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Discussion Groups / English Usage / January 2007Ass-saving rewarded!
As predicted by Vinny in June, the UK yesterday paid the last instalment on the 1946 loans from the US and Canada, so the financial account of the Second World War is presumably closed. Happy Holidays! It is hoped that the books for the First Great War will remain a little family secret: apparently the balance is now not unadjacent to 10^12, and the Mother Country can do without another sixty years of "saved your a.s" from the unsubtle.  SignatureMike. > As predicted by Vinny in June, the UK yesterday paid the last > instalment on the 1946 loans from the US and Canada, so the financial [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > and the Mother Country can do without another sixty years of "saved > your a.s" from the unsubtle. I thought it was towards France that the unsubtlety has been directed. >As predicted by Vinny in June, the UK yesterday paid the last >instalment on the 1946 loans from the US and Canada, so the financial [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >and the Mother Country can do without another sixty years of "saved >your a.s" from the unsubtle. No chance. The unsubtle will continue to be unsubtle. The Lend-Lease agreement and the 1946 loan were crucial to the UK, but they were only a small part of the a.s saving of the UK and Western Europe by the US. The larger part of the US contribution consisted of armies, air forces, fleets, etc. The unsubtle will continue to plague us even if they are ignorant of the details. Unfortunately this will tend inhibit us from expressing gratitude. Of course, the vast majority of those to whom we owe gratitude are no longer with us. Anyway, let's swivel the telescope away from the US and pan round the world and acknowledge the countries of the British Commonwealth and Empire which fought the war as equals alongside the Mother Country. Also we must not forget the USSR which made an enormous contribution by fighting Germany on the Eastern Front[1]. The USSR then went on to "save the a.ses" of the countries of Eastern Europe, but that's another matter. [1] I actually felt sorry for President Putin when he attended the 60th anniversary celebration of D-Day. He was treated politely, but there was no particular acknowledgement that the D-day landings in Normandy were only possible because a large chunk of Germany's forces were occupied in the East. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) ... > [1] I actually felt sorry for President Putin when he attended the > 60th anniversary celebration of D-Day. He was treated politely, but > there was no particular acknowledgement that the D-day landings in > Normandy were only possible because a large chunk of Germany's > forces were occupied in the East. Putin? From the Holy Russian Empire? What's he got to do with the Soviet Union? >... >> [1] I actually felt sorry for President Putin when he attended the [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >Putin? From the Holy Russian Empire? What's he got to do with the >Soviet Union? As the name "Great Patriotic War" sufficiently indicates, the Russians, then and since, did not regard the German war as a specifically Soviet thing. SignatureDon Aitken Mail to the From: address is not read. To email me, substitute "clara.co.uk" for "freeuk.com" > >... > >> [1] I actually felt sorry for President Putin when he attended the [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > Russians, then and since, did not regard the German war as a > specifically Soviet thing. Of course not. Is that sufficient for the Putins of this world to claim any legacy? > > >... > > >> [1] I actually felt sorry for President Putin when he attended the [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > Of course not. Is that sufficient for the Putins of this world to claim > any legacy? If it's sufficient for the Blairs, Bushes, etc otw, I don't see how the Putins are disqualified. He may be a nasty bastard, but that doesn't mean he's not Russian. SignatureMike. >> > >... >> > >> [1] I actually felt sorry for President Putin when he attended the [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >> Of course not. Is that sufficient for the Putins of this world to claim >> any legacy? I've been pondering that question. The phrase "claim any legacy" has a wide range of meanings. The event I referred to was primarily a commemoration of one specific action: the D-Day landings. More precisely it was a commemoration of the people involved in the landings. It was not a celebration of the liberation of Europe. >If it's sufficient for the Blairs, Bushes, etc otw, I don't see how the >Putins are disqualified. He may be a nasty bastard, but that doesn't >mean he's not Russian. Agreed. