Absolutely Anything Else

SimonTrew wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

It is one of those guessing games like you see vans that say (in Hungarian) "Carpets, no job too big or small".

Well then go and carpet the moon. Carpet this dolls house I have built for my niece.

Patently they should say "carpets, some jobs out of our range"

At the moment, Hungarian workmen don't answer the phone and if they do, and promise to come around, then don't turn up.   Others say that they've all gone abroad to work.  We've been waiting for some woodwork for our kitchen since about March.  We've made allowances but this is getting absurd.

Well since you know it all then why not do it yourself. Oh,. I forgot, I can do it.

I'm not the Fluffy family would want to be kept awake all night while you did the work 😂

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

....
Well since you know it all then why not do it yourself. Oh,. I forgot, I can do it.

I just don't have time really to mess about.   

But in any case, there's a better return for me on the workmen doing it while I do something else.   I might end up having to do it myself if we don't get a reasonable response.   If I do it myself, then it's clear it was me that screwed it up. 

I'll put a memo into the Mrs Fluffy department.  However, I know that department is short staffed.   The Fluffyette department is in a worse position - it's staffed by even shorter people.   Don't get me started on the Pet Department.  Fish, what do they know and hamsters, do me a favour.

Take today's screw up:

Mrs Fluffy gets fined  by post 15000 HUF for driving on the motorway without the e-vignette.  Getting over the shock, we find the e-vignette and clearly it's valid. However, we notice one character wrong on the registration number - it's a mistake we didn't see when we bought it.  So that's another trip to the other town to the road people/police to get the e-vignette changed and a paper to say the fine is now waived.   That takes a good 2.5h. All wasted time down the drain and not solvable by anyone but us. 

Tomorrow is another day.

Sometimes I tramslate "magyarorszag" as "buerocracy"... if Sir Humphrey Appelby is not alive, his daughter Rachel Aopleby is, doing the announcements on the metro and buses....

and also i can never spell burocracy. I know what a bureaux is. I can just never spell that properly,,  probably cos it is french at the front and greek at the end. Burocracy? I dunno.

SimonTrew wrote:

....

and also i can never spell burocracy. I know what a bureaux is. I can just never spell that properly,,  probably cos it is french at the front and greek at the end. Burocracy? I dunno.

French at the front and greek at the end?   Now now, oooo.....errrr....Mrs....Pfff.....

French upfront, presumably French polishing, I'll take two please.

Oh, and it's easy, bureaux in the singular, bureau plus cracy so bureau+cracy.   It's sometimes pronounced bureaucrazy.

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

....

and also i can never spell burocracy. I know what a bureaux is. I can just never spell that properly,,  probably cos it is french at the front and greek at the end. Burocracy? I dunno.

French at the front and greek at the end?   Now now, oooo.....errrr....Mrs....Pfff.....

French upfront, presumably French polishing, I'll take two please.

Oh, and it's easy, bureaux in the singular, bureau plus cracy so bureau+cracy.   It's sometimes pronounced bureaucrazy.

So where do the French-Polish come into it?

I have been doing a bit of tidying up and everywhere I look there are ball-point pens from this company or that, stuck in boxes or opots, I think they are taking over.

I am living in a bírocracy.

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

....

and also i can never spell burocracy. I know what a bureaux is. I can just never spell that properly,,  probably cos it is french at the front and greek at the end. Burocracy? I dunno.

French at the front and greek at the end?   Now now, oooo.....errrr....Mrs....Pfff.....

French upfront, presumably French polishing, I'll take two please.

Oh, and it's easy, bureaux in the singular, bureau plus cracy so bureau+cracy.   It's sometimes pronounced bureaucrazy.

actually in french bureau is the singular and bureaux is the plural

SimonTrew wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

....

and also i can never spell burocracy. I know what a bureaux is. I can just never spell that properly,,  probably cos it is french at the front and greek at the end. Burocracy? I dunno.

French at the front and greek at the end?   Now now, oooo.....errrr....Mrs....Pfff.....

French upfront, presumably French polishing, I'll take two please.

Oh, and it's easy, bureaux in the singular, bureau plus cracy so bureau+cracy.   It's sometimes pronounced bureaucrazy.

actually in french bureau is the singular and bureaux is the plural

Yes, I know, please read it again.  I meant take bureaux in the singular, i.e. bureau.

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

French at the front and greek at the end?   Now now, oooo.....errrr....Mrs....Pfff.....

