HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: hm@fwi.uva.nl (Hans Mulder)
Subject: Re: If the Wales' divorce
Organization: FWI, University of Amsterdam
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 03:21:53 GMT

In <92346.1713052893684@QUCDN.QueensU.CA> Andy <2893684@QUCDN.QueensU.CA> says:
>In article <Bz3LJ3.JG0@hpqmoea.sqf.hp.com>, prr@hpqmola.sqf.hp.com (Peter
>Roubaud) says:
>>Andy (2893684@QUCDN.QueensU.CA) wrote:
>>> It has been argued that if Charles divorces, he would be unable to become   g
>>Kin
>>> as he would no longer be qualified to be Head of the Church of England. I am
>>> not sure of that, todays paper cited the example of King Charles II (I
>>think)
>>> in 1698 who as King, divorced his wife and did not need to abdicate.
>>
>>Most impressive since Charles II died in 1685.

>I did put a qualifier in there:) I am certain of the year (or rather what the
>paper said) I am uncertain of the monarch.

This can't be correct: in 1698, the king of England was William of Orange.
If there ever was a king of England who couldn't divorce and keep his job,
it was William, since he was king only by virtue of his being married to
Mary Stuart when she inherited the throne.

Compare: if Charles divorces he may still be king, but if Di divorces she
surely can't be queen.

HansM
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: hallam@zeus02.desy.de (Phill Hallam-Baker)
Subject: Re: game (no prizes)
Reply-To: Hallam@zeus02.desy.de
Organization: Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron, Experiment ZEUS bei HERA
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 09:24:04 GMT

In article <1992Dec12.214237.4923@netcom.com>, ewadams@netcom.com (Ernest Adams)
writes:

|>Speaking as a frequent visitor to Britain, I'd say the requirements
|>test for British citizenship should go something like this:
|>
|>1) Who knocked Swansea City out of the FA Cup in 1967?
|>2) State, concisely and briefly, the British Constitution.
|>3) Describe the appropriate condiments for fish & chips. Defend your choice.
|>4) Explain the difference between Rugby Union and Rugby League.
|>   Demonstrate, using examples where necessary, why this is so important.
|>5) Play a game of Mornington Crescent. Win the game on the 23rd move.
|>6) Defend the British Monarchy, using the attitudes and accent of a
|>   penniless citizen of a Commonwealth nation such as Jamaica.
|>7) Which is the A1(M) and which is the M1? Why?
|>8) Justify how a nation which produced Shakespeare and Yeats could
|>   produce Benny Hill. Believe your answer without your head exploding.
|>9) What precisely is Wales? How did it get that way?
|>10) Does your fear of rabies exceed your fear of AIDS, in spite of the
|>    fact that one is a statistical irrelevancy and one a worldwide
|>    pandemic? If not, why not?

11) How does one spell Colour?
12) On which side of the road should on drive?
13) Which side should one applaud during a cricket match.
14) Who wrote Kipplings words to a passage from the Holt Planet Suite 
	"I vow to thee my country..."
15) Give three inconsequential facts about the Royal familly
16) Explain how we managed to win Agincore, Trafalgar and Waterloo, fight
	world wars I and II on their turf and still get trouble from them?
17) If the Archbishop of Canterburie's daughter married the Speaker of the
	House of Commons she would rise in precedence as a result True or False?
18) Either a) Explaint the hallowed necessity of the first past the post
system.
     	or b) Describe three different systems of Proportional Representation.
19) One of these words would not be heard on the BBC, which is it?
	a) Clitoris b) antidisestablishmentarianism c) Prunes
20) In the Mousetrap, whodunnit?

--

Phill Hallam-Baker
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: MDuPree@world.std.com (Micky DuPree)
Subject: U.K. --> N. American voltage transformers and plugs
Summary: Are they safe?  Are they workable?
Keywords: voltage transformers, plug adaptors
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1992 20:37:00 GMT

A contact in the U.K. warned me that 240v --> 120v voltage transformers,
such as one might use to run a North American appliance off of U.K. wall
power, tend to "short out, smoulder, and catch fire."  Can anyone else
share their experience with such converters?  My video recorder and
laptop computer are supposed to be automatically adapting to different
voltages, but I also wanted to take three pieces of audio/video signal
processing equipment (a stereo receiver, a video enhancer, and an audio
equalizer) with me to the U.K., and they would require power converters.
(For information's sake, they're rated at 300W, 15W, and 1.1W,
respectively.)  But if the converters are really that dangerous, it puts
me off the idea.  (None of them involves mechanical operation or clocks,
so my impression is that the 50Hz/60Hz AC frequency difference wouldn't
be a problem.)

