So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[tonyb]

The trazadone the vet prescribed for little Otis seemed to have helped up until tonight. The barrage has been at window-rattling decibel levels and pretty much nonstop for at least the past two hours. Poor little guy is under the bed, trembling.

The city established a non-emergency fireworks complaint line. I was on hold 23 minutes before my call was taken. I killed the time by also filling out the online complaint form. It won’t do any good in the short term, of course, but the hope is that if the city gets inundated with complaints perhaps there might be more active enforcement in the future. (One can fantasize, eh?)

 

[tonyb]

Please tell me I’m not the only one growing annoyed by people making themselves the heroes of their own “autobiographical” vignettes.

You ain’t Damon Runyon. And at least he made no pretext of it being anything but fiction.

We may be stupid, pal, but we ain’t stupid enough to believe your tales.

 

[tonyb]

Which is not to say that the self-disclosing, self-deprecating, humble accounts by the likes of our 59Lark would ever be unwelcome. I rather enjoy reading those.

 

[GHT]

Tony you have an eloquent way of ranting that I so empathise with. Whether it's my age or not, I don't know, but of late, I could have doubled for either Statler or Waldorf.


Just to recount on Independence Day. Did you know that that any day of the year has a 1 in 7 chance of being celebrated as Independence Day from the British?
61 colonies have gained independence from the UK with 52 unique Independence Days.

See the full list here.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Authentic?

 

[tonyb]

^^^^^
Real enough for them. I stayed home all day.

It’s not that I’m averse to cookouts and municipal fireworks shows and all. I’m even up for ice cream and a parade and a band concert in the park. That’s the stereotypical Fourth of July over here in God’s Country, even if most of us don’t pass the day that way. And I don’t feel deprived to have missed out on that stuff. Maybe next year. But probably not.

 

[GHT]

Has anyone noticed? Immigrants to the English speaking countries all seem to learn about two to three hundred words that gets them by until they master the intricacies of the language, yet they all learn, no matter where they come from, the 'F' word profanity. So many times I have heard someone speaking a language I don't comprehend, perhaps on their phone, then, right out of the blue, and in English, they might say: "You must be f-----g joking!" Is the 'F' profanity in our language so grammatically poignant? Or do the non-English speakers pick up on the universal use of the profane amongst native English speakers?

 

[Touchofevil]

Generators! People who go camping on the coast and insist on running their loud (not whisper-quiet) generators all day long. Who wants to hear the waves when you can listen to the soothing sounds of a generator. Dummies!

 

[Harp]

Has anyone noticed? Immigrants to the English speaking countries all seem to learn about two to three hundred words that gets them by until they master the intricacies of the language, yet they all learn, no matter where they come from, the 'F' word profanity. So many times I have heard someone speaking a language I don't comprehend, perhaps on their phone, then, right out of the blue, and in English, they might say: "You must be f-----g joking!" Is the 'F' profanity in our language so grammatically poignant? Or do the non-English speakers pick up on the universal use of the profane amongst native English speakers?

The Anglo-American culture imparts its unique tuition, acceptance is voluntary of course, but the ubiquity
of English as a dominant lingo mirror reflects back at us.
I do not own a television, see little need for further cultural exposure if it can be avoided,
and what I do hear is less than what a great language such as English should impart.
I typically suggest the Bard be read. Shakespeare, without apology still sparkles the wonderful English language.

 

[GHT]

The Anglo-American culture imparts its unique tuition, acceptance is voluntary of course, but the ubiquity
of English as a dominant lingo mirror reflects back at us.
I do not own a television, see little need for further cultural exposure if it can be avoided,
and what I do hear is less than what a great language such as English should impart.
I typically suggest the Bard be read. Shakespeare, without apology still sparkles the wonderful English language.

Well said, we use Shakespeare in our language, often without realising it, here's a few examples:
Come Full Circle, Eat Me Out of House and Home, Elbow Room, A Fool's Paradise, Give the Devil His Due, Wear My Heart On My Sleeve, Love is Blind, Neither Here Nor There.
Ever since I saw Othello at Stratford on a school trip I've been both hooked and fascinated by Shakespeare.

 

[Harp]

I find Shakespeare the English language answer to Ciceronian Latin's posterior chide.

