Debs. Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 It has passed through the good people of Chelmsford before it gets here so it must be safe. "Every drop `passed by management!" Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebottle Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 Well, D’oh! There are not many Brits called Ron Testicals either....... There may be a few Fickers that Germans are sniggering over even as we speak... Hollywood might be able to make a movie about the name Fockers but I doubt that they’ll get away with it........er. Best, Pete. When my old Headmaster read out the names of the new kids one year , there was a "Testicle". I don't remember any sniggering, just a faint gasp and a muttered "Poor bu99er". There's a moderate list of notable "Fickers" in the German Wikipedia. Some American ones, too. Does that get sniggered at in the US of A?. A quick glance at a couple of phone books - no "Fockers" or "Fokkers"(a Netherlands name) in Berlin or Munich. Some "Focks" (means "foresail" in English) and "Fockes". OK, I've done with it now. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 (edited) It’s the (poor) spelling that does it, Gordon. Apparently there are 21 Fockers living in British Columbia (and they all flew to Universal Studios for a “family get-together”). What is even more amazing is that Universal made three Fockers movies. Even the presence of both Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman failed to make me laugh (OK, I saw one - “Little Fockers” - but was marooned on a airplane at the time). Anyway, I rather liked the “Herr. Titz” crack that I made.... Cheers, Pete. Edited August 7, 2014 by trisonic 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
travelintrev Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 Morning all, Is it Friday yet? - bu99ero it's Thursday. Hmm. So far flights out of here to anywhere don't seem to be affected,though passengers coming in are being checked (with an infra-red heat measuring gun) but whether thats passengers from other WA countries or every where I dont know. Still life continues as normal as it ever does here.... Try to make the most of your day, Trev Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71 Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 (edited) Mornin' all, Lovely blue sky, breakfast in the garden morning in the Staffs Moorlands. 05.30 cycle ride done...must try not to reward myself by putting the calories back on. I'm about to take a coach party of our parishoners to Durham as a farewell to our last vicar...he has moved north to marry his fiancé and continue his ministry there. An opportunity to meet some of his new flock and share tea & cakes with them. Hope you've all got something to look forward to. Dave Edited August 7, 2014 by Torr Giffard LSWR 1951-71 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted August 7, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 7, 2014 Morning. It is very pleasant here this morning. Sunny and the garden looks as if has been well watered by yesterday's rain. Tony 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium NGT6 1315 Posted August 7, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 7, 2014 Morning all. Overcast but balmy, BBQ planned for tomorrow. Still in the middle of waking up, or so it seems. Why else would I find myself again dreaming of model railway scenarios? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Shedman5 Posted August 7, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 7, 2014 Morning, a bit of rain overnight but blue sky and sunshine now and a good day forecast. On the "Focker" scene there are 2 individuals registered on the electoral roll Uddin Focker of Haverhill Sussex (2013 roll) and yes a Gailord Focker of Southampton (2004 roll) Suspect the latter was a change of name rather than birth name. Off for breakfast, enjoy your day Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lurker Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 morning all, blue skies over Borough Market junction today, forecast high in to the high 20s. It may not actually be Friday today but it's the last day of the working week for me as I have tomorrow off to join in the school hols fun:it's due to rain tomorrow of course! When I was at University, I shared a house with a guy called Roger Mee. We never noticed it was funny, not even once. It was only years later that it occurred to me. It's also occurred to him too, as he has since changed his name. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Happy Hippo Posted August 7, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 7, 2014 (OK, I saw one - “Little Fockers” - but was marooned on a airplane at the time). Anyway, I rather liked the “Herr. Titz” crack that I made.... Cheers, Pete. Pete, I would hate to be marooned in the likes of a B2E surrounded by little Fockers...... And as for the Titz crack.........................in better circles it is known simply as cleavage. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Donw Posted August 7, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 7, 2014 Morning all. Another exciting day standing on a twelve tread stepladder waving an eight ft long pole hedge trimmer around trying to reach the far side of a rather tall hedge. The bungalows behind us are somewhat higher than us and the hedge provides privacy. Have a good day if you can. Don Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
