can't help with any answers but you made me smile

As far as the 4th question is concerned, there is no official reason. My own theory is that 42 in binary is 101010. In electronic terms, a 1 means switch is on, and a 0 means off. So 101010 means On, Off, On, Off, On, Off which could be a a way of looking at Life, the Universe and Everything. But of course Douglas Adams is no longer with us so can't say whether my theory is right or wrong, but it is at least plausible.

As far as the 1st question is concerned, can't add much other than to say that the subtitles use the same channel as the teletext channel, which as that is text only makes the sign language person having to be part of the main display.

See this link for everything you always wanted to know about inverted commas.

I think stammering is a sign of nervousness and the more you are aware of iy the more likely you are to stammer. Gates has used the McGuire Programme to reduce the stammer. I guess that when he sings, the nervousness vanishes so he doesn't stammer.

Douglas Adams said in an interview that it was simply a number he thought of, no other reason. I suppose that's as random as the number itself.

That's what I have always thought -no logic there just a bit of daftness.

I saw a programme about stuttering, and they used singing as part of the therapy.

When we sing, we only actually sing the vowel sounds, whereas stuttering usually only occurs when we are saying the consonant sounds.

Apparently, Carly Simons was also a stutterer.

Four is the only number which has the same number of letters as the number that it is.

I think 4 may be the true answer to everything.

4 has always been my favourite number. I don't know why I just think it is lovely.

I have a friend who has a bad stutter when he talks in company or one to one. He`s a lecturer at our art college and doesn`t stutter when he`s teaching. He also has a sideline as an alternative comedian/singer (very funny) and doesn`t stutter when he`s on stage. That`s when he`s most confident.

And mine...but it was my register number at school in both Primary and Secondary school

glad I am not the only one puzzled by this.. .seems a tad unfair on deaf people. .

I love watching the sign lady on the late night "deaf zone" programmes.   Sometimes if the programme itself is crap watching some of the signs for certain words is dead funny! 

Thanks for the replies everyone! Dits I was trying to copy the sign language lady earlier, I looked a bit affected

You know when you have a cold and you're at that stage where your nose won't stop running and in the end you can only get to sleep when you shove some tissue up each nostril?

Or is that only me?  

Anyway - why is it when you wake up 6 hours later the pillow isn't covered in snot?

That sure is a mystery, maybe it's a job for....

Oooh Cariad I do the tissue thing to! (Why did I feel a rush of euphoria when reading your post?!)

Crusty bollocks will you bugger off and stop trolling me you pilchard

My Room Is The G Spot, Call Me Mr Crusty,
I Can Make Your Bed Rock Giiiiiiirl, I-I-I I Can Make Your Bed Rock, I-I-I I Can Make Your Bed Rock Giiiiirlllll

Easy, so that deaf people can Sky+ it and watch whenever they want.


I love sign language and think it should be taught in schools, deaf people can feel isolated in a hearing world, and hearing folk would discover how fascinating deaf language and culture is.

Is there a 'demand' (for want of a better word) for this though? Although I do agree in the sense that disabilities and how they can affect people should be included in the curriculum somehow to encourage kids to have a better understanding. I don't recall ever even discussing disabilities or anything of that ilk at school.

(And ello bird x)

I imagine that the majority of deaf people would say so!


And a lot of deaf folk I have met do not see their deafness as a disability, more that the disability is with the hearing world's attitude.  Deaf culture and sign language has a long and interesting history which is largely ignored, and there is a huge lack of deaf awareness still (I have seen people where I work SHOUTING at deaf people and getting irritated with them.  How rude.  It takes almost no effort to learn a few signs (if you think, it's easy to sign 'pen and paper?' isn't it?) 


BSL is a native British language and the first language of the deaf, so yes I would say it is entirely appropriate to teach it in schools.


And ello missus, hope you are having a good day today

I find it fascinating!    I used t watch the deaf zone magazine programme all the time...   their "culture" is really really interesting.

The most touching "thank you" I ever had in the LUT (twas to all LUT'rs... not just me) was from a deaf FM who thanked us, explaining that without the LUT most of Big Brother was inaccessible to them.

British Sign Language is fascinating... in its structure, and evolution.

they really don't....   this is what first got me interested in it.   There is a whole community that I had been unaware of.

I loved studying it, and the history is amazing and often shocking  No wonder a lot of deaf people are politicised by their school experiences, some of them not being able to use their first language as the emphasis was on an oralist education (which thankfully changed after 1979), having their hands tied so they had to be 'oral' in class.  Thankfully education now places more emphasis on signing as well as oral communication.


Deaf kids are taught to get on in an oral world, so why shouldn't hearing kids be taught to sign too?  It is much easier for a hearing kid to learn BSL than it is for a deaf kid to learn English!  Deaf culture should be appreciated, but sadly deaf people are marginalised in a hearing world, how can we treat a group of people like that?

yeah... I have seen some of this stuff covered in the See Hear programme.  It was shocking.

And I agree...  it wouldn't hurt to teach BSL in primary schools...  it would actually fit in quite well as part of the broader phonetics, and english language subjects.

My three older kids were all taught some sign language cos their primary school had a hearing impaired department and every class had at least one hearing impaired kid...Everyone benefitted cos the extra funding funded extra classroom assistants who whilst their main priority was the hearing impaired kid in their class also helped the other kids...

This meant they went through primary school in classes of about 25 kids with 2/3 staff most of the time.

That is very encouraging to know   Did they enjoy it?

Yeah they did....they've probably forgotten most of what they learned now but at the time they did, they learned songs in sign language as well...they just accepted it as the way things were, cos the deaf kids were only taken out for one to one stuff about an hour a day, they were in with the others the rest of the time and their deafness was never an issue...

It also meant that kids with other disabilities were readily accepted into the school by all the kids cos it just wasn't a big deal to them.

That's excellent training for kids...some of the adults I've seen at work (in a HOSPITAL!!) have no awareness of how to deal with anyone who is different from them.  It makes me cringe so bad, and I've held informal awareness sessions to try and improve things a bit.  The reaction is usually, 'Oh yes, it's just common sense isn't it?'

My son's infant and junior school had physically disabled children in their classes. It makes the children more tolerant I'm sure. Same as Croc they had 2/3 adults per class and a maximum of 26 per class. Sports days were brilliant as the teachers used to run pushing the children in their wheelchairs

Sorry for asking initially if there was 'demand' for sign language to be taught in schools, what I was trying to say (and failing!) was that I didn't think it was that much of an issue to warrant including it as a singular into school curriculum, which is a really ignorant way to think. After reading the thread and these 2 posts it's opened my eyes, so thank you

Also, I wonder if, to make attitudes more acceptable in schools, it would be worth children having to trial being deaf or wheelchair bound for a day, just to see how difficult it is to fit in with the norm? I can only go on my own school days and there was nothing like that happening at the time or any kind of systems in place.

Gareth Gates is still a non stutterer. He has to work at it though. Apparently, I was told by the mother of one of our priests, who is a very bad stutterer,that he can sing perfectly well because it is  a different part of the brain that is being used. He used to mostly sing the mass, because when he talked it it took 15 minutes longer than usual. I don't know if this is correct or not, but I have seen the difference, so maybe it is.

I had a friend who stuttered when she talked but sang perfectly.

I thought quotation marks and inverted commas were the same thing.

Always puzzled why no one ever take the newspaper on the top of the pile in the newsagents.

I don't cos normally its a bit tatty.

What do you do if it is the only one left.

Well then I have no chioce....but if its too tatty i get a different paper.

I do too, i dont like to think someone has read that one, i want my own one

How do leaded space boots work in a weightless environment?