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

Would it be off-subject of me to ask what PRN stands for. I know it's Latin, and is used in medication to mean "administer as required". I used to know this, but have forgotten.

Erm, I'm guessing the P is for Pro?
But then I only did about 15 minutes of latin in my entire (supposed) education so if it aint "Canis ist in culio" I can't help you

Er, you've got the meaning off a bit. PRN means to: take as needed.
So, if your Rx read; take one every six hours as needed for pain, that would be a PRN Rx.

Gooday JHP,

I think that PRN stands for pro re nata. Then again, it may not. As you say, loosely translated it means 'as needed'. Take care,

Walter.

Hi-ya' Walter! Been wondering how your weather is? Finally stopped storming here & I'm (once again) sun burnt from swimming for hours! If it would just stay warm into the night! There are lovely lights around the top of the pool. (they either change color or remain the same-my choice) But I haven't gotten to swim at night yet this Summer
Until I get a privacy fence up around the pool, I am forced to wear something whilst swimming! Rrrrr! Unfair!!! Take care & do let's here what the weather's doing where you live...I'm actually starting to understand how the World turns, as it were! Time for work...G-day!

Was on vacation for a week ... what the Commonwealth calls being on holiday (here in the US, the only use of holiday is to refer to a national or state observance that generally gets you the day off, such as Independence Day).

I wrote on sports for a weekly newspaper (had I had the same occupation in England, I would have written on sport ), and when I referred to an athlete signing a new contract with his club, I would say he "re-signed", putting the hyphen in so as to distinguish from the possibility of the athlete resigning (leaving the club).

And I always thought a container of baby powder was a bottle -- a plastic bottle. But what do I know? It's been a long time since I've been a baby!

Now that's interesting. Do you really say "It's a long time since I've been a baby?" To me that means that you could revert to that condition again, any time, at will. The British English construction would be "It's a long time since I was a baby".

I am particularly interested in this because I am starting to analyse the misuse of tenses and words in pop songs as part of a project for teaching English to German kids.

So if this is the official American tense with that connotation, please let me know immediately, I don't want to tell those kids anything wrong.

Trillian's child, here's a thought. Why not bring the music of Pink Floyd into the class? There's one song that's always driven right up a wall. I believe it's on the CD The Wall...they sing over & over:"We don't need no education...Hey teacher leave them kids alone!" Ahhhh!

Trillian's child, I believe either construction is correct, although yours is probably more acceptable. I probably got sloppy. However, I have heard "It's a long time since I've been a baby". And who's to say I *couldn't* revert to being a baby again? WHAAAAH!

Pandora, your passage is indeed off "The Wall" album, the song entitled "Another Brick in the Wall (part 2)". It went to No. 1 on both UK and US singles charts, stunning fans of that "album band" Pink Floyd. Then again, grammatical errors in song are innumerable. Think of one of the biggest hit records of all time: "I can't get no satisfaction." (And never mind that in some languages, a second and even third negative is a reinforcement.) In Pink Floyd's case, I believe the intimation was that someone, possibly in need of the education decried in the song ("We don't need no education"), was screaming "Hey, teacher, leave them kids alone!" at an educator. If you asked Roger Waters about it, he'd probably call it "delicious irony" or something similarly clever. It certainly wasn't a Floydian slip.

Has anyone done a study of "crap song lyrics" on this forum? Two of those which always make me cringe are:

"I want a doctor to take a picture, so I can look at you from inside as well" - Turning Japanese - The Vapours

"What can I do when there's nothing I can do?" - Here I go Again - The Hollies.

Surely they could have come up with something better???

Which kind of "French lessons" ?

"I want a doctor to take a picture, so I can look at you from inside as well"

Is that what they were singing? Thanks for the help. I always wondered what that line was.

"What can I do when there's nothing I can do?"

De do do do, de da da da, is all that I can say to you. I guess.

What about the strange: Next time we fall in love, I'll know better what to do...next time I fall in love with you... My word!!! If the person is going to fall in love with the same person, have they ever stopped being in love with said person?!?

Charlie the Zebra...Im a Floyd-a holic! Always have been. But It dosen't stop me from becoming ticked at their grammer...as for Roger Waters, I don't think he'd give a rat's tail about what Flyod does as they had a major falling out, as you may know. The song (my brain's not up to speed here-sorry) where they sing,"Oh, by the way, which one's Pink?" Is a reference to who really is Pink Floyd?...us oldsters
would say it's never been the same w/o Waters!

As for reverting back to a baby...you are all welcome to meet my father. He's now (after 5 long years in my home) living in the Ohio Vets. Home. Wears diapers & still thinks that I fly my plane to the nearest hanger when I visit him. He has alcohol demtia. Still reads the paper...same one all day! Seems quiet pleased with himself...dosen't have to do anything but eat & be vulgar to the staff.

This is good... I'm getting some help with my project here. Please keep ideas coming for unusual grammar and use of words in pop songs. If possible, more recent ones. And just ignore the Scandinavians. Their English does not survive close scrutiny.

It is easy to find pop songs with meaningful and socially critical lyrics, but I am mainly looking for odd little phrases used which either give wonderful examples of difficult bits of grammar (so much easier to remember if you can sing them to yourself) or to awful distorting of the language for the sake of rhyme. Not to be confused with "wrong" English which is however, perfectly acceptable in some circles (and not just "f" words). Without being snobbish, I could coin the term "Harlem Pidgin".

So if anyone has noticed anything like that, just jot it down. I promise then, when I've done the project, that I will write a Guide Entry. This will especially be helpful for our "foreign readers".

