Coincidence
Moderator: Jon O'Neill
- Chris Davies
- Series 61 Champion
- Posts: 404
- Joined: Thu Dec 11, 2008 5:50 pm
Coincidence
Just a couple of hours ago, I was playing my favourite Itbox game, Word Soup, at a local restaurant where I often go with my family, and a few members of the bar staff were watching me (impressed with my clearing the board in a previous game, apparently). When I mentioned to them that I was going to audition for Countdown, one of them told me he'd actually BEEN on Countdown. Turned out to be Martin May, a contestant from Series 56/57. What are the odds?
- Kai Laddiman
- Fanatic
- Posts: 2314
- Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:37 pm
- Location: My bedroom
Re: Coincidence
Approximately 1723 to 1. By induction.Chris Davies wrote:What are the odds?
16/10/2007 - Episode 4460
Dinos Sfyris 76 - 78 Dorian Lidell
Proof that even idiots can get well and truly mainwheeled.
Dinos Sfyris 76 - 78 Dorian Lidell
Proof that even idiots can get well and truly mainwheeled.
- Ben Hunter
- Kiloposter
- Posts: 1770
- Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2008 2:54 pm
- Location: S Yorks
Re: Coincidence
Martin May is notable for cutting short forum member Mikey Lear's octochamp run at the last, before being beaten by a contestant whose own octochamp run was cut short at the last.Chris Davies wrote:Just a couple of hours ago, I was playing my favourite Itbox game, Word Soup, at a local restaurant where I often go with my family, and a few members of the bar staff were watching me (impressed with my clearing the board in a previous game, apparently). When I mentioned to them that I was going to audition for Countdown, one of them told me he'd actually BEEN on Countdown. Turned out to be Martin May, a contestant from Series 56/57. What are the odds?
- Martin Gardner
- Kiloposter
- Posts: 1492
- Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2008 8:57 pm
- Location: Leeds, UK
- Contact:
Re: Coincidence
Best coincidence I've ever had is this:
When I was a youngish teenager (about 13 or 14) I went to stay with my step-mother's parents in Wadebridge, Cornwall. While there, we went looking round some shops and I bumped into someone from my English class at school in one of the shops! Wadebridge is 350 miles away from Leeds (source: Google Maps).
When I was a youngish teenager (about 13 or 14) I went to stay with my step-mother's parents in Wadebridge, Cornwall. While there, we went looking round some shops and I bumped into someone from my English class at school in one of the shops! Wadebridge is 350 miles away from Leeds (source: Google Maps).
If you cut a gandiseeg in half, do you get two gandiseegs or two halves of a gandiseeg?
- Ian Fitzpatrick
- Devotee
- Posts: 618
- Joined: Sat Jan 31, 2009 12:23 pm
- Location: Wimborne, Dorset
Re: Coincidence
In the last century (ie 1990's) I was on a cheap four day trip to New York and while in the serpentine queue to go through their obnoxious immigration check I came across a guy I had worked with about ten years earlier. That's 3,00 miles or so (haven't checked Google maps)Martin Gardner wrote:Best coincidence I've ever had is this:
When I was a youngish teenager (about 13 or 14) I went to stay with my step-mother's parents in Wadebridge, Cornwall. While there, we went looking round some shops and I bumped into someone from my English class at school in one of the shops! Wadebridge is 350 miles away from Leeds (source: Google Maps).
I thought I was good at Countdown until I joined this forum
Re: Coincidence
That probably suggests he was on the exact same flight as you though. Martin's is better
- Matt Morrison
- Post-apocalypse
- Posts: 7822
- Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2008 2:27 pm
- Location: London
- Contact:
Re: Coincidence
I've been to Amsterdam six times and every single time I've been I've bumped into someone I know from the UK.
Was super surprising the first couple of times but now I seem to expect it (which is an odd situation in itself).
On second thoughts, this might just be an appraisal of the kind of people I have hung around with at times.
Was super surprising the first couple of times but now I seem to expect it (which is an odd situation in itself).
On second thoughts, this might just be an appraisal of the kind of people I have hung around with at times.
