Challenge of the Day (1 Viewer)

[The_Doc_Man]

@Cotswold - we can use the downstairs toilet, which is only about ten feet from the front door. Less chance of the cat knocking over anything of value. But other than that, your method has some merit.

 

[Steve R.]

@Cotswold: I believe you have a conceptual shortcoming.
How do you propose to keep the cat from clogging the toilet when it is flushed?

We once rescued an unknown cat that was covered in wet mud on a very cold rainy day. We washed it the bathtub. It took it pretty well, which was quite surprising since it was not our cat and we found it wandering around.

 

[jdraw]

We had an experience years ago, where a stray orange cat came to our basement window and stayed in the area for a few days. We fed him and of course, that encouraged him to stay more. He had a "particular fetor". We brought him and placed him in some warm water in the basement sink, lathered him up with some regular shampoo and massaged it in. To our surprise he started to purr - he really appreciated the TLC. After a good rinse and towel-dry, we enjoyed him as a outdoor pet for a time. When we left the area, he was relocated to a nearby farm. Probably number 3 or 4 of his 9 lives.

True story: Guelph, Ontario 1971

 

[Cotswold]

@Cotswold: I believe you have a conceptual shortcoming.
How do you propose to keep the cat from clogging the toilet when it is flushed?

We once rescued an unknown cat that was covered in wet mud on a very cold rainy day. We washed it the bathtub. It took it pretty well, which was quite surprising since it was not our cat and we found it wandering around.

Methinks you are taking this stuff far too seriously but as you didn't see it, or get it.

It was a flamin' JOKE......a humerous story from England!!!

How could you read that and not laugh for goodness sake?

(It is my understanding that Watercooler is for the lighter side of life. Maybe I'll need to put an explanation label on my posts?)

 

[The_Doc_Man]

@Cotswold - there ARE those forum members who find fault with everything even when NOT directed their way. A "joke" label would be lost on such people. I am purposely leaving out ANY names ... to see which fish has not yet learned to keep its mouth shut when appropriate.

 

[Steve R.]

t was a flamin' JOKE......a humerous story from England!!!

I got it as a joke!!
If I hadn't, I would have been outraged over your post.
As it was, I was simply going along with your joke by responding with an obvious "oversight".

Which reminds me of a joke we played on an automotive service advisor when we picked up our car from the repair shop.
One of my daughters was with me and I remarked to him on how we played the game "catch the tossed cat".
The service advisor's face was that of pure incredible shock.

 

[Cotswold]

@Steve R. No worries mate. Or being English maybe "No problem"

But there was a little bit of winding up the cat people in it. But most jokes have a base somewhere.

 

[ColinEssex]

(It is my understanding that Watercooler is for the lighter side of life. Maybe I'll need to put an explanation label on my posts?)

You and me both mate! Yanks don't get English humour, some even call you ignorant, just because to them you are a foreigner and not from the great US of A. Then get another mod to give a warning so they stay squeaky clean.
Col

 

[The_Doc_Man]

For the record, @ColinEssex - when I gave you the warning, it was not prompted. I decided all on my own at the time that you were approaching a limit of propriety. Pat didn't know I was going to warn you. I didn't ask her permission - because I don't need it when I see someone ragging another forum member. But since then I have laid back because you have been less personal in your attacks.

If you want to rag the USA, go right ahead. Puts you in the same category as Muslims, Jihadists, and Kim Jong Un.

 

[Cotswold]

Now I don't have any problem with the USA. I'm a very understanding and considerate guy. Basically, I'm Captain Perfect and renowned within the family for never being wrong.

I accept that spelling is a problem over there. Like colour, grey, centre and using Z instead of S. Their invention of strange first names, like Clint, Barack, Kiefer, etc. They even had a singer who had a name that sounds the same name as toilet paper, Lou Rawls and were happy with that.

They don't have a bonnet or a boot on a car, only a hood and a trunk. A den is just another room and they have a bathroom in every restaurant, which seems a bit unnecessary and I must say confusing to us Brits. Particularly as I've never actually found a bath in any of them, or any bath towels for that matter. They have things we don't and never will have. Like a levee, or plains, or tornadoes, cheap petrol or aliens. Aliens apparently only go to the USA for some reason. They never, ever go to to Heptonstall, Bradford or Swindon.

They have the Trump family, the Clintons and the Bushes. Now, they also have Harry and Megan Markle-Windsor, AKA the Markle-Sussexes. For which we are and always will be eternally grateful for adopting them and giving them $millions so they can stay over there. Just like to say we don't want them back, ever. Apparently they are living in somewhere called Montechito.

