In the news

Lol. I’m adding you to my list!

Ah, how convenient the 'code' function is for creating blacklists. :)

I have to confess I didn't know this--there's no similar law in Germany, and there are many names that still contain 'von' (of):

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/14/the-von-trap-austrian-battle-over-three-noble-letters

"Niklaus von Steiger is insisting that his Austrian fiancee, Christel Troll, should be able to adopt the “von” from his surname when they marry, so that she can be recognised as Christel Troll-von Steiger"

That's a surname I'd be keen to drop altogether.

This is a great story
http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/February-2019/Bicycle-Bank-Robber-Tom-Justice/

But also...kinda sad

Yes, it is sad. I meant more that it was wonderfully told.

Oh, I don't know, 'Sumo Troll' does have a certain ring to it. :)

"Troll-Steiger" sounds a little like "Schweinsteiger", i.e. it could be misinterpreted as 'troll-climber' or 'troll-mounter'. Not that anyone would, of course, least of all wilfully.

there's no similar law in Germany,

There's something similar in Norway:
"..The Nobility Law ... was passed by the national parliament in Norway, the Storting, on 1 August 1821. It abolished noble titles and privileges within two generations ..."

Agree. Fascinating and written well. Can see how he fell deeper and deeper.

Anti>>>

Would make a good little movie.

Local news: Newhaven man's campaign for statue of NWA's Eazy-E

In a heartfelt plea directed at Newhaven Town Council he said: “Just do it. Get a statue or a plaque up. Why not?
“You just wasted money on a bandstand on Denton island no one cares about so why not an Eazy-E memorial?”
The council, which is yet to formally respond to his request, said it had “no idea who Eazy-E is”.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/02/15/upshot/british-irish-dialect-quiz.html
Bog standard, lamo southerner (not even really Londoner, where I grew up)

You made me go through the whole thing and the maps never showed up :-(

[edit - on phone. seems to work OK on laptop. Seen similar before but this seems slightly superior]

Me too.

Same, I'm not from bloody Reading or Southend on Sea, I'm from Finchley!

What's going on here? Surely these sounding the same (and 'fall' as well) is a staple of Estuary English?

[Edit: I was also annoyed by the inability to choose both 'it' and 'tag']

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Pretty much spot on, although It reflects where my parents grew up more than me.

In most of those areas "fool" is never used, let alone pronounced. Why would you when you have words like "bampot", "eejit", "heid-the-baw" and "numpty"?

That's uncanny, it zeroed EXACTLY in to Belfast and southern England.

It rated me Luton, Portsmouth & Dover.
I know of no maritime nor nautical forebears.

Mounted police clear Parliament Sq of kids protesting climate change in order to allow black cab protest:

https://twitter.com/Hackneycyclist/status/1096408728541298688

I was there. I didn't see any mounted police, though there might have been some somewhere. When I left an hour ago kids were still sitting in the road on parliament square with the police watching and directing traffic round them. The cab protest was in Whitehall. The police also did nothing to stop the young protesters climbing up lampposts, bus shelters, other structures and even, at one point, on to the top of a bus.
I suspect the police were just trying to keep one side of Whitehall open.

The protest was condemned by Downing Street because it wastes lesson time though.

I find this incredible, if perhaps not surprising. We're all fucked.