Also, someone (I think it was Dave Jones) once warned that if you want
to adapt a 3-prong N. American plug like so:

             o
            | |

to a 3-spade U.K. outlet like so:

             |
            - -

you would probably be doomed to failure.  Well, the local Radio Shack
only sells U.K. 3-spade plug adaptors for N.A. 2-spade plugs (| |), so
I'm beginning to get the awful feeling he was right.  Is there no such
thing as a N.A. 3-prong to U.K. 3-spade adaptor?  This is not a problem
for my video recorder, but two of my gadgets, including my laptop's AC
adaptor, terminate in a N.A. 3-prong plug.  However!  The laptop's power
cord plugs into the AC adaptor unit with a female 3-vertical-spade plug
like so:

             |
            | |

which I have seen before on various pieces of computer equipment.  Does
anyone know if I would be able to buy a power cord in the U.K. with
these plugs on the ends of it?

male U.K. power plug=====================female computer plug

        |                                         |
       - -                                       | |

Unfortunately this still wouldn't help me with my 3-prong plug video
signal processor.

The spacing isn't quite right on these plug drawings, but ASCII art is
an oxymoron.

Thanks for any assistance anyone can give me.

-Micky

(The removals company comes on Monday.  Ready?  Me?  No.)
From: cah@cs.bham.ac.uk (Ceri Hopkins)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Robertson's Golly Badges.
Date: 16 Dec 92 18:52:31 GMT
	<1992Dec15.075024.20279@osf.org> <1992Dec15.215613.18500@netcom.com>
Organization: School of Computer Science, University of Birmingham, UK

>>>>> On 15 Dec 92 21:56:13 GMT, sue@netcom.com (Sue Miller) said:

Sue> In article <1992Dec15.075024.20279@osf.org> sp@osf.org (Simon Patience) writes:

>I didn't want to get involved in this thread, but I couldn't let this
>pass. How is a golliwog somehow more offensive that any other rag doll?
>All of them look pretty grotesque to me, the only difference with gollies
>is that they are made with black cotton instead of pink. 

[bit deleted]

Sue> This also does not alter the fact that the original Golliwog
Sue> dolls were patterned after a "grotesque" image, in the sense that
Sue> they overemphasized features which white people in the USA (and
Sue> elsewhere) denigrated in black people.  People of all colors in
Sue> the USA still remember this, and they aren't too interested in
Sue> having or manufacturing things which recall this.  Call it
Sue> weakness, call it paranoia (oh, you did, see below), it doesn't
Sue> matter.

Neither did I wish to get involved in this thread, but I thought it
may be of interest that there exists a car repair business in Balsall
Heath, Birmingham (UK) called Golliwogs (not Golly). Balsall Heath is
an inner city area with a high percentage of black residents. That
such a business should exist (and continue to do so) -- although no
doubt it does offend many people -- may partly illustrate some
differences between the UK and US "overall" view of a golliwog
[although I couldn't hope to describe the "overall" UK view - just
that examples like this may hint at something].

Ceri
--
Ceri Hopkins                                    
School of Computer Science                        C.A.Hopkins@Cs.Bham.Ac.Uk
University of Birmingham			  Tel. +44-21-414-3743
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: dbrooks@osf.org (David Brooks)
Subject: Re: BOXING DAY- 26th Dec
Organization: Open Software Foundation
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1992 18:16:07 GMT

alice_bertelson@pts.mot.com (ALICE BERTELSON X2572 P7331) writes:
| .. Hence the 26th being Boxing Day.....

Not, of course, it falls happen on a Saturday.  The Grate British
Werker not to be deprived of his day Off.  This year its on Monday the
28.

How's my Yadallean?

Incidentally, I was alerted to this curious roaming date by an *American*
whom we had invited to our annual Boxing Day party.
-- 
David Brooks					dbrooks@osf.org
Open Software Foundation			uunet!osf.org!dbrooks
Allberall und ewig blauen licht die Fernen!  Ewig... ewig... ewig...
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: ewadams@netcom.com (Ernest Adams)
Subject: Re: If the Wales' divorce
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 20:31:49 GMT

Peter Scott writes:

>
>But just how widespread is antidisestablishmentarianism there
>these days?
>
>(Couldn't resist)

The whole royal divorce question is certainly going to lead to a lot more
floccinaucinihilipilification with respect to the monarchy.

