how did we let things get this way

[Autumn Daze]

Ah..Don't worry about it Charlie. The guy's are just venting their frustration with trying to keep Francis.... "Short ,sweet and on topic"...

[C.O.B.]

Short, sweet AND on topic...Francis? You are dreaming there my friend or just doing this...

Francis needs to meet Ed M. Perhaps we can invite Ed back so Francis will have someone to reiterate words with

[Old and Reliable]

I have two copies of his "Knight of The Trigger" book- ooops, make that one- the other went to Dean-o for the silent auction this Sept at Pin-The-Tail Point MD (happens when you have several daughters that like to give their Dad books I guess)-- and a friend whom I "helped" find a M21 12 gauge recently is giving me Ed's fine book on the Parker Gun (I have Peter Johnson's and Larry Baer's fine books too)--

"Put a sock in it" expression has roots in Parkerdom- here it is-- Arthur C. Middleton, CEO and "Head Fred" at RCA-Victor ordered a 16 gauge Invincible grade and took delivery of same in Sept 1929- lived in NJ. And so before the RCA and radio with rheostat volume controls came about in the 1920's, the hand wound Victor Talking Machine Phonographs had no volume control- so to muffle or mute the sounds from the records of that era, they often placed a mitten, scarf or wool sock (stocking back then I'd wager) in the horn to accomplish this- hence the term "Put a sock in it"-- Mae and I visited the RCA Victor musuem in Dover, DE in July 2009 and the Lady who was our tour guide explained that to all of us- Great place to visit indeed.

I am a serious student of history, and that includes "trivial expressions" perhaps- I finally know what both "Hobson's Choice" means, and also the WW11 aviator's term "The Whole Nine Yards" plus the above mentioned Sock terminology- Now if i only knew what Bruce Springsteen said in his song "Blinded By The Light" about the Deuce-in??

[VH20]

Can't believe I'm going here, but since you mentioned it -

Springsteen's original lyric was "Cut loose like a deuce, another runner in the night."

Manfred Mann's better-known cover changed the lyric to "Revved-up like a deuce, another runner in the night."

Many people mistakenly hear "Wrapped up..." instead of the actual "Revved-up..."

Jim

[Old and Reliable]

Deuce- like the Bleach Boyz great song "Little deuce coupe?"" Ah yes- Knew Springsteen was a biker at heart "Born to run" didn't know he was also into classic cars of another era- 1932- first year for the flat head Ford V-8--

[Big D]

Oh boy - here we go. Francis - What is your interpretation of "the whole nine yards"? Apparently it is NOT the length of a belt of machine gun ammo. Nor is it the amount of cloth required to make a suit (or a whole lot of other conjectures)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_whole_nine_yards

[Bill Murphy]

Well, Francis got the "deuse" right. The "deuse" term comes from the 2 in 1932 Ford. The "deuse" terminology was probably not used until the 1932 Ford coupes and roadsters became popular for overhead valve V8 conversions in the fifties. The 1932 body style was used extensively for such conversions whether originally equipped with the flathead V8 or the 4 cylinder.

[Bruce Day]

49 Woody

[Dean Romig]

In a 1954 issue of "Hot Rod" magazine is a feature story with several accompanying pictures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis road testing a "Deuce" (1932) highboy roadster with a flathead with finned aluminum Offenhauser heads with triple Stromberg 97's.

[Big D]

The '38 Chevy "B Gasser" we ran had 6 Stromberg 97's