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Usenet Posted 22 years ago
Usage
Nettles
I can't believe no-one has clocked 'Be Nice to Nettles Week' (19-28 May) http://www.nettles.org.uk/
Despite what would be, for a pedant, the crippling handicap of running for a week and a half, 'Be Nice to Nettles Week' is knocking them in aisles internationally.
Their etymology is at variance with OED. They say "It is possible that the 'nettle' is derived from Noedl meaning a needle - referring to the stinging mechanism in the nettle leaves. Others suggest that it comes from the Latin nere and other similar old European verbs meaning to sew." where OED think "(Common Teut.: OE. netele, netle (and netel) fem. = Fris. nettel,"
They have a modern illustration of 'grasp the nettle' in "Mick McCarthy will be hard pressed to devise team talks as imaginative as Howard Wilkinson's. Before Sunderland played Liverpool last December, McCarthy's predecessor arrived in the home dressing room carrying a bag of nettles. First Wilkinson demonstrated that squeeezing the plants slowly in his palm stung painfully. Then he grasped the nettles swiftly and firmly, before explaining that this approach hurt less."
Though they miss 'to *** on a nettle' one of our great British sayings as in (OED) : " 1592 Greene Upst. Courtier B3, All these women that you heare brawling+and skolding thus, have seuerally pist on this bush of nettles."
BTW, if I am correct, as I believe I am, that Aaron Hill is the earliest recorded user of the 'grasping' idea, why does he never get the credit?
"Tender-hearted stroke a nettle,
And it stings you for your pains,
Grasp it like a man of mettle,
And it soft as silk remains.
'Tis the same with common natures,
Use them kindly they rebel,
But be rough as nutmeg grater,
And the rogues obey you well."
(Said to be verses written on a window pane in Scotland with a diamond) 'Grasping the nettle' used to be a buzz phrase in my Civil Service days and I often wondered how many of the senior users knew the second verse to the poem. I suspect quite a few did and it was something of an in-joke.
John Dean
Oxford
Despite what would be, for a pedant, the crippling handicap of running for a week and a half, 'Be Nice to Nettles Week' is knocking them in aisles internationally.
Their etymology is at variance with OED. They say "It is possible that the 'nettle' is derived from Noedl meaning a needle - referring to the stinging mechanism in the nettle leaves. Others suggest that it comes from the Latin nere and other similar old European verbs meaning to sew." where OED think "(Common Teut.: OE. netele, netle (and netel) fem. = Fris. nettel,"
They have a modern illustration of 'grasp the nettle' in "Mick McCarthy will be hard pressed to devise team talks as imaginative as Howard Wilkinson's. Before Sunderland played Liverpool last December, McCarthy's predecessor arrived in the home dressing room carrying a bag of nettles. First Wilkinson demonstrated that squeeezing the plants slowly in his palm stung painfully. Then he grasped the nettles swiftly and firmly, before explaining that this approach hurt less."
Though they miss 'to *** on a nettle' one of our great British sayings as in (OED) : " 1592 Greene Upst. Courtier B3, All these women that you heare brawling+and skolding thus, have seuerally pist on this bush of nettles."
BTW, if I am correct, as I believe I am, that Aaron Hill is the earliest recorded user of the 'grasping' idea, why does he never get the credit?
"Tender-hearted stroke a nettle,
And it stings you for your pains,
Grasp it like a man of mettle,
And it soft as silk remains.
'Tis the same with common natures,
Use them kindly they rebel,
But be rough as nutmeg grater,
And the rogues obey you well."
(Said to be verses written on a window pane in Scotland with a diamond) 'Grasping the nettle' used to be a buzz phrase in my Civil Service days and I often wondered how many of the senior users knew the second verse to the poem. I suspect quite a few did and it was something of an in-joke.
John Dean
Oxford
Top answer
[/nq] I always liked him as Bergerac; all that running around gasping and sweating hardly a bed of roses. As Barnaby, though, he's resting on his laurels. Can't blame him at his age.
- [/nq] I always liked him as Bergerac; all that running around gasping and sweating hardly a bed of roses.
- As Barnaby, though, he's resting on his laurels.
- Can't blame him at his age.