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) >>As predicted by Vinny in June, the UK yesterday paid the last >>instalment on the 1946 loans from the US and Canada, so the financial [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >Western Europe by the US. The larger part of the US contribution >consisted of armies, air forces, fleets, etc. Just a tick. The US may well have saved our butt, but there was only a butt to save, because the UK held out alone for quite some time, while the rest of Europe was in thrall to the Nazis. I don't think the world would be a very pleasant place for Americans today if Hitler had overrun the UK. I prefer to see us as having been brothers in arms - and each should be damned thankful for the other. >The unsubtle will continue to plague us even if they are ignorant of >the details. [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] >Normandy were only possible because a large chunk of Germany's >forces were occupied in the East. SignatureJim a Yorkshire polymoth [...] > >>and the Mother Country can do without another sixty years of "saved > >>your a.s" from the unsubtle. [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > I prefer to see us as having been brothers in arms - and each should be > damned thankful for the other. [...] Oh, certainly. Though more nearly a babe than a brother in arms, and in the South Pacific, at the time, that was why I referred to the "unsubtle". SignatureMike. [ ... ] > [1] I actually felt sorry for President Putin when he attended the > 60th anniversary celebration of D-Day. He was treated politely, but > there was no particular acknowledgement that the D-day landings in > Normandy were only possible because a large chunk of Germany's > forces were occupied in the East. A very large chunk indeed. If I remember rightly Germany had 35 soldiers on the Eastern front for every one in the west. athel > [ ... ] > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > A very large chunk indeed. If I remember rightly Germany had 35 > soldiers on the Eastern front for every one in the west. It was all in the book, wasn't it? England, France, Belgium were to be a mere side show to protect his back while carrying out the master plan of enslaving the Slavs. SignatureRob Bannister >As predicted by Vinny in June, the UK yesterday paid the last >instalment on the 1946 loans from the US and Canada, so the financial [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >and the Mother Country can do without another sixty years of "saved >your a.s" from the unsubtle. A TV programme _Mortgaged to the Yanks_ will be shown on BBC4 on Wednesday at 9pm. Mortgaged to the Yanks Sir Christopher Meyer, former ambassador to Washington, tells the story of how Britain came to be mortgaged to the Americans during World War 2, a debt only paid off at the end of 2006. At midnight on 31st December 2006, Britain finally paid off the last tranche of its multi-billion dollar debt to the Americans from the end of World War 2. Sir Christopher Meyer, controversial former ambassador to Washington during the Bush and Blair era and author of explosive memoirs DC Confidential, tells the dramatic story of how the country came to be mortgaged to the Americans, and reveals what this cautionary tale really tells us about our so-called special relationship. By way of a trailer there is an article by Meyer in the Sunday Times (UK) today: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-2524109,00.html SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) In alt.usage.english, Peter Duncanson wrote: [...] >By way of a trailer there is an article by Meyer in the Sunday Times >(UK) today: >http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,176-2524109,00.html What is required today, more than ever in a confusing age of globalisation, interdependence and transnational issues, is a renaissance of the idea of national interest; the skill to define it sensibly and pragmatically; and a tough-minded realism about how we pursue it with friends and adversaries alike. Spot on! New year's resolution: bugger all supranational fantasies. They don't work. Because they're fantasies. Innit. SignatureV > In alt.usage.english, Peter Duncanson wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > Spot on! New year's resolution: bugger all supranational fantasies. They > don't work. Because they're fantasies. Innit. Except you'll need to abolish all the supranational companies first: their bottom lines are no fantasy, and governments do what they say. Square one is as of this current time in an ongoing error 404 situation. Thank you for traveling with us. Your call is important to us. For your added comfort and convenience we will now play you Handel's Largo on a cheap synthesiser for the rest of your life. SignatureMike. In alt.usage.english, Mike Lyle wrote: >> Spot on! New year's resolution: bugger all supranational fantasies. They >> don't work. Because they're fantasies. Innit. