HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: danaf@vccsouth28.its.rpi.edu (Frank R. Dana Jr.)
Subject: Re: Americanising of the UK, Now: British TV in North America
Reply-To: danaf@rpi.edu
Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY.
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1992 18:43:07 GMT

In article <H12oqB1w165w@cybrspc.UUCP>, roy%cybrspc@cs.umn.edu (Roy M. Silvernail) writes:
|> ewm6965@venus.tamu.edu (The Guardian) writes:
|> 
|> > Then there's Larry Niven's creation, "tanj" (There Ain't No Justice), and 
|> > "tanstaafl" (There's No Such Thing As A Free Lunch") whose origin
|> > I don't know.
|> 
|> I can't absolutely attribute it, but the first time I saw 'tanstaafl'
|> was in Heinlein's _The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress_.
|> 
|> Might not be cyberpunk, but it's still my favorite Heinlein book (and
|> I've read almost all of them)

Wonderful novel. I recommend it unreservedly. and, yes, I do remember him
using tanstaafl, as well as some other undocumented phrases, written to enhance
the feeling of this being a moon colony, sometime in the future. However, I do
not remember Heinlein actually DEFINING "tanstaafl", so it may be that he
assumed his readers would already know what it meant from some other source
(like Niven?).

|> --
|>               Villa CyberSpace, virtually yours since 1988
|>                          roy%cybrspc@cs.umn.edu
|>        "In cyberspace, nobody has to clean the hot tub."
|>                                                        -- me

-- 
/////////////////////////[[[[[[[[[[]]]]]]]]]]\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
(718)             (212)                        (516)             (518)
=======Amiuser============Frank R. Dana, Jr.============Doc Ami=======     
--------My opinions rarely reflect those of any sane person,----------
	   living, dead, or undead... that's gonna CHANGE.
Xref: sparky soc.culture.british:12350 rec.arts.tv.uk:5378 rec.arts.drwho:5984 alt.tv.prisoner:1352
From: fletcher@rtf.bt.co.uk (Catherine Fletcher)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british,rec.arts.tv.uk,rec.arts.drwho,alt.tv.prisoner
Subject: Re: Tanstaafl (was: Americanising of the UK
Date: 10 Sep 92 14:16:23 GMT
Organization: BT Customer Systems, Brighton, UK


What exactly does tansnaafl stand for?
There are no such things as a free lunch?

Surely not...
-- 
 Catherine 
 _____________________________________________________________________________

    "Anyone who calls a spade a spade should be compelled to use one"
    Oscar Wilde
 _____________________________________________________________________________
From: smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Unemplyment in England
Date: 14 Sep 92 10:31:08 GMT
Reply-To: P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
Organization: University of Bristol

In article <1992Sep14.084726.22336@dcs.qmw.ac.uk> mmh@cs.qmw.ac.uk (Matthew Huntbach) writes:
>From the top of my head, the unemployment rate is now about 10%.

And, according to an article in the papers over the weekend (either
Grauniad or Observer, forget which, yeah, I know they're bloody
disloyal rags, tough) it is rising faster in the UK than in any other
G7 or EC country.

-- 
Paul Smee, Computing Service, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UD, UK
 P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk - ..!uunet!uknet!bsmail!p.smee - Tel +44 272 303132
From: smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Comments on Travel Agenda
Date: 15 Sep 92 10:19:47 GMT
Reply-To: P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
Organization: University of Bristol

In article <194@irsaims.UUCP> dennis@irsaims.UUCP (Dennis Hank) writes:
>	Our initial plans now include travelling from Cambridge to Northern
>	Wales to see the Castles.  Specifically, Harlech, Conway, and 
>	Caernarfon.  Then on to Anglesey to see Beaumaris Castle and then
>	back to Llanfairpwll (aka Llanfairpwllgwyngllgogeaychwyrndrobwlllllant-
>	syliogogogoch).

Um, I believe there's a mis-spelling in there, but unfortunately don't
have a suitable reference work at hand to verify it.  (I know the
orginator asked for answers to be emailed rather than posted.  My
excuse is that this isn't going to be an answer -- I'll email that.
However, this posting is a handy hook for me...)

For what?  To mention one of my favourite Les Barker (and the Great Mrs
Ackroyd Band) songs, on their 'Oranges and Lemmings' album, named
'llanfair...etc', which is about a couple who always go on holiday to
Blackpool, but who had such a bad time there last year that this year
they are going to llan...etc instead.  But, their little kiddie loves
Blackpool, so in order to preserve family peace, whenever they're
discussing their plan for where to go this year, they have to spell it.

