[AT] old expressions

captneb captneb at agristar.net
Wed Aug 2 09:03:36 PDT 2006


My friend Jan Brunvand came up with the misnomer urban legend and I have
chewed on him about it ever since.  They are obviously as rural as they are
urban; he lives in a city (Salt Lake), heard them there, and simply presumed
that they were more urban than rural.  A more accurate term would indeed be
"modern legend," but arguing with language is rarely a productive activity.
Thing is, old legends were meant to provide explanations in a world where
there were so few answers and so many questions; modern legends give us
mystery and surprise where there is far too little of that.

Roger Welsch (who was a folklore researcher and professor before he became a
MTD....Master Tractor Dabbler)

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Larry D. Goss" <rlgoss at evansville.net>
To: "'Antique tractor email discussion group'"
<at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2006 10:35 AM
Subject: RE: [AT] old expressions


> Right, Mike.  There's even a word for the situation -- FOAF.  That
> stands for "friend of a friend" which is one of the hallmarks of urban
> legends.
>
> Larry
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com
> [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Mike Sloane
> Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2006 9:40 AM
> To: Antique tractor email discussion group
> Subject: Re: [AT] old expressions
>
> Oh, I wasn't criticizing you, Charlie. What I meant to point out was
> that a lot of stuff that goes around the Internet gets taken for utter
> truth when it just started out as a rumor or myth. Like the fact that
> you have to use only non-detergent single weight oil in old tractors or
> that putting glycol antifreeze in an old cooling system will make it
> leak or that the only fluid you can use in an IH hydraulic system is
> Hy-Tran, or that Champion plugs are no good and use only AC plugs (or
> the other way around).
>
> I get at least one message a day with some "urban myth" that comes with
> the header saying something like "this is true - I heard it from a
> friend who says it was verified by his brother-in-law's buddy's wife's
> hairdresser's uncle". The one about the brass monkey's balls was part of
>
> a full page of similar stuff that went around the Internet a few years
> back, and every one of the "true histories" of the sayings was just pure
>
> imagination on the part of the author. I suspect he/she sent it out just
>
> to see what would happen and how many people would just accept them
> without question. And the same page of items keeps coming around every
> so often. In cases like that, a healthy dose of skepticism is in order.
>
> Mike
>
> charlie hill wrote:
> > Hi Mike,
> >
> > First off I never said it had anything to do with the US Navy.  I
> always
> > assumed the story came from pre-revolution ships of the British and
> > Spanish Naval forces and possibly a few pirate ships that sailed the
> > seas near my home.  However, with that said I will defer the "experts"
>
> > on your web site and accept it as a good story with no proven basis
> in
> > fact.  Neither one of us will ever know for a fact which is true now
> > will we?
> >
> > Charlie
> > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Sloane"
> <mikesloane at verizon.net>
> > To: "Antique tractor email discussion group"
> <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> > Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2006 8:45 AM
> > Subject: Re: [AT] old expressions
> >
> >
> >> Sorry, Charlie, but that story simply is another myth that has been
> >> passed around the Internet and no basis in fact. See:
> >> <http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/b/brassmonkeys.htm>
> >>
> >> Like most of the expressions we have been trading back and forth, it
> >> is just something that sounds vaguely funny and makes otherwise
> boring
> >> conversations more interesting.
> >>
> >> Mike
> >>
>
> -- 
> Mike Sloane
> Allamuchy NJ
> <mikesloane at verizon.net>
> Website: <www.geocities.com/mikesloane>
> Images: <www.fotki.com/mikesloane>
>
> We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty.
> When the loyal opposition dies,
> I think the soul of America dies with it.
> Edward R. Murrow
>
>
> -- 
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