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

Entry: Pappy-isms - A867044
Author: Jeff Mutton - U207303

Any further examples are most welcome...

Good stuff

It'll probably spark another discussion about what is or is not the the remit of the EG, but I'll get my vote in first and say that I like it.

I didn't recognise what this was about from the title - how about making it "Pappy-isms or things that dads say" so that it is less culturally specific.

If you're including Grandpa stories as well then you need "what I did during the war" as a special variant of the oft repeated story.

We need some Pappyisms on being careful with your money - I can't think of any right off, but I think it's a classic role of your dad to give you some wise sayings on the importance of savings etc...

Other favourites include clothing advice "you'll catch a cold if you go out without a coat"

musical critique "In my day we had real music that people could dance to" etc

Cringeworthy "Comedy" nicknames for you or your friends

Sprout

I like it too, and I'll be the first to mention the Python sketch - about how much worse things were when 'Pappy' was a lad. I sure I don't need to quote it, someone will provide a link.

Definately the historical context pappyism needs to be brought in though, either 'In MY day,...' or 'When I was your age....'

I'll have to go away and think of some examples... or I suppose I could ask my kids......

Cheers to both of you. I'll try to make some amendments to it to include those. If I do want to get it through to the guide, how do I go about it?

Just leave it here,a nd if a scout comes along and likes it, they'll recommend it to the Editors.

As soon as you create an entry Jeff, it becomes part of The Guide. Anyone who searches on the subject of your entry will find it in the search results, as long as they don't eliminate 'Normal Guide entries' from their search.

Putting it into Peer Review is the first step in getting an entry into the edited section of The Guide. Having an entry edited gives it a little more weight in terms of its usefulness because in order to make into the EG it will have to follow the guidelines, which are geared towards encouraging good quality entries, and it will have been Peer-Reviewed here by PR regulars who will have made suggestions about its content - useful additions to the content, superfluous stuff which could be removed, worthwhile links, etc. A Sub-editor will have polished it up and put it into the House Style (GuideML) if necessary, which usually makes an untidy-looking entry much easier to read. And finally, the h2g2 Editors will have looked it over and given it the , all of which should make it an easy-to-read, informative entry.

There's also a certain caché in having one or more Edited Entries listed on your Personal Space

What should happen now is that if a Scout thinks your entry is suitable for recommendation, they will pick it, and the Editors will either agree or disagree with that recommendation. Alternatively, one of the PR regulars (Scouts or otherwise) will suggest that your entry needs more work done on it to make it recommendable, and will hopefully give you some pointers or ideas. Sometimes it may be suggested that your entry would be better suited to one of the other PR forums such as the Alternative Writing Workshop (or vice versa as you've already discovered).

Occasionally no-one will say anything, and your entry will languish without comment. In those circumstances it's not considered out of order for you to post a little ::AHEM:: to bring the thread to the top of the list and back to everyone's attention, although doing that more than once or twice a week will probably get up a few people's noses, and doing it every day may be considered spamming, which is definately against the <./>HouseRules</.>. Always bear in mind that no-one here (except for the Editors when they make an appearance in PR) is doing this for a living - the Scouts are volunteers who are giving up their spare time, and everyone else is probably keeping a wary eye on the door, ready to as soon as the boss walks in to the room , so have a little patience and don't expect immediate results. An entry can't be picked for at least seven days after submission to PR anyway - that's the 'incubation' period.

How about including a section in your entry for weather-related Pappy-isms? Mine used to say "It's cold enough out there for a walking stick." Never found out what it meant

So does alt-tab close IE then?

alt-tab switches to the last thing open on your desktop you were looking at before you switched to the Internet.

So as long as that was word or powerpoint or similar, its a winner

My alt-tab reflexes are lightning quick

Sprout

So does alt-tab close IE then?

No it doesnt, its a task switcher. Your first load something useful like a spreadsheet. Then leaving it maximised on full screen, you load IE on top if it and continue browsing and generally having a good time.

As soon as the boss walks in, a quick Alt-Tab you get a list of active tasks. Select the spreadsheet and IE is sent to the background and the spreadsheet appears making it look as if you are doing something productive. When the boss leaves, another Alt-Tab and your back in IE to carry on where you left of.

When games first started appearing on computers, some of them had a special key called "a Boss key". Pressing it hid the game and presented a spreadsheet or something similar. This was in the days of DOS though. With a multi taking OS like Windows, a boss key isn't necessary as Alt-Tab does the job just as well.

You will soon learn this when you start working for a living.

Stuart

Ah. I'll have tor emember that for when the uni librarian comes round during a busy period and says "If you're not working, please get off the computers"

Ahhh, the old alt-tab ploy, eh!

Great stuff. I'll remember that one. I'd been practising my accurate minimising with the mouse up until now

minimise screen = hold down 'alt'; hit 'space' once; pop-up menu appears under the word 'File' top left of screen; release alt; hit underlined letter to produce action (in this case 'n' to minimise).

also applies to closing or maximising screens.

Good work fella! Now I need to work on the glass door behind me which reflects what's on my monitor. I've considered a poster of Debbie Harry as it's the only one we seem to have here. She looks quite good for her age!

Perhaps I should include poor jokes which Dads tell? I heard a stinker last night while visiting "the folks": what's green and smells of blue paint? Answer: green paint.
My dad howled and clutched his belly, such was his amusement, while I struggled to hold in the scathing comments which were struggling to escape.
A better one would be "what's green and smells of pork?" Answers on a postcard...

Here's a suggestion Jeff - ask h2g2 Researchers often bring in the help of the rest of the community when working on an entry.

All you have to do is go here A148907, click on the button which says 'Discuss this entry', and explain that you're writing an entry about things people's Dads say (go into a bit more detail about exactly what your entry's about). Include a link to your entry (and don't forget to fill in the subject field).

Once you've gotten a response, you can decide whether or not to divide your entry into sections for different types of Pappy-ism

And both Mrs Gosho and I loved the joke about the paint

Thank you, Mr Gosho, and please do pass on my regards to your good lady wife. I'm pleased you both enjoyed the "joke" as much as I did!

Another question for you: how does one place a link to one's guide entry? If it has anything to do with Guide ML then I'm scuppered...

Okay I've put a message on that board but haven't managed a link. Aah, the joys of being computer-illiterate!

It's a piece of to put links to other h2g2 pages in conversations Jeff - you use the A number (or C or F number) of the page. Do you see how at the top of this conversation your entry is posted as A867044? That's all you have to do And the same goes for researchers - you use their U number, like U147203.

It does throw up some odd links though, like when people are talking about Michael Schumacher - this year's F1 champion, or Irish supergroup U2, or that British tv channel C4

You have the knowledge, it seems! It's a good job people here are friendly, or i'd still be stuck on writing my personal space, which as it stands is still crap.

well, back to work.

by the way, what do you do for a living? or is that top secret information??