Message-ID: <4108@ucbvax.ARPA>
Date: Thu, 10-Jan-85 00:29:10 EST
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.4108
Posted: Thu Jan 10 00:29:10 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 11-Jan-85 23:28:43 EST
References: <191@topaz.ARPA>
Reply-To: wildbill@ucbvax.UUCP (William J. Laubenheimer)
Organization: University of California at Berkeley
Lines: 40
Keywords: Nimrod
Summary: 

The name "Nimrod", usually seen in connection with the adjectival phrase
"the mighty hunter", is Biblical in origin. I don't have a Bible handy
right now, so I can't give you a pointer, but somewhere in Genesis is
a pretty good bet.

I don't know about the original Nimrod, but you are basically correct
about the current meaning. When you designate someone a nimrod, you are
implying that he is the kind of person who frequently populates the
woods of the northern Midwest during deer season, exhibiting the following
sort of behavior:

Roars down back roads in his four-wheeler, usually with some like-minded
friends and a flask of potent beverage, shooting at anything that moves
(squirrels, domestic animals, farmers, other hunters, occasionally a
deer stupid enough to get in the way) and some things that don't (road
signs, parked cars, barns, birdhouses). Fortunately, he is usually too
drunk to hit what he is aiming at;

Has roughly the same opinion of property lines as Attila the Hun might have;

Does most of his hunting in wildlife sanctuaries (because that's where
the animals are, dummy!) during the day, and in bars near the red-light
district at night. Sometimes omits the daytime portion of the hunt
entirely.

And, despite all this, usually considers himself to be a regular wizard
with the gun. However, the usual way he bags a deer is to run one down
on the highway.

So the best way to define "nimrod" would be to say "a jerk, specifically
a hunter, who acts in a ridiculous and dangerous manner while nonetheless
retaining a grossly overrated opinion of his skills".

Does this belong in net.sf-lovers? I don't know. Is Genesis SF? (There
are a lot of elements which, depending on your faith, might be so
regarded.) Sorry if this got a little offbeat.

                                        Bill Laubenheimer
----------------------------------------UC-Berkeley Computer Science
     ...Killjoy went that-a-way--->     ucbvax!wildbill