Early Risers.

[Gwiwer]

40 minutes ago, The White Rabbit said:

Says 'im from Slaiththwaite

Is that still “Sleth-it” or has it become “Slaw’t”? 
 

Not that us down ‘ere can talk. Mousehole is widely known to be “Mowz’l” and a lot get Marazion (“Marra-ZY-un”) right. 
 

Try Perranzabuloe, Broadwoodwidger, St Ive (as opposed to St Ives) and Marazanvose. 
 

43 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

If like @polybear or @Erichill16 you are troubled by the wee fairy I would suggest having the prostate checked out. 

Always worth a check. We are all different. For as much of my life as I can remember I have paid one visit nightly. That’s normal for me but might be unusual for someone else. 
 

What ever was going on with Captain Slackbladder last night had no effect on the Dream Fairy. She visited with a very vivid and seemingly long-lasting vision that I had become a priest!  I had, however, no training, no preparation, no order of service, no sermon and no hymn book. The assembled multitude of a few dozen greeted me with applause and then mysteriously became many thousands. 
 

I bumbled, fumbled and stumbled my way through some sort of service being prompted, coaxed and guided by various servers. I stood to address the multitudes and found I had nothing in my head and had lost my voice. And they faded away. 
 

All very strange.  By very vivid I mean in colour, sound, taste, smell and with a sense of what was about to happen but I was unable to change its course.  All of that is not unusual for me. But I would prefer not to have such dreams lingering in mind all day as they sometimes do. 

Edited July 28 by Gwiwer

[monkeysarefun]

2 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

Many languages have different names for places than the name used in the local language.

 

There's a growing policy here to rename  areas and landmarks  that are  culturally significant to the indigenous  folk to what they knew them as.

 

So Ayers Rock is now Uluru, Katherine Gorge is now  Nitmiluk, and so on.

 

 

[polybear]

6 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

There's a growing policy here to rename  areas and landmarks  that are  culturally significant to the indigenous  folk to what they knew them as.

 

So Ayers Rock is now Uluru, Katherine Gorge is now  Nitmiluk, and so on.

 

 

 

They've done the same here with Snowdon, which is now called, er, summattelse that isn't on most people's Atlases and just confuses everyone entirely.

Totally f. pointless.

Yep, Rant.

 

[monkeysarefun]

2 hours ago, polybear said:

Bear is with Chimpy on this one - I rather like Big Yanks too.

 

Wood panelled interiors in  cars are a particularly English thing, and they seem to think its the bees knees, like you are wafting down the A 5 thousand in a medieval manorhouse,  but it actually isn't.

 

For those who think it is, I've got two words for you.- whiteants!

 

OK, thats is one word.

 

Got it - 

 

 

*#$^*%&*^)@%$      whiteants!

Edited July 28 by monkeysarefun

[Compound2632]

8 minutes ago, polybear said:

Totally f. pointless.

Yep, Rant.

 

You are merely asserting your belief in the cultural supremacy of the English over lesser races - an attitude to reflect upon, I suggest.

[monkeysarefun]

33 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

They've done the same here with Snowdon, which is now called, er, summattelse that isn't on most people's Atlases and just confuses everyone entirely.

Totally f. pointless.

Yep, Rant.

 

 

 

 

I'm a fan of it here, especially given that our early explorers had limited imaginations and/ or had one eye on promotion so named everything in sight after the governor of the time.  Thus in NSW and Tasmania  we got Macquarie Island,  Macquarie Ridge, Lake Macquarie, 2 x Macquarie River, Mount Macquarie, Port Macquarie, Macquarie Pass, Macquarie Rivulet, 3 x Macquarie Street, Macquarie Place, Macquarie Lighthouse,  Fort Macquarie, Macquarie Fields, Macquarie Harbour, Macquarie Pier,The Macquarie Arms Hotel,Macquarie Park, Macquarie Links, Macquarie Shopping Centre, the suburb of Macquarie, Federal electoral Division of Macquarie,, Macquarie Hospital, Macquarie University, Macquarie Bank, Macquarie Community College, Macquarie Grammar School, and Macquarie Correctional Centre.

