Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 5]

Things you always wanted to know the answer to [Vol. 5]

Author
Discussion

Clockwork Cupcake

75,256 posts

275 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
Nethybridge said:
So what's a Candlewick, ? [and if anyone says it's the wick in a candle I'll smack their legs].
About 10 drachma an hour.

Oh, wait, wrong punchline. smile

Gladers01

650 posts

51 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
Most counties in this country seem to end in Shire and named after the county town such as Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire etc with a few exceptions like Wiltshire and Hampshire, why is this and why do we not have a Kentshire or Surreyshire for example? scratchchin

Doofus

26,606 posts

176 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
Gladers01 said:
Most counties in this country seem to end in Shire and named after the county town such as Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire etc with a few exceptions like Wiltshire and Hampshire, why is this and why do we not have a Kentshire or Surreyshire for example? scratchchin
Counties that aren't shires were Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.

That's all I know. smile

Pixel Pusher

10,204 posts

162 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
Does anti perspirant only work on arm pits?

Could you cover your entire body with it and not sweat at all?

Doofus

26,606 posts

176 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
Not The Nine O'Clock News sketch incoming in 3...2...1...

StevieBee

13,091 posts

258 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
Gladers01 said:
Most counties in this country seem to end in Shire and named after the county town such as Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire etc with a few exceptions like Wiltshire and Hampshire, why is this and why do we not have a Kentshire or Surreyshire for example? scratchchin
Any non-metropolitan county is a shire county. The word (sort of) means 'self governing'.

Some counties existed or were named before the idea of 'shire' came about so never adopted it as part of their name. For example, Essex was a region before it was a county, its name morphing from 'Kingdom of East Saxons'. County Councils as regions of defined political governance only came into being in the late 19th century. Where no pre-existing name for the region existed, they adopted the same of the main town, followed by 'shire'.

V41LEY

2,911 posts

241 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
Pixel Pusher said:
Does anti perspirant only work on arm pits?

Could you cover your entire body with it and not sweat at all?
I’ll ask Prince Andrew.

Pixel Pusher

10,204 posts

162 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
Doofus said:
Not The Nine O'Clock News sketch incoming in 3...2...1...
Well that covers "Bol & Arezol" and I already know about armpits...

Gladers01

650 posts

51 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
StevieBee said:
Gladers01 said:
Most counties in this country seem to end in Shire and named after the county town such as Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire etc with a few exceptions like Wiltshire and Hampshire, why is this and why do we not have a Kentshire or Surreyshire for example? scratchchin
Any non-metropolitan county is a shire county. The word (sort of) means 'self governing'.

Some counties existed or were named before the idea of 'shire' came about so never adopted it as part of their name. For example, Essex was a region before it was a county, its name morphing from 'Kingdom of East Saxons'. County Councils as regions of defined political governance only came into being in the late 19th century. Where no pre-existing name for the region existed, they adopted the same of the main town, followed by 'shire'.
I was going to ask about Essex being shire less, much appreciated and most enlightening thumbup

Pitre

4,735 posts

237 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
It's about time some bright spark came up with a solution to online voting in the upcoming general election.

I believe everyone should be obliged to vote, with 'none of the above' being an option. And I get that some vulnerable people could face coercion, but surely this could be overcome in some way.

Edited by Pitre on Tuesday 18th June 14:10

Clockwork Cupcake

75,256 posts

275 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
Pitre said:
It's about time some bright spark came up with a solution to online voting in the upcoming general election.

I believe everyone should be obliged to vote, with 'none of the above' being an option. And I get that some vulnerable people could face coercion, but surely this could be overcome in some way.
I don't think people should be forced to vote, because abstaining is as much a right as voting is. What I think we instead need is more of effort to engage voters such that they *want* to vote and feel that their vote counts and that it means something. So, encourage rather than force.

Forcing people to vote when they don't think it will make a blind bit of difference is the kind of solution more in keeping with Russia or North Korea, in my opinion. Which is just my opinion and you are free to disagree.



captain_cynic

12,611 posts

98 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
Pixel Pusher said:
Does anti perspirant only work on arm pits?

Could you cover your entire body with it and not sweat at all?
There's no reason not to.

