Bertel Lund Hansen wrote:

> Peter Moylan wrote:
>
> > Maybe this group really is dying. Once I put
> > talk.politics.guns into my killfile, the number of AUE
> > messages shrunk almost to zero.
>
> But Usenet is dying. One comforting fact is that the
> language groups are the last ones to dry out if you disregard
> the crackpots in groups about religion and about politics.

Some might say it's the crackpots that have kept newsgroups
alive!

After all, a newsgroup without crackpots probably has no posts
at all. :-)

On 13/03/24 08:47, Sam Plusnet wrote:
> On 12-Mar-24 21:11, Peter Moylan wrote:
>> On 13/03/24 01:33, HVS wrote:
>>
>>> "Not to forget hogget," he bleated.
>>>
>>> (Does AUE still have an ovine tendency?)
>>
>> Probably not. Sheep may safely graze.
>>
> Shearers often graze a sheep, but they usually put some salve on it
> (or so I'm told).

I was in a rural part of New Zealand when I saw a man walking along the
road with a single sheep. "Will you be shearing it?", I asked.

"I'm nivver shearing it", he said. "Git your own."

--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW

On 13/03/24 08:55, Sam Plusnet wrote:
> On 12-Mar-24 10:23, occam wrote:
>> On 12/03/2024 10:46, Peter Moylan wrote:
>>> My killfile probable includes lots of people who are no longer here.
>>> Maybe it's time for the autumnal spring-cleaning.
>>
>> But just in case, keep PDT in the file anyway.
>>
>> <smile> You know the trope - killing a vampire is not enough, you have
>> to hammer a stake through the heart, to make it permanent.
>
> D@mmit! I miss PTD.
> <There! I've said it.>
> He stirred up a lively trade in reaction to some of his more -
> unsupported by evidence - posts.

I note that Tony wasn't able to remain in the group without him.

--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW

On Wed, 13 Mar 2024 10:25:50 +1100, Peter Moylan
<peter@pmoylan.org.invalid> wrote:

>On 13/03/24 08:55, Sam Plusnet wrote:
>> On 12-Mar-24 10:23, occam wrote:
>>> On 12/03/2024 10:46, Peter Moylan wrote:
>>>> My killfile probable includes lots of people who are no longer here.
>>>> Maybe it's time for the autumnal spring-cleaning.
>>>
>>> But just in case, keep PDT in the file anyway.
>>>
>>> <smile> You know the trope - killing a vampire is not enough, you have
>>> to hammer a stake through the heart, to make it permanent.
>>
>> D@mmit! I miss PTD.
>> <There! I've said it.>
>> He stirred up a lively trade in reaction to some of his more -
>> unsupported by evidence - posts.
>
>I note that Tony wasn't able to remain in the group without him.

Did you now? I continued to post after PTD's departure. In fact,
you've responded to a thread I initiated on the March 4th on Tump's
"foreign language" comment.

I don't have any interest in the French or Irish languages (although I
do have a wide grip of Irish slang terms), I don't do Wordle, most
poetry bores me, and few of the other messages have sparked enough
interest for a response.

On 13/03/24 14:49, Tony Cooper wrote:
> On Wed, 13 Mar 2024 10:25:50 +1100, Peter Moylan
> <peter@pmoylan.org.invalid> wrote:
>
>> On 13/03/24 08:55, Sam Plusnet wrote:
>>> On 12-Mar-24 10:23, occam wrote:
>>>> On 12/03/2024 10:46, Peter Moylan wrote:
>>>>> My killfile probable includes lots of people who are no longer here.
>>>>> Maybe it's time for the autumnal spring-cleaning.
>>>>
>>>> But just in case, keep PDT in the file anyway.
>>>>
>>>> <smile> You know the trope - killing a vampire is not enough, you have
>>>> to hammer a stake through the heart, to make it permanent.
>>>
>>> D@mmit! I miss PTD.
>>> <There! I've said it.>
>>> He stirred up a lively trade in reaction to some of his more -
>>> unsupported by evidence - posts.
>>
>> I note that Tony wasn't able to remain in the group without him.
>
> Did you now? I continued to post after PTD's departure. In fact,
> you've responded to a thread I initiated on the March 4th on Tump's
> "foreign language" comment.
>
> I don't have any interest in the French or Irish languages (although I
> do have a wide grip of Irish slang terms), I don't do Wordle, most
> poetry bores me, and few of the other messages have sparked enough
> interest for a response.

