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Pondian? What about Lakian for Aussies?

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fabzorba

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Nov 13, 2012, 11:10:48 AM11/13/12
to
It's so typical of Aussies. We just bow our heads and cringe. Never
want to make a scene...Know our place we do. Take off our hats when
questioned and chew on the brim. Shake the loose change in our
pockets. Kick the dust under our thongs…

For example, I'm an Aussie, and I would have raised this matter years
ago, but thought that would have been the kiss of death for the matter
at hand, and so I waited for some respected old Aussie hat, like say
Peter Moylan, to do the deed. But, over the space of (now) decades, I
began to realise that Aussies speaking up for themselves would occur
some time after the heat death of the Universe, and so now I DO take
it upon myself.

The term "pondian", to refer to the differences between the English
usage of the U.K. and the U.S. has been in use in this froup from the
beginning, and Ngram shows the word increasing in use from the 1980s
on.

I would like now to point to the map, and note that Australia is not
part of the "pond" that is the Atlantic. And that we are a large group
of citizens who are a member of the British Commonwealth, and who
speak English, not as a second language, but as our first, and for
most of us, our only tongue.

There are only four large groups of people who speak English as their
native language: the U.K. (or course), the U.S., Canada, and
Australia. Given that 'pondian' is equally valid for Canada, it is
only Australia that is bereft of some terms which, in a friendly but
concise way, refers to the interesting differences in word usage
between fellow members of this phonic family. But with regard to
spoken and written English in Australia, there is never any "Oh, I
think it might be a pondian thing…". Never. And yet there are 20
million speakers of English here. Yooo hoooooooooooo. I'm waving my
dotted hanky and calling: COOOOOOO EEEEEEEE!! We are over here. We
want to have a pondian term which refers to the way WE do things
differently too, not just have to listen to you blighters rabbiting on
about pondian this, and pondian that, and pondian the other

I am going to invent the term "lakian" to correspond with the extant
"pondian". Of course the lake is the Pacific, and is significantly
larger than the Atlantic "pond". When there are three entities to draw
relationships between, then each one must have two to unite it with
the other nations. (Here I am counting North America as a single
entity comprising both the U.S. and Canada.) Both the U.S. and North
America would have two pools - the old pondian, and the new lakian, to
refer to variations between them and us. We, of course would have two
lakian terms, one to refer to variations between us and the
motherland , and the other for those between us and North America.
Both of these are important. Australian usage is heavily influenced by
American usage.

So we would have some kind of geographical lakian1 and lakian2 .
Haven't worked it out yet. I'ts late, and I've done my bit. Discuss.

fabzorba

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Nov 13, 2012, 11:14:12 AM11/13/12
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On 11월14일, 오전2시10분, fabzorba <myles.abzo...@gmail.com> wrote:

Oh, the lake of "lakian" is of course The Pacific. (And maybe lakean
is better than lakian...)

MC

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Nov 13, 2012, 11:15:38 AM11/13/12
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In article
<a82bba5f-a8e3-4c70...@n2g2000pbp.googlegroups.com>,
fabzorba <myles....@gmail.com> wrote:

> I am going to invent the term "lakian" to correspond with the extant
> "pondian".

What would a thread be without thread drift? A few years ago the state
of Vermont petitioned whatever body concerns itself with such matters to
recognize Lake Champlain as one of the Great Lakes. After much
deliberation the answer came back that while Lake Champlain is
indubitably a good lake, even a very good lake, it cannot be considered
a Great Lake.

--

"If you can, tell me something happy."
- Marybones

James Hogg

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Nov 13, 2012, 11:32:24 AM11/13/12
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fabzorba wrote:
> fabzorba <myles.abzo...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Oh, the lake of "lakian" is of course The Pacific. (And maybe lakean
> is better than lakian...)

Why not "lakial" as a counterpart to "pondial"? Or why not use "lacustrine"?

--
James

Django Cat

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Nov 13, 2012, 1:27:07 PM11/13/12
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I thought we'd long since accepted 'otherpondian'.

DC

--

Glenn Knickerbocker

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Nov 13, 2012, 2:03:58 PM11/13/12
to
On 11/13/2012 11:10 AM, fabzorba wrote:
> I am going to invent the term "lakian" to correspond with the extant
> "pondian". Of course the lake is the Pacific, and is significantly
> larger than the Atlantic "pond".

Perhaps an appropriate expression to discuss in this respect would be
"irony-challenged."

�R

Pablo

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Nov 13, 2012, 2:15:47 PM11/13/12
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fabzorba

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Nov 13, 2012, 2:33:21 PM11/13/12
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You know, I am guilty of many things, but l no more lack irony than I
am too unassuming and reserved for my own good. "Pondian" is, of
course, ironic, via a path so well-grooved that the joke is now
completely clapped-out, but still, somehow, burns with what is now
merely the pilot light of that kind of humour which retains a vestige
of humour solely through being so hoary.

