The Funny Pages - Tickle Me Elbow - The Original

[psawyer]

What the heck *IS* this schwa beeswax???

Ah, any scholar of the English language would be quite familiar with the ubiquitous schwa.

It may be a particular manifestation of Irritable Vowel Syndrome, in which the stress normally associated with a vowel absquatulates, leaving only an indistinct murmur. There are many cases to be found. Consider, as an exemplar, the "i" in "sanity" -- although I realize that that could be quite difficult, as there is very little sanity to be found around here.

A trivia item related to the calendar, as revealed in one of my morning crosswords today. It was twenty-five years ago tonight that the final episode of M*A*S*H aired.

[Darn210]

Ah, any scholar of the English language would be quite familiar with the ubiquitous schwa.

It may be a particular manifestation of Irritable Vowel Syndrome, in which the stress normally associated with a vowel absquatulates, leaving only an indistinct murmur. There are many cases to be found. Consider, as an exemplar, the "i" in "sanity" -- although I realize that that could be quite difficult, as there is very little sanity to be found around here.

A trivia item related to the calendar, as revealed in one of my morning crosswords today. It was twenty-five years ago tonight that the final episode of M*A*S*H aired.

Peter said *absquatulates*

[tom]

Ah, any scholar of the English language would be quite familiar with the ubiquitous schwa.

I'm so ashamed!!!!!!!

A trivia item related to the calendar, as revealed in one of my morning crosswords today. It was twenty-five years ago tonight that the final episode of M*A*S*H aired.

Oh I DO remember that night well. We had a full house at my Apt for it - quite awkward at times as Corey & Topher were both there.

Somehow I thought it was earlier in Feb.

It WASN'T a CHICKEN!!!

Peter said *absquatulates*

chYah!!!!!

Let the Sasquatch absquatulate!!!

[psawyer]

Good morning, sillies. The weather is good at the moment, but I understand more snow is coming. We have already set a new record for most snow in the single month of February, but the leap year is giving nature an extra day for it.

[elye]

Wow...I had a great sleep, so the heartiest of GOOD MORNIN's to y'all!....

What the heck *IS* this schwa beeswax???

Peter knows his stuff. I will use this astonishing word absquatulate the next time I speak about syllable stress to a group of students.

I love the SCHWA. I just love saying it, I suppose. But it's what gives the English language it's characteristic rat-a-tat machine-gun sound when spoken. A schwa is the completely unstressed syllable in a word, and the only really interesting thing to add here (or perhaps not--bear with me) is that our language therefore offers the only situation where a word's meaning can completely change when the stressed syllable is moved. Usually the schwa's relocation results in a change from a noun to a verb:

conduct--behavior (noun)

conduct--to lead (verb)

permit--a written license (noun)

permit--to allow (verb)

Now, isn't that just fascinating?

A trivia item related to the calendar, as revealed in one of my morning crosswords today. It was twenty-five years ago tonight that the final episode of M*A*S*H aired.

Well, I only have vague, dim memories of this event, quite schwa-like, as I was very young...

But I do remember tearing up at the final helicopter scene. And whatever happened to Radar O'reilly? Many of those actors went on to other things, but I don't remember seeing Radar again. He was lovely.....

[blueeyedmanda]

Good morning, sillies. The weather is good at the moment, but I understand more snow is coming. We have already set a new record for most snow in the single month of February, but the leap year is giving nature an extra day for it.

Us too Peter, we are getting snow later....fun fun!

Morning Sillies Happy Friday Happy Leap Day!!!!

I have continued hitting the gym all week and although I cannot see a difference yet (yes I am anxious) I can feel it in my energy level. I can do more active walking and not get run down. Plus I sleep much better at night.

Anyone doing anything exciting for Leap Day? Is it something people celebrate?

[Darn210]

Well, I only have vague, dim memories of this event, quite schwa-like, as I was very young...

No you weren't . . .

