Wed., 6/3 Ed Sessa

[magus]

THEME:   homonyms of the words TO, BE, OR, NOT, TO, BE found, in order, at the end of phrases
   
GOOD ONES:    
Speaker {& theme}   HAMLET   
Olympus competitor  LEICA [camera, not ancient athlete]   
Public opening?   JOHN Q  [the generic name, not a store event]    
   
BTW:   
Tossed off the covers   AROSE [I guess, but tossing off covers is often done in bed on other occasions and suggests discomfort rather than rising to meet the day]   
   
Disco phrase   A GO GO [as I remember, A GO GO referred to go-go dancing which predated the disco era by about a decade --- the monkey and the jerk of the 60's were two go-go dances --- but some clubs from the go-go era may have remained open long enough to become discoteques]

Usually Ed gives us a science word or two, but perhaps his retirement from medicine  is having the intended effect.   
   
   
RATING:    
Three grins = Loved it; Two grins = Enjoyed it; One grin = A bit bland for my taste; One teardrop = Not much fun   

[Thomps2525]

"Cheers, across the Channel" was ADIEU. Nope, sorry. "Cheers" dates from 1919 and is defined as "interjection - used as a toast." The equivalent of ADIEU is "Cheerio," which dates from 1910 and is defined as interjection, chiefly British - usually used as a farewell and sometimes a greeting or toast."

I will refrain from making any bad puns about a certain brand of cereal.

[magus]

Rewind---

Suggesting that etymology determine the meaning of a word is to misunderstand the essence of the study.  Etymology presents the history of the word (whence it came, how it changed, etc.) 

Whether or not a certain definition of a word predated a second definition of that word, or whether a word morphs into an opposite meaning, the word means all of the definitions in today's dictionary.  Thus, cheers is the equivalent of adieu since a meaning of cheers is good-bye.

That said, I suspect cheers most always is used as a toast and less so as a closing in an informal note.