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >us. For your added comfort and convenience we will now play you >Handel's Largo on a cheap synthesiser for the rest of your life. I reckon Coca Cola or McDonalds would be better than the UN at keeping the world safe and happy. Corporations might be bloated and inefficient and greedy but on the whole they are not totally incompetent and they don't tend to reward failure - if, say, a Coca Cola executive was responsible for a catastrophic loss of sales in, say, Rwanda he wouldn't be appointed chief executive at the earliest opportunity. (Hi, Kofi!) SignatureV Press 9 to hear the options again > In alt.usage.english, Mike Lyle wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > responsible for a catastrophic loss of sales in, say, Rwanda he wouldn't > be appointed chief executive at the earliest opportunity. (Hi, Kofi!) Uh-oh! It's that old "businessmen are better at managing things" one again. I was hoping the political class would grow out of that one day. And they _always_ seem to reward failure, with nought-spangled golden parachutes at the shareholders' expense. Mind you, I admit the owner of the local chippie might have done as well as Kofi under the circumstances. And then, again, under those circumstances the local librarian could probably have done better. B.B.Ghali, anybody? Their, remaining-credit, _is_,, . . . SignatureMike. In alt.usage.english, Mike Lyle wrote: >> I reckon Coca Cola or McDonalds would be better than the UN at keeping >> the world safe and happy. Corporations might be bloated and inefficient [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > >Their, remaining-credit, _is_,, . . . Yes, that does look like that managerialism thing, doesn't it? But I'm only saying that they would be better than the UN, and that's not saying much at all. They are inefficient and greedy. They are not usually *totally* incompetent, is all. Corporations reward failure? Yes, but ... you see ... Say, did you know that there's a hamlet called Chipshop in Devon? SignatureV After closing your dial-up account we will send you an e-mail telling you how to activate your broadband account. Has this answer been helpful? >Say, did you know >that there's a hamlet called Chipshop in Devon? Oy! It's written "Jipxop" now. Do try to keep up. SignatureArchie Valparaiso >>Say, did you know >>that there's a hamlet called Chipshop in Devon? > > Oy! It's written "Jipxop" now. Do try to keep up. Ah, Archie's Advent is concluded, I see - welcome, Senor Valparaiso. But those who enter aue with all guns blazing do not always encounter a group hug. SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) On 01 Jan 2007, LFS wrote >>> Say, did you know >>> that there's a hamlet called Chipshop in Devon? >> >> Oy! It's written "Jipxop" now. Do try to keep up. > > Ah, Archie's Advent is concluded, I see - welcome, Senor Sure and but you'll be wantin' to use Alt+164 there, no? SignatureCheers, Harvey Canadian and British English, indiscriminately mixed For e-mail, change harvey.news to harvey.van > On 01 Jan 2007, LFS wrote > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Sure and but you'll be wantin' to use Alt+164 there, no? Why are you speaking with an Irish accent, Harvey? SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) On 01 Jan 2007, LFS wrote >> On 01 Jan 2007, LFS wrote >> [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Why are you speaking with an Irish accent, Harvey? Had some Guiness this evening, and it rubbed off. It's worn off now, though. (Happy New Year.) SignatureCheers, Harvey Canadian and British English, indiscriminately mixed For e-mail, change harvey.news to harvey.van >>>Say, did you know >>>that there's a hamlet called Chipshop in Devon? [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >those who enter aue with all guns blazing do not always encounter