- Charlie Reams
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9494
- Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:33 pm
- Location: Cambridge
- Contact:
Re: Coincidence
I can't imagine what aspect of Amsterdam appeals so dependably to you and your friends.Matt Morrison wrote:I've been to Amsterdam six times and every single time I've been I've bumped into someone I know from the UK.
Was super surprising the first couple of times but now I seem to expect it (which is an odd situation in itself).
On second thoughts, this might just be an appraisal of the kind of people I have hung around with at times.
- Debbi Flack
- Acolyte
- Posts: 210
- Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2008 3:05 pm
Re: Coincidence
When I was living in Australia in 1995 I bumped into an old nursing tutor of mine (from UK) who had taught me in 1979. I thought that was a pretty amazing coinidence - but then I'm easily impressed.
She came, she saw - oh well, at least she tried!
- Kai Laddiman
- Fanatic
- Posts: 2314
- Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:37 pm
- Location: My bedroom
Re: Coincidence
My mum just randomly turned the TV on to that awful show Goldenballs, when up on the screen appears Richard Pascoe. Amay-zing.
16/10/2007 - Episode 4460
Dinos Sfyris 76 - 78 Dorian Lidell
Proof that even idiots can get well and truly mainwheeled.
Dinos Sfyris 76 - 78 Dorian Lidell
Proof that even idiots can get well and truly mainwheeled.
- Ian Volante
- Postmaster General
- Posts: 3967
- Joined: Wed Sep 03, 2008 8:15 pm
- Location: Edinburgh
- Contact:
Re: Coincidence
I was in a pub in Sydney supping on my own at the bar, and a lad from my class who I'd not seen since the last day of school six years earlier walked in with his wife.
meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles
- Jon O'Neill
- Ginger Ninja
- Posts: 4548
- Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:45 am
- Location: London, UK
Re: Coincidence
I was reading this thread and then I went outside and it was raining.
- Ian Volante
- Postmaster General
- Posts: 3967
- Joined: Wed Sep 03, 2008 8:15 pm
- Location: Edinburgh
- Contact:
Re: Coincidence
Fook!Jon O'Neill wrote:I was reading this thread and then I went outside and it was raining.
meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles
- Martin Gardner
- Kiloposter
- Posts: 1492
- Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2008 8:57 pm
- Location: Leeds, UK
- Contact:
Re: Coincidence
Not quite as good, but Countdown related, is that while in Nice in 2004 someone recognised me as being on Countdown. It was a British person, and I'd stopped to talk to home for no other reason than he was talking in English and my French was pretty sh*t back then, so it's not really a massive coincidence. It just shows that loads of people watch Countdown, yet when I'm at uni people hardly ever talk about it. I have one friend that quite likes it, and because she works evenings/nights she gets to watch a couple of times a week.
If you cut a gandiseeg in half, do you get two gandiseegs or two halves of a gandiseeg?
-
- Series 80 Champion
- Posts: 2707
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:07 am
- Location: Sheffield
Re: Coincidence
Jon O'Neill wrote:I was reading this thread and then I went outside and it was raining.
- Debbi Flack
- Acolyte
- Posts: 210
- Joined: Mon Jul 28, 2008 3:05 pm
Re: Coincidence
I went into a pub in Sydney onceIan Volante wrote:I was in a pub in Sydney supping on my own at the bar, and a lad from my class who I'd not seen since the last day of school six years earlier walked in with his wife.
She came, she saw - oh well, at least she tried!
- Phil Reynolds
- Postmaster General
- Posts: 3329
- Joined: Fri Oct 31, 2008 3:43 pm
- Location: Leamington Spa, UK
Re: Coincidence
So did I. The Lord Nelson, if I remember correctly, in The Rocks. What a coincidence.Debbi Flack wrote:I went into a pub in Sydney once
And what's even more of a coincidence is that I was told a supposedly true story there, about coincidence. When HM Queen Elizabeth II was on a state visit to Australia some time in the 1980s, she was shaking hands with a line of well-wishers and asked one the traditional royal question: "And what do you do?" The guy replied, "I'm a photographer." "Oh, that's a coincidence," said Her Maj. "My brother-in-law's a photographer."
"That is a coincidence," said the Aussie. "My brother-in-law's a queen."
