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

On another note - having viewed Terminator 2 recently - I was struck by John Connors version of English and very glad it didn't stay around outside of the 1990's on film, and possibly The Simpsons.

"No problemo"?

Y'know. I use it all the time and I wish I didn't. Also dude, I picked it up while I was travelling, and most people seemed to say it but now I'm back in Britain it just seems pretensious and arrogant

Love

Hate.

Sorry - along with love and hate I think it should only be used when you really really mean it.

Yep-indeedy!

i agree only use the word love you truelly mean it.
But hate does anyone realy hate someone/something

dislike yes but hate is a very strong word.

I'm not too sure about sorry, there isn't much else you can use, but with love and hate there are a lot of alternatives, people are just too lazy to think about them

Simulpost. There is only one thing I truly hate. What people don't seem to get is that to hate something/someone requires as much tought as saying you truly love a thing

I think you can hate people, but only people you know well enough. You can't hate people off the TV, or people you've only met a couple of times, you have to know them well enough to love them in order to hate them.

I've read that school children are being encouraged to use the word 'partner' instead of 'girlfriend' or 'boyfriend'. Apparently GF and BF are deemed offensive to gay people. Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't gay people have girlfriends and boyfriends? I have not known many gay people, but they have used these words to desribe their other halfs.

I keep imagining a secret panel of people meeting somewhere and starting a meeting by saying "okay, what can we be politically correct about today?".

I've never heard that and I'm a gay guy. It can be a bit awkward to introduce a guy as your boyfriend but that's more society's fault than a problem with the word itself. I dislike the word partner, its too ambiguous(sp?)

Rather



Quite


I dunno why, they're just annoying.

'girlfriend/boyfriend' aren't synonymous with 'partner' necessarily.

'partner' means something more committed. I don't think it's right for schoolkids to be using it as a general term.

But boy/girlfriend do indicate an emotional connection, partner doesn't, it can be just an assigned collegue or a personal with whom you share enough views to work with

The phrase "MAKE NO MISTAKE" jumped out at me when I heard Condoleeza Rice say it in some speech, and I realized that she was plagiarizing her speaking style from George W. Bush, if you can imagine that. Bush has used the same phrase several times in different speeches or press conferences.

It struck me how that phrase carries little implications. It's an old cliche, but the words form a command, not a statement. The person speaking commands you not to make a mistake. The listener must be of lower status or authority than the speaker, who is demanding perfection.

Not that big a deal, but annoying to hear such arrogance from world-class criminals.

"The fact of the matter is..."

Perfect, lol, fizzle and its variants, wazzup... bush administration

Good call, Wonko. The fact of the matter is that most people start expressing opinions after they open with "the fact of the matter is" (including this sentence).

"shut up"