[AJD] Haven't seen one of these in a coon's age

Dean VP deanvp at att.net
Tue Dec 20 20:03:15 PST 2005


Louis:

Here is the definition I was using:

NOUN: Slang. An unethical, unscrupulous practitioner, especially of law.

But since I have a Western European ancestry, you might want to consider
what the American Heritage Dictionary describes as this words historical
origins. As follows:

"Calling someone a shyster might be considered libelous; knowing its
probable origin adds insult to injury. According to Gerald L. Cohen, a
student of the word, shyster is derived from the German term scheisser,
meaning literally "one who defecates," from the verb scheissen, "to
defecate," with the English suffix -ster, "one who does," substituted for
the German suffix -er, meaning the same thing. Sheisser, which is chiefly a
pejorative term, is the German equivalent of our English terms bastard and
son of a bitch. Sheisser is generally thought to have been borrowed directly
into English as the word shicer, which, among other things, is an Australian
English term for an unproductive mine or claim, a sense that is also
recorded for the word shyster."


Words have many different meanings to many different people.


Dean A. Van Peursem
Snohomish, WA 98290

Forbidden fruits create many jams!

www.deerelegacy.com

http://members.cox.net/classicweb/email.htm



-----Original Message-----
From: antique-johndeere-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
[mailto:antique-johndeere-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of
Louis R Godena
Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2005 7:23 PM
To: Antique John Deere mailing list
Subject: Re: [AJD] Haven't seen one of these in a coon's age


From: "Dean VP" <deanvp at att.net>
To: "'Antique John Deere mailing list'" 
<antique-johndeere at lists.antique-tractor.com>

> Again, I have to disagree with one of your generalizations.  I have bought
> and sold over 300 items on eBay. I have only had problems with a very few
> transactions. I do not support your accusation of the development of a
> "Nation of Shysters" at all. eBay just plain wouldn't work if that were 
> the
> case. I have found a very large majority of eBay sellers and buyers honest
> trustworthy people. I won't let a couple bad apples taint the whole
> operation.

Well, the term "shyster" means not someone who is openly dishonest, but 
rather one who is miserly, mean-spiritedness, and generally vexatious and 
small-minded.   It's more a state of mind or *Gestalt*, if you will.   Or, 
maybe I am just mourning what was once a nation of farms and industry and 
when America produced something besides hamburgers and lawyers.

Louis G 


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