Daily Archives: Sunday, April 1, 2018

  • French seaweed farmers to sue Hanna-Barbera for breach of copyright?

    Steve WoodsLanguage, Media, Oddities

    In Brittany collecting seaweed off the beaches and out at sea for use as fertiliser on fields has a long tradition.

    In the early 1960s, the job of collecting seaweed was given a major mechanical boost with the invention of the “scoubidou“, a corkscrew-like tool that is used for the commercial harvesting of seaweed, consisting of an iron hook attached to a hydraulic arm. Its invention is credited to Yves Colin and it is largely used for gathering oarweed.

    A scoubidou can be seen in action below.

    A scoubidou in action off the coast of Brittany
    A scoubidou in action off the coast of Brittany

    Scooby-Doo the cartoon dogLet’s fast forward to the USA in 1969. At animation company Hanna-Barbera, a character in the shape of a male Great Dane called Scooby-Doo has just been invented and becomes the eponymous hero of an animation series featuring amateur detectives.

    The franchise proved very successful with the cartoon series being shown all around the world, culminating in a feature length film in 2002.

    News has now emerged that Breton seaweed harvesters, also known as “géomoniers“, might now be considering suing the animation company for copyright infringement.

    Breton seaweed harvesters’ spokesperson Avril Fouelle has commented: “It’s only right that we seek recompense. If it hadn’t been for those darn kids in Hollywood stealing our terminology for financial gain, Brittany’s géomoniers would today be living more comfortably than they do.”

  • Mad dogs – an Englishman speaks

    Steve WoodsLanguage, Linux, Oddities, Open Source, Tech

    During my first visits to France in my teens one frequently saw blue-enamelled signs mounted on gates and walls and bearing the words “Chien méchant“, the French equivalent of “Beware of the dog“. However, we used to translate it literally and, as the only other creature we’d come across which could also be described as “méchant” (= naughty*) was children, we settled on “naughty dog” as the accepted definition or translation and had a good chuckle. However, as time progressed and language studies reached higher levels, one gradually came to realise that literal translation is often unreliable, as exemplified by our French four-legged friends.

    The classic French "Chien méchant" sign from yesteryear
    The classic French “Chien méchant” sign from yesteryear

    Yesterday afternoon in Sainte Marine when out walking with my sister we came across the sign below.

    sign with French wording mad dog

    The alleged four-legged friend to which the sign refers is clearly a canine which has strayed well beyond being merely “méchant“, is clearly mentally unstable and would – if human and resident in England and Wales – be admitted to hospital against its will under the Mental Health Act.

    However, for we open source enthusiasts, “mad dog” – or in this case “maddog” – has other connotations. “Maddog” is the nickname of programmer Jon Hall, the Executive Director of Linux International, a non-profit organisation established by computer professionals with the aim of supporting and promoting Linux-based operating systems.

    Finally, any mention of mad dogs by an Englishman would be incomplete without a passing nod to Noel Coward, so here it is. 😀

    * = With enhanced vocabulary knowledge one subsequently became aware of other meanings of “méchant“, such as nasty or spiteful, which although laden with anthropomorphism are particularly pertinent to dogs and their bite. 😀