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squirrelly

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  squirrelly William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-08-25 18:17 -0400
    Re: squirrelly "Brian M. Scott" <b.scott@csuohio.edu> - 2015-08-25 19:04 -0400
      Re: squirrelly William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-08-25 19:41 -0400
      Re: squirrelly Bill Swears <wswears@gci.net> - 2015-08-27 07:00 -0800
    Re: squirrelly djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-08-25 23:27 +0000
      Re: squirrelly "Brian M. Scott" <b.scott@csuohio.edu> - 2015-08-25 21:17 -0400
        Re: squirrelly "John F. Eldredge" <john@jfeldredge.com> - 2015-09-02 22:25 +0000
          Re: squirrelly djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-09-02 22:41 +0000
            Re: squirrelly "Brian M. Scott" <b.scott@csuohio.edu> - 2015-09-02 19:46 -0400
    Re: squirrelly "Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)" <seawasp@sgeinc.invalid.com> - 2015-08-25 22:36 -0400
    Re: squirrelly Joy Beeson <jbeeson@invalid.net.invalid> - 2015-08-25 22:57 -0300
      Re: squirrelly djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-08-26 11:36 +0000
    Re: squirrelly Jim Hetley <jhetley@hotmail.com> - 2015-08-26 04:49 -0700

#42023 — squirrelly

I think that this word has separate, almost conflicting meanings in US 
and UK.

In UK it means jittery, restless, unpredictable.

In US, especially rural US, it means cunning, a trickster, difficult to 
pin down.

Is this so?

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#42024

On Tue, 25 Aug 2015 18:17:20 -0400, William Vetter
<mdhangton@gmail.com> wrote
in<news:mripgj$37f$1@dont-email.me> in
rec.arts.sf.composition:

> I think that this word has separate, almost conflicting
> meanings in US and UK.

> In UK it means jittery, restless, unpredictable.

> In US, especially rural US, it means cunning, a
> trickster, difficult to pin down.

> Is this so?

Not in my experience: I know only the first sense.

Brian
-- 
It was the neap tide, when the baga venture out of their
holes to root for sandtatties.  The waves whispered
rhythmically over the packed sand: haggisss, haggisss,
haggisss.

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#42026

Brian M. Scott wrote:
> On Tue, 25 Aug 2015 18:17:20 -0400, William Vetter
> <mdhangton@gmail.com> wrote
> in<news:mripgj$37f$1@dont-email.me> in
> rec.arts.sf.composition:
>
>> I think that this word has separate, almost conflicting
>> meanings in US and UK.
>
>> In UK it means jittery, restless, unpredictable.
>
>> In US, especially rural US, it means cunning, a
>> trickster, difficult to pin down.
>
>> Is this so?
>
> Not in my experience: I know only the first sense.
>
When I was about 25, I went on a few dates with a woman who lived 
somewhere near Lewsiton, PA, deceased father had a dairy farm that was 
sold, told me she was a fan of Green Acres.  I was able to conceal my 
mirth, and I told her that I saw Eva Gabor on David Letterman Show, and 
that she overwhelmed him when he tried to ridiculize her like he did 
with the celebrities.  She nodded her head and replied, "She's 
squirrelly."

That was the first time I heard this usage.  I took it to mean that 
squirrels are considered difficult to shoot.
This meaning is in the American Heritage Dictionary I have.


The other thing I remember from her is that she had Amish neighbors, 
and, you know, they generally don't allow modern machinery in their 
lives, but they'd keep knocking on her door to ask, "May I use your 
appliance?" which was what they did whenever they wanted to make a 
phone call.

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#42032

On 8/25/2015 3:04 PM, Brian M. Scott wrote:
> On Tue, 25 Aug 2015 18:17:20 -0400, William Vetter
> <mdhangton@gmail.com> wrote
> in<news:mripgj$37f$1@dont-email.me> in
> rec.arts.sf.composition:
>
>> I think that this word has separate, almost conflicting
>> meanings in US and UK.
>
>> In UK it means jittery, restless, unpredictable.
>
>> In US, especially rural US, it means cunning, a
>> trickster, difficult to pin down.
>
>> Is this so?
>
> Not in my experience: I know only the first sense.
>
> Brian
>
I've heard it used in the second, but I think even that is more in the 
nature of first sense plus malign.

