Toilet sign - for bird lovers

[occam]

Here's an unusual 'Male/Female' toilet sign. It should appeal to the
bird lovers in AUE.

There was a thread while ago discussing the symbolism of toilet signs in
different cultures.


<https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9jieh8djrjs10lr54scwx/Toilet-sign.jpg?rlkey=5loulys3ydnlcvkcmcp4zcxqo&dl=0>

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

occam wrote:

> Here's an unusual 'Male/Female' toilet sign. It should appeal to the
> bird lovers in AUE.

Very nice. You write "Male/Female", but the signs are actually
completely general. They refer only to physiscal equipment.

--
Bertel, Denmark

[Paul Carmichael]

Well, you have me confused. I mean, it's American, but I believe they use
the word pecker to mean willy. What men have. The other one is what women
have.

Or have I been whooshed?


--
Paul.

https://paulc.es

[Jerry Friedman]

Cute.

I suppose somebody somewhere has used a rooster and a cat.

--
Jerry Friedman

[Jerry Friedman]

On Monday, February 5, 2024 at 9:01:21 AM UTC-7, Paul Carmichael wrote:
> El Mon, 05 Feb 2024 13:47:56 +0100, Bertel Lund Hansen escribió:
>
> > occam wrote:
> >
> >> Here's an unusual 'Male/Female' toilet sign. It should appeal to the
> >> bird lovers in AUE.
> >
> > Very nice. You write "Male/Female", but the signs are actually
> > completely general. They refer only to physiscal equipment.
> Well, you have me confused. I mean, it's American, but I believe they use
> the word pecker to mean willy. What men have. The other one is what women
> have.

...

Not so sure it's American. All the tits shown are British, and we call related
birds titmice and chickadees. The woodpeckers are hard to see, but I think
they're all European.

--
Jerry Friedman

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

Paul Carmichael wrote:

>>> Here's an unusual 'Male/Female' toilet sign. It should appeal to the
>>> bird lovers in AUE.
>>
>> Very nice. You write "Male/Female", but the signs are actually
>> completely general. They refer only to physiscal equipment.
>
> Well, you have me confused. I mean, it's American, but I believe they use
> the word pecker to mean willy. What men have. The other one is what women
> have.
>
> Or have I been whooshed?

I don't know. I just meant that in these days where some people do not
want to be called "man" or "woman", they would like a sign that doesn't
use those words.

--
Bertel, Denmark

[Blueshirt]

The way the world is going why not just have toilets for everyone
these days? One sign, saying "Toilet". No need for little drawings
of people either. Think of the money it would save!!!

I don't have separate toilets in my house for Male and Female... one
toilet sits all.

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

That's also how it is in aeroplanes, buses and trains. It doesn't seem
to create any problems. In France it's not unusual for people to use
the "wrong" toilet when it's necessary (for example when the "right"
one is closed for cleaning).

Apparently it's different in Belgium. Once in a university department
in Brussels the women's toilet was closed for some reason, but my wife
was greeted with horror when she suggested using the men's. In France
no one would raise an eyebrow. Most of the toilets in the bulding where
we worked are unisex.

--
Athel -- French and British, living in Marseilles for 36 years; mainly
in England until 1987.

[charles]

In article <l2cn87...@mid.individual.net>,

On looking round our new office premises, we spotted a shower room with a
"unisex" (man/woman) symbol. One of the female secretaries asked, in
horror, "Does that mean you have to take a boy in with you?"

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England - sent from my RISC OS 4t้ฒ
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

[occam]

You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'. Note, these mental images which only make
sense in English. Just as images of 'Venus' and 'Mars' only make sense
in astronomy department toilets.

I wonder if there are any universal symbols understood by everyone, by
which I mean everyone on Earth.

[Tony Cooper]

The signs are there to direct the person the appropriate toilet. I
doubt, when needing to go to the toilet, they will stop to object to
being gendered.

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

On 2024-02-05 19:28:50 +0000, occam said:

> On 05/02/2024 17:26, Jerry Friedman wrote:
>> On Monday, February 5, 2024 at 5:30:35 AM UTC-7, occam wrote:
>>> Here's an unusual 'Male/Female' toilet sign. It should appeal to the
>>> bird lovers in AUE.
>>>
>>> There was a thread while ago discussing the symbolism of toilet signs in
>>> different cultures.
>>>
>>>
>>> <https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9jieh8djrjs10lr54scwx/Toilet-sign.jpg?rlkey=5loulys3ydnlcvkcmcp4zcxqo&dl=0>
>>>
>>
>> Cute.
>>
>> I suppose somebody somewhere has used a rooster and a cat.
>>
>
> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'.

