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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

644.0. "Meaning of Fanion ???" by YARD::BADMAN (Food is for Blimps) Wed Mar 29 1989 21:51

    Could someone with a decent dictionary tell me if there is such
    a word as "fanion" and if there is, what it means ???
    
    
    
    			Thanks,
    
    
    				Jamie.
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644.1MRED::DONHAMI'll see it when I believe it.Wed Mar 29 1989 22:076
A fanion is one of those little flags that surveyors use.

Scrabble game?

Perry
644.2Thank you.YARD::BADMANFood is for BlimpsWed Mar 29 1989 22:1614
    Cheers.
    
    No it's a word puzzle ...
    
    You had to put the same three letter word in front of the following
    words to make three new words :
    
    FARE  ION  TAIL
    
    
    
    
    				Jamie.
    
644.3AITG::DERAMODaniel V. {AITG,ZFC}:: D'EramoWed Mar 29 1989 23:203
	What's a fantail?

	Dan
644.4well...IOSG::LAWMThat's just the way it is!Wed Mar 29 1989 23:268
    
    Fantail:  a tail shaped like a fan(!); a variety of domestic pigeon
    with tail feathers spread out like a fan; a feature having parts
    radiating from a centre (architecture)
    
    Mat. (and his Chambers English Dictionary)
    *:o)
    
644.5FWIWSKIVT::ROGERSDefend Firearms - Defeat Bush!Wed Mar 29 1989 23:397
The primary usage of Fantail that I have seen is the aft-most portion of a 
ship - the semicircular (or fan shaped) deck in the stern.

The only Fanion that I remember was Fritz (or was it Franz?) Fanion, a Marxist 
sociologist of the sixties.  I think he wrote "The Wretched of the Earth".

Larry
644.6Not exactly Blue Jacket's Manual...SEAPEN::PHIPPSDTN 225-4959Wed Mar 29 1989 23:448
        I think fantail is the most southerly part of the main deck of
        a ship sailing north. It used to be the place you didn't want
        to pull duty because that's where the garbage was disposed of.

        Now the modern navy ties it all up in plastic bags and saves it
        till port when it can be left to be hauled away.

        Sailors????
644.7Things nauticalCLARID::HODSMANNetwork Maintenance Services VBOThu Mar 30 1989 17:1113
   re .6
    This has nothing to do with fanions either but its kinda nautical
    too
    
    I once visited HMS VICTORY in Portsmouth UK (Nelsons ship at
    Trafalgar).The guide said that in days of yore before
    a battle all the good furniture (dining tables, chairs, sideboards
    etc) was put in a rowing boat and towed behind during the battle.
    It seems that there was a gentlemans agreement between combattants
    not to shoot up each others Chippendale.
    
    Since then, whenever I see a painting of a sea battle I look 
    for the furniture but I have never seen any
644.8A real explanationUBOHUB::BROOKS_RThu Mar 30 1989 21:421
    You're all wrong, its another word for "SIT".
644.9Oh en, no eyeRABBIT::SEIDMANAaron SeidmanFri Mar 31 1989 01:0110
   RE: 644.5

>The only Fanion that I remember was Fritz (or was it Franz?) Fanion, a Marxist
>sociologist of the sixties.  I think he wrote "The Wretched of the Earth".

    Franz Fanon is the name and _The Wretched of the Earth_ is the book.

    You get partial credit :^)

    Aaron
644.10should be 'f*nion' at leastMARVIN::MACHINFri Mar 31 1989 14:405
    re: .8
    
    Careful -- that's rude over here. Funny, but rude.
    
    Richard.
644.11Sorry?UBOHUB::BROOKS_RFri Mar 31 1989 19:513
    RE: .10
    
    Where's here?
644.12a bit jingocentric, I'm afraidMARVIN::MACHINFri Mar 31 1989 20:094
    Apologies to the rest of Europe -- I thought 'here' would be clear from
    'there'. I meant the U.K. 
    