And Shakespeare answered Latin for the world.
A beautiful, eloquent truth spoken on a tongue of iron.

 

[tonyb]

Generators! People who go camping on the coast and insist on running their loud (not whisper-quiet) generators all day long. Who wants to hear the waves when you can listen to the soothing sounds of a generator. Dummies!

Yeah, it’s as if they forgot that part of “camping” is doing without all the conveniences of modern civilization.

I avoid campgrounds in state and national parks. People get packed in cheek by jowl, and you end up knowing a lot more about your immediate fellow campers than you’d ever wish to.

 

[tonyb]

Has anyone noticed? Immigrants to the English speaking countries all seem to learn about two to three hundred words that gets them by until they master the intricacies of the language, yet they all learn, no matter where they come from, the 'F' word profanity. So many times I have heard someone speaking a language I don't comprehend, perhaps on their phone, then, right out of the blue, and in English, they might say: "You must be f-----g joking!" Is the 'F' profanity in our language so grammatically poignant? Or do the non-English speakers pick up on the universal use of the profane amongst native English speakers?

I utter the word too often myself, as I am reminded when I hear it used too often by others.

 

[LizzieMaine]

If that word didn't exist, it would be necessary to invent it. I can't think of another word that more closely approximates the natural sound any human makes when they drop a large, heavy object on their foot.

 

[belfastboy]

Well said, we use Shakespeare in our language, often without realising it, here's a few examples:
Come Full Circle, Eat Me Out of House and Home, Elbow Room, A Fool's Paradise, Give the Devil His Due, Wear My Heart On My Sleeve, Love is Blind, Neither Here Nor There.
Ever since I saw Othello at Stratford on a school trip I've been both hooked and fascinated by Shakespeare.

12 hours drive down the freeway from us in the little town of Ashland Oregon runs a Shakespeare festival each year. The have built a replica of the Globe Theatre as well as a smaller indoor venue. They run from late Feb to early October but the last few years have been a financial disaster, first the forest fires then the pandemic shut them down. Not sure their status and if they have the funding to come back from these setbacks. We would visit every few years. A wonderful town with high quality productions run since the 1930's. It would be a great loss.

 

[belfastboy]

Yeah, it’s as if they forgot that part of “camping” is doing without all the conveniences of modern civilization.

I avoid campgrounds in state and national parks. People get packed in cheek by jowl, and you end up knowing a lot more about your immediate fellow campers than you’d ever wish to.

We have motorhomed across the US west for 2-4 months a year since 2014. If you stay away from the hot spots most of the parks we have used have ample room between the sites. The only times it happens is the times we stay in an RV park in a city....the KOA's et al tend to have sites close together...some tighter than others but that is the price we pay to visit towns....as infrequent as we do. Also we travel always during the shoulder months and avoid July/August and the family traffic. Idaho, Montana, Arizona Wyoming, Utah are great places to get away from folks.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Nothing better in the world than a purring US-V8 motor. Thanks to America.

 

[tonyb]

Nothing better in the world than a purring US-V8 motor. Thanks to America.

Damn straight!

 

[tonyb]

If that word didn't exist, it would be necessary to invent it. I can't think of another word that more closely approximates the natural sound any human makes when they drop a large, heavy object on their foot.

Yeah, of course. “Taboo” words have always been. But this particular one has gone from a taboo broken under only the most special of special circumstances to one tossed about in casual, if not quite polite, conversation.

Maybe there is a need for a new one. Something to do with buggery, maybe, seeing how references to the vanilla version are no longer taboo.

 

[GHT]

Yeah, of course. “Taboo” words have always been. But this particular one has gone from a taboo broken under only the most special of special circumstances to one tossed about in casual, if not quite polite, conversation.

Maybe there is a need for a new one. Something to do with buggery, maybe, seeing how references to the vanilla version are no longer taboo.

There was a time when the 'F' word wasn't profane. Had you lived in Medieval times and got caught dipping your wick into anywhere other than your spouse's vajayjay, you might find yourself hauled before the courts, where, if you were unlucky enough to be told that you are guilty, the judge would imprison you for being:
Found
Under
Carnal
Knowledge.
You would spend your incarceration with other prisoners who have also been caught "flagrante delicto." The occupants of the cell were known as: Well I'm sure that you can work out the acronym.