first metric century :)

A picture in yesterdays local rag showed a greengrocer
leaning over some bananas on scales with the heading stating
"Fed up with being pushed around by Brussels".

Had this appeared in The Stun I'd have assumed it deliberate
but I imagine it went over the heads of most at the local
rag :-) (Or it was some sublety like "Roger the cabin boy"
which went over my head when I was five).

--
Regards, Pete

"Peter B" <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

A picture in yesterdays local rag showed a greengrocer
leaning over some bananas on scales with the heading
stating "Fed up with being pushed around by Brussels".

Lost me a bit there.

<snip>

Quoted message said:

(Or it was some sublety like "Roger the cabin boy" which
went over my head when I was five).

There was no subtlety there to miss, the cabin boy was
called Tom. Urban myth time I'm afraid.

nostalgiacentral.compugwash.htmOpen ↗

Cheers!

Graeme

Michael MacClancy [email hidden] opined the
following...

Quoted message said:

I'm so glad you wrote 'English' there. Of course the
Scots, Irish and Welsh have such wonderful reputations for
their linguistic skills, don't they? (Not counting those
poor souls who feel oppressed because they have to speak a
foreign language in their own countries, that is.)

The Scots don't tend to move that far from their homeland...
after all, nowhere else in the world could be better! ;-)

When backpacking in Italy last summer, I was horrified by
the lack of language skills possessed by many of the people
we met. The non-native English speakers we met, all spoke
reasonable-to-perfect English, yet the native English
speakers often knew nothing of Italian (Or the language of
any other country they visited!). While I wouldn't expect to
be fluent before entering a country, I aim to have "Please",
"Thankyou", "Hello", Goodbye" and at least 1-10, if not 1-
100. For any European country this can't possibly take more
than a few days to master, and in return you have at least
put in some effort (You can also usually ask for things in a
shop and thus survive!).

Quoted message said:

;-)

Mind you, do you really think the English are worse than
the Merkins?

No. But given we are a part of Europe, it'd be nice to be
setting an example.

Quoted message said:

My experience of living abroad is that many people who
speak English, regardless of their nationality and whether
it's their first or second language, have problems
learning the local language. This isn't because they don't
want to but they tend to move in social and work circles
where English is widely spoken and an easier
communications medium.

It's true that you can travel to most places and speak
English, and you'll be understood (Often as an arrogant [censored]
but hey...). That said, in suburban Verona we managed to
find a Tratoria in which not only didn't the staff speak
English, but none of the other customers did either. Some
furious hand waving and very broken Italian managed to get
us a bowl of pasta, despite the kitchen being closed (We
think the owner took pity on the obviously stupid
foreigners!).

Jon

Jon Senior <jon_AT_restlesslemon_DOTco_DOT_uk> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

The Scots don't tend to move that far from their
homeland... after all, nowhere else in the world could be
better! ;-)

Oh I don't know. The Scots played a very large part in
colonising the empire (not that that is anything to
shout about).

I'm writing this from Australia, which is pretty far away.
But yes, I think you're on to something with "nowhere else
in the world could be better" ;-)

Graeme

"Graeme" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Peter B" <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

A picture in yesterdays local rag showed a greengrocer
leaning over some bananas on scales with the heading
stating "Fed up with being pushed around by Brussels".

Lost me a bit there.

I pictured the brussel sprouts intimidating the greengrocer.

Quoted message said:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

(Or it was some sublety like "Roger the cabin boy" which
went over my head when I was five).

There was no subtlety there to miss, the cabin boy was
called Tom. Urban myth time I'm afraid.

nostalgiacentral.compugwash.htmOpen ↗

Thanks for the link.

--
Regards, Pete

Jon Senior said:

When backpacking in Italy last summer, I was horrified by
the lack of language skills possessed by many of the
people we met. The non-native English speakers we met, all
spoke reasonable-to-perfect English, yet the native
English speakers often knew nothing of Italian (Or the
language of any other country they visited!). While I
wouldn't expect to be fluent before entering a country, I
aim to have "Please", "Thankyou", "Hello", Goodbye" and at
least 1-10, if not 1-100. For any European country this
can't possibly take more than a few days to master, and in
return you have at least put in some effort (You can also
usually ask for things in a shop and thus survive!).

I share your opinion that it's not difficult to learn a few
simple words but I also have a theory that provides a degree
of forgiveness for native English speakers.

This is that whatever foreign language native English
speakers learn it's nearly always the wrong one. I learnt
French and Spanish at school but I ended up living in
Germany and having to learn German from scratch. I'd have to
do the same with most countries I might live in - or I
wouldn't bother and just get by in English (actually this
isn't really an option because I like learning languages).

It's a lot easier for people who don't speak English as
their mother tongue. The default second language is normally
English and with this they can get by in most places.

If a German visits Sweden s/he might be complimented on
his/her excellent English. If a Brit visits Sweden s/he
isn't going to be complimented on the excellent Italian that
the Swedish host has never heard him/her speak!

--
Michael MacClancy Random putdown - "I've just learned about
his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." - Irvin S.
Cobb www.macclancy.demon.co.uk www.macclancy.co.uk

On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 15:20:53 +0100, "Ambrose Nankivell"

() said:

In "]news:[email hidden], Daniel Barlow
<[email hidden]> typed:

Quoted message said:

"Ambrose Nankivell"

Quoted message said:

accusing me of being an alcoholic instead. Because I
mentioned I was too ill to drink any beer, a relevant
symptom, IMHO.

Anyway, I'm not bitter, honest.

Just lager than you were? I hop this doesn't tun into
another pun thread; that would ale be a bit much.

I was going to draught you a reply, but I'm bottling it up
now. Can't see the pint.

Stout fella! I'm getting browned off with this punning.
Anything geuze, or so it seems.

--
Matt K Dunedin, NZ

in message <[email hidden]>, Graeme

(') said:

"Peter B" <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

A picture in yesterdays local rag showed a greengrocer
leaning over some bananas on scales with the heading
stating "Fed up with being pushed around by Brussels".

Lost me a bit there.

<snip>

Quoted message said:

(Or it was some sublety like "Roger the cabin boy" which
went over my head when I was five).

There was no subtlety there to miss, the cabin boy was
called Tom. Urban myth time I'm afraid.

Not strictly. Roger the Ship's Boy is indeed there in
children's literature, merely misplaced into Pugwash. He
appears in Swallows and Amazons.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke)
jasmine.org.uk~simonOpen ↗

;; 99% of browsers can't run ActiveX controls.
Unfortunately ;; 99% of users are using the 1% of
browsers that can... [seen on /. 08:04:02]

"Peter B" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Alan Holmes" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Nowadays, not so fast, but about 55 years ago I was
cycling home from work one evening and a motorist
started to tail me, after a little while

it

Quoted message said:

was begining to iritate me and I was just about to stop
and say something when he drew anlongside and shorted at
me that I was travelling at 30 mph, I didn't know what
to say as a response.

Oh, a pissing contest!

All you need to win one of those is a bigger waterbottle
than anyone else.

Quoted message said:

Nowadays at 50 years old I travel downhill on a road bike
at up to 40 mph with a tail wind in Leicestershire and 42
mph downhill on rough tarmac roads in Derbyshire on an
mtb. I once rode downhill at 50mph in Yorkshire. Speeds
verified in 2 cases on 2 different bike computers on my
bikes and in the other case with a computer on a friends
mtb. These are easier to use at 40mph than working it out
with a map and stopwatch.

I regularly break the 60 km/h speed limit on roads near
where I live. The local drivers are somewhat law-abiding, so
they don't attempt to overtake. Except for black Audis -
some things are the same everywhere.

Of course, that's because there are Big Hills around here
:-)
--
"Since you must keep improving, a $5 bike offers a lot more
opportunities to improve it, and can be improved cheaper.
It's expensive to improve on a $2000 bike." - Rick Onanian
in rec.bicycles.tech

"Mark South" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"MartinM" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Ambrose Nankivell"
<[email hidden]> wrote in

message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

In "]news:[email hidden], Roger
Hughes <roger@hughes-MYSPAMFILTERSWORKPRETTYWELLANYWAY-
translations.com> typed:
> the numbers themselves are not particularly
> important (except inasmuch as they will tend to
> determine psychological barriers, which is where
> this century (and that is entryist American cycling
> slang, too) thing comes in; likewise with getting
> under the hour or indeed, getting one's weight back
> down below 15 stone)

More to the point, surely an imperial century(style
thing) should be 144 miles or something like that
anyway.

A

Also, why do we still think there are 12 hours in a day?

Solar or sidereal?

Who's been listening to Albedo 0.39 by Vangelis? ;-)

"Peter B" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

A picture in yesterdays local rag showed a greengrocer
leaning over some bananas on scales with the heading
stating "Fed up with being pushed

around

Quoted message said:

by Brussels".

As a child I was sometimes admonished for 'playing with my
food' when pushing cold and soggy brussels round my plate.

They never, as far as I can remember, fought back.

Is this a new GM strain?

Quoted message said:

Had this appeared in The Stun I'd have assumed it
deliberate but I imagine it went over the heads of most at
the local rag :-) (Or it was some sublety like "Roger the
cabin boy" which went over my head when I was five).

Is that like Muffin the Mule?

T

"MartinM" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Mark South" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

"MartinM" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"Ambrose Nankivell"
<[email hidden]> wrote in

message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

> In "]news:[email hidden], Roger
> Hughes <roger@hughes-MYSPAMFILTERSWORKPRETTYWELLANYWAY-
> translations.com> typed:
> > the numbers themselves are not particularly
> > important (except inasmuch as they will tend to
> > determine psychological barriers, which is where
> > this century (and that is entryist American
> > cycling slang, too) thing comes in; likewise with
> > getting under the hour or indeed, getting one's
> > weight back down below 15 stone)
>
> More to the point, surely an imperial century(style
> thing) should be 144 miles or something like that
> anyway.
>
Also, why do we still think there are 12 hours in a
day?

Solar or sidereal?

Who's been listening to Albedo 0.39 by Vangelis? ;-)

Not grokked. !?
--
"To ... just not care that there are naked triathletes
running across your lawn, that's just a waste of
exhibitionism."
- Kibo, in alt.religion.kibology

Whingin' Pom said:

On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 15:20:53 +0100, "Ambrose Nankivell"

() said:

In "]news:[email hidden], Daniel Barlow
<[email hidden]> typed:

Quoted message said:

"Ambrose Nankivell"
<[email hidden]> writes:

>accusing me of being an alcoholic instead. Because I
>mentioned I was too ill to drink any beer, a relevant
>symptom, IMHO.
>
>Anyway, I'm not bitter, honest.

Just lager than you were? I hop this doesn't tun into
another pun thread; that would ale be a bit much.

I was going to draught you a reply, but I'm bottling it up
now. Can't see the pint.

Stout fella! I'm getting browned off with this punning.
Anything geuze, or so it seems.

Well, it is starting to kriek at the seams a bit.

[email hidden] (MartinM) wrote in news:3cf5c6dc.0406160047.2ce42214
@posting.google.com:

Quoted message said:

Who's been listening to Albedo 0.39 by Vangelis? ;-)

I've not heard that in about 15 years! I must dig it out.
"Length of the solar year, equinox to equinox,
365.something or other"

That really takes me back, plus it had the theme tune to
"Horses Galore" ([censored] programme, good music).