a >group hug. Why, thank you. Nice to be here (for a better, brighter, chirpier year than the one Ent, Millie and Brad were part of, I hope -- 2006 wasn't exactly an AUE classic, I felt, despite my impressive Lyle-crushing bagging of a brace of sheep in the SDC). As for my inaugural post in this guise, it was more a potato gun with an underpowered spring than all guns blazing, Shirley -- nothing that the famously fine-tuned Burgine defences couldn't take in their stride, anyway. (If truth be told, I've finally figured out how "j" and "x" are supposed to be pronounced in pinyin romanisation, and "chipshop" gave me a neat in so that I could show off. Jeers, aye!) SignatureArchie Valparaiso In alt.usage.english, Archie Valparaiso wrote: [...] >As for my inaugural post in this guise, it was more a potato gun with >an underpowered spring than all guns blazing, Shirley -- nothing that >the famously fine-tuned Burgine defences couldn't take in their >stride, anyway. Borgnine, if you please. (That was my moniker during my brief exploration of Second Life. Well, I say exploration but I actually spent forty minutes playing with my nose, then sat on someone's feet, then wandered down a path for about ten seconds before being overwhelmed by ennui. Exit Vinny Borgnine, never to return, I suspect. It could have been even more tedious, though. A journalist was recently sent to investigate Second Life. After accidentally leaping from a bush onto the first female avatar he encountered, he spent three days sitting in an armchair staring at a wall.) >(If truth be told, I've finally figured out how "j" and "x" are >supposed to be pronounced in pinyin romanisation, and "chipshop" gave >me a neat in so that I could show off. Jeers, aye!) I assumed you had inside knowledge about the Chipshop Inn's having become a chinkie (is that word still allowed?). I used to live near there, you know, so I can tell you that Chipshop's near the Tamar, which of course has historic links with China, and on which river a friend's brother, who may or may not have had a Chinese girlfriend at the time, I forget, crashed a frigate and was told he had better look for another job, or he was blamed for crashing a frigate, anyway, the truth being that his skipper should have been in the driving seat but he was drunk in his cabin or something. All very unfair. I bet it wouldn't have happened in a Coca Cola Navy. Anyway. What's the pinyin for Devon, then? SignatureV > In alt.usage.english, Archie Valparaiso wrote: > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > first female avatar he encountered, he spent three days sitting in an > armchair staring at a wall.) This took a moment's pondering. I assume that Second Life is one of these virtual reality places but I thought that one had more control over one's virtual activities therein than you seem to imply. SignatureLaura (emulate St. George for email) In alt.usage.english, LFS wrote: >> Borgnine, if you please. (That was my moniker during my brief >>exploration of Second Life. Well, I say exploration but I actually [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >these virtual reality places but I thought that one had more control >over one's virtual activities therein than you seem to imply. He couldn't find out how to turn the armchair around and he didn't have enough virtual money to do anything more interesting (or allegedly interesting). So he just sat there. At least he was being paid for it. SignatureV >>>> Say, did you know >>>> that there's a hamlet called Chipshop in Devon? >>> >>> Oy! It's written "Jipxop" now. Do try to keep up. [...] > (If truth be told, I've finally figured out how "j" and "x" are > supposed to be pronounced in pinyin romanisation, and "chipshop" > gave me a neat in so that I could show off. Jeers, aye!) OK, now I get it. Qipxiop. >>>>> Say, did you know >>>>> that there's a hamlet called Chipshop in Devon? [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > >OK, now I get it. Qipxiop. Yes, that's the one. (I don't know where that "J" came from. I'll have to qek.) SignatureArchie Valparaiso [...] > Why, thank you. Nice to be here (for a better, brighter, chirpier year > than the one Ent, Millie and Brad were part of, I hope -- 2006 wasn't > exactly an AUE classic, I felt, despite my impressive Lyle-crushing > bagging of a brace of sheep in the SDC). [...] A brace? Well, jangle my Ant Lucy's corn-pone! I hadn't noticed the second (or perhaps it was the first). The Colonel sure had a quiet year, but this time he's comin out ararin and asnortin fit to bust