Shillzz Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 We just get annoyed at them being better than us, at everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b23avfc Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Shopping around for a camera lens, finding a great price, finally being able to order it (thanks to waiting on the invoice)... ordering it. Then someone coming along selling it cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted April 23, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted April 23, 2012 I've always thought of the England-Germany football rivalry as a reflection of their battle for European supremacy (both being Europe's two largest economies and pre-eminent military powers at the time of the war), rather than a manifestation of deep-seated resentment over German war crimes.Jingoism. As the terrace chant used to go: "Two world wars and one World Cup..." Dunno what it's like now, but when I was growing up in the 1960s, all little boys seemed to get the idea "The Germans are our enemy" with their mother's milk. TV constantly showed war films like The Dambusters, Reach for the Sky, The Longest Day, The Cockleshell Heroes, etc., reminding us that "we" (i.e. Britain) won The War. I capitalise, because it was - and for many remains - THE war. My Dad told me to wash my hands to get rid of the nasty "Germans" (i.e. germs), and the term "squareheads" was in common use (I actually believed Germans had cubic heads). So, propaganda, basically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shillzz Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Shopping around for a camera lens, finding a great price, finally being able to order it (thanks to waiting on the invoice)... ordering it. Then someone coming along selling it cheaper. Whilst I understand how it could, this kind of thing has never bothered me in the slightest. You were happy with what you paid, when you paid it, and the discovery of this new price hasnt affected you in any way. Be happy with your new lens! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 We just get annoyed at them being better than us, at everything. Total number of native and secondary speakers of top languages. 1. Mandarin Chinese (1.12 billion) 2. English (480 million) 3. Spanish (320 million) 4. Russian (285 million) 5. French (270 million) 6. Hindi/Urdu (250 million) 7. Portuguese (248 million) 8. Arabic (221 million) 9. Bengali (185 million) 10. Japanese (133 million) 11. Punjabi (130 million) 12. German (100 million) Btw, anyone find it odd that the Chinese are the ones learning English in mass numbers rather than the other way round, even though Mandarin by far the most widely spoken language in the world? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 The tabloids had a field day when we met Germany in 1996 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shillzz Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 We just get annoyed at them being better than us, at everything. Total number of native and secondary speakers of top languages. 1. Mandarin Chinese (1.12 billion) 2. English (480 million) 3. Spanish (320 million) 4. Russian (285 million) 5. French (270 million) 6. Hindi/Urdu (250 million) 7. Portuguese (248 million) 8. Arabic (221 million) 9. Bengali (185 million) 10. Japanese (133 million) 11. Punjabi (130 million) 12. German (100 million) Btw, anyone find it odd that the Chinese are the ones learning English in mass numbers rather than the other way round, even though Mandarin by far the most widely spoken language in the world? I didn't really mean it Legov. We're better at making luxury saloon cars for a start... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voinjama Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 480 million? And the rest. 100 million English speakers in India alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted April 23, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted April 23, 2012 We just get annoyed at them being better than us, at everything. Total number of native and secondary speakers of top languages. 1. Mandarin Chinese (1.12 billion) 2. English (480 million) 3. Spanish (320 million) 4. Russian (285 million) 5. French (270 million) 6. Hindi/Urdu (250 million) 7. Portuguese (248 million) 8. Arabic (221 million) 9. Bengali (185 million) 10. Japanese (133 million) 11. Punjabi (130 million) 12. German (100 million) Btw, anyone find it odd that the Chinese are the ones learning English in mass numbers rather than the other way round, even though Mandarin by far the most widely spoken language in the world?I guess it's because English has already spread to a far wider area of the planet, while Mandarin has remained confined in China and S.E. Asia. The British Empire, followed by the American Empire, basically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 We just get annoyed at them being better than us, at everything. Total number of native and secondary speakers of top languages. 1. Mandarin Chinese (1.12 billion) 2. English (480 million) 3. Spanish (320 million) 4. Russian (285 million) 5. French (270 million) 6. Hindi/Urdu (250 million) 7. Portuguese (248 million) 8. Arabic (221 million) 9. Bengali (185 million) 10. Japanese (133 million) 11. Punjabi (130 million) 12. German (100 million) Btw, anyone find it odd that the Chinese are the ones learning English in mass numbers rather than the other way round, even though Mandarin by far the most widely spoken language in the world? I didn't really mean it Legov. We're better at making luxury saloon cars for a start... I was joking as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theunderstudy Posted April 23, 2012 Author Share Posted April 23, 2012 They killed quite a few Brits tooNever occupied us though. Imagine how it would be if we'd had the Gestapo on site for five years. I've been to Jersey numerous times, which of course was occupied by German forces. Still a fair bit of bitterness I've found there. All bunkers etc (plus the quite fascinating Underground Hospital) left and such. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 480 million? And the rest. 100 million English speakers in India alone. It's probably as a first language. English is easily the most widely spoken second language. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 480 million? And the rest. 100 million English speakers in India alone. It's probably as a first language. English is easily the most widely spoken second language. First and second languages, apparently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b23avfc Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Shopping around for a camera lens, finding a great price, finally being able to order it (thanks to waiting on the invoice)... ordering it. Then someone coming along selling it cheaper. Whilst I understand how it could, this kind of thing has never bothered me in the slightest. You were happy with what you paid, when you paid it, and the discovery of this new price hasnt affected you in any way. Be happy with your new lens! Oh I will be You're right. It's just "funny" that's all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginko Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Applying for a job because the advertisement sounds perfect, sending in your CV, getting an email back asking you for a phone interview, having a really positive interview with the chap on the other end until he then tells you that the job actually involves a lot of something that you're not particularly knowledgable about and is really hard to blag and ultimately it costs you the job. If it was such a big part of the job, why didn't you put it on the damn job advertisement? Morons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 480 million? And the rest. 100 million English speakers in India alone. It's probably as a first language. English is easily the most widely spoken second language. First and second languages, apparently. Those figures are 15 years out of date though. The population of the world has increased by at least 1.2 billion since they were published in 1997. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted April 23, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted April 23, 2012 Applying for a job because the advertisement sounds perfect, sending in your CV, getting an email back asking you for a phone interview, having a really positive interview with the chap on the other end until he then tells you that the job actually involves a lot of something that you're not particularly knowledgable about and is really hard to blag and ultimately it costs you the job. If it was such a big part of the job, why didn't you put it on the damn job advertisement? Morons.That happened to me back in the 70s after I graduated. There was a job going in a local musical instrument shop, and as I was playing guitar in a local band at the time it would have suited me down to the ground. I had an interview with the boss, chatted about guitars, got on great, and he said I could start on Monday. As I was going through the door he casually said: "Oh, you can drive, can't you?". "Er... no". "Ah, shit, sorry, we need somebody who can drive the van". I was a bit frustrated to say the least (still didn't learn to drive for another ten years, mind). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legov Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 They were the only ones I could find that conduced to a tidy-looking forum post the rest were either too long, organised in too unkempt a manner, or jut plain dubious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted April 23, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted April 23, 2012 They were the only ones I could find that conduced to a tidy-looking forum post the rest were either too long, organised in too unkempt a manner, or jut plain dubious.Your own second language is Mandarin, yes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shillzz Posted April 23, 2012 Share Posted April 23, 2012 Office for National Statistics. Doe anybody else get about 3/4 questionnaires that (legally) need to be filled in every month? It's bloody relentless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts