George Nelson is Feelin’ Ten Feet Tall
When you’re watching T.V. the last thing you expect to happen is that you start thinking about things — and not the normal things either (like if people actually buy the snuggie and wear them to football games. Or if they know that it’s actually just a robe turned backward.). I mean genuine head scratchers — things that make you go… well, you know.
This past weekend gave me three.
The first came while we were watching an, apparently testosteron filled, episode of “Flip This House”. The company they were profiling had the abbreviation “LLC” after their company name. “What does LLC stand for?” asked Joan, a visiting family friend. I’d seen this before but I never knew what it meant so, it was up to Google:
LLC is an abbreviation that most commonly refers to:
- Limited liability company, flexible form of business enterprise that blends elements of partnership and corporate structures
So says wikipedia.
Huh. So that’s what it means. Not sure that really explains it, but that’s neither here nor there. Moving on…
The second and third things come from my umpteenth watching of “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”, and more specifically from George Nelson. When our heroes first meet George he’s on the run from the law and on the way to his next heist — and this is where he says:
“COME AND GET ME, COPPERS! YOU FLATFOOTED LAMEBRAINED SOFT-ASSED SONOFABITCHES! NO ONE CAN CATCH ME! I’M GEORGE NELSON! I’M BIGGER THAN ANY JOHN LAW EVER LIVED!”
This caused me to wonder — since they were POLICE officers on the POLICE force, how did the name “Cop/Copper” come about? This is what the internet told me:
Police officers are often referred to as cops, but the word origins of cop are something of a debate. It is known that up until the 1970s, cop was something of a slang term, and one would refer to cops more properly as policemen, or police officers. Some argue that the term cop is shortened from “copper” and derives from the tin or copper badges worn by a policeman. Others say cop is an abbreviation for constabulary of police.
General consensus on the word origins of cop however suggest that the term is based more on the policeman’s job than on his clothing or job title. In Latin the verb capere can be defined as “to capture.” In French, the verb is caper. “To cop” in English is to seize or to take. This defines some of what a police officer does. He or she seizes or takes crooks or stops their crime “capers.”
A bit of further explanation/theory can be found here.
George comes through for our last question as well:
“‘Lo, boys! Well, these little men finally caught up with the criminal a the century! Looks like the chair for George Nelson. Yup! Gonna electrify me! I’m gonna go off like a Roman candle! Twenty thousand volts chasin’ the rabbit through yours truly! Gonna shoot sparks out the top of my head and lightning from my fingertips!”
The last time our heroes see George, he’s being led away by… well, a torch bearing mob. The law has finally caught up with George and he now has to pay for his crimes. He recites the line above and this inspires my wife to ask, “Why are Roman Candles Roman?”. “That,” I said, “is a good question.” And I was off to the internet, where I found this less than stellar answer:
Roman candle
n: a firework that produces a continuous shower of sparks punctuated by coloured balls of fire
(C19: so called from its having been originated in Italy)From here.
Really? That’s it? I was hoping for something a lot cooler than “Cuz it was made in Italy. LOL. Pwned.” Well, sometimes, the most obvious answer is the right one – no matter how lame it is.