Chorus (at speed) goes 'We're going to L L A N F A I R P ...' and so on,
and as far as I can tell, they get it right (the amazing bit), though
with a pause for breath in the middle.

-- 
Paul Smee, Computing Service, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UD, UK
 P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk - ..!uunet!uknet!bsmail!p.smee - Tel +44 272 303132
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: kevinh@hslrswi.hasler.ascom.ch (kevinh)
Subject: Re: THE COMPLETE BRITISH TO AMERICAN DICTIONARY
Originator: kevinh@mira
Reply-To: kevinh@hslrswi.hasler.ascom.ch
Organization: Ascom Hasler AG
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 16:44:18 GMT


In article <PD.92Sep10130247@herts.x.co.uk>, pd@x.co.uk (Paul Davey) writes:
|> >>>>> On 7 Sep 92 13:14:39 GMT, susher@vax.oxford.ac.uk said:
|> 
|> -> Before 1988 there were three levels of examination:-
|> 
|> -> 	CSE
|> -> 	'O' level (and the sub-class 'AO' level)
|> -> and	'A' level
|> 
|> -> The initials stood for Certificate of Secondary Education, Ordinary Level,
|> -> Alternative Ordinary Level and Advanced Level.
|> 
|> I thought an AO was Additional - but who knows - they are quite
|> obscure (I have one in French with Literature).

Advanced Ordinary, I seem to remember.

kevinh@hasler.ascom.ch
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: banarji@unixg.ubc.ca (Ajai Banarji)
Subject: A coincidence for disaster buffs
Originator: banarji@unixg.ubc.ca
Organization: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 19:59:59 GMT

		A coincidence for disaster buffs

  As anyone with a little knowledge of British railway history knows, 
the worst-ever accident in Britain took place in 1915 at a place called
Quintinshill in southern Scotland. The official death roll was 227.
  Quintinshill is not a station, but merely a signal box with crossing
loops. Some reference books mention the site as Gretna, which was the
nearest station. This station no longer exists, but some time back the
railways advertised Gretna as one of the destinations a tourist could
reach by train. Some consumer organization complained about misleading
advertising since the station no longer existed :-)
  It would be difficult to imagine that many years later an even bigger
disaster would occur in this obscure part of Scotland. Yet this is
exactly what happened.
  What do you think is the name of the next open station to the north
of Quintinshill?
  You guessed it. Lockerbie.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: chem91@Elroy.UH.EDU ("Bill Harrison (713)-743-2789")
Subject: Re: O-levels, A-levels etc was Re: THE COMPLETE BRITISH TO AMERICAN DICT.
Reply-To: chem91@Elroy.UH.EDU
Organization: University of Houston
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 15:43:43 GMT

In article <25582@castle.ed.ac.uk>, egpv29@castle.ed.ac.uk (JHenderson) writes:
>In article <1992Sep5.192103.13256@cco.caltech.edu> miriam@seismo.gps.caltech.edu (Miriam Jackson) writes:
>
>=>There are also O/A levels, halfway between O-levels and A-levels,
>=>and S levels which are harder that A-levels, and are taken by
>=>people aiming for Oxbridge.
>
>Small quibble here: S-levels have/had? no special significance for Oxbridge,
>because most Oxbridge applicants take/took? the special entrance exams, which
>are/were? harder than S-levels.
>
>-- 
>=======Jeremy Henderson========egpv29@castle.ed.ac.uk===============
>Q: How many user support people does it take to change a light bulb?
>A: We have an exact copy of the light bulb here and it seems to be
>   working fine.  Can you tell me what kind of system you have?  

I always thought that the "special entrance exams" were meant to be totally
baffling, intimadiating etc, etc. to the riff-raff, and were just part of the
establishment's way of "maintaining standards" at the good old Colleges...
Also the *complete mystery* of "selecting your college" (within the 
University), "scholarships" etc. were designed to be as confusing as 
possible to outsiders.

For the record, I "got in" to Oxford quite a few years ago on A-levels alone
(and probably a large amount of luck). Many state schools didn't even offer
S-levels in those days. 

What's the admissions procedure for Oxford these days?

Bill


+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\               /~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+
| Bill Harrison,            \             /       "Be as radical as... |
| University of Houston, TX  >-----------<         reality itself"     |
| CHEM91@JETSON.BITNET      /             \                V. I. Lenin |
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~/               \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1992 00:07:51 -0400 
From: Thomas Richardson <tr2g+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: What is a 2.1 equivalent to ?
	<4069@keele.keele.ac.uk>

J.W.Kirriemuir (csp48@seq1.keele.ac.uk):

>....I'd rather mention that I got a pass degree from a decent
>university like Hertfordshire than a 1st or 2:1 from a "campus with no
>hope" like Keele...

