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The completely useless irrelevant thread

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Came across a sign in a garden recently.
Nothing of any or real interest happened here in 1892.
 
farmerge said:
Came across a sign in a garden recently.
Nothing of any or real interest happened here in 1892.
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The owners of this property obviously knew little.
Among the noteworthy events of 1892:
In 1892, the Rules of Basketball were first published.
Prince Albert dies in a Pandemic, and thus allowed his younger brother to become King George V.
The coca cola company was founded in Georgia.
Thomas Eddison and J.P Morgan organised the merger of his and Thomson Electrical Company to from General Electric (GE).
Dr Washington Sheffield invents the Toothpaste tube.
Mick
 
mullokintyre said:
The owners of this property obviously knew little.
Among the noteworthy events of 1892:
In 1892, the Rules of Basketball were first published.
Prince Albert dies in a Pandemic, and thus allowed his younger brother to become King George V.
The coca cola company was founded in Georgia.
Thomas Eddison and J.P Morgan organised the merger of his and Thomson Electrical Company to from General Electric (GE).
Dr Washington Sheffield invents the Toothpaste tube.
Mick
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@mullokintyre I think that the plaque was referring to the garden where it sits amongst the plants and gum trees.
 
A thought just came in to my head and I didn't know where to share it in the form of a question. Then I remembered this thread

Has anyone had a mother-in-law who has broken her leg. I have. She is now RIP. After the initial shock of having me as a son-in-law wore off she treated me quite well. The break was not all that bad and she became quite adept at the crutches. This was the first Mrs Gumnut's Mum in case anyone was wondering.

gg
 
Pay attention... an issue that brings conflicted thoughts... to post here or 'word of the day'?

The Ancient Greek Story Behind the Word “Sycophant”​

Speaking about the Greek origin of a word is familiar to most people.
However, in the case of the production of figs, there is a “legal issue” related to the ancient world. That has led to the evolution of a word, sycophant, commonly found to this day in plenty of idioms.
The word ‘sycophant’ is a word with a special meaning, and the reason becomes clear to all who know the story.

Dictionary meaning of sycophant​

If you look the word ‘sycophant’ up in any dictionary, the explanation will more or less be the same. A sycophant is, namely, one who “praises powerful or wealthy people in an insincere way, usually to gain some advantage,” according to the Cambridge Dictionary.

The Greek meaning​

Talking about the actual meaning of the word, there is a slight difference between the English and Greek languages. In both cases, it refers to a devious person. In Greek, however, it denotes a person who through false statements, tries to belittle someone, again probably to achieve a personal goal.

Thus, while in English a sycophant is one who praises in a devious way, in Greek, such an individual is one who actually calculatingly criticizes for the sheer purpose of personal gain.

Ancient history​

In terms of ancient history, the masterpiece Deipnosophistae, meaning “dinner-table philosophists,” written by Athenaeus of Naucratis is relevant. In his second book, the Egyptian writer of Greek origin writes:

“And Isistrus, in his Attics, says that it was forbidden to export out of Attica the figs which grew in that land, in order that the inhabitants could have the exclusive enjoyment of them. And as many people were detected in sending them away surreptitiously, those who laid informations against them before the judges were then first called sycophants.”
But the question that remains is why they called them as such. To be specific, the word ‘sycophants’ originates from two separate words. Sìkon (Greek: Συκον), meaning ‘fig’ and fènin (Greek: φαινειν), meaning ‘to show or indicate.’ Thus, this refers to the protagonist of the book, or “one who shows figs.”

Sycophants were, namely, those individuals who reported the illegal export of figs outside the territory of Attica. They helped local authorities identify people who were using an illegal market for profit. Of course, we may wonder why they were helping local authorities and whether they were intimidated into participating in this activity or if it was for some practical advantage.
In fact, according to ancient Athenian law, in the event of a confirmed charge, as compensation, the accuser received an amount equal to that inflicted on the offender.

The fig market​

Hence, as can be deemed, the fig market was quite an important resource in ancient Greece and they used to consider it to be on par with the oil and wine industry. In the words of a certain Philomnestus, unknown to us today:

“Since the sycophant got his name from these circumstances, because…at that time there were fines and taxes imposed upon figs and oil and wine, by the production of which imposts they found money for the public expenses; they called those who exacted these fines and laid these information sycophants, which was very natural, selecting those who were accounted the most considerable of the citizens.”

This is why the word sycophant was a term for a devious person. However, it still served the local authorities and legality of the public market.
 
Garpal Gumnut said:
A thought just came in to my head and I didn't know where to share it in the form of a question. Then I remembered this thread

Has anyone had a mother-in-law who has broken her leg. I have. She is now RIP. After the initial shock of having me as a son-in-law wore off she treated me quite well. The break was not all that bad and she became quite adept at the crutches. This was the first Mrs Gumnut's Mum in case anyone was wondering.

gg
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Only every had one Mrs Farmerge but her mother finished up as a double amputee.
A very sad tale.
But she thought I was a terrific bloke when I was introduced to her 50 odd years ago and even better when I made her only daughter an honest woman.
 
To all of those who suggest that the world as we know it is coming to an end.
We be doin allrite.
mick
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I went out to bring in the bins; otherwise I've been inside all day. It wasn't yellow-bin-week this week.
 
Dona Ferentes said:
I went out to bring in the bins; otherwise I've been inside all day. It wasn't yellow-bin-week this week.
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Are the bins in your area all one colour?
Our local council changes the colour of the lids to designate the type of contents.
We now have 4 bins, red top for general waste, green top for grass clippings, leaves, results of prunings etc., Yellow top for recyclables, and a purple lid just for bottles.
And of course we have our own private bin where all the bottles, cans etc with a ten cents deposit get collected and taken to the mens shed as a fund raiser.
Be tough if you were colour blind.
Mick
 
mullokintyre said:
Are the bins in your area all one colour?
Our local council changes the colour of the lids to designate the type of contents.
We now have 4 bins, red top for general waste, green top for grass clippings, leaves, results of prunings etc., Yellow top for recyclables, and a purple lid just for bottles.
And of course we have our own private bin where all the bottles, cans etc with a ten cents deposit get collected and taken to the mens shed as a fund raiser.
Be tough if you were colour blind.
Mick
Click to expand...
For us only two bins. A yellow top for recycling and dark green for general rubbish.
For us as we recycle a lot on the farm, it is quite an expensive luxury, as "She Who is Never Wrong" only puts them out fortnightly or monthly.
All food scraps go to the bovines, and any metal goes into metal recycling 44's I have here at home.
 
I am minding a 3yo grandson, his parents are at work and he is unwell, supposedly. Demanded I read him a story. I've read him this one 10+ times in the past. Not quite Ulysses but nearly as good.

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gg
 
Being the extremely generous soul that I am, well that's my opinion, I have suggested to She Who is Never Wrong, that I would take Her out to lunch tomorrow (Saturday), of course the meal cost has to be under $15 a head.
Her answer has yet to be deciphered.
 
When ya reading some serious article and they use those two unforgivable words: "try and", instead of the correct "try to"... :oops: And then I have to justify to myself, "hey, they're not really that dumb, maybe they're just being casual - like someone starting a sentence with 'and'".

A similar-ish one was while watching ABC News and the DEI-hire reporter actually ended her sentence with "and that". I hadn't been watching TV for a long time and was almost crying with laughter.
 
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