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Ha-ha wall

en.wikipedia.org

41–50 of 115 posts

Re: Ha-ha wall

#41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Punic refers to the people. Carthage was the name of their city, so they're also referred to as Carthaginians (see also: New Yorkers, Londoners, Dubliners, Parisians, etc.).

You chose some relatively ordinary demonyms, these are some fun ones: Mancunian, Muscovite, Liverpudlian, Glaswegian, Munsonian, Buddies.

I know the rest of these, but Buddies is a new one; to whom does it refer?

Re: Ha-ha wall

#42
post #25

I thought it’s named haha because so the person can still laugh at the intruder while they try.

This was precisely my assumption. I was surprised by the etymology.

I'm both surprised and skeptical. It makes me wonder whether there's a larger story, now lost... Perhaps the archetypal occurrence was someone famously humorless, and their outburst was forever burned into the minds of those present. Or perhaps the first instance was on the estate of a noble who thought it funny and insisted everyone else find it funny, too...

Re: Ha-ha wall

#44
"The personal injury team at Penningtons Manches LLP has successfully negotiated a settlement of over £10,000 for a client who was injured during a wedding at a prestigious county manor house.

The claimant attended the wedding with her partner in September 2014. They decided to leave the celebrations at around 11:30pm and make their way back to their on-site accommodation. The claimant was required to walk across the manor garden in order to reach her room. Unfortunately, there was inadequate lighting along the route and they found the lawn to be in darkness, with only a small light in the far distance to guide them. Due to the poorly lit area, the claimant walked from the lawn and over the top of a brick wall, falling 3 feet downwards into the grass area of a 'ha-ha'."

Re: Ha-ha wall

#45
"A man who tripped and fell into a historic boundary ditch within the grounds of a stately home while taking his grandson on a guided bat walk has been awarded £8750 damages.

John Cowan badly fractured his right ankle after falling into a ha-ha ditch at Hopetoun House on the outskirts of Edinburgh on September 5, 2008, as he and his grandson returned to a car park in the dark."

Re: Ha-ha wall

#46

To be installed around the Berlin Reichstag https://www.tip-berlin.de/berlin-considers-security-moat-for...

German politicians feeling threatened? By whom? Angry taxpayers? Would be terrorists? Antifa youth? The article is quite hillarious as it ridicules this plan. I can already imagine tipsy German MPs going to work and accidentally fallinng into the ditch.

Re: Ha-ha wall

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You chose some relatively ordinary demonyms, these are some fun ones: Mancunian, Muscovite, Liverpudlian, Glaswegian, Munsonian, Buddies.

I know the rest of these, but Buddies is a new one; to whom does it refer?

People of Paisley.

https://www.paisley.org.uk/paisley-history/paisley-buddies/

Re: Ha-ha wall

#49
post #16

See also the 'Punic ditch'. I can't find a good description online ([1] is the most specific), but basically it's a fortification comprising a human-scale haha with the wall on the outward side, and the slope on the inward side. The idea is that attackers can cross it easily, by jumping down the wall, then charging up the slope, at which point you open fire on them, then when they turn to run way, they have to climb…

I would not believe it is true.

Or, if one was created, not used. People in the old days also had flights of fantasy I guess.

You want to keep the enemy out, not kill them.

Or more importantly you want a functioning fort, keeping out people in general is a bigger every day use than the mass killing of a enemy you don't yet have in a well planed exercise that may occur.

Re: Ha-ha wall

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Punic refers to the people. Carthage was the name of their city, so they're also referred to as Carthaginians (see also: New Yorkers, Londoners, Dubliners, Parisians, etc.).

You chose some relatively ordinary demonyms, these are some fun ones: Mancunian, Muscovite, Liverpudlian, Glaswegian, Munsonian, Buddies.

Burqueño, which comes from both the Spanish convention and a slang term (with some history grounding), but is extremely widely used.
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