And while I'm at it. The Project Week at our boys' school (it's a mixed school, but I've got three boys at it, four if you count my husband who teaches Latin and French there) finishes with an Open Day.

Start again: While I'm at it: My active imagination has been contriving all sorts of drinks based on words of songs - with a twist - which we could then serve at our "Lyrix Cafe". Here three non-alcoholic recipes:

Alannis Morisette/Ironic "The black fly in your Chardonnay" - White grape juice with a currant dropped in it.
Alice Cooper/Poison "Black lace on sweat" - Lemon cordial decorated with scraps of doileys painted black
Mike and the Mechanics/Another cup of coffee - "Another cup of coffee" - cups of coffee!!

All wierd and wonderful suggestions will be considered.

"I love you from the bottom of my pencil case" - someting by the Beautiful South

Along the same lines and the same basic meaning, I knew it to mean (R)espond (S)o (V)ery (P)romptly. Which sounds silly, Reminds me of P.S. meaning (P)ost (S)cript, I don't refer to my letters and notes as a "Script" but never the less I still use it, even though I'm sure it should be replaced with B.T.W. for (B)y (T)he (W)ay. Which would be a more modern and accurate description of what we are really trying to do. Like the phrase O.K. Which I was taught came from any early military code meaning Zero Casualties. I don't know if there is truth to this or not....

I was told that O.K. stood for Orl Korrect (All Correct) - again military slang.
'G'

There seem to be a number of stories as to the origins of OK - another is that a US navy quality controller had the initials OK and chalked them on all the kit going outwards...and his mark became sinonymous with quality...but I have also head this explanation of the graffitto "Kilroy was 'ere" so it could be crossed wires.

The explanation I have heard reference Kiroy is that he was an American Serviceman in WW2 who was being posted so many times that he got utterly dissolusioned with everything, and wrote his epithet wherever he went.
Other soldiers got into the act, totally confusing the issue!
'G'

C.the Z., nice going on the 'Floydian Slip' metaphor (please, everyone forgive me...I'm totally sleep deprived, depraved, etc.... I've been missing out on some fun stuff here. (stuff-another word for the lazy)

Triilian's child, are you REALLY going to teach German goats to speak English?!? Will it work on dogs, you think?!? ... tried to resist,
but sometimes...I can't get no satisfaction. Truely a wonderful project for the 'kids'! What age group? I don't know from pop-rock-etc. (as they would say around mid-Western USA) I find there are songs on my exercise tape I play whilst in the pool, to have errors...artistic lie-sins *he-he*. (I believe our words & the use of them have deep psycholigical meaning.) that it actually helps me splash around more to 'drown' out the sound. (I just hate puns, but lack of rest does this to me )Sheryl Crow has a lovely voice & spit for vocabulary. "Maybe Angles": Six-lane highway running up to my back door. But it won't take me where I want to be...(same song):Well, I'm too wise to believe my eyes. Cause everything I see just terrifies me.

If you find the kid's eyes start to glaze over a bit, after a long go at the language lesson, try what I do at seminars & other public speaking. Break into a comedy routine! You can stick with the topic, but they'll be having such a wonderful time they won't realize that all you've done is switch modes. For example: Have you ever heard a New Yorker trying to explain his way out of something? (may as well state this, I am not PC...I still use the word HE in the generic venacular) The NYPD pulls a guy over for not turning his lights on at dusk. As the police are checking the fellow's backround, the man begins to nervously ramble, "Ya' know officer, not for nottn', I really respect the job yous guys are doin' out heea everyday. Day afta' day...probably take home a stinkn' paycheck that wouldn' even feed a dog! Not that I' sayin' you're a dog or notin'...Sheesh, that would be really stupid if I said sometin like that! Not for notin' but, anybody drivn' 'round whit an open bottle of booze would have ta' be a few fries short of a happy meal to say stuff that would tick a cop off! Besides, they don't call yous guys dogs...they call yous pigs! Not for notin' but everybody knows THAT! I have had such wonderful feedback after a class. Even under hot, uncomfortable conditons. Just as in song, laughter has great 'staying' power! One song that has several of us loopie trying to understand is the Regae'
(SP?) song they play for the T.V. show 'COPS'...Bad boys bad boys whatca' gonna' do when they come for you...the stanza driving us around the bend is something like: Whtacha' goin' to do when the Sherriff's chum's come for you? There are other parts we don't understand either, but I think I MAY have figured that one out. I think the actual reason song lyrics seem to drive us nutty are because we'd like to sing along, but instead we mumble through, sounding not too bright to anyone within hearing range, as they are wondering what the words are also & think they are just about to 'finally' find out, when, alas, you don't know either. LOL!!!

Okay, AOK is how I was told it was used in the Navy, Pop was in the Navy-Air Corps...It would be interesting to find the origin.

When I asked my mother about why I see 'Kilroy was here' on the side of boxcars on trains, mamma told me that she had an Uncle who died when he slipped under the wheels of a train while trying to 'hop' it.
She then told me of various marks hobos would leave, not only on boxcars but on trees & rocks in front of homes near railroad tracks.
On the trains, the name, & or marks would let friends know which direction the person had gone. The marks outside of a house meant 'easy mark' or 'don't bother', etc. I remember the look on her face when I said, "You mean like the red thingy on the stone dad just painted white?" After she looked at it, she mumble somthing about:oh brother, I've been feeding them , etc.... HA! Still wondering about Kilroy.