 

The one time it does confuse me is during the Sir Doug Nicholls round of the AFL which celebrates indigenous players contribution to the game. For that weekend several teams change their names to reflect the indigenous area where they are based in, so for instance the Adelaide Crows become Kuwarna, St Kilda are  Euro-Yroke  and the West Coast Eagles are Waalitj Marawar and so on.

 

The commentators and TV coverage  fully commit to the names so when you turn on the footy to find that  Walyalup are playing Yartapuuliti  it does take a bit of research to figure out what is going on, especially since all teams wear special indigenous patterned kit for that round, but its all part of the fun of the game.

 

Edited July 28 by monkeysarefun

[polybear]

13 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

 

You are merely asserting your belief in the cultural supremacy of the English over lesser races - an attitude to reflect upon, I suggest.

 

Nope.  Re-naming it achieves nothing, apart from (a) cost money, (b) confuse a lot of people, and (c) Possibly make a few quid for the favour few (and give them yet another excuse for a few Beano's/fancy lunches etc.

 

From Wiki:

 

The name "Snowdon" is first recorded in 1095 as Snawdune, and is derived from the Old English elements snaw and dun, meaning "snow hill".

The Welsh name of the mountain, Yr Wyddfa, is first recorded in Latin as Weddua vaur in 1284. This is probably an approximation of Pen y Wyddfa Fawr.

 

In May 2021, following the dismissal of the motion, YouGov conducted a poll on Snowdon's name. 60% of Welsh adults supported the English name Snowdon, compared to 30% wanting the Welsh name Yr Wyddfa.

Edited July 28 by polybear

[Compound2632]

3 minutes ago, polybear said:

Nope.  Re-naming it achieves nothing, apart from (a) cost money, (b) confuse a lot of people, and (c) Possibly make a few quid (and give them another excuse for a few Beano's/fancy lunches etc.

 

You apply the same argument to the Australian examples mentioned by @monkeysarefun?

 

I can see no difference; your argument from antiquity of the name 'Snowdon' is simply a statement that it has been known by an English name for as long as there have been English speakers in the vicinity. 

Edited July 28 by Compound2632

[Gwiwer]

35 minutes ago, polybear said:

 

They've done the same here with Snowdon, which is now called, er, summattelse that isn't on most people's Atlases and just confuses everyone entirely.

Totally f. pointless.

Yep, Rant.

 

Eryri is the name for the area and National Park (sorry - parc cenedlaethol) and yr Wyddfa the name for the mountain 

 

I respect the appellation of traditional and / or indigenous names. Much as we refer to our town as Lanust not St Just, the former being Cornish and the latter an English derivation. 

[jjb1970]

I think it's courteous and correct to respect local preferences for naming convention. That can get complicated in cases where there are real estate disputes, and of course there's nothing preventing people accepting dual naming conventions if that reflects their preference.

[monkeysarefun]

What I enjoy here about the names is that while everything seems to have been named by Chief Explorer Captain Obvious, so we have The Great Sandy Desert, The Great Barrier Reef, The Red Bellied Black snake and so on, their  original aboriginal names  - while sounding more poetic -  often translate to The Great Sandy Desert, The Great Barrier Reef, The Red Bellied Black snake and so on.

Edited July 28 by monkeysarefun

[jjb1970]

The one I find odd is Vietnam. In Vietnamese it is Viet Nam, two words, in English official documents (i.e. not just a name used by foreigners, but an official name) it is Vietnam, one word. When you get business cards or officual documents one side will be Viet Nam and the other Vietnam.

[jjb1970]

Singapore is a minefield for language, the official name is the Republic of Singapore, in English, but the national anthem and much of the countries heraldry type stuff (military unit stuff and the like) and motto uses Singapura, the Malay name. 

[jjb1970]

Airport codes can be quite interesting in what they can reveal about naming. Ho Chi Minh City Tan Son Nhat Airport is still SGN, Beijing Capital is still PEK for example.

