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I wish I spoke Dutch – politicalbetting.com

SystemSystem Posts: 12,762
edited 7:04AM in General
I wish I spoke Dutch – politicalbetting.com

D66 closed as 7/4 second favourites to win the most seats in today's Dutch General Election ??As recently as last week you could have backed them at 100/1 and 2 weeks ago at 200/1! #verkiezingen2025 https://t.co/zhyJhl1Fir

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  • OnlyLivingBoyOnlyLivingBoy Posts: 17,183
    First like D66
  • AnneJGPAnneJGP Posts: 4,240
    I thought there's a real live babelfish on the market now?

    Good morning, everyone.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 56,259
    edited 7:10AM
    Wot - centrist/progressive party makes huge gains at the expense nasty populists? Imagine if that becomes a thing....
  • IanB2IanB2 Posts: 53,167
    edited 7:18AM
    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a pubic hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 75,877
    MarqueeMark said:

    Wot - centrist/progressive party makes huge gains at the expense nasty populists? Imagine if that becomes a thing....

    Woudl be Carneyage.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 68,054
    MarqueeMark said:

    Wot - centrist/progressive party makes huge gains at the expense nasty populists? Imagine if that becomes a thing....

    Good morning

    And our conservative candidate beat reform in out local ward election last night
  • OmniumOmnium Posts: 12,127
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a public hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I consider myself a German speaker and it has crushed my soul that every time I start speaking German to a German, they start replying to me in English by saying ‘Ah, you are English.’
    Helps that you carry the umbrella perhaps? (If I'm allowed a Bridget joke)
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 56,259
    IanB2 said:

    .

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    Same dream. Same outcome.
  • BattlebusBattlebus Posts: 1,866
    edited 7:28AM
    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    Wot - centrist/progressive party makes huge gains at the expense nasty populists? Imagine if that becomes a thing....

    Good morning

    And our conservative candidate beat reform in out local ward election last night
    One way Reform bet becoming more of a worthwhile wager?

    And in other news, Russia is invoking a Blitz spirit with its own Dads Army

    Russian opposition outlet Astra reported on October 29 that authorities in Danilovsky Raion, Yaroslavl Oblast are advertising positions for “trained” Russian citizens to work in mobile fire teams that are protecting the Yaroslavl Oil Refinery from drone strikes.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 21,125
    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    Wot - centrist/progressive party makes huge gains at the expense nasty populists? Imagine if that becomes a thing....

    Good morning

    And our conservative candidate beat reform in out local ward election last night
    The Conservative Party are the nasty populists too.
  • eekeek Posts: 31,705
    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a pubic hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    See Redcar in 2010. The Lib Dems are the sensible none of the above choice if you are anyone but Reform and Labour are polling as they are currently doing...
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 56,747
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a public hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I consider myself a German speaker and it has crushed my soul that every time I start speaking German to a German, they start replying to me in English by saying ‘Ah, you are English.’
    I remember that happening when I was speaking to our French lawyers for an arbitration we were doing in Paris. Every time I would ask for the person I wanted to speak to in my best schoolboy French and every time the receptionist would reply in flawless English. It was indeed crushing.
  • Big_G_NorthWalesBig_G_NorthWales Posts: 68,054
    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    Wot - centrist/progressive party makes huge gains at the expense nasty populists? Imagine if that becomes a thing....

    Good morning

    And our conservative candidate beat reform in out local ward election last night
    Won 60% of votes gaining it from Reform

    From small acorns large oak trees grow
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 75,877
    edited 7:28AM
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a public hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I consider myself a German speaker and it has crushed my soul that every time I start speaking German to a German, they start replying to me in English by saying ‘Ah, you are English.’
    The problem with Germans is that many of them actually prefer to speak English rather than German, or some sort of weird Wenglish-style hybrid, even among themselves.

    For some reason, 'kann sie think outside the box' is one of their favourite management cliches, at any rate in education, and they always say it in a mix of German and English like that.

    Even though 'kann sie Aus den kisten denken' sounds a hell of a lot nicer.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 57,890
    No need to speak Dutch, the Dutch all speak English (and French, and German, and Spanish, and Italian…)
  • Luckyguy1983Luckyguy1983 Posts: 33,042
    bondegezou said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    Wot - centrist/progressive party makes huge gains at the expense nasty populists? Imagine if that becomes a thing....

    To an extent, what happened was that parties who were in the coalition government lost seats to ideologically similar parties who were not. So, the PVV (hard right populists) lost 11 seats, but 2 similar parties gained seats: Ja21 up 8, FvD up 4. The NSC were wiped out, losing 20, but the CDA were up 13. The NSC began as a CDA split.

    D66 did great (+17), but their gains were partly from the left (GL/PvdA -5, SP -2, Volt -1). So, maybe half the D66 gains were from the NSC collapse?

    The hard right vote was similar in size, but splintered, while the centrist-progressives made some gains from the centre-right and centre-left.
    My understanding is that D66 have shifted to the right, draped themselves in the flag, and made claims about getting asylum under control.
  • eekeek Posts: 31,705
    Sandpit said:

    No need to speak Dutch, the Dutch all speak English (and French, and German, and Spanish, and Italian…)

    Got to say the projects I've ran in Amsterdam were the easiest I've ever ran. Everyone spoke English and because they were Dutch, if they didn't like something you knew immediately..
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 21,125
    Luckyguy1983 said:

    bondegezou said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    Wot - centrist/progressive party makes huge gains at the expense nasty populists? Imagine if that becomes a thing....

    To an extent, what happened was that parties who were in the coalition government lost seats to ideologically similar parties who were not. So, the PVV (hard right populists) lost 11 seats, but 2 similar parties gained seats: Ja21 up 8, FvD up 4. The NSC were wiped out, losing 20, but the CDA were up 13. The NSC began as a CDA split.

    D66 did great (+17), but their gains were partly from the left (GL/PvdA -5, SP -2, Volt -1). So, maybe half the D66 gains were from the NSC collapse?

    The hard right vote was similar in size, but splintered, while the centrist-progressives made some gains from the centre-right and centre-left.
    My understanding is that D66 have shifted to the right, draped themselves in the flag, and made claims about getting asylum under control.
    Ah so they are in the Keir Starmer mould!
  • BlancheLivermoreBlancheLivermore Posts: 6,927
    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a pubic hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    What do you expect with a tongue from the Nether Regions?

