I refuse to answer on the grounds that more'n half the jury is my kin . . .
Who are you callin a moron?
Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a Heaven for? When you reach for the stars, you may not quite get them, but you won't come up with a handful of mud either. What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us. :wink:
I was reading last night about the aluminium/aluminum thing, and thought I'd briefly share the details with you.
The element was first named alumium, but this was soon changed by its discoverer to aluminum (which the Americans adopted). The British chemists did for a while, then decided that they didn't like this as it didn't sound like calcium, sodium etc that had already been named, and so added the extra 'i' and thus an extra syllable.
Thanks gd
often wondered how the Americans managed to lose the second i
Reminds me of the nickname for the old Vulcan bomber. Yanks called it "aluminum overcast", sounds better than "aluminium overcast".
ps are we allowed to use the word Yanks or have upset all our 'mericium friends?
Steve, i'm rather easy-going on the topic, as i have lived, man and boy, both North and South. However, members such as Tryagain and Hiy'all might not appreciate being referred to as Yanks, a term much less charming to the population south of the Ohio and Potomac rivers.
And by the way, one of the actinoid metals is named americium, its symbol: Am, its atomic number being 95 and its atomic weight being 243 (probably making it one of the potentially radio-active heavy metals, but my chemistry ain't that good, and has acccumulated a good deal of ferrous oxide [rust] over the years, so don't quote me).
Edit: Yankee is a term properly applied to the residents of New York, although in the popular imagination, it most often refers to the denizens of New England. It is said to be a corruption of Jaanke, a diminutive for the Dutch name Jaan, and was applied patronizingly to the inhabitants of New Amsterdam after James, Duke of York, took the city and colony.
Thanks for the info, Set. In Britain most people would use Yankee/Yank to describe any American. Which is wrong, obviously.
It's not necessarily wrong, GD, and most Americans are used to it. I would noit go flinging the term around in the American South, however--the late unpleasantness is not entirely forgotten (it has only been a little more than a century ago).
If those from the North are deemed Yankees, is there a correspodning term for those from the south? I have "Confederate" in my head but I'm not sure what it means or where it came from.
Thanks for info on Yankees Setanta
Actually I knew it really applied to Northerners, but I thought even they objected, the term being used in a derogatory way?
Americium. Quite right one of the actinoids and a man made element.
when Fermi et al were playing around with their pile of uranium and graphite not only did they conjure up plutonium, but it led to a whole series of trans uranic elements.
After uranium was
neptunium
then plutonium
then they ran out of planets, and called the next element they made
americium, (fair enough made in America)
curium (afer monsieur and madame Curie, curiously)
berkelium (after the university)
californium (no idea)
einsteinium
fermium
Then they probably thought that's enough physicists for now so
mendelevium (after Dimitri Mandeleev founder of periodic table, which was nice) and
nobelium (well he gave so many prizes away he was bound to get in on the act)
All the transuranic elements are radioactive, some with very short half lives. Interestingly its speculated that if we can start sticking protons and neutrons together so they get up to atomic number 114 or so elements might become stable again.
Have a nice day.
Well, you obviously know your chemistry much better than i, so i will subside into my ferrous-oxidated lassitude . . .
Ah lassitude...the philosophy of giving pretty girls their way. It's kept many a man out of the doghouse over the years. As my grandpappy used to say, "Out of the doghouse, into the catflap."
I have a name you know tryagain.
You will find it top left hand corner of my posts. Just trying to be helpful so you dont have to invent more names like somebody or thingy.
Didn't we burn down the White House in 1814? Surely you cant be still sore about that, and that nice Mr Blair who I believe is terribly popular your side has already said sorry.
Gotta go
Tryagain wrote:It will, in December be 190 years since the departure of the British. I would like to give you a going-away present ... but you have to play your part.
More tea vicar?
Let us know what our part is to be. I could do with a laugh.
I cannot seem to remember you name, and please do not help me!
Limey writ, "Didn't we burn down the White House in 1814?"
A similar attack on Baltimore was met with more effective defence in September, upon which the British sailed back to the West Indies.
Do you want me to accept you as you are, or do you want me to like you? Did you ever eat paint chips when you were a kid? I do not know who you are, but whatever it is, you have my sincere condolences.
Tally hoe!
Chortle, Set!! I do indeed know more than a handful of Southerners who would cringe at being called Yanks! But if our brethren across the Big Pond are comfortable with the term, it's fine with me.
Grand Duke, there are quite a few terms that "Yankees" (traditionally called "Damned Yankees") use for Southerners, but we really don't need to spread those around! Is it okay for us to call y'all "Brits"?
Damn, it's hard to keep up with politically incorrect slang!
No problem Hiyall. I'm just a guy trying to expand his knowledge.
"Brits" is fine with me mate. We do have our own names for people from different areas of the country - Cockneys, Scousers, Mancs, Geordies, Mackams, Tykes, Yorkies, Smoggies, Woolly-Backs, Brummies, to name a few - but we don't really expect anyone outside the country to remember them. For the record, I'm a Geordie by birth, a Mackam by parentage, a Smoggie by upbringing and a Yorkie by residence.
Wey, Class Duke, once a geordie, yee sta fo' ivvor a geordie ah hev learnt. :wink:
Scousers - they live in that city, where you find nowadays your parked car jacked up on books, when you didn't watch it for a couple of minutes, isn't it?
