Re: [libreoffice-users] ... bootstraps ...
On Wed, 10 Oct 2012, anne-ology wrote: ... this phrase comes from a novel(s) at the turn of the Century - when some writers were writing on the 'American dream'; it may have originated in the Horatio Alger series of books. I have had already written a couple of times, it comes from Baron von Münchhausen who reported pulling himself out of swamp by his own bootstraps. more on the good Baron here: (11 May 1720 – 22 February 1797) was a German nobleman and a famous recounter of tall tales. In his youth the Baron was sent to serve as a page to Duke Anthony Ulrich II of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and later joined the Russian military. He served until 1750, in particular taking part in two campaigns against the Ottoman Turks. Returning home, Münchhausen is said to have told a number of outrageously farfetched stories about his adventures. He died in his birthplace of Bodenwerder. Even before his death, Münchhausen's reputation as a storyteller was exaggerated by several writers, giving birth to a fully fictionalized literary character usually called simply Baron Munchausen. The (fictional) Baron's exploits, usually narrated by himself, focus on his impossible achievements as a hunter, warrior, and traveler, including rides on cannonballs and trips to the moon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baron_von_Münchhausen F. FYI - when I think turn of the Century, I'm referring to 112, not 12, years ago ;-) BTW - many of these books have now been transcribed thanks to Gutenberg, www.gutenberg.org/, and can be read/downloaded from their various sites. This is a nice place for us oldsters to re-read many of these from the past ... and for you youngsters to read some nicely written books without the blasphemy, etc. in many of today's writings. Hoping you enjoy the day, the week, ... ... ... On Tue, Oct 9, 2012 at 5:41 AM, Tom Davies tomdavie...@yahoo.co.uk wrote: Hi :) Thanks all that responded to this! Now I'm curious where the phrase raising yourself by your own bootstraps came from. Is it something to do with horses? Postal services? Regards from Tom :) From: Doug dmcgarr...@optonline.net To: users@global.libreoffice.org Sent: Monday, 8 October 2012, 23:34 Subject: Re: [libreoffice-users] attempting to find an answer and instead ... The term boot or boot up comes from the idea of raising yourself by your own bootstraps--seemingly impossible, but when you boot up, you are using the operating system to start itself. --doug -- Felmon Davis - Dept of Philosophy Union College - Schenectady, NY The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. -- William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice -- For unsubscribe instructions e-mail to: users+h...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
Re: [libreoffice-users] ... bootstraps ...
quite interesting; thanks for sending. On Wed, Oct 10, 2012 at 4:24 PM, Felmon Davis dav...@union.edu wrote: On Wed, 10 Oct 2012, anne-ology wrote: ... this phrase comes from a novel(s) at the turn of the Century - when some writers were writing on the 'American dream'; it may have originated in the Horatio Alger series of books. I have had already written a couple of times, it comes from Baron von Münchhausen who reported pulling himself out of swamp by his own bootstraps. more on the good Baron here: (11 May 1720 – 22 February 1797) was a German nobleman and a famous recounter of tall tales. In his youth the Baron was sent to serve as a page to Duke Anthony Ulrich II of Brunswick-Lüneburg, and later joined the Russian military. He served until 1750, in particular taking part in two campaigns against the Ottoman Turks. Returning home, Münchhausen is said to have told a number of outrageously farfetched stories about his adventures. He died in his birthplace of Bodenwerder. Even before his death, Münchhausen's reputation as a storyteller was exaggerated by several writers, giving birth to a fully fictionalized literary character usually called simply Baron Munchausen. The (fictional) Baron's exploits, usually narrated by himself, focus on his impossible achievements as a hunter, warrior, and traveler, including rides on cannonballs and trips to the moon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/**Baron_von_Münchhausenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baron_von_M%C3%BCnchhausen F. FYI - when I think turn of the Century, I'm referring to 112, not 12, years ago ;-) BTW - many of these books have now been transcribed thanks to Gutenberg, www.gutenberg.org/, and can be read/downloaded from their various sites. This is a nice place for us oldsters to re-read many of these from the past ... and for you youngsters to read some nicely written books without the blasphemy, etc. in many of today's writings. Hoping you enjoy the day, the week, ... ... ... On Tue, Oct 9, 2012 at 5:41 AM, Tom Davies tomdavie...@yahoo.co.uk wrote: Hi :) Thanks all that responded to this! Now I'm curious where the phrase raising yourself by your own bootstraps came from. Is it something to do with horses? Postal services? Regards from Tom :) From: Doug dmcgarr...@optonline.net To: users@global.libreoffice.org Sent: Monday, 8 October 2012, 23:34 Subject: Re: [libreoffice-users] attempting to find an answer and instead ... The term boot or boot up comes from the idea of raising yourself by your own bootstraps--seemingly impossible, but when you boot up, you are using the operating system to start itself. --doug -- For unsubscribe instructions e-mail to: users+h...@global.libreoffice.org Problems? http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/how-to-unsubscribe/ Posting guidelines + more: http://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Netiquette List archive: http://listarchives.libreoffice.org/global/users/ All messages sent to this list will be publicly archived and cannot be deleted
