ADS-L Digest - 25 Jun 2005 to 26 Jun 2005 (#2005-178)

[Geoffrey S. Nathan]

At 12:00 AM 6/27/2005, A. Murie wrote:
>"Busier'n a one-armed paperhanger," without further elaboration, was a
>common expression during my childhood.
>Since Adolph Hitler (a k a  "Shickelgruber") was rumored to have been a
>paperhanger at one point,  "paperhanger" itself became a derisive term.
>A. Murie

My mother (z'l), born and raised in London--the real one--had a slight
elaboration:

'Busier than a one-armed paperhanger with hives.'

I remember asking what a paperhanger was when I was a wee'un.

Geoff
Geoffrey S. Nathan
Department of English/Computing and Information Technology
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI, 48202
<geoffnathan at wayne.edu>
Phones:  C&IT (313) 577-1259/English (313) 577-8621