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

Entry: Welsh vs Anne Robinson - A913123
Author: Researcher 213370 - U213370

Anyone else agree?

Let me get this straight... your last line is "not have double standards in the supposed tolerant society we live in today." I'm *pretty* sure one of the principles of tolerance is that you are tolerant of those that are intolerent. If Miss Robinson believes that Wales is a redundant country (or whatever she said) then so be it, that is her view and she is entitled to it. Should the police really be allowed to arrest/charge/investigate her just because she is expressing her views?
Also, this entry probably won't make it into the Edited Guide (see the Writing-Guidelines )
Oberon2001
PS. I don't actually agree with AR, just thought that people should be allowed to express their opinions no matter how wrong others might think them.

Like Anne Robinson I am a Liverpudlian, and after what she said about Maggie she pretty much burnt her boats here in Liverpool. BUT. Some of the comments made about the woman are pretty unfair. On the Room 101 programme Anne explained herself pretty clearly. She was from the Scotland Road area of Liverpool, which is even by Liverpool standards a tough area. Most of her family were working class Liverpool-Irish, but her Welsh grandmother would visit occasionally and insist on speaking Welsh - and only Welsh. She found this highly annoying. It was this that fired her up to put the Welsh nation in Room 101. I thought a lot of it tongue in cheek. In my job we are forced by law to use a bi-lingual system. It increases our costs and we hardly ever use it. But, I support it wholeheartedly. It is some peoples first language. But don't let Anne Robinson wind you up. I have a feeling it was definitely a deliberate ploy.

Well, being a Welshman, I take it as a badge of pride that we can be a source of unending annoyance to possibly the most supercilious person on television!
Pleidiol Wyf I'm Gwlad!

Or to put it another way

IT WAS A JOKE!

Sorry, but when I read about the Welsh politician demanding an investigation into Anne's 'racism' I thought to myself 'It's nice to know our taxes are being spent wisely'.

We Welsh are a very silly nation, and it's about time we learned to laugh at ourselves as well. Besides, all someone has to do is stand up and ratlle off a list of very famous Welsh people to refute AR's comment. If they can be bothered. Which I can't

Points for anyone who doesn't mention Tom Jones and David Lloyd Ge-

D'OH!

"If all publicity is good publicity." Then Anne has scored a blinder.

I live close to the Welsh boarder, just outside Chester, so I often find myself in Wales. When entering a Welsh pub, you will often find some speaking Welsh, but quite a lot speaking English. However, as soon as it is known that there is a stranger present, everyone will suddenly start talking Welsh.

However, when in the Western Highlands of Scotland and the Hebrides where Gaelic is the language of choice the opposite happens. As soon as the presence of a stranger is detected, everyone will revert to English out of respect for the stranger. Indeed, while enjoying a drink and a chat with a couple of local guys on the Isle of Barra some time ago, two of the guys got involved in a heated discussion and in the heat of the moment reverted to Gaelic. When the discussion was ended, one of the guys turned to me and apologised for speaking Gaelic. Somehow I cannot imagine anything like that happening in Wales.

This is not racist. Just a simple statement of fact. Sorry, but there it is.

Stuart

Why I am defending the Welsh I have no idea, but. I have found that the majority of Welsh speakers are ok, it is the Welsh Language Society who are blind in their pursuit of making Welsh numero uno. It has gotten to the point where it is detrimental to Welsh interests and jobs but they don't seem to care. The English will always be there to carry the cost - just look at S4C.

ive lived in powys for 10 years and i know what you mean,welsh people can talk whatever language they like when they like ,but mostly it seems welsh is spoken to disguise the conversation from the english speakers(some of whom are welsh them selvs but have no want of the language)
this makes me laugh cos (as a liverpudlian) i have a little understanding of welsh and know when some one is being nasty.
this they dont expect cos im supposed to be a "dumb englishman".
its not just a welsh thing though.
asians,chinese etc all laps into their native tounge to have a bit of a giggle at the british,anoying but who can blame em,id do the same if i could.

I thought you just did

LOL. true but most of the people whos first language aint english can certainly understand it ,so speaking in my native tounge i cannot disguise how i feel about something or someone, if you know what i mean.

If you speak two languages you're bilingual.
If you speak more than two languages you're multilingual.
If you only speak one language - you're English.

Noggin

I do

I'm old enough to remember having a nursery rhyme book, with 'Taffy was a Welshman' in it, nowadays of course this would cause uproar, in fact I'm probably under suspicion for having owned such an imflammatory book.

Personally speaking I can't understand what the Welsh are complaining about - they have their own assembly from which the rest of the country are excluded, but their MP's vote in the English parliament !

Rebuild Offa's Dyke I say. (This has absolutely nothing to do with a joke played on me when I was about 8. On a Sunday school trip to Talybont I was made to hide under the seats because I didn't have a passport.)

I too was bemused by the reaction to Anne Robinson's remarks on Room 101 (less still by the fact she didn't really respond to the criticism that well). From what I remember she 'attacked' them in a way that hinted that she was jealous of them - something along the lines of 'They have such great singers - don't you just hate them?'

I thought it was a bit of semi-affectionate mickey-taking; the sort that you make about people you're fond of.

And come on, she did her bit for the Welsh Tourist Board afterwards!


Natalie (misses Pobol Y Cwm)

Interesting reading, but is it edited guide material?

The 1st person approach in the opening paragraph doesn't fit with the Writing-Guidelines

Many readers won't have heard of (let alone *remember*) Room 101, Anne Robinson or what she said re the Welsh

As this entry poses quite a few questions, it might work well in A756605 (H2G2 Speaker's Corner)

It's even short enough to post as a new thread in <./>Askh2g2</.>


Is the UK really *multicultural* or simply multi-racial?

It's a well known and extensivly observed fact that cultures finding themselves in close proximity to a much larger culture will use their native language as a defense against the encroachment of the alien culture into their lives.

On the other hand speaking in a language that you know another person won't understand in order to insult them is the height of bad manners.

Anne Robinson has a right to her own opinion no matter how much I disagree with it.

The same thing happened recently when people in Norwich started kicking off about the BBC's Alan Partridge portraying them in a negative light. Freedom of speech and our own foibles and failings seem to fade from our minds when someone pokes a little fun...if we can't laugh then we're all f****d to be perfectly honest.

PS. Ain't no way this gonna make it into the guide in this form.

It's a statement of personal opinion, and parts are in the first person.

You need to come at this from another angle if you want to write an article about bias in the media.