www.alphadictionary.com

Nelson and the battle of Trafalgar do not seem parochial to me. I have visited your fair city several times and have been aboard the HMS Victory on two occasions. My Hudson ancestors were English seafaring men and women. My ancestor Heindrick Heardson was president of the Muscovy Trading Company in the late 1500s. The next generation changed their name to Hudson. Henry Hudson the explorer was a descendant of Heindrick Heradson and thus a distant cousin of mine. Henry Hudson's wife was a seafaring woman, traveling to India to buy and sell. She became a notable and wealthy woman doing this "man's" job.

MTC just asked about a historical "analog or analogue." Sometimes when I see a word spelled this way, with the "extra letters," I find myself mentally pronouncing it differently (a-nal-o-gue, pro-gram-mee). Yet the other day when I was playing Text Twist on my computer and missed a puzzle because the Bingo Word was "demagog," I yelled at the game for being silly, since that's not the usual spelling.

As far as spelling goes, and having a "useless" u, why don't we get rid of the a, also? It serves no purpose, does it?

Well yeah! Demagogue is three syllables, albeit the middle syllable is a schwa. Maybe English needs a 27th letter, schwa, to replace all those sounds from whatever letters.

...
Interestingly the '-ettes' suffix and similar would be frowned on by anyone bothered about such things in this locale, due to the diminutive association.
...

The public tide is turning on that here, too. It's no longer considered an astonishing novelty to see the "Weaker Sex" bravely attempting basketball, or police work, or surgery. Using the diminutive suffix or the faux-courteous "Lady-[insert endeavor here]" is starting to look like the patronizing reaction that it was (however unintentionally).

Women's basketball teams still play man-to-man defense!

Yes they do. And coaches cutting to the chase say, "Listen up you guys!"

I enjoy these discussions with all you guys, whatever your biological designations.

Nelson and the battle of Trafalgar do not seem parochial to me. I have visited your fair city several times and have been aboard the HMS Victory on two occasions. My Hudson ancestors were English seafaring men and women. My ancestor Heindrick Heardson was president of the Muscovy Trading Company in the late 1500s. The next generation changed their name to Hudson. Henry Hudson the explorer was a descendant of Heindrick Heradson and thus a distant cousin of mine. Henry Hudson's wife was a seafaring woman, traveling to India to buy and sell. She became a notable and wealthy woman doing this "man's" job.

You are simply not familiar with 'England expects...' then? I guess for us that is so familiar it is like 'an eye for an eye' or 'I have a dream'. I'd regard it as the most famous naval signal ever made at a minimum.

Sounds fscinating. Can you elucidate on "England expects"?

I linked the wiki entry in a prior comment:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/England_ex ... o_his_duty

Basically it was the signal Nelson sent prior to the Battle of Trafalgar to get the sailors going. His subsequent death and victory against the odds, meaning Britain controlled European waters for many years, has as wikipedia puts it 'led to the phrase becoming embedded in the English psyche'. You'd quote it if you wanted all present to stand stiffly to attention and salute, misty eyed, that sort of thing. It's been copied by everyone including Americans, hence I thought it likely to be familiar.

Like you lot chanting 'USA! USA!' mayhap, but a little more understated as befits the British character.

Very apt, I thought, that call_copse, an Englishman, expects Philip, an American, to understand "England expects." But now that I have read the Wikipedia entry, I wonder how this seismic phrase has escaped my--or anyone's-- notice. If "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery," then "England expects" has been sincerely flattered by many imitators, including Napoleon, the U.S. Navy, and Admiral Togo.

Even more interesting, the entire sentence, "England expects every man will do his duty," was communicated by coded signal flags--not words. The world (except for naval veterans) remembers the words, not the flags.

Furthermore, Admiral Nelson's original phrasing of "England confides" was wisely edited by Nelson's signal officer, Lieutenant (Lef'-ten-ant) John Pasco, to "England expects," giving Nelson's words the right historic ring. It's hard to imagine eyes misting or knees weakening with "England confides." Saved by the bell!

Of course I know "England expects every man will do his duty."
Please pardon my density. I couldn't complete "England expects ..." and perhaps should have been able to. If I do penance by singing "Rule, Britannia" twenty times am I pardoned?

Various comments:

Isn't "you lot" generally considered dismissive and somewhat rude?
Not saved by the bell, but by the flag.
As for things Americans stand up and respect, how about "Ask not..."? Perhaps even related to "England expects."
How does "eye for an eye" fit in with these concepts? Isn't it biblical?

I always thought "you lot" was the British version of "y'all."

I think so, y'all or youse guys.

An eye for an eye in modern terms points to simple revenge or getting even. Thus the phrase is shorthand for the concept.

The Biblical origin is different and twofold. Originally it was part of the Mosaic law to limit reveng. With no police force, when you hurt or killed someone, it was obligatory for the closest residents to correct the situation by taking revenge. Often if someone gouged out an eye, the family might kill him. The new law limited punishment to being equal to the crime.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus radicalized the response to the eaully famous concept of turning the other cheek.

I think so, y'all or youse guys.

I don't think even these two are equal in meaning.

An eye for an eye in modern terms points to simple revenge or getting even. Thus the phrase is shorthand for the concept.

Which is why I question how it belongs in a list of famous quotations referred to by either their first words or a key phrase: England expects, Ask not, I have a dream.

it was obligatory for the closest residents to correct the situation by taking revenge.

"Residents"? Perhaps "relatives" is the word?

Correct. Relatives.

Also, I went to the wiki link and noticed the last flag, Y, completing the word duty. Beneath it is the number 24, not 25 as I would expect. Was the alphabet shorter in 1805, or is this an uncaught error?