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

That's odd Caer, I always thought the "route" pronounciation went the other way around. I always say "root", and we Americans also get our kicks on "root" 66.

I wonder if those people doing all the direction, organizing, planning and pointing out of the "proper way" were the eldest sibling in a large family? They sound like my sister.

I say "root", also.

*Fidgets when the subject of oldest sibling behavior is raised.*

Well, I am a Brit but I work with enough Americans and Europeans to regularly call the last letter of the alphabet zee. (And car names sound so much better that way, anyway). I still say root and shhhedule though. I expect americans to say rowt not root, and it is interesting that so many don't.

One usage I have found interesting is 10 of 12 which appears to be a local usage within the US. One of my American colleagues caused major confusion by saying a particular event was going to take place at 10 to 12 the following week. She was skeduling a 2 hour event starting at 10.00. A lot of people wondered why she was starting 10 minutes before midday.

It does fascinate me how much store people put on Doing Things the Right Way. I like to think that I am fairly laid back both about how to do things, and also when people are less laid back than I am. I was not upset by being organised. But she really did need us to do it properly.

One of the things I do try to do is use the Gents if the Ladies is full. I find it a really difficult thing to do.

In fact, I think I might Ask H2G2 about that.

Hugging a wolf? Now that IS cool!

B

*Trawls through backlog. Again.*

Not much to add, I'm afraid. Despite what people might have thought, I won't comment on the science discussion.

I will, however, mention what I got for my AS-Levels. These are just the grades for the subects, but there's more detail to it (marks for individual modules).

Computing: B ( - that's embarassing)
German: A
Maths: A
Physics: A

(Note that an A* grade does not exist. Heheh... )

I pronounce route 'root' too. I was annoyed when characters in the game Deus Ex pronounced the word 'rowt'.

{[caer csd] Next time I hear 'rowt' on tv I shall try and take note of who said it. Perhaps its a regional thing, which wouldn't surprise me as you can travel half a dozen miles up the road, in the UK alone, to find grass, bath and glass pronounces with short 'a's, whereas I say them with long ones. There must be even more variations in the States.

It is amazing that such a small country should have such huge regional differences and we all hang on to them desperately! We used to argue how to say 'scone' some friends say it to rhyme with on I say it to rhyme with loan.

The date thing always catches me out, we give the day first then the month. I kept checking our holiday booking until I was completely convinced all the dates match up!

Have nver used the Gents, even though there is invariably a queue of at least 6 in front of me! I have been known to nip into the baby changing room or disabled loo.

Yes, I pronounce scone like 'bone'. That's how it should be pronounced if basic conventions are followed (to wit, if an 'e' is present at the end of the word, then the vowel two characters before it should be pronounced as it is in the alphabet. At least, that's how I think of it).

And putting months before days in dates seems wrong. I like to see a natural increase in significance: days, being the shortest, then months, longer, then years. A function in PHP that facilitates the creation of Unix timestamps confuses me, as you have to provide hours, minutes, seconds, months, days, years, in that order.

I came out of the clinic, ran for the bus and tripped over. I've gashed my right leg quite badly and scraped all the skin off my shins.

And the bus driver overcharged me and wouldn't listen to reason.





Well done, Prof.

Sorry to hear that Amy, have a loobrush . Not much I know.
Had a quick read of Ancient Brit, he just strikes me as an old bloke who is a little confused by the system. He does seem to like goading people a bit though, So I don't know which way that will go.
Oh, and scone is pronounced to rhyme with on, unless you are talking about the Palace, where it rhymes with spoon. Skon, skon, skon, skon and I don't care if it doesn't make sense Hmm, I'm hungry now for High Tea.
Oh yes, and I liked the pictures Titania, especially the monastery.

¶[LIL]

Dr. Who married Sarah? Or Layla?

*like all the previous calling cards from Lil in this thread, the card can be found on the other side of the room, on the floor near the service lift where, old-timers (persnickety of otherwise) may remember, there is a spiral stone staircase descending to basements and thence to caves where Mike A once maintained a mosh pit*

Layla, I think. In real life though, not in the TV show. Interesting husbands, Tom Baker and Richard Dawkins. Rather her than me on both counts, I think.