Now, when I suggest lakean, this chimes in with the already
established trope of calling a large sea a pond or, by extension, a
lake, which we can all agree is uproariously hilarious. So how does
doing that indicate that I am insensitive to irony - a complaint that
is frequently made of Americans, one of which I do not have the honour
of being.

If you were to take an hour or so to trawl through my posts of the
past year, you would find that, in the case of many of them, they
consist of little more than extended lampoons and satires, all ironic
and perhaps to a fault.

Hmmm...In ANOTHER thread I am being compared to Laura, and here I am
being told that I have no irony. Please, froupers, do not overload
the family neuron I have on loan just now. Call me obnoxious and
indecent, accuse me of being just a teensy little bit affected by
Tourette's (yes, it's true, but Tourette's lends itself to irony, it's
Asperger's which defeats it) call me a drunk, and rude, and crude, and
an Australian arsehole, and a sock puppet, and a troll. And a
loudmouth. Yes, say that I do not know my place and need a good
horsewhipping from one of your gentry, and yes, I never shut up, and
talk bullshit all day long, and I am off-topic, and there is a stack
of sins, red, red, red!! fellow froupers, crimson red sins. If there
was any justice, I would be drummed out of this hallowed froup.

So much have I to confess, and so heavily do my crimes weigh on me.
But what manner of new torture is this that Kickerbocker pronounces
upon me a sin of which I could no more be guilty than could a fish not
know the water in which he swims. Oh yes, I am all of these things,
and much more besides, but a "lack of irony" - concerning this, I must
plead my innocence.

myles [and perhaps the preceding pars will establish my case for you,
M'Luds] paulsen

Dr Nick

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Nov 13, 2012, 2:38:03 PM11/13/12
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Pablo <no...@nowhere.net> writes:

> James Hogg wrote:
>
>> fabzorba wrote:
>>> fabzorba <myles.abzo...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Oh, the lake of "lakian" is of course The Pacific. (And maybe
>>> lakean is better than lakian...)
>> Why not "lakial" as a counterpart to "pondial"? Or why not use
>> "lacustrine"?
>>
>
> Or why not "sausage"?

The world being, as de Selby showed, sausage shaped this would be appropriate.

Glenn Knickerbocker

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Nov 13, 2012, 2:56:09 PM11/13/12
to
On 11/13/2012 2:33 PM, fabzorba wrote:
> Now, when I suggest lakean, this chimes in with the already
> established trope of calling a large sea a pond or, by extension, a
> lake, which we can all agree is uproariously hilarious. So how does
> doing that indicate that I am insensitive to irony -

I guess it must be some sort of triple-reverse irony that's far too
subtle for me, in which the opposite of "larger" is "even larger."

ŹR

abc

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Nov 13, 2012, 3:30:04 PM11/13/12
to
fabzorba wrote:
> I am going to invent the term "lakian" to correspond with the extant
> "pondian". Of course the lake is the Pacific, and is significantly

Why not downpondian?

It goes together nicely with left and right and its not being the same
pond doesn't really matter, does it?
abc

Peter Duncanson [BrE]

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Nov 13, 2012, 3:34:32 PM11/13/12
to
Someone elsewhere used "antipondian" for Australia, NZ, etc.

It combines the idea of the Atlantic as "the pond" and Australia being
antipodean, on the opposite side of the Earth, from the pond.


--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)

Mike L

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Nov 13, 2012, 5:23:14 PM11/13/12
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On Tue, 13 Nov 2012 18:27:07 GMT, "Django Cat" <nota...@address.com>
wrote:
There's still "antipondean", which has plenty of the right vibes.

--
Mike.

MC

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Nov 13, 2012, 8:08:50 PM11/13/12
to
In article <k7uakd$4o1$1...@news.albasani.net>, abc <a...@abc.net> wrote:

> fabzorba wrote:
> > I am going to invent the term "lakian" to correspond with the extant
> > "pondian". Of course the lake is the Pacific, and is significantly
>
> Why not downpondian?

Or underpondian?

Robert Bannister

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Nov 13, 2012, 8:46:16 PM11/13/12
to
On 14/11/12 12:10 AM, fabzorba wrote:
> It's so typical of Aussies. We just bow our heads and cringe. Never
> want to make a scene...Know our place we do. Take off our hats when
> questioned and chew on the brim. Shake the loose change in our
> pockets. Kick the dust under our thongs�
>
> For example, I'm an Aussie, and I would have raised this matter years
> ago, but thought that would have been the kiss of death for the matter
> at hand, and so I waited for some respected old Aussie hat, like say
> Peter Moylan, to do the deed. But, over the space of (now) decades, I
> began to realise that Aussies speaking up for themselves would occur
> some time after the heat death of the Universe, and so now I DO take
> it upon myself.
>
> The term "pondian", to refer to the differences between the English
> usage of the U.K. and the U.S. has been in use in this froup from the
> beginning, and Ngram shows the word increasing in use from the 1980s
> on.
>
> I would like now to point to the map, and note that Australia is not
> part of the "pond" that is the Atlantic. And that we are a large group
> of citizens who are a member of the British Commonwealth, and who
> speak English, not as a second language, but as our first, and for
> most of us, our only tongue.
done my bit. Discuss.

