Really trivial stuff that bugs you

[DonM435]

The moral of the story is to consider how your pet's name will sound when shouted in public sometime before you assign it.

[peteshimmon]

The slight knock of a lever before the first
hour BONG of Big Ben. Only noticed it since
I started listening to the chimes on the radio.
I'll get over it!

[Swift]

The slight knock of a lever before the first
hour BONG of Big Ben. Only noticed it since
I started listening to the chimes on the radio.
I'll get over it!

Obviously poor workmanship. Really, they should retire that thing and go digital. <big grin>

By the way, isn't it officially called something other than Big Ben now, like The Queen Elizabeth Clock?

[pzkpfw]

By the way, isn't it officially called something other than Big Ben now, like The Queen Elizabeth Clock?

I had an idea the "official name" was changed, but the colloquial name (which was never the same as the official name) won't change.

(i.e. it's still "Big Ben"... ?)

Edit: I can't google up evidence right now, so my memory of that may be way off. Sorry.

[Fazor]

The moral of the story is to consider how your pet's name will sound when shouted in public sometime before you assign it.

My g/f's cat in college was named "Blackie", as it was a predominantly black cat. The problem was that she and her room mates had a house in an . . . economically depressed? . . . part of the city. That was predominantly African American. So when the cat got out, here were these white college girls roaming the streets shouting, "Here Blackie! Heeeeere Blackie!"

. . . not an ideal situation (really, regardless of neighborhood.)

[Gillianren]

By the way, isn't it officially called something other than Big Ben now, like The Queen Elizabeth Clock?

Officially, Big Ben has only ever been the bell. The clock/tower/what have you have been called Big Ben, but they oughtn't. The tower is now officially the Queen Elizabeth Tower, in parallel with the other tower, which is the Queen Victoria Tower. I guess they figure you should get something for being queen that long.

[swampyankee]

One of our kitties is named "Bunny." In the unlikely event we ever have a pet rabbit, we'll have to call it "Kitty".

A man I used to work with named one of the oxen he raised "Shrimp." He said something about being able to say "we're having Shrimp" when people asked "what are you eating?"

[Buttercup]

swampyankee:

A man I used to work with named one of the oxen he raised "Shrimp." He said something about being able to say "we're having Shrimp" when people asked "what are you eating?"

Lol! What a character. ;-)

Not so trivial: The spellchecker on this software. The pop-up field often covers what's been highlighted for checking! Have to click on and drag it aside too often to see what it's flagged for checking. Counterproductive.

[Noclevername]

I had a cat named Garfield-- when I was about 9 years old.

[Trebuchet]

A man I used to work with named one of the oxen he raised "Shrimp." He said something about being able to say "we're having Shrimp" when people asked "what are you eating?"

My wife's sister has a parrot called "Chicken". It upset their son when he was young and they told him they were having chicken for dinner.

I'm getting a little bugged that this is, by far I think, the longest thread I've ever started. Apparently I've not much serious to offer!

[Noclevername]

I'm getting a little bugged that this is, by far I think, the longest thread I've ever started. Apparently I've not much serious to offer!

It just means that a lot of people have things bugging them; and looking back at the thread, a lot of those things are non-trivial. Matters of clear communication, of safety, etc.

[KaiYeves]

My wife's sister has a parrot called "Chicken". It upset their son when he was young and they told him they were having chicken for dinner.

My mother's side of the family is Greek, so, naturally enough, most people in our family have always referred to my maternal grandmother and grandfather as "Yiaya" and "Papou", which mean "Grandmother" and "Grandfather" in Greek. When I was young, I thought these were their given names, because I had never heard them called anything else. My grandfather on that side died when I was very young, so I don't remember him at all.

Once, when I was little, I was at my aunt's house playing with my cousins, and I tried to go into a room, only for one of my cousins to say "Don't go in there, Papou's sleeping in there!", referring to her own grandfather. However, since I thought that was my grandfather's name... I thought my aunt was keeping my grandfather's dead body rotting in a room for some reason and got really freaked out!

[Swift]

My g/f's cat in college was named "Blackie", as it was a predominantly black cat. The problem was that she and her room mates had a house in an . . . economically depressed? . . . part of the city. That was predominantly African American. So when the cat got out, here were these white college girls roaming the streets shouting, "Here Blackie! Heeeeere Blackie!"

