[Magdalen] Prayer Request for my old friend

[Marion Thompson]

All in a manner of speaking, bluntly and without delicacy, Roger.  All 
in a manner of speaking. :-D  This form is British and dates to at least 
1919 when it appeared in Somerset Maugham's _The Moon & Sixpence_.

Marion, a pilgrim


On 1/13/2017 4:20 PM, Roger Stokes wrote:
> On 13/01/2017 15:10, Marion Thompson wrote:
>> Well, I much prefer elderly to old or senior, thank you.  In any 
>> case, my reaction has much to do with my 78-yr-old self (?!)  not 
>> keeling over just yet.  In any case, isn't it just calling a spade a 
>> bloody shovel?  It is what it is, hardly perjorative.
>
> A spade is not a shovel, of whatever type. They are different tools 
> used for different purposes, hence their different design. A spade is 
> for digging while a shovel is for moving coal or whatever from A to B 
> - hence the upturned edges which would be a hindrane in digging over a 
> patch of soil. ;-)
>
> Roger
> .
>