Getting Into Canada

[johnfowles]

quote:Originally posted by stationmaster:
Yes, then afterward you can go to the "Loo"
Well I ROTFL when I found out what that was. I thought it was some Oriental guy named Loo.

Very interesting SM I have always meant to find out the derivation of the word "loo"
a quick google for "loo derivation" produced a detailed and fascinating ilustrated historical theory at:- http://www.michaelkelly.fsnet.co.uk/loo.htm
whiuch includes such germs as:-
"This is a very interesting question, and experts have debated it for years. Some authorities maintain that, like many an English tradition, the word 'loo' commemorates the death of a great number of Frenchmen, and derives in fact from the Battle of Waterloo."

British soldiers would come home and say, 'Hey, you'll never guess what, all the froggies
weed themselves and the guv'nor, quick as a flash, he goes, 'Waterloo? Water-Closet, more like, ha ha ha.'

Another possibility, however, is that the word 'loo' is an abbreviation of the word 'loony'
because the smallest room in the house was politely refered to as where a lunatic relation was kept out of view.
there are many great definitrions of UK expressions on the folowing site which should be required viewing for all Americans:-

including:-
"loo n. What we call the loo is what Americans very politely call the restroom. I believe that the derivation of this word is
from a long time ago when people used to shout "gardez l'eau" (the French equivalent of "look out for the water") and throw
their human waste out of the window onto gutters in the street."
other interesting entries include:-
"leg over n. Yep, more sex. To get one's leg over does indeed mean clambering over another person with the intention of
prodding at them"
and appropos earlier references in this topic:-
"chips n. Fries. However, it's lately been popular to call "thin" chips fries (I blame McDonalds) so Brits at least know what
fries are these days. Classic chips can be obtained from a chip shop ("chippie") and are a great deal more unhealthy. They
also vary quite creatively - if you buy them at nine o'clock in the evening they are hard, black and crunchy (because they've
been cooking since 6:30pm when the dinner rush came through) but if you buy them at 3am you will find them very akin to raw
potatoes, right down to the green bits in the middle (because they want all of these drunk punters out of the door so they
can go home). Since writing this, I have been told by a contributor that British chips are in fact more healthy than fries -
something to do with surface area and fat. Trust me, though... the British ones still look pretty gruesome"
and
crisps n.
"Chips. This particular confusion caused me no end of troubles in the US - I've never been so disappointed with a
bag of chips in my life (I'd even have preferred the 3am green ones)."
To summarise my initial entry here
It is no wonder that Brits look askance on the idea that anyone would wish to christen their child "Lou Rawls" which sounds
exactly like a bog roll
Bog???
bog n. One of our more... down-to-earth... words meaning toilet. More likely to be used in the context of "d'y'hear Fat Bob
took a kicking in the bogs in Scruffy Murphy's?" rather than "I say, Mrs. Bryce-Waldergard, I'm awfully sorry to trouble you
but I was wondering if you could point me in the direction of your bog?".
I also rather liked:-
bumf n.
"Copious amounts of paperwork or literature - you might hear people talk about the stack of bumf that came with their new video-recorder (VCR) . A contributor tells me it derives from the army and is a contraction of the phrase "bum fodder", meaning toilet paper
which neatly leads into
"bogie n. One of the charming little things everyone excavates from their nose now and again but likes to pretend they don't.
Americans call them "boogers"."
I also found during my searches that a well known Anglo-Saxon FLA (four-leter-acronym) is short for
"Felonious Unlawful Carnal Knowledge"
and finally go to:- http://www.uberbitchblog.com/index/weblog/comments/51/
scroll down to
3.10 Most Famous uses For That Word


------------------
My Gordon Lightfoot webring
starts at
http://www.johnfowles.org.uk/lightfoot



[This message has been edited by johnfowles (edited October 09, 2004).]

[BILLW]

quote:Originally posted by brink:
everyone is really friendly and courteous. So unlike the cities here.

brink,
I'm certainly looking forward to visiting Canada but I must say here in the US there are plenty of cities with friendly folks. I just got back from 5 days in NYC and they couldn't have been nicer and I travel to Baltimore every few weeks to the football stadium and it's a very friendly place. San Francisco is pretty sweet. I could go on but you get my point. Of course, I do prefer my home in the woods, LOL.