French upfront, presumably French polishing, I'll take two please.

Oh, and it's easy, bureaux in the singular, bureau plus cracy so bureau+cracy.   It's sometimes pronounced bureaucrazy.

actually in french bureau is the singular and bureaux is the plural

Yes, I know, please read it again.  I meant take bureaux in the singular, i.e. bureau.

Now I am double worried, what is it in english then for a cabinet? I thought it was bureux with the X.... i have to check now as I have been cheating with that at scrabble for years.... oh you are right in english it is just bureau in singlular, bureaux or bureaus in plural, of course the X is silent as in "orange". Well bugger me with a fish fork, i have been spelling that wrong for years then

fluffy2560 wrote:

French at the front and greek at the end?   Now now, oooo.....errrr....Mrs....Pfff......

Look, even Frankie Howerd didn't know how to spell his surname properly.

One of those things that is a bit strange in Hungary is the limited range of names you can give to children. I think there are eighteen for boys and the same for girls or something, but you can'"t just call your child whatever you like, it has to be off of this approved list of names. Now although I have no children I would not be stupid enough to call them Fifi-Trixibelle or whatever unless you want your daughter to hate you. I think in UK you can call them anything you like as long as it is not offensive, or impersonating the aristocracy (you can't call a child Lord for example. I dunno abiout Earl but that is probably out of order too,.. in the US it is OK of course because they got rid of the aristocracy around 1791 or something if I remember)

On the other hand my niece has a pretty common name but the parents chose to spell it in a silly way. Considering that I already struggle both in UK and Hungary with saying NO, Trew T-R-E-W straight on your left hand, see qwerty or qwertz as they continually go for "true", to lumber her with a common name but unusual spelling of it seems a burden she need not have had.

Who remembers "Heathers" the 1989 black comedy starring Christian Slater?
(Heather 1989 Trailer)

Well they have made it into a TV series.

Heathers (2018 TV trailer)

Due to its theme it's yet to be released in America because of the school shootings in the past. It has been released internationally, i gather it has been realeased in Hungary so avoid it, it really is quite dire.

SimCityAT wrote:

Who remembers "Heathers" the 1989 black comedy starring Christian Slater?.

I don't. Perhaps it never got to the UK, perhaops the commissioning editors spotted its awfulness and turned it down... I quite liike black comedies but I can't remember ever seeing that one. How bad was it? I mean not murders or whatever but acting or jokes, was it really dire?

SimonTrew wrote:

One of those things that is a bit strange in Hungary is the limited range of names you can give to children. I think there are eighteen for boys and the same for girls or something, but you can'"t just call your child whatever you like, it has to be off of this approved list of names. Now although I have no children I would not be stupid enough to call them Fifi-Trixibelle or whatever unless you want your daughter to hate you. I think in UK you can call them anything you like as long as it is not offensive, or impersonating the aristocracy (you can't call a child Lord for example. I dunno abiout Earl but that is probably out of order too,.. in the US it is OK of course because they got rid of the aristocracy around 1791 or something if I remember)

On the other hand my niece has a pretty common name but the parents chose to spell it in a silly way. Considering that I already struggle both in UK and Hungary with saying NO, Trew T-R-E-W straight on your left hand, see qwerty or qwertz as they continually go for "true", to lumber her with a common name but unusual spelling of it seems a burden she need not have had.

There are some funny ones and quite rightly they shoukd be banned.

60 banned baby names from around the world

SimonTrew wrote:

SimCityAT wrote:

Who remembers "Heathers" the 1989 black comedy starring Christian Slater?.

I don't. Perhaps it never got to the UK, perhaops the commissioning editors spotted its awfulness and turned it down... I quite liike black comedies but I can't remember ever seeing that one. How bad was it? I mean not murders or whatever but acting or jokes, was it really dire?

The original defiantly made it to the UK, and is a classic, its the TV series which is just awful.

SimCityAT wrote:

The original defiantly made it to the UK, and is a classic, its the TV series which is just awful.

Considering the amount of American trash we used to get on UK television, with all due respect (i..e. none at all) we used to get so much American trash on TV this is when well in 1989 we only had four channels, so perhaps they were all full up with British rubbish instead. Now excuse me as i have to watch a repeat of Cagney and Lacey.

