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Carpal Tunnel
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Bridget asked: CapK, are you talking about the French, or the Parisians?
Actually my response didn't address the issue. The Parisians I've met are, on the whole, rude. And rudeness was the basis of my response.
When I said "stupid but logical", what I meant was that they use logic to arrive at places that no one else normally does. When they arrive there, they will defend the position to the death, regardless of its value.
In this instance we were discussing French language purity and the fact that the French are like King Knut/Canute was reputed to have been - defenders of the undefendable. You can no more stop change in language than you can the tides. To try to legislate against adoption of words from other languages does two things: It makes you appear elitist, and if even partially successful, isolates your culture. In this day and age, most countries/languages have realised that. The French, as exemplified by their academics and government, haven't. What does that make them - especially when you take all the rest of their little xenophobic quirks into consideration?
Having said all that, I should point out that I was referring to the culture and its effect on individuals, not individuals' thought processes. I think bel realised that.
If Max ever gets his fan club working to his advantage, he'd probably agree with me that one of NZ's worst traits is the "tall poppy syndrome".
If a Kiwi does well at something, sooner or later there will be an attempt by the culture to cut him or her "down to size". I hate that - it's a hangover from the post-depression era. For fifty years mediocrity was a value that the government encouraged. Sameness and underachievement were used to justify the stultifying economic stagnation engendered by the protectionist, closed-loop "nanny government" approach from the 1930s to the early 1980s. The economic approach died with the National Government in 1984, but the cultural influences just keep on truckin'.
Cheers
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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If a Kiwi does well at something, sooner or later there will be an attempt by the culture to cut him or her "down to size". I hate that - it's a hangover from the post-depression era.
Dear Cap ... The Kiwis are not alone in this one. The Hawaiians talk about crabs in a barrell... when one reaches the rim the others pull him back down. Then there's the Irish saying "Put an Irishman on a spit and you'll have no trouble finding two others to turn him." All reflective of the same trait in human nature. Why do we berate instead of boost? Jealousy? Or, dare I say, even (deadly sin) envy?
Then there is the whole phenomena of gossip ....
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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'fraid we Brits are vey guilty of this. The moment anyone starts to become successful the knives are out. Sad.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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>use logic to arrive at places ... (and) defend the position to the death.... I-Maginot that!!!
TEd
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Carpal Tunnel
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TEd mused: >use logic to arrive at places ... (and) defend the position to the death.... I-Maginot that!!!Gedorff! Maginot is a French word meaning "pointless defensive point not defended." It's the exact antonym, not a synonym!   
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Mais si, it adds up! Fifteen days hung around fourteen nights - makes perfect sense.When you book into a hotel for Saturday night, you can spend two days there - Saturday and Sunday. This is the same thing over a longer time period.
Mais non, Bridget. If you calculate it that way we should really be saying seize jours, not quinze. Write it out on a piece of paper and you will see that I am right.
Typically, most people work from Monday to Friday. When they go on vacation/holiday they start on the Saturday and finish on the Sunday of the second week, as follows...
Sat, Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Th, Fr, Sat, Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Th, Fr, Sat, Sun.
A total of seize jours, not quinze.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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'fraid we Brits are vey guilty of this. The moment anyone starts to become successful the knives are out...
A famous chef from Paris is touring Wales. He stops at a samll seaside restaurant, and chooses lobster from the menu. The waiter points to a shallow tank, and asks the chef to pick his own. "Sacré bleu! Ow is it possible - if we kept our Paris lobsters in such a shallow tank they would all run to Dieppe!" exclaims the chef. "No problem, here", says the waiter. "They're Welsh lobsters - if one tried to get out, the other bastards would all murder him!"
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Sat, Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Th, Fr, Sat, Sun, Mon, Tue, Wed, Th, Fr, Sat, Sun.
A total of seize jours, not quinze.
This can only work if you are talking about the working week, ma belle bel (I would have called you "bon bel" but for the possible offence you might take with ref. to the laughing cow! ) The whole point about the term "fortnight" is that it can be used about a period that starts on any day, related to any activity, as in, "I will see you again a fortnight today." Are you telling me that "quinze jours" can only be used to denote the period between one week-end and another? If so, then you are right and I withdraw with a graceful bow, but I had always believed that the two phrases were equivalent.
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