Re: newbie question on cobol syntax

Alistair wrote:
On 23 Apr, 10:30, docdw...@xxxxxxxxx () wrote:

In article <JrSWh.116487$aG1.66743@pd7urf3no>,
James J. Gavan <jgavandeletet...@xxxxxxx> wrote:


Another interesting one from TV. Do you know the origins of 'freelance' ?

Off the top of my head I'd say it might be related to samurai traditions.



I'll be brief as I'm suffering another migraine. From Wikipedia:

The idea was to get the dwarf to do his own homework.

"A freelancer or freelance worker is a person who pursues a profession
without a long-term commitment to any one employer. The term was first
coined by Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) in his well-known historical
romance Ivanhoe to describe a "medieval mercenary warrior." "

also:

"However, many Asian countries appear to follow Hormung by holding low
regard for freelancers, often associating the practice with personal
failure (an inability to find work with a major employer) and even
criminality (see: Ninja)."

Interesting about Sir Walter, and the reference to Ivanhoe, (Robin Hood, King Richard and his nasty brother John), seems to put it in the right period, late 1100s and early 1200s.

But not quite what I saw as an explanation on TV. Can't recall the programme name, but English and the regular commentator had a somewhat cockney accent. The series covered battles but primarily the techniques of weaponry. (Not to be confused with that excellent series 'Battle' or 'Battlefield' - Sir Peter Snow (????), former ITV anchor and his son. Using computer graphics for terrain layouts, they concentrated on the game plan for specific battles).

Briefly it appears it dates approximately to late 1100s to say 1400s, though we know jousting continued on through the early Tudors. 'In days of old when young men were bold' those with the money had ambitions to become knights, and suited up, jousted with LANCES for a fair maiden's hand. A fairly expensive 'sport' to enter, and as an extension they would serve monarchs to gain the honour of glory, such as the Crusades.

I can't recall exactly but he specifically mentioned German lancers. Like everything else there is always the factor of supply and demand, so sometimes they were needed and other times there weren't opportunities to demonstrate their skills. These FREE LANCERS offered their military know-how to the first comer who was prepared to pay them. As the Wikipedia entry says, they were the first 'mercenaries'.

Above is not contradicting the Wikipedia, but does seem to spell it out more clearly.

Hope your migraine goes real quick. I'm one of the fortunate ones; I have never had a single headache in my life.

Jimmy
.