Dear B.A., How dare you respond so negatively to intentional  
aggravation by a narcissistic troll who has become the self-appointed  
gatekeeper of this forum? Please refrain from challenging our new  
supreme authority lest we risk returning to the primitive days when  
we had to make our way without the guidance of a person who  
understands that this gathering is akin to a virtual cocktail party.  
Someone has to put on the lampshade and make oafish remarks or else  
we won't know just how much fun we're having.

This country has really lost something because politically correct  
fascists refuse to see the value of the vivid sobriquets of the past.  
Some extremists go so far as to take offense to these colorful  
reminders of the brutal inhumanity of our halcyon days. I am not  
offended by them. I am rewarded by them because they make it so much  
easier to identify annoying and impervious blowhards.

And while I'm airing grievances--  I am steamed that a certain quotes  
page is not 100% exhaustive yet people still refer to it as if it's  
an extremely valuable resource. Have you no shame, Barbara Schmidt?  
What we really need is a transcript of Twain's life. Until we possess  
every utterance he ever made, timed down to the very second, how can  
we really be sure of what to make of the man? And without the  
suggestion of such a document, how else could we bring things around  
to yet another reminder of a task that is at once so massive and  
picayune that it deserves to dominate this forum until it has been  
abandoned like a nightmarish cocktail party.

Awaiting discipline,

Barry Crimmins

On Mar 20, 2008, at 2:35 AM, B.A. Van Der Wel wrote:

> Greetings All:
>
> "Coolies"???
>
> Since this word is not being used in a historical context but refers
> to a potential activity projected into the future one can only
> conclude that it is being used as a racial slur.
>
> Such a completely pejorative term in contemporary usage has no
> legitimate use in a forum like this and I would ask that in absence
> of historical context or discussion of such that it not be used.
> There are dozens of other words in the English language that would
> not only better capture the apparent intended meaning but also not
> cause insult or injury.
>
> Cordially,
> B.A. van der Wel
>
>
> On Mar 19, 2008, at 11:08 AM, David H Fears wrote:
>
>> Jeff, yes indeed, Barb's site is a good one. However, by
>> "definitive" I
>> meant every quote available. I calculate it would take 1,000
>> coolies working 17
>> years to make such a site contain every quotable instance. Perhaps
>> by 2100 all
>> of it will be searchable online.
>>
>> David