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What does 'English' mean?

16 Dec 07 - 05:17 PM (#2216722)
Subject: What does 'English' mean?
From: GUEST,John Simmonds

Hello all,

I'm new to this forum but would be grateful for your thoughs on a question:

What does 'English' mean?

Many thanks,

John


16 Dec 07 - 05:25 PM (#2216725)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: John MacKenzie

Putting 'side' on a billiard ball.
G


16 Dec 07 - 05:27 PM (#2216727)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Richard Bridge

England is a country north of parts of France, and south of Scotland.

"English" is the adjective that relates.


16 Dec 07 - 05:27 PM (#2216728)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: John on the Sunset Coast

In billiards it means the spin put on the cue ball...at least in America.

It could mean the people of England.

It might be a generic Caucasian, so called by peoples whose first contact with such folks were from England.

Perhaps the it is the language spoken by a vast population of the world.

What does it mean to you, John?


16 Dec 07 - 05:37 PM (#2216731)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Rowan

If English is music to your ears, or not, as the case may be, the thread is properly located.

If not, the thread should go 'below the line'.

I rather like English music and dance.

Cheers, Rowan


16 Dec 07 - 06:00 PM (#2216739)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Georgiansilver

Derivative from Anglo-Saxons........The Angles were known as the Anglish.....and have since become known as English


16 Dec 07 - 06:22 PM (#2216750)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)

ænglisc, ynglisse, engleis, englissche, etc.; as Georgiansilver says, from the Engles (Angles), the people of Angul (Anglus in Tacitus). Lots of fun looking this stuff up in the dictionary.


16 Dec 07 - 06:37 PM (#2216764)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: GUEST,Obie

It means Sasunnach!


16 Dec 07 - 06:53 PM (#2216770)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: McGrath of Harlow

"Caucasian" - no, they come from right the other end of Europe.

English - everyone born in England.


16 Dec 07 - 06:56 PM (#2216775)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: artbrooks

Among the Amish, it is everyone who isn't.


16 Dec 07 - 07:02 PM (#2216784)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: SINSULL

Good question. I have been wondering the same since Rudy Giuliani has insisted that all immigrants must read it, write it and comprehend it in order to become citizens. Funny - most of the high school and many of the college graduates in NYC can't do it so why do immigrants have to?
SINS


16 Dec 07 - 07:05 PM (#2216786)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Herga Kitty

The English are best, as pointed out by Flanders and Swann in their song of patriotic prejudice


Kitty


16 Dec 07 - 07:10 PM (#2216791)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Crane Driver

Depends on context.

Amongst concertina players, it means a particular system, or arrangement of buttons.

Amongst languages, it means the result of mixing German and French together, with pinches of Latin, Greek, Welsh and other languages to taste, and simmering for a thousand years.

In many parts of the world, it is considered to be synonymous with 'British', which isn't strictly true - many of us are British but not English.

Geographically, it is the adjectival derivation of that part of Britain bordered (approximately) by Hadrian's Wall and Offa's Dyke.

In what context did you pose the question?


16 Dec 07 - 07:11 PM (#2216792)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Emma B

'It is common sense that sets the English apart: they may look silly in their plastic macs on the Riviera, but the last laugh will be on them if the Mistral comes early.

Of course it does not always work; sometimes germs do get through despite their efforts. Then, as well as looking ridiculous, they sport that archetypal affliction, "le sang-froid habituel des Anglais" - the English person's usual bloody cold.'

-Langust Agency 1999-2006

'Em' - suffering from the 'usual bloody cold' at the moment :)


16 Dec 07 - 07:44 PM (#2216809)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Peace

"(n.) A kind of printing type, in size between Pica and Great Primer. See Type.
(a.) Of or pertaining to England, or to its inhabitants, or to the present so-called Anglo-Saxon race.
(n.) Collectively, the people of England; English people or persons.
(v. t.) To translate into the English language; to Anglicize; hence, to interpret; to explain.
(a.) See 1st Bond, n., 8.
(n.) A twist or spinning motion given to a ball in striking it that influences the direction it will take after touching a cushion or another ball.
(v. t.) To strike (the cue ball) in such a manner as to give it in addition to its forward motion a spinning motion, that influences its direction after impact on another ball or the cushion.
(n.) The language of England or of the English nation, and of their descendants in America, India, and other countries."


16 Dec 07 - 07:59 PM (#2216825)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)

A childhood rhyme I remember- "Fe, fi, fo, fum, I smell the blood of an Englishmun."
The ogre said that in "Jack and the Beanstalk."

