[bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: Apartment Leases

  • From: "E." <thoth93@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Sat, 21 Jul 2007 10:40:43 -0400

Cool.  I never knew about "word detective". Again very nifty.

E.
At 07:00 AM 7/21/2007, you wrote:
Hi,

Oh, I can just envision a row of ducks following you around.  Hmmm.

Word Detective says the following, in part:

To "have one's ducks in a row" (and variations on that phrase) means, as you
say, that the person is doing a good job and has all of his or her duties
taken
care of in an efficient and timely manner.  Phrases involving our web-footed
friends, including "nice day for a duck" (meaning rainy weather) and "like
water off a duck's back" (meaning having no effect), have been common in
English for hundreds of years.  "To have one's ducks in a row," however,
seems
to be a fairly recent coinage.  The first appearance of the phrase noted in
Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang is in 1979, in Stephen
King's novel "The Stand."  The related "line up one's ducks" appears only a
year earlier, in 1978.

But why, to echo the Marx Brothers, a duck?  It's possible (though I'd much
prefer it not to be true) that the phrase began as a reference to the lines
of little metal ducks used as targets in carnival shooting galleries.  A
more benevolent (and likely, in my opinion) explanation would be that "to
have
one's ducks in a row" refers to the common sight of a mother duck leading a
troop of her ducklings in an orderly row (often, if one judges by the
frequency
of news photos, across a busy intersection).


-----Original Message-----
From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of E.
Sent: Saturday, July 21, 2007 4:48 AM
To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: Apartment Leases

(giggle) I am speaking up for all the ducks who have been asked to get into
rows over the years.  Does anyone know where the expression comes from.

My best to tired ducks everywhere grin.

E.
At 06:40 AM 7/21/2007, you wrote:
>Which I hope to do in a year or two.  I just want all my ducks in a
>row, as it were ... Basically, I want to make sure that I'm certain of
>things such as, Will any of my kids still be living with me, etc.?  And
>will I have the promotion I so eagerly hope for?
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>[mailto:bksvol-discuss-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Monica Svopa
>Sent: Saturday, July 21, 2007 4:23 AM
>To: bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: OT: Apartment Leases
>
>29 pages!!  Ouch!  For a lease.  Just wait till you buy a house.
>
>Monica
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Lora" <loravara@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Sent: Friday, July 20, 2007 6:11 PM
>Subject: [bksvol-discuss] OT: Apartment Leases
>
>
> > Hi,
> >
> > This may all sound a bit silly, but it's a wonderful world when I
> > can ask
>my
> > new apartment complex to send me an electronic copy of the lease,
> > and they do.  Now I can read it at my leisure before I go in to sign
> > it, which
>takes
> > a great burden off of whoever I might have otherwise had to read it
> > aloud for me (especially considering that the lease and all
> > attachments total 29 pages).
> >
> > I've never read a lease from beginning to end before, just skimming
> > over things unless I deemed them important.  I'm going to make
> > myself finish
>this
> > one before I delve into the Harry Potter treats that Lissi sent.
> >
> > In places, though, it's very interesting reading.  For instance,  I
>learned
> > that the lease actually says I can't use candles or kerosene lamps.
> > I
>don't
> > mind the kerosene lamps, but are they really serious about the
> > candles?  I love candles!
> >
> > Just rambling,
> >
> > Lora
> >
> > Each friend represents a world in us, a world not born until they
> > arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.
> > Anais Nin
> >
> >
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> >
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>
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