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

I think I know what Rod means. Sometimes the tang drops into the gap at the bottom of the fly, behind the 'flap'. When this happens, it can be a real fiddle to get the tang out so you can do up the zip again.

I find it often does that in the washing machine. It's not too hard to get it out - grab a very small screwdriver, or a fork if you haven't got one small enough, pull the bottom of the zip opening down as far as you can to show the hole that most pull tabs (for that's what it's called) have, get the screwdriver or one of the tines of the fork (or even a metal skewer) into the hole and lever it out.

Job's a good'un

That's the very thing, CD

screwdrivers, forks, skewers ? 's bad enough to be hunched over in a pubic loo, seemingly putting yourself under close inspection

I have found that a small pair of pointed nose pliers, or even tweezers, do the job as well.

Smudger.

If the slide gets out of alignment with two row of hooks in the zipper, its often impossible to realign them unless the terminals on the bottom end of the zipper are in the open where one can reach them, if, for example they've sewn inside a seam.

Also lousy if the tang in the down position doesn't lock, preventing the zipper from spontaneously unzipping.

Good grief, this is getting complex!

A big blue, purple, yellow and green tassel might do the trick?

...or a big, pretty ribbon tied in a bow...

Adequate design and manufacturing and quality control inspections usually do the trick more discretely.

At a 'certain age', elasticated waist bands start to have a certain appeal.

PP.

By the way that was both a response to the problem of zips AND a petty hate in it's own right.

PP.

"Slides", "pull-tabs", "terminals" - I'm learning a whole new vocabulary of zips that I never even knew existed!

If the waistband is getting a little uncomfortable, whatever the reason, one can always resort to suspenders, if suspenders are too much to bear, a dressing gown.

Breweries who release Christmas beers in September and October (I'm looking at you, Sam Smiths), spring seasonals in January and February (Sam Adams), summer seasonals in March and April, pumpkin beers in August, and Oktoberfestbiers (Widmer, Shiner, Sam Adams et al) and other autumn seasonals in July
http://beerpulse.com/2013/07/sierra-nevada-tumbler-brown-ale-now-available-for-fall-season-video "Available in some markets and rolling out to others now"

ITIWBS.

Being an Englishman, I had to read your post more than once before I realised that you weren't suggesting that during the week I resorted to wearing my weekend 'call me Marjorie' outfit.



PP.

Admitted, I don't were a dressing gown myself except at home.

PH: when someone's birthday has just gone by, and you remember the perfect gift you meant to buy them *last* year, but thought of only after their birthday had just passed.

The obvious thing to do would be to buy it now and stash it somewhere for next year, but I can never hold on to presents. I always end up giving them to the person the next time I see them.

...part of the reason 'layaway plans', purchasing from the store in installments, were invented - makes it easier to keep the present a secret til the appropriate moment for presenting it...

Extraneous 'of's in sentences... a US (I think) habit that I've always found rather cringeworthy when seeing it in films and is now creeping into language here...

"How cool of a thing is that"

"How great of a guy is Jeff?"

"Have I ever said how tender of a lover you are?"

(The last one I made up just to illustrate how Very Clumsy it is)

Some Americans do seem to have a fixation with the word 'of'.

It can be quite tricky trying to explain to an American the difference between the words 'of' and 'have'. Maybe I am being a tad unkind however, and this is equally a problem this side of the Atlantic too.

"coming to a cinema may 11"

really may 11... not may the 11th just 11


(date may be a random one that jumped into my head and is not to be associated with any actual film that may ever come to cinimas)

An annoying thing they've started saying on film release ads is "Only in cinemas!"

Well I'm not going to look for it in the bloody greengrocer's, am I?