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General Discussion => Talk Zone => Topic started by: Mr. Happy on May 18, 2012, 08:21:55 am

Title: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Mr. Happy on May 18, 2012, 08:21:55 am
According to a tweet from Jon Morosi, approximately 4% of current big league ball players have graduated from college. Apparently, Curtis Granderson just did, so Morosi just did a story on Granderson and this issue for Fox Sports.

I was curious about how the NFL graduation rates compared and found a 1986 Dallas Times Herald study that reflected a 41% graduation rate among active NFL players in 1985 at the start of pre-season training camp. I wondered how that percentage has fared since then. In 2004, a league spokesman said that 46% of active players had graduated from college.

I understand that baseball would be significantly lower. I speculate that the reasons include players coming into the game straight from high school, the length of the season as well as the significant percentage of foreign born players. However, I was a bit surprised that it was only 4%.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Bench on May 18, 2012, 09:21:36 am
According to a tweet from Jon Morosi, approximately 4% of current big league ball players have graduated from college. Apparently, Curtis Granderson just did, so Morosi just did a story on Granderson and this issue for Fox Sports.

I was curious about how the NFL graduation rates compared and found a 1986 Dallas Times Herald study that reflected a 41% graduation rate among active NFL players in 1985 at the start of pre-season training camp. I wondered how that percentage has fared since then. In 2004, a league spokesman said that 46% of active players had graduated from college.

I understand that baseball would be significantly lower. I speculate that the reasons include players coming into the game straight from high school, the length of the season as well as the significant percentage of foreign born players. However, I was a bit surprised that it was only 4%.

What's the difference between the % of NFL players and MLB players that attend college at all?
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: subnuclear on May 18, 2012, 09:29:09 am
Not many foreign players in NFL. Also, you need to be bigger and stronger to play in the NFL, so it helps to be a little older.

The number you want to compare is the graduation rate of scholarship baseball players and scholarship football players.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Bench on May 18, 2012, 09:34:42 am
Not many foreign players in NFL. Also, you need to be bigger and stronger to play in the NFL, so it helps to be a little older.

The number you want to compare is the graduation rate of scholarship baseball players and scholarship football players.

Also, nearly every football player is drafted out of college.  It's not even apples and oranges.  It's apples and fig newtons.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Mr. Happy on May 18, 2012, 09:55:14 am
Also, nearly every football player is drafted out of college.  It's not even apples and oranges.  It's apples and fig newtons.

I didn't mean to compare the two sports because of the obvious differences between the two. I just was taken aback a little by the low percentage of baseball players who are college graduates and became curious as to the percentage of NFL college graduates. I agree with your assessment though; it's apples and fig newtons.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Bench on May 18, 2012, 09:59:56 am
I didn't mean to compare the two sports because of the obvious differences between the two. I just was taken aback a little by the low percentage of baseball players who are college graduates and became curious as to the percentage of NFL college graduates. I agree with your assessment though; it's apples and fig newtons.

I understand.  It's always fun to learn new facts.

I wonder what the answer to subnuclear's question is.  A brief googling didn't reveal anything.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Mr. Happy on May 18, 2012, 10:01:50 am
I understand.  It's always fun to learn new facts.

I wonder what the answer to subnuclear's question is.  A brief googling didn't reveal anything.

I am wondering the exact same thing, counselor.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: subnuclear on May 18, 2012, 10:08:32 am
NCAA has a very nice database here (http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/newmedia/public/rates/index.html).

For Div. I Men's Baseball, Graduation Rate for 2001-2004 was 72%.

For Div. I Men's football, Graduation Rate for 2001-2004 was 67% (FBS), 66% (FCS). (I have no idea what FBS and FCS stand for).

Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Bench on May 18, 2012, 10:11:54 am
NCAA has a very nice database here (http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/newmedia/public/rates/index.html).

For Div. I Men's Baseball, Graduation Rate for 2001-2004 was 72%.

