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

I expect dentists would prefer the term 'orthodontic appliance'

Don't forget a brace & bit (that's bit, not bib).

A German orthodontologist calls brackets the individual bits fitted to each teeth, AFAIK the bit of wire going right round is called a Spange (pron: shpanger - the same word as for a hairslide in German)

Fortunately none of my children's teeth ever needed correction.

So don't mine, because today it would cost me a fortune
You are right, I forgot about the Spange, it was in one piece and I had sort of key to turn it wider every week or so.But we did say Klammer too

but then all these things are basically a device which fastens at both end to that which requires support (or bracing) so it is tied to something.
Hmmm, but then you do get things doing that that are called ties. They certainly have a common sense.

p.s. intrigued about english sounding german words that are made up. Any examples?

Handy for mobile is the most common one.
, haven't seen any ads for a while, that's why I can't recall any more examples at the mo, but I'm sure that TC will know lots of them

there's a classic one that comes to my mind:
"Handy" for "mobile phone"

kat

sorry Belana! I overlooked that you'd already mentioned "Handy"!
I should read preceding posts more carefully!

kat

katkodl,

In the present political climate it's good to have more than just one source of information.

Do you mean a "fanny pack?" I don't know what a "fanny bag" is. I generally put the same things into a fanny pack that I would put into a "purse" or "handbag". but less because fanny packs are usually smaller. Some are made for specific equipment like cameras or empty poop bags. Was that even a serious question? If it was a silly, you couldn't make a bag large enough for my fanny.

The mind boggles slightly, if you're referring to the British use of fanny, which is NOT what you sit on. The Edwardians used to refer to it as "front bottom". My mother, who was technically a Victorian, used to refer to it as "down there".

<< ... technically a Victorian ... >>

So she was steam powered

Hmm. Maybe I completely misunderstood Vestboy. But I have no idea what Wand'rin Star is talking about either.

OK, I re-read that post and I think I understand. Those Victorian and Edwardian terms you mentioned are for what you sit on, right? I wouldn't call it a fanny either but I do call the pack that I wear around my waist a fanny pack.

I think Wandrin' Star was alluding to the word for a part of a woman's anatomy that, if spelled in its four-letter variation, would surely result in someone hitting the button

For some, even the term fanny is offensive - in that context...

Interesting Ictoan - so is a brace of grouse called that because they are tied together?

Yes, they are, Kelli.
OK, the time has come for plain speaking. "Front bottom" is the pudenda. "Back Bottom" is what you sit on. "Fanny" means front bottom in British English and back bottom in American English. Getting a front bottom into a bag or pack is even less likely than stuffing your back bottom in one.
I am being typecast, as a dotty woman who can't remember her lines: one word term for this type must exist, but escapes me- distinct similarities between Mrs S and Cinderella's fairy godmother, and the wigs are equally outrageous

How about Severine?

How about Laetitia?

Wandrin' Star, how about 'Scatty'?

Seen on a poster in the London Underground yesterday
"Venice *really* is sinking"
I have *'ed the word 'really' since on the advert this word was in italics.
Now to me, that would imply that they are stressing the word 'really'. But that sounds wrong to me. If I were to speak that phrase, then i would stress the 'is' not the 'really'. Or at least stress both of them.
Although interestingly, if I were to speak that phrase in the past tense then I would stress the 'really', "Venice *really* was sinking" seems OK.

Am I wrong? Would you agree with the emphasis implied in the poster? Or not?

I'd say: Venice is 'really' sinking