Questions you always wanted answering.

[David Gwilliam]

Fair enough :icon_lol:

No. Not fair enough Spion. :icon_lol:

The people I asked are not people who would criticise the question.

"Getting a life" involves questioning and not just accepting. Question and answer that leads to another question - it is called The Socratic Method. It is people who just accept and not those who question who need to get a life. I have read that during the Manhattan project Enrico Fermi used to throw out mental challenges such as how many piano tuners are there in Chicago to keep his colleagues brains sharp.

However, a really banal "Get a life" question is this. In the 1950s children's television had a thriller in which the villain was never seen was simply referred to as "The Voice". This was in the days of one channel and glorious monochrome. Is anyone old enough to remember the name of the programme?

 

[Siouxsie]

I am always intrigued by VIP lounges at airporta

(1) Do VIPs have to let the airpoort know in advance and do they pay for the privilege.
(2) Does a VIP have to prove they are a VIP? The Secretary of State for transport presumably counts as a VIP but does he have to prove he is Secretary of State. Do his staff also get to use the lounge? If he loses the election does he still qualify e.g. are Alan Johnson and David Miliband still VIPs
(3) How does an entertainer prove he is a VIP. Presumably Frank Sinatra qualified as a VIP but did Matt Monro. Do you lose your VIP status if you career collapses like Gary Glitter or Michael Barrymore.
(4) There some jobs that carry status for life. Presumably Major, Blair and Brown still count as VIPs. How about Archbishops of Canterbury - did Robert Runcie lose his VIP status when he retired?

I have asked a number of people who have immediately used those phrases "I would think that" or "I expect that" which people use to hide that they don't know.

I have friends who are in no way VIPs, their names and faces would have meant nothing to anyone on their flight, but due to the circumstances surrounding their flight BA, out of unasked for compassion, lead them away from the crowds and normal security, into their VIP lounge.
Next to them was Kofi Annan, who by then was no longer the Secretary General of the U N, but obviously under your no. 4, still retains his status.

 

[spionfox]

No. Not fair enough Spion. :icon_lol:

The people I asked are not people who would criticise the question.

"Getting a life" involves questioning and not just accepting. Question and answer that leads to another question - it is called The Socratic Method. It is people who just accept and not those who question who need to get a life. I have read that during the Manhattan project Enrico Fermi used to throw out mental challenges such as how many piano tuners are there in Chicago to keep his colleagues brains sharp.

However, a really banal "Get a life" question is this. In the 1950s children's television had a thriller in which the villain was never seen was simply referred to as "The Voice". This was in the days of one channel and glorious monochrome. Is anyone old enough to remember the name of the programme?

Get a life David :icon_lol:

 

[spionfox]

What do you think a collective noun is?

It's a word used to define a group of objects. What do you think it is?

More importantly, your response would indicate to me that you feel my post was erroneous in some way. Care to explain why?

 

[spionfox]

Nearly four hours and no come-back yet.

I hope he's alright :icon_wink

 

[SwedeFox]

Mawsley pointed out bunch as a collective noun, whereas airporta seems to be a dog Latin plural form (of the noun airport).

So, I think, bunch, for example, would be a collective noun and bunches the plural form of that collective noun.

That might very well be incorrect though as English no my first language...

 

[bocadillo]

It's a word used to define a group of objects. What do you think it is?

More importantly, your response would indicate to me that you feel my post was erroneous in some way. Care to explain why?

Your post, #69 in this thread, seems to suggest that Mr G. William has used a faux-collective noun. I can't see anything in what he wrote that was a collective noun, faux or otherwise.

 

[bocadillo]

Nearly four hours and no come-back yet.

I hope he's alright :icon_wink

I have a life.

 

[spionfox]

Your post, #69 in this thread, seems to suggest that Mr G. William has used a faux-collective noun. I can't see anything in what he wrote that was a collective noun, faux or otherwise.

Airporta?

No? :icon_roll

 

[spionfox]

I have a life.

I trust I will too when I get to bus pass age :icon_lol:

 

[bocadillo]

Airporta?

No? :icon_roll

No

 

[bocadillo]

I trust I will too when I get to bus pass age :icon_lol:

87, 34, 34, Loop, 88

 

[spionfox]

Your post, #69 in this thread, seems to suggest that Mr G. William has used a faux-collective noun. I can't see anything in what he wrote that was a collective noun, faux or otherwise.

I think you'll find it's 'D' Gwilliam :icon_wink

Airporta?

No? :icon_roll

No

Are you suggesting 'airporta' is a valid collective noun?

 

[spionfox]

87, 34, 34, Loop, 88

That's actually quite funny!

 

[Macky]

Are you suggesting 'airporta' is a valid collective noun?

No. He's saying that he didn't use it in any way approaching a collective noun.

 

[spionfox]

No. He's saying that he didn't use it in any way approaching a collective noun.

Mr Gwilliam wrote "I am always intrigued by VIP lounges at airporta"

I presume the 'a' was a typo and was meant to be an 's'. Whatever, the resulting new word, 'airporta', used in that context could indeed be construed as a faux collective noun.

No?

In other words, a group of airports is an airporta of airports.

 

[SwedeFox]

In other words, a group of airports is an airporta of airports.

:icon_lol:

 

[David Gwilliam]

Your post, #69 in this thread, seems to suggest that Mr G. William has used a faux-collective noun. I can't see anything in what he wrote that was a collective noun, faux or otherwise.

Only the truly cynical would connect my creation of the collective noun "airporta" to the letter "a" being next to the letter "s" on the keyboard or to my use of the "hunt and find" method of typing.

 

[Macky]

Mr Gwilliam wrote "I am always intrigued by VIP lounges at airporta"

I presume the 'a' was a typo and was meant to be an 's'. Whatever, the resulting new word, 'airporta', used in that context could indeed be construed as a faux collective noun.

No?

Yeah, righto then :icon_lol:

In other words, a group of airports is an airporta of airports.

It will be from now and ever more

 

[Mawsley]

I don't know if anybody here remembers but once upon a time we used to have a manager called Martin O'Niel or O'Neill or something. I wondered if any fans also remembered him and, in which case, what they thought of him as he doesn't seem to get mentioned on the forum?