Interesting Links for 15-02-2015

[andrewducker]

• 8 Things No Guy Over 25 Should Have In His Apartment
  (tags: age advice funny )
• New food scandal over peanuts is more serious than the horsemeat crisis
  (tags: food peanuts allergies )
• What Not to Wear After Age 50: The Final Say
  (tags: clothing advice aging )
• Why cutting benefits for people who refuse treatment is a terrible idea
  (tags: welfare

Comments

[asher63]

OK, I'm stuck on that last one. 'It’s hardly unsurprising', does that mean that the writer is surprised?

[andrewducker]

They are unsurprised.

And I agree, it's not clear (well, not until you reach the end of the paragraph)

[bart_calendar]

I'm disappointed that Essex wasn't broken down as it's own region in the sex survey.

[andrewducker]

You were hoping for "Dogging" to be a big thing? :->

[bart_calendar]

If nothing else I'd love to see the safe sex numbers.

24 Place Names You’ve Probably Been Mispronouncing Your Whole Life

[spacelem]

I was pronouncing a few of those incorrectly, but a lot of them I wasn't. I note that my sister is called Helena, pronounced like the island ("HELL-en-a"), but most people seem to want to pronounce it "Hel-AY-na", which she finds annoying. However having spent some time in Qatar, while it's definitely not "Kah-TAR" (like "Catarrh"), it's more like "Ka-ta" (like "batter") than "Kuh-Ter" (like "butter").

Re: 24 Place Names You’ve Probably Been Mispronouncing Your Whole Life

[nwhyte]

The "Iraq" one is particularly irritating. Personally I say "ir-AK", not "ir-OCK". A lot of Americans in particular seem to have the habit of pronouncing a short "a" in a foreign name like a short "o"; "Lotvia", for instance. Anyway there is quite a lot of variability n the Arab world about the pronunciation of "عراق"!

Re: 24 Place Names You’ve Probably Been Mispronouncing Your Whole Life

[skington]

Your sister should have been called Hellenna, then. I grew up in France so I pay more attention that most people to these "rules" of pronunciation that apply more consistently in France than they do in English, but still. Also, when people in the UK see "Helena" they probably think of Helena Kennedy, whose name is indeed pronounced the way that annoys you and your sister.

[bart_calendar]

Wow. That's what I've been trying to say about 50 Shades for years and that person just said it 100 times better than I could have.

[andrewducker]

It is nice when that happens :->

[woodpijn]

Is that sex survey saying the average person in the south east (modulo small sample size) identifies as a 9 on a scale of 1-10 of kinkiness? And similarly for the other regions? I find that very hard to believe.

[andrewducker]

It does seem to be saying that. And I also find it hard to believe.

Which doesn't mean it isn't true, of course. But if you happen to bump into the origin of the data, I'd love to see it :->