BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: GUEST,999
Date: 03 Dec 10 - 01:35 PM

Why do they call it 'Men'sa???


I think you deserve a serious answer, Bobert. They call it mensa because calling it floccinaucinihilipilification would be a real pain in the ass.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: GUEST,999
Date: 03 Dec 10 - 01:28 PM

Yo, Neil. I will try to phone this weekend.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: GUEST,Neil D
Date: 03 Dec 10 - 12:09 PM

As of the same date, the province will be renamed Womanitoba.


Well just to be contrarian we're going to change TWO of our states:
Misterissippi and Misterouri.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: Charmion
Date: 02 Dec 10 - 12:43 PM

Hate to break it to you, Amos, but the "mores" part of O tempora, etc. doesn't really mean "morals." That tag is better translated as "What times! What customs!"

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: GUEST,999
Date: 02 Dec 10 - 11:08 AM

Well, Canada is a bit more enlightened than much of the world it seems. We are taking care of two issues related to this thread,

1) As of April 1, 2011, they will be called womanhole covers

2) As of the same date, the province will be renamed Womanitoba.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: GUEST,Patsy
Date: 02 Dec 10 - 09:34 AM

I am only teasing the menfolk here, and it worked hee, hee.

You have to part with money?! No way Jose!

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: GUEST,Steamin' Willie
Date: 02 Dec 10 - 07:38 AM

If they called it Womensa, then clever people would all talk bollocks and park cars at strange angles....

If that wasn't very PC, then you will love my serious stereotyping;

If I had a process management role available, I would, all other things being equal, give it to a female candidate.

If I had a strategic management role available, I would, all other things being equal, give it to a male candidate.

Interestingly, although the real me would deny the above if asked, it is a fact and interestingly, sits well with my view that merit alone has merit. Horses for courses all the same.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 02 Dec 10 - 07:16 AM

I passed all the tests and decided I wasn't interested in joining if you had to pay.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: Bobert
Date: 02 Dec 10 - 07:12 AM

Now wait a minute, Patsy... I thought it was Latin fir "table"??? Now it's, ummmmmm, a female thing??? What, are we men now supposed to think that ya'll is blamin' us fir that, too???

Sheet fire, boys... Now we're gettin' blamed for menstrual stuff... What next??? Leaving the toilet seat up???

B;~)

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: GUEST,Patsy
Date: 02 Dec 10 - 06:48 AM

Right here goes, ahem.....

Menses is latin for month as mentioned in one of the other posts, so the 'menses' was used to describe a woman's monthly period. Therefore the lady who applied to Mensa probably forgot to enclose her cheque because of forgetfulness caused by 'the menses'.

Being serious now, is it named after someone called er. Mr. Mensa perhaps?

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: Penny S.
Date: 02 Dec 10 - 06:48 AM

Interesting point gnu - but we don't have to have membership cards and rule books and club houses or similar. As I recall, Mensa used (back a long way) to have a recognition scheme of members wearing a round headed pin in the reverse of their lapel (and who has lapels?) so that if they suspected they were speaking to another member, they could fold the lapel out to show it. Boy stuff. If true. I cannot quote source.
Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: Monique
Date: 01 Dec 10 - 02:57 PM

Because it's much more polite to say Hi when someone is about to enter a place.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: Wolfgang
Date: 01 Dec 10 - 02:51 PM

And why is hymen called hy"men"?

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: gnu
Date: 01 Dec 10 - 02:33 PM

"Women do not feel so attracted to clubs with secrets as men..."

Why would they be? They are already in the biggest such club in the world.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: GUEST,999
Date: 01 Dec 10 - 11:17 AM

The answer to your question is three.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: Penny S.
Date: 01 Dec 10 - 10:14 AM

That is the sort of trick the subconscious pulls when the person has doubts about things.

How many men have done the same sort of thing?

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: G-Force
Date: 01 Dec 10 - 10:03 AM

I once knew a lady who passed the test to join Mensa. So she filled in the application form to join and sent it off. But she forgot to enclose the cheque. Duh!

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 01 Dec 10 - 09:34 AM

Amos Lightfoot: "I don't consider the President a joke."

Maybe you just didn't get the punchline!

GfS

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: Penny S.
Date: 01 Dec 10 - 09:27 AM

As I recall from reading the stuff my sister got and hid when she joined (for a year only) the original founders had the idea of being a sort of Arthurian society using its brains to serve the community as the knight of the Round Table were supposed to have done. I dare say there was a play on words with the idea of mind as well.

A number of people who I know to have joined have left after the year was up. Others have not. Strangely, the leavers have a higher proportion of women than the ones who stay. Oddly, the stayers are all men, and also men I would not want to spend time with. (Both samples are small, so this is probably bad science.) This not wanting to spend time with reaction does not apply to the leavers, or to other very bright men (PhD level) who have never felt drawn to membership.

Apparently, there is a disproportion of males to females in membership, so Bobert's remark, so long as no-one thinks it has anything too do with actual intelligence apart from that needed to solve rather pointless puzzles, may have some truth in it.

(The magazines - the old ones my sister used to hide, or more recent ones donated by a member - did not encourage the thought that the members were engaging in activities particularly requiring intellect. And, in the recent ones, a running "joke" about gherkins did emphasise a male tendency.)

Also apparently, the root of the word mind is the same as the root of the word man - but back then, the word meant everyone, the equivalent of anthropos or human, not of andros or vir. In the ancestor of English, man meant the whole of humanity, modified as wif-man for females, and wer-man for males.

I suppose it is possible the original founders were playing on the masculine sound of Men in the name, as well. The knightly link might suggest a leaning towards males being the default of intelligence. (Though the IQ tests used in British schools to determine whoi went to grammar school had to be fixed because more girls scored high enough for grammar than boys, and there were fewer places for girls than boys. This may have inclined people with access to the "corrected" results, but not the raw scores to believe that men were more intelligent.)