Was the first from "King Lear"?
Child Rowland to the dark tower came.
His word was still "Fie, foh and fum,
I smell the blood of a British man."

'usual bloody cold'- I get them in ships, with their recirculated air going to all the cabins. Always a sad end to a cruise. Never thought to blame the English, -


16 Dec 07 - 08:08 PM (#2216830)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: katlaughing

Welcome to the Mudcat, John!


16 Dec 07 - 08:49 PM (#2216850)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Leadfingers

There is NOTHING like a good , concise , sensible question - And that is NOTHING like a good , concise , sensible question ! LOL .


16 Dec 07 - 09:03 PM (#2216859)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)

Peale, 1595, in "Old Wives Tale:" "Fee, fa, fum. Here is the Englishman, Conquer him that can; ..."

Nash, 1596, "Have with You to Saffron Walden:" "O, tis a precious apothegmaticall pedant who will finde matter inough to dilate a whole daye of the first invention of Fy, fa, fum, I smell the bloud of an Englishman."

From an article in "Folklore."

Does English blood really have a different smell?

A great word- apothegmaticall: clearly spoken.


16 Dec 07 - 09:16 PM (#2216876)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Rowan

Does English blood really have a different smell?
Apparently the residents of the Far East thought so, when they first encountered Englishmen; the folklore has it that dairy products, especially cheese, were responsible.

Cheers, Rowan


17 Dec 07 - 02:42 AM (#2216963)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: George Papavgeris

In Belgium, ordering your steak "English" means "well done plus an extra three minutes", or "carbonised".

In the Netherlands it means "mixed liquorice sweets", like the Liquorice Allsorts ("Engelse drop" - "drop" is liquorice).

And in soccer it means depending on crosses into the box rather than running the ball in; a player needing a 5-metre radius to "control" a ball, and avoiding first time-passing like the plague. Also remembering 1966.


17 Dec 07 - 03:32 AM (#2216980)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Jim Carroll

English means never having to say "sorry".
Jim Carroll


17 Dec 07 - 04:46 AM (#2216999)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Santa

Not just a swerve ball in snooker/billiards, but also in baseball, I believe?

Apparently Sassenach was originally a Highland term for Lowland Scots, and only later became attached to the English. Presumably this was a recognition of the Lowland Scots Saxon roots, the Scots (or Lalland?) language being a version of English, not merely an attractive accent. (Or possibly the Highlanders thought the Lowlanders so beneath mention that calling them English was about as insulting as the Highland imagination ran to? This seems unlikely.)

Being English means having to be tolerant and understanding towards the torrents of bile and resentment poured out from those (no doubt otherwise worthy) individuals who are so bitter at their lack of equal fortune of birth.


17 Dec 07 - 05:20 AM (#2217013)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Mr Happy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English
Any of the above.


17 Dec 07 - 05:54 AM (#2217026)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: cobra

I am English is the shorthand used by some of the modern day inhabitants of the country known as England and these people are unclear that the pure and unadulterated island race they believe themselves to be is in fact a hybrid of several thousand years of interbreeding with a succession of invaders and immigrants .... so to be English is in fact to be a descendant from any/ all of the following - Angle Jute Pict Celt Hun Norman Saxon Roman Viking and latterly Polish Romanian Indo-Chinese Arabic African Afro-Caribbean etc etc etc

English is also a descriptor for an anal obsessiveness with punctuation which is for fules as punctuation is dead in the modern world


17 Dec 07 - 06:42 AM (#2217039)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Stu

".... so to be English is in fact to be a descendant from any/ all of the following - Angle Jute Pict Celt Hun Norman Saxon Roman Viking and latterly Polish Romanian Indo-Chinese Arabic African Afro-Caribbean etc etc etc"

Excellent!


17 Dec 07 - 06:45 AM (#2217040)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Backwoodsman

Simple - it means 'A supremely superior human being'.


17 Dec 07 - 06:48 AM (#2217042)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Georgiansilver

Particularly us backwoods types LOL


17 Dec 07 - 07:17 AM (#2217049)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Jim Dixon

I once read a history book by Paul Johnson--it was called "The Offshore Islanders" in the UK and "History of the English People" in the US. It was generally a good read, but he confused me in the first chapter in the way he used the words "British" and "English"--not as synonyms or even as overlapping terms. He used "British" to mean "Celt" and "English" to mean "Anglo-Saxon."

After I figured out what he meant, I had to re-read that chapter to make sense of it.


17 Dec 07 - 07:30 AM (#2217055)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: greg stephens

A person who, while travelling abroad, carries teabags and jar of marmite.
McGrath's definition"everyone born in England" is currently the liberal line, and it has much to commend it; but many undoubtedly Scottish, Welsh, Irish and Cornish people were undoubtedly born in England, and I am not sure if they would all agree with him.
   Possibly a very tricky a word to define, much like "folk".