[Erichill16]

3 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Seems like a "buggeroffquick" before they phone would be a good scheme - they're takin' the wee wee.  Next they'll be expecting you to collect & deliver....

Bil in bed poorly so no trip to York, would have been nice to know.

We think perhaps a bit too much ‘sauce’ last night but as he was out of medication we acted as Good Samaritans  and took him something round.

Actually prefer to pick Syd up and drop him off as I’ve said you can’t rely on them for anything and I don’t think they understand the concept of time and making arrangements.

We wouldn’t bother with them except we know Syd is much better off with us and can’t bare the thought of him having a carp day because of our inaction.

[The White Rabbit]

51 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

The one I find odd is Vietnam. In Vietnamese it is Viet Nam, two words, in English official documents (i.e. not just a name used by foreigners, but an official name) it is Vietnam, one word. ...

 

I was about to ask why when I realised I was being lazy. https://asiasociety.org/education/vietnam-whats-name suggests one PoV and why it's two words. But please correct me if I/the link is wrong. 

[polybear]

1 hour ago, Compound2632 said:

 

You apply the same argument to the Australian examples mentioned by @monkeysarefun?

 

I can see no difference; your argument from antiquity of the name 'Snowdon' is simply a statement that it has been known by an English name for as long as there have been English speakers in the vicinity. 

Bear’s Maternal Grandad is from Oop North (a mining family in Co. Durham) and the surname is Scottish by all accounts (Clan McLaren - or is it McLaran?); I have it on good authority** that Bear’s surname is rife in Ireland (though Paternal Grandad didn’t have an Irish accent), whilst Bear was born in England.  So as to nationality is anyone’s guess….

 

**Ok, so it was a Nurse from Ireland during a blood letting session….

 

59 minutes ago, Gwiwer said:

Eryri is the name for the area and National Park (sorry - parc cenedlaethol) and yr Wyddfa the name for the mountain 

I wonder just how many non-Welsh speaking Welsh can remember the new name, let alone pronounce it correctly?

 

49 minutes ago, monkeysarefun said:

What I enjoy here about the names is that while everything seems to have been named by Chief Explorer Captain Obvious, so we have The Great Sandy Desert, The Great Barrier Reef, The Red Bellied Black snake and so on, their  original aboriginal names  - while sounding more poetic -  often translate to The Great Sandy Desert, The Great Barrier Reef, The Red Bellied Black snake and so on.

 

I’m told the Welsh word for Zebra is…..Zebra.  When I queried this with a Welsh work buddy he said it’s because “Welsh is a very old and ancient language - and there aren’t any Zebra’s in Wales”. 
 

When I replied “What about Zebra Crossings?” he got the right ‘ump and stomped off.

[polybear]

What on earth were they thinking of when they (a) selected, and (b) allowed in this piece of sh*t to the Olympics??

FFS

🤬

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/articles/cpd9e0r2dxmo

 

[The White Rabbit]

3 hours ago, Gwiwer said:

Is that still “Sleth-it” or has it become “Slaw’t”? 
 

Not that us down ‘ere can talk. Mousehole is widely known to be “Mowz’l” and a lot get Marazion (“Marra-ZY-un”) right. 
 

Try Perranzabuloe, Broadwoodwidger, St Ive (as opposed to St Ives) and Marazanvose. .... 

 

Sl-ow-it or slath-wait depending on - allegedly - which side of the valley you live. Slaithe-wait occasionally, particularly from 'off-cum-uns'. 

 

Re Cornwall's names, one linguistic comment I have is that (dons steel helmet and prepares to be shot down in flames) I think that in English generally the stress is usually put on the first syllable of a word whereas in Celtic languages the stress usually goes on the penultimate or last syllable. Some understanding of the meaning of a placename helps, for instance, Cardinham. Englishmen might say this as Card-ing-'am - I think Car-deen-um might be closer/more culturally appropriate. (From ker-dinas). Care-deen-am in Welsh? 

 

And I recall us talking about Launceston before in these pages. 

[jjb1970]

I have never once heard Mrs JJB refer to Jakarta as Batavia, and when you go to Jakarta outside of a few heritage buildings around the old water front area you'd never know that Jakarta is the post-colonial name of the city and quite recent as these things go.

