"furling" = unfurling

[Jonathan Lighter]

Mingo would have said "waving" too.

  JL

"Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET> wrote:
  ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: "Joel S. Berson"
Subject: Re: "furling" = unfurling
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes, but perhaps he went to Oxford -- like Daniel
Boone's Cherokee compatriot. (My source is a
feature-length film starring Fess Parker,
recently viewed half-consciously on TV.)

Joel

At 12/7/2006 04:12 PM, you wrote:
>Joel, an *ad guy* wrote that passage.
>
> One draws one's own conclusions.
>
> JL
>
>"Joel S. Berson" wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the
> mail header -----------------------
>Sender: American Dialect Society
>Poster: "Joel S. Berson"
>Subject: Re: "furling" = unfurling; "heart-rending" = affecting; "aghast"
>= awestruck
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Jon, what about the following sense, if one can
>make the verb intransitive here? ("The flag furls in the wind.")
>
>†3. To make undulations on (a surface); to furrow, wrinkle. Obs.
>1681 J. Chetham Angler's Vade-m. x. §1 (1689)
>98 Cloudy and windy day that furls the
>Water. 1742 Shenstone Schoolmistr. 261 He+furls
>his wrinkly front, and cries, ‘What stuff is
>here!’ a1763 I Odes, etc. (1765) 206 Nor bite your lip, nor furl your brow.
>
>Joel
>
>At 12/7/2006 03:17 PM, you wrote:
> >Back in 1798 someone used "furling" to mean
> >"unfurling," and OED caught it for our delectation.
> >
> > Well, they're at it again:
> >
> > 2004
> >
> [http://www.asseenontv.com/prod-pages/reagan_se.html
> > ] : The Ronald Reagan Silver Dollar takes the
> > U.S. Government’s magnificent .999 Pure Silver
> > Eagle Dollar, and adds a full-color, official
> > portrait of President Reagan in the Oval
> > Office. Through NCM's brilliant color artistry,
> > a vibrant image of President Reagan stands
> > before the American flag and the official
> > Presidential flag, above his personal
> > signature. On the reverse, the great eagle
> > shines through the furling flag, emblazoned
> > with his heart-rending words: “What I’d like to
> > do is go down in history as the President who
> > made Americans believe in themselves again.
> >
> > The Reagan Dollar was heavily advertised on
> > TV, possibly in those very words (I
> > specifically recall "heart-rending"). A
> > current ad for a different silver commemorative
> > for a like demographic also misuses "furling."
> >
> > Me, I'd say "waving." But "furling" is like, you know, more flaggy.
> >
> > You've noticed "heart-rending." It reminds
> > me of a full-color religious message I once
> > read that reacted to the wonders of creation by
> > saying, "We stand aghast!" That meant "awestruck."
> >
> > JL
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>
>
>---------------------------------
>Want to start your own business? Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business.
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



---------------------------------
Have a burning question? Go to Yahoo! Answers and get answers from real people who know.

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org