    Richard.
644.13If you have a spare room and mortgage ...NEARLY::GOODENOUGHMon Apr 03 1989 21:206
644.14Pop out on the Poop and have a peep..YARD::PREECEJust a shallow hole, Moriarty.Thu Apr 06 1989 18:2912
    
    
    Back on the nautical theme.....
    
    
    "Fantail", as a name for the flat bit at the back, is, I think,
    strictly American.  Maybe that's because they already had a use
    for the word "POOP".
    
    Honest !
    
    Ian
644.15KIRKWD::FRIEDMANFri Apr 07 1989 20:562
    There is a type of guppy called a "fantail."  In this variety the
    males have large, showy, colorful tail fins.
644.16must be isolated to retain chargeLESCOM::KALLISAnger's no replacement for reason.Sat Apr 08 1989 00:347
    No, no!
    
    A fanion is an enthusiast with a surplus or deficiency of electrons.
    
    ;-)
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.
644.17I'd love to play Balderdash with you peopleTELGAR::WAKEMANLAAnother Eye Crossing Question!Sat Apr 08 1989 00:381
   
644.18fan-anionEAGLE1::EGGERSSoaring to new heightsSat Apr 08 1989 00:576
    Re: 16
    
    If you've ever seen some thoroughly charged fans, you would know
    they have a deficiency of electrons.
    
    Fanion is a contraction for fan-anion.
644.19is it trademarked?AITG::DERAMODaniel V. {AITG,ZFC}:: D'EramoSat Apr 08 1989 05:163
	What's Balderdash?

	Dan
644.20YIPPEE::LIRONSat Apr 08 1989 15:325
    Fanion is a word of ancient French, derived from "fano", a piece of
    fabric.
    The same root appears in German "Fahne", flag.
    
    Salut,   roger 
644.21Law FirmsVINO::MCGLINCHEYSancho! My Armor! My TECO Macros!Sat Apr 08 1989 20:0010
    
    
    re: .-2 "What's Balderdash?"
    
    	It's one partner in the legal firm of Poppycock and Balderdash
    	(not to be confused with Dewey, Cheatham and Howe).
    
    Ta-Dum.
    
    -- Glinch
644.22Good Party FunTELGAR::WAKEMANLAAnother Eye Crossing Question!Tue Apr 11 1989 02:5412
    The "Balderdash" to which I was refering is a game available here in
    the States.  To play the game, a player (or team) reads a word, the
    other players write "suitable" definitions on slips of paper.  Then all
    these definitions, along with the real definition, are read in random
    order, and the players "vote" on what they think is the correct
    definition.  If you guess the right definition, you get a point, if
    someone guesses your definition, you get a point.  If you started this
    whole fiasco off by reading the word and no one guesses it, you get a
    point and if you write the correct definition, you get a point, making
    this game rather pointless, but fun.
    
    Larry
644.23Grillet: an eight-weight sailboatMINAR::BISHOPTue Apr 11 1989 03:183
    Also known as "Fictionary", and you don't have to buy a kit to play
    it under either name.
    				-John Bishop
644.24`and our first word is haruspex...'IOSG::LAWMMathew Law (only *one* T), Reading UKTue Apr 11 1989 16:547
    
    We have a long-running TV programme in the UK based on the same idea,
    called "Call My Bluff".
    
    Mat.
    *:o)
    
644.25a rose by any other name...VINO::MCGLINCHEYSancho! My Armor! My TECO Macros!Tue Apr 11 1989 21:324
    
    In college, we called it "Bullsh*t".
    
    -- Glinch
644.26the same but differentMISFIT::GEMMELand now here's Mac and Tosh...Fri Apr 21 1989 23:437
    Another variation of the same theme is called "Out of Context".
    Instead of words there are quotes which are attributed to various
    people.  Pick some fake ones and the real one.  Same basic scoring,
    1 for two 2 for the wrong....
    The game somehow seems funnier with a few drinks...
    
    Steve