The Pantomime continues...but not for long

[Viv]

[quote user="Tresco"]

I can't see the word 'horseback' without thinking of this classic exam howler by someone learning English as a second language.

"Cromwell's soldiers were great whoresmen. They travelled on whoresback, ate on whoresback & even slept on whoresback."

Is Alcazar in France at the moment? It keeps raining [st] [st] [st]  

[/quote]

Or what about King Harold was killed by a sparrow in the eye!

[Alcazar]

[quote user="Tresco"]

Is Alcazar in France at the moment? It keeps raining [st] [st] [st]  

[/quote]

Nope, he's here in the "normally" relatively dry north midlands, and it keeps pouring. Over two inches since friday!

I keep talking about coming over for a couple or three weeks at Easter to try and get some work done, perhaps it's just getting ready for me, so the front of my house can already be a quagmire when I arrive?

Alcazar

[Clarkkent]

[quote user="Dotty0"][quote user="Alcazar"]

Oh, and my understanding of the "sent to Coventry" as being ignored, was that the citizens of Coventry ignored the naked Lady Godiva when she paraded the streets on horseback, out of deference to her goodness.

Alcazar

[/quote]

It amazes me what can be learnt on this forum. 

Dotty[:)]

[/quote]

According to Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable:

"... the citizens of Coventry once had so great a dislike of soldiers that a woman seen speaking to one was instantly outlawed. Hence when a soldier was sent to Coventry he was cut off from all social intercourse."

And other forms too, no doubt!!!

[Tresco]

[quote user="viva"]

Or what about King Harold was killed by a sparrow in the eye!

[/quote]

Nice one.

How about this?.

[IMG]http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/twinm/exam.jpg[/IMG]

 

It's not mine, but it could easily have been. It was doing the rounds at Sheffield Hallam University last year, but I don't know where it originated.

My favourite part is 'a rather aesthetically pleasing slope....' . Maybe this student should have done Art.

[Tag]

That is the trouble with too much Arts education!

[Tresco]

Or not enough maths?

 Can anyone say what level the question was set at?

[Miki]

Masters ? Well I didn't get it ........

[Dick Smith]

I think you can safely say that it was the wrong level.

[Tresco]

LOL, but Dick, surely you would have given that poor challenged person half a % for effort.

Or would you have got the Dog out?

By the way. I have become aware that there are two dogs being referred to in this thread. One is a mystery dog, (to me) one with with a dummy.

The other is Dicks Dog. I would hate for the two to be confused.

[Dick Smith]

The Dummy Dog is SB's waif and stray. I can't remember where the pic is but if we are nice to her perhaps she'll post it again. It was very cute.

Unlike Dick's Dog, which isn't. Before it died of shame it was voted the ugliest dog in the world.

And yes, I'd have given him a mark. Have you ever heard the story of Nils Bohr and his doctoral exam?

Nils Bohr won the Nobel Pize for Physics and was one of the most influential scientists of the 20th century.

A question in a physics degree examination at the University of Copenhagen ran thus:

"Describe how to determine the height of a skyscraper with a barometer."

Bohr replied: "You tie a long piece of string to the neck of the barometer, then

lower the barometer from the roof of the skyscraper to the ground. The length of the

string plus the length of the barometer will equal the height of the building."

This highly original answer so incensed the examiner that Bohr was failed

immediately. He appealed on the grounds that his answer was indisputably correct, and

the university appointed an independent arbiter to decide the case. The arbiter judged

that the answer was indeed correct, but did not display any noticeable knowledge of

physics. To resolve the problem it was decided to call Bohr in and allow him six

minutes in which to provide a verbal answer which showed at least a minimal familiarity

with the basic principles of physics. For five minutes he sat in silence,

forehead creased in thought. The arbiter reminded him that time was running out, to

which he replied that he had several extremely relevant answers, but couldn't

make up his mind which to use. On being advised to hurry up Bohr replied as

follows:

"Firstly, you could take the barometer up to the roof of the skyscraper, drop it over the

edge, and measure the time it takes to reach the ground. The height of the building can

then be worked out from the formula H = 0.5g x t squared. But bad luck on the

barometer." Or if the sun is shining you could measure the height of the barometer, then

set it on end and measure the length of its shadow. Then you measure the length of the

skyscraper's shadow, and thereafter it is a simple matter of proportional arithmetic to

work out the height of the skyscraper. "But if you wanted to be highly scientific about it,

you could tie a short piece of string to the barometer and swing it like a pendulum, first at

ground level and then on the roof of the skyscraper. The height is worked out by the

difference in the gravitational restoring force T = 2 pi sqr root (l / g).

"Or if the skyscraper has an outside emergency staircase, it would be easier to walk up it

and mark off the height of the skyscraper in barometer lengths, then add them up." If

you merely wanted to be boring and orthodox about it, of course, you could use the

barometer to measure the air pressure on the roof of the skyscraper and on the ground,

and convert the difference in millibars into feet to give the height of the building. But

since we are constantly being exhorted to exercise independence of mind and apply

scientific methods, undoubtedly the best way would be to knock on the janitor's door and

say to him "If you would like a nice new barometer, I will give you this one if you tell me

the height of this skyscraper"."

Another Bohr story:

Bohr donated his Nobel medal to Finnish war relief at the beginning of the Second World

War. Soon after the War began he was entrusted with the medals of the German

physicists Max von Laue (1914 laureate) and James Franck (1926). Before he escaped

from occupied Denmark in 1943, Bohr, a meticulous man who was known to write drafts

of postcards, dissolved the medals in acid in order to get them safely out of the country.

After the War, he precipitated the gold from the acid, and had the medals re-cast. Cool thinking or what?

[Tresco]

"Cool thinking or what?"

Yes. The only thing that would make it better would be if Herr Bohr was somehow involved in the invention of Marmite.

[Dick Smith]

Wasn't that Erwin Schrodinger and his cat?

[Russethouse]

I think the first answer (re the barometer) shows that Herr Bohr was in touch with his feminine side - common sense isn't it ?

(Shoot the first man to say feminine and common sense do not go together [:D])

[Will]

Of course they go together - my wife told me they do.

Though I might not totally agree - this is what she found in the road and brought home. It must be a close competitor for Dick's ugliest dog, though I have to admit he (the dog, not Dick) looks rather better now the galloping mange has been cured. He also smells a bit better now (again that's the dog, not Dick).

http://www.vienormande.com/images/fred.jpg

[Tony F Dordogne]

Is this the famed Will the Conquerer?

Are you no longer Moderating?