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7:00 PM
A connection with the Jewish custom seems very unlikely.
 
@Cerberus No, it seems that penis was tail, and later got a more vulgar meaning. After that they stopped using it for tail.
The Latin word pēnis itself originally meant "tail". Cicero's ad Familiares, 9.22, observes that pēnis originally was an innocuous word, but that the meaning of male sexual organ had become primary by his day. Once it acquired its sexual sense, this sense tarred the word and made it unusable for anything other than the sexual sense; thus pēnis became the standard medical and scientific jargon word.
 
How do you mean "no"?
That is exactly what I meant.
 
No, it is not a euphemism as such
 
"As such"?
 
I don;t regard such slang words as euphemisms
 
7:01 PM
I'm not sure what you mean.
 
because they are usually not meant to make the concept less offensive, but actully rather more
(all quotes are from here btw
 
@medica No, I think you asked it just right. I just think that whatever evidence is there is made up. I don't think it was the common greeting or oath taking by Romans to hold someone's 'thigh'. I think that was restricted to the ancient palestinian era. People do all sorts of weird things, but it is very diverse. I've only ever heard of genital grabbing in the old testament, and never in roman daily life.
 
An innocuous word was used to signify an obscene thing.
@oerkelens Okay, well, I guess it depends on your definition of euphemism.
 
It;'s a big gray area i guess
:P
 
I can't say I positively disagree with your definition.
But...
 
7:02 PM
I wouldn;t want to force you :P
Can you at least negatively agree?
(is there such a thing?)
 
What I meant originally was that it was not so weird for the Romans to use tail to mean penis.
 
Reluctantly agree?
 
@medica and I believe this connection of the words testes and testis is just figuratively juvenile sniggering.
 
Well... If you are used to naked man walking backwards, I guess it is very logical
 
In this case, positively does not oppose negatively, but rather something like...weakly.
@skullpatrol Yes, or reluctantly!
 
7:04 PM
@Cerberus but to connect that with witnessing seems a much bigger stretch.
 
Then you surely meant strongly:P
 
Positively seems more...positive.
"Stellig".
 
ganz richtig.
 
@Mitch Um there is no connection between witnesses and penis.
 
But you denied me that positive agreement
 
7:05 PM
Positive means not negative or zero.
 
@Mitch What is?
 
so why would you want to sugar it up, if I dont get it anyway?
 
@Cerberus Some of the witnesses have penes, lol.
 
@oerkelens Yes, I did. So what?
 
You are cruel
:(
 
7:06 PM
Can a guy read Jane Austen books?
 
@JasperLoy Of course. Unless he's illiterate.
 
@oerkelens No...I meant to say that I didn't think your "it's not a euphemism!1!!" was entirely fair in context, but that in general there is something to say for your narrower definition.
 
Whether it is wise to brag about it to his drinking mates in the pub - that's another matter :)
 
@oerkelens OK. Just in case it is meant for girls only, lol.
 
@JasperLoy No, it's gibberish to those possessing tails or witnesses.
 
7:07 PM
Actually...
But I have an excuse for reading it
My wife made me!
 
@cerberus What do you think of me trying to read Jane Austen?
 
Oh, I liked P&P all right. Except the silly romance and the obsession with marriage.
@JasperLoy You should read P&P, it's quite entertaining.
I actually listened to the audiobook on vacation in France.
 
@Cerberus OK, I can get a hardback of her 7 novels for a small price...
 
Or you can get the text online.
Have you searched Bookfinder to see whether the price you were offered was above or below market value?
I imagine it must be easy to find cheap editions, even hardcover. But I haven't searched.
 
The problem is there are so many versions of the classics. Some contain X novels, some contain Y novels, etc.
One really has to look carefully before choosing.
 
7:11 PM
You should be able to find a paperback of P&P for € 1 somewhere.
Bookfinder.
 
I can't find all of Dickens' novels in 1 or 2 books. I would need to get them separately.
 
At least it's a better choice than this aquaintance of mine who got 50 shades of grey to improve his English... (Totally and utterly oblivious about the book until then...)
 
Dickens is too old.
Unless you're good at ye old English
!!wiki old English
 
@skullpatrol The Wikipedia contains no knowledge of such a thing
Old English (Ænglisc, Anglisc, Englisc) or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southern and eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary register of Anglo-Saxon. It is a West Germanic language closely related to Old Frisian and Old Saxon. Old English had a grammar similar in many ways to Classical Latin. In most respects, including its grammar, it was much clos...
 
!!wiki dickens
 
7:20 PM
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular. Born in Portsmouth, England, Dickens was forced to leave school to work in a factory when his father was thrown into debtors' prison...
 
I found a nice series called Knickerbocker Classics.
 
@skullpatrol Dickens is not Old English
 
To me it is :-) @mr.shiny
 
@skullpatrol You can use the words that way, but to others it does not mean what you think it means.
 
Why, Dickens is positively modern
 
7:25 PM
I can't read much of the stuff from the 1800s :-(
stuff=math or philosophy
 
Certainly, their vocabulary was somewhat different. But for the most part nothing has changed. We still dot our i's and cross our t's
 
t
crossed-out t
 
Watching house of cards (US version) is giving me a southern accent
@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Ts are dangerous, one should not cross them.
 
!!wiki knapsack
 
A backpack (also called rucksack, knapsack, packsack, pack) is, in its simplest form, a cloth sack carried on one's back and secured with two straps that go over the shoulders, but there can be exceptions. Lightweight types of backpacks are sometimes worn on only one shoulder strap. Backpacks are often preferred to handbags for carrying heavy loads or carrying any sort of equipment, because of the limited capacity to carry heavy weights for long periods of time in the hands. Large backpacks, used to carry loads over 10 kg (22 lbs), usually offload the largest part (up to a...
 
7:30 PM
I crossed out my explanation now that you've fixed your typo
 
I think the language of math and physics has changed a lot in the last 100 years.
 
has it? was still talk of relativity
I suppose back then, they talked of it less
 
They talked of the ether
 
Ether? I barely know her.
 
7:34 PM
:D
Today it's all about the Ethernet
 
You kids today. When I was getting started, Token Ring was da shizzle.
Ethernet was a coaxial cable.
it required "termination"
 
OK found classics at 2 pounds each here. wordsworth-editions.com/collection/classics
 
Those are girl's books, just kidding :-)
 
!!define pleasing
 
@cyril My pocket dictionary just isn't good enough for you.
@cyril pleasing Agreeable; giving pleasure, cheer, enjoyment or gratification.
 
7:46 PM
I am the Beast of Hell!
 
-_-
 
@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 isn't that some old Arnold Schwarzenegger film?
 
Yeah, screw up your faces, o mortals!
No, not screw up...what's the expression I'm looking for?
 
@MattЭллен "Jingle All The Way"
 
7:49 PM
:D
 
I demand a tortured face!
Or at the very least a twisted one.
 
:-/
 
Better.
Cock.
Oops.
 
};-)
 
7:50 PM
Nicehat.
 
Gstatic.
Scary!
 
Horns of the devil
 
That your face right now?
Ahh.
 
@Cerberus I ws referring back to the other stuff about testis
 
7:56 PM
tortures Cerb's face
 
Ow that hurts!
 
you shouldn't be Cerb's face, then.
 
Which one?
@Mitch Too long ago!
 
@Cerberus stellig seemed ganz rightig. but on second thought maybe not.
 
Oh...
Why not?
 
7:59 PM
@Cerberus I know. Susan had asked me why I thought it was all made up.
 
Which part?
 
@Cerberus because 1) I"m not paying attention, and 2) I don't really know what 'stellig' means.
 
Oh.
 

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