For some reason, I have no idea why this would be, when I was a child in the 1970s we used to get Sesame Street in Spanish, I presume Mexican Spanish. I have no idea how that would be, who messed up there. Some commissioning editor said "OK, it is in Europe, give them the Spanish dub" or something.... but considering that the American networks turned down Jim Henson's Muppets and he had to make them in England, that seems unlikely too,.,, some commissioning editor was dozing

SimonTrew wrote:

One of those things that is a bit strange in Hungary is the limited range of names you can give to children. I think there are eighteen for boys and the same for girls or something, but you can'"t just call your child whatever you like, it has to be off of this approved list of names. Now although I have no children I would not be stupid enough to call them Fifi-Trixibelle or whatever unless you want your daughter to hate you......

That used to be true here in Hungary but it isn't anymore. 

One of the Fluffyettes has a name which is not common here and we had no problems other than not being able to spell it correctly.  The other one has a name which translates perfectly but the bad thing is that people named as that are two a penny which to my thinking is a bit annoying.

My very oldest has a Dutch name which is uncommon in the UK but she's told me on many occasions that she really likes her name and people have commented that they like it.  There's a possibility that it's started a rash of copycats in the area where she lives!   

I've always thought having an unusual name would be helpful as people would remember you.

I have been trying to find this for years, Qt the cross plaform software (developed in Sweden) has a translation unit well so that you can internationalise things, and they used to call it "encheferise", that you encheferise the english to give you Swedish Chef language, bork bork bork. The aim of this is so that you can see the bits that are not internationalised, that everyone can read Swedish Chef but if it is plain English it has not been through the translation engine and localised. It works very well, but it seems I am the only one who remembers how to encheferise, it was obvoiously just a bit of softwae that screwed the English, but then you could spot what would not go through the translation engine, if it was in plain English. It worked really well.

SimonTrew wrote:

SimCityAT wrote:

The original defiantly made it to the UK, and is a classic, its the TV series which is just awful.

Considering the amount of American trash we used to get on UK television, with all due respect (i..e. none at all) we used to get so much American trash on TV this is when well in 1989 we only had four channels, so perhaps they were all full up with British rubbish instead. Now excuse me as i have to watch a repeat of Cagney and Lacey.

For some reason, I have no idea why this would be, when I was a child in the 1970s we used to get Sesame Street in Spanish, I presume Mexican Spanish. I have no idea how that would be, who messed up there. Some commissioning editor said "OK, it is in Europe, give them the Spanish dub" or something.... but considering that the American networks turned down Jim Henson's Muppets and he had to make them in England, that seems unlikely too,.,, some commissioning editor was dozing

You have totally lost me......

SimonTrew wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

actually in french bureau is the singular and bureaux is the plural

Yes, I know, please read it again.  I meant take bureaux in the singular, i.e. bureau.

Now I am double worried, what is it in english then for a cabinet? I thought it was bureux with the X.... i have to check now as I have been cheating with that at scrabble for years.... oh you are right in english it is just bureau in singlular, bureaux or bureaus in plural, of course the X is silent as in "orange". Well bugger me with a fish fork, i have been spelling that wrong for years then

Cabinets are cabinets.  Not to be confused with Cabernet.

Well, of course English is useless on this kind of thing.  Orange should be spelt Oringe a bit like Hinge.

Atlai and atlas - who'd have thought it was that and not atlases.  Suppose the clue is in the hippos - hippopotami or the platypi. 

Have some cake - gateaux - now is that plural or singular?   

Maybe it's like deer or fish and it's both.

Bureaux in my mind was either plural for an office - like Travel Bureaux - or more commonly, I always associated it with bureau, which is a kind of writing desk with a folding desk part.

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

Yes, I know, please read it again.  I meant take bureaux in the singular, i.e. bureau.

Now I am double worried, what is it in english then for a cabinet? I thought it was bureux with the X.... i have to check now as I have been cheating with that at scrabble for years.... oh you are right in english it is just bureau in singlular, bureaux or bureaus in plural, of course the X is silent as in "orange". Well bugger me with a fish fork, i have been spelling that wrong for years then

Cabinets are cabinets.  Not to be confused with Cabernet.

Well, of course English is useless on this kind of thing.  Orange should be spelt Oringe a bit like Hinge.

Atlai and atlas - who'd have thought it was that and not atlases.  Suppose the clue is in the hippos - hippopotami or the platypi. 

Have some cake - gateaux - now is that plural or singular?   

