Re: CHAT: Return of the Sal (was CHAT: Re: Zed)

andrew wrote:

> Well they have catlike features, but are not necessarily evolved from
> cats, although they do have retractable claws on their hands, and maybe
> their gods do too<g>.  How this works, practically and effecting
> language and culture would be welcome.  The conculture list has already
> given me some advice.
Well, if they have retractible claws, they might in some earlier stage
have
been predators of some sort.  Or tree climbers.  Unless these features
have
been engineered.  Are these sharp claws?  Such claws would be a constant
source of social scrutiny.  When is it permissible to extrude them?
When
is it important to keep them retracted?  What expressions or idioms
would
arise from either retracted or extruded claws?  It seems that vocabulary
would be rife with verbs like scratch, puncture, cling, grasp, hook,
flay,
shred, draw out, retreat, hide, expose, point, manipulate, indicate,
make smooth, make pointed, lock into, withdraw, etc.   And that things
or
situations would likewise hinge on whether they are exposed, smooth,
hidden,
manifested, extended, extruded, pointed, or rounded.  :-)

Sally
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SALLY CAVES
scaves@frontiernet.net
http://www.frontiernet.net/~scaves (bragpage)
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Niffodyr tweluenrem lis teuim an.
"The gods have retractible claws."
                                from _The Gospel of Bastet_
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