Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2017 October 4

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October 4

Fluff

Is it legal to burn your fluff with a blowtorch?. Also what precautions must one take? !149.254.235.11 (talk) 00:39, 4 October 2017 (UTC)

What type of fluff? Like marshmallow fluff? If so this may be helpful.--Jayron32 01:20, 4 October 2017 (UTC)

If you keep it in a silo, don't burn it as soon as you get it, or you might explode. InedibleHulk (talk) 02:08, 4 October 2017 (UTC)

The ip geolocates to the UK, where fluff may be a polite euphemism for flatulence, as it is in NZ. Akld guy (talk) 02:23, 4 October 2017 (UTC)

Well then, you might explode. InedibleHulk (talk) 02:33, 4 October 2017 (UTC)

The user could try it and see how it works out. And whether he reports back or not, we'll know. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:35, 4 October 2017 (UTC)

Exploding isn't always fatal. And curious online fluff torchers aren't always male. But yeah, they're pretty safe bets. InedibleHulk (talk) 05:24, 4 October 2017 (UTC)

I 'geolocate' to the UK as well and never in my 7 decades have I heard anybody refer to a fart as fluff. Trump, yes, but not fluff. Richard Avery (talk) 08:01, 4 October 2017 (UTC)

reference. I've heard several elderly ladies use the term that way. Akld guy (talk) 09:48, 4 October 2017 (UTC)

It was one of the standard term used in my family during my childhood (at least, in my presence): "pump" was also commonly used (which amusingly clashed with the term for a gymnasium shoe used in certain areas (e.g. Yorkshire) but not others (e.g. Kent)). That was, of course, half a century ago. On the other hand, I never heard "trump" being used in this context until the election campaign of the current POTUS. I suspect these and other terms are highly dependent on region and family culture: I wonder if anyone has included them in a linguistic study of regional vocabularies? {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 2.217.210.199 (talk) 16:09, 4 October 2017 (UTC)

I've never heard fluff used here in northern England in that sense, but the OED has "A puff; a quick, short blast, a whiff; a slight explosion. lit. and fig." as Scottish and northern English dialect, and I assume this is the source of the usage. Dbfirs 13:01, 5 October 2017 (UTC)

If you are talking about belly button fluff then I wouldn't recommend burning it. http://gawker.com/5672240/this-is-officially-the-largest-collection-of-belly-button-lint-in-the-world (((The Quixotic Potato))) (talk) 21:02, 4 October 2017 (UTC)

Maybe bumfluff is more likely: "(Australia, Britain, New Zealand, derogatory) The first, sparse beard growth of an adolescent. [from late 19th c.]". Again, blowtorch removal is not recommended. Alansplodge (talk) 16:02, 5 October 2017 (UTC)

I'm not even going to mention the film industry here. Martinevans123 (talk) 16:10, 5 October 2017 (UTC)

Is that an intentional mentioning something you're not going to mention? Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 00:49, 6 October 2017 (UTC)

I'll never look at a Fluffernutter the same way again. StuRat (talk) 17:29, 5 October 2017 (UTC)

Good Lord, do people really eat those things? Alansplodge (talk) 21:22, 5 October 2017 (UTC)

Only if they're true professionals, luvvie. Martinevans123 (talk) 22:03, 5 October 2017 (UTC)

Très drôle! Alansplodge (talk) 22:31, 5 October 2017 (UTC)

Backwoods Farm near Barnard, Vermont

Where is the farm located? It is known because of Carl Zuckmayer who lived there in the 1940s. The article on Barnard, Vermont mentions the farmhouse built in 1783 and gives [1] as reference. --тнояsтеn ⇔ 11:37, 4 October 2017 (UTC)

You might try contacting the Barnard historical society. They seem to know, but their website[2] describes it as "Route 12, at the top of the ledge-cut leading down toward South Barnard". Looking at Google Maps it's not clear to me where that is.

If that fails, the people at Twin Farms resort[3] may be able to help you. That resort was hisotically connected to Zuckmayer's social circle.

ApLundell (talk) 17:32, 4 October 2017 (UTC)