Date:    Thu, 23 Apr 1998 12:05:13 -0700
<br>From:    Bill King <wfking[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]GOTNET.NET>
<br>Subject: Re: P.S. on banshees
<br>
<br>Donald M. Lance wrote:
<br>
<br>> IMHO, The transfer of 'banshee' from one kind of "frenzy-verb" to another is
<br>> a normal linguistic process that doesn't have to be "learned" from someone
<br>> else and doesn't have to be dialectal (regional, social, ...).  I'm sure I've
<br>> heard "working like a banshee" and have a picture of a carpenter, hoe-hand,
<br>> cotton-picker, or some other physical laborer working so fast that his/her
<br>> movememnts appear to be frantic.  "Screaming like a banshee" is accompanied
<br>> ny ph/frenetic or frantic movement as well.  I think I might even use
<br>> "banshee" with a variety of verbs to evoke such an image -- maybe because of
<br>> the Celtic (mostly Welsh) blood that roils along with the Teutonic plasma in
<br>> my arteries and veins.
<br>
<br>  I've heard it too.  I've also heard "we were just wailing," meaning working
<br>intensely.  Also, "the police were wailing on him" usually means someone
<br>resisting arrest has police using their billy clubs on him, though not
<br>screaming like banshees while doing so.
<br>Bill King
<br>