  • AnneJGPAnneJGP Posts: 4,240
    DavidL said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a public hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I consider myself a German speaker and it has crushed my soul that every time I start speaking German to a German, they start replying to me in English by saying ‘Ah, you are English.’
    I remember that happening when I was speaking to our French lawyers for an arbitration we were doing in Paris. Every time I would ask for the person I wanted to speak to in my best schoolboy French and every time the receptionist would reply in flawless English. It was indeed crushing.
    It is a great deal better to be making the effort, rather than to begin by saying Do you speak English?
  • Peter_the_PunterPeter_the_Punter Posts: 14,871
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a public hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I consider myself a German speaker and it has crushed my soul that every time I start speaking German to a German, they start replying to me in English by saying ‘Ah, you are English.’
    When I worked in the German department of a major accountancy firm in London I had exactly the same experience. You had to be a fluent German speaker to work in that division and we all worked hard to keep our language skills up to snuff. It was fun, but pointless. All the clients spoke English as well as we did, and preferred to conduct business in our language. Even the receptionists and secretaries spoke to us in English.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 75,877
    MarqueeMark said:

    ydoethur said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a public hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I consider myself a German speaker and it has crushed my soul that every time I start speaking German to a German, they start replying to me in English by saying ‘Ah, you are English.’
    The problem with Germans is that many of them actually prefer to speak English rather than German, or some sort of weird Wenglish-style hybrid, even among themselves.

    For some reason, 'kann sie think outside the box' is one of their favourite management cliches, at any rate in education, and they always say it in a mix of German and English like that.

    Even though 'kann sie Aus den kisten denken' sounds a hell of a lot nicer.
    "they always say it in a mix of German and English"

    Do I detect a certain schadenfreude?
    For German it's more a sort of Götterdämmerung.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 56,259
    Gallowgate said:

    Luckyguy1983 said:

    bondegezou said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    Wot - centrist/progressive party makes huge gains at the expense nasty populists? Imagine if that becomes a thing....

    To an extent, what happened was that parties who were in the coalition government lost seats to ideologically similar parties who were not. So, the PVV (hard right populists) lost 11 seats, but 2 similar parties gained seats: Ja21 up 8, FvD up 4. The NSC were wiped out, losing 20, but the CDA were up 13. The NSC began as a CDA split.

    D66 did great (+17), but their gains were partly from the left (GL/PvdA -5, SP -2, Volt -1). So, maybe half the D66 gains were from the NSC collapse?

    The hard right vote was similar in size, but splintered, while the centrist-progressives made some gains from the centre-right and centre-left.
    My understanding is that D66 have shifted to the right, draped themselves in the flag, and made claims about getting asylum under control.
    Ah so they are in the Keir Starmer mould!
    But successful...
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 57,890
    edited 7:44AM
    AnneJGP said:

    DavidL said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a public hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I consider myself a German speaker and it has crushed my soul that every time I start speaking German to a German, they start replying to me in English by saying ‘Ah, you are English.’
    I remember that happening when I was speaking to our French lawyers for an arbitration we were doing in Paris. Every time I would ask for the person I wanted to speak to in my best schoolboy French and every time the receptionist would reply in flawless English. It was indeed crushing.
    It is a great deal better to be making the effort, rather than to begin by saying Do you speak English?
    Yes it’s always polite to learn a few phrases of pleasantaries in the native language of any country you visit.

    Nonetheless, pretty much all business in Europe among international companies is now done in English.
  • FF43FF43 Posts: 18,339
    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a pubic hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    You could always go to Flanders where a lot of people don't speak good English, and of course don't speak French either.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 56,259
    Sandpit said:

    AnneJGP said:

    DavidL said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a public hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I consider myself a German speaker and it has crushed my soul that every time I start speaking German to a German, they start replying to me in English by saying ‘Ah, you are English.’
    I remember that happening when I was speaking to our French lawyers for an arbitration we were doing in Paris. Every time I would ask for the person I wanted to speak to in my best schoolboy French and every time the receptionist would reply in flawless English. It was indeed crushing.
    It is a great deal better to be making the effort, rather than to begin by saying Do you speak English?
    Yes it’s always polite to learn a few phrases of pleasantaries in the native language of any country you visit.
    Had a friend who learnt "Don't shoot! I surrender!" in some thirty-odd languages.

    Hard to imagine him needing it in Dutch - but why take the risk?
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 57,890
    edited 7:48AM
    MarqueeMark said:

    Sandpit said:

    AnneJGP said:

    DavidL said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a public hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I consider myself a German speaker and it has crushed my soul that every time I start speaking German to a German, they start replying to me in English by saying ‘Ah, you are English.’
    I remember that happening when I was speaking to our French lawyers for an arbitration we were doing in Paris. Every time I would ask for the person I wanted to speak to in my best schoolboy French and every time the receptionist would reply in flawless English. It was indeed crushing.
    It is a great deal better to be making the effort, rather than to begin by saying Do you speak English?
    Yes it’s always polite to learn a few phrases of pleasantaries in the native language of any country you visit.
    Had a friend who learnt "Don't shoot! I surrender!" in some thirty-odd languages.

    Hard to imagine him needing it in Dutch - but why take the risk?
    I used to know “Can I have two beers please?” In about 20 languages!

    I suspect that knowing “Don’t shoot” in about six languages is probably enough, unless you’re trekking through some very remote places in Africa and Asia.
  • Peter_the_PunterPeter_the_Punter Posts: 14,871
    DavidL said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a public hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I consider myself a German speaker and it has crushed my soul that every time I start speaking German to a German, they start replying to me in English by saying ‘Ah, you are English.’
    I remember that happening when I was speaking to our French lawyers for an arbitration we were doing in Paris. Every time I would ask for the person I wanted to speak to in my best schoolboy French and every time the receptionist would reply in flawless English. It was indeed crushing.
    Exactly. When calling our German clients or sister firm in Frankfurt I always prepared carefully what I was going to say if only because I knew I would have to speak to the receptionist or secretary, but I invariably got a reply along the lines of 'ah yes, Mr Smith, he's been expecting your call but he's a little tied up at the moment. How's the weather there in London...?'

    You gave up after a time.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 53,802
    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a pubic hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I think that may br the case if one only wants simple communication, but I think it is impossible to fully understand a culture without understanding the language spoken.

    One of my favourite Dutch words is "Lekker", though I learnt it in South Africa.

    How and when to describe something as Lekker is covered here, alongside some other Dutch words that give insight into the culture:

    https://www.cursor.tue.nl/en/news/2023/september/week-1/new-in-the-netherlands-dutch-words#:~:text=Lekker,or a 'lekkere bonus'.

    Similarly the German love of complex yet specific compound nouns or the English love of euphemism says a fair bit about the respective cultures.
  • GallowgateGallowgate Posts: 21,125
    MarqueeMark said:

    Gallowgate said:

    Luckyguy1983 said:

    bondegezou said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    Wot - centrist/progressive party makes huge gains at the expense nasty populists? Imagine if that becomes a thing....

    To an extent, what happened was that parties who were in the coalition government lost seats to ideologically similar parties who were not. So, the PVV (hard right populists) lost 11 seats, but 2 similar parties gained seats: Ja21 up 8, FvD up 4. The NSC were wiped out, losing 20, but the CDA were up 13. The NSC began as a CDA split.

    D66 did great (+17), but their gains were partly from the left (GL/PvdA -5, SP -2, Volt -1). So, maybe half the D66 gains were from the NSC collapse?