17 Dec 07 - 07:38 AM (#2217060)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: GUEST,The black belt caterpillar wrestler

I thought that the British were generally pushed west and north by the Celts when they came to what we call the British Isles about 3 centuries before the Romans turned up.

Many who call themselves English do not want to be thought of as British, and want to be called European even less.

I'm not sure that I like to be thought of as English either, it seems a bit too vague. Who can think of Northumbrian's, Salopians, Kentish men, Men of Kent etc. as all being part of the same race?


17 Dec 07 - 08:12 AM (#2217078)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: GUEST,redhorse at work

To a Frech or German engineer it means an adjustable spanner


17 Dec 07 - 08:42 AM (#2217109)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: GUEST,dazbo

why is spin on a pool ball (or baseballs) called english?


17 Dec 07 - 10:24 AM (#2217197)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Peace

Because to have called it "the land of the rising sun" would have made the expression hard to say and confusing to use. Hey, kid, put a little lower-right land of the rising sun on the cue ball and bring it back here for . . . .


17 Dec 07 - 10:26 AM (#2217201)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Peace

"Billiard equipment improved rapidly in England after 1800, largely because of the Industrial Revolution. Chalk was used to increase friction between the ball and the cue stick even before cues had tips. The leather cue tip, with which a player can apply side-spin to the ball, was perfected by 1823. Visitors from England showed Americans how use spin, which explains why it is called "English" in the United States but nowhere else. (The British themselves refer to it as "side".) The two-piece cue arrived in 1829. Slate became popular as a material for table beds around 1835. Goodyear discovered vulcanization of rubber in 1839 and by 1845 it was used to make billiard cushions. A two-to-one ratio of length to width became standard in the 18th century. Before then, there were no fixed table dimensions. By 1850, the billiard table had essentially evolved into its current form."

from

http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:dQ1pCJctsv8J:www.doolysproshop.com/poolhistory.php+pool,+english,+history&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1


17 Dec 07 - 10:34 AM (#2217212)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Liz the Squeak

It means never having to learn a foreign language!

LTS (joking!)


17 Dec 07 - 10:41 AM (#2217218)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Amos

To the French un chapeau Anglais means what "a French letter" means to the English.

But, I am sorry, but this is a really dumb question without any context or any indication what the asker wants to know...or that he has done the minimum search into ordinary references.

A


17 Dec 07 - 10:43 AM (#2217225)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Peace

Such will be the case for a long time because you don't have to be a member to start a thread.


17 Dec 07 - 10:46 AM (#2217227)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Backwoodsman

Come and live in The Backwoods of Lincolnshire Liz, you'll HAVE to learn Polish or Lithuanian because there are more of 'them' than 'us' here nowadays! They're even putting up bi-lingual road-signs in Polish and English around Boston :-)

Having said that, there's a group of 'em running a hand-car-wash near me, they work like hell and do a fantastic job for not much more than the 'automatic' car washes that knock seven bells out of your body-work. Good on 'em!


17 Dec 07 - 11:23 AM (#2217263)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: GUEST,Neil D

In bowling (keggling, not cricket) it is the space to the left of the head pin for a right handed bowler.
    In (American)personal ads it is used to express an interest in fantasy games involving disciplining or being disciplined. I'm not sure why.


17 Dec 07 - 12:08 PM (#2217297)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Mr Happy

Yes, that's a sort've aberration on the part of local councils, supuermarkets, etc -rapidly putting up signs in E.European lingoes; I never noticed it happening with previous migrant influxes


17 Dec 07 - 12:52 PM (#2217330)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Doug Chadwick

Many who call themselves English do not want to be thought of as British, and want to be called European even less.

I am English. I am also British and European and proud to be each. Being European doesn't make me less British, just as being British doesn't make me less English.

My dad was half Scottish, my wife is half Polish and my brand new grandson is half Ghanaian but we're all English.

I'm happy to put Citizen of the World alongside all my other layers.

DC


17 Dec 07 - 02:36 PM (#2217410)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Wolfhound person

"England is a country ..... south of Scotland." (Richard Bridge)
"Geographically, ..that part of Britain bordered (approximately) by Hadrian's Wall and Offa's Dyke. (Crane Driver)

H'mm.   OK, I live 20 miles north of Hadrian's Wall, and north of some bits of Scotland. Due north of me is another 50 miles of England before reaching Berwick-on-Tweed.
In a village where the long-term inhabitants speak one of the closest languages to Angle left in Angle-land - a mixture of Geordie, pitmatic, and Northumbrian. The kids are bi-lingual - they understand "proper" English, and will use it if they have to. But their native language is far more colourful.

