> > Something in the state university here... > > > > http://www.flickr.com/photos/bongmanayon/2798843901/ > > > > Bong > > What's possing mean? >
it's an old English term, derived from Latin, although many people wrongly think of it as an Australian word. This confusion is understandable, given the history of the word. It dates back to the days when Mark Anthony and Caesar first arrived in Egypt. They were great friends in those days, and spent a lot of time fooling about in the desert, joshing together, each trying to throw sand up the other's tunic. It was one of those special friendships until Cleopatra spoiled it all. Anyway, Mark Anthony, on first seeing the side-on bas-relief Egyptian carvings, said to Julius Caesar "I bet you can't walk like that". Caesar, who never wasted words, replied "Possum", which means "I can", and he proceeded to walk like an Egyptian. Where Caesar led, others followed. The fashion caught on, and it became a craze throughout the Republic, and later the Empire, to walk like an Egyptian. Over the centuries the fashion faded, as they do, but in the heart of darkness off Gaul the Britunculi were slow to give up what they had learned from the Romans, and right into the times of the Anglo-Saxons it remained a national pastime to walk like an Egyptian, and the word 'Possum' entered the language as 'poss' - I poss, you poss, he posses, etc. As Britain became became an empire too, the word spread with it. In America it developed into 'posse' - if you look carefully at the way a posse rides you'll note the hand forward holding the rein, the other arm slightly behind in the classic pose of the Egyptians, only seated on a horse not a camel (camel posses were tried shortly after the Civil War, but they proved ineffective because most townsfolk in the mood for a lynchin' resented having to talk Arabic to their mounts like a goddam heathen). In Australia the early settlers noted the peculiar nocturnal locomotion of the arboreal marsupials, and they called them possums as a result. Lately, since the arrival of the motor car and the need for special crossing places with signs, the person represented on the sign appears to be walking like an Egyptian, hence the term possing has come to mean crossing the road, and many people do, quite literally, poss as they cross. Bob -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