-
- Acolyte
- Posts: 209
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 11:08 am
Re: Coincidence
I recall being on holiday with my parents a very long time ago in a small hotel in the Isle of Skye. My father got talking to a Canadian couple, and as we have Canadian relatives, asked where they were from. Having narrowed it down to Ottawa, he gave the relative's name and said it would really be a coincidence if they knew him. When the Canadian picked himself up, he revealed that he lived next door to him.....
- Jason Larsen
- Postmaster General
- Posts: 3902
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 3:18 pm
- Location: Seattle, Washington
Re: Coincidence
Damian and Jeff Stelling both call Countdown Alphabet Soup, but Damian first came up with that name because he wanted to figure out an easy way to remember the format of the show.
Also, how did it feel to see Richard Pascoe on Golden Balls?
Also, how did it feel to see Richard Pascoe on Golden Balls?
Re: Coincidence
I like Goldenballs, it's fun guessing who has the killers and whether or not they split or steal at the end.
It's amazing how many people turn up in several game shows over & over again!
It's amazing how many people turn up in several game shows over & over again!
- Jason Larsen
- Postmaster General
- Posts: 3902
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 3:18 pm
- Location: Seattle, Washington
Re: Coincidence
Countdown is so different from Golden Balls though. In the case that we are thinking of, we consider asking Richard Pascoe, "Are you really good at Countdown, or do you want to humiliate yourself on British television?"
It's funny, because I'll probably never know how Richard did. Most likely though, he was hanging his head in shame and either had his balls binned or had a missed opportunity occur!
It's funny, because I'll probably never know how Richard did. Most likely though, he was hanging his head in shame and either had his balls binned or had a missed opportunity occur!
-
- Devotee
- Posts: 593
- Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 8:54 pm
- Location: Farnborough, Hampshire
Re: Coincidence
When I was six I was in Gibraltar where my father was stationed and the Queen paid us a visit and all the kids from all the schools travelled to see her inspect the troops so were bussed there in army lorries which had canvas sides and roofs and we were going through a tunnel to get there and the driver drove too close to the side of the tunnel and a pipe or something was sticking out from the rock face and ripped through the canvas on the lorry and sliced the arm of this lad called Martin and we had to divert to the hospital drop him off then rush to the barracks to see the Queen and then back I came back to England two years' later and when I was fifteen I got on the bus to go home from school and sat next to this lad and looked once then twice at him and realised it was not Martin. Amazing!
- Charlie Reams
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9494
- Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:33 pm
- Location: Cambridge
- Contact:
Re: Coincidence
Was this in 1945 by any chance?Chris Corby wrote:When I was six I was in Gibraltar where my father was stationed and the Queen paid us a visit and all the kids from all the schools travelled to see her inspect the troops so were bussed there in army lorries which had canvas sides and roofs and we were going through a tunnel to get there and the driver drove too close to the side of the tunnel and a pipe or something was sticking out from the rock face and ripped through the canvas on the lorry and sliced the arm of this lad called Martin and we had to divert to the hospital drop him off then rush to the barracks to see the Queen and then back I came back to England two years' later and when I was fifteen I got on the bus to go home from school and sat next to this lad and looked once then twice at him and realised it was not Martin. Amazing!
-
- Devotee
- Posts: 593
- Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 8:54 pm
- Location: Farnborough, Hampshire
Re: Coincidence
There was a King on the throne in 1945 you moron. University educations these days, tut tut......
- Charlie Reams
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9494
- Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:33 pm
- Location: Cambridge
- Contact:
Re: Coincidence
I'm a revisionist historian.
- Jason Larsen
- Postmaster General
- Posts: 3902
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 3:18 pm
- Location: Seattle, Washington
Re: Coincidence
I was just thinking about someone who I ran into recently!
- JimBentley
- Fanatic
- Posts: 2820
- Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 6:39 pm
- Contact:
Re: Coincidence
I hope you weren't in your car, Jason, that would have been awful!Jason Larsen wrote:I was just thinking about someone who I ran into recently!
-
- Kiloposter
- Posts: 1267
- Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:57 pm
Re: Coincidence
There was a King on the throne in 1945.
He had a wife, I believe, who was not known as the Queen Mother in those days.
He had a wife, I believe, who was not known as the Queen Mother in those days.
