A new and different "What If" -- WI N1/L3 program not cancelled

In article ,
Pat Flannery wrote:
Which means that you actually know just how unimpressive dinosaur names
are when translated into english... but once there was a paleontologist
who at least had a sense of humor...

There've been a fair number of them, over time. If memory serves, one of
the critters found in the Burgess Shale (very old marine fossils, many of
them looking nothing like anything known today) got a species name which
translates, roughly, as "dunno what this is".
--
MOST launched 30 June; science observations running | Henry Spencer
since Oct; first surprises seen; papers pending. |

"Gordon Davie" wrote in message
...
Mary Shafer wrote:
On Fri, 26 Dec 2003 02:16:22 GMT, "James R. Nowotarski"
wrote:

"Mary Shafer" wrote in message
...

English is the result of Norman French knights trying
to make dates
with Saxon barmaids.

H. Beam Piper. Somehow I just knew you'd read his
stuff...

Oops. Caught me. I stole it from someone who put it on
Usenet
(unattributed, as I recall). I think I have read H.
Beam Piper,
though.

Though you seem a little fuzzy on the details.
Time and Time Again people make the same mistakes.
-
Jim

On Sat, 27 Dec 2003 18:26:27 +0000 (UTC), "Gordon Davie"
wrote:

Mary Shafer wrote:
On Fri, 26 Dec 2003 02:16:22 GMT, "James R. Nowotarski"
wrote:

"Mary Shafer" wrote in message
...

English is the result of Norman French knights trying to make dates
with Saxon barmaids.

H. Beam Piper. Somehow I just knew you'd read his stuff...

Oops. Caught me. I stole it from someone who put it on Usenet
(unattributed, as I recall). I think I have read H. Beam Piper,
though.

Though you seem a little fuzzy on the details.

Then I definitely have read H. Beam Piper.

Mary

--
Mary Shafer Retired aerospace research engineer

Henry Spencer wrote:
In article ,
Pat Flannery wrote:
Which means that you actually know just how unimpressive dinosaur
names are when translated into english... but once there was a
paleontologist who at least had a sense of humor...

There've been a fair number of them, over time. If memory serves,
one of the critters found in the Burgess Shale (very old marine
fossils, many of them looking nothing like anything known today) got
a species name which translates, roughly, as "dunno what this is".

The British naturalist Sir Peter Scott (son of the Antarctic explorer)
coined a Latin name for the Loch Ness Monster after a photograph was taken
allegedly showing the fin of a large creatu 'Nessiteras rhombopteryx',
which supposedly meant 'Ness wonder with a diamond shaped fin'. However it
was quickly pointed out that this was an anagram of the phrase 'Monster hoax
by Sir Peter S'.

--
Gordon Davie
Edinburgh, Scotland

"Slipped the surly bonds of Earth...to touch the face of God"

In article , Markus
Mehring wrote:
On 24 Dec 2003 15:12:15 GMT, Andrew Gray wrote:

However, in German, the "simple" words are clear ("apfel", "hund") and
the complex ones confusing ("kraftig", "verkleiden"). Spot the reason,
for ten points... g

German must be very hard to learn for non-native speakers. I'm not aware of
a language with more exceptions to its own (numerous) rules.

I was under the impression that you were currently speaking it.

--
-Andrew Gray