Silliness Room to swing a cat? Hardly - Page 3

Sparrow · 08-17-2009, 02:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivaldirules

I have a (very slightly) below average house (ahem!) but the problem is that I want to move to a small 2-bedroom single level house in a few years and they simply don't make those any more.

That's the sort of house I have (2 bed bungalow).

It suits me very well - living alone, I didn't need rooms I'm not going to use, the upkeep and maintenance is easy and cheap, and I was able to pay off the mortgage in about seven years.

But I wonder if the tiny rooms in new-built houses (here in the UK), are partly the result of the government's emissions targets.

Sweetpea · 08-17-2009, 03:35 AM

We wanted a house with at least 3 bedrooms, preferably 4. One bedroom and one room for each of us, as hobby/computer room. And that spare bedroom would be nice (and it would still be nice, as our spare bedroom has been taken over by a cat)

HarryT · 08-17-2009, 03:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgray

I thought it was "swing a dead cat". I'm not dumb enough to grab a live cat by the tail and try to swing it. The doctor's bill would be horrendous. And you thought Ginsu knives were sharp

The expression does not refer to pussy cats, but to the cat 'o nine tails - a whip used to punish sailors in the Royal Navy.

HarryT · 08-17-2009, 03:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparrow

That's the sort of house I have (2 bed bungalow).

Me too.

Sweetpea · 08-17-2009, 03:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

Me too.

We looked at bungalows, but they were generally too small. So, we finally settled on one extra floor. Which gave us that extra bedroom and a lounge!

HarryT · 08-17-2009, 03:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

The expression does not refer to pussy cats, but to the cat 'o nine tails - a whip used to punish sailors in the Royal Navy.

Further research shows that this is disputed; the expression may have been used earlier to refer to the practice of putting a (live) cat in a leather harness, and setting it swinging, then using it as a archery target.

jgray · 08-17-2009, 03:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HarryT

The expression does not refer to pussy cats, but to the cat 'o nine tails - a whip used to punish sailors in the Royal Navy.

I know what a cat 'o nine tails is. I didn't know the expression referred to that, rather than a real cat. I've always heard it as "swing a dead cat".

Do you happen to have an authoritative source on the etymology? No Wikipedia links, please.

Reading the Wikipedia article about cat 'o nine tails, I see that even there, the attribution of the phrase "swing a cat" is disputed.

HarryT · 08-17-2009, 03:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgray

Do you happen to have an authoritative source on the etymology?

Merely what is generally believed here in the UK in popular culture, which may or may not be correct.

vivaldirules · 08-17-2009, 07:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

VR, I learned a long time ago that smaller wasn't cheaper.

Thanks, SSRSE, but I'm really not necessarily looking for cheaper - I'm looking for smaller. Less to heat, cool, clean, repair, furnish, and live in. I think there's something to said for austerity - even if you have to pay a little more for it sometimes!

Slite · 08-17-2009, 07:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivaldirules

Thanks, SSRSE, but I'm really not necessarily looking for cheaper - I'm looking for smaller. Less to heat, cool, clean, repair, furnish, and live in. I think there's something to said for austerity - even if you have to pay a little more for it sometimes!

Small is good. We have lesse.... 122 square meters (1313 squarefeet) (can that be correct???)

With a HUGE livingroom and kitchen which are connected (open), and one master bedroom, and 2 spare bedrooms/workrooms for myself and wifey.

The kitchen/livingroom is easily half the available area, since there is were we spend most of our time it's definitly a perfect place for us.

Sweetpea · 08-17-2009, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slite

Small is good. We have lesse.... 122 square meters (1313 squarefeet) (can that be correct???)

With a HUGE livingroom and kitchen which are connected (open), and one master bedroom, and 2 spare bedrooms/workrooms for myself and wifey.

The kitchen/livingroom is easily half the available area, since there is were we spend most of our time it's definitly a perfect place for us.

Our kitchen is about the same size as the livingroom (both at around 30m2). Only the livingroom is almost square, while the kitchen has an L form. Once the lounge is ready, I think that will be the place where we'll (at least I will!) spend most of our (or my) time. The kitchen isn't a nice place to spend time right now...

zelda_pinwheel · 08-17-2009, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slite

Small is good. We have lesse.... 122 square meters (1313 squarefeet) (can that be correct???)

With a HUGE livingroom and kitchen which are connected (open), and one master bedroom, and 2 spare bedrooms/workrooms for myself and wifey.

The kitchen/livingroom is easily half the available area, since there is were we spend most of our time it's definitly a perfect place for us.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Our kitchen is about the same size as the livingroom (both at around 30m2). Only the livingroom is almost square, while the kitchen has an L form. Once the lounge is ready, I think that will be the place where we'll (at least I will!) spend most of our (or my) time. The kitchen isn't a nice place to spend time right now...

:sigh:

perhaps i should move north.

Slite · 08-17-2009, 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

:sigh:

perhaps i should move north.

Well, the bad thing about it was that it cost us 270.000 Euros tho, and that only because we elected to move 35 kilometers out of stockholm, the same size house inside stockholm would easily have cost us like 500.000 euros.

zelda_pinwheel · 08-17-2009, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slite

Well, the bad thing about it was that it cost us 270.000 Euros tho, and that only because we elected to move 35 kilometers out of stockholm, the same size house inside stockholm would easily have cost us like 500.000 euros.

ha yes, we've got similar problems here. although for 270.000€ in paris, you might get a 40m2 flat... maybe 50m2, with luck, depending on the neighborhood, thanks to the recession... i was looking at flats for sale recently and for a 30m2 flat most of them were around 200.000€, or more.

GeoffC · 08-17-2009, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

i'm pretty sure you're going crazy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pshrynk

Going?

Quote:

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

good point.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wetdogeared

Was that a rhetorical question from pshrynk and no mention of $300?

excuse me ..... just for that I'll take $300.00 and leave ....

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08-17-2009, 03:35 AM	#32
Sweetpea Grand Sorcerer Posts: 9,707 Karma: 32763414 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Krewerd Device: Pocketbook Inkpad 4 Color; Samsung Galaxy Tab S6	We wanted a house with at least 3 bedrooms, preferably 4. One bedroom and one room for each of us, as hobby/computer room. And that spare bedroom would be nice (and it would still be nice, as our spare bedroom has been taken over by a cat)