pdwyer wrote:My ideal OS would have an option for every bell and whistle that even vista desgners could think of but on a default installation NONE of them would be installed so you can have a really light bare bones & lean OS but no limits on what you can install if you want it.
As I recall the Windows 9x/ME installs were like that, most things were turned on by default but you *could* turn them off by doing a custom install.
The Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista installers never had a custom option. You installed whatever M$ wanted installed, but you can go to Add/Remove Programs then Add/Remove Windows components which will allow you to remove some things.
In it's history England has been invaded by Germanic tribes, Romans, Vikings and Normans and each have left their impact on the language. Other words have also been introduced into English from former colonies e.g. Pyjamas from India.
I saw a documentary about this recently and I'd never really considered it before.
It's quite interesting how words derived from Latin or French are polite and the equivalent Anglo-Saxon word is considered coarse e.g.
vagina -> c**t
copulate -> f**k
Excrement -> s**t
Place names that have the suffix 'ham' were originally farms, apparently this originates from Norse. There is another suffix that means the same thing but originates from another language (both escape me now).
Although animal names are usually Anglo-Saxon the name of their meat is often derived from French e.g.
Pig -> Pork
Cow -> Beef
Schadenfreude (is that how you spell it?) is a recent import which you hear quite often now.
I don't think we're nearly so delicate and precious about our language as some other nationalities and are quite happy to let it evolve and absorb new words or even for existing words to transform and take on new meanings.
the.weavster wrote:I don't think we're nearly so delicate and precious about our language as some other nationalities and are quite happy to let it evolve and absorb new words or even for existing words to transform and take on new meanings.
Cheers, I'm going to have a play with that on vmware to see how it works. looks good and they've just added SP3 support
Paul Dwyer
“In nature, it’s not the strongest nor the most intelligent who survives. It’s the most adaptable to change” - Charles Darwin
“If you can't explain it to a six-year old you really don't understand it yourself.” - Albert Einstein