Graeme

Graeme <[email hidden]> wrote in
:"]news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

I've not heard that in about 15 years! I must dig it out.
"Length of the solar year, equinox to equinox,
365.something or other"

Oops, memory fading a bit. Just found the lyrics on a
web site -

Maximum distance from the sun: 94 million 537 thousand
miles Minimum distance from the sun: 91 million 377
thousand miles Mean distance from the sun: 92 million 957
thousand and 200 miles Mean Orbital velocity: 66000 miles
per hour 0rbital eccentricity: 0.017 Obliquity of the
ecliptic: 23 degrees 27 minutes 8.26 seconds Length of the
tropical year: equinox equinox 365.24 days Lenght of the
sidereal year: fixed star fixed star 365.26 days Length of
the mean solar day: 24 hours and 3 minutes and 56.5555
seconds at mean solar time Length of the mean sidereal day:
23 hours and 56 minutes and 4.091 seconds at mean sederial
time Mass: 6600 milion milion milion tons Equatorial
diameter: 7927 miles Polar diameter: 7900 miles Oblateness:
one 298th Density: 5.41 Mean surface gravitational
acceleration of the rotating earth: 32.174 feet per second
per second Escape velocity: 7 miles per second

Albedo: 0.39 Albedo: 0.39 Albedo: 0.39 Albedo: 0.39 Albedo:
0.39 Albedo: 0.39 Albedo: 0.39

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, thos are the words to a "song"
(in the loosest possible sense)

Graeme

Tony W said:

"Peter B" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

A picture in yesterdays local rag showed a greengrocer
leaning over some bananas on scales with the heading
stating "Fed up with being pushed around by Brussels".

As a child I was sometimes admonished for 'playing with my
food' when pushing cold and soggy brussels round my plate.

They never, as far as I can remember, fought back.

Is this a new GM strain?

Yes. They are a Work of Stan.

--

Dave Larrington - legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uklegslarry.beerdrinkers.co.ukOpen ↗
===========================================================
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
bhpc.org.ukbhpc.org.ukOpen ↗
===========================================================

Roger Hughes said:

Whingin' Pom said:

On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 15:20:53 +0100, "Ambrose Nankivell"

() said:

In "]news:[email hidden], Daniel
Barlow <[email hidden]> typed:

> "Ambrose Nankivell"
> <[email hidden]> writes:
>
>
>> accusing me of being an alcoholic instead. Because I
>> mentioned I was too ill to drink any beer, a relevant
>> symptom, IMHO.
>>
>> Anyway, I'm not bitter, honest.
>
> Just lager than you were? I hop this doesn't tun into
> another pun thread; that would ale be a bit much.

I was going to draught you a reply, but I'm bottling it
up now. Can't see the pint.

Stout fella! I'm getting browned off with this punning.
Anything geuze, or so it seems.

Well, it is starting to kriek at the seams a bit.

Yer not wrong there. I'm going to Hoe the gaarden...

--

Dave Larrington - legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uklegslarry.beerdrinkers.co.ukOpen ↗
===========================================================
Editor - British Human Power Club Newsletter
bhpc.org.ukbhpc.org.ukOpen ↗
===========================================================

"James Hodson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Bollocks. It's their size that that interests them.

I can forward lots of spam that may help you with this
problem.

T

Michael MacClancy said:

This is that whatever foreign language native English
speakers learn it's nearly always the wrong one.

Wot e sed.

James

(If someone had told me 20 years ago that I was going to
spend several years working in Japan, I certainly wouldn't
have wasted my time on poxy French.)

On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 12:58:29 +0100, Michael MacClancy
<[email hidden]> wrote (more or less):

Quoted message said:

Arthur Clune said:

Given that the English are the worst nation in the world
for moving somewhere and then only ever speaking english
to other ex-pats stuff like this always annoys me.

I'm so glad you wrote 'English' there. Of course the Scots,
Irish and Welsh have such wonderful reputations for their
linguistic skills, don't they? (Not counting those poor
souls who feel oppressed because they have to speak a
foreign language in their own countries, that is.)

;-)

Mind you, do you really think the English are worse than
the Merkins?

There are substanytial parts of the US which are bi-lingual,
and other parts which are monolingual but not in English.

--
Cheers, Euan Gawnsoft: gawnsoft.co.srgawnsoft.co.srOpen ↗
Symbian/Epoc wiki: html.dnsalias.nethtml.dnsalias.netOpen ↗ Smalltalk
links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk)
html.dnsalias.netsmalltalkOpen ↗