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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,
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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.
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Carpal Tunnel
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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..."
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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.
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Pooh-Bah
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Do French leave?
Or do they prattle until dawn of post-modernity?
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enthusiast
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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
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veteran
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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.
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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]
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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
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I was talking about astronauts in low earth orbitBill - 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.htmlIt 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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