My mistake, then. Good to see that you're still here.

--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW

On 13/03/24 14:49, Tony Cooper wrote:

> I don't have any interest in the French or Irish languages (although
> I do have a wide grip of Irish slang terms)

Speaking of which: an Irish phrase that could be useful to many people
is "póg mo thóin". I believe the Scots Gaelic version is almost
identical. It's pronounced like Pogue Mahone, and it means "kiss my arse".

Fans of a certain kind of music would already know this.

--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW

Snidely <snidely.too@gmail.com> wrote:

> Remember Monday, when Paul Wolff asked plaintively:
> > On Tue, 12 Mar 2024, at 09:54:10, Peter Moylan posted:
> >>Maybe this group really is dying. Once I put talk.politics.guns into my
> >> killfile, the number of AUE messages shrunk almost to zero.
> >>
> > Maybe it is. Maybe it's human nature to move on, and there are fewer
> > mover-inners than there are mover-outers and naturally-expirers.
> >
> > We could always discuss inconsistent inflexion of strong verbs, or the
> > variation of inflection, but it's [in other contexts it is, in this context
> > it has] probably been done before. I don't get much entertainment from
> > nit-picking. I leave that to the monkeys.
> >
> > The fact is that there are plenty of other forums, fora, or even
> > Internet resources where amusement can be found, and this group is an
> > old planet earth in an expanding planetary universe. I'd postulate some
> > working of intellectual entropy if I were cleverer.
> >
> > I don't foresee any return to the good old days. Life doesn't do that.
>
> There are also tidal influences. Historical looks at volume always
> show some days get more messages than others, and some themes kick off
> more discussion than others.
>
> We recently had (genuine AUE) threads of 44, 19, 32, and 16 messages.
> A 300-post thread started on Feb 5. We may have one of those any day.

In the olden days over a thousand was not unusual.

> I'd hang in there. We may have more thoughts about rounds vs
> sandwiches vs sammies vs tea cakes, or about pebbles vs gravel vs
> stones vs rocks; we can add millings to that thread, which probably
> were gravel at one point, until embedded in a tarry matrix or (less
> likely) cement. There is also the white stuff used as topping on some
> roofs. Usually white, and kind of crystalline ... definitely not
> sandstone.

New posters appear, occasionally.
And I suspect that AUE has an unsually large number of lurkers,
also among learners of English,

Jan

Peter Moylan <peter@pmoylan.org.invalid> wrote:

> On 12/03/24 20:44, Athel Cornish-Bowden wrote:
> > On 2024-03-12 06:31:56 +0000, Bertel Lund Hansen said:
> >
> >> Peter Moylan wrote:
> >>
> >>> Maybe this group really is dying. Once I put talk.politics.guns
> >>> into my killfile, the number of AUE messages shrunk almost to
> >>> zero.
> >>
> >> I only keep messages from AUE, and the flow I see is not near zero.
> >> But Usenet is dying. One comforting fact is that the language
> >> groups are the last ones to dry out if you disregard the crackpots
> >> in groups about religion and about politics.
> >
> > Two that I visit and are full of crackpots, but still have a
> > significant number of sane people, are sci.physics.relativity and
> > talk.origins.
>
> Many years ago I was asking myself whether it would be a good idea to
> create new groups with names something like sci.physics.sane and
> talk.origins.sane. It wouldn't have worked, though. Physics and
> evolution -- and, to a lesser extent, mathematics -- attract huge hordes
> of crackpots, and they wouldn't have been distracted by simple labelling.

Au contraire, it would have attracted them.
They are the sanest people in the word, aren't they?
It is the others who are prejudiced, bigotted, racist, stupid,
and generally blind to greatness,
even when it is right before their eyes.

Perhaps it might have cleared the unrenamed groups.

