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Saga
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English Dictionary: Saga by the DICT Development Group
5 results for Saga
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
saga
n
  1. a narrative telling the adventures of a hero or a family; originally (12th to 14th centuries) a story of the families that settled Iceland and their descendants but now any prose narrative that resembles such an account
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
   Saga \Sa"ga\ (s[amac]"g[adot]), n.; pl. {Sagas} (-g[adot]z).
      [Icel., akin to E. saw a saying. See {Say}, and cf. {Saw}.]
      A Scandinavian legend, or heroic or mythic tradition, among
      the Norsemen and kindred people; a northern European popular
      historical or religious tale of olden time.
  
               And then the blue-eyed Norseman told A saga of the days
               of old.                                                   --Longfellow.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
   d8Sagum \[d8]Sa"gum\, n.; pl. {Saga}. [L. sagum, sagus; cf. Gr.
      [?]. Cf. {Say} a kind of serge.] (Rom. Antiq.)
      The military cloak of the Roman soldiers.

From Jargon File (4.2.0, 31 JAN 2000) [jargon]:
   saga n.   [WPI] A cuspy but bogus raving story about N random
   broken people.
  
      Here is a classic example of the saga form, as told by Guy L.
   Steele:
  
      Jon L. White (login name JONL) and I (GLS) were office mates at MIT
      for many years.   One April, we both flew from Boston to California
      for a week on research business, to consult face-to-face with some
      people at Stanford, particularly our mutual friend Richard P.
      Gabriel (RPG; see {gabriel}).
  
      RPG picked us up at the San Francisco airport and drove us back to
      Palo Alto (going {logical} south on route 101, parallel to {El
      Camino Bignum}).   Palo Alto is adjacent to Stanford University and
      about 40 miles south of San Francisco.   We ate at The Good Earth,
      a `health food' restaurant, very popular, the sort whose
      milkshakes all contain honey and protein powder.   JONL ordered
      such a shake -- the waitress claimed the flavor of the day was
      "lalaberry".   I still have no idea what that might be, but it
      became a running joke.   It was the color of raspberry, and JONL
      said it tasted rather bitter.   I ate a better tostada there than I
      have ever had in a Mexican restaurant.
  
      After this we went to the local Uncle Gaylord's Old Fashioned Ice
      Cream Parlor.   They make ice cream fresh daily, in a variety of
      intriguing flavors.   It's a chain, and they have a slogan: "If you
      don't live near an Uncle Gaylord's -- MOVE!"   Also, Uncle Gaylord
      (a real person) wages a constant battle to force big-name ice
      cream makers to print their ingredients on the package (like air
      and plastic and other non-natural garbage).   JONL and I had first
      discovered Uncle Gaylord's the previous August, when we had flown
      to a computer-science conference in Berkeley, California, the
      first time either of us had been on the West Coast.   When not in
      the conference sessions, we had spent our time wandering the length
      of Telegraph Avenue, which (like Harvard Square in Cambridge) was
      lined with picturesque street vendors and interesting little shops.
      On that street we discovered Uncle Gaylord's Berkeley store.   The
      ice cream there was very good.   During that August visit JONL went
      absolutely bananas (so to speak) over one particular flavor, ginger
      honey.
  
      Therefore, after eating at The Good Earth -- indeed, after every
      lunch and dinner and before bed during our April visit -- a trip
      to Uncle Gaylord's (the one in Palo Alto) was mandatory.   We had
      arrived on a Wednesday, and by Thursday evening we had been there
      at least four times.   Each time, JONL would get ginger honey ice
      cream, and proclaim to all bystanders that "Ginger was the spice
      that drove the Europeans mad!   That's why they sought a route to
      the East!   They used it to preserve their otherwise off-taste
      meat."   After the third or fourth repetition RPG and I were
      getting a little tired of this spiel, and began to paraphrase him:
      "Wow!   Ginger!   The spice that makes rotten meat taste good!"
      "Say!   Why don't we find some dog that's been run over and sat in
      the sun for a week and put some _ginger_ on it for dinner?!"
      "Right!   With a lalaberry shake!"   And so on.   This failed to faze
      JONL; he took it in good humor, as long as we kept returning to
      Uncle Gaylord's.   He loves ginger honey ice cream.
  
      Now RPG and his then-wife KBT (Kathy Tracy) were putting us up
      (putting up with us?) in their home for our visit, so to thank them
      JONL and I took them out to a nice French restaurant of their
      choosing.   I unadventurously chose the filet mignon, and KBT had
      je ne sais quoi du jour, but RPG and JONL had lapin (rabbit).
      (Waitress: "Oui, we have fresh rabbit, fresh today."   RPG: "Well,
      JONL, I guess we won't need any _ginger_!")
  