"Hertfordshire"?? Where ?

Is it a real university, or just a Major-re-labelled polytechnic ?

Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: andyw@aspen32.cray.com (Andy Warner)
Subject: Re: CALL OF THE QUR'AN TO THE PEOPLE OF THE BOOK
Originator: andyw@aspen32
Organization: Cray Research, Inc.
Distribution: usa
Date: 8 Sep 92 12:12:33 CDT


In article <1992Sep5.141844.27577@doug.cae.wisc.edu>, irfan@maxwell.ece.wisc.edu (Irfan Alan) writes:
> jen johansen you write in your posting
> 
> >Oh please!  Can WE please keep this kind of
> >opinionated and perfectly useless bull*%&! off
> >soc.culture.british?!?
> 
> to which I respond:  You must be seeing youself 
> in the mirror.

Ah, such wit, such economy of words..

> and you have a dipnote saying:
> 
> >DISCLAIMER:  Hey, if you seriously
> >believe I am speaking for anyone
> >else, we might both be in quite 
> >serious trouble...
> 
> To which I respond: you are not sticking to your words.
> There are many other readers in this network.  May be
> several of them might be interested in hearing about my
> postings.  Why are you requesting something on behalf
> of the network and other people.

There are many readers, you're right, but how come you didn't
cross-post to comp.sys.foobar too ? Try to keep your rantings
to appropriate groups & we'll all be happier..

-- 
andyw.	N0REN/G1XRL

andyw@aspen.cray.com	Andy Warner, Cray Research, Inc.	(612) 683-5835
From: rhaller@oregon.uoregon.edu (Rich Haller)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: "In the _long run_ we are all dead"
Date: 15 Sep 92 20:02:34 GMT
Article-I.D.: rhaller.rhaller-150992125307
Followup-To: soc.culture.british
Organization: University of Oregon

Someone out there who name I have missplaced gave me the source of the
Keynes quote. It is his "Tract on Monetary Reform". Couldn't get hold of
the original, but here is a longer quote that contains the sentence that
follows, which is memorable in it's own right. According to my source, his
point was that the cruder form of the Quantity Theory of money is valid
only in the long run.

Now to quote Keynes (underscores delimit italics in original):
"But this _long run_ is a misleading guide to current affairs. In the _long
run_ we are all dead. Economists set themselves too easy, too useless a
task, if in tempestuous seasons they can only tell us that when the storm
is long past the ocean is flat again."

Nicely put, eh? Not much progress on this front since 1921 either.

-Rich Haller
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british,soc.culture.usa,soc.culture.canada
From: dj@ekcolor (Dave Jones)
Subject: Re: Are foreignborn kids of UK citizens british?
Organization: :noitazinagrO
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL3
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 92 15:44:47 GMT

w.p.coyne@newcastle.ac.uk writes:
: 
:   I believe you can't lose British citizenship just by taking up
:   xitizenship of another country.  If this is true it means any 
:   Briton who has taken up US etc citizenship can get a new UK 
:   passport whenever they want.
: 
: here's the question
:   Are the foreign born children of British citizens resident abroad
:   entitled to British citizenship?
: 
: Or are they doomed forever to be without UK citizenship :-)

It depends (phases of Moon, whims of politicos, that sort of thing).
More important is the shameful situation where British-born children
may not be entitled to citizenship, depending on the citizenship of
their parents.  Thus we may yet see GB throwing out hordes of unwelcome
unwhites who happen to have been born and bred there, just as once the
various East African members of the Commonwealth did with their Asian
populations.

Whatever its faults, the US at least has it right when it comes to
citizenship for US-born kids - which leads to interesting possibilities
for the grandson of a certain top Chinese politico.....



--
||)) Those who wallow in ignorance      ))) Policemen are numbered in case))|
||)) must dwell in Limbaugh for a time  ))) they get lost - S. Milligan   ))|
||))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))|
||Dave Jones (dj@ekcolor.ssd.kodak.com) | Eastman Kodak Co. Rochester, NY   |
From: ag129@cl.cam.ac.uk (Alasdair Grant)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: buying peerage
Date: 6 Sep 92 14:26:16 GMT
Reply-To: ag129@cl.cam.ac.uk (Alasdair Grant)
Organization: U of Cambridge Comp Lab, UK

>In <CC.92Sep4124007@arran.dcs.ed.ac.uk> cc@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Chris Cooke) writes:
>
>>Yes, it's quite possible.  Donating money to charity will only get you a
>>fairly minor title, though.  To get a big, important title you have to donate
>>lots of money to the Conservative Party.  Sad but true.  The whole thing is
>>corrupt beyond belief.