Now, you want to talk young . . . Amanda and Alex, do you recall ever watching M*A*S*H??

[blueeyedmanda]

No you weren't . . .

Now, you want to talk young . . . Amanda and Alex, do you recall ever watching M*A*S*H??

I used to watch it, my favorite on there was Radar. I loved how he had a teddy bear,

[Darn210]

From my FIL . . . his was much prettier with lots of fonts and coloUrs and stuff . . .

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED the 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.

Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid made with sugar, but we weren't overweight because,

WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or celiac disease's, no cell phones, no personal computer! s, no Internet or chat rooms.......

WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not poke out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!

The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

If YOU are one of them CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good .

While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave (and lucky) their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!

[blueeyedmanda]

Janet-loved this and as a child of the 80's I grew up doing most of what was written in that story. I had to be home when the 9:00 whistle went off at night.

[nikki-uk]

Nice one Janet hast thou silly come back?????

Yes schwa is tres fascinating indeed Emily....MORE examples please Miss !!!

Leap year day today meaning all single laydeez can ask their menfolk to marry them (er...y'all know I'm addressing this to SUSIE + KISSEY, right?? )

......and now,....I must bore you with Further tales of Kitty Will and his poo chunks (Chapter2)

Wee Will is a naughty stinky kitten - he got out in the garden last night after dark.....would NOT come back when I called him.

Terry, me and youngest son all out in the garden (me in hideously old dressing gown as just had a bath) - Terry knocks on neighboUrs doors for them to look in THEIR gardens.......dear bloody god..........stupid cat is stuck on top of a shed at the back of our garden

''Mew, mew'' said Will

Martin had to climb up to get him....kitty Will thinks he is a sleak panther in the dark...

He came in - pooed, run around house with remnant poo stuck to his arse....furiously scooted to try and release it

LOL.......thank gawd I ain't got carpet!

....more soon (I know you're hooked )

[blueeyedmanda]

......and now,....I must bore you with Further tales of Kitty Will and his poo chunks (Chapter2)

Wee Will is a naughty stinky kitten - he got out in the garden last night after dark.....would NOT come back when I called him.

Terry, me and youngest son all out in the garden (me in hideously old dressing gown as just had a bath) - Terry knocks on neighboUrs doors for them to look in THEIR gardens.......dear bloody god..........stupid cat is stuck on top of a shed at the back of our garden

''Mew, mew'' said Will

Martin had to climb up to get him....kitty Will thinks he is a sleak panther in the dark...

He came in - pooed, run around house with remnant poo stuck to his arse....furiously scooted to try and release it

LOL.......thank gawd I ain't got carpet!

....more soon (I know you're hooked )

:) Love a good poo story

I have to admit with Lucky being a longed hair cat, we must clean poo from the fur frequently....It is like having a child and changing a diaper....Smelly Cat Smelly Cat...what are they feeding you!

[nikki-uk]

:) Love a good poo story

You do?? watch this space.....

I have to admit with Lucky being a longed hair cat, we must clean poo from the fur frequently....It is like having a child and changing a diaper....Smelly Cat Smelly Cat...what are they feeding you!

Try having an undx'd cOeliac child in nappies!!!!!! GAHHHHH!! (green guy WITH peg on nose)

[blueeyedmanda]

You do?? watch this space.....

Try having an undx'd cOeliac child in nappies!!!!!! GAHHHHH!! (green guy WITH peg on nose)

We could have our own Newspaper....

The Poo Times or The Daily Defecation

[elye]

Daily Defecation....

Those all ring very true to me, Janet...Ah, life as a youngster in the seventies....(okay, okay....a bit in the sixties....)...

Yes schwa is tres fascinating indeed Emily....MORE examples please Miss !!!

I know, it's completely enthralling.....

I read all of Janet's list aloud, with a particular punch to all of the stressed syllables, and a complete deadening of the schwas. What a time!....