Bill

[socialvandal]

Agreeing with Bill about San Francisco! I'm originally from there. It's an amazing city.

I now live north of Baltimore where people are also nice unless they're behind the wheel... I've seen cars actually piled on top of each other on side streets! The traffic here is hair raising! eek!

I'm so excited about the people who are going to Canada for the first time! If you have some time to kill try to swing by Niagara-On-The-Lake in the St. Catherines
area. (nearish Hamilton) What a charming place to spend a day! It's historic, scenic, charming... lots of great shops, restaurants, inns, hotels, etc. The entire town makes my heart go pitter-pat. I'd live there if I could, eh. (~giggle~)

[BILLW]

quote:Originally posted by AnotherKathryn:
Agreeing with Bill about San Francisco! I'm originally from there. It's an amazing city.

I now live north of Baltimore where people are also nice unless they're behind the wheel... I've seen cars actually piled on top of each other on side streets! The traffic here is hair raising! eek!

I'm so excited about the people who are going to Canada for the first time! If you have some time to kill try to swing by Niagara-On-The-Lake in the St. Catherines
area. (nearish Hamilton) What a charming place to spend a day! It's historic, scenic, charming... lots of great shops, restaurants, inns, hotels, etc. The entire town makes my heart go pitter-pat. I'd live there if I could, eh. (~giggle~)



I actually lived on California St. a few blocks uphill from Polk right near a cable car bell. Can't recall the cross street but everyone knows Polk St.right ? And now I live southeast of Baltimore, small world. But I meet lots of nice people in cities, LOL.

Bill

[Tyler]

quote:Originally posted by BILLW:
brink,
I'm certainly looking forward to visiting Canada but I must say here in the US there are plenty of cities with friendly folks. I just got back from 5 days in NYC and they couldn't have been nicer and I travel to Baltimore every few weeks to the football stadium and it's a very friendly place. San Francisco is pretty sweet. I could go on but you get my point. Of course, I do prefer my home in the woods, LOL.

Bill



Guess I should have clarified a bit better. I mean here as in the area I live in. Summit County, only exists because of tourism, but the locals "despise" tourists. Lines are too long, traffic is too slow, tourists are referred to as: tourons, rubber neckers etc. Tourists are also blamed for the high prices.
I am not a fan of Denver either. Last year Denver ranked in the top ten of cities with the rudest people. That was nationally.
So excuse my lack of clarification.

[This message has been edited by brink (edited October 09, 2004).]

[brink]

quote:Originally posted by BILLW:
brink,
I'm certainly looking forward to visiting Canada but I must say here in the US there are plenty of cities with friendly folks. I just got back from 5 days in NYC and they couldn't have been nicer and I travel to Baltimore every few weeks to the football stadium and it's a very friendly place. San Francisco is pretty sweet. I could go on but you get my point. Of course, I do prefer my home in the woods, LOL.

Bill



Guess I should have clarified a bit better. I mean here as in the area I live in. Summit County, only exists because of tourism, but the locals "despise" tourists. Lines are too long, traffic is too slow, tourists are referred to as: tourons, rubber neckers etc. Tourists are also blamed for the high prices.
I am not a fan of Denver either. Last year Denver ranked in the top ten of cities with the rudest people. That was nationally.
So excuse my lack of clarification.

[This message has been edited by brink (edited October 09, 2004).]

[BILLW]

quote:Originally posted by brink:

So excuse my lack of clarification.

[This message has been edited by brink (edited October 09, 2004).]

I understand now, thanks for the insight.

Bill

[LSH]

Hey brink,
I used to live in a vacation area also. Tourism...summers were rather hard on the tiny town of Clallam Bay. And storeowners actually had different prices for townies and tourists, which I thought was horrid. I don't think we actually hated tourists though.