"Chatte" would be OK in French, but not "coq".

> Note, these mental images which only make
> sense in English. Just as images of 'Venus' and 'Mars' only make sense
> in astronomy department toilets.
>
> I wonder if there are any universal symbols understood by everyone, by
> which I mean everyone on Earth.

[Jerry Friedman]

On Monday, February 5, 2024 at 12:28:55 PM UTC-7, occam wrote:
> On 05/02/2024 17:26, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> > On Monday, February 5, 2024 at 5:30:35 AM UTC-7, occam wrote:
> >> Here's an unusual 'Male/Female' toilet sign. It should appeal to the
> >> bird lovers in AUE.
> >>
> >> There was a thread while ago discussing the symbolism of toilet signs in
> >> different cultures.
> >>
> >>
> >> <https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9jieh8djrjs10lr54scwx/Toilet-sign.jpg?rlkey=5loulys3ydnlcvkcmcp4zcxqo&dl=0>
> >
> > Cute.
> >
> > I suppose somebody somewhere has used a rooster and a cat.
> >
> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'.

Well spotted. I didn't want to be taken figuratively.

> Note, these mental images which only make
> sense in English.

A couple of gray cells are connecting... I'm searching... here it is, a note
by Dudley Fitts on his translation of Aristophanes' /The Birds/:

"26: Bird of Araby: This is the Cock, the Persian Bird, here called Mêdos
'the Median'. (The phallic pun is the same in Greek as in English.)"

You'd know whether the pun still works in modern Greek.

> Just as images of 'Venus' and 'Mars' only make sense
> in astronomy department toilets.

:-)

> I wonder if there are any universal symbols understood by everyone, by
> which I mean everyone on Earth.

The graphics would probably be a little too graphic.

--
Jerry Friedman

[bil...@shaw.ca]

The northern flicker, a largish and attractive woodpecker, is definitely native
across southern Canada. There is at least one pair in my immediate neighbourhood.
We often see them -- but always one at a time -- on the narrow strip of grass outside
our apartment windows, pecking for ants, grubs and the occasional earthworm.
This being Vancouver, they're here year-round; I don't know about elsewhere in Canada.
Wikip says they're native all the way down to Central America.

bill

[J. J. Lodder]

occam <oc...@erewhon.nix> wrote:

> On 05/02/2024 17:26, Jerry Friedman wrote:

> > On Monday, February 5, 2024 at 5:30:35?AM UTC-7, occam wrote:
> >> Here's an unusual 'Male/Female' toilet sign. It should appeal to the
> >> bird lovers in AUE.
> >>
> >> There was a thread while ago discussing the symbolism of toilet signs in
> >> different cultures.
> >>
> >>
> >> <https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9jieh8djrjs10lr54scwx/Toilet-sign.jpg?rlkey
=5loulys3ydnlcvkcmcp4zcxqo&dl=0>
> >
> > Cute.
> >
> > I suppose somebody somewhere has used a rooster and a cat.
> >
>
> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'. Note, these mental images which only make
> sense in English. Just as images of 'Venus' and 'Mars' only make sense
> in astronomy department toilets.

???
The traditional astronomical/astrological symbols for Venus and Mars
(circle with cross below and circle with diagonal up arrow)
have been widely taken over as male/female symbols,
in all of 'western' culture,

Jan

[Jerry Friedman]

I meant all the woodpecker species in the image occam showed.

<https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9jieh8djrjs10lr54scwx/Toilet-sign.jpg?rlkey=5loulys3ydnlcvkcmcp4zcxqo&dl=0>

--
Jerry Friedman

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

Tony Cooper wrote:

>>I don't know. I just meant that in these days where some people do not
>>want to be called "man" or "woman", they would like a sign that doesn't
>>use those words.
>
> The signs are there to direct the person the appropriate toilet. I
> doubt, when needing to go to the toilet, they will stop to object to
> being gendered.

True. I'm looking forward to the day where there's only one kind of
toilet rooms.

--
Bertel, Denmark

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

Blueshirt wrote:

> The way the world is going why not just have toilets for everyone
> these days? One sign, saying "Toilet". No need for little drawings
> of people either. Think of the money it would save!!!