- Jason Larsen
- Postmaster General
- Posts: 3902
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 3:18 pm
- Location: Seattle, Washington
Re: Coincidence
I was on the city bus, Jim.
- Phil Reynolds
- Postmaster General
- Posts: 3329
- Joined: Fri Oct 31, 2008 3:43 pm
- Location: Leamington Spa, UK
Re: Coincidence
1845 then?Chris Corby wrote:There was a King on the throne in 1945 you moron.
- Ian Volante
- Postmaster General
- Posts: 3967
- Joined: Wed Sep 03, 2008 8:15 pm
- Location: Edinburgh
- Contact:
Re: Coincidence
Indeed, she was known as Princess Elizabeth. Lovely smile.David Williams wrote:There was a King on the throne in 1945.
He had a wife, I believe, who was not known as the Queen Mother in those days.
meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles
-
- Kiloposter
- Posts: 1267
- Joined: Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:57 pm
Re: Coincidence
Must have been confusing to have a wife and daughter with the same name and title. I think not.
- Kirk Bevins
- God
- Posts: 4923
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:18 pm
- Location: York, UK
Re: Coincidence
Hahahaha, best post ever. Made me laugh out loud. Brilliant.Jason Larsen wrote:I was on the city bus, Jim.
- Ian Volante
- Postmaster General
- Posts: 3967
- Joined: Wed Sep 03, 2008 8:15 pm
- Location: Edinburgh
- Contact:
Re: Coincidence
I suppose Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother is a bit of giveaway.David Williams wrote:Must have been confusing to have a wife and daughter with the same name and title. I think not.
meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles meles
-
- Devotee
- Posts: 593
- Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2008 8:54 pm
- Location: Farnborough, Hampshire
Re: Coincidence
No it wasn't 1845, it was early afternoon, around 1415.........Phil Reynolds wrote:1845 then?Chris Corby wrote:There was a King on the throne in 1945 you moron.
- Matt Morrison
- Post-apocalypse
- Posts: 7822
- Joined: Wed Oct 22, 2008 2:27 pm
- Location: London
- Contact:
Re: Coincidence
Well now that you mention it; canals. Oh, and tall thin houses.Charlie Reams wrote:I can't imagine what aspect of Amsterdam appeals so dependably to you and your friends.Matt Morrison wrote:I've been to Amsterdam six times and every single time I've been I've bumped into someone I know from the UK.
Was super surprising the first couple of times but now I seem to expect it (which is an odd situation in itself).
On second thoughts, this might just be an appraisal of the kind of people I have hung around with at times.
- Charlie Reams
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9494
- Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:33 pm
- Location: Cambridge
- Contact:
Re: Coincidence
Surely this is the greatest coincidence of all time.
- Lesley Jeavons
- Enthusiast
- Posts: 320
- Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2008 10:05 pm
- Location: Brighton, UK
Re: Coincidence
After Linda McCartney died there was a memorial service in the church by Leicester Square, and lots of us animal rights types gathered in the square to pay our respects.
Loads of news channels were there, and the BBC were looking for someone who had gone veggie because of Linda. I hadn't, but I did have a story about my friend Joanne and I who started buying her foods before becoming veggie as we thought if you can have the cruelty free version, then why not? So they interviewed me.
Cut to my friend Joanne, sat in her house in Edinburgh, dozing off while watching something on Sky when her arm slipped, elbow pressed the remote, which turned the TV over to BBC News 24 and there was me on TV talking about "me and my friend Joanne"!
(I've yet to see it, though hope it turns up in the BBC archives one day.)
Loads of news channels were there, and the BBC were looking for someone who had gone veggie because of Linda. I hadn't, but I did have a story about my friend Joanne and I who started buying her foods before becoming veggie as we thought if you can have the cruelty free version, then why not? So they interviewed me.
Cut to my friend Joanne, sat in her house in Edinburgh, dozing off while watching something on Sky when her arm slipped, elbow pressed the remote, which turned the TV over to BBC News 24 and there was me on TV talking about "me and my friend Joanne"!
(I've yet to see it, though hope it turns up in the BBC archives one day.)
- Jason Larsen
- Postmaster General
- Posts: 3902
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 3:18 pm
- Location: Seattle, Washington
Re: Coincidence
How did they end up interviewing you, Lesley?