For Div. I Men's football, Graduation Rate for 2001-2004 was 67% (FBS), 66% (FCS). (I have no idea what FBS and FCS stand for).



Interesting.  Thanks.

FBS and FCS is what used to be called Div. 1 and Div. 2 (or maybe 1A?).
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: pots on May 18, 2012, 11:31:56 am
Not surprised at all by 4%.  If you make 400k a year minimum, what do you need a degree for?  

Plus the NFL has no minor league system.  You are vastly much better off playing on a college team than getting your arse kicked on a practice squad.  
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: BUWebguy on May 18, 2012, 12:07:31 pm
FBS is Football Bowl Subdivision -- formerly Division IA -- season ends in bowls.
FCS is Football Championship Subdivision -- formerly Division IAA -- season ends in a playoff to a championship.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Mr. Happy on May 18, 2012, 12:30:04 pm
Not surprised at all by 4%.  If you make 400k a year minimum, what do you need a degree for?  

Plus the NFL has no minor league system.  You are vastly much better off playing on a college team than getting your arse kicked on a practice squad.  

You need a degree for the 40-50 or so years of your life after baseball.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: pots on May 18, 2012, 12:47:19 pm
You need a degree for the 40-50 or so years of your life after baseball.


Quote
4% of current big league ball players

not 4% of all people who ever played on a big league club.  You don't have to be in your early 20s to get a degree. 
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Mr. Happy on May 18, 2012, 12:51:47 pm

not 4% of all people who ever played on a big league club.  You don't have to be in your early 20s to get a degree. 

Ask anyone who has ever gone back to school. It's very hard to do. That's why I always advise people to gut it out and finish while they've got the education momentum and inertia.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Duman on May 18, 2012, 12:55:14 pm
I wonder how many high school signees even negotiate for the MLB scholarship program  (http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/official_info/scholarship.jsp?content=guide)in their contract? 

Most of what I hear from HS signees is "I weren't too good in school"
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: BudGirl on May 18, 2012, 01:07:55 pm
Ask anyone who has ever gone back to school. It's very hard to do. That's why I always advise people to gut it out and finish while they've got the education momentum and inertia.

It is hard, but doable.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: pots on May 18, 2012, 01:09:15 pm
Ask anyone who has ever gone back to school. It's very hard to do. That's why I always advise people to gut it out and finish while they've got the education momentum and inertia.

You are talking about big leaguers.  You're either in your 30s and have finally made the club as a bench player, or are in your 20s and are expecting/hoping to make more cash in the next decade then you will ever need in your life.

Not to mention fame of being major leaguer which will open doors to jobs without that piece of paper.

Plus isn't their some sort of lifetime benefits with that union?


Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Mr. Happy on May 18, 2012, 01:09:47 pm
It is hard, but doable.

I'm not saying that it's impossible. What I meant was that it is much harder to do than staying in school and finishing.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: EasTexAstro on May 18, 2012, 01:11:16 pm
Ask anyone who has ever gone back to school. It's very hard to do. That's why I always advise people to gut it out and finish while they've got the education momentum and inertia.

I was more motivated when I went back to college, and enjoyed it more.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Mr. Happy on May 18, 2012, 01:14:31 pm
I was more motivated when I went back to college, and enjoyed it more.

I agree that maturity and motivation are positive factors, but "life" (children, a mortgage, etc.) often gets in the way of getting to go back to school.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Mr. Happy on May 18, 2012, 01:17:59 pm
You are talking about big leaguers.  You're either in your 30s and have finally made the club as a bench player, or are in your 20s and are expecting/hoping to make more cash in the next decade then you will ever need in your life.

Not to mention fame of being major leaguer which will open doors to jobs without that piece of paper.

Plus isn't their some sort of lifetime benefits with that union?