(My spelling may be a bit off -- it's from memory.)

-- Ernest



Xref: sparky soc.culture.british:17390 soc.culture.celtic:8090
From: fledgist@weber.ucsd.edu (Fragano Ledgister)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british,soc.culture.celtic
Subject: Re: The story of the Scottish flag
Date: 12 Dec 1992 23:13:36 GMT
Organization: University of California, San Diego
NNTP-Posting-Host: weber.ucsd.edu

In article <1992Dec12.033652.688@fwi.uva.nl> hm@fwi.uva.nl (Hans Mulder) writes:
>In <JIM.92Dec11122231@hunter.cs.strath.ac.uk> jim@cs.strath.ac.uk (Jim Reid) writes:
>>As for Queen Elizabeth, she is known as Elizabeth the Second. This is
>>misleading as the nation she rules has not had a Queen Elizabeth
>>before. Some Scots find this offensive, since Scotland has never
>>had a Queen called Elizabeth until now, although England had one
>>during the 17th(?) century. 
>
>Lots of countries have queens known Elizabeth the Second:
>Antigua & Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada,
>England, Grenada, Guernsey, Jamaica, Jersey, Man, Mauritius, New Zealand,
>Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Solomon Islands, St. Kitts & Nevis,
>St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, Tuvalu.
>
>How many of these have had queens called Elizabeth before?

Bermuda, perhaps.

>
>>Similar trouble is likely if/when Prince Charles succeeds - there
>>have been no Kings called Charles in Scotland, but two in England.

It is rather hard to believe that the Stuarts ceased being kings of
Scotland when they became Kings of England.

>
>On average, those countries have had 0.09 king called Charles, so
>the next one will be Charles the 1.09th, no?
>
>HansM


-- 
____________________________________________________________________
Dawn over the dark sea brings on the sun;                      
She leans across the hilltop: see, the light!
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: streater@unixhub.SLAC.Stanford.EDU (Tim Streater)
Subject: Re: Re: sesame st./Magic roundabout
Organization: Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 08:12:02 GMT

In article <1992Dec18.014251.10802@news.Hawaii.Edu> gerard@caliban.soest.hawaii.edu (Gerard Fryer) writes:
>In article <1992Dec15.143747.1@vms.ocom.okstate.edu>, chorley@vms.ocom.okstate.edu writes:
>|> 
>|> The Magic Roundabout is French!!!!!!!!!!
>|> 
>True, M.R. is French.  But the dialog is English.

In the French version, Dougal speaks French with an English accent. And each
character has an individual voice. Am I to deduce that M.R. is *still* shown
on the Beeb? At 5.55 p.m. I hope!

tin.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: streater@unixhub.SLAC.Stanford.EDU (Tim Streater)
Subject: Re: game (no prizes)
Organization: Stanford Linear Accelerator Center
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 08:37:39 GMT

In article <1992Dec12.032340.162@nuscc.nus.sg> hiscrp@nuscc.nus.sg (C R Pennell) writes:
>			TARARA
>	PRESENTING THE SOC.CULTURE.BRITISH CHRISTMAS COMPETITION
>
Those competition rules in full:
>1 One line per question (save on bandwidth)
>2. VERY SIMPLE ENGLISH (they don't speak the language very well, remember)
>3. No prizes  . . .
 4. Er......
 5. That's it.

Which skool-boy publication would couch its competition in the above form?

(That's enough foolish sets of rules - Ed)
From: dj@ekcolor.ssd.kodak.com (Dave Jones)
Subject: Re: More silly songs.
Organization: Vonnegut Tent Rentals, Inc.
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL7]
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 92 16:27:31 GMT

Adrian Pepper (arpepper@math.uwaterloo.ca) wrote:
> Is there any more to the following:
> 
>   While shepherds washed their socks by night,
>   All seated round a tub,
>   The angel of the Lord came down,
>   And taught them how to scrub.
> 
> 
> Of course, I can imagine that the rhyming scheme could lead to
> alternate parodies that my mother would not want to know about...
> 
   While shepherds washed their socks by night,
   All seated round the pot.
   The angel of the Lord came down,
   And stole the bloomin' lot.

Probably the version sung by proles accustomed to being dispossessed from
time to time by the agents of the ruling class...

