The perpetual calendar

Chuck Riggs filted:

instead of the bog-standard "God bless you".

That may be our first Russian-English bilingual pun....r


--
"Oy! A cat made of lead cannot fly."
- Mark Brader declaims a basic scientific principle

Jared wrote:
On Mar 5, 10:56 am, Jonathan de Boyne Pollard J.deBoynePollard-
wrote:
(Why isn't there a word 'decension'?)
Because there's no need for a word to contrast with "descent" with a
special meaning.
There is, of course, a word "descension", and has been for some
centuries, making the above rationale for its non-existence somewhat
amusing. Oy! Denizens of sci.astro! Wakey wakey! This is (in part)
your technical terminology.

I misread this as 'declension'.

So did I, but I quickly realised it didn't fit the declension patterns
in my grammar book.

--

Rob Bannister

Chuck Riggs wrote:
On Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:31:20 +0800, Robert Bannister
wrote:

James Hogg wrote:
Chuck Riggs wrote:
On Sat, 6 Mar 2010 12:11:11 -0800, "Skitt"
wrote:

snip

It would be impossible for an atheist to be elected to political office in
the USA, I think.
That is, IMO, a sad commentary on the flexibility of American thought,
if it is true.
Can you imagine someone ending every speech with "Nothing bless America"?

Um... with the possible exception of sneezes, atheists don't actually
wish blessings on people or countries, so they would hardly be likely to
invoke the the god Nothing who reigns supreme in the intellectual sphere
of politics.

Even with sneezes, I say "gesundheit", which means good health to you,
instead of the bog-standard "God bless you".

Living where you do, I'm surprised people don't suspect you of being a
Nazi. I only use "Gesundheit" when I'm among German or Yiddish speakers.

--

Rob Bannister

But there was no Year 0. 1 BCE was immediately followed by 1 CE.

Yes there was. 0 CE preceeded 1 CE.

The concept of zero was unknown to Dionysius Exiguus (or to anyone
else) when he devised the system.

Dionysius Exiguus didn't devise any year system named "CE". (Pop
quiz: What were the initials of the name of the system that Dionysius
Exiguus did invent?)

No one suggested that Dennis the Skinny named his system "CE."

For your edification, I've left quoted the text where you did exactly that.

Jonathan de Boyne Pollard wrote:

Yes there was. 0 CE preceeded 1 CE.

The concept of zero was unknown to Dionysius Exiguus (or to anyone
else) when he devised the system.

Dionysius Exiguus didn't devise any year system named "CE". (Pop quiz:
What were the initials of the name of the system that Dionysius Exiguus
did invent?)

Did Dionysius use any initials? English has AD, but other languages
have other expressions; Latin often used 'anno Christi'.

Here you can see his table: http://www.henk-reints.nl/cal/audette/denys.html.
In the table is the full form 'Anni Domini Nostri Jesu Christi'; he
has the short form 'Anno Domini' twice, and 'Anno Christi' once.
Probably no abbreviations were used until much later, but 'AD' is the
only one I've ever seen in inscriptions.

Andrew Usher

On Mar 8, 10:58*pm, Andrew Usher wrote:
Jonathan de Boyne Pollard wrote:

Yes there was. 0 CE preceeded 1 CE.

The concept of zero was unknown to Dionysius Exiguus (or to anyone
else) when he devised the system.

Dionysius Exiguus didn't devise any year system named "CE". *(Pop quiz:
What were the initials of the name of the system that Dionysius Exiguus
did invent?)

Did Dionysius use any initials? English has AD, but other languages
have other expressions; Latin often used 'anno Christi'.

Here you can see his table:http://www.henk-reints.nl/cal/audette/denys.html.
In the table is the full form 'Anni Domini Nostri Jesu Christi'; he
has the short form 'Anno Domini' twice, and 'Anno Christi' once.
Probably no abbreviations were used until much later, but 'AD' is the
only one I've ever seen in inscriptions.

The people who put dates on cornerstones these days (since "CE" was
invented, that is) don't generally provide any era designation.

On Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:56:42 +0100, James Hogg
wrote:

Chuck Riggs wrote:
On Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:31:20 +0800, Robert Bannister
wrote:

James Hogg wrote:
Chuck Riggs wrote:
On Sat, 6 Mar 2010 12:11:11 -0800, "Skitt"
wrote:

snip

It would be impossible for an atheist to be elected to political office in
the USA, I think.
That is, IMO, a sad commentary on the flexibility of American thought,
if it is true.
Can you imagine someone ending every speech with "Nothing bless America"?

Um... with the possible exception of sneezes, atheists don't actually
wish blessings on people or countries, so they would hardly be likely to
invoke the the god Nothing who reigns supreme in the intellectual sphere
of politics.

Even with sneezes, I say "gesundheit", which means good health to you,
instead of the bog-standard "God bless you".

"Bog" is standard Russian for "god". There's no escaping him.

Christ, no.
--

Regards,

Chuck Riggs,
An American who lives near Dublin, Ireland and usually spells in BrE

On 8 Mar 2010 11:13:37 -0800, R H Draney wrote:

Chuck Riggs filted:

instead of the bog-standard "God bless you".

That may be our first Russian-English bilingual pun....r

Is a pun a pun if not intended?
--

Regards,

Chuck Riggs,
An American who lives near Dublin, Ireland and usually spells in BrE

On Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:55:34 +0800, Robert Bannister
wrote:

Chuck Riggs wrote:

snip

Even with sneezes, I say "gesundheit", which means good health to you,
instead of the bog-standard "God bless you".

Living where you do, I'm surprised people don't suspect you of being a
Nazi.

Not a German?

I only use "Gesundheit" when I'm among German or Yiddish speakers.

Americans are different, at least the ones I've known in the
Washington, DC area are.
--

Regards,

Chuck Riggs,
An American who lives near Dublin, Ireland and usually spells in BrE

On Mon, 8 Mar 2010 04:34:37 -0800 (PST), "Peter T. Daniels"
wrote:

On Mar 8, 6:45*am, Chuck Riggs wrote:
On Sun, 07 Mar 2010 12:34:30 +0100, James Hogg
wrote:

Chuck Riggs wrote:
On Sat, 6 Mar 2010 12:11:11 -0800, "Skitt"
wrote:

snip

It would be impossible for an atheist to be elected to political office in
the USA, I think.

That is, IMO, a sad commentary on the flexibility of American thought,
if it is true.

Can you imagine someone ending every speech with "Nothing bless America"?

No, but I can imagine politicians ending their speeches, at some
distant date, with "Let us be thankful for our fine educational
system", for without it, they'll be thinking, if I am right, people
would still be clinging to religious superstition.

The "God bless America" tag goes back no further than Reagan -- the
first divorced president, a nominal Roman Catholic.

IINM, there are references to God in the Constitution and in the
Declaration of Independence, both written well before the Gipper's
day.
--

Regards,

Chuck Riggs,
An American who lives near Dublin, Ireland and usually spells in BrE