+1

I have actually tried it because I rented a room at a camping site, and
the room was in their oldest building with two bathrooms common for all
the rooms. There were no signs, but helpful people had written "mænd"
and "kvinder" on the door frames - only there had been many helpful
people, and they had different oppinions about what was the men's and
the women's room, so the users were mixed. The shovers were in cubicles
with curtains.

--
Bertel, Denmark

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

occam wrote:

> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'. Note, these mental images which only make
> sense in English. Just as images of 'Venus' and 'Mars' only make sense
> in astronomy department toilets.

... and to people who know the most basic about ancient Roman or Greek
religion.

> I wonder if there are any universal symbols understood by everyone, by
> which I mean everyone on Earth.

A simple drawing of persons with with genitals would do the trick.

--
Bertel, Denmark

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:

>>> I suppose somebody somewhere has used a rooster and a cat.
>>>
>>
>> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'.
>
> "Chatte" would be OK in French, but not "coq".

They wouldn't perhaps get the penis meaning, but surely the male one?

--
Bertel, Denmark

[Tony Cooper]

That's rarely an issue for men. Women, however, often object to
unisex bathrooms. With cause.

[Tony Cooper]

Whom did they shove?

[Tony Cooper]

The traditional symbols in the US are stick figures with the female in
a skirt.

The Scottish Games are held in this area every year. The Scots males
consider both signs to be unisex.

[Rich Ulrich]

On Mon, 5 Feb 2024 23:41:01 +0100, Bertel Lund Hansen
<gade...@lundhansen.dk> wrote:

Data analysis I performed were most often dealing with rating scales.

In my day, the personal information of "sex" was coded as binary, M
and F. Most often these were coded as 1 and 2 -- Zero was avoided
as a numerical response on arbitrary scales, possibly owing to the
Fortran data-reading convention that a blank numeric field
("missing"?) is translated as 0. (I saw one convention, circa 1972,
where the blank= zero was disambiguated from other zero by
making use the "-0" defined on one line of computers.)

However -- How do you code M and F if you will use 0/1?

"DREAM INTERPRETATION Simplified. Everything's either concave or -vex,
so whatever you dream will be something with sex. Piet Hein."

I had to object when a saw a proposed data collection form
where 0= Male, 1= Female. Respect the symbolism.

I might or might not have already been familiar with the obscene
hand signal, where a forefinger is poked into the circle formed
by the other thumb and forefinger. IIRC, that was well-known
in South America. I think it is wider than that, now.

--
Rich Ulrich

[Peter Moylan]

On 06/02/24 12:23, Rich Ulrich wrote:

> I might or might not have already been familiar with the obscene
> hand signal, where a forefinger is poked into the circle formed
> by the other thumb and forefinger. IIRC, that was well-known
> in South America. I think it is wider than that, now.

It was common where I grew up, in Australia.

--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW

[Mark Brader]

Athel Cornish-Bowden:

> Apparently it's different in Belgium. Once in a university department
> in Brussels the women's toilet was closed for some reason, but my wife
> was greeted with horror when she suggested using the men's. In France
> no one would raise an eyebrow. Most of the toilets in the bulding where
> we worked are unisex.

And now I'm thinking of the movie "Hidden Figures", when it comes out
that the reason Katherine Johnson seems to be spending too much time
away from her desk is that she has to walk half a mile to get to the
nearest *colored women's* lavatory.
--
Mark Brader | "We may take pride in observing that there is
Toronto | not a single film showing in London today which
m...@vex.net | deals with one of the burning issues of the day."
| -- Lord Tyrell, British film censors' chief, 1937

My text in this article is in the public domain.

[Paul Carmichael]

France has had unisex toilet facilities forever. Nobody cares.

--
Paul.

https://paulc.es

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

Tony Cooper wrote:

>>I have actually tried it because I rented a room at a camping site, and
>>the room was in their oldest building with two bathrooms common for all
>>the rooms. There were no signs, but helpful people had written "mænd"
>>and "kvinder" on the door frames - only there had been many helpful
>>people, and they had different oppinions about what was the men's and
>>the women's room, so the users were mixed. The shovers were in cubicles
>>with curtains.
>
> Whom did they shove?

They shoved misspellings under the carpet.

--
Bertel, Denmark

[charles]

In article <ld03silmg5ecno813...@4ax.com>,

and, anyway, many females wear trousers!

