Friday night idiots

[Eugenio Mastroviti]

Cycling back from the Finchley Lido multiplex at about 23:15, yesterday,
I've had the opportunity to observe for a few seconds the behaviour of two
definitely strange urban animals, one quite common, the other almost
extinct...

First a blue car passed us so fast I couldn't even discern the model. It
was actually so fast, and passed so close, that the slipstream made me
swerve rather hard. I wonder if the driver is one of those that whinge
about "going over the limit only three times in five years, and losing my
licence for three small mistakes".

The other, which one would think should be almost extinct by now, if
nothing else for the sheer evolutionary pressure it should be subjected
to. We had just stopped at a red light when we saw coming towards us
(therefore going the wrong way for the lane he was in, what's the exact
term in English?) a make teenager on a BMX, with no lights. He crossed
with the red light and turned to his left (wrong lane again) into the
exit from the North Circular.

There were no large red splotches on the North Circular this morning, so I
assume he survived his stunt. I wonder what he'll do when he's old enough
to drive a car, though...

Eugenio

--
Peace is our profession -- mass murder's just a hobby

 

[Eugenio Mastroviti]

On Sun, 08 Aug 2004 10:42:16 +0100, Eugenio Mastroviti wrote:

That should be "Saturday night idiots" - I tend to lose track of time
during weekends

--
"The State of California has no business subsidizing intellectual
curiosity."
-- Ronald Reagan on funding scientific research

 

[Nick Kew]

In article <[email protected]>,
Eugenio Mastroviti <[email protected]> writes:

> That should be "Saturday night idiots"

So this is Sunday Morning Idiots?

I had that trouble when I started learning Italian. "Sabato" sounds
like the religious dat, so has to be Sunday, right? Erm ....

--
Nick Kew

 

[Eugenio Mastroviti]

On Sun, 08 Aug 2004 11:37:16 +0100, Nick Kew wrote:

>> That should be "Saturday night idiots"
>
> So this is Sunday Morning Idiots?

Looks like it, doesn't it?

> I had that trouble when I started learning Italian. "Sabato" sounds
> like the religious dat, so has to be Sunday, right? Erm ....

Erm, no, it's Saturday ("Shabbat"). Sunday is Domenica, from Latin
"Dominus" (Lord)

Blast. It gets confusing after that, you guys could have had at least the
good taste to keep the same gods as the Romans. I mean, if you're naming
one day after the goddess of love, you could very well have kept Venus
(Venerdi') instead of reverting to Freya (Friday)...

Eugenio

--
There are two sides to every divorce: yours and the shithead's.

 

[Helen Deborah Vecht]

Eugenio Mastroviti <[email protected]>typed


> There were no large red splotches on the North Circular this morning, so I
> assume he survived his stunt. I wonder what he'll do when he's old enough
> to drive a car, though...


What do you expect when the London Borough of Barnet has scrapped cycle
training?? ;-)

--
Helen D. Vecht: [email protected]
Edgware.

 

[David Martin]

On 8/8/04 12:51 pm, in article
[email protected], "Eugenio Mastroviti"
<[email protected]> wrote:


> Blast. It gets confusing after that, you guys could have had at least the
> good taste to keep the same gods as the Romans. I mean, if you're naming
> one day after the goddess of love, you could very well have kept Venus
> (Venerdi') instead of reverting to Freya (Friday)...

But that would be confusing. We have Woden and Thor so why not Freya?

...d

 

[Robert Bruce]

mae <[email protected]> wedi ysgrifennu:
> On 8/8/04 12:51 pm, in article
> [email protected], "Eugenio Mastroviti"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>> Blast. It gets confusing after that, you guys could have had at
>> least the good taste to keep the same gods as the Romans. I mean, if
>> you're naming one day after the goddess of love, you could very well
>> have kept Venus (Venerdi') instead of reverting to Freya (Friday)...
>
> But that would be confusing. We have Woden and Thor so why not Freya?
>
> ..d

But why Saturday (Saturn) then? That was the point.

