Being a Roman Candle...

[CJ]

OK .... going to drink less coffee, find that dark corner and pray that one day the human race will deserve to survive ... because looking at the world as it stands I dont believe it deserves to ... and dont believe it will

Well, some theorists believe we are not of this earth, so why should we survive here?!?

Some believe we aere dumped here by a race because of our inherant war making tendencies.

Others say that we are a hybrid of chimps and some other alien, possibly "greys"...

All of which brings me to the point that Scotland has never been conquered.

[Gadget]

So why does Scotland have one of the highest UFO sighting stastistics then?

[Dreadful Scathe]

So why does Scotland have one of the highest UFO sighting stastistics then?

because they want to land somewhere where the people are intelectually their equal of coure my theory falls down if anyone mentions most sightings are in Bonnybridge

[Baruch]

As for the first bit - There was no conquering going on - Wales was integrated. Scotland joined a union. Ireland got pizzed off and left and Northern Ireland wanted to stay*. Sure those countries were all conquered at one point, but they became part of the United Kingdom through more or less peaceable means, so not every change is through force of arms!

Not true in the case of Wales. We were conquered by force of arms, large tracts of our country divided among a bunch of barons from east of the border, then annexed by the English crown after a few hundred years of subjugation. Why do you think there are so many castles in Wales, particularly the east? They were built by English lords to keep the "rebellious" Welsh down because they were wont to fight against the oppression they were under.

[Baruch]

I'm not saying that forign/lost/rare/local languages are insignificant - just that they are part of the past - like a lot of customs and local practices. As part of the past it communicates to us and we can learn from it - but I fail to see the point in carrying a redundant language into the future.

The perspective is very different if you happen to be part of one of those minorities. I'm all for global languages, but I'm also in favour of bilingualism. Why should it be a case of either/or?

Can you give an example of how the imagery of one language cannot be conveyed into English?
Simple words that embody ideas and concepts that take a dozen words to explain - like "sushi" - will be absorbed into the language and so the language is enritched.

That only tends to work with "strong" languages. Generally minority languages will borrow words from "strong" neighbouring languages, but there's very little traffic the other way. Certainly in my experience.

In Wales?

Yes, children were beaten for speaking Welsh in schools IN WALES. The education system was entirely English-medium.

This I don't understand - how can a language have a status that is 'recognised' in law? Wills?

The Welsh Language Act 1993 gives Welsh official status with English (though it is often not implemented, or even ignored). All local and national government posters, leaflets, forms, web sites and everything else in Wales have to be bilingual. In my opinion, though, the Act doesn't go far enough - but that's a different topic altogether.

[Dreadful Scathe]

Not true in the case of Wales. We were conquered by force of arms, large tracts of our country divided among a bunch of barons from east of the border, then annexed by the English crown after a few hundred years of subjugation.

Wales become part of the union peacefully though, wether you were originally conquered or not. I did say all countries were conquered at some point!

"A Welshman and the first in the Tudor line, Henry VII's reign, and that of subsequent Tudors, made English rule more palatable to the Welsh. His son, King Henry VIII, joined England and Wales under the Act of Union in 1536."

[skippy]

I agree, although, i live in Scotland and i have started to pick up a few sayings like:-

Naw yae cannae
How?
Haud yer wheest
etc
etc

I still get the micky taken out of me for my N.Irish accent!

I know just how you feel I'm English, my dad's Irish and my husband's Scottish so call me a mixedbag.
when I moved to Scotland peolpe used to make fun off me :
I just to use the saying "I may be English but at least I had the sense to move to Scotland"" I am very proud of being BRITISH.
When I moved to Scotland which was 14 years ago I couldn't get used to the saying of
"meet you at the back of??" what time is that it is e.g. 8.15 or 8.30 etc.
Also " going to get my messages" you mean you are going to get your food shopping! why not just say that!!
Skippy

[Baruch]

"A Welshman and the first in the Tudor line, Henry VII's reign, and that of subsequent Tudors, made English rule more palatable to the Welsh. His son, King Henry VIII, joined England and Wales under the Act of Union in 1536."

Your quote probably doesn't come from a Welsh author, I think. The "Act of Union" was actually an act of annexation. It didn't so much join England and Wales as absorb Wales into England. It was also stated in writing in the aforementioned Act of Annexation that the Welsh language should be done away with totally and replaced with English. This was at a time when virtually 100% of the population spoke Welsh, and the vast majority of those were monoglots.
The Tudors ultimately turned out to be a disappointment to the Welsh, and betrayed the country they originated from by annexing it purely on English terms.

[Dreadful Scathe]

Your quote probably doesn't come from a Welsh author, I think. The "Act of Union" was actually an act of annexation. It didn't so much join England and Wales as absorb Wales into England. It was also stated in writing in the aforementioned Act of Annexation that the Welsh language should be done away with totally and replaced with English. This was at a time when virtually 100% of the population spoke Welsh, and the vast majority of those were monoglots.
The Tudors ultimately turned out to be a disappointment to the Welsh, and betrayed the country they originated from by annexing it purely on English terms.

true, history is always biased toward the people who write it . Still my point is valid though, England kept ties with the rest of the UK with treaties of Union, rather than kept by force.

The source for the above quote is here

[drathzel]

"meet you at the back of??" what time is that it is e.g. 8.15 or 8.30 etc.
Also " going to get my messages" you mean you are going to get your food shopping! why not just say that!!
Skippy

Ok the back of comment! Dont worry nobody actually has the same meaning for it! I asked several people what it meant and they all (originate from scotland) gave me diff answers!

Messages is a commonly used term in N.ireland so i got used to that one pretty quick! I never got why the ask "how" intead of "why"!

[Baruch]

true, history is always biased toward the people who write it . Still my point is valid though, England kept ties with the rest of the UK with treaties of Union, rather than kept by force.

Not wanting to nit-pick, but there's no treaty of union with Wales. Scotland had a treaty, Wales was annexed with no say in the matter.

[Dance Demon]

! I never got why the ask "how" intead of "why"!

How no'..............

[drathzel]

How no'..............

I never said there was anything wrong with it however i just cant understand it! But to my shame I have started to use it. Along with other phrases! Eek

[skippy]

I never said there was anything wrong with it however i just cant understand it! But to my shame I have started to use it. Along with other phrases! Eek

WHY do they say that!! I don't think they actually know WHY!! My husband says it all the time and I always correct him.

[drathzel]

WHY do they say that!! I don't think they actually know WHY!! My husband says it all the time and I always correct him.

It was rather frustrating to start with but now i just go with the flow and use it all the time!

[baldrick]

WHY do they say that!! I don't think they actually know WHY!! My husband says it all the time and I always correct him.

I dinne ken

[drathzel]

I dinne ken

aye ye dae