h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Thank heavens I don't see many movies that have guns in them.

"In 'Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home' Scotty calls Aluminium 'Aloominum'. If James Doohan played a character called Americany or Canadiany then fair enough, but Scotty's supposed to be Scottish."


Yes, but he's Scottish four-hundred years in the future. Perhaps the pronunciation has changed in the future. Possibly due to the influence of all that American TV.



"Even then it wouldn't be ok. Let me just check the spelling again?"

"Ah. Yes. Aluminium."


In America we spell it "Aluminum." Besides, I don't remember seeing any "f"s in "Lieutenant."

We pronounce lieutenant lootenant, as if the word referred to someone who was renting the bathroom (i.e. loo).

But I'm not throwing stones, given that I live in the glass house called Boston, where people routinely ignore R's while adding them where they don't belong.

So is it

Germanum.
Uranum.
Chromum.
Iridum.
Barum.
Etc? Or is it only Aluminium that was abused?

PP.

I'm not to abandon Noah Webster in his hour of need.

Of course, he's probably still arguing the point with Sir Humphry Davy....



Alcoa, the world's sixth largest produce, calls its product aluminum.

Is this issue bigger pr smaller than the extra "u" that the Brits add to color, valor, etc.? Tempiest in a teapiot.

Well, there is molybdenum.

And plumbum, also known as lead.

Sounds like this tread is turning into...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGM-wSKFBpo

Mind you being a USAian even Tom Lehrer pronounces it Wrong to British ears.

In Lehrer's defense, he was no William S Gilbert.

Would that be the extra U that we add to words from the English language?



PP.

Hey, I have it on high authority, The Kid President of the World and Queen of Everything, "Most of England speaks Americanish, but they just have an accent."

http://youtu.be/Q8pNh6LqFh8

Trust the USA to have the larger "Talent" pool...

Awwww, I love all things British. A wonderful country, which my ancestors would not have left were it not for the likes of Oliver Cromwell. I hope Britain will continue to thrive for the foreseeable future. If I poke fun at British spelling or vocabulary, it's because of a roguish strain in my nature. It's affectionate if it's anything.

I mentioned it in Petty Hates, but I'll add it here too. 'Mermaids' (1990)

For any fantasy fan expecting a semi-sequel to 'Splash' (1984), this was a complete disappointment. It should have been titled 'Perfectly normal human women who have legs'. How that film wasn't prosecuted under Advertising Standards I'll never know.

Quick timeline:
1989 – 'The Little Mermaid' released. This is an outstanding Disney musical that counts as one of the greatest animated triumphs of all time, leaving audiences desperate for more.
1990 – 'Mermaids' released, starring a singer. Is this the live-action musical 'The Little Mermaid' fans so desperately want? Nope – IT HAS NO MERMAIDS!

Honestly, how does Cher sleep at night?

Now you might say, 'okay, there's no denying that it has a dreadful title, but so what?' But think about it. If another filmmaker in the 1990s had wanted to make a film about Mermaids and call it 'Mermaids', what would have happened? Yep, the makers of Cher's 'Mermaids' would instantly have sued. So the dreadful film's very existence is a hindrance to the further development of the mermaid subgenre.

But I won't hold a grudge. In fact, I'll recommend that Cher makes it the first in a trilogy. The story should be continued in 'Medusas', which isn't in any way about gorgons who can turn people into stone, and concluded in 'Minotaurs' which, despite not involving mythical creatures in any way, shape or form, nevertheless remains 100% bull.

<BB<

My take on "mermaids" is that it was about a girl ho is (a.) crazy abut swimming and (b.) involved in a first relationship. A mermaid is a seductive woman who swims. That's not much of a connection, but....

I would think that it would be the director's job to give a movie its title.

Come to think of it, there wasn't a single dog in _Reservoir Dogs_.

Dog gone!

How does Cher sleep at night?

With difficulty I imagine, all that plastic must creak terribly when she moves.

Cher is a woman of mystery.

How did she get that voice of hers to pump out hit songs in four different decades? How did she create so much buzz at the end of "Mamma Mia II?

I'm sure the buzz was just a bit of electrical feedback.