BTW, Welsh
Dydd Llun
Dydd Mawrth
Dydd Mercher
Dydd Iau
Dydd Gwener
Dydd Sadwrn
Dydd Sul

--
Rob

Please keep conversations in the newsgroup so that all may contribute
and benefit.

 

[Helen Deborah Vecht]

David Martin <[email protected]>typed


> On 8/8/04 12:51 pm, in article
> [email protected], "Eugenio Mastroviti"
> <[email protected]> wrote:


> > Blast. It gets confusing after that, you guys could have had at least the
> > good taste to keep the same gods as the Romans. I mean, if you're naming
> > one day after the goddess of love, you could very well have kept Venus
> > (Venerdi') instead of reverting to Freya (Friday)...

> But that would be confusing. We have Woden and Thor so why not Freya?

> ...d

Not to speak of Tiw.

Moon day is moonday/ lunedi.

Of course, since most of us don't worship these deities, we could do as
they do in Israel and number all days apart from the Sabbath.

--
Helen D. Vecht: [email protected]
Edgware.

 

[Helen Deborah Vecht]

"Robert Bruce" <[email protected]>typed


> mae <[email protected]> wedi ysgrifennu:
> > On 8/8/04 12:51 pm, in article
> > [email protected], "Eugenio Mastroviti"
> > <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> >
> >> Blast. It gets confusing after that, you guys could have had at
> >> least the good taste to keep the same gods as the Romans. I mean, if
> >> you're naming one day after the goddess of love, you could very well
> >> have kept Venus (Venerdi') instead of reverting to Freya (Friday)...
> >
> > But that would be confusing. We have Woden and Thor so why not Freya?
> >
> > ..d

> But why Saturday (Saturn) then? That was the point.

> BTW, Welsh
> Dydd Llun
> Dydd Mawrth
> Dydd Mercher
> Dydd Iau
> Dydd Gwener
> Dydd Sadwrn
> Dydd Sul

So it's more like French except at weekends then, isn't it?

--
Helen D. Vecht: [email protected]
Edgware.

 

[Whingin' Pom]

On Sun, 8 Aug 2004 14:02:52 +0100, Helen Deborah Vecht
<[email protected]> () wrote:

>> ...d
>
>Not to speak of Tiw.
>
>Moon day is moonday/ lunedi.
>
>Of course, since most of us don't worship these deities, we could do as
>they do in Israel and number all days apart from the Sabbath.

Thanks for the "most of us". As one who still does, I appreciate that.



--
Matt K
Waikikamukau,NZ

 

[Roos Eisma]

David Martin <[email protected]> writes:

>But that would be confusing. We have Woden and Thor so why not Freya?

Where I keep going wrong in Englsih is with 'next'. For me, next Wednesday
is the next Wednesday, the next one coming up. So I usually arrive a week
earlier than everybody else....

Roos

 

[Velvet]

Roos Eisma wrote:
> David Martin <[email protected]> writes:
>
>
>>But that would be confusing. We have Woden and Thor so why not Freya?
>
>
> Where I keep going wrong in Englsih is with 'next'. For me, next Wednesday
> is the next Wednesday, the next one coming up. So I usually arrive a week
> earlier than everybody else....
>
> Roos

Interesting. I'm regularly caught out by people who do that too,
whereas I use *this* wednesday to be the one just coming, and *next* to
be the one after that... causes no end of confusion when people say next
meaning the one coming - but I always thought I was in the minority of
using this to be the one coming...

Velvet

 

[Eugenio Mastroviti]

On Sun, 08 Aug 2004 20:27:40 +0000, Roos Eisma wrote:

> Where I keep going wrong in Englsih is with 'next'. For me, next Wednesday
> is the next Wednesday, the next one coming up. So I usually arrive a week
> earlier than everybody else....

LOL I though it was just me!

