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1 hour ago, DrKrettin said:

*groan* I'm rather fazed by your spelling.

Hello, Drk. I stumbled across two new words recently: one was " catachresis ", which is relevant to " phase " and " faze "; the other is  "ultracrepidarianism "  which could apply to a few  people in these forums ( not including you, of  course..ha,ha.. but definitely including me ). You may already be familiar with these words but, if you aren't, and knowing your interest in Greek and Latin, i think you might be interested in their etymology.

http://www.dictionary.com/browse/ultracrepidarianism

30 minutes ago, Area54 said:

No. I credited everyone with the smarts to see that on line could refer to computers, forums and railway lines, or even on topic, leaving them the freedom to go in their preferred direction. Had we been talking about sheep rather than cattle, there would have been the option of discussing rams.

Sorry, A. I think there has been a bit of miscommunication here - two countries separated by the same language. When i wrote " on railway-line " that was my pun. Here in little England,  we don't say " railroad tracks " but we do say " railway lines ". If you were English you would probably have thought that my pun was the greatest, funniest pun ever invented! Can i give you another great pun: ....... it seems we had a crossed-line. Do i get the prize now, or will i be  "punished " for not being funny? 

1 hour ago, Area54 said:

Today I learned that the cowcatcher device fitted to the front of railway locomotives to displace any objects blocking the line was invented by Charles Babbage, the same Charles Babbage who designed the first (mechanical) computer. "A well made cow-catcher could throw a  buffalo weighing 2000 lbs some 30 feet."

Source: The Historical Atlas of North American Railroads ISBN 978-0-7858-2781-8 page 44.

Prizes on offer for whomever comes up with the best "on-line" pun!

Shouldn't you have said " on railway-line " pun?