Parisians are very happy about something

A public transport enthusiast's worst nightmare: feeling travel sick on the metro.

This had better not last.

He's right, these are perfect

Nou episodi! 🚨

Hola a tothom! Episode 21 is all about Catalan – its history, sounds, grammar, distinctive features, and status today. This time I'm hosting two guests, as I chat Catalan with friends Alba and Joey.

Acast: shows.acast.com/a-language-i-l…
Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/6g1Ne8…

Much flapping in Paris whether the waters of the Seine will be clean enough to host the outdoor-swimming events at the summer Olympics. My friend Joel Stratte-McClure can't answer that question, but he can tell you what it was like to jump in the river in 1976.anneswardson.com/sink-or-swim-i…

Not sure why Matty is so obsessed with the supposed inferiority of Europe.

Also not sure why he thinks it's such a flex to say they use fossil fuels to dry everything. (Note that Seattle gets more sunshine than Bordeaux)

Aside: the modern SNCF logo is such a downgrade, especially compared with the pinnacle of 1986

The alt text in the latest xkcd rhymes 'perish' with 'carriage'. Another one for my collection of rhymes which don't work if you don't have the Mary-marry-merry merger.

Another level of etymology down, the family name is a feminin variant of 'Paubon' (peu bon -> peu = little, not much, bon = good)

Also, the word entered Romanian as 'pubelă' and I see we recently created another magnificent derivative: 'europubelă' 🫡🇪🇺

shop.elkoplast.ro/europubele

'Brexit rules'? Of course it's thanks to Brexit that these rules apply to Italians. But this applies to all immigrants, and the Tories were being awful to immigrants years before the Brexit vote.

On this day in 1831, Eugène Poubelle was born. As prefect of the Seine in the 1880s, he decreed Parisian buildings should each provide 3 receptacles for waste. These became known as 'poubelles', which is today the common word for 'rubbish bin'.

On this day in 2019, the roof and spire of the Notre-Dame went up in flames. I took this photo a few days later. Today, the spire is back up; by the next anniversary, the cathedral will be open once again.

humiliating. looks like shit. yet another massive W for earth, the best planet in the universe

Hinged reaction

A half should cost exactly half the price of a pint. Choosing to drink sensibly (and choosing not to let cold beer go warm) shouldn't be penalised.

'Nice little footpath you got there, next to our eight lanes' said the cars. 'It'd be a shame if something happened to it'

The Cass Review is a watershed for methodically-flawed research. It rejected over a hundred studies to support an ideological dogmatist view. It's in no way 'free from culture wars'.

Attempting to deny gender affirming care for trans people under 25 is entirely unjustifiable.

A gauche le nombre de vélos qu’il faut sur une photo pour qu’on dise qu’une piste « sert », à droite le nombre de voitures à partir duquel on dit qu’une rue est « fréquentée » ;)