Great BS statement <offramp>! I had never heard of the Battle of Zinner but it sounded plausible so I looked it up. And I couldn't find it, of course. But I did find a reference to the Benoni river although it's in Guyana in South America and not in South Africa. So at least you got the "South" part right, adding to the plausibility. And I'm happy that you never Boer us.

I am, perhaps not unsurprisingly, known as a good BS'er. I think that there are 3 rules for successful BS'ing:

1. Your BS statement must respond to another statement quickly.

2. You must say your BS with complete confidence.

3. Your BS must have an element of plausibility.

Many years ago, decades really, my wife and I were driving and she saw a restaurant named Masada, obviously Israeli. She said facetiously, "I wonder what kind of food they serve there."

Without a moment's hesitation (satisfying BS rule #1) I said very confidently (satisfying rule #2), "Japanese". Had I say anything else it would have been obvious I was BS'ing, but "Japanese" satisfied BS rule #3 and so she wasn't entirely sure whether I was BS'ing or not.

Fortunately after she found out I was BS'ing I was neither massacred nor buried alive, although our lives sometimes seem that they have been a decades-long skirmish.

My current mission is to make each day's punster feel as bad as possible by giving a plausible, highly disturbing alternative explanation of the pun.

I did it yesterday:
Steinitz vs W Bolt, 1865 (kibitz #14) (pun: "Who Slain Bolt?")
<In 1921 the entire Bolt family were suspected of anti-British sedition, following a tip-off.

They were rounded up and all 18 were shot. The <Irish Times> had the sub-header <WHO SHOPPED THE BOLTS?> Good pun!>

There IS a Benoni is South Africa, though: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benon... Believe it or not it was the setting for a film called "Crazy Monkey: Straight Outta Benoni".
That IS true!

However, I am surprised that nobody thought of the "Wilderness of Zin", where Jesus was tempted by the Devil. (This is sometimes known as the "Wilderness of Sin", but I make no moral judgments on the region.)

The nomadic inhabitants of this region do not have the luxury of eating at regular times, but pm;u when opportunity arises. However, like many nomadic peoples, they are hospitable by nature, and ask only that you notify them ahead of time when a surprise guest is coming.

The formal notice is the simple statement:

Using my research into the Lizzie Borden case, I've found that at that time, 1892, "Dinner" was considered the main meal taken first, sometimes around noon or 1pm, while "Supper" was the last evening meal with variable times based on interest

Of course, I may have this backwards, which in that event, flip Dinner with Supper and we are good to go

In our tradition, it's breakfast, lunch and dinner and no supper.

In germany they have "frühstück",which I think go a long way back.

Le petit dejeuner in France,is also a rather old expression.

<The furor arose after Lawrence Brewer, 44, a convicted murderer and self-described white supremacist, requested a last meal that included: two chicken-fried steaks with gravy and sliced onions; a triple-patty bacon cheeseburger; a cheese omelet with ground beef, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers and jalapeños; a bowl of fried okra with ketchup; one pound of barbecued meat with half a loaf of white bread; three fajitas; a meat-lover’s pizza; one pint of Blue Bell Ice Cream; a slab of peanut-butter fudge with crushed peanuts; and three root beers.

Brewer had been condemned to die for the 1998 dragging death of James Byrd Jr. in the East Texas town of Jasper; the slaying drew international attention and led to state and federal hate-crimes legislation.

The meal was prepared at the prison kitchen at the Huntsville Unit where Brewer was being held and served shortly before he was executed Wednesday. Brewer chose not to eat it, prison officials said.> https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/na...

There is also Ronald Post, who was sentenced to death in 1985 for the shooting death of Helen Vantz, a desk clerk at a motel in Elyria, Ohio.

He ballooned his weight up to a hefty 486 pounds, and than sought clemency on grounds that he could not be executed humanely because of his weight.

Thanks <Diademas> !

Guess who's coming to dinner?

A good mission, and the more disturbing alternative explanation the better. Just don't go Don Quixote on us: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo7....

<There IS a Benoni is South Africa, though>

I Googled "Benoni river" and the first hit I got was for the Benoni river in Guyana, so I went with it. So I am angry at myself for forgetting what is probably Lasker's best known quote, "When your search engine gives you a good hit, look for a better one."

Guess who's coming for Zinners?

Jesus, obviously.

******