English?....not really, not like Surrey or Somerset or Shropshire.....
Scots?....certainly not.....but Edinburgh is closer than London by far.

Welcome to the Border marches

Paws


17 Dec 07 - 03:14 PM (#2217441)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: open mike

It also is a term in ping pong referring to putting a spin on the ball.
In Swedish there are dances known as Engelska ...a duple-meter rhythm "imported" from Britain in the eighteenth century, ...


17 Dec 07 - 03:20 PM (#2217446)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: open mike

We often say here two countries seperated by a common language,
or something to that effect when realizing linguistic differences between Yookers (U.K) and Yoosers (U.S.) (mudcat slang terms which
go along with "Blicky" meaning blue clicky (clickable link)...another "new" word invented by mudcatters as far as i can tell..


17 Dec 07 - 03:55 PM (#2217476)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: PoppaGator

Corollary to the meaning of "english" that has to do with puting enough spin on a ball to alter its trajectory is the related term "body english" whereby a person's bodily movement after releasing a projectile is performed in hope of influencing the direction of flight. Also known as "follow-through." Further thoughts?

All that other ethnic and geopolitical stuff, I'll leave to others. It's interesting enough, but I have nothing to add...


17 Dec 07 - 04:04 PM (#2217484)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Banjo-Flower

If you want a good Breakfast ask for a full "English"

Gerry


17 Dec 07 - 05:28 PM (#2217556)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Amos

"Blue Clicky Thing" was coined by Rick Fielding, and quickly decayed into "Blicky".



A


17 Dec 07 - 07:36 PM (#2217655)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)

Boiled vegetables.


17 Dec 07 - 07:43 PM (#2217660)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Rowan

Cobra put the finger on the ethnicity aspect with
so to be English is in fact to be a descendant from any/ all of the following - Angle Jute Pict Celt Hun Norman Saxon Roman Viking and latterly Polish Romanian Indo-Chinese Arabic African Afro-Caribbean etc etc etc

But that description also applies to many who were born in Oz (and, I dare say, many other parts of the Commonwealth and even the US) who would never call themselves "English".

When Guest Dazbo asked
why is spin on a pool ball (or baseballs) called english? Peace wrote an excellent answer which included Visitors from England showed Americans how use spin, which explains why it is called "English" in the United States but nowhere else.

But it's called "English" in Oz, possibly because of Walter Lindrum but it probably predated him.

Cheers, Rowan


17 Dec 07 - 08:14 PM (#2217689)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)

The first reference to 'english' for putting side spin on the cue ball is in Mark Twain, 1869, "Innocents Abroad." "You would invariably put the 'English' on the wrong side of the ball." No explanation of where the term came from. The book is probably online, if anyone wants to look. Page 116 of the first edition.

The stories by Rupert Hughes, comprising "The Dozen of Lakerim," members of a fictional athletic club, serialized in Century Magazine and in the children's magazine "St. Nicholas," reached every corner of North America. A story in 1898 described a billiards game in which the hero used 'english,'
Information from The Oxford English Dictionary, complete edition.


17 Dec 07 - 08:18 PM (#2217691)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Don Firth

Well . . . you did have to ask, didn't you?

Don Firth


18 Dec 07 - 04:43 AM (#2217877)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: GUEST,PMB

No interest in the replies from John Simmonds?

I thought that the British were generally pushed west and north by the Celts when they came to what we call the British Isles about 3 centuries before the Romans turned up.

No, the British (Pritani, Brettoni etc.) were the "Celts" who were there when the Romans arrived, and also after they left. (What Celt meant, apart from language, is a matter for debate.) They may have displaced an earlier population, and they may have merged with them, or there may simply have been a change of culture over some hundreds of years. DNA evidence suggests both continuity and immigration.

The English got their name from the Angles, but it doesn't mean that every Englishman was an Angle- the probability is that the immigrants mixed with the indigenous population in varying degrees. Then of course Norses of various flavours came along and added to the Micks (sorry, mix) and changed the language again. And so on.


18 Dec 07 - 11:25 AM (#2218159)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: GUEST

I suspect that the originator of this thread was probably thinking in terms of the appointment of the new "English" football coach, and has realised from the intelligence of the replies that he's in the wrong forum. He certainly doesn't seem to have any intention of following up his query. Still, it's been an interesting exchange of views and information.