    The hard right vote was similar in size, but splintered, while the centrist-progressives made some gains from the centre-right and centre-left.
    My understanding is that D66 have shifted to the right, draped themselves in the flag, and made claims about getting asylum under control.
    Ah so they are in the Keir Starmer mould!
    But successful...
    What do you mean, Starmer won a huge majority.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 20,439
    bondegezou said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    Wot - centrist/progressive party makes huge gains at the expense nasty populists? Imagine if that becomes a thing....

    To an extent, what happened was that parties who were in the coalition government lost seats to ideologically similar parties who were not. So, the PVV (hard right populists) lost 11 seats, but 2 similar parties gained seats: Ja21 up 8, FvD up 4. The NSC were wiped out, losing 20, but the CDA were up 13. The NSC began as a CDA split.

    D66 did great (+17), but their gains were partly from the left (GL/PvdA -5, SP -2, Volt -1). So, maybe half the D66 gains were from the NSC collapse?

    The hard right vote was similar in size, but splintered, while the centrist-progressives made some gains from the centre-right and centre-left.
    Is any government anywhere popular right now? There must be some, surely?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 75,877
    FF43 said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a pubic hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    You could always go to Flanders where a lot of people don't speak good English, and of course don't speak French either.
    Or indeed Yorkshire.

    *Looks round to see incoming order to report to ConHome*
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 57,890
    Stuartinromford said:

    bondegezou said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    Wot - centrist/progressive party makes huge gains at the expense nasty populists? Imagine if that becomes a thing....

    To an extent, what happened was that parties who were in the coalition government lost seats to ideologically similar parties who were not. So, the PVV (hard right populists) lost 11 seats, but 2 similar parties gained seats: Ja21 up 8, FvD up 4. The NSC were wiped out, losing 20, but the CDA were up 13. The NSC began as a CDA split.

    D66 did great (+17), but their gains were partly from the left (GL/PvdA -5, SP -2, Volt -1). So, maybe half the D66 gains were from the NSC collapse?

    The hard right vote was similar in size, but splintered, while the centrist-progressives made some gains from the centre-right and centre-left.
    Is any government anywhere popular right now? There must be some, surely?
    Argentina.
  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 63,058
    Foxy said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a pubic hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I think that may br the case if one only wants simple communication, but I think it is impossible to fully understand a culture without understanding the language spoken.

    One of my favourite Dutch words is "Lekker", though I learnt it in South Africa.

    How and when to describe something as Lekker is covered here, alongside some other Dutch words that give insight into the culture:

    https://www.cursor.tue.nl/en/news/2023/september/week-1/new-in-the-netherlands-dutch-words#:~:text=Lekker,or a 'lekkere bonus'.

    Similarly the German love of complex yet specific compound nouns or the English love of euphemism says a fair bit about the respective cultures.
    Good morning, everyone.

    'Lekking' (others tend to write it as 'laking') is Yorkshire slang from Viking times which means 'playing'.
  • Peter_the_PunterPeter_the_Punter Posts: 14,871
    BlancheLivermore said:

    FF43 said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a pubic hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    You could always go to Flanders where a lot of people don't speak good English, and of course don't speak French either.
    They sound phlegmish
    I doubt it still applies, but when I went on a business trip to Halle shorty after the reunification of Germany my German was very helpful. Russian, not English, was the second language there. The locals really resented the fact too. They'd been forced to learn a language that was virtually useless to them, and were desperate to learn English instead.
  • AnneJGPAnneJGP Posts: 4,240
    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    Wot - centrist/progressive party makes huge gains at the expense nasty populists? Imagine if that becomes a thing....

    Good morning

    And our conservative candidate beat reform in out local ward election last night
    Won 60% of votes gaining it from Reform

    From small acorns large oak trees grow
    I suppose it's conceivable that the doubts about Reform's potential for serious harm might persuade right of centre voters to hold their noses & vote Conservative in this country. Not so much a resurgence of popularity as a least bad option. Or vain hope that they might tackle the problems that right of centre people perceive as serious.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 39,857
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a public hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I consider myself a German speaker and it has crushed my soul that every time I start speaking German to a German, they start replying to me in English by saying ‘Ah, you are English.’
    My father had the same experience.

    He started speaking to a German lawyer in passable German, only for the man to respond, “Mr. Fear, let us continue this discussion in English.”
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 45,706
    Sandpit said:

    AnneJGP said:

    DavidL said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a public hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I consider myself a German speaker and it has crushed my soul that every time I start speaking German to a German, they start replying to me in English by saying ‘Ah, you are English.’
    I remember that happening when I was speaking to our French lawyers for an arbitration we were doing in Paris. Every time I would ask for the person I wanted to speak to in my best schoolboy French and every time the receptionist would reply in flawless English. It was indeed crushing.
    It is a great deal better to be making the effort, rather than to begin by saying Do you speak English?
    Yes it’s always polite to learn a few phrases of pleasantaries in the native language of any country you visit.
    Indeed.
    Further to the discussion over Glasgow v Edinburgh, Parliamo Glasgow for the former, Trainspotting for Edinburgh (the book rather than the film, Ewan McGregor is a decent actor but his Edinburgh underclass accent isn’t much cop). If you’re sticking to the leafy pleasant zones, a strangled Hyacinth Bucket accent with a Scottish burr will do.
  • AnneJGPAnneJGP Posts: 4,240
    Sandpit said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    Sandpit said:

    AnneJGP said:

    DavidL said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a public hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I consider myself a German speaker and it has crushed my soul that every time I start speaking German to a German, they start replying to me in English by saying ‘Ah, you are English.’
    I remember that happening when I was speaking to our French lawyers for an arbitration we were doing in Paris. Every time I would ask for the person I wanted to speak to in my best schoolboy French and every time the receptionist would reply in flawless English. It was indeed crushing.
    It is a great deal better to be making the effort, rather than to begin by saying Do you speak English?
    Yes it’s always polite to learn a few phrases of pleasantaries in the native language of any country you visit.
    Had a friend who learnt "Don't shoot! I surrender!" in some thirty-odd languages.

    Hard to imagine him needing it in Dutch - but why take the risk?
    I used to know “Can I have two beers please?” In about 20 languages!

    I suspect that knowing “Don’t shoot” in about six languages is probably enough, unless you’re trekking through some very remote places in Africa and Asia.
    As long as you know which version to cry out if the event presents itself. Otherwise you'd be dead before you reached the right one in the list.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 53,802
    Sandpit said:

    Stuartinromford said:

    bondegezou said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    Wot - centrist/progressive party makes huge gains at the expense nasty populists? Imagine if that becomes a thing....

    To an extent, what happened was that parties who were in the coalition government lost seats to ideologically similar parties who were not. So, the PVV (hard right populists) lost 11 seats, but 2 similar parties gained seats: Ja21 up 8, FvD up 4. The NSC were wiped out, losing 20, but the CDA were up 13. The NSC began as a CDA split.