--
||------------------------------------------------------------------------
||Dave Jones (dj@ekcolor.ssd.kodak.com)|Eastman Kodak Co. Rochester, NY  |
From: dam@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk (David Morning)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: US bombed Libyan civilians
Date: 15 Dec 92 13:03:51 GMT
Organization: Glasgow University Computing Science Dept.

david@postman.gr.osf.org (David George) writes:

>In article <BzArI5.7w7@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk>, dam@dcs.glasgow.ac.uk (David Morning) writes:
>|> Guess you forgot about the bombing of a certain disco in Germany full of US
>|> servicemen then. eh?

>Yes but I thought this was a Syrian inspired operation aided by the Stasi out of
>east Berlin (isn't that what the Stasi files showed ?).

Abu Nidal was being blamed at the time. He'd spent some time in Libya and it
was only after the bombing of Libya was it revealed that he'd moved to
Syria prior to this bombing.

Dunno if the Americans already knew this or not at the time but that was the
public reason being given for the attack on Libya.

I've a vague recollection of coded messages being sent back and for to East
Germany but I think that may have something to do with the Lockerbie PanAm
102 bombing rather than the earlier disco bombing. Anyone confirm or
otherwise?

Dave
-- 
Xref: sparky soc.culture.british:17680 soc.culture.celtic:8246
From: mmh@dcs.qmw.ac.uk (Matthew Huntbach)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british,soc.culture.celtic
Subject: Re: Last King of Scotland (was Dates 1603, 1688, and 1707)
Keywords: n
Date: 17 Dec 92 11:26:11 GMT
Organization: Computer Science Dept, QMW, University of London, UK.

In article <1992Dec16.225019.1846@coe.montana.edu> uesu03@giac1.oscs.montana.edu (Lou Glassy) writes:
>I ask this, because I'm still unclear as to the nature of the
>Scottish-- English political connection.  I know Scotland has some
>degree of home rule, and its own legal and education system (distinct
>from England's), but thought it [cannot][does not] have its own foreign
>policy, any more than say, a state in the USA would have a 'foreign
>policy' distinct from that of the US Federal government...

No, Scotland does not have home rule. Although things like its
education system are administered separately from the English,
it is under the charge of the political party which received
the majority of votes *UK-wide*. Home rule would mean that if
the majority in Scotland voted for party A, but party B was the
biggest party in the UK, Scotland would be adminstered by Party
A. This is not the case.

Matthew Huntbach
From: erics@hpkslx.mayfield.HP.COM (Eric P. Solari)
Date: Tue, 15 Dec 1992 19:13:05 GMT
Subject: Re: Do we really need the monarchy?
Organization: HP Response Center Lab
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british

something that seems to have gone unmentioned in this string is the
amount of tourist $'s (don't have a lb. key, sorry) , that the royal 
family brings in each year.  IMHO, people visit Windsor, The Tower, 
Westminster, etc. in large part because the monarchy is intact.  my 
guess is that it would not be as interesting to visit some of these 
places if the monarchy abandoned -- at least for us americans who seem 
to be more fascinated with the royal family than the british.  
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eric P. Solari * Hewlett-Packard Response Center Lab
               * 100 Mayfield Ave, 37MA
               * Mountain View, CA 94043
---------------------------------------------------------------------
email: solarie@mayfield.hp.com HPDesk: Eric Solari/HP5000/UM
(415)691-3058  tn 691-3058 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: ambidge@ecf.toronto.edu (Chris Ambidge)
Subject: Re: Robertson's Golly Badges.
Organization: University of Toronto, Engineering Computing Facility
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 00:02:14 GMT

In article <BzBq6E.2J1@dscomsa.desy.de> Poser@vxdsyc.desy.de writes:
>In article <1992Dec15.215613.18500@netcom.com>, 
>sue@netcom.com (Sue Miller) writes in soc.culture.british:
>|>ObChristmasAnecdote:  My older cousins received a full complement of 
>|>Barbie/Ken dolls for Christmas eons ago.  My aunt looked at the hooters on
>|>Barbie, and was seized with a sudden graphic thought.  She grabbed the
>|>Ken doll, which had yet to be manipulated much, and ripped off his
>|>trousers.  After all, Barbie was the first semi-anatomically-correct
>|>doll any of them had ever seen.  You can hardly wonder at her anxiety.
>
>I'm not quite sure about this paragraph. What is wrong with a doll having
>an anatomically correct nose? And You used the plural...
>Did the dolls perchance have more than one nose? That, methinks, could
>conceivably explain the anxiety, but only just.


Methinks we have another case of "divided by a common language" 
here, as we have just observed with "pecker"

In North America, "hooters" is a vernacular term for female breasts.
I had not  made the connection until I read this, but "hooter" did
refer to one's nose when I was in school playgrounds in England.