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

Rich Ulrich wrote:

> I might or might not have already been familiar with the obscene
> hand signal, where a forefinger is poked into the circle formed
> by the other thumb and forefinger. IIRC, that was well-known
> in South America. I think it is wider than that, now.

I learned that in school - maybe as early as 4th grade? There was aboy
in my class who was quite well-informed in these matters. I also learnt
several fourletter words without knowing what they meant.

--
Bertel, Denmark

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

Paul Carmichael wrote:

>>>True. I'm looking forward to the day where there's only one kind of
>>>toilet rooms.
>>
>> That's rarely an issue for men. Women, however, often object to unisex
>> bathrooms. With cause.
>
> France has had unisex toilet facilities forever. Nobody cares.

Is there often pee on the floor?

In the bridge club in my previous town there were two gendered toilets.
At the one for men it took maybe only an hour beforere there was pee on
the floor. It didn't help that there was a humourous poster
recommendingthe proper behaviour. One line said:

Please stand a little closer. It is not as long as you think.

--
Bertel, Denmark

[Paul Carmichael]

El Tue, 06 Feb 2024 09:24:40 +0100, Bertel Lund Hansen escribió:

> Paul Carmichael wrote:
>
>>>>True. I'm looking forward to the day where there's only one kind of
>>>>toilet rooms.
>>>
>>> That's rarely an issue for men. Women, however, often object to
>>> unisex bathrooms. With cause.
>>
>> France has had unisex toilet facilities forever. Nobody cares.
>
> Is there often pee on the floor?

This depends on where the toilets are. In an alcoholic environment (pub/
bar), yes, drunks piss all over the place. If they had to sit down, this
wouldn't happen, so perhaps urinals have had their day.

My wife has worked in hotels etc. and says that the women's toilets are
always far filthier than the men's.

--
Paul.

https://paulc.es

[occam]

Oh? Have you seen any French women take a leak in a "pissoir"? (They do
still exist you know. We even have an experimental one in Luxembourg. )

<https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/11x1dcd5zr8c8mg7trd93/Pissoir-Luxembourg-Gare.jpg?rlkey=19p2f601etg0ji29aaok75ks2&dl=0>

[Peter Moylan]

A similar sign that I've seen says "Our aim is to keep this place clean.
Your aim will help."

The best solution for this problem that I've encountered is at Schiphol
airport. Each urinal has a picture of a fly on it. This has, I'm told,
improved everyone's aim enormously.

[Silvano]

occam hat am 06.02.2024 um 09:57 geschrieben:

Oh? Do you really call a pissoir a "unisex toilet facility"?

[Hibou]

Le 06/02/2024 à 09:33, Peter Moylan a écrit :
> On 06/02/24 19:24, Bertel Lund Hansen wrote:
>>
>> Please stand a little closer. It is not as long as you think.
>
> A similar sign that I've seen says "Our aim is to keep this place clean.

> Your aim will help." [...]

I've seen a variant of that one: "We aim to please. You aim too, please."

[occam]

On 05/02/2024 21:50, Jerry Friedman wrote:
> On Monday, February 5, 2024 at 12:28:55 PM UTC-7, occam wrote:
>> On 05/02/2024 17:26, Jerry Friedman wrote:
>>> On Monday, February 5, 2024 at 5:30:35 AM UTC-7, occam wrote:
>>>> Here's an unusual 'Male/Female' toilet sign. It should appeal to the
>>>> bird lovers in AUE.
>>>>
>>>> There was a thread while ago discussing the symbolism of toilet signs in
>>>> different cultures.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> <https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9jieh8djrjs10lr54scwx/Toilet-sign.jpg?rlkey=5loulys3ydnlcvkcmcp4zcxqo&dl=0>
>>>
>>> Cute.
>>>
>>> I suppose somebody somewhere has used a rooster and a cat.
>>>
>> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'.
>
> Well spotted. I didn't want to be taken figuratively.
>
>> Note, these mental images which only make
>> sense in English.
>
> A couple of gray cells are connecting... I'm searching... here it is, a note
> by Dudley Fitts on his translation of Aristophanes' /The Birds/:
>
> "26: Bird of Araby: This is the Cock, the Persian Bird, here called Mêdos
> 'the Median'. (The phallic pun is the same in Greek as in English.)"
>
> You'd know whether the pun still works in modern Greek.

Yes, it does. 'κοκοράs' (cockerel) is a modern euphemism. 'γάτα' (cat)
on the other hand is not.