    D66 did great (+17), but their gains were partly from the left (GL/PvdA -5, SP -2, Volt -1). So, maybe half the D66 gains were from the NSC collapse?

    The hard right vote was similar in size, but splintered, while the centrist-progressives made some gains from the centre-right and centre-left.
    Is any government anywhere popular right now? There must be some, surely?
    Argentina.
    I am not sure that is true.

    LLA got 41% of the vote. Many seats were gained because LLA barely existed 4 years ago when the seats were last contested, but do not have a majority.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 57,890
    Police in Zurich confiscated an electric stand-on scooter that was capable of 110km/h. 😮

    https://x.com/runews/status/1984092155799880117

    Sounds like a pretty good way to put yourself in the hospital at best, if not in the morgue.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 75,877
    AnneJGP said:

    Sandpit said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    Sandpit said:

    AnneJGP said:

    DavidL said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a public hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I consider myself a German speaker and it has crushed my soul that every time I start speaking German to a German, they start replying to me in English by saying ‘Ah, you are English.’
    I remember that happening when I was speaking to our French lawyers for an arbitration we were doing in Paris. Every time I would ask for the person I wanted to speak to in my best schoolboy French and every time the receptionist would reply in flawless English. It was indeed crushing.
    It is a great deal better to be making the effort, rather than to begin by saying Do you speak English?
    Yes it’s always polite to learn a few phrases of pleasantaries in the native language of any country you visit.
    Had a friend who learnt "Don't shoot! I surrender!" in some thirty-odd languages.

    Hard to imagine him needing it in Dutch - but why take the risk?
    I used to know “Can I have two beers please?” In about 20 languages!

    I suspect that knowing “Don’t shoot” in about six languages is probably enough, unless you’re trekking through some very remote places in Africa and Asia.
    As long as you know which version to cry out if the event presents itself. Otherwise you'd be dead before you reached the right one in the list.
    I dunno. Asking a man with a gun 'can I have two beers please?' might nonplus him for long enough to remember the words for 'don't shoot.'
  • TheuniondivvieTheuniondivvie Posts: 45,706
    Stuartinromford said:

    bondegezou said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    Wot - centrist/progressive party makes huge gains at the expense nasty populists? Imagine if that becomes a thing....

    To an extent, what happened was that parties who were in the coalition government lost seats to ideologically similar parties who were not. So, the PVV (hard right populists) lost 11 seats, but 2 similar parties gained seats: Ja21 up 8, FvD up 4. The NSC were wiped out, losing 20, but the CDA were up 13. The NSC began as a CDA split.

    D66 did great (+17), but their gains were partly from the left (GL/PvdA -5, SP -2, Volt -1). So, maybe half the D66 gains were from the NSC collapse?

    The hard right vote was similar in size, but splintered, while the centrist-progressives made some gains from the centre-right and centre-left.
    Is any government anywhere popular right now? There must be some, surely?
    Popular isn’t quite accurate, but a party polling in the 30s after 18 years of incumbency is beyond the wildest psephological dreams of most parties on these islands.
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 124,561
    DavidL said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a public hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I consider myself a German speaker and it has crushed my soul that every time I start speaking German to a German, they start replying to me in English by saying ‘Ah, you are English.’
    I remember that happening when I was speaking to our French lawyers for an arbitration we were doing in Paris. Every time I would ask for the person I wanted to speak to in my best schoolboy French and every time the receptionist would reply in flawless English. It was indeed crushing.
    I used to be an excellent French speaker, these days I sound like Officer Crabtree from 'Allo 'Allo.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 75,877
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    DavidL said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a public hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I consider myself a German speaker and it has crushed my soul that every time I start speaking German to a German, they start replying to me in English by saying ‘Ah, you are English.’
    I remember that happening when I was speaking to our French lawyers for an arbitration we were doing in Paris. Every time I would ask for the person I wanted to speak to in my best schoolboy French and every time the receptionist would reply in flawless English. It was indeed crushing.
    I used to be an excellent French speaker, these days I sound like Officer Crabtree from 'Allo 'Allo.
    Were you just pissing outside the door?

    (I've no idea how they got away with that line!)
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 124,561
    ydoethur said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    DavidL said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a public hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I consider myself a German speaker and it has crushed my soul that every time I start speaking German to a German, they start replying to me in English by saying ‘Ah, you are English.’
    I remember that happening when I was speaking to our French lawyers for an arbitration we were doing in Paris. Every time I would ask for the person I wanted to speak to in my best schoolboy French and every time the receptionist would reply in flawless English. It was indeed crushing.
    I used to be an excellent French speaker, these days I sound like Officer Crabtree from 'Allo 'Allo.
    Were you just pissing outside the door?

    (I've no idea how they got away with that line!)
    The next line was even worse.

    'When I heard two shats.'
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 75,877
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    ydoethur said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    DavidL said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a public hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I consider myself a German speaker and it has crushed my soul that every time I start speaking German to a German, they start replying to me in English by saying ‘Ah, you are English.’
    I remember that happening when I was speaking to our French lawyers for an arbitration we were doing in Paris. Every time I would ask for the person I wanted to speak to in my best schoolboy French and every time the receptionist would reply in flawless English. It was indeed crushing.
    I used to be an excellent French speaker, these days I sound like Officer Crabtree from 'Allo 'Allo.
    Were you just pissing outside the door?

    (I've no idea how they got away with that line!)
    The next line was even worse.

    'When I heard two shats.'
    Finished up with, 'you are clearly the guilty potty.'
  • JohnLilburneJohnLilburne Posts: 7,435
    AnneJGP said:

    DavidL said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a public hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I consider myself a German speaker and it has crushed my soul that every time I start speaking German to a German, they start replying to me in English by saying ‘Ah, you are English.’
    I remember that happening when I was speaking to our French lawyers for an arbitration we were doing in Paris. Every time I would ask for the person I wanted to speak to in my best schoolboy French and every time the receptionist would reply in flawless English. It was indeed crushing.
    It is a great deal better to be making the effort, rather than to begin by saying Do you speak English?
    I used to learn a few words of my target language. I think a few things have changed. One is, as I grow older, I find it harder. I also like to do multi-country tours (although for my recent one I could have made do with a few words of some form of Serbo-Croat) and in any case English is more and more becoming the world's lingua franca.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 46,219
    ydoethur said:

    AnneJGP said:

    Sandpit said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    Sandpit said:

    AnneJGP said:

    DavidL said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a public hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I consider myself a German speaker and it has crushed my soul that every time I start speaking German to a German, they start replying to me in English by saying ‘Ah, you are English.’
    I remember that happening when I was speaking to our French lawyers for an arbitration we were doing in Paris. Every time I would ask for the person I wanted to speak to in my best schoolboy French and every time the receptionist would reply in flawless English. It was indeed crushing.
    It is a great deal better to be making the effort, rather than to begin by saying Do you speak English?
    Yes it’s always polite to learn a few phrases of pleasantaries in the native language of any country you visit.
    Had a friend who learnt "Don't shoot! I surrender!" in some thirty-odd languages.

