Sideswipe

A public health message from the promiscuous war years.

Manus Pretorius complained to the Advertising Standards Board about a Land Transport New Zealand TV advertisement in which a man who'd been drinking heads to his car ... Oh no, is he going to drive? Nah, he's just getting his football ... his mate is pleased and says "Nice one bro. You're a manus." The guy with the football shoots back, "No, you're a manus." The complainant said the use of the word which indicated the man was a fool, "had caused him considerable embarrassment". The board did not uphold the complaint, citing a precedent - an ad that contained the line "Helen Pearce is a slapper". The board decided her name had been a random selection and was not meant to refer to a real person.

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A glossary of early 19th-century vocabulary, compiled by Eric Furguson, throws up a few terms we should all use more often.

Grandsire - grandfather.

Hammer and Tongs - having a serious intent, angry, acting energetically.

Belly timber - food

Ragamuffin - dirty, ragged individual.

Fag end - last years, final part.

Obloquy - false accusation, malicious gossip.

Try this for starters: "The grandsire went hammer and tongs to get some belly timber as he thought he might be at the fag end".

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Ranji Prakash's 3-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter love the Hyundai ad where the toddlers go on a road trip to a beach. "As soon as they hear the music from that ad, no matter where they are, they will rush to see it," he says. "And a couple of weeks ago my son was insisting on driving his sister and grandma to his preschool. No surprise as to where that idea came from."

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Q: Help me settle a disagreement with my fiance - how many cats is it reasonable for two people in a flat to have?

One or two is reasonable. Three and you're a little odd. Four is borderline weirdo. Five is certifiable craziness.
(Source: AskMetafilter.com)

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First smoky, now spotlights. A reader writes: "A workmate of mine has just returned from his WOF inspection. Since he bought his car it has carried a pair of front-mounted spotlights, but they have never been connected. They'd never been a problem but this time he was told to either wire up the lights or remove them, otherwise no WOF."

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One person's celebrity is not another's. Variety - The Children's Charity are happy to embrace the "celebrity builder" Cocksy for a makeover of the Parekura Centre, a special needs unit adjoining the Henderson High School. But in an ad for their new celebrity gossip show M.E.A.T.Y, music channel C4 uses the tagline, " ... and when we say celebrities, we don't mean Cocksy." Ouch.