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