edcayton Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 Morning all. I knew a person of German origin called Fuchs. Does that count? Ed 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted August 7, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 7, 2014 Morning all Another dreary morning, although not actually raining at present. But we have a moderately severe weather warning for the next 24 hrs, Summer storms, basically. Jock - the admission by Ecclebum that he paid big bucks to Gribkowski has been in the public domain for a very long time - this case was about whether it was a bribe to a bank official, which is obviously a crime, or a payment to a blackmailer, which is not. Gribkowski did not turn out to be very helpful to the prosecution - maybe he resents the fact that the same prosecutor had sent him to jail! Glad to see the schoolboy humour has taken Ms Titz on board. Richard is quite right that in polite society it is called cleavage - but the best dress designers can turn it into the Great Divide! Hope everyone is making the best of their week. 10 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy2 Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 Good morning all. Lovely day, blue skies, insect bites. Sums it up for me. Lurker - we had a guy at college called John Thomas. He never saw the funny side either. Some parents really do saddle their kids with unfortunate names. How about Giordan? Yup. And Jhordan. Taught them both. As an aside when I was at the Dep for Ed one of the stats people did something for their Christmas party. He looked at Christian (or given) names and correlated them with exam success. He found (and I went through this with him, the stats were sound) that the most successful examinees were called Rebekah (ooh...) and the least were called Duwaine. They then spoofed up a policy in which all Duwaines would be forced to change their names to Rebekah and so on, which got to a Guardian dinner party, which got to The Sun and there was a sh*tstorm of epic proportions... But it has truth in it, and it says something about the class system in Britain, naming habits within it and educational attainment. Not that any politician would touch it with a disinfected pole, of course... 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted August 7, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 7, 2014 Phil probably gets the same water we do. I use the water filter jug for the coffee machine water but for tea just boil tap water. Matthew uses the filtered water for drinking but I drink the tap water. It has passed through the good people of Chelmsford before it gets here so it must be safe. Tony It must be good water, its been passed by at least 12 people before we get it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted August 7, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 7, 2014 ...experience of those jugs Phil suggests that you'll be pleased with the new taste of your tea. Dave Just made my first pot of tea using the filtered water, it even looked different when I poured it out, a lot clearer and 'sharper' than usual. It definitely tastes a lot better. 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted August 7, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 7, 2014 Morning all. I knew a person of German origin called Fuchs. Does that count? Ed Only if he was a Graf. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
iL Dottore Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 Morning All, ...... As an aside when I was at the Dep for Ed one of the stats people did something for their Christmas party. He looked at Christian (or given) names and correlated them with exam success. He found (and I went through this with him, the stats were sound) that the most successful examinees were called Rebekah (ooh...) and the least were called Duwaine. They then spoofed up a policy in which all Duwaines would be forced to change their names to Rebekah and so on, which got to a Guardian dinner party, which got to The Sun and there was a sh*tstorm of epic proportions... But it has truth in it, and it says something about the class system in Britain, naming habits within it and educational attainment. Not that any politician would touch it with a disinfected pole, of course... It's unfortunate but true, that names impact on people's perceptions of the individual. And for those luckless kids named after a person in the public eye at the time of the child's naming this perception is coloured (or perhaps reinforced) by the original "name carrier" For example, when one cites the name "Wayne", the first image that comes to mind is certainly not that of a University academic. It's also unfortunate that those children saddled with names of popular entertainers, footballers, etc. have a higher tendency to have parents that can't/won't support them in a way that will allow the child to achieve. Furthermore, much as it (almost) pains me to say this, if I had to hire one of two candidates with pretty similar qualifications, I'd choose John Smith over Wayne Moonshine Nimnul Smith.... At least in Switzerland (and in France from what I understand) you are somewhat limited in what you can name the children, inasmuch made-up names (such as, say, Fnarr Fnarr Pirde Clahoo Schmidt) are definitly OUT. Sigh, such is the way of the world.... Tea break over. Enjoy the day iD 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Tony_S Posted August 7, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 