Parliament

Real answer: the experimental pop/R+B side of Funkadelic (an experimental rockband). Out go the acid-rock guitars, in go the horn and synthesizer riffs and silly chants. It was George Clinton's resurrection of The Parliaments' name, minus its old school trappings (i.e. the "The"), and probably an attempt to subvert their old-school record deal. Two names = two contracts. Sounded like Funkadelic.

"Flashlight! Neon light!"

Cigarette brand, popular on the American east coast. Most notable trait is a "recessed filter", meaning that the filter has been removed about a third of the way down towards the end, leaving an empty space surrounded only by the cardboard filter holder. If you call the 800 number of the Benson and Hedges corporation, who make Parliaments, and ask them why Parliaments have a recessed filter, they will ask you if you are 21 years old or older. If you say that you aren't, they will refuse to tell you. If you say that you are, they will tell you that there's no reason at all. Parliament hard packs come in a trademarked "flip-top box", which is, of course, totally indistinguishable from every cigarette hard pack in existence.

• The recessed filter adds mystique to the experience of smoking a P-funk. One cannot deny that the existence of the recessed filter sets Parliament apart from its cancerous counterparts. Perhaps the makers realized this and added the feature simply to boost sales.


• It is healthier than the full-filter style. This seems like unsubstantiated poo. Not surprising, because I heard this from the same person who claimed Kentucky Fried Chicken is only called KFC now because pseudo-chickens withouth faces or wings are fed anally. It's safe to dismiss this one.


• The nook in the filter is there for cocaine. This is also probably false. If this was the case, then the makers must have planned to reach only a cocaine-using market.


• Parliaments were once sent to soldiers on the front lines. Since they would spend much of their time on the go, hardly noticing the cig in their mouth, the recessed filter prevented sogginess from cutting the smoke short. This seems logical, since a full filter would get soggy and undesirable after only a few minutes.

I find myself buying into either the first or the last story. Not that it matters, though, for I choose to fight the nic fit with Parliament because of its smoothness.

Par"lia*ment (?), n. [OE. parlement, F. parlement, fr. parler to speak; cf. LL. parlamentum, parliamentum. See Parley.]

1.

A parleying; a discussion; a conference.

But first they held their parliament. Rom. of R.

2.

A formal conference on public affairs; a general council; esp., an assembly of representatives of a nation or people having authority to make laws.

They made request that it might be lawful for them to summon a parliament of Gauls. Golding.

3.

The assembly of the three estates of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, viz., the lords spiritual, lords temporal, and the representatives of the commons, sitting in the House of Lords and the House of Commons, constituting the legislature, when summoned by the royal authority to consult on the affairs of the nation, and to enact and repeal laws.

Thought the sovereign is a constituting branch of Parliament, the word is generally used to denote the three estates named above.

4.

In France, before the Revolution of 1789, one of the several principal judicial courts.

Parliament heel, the inclination of a ship when made to careen by shifting her cargo or ballast. -- Parliament hinge Arch., a hinge with so great a projection from the wall or frame as to allow a door or shutter to swing back flat against the wall. -- Long Parliament, Rump Parliament. See under Long, and Rump.

© Webster 1913.