Andrew

PS - Thought for Paws

I did say 'approximately'


18 Dec 07 - 11:53 AM (#2218174)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)

Football in England? I thought they played soccer.


18 Dec 07 - 12:14 PM (#2218188)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Rog Peek

Surely English merely means 'Born in England'.

Rog


18 Dec 07 - 12:27 PM (#2218205)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)

There is that peculiar byway of language called British, or English 'humor.'

A lot of the old chestnuts here, plus some that were new to me:
Best of British


18 Dec 07 - 02:05 PM (#2218279)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Georgiansilver

Hey 'Q'...the English play rugby football and soccer football.
Best wishes, MIke.


18 Dec 07 - 04:12 PM (#2218393)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: danensis

No. we play football, rugby league, and another game which is vagueley similar to the latter.

John


18 Dec 07 - 05:17 PM (#2218439)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Rog Peek

Georgiansilver, The correct name for so-called soccer football is "Association Football", and danensis, the vaguely similar game you are desperately trying to avoid mentioning is "Rugby Union Football".

Rog


18 Dec 07 - 05:22 PM (#2218445)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Q (Frank Staplin)

I'll accept Rugby Union Football as football, but the other one isn't brutal enough.


18 Dec 07 - 05:47 PM (#2218461)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: The Vulgar Boatman

I was always told that a rugby league player was a union player with his brains kicked out...

(exit pursued by a bear)


19 Dec 07 - 02:02 AM (#2218712)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Gurney

'English Leave' is a translation from French of what the English term 'French Leave.' That's according to Flanders and Swann.

'Body English' is the urging body movements forlornly attempting to alter the trajectory of a thrown, or, more usually, bowled, object, such as a 10-pin bowling ball.

5 commas in 6 words. Don't think I've ever used so many.



If Rugby and League and Oz Rules and American Football is supposed to be FOOTBALL, they are very badly named. Handball is a foul in REAL football.


19 Dec 07 - 09:28 AM (#2218884)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: GUEST,dazbo

Neil D - a popular addiction to flagellation in England amongst the gentry was known as the English Vice. Can't see it's as much fun as sex but then I didn't go to a Public School (or a private school to our American chums)


19 Dec 07 - 12:17 PM (#2219008)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Rusty Dobro

Back when I used to read US motorcycle magazines, I used to hear that riders used body english to get round a berm. Two nations divided by a common language.(Though not that common nowadays in some rural parts of East Anglia).


19 Dec 07 - 02:53 PM (#2219097)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Amos

I am still annoyed at the transparent idiocy of the original question, no offense intended.


A


19 Dec 07 - 03:18 PM (#2219122)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: PoppaGator

The OP described himself as "new to this forum," but we shouldn't assume that he was completely ignorant of what is customarily under discussion here.

I thought, and still think, that his question related to defining "English" as a description of folk/traditional music, not football. And Joe and the clones apparently agree, since the thread is up here in the music secion, not down in the BS Basement.

After all, defining "English" (as opposed to "British" or, God fiorbid "Celtic") music, "English" traditions, etc., is controversial enough among this group.


19 Dec 07 - 03:19 PM (#2219123)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: PoppaGator

Ooops! This is a BS thread after all, isn't it? My bad.


19 Dec 07 - 06:37 PM (#2219286)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Rowan

When I looked up the link posted by Q I was surprised to see that almost all of the terms are not only known in Oz but I could count less than half a dozen that I hadn't heard used here.

Cheers, Rowan


19 Dec 07 - 07:43 PM (#2219324)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Bill D

Ah, my dear Gurney...the commas after 'thrown' and 'bowled' are not really required.

"...attempting to alter the trajectory of a thrown, or more usually, bowled object, such as..."


19 Dec 07 - 10:55 PM (#2219416)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: robomatic

Bloodnok: "Are you English?"
Neddy:    "Only by descent!"
Bloodnok: "By descent?"
Neddy:    "I came down by parachute!"


20 Dec 07 - 02:32 AM (#2219465)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Gurney

Bill, I don't agree. It is clearer my way, in my opinion.
However, as the comma is a dying device in this day of texting, along with all other types of punctuation and also spelling, I suspect we are both dinosaurs.


I have a program for my cellphone that allows me to type texts out on this keyboard. Sod 'em, I say.


20 Dec 07 - 03:22 AM (#2219484)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Big Al Whittle

a third of a joke....


20 Dec 07 - 01:31 PM (#2219780)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: The Sandman

It means you will be hated by many different nations.


20 Dec 07 - 02:16 PM (#2219806)
Subject: RE: What does 'English' mean?
From: Big Al Whittle

Well if you will live in Ireland, Captain......