[doggo]

 

Quote:
Get a ... copy of Melvyn Bragg's "The Adventure of English"

One thing that struck me when watching Melvyn Bragg's TV version of his book -- apart from his assertion that you would find "frying pan" mentioned in the Holy Bible -- was that when we talk about animals we use words like cow, sheep or pig, which sound pretty Anglo-Saxon. When we slaughter these animals their meat becomes beef, mutton, pork or ham: words that would be understood by a Frenchman. Fascinating.
 

Quote:
The technically correct usage of "am I not?" is now something of an archaism even in Standard English usage.

When the man called the other day to read the electricity meter he said, "I've gotta read your meter, innit!" This is a form used by young persons of Indian/Pakistani origin and is similar to the South Welsh example: "I've just got back from Caaardiff, isn't it?"

[ElmerFudd]

O.K., I'm going to commit a sin and rerail a topic.

They put Christmas decorations up in some of the stores in my area on October 1st!

Forget about before Thanksgiving, now it's before Halloween.  Labor day gets it next!

[MaxBigfoot]

I'll enlarge on that a little.  I've gotten tired of the 'all holidays, all the time' style of store nowadays.
From Thanksgiving until Easter, there's always some holiday being hyped unto death.  I'm Canadian, so we get Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, New Years, Valentines Day, Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day.  Thankfully there's a bit of a respite until Canada Day.  Then the wonderful gap of summer.  But that Fall to early Summer stretch drives me crazy sometimes.

[DrHyde]

How 'bout holidays in general? I can't turn around without it being some holdiay. I think we've ran out of "regular" days in the year.

[smiley]

Quote:
One thing that struck me when watching Melvyn Bragg's TV version of his book -- apart from his assertion that you would find "frying pan" mentioned in the Holy Bible -- was that when we talk about animals we use words like cow, sheep or pig, which sound pretty Anglo-Saxon. When we slaughter these animals their meat becomes beef, mutton, pork or ham: words that would be understood by a Frenchman. Fascinating.

The book is quite dryly witty about it. It was a case of the Saxon farmer raising and slaughtering the animals (so the animals gained Anglo-Saxon names), then the Norman French-speaking Baron and his cook would steal (in the form of feudal dues) and rename the meat in Norman French.

Frying pan in the Bible though? I presume it's some mis-use of the word skillet?  

[doggo]

 

Quote:
Frying pan in the Bible though? I presume it's some mis-use of the word skillet?

I have to confess I haven't looked. But Bragg permitted himself a challenging little rising inflection as he said the words "frying pan", so it wouldn't surprise me to find it in there somewhere.

[tdotter]

I figured I would put this in here.
I was just at the apple app store and believe it or not there is a new video game called Protect Cemetary and the price is $149.99.It is under the new release section.It looks like a game from 1980.For a good laugh you should go there and take a look at it.Apple should not be allowing a developer to charge that much for garbage.

[mcgarp]

This is an old post and I read the first two pages but forgive me if this is in there somewhere, but the horrific misuse of "literally".  "I literally shit my pants I was laughing so hard."  Really, you laughed so hard you shit your pants.  Did you clean them out or toss them in the trash?  You should get checked out if laughing actually makes you loose control of your bowels.

[pedonbio]

<font color="yellow">I wish women wouldn`t hit on me all the time. <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> I`m not just a sex object.  <!--color--></font>

 <img src="http://forum.bearchive.com/files/394402-nerd3uf.jpg">

This sounds like a joke, and was probably meant that way. But starting about 60 the difference in survival rates between the genders begins to become apparent. By 80 it gets embarrassing (or so I'm told).

[tdotter]

Spitting in public.It was cool in grade school but we're adults now.I can understand if you are sick or under 18 but come on.
Google image reverse-sometimes I use it to find a larger picture.They give you the dimensions but not the kbs size.I wish they would put the kbs beside the picture along with the dimensions.
When guys and it's always guys,who screech their car tires and they are driving a shitty looking car.If you do that, at least make sure you are driving a cool looking car if you don't want to get laughed at.
The automated announcement on the subway after every stop.
"Please move away from the doors.Thank you."
I've never seen anyone actually move away from the doors and I'll stand wherever I want to.

[rtpoe]

Today's annoyance:

Poking around the various app stores for free games for my Android tablet, and I come across a few that look pretty good. However, it seems that I need something called "AppBrain" to be able to download and install them.

So I go looking for AppBrain, and it seems to be tied in somehow to the "Google Play" app store... and here I go into the Spiral of Despair.

I keep getting sent back and forth between the AppBrain site and Google Play, and nowhere do I find a link or a button to download anything! The "install" buttons keep saying I need to have something else installed first. Which I would get, if there was a place to get it!

Finally had to go on my desktop and search out a copy of the apk file. I'll let you know how it works once installed.

[solvegas]

Winter annoys me. Days are short, temperatures are low, sickness strikes more often and forcefully and pretty girls wear much more clothing which hide their attributes. Can't wait for April.   

[Hark]

The Minnesota Merge.

You see a car come up from behind you on the highway, passes you at a much higher speed, make every physical attempt to get in the far left (fast) lane, and then suddenly slingshot themselves into the exit; not just the 'Exit Only' lane, but the actual exit itself, regardless of the median lines denoting a separation.

The idea of waiting in line is somehow offensive to many up here.  I learned to drive in Florida, and passing on the right was at least frowned upon.  I usually drive in the far left for 5-10 over the limit, but mostly because I don't need to be in the right yet, if my exit isn't close.  To make a gaming reference, it's as if there's a point system if you pass as many cars before making an exit.

And it's almost always a luxury car doing it.  I notice Audi drivers are the worst.

[gOOber]

I once had a girl friend who ended every other sentence with "know whadda mean?". I had to stop seeing her or lose my sanity. She had nice breasts though.

[T_Man]

I know whatcha mean, gOOber. I once dated this very cute, sweet girl, but I just couldn't get past her squeaky, cartoon voice. Drove me nuts, like fingernails on the blackboard.