      We finished the meal late, about 11 P.M., which is 2 A.M Boston
      time, so JONL and I were rather droopy.   But it wasn't yet
      midnight.   Off to Uncle Gaylord's!
  
      Now the French restaurant was in Redwood City, north of Palo Alto.
      In leaving Redwood City, we somehow got onto route 101 going north
      instead of south.   JONL and I wouldn't have known the difference
      had RPG not mentioned it.   We still knew very little of the local
      geography.   I did figure out, however, that we were headed in the
      direction of Berkeley, and half-jokingly suggested that we continue
      north and go to Uncle Gaylord's in Berkeley.
  
      RPG said "Fine!" and we drove on for a while and talked.   I was
      drowsy, and JONL actually dropped off to sleep for 5 minutes.   When
      he awoke, RPG said, "Gee, JONL, you must have slept all the way
      over the bridge!", referring to the one spanning San Francisco
      Bay.   Just then we came to a sign that said "University Avenue".
      I mumbled something about working our way over to Telegraph Avenue;
      RPG said "Right!" and maneuvered some more.   Eventually we pulled
      up in front of an Uncle Gaylord's.
  
      Now, I hadn't really been paying attention because I was so sleepy,
      and I didn't really understand what was happening until RPG let me
      in on it a few moments later, but I was just alert enough to notice
      that we had somehow come to the Palo Alto Uncle Gaylord's after
      all.
  
      JONL noticed the resemblance to the Palo Alto store, but hadn't
      caught on.   (The place is lit with red and yellow lights at night,
      and looks much different from the way it does in daylight.)   He
      said, "This isn't the Uncle Gaylord's I went to in Berkeley!   It
      looked like a barn!   But this place looks _just like_ the one back
      in Palo Alto!"
  
      RPG deadpanned, "Well, this is the one _I_ always come to when I'm
      in Berkeley.   They've got two in San Francisco, too.   Remember,
      they're a chain."
  
      JONL accepted this bit of wisdom.   And he was not totally ignorant
      -- he knew perfectly well that University Avenue was in Berkeley,
      not far from Telegraph Avenue.   What he didn't know was that there
      is a completely different University Avenue in Palo Alto.
  
      JONL went up to the counter and asked for ginger honey.   The guy at
      the counter asked whether JONL would like to taste it first,
      evidently their standard procedure with that flavor, as not too
      many people like it.
  
      JONL said, "I'm sure I like it.   Just give me a cone."   The guy
      behind the counter insisted that JONL try just a taste first.
      "Some people think it tastes like soap."   JONL insisted, "Look, I
      _love_ ginger.   I eat Chinese food.   I eat raw ginger roots.   I
      already went through this hassle with the guy back in Palo Alto.
      I _know_ I like that flavor!"
  
      At the words "back in Palo Alto" the guy behind the counter got a
      very strange look on his face, but said nothing.   KBT caught his
      eye and winked.   Through my stupor I still hadn't quite grasped
      what was going on, and thought RPG was rolling on the floor
      laughing and clutching his stomach just because JONL had launched
      into his spiel ("makes rotten meat a dish for princes") for the
      forty-third time.   At this point, RPG clued me in fully.
  
      RPG, KBT, and I retreated to a table, trying to stifle our
      chuckles.   JONL remained at the counter, talking about ice cream
      with the guy b.t.c., comparing Uncle Gaylord's to other ice cream
      shops and generally having a good old time.
  
      At length the g.b.t.c. said, "How's the ginger honey?"   JONL said,
      "Fine!   I wonder what exactly is in it?"   Now Uncle Gaylord
      publishes all his recipes and even teaches classes on how to make
      his ice cream at home.   So the g.b.t.c. got out the recipe, and he
      and JONL pored over it for a while.   But the g.b.t.c. could
      contain his curiosity no longer, and asked again, "You really like
      that stuff, huh?"   JONL said, "Yeah, I've been eating it
      constantly back in Palo Alto for the past two days.   In fact, I
      think this batch is about as good as the cones I got back in Palo
      Alto!"
  
      G.b.t.c. looked him straight in the eye and said, "You're _in_
      Palo Alto!"
  
      JONL turned slowly around, and saw the three of us collapse in a
      fit of giggles.   He clapped a hand to his forehead and exclaimed,
      "I've been hacked!"
  