Supportive for Amy. That sounds PAINFUL!

Scone like gone, appropriately enough! Now in parts of the west country the thing you put your flowers in is a vorz, else were it is a vaaz. I think I have heard them called a vaze at times as well. I am a vaaz gal myself.

I have painted the kitchen cupboards blue; a couple of them have drips but I am not sure if I have the will to do anything about it. I have ordered some nice new metal handles, and when the walls are painted during the refurbishment it will look clean and fresh. It won't look particularly nice, but I will settle for clean and fresh for the time being. And beleive me, anything is better than the avocado green.

It looks like I will have to move out for the refurbishment; apparently they can't just paint around my things. Hey ho. At least they will cover the removal costs, and my ex has said I can stay in his house (he is away during the week and at least half of the weekends), which will be cheap and - um - a home from home.

Poor Amy - have a mint .

Congratulations, Chris - do you know what university you're off to, then?

I can be a bit pedantic at times, I hate to admit....at college, when we were singing, I couldn't stop myself pointing out when people were singing the wrong rhythm (but surely that's different - it put me off my part!).
Also, I don't do it with people I don't know, but with those close to me I always correct them if they get the name of a shop/brand slightly wrong...I remember when my mum used to write shopping lists and she'd put QS short for Kwik Save - it irritated me so much!!

Ancient Brit seems to be going a bit far, but I think he's an interesting character and he's obviously really fascinated with h2g2 - so on balance, he's by me!!

MR -

Interesting about the French Revolution idea. I think it's much like the American Civil War, most people believe it was started by slavery, however slavery wasn't introduced until the emancipation proclomation which was issued to keep the French on the Union side.

Some history teachers are horrible, however my main goal is to become a high school history teacher, and hopefully make a difference.

Courtesy

I knew I forgot to say something and it was;
Lalla Ward Now Tom Baker though, having read his autobiography I think she is well out of it. What a weird chap.

I'm a definite "rooter" and I had no idea there was more than one prounciation of scone (own). In the American West, you will also hear crik for creek and kayote for coyote. Then there are those troubled souls who say warsh for wash. Sick, sick, sick.

*helps herself to a big slice of pie, what better for breakfast?*

I'm surprised you didn't realize there is an etiquette to the sweatlodge, MR. Entering and exiting from the east side (the best direction, related to the dawn, the sun, and life) would make sense as well as who sits where, who gets the water dipper, and who enters and leaves last. Just like at church--not everyone gets that little swinging incense burner, you know!

[Affy]

There, there, Amy. Have a lollipop. That always make skinned shins feel better.

It wasn't so much how I entered, but that when I came out, was I sure that I walked around the lodge in a counterclockwise direction? Did I remember to thank my ancestors? Etc. Form rather than meaning.

Ah, yes, pronunciation. But isn't it the Brits who pronounce "Don Quixote" as "Quixot" rather than as "Key-hoe-tay"? Just asking. And "Don Juan" as "Jew-on" rather than the spanish "whaun"?

And like FG, I had no idea that I've been saying "scone" incorrectly all these years! Actually, FG and I give each other a hard time, when we use words we've seen in books, and can't pronounce (mostly, that'd be me).

*Ears prick up at the mention of wolf hugging.*

for Amy.

congrats to the Prof.

*Takes a piece of pie.*

Yum!

Regarding Ancient Brat - I think he has the wrong model in mind when he thinks of conversations here. He is thinking of one-on-one conversations, or at least small group conversations where people take turns and follow the subject. The reality is that conversations here more resemble a party model, where people drift in and out of conversations and there may be multiple conversations going on at the same time in the same room. We view things as happening sequentially in the order of the posts, not in some multi-threaded independant heirarchy. That's why we all hit the reply button on the last post. You can reply to what someone said last night, but you are replying NOW.

I particularly like reading history when it has been fictionalized - i.e. when a novel is set in an historical period and the historical aspects are portrayed accurately. It feels a lot more personal then, rather than just dry facts. The dry facts are the setting for some human drama and get absorbed as part of the story.

For instance, MR and I were on the phone last night discussing Mr. Brit. She said he was a (phonetically speaking) cur-midegon (rhyming with the bird). I asked if he was related to the pigeon or the ptarmigan...