You'll be telling me next that Australia is not a western country. The
fact that my city is roughly at longitude 115�E and Beijing at 116�E is
quite irrelevant.
--
Robert Bannister

Richard Bollard

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Nov 14, 2012, 12:02:36 AM11/14/12
to
On Tue, 13 Nov 2012 17:32:24 +0100, James Hogg <Jas....@gOUTmail.com>
wrote:
Whaddabout "Coruscican"?

Sorry.
--
Richard Bollard
Canberra Australia

To email, I'm at AMT not spAMT.

Guy Barry

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Nov 14, 2012, 1:46:45 AM11/14/12
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"Robert Bannister" wrote in message
news:aggbfa...@mid.individual.net...

> You'll be telling me next that Australia is not a western country. The
> fact that my city is roughly at longitude 115�E and Beijing at 116�E is
> quite irrelevant.

Well, "western" is a cultural term rather than a geographical one. I'm
currently in the western hemisphere, but when I lived in south-east London I
was strictly in the eastern hemisphere, as indeed is most of continental
Europe.

And the terms "western hemisphere" and "eastern hemisphere" are Eurocentric
anyway. I've never understood how people in the Pacific cope with having
the so-called "western hemisphere" east of them and the "eastern hemisphere"
west of them.

--
Guy Barry

R H Draney

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Nov 14, 2012, 3:58:07 AM11/14/12
to
MC filted:
>
>In article <k7uakd$4o1$1...@news.albasani.net>, abc <a...@abc.net> wrote:
>
>> fabzorba wrote:
>> > I am going to invent the term "lakian" to correspond with the extant
>> > "pondian". Of course the lake is the Pacific, and is significantly
>>
>> Why not downpondian?
>
>Or underpondian?

Exactly...and with that already in use at alt.folklore.urban, one day many years
ago an Icelandicer wandered into the froup and someone exclaimed "a
TopPondian!"...r


--
Me? Sarcastic?
Yeah, right.

Guy Barry

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Nov 14, 2012, 4:05:53 AM11/14/12
to


"R H Draney" wrote in message news:k7vme...@drn.newsguy.com...

> an Icelandicer

I think we've established that the adjective is "Icelandic" and the noun is
"Icelander". Although by analogy:
Finland/Finnish/Finn
Poland/Polish/Pole
Scotland/Scottish/Scot
Iceland/Icish/Ice

--
Guy Barry

Message has been deleted

Lanarcam

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Nov 14, 2012, 1:30:18 PM11/14/12
to
Le 14/11/2012 02:08, MC a écrit :
> In article <k7uakd$4o1$1...@news.albasani.net>, abc <a...@abc.net> wrote:
>
>> fabzorba wrote:
>>> I am going to invent the term "lakian" to correspond with the extant
>>> "pondian". Of course the lake is the Pacific, and is significantly
>>
>> Why not downpondian?
>
> Or underpondian?
>
I thought about downwellE.

abc

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Nov 14, 2012, 2:59:01 PM11/14/12
to
MC wrote:
> In article<k7uakd$4o1$1...@news.albasani.net>, abc<a...@abc.net> wrote:
>
>> fabzorba wrote:
>>> I am going to invent the term "lakian" to correspond with the extant
>>> "pondian". Of course the lake is the Pacific, and is significantly
>>
>> Why not downpondian?
>
> Or underpondian?

Yes, I thought of that one too, and it could work.
But I prefer the "downpondian" - "down under" connection.
abc

R H Draney

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Nov 14, 2012, 5:01:06 PM11/14/12
to
Lewis filted:
>
>In message <jdb5a8tfg4bvnp329...@4ax.com>
> Peter Duncanson [BrE] <ma...@peterduncanson.net> wrote:
>
>> Someone elsewhere used "antipondian" for Australia, NZ, etc.
>
>> It combines the idea of the Atlantic as "the pond" and Australia being
>> antipodean, on the opposite side of the Earth, from the pond.
>
>And it has a nice symmetry with antipode.

It just occurred* to me: are the British Isles the "propodes"?...r

(* Sluggish keyboard almost turned that into "ockered")

Mike L

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Nov 14, 2012, 5:16:07 PM11/14/12
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On Wed, 14 Nov 2012 16:02:36 +1100, Richard Bollard
<rich...@spamt.edu.au> wrote:

>On Tue, 13 Nov 2012 17:32:24 +0100, James Hogg <Jas....@gOUTmail.com>
>wrote:
>
>>fabzorba wrote:
>>> fabzorba <myles.abzo...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> Oh, the lake of "lakian" is of course The Pacific. (And maybe lakean
>>> is better than lakian...)
>>
>>Why not "lakial" as a counterpart to "pondial"? Or why not use "lacustrine"?
>
>Whaddabout "Coruscican"?
>
>Sorry.