Women do not feel so attracted to clubs with secrets as men - whether this has any indication of relative intelligence levels is a moot point.

Mostly, posts on the Mudcat are much more intelligent seeming than anything I read in Mensa material.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 11:17 PM

The first Mensa conference I went to, the opening was on a Friday evening. Lots of brilliant and very nice polite people from all over the world.


They forgot to buy the milk for the coffee...

:-)

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: GUEST,mark-s(on the road)
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 11:16 PM

Might as well call it Womensa. After all, they are right about everything anyway.

Mark ( life member of the other group. Densa )

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: mousethief
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 11:05 PM

Explain it in Ginny Weasley terms, Amos.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: Bobert
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 09:03 PM

But then there was Bush, Amos... Yeah, I know that he really wasn't supposed to be "the President" and was awarded it by Republican appointed Supreme Court justices but he was "the President" and he was very much a joke... Most of it was a bad joke for which no explanation comes close to explaining...

I donno???

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: Amos
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 08:53 PM

I don't consider the President a joke.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: Bobert
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 08:42 PM

I think that was supposed to be a joke, Amos, but you know how GfinS can be... But then again she ain't menza stuff like you and me...

B;~)

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 07:51 PM

Amos Lightfoot: "I hate explaining a joke."

You do??????
Look at all the posts you did explaining Obama!

GfS

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: gnu
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 06:49 PM

Amos.. don't truffle with me.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: Bill D
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 06:37 PM

"...perfectly good Wes Ginny talk?"

It were silly puns.

That oughta do fer a smart hillbilly.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: Bobert
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 06:20 PM

I didn't get the joke, Amos??? Can you explain it again in perfectly good Wes Ginny talk???

Meanwhile the womenz know when they have been bested and are stayin' away because they is ashamed...

Who say's ol' hillbilly is a moron???

I'z like menza plus... That's Latin fir "Real smart hillbilly"...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: Bobert
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 06:11 PM

They call 'um "mergals" here...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: Amos
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 06:10 PM

Tempura and morels are both edible--the one a batter, the other a fungus.

The original expostulation, of course, is "O, tempore! O, mores", meaning "Oh, the times! Oh, the morals!". But since I had already botched one Latin job I figgered I'd go for the whole hog, so to speak...


I hate explaining a joke.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: Rapparee
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 05:28 PM

And they're great sauteed in butter! Those who have never tasted them are amorel.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: GUEST, RIchard Bridge
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 05:18 PM

Morels? I thought those were edible funghi.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: GUEST,999
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 05:07 PM

Tabling the Motion.

In quantum mechanics, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle states by precise inequalities that certain pairs of physical properties, such as position and momentum, cannot be simultaneously known to arbitrarily high precision. That is, the more precisely one property is measured, the less precisely the other can be measured. The principle states that a minimum exists for the product of the uncertainties in these properties that is equal to or greater than one half of the reduced Planck constant (ħ = h/2π).

(From Wikipedia)

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: gnu
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 05:05 PM

Rap... mantis is for... Eeewwww... kill it!

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: gnu
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 05:03 PM

Is the motion tabled?

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: Bobert
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 04:53 PM

So, ladies... This is all about a table??? Is that ya'llz final answer???

B;~)

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: GUEST,Guest from Sanity
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 03:30 PM

Equal opportunity for both sexes...and they are totally opposite in nature.....'Mensa' for high intelligent brain activity ................ and 'Menopause' for,....well just the opposite!
Wink!

GfS

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: Rapparee
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 03:29 PM

Anima, animae is latin for soul.
Mens, mentis is latin for mind. (derivatives include mental)
Mensis, mensis is latin for month. (derivatives include menses)
Mensa, mensae is latin for table. (derivative include, via spanish, mesa)

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: Amos
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 03:17 PM

Well whaddya know. My wild-ass guess was WRONG!! Oh, tempura!! Oh, morels!!


A

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: Slag
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 03:09 PM

Isn't that what women call horny men? Men O' Paws?

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: GUEST, Richard Bridge
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 03:00 PM

Well, we know what men think with. The other head.

Women of course simply react to hormones and don't think at all.

I'll get my coat.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: GUEST,999
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 02:06 PM

I once did a test they had in which I corrected two of their questions. Never heard a thing back. Bah, humbug.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: Becca72
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 02:06 PM

LOL, Gnu

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: gnu
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 02:04 PM

Becca.... they also call that menopause, which comes from, WARNING : Men! Oh! PAUSE!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: SINSULL
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 02:03 PM

From Mensa's website:
What does "Mensa" mean?
The word "Mensa" means "table" in Latin. Mensa is a round-table society, where race, color, creed, national origin, age, politics, educational or social background are irrelevant.


Bobert, you idiot, tell P-Vine to up your meds again.
SINS

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: Becca72
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 01:56 PM

They also call it "menses" and it has little to do with you guys, either. :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: Lizzie Cornish 1
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 01:54 PM

Well, Bobz, I've heard the term was derived from an overheard conversation between a Lady and her Priest...

"Men, Sir, are the reason women have turned their minds to the education of men's souls. For any poor man who believes a Holy Book which purports women to be inferior, surely needs all the help he can get to educate him otherwise."


;0)

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: Smokey.
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 01:52 PM

'Mensa' is Latin for 'table'. The logo is a sort of 'm' - cum - table figure.

Subject: RE: BS: Why do they call it 'Men'sa???
From: Monique
Date: 30 Nov 10 - 01:48 PM

So they think it's all about them while if they'd been told it was Latin it'd have been all Greek to them and couldn't boast about it!