Date: 10 Apr 2000 11:10:55 +0200 From: Dag-Erling Smorgrav <des@flood.ping.uio.no> To: Rahul Siddharthan <rsidd@physics.iisc.ernet.in> Cc: Brett Taylor <brett@peloton.runet.edu>, Christian Weisgerber <naddy@mips.rhein-neckar.de>, freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Spellings [was Re: BSDCon East] Message-ID: <xzpk8i6micg.fsf@flood.ping.uio.no> In-Reply-To: Rahul Siddharthan's message of "Mon, 10 Apr 2000 10:17:01 %2B0530" References: <xzp3dovno4r.fsf@flood.ping.uio.no> <Pine.BSF.4.10.10004091541050.3039-100000@peloton.runet.edu> <20000410101700.B317@theory8.physics.iisc.ernet.in>
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Rahul Siddharthan <rsidd@physics.iisc.ernet.in> writes:
> > > > apparently French physicists were annoyed when John Wheeler coined
> > > > the word "black hole" because it translated to anus.
> > > Bollocks. To me, it sounds like just another one of those the-french-
> > > are-so-weird stories the anglosaxon are so fond of telling.
> > Believe it or not as you will - since I've heard the story directly from
> > Wheeler, Thorne and my thesis advisor (who did his PhD w/ Wheeler and
> > studied under Thorne at CalTech) I'll take their word for it.
> I just asked a French teacher of my acquaintance. She said it's true,
> it can be interpreted in that way.
No more than the english term "black hole" can be interpreted as
meaning "anus".
The usual vulgar term for "asshole" in French is "trou de balle"
("bullet hole").
DES
--
Dag-Erling Smorgrav - des@flood.ping.uio.no
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