Webelos was Re: "outside of a dog"

Sun Jun 27 00:05:47 UTC 2010

Wow!  We did!

JL

On Sat, Jun 26, 2010 at 7:57 PM, Bill Palmer <w_a_palmer at bellsouth.net>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Bill Palmer <w_a_palmer at BELLSOUTH.NET>
> Subject:      Re: Webelos was Re: "outside of a dog"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> How 'bout the preliminary level of ":Bobcat"?
>
> Bill P
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jonathan Lighter" <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>  Sent: Saturday, June 26, 2010 7:21 PM
> Subject: Re: Webelos was Re: "outside of a dog"
>
>
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> > header -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject:      Re: Webelos was Re: "outside of a dog"
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > When I was a Cub Scout, back in the Eisenhower administration, we had
> > Wolf,
> > Bear, Lion, and Webelos levels.
> >
> > No "Tiger."
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Tue, Jun 15, 2010 at 9:57 AM, Neal Whitman
> > <nwhitman at ameritech.net>wrote:
> >
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> >> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> Poster:       Neal Whitman <nwhitman at AMERITECH.NET>
> >> Subject:      Re: Webelos was Re: "outside of a dog"
> >>
> >>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >> I never knew about the Lion scout level, though I did have the feeling
> >> (when
> >> my son joined up) that the first-grade Tiger level was a recent
> addition.
> >> Cub Scout organizers seem to be confused, mixing up Asian, African, and
> >> North American animals and folklore. They talk about "Akelas" as adult
> >> leaders, a term lifted from _The Jungle Book_, but also like to bring in
> >> Native American stuff.
> >>
> >> Webelos (sorry, I just can't capitalize the whole thing) may be
> presented
> >> as
> >> an acronym, but it's an unfortunate one because it ends in <s>, inviting
> >> it
> >> to be interpreted as a plural. Indeed, the <s> is pronounced like a
> >> plural
> >> [z] ending, and the backformation "Webelo" is the standard term for one
> >> such
> >> scout. If "Webelo" is an acronym, it would have to stand for just
> >> "We('ll)
> >> be loyal." In fact, if "Webelos" were truly used as an acronym, the
> >> singular
> >> should be "IBeLoS." And (I'm not done yet) why does loyalty alone get
> >> elevated from the Boy Scout oath into this acronym? To be consistent,
> >> they
> >> should have "WeBeTruLoHelFrienCurKiObCheeThrifBraCleRevS". Oh, well,
> >> maybe
> >> they're talking about meta-loyalty, loyalty encompassing ordinary
> loyalty
> >> and all the other scout virtues.
> >>
> >> Neal
> >>
> >> ----- Original Message -----
> >> From: "Laurence Horn" <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> >> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 9:30 AM
> >> Subject: Re: Webelos was Re: Re: "outside of a dog"
> >>
> >>
> >> > ---------------------- Information from the mail
> >> > header -----------------------
> >> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >> > Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> >> > Subject:      Re: Webelos was Re: Re: "outside of a dog"
> >> >
> >>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >> >
> >> > At 8:48 AM -0400 6/15/10, Amy West wrote:
> >> >>On 6/15/10 12:00 AM, Automatic digest processor wrote:
> >> >>>   remember it well, having been
> >> >>>a Cub Scout for the whole Webelos trajectory--"Wolf Bear Lion
> >> >>>Scout"--but I dropped out before the Tenderfoot stage
> >> >>Interesting. I was recently told by scouts in Mass. it stood for "We
> be
> >> >>loyal scouts."
> >> >>
> >> >>Another folk initialism/acronym?
> >> >>
> >> >>--
> >> >>---Amy West
> >> >>
> >> > Looks like we're both (essentially) right:
> >> >
> >> > ===========
> >> > WEBELOS is an acronym, according to the BSA's public relations and
> >> > media relations guides, and therefore should appear in ALL CAPS as
> >> > written above.
> >> >
> >> > The acronym, thought up in the early 40s, does NOT presently stand
> >> > for "Wolf, Bear, Lion, Scout" as before; it now stands for "WE'll BE
> >> > LOyal Scouts!". The WEBELOS Cub Scout program replaced the Lion Cub
> >> > Scout program in 1966 and became a part of the Cub Scout Program in
> >> > 1967.
> >> >
> >> > http://www.mninter.net/~blkeagle/webelos.htm
> >> > ==========
> >> >
> >> > I prefer Amy's version with the invariant "be", but I guess this way
> >> > individual dens and troops can decide on the appropriate verb form
> >> > for themselves.
> >> >
> >> > LH (a.k.a. Automatic digest processor)
> >> >
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> >>
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> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > truth."
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