Stuff to Make Us Laugh

[Fubar]

Totally interchangeable.
Radio is the modern equivalent of wireless which I reckon is anything with valves or at least older than me.
At sea I was the wireless operator, or the radio officer, or sparks, depending on who was addressing you. The latter because of early spark transmitters. My favourite book on the subject is called "WIreless at Sea". 😉

[Peckris 2]

On 4/16/2020 at 11:58 PM, blakeyboy said:

The first of the two commas missed out is a correct comma.

The second one missed out is the 'serial comma', ( sometimes called the 'Oxford' comma ) used particularly before 'and' as in Peckris' clear example.

It avoids confusion. It isn't like a slow change of usage, like Americans saying 'March 6th' instead of 'March the 6th'

However, when an American says 'write me'  instead of 'write to me'  you  could, correctly but _pedantically_  take out paper and pencil

and write the word  'me'.....but they still say it like that because if they wanted you to think that you should write down the word 'me'

then they would instruct you to do just that.....  things shift.   

We shift and the Americans don't sometimes- the commonly used and very old 'gotten' with its German past tense ending only really exists here in words and phrases like 'ill-gotten gains' and 'forgotten'.  We changed, they didn't.

However, leaving things out to make things genuinely unclear ( as in Peckris' clear example ) is the reverse (converse? inverse? ) of what language is for.

There is a reverse snobbery running in this country regarding English usage, that is often wrong, and the _reasons_ for it should be addressed.

Mind you, in a country with such a wide disparate class based structure, it's hardly surprising.

The amusing opposite of this is when politicians attempt to look educated by using words such as 'referenda' when of course it never existed in Latin

in the first place...gerunds remain singular.

I agree with most of this, but I am a pedant. 😉

Two of the worst crimes against English are..

• the word 'attendee' (who is 'being attended' rather than 'attending'?) - 'attender' please
• 'electrocution' to mean simply getting an electric shock but not dying. The word is formed from ELECTRICITY + EXECUTION!!

[blakeyboy]

3 hours ago, Peckris 2 said:

I agree with most of this, but I am a pedant. 😉

Two of the worst crimes against English are..

• the word 'attendee' (who is 'being attended' rather than 'attending'?) - 'attender' please
• 'electrocution' to mean simply getting an electric shock but not dying. The word is formed from ELECTRICITY + EXECUTION!!

Oh what...!

Yes yes yes - attender- agent noun from the verb 'to attend'.....you are right! So obvious now.

So why 'attendee' ???....

 

I never thought about 'electrocution'....except when the Mother in Law was visiting.

Been a bit difficult this week where she is concerned.

It was her funeral on Wednesday,               and she found out.....

 

 

[Peckris 2]

53 minutes ago, blakeyboy said:

Oh what...!

Yes yes yes - attender- agent noun from the verb 'to attend'.....you are right! So obvious now.

So why 'attendee' ???....

Some ignoramus. Probably American, with all respect to our American friends on here.

[copper123]

[Diaconis]

Oh my, my sides are aching.

Has anyone received one of those emails claiming to have recorded footage of you, via your webcam, masturbating to porn sites, and threatening to send it to all your contacts?

I just received one from some ignorant Indian (predicable) chancer, those guys need to get a life, saddos. I told him to send it to the Daily Mail as they are dumb enough to pay for videos and I'd have my 15 minutes of fame at someone else's expense. I seriously wonder if anyone actually falls for that crap?

[Peckris 2]

Presumably there is a small minority who might actually masturbate to porn sites and are willing to pay a small fortune to the chancers?

 

[Diaconis]

By the way, if any of you DO receive an email, please delete it😂

[secret santa]

I believe there is a small minority who self-abuse at coin sites - the 1933 penny has a lot to answer for.

I've even splashed out on the odd rarity myself.

[Rob]

4 hours ago, Diaconis said:

Oh my, my sides are aching.

Has anyone received one of those emails claiming to have recorded footage of you, via your webcam, masturbating to porn sites, and threatening to send it to all your contacts?

