XPost: alt.usage.english, rec.puzzles, alt.arts.limericks   
   XPost: alt.jokes.limericks   
   From: HenHanna@devnull.tb   
      
   > On 5/12/2024 6:53 PM, Ross Clark wrote:   
   >> Birthday of Edward Lear (1812-1888).   
   >> A Book of Nonsense (1846) has 112 of them.   
   >> But he didn't invent it, says Crystal, and cites:   
   >>   
   >> And let me the canakin clink, clink;   
   >> And let me the canakin clink;   
   >> A soldier's a man   
   >> O, man's life's but a span;   
   >> Why, then, let a soldier drink.   
   >>                                 -- (Shakespeare, Othello)   
   >>   
   >> Yah, OK, he didn't invent the metrical pattern or the rhyme scheme.   
   >> But still -- The Limerick As We Know It?   
   >>   
   >> He also didn't name it. Name first attested 1896, several years after   
   >> Lear's death.   
   >> Origin of name -- Crystal has a story, can't be arsed repeating it.   
   >> May check with OED.   
   >>   
      
      
      
      
      what's the story?   
      
      
      
                          i don't know that expression. ...   
                        [can't be arsed repeating it] -- is that NZ English?   
      
      
      
   Yes, "can't be arsed repeating it" is a common expression in New Zealand   
   English. It's a vulgar slang way of saying "I can't be bothered   
   repeating it" or "I'm too lazy to repeat it."   
      
   Here's a breakdown:   
      
   "Can't be arsed": This is a vulgar slang way of saying "can't be   
   bothered." "Arsed" is a vulgar term for "having to do with the buttocks."   
      
   Context: This expression is used informally among friends or   
   acquaintances. It wouldn't be appropriate in formal settings.   
      
      
      
   Here are some ニュージーランド英語 (New Zealand English)   
   alternatives with a   
   similar meaning, but less vulgar:   
      
              -- "Can't be bothered repeating it"   
      
              -- "I already said that"   
      
              -- "Look it up yourself" (informal)   
      
   While "can't be arsed" is understood in New Zealand, it's important to   
   be aware of the informal and potentially offensive nature of the term.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)