Mailwatch(ed) Forum

It's US English, not British English - something I vaguely recall you railing about in the past.

I think the “k” spelling is fairly widely used in UK English these days. It’s quite interesting how the two variations in spelling have been interpreted by some as having two quite different meanings, however. Here’s a Grauniad correspondent getting hot and bothered about this :

https://www.theguardian.com/science/the ... SApp_Other

US language creep via soshul meejah?

Mind you, Peppa Pig is teaching the kids of the Colonials proper English...

Boiler wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 5:57 pm US language creep via soshul meejah?

Mind you, Peppa Pig is teaching the kids of the Colonials proper English...

No. The two spellings are of equal age (17th century) and as is so often the case the much-derided-by-pub-bores, must be the fault of the kids on their phones 'neologism' is in fact the older.
In this case the word is originally French, and the [c] was silent, which obviously led to confusion with the existing word 'septic'. So in most of the English speaking world the faux Greek is preferred to the faux Latin.

But I'm just a snowflake, what do I know?

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... d-protocol

UK government threatens to suspend Northern Ireland protocol
Brexit minister Lord Frost tells House of Lords that the European Commission must take renegotiation proposals seriously

Lucky that the EU doesn't have anything it could do in response, eh? Like collapse the whole trade deal.

In fairness, Frost may have not meant that. Or he may.

Abernathy wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 11:20 am I never even noticed that the wee crown mark wasn't on a pint glass any more.

In fact, I'm instantly skeptical that it was ever taken off because of dem faceless EU bureaucrats. Was it, in fact ?

The answer is... yes.
https://advancedmixology.com/blogs/art- ... glass-mean

Is this tweet actually connected to anything in the news? Food miles is a bollocks measurement anyway. What matters is the footprint of production. If somewhere has a better growing season than here, we can import it and still be saving emissions compared with producing here.

Meanwhile Liz Truss is banging on about the repeal of the Corn Laws in this Tufton Street word salad

We want to make sure that the United Kingdom is more competitive, bolder and more forward-leaning than any other country on the planet. We are supporting our exporters and investors through trade and investment hubs right across our country.

So why are we doing all of this?

Pretty much for the same reason that Robert Peel abolished the protectionist Corn Laws. It is about answering what he called the “great question – what is calculated to increase the comforts and to improve the condition” for working people?

Peel’s reforms marked a new era of prosperity - GDP tripled by the end of the 19th century. And what we face now is significant economic challenges as we recover from the pandemic. Inflation is rising globally with commodity prices soaring, which heightens the need to keep prices down for consumers. Across the world, we see disrupted supply chains, labour shortages and costs rising. https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/ ... ade-policy

Patrick Minford wrting about Brexit bonuses in the Sun from 2016

We’d stop listening to French farmers and instead the UK would help struggling
farmers in our own country stand on their own two feet while protecting our
beautiful rural environment in different ways.

Prices would fall by up to eight per cent

This will not only cost George Osborne and the British economy much less than
the current Common Agricultural Policy, it will keep food prices low.

If we decided to leave, the UK would simply revert back to paying world prices
for exports and imports.

Prices of goods would fall by up to eight per cent.

The cost of a BMW or the price tag of an imported fridge would suddenly drop
and our resources would shift from manufacturing to services — raising
living standards for all of us.

More importantly, our economy would be boosted by four per cent. https://www.thesun.co.uk/archives/polit ... even-brie/

Tubby Isaacs wrote: ↑Wed Sep 15, 2021 6:12 pm Is this tweet actually connected to anything in the news? Food miles is a bollocks measurement anyway. What matters is the footprint of production. If somewhere has a better growing season than here, we can import it and still be saving emissions compared with producing here.

Spot on Tubs.
Some workmates explained a switch in Dutch policy.

Point your Google Map viewer thing at a town called Monster (yeah!) in South Holland.
Get the air view, not the map view.
You're looking at a place called the "City of Glass".

Used to be one of the biggest Tomato growing areas in Europe, with all year round crops thanks to heated greenhouses and extra artificial light during the winter.
Much of the product went into "Italian sauces" produced at a nearby factory (I think It's Dolmio).

Turns out the fuel and labour to maintain the glasshouses to "Tomato Standard" cost an arm and a leg.
These days they grow hardier stuff there, without the same forced light and heating, and import their tomatoes form the polytunnels of Almeira.
It's a net carbon win.

There are rumours of small glasshouses concealed within the big glasshouses, which produce some of Europes finest skunk.
I'm not one to believe in rumours.

"More forward-leaning" ? What the blithering fuck ?

Minford's going to be disappointed by the latest cost of living figures.

Maybe the magic only happens when we've branded a crown on the side of every refrigerator, BMW and head of broccoli.

Shiny blue passports and crowns on pint glasses
Woke lefty scumbags being put on their arses
Nadine in charge of all people who sing
These are a few of my favourite things

From the forthcoming "Sound of Gammon"

With thanks to Bones for the inspiration

The wins keep coming….

mattomac wrote: ↑Fri Sep 17, 2021 9:59 pm The wins keep coming….

Indeed:

Apparently there is a shortage of fireworks.

First good thing I’ve heard.

Perhaps Kermit the Frog could deliver the petrol

Anecdote warning:

Out shopping today: Stuff for the house plus some special requests for the Mother in Law.

Over the last few weeks there's usually been one, sometimes two items missing form approximately twelve on the list.
Today six unavailable from a list of thirteen - even after visiting a second brand of supermarket.

There were no glaring gaps on the shelves (except the bogroll section which was about half empty).
[Remember kids, bogroll is the bellweather].

But a lot of goods were arranged in a loose order, and spread out to fill the gaps.
I spotted this when price labels on shelves didn't align with the goods.

This might be a fluke, but I fear we're going nose down into hunger games territory.

I was in Lidl today (see new Scotch Egg thread) and there were no obvious shortages. But lots of stuff unavailable on Ocado.