Things that annoy you beyond reason...(Vol. 6)
Discussion
nonsequitur said:
My lawn is rapidly growing and two neighbours have cut the grass! 
It's only March, can't they wait until at least Easter?
Let me guess - they don't work and so can make use of that 15 minutes of sunshine that you have had on a Monday morning, and can shame you despite the fact it has rained all weekend, every weekend since Christmas, and that is the only time off you get?It's only March, can't they wait until at least Easter?
Halmyre said:
nonsequitur said:
My lawn is rapidly growing and two neighbours have cut the grass!
It's only March, can't they wait until at least Easter?
I'd happily cut my grass if only it would stop bloody well raining.It's only March, can't they wait until at least Easter?
We moved in last year, and the garden was a low priority, but now the "lawn" is in desperate need of some remedial work. Cutting it would be a good start, so that I can see what exactly needs doing, and work out if it's salvageable, or if I need to resow/returf it. I've been wanting to mow it for weeks now, but every time it looks vaguely like it might dry out, down comes the rain again. And a poxy hover mower will only make a bad lawn worse it it's wet when I cut it...
Shakermaker said:
nonsequitur said:
My lawn is rapidly growing and two neighbours have cut the grass!
It's only March, can't they wait until at least Easter?
Let me guess - they don't work and so can make use of that 15 minutes of sunshine that you have had on a Monday morning, and can shame you despite the fact it has rained all weekend, every weekend since Christmas, and that is the only time off you get?It's only March, can't they wait until at least Easter?
LordGrover said:
When I ask google to play BBC Five Live, I am irked when it replies 'Playing five live on the BBC' (pronouncing live as liv', not rhyming with five but as in olive). 
At random it occasionally pronounces it correctly.
I asked Siri to play some music the other day and it said "Playing Definitely Maybe by O-sees" At random it occasionally pronounces it correctly.
Dr Jekyll said:
Of course English proficiency is different.
The English language was invented by Anglo Saxons who spoke German, and Normans who spoke French, and who wanted a simple way to communicate with each other. That's why we don't the ludicrous gender for everything rule that makes French and German so hard to learn.
No.The English language was invented by Anglo Saxons who spoke German, and Normans who spoke French, and who wanted a simple way to communicate with each other. That's why we don't the ludicrous gender for everything rule that makes French and German so hard to learn.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_English
English is a West Germanic language that originated from Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain in the mid 5th to 7th centuries AD by Anglo-Saxon settlers. With the end of Roman rule in 410 AD, Latin ceased to be a major influence on the Celtic languages spoken by the majority of the population.[citation needed] People from what is now northwest Germany, west Denmark and the Netherlands settled in the British Isles from the mid-5th century and came to culturally dominate the bulk of southern Great Britain until the 7th century. The Anglo-Saxon language, now called Old English, originated as a group of Anglo-Frisian dialects which were spoken, at least by the settlers, in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It displaced to some extent the Celtic languages that predominated previously. Old English also reflected the varied origins of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms established in different parts of Britain. The Late West Saxon dialect eventually became dominant. A significant subsequent influence on the shaping of Old English came from contact with the North Germanic languages spoken by the Scandinavian Vikings who conquered and colonized parts of Britain during the 8th and 9th centuries, which led to much lexical borrowing and grammatical simplification. The Anglian dialects had a greater influence on Middle English.
yellowjack said:
Halmyre said:
nonsequitur said:
My lawn is rapidly growing and two neighbours have cut the grass!
It's only March, can't they wait until at least Easter?
I'd happily cut my grass if only it would stop bloody well raining.It's only March, can't they wait until at least Easter?
We moved in last year, and the garden was a low priority, but now the "lawn" is in desperate need of some remedial work. Cutting it would be a good start, so that I can see what exactly needs doing, and work out if it's salvageable, or if I need to resow/returf it. I've been wanting to mow it for weeks now, but every time it looks vaguely like it might dry out, down comes the rain again. And a poxy hover mower will only make a bad lawn worse it it's wet when I cut it...
It’s as green as an emerald, and all I have to do is rake the fallen leaves from it in autumn.
DeltonaS said:
No.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_English
English is a West Germanic language that originated from Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain in the mid 5th to 7th centuries AD by Anglo-Saxon settlers. With the end of Roman rule in 410 AD, Latin ceased to be a major influence on the Celtic languages spoken by the majority of the population.[citation needed] People from what is now northwest Germany, west Denmark and the Netherlands settled in the British Isles from the mid-5th century and came to culturally dominate the bulk of southern Great Britain until the 7th century. The Anglo-Saxon language, now called Old English, originated as a group of Anglo-Frisian dialects which were spoken, at least by the settlers, in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It displaced to some extent the Celtic languages that predominated previously. Old English also reflected the varied origins of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms established in different parts of Britain. The Late West Saxon dialect eventually became dominant. A significant subsequent influence on the shaping of Old English came from contact with the North Germanic languages spoken by the Scandinavian Vikings who conquered and colonized parts of Britain during the 8th and 9th centuries, which led to much lexical borrowing and grammatical simplification. The Anglian dialects had a greater influence on Middle English.