Protesters were NOT our favorite people though. Clallam Bay is right next to Neah Bay. And when the Makah Tribe got the right to hunt grey whales in the traditional fashion, the whole place turned into a MADHOUSE. I remember all the protesters trying to involve the town people in the protest, and we continually explained that we lived next to the Makah Nation, they are our neighbors and we declined involvement, which pissed them off. They lined the beaches, clogged the streets and one the grocery store in town, 200 law enforcement personnel plus their vehicles were brought in to control the crowd. When they finally cleared out, these "environmentally evolved" people left tons of litter on our pristine beaches and in our forests and on our streets. that was a bad summer...

Living in a tourist town is a bitch. I keep saying if I ever move I'm going to make sure the next town is not a tourist attraction. I've been searching high and low for that place too. Needs to be on or very near an ocean or lake with nearby mountains or hills - no flat land, none or very little tourist trade, four seasons including snow in the winter, small town or not more than 30,000 people with a decent bookstore. I thought I'd found it, but the town turned out to be a summer mecca for ocean fishermen. Still looking.

Living in a tourist town is a bitch. I keep saying if I ever move I'm going to make sure the next town is not a tourist attraction. I've been searching high and low for that place too. Needs to be on or very near an ocean or lake with nearby mountains or hills - no flat land, none or very little tourist trade, four seasons including snow in the winter, small town or not more than 30,000 people with a decent bookstore. I thought I'd found it, but the town turned out to be a summer mecca for ocean fishermen. Still looking.

[TheWatchman]

Rockport, Mass fits the description that your looking for Violet. It's one of the most gorgeous places in the US. Small, quaint town right on the ocean.



[This message has been edited by TheWatchman (edited October 11, 2004).]

[Tyler]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by LSH:
Protesters were NOT our favorite people though.

I remember seeing that on TV, what a mess that was. Sometimes the protesters get so fanatical.
When I lived in Montana we had Earth First people up there, they were protesting the logging. We had a local that was killed from cutting a tree that they had place a spike in. The chainsaw hit the spike and kicked back.

[brink]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by LSH:
Protesters were NOT our favorite people though.

I remember seeing that on TV, what a mess that was. Sometimes the protesters get so fanatical.
When I lived in Montana we had Earth First people up there, they were protesting the logging. We had a local that was killed from cutting a tree that they had place a spike in. The chainsaw hit the spike and kicked back.

[Tyler]

quote:Originally posted by violet Blue Horse:
Living in a tourist town is a bitch. I keep saying if I ever move I'm going to make sure the next town is not a tourist attraction. I've been searching high and low for that place too. Needs to be on or very near an ocean or lake with nearby mountains or hills - no flat land, none or very little tourist trade, four seasons including snow in the winter, small town or not more than 30,000 people with a decent bookstore. I thought I'd found it, but the town turned out to be a summer mecca for ocean fishermen. Still looking.

Let me know when you find it, sounds perfect!

[brink]

quote:Originally posted by violet Blue Horse:
Living in a tourist town is a bitch. I keep saying if I ever move I'm going to make sure the next town is not a tourist attraction. I've been searching high and low for that place too. Needs to be on or very near an ocean or lake with nearby mountains or hills - no flat land, none or very little tourist trade, four seasons including snow in the winter, small town or not more than 30,000 people with a decent bookstore. I thought I'd found it, but the town turned out to be a summer mecca for ocean fishermen. Still looking.

Let me know when you find it, sounds perfect!

[LSH]

me too! sounds perfect. somewhere where the forest meets the sea.

[stationmaster]

Sounds like you need to move to my home province! Lots of forest and ocean there...

[Station Master]

quote:Originally posted by Gaby:
Violet!
Are you implying that there are actually benefits to being married???????????

on a +ive note, i'd be dead by now without marriage

l, do you put mustard on baked potatoes also?

i found only pleasant folks during my brief times in the states, NH mainly, it's these Canucks who usually give me the hard time, lol

SM, haven't been that far east but motherinlaw is from St. Pierre & Michelin and i've volunteered to escort her back there(with all my video gear )

[jj]

quote:Originally posted by Gaby:
Violet!
Are you implying that there are actually benefits to being married???????????

on a +ive note, i'd be dead by now without marriage

l, do you put mustard on baked potatoes also?

