Early Risers.

[Dave Hunt]

With regard to US v English spelling, the specifications issued by the Midland to outside contractors building locomotives in the 18870s and 1880s refer to paint as ‘lead color’ and ‘color as sample’.

 

Dave

[polybear]

2 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

 (the FIA LMS twins were made by Ajin) and elsewhere. 

 

Bear would quite like one of those, but they very rarely appear for sale and I suspect if one did it'd be silly money.

 

Bear here.....

Postie delivered some magnetic catches bright n' early this morning, which meant that Bear went to Plan 2 even before Plan 1 had started....

....meaning the Leccy C.U. Box in the Hall now has an access hatch attached at long last.  Big Tick.  All I need to do now is give it a couple of coats of paint (the hatch - the rest is done).

 

In other news.....

Could this lead to a risk of more overprescribing of antibiotics?  I guess it'll mean more grief for Pharmacists from people demanding them for the common cold:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-65488030

 

In other, other news....

Even the weather is going on strike tomorrow:

https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/about-us/strikeaction

 

And finally........

Bear heard from his Buddy yesterday - one of his buddies is assisting with the shutdown of the engineering company he works for; the Boss has sold out for £M's and basically doesn't give a sh1t.  What does this mean?  Well things like very long lengths of steel bar, brass bar etc. are simply being chucked in the skip....😱.  It seems the skip isn't available for Bears to dive in, sadly.  Big Turdycurses.

 

BG

 

 

[jjb1970]

49 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

Bear would quite like one of those, but they very rarely appear for sale and I suspect if one did it'd be silly money.

 

 

With brass models the key is patience, the models are made in small quantities but the market for them is also pretty small and if you wait they come up from time to time. While they're unlikely to be bargain basement they're often not as expensive as you might expect. The time to buy brass is when a plastic RTR alternative appears. Brass models tend to be high maintenance and a bit of a pain to run, so often when a good regular model appears those who want them to use on layouts sell and there is a big price dip. Unfortunately the dip recovers as the glut goes away and situation normal returns. I think I paid £275 for mine, mint condition with box etc, that's not cheap but they're beautiful models.

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

Bear would quite like one of those, but they very rarely appear for sale and I suspect if one did it'd be silly money.

 

When they appeared I would have quite liked one but it wasn’t financially possible and at that time I was rather poorly and didn’t really think pre orders were a good idea! I did suggest to Aditi that she shouldn’t buy green bananas but she didn’t appreciate the humour. 
I have got the Bachmann version of the LMS Twins. I  can at least appreciate that unlike some versions they will go round curves!

Edited May 9, 2023 by Tony_S

[polybear]

Bear here.....

First top coat applied to the Leccy Box Hatch.  Tick.

Then the light switch for the stairs was removed, along with a single socket on the same wall; the wires were terminated with single choccy block terminals and the wires stuffed into the back boxes out of the way so I could put the leccy back on again - that'll make papering easier and neater.

 

In other news.......

They showed the Ukrainian entry for some song contest next weekend - weird doesn't even come close......

 

Right, time to do this month's C-19 questionnaire for the ONS - they've dropped doing the testing now 🙂 so no need for Bear to stuff a swab up the snoogle/down the gob; the downside is they're not handing over vouchers either ☹️.  Turdycurses.

 

BG

[monkeysarefun]

6 hours ago, pH said:

Actually, aluminum was the second name given to the purified metal, by an Englishman, and was used in the UK. Aluminium was a later version:

 

https://www.gabrian.com/aluminum-or-aluminium/

 

So it was the British who changed the spelling, not the Americans.

But CARAMEL is not CARMEL!

[PhilJ W]

6 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

I think that a person's vocabulary in the UK is heavily influenced by both social class and whether or not parents encourage their children to read - although this can be a bit of a "chicken and egg scenario".

 

Whilst Americans can be as monosyllabic and incoherent as other English speakers, they frequently come up with some great turns of phrase - creating compelling descriptive pictures in a few words. Some of my favourites:

 

• wrapped too tight.
• in a world of hurt
• a day late and a dollar short
• bent out of shape

 

Having said that, two of the greatest creators of word pictures (I would claim) are the British authors Len Deighton and Terry Pratchett. Len Deighton is especially descriptive in his word pictures. Some examples:

 

'You are loving it here, of course?' Dalby asked.
'I have a clear mind and a pure heart. I get eight hours' sleep a night. I am a loyal, diligent employee, and will attempt every day to be worthy of the trust my paternal employer puts in me.'
'I'll make the jokes' said Dalby

 

“He had a long thin nose, a moustache like flock wallpaper, sparse, carefully combed hair, and the complexion of a Hovis loaf.

