michael quinion donotuseworldwidewordsorg world wide words issue 303 saturday 17 august 2002 sent saturday 15000 subscribers least 119 countries editor michael quinion thornbury bristol uk issn 14701448 respond mailing remember change outgoing address one contact addresses section contents 1 feedback notes comments 2 turns phrase asian brown cloud 3 weird words pyknic 4 qa mash note 5 endnote subscription commands b contact addresses 1 feedback notes comments machinima reputation small errors continues grow keeping quiet big ones misprint last weeks piece word sentence giving etymology places misspelled mechanima thus confusing everybody appetite tin cup several replies came saying confirming variations ways saying head heels widely known especially ass appetite us appetite may transferred term mouth specific form maria jessup robinson asking appetite tin cup seems known much would seem conflation british expression arse teakettle american ass appetite note deliberate use two spellings arse saying probably modified time created tea kettle item less common america britain even britain days obsolete fixed term except within expression common bumbershoot several subscribers pointed word lyric song sung dick van dyke film chitty chitty bang bang ol bamboo ol bamboo youd better never bother ol bamboo hat bumbershoot youd better never bother ol bamboo may one reason americans familiar word country come believe must british ologies isms publication date book moved back week uk 29 august review jonathon green scheduled issue 31 august assuming nobody changes date see details uk ordering information 2 turns phrase asian brown cloud though didnt enough worry weatherwise global warming ozone hole new el nio season un scientists identified new threat worlds climate cloud smog three kilometres deep enveloping whole southern asia soup industrial pollutants carbon monoxide vehicle exhausts particles soot burning forests millions rural cooking fires blocks 15 sunlight reduces crop yields also creates acid rain leads respiratory illnesses reduces rainfall causes extreme weather events cloud capable dispersed rapidly around world may affect much wider area asia term asian brown cloud seems around couple years scientific circles came prominence week report prepared team international climatologists un environment programme preparation world summit sustainable development johannesburg next week good news say unlike causes pollution climate change one curable asians shift efficient ways burning fuels asian brown cloud 2milethick blanket pollution south asia may causing premature deaths half million people india year deadly flooding areas drought others new unsponsored study indicates los angeles times aug 2002 unbacked study released friday said asian brown cloud vast haze pollution stretching across south asia damaging agriculture modifying rainfall patterns endangering population agence france presse aug 2002 3 weird words pyknic piknik short fat nothing alfresco meals though said way picnic early years twentieth century german psychiatrist ernst kretschmer examined criminals try tie physical shape constitution personalities mental illnesses tall thin ones called asthenic leptosomic considered sort commits fraud petty theft second set athletic types welldeveloped muscles concluded unsurprisingly likely violent third sort pyknic ones seemed mixture two kinds far criminal tendencies concerned took pyknic greek puknos thick close packed appeared first book krperbau und charakter physique character 1921 soon moved english american psychologist william sheldon built modified kretschmers ideas coming three terms describe body types endomorph mesomorph ectomorph common considered kretschmers pyknic type mixture endomorph soft round body tending put fat santa claus type mesomorph compact powerful athletic body tending tarzan mr universe type came phrase pyknic practical joke describe person muscular early life later goes pearshaped balloons obesity 4 qa q friend reading recent article new york times made mention mash note never heard term extrapolated sort love note specific meaning simple love note give insight origin term jane rosenthal california youre right meaning phrase go back way find origin first form word mash slang term us 1870s infatuation crush magazine 1877 defined deep fleeting affection heart mash could also dandy object ones affection either sex verb make amorous advances member opposite sex flirt seduce masher man thought irresistible female sex whose advances often unwelcome evidence collected professor lighter random house historical dictionary american slang others suggests originally term used around theatre charles godfrey leland best known hans breitmanns ballads german immigrant wrote note poem masher dated 1895 confirming word mash sense causing love attracting glance fascinating look came ordinary slang american stage thus actress often fined mashing smiling men audience mash derivatives crossed atlantic britain 1880 masher particular became term london society especially among raffish supperclub theatregoing classes type fashionable male oxford english dictionary defines distinctly maidenly air drawing away collective skirts fop affected manners exaggerated style dress frequented musichalls fashionable promenades posed ladykiller noting word common 1882 years letter london old overland monthly west magazine 1889 correspondent described member impoverished theatrical company dashing youth distinctly conscious fascinations buxom maids sighed beside us airy elegant nonchalance glances superbly took would lesson champion mashers far higher class mash note first appearances mash letter obvious enough extension love letter recorded first 1880 discovered still well mash relatives come subject debate sometimes said standard english word meaning make soft one various means obvious reference rendering object ones attentions pliable yielding max beerbohm writing london 1894 mashers still around despite oeds comment remarked people derived chre mode address used gilded youth barmaids period thought really came chorus song time great vogue musichalls im slashing dashing mashing montmorency day pretty sure wrong could hardly know back charles leland apart humorous writings also researched wrote great deal romany language well gypsy songs customs following note introduction poem gives origin widely accepted introduced wellknown gypsy family actors c among romany habitually spoken word masher mash means tongue allure delude entice doubtless much aided popularity quasiidentity english word doubt gypsy origin mash used stage indebted information late well known impresario palmer new york made note years term become popular though defunct british english mash masher never quite gone away america mash resurgence popularity student slang 1980s sense necking petting though may backformation mash note 5 endnote spanish lady asked acquaintance visit ireland whether word language similar 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