- Lesley Jeavons
- Enthusiast
- Posts: 320
- Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2008 10:05 pm
- Location: Brighton, UK
Re: Coincidence
They were interviewing a friend of mine who worked for PeTA at the time, and she suggested me when they said what they were looking for.
- Jason Larsen
- Postmaster General
- Posts: 3902
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 3:18 pm
- Location: Seattle, Washington
Re: Coincidence
PETA is an international organization?
- Lesley Jeavons
- Enthusiast
- Posts: 320
- Joined: Fri Nov 07, 2008 10:05 pm
- Location: Brighton, UK
Re: Coincidence
Yes. They have a UK office and campaign over here, but they're still more thought of as a US organisation.
- Jason Larsen
- Postmaster General
- Posts: 3902
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 3:18 pm
- Location: Seattle, Washington
Re: Coincidence
Very nice!
- Kai Laddiman
- Fanatic
- Posts: 2314
- Joined: Wed Oct 15, 2008 3:37 pm
- Location: My bedroom
Re: Coincidence
I randomly clicked on a wiki episode and picked this, the game from the day I was born. Fascinating.
16/10/2007 - Episode 4460
Dinos Sfyris 76 - 78 Dorian Lidell
Proof that even idiots can get well and truly mainwheeled.
Dinos Sfyris 76 - 78 Dorian Lidell
Proof that even idiots can get well and truly mainwheeled.
- Jon O'Neill
- Ginger Ninja
- Posts: 4548
- Joined: Tue Jan 22, 2008 12:45 am
- Location: London, UK
- kevin manthorpe
- Rookie
- Posts: 67
- Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2009 5:15 pm
Re: Coincidence
You only went to one pub in Sydney? Did anyone tell you about Oxford Street?Phil Reynolds wrote:So did I. The Lord Nelson, if I remember correctly, in The Rocks. What a coincidence.Debbi Flack wrote:I went into a pub in Sydney once
Aussie (gay) urban myth!!!Phil Reynolds wrote: And what's even more of a coincidence is that I was told a supposedly true story there, about coincidence. When HM Queen Elizabeth II was on a state visit to Australia some time in the 1980s, she was shaking hands with a line of well-wishers and asked one the traditional royal question: "And what do you do?" The guy replied, "I'm a photographer." "Oh, that's a coincidence," said Her Maj. "My brother-in-law's a photographer."
"That is a coincidence," said the Aussie. "My brother-in-law's a queen."
- Phil Reynolds
- Postmaster General
- Posts: 3329
- Joined: Fri Oct 31, 2008 3:43 pm
- Location: Leamington Spa, UK
Re: Coincidence
I abandoned my (straight) travelling companions to devote one entire evening to the delights of Oxford Street. I can't remember the names of any of the bars though.kevin manthorpe wrote:You only went to one pub in Sydney? Did anyone tell you about Oxford Street?
- kevin manthorpe
- Rookie
- Posts: 67
- Joined: Sun Mar 15, 2009 5:15 pm
Re: Coincidence
FYI and to in rememberance to my misspent youth, you most likely went to The Albury, The Exchange, Midnight Shift and possibly even Patches!Phil Reynolds wrote:I can't remember the names of any of the bars though.
And to bring this thread back on topic, I once chatted on Omegle to the only female bartender at the Shift.
- Andy Wilson
- Kiloposter
- Posts: 1181
- Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2009 3:09 pm
Re: Coincidence
I went to London with a mate and met up with a friend(i'd never met before) of a friend to keep a promise at one of those Pubs at Hammersmith bridge where you can sit outside and my buddy's mate on whose floor we were crashing came along too. Anyway, said friend of friend who we were all meeting for the first time made use of the dutch courage and unfamiliar faces to bitch about her relationship with her boyfriend, only to find out later that my buddy's mate was a work colleague of his, cue much begging and snivling.
Another time i went to London to play some gigs in Stoke Newington but was crashing at my girlfriend's friends' place. We were hoping it wasn't gonna be the other side of town as we'd heard London was quite big. They happened to live in Stoke Newington. Convenient.
Oh, yeah, and i moved in with this dude in Cork in 04 and after a chat about Dublin, where we were both from, it turned out he was the brother of the guy who sat in the chair directly in front of me at first year in secondary school, whose family had moved to Cork after that summer.
