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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
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they do run races in the wrong direction. That's right, they do! I'd forgotten that.
At Churchill Downs, there is one post marked Finish, but none marked Start. The starting "post" is wherever the starting gate is. This moves to different places around the track, according to the length of each race.
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Joined: Dec 2000
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member
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member
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We also manage to carry the term across to political elections, where our electoral system is referred to as 'first past the post'. Basically, the one with the most votes wins, regardless of whether or not he has a majority in his constituency. This means someone could have a majority in Parliament having only won say 40% of the votes in the constituencies making up that majority. Who needs proportional representation when you've already got such an equitable system (heavy sarcasm - e)??
I wonder if whoever came up with the term was a racing man?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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they do run races in the wrong direction.It should be noted that this is true only for Brits. Unlike choice of which side of the road to drive on, correct direction of races is dictated by purely natural forces, in this case the Coriolis Effect. This means that, while the Brits run their races in violation of this Law, the Ozzies and Kiwis are running theirs, although, to the untrained eye, in the same direction as the Brits, in the correct direction since the Coriolis Effect is reversed on the underside* of the world. * http://www.bacchus-marsh.com/Files/Part 6.htm
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Joined: Nov 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
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While I grasped your twaddle, I couldn't see where my twaddle fitted into your twaddle's thesis!
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Admission that South is Down, Cap. Mulling About in the Lower Latitudes
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Joined: Nov 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
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We also manage to carry the term across to political elections, where our electoral system is referred to as 'first past the post'."We", in this instance, being British. In the US it doesn't work any more, although it used to. Now the expression is "first past the Florida Supreme Court". Doesn't really have the same ring to it, does it?
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Joined: Sep 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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'first past the post'
Actually, here we generally say "first outta the gate" which probably makes more sense since that doesn't imply that the person has won like "first past the post" does.
Nipped at the wire I have never heard. Nipped at/in the bud is quite a common expression meaning it was stopped right at the start or just as it was beginning to form.
As to racing term...in Québec we are notorious for enthusiastically going anywhere that is *not the race track. The one we have is subsidized by the govt and caters to a few hundred people on weekends.
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Joined: Nov 2000
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old hand
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old hand
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Not strictly true Faldage. In different states of Australia horse races are conducted either clockwise or anticlockwise. The mere fact one state does it one way is sufficient for another to do it the opposite way.
stales
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addict
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addict
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...either clockwise or anticlockwise.
To get back to the original name of this thread, "British slang", I have always heard it as counterclockwise and that is the way it is listed in my dictionary. Do Brits frequently use anti over counter?
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