Close the door behind you quietly and don’t let the goat out.

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A pair of underpants, a pair of glasses, yet in each instance just one item is referred to, complete and indivisible under God, even to those who deny the existence of such as guarantor of the unity of a pair of underpants or spectacles. One leg of an underpants would be otiose, of no earthly use other than as a cloth with which to dust the credenza. We don’t talk about a pair of brassieres unless we intend two separate items. This conundrum is as old time - why do we refer to some single items as a pair? And while we’re at it, riddle me this: what is the meaning of the howling of the wind that blows snow against the gable wall of my house tonight? What message does it bring, from where and from whom? Maybe I ought to withdraw gracefully now before anyone accuses me of time wasting.