Not nearly as corrupt as under Harold Wilson's Labour government, though,
where random personal friends of senior Party members got peerages.

The fact that industry leaders get peerages may be as much to do with the
fact that they are perceived as creating jobs and helping exports, as with
the amount they give to the Tories (which may be nothing - I think there
were at least a couple of industrial peers who signed the pro-Labour letter
in the Times before the election). Remember that the Tories value the
tradition of the peerage, and are actually less likely to be partisan about
it than Labour.

A steady supply of new peers is necessary for a balanced House of Lords.
Academics and artists get made peers too.
From: w.p.coyne@newcastle.ac.uk
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: British Slang
Date: 13 Sep 92 09:54:45 GMT
Reply-To: w.p.coyne@newcastle.ac.uk
Organization: Chemical & Process Engineering Dept, University of Newcastle, UK.

godfrey@sscvx1.ssc.gov (LAURENCE GODFREY) writes:

>In article <4057@keele.keele.ac.uk>, cla04@seq1.keele.ac.uk (A.T. Fear)        writes...
>>From article <92255.193525TAS137@psuvm.psu.edu>, by TAS137@psuvm.psu.edu:
>>> Can someone please explain to me what 'GOBSMACKED' means?
>>> thank you
>> 
>>Having the feeling of having been smacked in the gob, easy really
>> 
>>Andy

>In fairness it must be said that "gobsmacked" is not truly British slang,
>but was invented by Murdoch's appalling SUN newspaper in an attempt to
>describe the sensation, common amongst its readers, of being faced with
>an event which they had difficulty comprehending.  For example "when 
>asked to pay my Paris hotel bill in French Francs I was totally gobsmacked"
>or "when asked to pay 25 pence for 18 pages of SUN drivel directed at readers
>with a mental age of 8 I was completely gobsmacked" etc.

>This is also true of the verb "to bonk", and the noun "bonk".  This is
                                   ^^^^
>used by the SUN to describe the sexual act between two persons of 
>opposite sex, for example a well-known Conservative minister and a very
>poor actress.  One can only guess at its reasons for inventing a new word,
>when the English language already contains a wealth of possibilities.

  So far as I know that is not a new word, it has been used as slang
in Tyneside, (and maybe in the North of England in general) for many 
years.  When the Sun started using it (noticed how they don't seem to
use it now) I was long familiar with it.

  The fact that a word is not in use in Standard British English does not
mean that it is not part of the English Language

>Laurence
From: guy@cogsci.ed.ac.uk (Guy Barry)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Archers are more popular than TV soaps
Date: 13 Sep 92 19:52:59 GMT
Organization: Centre for Cognitive Science, Edinburgh, UK

avyfdvg@unicorn.nott.ac.uk (David Gatenby) writes:

[of "The Archers"]

>Yes, I heard Radio 4 midnight news last night, and I heard that figure of 8
>million listeners.  There again, it doesn't take much to exceed C4 viewing
>figures, with programmes like, "Sheep Crofting for Gay Rastafarians," etc. 8^))
This can't be right; the biggest audiences for Radio 4 are in the
region of 1 million (according to the BBC's own figures).
On the other hand, there may well be 8 million people who listen to
the Archers *at some time* over a suitably long period.

>My old tutor at Sixth Form College (no, American buddies, I am _not_ going to
>explain what one of those is! P-)) claims that you can fit the words of _any_
>song into the theme tune from the Archers.  I tried with "God Save the Queen"
>(looks like he's the only person who can!), and, yes, this theory does seem to
>hold water. 

Well, you can fit the words of any song into any tune if you take enough
liberties.  None the less, this must have been an astonishing achievement.
All together now:

	GO-od save our GRAcious Queen,
	LO-ong live our NOble
	QUEEN, God save the QUEE-een, send
	HER victo-oriOUS,
	HA-a-appy and GLO-o-orious,
	LONG to reign over US,
	GO-od save the QUEE-ee-ee-ee-ee-
	EE-ee-ee-ee-ee-EEN!

