10 thoughts on “What’s the Matter Now?”

1. Typewriters, sewing machines and blasting powder. That is a great combination.

2. Well, the pen is mightier than the sword. I wonder how a typewriter compares with a pistol.

3. About the same, but a computer beats them all.

4. I’m familiar with “chock full,” but “chuch full” is a new one.

5. According to wiktionary “chuch” means squirrel. A store squirell full of stuff sounds a bit odd.

6. I wondered about that word too. Squirrels store nuts away for the winter, so maybe that was the beginning of the phrase.

7. It makes sense — typewriters and pistols — both the result of fine machining — a good machinist with tools, and only a good machinist with tools, can make a typewriter or a pistol.

8. When women see a Husqvarna chainsaw or dirt bike, they will often let the men in their company know that Husqvarna sewing machines are high quality products. But just think how the market for sewing machines could possibly expand if Husqvarna put two-stroke engines on some instead of electric motors.

9. So, the wiktionary entry where “chuch” means squirrel lists “chuch” as a Ch’orti’ Maya word. I suppose it’s not impossible for Browning Bros., in Utah, to be familiar with an indigenous language of Central America, but it seems unlikely.

   I’m guessing that “chuch” involved a vowel shift from “chock-full” to “chuck-full,” plus having to guess on the spelling of a word that doesn’t appear in the dictionary. But that’s mere speculation, based on no evidence at all.

10. Nevertheless, Mike R., it’s the same conclusion I drew. It’s the way things work.

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