Hi, Anton! Recently you wrote in a message to Dallas Hinton:
d. I divulged to Jim everything I knew about...
I like this alternative because... while I have no control over what Jim does with any information I've divulged/revealed to him... I still have the original copy in my brain, and I can refer to it again whenever I see fit. :-)
(now that's more like dumping!)
Hmm. I see that, in an emergency, an aeroplane might discharge fuel into the air... but where I come from "dumping" usually means somebody wants to get rid of household garbage & where it lands is irrelevant from their POV. We have signs saying "NO DUMPING" adjacent to certain ravines around here.... :-Q
"drain" seems to imply a certain effort on the part
of the receiver
Perhaps. I've heard many sad stories about how Jane Bloggs falls in love with a con artist who drains her bank account(s) or persuades her to do it because he desperately needs a loan... just over the weekend, you understand... while he's waiting for a cheque to arrive in the mail. Next thing we know he's disappeared along with her life savings... [wry grin].
(e.g. a vampyre),
While I'd spell it "vampire", I enjoy archaic language too. :-)
unless it verb is used in the narrow technical sense
of the operation of a drainage system.
I see it as a metaphor which may be interpreted in various ways, but I have difficulty with the idea that... except perhaps in science fiction... it is possible to suck out of my brain what I know about xxx, leaving none for me. OTOH I'm quite comfortable with e.g. "I realized [the neighbourhood gossip] was trying to pump me for information" & "Anton, I'd like to pick your brains WRT a point of grammar". Both imply some effort on the part of the receiver.... :-)
--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
* Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)