Dawn

Dawn

Friday, February 14, 2014

The fibbing princess again; A fibbing African; The Perils of Permissive Parenting; & Punny punctuation.


Just reverting back the Princess Cristina and her day in court last Saturday. Given that she was clealy lying through her teeth, the question arises as to whether she was on oath and whether she runs a risk of paying for this. The answers would appear to be No and No. The thing to remember is that she was only imputada not acusada. In other words, called to answer questions because of suspicions of wrongdoing. Imagine somebody being interviewed by the police in Anglo jusrisdictions. Spanish law gives someone in this situation the right to avoid saying anything prejudicial to themselves. Though it doesn't, I'm assured, give people the legal right to lie, as some interpret the relevant provision. It's a fine line, though. I would have thought that the answer to the question "Did you know your husband was up to all sorts of financial skullduggery", should have been:- "No comment", rather than just "No".

Talking of untruths . . . I was accosted by an African gentleman in the street yesterday and given a card which began: GRAND ASTROLOGER, SCIENTIFIC, SPIRITUALIST AND TRUSTWORTHY AFRICAN HEALER. Great Fortune Teller and Specialist in Every Type of Problem and Difficulty. Beats selling umbrellas, I guess. Even in these propitious times

I read this morning that "A best-selling Swedish academic has concluded that permissive [Swedish] parenting is creating a generation of arrogant young adults who lack social empathy, personal resilience and, after a childhood of pampering, are destined to be bitterly disappointed in life." I cite this because most of us from Northern Europe would probably regard Spanish parenting as pretty permissive. And yet I wouldn't want to suggest that young Spanish adults are arrogant and lacking in social empathy, etc. But, then I don't live with any Spanish children, nor any young adults for that matter. Nor do I meet any in the workplace. Maybe they really are like their Swedish counterparts.

"A study has shown that spaces in Madrid and Barcelona's car parks are tighter than anywhere else in Europe and often leave motorists unable to exit their vehicles". Of course they are; that's why the 4 corners of every single car here have been 'kissed'.

Finally . . . In every edition of the UK satirical magazine Private Eye, a lady called Teresa Monachino has a clever pun on a punctuational theme. This week's is:- How to console a grammarian - There, their, they're

Her last was was even better: Don't date a pronoun; they can be possessive

The Environment 


January: 31 days. On which it rained: 28 - 93%

February: 14 days. On which it has rained: 14 - 100%. 
So, 42 out of 45 - 93%, and rising. 


As a gale howls around my house as I type this, it seems apt to leave you with this cartoon from today's Daily Telegraph:-



 Roses are red

They sell them in shops
My love is like the rain
It never bloody stops

PS: Not sure about the name Monachino. It (almost) means Chinese monkey in Spanish. Or, Lovely Chinese lady.

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