Date: Sat, 6 May 1995 22:57:31 -0700

From: David Harnick-Shapiro david[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]JOHN-WHORFIN.ICS.UCI.EDU

Subject: Re: new word?



Re: thagomizer. I don't like it. Or at least not until you can

tell me what those Stegosaurus spikes thagomize and how. Sounds too

agentive for something that just sits there looking sharp and

pointed, even if I do like Gary Larson.



and



I don't think anyone knows yet what those spikes thagomize--more

fossils seem to be needed. Maybe it did just sit there looking sharp

and pointed..



The thagomizer cartoon is reprinted in "The PreHistory of the

Far Side" (p. 137; Kansas City: Andrews and McMeel, 1980-1989;

ISBN: 0-8362-1851-5, Lib. of Congress # 89-84813).



In the cartoon, one caveman stands before an easel (well, it

looks more like a slide-projection screen) on which is a picture

of the hind part of a stegosaurus. Using a pointer, he indicates

the tail and its four long spikes. The caption reads: "Now this

end is called the thagomizer...after the late Thag Simmons".



Sounds like it was pretty agentive toward the late Thag Simmons.



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David Harnick-Shapiro Internet: david[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ics.uci.edu

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University of California, Irvine