Another time i went to London to play some gigs in Stoke Newington but was crashing at my girlfriend's friends' place. We were hoping it wasn't gonna be the other side of town as we'd heard London was quite big. They happened to live in Stoke Newington. Convenient.
Oh, yeah, and i moved in with this dude in Cork in 04 and after a chat about Dublin, where we were both from, it turned out he was the brother of the guy who sat in the chair directly in front of me at first year in secondary school, whose family had moved to Cork after that summer.
- Sue Sanders
- Kiloposter
- Posts: 1334
- Joined: Mon May 25, 2009 10:29 pm
- Location: Whitstable Kent
Re: Coincidence
My (then) husband and I were on holiday in Tenerife and got talking with the bloke in the next apartment. Although he lived somewhere in the South East, he knew a few people in Wellingborough, where we lived. Turned out after quite a long conversation that he'd been to the flat that I lived in before I got married, because a few years before, his best mate's brother had lived there.
Some years later, a girl I was at school with was a customer at the opticians I worked at. We got talking. Turns out she'd moved into that same flat about 5 years after me.
Some years later, a girl I was at school with was a customer at the opticians I worked at. We got talking. Turns out she'd moved into that same flat about 5 years after me.
'This one goes up to eleven'
Fool's top.
Fool's top.
- Kirk Bevins
- God
- Posts: 4923
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:18 pm
- Location: York, UK
Re: Coincidence
Oh my God. Just had the weirdest coincidence ever.
I was flicking through the dictionary looking for awesome new words and found TZEDAKAH and thought "Jesus, if I get that in CofC that's definitely a winner and would be word of the CofC series". 10 minutes later I log onto apterous and up comes the TTT.
"Your new teaser is AKETZAHD. You have one minute to answer!"
I looked - HAKATZED? Nope, can't get it.
Then: "Time's up and no one got it! The answer to AKETZAHD was TZEDAKAH."
I couldn't believe my eyes - weirdest coincidence ever. Annoyed to miss the word though.
Moral of the story? You can't learn new words/learn how to spot new words just be looking at them in a dictionary - more needs to be done.
I was flicking through the dictionary looking for awesome new words and found TZEDAKAH and thought "Jesus, if I get that in CofC that's definitely a winner and would be word of the CofC series". 10 minutes later I log onto apterous and up comes the TTT.
"Your new teaser is AKETZAHD. You have one minute to answer!"
I looked - HAKATZED? Nope, can't get it.
Then: "Time's up and no one got it! The answer to AKETZAHD was TZEDAKAH."
I couldn't believe my eyes - weirdest coincidence ever. Annoyed to miss the word though.
Moral of the story? You can't learn new words/learn how to spot new words just be looking at them in a dictionary - more needs to be done.
-
- Post-apocalypse
- Posts: 13283
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:37 pm
Re: Coincidence
Yeah, but you're rubbish at Countdown.Kirk Bevins wrote:Moral of the story? You can't learn new words/learn how to spot new words just be looking at them in a dictionary - more needs to be done.
- Sue Sanders
- Kiloposter
- Posts: 1334
- Joined: Mon May 25, 2009 10:29 pm
- Location: Whitstable Kent
Re: Coincidence
Or, maybe you shouldn't have let Damo get you to cut all your hair off.Kirk Bevins wrote: ( a story).............Moral of the story? You can't learn new words/learn how to spot new words just be looking at them in a dictionary - more needs to be done.
'This one goes up to eleven'
Fool's top.
Fool's top.
-
- Rookie
- Posts: 46
- Joined: Fri Mar 20, 2009 1:04 am
Re: Coincidence
All these coincidences are much more likely than they appear to be.
I guess this is all parade rain, but I can't resist...
Let's take the bumping-into-people-in-unlikely-places one.
During the course of your life you will become acquainted with hundreds, or more likely thousands, of people. This may sound surprising but if you think about everyone you ever lived near, everyone you ever went to school with, worked with, everyone who ever served you in a local shop / library / cafe, every friend of a friend that you met at a party, etc etc...
Now think about all the people you pass on a daily basis. On the street, on the bus, in the library. Not people you interact with, just people you walk past / sit near, etc. It's millions. Millions.