That rarely comes up these days.

--
Mike.

Mike L

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Nov 14, 2012, 5:17:13 PM11/14/12
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On Wed, 14 Nov 2012 10:14:45 +0000 (UTC), Lewis
<g.k...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:

>In message <jdb5a8tfg4bvnp329...@4ax.com>
> Peter Duncanson [BrE] <ma...@peterduncanson.net> wrote:
[...]
>
>> Someone elsewhere used "antipondian" for Australia, NZ, etc.
>
>> It combines the idea of the Atlantic as "the pond" and Australia being
>> antipodean, on the opposite side of the Earth, from the pond.
>
>And it has a nice symmetry with antipode.

Which is why I spelt it "antipondean".

--
Mike.

abc

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Nov 14, 2012, 6:34:17 PM11/14/12
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I like it!
abc

Robert Bannister

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Nov 14, 2012, 7:59:37 PM11/14/12
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On 14/11/12 9:08 AM, MC wrote:
> In article <k7uakd$4o1$1...@news.albasani.net>, abc <a...@abc.net> wrote:
>
>> fabzorba wrote:
>>> I am going to invent the term "lakian" to correspond with the extant
>>> "pondian". Of course the lake is the Pacific, and is significantly
>>
>> Why not downpondian?
>
> Or underpondian?
>

My city already has a suburb called Subiaco, which as any ful know is a
misspelling of Sublaco.

--
Robert Bannister

Guy Barry

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Nov 15, 2012, 2:45:47 AM11/15/12
to


"Robert Bannister" wrote in message
news:agit3q...@mid.individual.net...

> My city already has a suburb called Subiaco, which as any ful know is a
> misspelling of Sublaco.

It's "as any fule kno", as any fule kno.

--
Guy Barry

fabzorba

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Nov 15, 2012, 10:56:30 AM11/15/12
to
On 11월15일, 오전8시17분, Mike L <n...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> On Wed, 14 Nov 2012 10:14:45 +0000 (UTC), Lewis
>
>
>
> <g.kr...@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> wrote:
> >In message <jdb5a8tfg4bvnp329u29mbcj6mk7f4c...@4ax.com>
> > Peter Duncanson [BrE] <m...@peterduncanson.net> wrote:
> [...]
>
> >> Someone elsewhere used "antipondian" for Australia, NZ, etc.
>
> >> It combines the idea of the Atlantic as "the pond" and Australia being
> >> antipodean, on the opposite side of the Earth, from the pond.
>
> >And it has a nice symmetry with antipode.
>
> Which is why I spelt it "antipondean".
>
Antipondean it is then. Also, we have some of the largest and most
vicious ants in the world here.

This is not a joke, but there are ants here, that, when you approach
their nest, even when you are a few feet away, they will stop what
they are doing, and look at you, as animals, might, not insects. It's
chilling.

Robert Bannister

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Nov 15, 2012, 8:41:55 PM11/15/12
to
Blast. And I have a copy of a complete "Molesworth" almost staring at me
from under "1066 and All That", so no excuses.

--
Robert Bannister

Robert Bannister

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Nov 15, 2012, 8:42:41 PM11/15/12
to
On 15/11/12 11:56 PM, fabzorba wrote:
I have ants like that in my kitchen.

--
Robert Bannister

John Holmes

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Nov 16, 2012, 4:46:53 AM11/16/12
to
fabzorba wrote:
>
> I would like now to point to the map, and note that Australia is not
> part of the "pond" that is the Atlantic. And that we are a large group
> of citizens who are a member of the British Commonwealth, and who
> speak English, not as a second language, but as our first, and for
> most of us, our only tongue.

Telstra got there just ahead of you, Myles.

--
Regards
John
for mail: my initials plus a u e
at tpg dot com dot au

Robin Bignall

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Nov 16, 2012, 4:40:27 PM11/16/12
to
On Fri, 16 Nov 2012 09:42:41 +0800, Robert Bannister
<rob...@clubtelco.com> wrote:

>On 15/11/12 11:56 PM, fabzorba wrote:
Somewhere in or near Frejus on the Cote d'Azure there is a museum of
insects. All dead, thank goodness, and behind glass, but some of them
are monsters that make the British Stag Beetle look like a midget. Lo,
no sooner had we returned to the camp site when one of the children
found one and came running screaming. It was a good 6 inches long and
reared up to defend its territory when it saw us. My French pal killed
it with a spade but it wasn't easy.
--
Robin Bignall
(BrE)
Herts, England
Message has been deleted

fabzorba

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Nov 17, 2012, 5:49:29 AM11/17/12
to
I had often thought that the description of England as a ''green and
pleaant' land'' had much to do with the absence of venemous snakes,
biting ants, countless millions of bushflies and mosquitos, bush
fires, and ubiquitous brambles and thorns. Australia is a beautiful
land, but it is merciless in such respects. Whenever I see a British
TV series, I always wonder at the Arcadian nature of its rural
depicitons.

