What is the newest installment of 'Random Thoughts' on Physics Forums?

[fresh_42]

That looks like it'll take a while to fix. Ironic if it does turn out to be related to the restoration works.

The odds are pretty good it is. It almost always is, and the main fire could have been observed where the scaffold was.

They had an expert here on tv who told about a similar incident in Berlin when they wanted to replace a hardly inflammable roofing felt by one which couldn't be inflamed at all. But the best he commented was a comment on someone else's twitter comment! Hilarious!

 

[WWGD]

Ah, perfectionism backfiring. Not so fond memories of doing similar myself.

 

[WWGD]

Just like when they replaced the Russian PM a while back. They wouldn't leave Godunov alone .

 

[WWGD]

Sorry :).

 

[Jonathan Scott]

I hate it when things are marked "Up to half price". It actually means that the price is reduced by up to half, so the resulting price is greater than or equal to half price, not less than or equal as implied by the marking!

 

[Borg]

I've always loved when stores more than double the price and then have a half off sale.

 

[fresh_42]

What I like is: "Two to the price of one. You save 50%"
Save compared to what? I save 100% if I don't buy it at all.

 

[WWGD]

We had this restaurant that offered 50% of lunch menu...including half of portions.
Then people pointed it out. And they went back to original portions but charged for every extra:
"Well, now you want a fork and knife? That will cost. A napkin..."

 

[WWGD]

There was a women's store that also offered 50% off. I wanted to ask when they would have 100% of...

 

[WWGD]

Pretty annoying when you need something and everyone thinks you're setting up a joke:"Do you know where I can get a large cup? " A: " No, where do you get a large cup?". It is not a joke, I need a large cup!

 

[fresh_42]

You must emphasize your intention starker.

Lol, this is not an error, since then I would have written stärker, which is the correct version. I actually had read starker as synonym for stronger yesterday in an article. It has been written "a starker argument". The Germanisms in English getting funnier and funnier every day.

 

[WWGD]

I don't go by the nickname starker anymore, though.

 

[fresh_42]

I don't go by the nickname starker anymore, though.

Yeah, I can imagine. The misunderstandings were probably too many. Although, I remember this story you told ... (sorry, I can't find anything anymore in our new system, not even my own posts)

 

[Ibix]

The Germanisms in English getting funnier and funnier every day.

Well, English is half and half Saxon and Norman French. It's not really surprising that it has a lot in common with German...

 

[fresh_42]

Well, English is half and half Saxon and Norman French. It's not really surprising that it has a lot in common with German...

Sure, it just surprised me, as I thought strong and stark were already of the same origin. However, as I looked it up now, strong equals streng (= lat. strictus, engl. strict) and stark (germ.) equals old germ. star(a)ch = stiff (from strifaz).

It's more the unexpected occurrence than the linguistic background which made me smile. I would never have had the idea to look up "stark" in an English dictionary.

 

[Ibix]

Stark is fairly common in English - usually as "a stark contrast between" two things. Or "starkers" as short for "stark naked", which is presumably the joke WWGD is making.

 

[WWGD]

I thinking of Tony Stark, although I did not watch the movie. Too busy experimenting with melted cheese. They were giving away free samples for a promotion. I had not eaten any for a while and there seemed to be many variables to consider. Do I first heat up the oven or just put the bread and cheese? Do I first put the bread , wait for it to be toasty then put the cheese on top? Do I let the sandwich "settle" in the oven for a few min afterwards?
Then again, got to be careful with free giveaways. That is how I have gotten in the habit of drinking a half-bottle of soda almost daily. And also because of the sales that make it an affordable habit (addiction, probably).

 

[WWGD]

Lady next to me was talking with customer care, rabid, asking that an employee she spoke with be fired because said employee had (supposedly) deleted her emails. After around an hour on the phone making all sorts of suspect technical claims, she regained access to her emails, the ones she claimed had been irretrievably lost, deleted. No apologies on her part, she found a rationalization for her baseless request that the employee ( that "lost" her emails) be fired. Hope the employee was not fired.

 

[WWGD]

I wondered why the same name is used for a party, as a celebration, good time, as in political party. Google has taken away the excuse for not researching it.

 

[fresh_42]

Lady next to me was talking with customer care, rabid, asking that an employee she spoke with be fired because said employee had (supposedly) deleted her emails.

BOFH.

I wondered why the same name is used for a party, as a celebration, good time, as in political party. Google has taken away the excuse for not researching it.

The political party is Partei here, and we simply call die Fete, das Fest, die Party. Maybe you should call a party a fete more often, or a fiesta!

 

[WWGD]

It is amazing how these people without any technical background make these ( clearly false) categorical claims, without caveats . I don't doubt I have made false claims myself but not while asking that someone be fired. And I mean, she asked for it in a very explicit way,not that I read between the lines or so.

 

[fresh_42]

It is amazing how these people without any technical background make these ( clearly false) categorical claims, without caveats . I don't doubt I have made false claims myself but not while asking that someone be fired. And I mean, she asked for it in a very explicit way,not that I read between the lines or so.

I have also experienced the case (more than once) when I was actually better informed than the one on the line (issues with the DSL router; bill).

 

[WWGD]

BOFH.

The political party is Partei here, and we simply call die Fete, das Fest, die Party. Maybe you should call a party a fete more often, or a fiesta!

But, do these words also mean in German, party in the other sense of the word, not just the political one?

 

[fresh_42]

But, do these words also mean in German, party in the other sense of the word, not just the political one?

the (political) party = Partei
the fiesta = die Party

Solved by Anglicism.

 

[WWGD]

Experiment with cheese went out ok. Hard to get melted cheese wrong. Experiment putting Splenda on Coke ( not sweet enough for me) did not turn out so well. Guess I should have thought about it a bit. First Splenda effervesced(is this a word?) just a bit, second one overflowed like crazy. Maybe it is the concentration level that caused the difference level?

 

[Bandersnatch]

I can* vaguely remember there being a serious PF discussion on the merits (or lack thereof) of compulsory STEM education in school - or something in the vicinity of this topic.
But I can't seem to find it. Does anyone have it bookmarked somewhere, or maybe is blessed with superior search-fu powers?

*not to be taken literally - I might just be imagining it.

 

[WWGD]

I can* vaguely remember there being a serious PF discussion on the merits (or lack thereof) of compulsory STEM education in school - or something in the vicinity of this topic.
But I can't seem to find it. Does anyone have it bookmarked somewhere, or maybe is blessed with superior search-fu powers?

*not to be taken literally - I might just be imagining it.

You may want to ask in the feedback forum in the lounge .

 

[Borg]

superior search-fu powers?

Try this in Google. It gives lots of hits.
"STEM education" site:physicsforums.com

 

[WWGD]

Still dealing with weird parsing: I'll pack a bag- Alpaca bag.

 

[WWGD]

Whatever happened to Zoobyshoe?(Wow, my phone autocorrected Zoobyshoe.)
I like the new lightning-like button in the new PF. Maybe it could have come with sound effects. Shazzam!