--
Q: How many supply-siders does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None. The darkness will cause the light bulb to change by itself.

 

[Robert Bruce]

mae <[email protected]> wedi ysgrifennu:
> Roos Eisma wrote:
>> David Martin <[email protected]> writes:
>>
>>
>>> But that would be confusing. We have Woden and Thor so why not
>>> Freya?
>>
>>
>> Where I keep going wrong in Englsih is with 'next'. For me, next
>> Wednesday is the next Wednesday, the next one coming up. So I
>> usually arrive a week earlier than everybody else....
>>
>> Roos
>
> Interesting. I'm regularly caught out by people who do that too,
> whereas I use *this* wednesday to be the one just coming, and *next*
> to be the one after that... causes no end of confusion when people
> say next meaning the one coming - but I always thought I was in the
> minority of using this to be the one coming...
>
> Velvet

"This Wednesday" and "Next Wednesday", AFAIK, are the same thing. The
correct term for the *following* Wednesday is "Wednesday Week" (also the
name of a song by the Undertones), but I suspect that this usage is becoming
archaic.

--
Rob

Please keep conversations in the newsgroup so that all may contribute
and benefit.

 

[Robert Bruce]

mae <[email protected]> wedi ysgrifennu:

>> BTW, Welsh
>> Dydd Llun
>> Dydd Mawrth
>> Dydd Mercher
>> Dydd Iau
>> Dydd Gwener
>> Dydd Sadwrn
>> Dydd Sul
>
> So it's more like French except at weekends then, isn't it?

French is derived mainly from Vulgar Latin. Welsh is mainly derived from
Ancient British, but many things that the Romans introduced to these islands
are reflected in Welsh. The days of the week are an obvious example, but is
also seems that there were no windows in Britain before the Romans arrived
(Welsh: fenestr, French: fenetre), no bridges (Welsh: pont, French: pont),
no schools (Welsh: ysgol, French: ecole) and no-one was sad (Welsh: trist,
French: triste). Of course, the main influence on Welsh for centuries has
been English, but most languages are under this pressure now, which is why
Welsh feels that it has a symbolic role to play in the preservation of
cutural diversity - if Welsh, living cheek by jowl in both a physical and a
cultural sense with England can survive, then so can other languages and
cultures.

O bydded i'r hen iaith barhau!

--
Rob

Please keep conversations in the newsgroup so that all may contribute
and benefit.

 

[Gawnsoft]

On 08 Aug 2004 20:27:40 GMT, Roos Eisma <[email protected]> wrote (more
or less):

>David Martin <[email protected]> writes:
>
>>But that would be confusing. We have Woden and Thor so why not Freya?
>
>Where I keep going wrong in Englsih is with 'next'. For me, next Wednesday
>is the next Wednesday, the next one coming up. So I usually arrive a week
>earlier than everybody else....

I'd arrive at the same day as you, Roos.To refer to the second
Wednesday, I'd use 'a week on Wednesday'.


--
Cheers,
Euan
Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
Symbian/Epoc wiki: http://html.dnsalias.net:1122
Smalltalk links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk) http://html.dnsalias.net/gawnsoft/smalltalk

 

[Richard Bates]

On Sun, 08 Aug 2004 21:39:26 GMT, in
<[email protected]>, Gawnsoft
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On 08 Aug 2004 20:27:40 GMT, Roos Eisma <[email protected]> wrote (more
>or less):
>
>>David Martin <[email protected]> writes:
>>
>>>But that would be confusing. We have Woden and Thor so why not Freya?
>>
>>Where I keep going wrong in Englsih is with 'next'. For me, next Wednesday
>>is the next Wednesday, the next one coming up. So I usually arrive a week
>>earlier than everybody else....
>
>I'd arrive at the same day as you, Roos.To refer to the second
>Wednesday, I'd use 'a week on Wednesday'.

I much prefer to say Wednesday the xxth

--
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