Jan

Sam Plusnet <not@home.com> wrote:

> On 12-Mar-24 10:23, occam wrote:
> > On 12/03/2024 10:46, Peter Moylan wrote:
> >> My killfile probable includes lots of people who are no longer here.
> >> Maybe it's time for the autumnal spring-cleaning.
> >
> > But just in case, keep PDT in the file anyway.
> >
> > <smile> You know the trope - killing a vampire is not enough, you have
> > to hammer a stake through the heart, to make it permanent.
>
> D@mmit! I miss PTD.
> <There! I've said it.>
> He stirred up a lively trade in reaction to some of his more -
> unsupported by evidence - posts.

Rey Aman was a greater loss, arguably,

Jan

On 12/03/2024 22:55, Sam Plusnet wrote:
> On 12-Mar-24 10:23, occam wrote:
>> On 12/03/2024 10:46, Peter Moylan wrote:
>>> My killfile probable includes lots of people who are no longer here.
>>> Maybe it's time for the autumnal spring-cleaning.
>>
>> But just in case, keep PDT in the file anyway.
>>
>> <smile> You know the trope - killing a vampire is not enough, you have
>> to hammer a stake through the heart, to make it permanent.
>
> D@mmit!  I miss PTD.
> <There!  I've said it.>

Noted.

[Everything you say has been taken down and will be held against you by
The Committee.]

On 13/03/2024 11:52, J. J. Lodder wrote:
> Sam Plusnet <not@home.com> wrote:
>
>> On 12-Mar-24 10:23, occam wrote:
>>> On 12/03/2024 10:46, Peter Moylan wrote:
>>>> My killfile probable includes lots of people who are no longer here.
>>>> Maybe it's time for the autumnal spring-cleaning.
>>>
>>> But just in case, keep PDT in the file anyway.
>>>
>>> <smile> You know the trope - killing a vampire is not enough, you have
>>> to hammer a stake through the heart, to make it permanent.
>>
>> D@mmit! I miss PTD.
>> <There! I've said it.>
>> He stirred up a lively trade in reaction to some of his more -
>> unsupported by evidence - posts.
>
> Rey Aman was a greater loss, arguably,
>

Different loss. Grieving is different to rejoicing.

On 13/03/2024 11:03, occam wrote:
> On 12/03/2024 22:55, Sam Plusnet wrote:
>> On 12-Mar-24 10:23, occam wrote:
>>> On 12/03/2024 10:46, Peter Moylan wrote:
>>>> My killfile probable includes lots of people who are no longer here.
>>>> Maybe it's time for the autumnal spring-cleaning.
>>>
>>> But just in case, keep PDT in the file anyway.
>>>
>>> <smile> You know the trope - killing a vampire is not enough, you have
>>> to hammer a stake through the heart, to make it permanent.
>>
>> D@mmit! I miss PTD.
>> <There! I've said it.>
>
> Noted.
>
> [Everything you say has been taken down and will be held against you by
> The Committee.]
>

Knickers

--
Chris Elvidge, England
TEACHER IS NOT A LEPER

On Wed, 13 Mar 2024 15:45:59 +1100, Peter Moylan
<peter@pmoylan.org.invalid> wrote:

>On 13/03/24 14:49, Tony Cooper wrote:
>
>> I don't have any interest in the French or Irish languages (although
>> I do have a wide grip of Irish slang terms)
>
>Speaking of which: an Irish phrase that could be useful to many people
>is "póg mo thóin". I believe the Scots Gaelic version is almost
>identical. It's pronounced like Pogue Mahone, and it means "kiss my arse".
>
>Fans of a certain kind of music would already know this.

I'm in that general group, but not a fan of the music of the Pogues,
which is a little to raw for me. When Shane MacGowan founded the
started the band, the name was the "Pogue Mahone", but he shortened it
to "The Pogues" to avoid censorship by the BBC. The original name was
taken from James Joyce's use of "Pogue Mahone" in _Ulyssses_ by the
character "Buck Mulligan".