 

“You’re joking, sir.’

‘I never joke, Chico. The truth is quite adequately hilarious.”

 

 

There are many authors who could paint a picture with words, however outlandish or ridiculous. Tom Sharpe was one of many.

[PhilJ W]

Afternoon all from Estuary-Land. Arthur Itis has really started up this afternoon. Nurofen has been taken and it will soon be time for a booster dose. Not done a lot because of that so I will have to catch up with it later.

[DaveF]

This morning I went to Boundary Mill to get some odds and ends for the house, they had the things I wanted in stock.  I also had a good walk round but only bought a couple of paperbacks as well.  For the first time this year it was warm enough to walk from car to shop in shirtsleeves.

 

On the way home I visited the beach and had a walk, I was home just at the right time for coffee.  Afterwards I decided that two thick winter jackets needed washing so that has now been done.  I made sure I had the right sort of washing liquid so as not to damage the fabric or the waterproofing.

 

Then once again there was salad for lunch followed by some time in the greenhouse potting the tomatoes into their final pots and putting some plants outside to harden off. 

 

So far the promised showers have not appeared.  The evening will be the usual mix with the French Maigret later on.

 

David

[Coombe Barton]

... I do wonder whether we’re seeing a Coronation gathering effect ...

https://johncolby.wordpress.com/2023/05/09/zoe-data-updated-four-times-overnight/

[PeterBB]

21 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Perhaps the sheer size of the event meant some Horses were being used that had less experience of big crowds than others?  Just a guess.

Whilst this isn't a part of Saturday's event, it doesn't help when you get dumb people doing things like this - twice:

https://www.mylondon.news/news/kings-guard-shouts-woman-who-26184718

They had a period when they put ropes to stop people getting too close but that obviously did not work too well.  On an occasion watching training in Hyde Park it was surprising to see the number of people from a certain well known eastern nation especially who got right in front of the riders to take pictures - lucky they don't get injured and it would be their own fault although am sure some of the press would blame the riders or probably the police.

[The Johnster]

I am not schooled in engine earring matters (or much else come to that), but doesn’t a Cardan (we called them that on the WR Hydraulics)/Carden Shaft have proper  Constant Velocity Joints with swivelling bearings at each end, necessary on locomotive drive shafts, as opposed to dogbone shafts, which have solid moulded crosspegs that engage in slots on the adjoining shaft, which are adequate in model locomotive drive systems?

[45156]

23 hours ago, Barry O said:

Why would you use auto tune?

Baz

Sorry - I was at cross purposes as I tried to be brief - it was some of the headline acts who were having to sing without the aid of auto tune - not the choir

[southern42]

' evening all from red dragon land.

 

A bit of sunshine reminds me I have a few photos, taken on Sunday, of flowers dotted around the garden.

I had to cut the rock rose back to rescue the peony from its grasp. Ray had already cut some of it back last autumn because it had grown so much. Since the rock rose does not like being pruned, I do not give it much longer.  The peony has three buds this year, so I am delighted. I await their opening.

Not the prettiest pictures but I could not see anything on the 'phone screen in the sun, so it was just a matter of Aim n Shoot. The best looking of the three peony buds.

 

Then down to the end of the garden to the bluebells.

Undoubtedly a hybrid, though it does have a strong scent. Just the one clump getting bigger every year and it was here in the mid 70s at least. I brought three stems indoors for the anniversary of Mum's birthday.

 

Most of the hawthorn is still in tight bud but just along the wall, to the right of the bluebells, it is opening out nicely.

 

And round the front, growing wild, is one of my favourites, the Welsh poppy.

 

The bluebells on the kitchen window sill.

