slapjack

[Wilson Gray]

Related to"white-, uh, "blackjack," perhaps?

-Wilson

On Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 3:36 PM, Joel S. Berson<Berson at att.net> wrote:
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> Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Â  Â  Â  "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject: Â  Â  Â Re: slapjack
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I've just quickly looked for "slapjack" + "haphazard". Â I find I was
> probably thinking of "slapdash", but --
>
> http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Slapjack+(weapon)
> The slapjack (sometimes spelled slap jack or slap-jack) is a batting
> weapon which may be used in self-defense or other forms of
> hand-to-hand combat. It typically consists of a round sack containing
> a hard weight material that may be swung at the back of an opponent's
> head to knock him or her unconscious. Â [etc.]
>
>
>
> At 7/10/2009 11:47 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>Sounds like "gorse" and "furze" are still the winners.
>>
>>I might add that "gorse" and "furze" also are synonymous in all contexts and
>>at all levels of discourse. Â A classmate of mine once insisted that "speed"
>>and "velocity" were just as synonymous. Â I tried to disabuse him by pointing
>>out that "velocity" was far more prevalent in more technical contexts; in
>>addition, I believe it has certain technical connotations and nuances that
>>"speed" does not. Â Naturally, he shrugged off my objections.
>>
>>A pair like "aardvark" and "earth-pig" might work, but "earth-pig" is rather
>>factitious (besides being open to the charge of binomialism or compounding,
>>unlike "aardvark," at lest in English). Neither "gorse" nor "furze" is
>>factitious.
>>
>>JL
>>
>>On Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 11:28 AM, Jim Parish <jparish at siue.edu> wrote:
>>
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>> > Sender: Â  Â  Â  American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> > Poster: Â  Â  Â  Jim Parish <jparish at SIUE.EDU>
>> > Subject: Â  Â  Â Re: perfect synonyms
>> >
>> >
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> >
>> > Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>> > > Years ago I revived the claim that the two most nearly synonymous
>> > > words in English are "gorse" and "furze." Â Not only do they designate
>> > > the same referent; they are both monosyllabic and even bear a minor
>> > > phonetic resemblance.
>> > >
>> > > I can now reveal two comparably synonymous English words. They are so
>> > > mundane, however, that no one will be impressed.
>> > >
>> > > The envelope please:
>> > >
>> > > "Flapjack" and "slapjack."
>> >
>> > Hmm? In my lexicon, "flapjack" is a pancake and "slapjack" is a card
>> > game.
>> >
>> > Jim Parish
>> >
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--
-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
-----
-Mark Twain

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