Robin Bignall

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Nov 17, 2012, 11:41:36 AM11/17/12
to
We do have one poisonous snake, the viper or adder. I also glanced at
an article the other day that said a woman had caught blood poisoning
after being bitten by a (presumably domestic) spider.
Most of this year Britain has been grey, wet and muddy. It seems to
have kept mosquitoes and wasps under control.

Jerry Friedman

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Nov 17, 2012, 2:01:09 PM11/17/12
to
On Nov 16, 2:40 pm, Robin Bignall <docro...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
...

> Somewhere in or near Frejus on the Cote d'Azure there is a museum of
> insects.  All dead, thank goodness, and behind glass, but some of them
> are monsters that make the British Stag Beetle look like a midget.  Lo,
> no sooner had we returned to the camp site when one of the children
> found one and came running screaming.  It was a good 6 inches long and
> reared up to defend its territory when it saw us.

Big insects tend to seem bigger than they are, especially when
someone's screaming.

Was it this?

"La magicienne dentelée Saga pedo est sans doute un des plus grands
(sinon le plus grand) insecte de France, avec une longueur complète du
corps de 9 à 11 cm (l’oviscapte, c’est-à-dire l’organe permettant de
pondre, fait à lui seul 4 cm)."

http://www.naturemp.org/Avez-vous-vu-la-Magicienne.html

(Includes an image.)

The biggest beetle in Europe is indeed your friend the stag beetle.

http://www.insectes-net.fr/lucane/luc2.htm

(Is that as in "L'insecte net gratte la sécheresse"?)

Wikip gives a maximum size of 92 mm for the Western European
subspecies.

I'd greatly enjoy seeing something like that. Here's my favorite
beetle of the ones I've photographed.

http://bugguide.net/node/view/670972

> My French pal killed it with a spade but it wasn't easy.

Meanie.

--
Jerry Friedman

Robin Bignall

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Nov 17, 2012, 4:20:29 PM11/17/12
to
On Sat, 17 Nov 2012 11:01:09 -0800 (PST), Jerry Friedman
<jerry_f...@yahoo.com> wrote:

>On Nov 16, 2:40 pm, Robin Bignall <docro...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>...
>
>> Somewhere in or near Frejus on the Cote d'Azure there is a museum of
>> insects.  All dead, thank goodness, and behind glass, but some of them
>> are monsters that make the British Stag Beetle look like a midget.  Lo,
>> no sooner had we returned to the camp site when one of the children
>> found one and came running screaming.  It was a good 6 inches long and
>> reared up to defend its territory when it saw us.
>
>Big insects tend to seem bigger than they are, especially when
>someone's screaming.
>
Remember, we'd all just returned from the museum and seen how big they
were up close.

> Was it this?

No. This is about the closest I can find in Google images.
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=large+insects&start=172&num=10&hl=en&biw=1366&bih=567&tbm=isch&tbnid=aCwalACCIeJS2M:&imgrefurl=http://www.behindbigsunglasses.com/2011/02/creepy-crawler.html&docid=K-AyDpTZW5TXoM&imgurl=http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_nn_btPJUILk/TUtoJTyBzMI/AAAAAAAAAtE/_QAzC0kih2Q/s1600/IMG_4512.JPG&w=1600&h=1068&ei=AfynUNrCGILB0QX8xoDYDg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=754&vpy=2&dur=8860&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=122&ty=107&sig=110921966455566345067&page=8&tbnh=131&tbnw=188&ndsp=25&ved=1t:429,r:82,s:100,i:250
http://tinyurl.com/a74t83g

The museum must have been Micropolis, Cité des Insects at Millau.
http://www.micropolis-aveyron.com/

Jerry Friedman

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Nov 17, 2012, 6:32:23 PM11/17/12
to
On Nov 17, 2:20 pm, Robin Bignall <docro...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> On Sat, 17 Nov 2012 11:01:09 -0800 (PST), Jerry Friedman
> <jerry_fried...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >On Nov 16, 2:40 pm, Robin Bignall <docro...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> >...
>
> >> Somewhere in or near Frejus on the Cote d'Azure there is a museum of
> >> insects.  All dead, thank goodness, and behind glass, but some of them
> >> are monsters that make the British Stag Beetle look like a midget.  Lo,
> >> no sooner had we returned to the camp site when one of the children
> >> found one and came running screaming.  It was a good 6 inches long and
> >> reared up to defend its territory when it saw us.
>
> >Big insects tend to seem bigger than they are, especially when
> >someone's screaming.
>
> Remember, we'd all just returned from the museum and seen how big they
> were up close.
>
> > Was it this?
>
> No.  This is about the closest I can find in Google images.http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=large+insects&start=172&num=10&hl=en...http://tinyurl.com/a74t83g

Maybe /Bacillus rossius/, the Mediterranean Stick Insect.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bacillus_rossius.jpg

Here's one rearing up, which the stick insects around here don't do
(but then they wouldn't be so intimidating).

