STEPHEN FRY

I'd like to know a lot more about how it came to be, especially as you may have noticed there are practically no Latin types on this forum. We are all British, American, Irish, Scandinavian, Germanic, Slavic...No Latin whatsoever. I wonder whyt the ethnic groups represented here are so limited? Does it have something to do with where Stephen's stuff is available to watch/read or is it about cultures who are able to appreciate his type of wit and intelligence?

By the way, Just A Norwegian, you'll find that video was made by somebody here - Fryed and Tested.

I am a Latino on Wednesdays.

But I refuse to sbscribe to the view that English is a Germanic language. The pronunciation alone is more influenced by our Norman heritage than anything else.
Scandinavian english speakers have always fascinated me. Despite the parody accent of the Swedish chef in The Muppet Show, the reality is that many Scandinavians have undetectable accents. In fact most of those I have met have accents which are not only authentically English, Irish or American, but one could even swear they were regional.
I asked a student about this once and she said that in Sweden they only have subtitles on foreign programmes and films, EVEN THE KIDS CARTOONS. Bloody fantastic! That means that in order to enjoy an American cartoon, Swedish kids must have a good level of literacy in their own language first. More countries should do this!
Another great Swedish law - no advertising during children's TV. Totally eliminates the 'pester power' of evil toy companies.

I hope this isn't another one of those pointless border rivalries with no justification except years and years of "Oh they've got a funny accent" and such rot.

Like England and France, see? We have a lot in common, yet our mutual dislike is based on what? Very little of any substance. It's more like brothers who don't recognise their similarities and hate the other for what is really a common trait. Arrogance for example: both nations still behave like they rule half the world and accuse the other one of doing the same. Madness!

What about the Danes? (gulp! I may be asking for trouble here)

OK, but promise me you'll explain sometime. We have a similar thing here between the Poles and the Czechs. Not the hate thing, but the attitude to language and accent. The languages are very similar, but Czechs say "Polish sounds like Czech spoken by drunks" and Poles say "Czech sounds like Polish spoken by the mentally handicapped". I've been living in Poland long enough to find Czech on the radio funny myself, but i kind of agree with their opinion of Polish because it has so many "sh" sounds. (How would you write that sound in Norwegian?)

The art of conversation, my dear Norwegian friend. If you want me to say something about the original subject...
Actually, I have wondered whether Baleiro knows now about Stephen's bipolar disorder. I think it adds another level to the original song. Where once it was a whimsical ditty about someone running away with hurt feelings, it is now a song of support from a friendly voice to a manic depressive. Or am I reading too much into this?