MacGowan was previously in a band called "The Nips".

occam <occam@nowhere.nix> wrote:

> On 13/03/2024 11:52, J. J. Lodder wrote:
> > Sam Plusnet <not@home.com> wrote:
> >
> >> On 12-Mar-24 10:23, occam wrote:
> >>> On 12/03/2024 10:46, Peter Moylan wrote:
> >>>> My killfile probable includes lots of people who are no longer here.
> >>>> Maybe it's time for the autumnal spring-cleaning.
> >>>
> >>> But just in case, keep PDT in the file anyway.
> >>>
> >>> <smile> You know the trope - killing a vampire is not enough, you have
> >>> to hammer a stake through the heart, to make it permanent.
> >>
> >> D@mmit! I miss PTD.
> >> <There! I've said it.>
> >> He stirred up a lively trade in reaction to some of his more -
> >> unsupported by evidence - posts.
> >
> > Rey Aman was a greater loss, arguably,
> >
>
>
> Different loss. Grieving is different to rejoicing.

I happened to find a book with one of the very few interviews Aman gave,
with the Dutch journalist/linguist/essayist Liesbeth Koenen.

She visited him at his home in California.
They got on very well together,
and Aman appears as a really nice gentleman,
and a thoroughly enjoyable (but rather shy) personality,

Jan

On 13/03/2024 12:17, Chris Elvidge wrote:
> On 13/03/2024 11:03, occam wrote:
>> On 12/03/2024 22:55, Sam Plusnet wrote:
>>> On 12-Mar-24 10:23, occam wrote:
>>>> On 12/03/2024 10:46, Peter Moylan wrote:
>>>>> My killfile probable includes lots of people who are no longer here.
>>>>> Maybe it's time for the autumnal spring-cleaning.
>>>>
>>>> But just in case, keep PDT in the file anyway.
>>>>
>>>> <smile> You know the trope - killing a vampire is not enough, you have
>>>> to hammer a stake through the heart, to make it permanent.
>>>
>>> D@mmit!  I miss PTD.
>>> <There!  I've said it.>
>>
>> Noted.
>>
>> [Everything you say has been taken down and will be held against you by
>> The Committee.]
>>
>
> Knickers
>
>
Have heard it. It was funny the first time.

On 2024-03-13 04:52, J. J. Lodder wrote:
> Snidely <snidely.too@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Remember Monday, when Paul Wolff asked plaintively:
>>> On Tue, 12 Mar 2024, at 09:54:10, Peter Moylan posted:
>>>> Maybe this group really is dying. Once I put talk.politics.guns into my
>>>> killfile, the number of AUE messages shrunk almost to zero.
>>>>
>>> Maybe it is. Maybe it's human nature to move on, and there are fewer
>>> mover-inners than there are mover-outers and naturally-expirers.
>>>
>>> We could always discuss inconsistent inflexion of strong verbs, or the
>>> variation of inflection, but it's [in other contexts it is, in this context
>>> it has] probably been done before. I don't get much entertainment from
>>> nit-picking. I leave that to the monkeys.
>>>
>>> The fact is that there are plenty of other forums, fora, or even
>>> Internet resources where amusement can be found, and this group is an
>>> old planet earth in an expanding planetary universe. I'd postulate some
>>> working of intellectual entropy if I were cleverer.
>>>
>>> I don't foresee any return to the good old days. Life doesn't do that.
>>
>> There are also tidal influences. Historical looks at volume always
>> show some days get more messages than others, and some themes kick off
>> more discussion than others.
>>
>> We recently had (genuine AUE) threads of 44, 19, 32, and 16 messages.
>> A 300-post thread started on Feb 5. We may have one of those any day.
>
> In the olden days over a thousand was not unusual.
>
>> I'd hang in there. We may have more thoughts about rounds vs
>> sandwiches vs sammies vs tea cakes, or about pebbles vs gravel vs
>> stones vs rocks; we can add millings to that thread, which probably
>> were gravel at one point, until embedded in a tarry matrix or (less
>> likely) cement. There is also the white stuff used as topping on some
>> roofs. Usually white, and kind of crystalline ... definitely not
>> sandstone.
>
> New posters appear, occasionally.
> And I suspect that AUE has an unsually large number of lurkers,
> also among learners of English,

One I miss is Bun Mui.
Comments?

