Re: CHAT: The verb "to post" (was Re: CHAT: opposite of "verneinen")
| From: | Mark J. Reed <markjreed@...> |
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| Date: | Thursday, May 13, 2004, 19:05 |
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On Thu, May 13, 2004 at 02:21:12PM -0400, Paul Bennett wrote:
> Hm. I've seen "to post" in pre-Internet Explosion days for physical notice
> boards, i.e. slabs of cork with associated bits of paper and drawing pins.
Absolutely. Those are called "bulletin boards" in the US, and the
computerized equivalent "bulletin board system" - BBS for short - was
named after them. The first electronic use of "to post" was in
reference to such systems, and its use was extended by analogy to other
systems with a similar purpose.
> It also crops up in the stock phrase "Post No Bills", which is British
> Officialese for "Please do not put up posters/papers/notices on this
> surface".
"Post No Bills" is, or at least was, US officialese as well.
-Mark