[The White Rabbit]

20 minutes ago, polybear said:

Bear’s Maternal Grandad is from Oop North (a mining family in Co. Durham) and the surname is Scottish by all accounts (Clan McLaren - or is it McLaran?); I have it on good authority** that Bear’s surname is rife in Ireland (though Paternal Grandad didn’t have an Irish accent), whilst Bear was born in England.  So as to nationality is anyone’s guess….

 

**Ok, so it was a Nurse from Ireland during a blood letting session….

 

I wonder just how many non-Welsh speaking Welsh can remember the new name, let alone pronounce it correctly?

 

I’m told the Welsh word for Zebra is…..Zebra.  When I queried this with a Welsh work buddy he said it’s because “Welsh is a very old and ancient language - and there aren’t any Zebra’s in Wales”. 
 

When I replied “What about Zebra Crossings?” he got the right ‘ump and stomped off.

 

My paternal grandmother's family was Irish but had a [very] English surname. We cannot be sure but suspect they changed their name when they came to England, whether because of racism or because they were ne'er do wells trying to escape their past. 

 

 yr Wyddfa - I don't fancy my chances! I could have a stab at it but suspect I'd be more than a bit out. The trouble is the Welsh alphabet is a bit different to the English one - with a few extra and a few less. Y is also a vowel. 

 

Zebras - black and white horses? I'm sure we could translate that. 😉

[jjb1970]

34 minutes ago, The White Rabbit said:

 

I was about to ask why when I realised I was being lazy. https://asiasociety.org/education/vietnam-whats-name suggests one PoV and why it's two words. But please correct me if I/the link is wrong. 

 

Something I have to admire and respect about the Vietnamese people is their apparent magnanimity and lack of grudge bearing. I'm a sinophile but many Chinese have a huge chip about Japan, similarly you don't have to poke very far below the surface for typical Koreans to tell you what they think of Japan. In both cases there are very obvious and explicable reasons for the grudge bearing. However, I've always been struck that the Vietnamese never seem to display such grudge bearing. Some of it might be down to manners and keeping Vietnamese thoughts about the US and France among themselves, but even accounting for that it's striking how they seem to have avoided getting into a cycle of trans-generational grudge bearing compared to many other countries.

[PhilJ W]

2 hours ago, monkeysarefun said:

 

Wood panelled interiors in  cars are a particularly English thing, and they seem to think its the bees knees, like you are wafting down the A 5 thousand in a medieval manorhouse,  but it actually isn't.

 

For those who think it is, I've got two words for you.- whiteants!

 

OK, thats is one word.

 

Got it - 

 

 

*#$^*%&*^)@%$      whiteants!

Back in the 50's London Transport sold some redundant trolleybuses to Georgetown Malaysia. They only lasted for five years as the local termites found the Englsh ash frames to their taste.

[jjb1970]

For some reason the high end luxury models of many Asian car manufacturers often have awful wood veneer interiors. They claim it is wood but it tends to be the most plasticky looking wood imaginable. They also have a weird thing for the same effect on steering wheels.

[Hroth]

@Erichill16 Today wasn't a good day to be in York, hot, sticky, crocodiles of tourists following a bloke/blokess with a banner, a gang in the Minster going bonkers on the bells...

 

Visited the NRM after a long interval, very disappointed, though pre-warned by earlier posters.

 

Lets put it this way.

 

Long queue to climb some steps to look inside "Mallards" cab. No queues for "Duchess of Hamilton" next door, or for "Evening Star", where they'd have seen the same sort of gubbins...  Lots of very bored teenagers playing with their phones.

 

At the back was a feeding station separating two shop areas, the left hand one for youngsters, the right hand for adults, both with much Flying Moneypit merchandise. 

 

Just an update.

 

A nice touch was the positioning of a wreath and plaque on the front of the HST power car "Sir Kenneth Grange" to commemorate the designers passing earlier this week.

 

May have a little snooze...

 

 

Edited July 28 by Hroth
autocorrection correction and extra