Maybe it's like deer or fish and it's both.

Bureaux in my mind was either plural for an office - like Travel Bureaux - or more commonly, I always associated it with bureau, which is a kind of writing desk with a folding desk part.

[img align=c]https://images.antiquesatlas.com/dealer-stock-images/londonfine/Antique_Bureau_Writing_Desk_Ma_as272a1162b.jpg[/url]

I would say that picture is a writing desk?

fluffy2560 wrote:

Well, of course English is useless on this kind of thing - atlai and atlas - who'd have thought it. Take some cake - gateaux - now is that plural or singular?   Maybe it's like deer or fish and it's both.]

now you seem like a lupine in ovine habiliment, but as a lamb to the slaughter I am pretty sheepish about whether atlai is actually a word.

SimCityAT wrote:

....I would say that picture is a writing desk?

Yes, some people might call it that but I think that's more without the fold down part.   

With the fold down part, I'd call it a bureau.

If you Google bureau with images, it brings up lots of pictures.

The old style school desks would be more like writing desks.

SimonTrew wrote:

...... .. about whether atlai is actually a word.

I am sure that Atlai is the plural.  I was taught that at school and thought it odd at the time and that's why I remembered it.   

But Google is useless on this front as it will default to the US interpretation and use "atlases".

BTW, there's also radius and radii -  obviously I'm thinking too hard and I'm going around the bend.

Spaghett- and Spaghett-i *



*Ok, that's me being silly.

fluffy2560 wrote:

I've always thought having an unusual name would be helpful as people would remember you.

That is certainly true or trew, because the "w" is not in Hungarian except in old names people do tend to remember me, a hulye anglol with the hulye főnév, so it can be an advantage. But an outright ridiculous name just seems to lumber your children for life, that they are forever having to spell out "dodelijk fluffyette" or whatever so there is a balance.

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimCityAT wrote:

....I would say that picture is a writing desk?

Yes, some people might call it that but I think that's more without the fold down part.   

With the fold down part, I'd call it a bureau.

If you Google bureau with images, it brings up lots of pictures.

The old style school desks would be more like writing desks.

Writting Desk

Writing Bureau

SimCityAT wrote:

I would say that picture is a writing desk?

Indeed. In British English it is called a bureau. I think "writing desk" is American English but am trying to rack my brains to whether any British author I know of has used it. hmm, desk certainly, but I don't think in British English we call that particular kind of bonfire materiel a writing desk. I would have to check.

SimonTrew wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

I've always thought having an unusual name would be helpful as people would remember you.

That is certainly true or trew, because the "w" is not in Hungarian except in old names people do tend to remember me, a hulye anglol with the hulye főnév, so it can be an advantage. But an outright ridiculous name just seems to lumber your children for life, that they are forever having to spell out "dodelijk fluffyette" or whatever so there is a balance.

We took a Dutch name and after messing around wondering what to do to make it work, we eventually anglicised it to make it easier to understand and pronounced for English speakers.   I don't think the spelling issue has ever arisen.  You could have taken a different Dutch word to throw in that comment like "Mooi" or "Heerlijk".

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

...... .. about whether atlai is actually a word.

I am sure that Atlai is the plural.  I was taught that at school and thought it odd at the time and that's why I remembered it.   

But Google is useless on this front as it will default to the US interpretation and use "atlases".

BTW, there's also radius and radii -  obviously I'm thinking too hard and I'm going around the bend.

Spaghett- and Spaghett-i *



*Ok, that's me being silly.

Atlai is a handsome man who has respect for women he is cute and has a big wang a beast in the bedroom he is a motivator he supports his friends in good and bad times and he is smart,loving,kind, and if you respect him he will respect you he is good with ladies but women doubt him there is always a ”but” when people are talking about him.

SimonTrew wrote:

SimCityAT wrote:

I would say that picture is a writing desk?

Indeed. In British English it is called a bureau, or a writing desk, it deopends how posh you want to be.

Those are writing desks, sure but neither are bureau(x)(s).

It needs to have that fold down part for doing the writing to make it a bureau.

I should know, I'm a regular watcher of Antiques Roadshow.  And yes, I admit I fancy Fiona Bruce.

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

SimCityAT wrote:

I would say that picture is a writing desk?

Indeed. In British English it is called a bureau, or a writing desk, it deopends how posh you want to be.

Those are writing desks, sure but neither are bureau(x)(s).

