Home » Discussion Forum

Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

Discussion Forum (Archived)

Please consider registering
Guest
Forum Scope


Match



Forum Options



Min search length: 3 characters / Max search length: 84 characters
The forums are currently locked and only available for read only access
sp_TopicIcon
Fighting Artichokes
deaconB
744 Posts
(Offline)
1
2015/10/05 - 11:00am

I first heard of the Thundering Herd in November 1970, when Southern Airlines flight 932 wiped out the football team, the coaching staff, and two dozen boosters.  They were returning from a 17-14 loss against the East Carolina Pirates, and they took it hard when they landed.  The fuselage was reduced to powder, and they never were able to identify six passengers.  I guess the lesson is not to get on a plane carrying a thundering herd.

Then I learned the Wake Forest team was the Demon Deacons.  Deacon is an interesting word. 

To deacon fruit or vegetables, you put the less appealing stuff at the bottom and top the peck with beautiful produce.  Deacon calves are dairy bulls sold at auction at 2-3 days old, to be raised as vealers.  If the price of veal is low, it's not worth hauling the calves to the auction barn, so the farmer deacons the calf immediately upon birth by whopping it on the head.  When I was in high school, I had several retailers tell me that deacons always wanted to buy things for needy families, and they wouldn't extend credit.  Worst credit risks ever, one said.  They never pay up; I'll put my donation in the plate, but sell to them for cash.  So I guess deacons have a reputation worse than used car salesmen.

The team at Franklin & Marshall is officially the F&M Diplomats, but the cheerleaders cry "Go, Dips!" and the Lancaster Intelligencer refers to them as the Dips in headlines and news stories.  I imagine many high school kids today might not know what a "dip" is, but older adults surely remember when it was slang other than "pickpocket".  Fans of B.C. might think of a road sign that says "Dip in Road"

I'd never heard of a team called the Geoducks before the October 5 "Fighting Artichokes" show, but Tom Parker-Bowles, the food-critic son of Camilla and stepson of Prince Charles, wrote a wonderful book entitled The Year Of Eating Dangerously: A Global Adventure In Search Of Culinary Extremes in 2007.  It's available used for 1c on Amazon.

Parker-Bowles ate a variety of strange food around the world, including eels in England, Fugu in Japan, and dog soup (tastes like wet dog smells) in China.  Geoduck was on his list because it looks like a penis.  I think I'd pass on any of the foods on his list, but it was easily the best book I read that year.

And I think that the guy in a sleeping bag probably looked like he was wearing a sleeping bag to keep the school's sponsors from getting upset.

JinksB
5 Posts
(Offline)
2
2015/11/30 - 11:04am

My high school mascot was ... well, I'm not sure. We were called the Largo High School Packers, after a (now long-gone) citrus packing plant near the high school. We also held a "Farmer Day" before homecoming to celebrate the derisive nickname our "city folk" arch-rivals called us. The image on our football helmets, however, was a wild boar. Where they got that from, I've no idea. We didn't have a guy/girl in a "Packer" suit at games, just cheerleaders, so no help was forthcoming in that respect.

I didn't seek them out, but my college mascots were a little on the weird side, too. I spent my undergraduate years as a TCU Horned Frog, and got my masters degree as a Gamecock. "Gamecock" isn't that strange, but the women's teams at the University of South Carolina are called "Lady Gamecocks." 

When I lived in San Diego, I heard tons of media coverage about the Padres - shortened to what sounded like "the Pods." It took me awhile to figure out that they were the same team the newspaper called "the Pads."  o_0

Ron Draney
721 Posts
(Offline)
3
2015/11/30 - 3:43pm

My junior high school mascot was The Broncos.

High school was The Fighting Colts.

College (same town) The Mustangs.

A lot of agonizing thought must have gone into these selections.

Forum Timezone: America/Los_Angeles
Show Stats
Administrators:
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Moderators:
Grant Barrett
Top Posters:
Newest Members:
Mike Brock
Forum Stats:
Groups: 1
Forums: 1
Topics: 3647
Posts: 18912

 

Member Stats:
Guest Posters: 618
Members: 1266
Moderators: 1
Admins: 2
Most Users Ever Online: 1147
Currently Online:
Guest(s) 32
Currently Browsing this Page:
1 Guest(s)