You seem focused just on the few professional ballplayers who even make it for one day to the show. What of all of the minor league washouts? I don't think that there are any "lifetime" benefits for those players. I'm not sure of what benefits there are to big leaguers, but I would wager a fair amount of money that one has to vest in something before those benefits kick in.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Matt on May 18, 2012, 02:13:35 pm
I'm not saying that it's impossible. What I meant was that it is much harder to do than staying in school and finishing.

I'm just now graduating college this weekend and I just turned 31. Granted I started late and have been going part time while working so it has taken longer but the process has been well worth it.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: pots on May 18, 2012, 02:21:41 pm
You seem focused just on the few professional ballplayers who even make it for one day to the show. What of all of the minor league washouts? I don't think that there are any "lifetime" benefits for those players. I'm not sure of what benefits there are to big leaguers, but I would wager a fair amount of money that one has to vest in something before those benefits kick in.

Completing a degree takes many more than 4 years when done part time.  If you had some stats on how many big leaguers started working on a degree while in the minors and stopped, that might be worth something.  Making it to the bigs is kind of like hitting the lottery.  You usually change your plans when it happens. 
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: BizidyDizidy on May 18, 2012, 02:28:20 pm
Look yp how many of the 4 percent are Stanford guys - I think its a shockingly high percentage
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Mr. Happy on May 18, 2012, 02:32:39 pm
Making it to the bigs is kind of like hitting the lottery.  You usually change your plans when it happens. 

Bingo. This is my point. Rational people, elected officials aside, don't plan their finances as if they're going to win the lottery. They keep plan B right there at the fore.
Title: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: geezerdonk on May 18, 2012, 02:37:57 pm
It is hard, but doable.

After working full time at a real job for a few years and then going back to school, I think that most people would say that school is lke being on an extended vacation.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: BizidyDizidy on May 18, 2012, 02:56:53 pm
Just a third (but could be going up)

http://mobile.ruleoftree.com/2011/2/23/2010896/former-stanford-baseball-stars-finish-what-they-start
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: hostros7 on May 18, 2012, 02:58:18 pm
I'm just now graduating college this weekend and I just turned 31. Granted I started late and have been going part time while working so it has taken longer but the process has been well worth it.

Congrats on the great accomplishment.  I hope you are rewarded for your persistence. 
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Ron Brand on May 18, 2012, 02:59:21 pm
Just a third (but could be going up)

http://mobile.ruleoftree.com/2011/2/23/2010896/former-stanford-baseball-stars-finish-what-they-start

You'd think those eggheads could get a real job and stop playing games.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Ron Brand on May 18, 2012, 03:03:26 pm
Congrats on the great accomplishment.  I hope you are rewarded for your persistence. 

I have finely tuned antennae, as many have noticed, and one of the things that makes them twitch is language. Like 'veggies,' I think the word 'congratulations' is disappearing in favor of 'congrats.'

My dotage is lubricated by tears.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Bench on May 18, 2012, 03:13:05 pm
After working full time at a real job for a few years and then going back to school, I think that most people would say that school is like being on an extended vacation.


Agreed. 
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Matt on May 18, 2012, 03:14:25 pm
Congrats on the great accomplishment.  I hope you are rewarded for your persistence. 

Thanks! I think I want a Masters now.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: subnuclear on May 18, 2012, 03:21:16 pm
After working full time at a real job for a few years and then going back to school, I think that most people would say that school is lke being on an extended vacation.

I guess it depends on the person. My mom got an accounting degree and a CPA in her 40s. She had been a bookkeeper and a stay-at-home mom, so going back to school (and passing the CPA) was very different.

I took a couple of bio courses at a community college a few years ago and it certainly didn't feel like a vacation.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: BudGirl on May 18, 2012, 03:23:52 pm
I'm just now graduating college this weekend and I just turned 31. Granted I started late and have been going part time while working so it has taken longer but the process has been well worth it.

Congrats!!!!
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Limey on May 18, 2012, 03:24:56 pm
I was more motivated when I went back to college, and enjoyed it more.