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bacillus_rossius_Livorno.jpg

This site says the body length, without the legs, is around 9 cm (up
to 10.5), so with the front legs extended forward (as is typical) it
might reach 6 inches. So I take back my skepticism.

http://philippe.lelong.pagesperso-orange.fr/france/br.htm

By the way, apparently there are no males of this species in France;
they're parthenogenetic.

--
Jerry Friedman

Robin Bignall

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Nov 17, 2012, 7:30:01 PM11/17/12
to
I don't think it was one of those, they don't look scary enough. It,
like most at the museum, had a hard carapace and was brown. I've looked
through pages of Google images of insects and don't see anything akin to
the dozens of different ones we saw that day.

Jerry Friedman

unread,
Nov 18, 2012, 12:13:16 AM11/18/12
to
On Nov 17, 5:30 pm, Robin Bignall <docro...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> On Sat, 17 Nov 2012 15:32:23 -0800 (PST), Jerry Friedman
>
>
>
>
>
> <jerry_fried...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >On Nov 17, 2:20 pm, Robin Bignall <docro...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> >> On Sat, 17 Nov 2012 11:01:09 -0800 (PST), Jerry Friedman
> >> <jerry_fried...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >> >On Nov 16, 2:40 pm, Robin Bignall <docro...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> >> >...
>
> >> >> Somewhere in or near Frejus on the Cote d'Azure there is a museum of
> >> >> insects.  All dead, thank goodness, and behind glass, but some of them
> >> >> are monsters that make the British Stag Beetle look like a midget.  Lo,
> >> >> no sooner had we returned to the camp site when one of the children
> >> >> found one and came running screaming.  It was a good 6 inches long and
> >> >> reared up to defend its territory when it saw us.
>
> >> >Big insects tend to seem bigger than they are, especially when
> >> >someone's screaming.
>
> >> Remember, we'd all just returned from the museum and seen how big they
> >> were up close.
>
> >> > Was it this?
>
> >> No.  This is about the closest I can find in Google images.http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=large+insects&start=172&num=10&hl=en...
>
> >Maybe /Bacillus rossius/, the Mediterranean Stick Insect.
>
> >http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bacillus_rossius.jpg
>
> >Here's one rearing up, which the stick insects around here don't do
> >(but then they wouldn't be so intimidating).
>
> >http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bacillus_rossius_Livorno.jpg
>
> >This site says the body length, without the legs, is around 9 cm (up
> >to 10.5), so with the front legs extended forward (as is typical) it
> >might reach 6 inches.  So I take back my skepticism.
>
> >http://philippe.lelong.pagesperso-orange.fr/france/br.htm
>
> >By the way, apparently there are no males of this species in France;
> >they're parthenogenetic.
>
> I don't think it was one of those, they don't look scary enough.

And they're not. In Australia, of course, there are stick insects
that can poke you with spines on their legs.

> It,
> like most at the museum, had a hard carapace and was brown.  I've looked
> through pages of Google images of insects and don't see anything akin to
> the dozens of different ones we saw that day.

Oh, gosh, I was just curious--I didn't want you to look through lots
of pages. Sorry I put you to the trouble!

--
Jerry Friedman

Robin Bignall

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Nov 18, 2012, 11:47:05 AM11/18/12
to
No trouble at all. The topic reminded me of an interesting day away
from the camp site and beach, long ago, and wondered if I could find
photos of those creepy-crawlies. Now I'm wondering why I can't.

Athel Cornish-Bowden

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Nov 18, 2012, 12:46:53 PM11/18/12
to
On 2012-11-17 21:20:29 +0000, Robin Bignall said:

> On Sat, 17 Nov 2012 11:01:09 -0800 (PST), Jerry Friedman
> <jerry_f...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>> [ … ]
>
> The museum must have been Micropolis, Cité des Insects at Millau.
> http://www.micropolis-aveyron.com/

I didn't know there was anything like that at Millau. I drove through
the other (more accurately, I drove over the viaduct and saw it in the
distance). I thought that Millau was known only for its Macdonalds and
its viaduct. (The viaduct is indeed one of the wonders of the modern
world -- I took a route much longer than I need have done just for the
pleasure of seeing it again.)


--
athel

the Omrud

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Nov 18, 2012, 1:13:18 PM11/18/12
to
Seconded. I was impressed, after some time spent driving over the
bridge, to find that I was still on it. I had slowed down to about 50
mph so I could take a look, but still, it's quite staggering. And it
curves.