    Hard to imagine him needing it in Dutch - but why take the risk?
    I used to know “Can I have two beers please?” In about 20 languages!

    I suspect that knowing “Don’t shoot” in about six languages is probably enough, unless you’re trekking through some very remote places in Africa and Asia.
    As long as you know which version to cry out if the event presents itself. Otherwise you'd be dead before you reached the right one in the list.
    I dunno. Asking a man with a gun 'can I have two beers please?' might nonplus him for long enough to remember the words for 'don't shoot.'
    One recalls the incident at Oflag IV-C Colditz when the prisoners got a bit too rowdy one night and the guards in the courtyard started shooting at the windows.

    One prisoner bravely came forward to shout 'Don't shoot' in German, but unfortunately his German was still a bit shaky and instead of

    Schießen sie nicht!

    he came out with

    Scheißen sie nicht!

    Which only upset the guards even more.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 20,439
    ydoethur said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    DavidL said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a public hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I consider myself a German speaker and it has crushed my soul that every time I start speaking German to a German, they start replying to me in English by saying ‘Ah, you are English.’
    I remember that happening when I was speaking to our French lawyers for an arbitration we were doing in Paris. Every time I would ask for the person I wanted to speak to in my best schoolboy French and every time the receptionist would reply in flawless English. It was indeed crushing.
    I used to be an excellent French speaker, these days I sound like Officer Crabtree from 'Allo 'Allo.
    Were you just pissing outside the door?

    (I've no idea how they got away with that line!)
    If you are superficially nice enough, and if you are old enough, the Beeb lets you get away with all sorts of filth without that much subtlety. See Humphrey Lyttleton's material on I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, and that was Radio 4 Sunday lunchtime.

    (Back in the 60s, the I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again team used to put a blatant rudery close to the subtle, but naughtier, innuendo they actually wanted. The first would definitely get the blue pencil, which helped the second to slip in. So to speak.)
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 46,219
    Theuniondivvie said:

    Sandpit said:

    AnneJGP said:

    DavidL said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a public hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I consider myself a German speaker and it has crushed my soul that every time I start speaking German to a German, they start replying to me in English by saying ‘Ah, you are English.’
    I remember that happening when I was speaking to our French lawyers for an arbitration we were doing in Paris. Every time I would ask for the person I wanted to speak to in my best schoolboy French and every time the receptionist would reply in flawless English. It was indeed crushing.
    It is a great deal better to be making the effort, rather than to begin by saying Do you speak English?
    Yes it’s always polite to learn a few phrases of pleasantaries in the native language of any country you visit.
    Indeed.
    Further to the discussion over Glasgow v Edinburgh, Parliamo Glasgow for the former, Trainspotting for Edinburgh (the book rather than the film, Ewan McGregor is a decent actor but his Edinburgh underclass accent isn’t much cop). If you’re sticking to the leafy pleasant zones, a strangled Hyacinth Bucket accent with a Scottish burr will do.
    Weegian interpreters are a thing, apparently.

    https://www.todaytranslations.com/news/we-can-translate-glaswegian-nae-borra/
  • another_richardanother_richard Posts: 28,440
    The UK had a £26bn tourism deficit in the first half of the year:

    Overseas residents made an estimated 7.2 million visits to Great Britain and spent an estimated £4.7 billion in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2025.

    Overseas residents made an estimated 9.3 million visits to Great Britain and spent an estimated £7.9 billion in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2025.

    Residents of Great Britain made an estimated 18.7 million visits outside of the UK and spent an estimated £16.5 billion in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2025.

    Residents of Great Britain made an estimated 26.0 million visits outside of the UK and spent an estimated £22.1 billion in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2025.

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/leisureandtourism/bulletins/overseastravelandtourismprovisional/januarytomarchandapriltojune2025

    Which is approximately how much money the government borrowed from foreign sources.
  • TresTres Posts: 3,166
    I lived in the Netherlands for a couple of years, learnt a smattering of Dutch but never quite managed to be able to pronounce my own address.
  • spudgfshspudgfsh Posts: 1,591
    Tres said:

    I lived in the Netherlands for a couple of years, learnt a smattering of Dutch but never quite managed to be able to pronounce my own address.

    When I lived in Wales it took me most of the time I was there to pronounce the town I lived in. When giving my address to anyone on the phone I ended up spelling it.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 57,890
    Martin Lewis writing to OFCOM about O2 and their mid-year price rises.

    https://x.com/martinslewis/status/1983895130676306212
  • eekeek Posts: 31,705
    edited 8:19AM
    Sandpit said:

    Police in Zurich confiscated an electric stand-on scooter that was capable of 110km/h. 😮

    https://x.com/runews/status/1984092155799880117

    Sounds like a pretty good way to put yourself in the hospital at best, if not in the morgue.

    The way that back wheel slipped to the right as it accelerated doesn't exactly fill me with confidence.

    As I've said before if they were legal I would be tempted by one that did say 10-12mph max but no more..
  • CD13CD13 Posts: 6,394
    Many years ago, I went to a weeks' meeting in the depths of Denmark at short notice. I'd forgotten my shaving tackle and the only shop nearby was a tiny place with a teenage girl minding it. You can guess what happened.

    After several minutes of mimimg shaving and gesticulating in general, she replied in perfect english. "If you want a razor, they're just behind you."

    Even worse, during one of the lectures, a Finnish medic checked that I was English and then asked a question about the phrasing of the Norwegian lecturer's English. Far too complicated for me. On me questioning her perfect English, she admitted she spoke fifteen languages - but only eight fluently.

    It seems Medicine wasn't enought for her.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 75,877
    Sandpit said:

    Martin Lewis writing to OFCOM about O2 and their mid-year price rises.

    https://x.com/martinslewis/status/1983895130676306212

    Bless.

    As if a regulator will do anything.
  • StuartinromfordStuartinromford Posts: 20,439
    another_richard said:

    The UK had a £26bn tourism deficit in the first half of the year:

    Overseas residents made an estimated 7.2 million visits to Great Britain and spent an estimated £4.7 billion in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2025.

    Overseas residents made an estimated 9.3 million visits to Great Britain and spent an estimated £7.9 billion in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2025.

    Residents of Great Britain made an estimated 18.7 million visits outside of the UK and spent an estimated £16.5 billion in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2025.

    Residents of Great Britain made an estimated 26.0 million visits outside of the UK and spent an estimated £22.1 billion in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2025.

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/leisureandtourism/bulletins/overseastravelandtourismprovisional/januarytomarchandapriltojune2025

    Which is approximately how much money the government borrowed from foreign sources.

    It's not the behaviour of a country that is totally on its uppers, is it? (It is, though, the act of a country where some people have more money than they know what to do with and others don't.)