You get older.  They stayed the same age.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: BudGirl on May 18, 2012, 03:25:51 pm
I guess it depends on the person. My mom got an accounting degree and a CPA in her 40s. She had been a bookkeeper and a stay-at-home mom, so going back to school (and passing the CPA) was very different.

I took a couple of bio courses at a community college a few years ago and it certainly didn't feel like a vacation.

Going back to school is scaring me.  I have a completely different perspective now than I did at 18.  I think I'll have a completely different perspective than a majority of my future classmates.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: chuck on May 18, 2012, 03:26:46 pm
I have finely tuned antennae, as many have noticed, and one of the things that makes them twitch is language. Like 'veggies,' I think the word 'congratulations' is disappearing in favor of 'congrats.'

People will be shocked to learn that this irks me too.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: subnuclear on May 18, 2012, 03:35:41 pm
Going back to school is scaring me.  I have a completely different perspective now than I did at 18.  I think I'll have a completely different perspective than a majority of my future classmates.

Good luck! My mother said the other students always thought she was cool. I would be surprised if there aren't more people going back to school these days. 
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: EasTexAstro on May 18, 2012, 03:36:08 pm
You get older.  They stayed the same age.

True.

It might have helped that my teachers knew I helped process their paychecks. Working IT at a university.... well....


"Get off my lawn!" worked on a few of the younger instructors, too.

Title: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: geezerdonk on May 18, 2012, 03:45:04 pm
I have finely tuned antennae, as many have noticed, and one of the things that makes them twitch is language. Like 'veggies,' I think the word 'congratulations' is disappearing in favor of 'congrats.'

probs
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Noe on May 18, 2012, 03:45:26 pm
People will be shocked to learn that this irks me too.

'kay... lesson learned! Late!
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: BudGirl on May 18, 2012, 03:50:24 pm
People will be shocked to learn that this irks me too.

What about thanks instead of thank you?
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Bench on May 18, 2012, 04:11:06 pm
I have finely tuned antennae, as many have noticed, and one of the things that makes them twitch is language. Like 'veggies,' I think the word 'congratulations' is disappearing in favor of 'congrats.'

How about "veggie-weggies"?
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Matt on May 18, 2012, 04:14:42 pm
Going back to school is scaring me.  I have a completely different perspective now than I did at 18.  I think I'll have a completely different perspective than a majority of my future classmates.

Most of my classes featured a few older students in their 40's and sometimes 50's. It seems pretty common nowadays. I look much younger than I am so most people thought I was their age.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: chuck on May 18, 2012, 04:14:43 pm
What about thanks instead of thank you?

You may use 'thanks' rather than 'thank you.' I appreciate your asking.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: BudGirl on May 18, 2012, 04:16:54 pm
You may use 'thanks' rather than 'thank you.' I appreciate your asking.

n e time.

In an informal setting I use 'congrats' and 'thanks' but in a formal setting, I use 'congratulations' and 'thank you.'  I consider SnS an informal setting.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Noe on May 18, 2012, 04:19:36 pm
n e time.

In an informal setting I use 'congrats' and 'thanks' but in a formal setting, I use 'congratulations' and 'thank you.'  I consider SnS an informal setting.

Props! (oops, sorry)
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Ron Brand on May 18, 2012, 04:24:38 pm
probs

No doy.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Ron Brand on May 18, 2012, 04:25:48 pm
How about "veggie-weggies"?

Ice tea.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Mr. Happy on May 18, 2012, 04:29:11 pm
People will be shocked to learn that this irks me too.

Say it isn't so!!!
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: chuck on May 18, 2012, 04:49:43 pm
Say it isn't so!!!

