# RIP samclem (former mod) (December 18, 2021) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 21, 2023, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-samclem-former-mod-december-18-2021/981459 "2023-03-21T19:46:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-samclem-former-mod-december-18-2021/981459/21 "2023-03-22T14:38:22Z")
> He loved the beach, beer and pork bbq, and most of all, his children. RIP dude, I’m stealing this one day for my own use. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-samclem-former-mod-december-18-2021/981459/22 "2023-03-22T15:04:19Z")
Another sad loss to this board. Condolences to his loved ones. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-samclem-former-mod-december-18-2021/981459/23 "2023-03-22T15:25:46Z")
He sold me a nice coin that I still have. It’s a South American silver 8 reales coin from the 1700s. RIP man. I loved being educated by you about coins on the board. I hope you did everything you wanted to do. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-samclem-former-mod-december-18-2021/981459/24 "2023-03-22T15:56:11Z")
OMG, thats the very reason I went to the dopefest, to meet with Sam and ask him about a South American 8 reales coin I had from the 1600’s. He looked at it and held for about a 20 minutes, educating me on why it was the real deal. He was the real deal as well. I’m looking at it now and touching it, thinking about Sam. 🥲 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2023, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-samclem-former-mod-december-18-2021/981459/25 "2023-03-22T22:54:34Z")
What I remember most about him wasn’t his coin expertise, but etymology. And he did the absolute definitive work on the subject of That Strip of Grass Between the Street and the Sidewalk. ---
**Author:** ![plankter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ba0ec/32.png) [@plankter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plankter)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-samclem-former-mod-december-18-2021/981459/26 "2023-03-23T00:57:28Z")
I found the thread that **Chronos** was referring to, from June 2007. Just seeing the usernames is making me wistful. > [@What is the name of the grassy strip between the sidewalk and the street?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-name-of-the-grassy-strip-between-the-sidewalk-and-the-street/409070): > > When I was a kid, we called it the “parkin”. I don’t know if that was a regional name (Massachusetts) or a time-specific name (1940s), but I haven’t heard it in about 50 years until the other day I ran across the word, used in the sense I have mentioned, in a book written in the 1930s. But on the other hand, I haven’t heard any word used to refer to that strip of grass. What is it called today? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2023, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-samclem-former-mod-december-18-2021/981459/27 "2023-03-23T03:10:10Z")
Sam was the one Doper I met after I joined. We had a delightful lunch together, just talking about stuff. He was resoundingly expert in the subjects he cared about. And I don’t remember him spouting off on topics he was obviously not expert on. He exemplified the kind of poster that drew me here all those years ago. ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2023, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-samclem-former-mod-december-18-2021/981459/28 "2023-03-26T09:17:33Z")
Well this is depressing. His sudden disappearance had me worried enough to ask around about him at the time. It seemed he dropped out of sight everywhere at once and didn’t reply to attempted contacts. I really miss his expertise in word origins and his ability to explain his points in an understandable manner. I hope his years missing from the board were filled with joy. I miss you Sam. ---
**Author:** ![Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/77aa72/32.png) [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluffy_PickleSniffer)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2023, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-samclem-former-mod-december-18-2021/981459/29 "2023-03-28T13:04:17Z")
Another familiar name gone ☹ RIP SamClem. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2023, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-samclem-former-mod-december-18-2021/981459/30 "2023-03-30T18:31:19Z")
I’m very sorry to hear this, but I can’t say I’m shocked. I recall trying to get in contact with him within the last year, and feared the worst when I couldn’t reach him. We shared an interest in etymology, and especially the obscure origins of colorful words and phrases. I remember him often saying something along the lines of “The more interesting or entertaining the explanation of the origin of a phrase is, the less likely it is to be true.” I think of it as samclem’s law, but I’m not sure if the thought was original to him. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2023, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-samclem-former-mod-december-18-2021/981459/31 "2023-04-02T03:14:36Z")
Rest in peace, SamClem. We’ll miss you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-samclem-former-mod-december-18-2021/981459.md?page=1)