Magere Hein

Is that article written by one of our users? I have no idea where Rod Stweart comes from, the other suggestion however... regards, Hein

Too many syllables. During the apres-chess drinks at the bar last night I got into a conversation about names and abbreviations of them. The conclusions were that it all depends on the number of syllables in the given name. It goes like this: 1 syllable: left alone or a bit appended, as in: Anne -> Annie 2 syllables: left alone or shortened, as in: Peter -> Pete 3 syllables: almost always shortened, as in: Angela -> Angie 4 or more: always shortened, as in: Hippolytes -> Hippo My boyhood friend Lex tried to get Alexander restored later in life. He failed miserably. Family names may or may not be affected. One example is footballer Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, who is normally called 'Lange Jan' in Dutch. regards, Hein

Can the Department of Speculative Etymology do something with this? Certainly. In Dutch, the word 'flambouw' means torch, so it seems this usage is both unnecessarily redundant and spot on. regards, Hein

Squid are, it appears, smarter than I thought. I tried smoking under water a few times: it ruined my fags. regards, Hein

he will be sadly missed-who can forget his succesful stint as transport secretary in the 80s-ok there was the Clapham train disaster, the Kings Cross underground tragedy, the Zeebruge ferry disaster,Lockerbie and the plane disaster when a passenegr plane crashed on the motorway but apart from that... I see that the UK had a government minister who isn't just a criminal, but also looks like one: (picture from BBC News website) The Dutch made such a crook, Dr. Ruud Lubbers, Prime Minister: (picture from http://www.parlement.com Let's hope Lubbers, who not only steals from the poor to give to the rich, but also likes to pinch his secretaries' buttocks, follows Lord Kelvedon's splendid example soon. regards, Hein

And the ranters call us sick... regards, Hein

Feyenoord launch Uefa ban appeal at CAS. I don't expect much result. regards, Hein

Hey people, you know reading most everyones post, excepting a few, regarding Tammy Faye, that you all are just making fun of her. I thought the bible says "Let He who is without sin! cast the first stone", and if you love not your brother or (sister), the love of God is not in you. I can't speak for other members, but I couldn't care less what the bible does or doesn't say. That said, I haven't made fun of her in any of my posts. As a matter of fact I haven't written anything about her. Let me change that. I don't know much about Tammy Faye, other than that she got some fame, if not notoriety, by being on her husband's TV gospel show. That hubbie, as we all know, was a crook and went to prison. She divorced him while he was in gaol and married another crook in the same line of business, who also went to prison. The nice way of explaining these facts is that she just had poor taste in choosing her spouses. There is, however, a more sinister explanation. When we consider that she hadn't any qualms spending her husbands' illegal income, she may well have been the brain behind the rackets. I see evangelisation as a way to fleece the flock. While not illegal, the morality of it is at best dubious. Her husbands went a step further and defrauded the flock. Considering all this, a few jokes about Tammy Faye are the least of her worries. regards, Hein

Endless quoting I suspect. Exactly. regards, Hein

Appending attachments is possible. Use it carefully. There are currently no limits, but should it become a popular thing I may well add a few. regards, Hein

So you post a picture of a half-naked dog... CP regards, Hein

I don't know, but I'm on the list now, tied for 22nd place with two hits. For the first time in three attempts my joker died, so 2007 may turn out to be a good year. regards, Hein

Here's my first potential image. regards, Hein

As I've been assured by several christians, Halibuts and drive-by ranters I'm hellbound anyway, so why should it be a shame that RD will end up there too? As Mark Twain (IIRC) said: heaven for climate, hell for society. regards, Hein

Who? regards, Hein

We'd rather have him down in earth. regards, Hein

What's an IOM? I've heard of IHOP but never IOM....... I think Idiot of the Month is meant. They go out with gale force winds and blow away. Many Dutch idiots are glued to their seats and can't blow away. They become politicians. regards, Hein

He was my joker in last year's DDP team. I left him out this year. I'll be a tad annoyed if joins the invisible troupe this year. regards, Hein

'Castro's days counted' regards, Hein

i was just wondering what ever happened to my space in between Real and Madron? its strange cos i use a space on sign-in...this could be a case for Mulder and Scully.... This one escaped the attention of Upper Management. Problem solved now. regards, Hein

I had to look up "Gowers and Fowler". Wikipedia gave me a Fowler quote on the dreaded split infinity: Note the careful if old-fashioned interpunction. And now back to snooker: I just saw a bit of the Masters' semi-final between Hendry and Ding. A remarkably young and healthy lot around the table, including the referee. No death there soon. [1] From Wiki on Fowler's Modern English Usage regards, Hein

Oh dear. If even his ideological friends say that, things look indeed bad for El Comandante en Jefe. regards, Hein

Irony upon Irony. The match was to be a re-match of the the 1974 final.Feyenoord won then, but the occasion was marred by violent Spurs supporters, which subsequently had the team banned from European competition! What goes round comes round..... I suppose so. It still hurts, though. regards, Hein

The gist of that rant has been floating on the web for many years. Snopes.com has more about it. regards, Hein

But, is it? That's another one of those pedantic grammatical pseudo-rules, and I invite my fellow pedants to cleverly find a few other ones I won't put up with. regards, Hein