. . . not an ideal situation (really, regardless of neighborhood.)

ROFL

[Swift]

A man I used to work with named one of the oxen he raised "Shrimp." He said something about being able to say "we're having Shrimp" when people asked "what are you eating?"

The park system I volunteer with has a park that is a working farm (called "Farmpark"). When the Farmpark first opened, they had a sow who had piglets right in a display we had set up at the county fair, showcasing the new park. She got a lot of press, and people were really interested in the sow and the piglets. Her name, by the way, was Breakfast. But this is a working farm, and for a long time after the fair, people would ask "What happened to Breakfast?" and the answer was "breakfast".

[Solfe]

I have a cat that will not die. He is 20+ years old and likes to vanish outside for days at a time. Every time I think he is gone for good, he shows up again looking slightly healthier. By healthier, I mean "not entirely undead." He won't let me brush him so he looks mangy all the time.

How I obtained him is even more annoying. A friend of mine decided to check herself in to rehab and asked if I minded watching her cat while she was gone. Since she didn't appear to have a cat and really seemed to need push to get into rehab, my room mate and I said yes. A short time later another friend called and asked if we accepted the cat. I laughed and said "yes", to which he replied "Good, can you come pick it up? She left it here while she asked you. I think she forgot about it."

Years later, my room mate insisted on keeping the cat when I moved out. Then he joined the reserves and asked me to watch it for him until basic training was over. Guess what? He still hasn't picked up the darn cat and that was about 13 years ago.

This cat's name is Bear and he sleeps on my chest. I am torn between the horror having him pass away in MY sleep and the uncertainty of having him run away for good.

[Paul Beardsley]

A few years ago I befriended a woman at work whose surname was Parent. I was hoping to invite her and her husband round for dinner while my Mum and Dad were on holiday in France. Then I could tell my brother we were having the Parents round, and enjoy his confusion - "You can't have them round! They're in France!"

But it was a temporary job and I lost touch when I left so it never happened.

[Van Rijn]

How about "Kitty"? That's even worse, in my trivial opinion. Is their child named "Baby"?

Many years ago my family had a cat we called Kitty. He was a big cat, and you had to watch him. If he looked annoyed, it was time to move your hand out of his reach, or you might get a chomp. So we named him after this Kitty:

http://addamsfamily.wikia.com/wiki/Kitty_Kat

[peteshimmon]

I post three..no four posts here and the
thread originator says something about his
serious threads not getting as much attention!

I dunno...I just dunno.

[Trebuchet]

Not an annoyance, but on the subject of names: Yesterday I saw a political sign along the road advertising a candidate named Millie Judge. Guess what she's running for...

[Swift]

Not an annoyance, but on the subject of names: Yesterday I saw a political sign along the road advertising a candidate named Millie Judge. Guess what she's running for...

Is her opponent campaigning by saying Millie Judge isn't one thousandth the judge I'll be. <grin>

[DonM435]

"Judge, if i may address that issue ..."

"Counsel will address me by title, not name."

"Judge Judge, if ... "

"No stuttering in my courtroom!"

"Uhhh . . . I withdraw."

[Gillianren]

Many years ago my family had a cat we called Kitty. He was a big cat, and you had to watch him. If he looked annoyed, it was time to move your hand out of his reach, or you might get a chomp. So we named him after this Kitty:

http://addamsfamily.wikia.com/wiki/Kitty_Kat

After I moved out, my mother got a cat she and my sister, the souls of creativity, called "Mama Cat." She had kittens, you see. I assume that they got her as a stray and she was pregnant at the time, because my mother always had our pets fixed pretty much as soon as we got them, but still. What would they have called her otherwise? Were the kittens her sole identifying feature?

[Tinaa]

We have a Mama Cat, Big Boy, Big Fat Yellow Cat, Little Yellow Cat and Lucky. Yes, we have no imagination.

[vonmazur]

I see span as a perfectly correct alternative to spun (unless he means the past participle, but that's not likely). It's a bit archaic, but then so am I.

When Adam delved and Eve span
Who was then the gentleman?