[occam]

Yes, I'd recognise the circle (with a cross / arrow) as male/female
symbols. But I doubt if many people - outside of astrology charts -
would attribute them as symbols for 'Venus' and 'Mars'. (The
intermediate step has been lost except to star-sign columns.)

I came across another interesting 'universal' symbol of male/female
toilets. 'XX' and 'XY'. The problem is, most people would be walking
into the wrong room 50% of the time, if they're anything like me.

It's best to be more explicit (and less clever) in such cases.

[Hibou]

Le 05/02/2024 à 19:28, occam a écrit :
>
> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'. Note, these mental images which only make
> sense in English. Just as images of 'Venus' and 'Mars' only make sense
> in astronomy department toilets.

Hot and cloudy vs cold and red?

[occam]

On 06/02/2024 09:15, charles wrote:
> In article <ld03silmg5ecno813...@4ax.com>,
> Tony Cooper <tonyco...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Mon, 5 Feb 2024 23:41:01 +0100, Bertel Lund Hansen
>> <gade...@lundhansen.dk> wrote:
>
>>> occam wrote:
>>>
>>>> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'. Note, these mental images which only make
>>>> sense in English. Just as images of 'Venus' and 'Mars' only make sense
>>>> in astronomy department toilets.
>>>
>>> ... and to people who know the most basic about ancient Roman or Greek
>>> religion.
>>>
>>>> I wonder if there are any universal symbols understood by everyone, by
>>>> which I mean everyone on Earth.
>>>
>>> A simple drawing of persons with with genitals would do the trick.
>
>> The traditional symbols in the US are stick figures with the female in
>> a skirt.
>
>> The Scottish Games are held in this area every year. The Scots males
>> consider both signs to be unisex.
>
> and, anyway, many females wear trousers!
>

Ha hah!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7evo7ZWCYU0

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

On 2024-02-06 08:15:03 +0000, charles said:

> In article <ld03silmg5ecno813...@4ax.com>,
> Tony Cooper <tonyco...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Mon, 5 Feb 2024 23:41:01 +0100, Bertel Lund Hansen
>> <gade...@lundhansen.dk> wrote:
>
>>> occam wrote:
>>>
>>>> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'. Note, these mental images which only make
>>>> sense in English. Just as images of 'Venus' and 'Mars' only make sense
>>>> in astronomy department toilets.
>>>
>>> ... and to people who know the most basic about ancient Roman or Greek
>>> religion.
>>>
>>>> I wonder if there are any universal symbols understood by everyone, by
>>>> which I mean everyone on Earth.
>>>
>>> A simple drawing of persons with with genitals would do the trick.
>
>> The traditional symbols in the US are stick figures with the female in
>> a skirt.
>
>> The Scottish Games are held in this area every year. The Scots males
>> consider both signs to be unisex.
>
> and, anyway, many females wear trousers!

You know what they say: if you wear a kilt in London they think you're
from Scotland; if you wear one in Edinburgh they think you're from the
Highlands; if you wear one in the Highlands they know you're American.
--
Athel cb

[Adam Funk]

On 2024-02-05, charles wrote:

> In article <l2cn87...@mid.individual.net>,
> Athel Cornish-Bowden <m...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> On 2024-02-05 18:04:04 +0000, Blueshirt said:

>
>> > Bertel Lund Hansen wrote:
>> >
>> >> occam wrote:
>> >>
>> >>> Here's an unusual 'Male/Female' toilet sign. It should appeal to
>> >>> the bird lovers in AUE.
>> >>

>> >> Very nice. You write "Male/Female", but the signs are actually
>> >> completely general. They refer only to physiscal equipment.

>> >
>> > The way the world is going why not just have toilets for everyone
>> > these days? One sign, saying "Toilet". No need for little drawings
>> > of people either. Think of the money it would save!!!
>> >

>> > I don't have separate toilets in my house for Male and Female... one
>> > toilet sits all.
>
>> That's also how it is in aeroplanes, buses and trains. It doesn't seem
>> to create any problems. In France it's not unusual for people to use
>> the "wrong" toilet when it's necessary (for example when the "right"
>> one is closed for cleaning).

