Going round the church

[bnbalder]

Today I found out the Dutch expression: going a round about the church, circling the church. Which I always took to mean doing something pointless, being forced to wait, or stalling for time. Train machinists refused to drive shorter routes, calling it "rondje rond de kerk ".

But in reality, it's an old custom. A friend of mine buried a family

Comments

[ayinhara]

It's interesting how phrases take on new meaning far removed from the original. I googled "rondje rond de kerk" and all the hits were related to railroad timetables and the like.

[bnbalder]

Exactly! That's why I posted - I felt that surprise and feeling of reversal when I heard the story this morning...

Cool

[jonesiexxx]

A geek, I used to tell people, was a side show performer who ate the heads off live chickens. And beyond the pale, I just told someone last week, refers to the Pale of Settlement... the area in Russia in which Jews were allowed to live. They were not allowed to live beyond the Pale.

I love stuff like this.

Re: Cool

[bnbalder]

How cool back to you! I knew about the Pale, but not about geeks. In spite of watching Carnivale over and over...

So...live chickens' heads. How do they taste?