Date: Tue, 16 Jun 1998 12:29:37 -0500 (CDT)
From: abeck@falcon.org
To: John Springer 
Subject: Re: door nails?
MIME-Version: 1.0

On Mon, 15 Jun 1998, John Springer wrote:

> 
> Well, you are the first person in two years to step up to this question of
> semantics and take the door by the handle, so to speak.
just label me mr anal

> I grew up in Idaho, and we do tend to mix our metaphors there, being mostly
> dumb potato farmers and such.  (It IS possible to measure this.)
i came from a small norweigian town who`s primary ocupation, up until the
1960s, was fishing.. followed by a close second "logging" - needless to
say, Im well versed in mixed metaphors, mixing metaphors, and mixaphoring
messes.  Your doornails - doorknobs muddle waseasy to spot for this "old"
pro..

> I have tested your hypothesis: that the correct metaphor involves knobs,
> not nails, and found general agreement.
I believe the doorknob association stemmed from the 1800s of england, but
this is a wild speculation and probably proves that im gullible.

> I can only offer to include an apology to the doornail lobby in a
> corrective action notice on my web site.  I think most people will be able
> to accept the low intelligence of a door knob.  A door nail presented some
> more interesting opportunities, necessarily having a point and all.

I completely agree with the doornail angle.  If i were attacked in an alley,
and had a choice between a doornail and a doorknob, i`d probably have to
take the doornail.  Not that it`d matter, because either choice pretty much
insures that i`d never talk to another living soul again.

Thanks for the reply

-- Aaron

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