There are a couple of these things that really get under my skin. But I was disconcerted recently to discover that my brother is well ahead of me on this. It's disconcerting because he is steadily losing his mind and I would like to think that this contraction/abbreviation aversion is unrelated.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Ron Brand on May 18, 2012, 04:57:15 pm
There are a couple of these things that really get under my skin. But I was disconcerted recently to discover that my brother is well ahead of me on this. It's disconcerting because he is steadily losing his mind and I would like to think that this contraction/abbreviation aversion is unrelated.

I prefer to believe that the recognizance of the acceleration of Newspeak is not related to madness. Believing that you can do something about it might be.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Mr. Happy on May 18, 2012, 05:39:22 pm
I prefer to believe that the recognizance of the acceleration of Newspeak is not related to madness. Believing that you can do something about it might be.

I blame some of it on twitter and some on the fact that spelling proficiency is on a rapid descent.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: OregonStrosFan on May 18, 2012, 05:52:51 pm
Ice tea.

Would that be sweet tea or unsweet tea?!?
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: chuck on May 18, 2012, 06:15:20 pm
I prefer to believe that the recognizance of the acceleration of Newspeak is not related to madness. Believing that you can do something about it might be.

Well, there you have it. My brother is forever railing on people about this, chiefly our poor mother. I tend to suffer silently.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: austro on May 18, 2012, 08:05:27 pm
No doy.

Whatevs.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Ron Brand on May 18, 2012, 08:30:38 pm
Whatevs.

U FOO.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Col. Sphinx Drummond on May 19, 2012, 08:56:33 am
I'm just now graduating college this weekend and I just turned 31. Granted I started late and have been going part time while working so it has taken longer but the process has been well worth it.

Congratulations! I didn't get my BA until I was 33. I got my MA at 37.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Col. Sphinx Drummond on May 19, 2012, 09:07:41 am
I'm confused by this new-speak, should I call these things that make me see things bigger and less blurry, my eyeglasses or spectacles?
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: NeilT on May 19, 2012, 10:09:41 am
Ice tea.

Ice cream
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: HudsonHawk on May 19, 2012, 10:16:41 am
n e time.

In an informal setting I use 'congrats' and 'thanks' but in a formal setting, I use 'congratulations' and 'thank you.'  I consider SnS an informal setting.

"Thanks" is an actual word (a plural noun) not a shortened version of a word, like "veggie" or "congrats". It's perfectly acceptable to use "thanks".
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: BizidyDizidy on May 19, 2012, 10:31:42 am
"Thanks" is an actual word (a plural noun) not a shortened version of a word, like "veggie" or "congrats". It's perfectly acceptable to use "thanks".

So contracting phrases is fine, just not words. Gotcha.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Mr. Happy on May 19, 2012, 10:36:12 am
I'm confused by this new-speak, should I call these things that make me see things bigger and less blurry, my eyeglasses or spectacles?

They are "cheaters."
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: HudsonHawk on May 19, 2012, 10:49:23 am
So contracting phrases is fine, just not words. Gotcha.

Contracting words is fine, but a delicate process. Making up words is never acceptable, Mr. President.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Bench on May 19, 2012, 01:28:25 pm
Contracting words is fine, but a delicate process. Making up words is never acceptable, Mr. President.

Shakespeare's ouvre would be wildly different if he were not allowed to make up words or phrases.  Hoisted on your own petard, one might say.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Mr. Happy on May 19, 2012, 10:02:25 pm
Shakespeare's ouvre would be wildly different if he were not allowed to make up words or phrases.  Hoisted on your own petard, one might say.

The phrase actually is hoisted by your own petard, whjch is aa catapult.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: NeilT on May 20, 2012, 08:31:18 am
The phrase actually is hoisted by your own petard, whjch is aa catapult.

From Wikipedia, which may or may not be right:

A petard was a small bomb used to blow up gates and walls when breaching fortifications. The term has a French origin and dates back to the sixteenth century.[1] In a typical implementation, it was commonly either a conical or rectangular metal object containing 2-3 kg (5 or 6 pounds) of gunpowder, activated with a slow match used as a fuse. . .

