Keithambrose

Agree entirely.

I imagine Trump will claim credit for his election!

I know, I have a relative who lived there! Strangely, arguing against myself, as a result, I have always pronounced it as Woodge.

I like the sanity equipment, reminds me of the Marx brothers film, "That's what they call the sanity clause, You can't fool me, there ain't no Santa Clause.... "

Indeed, and some Polish names are no easy matter! Wroclaw. Rzeszow, etc. Also I've always found Brits who call Budapest, BudaPEST, somewhat pretentious, they don't say Roma, or Milano.

Confused, by raw or boiled drinking?

Never mind, there's always hope!

Certainly not the lawyers!

You will also have noted, I imagine, the fact that the Polish population in the UK declined by a quarter after Brexit.

Well, good old Wikipedia. Perhaps you can help my sister in law find a Polish builder? The three Polish firms she has used over the past 15 years, who provided excellent sevice, have gone back to Poland. She has had to sack the English builders she employed. 2 other friends of mine, one of whom had previously used a Polish builder, have sacked their English builders, bad workmanship, bad timekeeping etc. Indian builders are currently getting a better reputation. I pointed out that this was a generalisation. Luckily, my Polish cleaning lady is staying here!

We used to have many good Polish builders in the UK, but alas, post Brexit, they have mostly disappeared. Of course, they were not illegal, but a good example of workers doing a good job, for a reasonable price, in which our local builders were not interested. It's a generalisation, I know, with exceptions, but English builders have a reputation for being second rate, workshy, and expensive!

Only to be entered when sober...

A very sensible comment. I have many Jewish friends, including two Rabbis, who are committed to the State of Isreal, but bitterly opposed to Neranyahu. They still support the two state solution.

Very good!

You also seem to have overlooked the UK campaign in Burma, after the fall of Singapore. The British Army, under Gerneral Slim, prevented the Japanese from invading India, and eventually drove them back. Battles of Imphal, and Kohima, for example.

Keep on going!

It's also one of the smallest cathedrals in UK...

What about Welsh or Scottish?

Making the effort is indeed the way forward! Its not difficult. I dealt with a senior Japanese lawyer, called Hiratsuka. Pronounced Hiratska. Takes 20 seconds to learn, but I saw saw many of my English colleagues make no effort, and pronounce his name as Hirat suka. Personally, I think it rude to make no effort.

Well, you spoke heavily accented German, so not surprising!

OK, thanks!

I'll have to look out for him end June! Is he vers?

So?

I have always tried to get personal names right, as well as place names. My business, international maritime law, involved many nationalities. When I was a trainee we lost a client, as my boss consistently got his name wrong, and the name of his company! I still remember, Pollitti not Polloto, Efemar not Ermefer! Also, in Germany I was taken to a meeting by my client, a senior German lawyer. She said that the meeting would be in German, but that was OK, as I spoke German. I had to point out that I didn't speak German, I just made sure I pronounced the names, etc, correctly! The meeting went ahead, and I understood hardly anything! However, I kept the client!

Yes, that's an easy one to be caught out by. I had to be careful when I was in Rome.