Eventually, one of those people you walk past / sit near etc will be one of the people you know, or vaguely know.
And this includes on holiday, particularly when you consider that foreign travel is very common and that most British people tend to holiday in the same small subset of destinations.
You can apply the same logic to things like spotting an unlikely word in an unlikely place; opening a book in a random place and seeing something significant to you; picking up the phone before it rings; having a person in your head and then suddenly seeing them; having anything in your head and then suddenly coming across it unexpectedly... What you have to think about is all the times the coincidences don't happen. You mosey on through your life, having random thoughts, opening books, etc etc, and these small moments all occur a lot of times. Most of the time they pass without event and you don't even notice their passing. Occasionally small pieces of your life collide. Given all the millions of opportunities there are, it's bound to happen from time to time. It's not unlikely - or even amazing - at all.
Sorry.
I guess this is all parade rain, but I can't resist...
Let's take the bumping-into-people-in-unlikely-places one.
During the course of your life you will become acquainted with hundreds, or more likely thousands, of people. This may sound surprising but if you think about everyone you ever lived near, everyone you ever went to school with, worked with, everyone who ever served you in a local shop / library / cafe, every friend of a friend that you met at a party, etc etc...
Now think about all the people you pass on a daily basis. On the street, on the bus, in the library. Not people you interact with, just people you walk past / sit near, etc. It's millions. Millions.
Eventually, one of those people you walk past / sit near etc will be one of the people you know, or vaguely know.
And this includes on holiday, particularly when you consider that foreign travel is very common and that most British people tend to holiday in the same small subset of destinations.
You can apply the same logic to things like spotting an unlikely word in an unlikely place; opening a book in a random place and seeing something significant to you; picking up the phone before it rings; having a person in your head and then suddenly seeing them; having anything in your head and then suddenly coming across it unexpectedly... What you have to think about is all the times the coincidences don't happen. You mosey on through your life, having random thoughts, opening books, etc etc, and these small moments all occur a lot of times. Most of the time they pass without event and you don't even notice their passing. Occasionally small pieces of your life collide. Given all the millions of opportunities there are, it's bound to happen from time to time. It's not unlikely - or even amazing - at all.
Sorry.
Re: Coincidence
What a patronising post Alice.
I think everyone's aware of that, but it's probably still interesting when a one-in-a-million chance happens, isn't it? Even if it's actually your millionth go at it (without realising it).
I think everyone's aware of that, but it's probably still interesting when a one-in-a-million chance happens, isn't it? Even if it's actually your millionth go at it (without realising it).
- Kirk Bevins
- God
- Posts: 4923
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 5:18 pm
- Location: York, UK
Re: Coincidence
Hear hear.Jon Corby wrote:What a patronising post Alice.
I think everyone's aware of that, but it's probably still interesting when a one-in-a-million chance happens, isn't it? Even if it's actually your millionth go at it (without realising it).
- Lesley Hines
- Kiloposter
- Posts: 1250
- Joined: Tue Mar 24, 2009 9:29 pm
- Location: Worcester
Re: Coincidence
I needed a new liver at 36 hours notice, and got one. It helped that I was put straight to the top of the list in Europe, but I was still bloody lucky.
Lowering the averages since 2009
- Charlie Reams
- Site Admin
- Posts: 9494
- Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 2:33 pm
- Location: Cambridge
- Contact:
Re: Coincidence
Cool story bro. What nationality was your liver giver, in the end?Lesley Hines wrote:I needed a new liver at 36 hours notice, and got one. It helped that I was put straight to the top of the list in Europe, but I was still bloody lucky.
- Derek Hazell
- Kiloposter
- Posts: 1535
- Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2008 10:52 am
- Location: Swindon
- Contact:
Re: Coincidence
Ginger.Charlie Reams wrote:Cool story bro. What nationality was your liver giver, in the end?
Living life in a gyratory circus kind of way.
-
- Post-apocalypse
- Posts: 13283
- Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:37 pm
Re: Coincidence
I found out on Facebook that my then girlfriend's cousin was going out with an ex next-door neighbour of mine who I was good friends with. Also this was another part of the country - he'd long since moved well away from me. That's the best coincidence ever.