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One that I'm beginning to empathise with... "The music business is a cruel & shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves & pimps run free & good men die like dogs for no good reason............there is also a negative side." (Hunter S Thompson)

Good point about the meanings of the word 'respect'. I had never thought about it before and always inclined more towards the second interpretation, but I can see the first also. As someone who enjoys creative (well somewhat!) writing, I have a liking for ambiguous words as I find them very...

Hmm, I think Mac's idea is good in principle and better than heavily taxing unhealthy food, but possibly it might go against people who can't achieve that ideal body standard due to ill health. Maybe they could have some kind of doctor signed exemption form? A big problem - how to 'make' people...

Now, I do not know the Swiss system very well, so I can't say whether I have the opinion it is racist or not. I would have to learn some more information about their system and about Switzerland / Swiss culture before I could know my opinion about if it is racist. :relief: I agree with your...

Wheeee. I could get a direct train from my city through to Paris! :p

Maybe 'pressurise' is more of an Americanism, then. I tend to say 'press' in a more informal situation such as 'are we going to press them for the papers?' (meaning the same as 'put pressure on', really), but if I was writing for a formal report I probably wouldn't use it (but say 'put pressure...

Both you and the style guide make some good points. :p Personally I don't like it when people make their language in a business context unnecessarily complicated either out of habit (without really thinking of the meaning) or deliberately to confuse people or to try and make themselves look...

Well, I think of it as "the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group", or at least that seems like words with a broad enough meaning to encompass what I think is "culture"... including how these behaviours and beliefs manifest themselves in the form of...

Aha, well you could say that in the workplace, no decorations of any sort should be permitted because of 'health and safety'. ;-)

The Eiffel Tower is... okay. I don't dislike it at all. Although I have never been up it, I must say (I imagine the view from the top is amazing! But the view from Sacre Coeur is excellent too :cool:). I agree that it is perhaps not as 'special' as people are led to believe, in terms of...

If Christmas tree is banned, that's discriminating also against Pagans who may wish to practice their religion or celebrate the winter solstice with greenery and things from nature. In that case, you could say also that fire and water should be banned, because people use them as symbols within...

It's a term I can't define... I went to the dictionary to see what he has to say about it, and it said: (and there was more about biology, agriculture etc...) I don't like the word "excellent" in the above, because that is so subjective. :okashii: I suppose I see it like #5: "the behaviors...

Oooh, it's interesting to read about all the different things of significance that are remembered/celebrated on this date. :) Unfortunately it is not a public holiday in England, and no one really considers it anything of special at all here! I wish we had a holiday...

Your ideas could also be applied to English people trying to learn French! :p My French is not perfect but I can honestly say that of most English people I have met, there are very very few who can speak French even to a slightly reasonable level even if they were taught it at school :souka: (I...

I don't like how the news is over-dramatised sometimes... by the music and the way it's presented. Makes it sound like some kind of fictional programme instead of factual news. Kind of at one remove from real life, when it is real life for someone. :souka:

^ I guess it's simply that old expressions go out of usage, and eventually they will die out altogether. :relief: There are some ways you could talk in English that would sound so ridiculously old-fashioned if anyone actually used them! Hast thou seen my toothbrush? :p

I obviously have a proper Lesta accent as I pronounce Leicestershire 'Lestashu'. :D (I'm not sure how you'd describe my pronunciation of 'shire'; something between 'shu', 'sha' and 'she' - with the last bit cut off very short. I think it's an East Midlands thing... :blush: )

That's true. In England, we don't even celebrate the national day at all. I think some people remember when it is (I don't), but it's not a national holiday. Ireland, Scotland and Wales all have their national day as a holiday; I think England should too! :okashii:

In my case it was for the dentist. My dentist is still National Health Service (but a very high percentage - I think it's something like 80% but I can't be sure! - of dentists no longer take NHS patients :souka: :( ). I'm sure if it had been a private dentist I wouldn't have had to wait so long...

I can't comment on 'reverse culture shock', but can say that in England, each time I go for a routine check-up at the dentist I have to wait 30-45 minutues and sometimes an hour. It infuriates me (as I have to arrange time off work specially to take these appointments and make up the time out of...