gah! I hate the new string syntax

[Steve Holden]

"Aahz Maruch" <aahz at panix.com> wrote in message
news:98asrq$645$1 at panix6.panix.com...
> In article <98amlj01sp6 at news2.newsguy.com>,
> Alex Martelli <aleaxit at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >"Steve Holden" <sholden at holdenweb.com> wrote in message
> >news:BcCp6.37817$1D5.1582482 at e420r-atl1.usenetserver.com...
> >    [snip]
> >> > | > What about one who is both English and Scots, yet never set foot
on
> >> > | > that island ;-)?
> >    [snip]
> >> Either you were born in England, or you were born in Scotland, or you
are
> >> neither English nor a Scot. Part-either-or-both, maybe, but not fully
> >
> >Wrong!  You're talking about people whose seafaring skills and
> >traditions are (deservedly) legendary.  It's perfectly acceptable
> >for either an English or a Scot to be born aboard a ship...!!!
>
> Since when are *women* allowed aboard ships?

Women were allowed aboard British ships in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, I believe. The phrase "shake a leg" (meaning to stop lazing about
and start work) is held to have been used by ships' mates to get the seamen
out of their bunks. A woman would show her leg to let the mate know she
should not be rousted out to work.

regard
 Steve