Bill

-- 
Bill Swears
http://www.billswears.com/
Zook Country - http://twilighttimesbooks.com/ZookCountry_ch1.html
	Also at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other fine ebook emporia.
Puppies - http://www.mtaonline.net/~wswears/
Opinions - http://wswears.livejournal.com/

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#42025

In article <mripgj$37f$1@dont-email.me>,
William Vetter  <mdhangton@gmail.com> wrote:
>I think that this word has separate, almost conflicting meanings in US 
>and UK.
>
>In UK it means jittery, restless, unpredictable.
>
>In US, especially rural US, it means cunning, a trickster, difficult to 
>pin down.
>
>Is this so?

In my experience (73 years in the US, but mostly in the West) it
means crazy.

-- 
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

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#42027

On Tue, 25 Aug 2015 23:27:45 GMT, Dorothy J Heydt
<djheydt@kithrup.com> wrote
in<news:ntnvu9.1o0G@kithrup.com> in
rec.arts.sf.composition:

> In article <mripgj$37f$1@dont-email.me>,
> William Vetter  <mdhangton@gmail.com> wrote:

>> I think that this word has separate, almost conflicting
>> meanings in US and UK.

>> In UK it means jittery, restless, unpredictable.

>> In US, especially rural US, it means cunning, a
>> trickster, difficult to pin down.

>> Is this so?

> In my experience (73 years in the US, but mostly in the
> West) it means crazy.

In mine it’s not that strong: it’s ‘erratic, unpredictable,
likely to act without due regard for possible consequences
to self and others’.

Brian
-- 
It was the neap tide, when the baga venture out of their
holes to root for sandtatties.  The waves whispered
rhythmically over the packed sand: haggisss, haggisss,
haggisss.

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#42050

On Tue, 25 Aug 2015 21:17:52 -0400, Brian M. Scott wrote:

> On Tue, 25 Aug 2015 23:27:45 GMT, Dorothy J Heydt <djheydt@kithrup.com>
> wrote in<news:ntnvu9.1o0G@kithrup.com> in rec.arts.sf.composition:
> 
>> In article <mripgj$37f$1@dont-email.me>,
>> William Vetter  <mdhangton@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>>> I think that this word has separate, almost conflicting meanings in US
>>> and UK.
> 
>>> In UK it means jittery, restless, unpredictable.
> 
>>> In US, especially rural US, it means cunning, a trickster, difficult
>>> to pin down.
> 
>>> Is this so?
> 
>> In my experience (73 years in the US, but mostly in the West) it means
>> crazy.
> 
> In mine it’s not that strong: it’s ‘erratic, unpredictable,
> likely to act without due regard for possible consequences to self and
> others’.
> 
> Brian

Well, some people use the term "crazy" to mean what you described.  It 
certainly fits the personality of the squirrels I have encountered.

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#42051

In article <d4pb9uFntedU1@mid.individual.net>,
John F. Eldredge <john@jfeldredge.com> wrote:
>On Tue, 25 Aug 2015 21:17:52 -0400, Brian M. Scott wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 25 Aug 2015 23:27:45 GMT, Dorothy J Heydt <djheydt@kithrup.com>
>> wrote in<news:ntnvu9.1o0G@kithrup.com> in rec.arts.sf.composition:
>> 
>>> In article <mripgj$37f$1@dont-email.me>,
>>> William Vetter  <mdhangton@gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>>>> I think that this word has separate, almost conflicting meanings in US
>>>> and UK.
>> 
>>>> In UK it means jittery, restless, unpredictable.
>> 
>>>> In US, especially rural US, it means cunning, a trickster, difficult
>>>> to pin down.
>> 
>>>> Is this so?
>> 
>>> In my experience (73 years in the US, but mostly in the West) it means
>>> crazy.
>> 
>> In mine it’s not that strong: it’s ‘erratic, unpredictable,
>> likely to act without due regard for possible consequences to self and
>> others’.
>> 
>> Brian
>
>Well, some people use the term "crazy" to mean what you described.  It 
>certainly fits the personality of the squirrels I have encountered.

Perhaps you've come closer to squirrels than I have.  I've met
the ones on the UC Berkeley Campus, who are decidedly not tame,
but experience with humans who feed them have made them bold.
They'll come to your hand for food, but better to put the food
down on the ground lest they take your fingertip off with the
peanut.

