On 08/16/09 12:31, Stephen wrote:
> It is strange going abroad to English speaking countries who have their own
> idioms. In Nigeria I spent ages greeting people with "Howdy" when actually they

	Freeman Dyson wrote in a recent article about a Russian advisor of his 
at university:

"Although I was only seventeen years old and Besicovitch was already a
famous professor, he gave me a great deal of his time and attention, and
we became life-long friends. He set the style in which I began to work
and think about mathematics. He gave wonderful lectures on
measure-theory and integration, smiling amiably when we laughed at his
glorious abuse of the English language. I remember only one occasion
when he was annoyed by our laughter. He remained silent for a while and
then said, 'Gentlemen. Fifty million English speak English you
speak. Hundred and fifty million Rus- sians speak English I speak.'"


-- 
I'm addicted to placebos. I'd give them up, but it wouldn't make any 
difference. - Steven Wright

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