It needs to have that fold down part for doing the writing to make it a bureau.

I should know, I'm a regular watcher of Antiques Roadshow.  And yes, I admit I fancy Fiona Bruce.

They are what we would call them in Wales, well thats what my mother called them. But also you could define into a mans writing desk and a ladies writing desk.

fluffy2560 wrote:

You could have taken a different Dutch word to throw in that comment like "Mooi" or "Heerlijk".

My Dutch is limited to what are on the backs of cigarette packets Anyway "deadly" or "lethal" fluffyette would seem to set him or her up for life, nemo me impune lacessit and all that. I wonder if you could call a child "unwanted" or "accident"....

SimonTrew wrote:

SimCityAT wrote:

I would say that picture is a writing desk?

Indeed. In British English it is called a bureau. I think "writing desk" is American English but am trying to rack my brains to whether any British author I know of has used it. hmm, desk certainly, but I don't think in British English we call that particular kind of bonfire materiel a writing desk. I would have to check.

Not quite the same but there's a movie, The Assassination Bureau which mentions Bureau in terms of an office:

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

...... .. about whether atlai is actually a word.

I am sure that Atlai is the plural.  I was taught that at school and thought it odd at the time and that's why I remembered it.   

But Google is useless on this front as it will default to the US interpretation and use "atlases".

BTW, there's also radius and radii -  obviously I'm thinking too hard and I'm going around the bend.

Spaghett- and Spaghett-i *



*Ok, that's me being silly.

Here you are Mr Fluffy > https://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/31625 … -vote-now/

SimCityAT wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimonTrew wrote:

...... .. about whether atlai is actually a word.

I am sure that Atlai is the plural.  I was taught that at school and thought it odd at the time and that's why I remembered it.   

But Google is useless on this front as it will default to the US interpretation and use "atlases".

BTW, there's also radius and radii -  obviously I'm thinking too hard and I'm going around the bend.

Spaghett- and Spaghett-i *



*Ok, that's me being silly.

Atlai is a handsome man who has respect for women he is cute and has a big wang a beast in the bedroom he is a motivator he supports his friends in good and bad times and he is smart,loving,kind, and if you respect him he will respect you he is good with ladies but women doubt him there is always a ”but” when people are talking about him.

Yes I found that too. That is Urban Dictionary which is about as much use as a snake in a butt-kicking competition.

SimonTrew wrote:

fluffy2560 wrote:

You could have taken a different Dutch word to throw in that comment like "Mooi" or "Heerlijk".

My Dutch is limited to what are on the backs of cigarette packets Anyway "deadly" or "lethal" fluffyette would seem to set him or her up for life, nemo me impune lacessit and all that. I wonder if you could call a child "unwanted" or "accident"....

Children and adults in Africa often have strange first names by Western standards - like Captain,  Omega, Alpha, Beautiful, or even Hitler.  Perfectly acceptable there and not a burden.

SimCityAT wrote:

Here you are Mr Fluffy > https://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/31625 … -vote-now/

Looks like either works! Neither winning decisively (like Brexit).

well i never expected to come here this morning too discuss lexicography about cabinet making, but since we started, I will joiner.

(ducks the cabbages)

In Hungary, a child's name must be chosen from a list of pre-approved names. If the intended name is not on the list, the parents need to apply for approval. Applications are considered by the Research Institute for Linguistics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences following a set of principles. Children born to a foreign citizen may have their name chosen according to foreign law.

SimCityAT wrote:

.....
They are what we would call them in Wales, well thats what my mother called them. But also you could define into a mans writing desk and a ladies writing desk.

I am sure Fiona*  would agree. 

I'd like to show her my basic writing desk I've got in my office. I'm thinking the sliding part, four bare legs and no drawers.



*I'm not objectifying Fiona, I'm appreciating her while making a rubbish joke!

fluffy2560 wrote:

SimCityAT wrote:

Here you are Mr Fluffy > https://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/31625 … -vote-now/

Looks like either works! Neither winning decisively (like Brexit).

No "leave" did win decisively. That was the whole point of the referendum. It was a decisive vote, and we voted to leave. It was a straight majority not two thirds majority, I voted "leave" as it happens, but the UK voted to leave. The referendum, as all referenda are in the UK, not binding in law, but that is what the vox populi said, they said "leave". It is not your opinion, those are the facts. Unless you think the vote was rigged,. you cannot argue wioth the ballot box.