Antiperspirants work by blocking the pores sweat comes out of so will work on anywhere that sweats but only reduces the amount you sweat, not eliminate it completely. Deodorants can also react with sweat to kill bacteria (the cause of the smell) and/or release perfume.

Of course some deodorants are just smelly sprays... Depends on the product.

When you live in hot climates you generally put deodorant on your front and back as well.

boyse7en

6,847 posts

168 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
StevieBee said:
Gladers01 said:
Most counties in this country seem to end in Shire and named after the county town such as Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire etc with a few exceptions like Wiltshire and Hampshire, why is this and why do we not have a Kentshire or Surreyshire for example? scratchchin
Any non-metropolitan county is a shire county. The word (sort of) means 'self governing'.

Some counties existed or were named before the idea of 'shire' came about so never adopted it as part of their name. For example, Essex was a region before it was a county, its name morphing from 'Kingdom of East Saxons'. County Councils as regions of defined political governance only came into being in the late 19th century. Where no pre-existing name for the region existed, they adopted the same of the main town, followed by 'shire'.
How does that work for Devon? It's historic name was Devonshire, but there has never been a town called Devon

Doofus

26,606 posts

176 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
See also Berkshire, Wiltshire, Cheshire, Shropshire.

captain_cynic

12,611 posts

98 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
Clockwork Cupcake said:
I don't think people should be forced to vote, because abstaining is as much a right as voting is. What I think we instead need is more of effort to engage voters such that they *want* to vote and feel that their vote counts and that it means something. So, encourage rather than force.

Forcing people to vote when they don't think it will make a blind bit of difference is the kind of solution more in keeping with Russia or North Korea, in my opinion. Which is just my opinion and you are free to disagree.
This, voting is a right and should not be an obligation (or burden).

Australia forces you to vote and all it does is increase the spoiled ballot count and the donkey vote.

A donkey vote is where you rank candidates by the order they appear on the ballot paper (or just put an X in the first box if you only need to select 1). This makes the top box of the ballot paper highly coveted in Australia.

CivicDuties

5,298 posts

33 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
Doofus said:
See also Berkshire, Wiltshire, Cheshire, Shropshire.
Berkshire is named after a tree. True story.

Pitre

4,735 posts

237 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
captain_cynic said:
Clockwork Cupcake said:
I don't think people should be forced to vote, because abstaining is as much a right as voting is. What I think we instead need is more of effort to engage voters such that they *want* to vote and feel that their vote counts and that it means something. So, encourage rather than force.

Forcing people to vote when they don't think it will make a blind bit of difference is the kind of solution more in keeping with Russia or North Korea, in my opinion. Which is just my opinion and you are free to disagree.
This, voting is a right and should not be an obligation (or burden).

Australia forces you to vote and all it does is increase the spoiled ballot count and the donkey vote.

A donkey vote is where you rank candidates by the order they appear on the ballot paper (or just put an X in the first box if you only need to select 1). This makes the top box of the ballot paper highly coveted in Australia.
But that's exactly why I said you could vote for 'none of the above' which is effectively not voting.
A lot of people simply cannot be arsed to go and vote.

Clockwork Cupcake

75,256 posts

275 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
Pitre said:
But that's exactly why I said you could vote for 'none of the above' which is effectively not voting.
A lot of people simply cannot be arsed to go and vote.
I think those are two separate things.

I do agree that we should have an option to actively abstain (as in the "none of the above" that you mention) rather than spoiling the ballot paper. And so make a differentiation between "turned out to vote and actively abstained" and "did not vote".

However, I do not think compulsory voting is the answer. And, as captain_cynic points out, it would cause its own set of issues.


Doofus

26,606 posts

176 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
CivicDuties said:
Doofus said:
See also Berkshire, Wiltshire, Cheshire, Shropshire.
Berkshire is named after a tree. True story.
It's actually named after a woodland.

king arthur

6,669 posts

264 months

Tuesday 18th June
quotequote all
CivicDuties said:
Doofus said:
See also Berkshire, Wiltshire, Cheshire, Shropshire.
Berkshire is named after a tree. True story.
Not a dog then?