read the manual

[realthog]

Today I registered for the first time what it said on the inside of the old cardboard box my Babe designated some while ago as a wood-carrier:

 

Instant eruption of paranoia. I mean, I thought I'd been getting it right, but perhaps all these years people have been too polite to tell me . . .

Comments

[sarcobatus.livejournal.com]

LOL! Saint Pamela can be a subtle girl.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

A is for?

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

*tea explosion*

[quilterbear.livejournal.com]

*gasp after nearly spewing coffee*

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

He that loves glass without g, take away l and that is he?

[hutch0.livejournal.com]

I hope it's being handled with care, regardless of which way up it is...

[dqg-neal.livejournal.com]

I believe I have pills to deal with that.

But my ass always needs to be handled with care. And I believe I usually need to know which end is down, not up. *grin*

[elfie-harly.livejournal.com]

"Anus" is Latin for "old woman".

True story.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

I thought it was Latin for "ring" -- certainly this is what a succession of teachers told me in Latin classes. (My, was I bad in that subject! The noun anus was one of the few that, for obvious reasons, I learned pretty easily.)

[realthog.livejournal.com]

She can?

[realthog.livejournal.com]

What does an apple have to do with this?

[realthog.livejournal.com]

My apologies!

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Tch, tch.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

You mean he has a glass without gin and lime in it?

[realthog.livejournal.com]

I've bought a pair of kid gloves specially for this chore.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

"But my ass always needs to be handled with care."

I am not sure this is a piece of information I will ever need to know.

[sarcobatus.livejournal.com]

It took you a while to notice the wording on the wood box, didn't it? I'd say she's indirect and subtle.

[(Anonymous)]

[quote]I thought it was Latin for "ring"...[/quote]

Cassell's Latin-English gives:

anularius -a -um, of a ring: m. as subst. a ring-maker.
anulus -i, m. a ring; anulus equestris, the badge of knighthood at Rome.

[1]anus -i, m. the fundament.
[2]anus -us, f. an old woman; also used like adj., old.

Which isn't to say that [1]anus and anulus aren't related.

[elfie-harly.livejournal.com]

[quote]I thought it was Latin for "ring"...[/quote]

Cassell's Latin-English gives:

anularius -a -um, of a ring: m. as subst. a ring-maker.
anulus -i, m. a ring; anulus equestris, the badge of knighthood at Rome.

[1]anus -i, m. the fundament.
[2]anus -us, f. an old woman; also used like adj., old.

Which isn't to say that [1]anus and anulus aren't related.

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Yet if you look here (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/anus#Latin), which was the first site Google came up with (I've not checked others) you get:

Noun
ānus (genitive ānī); m, second declension
a ring
an anus

Derived terms
ānulāris
ānulārius
ānulus

[realthog.livejournal.com]

Ah! The riddle's getting solved! There are two nouns "anus" in Latin, the former m. and the latter f. See http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2008/9/8/0234/35520:

+++++

anus, -i, m. anus, rectum; ring
anus, -us, f. old woman, hag

The first one has a long a and the second one has a short a, which helps distinguish them in poetry. The word "annulus" comes from anulus, a diminutive of anus meaning just "ring".

+++++

I'd've thought that distinction would be useful not just in poetry. "Did you really help a rectum across the road, Brutus?"

[realthog.livejournal.com]

There are two nouns "anus" in Latin, the former m. and the latter f.

Oh, I see you got that part in your comment. Sorry for my carelessness.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Aardvark, surely?