Then there are the squirrels who live in and about my neighbor's
300-year-old oak tree.  Mostly they just frisk around and run
along the telephone wires, but in acorn season they have
ferocious battles with the blue jays over who gets to harvest
Every. Single. Acorn.  It gets pretty noisy.  If I were the size
of a squirrel, I'd run.

-- 
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

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#42053

On Wed, 2 Sep 2015 22:41:53 GMT, Dorothy J Heydt
<djheydt@kithrup.com> wrote
in<news:nu2n1t.1B19@kithrup.com> in
rec.arts.sf.composition:

[...]

> Then there are the squirrels who live in and about my
> neighbor's 300-year-old oak tree.  Mostly they just
> frisk around and run along the telephone wires, but in
> acorn season they have ferocious battles with the blue
> jays over who gets to harvest Every. Single. Acorn.  It
> gets pretty noisy.  If I were the size of a squirrel,
> I'd run.

The aquerne will have his acorn, the íkorni his akarn.

Ratatoskr segir: „Vér íkornar eigum akarn all.“
Skrækskaðar segja ekki, en skrækja hátt.

Brian
-- 
It was the neap tide, when the baga venture out of their
holes to root for sandtatties.  The waves whispered
rhythmically over the packed sand: haggisss, haggisss,
haggisss.

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#42028

On 8/25/15 6:17 PM, William Vetter wrote:
> I think that this word has separate, almost conflicting meanings in US
> and UK.
>
> In UK it means jittery, restless, unpredictable.
>
> In US, especially rural US, it means cunning, a trickster, difficult to
> pin down.
>
> Is this so?

	Not in my experience. Everywhere I've encountered it it meant "crazy", 
usually in the "not too dangerous" sense rather than the "axe murderer" 
sense, but definitely 'round the bend.


-- 
                      Sea Wasp
                        /^\
                        ;;;	
Website: http://www.grandcentralarena.com  Blog: 
http://seawasp.livejournal.com

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#42029

On Tue, 25 Aug 2015 18:17:20 -0400, William Vetter
<mdhangton@gmail.com> wrote:

> I think that this word has separate, almost conflicting meanings in US 
> and UK.
> 
> In UK it means jittery, restless, unpredictable.
> 
> In US, especially rural US, it means cunning, a trickster, difficult to 
> pin down.
> 
> Is this so?

I haven't heard the "clever" sense, but I have heard "squirrelly" used
to mean "unpredictable"; I could see it sliding into meaning
"unpredictable on purpose".


-- 
Joy Beeson, U.S.A., mostly central Hoosier, 
some Northern Indiana, Upstate New York, Florida, and Hawaii
joy beeson at comcast dot net        http://wlweather.net/PAGEJOY/
The above message is a Usenet post. 
I don't recall having given anyone permission to use it on a Web site.

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#42030

In article <f17qta5ktjfnntrjhnheljtlhf5ltq9qlu@4ax.com>,
Joy Beeson  <jbeeson@invalid.net.invalid> wrote:
>On Tue, 25 Aug 2015 18:17:20 -0400, William Vetter
><mdhangton@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I think that this word has separate, almost conflicting meanings in US 
>> and UK.
>> 
>> In UK it means jittery, restless, unpredictable.
>> 
>> In US, especially rural US, it means cunning, a trickster, difficult to 
>> pin down.
>> 
>> Is this so?
>
>I haven't heard the "clever" sense, but I have heard "squirrelly" used
>to mean "unpredictable"; I could see it sliding into meaning
>"unpredictable on purpose".

I haven't seen that interpretation.  I suspect "squirrely" of
being another way of saying "nuts."  Which might actually be its
derivation; I'm not going to look it up at 4:30 AM.  I envision
"sqauirrely" as the guy who's receiving signals from Mars in his
dentures, in spite ot the aluminum foil hat that's suppose to
prevent this.

-- 
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

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#42031

On Tuesday, August 25, 2015 at 6:18:59 PM UTC-4, William Vetter wrote:
> I think that this word has separate, almost conflicting meanings in US 
> and UK.
> 
> In UK it means jittery, restless, unpredictable.
> 
> In US, especially rural US, it means cunning, a trickster, difficult to 
> pin down.
> 
> Is this so?

I've heard the first usage only, with an added implication of crazy.  As in, nuts.

Jim

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