Off Topic The "Discuss Anything Else" Thread

Colourful "soap bubble" in the sky. Uncommon Rainbow filmed in Malaysia.

https://www.t-online.de/tv/news/id_87747830/seltener-regenbogen-in-malaysia-gefilmt.html

 

Rafale Ride Leads To Inadvertent Ejection By Overstressed Passenger

We all know about the Italian tank with seven reverse gears but the French jet that (fortunately) failed to eject the pilot surely means that they are only days away from planning an EU Air Force to complement an EU Army. They have probably put Austria, Hungary or Slovakia in charge of planning the EU Navy.

 

Beginner’s Guide to written English for the far Left

Don’t is an auxiliary contraction of the two words “do not”; see Fowler’s English Usage do 4/5
Doesn’t is an auxiliary contraction of the two words “does not”; see Fowler’s English Usage do 4/5
They are used in spoken English, not written English.

Generally speaking, there is no whitespace to the left of punctuation marks such as commas, colons, semi-colons, full stops or question marks and the preceding word. The Oxford comma is acceptable but the comma splice should be avoided.

English don’t live here anymore.

 

The metropolis.

 

A view from the hill . If you zoom in from the left the Crystal Palace masts moving right to Canary Wharf and right again the city of London and far right just peeping over the hill, the post office tower. All under what I like to call a Newmarket sky.

 

Ok Clark.

 

Technically that is quite true QM, an academic paper should never include contracted words. But the everyday world allows us the freedom to work outside the strict confines of academia. Thankfully, contractions are part and parcel of today's written word. The use of them make for friendlier and more accessible reading. One of the problems with being grammatically correct when writing, is that it can impart a stilted, pretentious feeling to the subject, which can be rather off putting to the reader.

Cambridge Dictionary allows for the use of contractions in everyday writing.

 

Man I can't wait to get my hands on Harry and Maghan's book, Finding Freedom. I hope in the rush to get the pages to my bung hole, I don't do myself another grievous injury. I have a bad habit of falling off the dunny, especially during those desperate times when beating myself into a frenzied state of euphoria.

 

It's hard to see how Dejan Lovren can see the light of day with his head wedged the way it is.

 

Yes, like avoiding a preposition at the end of a sentence. I have always avoided it but just lately I have (occasionally) thought, **** it. It can sound very formal and out of place sometimes if you stick it before the noun to which it relates. A nice little view on it here

 

Caught with my pants down.

 

German Sniffer Dog Makes $1.3m Drug Bust:

https://www.dw.com/en/german-sniffer-dog-makes-1-million-drug-bust/a-53433307

Bravo Reese, old boy, hope they gave you a couple of the best meaty bones they could find, plus anything else you like!

​

 

Most of us know quite a bit about Somniosus microcephalus, don't we? How many times, in conversation with friends, have we taken great delight in relating the extraordinary lives of the before mentioned, Somniosus microcephalus? I guess I can understand why people scratch their head and think I'm taking the piss. But of course you've all suffered the same fate when passing on the information to family and friends, so I guess we're all in the same boat.

 

This drug has been in the news lately (for various reasons); here's some blurb on it:

Hydroxychloroquine
Brand Name: Plaquenil

Plaquenil (hydroxychloroquine) is an antimalarial medication used to treat or prevent malaria, a disease caused by parasites, which enter the body through the bite of a mosquito. Plaquenil is also used to treat symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis and discoid or systemic lupus erythematosus. Plaquenil is available in generic form.

The list of possible side-effects is extensive, the Mayo Clinic lists them on its related website:

https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/hydroxychloroquine-oral-route/side-effects/drg-20064216

(Certainly no drug to play around with!)

 

****ing Zayn Malik

 

The Battle of Midway.

 

The car rental Hertz company in North America has filed for bankruptcy in the US and Canada, explaining that Covid19 and pressures from companies such as Uber have decimated them.

Europe, Australia and New Zealand were not included in the US Chapter 11 filing. The Wall Street Journal reported that Hertz held debts of $19 billion and now due to the virus, has 700,000 cars sitting idle as things stand at the moment.

Hertz have largely blamed Covid19 for the collapse, but analysts have stated that the company has pretty much not moved with the times.