The Yanks have always overcharged us for software, if it's $100 in the USA, we get charged £100 and do we complain? (sometimes maybe)

But I take the view that none of this is any of my goddamn business. Especially what they do, say, or think in the USA. But at the end of the day everyone in the USA is always way, way more friendly to the English than the French, Welsh or Scots will ever be.

So they're OK.

 

[jdraw]

A little more humour and cats.

 

[ColinEssex]

If you want to rag the USA, go right ahead. Puts you in the same category as Muslims, Jihadists, and Kim Jong

Don't forget the British press and TV, any chance to slag off the yanks is headline news, especially if the wife of Prince Harry is around.

But at the end of the day everyone in the USA is always way, way more friendly to the English than the French, Welsh or Scots will ever be.

So they're OK.

I agree, over the years I've known dozens of Americans, even worked with a few. Never had a problem and I would say 95% of them are incredibly polite and friendly.
America and American ways have always been a source of amusement to us Brits but in a nice way. For example, when I was little I couldn't understand why American cars had a Fender - why have a guitar in a car?
American words? Yes, the complex word 'tap' is much easier if pronounced 'faucet '. Why do you say 'horseback riding'? Is it because without the word 'horseback' Americans have trouble knowing where to sit. It's like 'sidewalk' remove the 'side' bit and Americans wander all over the road.
I could go on especially about your choices of Presidents, but I won't as this just a lighthearted post, no offence intended.
Suffice to say, Americans have given us many fab things over the years and some strange things. But overall, Americans and the USA are good and I have no problem with them, even if they seem weird to us.
Col

 

[AccessBlaster]

Why Don't Americans Pronounce the 'H' in Herb? | #shorts

Here's a look at why Americans don't pronounce the 'H' in the word "herb."Subscribe to my channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqabPJa-N6ORAlO5yMBtWXg?s...

www.youtube.com

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Why Don't Americans Pronounce the 'H' in Herb? | #shorts

Here's a look at why Americans don't pronounce the 'H' in the word "herb."Subscribe to my channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqabPJa-N6ORAlO5yMBtWXg?s...

www.youtube.com

I have seen many videos by that gentleman. He's quite interesting. But the correct answer for the "H" in "herb" is, as he suggested, Old French, where the linguistic effect known as elision causes the leading letter to sometimes be subsumed by the ending of the previous word.

So when you see - in French - aux fines herbes (meaning "a mix of aromatic herbs used in cooking") you lose the leading H because of the previously trailing S. Given that the USA had many French immigrants, not only the Cajuns (Acadians) but other French settlements as well, some pronunciations just "stuck" and we never picked up the H again. But we were too confused to recognize that there were exceptions to elision, so we just dropped the H altogether. And I must say I've never seen the need to pick it up again.

 

[CJ_London]

Plenty of dropped’h’s in the series ‘allo,’allo

allo, allo at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

duckduckgo.com

 

[jdraw]

Pronunciation of the leading 'h' on words may be French, definitely seen in French Canadians. A co-worker, who is French Canadian, always, when referring to Bobby Orr for example, would say Bobby HOrr plays Ockey. Eggs were Heggs..
(You add some and ignore some)

Also my late grandfather born in Kent England (~1890) used to refer to a 'H'axe.
As Doc said it must be a carry-over from some European pronunciation idiosyncrasy.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Also my late grandfather born in Kent England (~1890) used to refer to a 'H'axe.

If he uses it as he hacks something, the question is was he referencing the object or the haction?

 

[Cotswold]

H is propably the most dropped letter in the English language. Most accents automatically drop it and it's almost impossible not to if anyone talks quickly. Making sure every H is used generally slows the speaker down and adds clarity.

A tiny number of examples from England : 'arry, 'arold, 'ells bells, 'eavy, 'ere, 'istory, 'undred and not forgetting 'erb......the list probably covers every word in the dictionary starting with H. Ireland is different, there they have 'osses, where we have 'orses. There are some parts of the country where they never use H at all in conversation.

What happens in Scotland I've no idea but that doesn't matter as nobody can understand a word they say anyway. It's too damp and dismal to visit and all they do is complain about something. Money, indepenence, the English, more money usually in that order like a continuous tape.

p.s. any Scots out there, nothing personal. Just a general observation.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

From my younger days, I remember one thing about Scotland that I thought was worthwhile. Scotch whiskey.

Entirely too many American whiskeys remind me of some cheap stuff I once drank in a cheap bar. It wasn't called, but should have been called Old Horseblanket because of its odor. Before you ask... I worked my way through college as a musician. Cheap New Orleans bars were a way of life for a while.

 

[jdraw]

Agree Pat. And then there is cursive, punctuation and spelling that seems to have dropped off curricula at most levels.
Social devices and communications have revamped splg.