    Also- Travel writers are traitors, and patriotic publications should give them the boot for the duration.
  • Sean_FSean_F Posts: 39,857
    Stuartinromford said:

    ydoethur said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    DavidL said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a public hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I consider myself a German speaker and it has crushed my soul that every time I start speaking German to a German, they start replying to me in English by saying ‘Ah, you are English.’
    I remember that happening when I was speaking to our French lawyers for an arbitration we were doing in Paris. Every time I would ask for the person I wanted to speak to in my best schoolboy French and every time the receptionist would reply in flawless English. It was indeed crushing.
    I used to be an excellent French speaker, these days I sound like Officer Crabtree from 'Allo 'Allo.
    Were you just pissing outside the door?

    (I've no idea how they got away with that line!)
    If you are superficially nice enough, and if you are old enough, the Beeb lets you get away with all sorts of filth without that much subtlety. See Humphrey Lyttleton's material on I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, and that was Radio 4 Sunday lunchtime.

    (Back in the 60s, the I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again team used to put a blatant rudery close to the subtle, but naughtier, innuendo they actually wanted. The first would definitely get the blue pencil, which helped the second to slip in. So to speak.)
    Round the Horne was pure filth.
  • MaxPBMaxPB Posts: 40,938
    Just an FYI to all of the married men out there, looking at Syndey Sweeney's Instagram posts today may get you in trouble with your wife. Definitely don't go and find her latest posts as soon as you read this and definitely don't do it in front of your wife.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 57,890
    another_richard said:

    The UK had a £26bn tourism deficit in the first half of the year:

    Overseas residents made an estimated 7.2 million visits to Great Britain and spent an estimated £4.7 billion in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2025.

    Overseas residents made an estimated 9.3 million visits to Great Britain and spent an estimated £7.9 billion in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2025.

    Residents of Great Britain made an estimated 18.7 million visits outside of the UK and spent an estimated £16.5 billion in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2025.

    Residents of Great Britain made an estimated 26.0 million visits outside of the UK and spent an estimated £22.1 billion in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2025.

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/leisureandtourism/bulletins/overseastravelandtourismprovisional/januarytomarchandapriltojune2025

    Which is approximately how much money the government borrowed from foreign sources.

    One remembers back to the pandemic, when government was seemingly obsessed with enabling outbound tourism, while simultaneously restricting inbound tourism from most of the world.

    It makes no sense at all, but when a week at Butlins now costs more than a week in Majorca…
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 33,558
    When my German colleague and I covered a French customer for my global megacorp, we conducted calls in English. When a City friend visited his Italian clients, he was shocked to discover that only English was spoken in their dealing room – this rule was maintained even among themselves to avoid expensive mistranslations.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 68,637
    ydoethur said:

    Sandpit said:

    Martin Lewis writing to OFCOM about O2 and their mid-year price rises.

    https://x.com/martinslewis/status/1983895130676306212

    Bless.

    As if a regulator will do anything.
    I was wondering why I had an email from O2 with some waffle about a price rise.

  • Morris_DancerMorris_Dancer Posts: 63,058
    MaxPB said:

    Just an FYI to all of the married men out there, looking at Syndey Sweeney's Instagram posts today may get you in trouble with your wife. Definitely don't go and find her latest posts as soon as you read this and definitely don't do it in front of your wife.

    I'm sure all PBers appreciate your selfless research in this area.
  • noneoftheabovenoneoftheabove Posts: 25,596
    Tres said:

    I lived in the Netherlands for a couple of years, learnt a smattering of Dutch but never quite managed to be able to pronounce my own address.

    I moved there with my twin and we both tried to learn the language but whenever we spoke it just sounded like double dutch.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 33,558
    A more interesting question, however, is what signs of the Dutch D66 resurgence (or just surgence) did we miss? If we could magically jump back to last week and study the polls and reports as they were then, would we have taken the 100/1 against D66 winning?
  • CD13CD13 Posts: 6,394
    At sixteen, on my first visit to France and proudly sporting an 'O' level in French, I was asked, in French, by an old lady to help her across the road. "Oui," I said proudly in my best French accent.

    "Ah," she replied. "You are from "d'autre cote." Or, at least that's what I think she said.
  • AnneJGPAnneJGP Posts: 4,240
    another_richard said:

    The UK had a £26bn tourism deficit in the first half of the year:

    Overseas residents made an estimated 7.2 million visits to Great Britain and spent an estimated £4.7 billion in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2025.

    Overseas residents made an estimated 9.3 million visits to Great Britain and spent an estimated £7.9 billion in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2025.

    Residents of Great Britain made an estimated 18.7 million visits outside of the UK and spent an estimated £16.5 billion in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2025.

    Residents of Great Britain made an estimated 26.0 million visits outside of the UK and spent an estimated £22.1 billion in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2025.

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/leisureandtourism/bulletins/overseastravelandtourismprovisional/januarytomarchandapriltojune2025

    Which is approximately how much money the government borrowed from foreign sources.

    Clearly they need a tax on going abroad.
  • rottenboroughrottenborough Posts: 68,637
    Timms review of PIP will generate no savings.

    Clear blue water here with Tories who say they will stop low level anxiety claimants.

    Labour abandons disability benefit cuts
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/10/31/labour-abandons-disability-benefit-cuts

    Has this line:

    "The Timms Review will be co-chaired by Clenton Farquharson"

    Superb. Name of the day?
  • TheScreamingEaglesTheScreamingEagles Posts: 124,561
    Morris_Dancer said:

    MaxPB said:

    Just an FYI to all of the married men out there, looking at Syndey Sweeney's Instagram posts today may get you in trouble with your wife. Definitely don't go and find her latest posts as soon as you read this and definitely don't do it in front of your wife.

    I'm sure all PBers appreciate your selfless research in this area.
    I'm not a fan of Sydney Sweeney.

    She starred in Madame Web which was a bigger disaster than the Truss premiership.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 57,890
    MaxPB said:

    Just an FYI to all of the married men out there, looking at Syndey Sweeney's Instagram posts today may get you in trouble with your wife. Definitely don't go and find her latest posts as soon as you read this and definitely don't do it in front of your wife.

    Is it true that the Telegraph changed their headline about Sweeney and James Bond a couple of days ago?

    Supposed original headline “Sydney Sweeney is the only woman who could pull off Bond”

    New headline “Sydney Sweeney is the only woman who could play Bond”

    The URL suggests that this was the case.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10/28/sydney-sweeney-only-woman-who-could-pull-off-bond/
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 16,690
    Stuartinromford said:

    bondegezou said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    Wot - centrist/progressive party makes huge gains at the expense nasty populists? Imagine if that becomes a thing....

    To an extent, what happened was that parties who were in the coalition government lost seats to ideologically similar parties who were not. So, the PVV (hard right populists) lost 11 seats, but 2 similar parties gained seats: Ja21 up 8, FvD up 4. The NSC were wiped out, losing 20, but the CDA were up 13. The NSC began as a CDA split.