That's old English, modern English is a mixture of that and Norman French.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_English
English is a West Germanic language that originated from Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain in the mid 5th to 7th centuries AD by Anglo-Saxon settlers. With the end of Roman rule in 410 AD, Latin ceased to be a major influence on the Celtic languages spoken by the majority of the population.[citation needed] People from what is now northwest Germany, west Denmark and the Netherlands settled in the British Isles from the mid-5th century and came to culturally dominate the bulk of southern Great Britain until the 7th century. The Anglo-Saxon language, now called Old English, originated as a group of Anglo-Frisian dialects which were spoken, at least by the settlers, in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It displaced to some extent the Celtic languages that predominated previously. Old English also reflected the varied origins of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms established in different parts of Britain. The Late West Saxon dialect eventually became dominant. A significant subsequent influence on the shaping of Old English came from contact with the North Germanic languages spoken by the Scandinavian Vikings who conquered and colonized parts of Britain during the 8th and 9th centuries, which led to much lexical borrowing and grammatical simplification. The Anglian dialects had a greater influence on Middle English.
Clockwork Cupcake said:
Shakermaker said:
I asked Siri to play some music the other day and it said "Playing Definitely Maybe by O-sees"
I was driving along the M27 and M3 years ago and Google Navigation told me to come off at the sign for "Chandler back apostrophe ess Ford" 
Halmyre said:
Driving abroad with a satnav can be fun, listening to the mangled pronounciation of Italian or Spanish street names. Less fun when some of the names are so long that, by the time you've heard it all, said street is miles behind you.
Yup.For years, Google Navigation (or, more precisely, the default Android text-to-speech) would pronounce Reading as reading (as in what you are doing right now).
I think they have fixed it as I don't notice it so much these days.
DeltonaS said:
Dr Jekyll said:
Of course English proficiency is different.
The English language was invented by Anglo Saxons who spoke German, and Normans who spoke French, and who wanted a simple way to communicate with each other. That's why we don't the ludicrous gender for everything rule that makes French and German so hard to learn.
No.The English language was invented by Anglo Saxons who spoke German, and Normans who spoke French, and who wanted a simple way to communicate with each other. That's why we don't the ludicrous gender for everything rule that makes French and German so hard to learn.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_English
English is a West Germanic language that originated from Anglo-Frisian dialects brought to Britain in the mid 5th to 7th centuries AD by Anglo-Saxon settlers. With the end of Roman rule in 410 AD, Latin ceased to be a major influence on the Celtic languages spoken by the majority of the population.[citation needed] People from what is now northwest Germany, west Denmark and the Netherlands settled in the British Isles from the mid-5th century and came to culturally dominate the bulk of southern Great Britain until the 7th century. The Anglo-Saxon language, now called Old English, originated as a group of Anglo-Frisian dialects which were spoken, at least by the settlers, in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It displaced to some extent the Celtic languages that predominated previously. Old English also reflected the varied origins of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms established in different parts of Britain. The Late West Saxon dialect eventually became dominant. A significant subsequent influence on the shaping of Old English came from contact with the North Germanic languages spoken by the Scandinavian Vikings who conquered and colonized parts of Britain during the 8th and 9th centuries, which led to much lexical borrowing and grammatical simplification. The Anglian dialects had a greater influence on Middle English.
Dr Jekyll said:
That's old English, modern English is a mixture of that and Norman French.
First of all, languages aren't invented, they develop over time.Seconldy, look at what you wrote previously: it's wasn't "invented" by Anglo Saxons who spoke German, and Normans who spoke French. Those Anglo Saxons didn't speak German but a mixture of dialects
People from what is now northwest Germany, west Denmark and the Netherlands settled in the British Isles from the mid-5th century and came to culturally dominate the bulk of southern Great Britain until the 7th century. The Anglo-Saxon language, now called Old English, originated as a group of Anglo-Frisian dialects which were spoken, at least by the settlers.
Clockwork Cupcake said:
Yup.
For years, Google Navigation (or, more precisely, the default Android text-to-speech) would pronounce Reading as reading (as in what you are doing right now).
I think they have fixed it as I don't notice it so much these days.
The first time I walked through Reading, distracted by finding my way to a new job, I caught a banner strung across the facade of the old Town Hall in my peripheral vision and thought "A museum devoted to reading, that's odd."... looks at street map... For years, Google Navigation (or, more precisely, the default Android text-to-speech) would pronounce Reading as reading (as in what you are doing right now).
I think they have fixed it as I don't notice it so much these days.
"Oh, hang on.".By the way, the museum of reading exhibits an excellent copy, embroidered in 1885, of the Bayeux Tapestry. /tourist information
Halmyre said:
Driving abroad with a satnav can be fun, listening to the mangled pronounciation of Italian or Spanish street names. Less fun when some of the names are so long that, by the time you've heard it all, said street is miles behind you.
With me as passenger, my son drove my rented Mercedes a long time ago, from his house in Bielefeld to somewhere near Hamburg, to pick up some WW1 memorabilia he’d bought on e-Bay.He used the Sat-Nav that he took from his Renault.
The disembodied voice would say “In fünfhundert Metern nehmen Sie die nächste Ausfahrt” and “Weiter links.”
I said, “Christ kid, can’t you programme that to English?”
He said, “It was in English, some bird with a northern accent, drove me nuts.”
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