(But wouldn't it be a good idea to keep this one thread specifically for things said on the Mudcat which appear quotable, rather than to carry over arguments from other threads?)

Yes. That is why I thought long and hard before answering you here. For if you look you will see that it was you that continued this argument here........and started the wordplay you refer to. I would still be interested in a sensible answer to my question (perhaps in a PM).

But comments here could also appear to be quotable gems - such as - possible here because "closed" and "opened" in this context are not opposites or mutually exclusive.

Wordplay indeed. In any context open and closed are opposites, please don't expect me to ever walk through a door that you assure me is open. In this context open means you can continue to contribute to a thread and closed means that you cannot - in our universe anyway - things may be different in Harlow.

As indeed I have found they are. I have never forgotten the flashing lights and alarms that I set off in the library there, when I mistakenly picked up the same book that I had just returned. Perhaps the library was not open? It was certainly soon closed....With me still in it!