- Philip Eden
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15 Answers
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[nq:1]I can't believe no-one has clocked 'Be Nice to Nettles Week'(19-28 May) http://www.nettles.org.uk/ Despite what would be, for a pedant, the crippling handicap ofrunning for a week and a half, 'Be Nice to Nettles Week' is knocking themin aisles internationally.[/nq]
I always liked him as Bergerac; all that running aro
I always liked him as Bergerac; all that running aro
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[nq:1]I can't believe no-one has clocked 'Be Nice to Nettles Week' (19-28 May) http://www.nettles.org.uk/[/nq]
Well, Americans hardly ever think about them. Although that site says "Nettles can be found in all temperate areas in the northern hemisphere," I've lived in five different regions of the US and have visited other
Well, Americans hardly ever think about them. Although that site says "Nettles can be found in all temperate areas in the northern hemisphere," I've lived in five different regions of the US and have visited other
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[nq:2]I can't believe no-one has clocked 'Be Nice to Nettles Week' (19-28 May) http://www.nettles.org.uk/[/nq]
[nq:1]Well, Americans hardly ever think about them. Although that site says "Nettles can be found in all temperate areas in ... stinging nettle there. Poison oak and poison ivy are what we watch for, there. What s
[nq:1]Well, Americans hardly ever think about them. Although that site says "Nettles can be found in all temperate areas in ... stinging nettle there. Poison oak and poison ivy are what we watch for, there. What s
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[nq:2]Well, Americans hardly ever think about them. Although that site ... we watch for, there. What say our other US participants?[/nq]
[nq:1]There are definitely Stinging Nettles in Indiana. Whether or not they are the same nettles as found in England I don't know. Purdue University's webpage identifies them as Urtica Dioica. Nasty ********. The sting stays for hours.[/nq]
We have them i
[nq:1]There are definitely Stinging Nettles in Indiana. Whether or not they are the same nettles as found in England I don't know. Purdue University's webpage identifies them as Urtica Dioica. Nasty ********. The sting stays for hours.[/nq]
We have them i
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[nq:1]The May 24th long weekend is planting time up here. Happy Victoria Day, to one and all.[/nq]
Empire Day is long gone in Rightpondia. Why did we celebrate it at primary school in the 1950s by dressing up as nurses and cowboys?
Laura
(emulate St. George for email)
Empire Day is long gone in Rightpondia. Why did we celebrate it at primary school in the 1950s by dressing up as nurses and cowboys?
Laura
(emulate St. George for email)
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[nq:1]May)[/nq]
[nq:2]There are definitely Stinging Nettles in Indiana. Whether or not ... as Urtica Dioica. Nasty ********. The sting stays for hours.[/nq]
[nq:1]We have them in Quebec, too. My wife (NB) just rooted some out of a flower box she's readying for the impatiens. (which we pronounce impatience. Same elsewhere?)[/nq]
Pronounced "impatients" by this lover of practically non-d
[nq:2]There are definitely Stinging Nettles in Indiana. Whether or not ... as Urtica Dioica. Nasty ********. The sting stays for hours.[/nq]
[nq:1]We have them in Quebec, too. My wife (NB) just rooted some out of a flower box she's readying for the impatiens. (which we pronounce impatience. Same elsewhere?)[/nq]
Pronounced "impatients" by this lover of practically non-d
00
[nq:2]The May 24th long weekend is planting time up here. Happy Victoria Day, to one and all.[/nq]
[nq:1]Empire Day is long gone in Rightpondia. Why did we celebrate it at primary school in the 1950s by dressing up as nurses and cowboys?[/nq]
I don't know; perhaps because they were the costumes most easily available? We didn't dress up like that for Empire Day. We celebrated by making dais
[nq:1]Empire Day is long gone in Rightpondia. Why did we celebrate it at primary school in the 1950s by dressing up as nurses and cowboys?[/nq]
I don't know; perhaps because they were the costumes most easily available? We didn't dress up like that for Empire Day. We celebrated by making dais
00
[nq:2]I can't believe no-one has clocked 'Be Nice to Nettles Week' (19-28 May) http://www.nettles.org.uk/[/nq]
[nq:1]Well, Americans hardly ever think about them. Although that site says "Nettles can be found in all temperate areas in ... nettles on a visit to the North of England in 1983, and they're all over the gardens
[nq:1]Well, Americans hardly ever think about them. Although that site says "Nettles can be found in all temperate areas in ... nettles on a visit to the North of England in 1983, and they're all over the gardens
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Does he wear his baseball uniform while performing?
Note that first name: ****
Liebs
Baseball fan of sorts
Note that first name: ****
Liebs
Baseball fan of sorts
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[nq:2]Empire Day is long gone in Rightpondia. Why did we celebrate it at primary school in the 1950s by dressing up as nurses and cowboys?[/nq]
[nq:1]I don't know; perhaps because they were the costumes most easily available? We didn't dress up like that for Empire Day. We celebrated by making daisy chains: daisies were supposed to be symbolic of the Empire, the mother country surrounded by th
[nq:1]I don't know; perhaps because they were the costumes most easily available? We didn't dress up like that for Empire Day. We celebrated by making daisy chains: daisies were supposed to be symbolic of the Empire, the mother country surrounded by th
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