I just received one from some ignorant Indian (predicable) chancer, those guys need to get a life, saddos. I told him to send it to the Daily Mail as they are dumb enough to pay for videos and I'd have my 15 minutes of fame at someone else's expense. I seriously wonder if anyone actually falls for that crap?

I've had these too. The major flaw in the system is that I don't have a webcam. Now I know technology is clever, but I'm fairly certain it hasn't mastered the art of hooking up an unpowered webcam on the shelf in PC World or wherever to my computer and capturing images of me from afar. What happens if the packaging is facing the wrong way? How does it cope with the store shutters being down due to the virus?

[bagerap]

I do love the solicitous calls, frequently with an Indian accent, from "Windows" telling me that all is not right with my computer. If I can be bothered, I'll play with them for a while. If they're bothering me, they're leaving some other poor bugger alone. Otherwise, I'll just ask them how the hell they think they can solve my difficulties when I'm on Linux.

[DaveG38]

Not a solicitous call, but a comedian and a spoof email thread. Great stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QdPW8JrYzQ

or this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4Uc-cztsJo

 

Edited April 23, 2020 by DaveG38

[Diaconis]

2 hours ago, DaveG38 said:

Not a solicitous call, but a comedian and a spoof email thread. Great stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QdPW8JrYzQ

or this one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4Uc-cztsJo

 

very funny

[bagerap]

We're keen on ornithology and keep a few birds of prey, but one of these raptors will only exercise at night to 80's music.

Our Kestrel Manoeuvres In The Dark.

[Peckris 2]

11 hours ago, bagerap said:

We're keen on ornithology and keep a few birds of prey, but one of these raptors will only exercise at night to 80's music.

Our Kestrel Manoeuvres In The Dark.

I knew a similar feller. He kept birds of prey but lost his falconers glove while out walking in Hyde Park one autumn day, so had to try and find it by sucking up all the dead leaves.

Yes, that's right. Our kestrel man hoovers in the park...

[bagerap]

The unofficial motto of the French Navy is: “To the water. It is time”

 

Or to put it in  French: “À l'eau, c'est l'heure”

 

 

 

[Paddy]

In the British Army two Corps have the motto "Ubique"  The Royal Artillery and the Royal Engineers.

For the Engineers it means "Everywhere" in recognition of the fact that they have been involved in every conflict since time immemorial.

For the Artillery, however, it means "All over the place"...

 

[blakeyboy]

On 4/18/2020 at 10:54 PM, Peckris 2 said:

Some ignoramus. Probably American, with all respect to our American friends on here.

Yes.

In baseball, they have a 'Pitchee'.  

[copper123]

On 4/22/2020 at 10:52 PM, secret santa said:

I believe there is a small minority who self-abuse at coin sites - the 1933 penny has a lot to answer for.

I've even splashed out on the odd rarity myself.

In a hotel bedroom I hope , we have no wish to see that happening at the midland coin fair

[Peckris 2]

1 hour ago, blakeyboy said:

Yes.

In baseball, they have a 'Pitchee'.  

Presumably the batter ... or the battee to the pitcher 😆

[blakeyboy]

The young couple next door have been in all week, and have made a sex tape.

 

Obviously, they don't know that yet.....

[Diaconis]

2 hours ago, Peckris 2 said:

Presumably the batter ... or the battee to the pitcher 😆

Yes, I believe in the West Indies he’s referred to as the battyman and he’s responsible for getting the batter out.

[Danelaw]

Meatloaf has recently married an accountant. A spokesman for the newlyweds stated, "She'll do anything for love, but she won't do VAT."

[Peckris 2]

15 minutes ago, Danelaw said:

Meatloaf has recently married an accountant. A spokesman for the newlyweds stated, "She'll do anything for love, but she won't do VAT."

Not even VAT Out Of Hell?

[blakeyboy]

Mr Peckris, thy one-liners are as good as thy coin knowledge- thou truly art an all-round family entertainer....