On Wed, Mar. 29, Thom Hadfield <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> Hi well I didn't want to be left out of the sieve disscussion but what
>> does sieve really mean.  I have been a long time football fan but since
>> comming to Lake State I have been forced in to becoming a hockey fan.
>> Reluctantly I have learned to understand and like the game.  I wish we
>> would have beat BU but since we hadn't I am jumping on to my favorites
>> schools band wagon(UMICH).  I missed the early disscussions on the sieve
>> chant so I am not sure if the origination and actual meaning of the word
>> has been told.  Can some one please tell me how it came about.  I know it
>> is to tell the goalie or it seems most anybody that they suck but how did
>> it originate.  Best of luck to Michigan.
>>
>>                                                 Sincerely,
>>                                                     Thomas Hadfield
>>
>>
>> [log in to unmask]
>> Sault Ste. Marie MI
>>                  49783
 
On Thurs, Mar. 30, [anonymous] wrote to me:
> This guy has certainly never taken home economics or bachelor survival...
 
It's obviously been a long time since he had that one-day english grammer
course, too. :)
 
(Personally, I had always called the kitchen utensil a strainer or colander,
and refered to a more scientific or playground item as a sieve.)
 
From the American Heritage Dictionary:
 
colander (kol'en-der) [also cullender] n. A bowl-shaped kitchen utensil with
perforations for draining off liquids and rinsing food. [ME colyndore, prob.
alteration of OProv. colador < VLat. *colator < Lat. colare, to strain <
colum, sieve.]
 
sieve (siv) n. A utensil of wire mesh or closely perforated metal used for
straining, sifting, ricing, or pureeing.  --v. sieved, sieving, sieves.
 --tr. To pass through a sieve. --intr. To sift.  [ME sive < OE sife.]
 
From these definitions (as close as I could reproduce them), it would seem
that a colander is specifically bowl-shaped, and a sieve is simply a
strainer that is more likely not bowl-shaped.  Therefore, I would expect to
see a colander in the kitchen, and a sieve in the sandbox.
 
However, it obviously applies to hokey, as:  a "device" for letting small
objects through (i.e. a puck) and stopping larger ones (i.e. players).
 
 - Eric