    D66 did great (+17), but their gains were partly from the left (GL/PvdA -5, SP -2, Volt -1). So, maybe half the D66 gains were from the NSC collapse?

    The hard right vote was similar in size, but splintered, while the centrist-progressives made some gains from the centre-right and centre-left.
    Is any government anywhere popular right now? There must be some, surely?
    Sheinbaum in Mexico?
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 57,890
    DecrepiterJohnL said:

    When my German colleague and I covered a French customer for my global megacorp, we conducted calls in English. When a City friend visited his Italian clients, he was shocked to discover that only English was spoken in their dealing room – this rule was maintained even among themselves to avoid expensive mistranslations.

    The Ferrari F1 team also has English as its engineering language.
  • boulayboulay Posts: 7,735
    DecrepiterJohnL said:

    When my German colleague and I covered a French customer for my global megacorp, we conducted calls in English. When a City friend visited his Italian clients, he was shocked to discover that only English was spoken in their dealing room – this rule was maintained even among themselves to avoid expensive mistranslations.

    When I lived in Geneva everything was done in English at work apart from social situations (office drinks, gossiping in the kitchens whilst making coffee etc). It was actually a bit frustrating as I’m close to fluent in French and was hoping to just tip over to absolutely fluency but from work to ordering in bars or restaurants everyone wanted to speak English to you to improve their English.
  • Peter_the_PunterPeter_the_Punter Posts: 14,871
    Sean_F said:

    Stuartinromford said:

    ydoethur said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    DavidL said:

    TheScreamingEagles said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a public hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I consider myself a German speaker and it has crushed my soul that every time I start speaking German to a German, they start replying to me in English by saying ‘Ah, you are English.’
    I remember that happening when I was speaking to our French lawyers for an arbitration we were doing in Paris. Every time I would ask for the person I wanted to speak to in my best schoolboy French and every time the receptionist would reply in flawless English. It was indeed crushing.
    I used to be an excellent French speaker, these days I sound like Officer Crabtree from 'Allo 'Allo.
    Were you just pissing outside the door?

    (I've no idea how they got away with that line!)
    If you are superficially nice enough, and if you are old enough, the Beeb lets you get away with all sorts of filth without that much subtlety. See Humphrey Lyttleton's material on I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue, and that was Radio 4 Sunday lunchtime.

    (Back in the 60s, the I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again team used to put a blatant rudery close to the subtle, but naughtier, innuendo they actually wanted. The first would definitely get the blue pencil, which helped the second to slip in. So to speak.)
    Round the Horne was pure filth.
    Apparently Polari didn't mean a thing to the managers at the Beeb so all sorts of filth passed under their oblivious noses.
  • SandpitSandpit Posts: 57,890
    boulay said:

    DecrepiterJohnL said:

    When my German colleague and I covered a French customer for my global megacorp, we conducted calls in English. When a City friend visited his Italian clients, he was shocked to discover that only English was spoken in their dealing room – this rule was maintained even among themselves to avoid expensive mistranslations.

    When I lived in Geneva everything was done in English at work apart from social situations (office drinks, gossiping in the kitchens whilst making coffee etc). It was actually a bit frustrating as I’m close to fluent in French and was hoping to just tip over to absolutely fluency but from work to ordering in bars or restaurants everyone wanted to speak English to you to improve their English.
    I had the same experience working in Spain. I was desparate to get my Spanish properly fluent, but everyone else in the customer office just saw a native English speaker on whom they could practice!
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 56,259
    another_richard said:

    The UK had a £26bn tourism deficit in the first half of the year:

    Overseas residents made an estimated 7.2 million visits to Great Britain and spent an estimated £4.7 billion in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2025.

    Overseas residents made an estimated 9.3 million visits to Great Britain and spent an estimated £7.9 billion in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2025.

    Residents of Great Britain made an estimated 18.7 million visits outside of the UK and spent an estimated £16.5 billion in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2025.

    Residents of Great Britain made an estimated 26.0 million visits outside of the UK and spent an estimated £22.1 billion in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2025.

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/leisureandtourism/bulletins/overseastravelandtourismprovisional/januarytomarchandapriltojune2025

    Which is approximately how much money the government borrowed from foreign sources.

    There's your black hole, Chancellor - holibobs.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 75,877
    TheScreamingEagles said:

    Morris_Dancer said:

    MaxPB said:

    Just an FYI to all of the married men out there, looking at Syndey Sweeney's Instagram posts today may get you in trouble with your wife. Definitely don't go and find her latest posts as soon as you read this and definitely don't do it in front of your wife.

    I'm sure all PBers appreciate your selfless research in this area.
    I'm not a fan of Sydney Sweeney.

    She starred in Madame Web which was a bigger disaster than the Truss premiership.
    Although this morning it was @MaxPB that spider.
  • MarqueeMarkMarqueeMark Posts: 56,259
    Gallowgate said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    Gallowgate said:

    Luckyguy1983 said:

    bondegezou said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    Wot - centrist/progressive party makes huge gains at the expense nasty populists? Imagine if that becomes a thing....

    To an extent, what happened was that parties who were in the coalition government lost seats to ideologically similar parties who were not. So, the PVV (hard right populists) lost 11 seats, but 2 similar parties gained seats: Ja21 up 8, FvD up 4. The NSC were wiped out, losing 20, but the CDA were up 13. The NSC began as a CDA split.

    D66 did great (+17), but their gains were partly from the left (GL/PvdA -5, SP -2, Volt -1). So, maybe half the D66 gains were from the NSC collapse?

    The hard right vote was similar in size, but splintered, while the centrist-progressives made some gains from the centre-right and centre-left.
    My understanding is that D66 have shifted to the right, draped themselves in the flag, and made claims about getting asylum under control.
    Ah so they are in the Keir Starmer mould!
    But successful...
    What do you mean, Starmer won a huge majority.
    You'd never know it, such is his timidity...
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 53,802
    AnneJGP said:

    another_richard said:

    The UK had a £26bn tourism deficit in the first half of the year:

    Overseas residents made an estimated 7.2 million visits to Great Britain and spent an estimated £4.7 billion in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2025.

    Overseas residents made an estimated 9.3 million visits to Great Britain and spent an estimated £7.9 billion in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2025.

    Residents of Great Britain made an estimated 18.7 million visits outside of the UK and spent an estimated £16.5 billion in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2025.

    Residents of Great Britain made an estimated 26.0 million visits outside of the UK and spent an estimated £22.1 billion in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2025.

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/leisureandtourism/bulletins/overseastravelandtourismprovisional/januarytomarchandapriltojune2025

    Which is approximately how much money the government borrowed from foreign sources.

    Clearly they need a tax on going abroad.
    This year was the perfect one for staying in Britain. A glorious summer.

