Nothing in Particular

Spoil sport - that could have led to some fun thread drift…

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I did my best :wink:

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Happy Cephalopod Week!

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Came across an article about the amount of dog poo in Paris which is estimated to be 16 tonnes per day! This led me to ask ‘What use is there for dog poo?’

Compost!

Fun fact: the word meme was first coined by Professor Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, from Greek mimēma ‘that which is imitated’, on the pattern of gene .

I don’t think I’ve ever used that word…:thinking: (except in french "même)

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Not sure if you’re referring to ‘neologism’ or ‘meme’, but they’re both handy terms to know.

I was referring to the meme word (bugger, I’ve used it now :rofl:) but both words in reality

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:rofl: :rofl: good gracious… it’s quite tasking enough for my brain to gather French words and phrases, without trying to rewrite my English vocabulary and comprehension… :rofl: :rofl:

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Ah but by learning the English you’ve improved your French vocab as well: néologism et meme :rofl:

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That’s the problem Stella.
There are certain new words we should know to keep up with politics etc.
There is also youthspeak, which makes me cringe, but that has always been the case.
I applaud Keir Starmer’s policy to teach young people to speak properly, not RP, but to make cogent arguments and put across their point of view.

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:rofl: leave off… please…

It was only yesterday I finally figured out how to remind myself of the correct pronunciation for frog… “grenouille” … my mind often goes a complete blank… :wink: now I’m saved (for frogs, at least)
(using knee and eyes… genou-yeux… with an r or several… grrrrr…)
Had my pals in fits…
and because the le and la always give me difficulties… there’s always more than one frog… :wink:
“les grrrr-enou-yeux” :rofl: :wink:

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Oh dear Stella, its not just new words.
I love words, its the maths that gives me grief.

ah well… we all have something… don’t we… :wink: :anguished:

on the other hand… the good things definitely outweigh the bad… :+1: :rofl:

Thanks Brian, I was going to post a similar reply.

I’ve just checked the origins in my 1983 OED (néologisme Fr 1800 - so neologism isn’t a neologism, so to speak) Both terms were derived from French, though as @Gareth noted above the English meaning of meme was coined by Dawkins and it’s now been incorproated into french as mème, but does that make it franglais!

Simple, but complicated!

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Don’t the french use the same word for meme?

I think you’re trying to make things even more complicated.

I’ve just learned a very subtle French distinction - ‘the same’ - le même; ‘a meme’ un mème

Just in case anyone is still interested in or concerned about octopi

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They are definitely off the menu now. Shame as I loved them.

The Guardian article also refers to Prof David Scheel, who made, scrolling higher up the Nothing in Particular page, the video, ‘Octopus in My House’.

From the Guardian - For Scheel, it is clear that octopuses have some level of inner experience and awareness of themselves. But when it comes to rights, he says, the question is not so much about how octopuses act, but how humans behave.

“We [are] continually deciding whether we want to be the kind of society that views nature as property, as commodities,” he says. “Or be one that treats nature as its own entity, an entity in which we’re immersed, something with its own ends and goals, an entity that we share with myriads of individuals and many, many species who can live better or worse lives.”

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