      [My spies on the West Coast inform me that there is a close
   relative of the raspberry found out there called an `ollalieberry'
   --ESR]
  
      [Ironic footnote: it appears that the {meme} about ginger vs.
   rotting meat may be an urban legend.   It's not borne out by an
   examination of medieval recipes or period purchase records for
   spices, and appears full-blown in the works of Samuel Pegge, a
   gourmand and notorious flake case who originated numerous food
   myths. --ESR]
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (15Feb98) [foldoc]:
   saga
  
      (WPI) A {cuspy} but bogus raving story about N
      {random} broken people.
  
      Here is a classic example of the saga form, as told by {Guy
      Steele} (GLS):
  
      Jon L. White (login name JONL) and I (GLS) were office mates
      at {MIT} for many years.   One April, we both flew from Boston
      to California for a week on research business, to consult
      face-to-face with some people at {Stanford}, particularly our
      mutual friend {Richard Gabriel} (RPG).
  
      RPG picked us up at the San Francisco airport and drove us
      back to {Palo Alto} (going {logical} south on route 101,
      parallel to {El Camino Bignum}).   Palo Alto is adjacent to
      Stanford University and about 40 miles south of San Francisco.
      We ate at The Good Earth, a "health food" restaurant, very
      popular, the sort whose milkshakes all contain honey and
      protein powder.   JONL ordered such a shake - the waitress
      claimed the flavour of the day was "lalaberry".   I still have
      no idea what that might be, but it became a running joke.   It
      was the colour of raspberry, and JONL said it tasted rather
      bitter.   I ate a better tostada there than I have ever had in
      a Mexican restaurant.
  
      After this we went to the local Uncle Gaylord's Old Fashioned
      Ice Cream Parlor.   They make ice cream fresh daily, in a
      variety of intriguing flavours.   It's a chain, and they have a
      slogan: "If you don't live near an Uncle Gaylord's - MOVE!"
      Also, Uncle Gaylord (a real person) wages a constant battle to
      force big-name ice cream makers to print their ingredients on
      the package (like air and plastic and other non-natural
      garbage).   JONL and I had first discovered Uncle Gaylord's the
      previous August, when we had flown to a computer-science
      conference in {Berkeley}, California, the first time either of
      us had been on the West Coast.   When not in the conference
      sessions, we had spent our time wandering the length of
      Telegraph Avenue, which (like Harvard Square in Cambridge) was
      lined with picturesque street vendors and interesting little
      shops.   On that street we discovered Uncle Gaylord's Berkeley
      store.   The ice cream there was very good.   During that August
      visit JONL went absolutely bananas (so to speak) over one
      particular flavour, ginger honey.
  
      Therefore, after eating at The Good Earth - indeed, after
      every lunch and dinner and before bed during our April visit
      --- a trip to Uncle Gaylord's (the one in Palo Alto) was
      mandatory.   We had arrived on a Wednesday, and by Thursday
      evening we had been there at least four times.   Each time,
      JONL would get ginger honey ice cream, and proclaim to all
      bystanders that "Ginger was the spice that drove the Europeans
      mad!   That's why they sought a route to the East!   They used
      it to preserve their otherwise off-taste meat."   After the
      third or fourth repetition RPG and I were getting a little
      tired of this spiel, and began to paraphrase him: "Wow!
      Ginger!   The spice that makes rotten meat taste good!"   "Say!
      Why don't we find some dog that's been run over and sat in the
      sun for a week and put some *ginger* on it for dinner?!"
      "Right!   With a lalaberry shake!"   And so on.   This failed to
      faze JONL; he took it in good humour, as long as we kept
      returning to Uncle Gaylord's.   He loves ginger honey ice
      cream.
  
      Now RPG and his then-wife KBT (Kathy Tracy) were putting us up
      (putting up with us?) in their home for our visit, so to thank
      them JONL and I took them out to a nice French restaurant of
      their choosing.   I unadventurously chose the filet mignon, and
      KBT had je ne sais quoi du jour, but RPG and JONL had lapin
      (rabbit).   (Waitress: "Oui, we have fresh rabbit, fresh
      today."   RPG: "Well, JONL, I guess we won't need any
      *ginger*!")
  
      We finished the meal late, about 11 P.M., which is 2 A.M
      Boston time, so JONL and I were rather droopy.   But it wasn't
      yet midnight.   Off to Uncle Gaylord's!
  