the tail off a possum. SignatureMike. > (If truth be told, I've finally figured out how "j" and "x" are > supposed to be pronounced in pinyin romanisation, and "chipshop" gave > me a neat in so that I could show off. Jeers, aye!) And I had been thinking "Jipxop" was just a variation on GBS's "ghoti". SignatureRob Bannister > >Say, did you know > >that there's a hamlet called Chipshop in Devon? > > Oy! It's written "Jipxop" now. Do try to keep up. Haud dubium. Somerset has a Chips table which might be handy. But, howsoever spelt, Chipxop isn't in the Oxford Placenames Dic, so it's incumbent on Vinny to tell us the derivation. SignatureMike. In alt.usage.english, Mike Lyle wrote: >> On Mon, 1 Jan 2007 16:44:58 +0000, Vinny Burgoo <hnNULh@yahoo.co.uk> >> >Say, did you know that there's a hamlet called Chipshop in Devon? >> [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >howsoever spelt, Chipxop isn't in the Oxford Placenames Dic, so it's >incumbent on Vinny to tell us the derivation. It's from "chip" and "shop", which in Olden Days used to signify a wooden shed. SignatureV "Two Sheds" B > It's from "chip" and "shop", which in Olden Days used to signify a > wooden shed. And men would place the shed on their shoulder and "Knock this off". Hence "knocking shop". SignatureRob Bannister >In alt.usage.english, Mike Lyle wrote: >>> On Mon, 1 Jan 2007 16:44:58 +0000, Vinny Burgoo <hnNULh@yahoo.co.uk> [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >It's from "chip" and "shop", which in Olden Days used to signify a >wooden shed. Yup - while Hewlett Packard is proud of its origins in a garage, but then evolved into a large manufacturer of inkjet refills, Messr's Intel, AMD, and National Semiconductor took a diifferent path by starting out with "fabs" in Silicon Valley which then evolved into XipXops Jitze >Uh-oh! It's that old "businessmen are better at managing things" one >again. I was hoping the political class would grow out of that one day. >And they _always_ seem to reward failure, with nought-spangled golden >parachutes at the shareholders' expense. There's a reason that corporations offer "golden parachutes" to outgoing execs who have failed: it makes it easier to lure in the next exec. If Megalith, Inc is in deep trouble, and needs a new CEO, no one wants to take the helm if failure to bail out Megalith results in just a pink slip. If the potential hiree knows the parachute will be offered, the hiree is more willing to take the risk of failure. SignatureTony Cooper Orlando, FL > I reckon Coca Cola or McDonalds would be better than the UN at keeping > the world safe and happy. Corporations might be bloated and inefficient > and greedy but on the whole they are not totally incompetent and they > don't tend to reward failure - if, say, a Coca Cola executive was > responsible for a catastrophic loss of sales in, say, Rwanda he wouldn't > be appointed chief executive at the earliest opportunity. (Hi, Kofi!) Your corporations must be better than ours. I see stupendous losses regularly rewarded with "bonus" or "productivity" payments in the $8-10m range. Moreover, on the rare occasions when a CEO is asked to leave, he (rarely she) pops up again very quickly at the head of another business. SignatureRob Bannister >> I reckon Coca Cola or McDonalds would be better than the UN at keeping >> the world safe and happy. Corporations might be bloated and inefficient [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >range. Moreover, on the rare occasions when a CEO is asked to leave, he >(rarely she) pops up again very quickly at the head of another business. The "she"s are represented by Carly Fiorina, Patricia Dunn, and Ann Baskins; all formerly of Hewlett-Packard. Carly walked out with a $21 million package and then had the time to write a book. In many top exec ousters it's a race between "I quit" and "You're fired". Sherry Lansing, former head of Paramount Studios, says she said "I quit", but declining earnings certainly contributed to the resignation. SignatureTony Cooper Orlando, FL In alt.usage.english, Robert Bannister wrote: >> I reckon Coca Cola or McDonalds would be better than the UN at >>keeping the world safe and happy. Corporations might be bloated and [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >leave, he (rarely she) pops up again very quickly at the head of >another business. I could argue that that's paying off failure rather than rewarding it but the practice is too despicable for quibbling, so I won't. SignatureV |
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