>
>> Apparently it's different in Belgium. Once in a university department
>> in Brussels the women's toilet was closed for some reason, but my wife
>> was greeted with horror when she suggested using the men's. In France
>> no one would raise an eyebrow. Most of the toilets in the bulding where
>> we worked are unisex.
>

> On looking round our new office premises, we spotted a shower room with a
> "unisex" (man/woman) symbol. One of the female secretaries asked, in
> horror, "Does that mean you have to take a boy in with you?"

"Save water --- shower with a friend"


--
Just memorize these shell commands and type them to sync up. If you
get errors, save your work elsewhere, delete the project, and download
a fresh copy. <https://xkcd.com/1597/>

[Adam Funk]

On 2024-02-05, J. J. Lodder wrote:

> occam <oc...@erewhon.nix> wrote:
>
>> On 05/02/2024 17:26, Jerry Friedman wrote:

>> > On Monday, February 5, 2024 at 5:30:35?AM UTC-7, occam wrote:
>> >> Here's an unusual 'Male/Female' toilet sign. It should appeal to the
>> >> bird lovers in AUE.
>> >>

>> >> There was a thread while ago discussing the symbolism of toilet signs in
>> >> different cultures.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> <https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9jieh8djrjs10lr54scwx/Toilet-sign.jpg?rlkey
>=5loulys3ydnlcvkcmcp4zcxqo&dl=0>
>> >
>> > Cute.
>> >
>> > I suppose somebody somewhere has used a rooster and a cat.
>> >
>>

>> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'. Note, these mental images which only make
>> sense in English. Just as images of 'Venus' and 'Mars' only make sense
>> in astronomy department toilets.
>

> ???
> The traditional astronomical/astrological symbols for Venus and Mars
> (circle with cross below and circle with diagonal up arrow)
> have been widely taken over as male/female symbols,
> in all of 'western' culture,

I agree: I think a lot more people know what they mean as
toilet/gender symbols than in astronomy, astrology, or alchemy.


--
The stakes are high and so am I

[Adam Funk]

People complained about the nekkid humans on the Pioneer Plaque. Some
people also complained about the prudish lack of vulva on it.



--
I have a natural revulsion to any operating system that shows so
little planning as to have to named all of its commands after
digestive noises (awk, grep, fsck, nroff).
_The UNIX-HATERS Handbook_

[Adam Funk]

I think he's talking about the ones in (some, many? not all) bars
where there is one room with a sink and several toilet stalls.



--
[English doesn't] just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued
other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle
their pockets for new vocabulary. (James Nicoll)

[Adam Funk]

On 2024-02-05, Bertel Lund Hansen wrote:

> Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:
>
>>>> I suppose somebody somewhere has used a rooster and a cat.
>>>>
>>>

>>> You mean 'cock' and 'pussy'.
>>

>> "Chatte" would be OK in French, but not "coq".
>
> They wouldn't perhaps get the penis meaning, but surely the male one?

I think "le chat" & "la chatte" both work, but maybe the
(grammatically) feminine one is more common now. The penis words are
mostly feminine: la bitte, la queue, la verge.

So I don't think "male chicken" would get the meaning across except as
Frenglish.


--
I take no pleasure in being right in my dark predictions about the
fate of our military intervention in the heart of the Muslim world. It
is immensely depressing to me. Nobody likes to be betting against the
Home team, no matter how hopeless they are. ---Hunter S Thompson

[charles]

In article <l2el0f...@mid.individual.net>,

But, my father had a friend who was Sheriff of Orkney and he wore a kilt
all the time.

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

Yes. I've seen those in various places. I think they're German in
origin. It's a very realistic-looking fly.

Something that I was very struck by when we were first in France was
that there was almost no graffiti in French toilets, and when I did see
one it was usually in English and dealt with such subjects as the sizes
of the penises of supporters of Manchester United. I think that's
probably still true, but now I don't often visut public toilets. I'm
not sure how to explain it, but maybe it has to do with a lack
embarrassment about natural functions.

--
Athel cb

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

When I was in Israel in 1962 I saw that they used 00 and 000 as
symbols. I suppose at the time I learned which was which. More recent
visits to Israel suggest that this system is no longer used.

>
> It's best to be more explicit (and less clever) in such cases.

--
Athel cb

[Adam Funk]

That's pretty fancy. This is the real deal:

<https://www.ducksburg.com/misc/20130125-113333.jpg>

and it's still there, according to Google maps:

<https://maps.app.goo.gl/TcNQaobTFfkQ1Y789>


--
Slade was the coolest band in England. They were the kind of guys
that would push your car out of a ditch. ---Alice Cooper