(This is a grammatical reference, not a political one )

Perikles: Which came first, the German version or the English???

"Als Adam Grub und Eva SPAN, Wer war denn der Edelman??....." I heard the German song first, then someone told me it was taken from an English song from the Wat Tyler Rebellion....(The German song was "Wir sind des Geiers Schwartze...." I cannot remember all of it off hand, sorry..)

Maybe someone here with a Degree in English Lit. can enlighten me on this...

Dale

[Trebuchet]

We have a Mama Cat, Big Boy, Big Fat Yellow Cat, Little Yellow Cat and Lucky. Yes, we have no imagination.

I assume Lucky is a black cat. We also had a black cat named Lucky. He wasn't.

[Solfe]

My son name our parakeet "Neptune" because he's blue like the planet. My daughter said "He isn't a planet, he's a para... parah... Birdy!" So, now we have this parakeet named Birdy.

[Perikles]

Perikles: Which came first, the German version or the English???

"Als Adam Grub und Eva SPAN, Wer war denn der Edelman??....." I heard the German song first, then someone told me it was taken from an English song from the Wat Tyler Rebellion....(The German song was "Wir sind des Geiers Schwartze...." I cannot remember all of it off hand, sorry..)

Maybe someone here with a Degree in English Lit. can enlighten me on this...

Dale

The English came first, from John Ball, in a sermon in 1381, during the peasant's revolt. The German is a translation of this, from "Wir sind des Geyers Schwarze Haufen" :

Als Adam grub und Eva spann, kyrieleis,
Wo war denn da der Edelmann, kyrieleis?
Spieß voran! Drauf und dran!
Setzt aufs Klosterdach den Roten Hahn!

[Van Rijn]

After I moved out, my mother got a cat she and my sister, the souls of creativity, called "Mama Cat." She had kittens, you see. I assume that they got her as a stray and she was pregnant at the time, because my mother always had our pets fixed pretty much as soon as we got them, but still. What would they have called her otherwise? Were the kittens her sole identifying feature?

In our case, it was ironic, like the 7 foot tall guy called "Tiny." Kitty Kat on the Addams family was a lion that would scare visitors, because they were just expecting a small house cat. It seemed appropriate to name this cat after Kitty Kat.

Of course, there were the names that lack any irony, like Tim, who was named that because of his timidity, and Snow, because of the white fur.

[speedfreek]

What really bugs me is the inherently unstable design of plastic carbonated drinks bottles, you know, the ones with the 5 dimples on the base. When plastic bottles first came out they had a flat plastic base, but in order to save money, or space, or production costs, they now all have the 5 dimples.

These dimples make the bottle totally unstable, especially when placed on a carpeted floor. You reach out from your seat to grab the bottle and your hand brushes the top and the bottle just falls over, making the contents "fizz up" and preventing you from opening the bottle for at least 5 minutes (which tends to get forgotten whilst watching a good film, and you inevitably end up getting "fizzed" when you open it).

If you take a full bottle of soda with a flat bottom, you can tip it to an angle of about 25-30 degrees or so before it falls over, but with the dimpled bottomed bottles this angle has been reduced by at least half, meaning it only takes the gentlest push to send the bottle falling over.. "thud... fizz...."

[Hornblower]

What really bugs me is the inherently unstable design of plastic carbonated drinks bottles, you know, the ones with the 5 dimples on the base. When plastic bottles first came out they had a flat plastic base, but in order to save money, or space, or production costs, they now all have the 5 dimples.

These dimples make the bottle totally unstable, especially when placed on a carpeted floor. You reach out from your seat to grab the bottle and your hand brushes the top and the bottle just falls over, making the contents "fizz up" and preventing you from opening the bottle for at least 5 minutes (which tends to get forgotten whilst watching a good film, and you inevitably end up getting "fizzed" when you open it).

If you take a full bottle of soda with a flat bottom, you can tip it to an angle of about 25-30 degrees or so before it falls over, but with the dimpled bottomed bottles this angle has been reduced by at least half, meaning it only takes the gentlest push to send the bottle falling over.. "thud... fizz...."

My bold. I don't see how this saves any of these. To me it looks like stylists running amok.