Originally Posted by VH-RMD (Post 16345839)

so what? Effective, unobtrusive, security.

Watch and learn :rolleyes:

Originally Posted by VH-RMD (Post 16346157)

you have no idea what I do or do not know. I can imagine you had little to no intelligence of what went on for the last Royal wedding (that would be the Mr Peter Phelps to Miss Autumn Patricia Kelly BTW).

So what if the British go 'overboard', it is unobtrusive.

It is a shame the Americans seem to be completely unable to grasp such a simple concept, no more evidenced than in the airports of the USA.

Originally Posted by TSORon (Post 16346721)

When I initially read your response I thought “Wow, he/she really took that personally”, but then I noted where your home airport is.

I spent 4 years in the UK some time back, and it was that which taught me that words have different meanings in different cultures. Like the term “I’m stuffed”. In the USA it usually means one has eaten too much, but in the UK it means that one is pregnant. Just an example mind you, but I’m fairly sure that I could not imagine what the term might mean down under in OZ.

So, to complete the point I am making, when I said that “You could not imagine” it was not a reference to what you do know or don’t know, it was a reference to an extremely large operation that one not in the community (meaning military or intel community) would have trouble understanding or believing.

BTW when the British go “overboard”, it is anything but unobtrusive. I was not only a military member serving in the UK, I was also an employee of a civilian company not associated with my military duties. We call it “Working on the economy”, or holding down a part-time job off base. I got to see just how “overboard” the Brits can get on a weekly basis, and there is nothing unobtrusive about it. Sure, there are things that they do that ARE unobtrusive, just as there are in the USA, and I’m sure in Australia.

So, sit back, take a deep breath, and as we say here, “chill”. I was not intending to insult you in any way shape or form, just trying to express the vastness of the operation that was laid on for the wedding I was there for.

Or I could be mistaken and you wanted to be offended, in which case you can’t blame me for it. ;)

Originally Posted by TSORon (Post 16346721)

I spent 4 years in the UK some time back, and it was that which taught me that words have different meanings in different cultures. Like the term “I’m stuffed”. In the USA it usually means one has eaten too much, but in the UK it means that one is pregnant.

Originally Posted by Custardthecat (Post 16379226)

Phelps.... was he that guy out of 'Mission Impossible'. I think you mean Peter Phillips, son of Princess Anne and Captain Mark Phillips.

Originally Posted by Custardthecat (Post 16379387)

You spent 4 years in the UK! Really! I have lived all my life in Blighty and speaking as a 'Brit', I have never, ever heard anywhere, the term stuffed associated with pregnancy. Conversely, I have indeed, often, heard it in the context of ones intake of solids almost exceeding the stomachs capacity (exactly the same as in the US). The closest phrase to your example would be 'up the duff' which is often used to describe the condition of being impregnated (usually on an unscheduled basis). 'Stuffed' is also commonly used to describe a situation evolving very unfavourably with some consequence for the er...'stuffee' ( I made that one up). Your example is not an illustration of cultural difference at all and is indicative of the accuracy of the rest of your apparent assessment of the way we do things. Sounds like you were a doorman in a nightclub or football steward or something in your part-time employment. I'm guessing here, of course, but the 'weekly basis' thing makes it sound to me that you were involved in recreational type security

Originally Posted by TSORon (Post 16386296)

not about someone’s feet but a kind of nut, like a pistachio or an almond

Originally Posted by eturowski (Post 16386371)

Actually, the nut to which you are referring (a Brazil nut) is colloquially referred to by "that" term precisely because it looks like said body part. It is a racially charged term that is probably not the best choice here. I don't know, maybe "chickpea" or "boob tube" would have been better examples.

Originally Posted by TSORon (Post 16386296)

RAF Upper Heyford, Oxon. Actually I was a waiter in a restaurant in downtown Banbury, just south of the Banbury Cross. And after the pubs closed at 11pm local those wishing to continue to consume would stop in our establishment because we didn’t close until midnight and served a very low quality (personal opinion) beer. We provided a whole additional hour to get drunk. It was usually during these times when the locals would become “colorful” and end up being hauled away by Thames Valley. Weekends, not my favorite time of the week when I was working there.

As here in the US there are different terms being used with the same meaning all over your home country. In Alabama for instance a “......-toe” is not about someone’s feet but a kind of nut, like a pistachio or an almond. They also eat boiled peanuts down there (Tried them once, disgusting things), so there is no allotting for taste. So while you may have never heard the term used in that context it does not mean that it is not being used in the Oxford area even to this day.

Originally Posted by Custardthecat (Post 16388037)

The locals having too much to drink is I think, what you had in mind when referring to the Brits going overboard and not a good example to back up your original contention about organisational ability matters related to state security.

Originally Posted by Custardthecat (Post 16388037)

As far as the 'stuffed' thing goes, I'm not going to dispute with you that in one locale it may be used in a particular way but I have lived all over the UK (including Henley-on-Thames, Oxon) and not heard it used like this and you did refer to it being used that way in the UK (not just peculiar to Oxfordshire). It is therefore not an example of cultural difference between the US and the UK, just a colloqiallism, an example of (very) local phraseology.

Originally Posted by TSORon (Post 16398730)

It was a case in point. Nothing more. There are many way that Americans think that the Brits go overboard, but that is for another thread and another forum. Omni this is not.

Actually, it was the point that your case appeared to rely on. How did these many Americans form their opinion. What percentage of the population has been long enough in the UK to fairly form this view. You said you formed this view during your 4 year stay. Maybe they get it from Fox News.

:rolleyes:

When you are done splitting hairs maybe we can get back to the conversation.