Interesting Links for 28-03-2023

[andrewducker]

1. Want to rein in Russian oligarchs? Target their wealth managers

(tags:wealth russia war ukraine )

2. China is dominating Russia

(tags:china russia trade )

3. Preferences for the SNP leadership election (I was in the largest group)

(tags:voting snp Scotland )

4. The tech helping driverless cars see round corners (using street cameras)

(tags:cameras driving automation )

5. Old* man gets grumpy about youngsters using the word "penis" wrong. *very very old. Ancient Rome.

(tags:history language penis rome )

6. Superloop: Major New Bus Network Planned Around London

(tags:buses London transport )

Comments

[cmcmck]

5.Cicero must have hated the appearance of willies as graffiti all over ancient Rome and in the provinces- proof positive that the 'T' laden male teenager hasn't changed much over the centuries! :o)

[anef]

I don't think Cicero was objecting to the penis as such - there was a Roman cult of the penis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascinus and if you look at finds from Pompeii penis lamps and door knockers were ubiquitous. He was just a language pedant.

[conuly]

I'm taking your penis link, but just so you know, English is not a Frankenstein language, whatever that means. English is a Germanic language. It's true we have a large number of borrowings from Norman French and other languages, however, for most people most of the time the majority of the most common words they use are all straight-up Germanic. (And even if that weren't the case, English would still be a Germanic language. This sort of thing isn't determined simply by tallying up the origins of all the words.)