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Conference thebay::joyoflex

Title:The Joy of Lex
Notice:A Notes File even your grammar could love
Moderator:THEBAY::SYSTEM
Created:Fri Feb 28 1986
Last Modified:Mon Jun 02 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1192
Total number of notes:42769

466.0. "Mutating Terminology" by ERASER::KALLIS (Has anybody lost a shoggoth?) Wed Jan 13 1988 22:41

                    -<"Poly" wanna cracker?>-
    
    I love the ability of the language to produce mutations.  When I
    was driving home the other day, I tuned in to a radio talk show,
    which was having a discussion, among other things, on AIDS and its
    spread; and, derivitively, the change in the U. S. lifestyles.
    
    One of the callers-in was speaking of different sexual preferences.
    He spoke of herterosexuals, homosexuals, and "polysexuals."  Now,
    since others before him had indicated in their conversations that
    people who will have physical relationships with either males or
    females are called "bisexuals," the interesting phraseology led
    me to wonder ....
    
    Are we beginning to develop something new?  :-P
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.
    
    
    A little more seriously (though not much), I think this would be
    a good place to talk of terminolocical mutations.
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466.1For a good time, call...AKOV11::BOYAJIANLyra RA 18h 28m 37s D 31d 49mThu Jan 14 1988 06:374
    Well, I've heard that Polly will "do it" with anybody, but this
    is ridiculous... :-)
    
    --- jerry
466.2Hmmm ...MORRIS::SLABOUNTYA Momentary Lapse of ReasonThu Jan 14 1988 09:3512
    
        RE: .1 
                       8^)
    
        RE: .0
                       This is a serious question:  could it mean that
                       the person in question also does it with animals?
                       If not, then I don't know what else could be
                       considered.
    
                                                           Shawn L.
    
466.3Who's a pretty boy, then?WELSWS::MANNIONThis land ain&#039;t _her_ landThu Jan 14 1988 10:226
    Polly put the condom on
    Polly put the condom on
    Polly put the condom on
    We'll all have tea.
    
    Phillip
466.4Where's the action???GRNDAD::STONERoyThu Jan 14 1988 15:2817
    Re: .0   ..."polysexuals"
    
    My dictionary defines the prefix _poly-_ as:
    
         1. More than one; many.  2. More than ususal.
    
    It sounds like an orgy to me!!
    
    
    >> Are we beginning to develop something new?  :-P
    
    Are you afraid that you may be missing out on something?  {:^(
    
    (I think orgies have a history commensurate with the availability
    of wine and lechers.)   }8^)

   
466.5Poly implies more than two...SLTERO::KENAHGang aft a-gleyThu Jan 14 1988 19:0610
    Once read this description:
    
    	"I'm trisexual..."
                              
    
    	"I'll try anything sexual."
    
    					(-: andrew :-)
    
        
466.6INK::KALLISHas anybody lost a shoggoth?Thu Jan 14 1988 20:3611
    Re .5 (Andrew):
    
>                      -< Poly implies more than two... >-
 
    Indeed.  Now, here's a problem -- even if we include unusual practices,
    such as "liaisons" with critters, in any animal above the sponges,
    there are two clearly defined genders.  I suppose if we locate a
    true hermaphrodite, we might make a _slight_ case for three; but
    again, that "third" would really be a synthesis odf the other two.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.   
466.7Best of both worlds ?OCKER::GILLARDDesk: Wastebasket with drawersFri Jan 15 1988 06:479
Re: .6
> ... in any animal above the sponges, there are two clearly defined genders.

Hmmmm, not so Steve.  The Hyena changes its sex every six months: half the
year it is male, half the year it is female.  Having said that, I accept your
point that this hermaphrodicity is merely the presence of two sexual natures
rather than of a distinct third nature.

Henry Gillard - TSC Sydney
466.8Do it rightCLARID::PETERSE Unibus PlurumFri Jan 15 1988 09:227
Perhaps Polysexual is the "real" word for the more familiar term "Polyfilla"



Or then again, perhaps not	:-(

	Steve
466.9a thesisRTOEU2::JPHIPPSI&#039;m only going to say this once !Fri Jan 15 1988 11:3728
    Re .7
    So *that's* why they laugh so much !
    
    
    Polysexual . We have men , women , animals and plastic substitues.
                          |      |         |              |
    For a man -           |      |         |              |
                   homosexual  heterosexual|              |
                          |      |         |              |
                          |      |         |              |
                          ---||---         |              |
                             ||            |              |
                             \/            |              |
                          bisexual      pervert         lonely
                              |            |              |
                              |            |              |
                              -----------------------------
                                        \  |  /
                                         \ | /
                                          \|/
                                           |
                                       polysexual
                                       
    
    
                          
    John J
    
466.10Old wives' taleMINAR::BISHOPFri Jan 15 1988 16:2613
    re .7:
    
    No. Hyenas do not change sex.  It is true that female hyenas
    have large clitorises and pseudo-scrotal swellings, thus making
    them look like the males, but the idea that hyenas are either
    all-male or switch sexes is not true.
    
    Various articles have been written about hyenas--there was one
    in Scientific American not too long ago, I believe.  The current
    hypothesis explaining the physical similarity of the sexes'
    equipment is that it functions as a social signaling device.
    
    					-John Bishop
466.11i'll resist noncouth comments here ...ERASER::KALLISHas anybody lost a shoggoth?Fri Jan 15 1988 17:128
    re .7 (John):
    
    >hypothesis explaining the physical similarity of the sexes'
    >equipment is that it functions as a social signaling device.
     
    Protect me from such a society! :-D
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.
466.12No mammal hermaphroditesCOMICS::DEMORGANRichard De Morgan, UK CSC/CSMon Jan 18 1988 16:114
    Re .10
    
    As far as I know, no mammals are naturally hermaprodite. For
    hermaprhodites see snail and worms.
466.13or seahorses (but not uVAX I :-)REGENT::EPSTEINBruce EpsteinTue Jan 19 1988 03:290
466.14Pontem factorHEART::KNOWLESBrevity is the soul of wiThu Jan 21 1988 13:5313
    Here's a mutation; tho' I suspect the mutation occurred from the start
    as soon as the verb was coined on the basis of the root noun (no
    research - the Library in this benighted building doesn't have a decent
    dictionary): 
    
    `Pontifex' (the Pope) means `bridge-builder'.  The Pope is supposed
    to build a bridge between Heaven and Earth. At the same time, the
    Pope's _ex_cathedra_ pronouncements are binding.
    
    So when someone pontificates, he's laying down the law - not
    by any means building bridges.
    
    bob
466.15YIPPEE::LIRONFri Jan 22 1988 11:049
    Had a look in my old Latin dictionaries last night ... 
    
    'Pontifex' is classical for the name of a sort of priest in 
    Roman times; there's nothing to indicate a correlation with 
    'pons,-tis' (bridge); there's nothing against it either. 
    
    Sometimes books help, sometimes they don't ...
    
    	roger    
466.16HEART::KNOWLESBrevity is the soul of wiFri Jan 22 1988 13:553
    Yep.  Some etymologies go back a lot further than some dictionaries.
    
    b
466.17WOOK::LEEWook... Like &#039;Book&#039; with a &#039;W&#039;Fri Dec 09 1988 23:345
    Just for the record, the Encyclop�dia Britannica uses "polymorphous
    perversion" to refer to the malady of the folks
    labeled in previous replies as "polysexual".
    
    W
466.18We used to call them `pan-sexual'THEBAY::GOODMANThat was Zen, this is TaoFri Apr 24 1992 17:080