vakkotaur

A post or editorial used the term cowboy to mean someone who does things without thinking them through. This is actually a bit curious, as all evidence I've seen points the other way. I'll grant that I am not now nor have I ever been a cowboy and have no direct experience with such. This is hardly unusual. Maybe I haven't watched the same movies as others or something. The idea I get is that a cowboy, the real thing, is a person who does think things through and then acts as reason suggests. Are there exceptions? Of course. But one should not characterize on the basis of the exception.

Another thing is the idea of a person who does injury to people being a butcher. This also seems amiss. A butcher is not someone who enjoys cruelty. The person mistakenly labelled a butcher may well be such a nasty creature. A real butcher does kill, but isn't in it for cruelty. The less suffering involved, the better, as that makes the job that much easier.

Yankee. That got some reaction, I'm sure. The thing is, which one? To some, that word is (and is meant as) an insult. They are the folks who say and hear "damn Yankee." To others, it's not an insult at all and can be a compliment. "Yankee ingenuity" doesn't exactly carry a negative charge.

Yet another example, jmaynard and I disagree rather considerably about what cold weather is, what hot weather is, and what is comfortable. He lived in Texas until this past year and was adapted to the heat, and therefore considers comfortable and hot to be ranges I'd consider hot and unlivable. While I've spent year in Wisconsin and Minnesota and consider comfortable and cold to be things he considers cool to cold and [expletive] cold, respectively.

This is not just the weather itself, but extends into other things. Very rarely will I order hot chocolate or coffee, though Jay will when it's cold out. I have no problem with iced tea even when the outdoor temperature is sub-zero Fahrenheit. To me, ice cream is not a summer only thing. I've also noticed that I can handle (as in physically pick up) cold items and it's no big deal to me. I can pick up and hold an ice cube for a while, for example. This not something Jay does. An ice cube is out of his hands about as fast as he can manage it. I suspect this works in reverse for hot (but not burning the tissue hot) objects.

I'm not sure, but I suspect he doesn't describe a failed thing as having "went south" as I might. I was surprised the first time I heard a variant, from michaelmink who said "went west" for something. I wonder what what terms might be used in the (U.S.) southwest. Of course, direction descriptions are interesting themselves. As I've typically heard them, they are "up north" "down south" "back east" and "out west."