Quote of the week!

[RockDoctor]

so all those words we're not allowed to use anymore will remain in the OED?

But of course. Don't tell me that you didn't spend days at the back of the French class, looking up the rude words in the French-English dictionary?
OK : I'll accept the get-out clause that you never thought of it. Unlikely, but not impossible.

[Cholmondely]

No: it's a historical dictionary.

Thanks, Big D - so all those words we're not allowed to use anymore will remain in the OED?

The fact that the OED up to now has been concerned with recording historical use is no guarantee that it will remain such in the future. The spread of politically correct fascism seems quite unstoppable at the moment.

[Cody]

Don't tell me that you didn't spend days at the back of the French class, looking up the rude words in the French-English dictionary?

French classes seemed to pass me by. I was much more interested in Latin classes.

[RockDoctor]

French classes seemed to pass me by. I was much more interested in Latin classes.

Facere ese para ludo del legion stannum.

[Cody]

Cogito, ergo tutti frutti.


They're coming thick and fast today...

Scientists say the weight of human-made objects will likely exceed that of living things by the end of the year. In other words, the combined weight of all the plastic, bricks, concrete and other things we've made in the world will outweigh all animals and plants on the planet for the first time.

[RockDoctor]

Scientists say the weight of human-made objects will likely exceed that of living things by the end of the year. In other words, the combined weight of all the plastic, bricks, concrete and other things we've made in the world will outweigh all animals and plants on the planet for the first time.

Hmmm. Got a source for that?
Considering the amount of topsoil that has been lost to rivers after irrigation work in the last few millennia, I wonder if we didn't actually pass that (pretty meaningless) number some time ago?

Quis custodiet ipsos custard tarts?

[Disembodied]

No: it's a historical dictionary.

Thanks, Big D - so all those words we're not allowed to use anymore will remain in the OED?

The fact that the OED up to now has been concerned with recording historical use is no guarantee that it will remain such in the future. The spread of politically correct fascism seems quite unstoppable at the moment.

It's pretty much a guarantee. It's the point and purpose of the whole affair. To be honest most of the demand to "purify" the OED tends to come from tabloid nonsense stories and corporate publicity, e.g. McDonalds, who object to the term "McJob", or the Potato Marketing Council objecting to the term "couch potato":
http://content.time.com/time/business/a ... 91,00.html

political correctness the avoidance of forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude, marginalize, or insult groups of people who are socially disadvantaged or discriminated against.

I'm more worried about actual fascism, myself.

fascism an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government.

[Cody]

Got a source for that?

Yeah, here.

[Cholmondely]

Thanks, Big D - so all those words we're not allowed to use anymore will remain in the OED?

The fact that the OED up to now has been concerned with recording historical use is no guarantee that it will remain such in the future. The spread of politically correct fascism seems quite unstoppable at the moment.

It's pretty much a guarantee. It's the point and purpose of the whole affair. To be honest most of the demand to "purify" the OED tends to come from tabloid nonsense stories and corporate publicity, e.g. McDonalds, who object to the term "McJob", or the Potato Marketing Council objecting to the term "couch potato":
http://content.time.com/time/business/a ... 91,00.html

political correctness the avoidance of forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude, marginalize, or insult groups of people who are socially disadvantaged or discriminated against.

I'm more worried about actual fascism, myself.

fascism an authoritarian and nationalistic right-wing system of government.

I'm more worried about Troompism.

[RockDoctor]

Got a source for that?

Yeah, here.

Thanks. Haven't checked the news today.

The scientists worked out the combined mass of all human-made stuff from 1900 to the present day and compared this with the weight of all the living things on the planet (known as biomass).(...) The exact timing is sensitive to definitions, so there may be some variability in the estimates by a few years either side, they say.

So, yeah, a pretty much meaningless number, to make a point. That we're producing "stuff" (including waste) faster today than ever before isn't contested. They're estimating around 10kg/person/day (which, of course, is why when you're shipping slaves, you move them as freeze-dried pre-packaged cold-sleep "corpsicles"), but even if you take that down to a pretty bare minimum of 1kg/day (for feeding the food synthesiser) and apply that to all pre-1900 generations, you'd have the same mass produced again in the approximate interval {Romans} to 1900. Fiddling estimates for the rate of population increase and the rate of personal "stuff use" make the calculation more complex, but they're fiddling it in sensible directions.
In the unlikely event that the average human increases their standard of living (well, standard of consumption) to the present level of Western society, then we'll be needing another couple of planets to provide the raw materials (stone, cement-making powder, metal ores). In the more likely event that average human decreases their standard of living (well, standard of consumption) to the present level of an Indian peasant, then we'll continue to fit on one planet. With negligible progress towards asteroid mining ... well, the Indian route is more likely than the Western route.
But hey, I'm a geologist. What would I know about resources? Bloody experts. Trust your average Edible Arts Graduate moonlighting as a journalist from an exciting career in burger-flipping!

[Cody]

Kangaroos are able to intentionally communicate with people and "ask for help", a study has found.

What's that you say, Skippy? Sonny's fallen down the well?

[RockDoctor]

Kangaroos are able to intentionally communicate with people and "ask for help", a study has found.

What's that you say, Skippy? Sonny's fallen down the well?

(In voce Skippy) No, stoopid hoomin. I pushed him.

[Cody]

Impressionist Rory Bremner "saved John Major's bacon" when he inadvertently thwarted a Tory revolt against him, newly released files show. Documents from the National Archives tell how Bremner impersonated the then-PM when he phoned Eurosceptic Tory MPs in 1993, asking for their support.

You couldn't make it up! I suppose it illustrates the dangers of deepfake AI etc.

[Cody]

Understanding how magic tricks work could help to protect people from manipulation by politicians and marketing, say researchers.

Other ways of protecting people from such manipulation are available - wake up, sheeple!

[RockDoctor]

Understanding how magic tricks work could help to protect people from manipulation by politicians and marketing, say researchers.

Other ways of protecting people from such manipulation are available - wake up, sheeple!

Who was that? The Great Randi?