[Magdalen] pencils

[Charles Wohlers]

Well, the Michigan motto is: Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam, circumspice - 
which means "If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you". So maybe 
"Michigander" is appropriate.

Chad Wohlers
former Michigander, but now in
Woodbury, VT USA
chadwohl at satucket.com



-----Original Message----- 
From: Lynn Ronkainen
Sent: Tuesday, September 08, 2015 2:12 PM
To: magdalen at herberthouse.org
Subject: Re: [Magdalen] pencils

... or maybe that 'we' like to gander around the state??

(SO I GOOGLED...)

phrase, “take a gander” is an expression meaning “take a look”, “get a peek”,
“check it out”, etc.
<snip>
this usage is referencing the fact that geese have long necks and like to
poke their heads just about everywhere (literally, watch out if you’re
around a gaggle of people friendly geese, particularly if you’re wearing a
dress or just if you’re a guy and want to keep your sensitive bits unpoked).

So, basically, geese appear to be a bunch of rubberneckers. Thus, to “take a
gander” meant to “stretch your neck and see”, as a long-necked goose would.

In the beginning of this sort of “look” definition of “gander”, the word was
often used as a verb, rather than in the phrase “take a gander” where it is
used in its noun form. But starting around 1914, this switched and over the
next several decades the noun form became more common and today hearing
someone use the verb form is fairly rare.


THIS INCLUDED JUST FOR FUN, FROM SAME INTERNET SITE (LOVE THE LAST ONE WITH
THE NAMES FOR VARIOUS CONFIGURATIONS):
Bonus Facts:
◾Around the 17th century, “gander” also was used as a verb to mean “to
wander foolishly/aimlessly”.
◾Most migratory geese will migrate at altitudes of many thousands of feet,
but the real king of them all is the Bar-Headed goose, which has been
observed flying as high as 30,000 feet (9144 meters) as the birds migrate
over the Himalayas.  Another super-high flyer is Whooper Swans, which have
been observed flying as high as 29,000 feet (8839 meters).
◾So those are the highest flying birds, what are the fastest?  That record
belongs to the White-throated Needletail which is capable of flying in a
straight path as fast as 105 mph (170 km/h).  The fastest diving bird is the
Peregrine Falcon, which has been recorded diving at speeds up to 200 mph
(322 km/h).
◾Many people often misuse the word “gaggle” thinking it refers to a group of
geese in general.  In fact, it technically just means a group of geese on
the ground.  When they are in the air, they are called a “skein”, when
flying in a V, or a “plump”, when flying in a close-knit group.


NOW EVEN MORE CURIOUS WHERE THE MONIKER CAME FROM!
LYNN

website: www.ichthysdesigns.com

When I stand before God at the end of my life I would hope that I have not a
single bit of talent left and could say, "I used everything You gave me."
attributed to Erma Bombeck
"Either Freedom for all or stop talking about Freedom at all" from a talk
by Richard Rohr

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Marion Thompson" <marionwhitevale at gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, September 08, 2015 12:46 PM
To: <magdalen at herberthouse.org>
Subject: Re: [Magdalen] pencils

> I'll bet it so that it helps people pronounce it more consistently.
>
> Marion, a pilgrim
>
> On 9/8/2015 1:44 PM, Scott Knitter wrote:
>> On Tue, Sep 8, 2015 at 12:31 PM, Cantor03--- via Magdalen
>> <magdalen at herberthouse.org> wrote:
>>> There is some of the same awkwardness in handling flatware,
>>> I've noticed.
>> I remember arriving in Michigan in first grade (we moved in midyear, I
>> think...quite disruptive) to find that Michigan kids mostly used a
>> fork like a shovel, clutching it in their fists. Even back then I
>> thought we Wisconsinites must have been ahead of the Michiganians.
>> (Hm...I just noticed that the official newspaper term for someone from
>> Michigan isn't known to Microsoft's spelling checker, but
>> "Michigander" is. I've never understood where that 'd' comes from and
>> never liked it.)
>>
>>
>