    Its the winter when I need a getaway to the sun.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 75,877
    edited 8:38AM
    Sandpit said:

    MaxPB said:

    Just an FYI to all of the married men out there, looking at Syndey Sweeney's Instagram posts today may get you in trouble with your wife. Definitely don't go and find her latest posts as soon as you read this and definitely don't do it in front of your wife.

    Is it true that the Telegraph changed their headline about Sweeney and James Bond a couple of days ago?

    Supposed original headline “Sydney Sweeney is the only woman who could pull off Bond”

    New headline “Sydney Sweeney is the only woman who could play Bond”

    The URL suggests that this was the case.

    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/10/28/sydney-sweeney-only-woman-who-could-pull-off-bond/
    I think she rather blew it with that headline.
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 6,955
    rottenborough said:

    Timms review of PIP will generate no savings.

    Clear blue water here with Tories who say they will stop low level anxiety claimants.

    Labour abandons disability benefit cuts
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/10/31/labour-abandons-disability-benefit-cuts

    Has this line:

    "The Timms Review will be co-chaired by Clenton Farquharson"

    Superb. Name of the day?

    I hope he doesn’t farquh up the review.
  • FoxyFoxy Posts: 53,802
    DecrepiterJohnL said:

    A more interesting question, however, is what signs of the Dutch D66 resurgence (or just surgence) did we miss? If we could magically jump back to last week and study the polls and reports as they were then, would we have taken the 100/1 against D66 winning?

    Surely it was late deciders? Isnt that the case with most polling surprises.

    Motivating the undecided to get out and vote is often the key to an election win. Notably the Labour Party has lost more votes to DK/WNV than to other parties. Labours best hope is for Tactical voting and motivating the DK/ WNV.
  • StillWatersStillWaters Posts: 11,591
    MaxPB said:

    Just an FYI to all of the married men out there, looking at Syndey Sweeney's Instagram posts today may get you in trouble with your wife. Definitely don't go and find her latest posts as soon as you read this and definitely don't do it in front of your wife.

    Not very classy is she
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 82,749
    Morris_Dancer said:

    Foxy said:

    IanB2 said:

    Up with Norwegian and Welsh, Dutch must be one of the most pointless languages to learn, since almost all native speakers have far greater English proficiency than you would ever achieve in their own language. And with Dutch it does sadly sound as if you have a pubic hair stuck in your throat.

    As a bet, backing the Dutch Libs would clearly have been a cracking one. The odds were long, of course, because no-one saw it coming.

    Maybe Ed Davey will succeed where Jo Swinson failed??

    I think that may br the case if one only wants simple communication, but I think it is impossible to fully understand a culture without understanding the language spoken.

    One of my favourite Dutch words is "Lekker", though I learnt it in South Africa.

    How and when to describe something as Lekker is covered here, alongside some other Dutch words that give insight into the culture:

    https://www.cursor.tue.nl/en/news/2023/september/week-1/new-in-the-netherlands-dutch-words#:~:text=Lekker,or a 'lekkere bonus'.

    Similarly the German love of complex yet specific compound nouns or the English love of euphemism says a fair bit about the respective cultures.
    Good morning, everyone.

    'Lekking' (others tend to write it as 'laking') is Yorkshire slang from Viking times which means 'playing'.
    My grandfather used to say of the particularly idle, "he's too lazy to lake".
  • bondegezoubondegezou Posts: 16,690
    DecrepiterJohnL said:

    A more interesting question, however, is what signs of the Dutch D66 resurgence (or just surgence) did we miss? If we could magically jump back to last week and study the polls and reports as they were then, would we have taken the 100/1 against D66 winning?

    Possibly a late CDA->D66 swing after the popular CDA leader said some more conservative stuff about religious schools and gay pupils.
  • FairlieredFairliered Posts: 6,955
    Good morning everyone. I didn’t sleep well last night. After being at my ukulele group and then catching up with PB, my mind must have been still active. I was lying awake making up alternative words to songs we played, such as
    “Sing me a song, you’re the piano man
    Sing me a song tonight
    Tell me a story of Rory the Tory
    And how he will make things all right”
  • FishingFishing Posts: 5,932
    another_richard said:

    The UK had a £26bn tourism deficit in the first half of the year:

    Overseas residents made an estimated 7.2 million visits to Great Britain and spent an estimated £4.7 billion in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2025.

    Overseas residents made an estimated 9.3 million visits to Great Britain and spent an estimated £7.9 billion in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2025.

    Residents of Great Britain made an estimated 18.7 million visits outside of the UK and spent an estimated £16.5 billion in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2025.

    Residents of Great Britain made an estimated 26.0 million visits outside of the UK and spent an estimated £22.1 billion in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2025.

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/leisureandtourism/bulletins/overseastravelandtourismprovisional/januarytomarchandapriltojune2025

    Which is approximately how much money the government borrowed from foreign sources.

    What do we expect if we jack up visa fees to ridiculous levels, impose absurdly high aviation taxes, don't build nearly enough airport capacity, stop tourists from reclaiming VAT to the delight of the Frogs and impose planning regulations that mean that building cheap accommodation is impossible?

    As usual, a greedy, incompetent, short-sighted and stupid government (this one and the last one) shoots itself and the country in both feet.
  • dunhamdunham Posts: 49
    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    Big_G_NorthWales said:

    MarqueeMark said:

    Wot - centrist/progressive party makes huge gains at the expense nasty populists? Imagine if that becomes a thing....

    Good morning

    And our conservative candidate beat reform in out local ward election last night
    Won 60% of votes gaining it from Reform

    From small acorns large oak trees grow
    It is unwise to extrapolate from Wales to England, or vice versa, as the Caerphilly by-election election result also showed.
  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 20,821
    I would have thought that having a tourism deficit was a sign of success. It shows the country is rich enough to travel the world, and yet is not itself overrun with enough tourists to balance the ledger.

    The challenge for Britain is earning enough money from other sources to maintain that deficit.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 33,558
    AnneJGP said:

    another_richard said:

    The UK had a £26bn tourism deficit in the first half of the year:

    Overseas residents made an estimated 7.2 million visits to Great Britain and spent an estimated £4.7 billion in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2025.

    Overseas residents made an estimated 9.3 million visits to Great Britain and spent an estimated £7.9 billion in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2025.

    Residents of Great Britain made an estimated 18.7 million visits outside of the UK and spent an estimated £16.5 billion in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar) 2025.

    Residents of Great Britain made an estimated 26.0 million visits outside of the UK and spent an estimated £22.1 billion in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2025.

    https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/leisureandtourism/bulletins/overseastravelandtourismprovisional/januarytomarchandapriltojune2025

    Which is approximately how much money the government borrowed from foreign sources.

    Clearly they need a tax on going abroad.
    We have a tax on going abroad. Air Passenger Duty (or airport tax) was imposed by acclaimed tax-cutting (only income tax counts, amiright) Chancellor of the Exchequer, Ken Clarke.
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