what I have learned today.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I think back then they were probably also applying the heraldic design rules of not having colour on colour or metal (argent/or, silver/gold, white/yellow) on metal. I've never seen a St David's cross, I wonder how widely recognised it is even in Wales?

[Basil]

I think back then they were probably also applying the heraldic design rules of not having colour on colour or metal (argent/or, silver/gold, white/yellow) on metal. I've never seen a St David's cross, I wonder how widely recognised it is even in Wales?

It's actually quite common.  Very often to be seen flying on churches, who don't seem to like Y Ddraig Goch.  Equally common is the flag (banner?) of Owain Glyndŵr, but that seems to be a seasonal thing.  There are more around than normal at the moment.  I think he has a 'day' or something.   You will see them at other times of the year, but not as many.

[Cudzoziemiec]

What T42 is speaking about is something like this, I guess:

Glary! Horrible. However, I quite like the first one in the series:

https://www.dezeen.com/2014/02/27/alternative-designs-proposed-for-a-union-jack-without-scotland/

[Cudzoziemiec]

Aha! From the end of that thread:

The Scottish public will vote on the issue of independence on 18 September 2014, however the College of Arms, which oversees matters relating to flags and heraldry and acts under Crown Authority, told British broadcaster ITV that there are no plans to change the Union Flag if Scotland becomes an independent state.

[ElyDave]

HOW many nations would have flags included in a 'red, white and blue Brexit'?

The Netherlands for one
Norway

[hellymedic]

France
USA, NZ, Australia (not EU)
More with two of three colours eg Greece, Denmark, Switzerland Canada

Meaningless statement....

[Cudzoziemiec]

Here you go https://www.sporcle.com/games/g/redwhiteblueflags?sc=flags
You can "learn" with Sporcle

[Tim Hall]

I learnt this one earlier in the week.

The building I've been calling The Trellick Tower, yacf's favourite bit of brutalist architecture, is in fact Balfron Tower.

Trellick Tower is in Kensal Green. The one on the A12 is Balfron Tower.

(Fascinating facts,we gottem)

[rogerzilla]

The green light from a railway semaphore signal showing "clear" at night is really, really dim compared to the red light for "danger".  I noticed this yesterday when the Severn Valley Railway was running night trains.  I suppose it's logical; the light source is a yellowish paraffin wick lamp and green is obtained by moving a blue spectacle plate in front of it.  Filter all the yellow out of a yellow-white light source, and you're not left with much.  There's plenty of red light, though.

[Jurek]

I learnt this one earlier in the week.

The building I've been calling The Trellick Tower, yacf's favourite bit of brutalist architecture, is in fact Balfron Tower.

Trellick Tower is in Kensal Green. The one on the A12 is Balfron Tower.

(Fascinating facts,we gottem)

There's a similar edifice in the area yclept Docklands.

[jsabine]

I learnt this one earlier in the week.

The building I've been calling The Trellick Tower, yacf's favourite bit of brutalist architecture, is in fact Balfron Tower.

Trellick Tower is in Kensal Green. The one on the A12 is Balfron Tower.

(Fascinating facts,we gottem)

There's a similar edifice in the area yclept Docklands.

That's the Balfron Tower - close to the northern end of the Blackwall Tunnel, no?

[rogerzilla]

Commercial radio stations are now taking the N-word out of "Oliver's Army".  They must have struggled with the context for four decades.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Commercial radio stations are now taking the N-word out of "Oliver's Army".  They must have struggled with the context for four decades.

I've been wondering about that one ever since it became unacceptable for white people to sing N in songs originally by black people, where the original was "-a" not "-er". But what if the original was by a white person and the meaning was neither of those? What about the Commitments? What about Hanif Kureishi being told by his Pakistani cousins, "You might be a famous writer but we are Pakistanis whereas you will only ever be a Paki" (ie both in UK and Pakistan)? Etc. And we haven't even got around to, say, "traila".

[barakta]

I think there are always going to be words a marginalised group can reclaim which non-members should not use...

Internalised oppression e.g. the Hanif Kureshi example is complicated, and I'd say was an issue for people within that group and again not for white people to get involved with. We still can't use the P word.

[rogerzilla]

The American equivalent of the P-word is "Jap" which is fairly neutral in the UK and sometimes admiring - the biggest modified Japanese car festival is "Japfest", for instance.  You wouldn't refer to a Japanese person as a Jap, though; it's only the adjective that's acceptable.  It was the same 30 years ago - Only Fools And Horses would refer to a "Paki shop" but even then would have balked at using it to describe a person. Especially if they were Indian, which is incredibly offensive.

[ElyDave]

Every time I hear the words Paki, or Chinky I just cringe.

It was less than twenty years ago I had someone explaining why the white man should be in charge. Being married to someone of Indian descent I find views like that particularly offensive. I'm waiting until climate change denial attracts the same level of opprobrium as casual racism

[Cudzoziemiec]

A large part of Hanif Kureshi's point, or his cousins' point, was not the word itself but the foreignness it expresses; that he's Pakistani in Britain and British in Pakistan. Quite a lot of countries have a similar split, sometimes even a formal term such as NRI and OCI used for government purposes (Non-Resident Indian and Overseas Citizen of India).

[Chris S]

New washing machines run much better once you've removed the Transit Bolts. Apologies to anyone in Co Durham who owns a seismograph, for any false positives you may have just received. 

[Legs]

That the self-checkouts at Tesco have a flap by the coin slot that you can lift up to drop coins in considerably quicker.  I got rid of a couple of quid of coppers on Saturday...

[Mr Larrington]

I learnt this one earlier in the week.

The building I've been calling The Trellick Tower, yacf's favourite bit of brutalist architecture, is in fact Balfron Tower.

Trellick Tower is in Kensal Green. The one on the A12 is Balfron Tower.

(Fascinating facts,we gottem)

Any fule kno Trellick Tower is in W London coz Mick Jones' gran lived in it.  The one out of The Clash, obv, not him from FOREIGNer.

[JonBuoy]

Figs have wasps in them

[Tim Hall]

I learnt this one earlier in the week.

The building I've been calling The Trellick Tower, yacf's favourite bit of brutalist architecture, is in fact Balfron Tower.

Trellick Tower is in Kensal Green. The one on the A12 is Balfron Tower.

(Fascinating facts,we gottem)

Any fule kno Trellick Tower is in W London coz Mick Jones' gran lived in it.  The one out of The Clash, obv, not him from FOREIGNer.

This is a public service announcement. With guitars.

[T42]

Figs have wasps in them

Adds to the texture.

[T42]

NEway, today MrsT read out at the table (Thomas Pakenham's The Boer War) that throughout the war the British War Office were so much at war with themselves that they couldn't develop an overall strategy for the war in S. Africa.

Plus ça change...

[JonJo]

I learnt this one earlier in the week.

The building I've been calling The Trellick Tower, yacf's favourite bit of brutalist architecture, is in fact Balfron Tower.

Trellick Tower is in Kensal Green. The one on the A12 is Balfron Tower.

(Fascinating facts,we gottem)

Any fule kno Trellick Tower is in W London coz Mick Jones' gran lived in it.  The one out of The Clash, obv, not him from FOREIGNer.

Or him from Leeds Utd. https://www.onemickjones.com/