The Last Post Game!!!!

[Griffin NoName]

I put the WORD in, and now I can't guess it.

Last Post

[Swatopluk]

Well, then let's rehash the hints

8 letters (doubling of letter 3 is possible making it 9), a 3-syllable noun
Changing the first letter can bring you to liquids ot to bad guys on screen
Changing letter 3 (and 4 in the 9 letter version) brings you to a profession.
It also brings you to the late wife of the late Douglas Adams.
I think (but might be wrong) that it's a British term and less in use elsewhere.
Can be ridden (and often is by youngsters) but often thorns are added to prevent exactly that.
Thorns more common in public than private use.
Seniors will, I think, use it more often in its intended function, esp. in the opposite direction.
Rails are involved.
No connection with drugs or ungulates.
Some say, you haven't lived until you rode it at the townhall (although that may be a continental European belief).

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[Aggie]

I think (but might be wrong) that it's a British term and less in use elsewhere.

I suspect it's comparable to 'Chesterfield' as a formerly-common word in the Colonies, but falling by the wayside with American uses (couch*, sofa*) overtaking.

Last _{*ironically French and Arabic derivations} Post

[Swatopluk]

In case of doubt let's just claim that sofa is derived from Icelandic, where it means 'to sleep'. Enough people have IKEA sofas (Iceland, Sweden, who in the US knows the difference anyway?) to believe that.

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[Griffin NoName]

I suspect it's comparable to 'Chesterfield' as a formerly-common word in the Colonies, but falling by the wayside with American uses (couch*, sofa*) overtaking.

I beg to differ. I don't think it's like that at all. Also, a Chesterfield implies a particular type of couch - in practice, in England using the term Chesterfield is always for a particluar type (even though some definitions say a sofa or a couch, actual usage differs). The other thing it might be like, but isn't, is that we use "hoover" when we mean vaccuum cleaner, and although Hoover is a brand, we don't nessarily mean an actual Hoover brand. Anyway, the LPWB WORD is not, in England, in usage, like any of those at that at all. It's just a regular word. To be honest I am not following (understanding) this discussion. although it does describe something other than itself...........<scratch head>

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[Swatopluk]

As I said, the LPWB looks British to me and I'd suspect that the typical USian would use a different one. But I could be totally wrong there.
I might be (mis)led to that conclusion because the profession that differs from it by a single(double) letter is unmistakably British/Commonwealth and clearly not USian (at least not in this century or the previous one or two).

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Edit: Just looking it up. According to wiki the meaning I hint to is actually an erroneous one but extremly common. If I believe that, it is not the actual part one can ride on and is not necessarily at an angle to the horizontal plane but is the support to the riding part.

[Griffin NoName]

I have not the faintest idea what the riding part is called - the Word is misused to include it but I can't find separate reference to the riding part, only to the non-riding part.

Anyone reading this page unfamiliar with our habits must be horrendously confused by now.

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[Aggie]

Also, a Chesterfield implies a particular type of couch - in practice, in England using the term Chesterfield is always for a particluar type (even though some definitions say a sofa or a couch, actual usage differs). The other thing it might be like, but isn't, is that we use "hoover" when we mean vaccuum cleaner, and although Hoover is a brand, we don't nessarily mean an actual Hoover brand.

It's the opposite on this side of the pond. Hoover isn't used generically, but Chesterfield was quite a common genericised name in my Grandparents' generation.

What I was mostly comparing was the transition away from the word(s) over time, not the manner of usage.

Last _{and napkins were serviettes} Post

[Swatopluk]

The world wars, esp. the first one kicked a lot of words out of common usage. Everything French had to go. Some excesses got reversed later (e.g. the serviette came back) but in many cases the 'new' German words stayed*. Furniture and clothing were a primary targets. Au revoir (not actually) fauteuil, parapluie, parasol...willkommen Sessel, Regenschirm, Sonnenschirm. Berlin is a bit of an exception there because many French words came here with Hugenot refugees and the Berolinians distorted them to a degree that they lost the foreign smell completely.

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*unless they later got replaced by anglicisms

[Sibling DavidH]

Since I first learned German you have ditched many such 'real German'  words.  Who now says Fotoapparat, Fernsprecher or Fernseher?

Last _{you're losing the battle} post

[Swatopluk]

Kamera is not a new word, although at times it was mainly used for moving picture cameras, Telefon has always been the common word, while Fernsprecher was bureaucratese, and Fernseher is still the standard word. Teh Vau (not Tih Wie) is far less common and used mainly in connections like TV-Zeitschrift. Computer vs. Rechner is a bit more complicated. At least we are beyond attempts to eliminate words like Nase (nose) or Pistole (handgun) in favor of Gesichtserker and Meuchelpuffer.

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[Roland Deschain]

Anyone reading this page unfamiliar with our habits must be horrendously confused by now.

Even though i'm fairly familiar with habits here, i'm still terribly confused. I get that the LPWB word is a commonly-misused generic term for something, but every clue given makes the whole thing even more confusing.

Last _WTF? Post.

[Griffin NoName]

Anyone reading this page unfamiliar with our habits must be horrendously confused by now.

Even though i'm fairly familiar with habits here, i'm still terribly confused. I get that the LPWB word is a commonly-misused generic term for something, but every clue given makes the whole thing even more confusing.

That is what makes this game such a success 

Use of napkin or serviette is class dependent.

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[Swatopluk]

I am confused why Zono has not yet gotten it, although he got one of the derivatives already. How difficult is it to change a single (double) letter?
Or do LPWBs not exist where he lives or did he have such a conservative upbringing that doing the ride was outright inconceivable?

Last _{Maybe the bad guys that include a sex-addicted Liliputian are an easier way} Post

[Aggie]

If barristers should be barred, should he be banned?

Last _{it was the 'walk up' clue that did it for me} Post