I was in Japan when the two bridge sections met - it was on the TV news
there.

--
David

Robin Bignall

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Nov 18, 2012, 3:23:52 PM11/18/12
to
On Sun, 18 Nov 2012 18:13:18 +0000, the Omrud <usenet...@gmail.com>
wrote:
I looked for insect museums in France and this was the only one I could
find that was within a few hours' drive from Frejus, which was where we
were camping. It was in 1974 or 75 -- that long ago -- in a different
life, and I've long forgotten the where but not the what.

Robin Bignall

unread,
Nov 18, 2012, 3:57:40 PM11/18/12
to
On Sun, 18 Nov 2012 20:23:52 +0000, Robin Bignall
<docr...@ntlworld.com> wrote:

[bug museum]

>I looked for insect museums in France and this was the only one I could
>find that was within a few hours' drive from Frejus, which was where we
>were camping. It was in 1974 or 75 -- that long ago -- in a different
>life, and I've long forgotten the where but not the what.

The more I think about it the more I believe it was near the south coast
not too far away from Frejus. To drive to Millau would have taken an
hour or two, and I don't recall us doing that. But I can't find any
insect museum down there by Googling.

fabzorba

unread,
Nov 18, 2012, 11:01:21 PM11/18/12
to
On Nov 18, 8:20 am, Robin Bignall <docro...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> >Big insects tend to seem bigger than they are, especially when
> >someone's screaming.
>
> Remember, we'd all just returned from the museum and seen how big they
> were up close.
>
> > Was it this?
>
> No.  This is about the closest I can find in Google images.http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=large+insects&start=172&num=10&hl=en...http://tinyurl.com/a74t83g

You see, this is another of grumpy ole man's pet peeves. Why is this
photo regarded as remarkable? Without some familiar object nearby to
calibrate its size for us, it could be twice the size of the Queen
Mary, or half the size of a flea.

I was wondering what would be a good internationally recognised device
to use in such cases, one whose size is pretty constant, and which is
recognized internationally. Perhaps a wedding ring. I see coins used
sometimes, but this is not ideal. It's parochial, and not everyone
knows how big some other country's coins are.

When the height of something needs to be given more impact, it often
has a drawn figure of a well-known building next to it, to indicate
scale. It seems that the one which is most often used, and best
recognized, is the Eiffel Tower. One for the frogs there.

tony cooper

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Nov 18, 2012, 11:44:46 PM11/18/12
to
On Sun, 18 Nov 2012 20:01:21 -0800 (PST), fabzorba
<myles....@gmail.com> wrote:

>
>You see, this is another of grumpy ole man's pet peeves. Why is this
>photo regarded as remarkable? Without some familiar object nearby to
>calibrate its size for us, it could be twice the size of the Queen
>Mary, or half the size of a flea.
>
>I was wondering what would be a good internationally recognised device
>to use in such cases, one whose size is pretty constant,

I think it's called a "ruler" like I used in this photo:

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f244/cooper213/107.jpg


>and which is
>recognized internationally. Perhaps a wedding ring. I see coins used
>sometimes, but this is not ideal. It's parochial, and not everyone
>knows how big some other country's coins are.
>
>When the height of something needs to be given more impact, it often
>has a drawn figure of a well-known building next to it, to indicate
>scale. It seems that the one which is most often used, and best
>recognized, is the Eiffel Tower. One for the frogs there.

--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida

fabzorba

unread,
Nov 18, 2012, 11:58:32 PM11/18/12
to
On Nov 19, 3:44 pm, tony cooper <tony.cooper...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Sun, 18 Nov 2012 20:01:21 -0800 (PST), fabzorba
>
> <myles.abzo...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >You see, this is another of grumpy ole man's pet peeves. Why is this
> >photo regarded as remarkable? Without some familiar object nearby to
> >calibrate its size for us, it could be twice the size of the Queen
> >Mary, or half the size of a flea.
>
> >I was wondering what would be a good internationally recognised device
> >to use in such cases, one whose size is pretty constant,
>
> I think it's called a "ruler" like I used in this photo:
>
> http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f244/cooper213/107.jpg
>
Yeah, of course I'd never seen anything like that. I suppose we would
have to wait a thousand years before resident dickhead like you would
have a two watt light bulb go off in his head, and realize that just
about the whole fucking world outside of your place uses metric, and
many children in the developed world would now have no idea what an
inch is. You are a complete dope. Hey, why not have one next to some
field in "chains"?

tony cooper

unread,
Nov 19, 2012, 12:23:05 AM11/19/12
to
The ruler used also has a metric scale, but that is two photographs
combined into one (to show both sides of the spear) and the metric
side was cropped out. Since the photograph was being sent with the
piece to an American authenticator, there was no need to show the
length with a metric scale.

