Phalaenopsis amboinensis

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Really nice growing. I've found this one a bit
harder to bloom than some Phal. species. I had
mine mounted on cork bark and it did very well for
some years and then died during a power
outage. I'm still sad about all the Phal. species
I lost then.
 
...
mine ... died during a power
outage. I'm still sad about all the Phal. species
I lost then.

I certainly can empathize with that! I recently had a break-in at my work place, where I have quite a few (to put it mildly) of my orchids...actually my office was burgled twice in as many weeks. Each time the bastards (pardon my french!) vandalised, several of the plants, situated on the window sill....and it was a pity sight, that met me entering my office on two consecutieve mondays. A few plants were obviously lost, others severely maimed, although I still cling to the hope, that it's not for life!

One thing - and hard enough to bear, are the plants you loose, because of your own growing failures; but the sheer amount of loss, due to external factors like your power outage or my burglars, is hard to stomach.

A guy from my orchid society, who for years had built a vast collection of almost all, then known Phalaenopsis species, lost his whole collection, because of a mite infestation, that he first discovered/clearly diagnosed, when all his plants were beyond repair. First now, several years after, he has again started growing Phalaenopsis.

Were you away during the power outage? Did you succeed in saving any of your plants after the incident?

Kind regards,
Jens
 
I was here, but the outage lasted for seven days
because the power company forgot we lived out
in the woods. I had a generator, but unfortunately
there was no gas to be found anywhere due to the
ice storm. Gas on hand ran out on the third day.
We heated our house with the fireplace...no such
luck in the greenhouse, of course. I managed to
save a few plants, but most of my Phal. species
never recovered.

Were the bastards ever caught?
 
Were the bastards ever caught?

No, unfortunately not - the alarm went off, so both the security company and the police were here...but they didn't get the culprits :mad: I think, it was the same people breaking in both times - MO was exactly the same and the second time, they opened a cupboard, they didn't succeeded in unlocking the first time. Now that they have discovered, that there is nothing here for them to steal, I genuinely hope, they will leave my office - and not least my plants in peace!

My most heartfelt commiserations to you on the loss of your Phals!

Kind regards,
Jens
 
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I like the Phals. with bars/stripes. I wonder why people blame the French for bad language or is it only when people speak English. When I was in highschool we were in Quebec on a field trip and I noticed people in a coffe shop speaking in French swore in English. Maybe we got it backwards.
Don
 
I wonder why people blame the French for bad language or is it only when people speak English. When I was in highschool we were in Quebec on a field trip and I noticed people in a coffe shop speaking in French swore in English. Maybe we got it backwards.

I just knew the idiom and used it with no malice against the french. And had to look up the possible origin of this expression ("pardon my french"). There seems to be some agreement, that it might somehow derive back from the times, when only educated people (i.e. the upper classes) mastered the french language - and used it to express more delicate things and/or prevent others from understanding what was being said.
The latter use f.ex. expressed in what has since turned into other idioms, albeit of a kind with a more neutral content: "Pas devant les enfants!" (litterally: 'not in front of the children!' - maybe more properly translated into: 'not while the children are listening!') - or almost the same, just reflecting the class-divide: "Pas devant les domestiques!" ('not in front of the servants!" - I don't know, what they did, if they had a french cook in their stately household?).

Another explanation is mentioned in Wikipidia:

"At least one source[3] suggests that the phrase "derives from a literal usage of the exclamation. In the 19th century, when English people used French expressions in conversation they often apologized for it - presumably because many of their listeners (then as now) wouldn't be familiar with the language". The definition cites an example from The Lady's Magazine, 1830:[4]

Bless me, how fat you are grown! - absolutely as round as a ball: - you will soon be as embonpoint* (excuse my French) as your poor dear father, the major.

* Embonpoint is French for "plumpness"; state of being well-nourished.

The phrase has been used in broadcast television and family films where less offensive words are preceded by "pardon my French" to intensify their effect without violating censorship or rating guidelines. A good example is in the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Cameron calls Mr. Rooney and says, "Pardon my French, but you're an *******".[5]

Related expressions[edit]

Poster for the 1921 movie Pardon My French, the character of the left uses the French profanity "Diable !".
Incidentally, several expressions are used by both the English and the French to describe the same culturally unacceptable habit, but attributing the habit to the other people:
  • "to take a French leave" (to depart a party or other gathering without taking polite leave of one's host) is referenced in French as filer à l'anglaise (lit. "leave English-style").[6]
  • "French letter" (now somewhat archaic; referring to a condom) is rendered in French as capote anglaise ("English hood" or "English cap").[7][8]
  • During the 16th century in England, genital herpes was called the "French disease" and "French-sick" was a term for syphilis, while in France, it was called le Mal de Naples (the Napoli disease), after the syphilis outbreak in 1494/1495 while French troops were besieging Naples (History of syphilis, Syphilis).
  • "French kiss" (A "kiss with the tongue" stimulates the partner's lips, tongue and mouth) is referred in french un baiser amoureux (lit. "Lover's kiss")."

Addendum: Curiously some foods are attributed to locations, where they sometimes even don't know them. Thus, what the americans call 'danish', is in Denmark called 'Vienna bread' (Wienerbrød) - and I don't think that exactly this sort of pastry can be considered especially viennese. In Denmark we call some sort of white bread for French bread (Franskbrød) - it hasn't much to do with any bread, I've seen in France. What they in many places in Germany refer to as 'Berliner', is in Berlin called 'Pfannkuchen' (a kind of beignet bun) - by Pfannkuchen most other germans refer to 'pancakes'. And lastly, what I in the US have seen advertised as 'Danish Smörgaasboard' is really something of an oxymoron: 'Smörgaas' is actually swedish - it's called 'Smørrebrød' in danish. And there is a huge difference between the swedish smörgaas and danish smørrebrød - at least if you are a scandinavian! And I doubt it, if what was served in the US-diner had anything to do with either! :D

PS. Did I say, that I love France, and french culture: Vive la belle France!
 
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I thought it so interesting/funny, that I had to share it with somebody! I didn't put up my hope too high in regard to public attendance. So I'm very happy to have had a least one more soul to share it with, Don! ;)

Kind regards, Jens
 
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I enjoyed it as well Jens. Languages are fascinating
and listening to the languages of people other than
English speakers is akin to listening to music. There's
music in all languages if one listens carefully.
 
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