The word petard comes from the Middle French peter, to break wind, from pet expulsion of intestinal gas, from Latin peditum, from neuter of peditus, past participle of pedere, to break wind; akin to Greek bdein to break wind. (Merriam-Webster) Petard remains a French word meaning a firecracker today (in French slang, it means a handgun, or a marijuana cigarette).

The word remains in modern usage in the phrase hoist with one's own petard, which means "to be harmed by one's own plan to harm someone else" or "to fall into one's own trap," literally implying that one could be lifted up (hoist, or blown upward) by one's own bomb.
[edit]

Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Mr. Happy on May 20, 2012, 09:07:28 am
From Wikipedia, which may or may not be right:

A petard was a small bomb used to blow up gates and walls when breaching fortifications. The term has a French origin and dates back to the sixteenth century.[1] In a typical implementation, it was commonly either a conical or rectangular metal object containing 2-3 kg (5 or 6 pounds) of gunpowder, activated with a slow match used as a fuse. . .

The word petard comes from the Middle French peter, to break wind, from pet expulsion of intestinal gas, from Latin peditum, from neuter of peditus, past participle of pedere, to break wind; akin to Greek bdein to break wind. (Merriam-Webster) Petard remains a French word meaning a firecracker today (in French slang, it means a handgun, or a marijuana cigarette).

The word remains in modern usage in the phrase hoist with one's own petard, which means "to be harmed by one's own plan to harm someone else" or "to fall into one's own trap," literally implying that one could be lifted up (hoist, or blown upward) by one's own bomb.
[edit]



Then I stand corrected. I should have looked that up and not relied upon that former teacher of mine for all these years. This is from another source:

pe·tard  (p-tärd)
n.
1. A small bell-shaped bomb used to breach a gate or wall.
2. A loud firecracker.
[French pétard, from Old French, from peter, to break wind, from pet, a breaking of wind, from Latin pditum, from neuter past participle of pdere, to break wind; see pezd- in Indo-European roots.]
Word History: The French used pétard, "a loud discharge of intestinal gas," for a kind of infernal engine for blasting through the gates of a city. "To be hoist by one's own petard," a now proverbial phrase apparently originating with Shakespeare's Hamlet (around 1604) not long after the word entered English (around 1598), means "to blow oneself up with one's own bomb, be undone by one's own devices." The French noun pet, "fart," developed regularly from the Latin noun pditum, from the Indo-European root *pezd-, "fart."

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Col. Sphinx Drummond on May 20, 2012, 10:13:18 am
The famous French professional Flatulist (pro farter) Joseph Pujol went by the stage name Le Pétomane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_P%C3%A9tomane), which translates into fartomaniac.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: NeilT on May 20, 2012, 10:28:30 am
Then I stand corrected. I should have looked that up and not relied upon that former teacher of mine for all these years. This is from another source:

pe·tard  (p-tärd)
n.
1. A small bell-shaped bomb used to breach a gate or wall.
2. A loud firecracker.
[French pétard, from Old French, from peter, to break wind, from pet, a breaking of wind, from Latin pditum, from neuter past participle of pdere, to break wind; see pezd- in Indo-European roots.]
Word History: The French used pétard, "a loud discharge of intestinal gas," for a kind of infernal engine for blasting through the gates of a city. "To be hoist by one's own petard," a now proverbial phrase apparently originating with Shakespeare's Hamlet (around 1604) not long after the word entered English (around 1598), means "to blow oneself up with one's own bomb, be undone by one's own devices." The French noun pet, "fart," developed regularly from the Latin noun pditum, from the Indo-European root *pezd-, "fart."

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.


I looked it up because an old teacher of mine told me it was a kind of spear.
Title: Re: MLB College Graduation Rate
Post by: Mr. Happy on May 20, 2012, 01:05:51 pm
I looked it up because an old teacher of mine told me it was a kind of spear.

Then you were smarter than me, counselor, which doesn't surprise me too much.