--
Private signature.
Do not read.

On 13-Mar-24 10:52, J. J. Lodder wrote:
> Snidely <snidely.too@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Remember Monday, when Paul Wolff asked plaintively:
>>> On Tue, 12 Mar 2024, at 09:54:10, Peter Moylan posted:
>>>> Maybe this group really is dying. Once I put talk.politics.guns into my
>>>> killfile, the number of AUE messages shrunk almost to zero.
>>>>
>>> Maybe it is. Maybe it's human nature to move on, and there are fewer
>>> mover-inners than there are mover-outers and naturally-expirers.
>>>
>>> We could always discuss inconsistent inflexion of strong verbs, or the
>>> variation of inflection, but it's [in other contexts it is, in this context
>>> it has] probably been done before. I don't get much entertainment from
>>> nit-picking. I leave that to the monkeys.
>>>
>>> The fact is that there are plenty of other forums, fora, or even
>>> Internet resources where amusement can be found, and this group is an
>>> old planet earth in an expanding planetary universe. I'd postulate some
>>> working of intellectual entropy if I were cleverer.
>>>
>>> I don't foresee any return to the good old days. Life doesn't do that.
>>
>> There are also tidal influences. Historical looks at volume always
>> show some days get more messages than others, and some themes kick off
>> more discussion than others.
>>
>> We recently had (genuine AUE) threads of 44, 19, 32, and 16 messages.
>> A 300-post thread started on Feb 5. We may have one of those any day.
>
> In the olden days over a thousand was not unusual.
>
>> I'd hang in there. We may have more thoughts about rounds vs
>> sandwiches vs sammies vs tea cakes, or about pebbles vs gravel vs
>> stones vs rocks; we can add millings to that thread, which probably
>> were gravel at one point, until embedded in a tarry matrix or (less
>> likely) cement. There is also the white stuff used as topping on some
>> roofs. Usually white, and kind of crystalline ... definitely not
>> sandstone.
>
> New posters appear, occasionally.
> And I suspect that AUE has an unsually large number of lurkers,
> also among learners of English,

We are all learners of English. Some are more attentive to their
studies than others.

--
Sam Plusnet

On 13-Mar-24 11:03, occam wrote:
> On 12/03/2024 22:55, Sam Plusnet wrote:
>> On 12-Mar-24 10:23, occam wrote:
>>> On 12/03/2024 10:46, Peter Moylan wrote:
>>>> My killfile probable includes lots of people who are no longer here.
>>>> Maybe it's time for the autumnal spring-cleaning.
>>>
>>> But just in case, keep PDT in the file anyway.
>>>
>>> <smile> You know the trope - killing a vampire is not enough, you have
>>> to hammer a stake through the heart, to make it permanent.
>>
>> D@mmit!  I miss PTD.
>> <There!  I've said it.>
>
> Noted.
>
> [Everything you say has been taken down and will be held against you by
> The Committee.]
>
No worries.
To enforce their will, they would have to come out of the shadows.
Does anyone think that would really happen?

--
Sam Plusnet

J. J. Lodder <nospam@de-ster.demon.nl> wrote:

> New posters appear, occasionally.
> And I suspect that AUE has an unsually large number of lurkers,
> also among learners of English,
>

Hello, I are learners of English lurkering unusually large.

--
^Ï^. Sn!pe, PA, FIBS - Professional Crastinator

My pet rock Gordon just is.

On 14/03/24 07:26, Sam Plusnet wrote:
> On 13-Mar-24 10:52, J. J. Lodder wrote:

>> New posters appear, occasionally.
>> And I suspect that AUE has an unsually large number of lurkers,
>> also among learners of English,
>
> We are all learners of English. Some are more attentive to their
> studies than others.

We are all individuals.