As I recall, Barbie and Ken are only anatomically correct above the 
waist and from mid-thigh down.

Ah, prudery.

-- 
Chris Ambidge / ambidge@ecf.toronto.edu / ambidge@ecf.utoronto.ca  
   chemical engineering / university of toronto
   200 college st / toronto ON / M5S 1A4 // 416 978 3106
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: draitt@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (David Raitt)
Subject: Re: Green Card colour survey!!
Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 19:07:07 GMT

In <1992Dec17.131055.6928@pts1.pts.mot.com> alice_bertelson@pts.mot.com (ALICE BERTELSON X2572 P7331) writes:


>In article 1gokm4INNqr1@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu, esh2@po.CWRU.Edu (Evelyn S. Hlabse) writes:
>>*>
>>*>Just adding my two cents worth.  My family came over in 1956 to
>>*>the US and the cards were blue.  Could it have anything to do with
>>*>when they were issued?

>OK SO LET'S DO A SURVEY!!

>1984 IN MIAMI -ISSUED 'CARDS' WERE WHITE 

>NEXT.........

1984 in Salt Lake City

issued card is also white, but it does have green wavy lines on it
From: singer@apple.com (Dave Singer)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: A.A. Milne
Date: 15 Dec 92 17:55:47 GMT
Followup-To: soc.culture.british
Organization: Apple Computer

In article <92341.001912BONEMAN@PURCCVM.BITNET>, BONEMAN@PURCCVM.BITNET
wrote:
> 
> I have a friend who read recently that A.A. Milne's son, (yes, THE Christopher
> Robin) owned a bookstore in Dartmouth, Devonshire England. I was wondering if 
> he was still alive and if anyone knew of a mailing address for him. 
> 
> Boneman@Purccvm.bitnet

I can get you close. He used to own Harbor Books in Dartmouth, but sold it
a few years ago. He lives in Stoke Fleming, and I suspect that he is well
enough known in a small enough town that that would get a letter there.
He's
now in maybe his 70s and my sources say that he doesn't seem so well these
days.

Close enough?

Dave

Ecce! Nunc Edwardus Ursus ...

Hush! Hush! Giggle who dares.
Christopher Robin has fallen downstairs.

Get in here Piglet! Old dame on the line says she's got a positive on 
a heffalump!

What has she got in that tight little fist of hers?
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: dj@ekcolor.ssd.kodak.com (Dave Jones)
Subject: Re: Robertson's Golly Badges.
Organization: Vonnegut Tent Rentals, Inc.
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL7]
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 92 19:18:22 GMT

Dennis Davis (ccsdhd@sunlab1.bath.ac.uk) wrote:
> In the referenced article, tmo@harry.engin.umich.edu (Tanya M Ollick) writes:
> >What's a Robertson's Golly badge?
> 
> Robertson's are a UK manufacturer of jam/marmalade.  I suspect that
> their product may be referred to as jelly in the States.  Their jars of
> jam had, and still have, a small pictograph or picture of a golliwog
> (**) on the label.  You saved up so many of these and sent them off to
> the manufacturer.
> 
> (**) A golliwog is a soft child's toy, something like a teddy bear.
>      Later, and inferior, toys on this theme would include gruesome
>      things like Cindy dolls.  Golliwogs are normally clothed and have
>      black faces and frizzy hair.  As a sacrifice to the altar of

Substantively correct.  A quicker way of communicating the appearance is
to refer to the black-face "minstrel" performers who should be well-known
in both the USA and UK, though deservedly out of fashion in both places.
The classic golliwog's sharp suit and blackface make it just a rag-doll
version of a "minstrel".

>
> [Crossposted to and followups to soc.culture.british, which is probably
>  a better place for any further discussion.]
> --
Very nice.  Will you now tell us why it was also cross-posted to soc.bi?
Is there some connection with cross-racial cross-dressing, or were your
wires just crossed?

(cross-posting removed by me)


--
||------------------------------------------------------------------------
||Dave Jones (dj@ekcolor.ssd.kodak.com)|Eastman Kodak Co. Rochester, NY  |
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: hiscrp@nuscc.nus.sg (C R Pennell)
Subject: Re: Lamont's wine and PRIVATE EYE
Organization: National University of Singapore
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1992 23:02:01 GMT

Please, what is "the affair ofGummer's pond"?

Richard Pennell History NUS.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british,soc.culture.celtic