Post #1096320
2026-04-10 08:11 UTC
Replies (3)
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@cstross@wandering.shop 2026-04-10 08:20
@gmh Yes: the modern near-universal misunderstanding of "let the cat out of the bag". (It referred to Royal Navy discipline during the 18th century: the cat in question was the cat o'nine tails, for punishment floggings. Not a covert feline.)
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@rochelimit@beige.party 2026-04-10 17:09
@NewtonMark That seems to be an older USian idiom. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_whole_nine_yards @bloke_zero @cstross @gmh
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@gabe@mendeddrum.org 2026-04-10 10:25
@gmh but that's the point, no? Absent the existence of external reference points, nevertheless some points must be defined as the border between one thing and the other, and the idiom makes the underlying arbitrariness of the specific choice quite clear. Age of consent / maturity is an obvious example, in each of its specifics. Ten is too early, thirty perhaps a bit late, but e.g. for drinking beer, Germany says 16, the UK 18, the USA 21. Lines in the sand, nevertheless legally quite strict.