RickTaylor@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote: > On 29-Jun-2004 luis jure wrote: > } Jos Laake <jos@xxxxxxxxxx> escribi?: > > } > I believe it's a reference from the Frank Zappa song "Apostrophe", no? > } > From the album of the same name. > } > > } > I belive the line goes: > } > "The crux of the biscuit is the Apostrophe." - FZ > } > } right. "it should be easy to see..." > > } > What it means? I have no idea. Random silliness from the Master > } > is my guess. ;-) > } > } i don't see it as random. i'm not a native speaker of english, but i think i > } can follow how zappa developed a funny variant of the idioms that use the > } word"crux" (meaning of course "decisive point", and not "cross"), mainly > } "the crux of the matter", but also "the crux of the problem/conflict", "the > } crux of the discussion/debate", etc. > } > } it's very probable that zappa himself invented the expression (can anyone > } trace it to a predating source?), perhaps melding "crux of the matter" and > } "crust of the biscuit". > } > } it appeared first in the song "stink foot", which was included in the album > } "apostrophe" from 1974. zappa also used the expression in conversation, i > } remember reading interviews where he used this peculiar idiom. > > I think you've got to look at that one in context... It is the dog explaining > "conceptual continuity" after all. Maybe it means that the "important bits" of > his biscuit are missing and therefore must be filled in by the imagination or > out of habit like we use an apostrophe to fill in the missing bits of words or > contractions. Whether the actual important bits of the biscuit are the ends or > perhaps the dog has begun his biscuit fest by biting the biscuit middle is > something, I think, that Frank has left up to the listener to determine... the > actual import of the statement being that the bits are missing thus breaking > the biscuit continuity and that we've filled things in with one of the above > mentioned devices. ...Like the apostrophe. > > I'm thinking this represents Franks tribute to mans imagination. ...The idea > that we, as humans, are capable of imagining things like talking dogs ...maybe > it's a contrast with the stark reality of stinky feet... which Frank may use > to illustrate the "street" or the baser human elements. > > So... Frank basically is contrasting the sublime with the human here... > telling us that what's important lies in the mind and not in the physical. > > It's just so typically Frank. "The poodle bites. (Come on Frenchie.) The poodle chews it. (Snap it!)" - FZ <sigh> Such GENius! ~Jos~
