Not a post meant to provoke heated reaction but I'm genuinely interested in situations where the experiences of members can be directly compared between the UK and France.
I'm still dealing with the UK on certain issues - and I've decided (althought I might change my mind in the morning) they are the most obstructive, disingenuous, arrogant lot of fools you could ever not hope for your path to cross.
See, the way I look at it is; you can be obstructive, disingenuous and arrogant, if you're not an idiot - otherwise, you're just an idiot. And they are in employment, which is really scary.
Okay - final warning people on this post and any other...
SFN has a clear behaviour policy which we refer to as Netiquette. You can read it here.
It basically means that you should behave online as if you were in MY house sitting round MY table. If you can't do that you should leave. If you were in my house and used language to address your fellow dinner guests such as 'troll', 'snide', and 'crass' to name but a few we have heard in the last few days, we would ask you to leave.
As a result of the sheer level of bile that we have had to moderate / read / deal with over the last few days, I am closing this discussion for the time being. I have been at work all week and refuse to devote my weekend to moderating the comments of a few members when I have better things to do, such as spending time with my family for one.
I'm sorry that the behaviour of a minority of people has affected the usually smooth and harmonious atmosphere of SFN and can only apologise to the vast majority. Rest assured, it will not be tolerated.
I've just googled "ken rehill" and it seems his "trolling" behaviour goes back quite a long way. Making "friends" all over the internet from what little I have seen. It would seem to be an obsession of his???
His photo is available for any who can be bothered....
You accuse Veronique of aggression, Ken, and then proceed to aggress her. All we know of you is what you write here. We judge you on that. So if people find what you're saying unacceptable then maybe you should ask yourself why this is and stop "telling it as it is", which in my experience is just an excuse for being intolerant. By the way, it would be nice to see your face instead of a black square.
Gosh, Ken, & there I was looking at what you said on the 'we don't do that in France' thread & thinking how very sensible & measured what you had to say was - because obviously you are quite right, something is 'worth' precisely what it sells for.
I see the status quo ante has now resumed. For someone who likes "TELLING IT LIKE IS" and "straight talking" you seem very sensitive when it is coming your way.
If you can't take it, don't dish it out.
What a lot of toys you have thrown out of your cot.
It's good to read you "have a super life with your family in France" I'm happy to see a positive remark mentioning my country. I'm glad, even though I don't know you, that you have a super life - spend less of it vituperating online to strangers and it'll be even more super.
Aha, double etymology. Dick derives from Ric through rhyming, short for Richard which used to be the 'everyman' term before John Smith type of 'honest John' and so on. Then is is a comparative with the glans penis which is the sensitive bulbous structure at the distal end of the male sexual organ which can be referred to as a 'head'. Since it is often used for somebody who is insensitive as well as 'dumb' the former seems more appropriate than the latter but both seem off the mark on balance. When I explained that to a delightful Latvian student some years ago who had picked up the expression she gasped and said something I cannot repeat here. But certainly she realised why she had just lost her boyfriend!
It's from Middle English Barbara meaning a drunkard, someone who tosses back his pot of beer too often and by extension a stupid or contemptible person.In the North of England tossing also refers to an act of masturbation and thus links tosspot to tosser but this is a false association based on the similarity of the two words.
Absolutely agree. They take care of stuff and aren't much influenced by what their neighbours have. Not much 'keep up with the Joneses' with the French although they still maintain individual style.
I've bought second hand shoes that looked like new - but they had segs in the soles! There is a travelling cobbler that comes to a local market once a month and he is always busy.
Or maybe it's just that the French are thrifty and don't throw clothes out just because they're last year's models. In my 50+ years of living and working with French people I've not come across any evidence that they are less inclined to donate to charities or help their neighbours/friends when they need it. That's a reply to Brian several posts above this, by the way.