i found only pleasant folks during my brief times in the states, NH mainly, it's these Canucks who usually give me the hard time, lol

SM, haven't been that far east but motherinlaw is from St. Pierre & Michelin and i've volunteered to escort her back there(with all my video gear )

[charlene]

St. Pierre and Miquelon ya goof ball!
lol
http://spminfo.com/en/

[charlene]

St. Pierre and Miquelon ya goof ball!
lol
http://spminfo.com/en/

[Gaby]

quote:Originally posted by jj:
on a +ive note, i'd be dead by now without marriage

I know, jj – it was slightly tongue-in-cheek.
My partner of 23 years helped me through a heart attack, last year; and, earlier this year, when he keeled over, I was there for him.
Btw, girls! If you feel a bit iffy on HRT – Get OFF it. Just go with the flushes. They’re better than the alternative!!!!!

John, I love chips and mayonnaise. I’m a cheap date!

Finally. Can anyone help me? If I get a taxi from Pearson to Union Station – are there plenty of regular trains to Hamilton?
Thanks.

[vlmagee]

Well, I have a different view of living in a tourist town. My favorite place to be is at my home on Saratoga Lake, just outside of Saratoga Springs. The whole area is a summer tourist mecca, and the healthy tourist industry is responsible for many of the nice aspects of the area. The only real irritation is the limited downtown parking in the summer, but I take that in stride. I moved there for the horse racing, so I have always experienced the summer crowds. The summer population is around 50,000; the year-round population is about 25,000. But without the horse racing and the performing arts center (an amphitheater), the area wouldn't be the same, and it wouldn't have much money either. Most people who are not school teachers or government employees work in some aspect of tourism (restaruants, hotels, motels, and shops on Broadway).

The "natives" don't mind the tourists, and it is the friendliness of the local people that demonstrated to me that people don't have to be rude (as they are in Fairfield County CT). Some locals even rent out their homes for the racing season, giving them some extra cash for their own vacations.

Even in the busy season, the "city" maintains its charm. You just have to leave time to find a parking place if you are going downtown, and you have to make reservations if you want to eat at the fancy restaurants (most of them are almost empty in the off season).

I'm not really trying to sell it, but I just love it and some of my friends from "the country" like it too (eg Cathy). She hasn't been there in the summer yet, but one can always just stay by the lake and not even know the crowds are there ... The area most definitely has four seasons, and is well known as part of the Fall foliage area. Winters can get very cold - the lake freezes in December and the ice doesn't break until late March. There is usually a lot of snow on the ground during that time, and a nice sprinkling of "snow days" for the kids.

Right now I have the "pleasure" of living in a Denver suberb. I don't ski, and I fail to see the charm here, although I did drive to the mountains to look at a rustic cabin. It was cute, but in the winter we'd get snowed in and my husband can't afford to miss work. And, outside of the mountains, the seasons are weird here. It is always sunny, and rarely cold, and even when it snows it doesn't last long (except in the mountains). The only real plus is that the humidity is low: good for my hair, but I have to keep my guitar humidified.

------------------
Valerie Magee

Visit my business site at mageenet.biz, Hamilton Camp's Offical Web Site at hamiltoncamp.com , and Cathy Cowette's web site at cathycowette.com. Also visit Dr. Jack's Lightfoot page.

[This message has been edited by vlmagee (edited October 12, 2004).]

[ELizabeth]

Well Valerie I too love Saratoga and Saratoga Springs. My brother lives in Clifton Park, NY and every year I used to go up for the Travis (sp.?) Stakes in early August. I haven't been there in several years. GL connection - didn't he play at the Saratoga Center for the Performing Arts? I also lived in Denver - when my then husband was in graduate school at the University of Denver - I hated it. All I remember was it felt like I lived in a big brown bowl when the Rockies turned brown in the summer.

[LSH]

I've only visited Denver, but after ten days, my sinus were so dry, I wanted to sniff water up my nose! I've been spoiled by the temperate weather and humidity in the Northwest. I prefer cooler summers than one gets on the east coast or in semi-arid regions.