Re: New Colours

[AdamW]

êtes-vous taureau chiant nous ?

Non, je ne parle pas la connerie.

I love it that bull-poop in French is "Connerie"... what is Sean Connery? Bull-poop that has been shaved?

 

[securespark]

Securespark & AdamW....I know one of the biggest gripes by the French is that the British do not try and speak the language

I work with the French a lot (very nice people) and also Brits who have lived in France for a few years. I have noticed something: speaking French for a prolonged period does something to your face. The best description I can give is that it makes your face go a bit saggy and rubbery, and makes you look slightly unhappy.

Hence the Gallic shrug, peut-etre?

Anyone remember Miles Kington in Punch, doing Franglais??

 

[recs]

sure the modern plugs have earths but they are done in different ways and there is a situation where an earthed plug from one country in another countrys earthed socket won't be earthed

you say some other european countrys use 30A radials how is this done safely with unfused plugs that in some cases can have 3A flex attached (or is it done not safely or are we not the only country that fuses plugs)

also in a lot of europe not haveing earths is failry common in older installs (even in public places like hotels) unlike here where you see earthed sockets almost everywhere

One countries plug not fitting another countries socket is obvious. Their radials are protected by a 30A bottle fuse back at the board, particularly in Germany. I have yet to stay in a hotel in mainland Europe that does not have earthed outlets and believe me I have stayed in some run down places in the course of my work. And as a matter of fact, no we are not the only country that uses the fused plug. In fact the UK type of distribution (ie 3 pin plug) is the most commonly used system in the world, as far as population is concerned. For example our system is used in China, Austrialia and South Africa to name but a few. As far as no earthing is concerned, it is no more common that finding an old installation in the UK with no PME or earth rod installed

well everyone i have asked who has been in mainland europe has found non-eartheed sockets

not fitting each others sockets would be fine the point is they *do fit* but *don't earth*

Having worked on mainland Europe for 4 years as an electrical design engineer, the only country I have been to which did not have earthed sockets (and only in some parts) was East Germany. \The rest of europe I found earthed systems.

 

[dingbat]

Anyone remember Miles Kington in Punch, doing Franglais??

Blimey mate, showing your age aren't you? I used to read "Let's Parler Franglais" in the ancient, battered copies of Punch, blown in on the seasonal Saharan ghiblies, while working on seismic crews in central Libya in the late seventies. We believed the magazines had been discarded by French Legionnaires, stir crazy and camel-lust-mad in the early decades of the twentieth century!!

 

[securespark]

I know nothing.

Talking of silly french words, how about

"Poubelle" for dustbin??

 

[AdamW]

Think of a butterfly. Wonderful word, "but-ter-fly", all gentle. Brings about images of graceful fluttering colourful creatures. In French? "Petaloude", a similar, nice, fluttery word.

What about German? "Schmetterling". A very gutteral, harsh word. Sounds more like it should be a pitbull terrier. Could you imagine school kids singing "all things bright and beautiful", with words like schmetterling in it?