--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW

On 13/03/24 21:52, J. J. Lodder wrote:
> Peter Moylan <peter@pmoylan.org.invalid> wrote:

>> Many years ago I was asking myself whether it would be a good idea to
>> create new groups with names something like sci.physics.sane and
>> talk.origins.sane. It wouldn't have worked, though. Physics and
>> evolution -- and, to a lesser extent, mathematics -- attract huge hordes
>> of crackpots, and they wouldn't have been distracted by simple labelling.
>
> Au contraire, it would have attracted them.
> They are the sanest people in the word, aren't they?
> It is the others who are prejudiced, bigotted, racist, stupid,
> and generally blind to greatness,
> even when it is right before their eyes.
>
> Perhaps it might have cleared the unrenamed groups.

Then perhaps we should create a talk.religion.messiah.trump.

--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW

On Thu, 14 Mar 2024, at 09:21:59, Peter Moylan posted:
>On 13/03/24 21:52, J. J. Lodder wrote:
>> Peter Moylan <peter@pmoylan.org.invalid> wrote:
>
>>> Many years ago I was asking myself whether it would be a good idea to
>>> create new groups with names something like sci.physics.sane and
>>> talk.origins.sane. It wouldn't have worked, though. Physics and
>>> evolution -- and, to a lesser extent, mathematics -- attract huge hordes
>>> of crackpots, and they wouldn't have been distracted by simple labelling.
>>
>> Au contraire, it would have attracted them.
>> They are the sanest people in the word, aren't they?
>> It is the others who are prejudiced, bigotted, racist, stupid,
>> and generally blind to greatness,
>> even when it is right before their eyes.
>>
>> Perhaps it might have cleared the unrenamed groups.
>
>Then perhaps we should create a talk.religion.messiah.trump.
>
Isn't the Messiah supposed to be the anointed world leader? Putin and Xi
and many an ayatollah would baulk at that idea. And I don't care to
imagine what the holy oil would do to his coiffure. A discussion group
devoted to that subject would be intolerable.
--
Paul W

On 14/03/24 10:05, Paul Wolff wrote:
> On Thu, 14 Mar 2024, at 09:21:59, Peter Moylan posted:
>> On 13/03/24 21:52, J. J. Lodder wrote:
>>> Peter Moylan <peter@pmoylan.org.invalid> wrote:
>>
>>>> Many years ago I was asking myself whether it would be a good idea to
>>>> create new groups with names something like sci.physics.sane and
>>>> talk.origins.sane. It wouldn't have worked, though. Physics and
>>>> evolution -- and, to a lesser extent, mathematics -- attract huge
>>>> hordes
>>>> of crackpots, and they wouldn't have been distracted by simple
>>>> labelling.
>>>
>>> Au contraire, it would have attracted them.
>>> They are the sanest people in the word, aren't they?
>>> It is the others who are prejudiced, bigotted, racist, stupid,
>>> and generally blind to greatness,
>>> even when it is right before their eyes.
>>>
>>> Perhaps it might have cleared the unrenamed groups.
>>
>> Then perhaps we should create a talk.religion.messiah.trump.
>>
> Isn't the Messiah supposed to be the anointed world leader? Putin and Xi
> and many an ayatollah would baulk at that idea. And I don't care to
> imagine what the holy oil would do to his coiffure. A discussion group
> devoted to that subject would be intolerable.

You don't have to join it. The point is to get the crackpots to join it.

--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW

Sn!pe <snipeco.2@gmail.com> wrote:

> J. J. Lodder <nospam@de-ster.demon.nl> wrote:
>
> > New posters appear, occasionally.
> > And I suspect that AUE has an unsually large number of lurkers,
> > also among learners of English,
> >
>
> Hello, I are learners of English lurkering unusually large.

You should much better learn it from a book,

Jan

Peter Moylan <peter@pmoylan.org.invalid> wrote:

> On 14/03/24 07:26, Sam Plusnet wrote:
> > On 13-Mar-24 10:52, J. J. Lodder wrote:
>
> >> New posters appear, occasionally.
> >> And I suspect that AUE has an unsually large number of lurkers,
> >> also among learners of English,
> >
> > We are all learners of English. Some are more attentive to their
> > studies than others.
>
> We are all individuals.

(echos of Brian)
Yes Master, please tell us how to be individuals,

Jan