Jerry Friedman

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Nov 19, 2012, 12:52:03 AM11/19/12
to
On Nov 18, 9:47 am, Robin Bignall <docro...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> On Sat, 17 Nov 2012 21:13:16 -0800 (PST), Jerry Friedman
> <jerry_fried...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >On Nov 17, 5:30 pm, Robin Bignall <docro...@ntlworld.com> wrote:

[mystery bug of the Midi]

> >> It,
> >> like most at the museum, had a hard carapace and was brown.  I've looked
> >> through pages of Google images of insects and don't see anything akin to
> >> the dozens of different ones we saw that day.
>
> >Oh, gosh, I was just curious--I didn't want you to look through lots
> >of pages.  Sorry I put you to the trouble!
>
> No trouble at all.  The topic reminded me of an interesting day away
> from the camp site and beach, long ago, and wondered if I could find
> photos of those creepy-crawlies.  Now I'm wondering why I can't.

Okay, I'm relieved. And I'm giving up on guessing what the visitor to
your camp was.

--
Jerry Friedman

Athel Cornish-Bowden

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Nov 19, 2012, 1:24:25 AM11/19/12
to
On 2012-11-18 20:57:40 +0000, Robin Bignall said:

> On Sun, 18 Nov 2012 20:23:52 +0000, Robin Bignall
> <docr...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>
> [bug museum]
>
>> I looked for insect museums in France and this was the only one I could
>> find that was within a few hours' drive from Frejus, which was where we
>> were camping. It was in 1974 or 75 -- that long ago -- in a different
>> life, and I've long forgotten the where but not the what.
>
> The more I think about it the more I believe it was near the south coast
> not too far away from Frejus. To drive to Millau would have taken an
> hour or two,

A lot more than that! Google Maps estimates 4 hours, which seems to me
to be about right. In 1975 it would have been much more.

> and I don't recall us doing that. But I can't find any
> insect museum down there by Googling.


--
athel

Mark Brader

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Nov 19, 2012, 6:16:04 AM11/19/12
to
R.H. Draney:
> > an Icelandicer

Guy Barry:
> I think we've established that the adjective is "Icelandic" and the noun is
> "Icelander". Although by analogy:
> Finland/Finnish/Finn
> Poland/Polish/Pole
> Scotland/Scottish/Scot
> Iceland/Icish/Ice

England/English/Engel
Switzerland/Switerzish/Switzer
New Zealand/New Zealish/New Zeale
Maryland/Marylish/Marryl
Rhode Island/Rhode Islish/Rhode Isle

I think you're on to something there.
--
Mark Brader | "A colorful quilt reflecting the dispersed development
m...@vex.net | of the nation. A sentence fragment."
Toronto | --Eric Walker

My text in this article is in the public domain.

Robin Bignall

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Nov 19, 2012, 11:29:51 AM11/19/12
to
On Mon, 19 Nov 2012 07:24:25 +0100, Athel Cornish-Bowden
<acor...@imm.cnrs.fr> wrote:

>On 2012-11-18 20:57:40 +0000, Robin Bignall said:
>
>> On Sun, 18 Nov 2012 20:23:52 +0000, Robin Bignall
>> <docr...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>>
>> [bug museum]
>>
>>> I looked for insect museums in France and this was the only one I could
>>> find that was within a few hours' drive from Frejus, which was where we
>>> were camping. It was in 1974 or 75 -- that long ago -- in a different
>>> life, and I've long forgotten the where but not the what.
>>
>> The more I think about it the more I believe it was near the south coast
>> not too far away from Frejus. To drive to Millau would have taken an
>> hour or two,
>
>A lot more than that! Google Maps estimates 4 hours, which seems to me
>to be about right. In 1975 it would have been much more.
>
Yes it would. I asked my ex-wife if she can remember the occasion, and
she can, but not where we went.

>> and I don't recall us doing that. But I can't find any
>> insect museum down there by Googling.

This is beginning to bug me...
Message has been deleted

fabzorba

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Nov 19, 2012, 12:49:31 PM11/19/12
to
On Nov 19, 3:22 pm, tony cooper <tony.cooper...@gmail.com> wrote:

> The ruler used also has a metric scale, but that is two photographs
> combined into one (to show both sides of the spear) and the metric
> side was cropped out.  Since the photograph was being sent with the
> piece to an American authenticator, there was no need to show the
> length with a metric scale.
>
You CROPPED out the Metrics?!! Is that what you just said?!!

It goes to prove, you are just an IMPERIALIST, every inch of one....

rwalker

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Dec 3, 2012, 2:43:04 PM12/3/12
to
On Tue, 13 Nov 2012 08:10:48 -0800 (PST), fabzorba
<myles....@gmail.com> wrote:

snip

>
>So we would have some kind of geographical lakian1 and lakian2 .
>Haven't worked it out yet. I'ts late, and I've done my bit. Discuss.

I like it. What about the New Zealanders?

Rob - U.S. American.
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