Flames, friends, and rules

[Mark Levinson <mark -at- MATIS -dot- INGR -dot- COM>]

Does anyone know where the e-mail meaning of the word "flame" comes from?
I heard it at my college radio station in the sixties, referring to similar
writing in pen-and-ink messages left publicly.  Could it possibly be that
I was close to the inception?

Though having no source except anonymous oldsters, I believe that the friend
in need was originally one who appears in your hour of need and thus proves
he is a true friend, and that the expression (like "the exception that proves
the rule") aged badly, with an unintended meaning replacing the intended one.

PS - For those who don't know, "the exception that proves the rule" was
     supposed to mean "the extreme case that puts the rule's validity
     to the test;" a rule that applies even in exceptional cases is a
     rule indeed.

_________________________________________________________________________
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