......and now,....I must bore you with Further tales of Kitty Will and his poo chunks (Chapter2)

Nikki! Here's what needs to happen if Kitty Will is going to be an outdoor cat: This can be tough at first, as we worry, but be strong, and it won't last. Now that he isn't frightened to go out, let him out, and try desparately to forget about him. It's amazing what cats will learn to do when faced with no other choice (getting themselves off sheds, out of trees, etc.) They are frighteningly intelligent, and if you spend your time running out and taking full care of them, they'll let you do it, thank you much, forever.

It was trial by fire for our two cats...tossed them out, and who knows what happened, but they came back for food (do NOT think it's because they miss you...we're talkin' cats, here) .

AH!! SO MANY lovely schwas in what I've just written.....

[tom]

Mornin' all you Sillies!!!

Ptaum's starting w/ a less-than brain day, so it's unlikely I'll be so long-winded, alliterative or .. .. ...<more words belong here but can't think of them>

Bah .. . ..better feel good enough later to go see buddy's band.

Thought they had own website but seems they're just here <a href="Open Original Shared Link Advertisement/tyt4u" target="external ugc nofollow">Open Original Shared Link Advertisement/tyt4u</a>

[Edit: bah!!!! Url is @ Open Original Shared Link ]

(Bet Susie remembers Sly McFly's, down in Monterey. I don't think they had bands when I lived down there)

OK .. . .off to see if coffee can crankstart this Model T.

[Mtndog]

Hello!!!!!!!!!! YAWN!!!!!!!! It's good to be home just in time for 8 inches of snow Yes I know I havae much catching up to do.....I think the reigning monarch's secretary should provide summaries. King Ptaum, who is thine appointed secretary?

Just pooping in, should be back full-time Silly by Monday but had to share these with you.

First had to share this with you

[Mtndog]

And for those of you that haven't had the pleasure yet, Open Original Shared Link

[blueeyedmanda]

So update to my appointment issue of last week.....I saw my gyn in the hall at lunch today and told her how they are making me wait for an appointment. She told me, don't worry I'll call you this afternoon and I can get you in next week.

[tom]

Oops double

[tom]

Thought they had own website but seems they're just here <a href="Open Original Shared Link Advertisement/tyt4u" target="external ugc nofollow">Open Original Shared Link Advertisement/tyt4u</a>

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Did NOT know that myspace urls get Lame'd.

Bah!!!

OK .. .this link goes there

Open Original Shared Link

P.S. Besides that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the PLAY!!!????

[jerseyangel]

So update to my appointment issue of last week.....I saw my gyn in the hall at lunch today and told her how they are making me wait for an appointment. She told me, don't worry I'll call you this afternoon and I can get you in next week.

That's good news, Amanda. Whenever I've had a gyn issue, I've always been able to be seen within the week.

[blueeyedmanda]

That's good news, Amanda. Whenever I've had a gyn issue, I've always been able to be seen within the week.

Tuesday Morning

[elye]

...Thought I'd repost this, with a super idea tha tcame to me:

http://www.sewerhistory.org/images/pr/pr01.webp

Now, Tom, if that wheeled lab/drawer contraption on your patio is not anything like this, you may wanna keep an eye out for something like it. How handy it would be for John....he wouldn't have to stay at home while tossing back the absinthe--he could travel about on this vehicle, and then throw himself alongside it when need be. Could be anywhere! How freeing.....

[tom]

I am a little reluctant to write this since a failure to follow through makes the failure 'public'.

I've gone back & forth for a while on quitting the *!#^%$%^ smoking.

Tho I don't feel as strongly about it at the moment, there was a stretch last night at the Lara&Laura show when I was adamantly positive that quitting MUST happen soon.

What I'm asking for here is a show of hands of who used to smoke - not just occasionally.

I mean the kind of smoker who wouldn't leave the house w/out cigarettes in tow.

I have some idea but why bother guessing.

I remember that Sarah still smokes but would like to quit.

Your replies are appreciated.