Re: Untouchables [Andreas J., please read]

Quoting Roger Mills <romilly@...>:

> Andreas Johansson wrote:
>
> > Actually, nothing in Roger's post said I had to do it by hand. :P
> >
> Actually, I was going to say "You will go to the _[black]board_ and
> write....." but didn't, as I wasn't sure younger people would recognize the
> term. At least in many (all?) schools in the US, blackboards are now green.
> However, I see Tristan used the word, so apparently it persists.
I know the word perfectly, actually.

The Swedish form is _svarta tavlan_, which means much the same. It's actually
a bit of a funny word; it's essentially always used in the definite singular
(indefinite _svart tavla_ sound like we're speaking of a painting), and felt
to be a single unit, thus not requiring the preposed extra definite article
normally used with AN phrases. Most I've seen are indeed dark green; I for one
don't feel that "blackboard"/"svarta tavlan" says anything of the actual
_colour_ of the thing.

Incidentally, I was unfortunate enough to have to do maths on one today;
they're quite popular here in Germany. Back in Sweden, we had them in
elementary school, but in high school and at Uni, they always
use "whiteboards", whitish things you write on with special pens. They have
the major advantage of not involving chalk.

"Whiteboard" is the Swedish term, BTW, altho I figure it would be usable in
the English-speaking world too!

                                                       Andreas

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