Another melon head

Brilliant!  The boffins were gobsmacked!  I like the additional usage of English English in the everyday conversation of American English.  It adds a little colour, er, color, but too much is pretentious.  It goes both ways, I suppose, with many Americanisms finding their way in the speech of Her Majesty's subjects.  D'oh!

The French used to have an official government office to maintain the purity of the French language, and would ban certain words lest they corrupt their native tongue.  I don't know how well that's worked out for them.  Some words just don't translate well, and maybe they say le hot dog when referring to the ubiquitous American tube steak, if it even appears on their menus.

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The watermelon conversation got me wondering about the proliferation of the seedless type, so I did the usual searching thing.  Anybody else do that?...don't want to preach to the choir.  By the way, Uncle Ken, that was an ellipsis and not an ellipse.

Anyhow, there are hundreds of watermelon varieties, many with seeds.  The ones we see in stores are the ones with thick rinds and are easy to ship, often called "refrigerator" types because they will fit in a fridge.  The bigger old style oblong type of childhood memories are called "picnic" watermelons, and there are also smaller types, about cantaloupe size and types with yellow or orange flesh.  Discovered a new word, "brix," which refers to the level of sweetness.  A search for "watermelon variety" will reveal all.

There's an old article in The Atlantic which discusses the use of watermelons as a racist trope, should anyone decide to investigate further.

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It has been stated that  "A higher proportion of black people than of white people are poor."  That may be true of urban areas, but I believe it is reversed in rural areas.  When I think of the extensive poverty in Appalachia I think of white folk, not black.  This is conjecture and not something I have rigorously researched; opposing views are encouraged.

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Are we, as a nation, losing our sense of humor?  About 20 years after WWII we had Hogan's Heroes, a top rated comedy placed in a prison camp, of all places.  And about 20 years after the police action in Korea we had M*A*S*H, another top rated comedy.  But more than 40 years after the 'Nam we have nothing, or nothing that I recall or am aware of.  Maybe we only laugh about wars we've won, or at last tied, and the loss of the war in Viet Nam is something we simply can't laugh about.  Is it still too soon?

The Pacific edition of the Stars and Stripes newspaper ran a popular comic strip, Nguyen Charlie, based on a Viet Cong type character.  This was while things were pretty hot in Southeast Asia, so we had a sense of humor back then.  Another example of simpler people in another time?