1 EAGLETON NOTES: Oddments

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Friday 14 November 2014

Oddments

A friend on a recent trip to London was asked by a lady (with a North American accent) if she was from Britain.  On replying that she lived in Scotland the lady said displaying some surprise and admiration that my friend had 'good English'. Perhaps some people already think that Scotland is a foreign country as far as England (aka Britain)  is concerned.

Discussing something this morning with a lady, who shall be nameless but whom I admire for her dedication to reason and truth and who is an ardent feminist, she made the comment that "...women are still better multi taskers."  I asked whether there was scientific evidence for such a statement.  The response was "No evidence but I say so....want to make something of it???"  Of course my response was Noooooooo!!!  Thus demonstrating a severe lack of backbone when faced with a lady of intellect and conviction (whatever the potential flaws in her point of view).

There have also been some rather unusual posts in my Blogland this week.  Frances wondered "Whose bits are they, anyway?" and followed it up with a post starting
Her tits are on the mantelpiece,
Her gallstones in a jar.
(If that doesn't send you scurrying to her Blog then I don't know what will.)

She was suggesting that we aught to be given the option of having any parts removed from our body by surgery.  Given that most removals are because the offending piece is diseased in some way or another I can't really see why one would ever want such a piece regardless of any other arguments.  Certainly my diseased lung removed when I was 16 would have been a revolting acquisition as would my cancerous prostate.  Is Formaldehyde readily available to the public or does one really want such a thing in the deep freeze? I think the question might have been made with a lightness of touch.  I know one is often offered one's gallstones but then they aren't really body parts are they?  And just imagine the new set of rules and the number of people who would have to be employed and the number of waivers signed if one were allowed to leave the hospital with a leg in a bag. Not to mention the police time wasted trying to find out whose it was when it was put in the bin. Yuk.

25 comments:

  1. Watching my horse this morning, I realised that his multi tasking skills are so limited that he has to stop chewing in order to pee.

    Apropos my own blog, I really did want to keep that hip bone. I wanted the choice to be mine.

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    1. Frances I can see your point of view but I can see that there might be problems as well.

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    2. I have much in common with the horse.

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    3. Adrian, trying to picture that has made my day!

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  2. The North American accent lady was just poor in geography and history too :)) I guess in several countries, the schools focus just on the their own country and it is left to the kids to learn about other countries, which is a great flaw.
    GB, the clever lady is absolutely right!! All women are much better multi taskers. Some, exceptionally so. :))
    I wouldn't want removed body parts. But I guess if people want to keep it, then it should be fine as long as it is not contagious :))

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    1. And also, no need for scientific proof for multi tasking. Just observing should convince you he he:)

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    2. You are, of course, absolutely correct Ruby when it comes to our knowledge of the geography and history of other countries. I think my friend was just so affronted that people would be surprised that she should have good English coming from Britain. I think many Scots feel that many people do equate Britain with England. As for multi-tasking I would never dream of arguing with a lady on the subject!

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  3. LOL, thanks for heads up on Frances' blog - very amusing.

    As for the accents, I never know where an accent is from...sometimes I don't even recognise a Kiwi accent any more!

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    1. Serenata I have a very poor ear for accents but I can generally tell English from many of the other languages spoken in Britain.

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    2. Oh yes indeed! I quite agree with this - you only have to go into London now and rarely hear English spoken any more!

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  4. I think that any woman who upholds the myth of multi-tasking is being grossly sexist. This claim half suggests that women belong to some sort of superior race when in reality men and women are equal. Now if you will excuse me I shall put down my knitting and get the Christmas cake out of my oven while I finish the Times crossword and brush the dog.

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    1. My Mother was a latter day feminist YP but she always declared that men and women were not equal but that they were different with different roles in life and woe betide the man who did not hold a door open for her (or a youngster for an oldster of either sex). She was, however, an ardent pursuer of equal opportunities defining genders. As for brushing the dog when taking the Christmas cake out of the oven I do hope you had adequate hygiene precautions in place. One wouldn't want the dog to get burned.

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  5. These are the sorts of things that make me cringe! On behalf of all Americans (and maybe Canadians too, I don't know) everywhere, I apologise for the incredible and lamentable stupidity of the woman who didn't know that the Scots speak perfectly fine English, thank you very much. Not all of us who live in North America are so incredibly clueless, thank God! Love and hugs to you, DeeDee

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    1. DeeDee I have explained my thoughts in the response to Ruby's comment but I have to say that I am often ashamed when I visit North America not to be able to place many accents and I am aware of course that many people in North America (particularly Canada which is officially bi-lingual) speak languages other than English. I wouldn't expect anyone in the Britain for example to know when someone was speaking Welsh or Gaelic (never mind the myriad of Asian languages spoken here).

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    2. I know, GB, and I've never been upset with any visitor who has trouble deciphering American accents, particularly those of the Deep South, because even a lot of us who live here have to listen very carefully when they're speaking too, to understand what's being said. But Americans/Canadians abroad who are clueless are a particular peeve of mine. Which is why when we come to England, I try to keep my mouth closed as much as possible when Rob's family and I are out in public!! :) Love to you, DeeDee

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  6. I totally agree with you about surgically removed body parts... I certainly would not want to keep the parts of me that I lost that way. (The very idea reminds me of old Egyptian mummification procedures though... So I guess different cultures and religions may have had different views on the matter!) As for the multi-tasking it seems to be a widespread opinion but I suspect it may belong in the same category as women being better able to see dust. (I have no statistics, but I have always been amazed at how many of my married female friends claim their husbands can't be trusted with a vacuum cleaner; even though on the other hand almost every other piece of machinery in the house is supposed to be exclusively male territory.)

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    1. I wonder, Monica, whether either men have perfected a way of being bad at housework so that they don't get asked it do it or alternatively many women feel there has to be something mechanical that they can be better at than men. Just thoughts.

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  7. You really did get onto the odd stuff today! I did find an arm on the floor of my classroom after school had been dismissed. half an hour later a boy popped into my classroom and asked if I found his arm. The real joke is that i didn't know the kid had a prosthesis.

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    1. Heavens above Red. I'm not sure how I'd have reacted if I suddenly found a prosthetic arm when I didn't even know anyone had one.

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  8. This is a fascinating discussion. Do Scots speak English? Some can. Some Chinese can speak English. Weegies can't, the only English words they know are the expletives and they are masterful, inventive and liberal when applying them.

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    1. Adrian Liverpool had a large Chinese population when I was a child and I often wondered whether the children with their perfect scouse accents used to speak Chinese with a scouse accent too.

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  9. Mm definitely this is not a cause I will be fighting for! I agree entirely with you. Which of us has yearned for our tonsils?

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    1. It would be quite a talking point Jenny: tonsils in acrylic as a paperweight. Hmmmm.

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  10. Definitely food for thought.....Formaldehyde would become a household product and would be stored I imagine somewhere with the other medical items like alcohol and gauze.
    If I did have a body part that had to be surgically removed, I think I would want to keep it, especially if it had been a pain in the you know where....every time I passed it by I would mutter, "I won over you."
    I have to say that I stand along with the extremely clever lady in question regarding her point that women are the best multi taskers....(you know we are, so why ponder the point?) AND...we are also the best packers too.

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    1. I have to take issue at a personal level on the subject of ladies being the best packers Virginia. I may have few talents but packing is something at which I excel. I use lots of the pods that are popular in NZ amongst intrepid travellers and my case is an superb example of order and finding things in it is as easy peasy.

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