-- 
Guy Barry | Computer Laboratory     | Centre for Cognitive Science
          | University of Cambridge | University of Edinburgh
          | Guy.Barry@cl.cam.ac.uk  | guy@cogsci.ed.ac.uk
          | +44 (0)223 334757       | +44 (0)31 650 4422
From: ses@cmns-sun.think.com (Simon Edward Spero)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: Dum dee dum...
Date: 8 Sep 92 12:22:14
Organization: What's your clearance, citizen?
	<10078@uqcspe.cs.uq.oz.au> <1992Sep7.170612.8710@vax.oxford.ac.uk>
NNTP-Posting-Host: cmns-sun.think.com
In-reply-to: wilcox@vax.oxford.ac.uk's message of 7 Sep 92 16:06:12 GMT

In article <1992Sep7.170612.8710@vax.oxford.ac.uk> wilcox@vax.oxford.ac.uk writes:
   > I gather that she terminated the pregnancy, possibly in an effort to get
   > the Scottish Git (NO FLAMES PLEASE!) back.
   > 
   No. She had the abortion after he'd dumped her and fled the country to avoid
   charges of embezzlement.

Of course, the rumour is going around that Cameron was completely innocent,
and was set up to take a fall by Kate because he was getting too close to 
discovering her secret heroin smuggling operations. Reports that he fled are
innacurate - he never made it out of Ambridge. 
  Rumours are also circulating that an agent from the American DEA is operating
in Ambridge, using an intercepted letter as a cover, and that a crack video
surveilance team is operating in the area.

Simon

--
-----
Guest account at TMC 	|	Just Another  WAIS Hacker | DOD# 0612
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british,rec.arts.tv.uk,rec.arts.drwho,alt.tv.prisoner,alt.usage.english
From: jac54@cas.org ()
Subject: Re: Gordon Bennett! Re: No smegma please, we're American
Organization: Chemical Abstracts Service, Columbus, Ohio
Date: Wed, 9 Sep 1992 10:52:49 GMT

In article <v1rn78q@lynx.unm.edu> jfreter@triton.unm.edu (The Myth) writes:
>In article <1992Sep8.170840.22969@gateway.novell.com> terry@thisbe.Eng.Sandy.Novell.COM (Terry Lambert) writes:
>>In article <1992Sep3.215537.29274@macc.wisc.edu> husted@vms.macc.wisc.edu (Jack) writes:
>>>In what other dictionary of its size and relative low cost can
>>>you find the proper term of address for the married daughter
>>>of a marquess/marquis? (ref. 1965 edition)
>>
>>All right.  Give.  What is the proper term of address?
>>
>
>Is it _Margrave_?
>
	Margrave is the Anglicized form of the German "Margraf",
	which means a count with lands on the marches of the realm.

	Alec.
From: cc@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Chris Cooke)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
Subject: Re: British Slang
Date: 14 Sep 92 09:31:44 GMT
Organization: Department of Computer Science, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
In-reply-to: TAS137@psuvm.psu.edu's message of 11 Sep 92 23:35:25 GMT

In article <92255.193525TAS137@psuvm.psu.edu> TAS137@psuvm.psu.edu writes:

   Can someone please explain to me what 'GOBSMACKED' means?
   thank you

Very surprised.
--
	-- Chris. 	cc@dcs.ed.ac.uk   (on Janet, cc@uk.ac.ed.dcs)

		
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british
From: btg@cl.cam.ac.uk (Brian Graham)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.british,soc.culture.canada
Subject: Re: Are foreignborn kids of UK citizens british?
Date: 15 Sep 92 11:17:13 GMT
Reply-To: btg@uk.ac.cam.cl
Organization: Cambridge Hardware Verification Group


In article <1992Sep14.111848.28443@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu>,
migod@turing.toronto.edu (Mike Godfrey) writes:
|> 
|> I just applied for (and got) a UK passport based on my father having been
|> born there (he hasn't had a UK passport for 20 years!).
|> 
|> If your father is/was British, then you are British too.
|> If your mother is/was British and you were born after 1983 (+/- 1 year --
|> I can't recall), then you are British too.

I enquired about this two years ago, and I seem to recall that this
was a bit more restricted than indicated above.  Primarily this 
applies to children (NOT grandchildren - that provision ended
within the last five years or so) of UK born citizens who reside in
commonwealth countries.  I don't believe that American residents
qualify, for example.  The parent must have been born in the UK,
and not obtained citizenship by means of the above provision for
example.

Contacting a British High Commission for the passport application will
provide full details of the current provisions --- I have copies at
home, not here in the lab.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brian Graham                    |  Tel: +44-223-334688
University of Cambridge         |  Fax: +44-223-334678
Computer Laboratory             |  
Pembroke Street                 |  Email: btg@cl.cam.ac.uk
Cambridge, U.K.  CB2 3QG        |