7, 2014 (edited) As an aside when I was at the Dep for Ed one of the stats people did something for their Christmas party. He looked at Christian (or given) names and correlated them with exam success. He found (and I went through this with him, the stats were sound) that the most successful examinees were called Rebekah (ooh...) and the least were called Duwaine. They then spoofed up a policy in which all Duwaines would be forced to change their names to Rebekah and so on, which got to a Guardian dinner party, which got to The Sun and there was a sh*tstorm of epic proportions... But it has truth in it, and it says something about the class system in Britain, naming habits within it and educational attainment. Not that any politician would touch it with a disinfected pole, of course... I'm quite convinced that many of the policies that outrage certain parts of the press started as jokes at parties or were as a result of someone being bored at a meeting. I carefully used "many" as there are some strange ideas about. Edited August 7, 2014 by Tony_S Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Barry O Posted August 7, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 7, 2014 Morning off into the grand metrolops of City with herself ... shopping is in order for clothes apparently even though I have yards of clothes she reckons I need some more! have a great day everyone and I hope to get back here later ... if not send out an ER search party! Baz, Grumpy of Leeds Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold grandadbob Posted August 7, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 7, 2014 Good morning all, Another lovely sunny day so all is well with this little corner of the world. Great night last night with all the family here. Won't see them now for a couple of weeks as they're off to Menorca next week. When my old Headmaster read out the names of the new kids one year , there was a "Testicle". I don't remember any sniggering, just a faint gasp and a muttered "Poor bu99er". This reminded me of Rowan Atkinson's schoolmaster sketch. Have a good one, Bob 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonBradley Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 Hello from a partly cloudy but mostly bright Sunny Cape Town. Thanks for the comiserations re Fred, but has been in the worst stages of Altheimers for years, so his passing was a relief to both himself and Carlyn. At lunch yesterday the manageress asked if I would be going out for lunch today. I looked puzzled and asked why: She replied, in a teasing, joking tone, "Tomorrow's lunch is Beef pie ............" . Her question then clicked ...with potato salad, carrot and pinapple salad and green salad. I laughed answering "No" As it happens I will eat potato with any meal under any guise, the green salad will actually complement the beef pie. I will just skip the carrot and pineapple. Bear in mind it is still mid-Winter. - Dessert is Ice cream with chocolate sauce (not hot sauce) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted August 7, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 7, 2014 Morning all, Quite sunny out there but some big fluffy clouds moving around but the day promises to be hot, again. Names are funny things aren't they but it was interesting that when Mrs Stationmaster was Classroom Assisting all the silly/telly and entertainment industry derived ones were carried by youngsters who were generally duds or little s*ds behaviour wise. But you do come across some oddities overseas - all the younger Kong Kong Chinese I came across at work seemed to have gender reversed names - thus we had a chap named Vicki in the Reading office while in Sydney we had a girl called Ivan on loan from the HK office, and they're just a couple of examples from many. I've also found you need to be careful when crossing international boundaries when it comes to names - just as well I didn't come out with any British 'Aussie jokes' before I found out that a pal over there has a son named Bruce. Takes all sorts. Have a nice day and may the travel gods continue to smile on Trev because it seems that some airlines are already taking various West African countries off their list of destinations. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium NGT6 1315 Posted August 7, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 7, 2014 At least in Switzerland (and in France from what I understand) you are somewhat limited in what you can name the children, inasmuch made-up names (such as, say, Fnarr Fnarr Pirde Clahoo Schmidt) are definitly OUT. There are similar guidelines for German registry offices, which state that a given name... must be unambiguously recognisable as such, does not have to be unambiguously male or female, must not be conducive to inviting ridicule or associations with evil upon the person named, must not violate religious sentiments, must not be a name of place or a registered trademark, must, with various exceptions such as Gerhard, not be in use as a family name, must not constitute a title of nobility, must be decided upon within one month of birth, cannot be legally trademarked. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smiffy2 Posted August 7, 2014 Share Posted August 7, 2014 I believe that France 'de-restricted' names some years ago. The Academie Française must have been livid. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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