Mum gave me the Little Chappie with the watering can, on the window sill, years ago, where he gets moved about a bit according to the season, making way for various greetings cards, flowers, family gifts, etc. The first acorn came from the Talyllyn Railway well over 20 years ago. There are some dried out rowan berries in the background and a couple of seashells. I wonder what will end up there next!!!??? You may wonder why the spout of the watering can is lighter than the rest. Well, it broke, got lost, and was re-muddled with a BoB - bit of blutack! The vase was from an Uncle on Dad's side of the family, so long ago it is lovely to be able to use it still.

 

Polly

[grandadbob]

Evenin' each.

We've had some showers but no thunderstorms yet.

The  BBQ was clean...but now it's not, well one little section of it anyway.  My attention was drawn to the fact that after the weekend we still had an abundance of snorkers and onions.  I have attempted to resolve the problem and reduce the stock pile and so we've had a very enjoyable meal.  A bottle of Doom Bar and a glass of Shiraz (shortly to be followed by another) have helped everything along.

Time to put the feet up (again) , don the headphones and listen to some music.

 

[PhilJ W]

Time for dinner, cottage pie or liver, bacon and onions. Decisions, decisions.

[Ozexpatriate]

10 hours ago, polybear said:

... that's in a country where they call a bonnet a hood, a boot a trunk

I grew up with boot and bonnet and live with trunk and hood. Tomayto / Tomarto

 

At least the etymology of trunk is more obvious than "boot locker". Carriages had obvious trunks. Bonnet and hood have very similar meanings - essentially head coverings.

 

If naming rights belong to the inventor, perhaps they should be Kofferaum and Motorhaube?

[Ozexpatriate]

4 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

But CARAMEL is not CARMEL!

It is spelled caramel everywhere.

 

Werthers Echte may be German - but it is a brand leader in the US.

 

EDIT: 

Werther's US commercial from 2019 and one from 2022

 

Edited May 9, 2023 by Ozexpatriate
links

[Ozexpatriate]

9 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

I will say the American people I know tend to have a wider and richer vocabulary than British people.

It's hard to extrapolate. So much depends on people's background and how well read they are. I don't like to generalize and I don't think I'd claim a wider idiomatic lexicon for any nation of English-as-a-first-language speakers. 

 

I could make a couple of observations:

• There are more terms (euphemisms or profanities) for various forms of (shall we say) 'carnal congress' in British English slang.
• While everyone has colourful idioms, Australians might have the edge there, but not by that much.
• I watch a lot of tennis and there are Britons either directly employed by American tennis broadcasters or on 'world feeds'. In my estimation, some of them are more bloviatingly hyperbolic with lots of unnecessary flowery expressions than commentators from the US.

 

[Ozexpatriate]

38 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Time for dinner, cottage pie or liver, bacon and onions. Decisions, decisions.

Not a problem, cottage pie please. 😉

 

Signed,

 

Not a fan of awful offal

[polybear]

58 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Time for dinner, cottage pie or liver, bacon and onions. Decisions, decisions.

 

18 minutes ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Not a problem, cottage pie please. 😉

 

Signed,

 

Not a fan of awful offal

 

Easy.  Cottage Pie, Bacon n' Onions.  Sorted.

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

It is spelled caramel everywhere.

 

Werthers Echte may be German - but it is a brand leader in the US.

 

 

Exactly! 

 

Yes it is!

 

So why does every American I've ever seen, either in RL or on youtube cooking videos or those videos where they try Aussie foods like " Carmelo Koalas" pronounce it Carmel?

 

Look, they are even trying to tell everyone else how to say it incorrectly.

 

Your job is to go knocking on every door there  and tell them to stick the A back in.

 

Actually, maybe better if you don't go knocking on doors.

 

 

Edited May 9, 2023 by monkeysarefun

[Ozexpatriate]

12 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

Look, they are even trying to tell everyone else how to say it incorrectly.

I like this guy's approach.

 

Quote

There is no right or wrong way. Both of those ways are fine.

 

I added these US commercial links above. Not everyone says "carmel".

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

Werther's US commercial from 2019 and one from 2022

 

Edited May 9, 2023 by Ozexpatriate
Links

[Ozexpatriate]

3 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

Actually, maybe better if you don't go knocking on doors.

I don't think I will.

[monkeysarefun]

1 hour ago, Ozexpatriate said:

• While everyone has colourful idioms, Australians might have the edge there, but not by that much.
•  

 

I'm flat out like a lizard drinking

 

She bangs like a dunny door

 

And they are just the ones that are in our constitution.