What new thing have you learned today ?

[classicman]

Originally Posted by Nirvana

I have learned that if you want life to be easier teach your partner to think "How can I make >insert name here< 's life easier.

There are many different types of people here....all very different.

[casimendocina]

Originally Posted by Firecat

There are many different types of people here....all very different.

"Not better or worse, just different" (quote from nearly every single official cross-cultural meeting I have ever attended).

[infinite monkey]

Little. Yellow. Different. Better.

No, not Nuprin. The Chinese.

[Nirvana]

Do the Brits think of a Cowboy as an unscrupulous business person?

[busterb]

Originally Posted by GunMaster357

The meaning of the word pabulum...

Examples of PABULUM
<we have reached a cultural low if reality television is regarded as pabulum for the masses>

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by casimendocina

"Not better or worse, just different"

MY feelings about Vinyl vs. CDs

[BigV]

what I'm gonna learn in the next ten minutes:

can I shut down, disassemble the lcd on my laptop, replace the regulator, reassemble and power on and login again...

we'll see.

Bye for now.

[casimendocina]

Originally Posted by Nirvana

Do the Brits think of a Cowboy as an unscrupulous business person?

Have you heard the term 'cowboy school'? It usually refers to an English language school in an Asian country which has questionable educational standards and has only been established to make money, so the short answer is yes.

[limey]

Originally Posted by Nirvana

Do the Brits think of a Cowboy as an unscrupulous business person?

Yes.

eta: We don't think cowboys themselves are unscrupulous, but we use the term to denote an unscrupulous business person as in "cowboy builders" or "cowboy outfit" (not clothing!!).

[DanaC]

Cowboy doesn't just refer to a lack of scruples, it also suggests a haphazard, amateur approach.


[eta] I was wondering why we have that usage, so I did a bit of googling. According to wiki:

In the Tombstone area in the 1880s, the term "Cowboy" or "cow-boy" was used pejoratively to describe men who had been implicated in various crimes.[14] One loosely organized band was dubbed "The Cowboys," and profited from smuggling cattle, alcohol, and tobacco across the U.S./Mexico border.[15][16] The San Francisco Examiner wrote in an editorial, "Cowboys [are] the most reckless class of outlaws in that wild country...infinitely worse than the ordinary robber."[14] It became an insult in the area to call someone a "cowboy," as it suggested he was a horse thief, robber, or outlaw. Cattlemen were generally called herders or ranchers.[

So, I guess we got the usage from there.

[Undertoad]

This clip (apx 1 minute) will explain cowboys

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeGzPohkyew&t=2m40s

[footfootfoot]

We use it mostly as wild,undisciplined, rough, dangerous

[BigV]

new regulator is in. I got a brief flash of a display and then more nuttin. I'll be returning the regulator today.

[Sundae]

Originally Posted by Nirvana

Do the Brits think of a Cowboy as an unscrupulous business person?

Originally Posted by DanaC

Cowboy doesn't just refer to a lack of scruples, it also suggests a haphazard, amateur approach.

My favourite use was outside a garage in Bradford - "You've tried the cowboys, now try the Indians".

Saw the same outside a fast food place in Leicester, but it didn't ring quite as true. I know, I ate there once.