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

This one's about education and knowledge. It has a little test. Icy North will probably pass it, just to make the rest of us look bad. Here it is: A87783628

Eh? In 1895 London was the capital of the European republic called Britain?

I'll bet those answers weren't corrected by a teacher from 1895.

I know what a spleen is for! It stores blood and has something to do with the immune system. My father-in-law survived being shot where his spleen should've been only because he'd lost it in a car accident a few decades prior. If he'd had his spleen, he would've bled out long before the ambulance arrived (about an hour--phone had to be walked to, and the only hospital in the county is 20some miles away--the highway is picturesque and curvy through the redwoods...).

That sounds risky. I might ask the doctor about a little titanium suit of armour for my spleen. Just in case anyone tries to vent it.

Can I count the one's I've covered in Guide Entries?

used a contraction - points off!

I did half-way decent in History and Geography and a bit of grammar my time here may be paying-off.

One thing I found a while back; The original Army orders from the Civil War are published as the 'Records of the Great Rebellion' and the naval records have their own volumes as 'Naval Records of the Great Rebellion' without looking they were published at about the turn of the century.

Thanks

FS

As usual, these topics bring out the most interesting stories.

In the interest of a true record;

http://www.civilwarhome.com/records.htm

FS

Well, I was lost with English grammar and all these outlandish measurements in arithmetic. I've also never been too good in history but could do a bit of Orthography.

Geography and Physiology are probably the best subjects for me. I for instance had to learn all countries of Europe and their capitals at school.
I still remember how my dad (a Geography teacher himself) wrote '...len' and 'W...au' on a sheet of paper and then made me sit down on it to remember the capital of Poland. Unfortunately this only works in German. I also still get the picture of a huge sofa in my head when I hear 'Bulgaria'.

Bulgaria...sofas... I love it!

I always thought of furniture when it came to Turkey. I think it was because of the Ottoman Empire...

Thanks for that link, FS! Bookmarked for the next time I need a battle dispatch.

{Icy North will probably pass it}

Well, I was OK on the battles of the Rebellion, but I failed the Orthography: I thought a diphthong was a kind of skimpy swimming costume.

You'd think so, wouldn't you? And only the Irish know what a triphthong is, although we have them in the mountains here.

Not a thing wrong with tripthongs. Not to have enough thongs when you need them is terribly restrictive. And it's contagious: I can't listen to someone from Drogheda say 'you' or 'rude' without mimicking it.

"Would Yii-eeee-oh stop being r-ii-eeee-ode", they tell me then.

How true. How do other people get along without them?

Try pronouncing the word 'dog'the way I grew up saying it.

Duh-awwww-ooo-gg.

Yes, the usual 'dawg' spelling is a very poor transcription of it.

My German teacher claimed that only Styrians have a town which has all vovels in the right order: Laei-oum
(which is actually 'Leoben', but they say it like that)

And Turkey actually has an anchor, while Moldavia has a scorpio.


Kalkutta liegt am Ganges
Paris liegt an der Seine
doch dass ich so verliebt bin
das liegt an Madeleine.

Good one!

I knew girl in high-school named Dawn, she insisted that everyone pronounce her name 'Daugh-WIN' with the local accent the names Dawn and Don are almost identical.

I also remember being confused when someone asked me if I had an ink-pen (I didn't know of any other kind) Then I found out that in sewing straight pens and safety pens were also used (pen-pin, same difference)



FS

I was about 12 before I found out pin and pen were not supposed to be homonyms.

And it's not 'an ink pen', it's 'a ink pen'.

I stand corrected.

FS