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#76115 07/15/02 01:07 PM
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I had never before heard "French leave" used as term applied to manners.
Always when I have seen it in print it has been a Brit anti-gallic sneer
meaning to desert,


#76116 07/15/02 02:37 PM
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While I am completely ignorant of French upper class manners, I remember a soldier
I met in Manila, who had been in Paris prior to VE day, and then got sent to Pacific.
He spoke French well enough to be invited into middleclass French homes, and he
was impressed by the somewhat elaborate courtesies expected on departure from
them. He was expected to shake hands and say a few words to every one of the
host's family and guests. He was very emphatic that middle class French ;manners
were superior to those in America.


#76117 07/16/02 11:57 AM
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emphatic that middle class French ;manners
were superior to those in America


well, more elaborate at least... ;)

I mean, look at how you might sign off even a simple business letter:

"Veuillez agréer, Madame, Monsieur, l'expression de mes sentiments distingués..."


#76118 07/16/02 12:36 PM
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Both of the quotes are not really appropriate. The most striking dimension of the
Chinese Wall is not its strength, but its length, which makes it possible for
astronauts orbiting over it to identify it. An interesting detail about it is that
much of it is constructed of compacted laterite soil, which is very resistant
to weathering.

I often wondered why the Great Wall was a significant obstacle. If you look
at pictures of it, it would not be hard to climb. It just occurred to me that
it would be very hard for an invader to get his horses over it.


#76119 07/16/02 08:29 PM
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Do French leave?

Or do they prattle until dawn of post-modernity?


#76120 07/17/02 05:01 AM
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In reply to:

The most striking dimension of the
Chinese Wall is not its strength, but its length, which makes it possible for
astronauts orbiting over it to identify it.


Or not. http://www.snopes.com/science/greatwal.htm


#76121 07/17/02 10:43 AM
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http://www.snopes.com/science/greatwal.htm

Thanks for the reference, Vernon. Not the first time that the Urban Legends site has convincingly revealed the mythical nature of "facts" I had entirely taken as read.




#76122 07/17/02 11:05 AM
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do they prattle until dawn of post-modernity?

A dawn of post-modernity, presumably, follows a night during which all objective truths are mislaid. [groan]



#76123 07/17/02 02:07 PM
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Dear Vernon Compton: Please notice I did not say "from the moon". I was talking about
astronauts in low earth orbit. In the URL below, the second paragraph from NASA says
the Great Wall of China and many other features of the earth can be readily distinguished.

http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa090100a.htm


#76124 07/17/02 02:43 PM
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I was talking about astronauts in low earth orbit

Bill - a little bit further down in Vernon's referenced page, objects visible from low earth orbit are also discussed. The key point, as repeated in the article you reference, is that this does not distinguish the Great Wall from a great many other man-made objects, including the Kennedy Space Center, the Golden Gate Bridge (your article), and if we're talking ancient objects, the Great Pyramid, for instance.

I, for one, had always taken it as read that the Great Wall was the only man-made object visible from space. You implied that it was at least something worthy of note. And we were hardly alone with our misconception:
http://www.bugbog.com/ancientsites/world_wonders_by_month/world_wonders_july.html

It also struck me that the myth of the Great Wall being uniquely visible from space (originally "from the moon") originated well before it was possible to establish the fact (1930s). That sense of having been hoodwinked for a large part of my life isn't entirely appreciated, but I suppose I ought to get used to it.


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