Funny Things that 'Foreigners' Do -

[drew.ward]

Originally Posted by Ocean Girl

Ordered a coke in Guatemala, it came in a plastic sandwich bag with a straw. I couldn't put the bag down, just had to drink up!

The mystery liquid in a bag was a constant roadside phenomenon in Mexico too!

Although I was known for being brave enough to sample just about every other food for sale I ran across, I just never could bring myself to drink the bags o joy!

You're a braver soul than I

[captain58sailin]

Gord,
On behalf of left handers everywhere, I thank you for that enlightened information. I can't speak to the multi tasking ability or the more money part, but we are the only ones in our right minds. I also understand we live shorter lives statistically, because the world has been geared for right handers.

[perchance]

There is no sport in owning a sports car. I was the unfortunate owner of a sunbeam alpine that shed nuts and bolts like a cat sheds hair. I spent all week fixing it so i could drive it on weekends. I wound up selling it to an unsuspecting college student and was glad to see the back of it.

[Ocean Girl]

I loved my candy apple red 1968 Karmann Ghia. She did break down a lot, but a little bit of "macgyvering" would get her going again, heck I think I used a rubber band once
Thems were good times,
Erika

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by captain58sailin

Gord,
On behalf of left handers everywhere, I thank you for that enlightened information. I can't speak to the multi tasking ability or the more money part, but we are the only ones in our right minds. I also understand we live shorter lives statistically, because the world has been geared for right handers.

Sailing also discriminates against the gauche and the sinister:

• Starboard is stand-on to port.
• The starboard sail numbers and symbols on the mainsail are higher than those on port.

Any others?

Jack

[Jim Mc]

Yes , I,ll admit it ,i am a molly duker also! . and if i flash my lights at you at night, with my left hand [ because im driving a european sports car, not my v8 ute with fox tails flying from the cb arial ,mack truck mud flaps and spot lights brissleing from every square inch of the roof ] . Its because here in victoria australia some people have got no idea about the dangers of blinding the driver that is coming towards you by leaving their high-beam lights on !! [ one of my pet hates!] .
If someone flashes their lights during the day, they may be warning of a police speed trap or a big accident or a runnaway cow or horse or some other awaiting disaster around the next corner.forgetting about the bloody kangaroos leaping out in front of me at dawn/dusk ect .
Bloody Hell mate , we put up with some crap down here in aus!!! Clad i got that of my chest. oopps better calm down starting to feel a rock-growl come on.

Regards Jim lefthandedandloveingit apart from when the sawdust blows in my face from the power saw designed by the right handed boffin.

[anjou]

Originally Posted by Ocean Girl

Group Hug!


Ordered a coke in Guatemala, it came in a plastic sandwich bag with a straw. I couldn't put the bag down, just had to drink up!

Maybe you were lucky it was the cola variety of coke?

[anjou]

Originally Posted by Jim Mc

......... or a runnaway cow or horse or some other awaiting disaster around the next corner.forgetting about the bloody kangaroos leaping out in front of me at dawn/dusk ect .

Reminds me of the time i was speeding round a bend and the oncoming guy shouted "Cow"

I replied, "Sexist Pig"

Sure enough as I got further round the bend, there was the cow in the road.

[bvimatelot]

Amazing thread!! Back to the language aspect (ie, disregarding Brit Sportscars, Left Handedness, Up or Down Light Switches - woops, sorry, that was yet another non-sailing thread wasn't it, Coke-in-a-bag, etc, etc): what is it with sports-casters who every day invent new words or jargon to further mystify their sport and presumably justify their existence?

OK, English, be it Brit or US, is supposed to be a living language but the bastardisation of, particularly Nouns being turned into verbs (eg: "To Podium" or "To Medal" - what happened to the perfectly good verb "To Win"?) does make me cringe! Tony (stuck in Bermuda waiting for a spare part....nothing better to do....)

[drew.ward]

Tony it's definitely an ongoing debate in linguistic circles...do you let the language change and call it evolution or do you try to maintain some structure.

One of my big ones is the loss of participles (the third form of the verb ie drink, drank, drunk). In many UK dialects they are almost entirely gone in many verbs and in recent years the American press seems to have decided they will steer American speakers in this direction as well. I really hate hearing that someone 'had rose' from sleep (risen), or 'had ate' dinner (eaten), or 'had drank' a beer (drunk).

Of course then there are all the verbs with perfectly good forms that have worked for thousands of years yet people seem intent on replacing them with new forms. The most common one that comes to mind is the verb plead. The correct forms are plead (pleed), plead (pled with this spelling also being accepted), plead. Yet everyday I seem to either hear a newscast or read an article where someone has "pleaded guilty" to a crime.

[anjou]

Im puzzled by the thinking behind using grammar like "I got off of my chair" instead of "I got off my chair" or ".......of a night time" instead of "at night"

Then of course there are the mis heard words like "skelington"

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by anjou

Sure enough as I got further round the bend, there was the cow in the road.

Was driving through rural Spain many years back, came round a corner and their was...........a tree in the road

Not a fallen tree. but a full sized tree. happily growing about 1/3rd into my lane, more than enough for me to have to use the other lane to drive around it. Tarmac was neatly done around the tree trunk as if it was on a pavement. Which it most definately wasn't.

No one flashed their lights at me on that one

I was in a Japanese sports car at the time (RX7). Never had an english sports car, but I suspect they all share a similar aspect. Yer need to be a young man to do the contortions needed to steam up the windows. fully Unless using the bonnet

[anjou]

I never did manage it in my BWM Z3, but in my first car, a Mini, it was fun

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by anjou

but in my first car, a Mini, it was fun

My first car was a Mini . I never got any in it nor outside

[anjou]

A friends 18 yr old, very attractive daughter returned from a fashion college trip to the Milan studios last weekend.

She said it was ruined by the constant "attentions" from the Italian boys who tried their best to attract her by barking and howling like dogs. I know from experience that its the custom of Italian boys to do this when they fancy a girl but she took it to mean they thought she was a dog, ..........a very derisory description for an ugly woman in the UK.

Poor Kirstie.