until it was revived 20c. Newsworthy first attested 1932.

Not quite. The saying actually refers to the trip from the prison to the Tyburn Tree in London. The prisoner to be hanged would be given drink to calm him down for the hanging. The closest pub to the place of hanging that lay upon the route was a mile away. The prisoner would have a drink at this last pub, and then be given a drink to have on his way to the gallows. Interestingly, this is also the origin of "on the wagon" as one of the guards travelling with the prisoner was not allowed to enter the pubs with him. So couldn't drink, and had to stay on the wagon.

Some lovely linkage:here, here and here.