JB is still a student of English

No. Profitable to some, but not others. That is, some win, some lose. If you're playing marbles, the same number comes out of the game as went in. They sometimes have different owners. The opposite of a zero sum game is a "win'win" situation.

Thanks Roger, but what is a marble game?

I'm caught. I've never played a game of marbles in my life. I'll do my best, though.

First, a marble is a small, spherical object, with diameters around 10mm. They are usually made of glass. From the name, I suppose they were originally made of stone, perhaps even marble.

I think you draw a circle in the ground and put some marbles in it. Your opponent does the same. Using another marble, called a "shooter", you try to knock your opponents marbles out of the circle. When you do, you keep his marbles. He trys to do the same. Anyway, if you each start with 10 marbles, there are 20 in total. When the game is over, there are still 20 marbles. They may not have the same owner as at the beginning, making it a zero sum game.

For what it's worth, when someone becomes mentally incapacitated in some ways, we say he's lost his marbles.

Now, here's a joke:

A disc jockey went to school to learn his trade. On day one, he had to try to talk clearly with 5 marbles in his mouth. The next day, only four. Finally, on day 5 he was able to talk without any marbles. When he had lost all his marbles, they gave him a diploma that said he was a disc jockey.

Before you ask, a disc jockey used to play records on the radio with a line of brainless chatter between records. The records were the disks, and jockey comes from a professional race horse rider.

On a2k, Bi Polar Bear does karoke for a living. This is somewhat like being a disc jockey, and I promise you, he lost all his marbles a long time ago. If you want to know about karoke, you'll have to ask him.

What a jokingly explanation and what an explanatory joke!

Thanks Roger. I love the idea of putting langauge back to its context.

Somewhere else, fellow member Tomkitten says:



What is to "live it up"?


Thanks

To have a great time, be extravagant, indulge oneself.

Something like, "Just Do It"?

In this case, yes, but the phrase itself is defined well by dlowan. "Live it up!" has a connotation of luxury, splurging, spending money. It would go on a poster of someone sitting on a tropical beach somewhere, sipping a fancy drink and being fanned by an attractive member of the opposite sex.

I see

Here is another question

Somewhere else, A2K member 2PacksAday says:



What is "heads up"? Is that like "attention"?

Thank you.

"heads up!" is something you say to someone right before you throw something too high. (or drop something from above)

that way, when they look up, it smacks them right in the face.

this isn't the intention, the intention is for them to look up, see what you're saying "heads up!" about, and then have time to get out of the way or something. never happens.

but since the intention is to be helpful, we also use "heads up" as a noun. "thanks for the heads up" means "thanks for telling me that thing i needed to know."

you wouldn't say "thanks for the heads up" if someone told you the capital of mexico or what's 42 divided by 5. you would say "thanks for the heads up" if someone told you that your boss was worth avoiding today, because he's in a bad mood, or because someone told you that you had a bit of food in your teeth- little things that people alert you to when it's a favor.

If someone gives you a "heads up", they are giving you an advance warning or notice. I recall playing basketball in high school physical education. Someone shouted "heads up", so I put my head up, and sure enough, I was struck by the ball - right in the head. My ears were ringing for hours.

I see

Somewhere else, A2K member Letty says:



Now, what is a "thumper"?

Thanks

J-B- A bible thumper, (also referred to as "bible-banger) is one of those usually fundamentalist preachers, and members of their flock, who are very strident in their spreading of their religion.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Bible+Banger&defid=1081441




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible_thumper

Thanks Phoenix,

Now another one,

Somewhere else, Asherman says:



What are the "Joes"? Where does this word come from?

I guess it is from certain popular comics or books...

No one knows it?

Guess not. I've run across "the average Joe", meaning the common person, or average person. I take it that the meaning is similar.

Joe is supposed to be a very common name in the U.S., but I don't happen to know anyone with that name.

Joe
noun
Joes
1. A man; an ordinary fellow.
Etymology: 19c.

joe


Slang term given to military personnel when the name is not known or when talking about military personnel as a stereotype.

eg: Hey go ask that "Joe" for a cigarette before the Platoon Sergeant gets back.

"Joe" is always ready to index the mission and hit the bars instead.




joe


Chicago Term for greeting a person or calling someone if you don't know their name. Even if you do know their name, you still call them joe.

eg: What's up Joe.
Man, Joe, we went to this juke party last night..

Thanks for the input - Mack.