      Now the French restaurant was in Redwood City, north of Palo
      Alto.   In leaving Redwood City, we somehow got onto route 101
      going north instead of south.   JONL and I wouldn't have known
      the difference had RPG not mentioned it.   We still knew very
      little of the local geography.   I did figure out, however,
      that we were headed in the direction of Berkeley, and
      half-jokingly suggested that we continue north and go to Uncle
      Gaylord's in Berkeley.
  
      RPG said "Fine!" and we drove on for a while and talked.   I
      was drowsy, and JONL actually dropped off to sleep for 5
      minutes.   When he awoke, RPG said, "Gee, JONL, you must have
      slept all the way over the bridge!", referring to the one
      spanning San Francisco Bay.   Just then we came to a sign that
      said "University Avenue".   I mumbled something about working
      our way over to Telegraph Avenue; RPG said "Right!" and
      maneuvered some more.   Eventually we pulled up in front of an
      Uncle Gaylord's.
  
      Now, I hadn't really been paying attention because I was so
      sleepy, and I didn't really understand what was happening
      until RPG let me in on it a few moments later, but I was just
      alert enough to notice that we had somehow come to the Palo
      Alto Uncle Gaylord's after all.
  
      JONL noticed the resemblance to the Palo Alto store, but
      hadn't caught on.   (The place is lit with red and yellow
      lights at night, and looks much different from the way it does
      in daylight.)   He said, "This isn't the Uncle Gaylord's I went
      to in Berkeley!   It looked like a barn!   But this place looks
      *just like* the one back in Palo Alto!"
  
      RPG deadpanned, "Well, this is the one *I* always come to when
      I'm in Berkeley.   They've got two in San Francisco, too.
      Remember, they're a chain."
  
      JONL accepted this bit of wisdom.   And he was not totally
      ignorant - he knew perfectly well that University Avenue was
      in Berkeley, not far from Telegraph Avenue.   What he didn't
      know was that there is a completely different University
      Avenue in Palo Alto.
  
      JONL went up to the counter and asked for ginger honey.   The
      guy at the counter asked whether JONL would like to taste it
      first, evidently their standard procedure with that flavour,
      as not too many people like it.
  
      JONL said, "I'm sure I like it.   Just give me a cone."   The
      guy behind the counter insisted that JONL try just a taste
      first.   "Some people think it tastes like soap."   JONL
      insisted, "Look, I *love* ginger.   I eat Chinese food.   I eat
      raw ginger roots.   I already went through this hassle with the
      guy back in Palo Alto.   I *know* I like that flavour!"
  
      At the words "back in Palo Alto" the guy behind the counter
      got a very strange look on his face, but said nothing.   KBT
      caught his eye and winked.   Through my stupor I still hadn't
      quite grasped what was going on, and thought RPG was rolling
      on the floor laughing and clutching his stomach just because
      JONL had launched into his spiel ("makes rotten meat a dish
      for princes") for the forty-third time.   At this point, RPG
      clued me in fully.
  
      RPG, KBT, and I retreated to a table, trying to stifle our
      chuckles.   JONL remained at the counter, talking about ice
      cream with the guy b.t.c., comparing Uncle Gaylord's to other
      ice cream shops and generally having a good old time.
  
      At length the g.b.t.c. said, "How's the ginger honey?"   JONL
      said, "Fine!   I wonder what exactly is in it?"   Now Uncle
      Gaylord publishes all his recipes and even teaches classes on
      how to make his ice cream at home.   So the g.b.t.c. got out
      the recipe, and he and JONL pored over it for a while.   But
      the g.b.t.c. could contain his curiosity no longer, and asked
      again, "You really like that stuff, huh?"   JONL said, "Yeah,
      I've been eating it constantly back in Palo Alto for the past
      two days.   In fact, I think this batch is about as good as the
      cones I got back in Palo Alto!"
  
      G.b.t.c. looked him straight in the eye and said, "You're *in*
      Palo Alto!"
  
      JONL turned slowly around, and saw the three of us collapse in
      a fit of giggles.   He clapped a hand to his forehead and
      exclaimed, "I've been hacked!"
  
      [My spies on the West Coast inform me that there is a close
      relative of the raspberry found out there called an
      "ollalieberry" - ESR]
  
      [Ironic footnote: it appears that the {meme} about ginger vs.
      rotting meat may be an urban legend.   It's not borne out by an
      examination of mediaeval recipes or period purchase records
      for spices, and appears full-blown in the works of Samuel
      Pegge, a gourmand and notorious flake case who originated
      numerous food myths. - ESR]
  
      [{Jargon File}]
  
      (1994-12-08)
  
  
No guarantee of accuracy or completeness!
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