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Posted
On 19/01/2024 at 3:02 PM, facthunter said:

Nearly the same speed as normal.. You see what you expect to see. .   Nev

When the average person can read that, it makes you wonder why the Americans have to dumb down English language spelling and pronunciation to a level where they can comprehend it. They struggle with basic diphthongs; if it's not phonetic, forget it. They're an odd bunch; so dumb in many ways and also very clever at times.

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Posted
9 minutes ago, facthunter said:

The use of ZEE might be more prevalent in the US eh!   Nev

True. The USofA has the letter ZEE but our alphabet doesn't.

Posted

A bit of research and the answer is that if you want to use the Mother Tongue, it is "S". 

 

I also figured out why the Yanks use the other letter. It is quite clear when the letter is written. Z is a backward S, and we know how backwardness fills the bill in the UZA.

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Posted
15 hours ago, onetrack said:

 

Interesting to learn the etymology of the word "portmanteau" from that reference.

 

In Lewis Carroll's book Through the Looking Glass, Humpty Dumpty explains that a portmanteau is a word with two meanings packed into one. In truth, a “portmanteau” is itself a portmanteau!
Its name is derived from combining the French words porter (meaning “to carry") and manteau (meaning “cloak”).

image.png.0ecb8d7ba22902f5b68d0e5d6157a8bb.png

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Posted

I went to school in QLD for part of my childhood, remember they called schoolbags "ports" there. 

Not sure how that bit of French made it into the QLD vernacular. 

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Posted

Depending where you went to school, you carried your books and lunchbox in a "port" - probably a contraction of "portmanteau". Or you could be using a "satchel" if there was a strong English cultural heritage where you lived, since satchel is commonly used to describe a small leather bag carried by a long over-shoulder strap. Then, if you were practical you called it a school bag.

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Posted

When I went to school a port was the rectangular brown Globite job. At Wagga Wagga High, the boys all had them. When I moved to Broken Hill only girls had them and I copped a lot of abuse. So I wrapped mine in lots of stripes of different coloured insulation tape, making it a bit of a showpiece, and the abuse ended.

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Posted

Show how tough you are and keep using a Port. I think it was mainly a NSW thing. Wagga wagga had a Teacher's College. I eventually I had a leather school bag that made the tomato and banana sandwiches squishy and unattractive.   Nev

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Posted

At different times I had a Gladstone bag

 

gladstonebag.jpg.14b53c06d3ae49513d692bc9a09fe1f0.jpg

 

and a briefcase.I still have the briefcase, handy for carrying the laptop.

 

briefcase.thumb.jpg.7a4e612f625b2f312c2ddb3a82a0275e.jpg

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Posted

I certainly don't remember having one, in fact I can't even remember what I used as a school case, it must have been a pretty ordinary case. Now I think back, it might have been an Everlite, similar to the Globite. All the railway workers at the WAGR, and the Midland Railway Workshops, had Gladstone bags, though.

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Posted
8 minutes ago, facthunter said:

shoulder strap bag Khaki with brass  clips, (miscellaneous items for the carrying of) 

In the late 60's to early 70's these formed an essential part of the hippy uniform.

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