Dawn

Dawn

Sunday, March 19, 2017

Thoughts from Galicia: 19.3.17

Nice to read that the new cash-crop for Spain is the pistachio. I love 'em.

If you're likely to be driving in Spain, here's something you need to be aware of. Especially if you're going to be in Galicia, it seems.

Quick citations;.

I heard the word 'surveil' used as a verb by a US reporter and checked with Google Ngram. To my surprise, it's several hundred years old, though possibly mostly in the USA. But its use has shot up since the 1960s, having bubbled along at the same rate for many, many years.  As with the noun 'surveillance'.

Talking of words . . . I read that Brits really like swear words. Well, nothing like the Spanish, believe me. Anyway, the favourite British swear word is said to be 'shite'. Compare this with the Spanish favourite - cabrón - which combines the taboo rating of both cunt and, say, motherfucker. Even though its literal meaning is just 'billygoat'. Go figure. By the way . . . The swear word favoured by Americans is said to be 'sucks', while Australians prefer 'boob'? It takes all sorts.

An interesting bit of advice - The three rules of com­puter security devised by the NSA cryptographer Robert Morris Sr are: 1) Do not own a computer. 2) Do not power it on. 3) Do not use it.

Finally . . . Here's a wonderful article for all male readers, from one of my favourite columnists. Not to mention all female readers.

Today's cartoons: All on the same theme:-












Postcript: I did the bridge experiment yesterday morning on the way into town. The result: 
Meetings: 5
Failure to make any move to avoid me: 5. 
One person did stop 1 metre from me, to allow me to walk around him. The other 4 – for whatever reason – would quite happily have walked right into me, if I hadn't taken evasive action. And I didn't have my head down, by the way.

I rest my case.

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