

And Finally...
> A Sydney restaurant owner who sells gag fortune cookies has been told to censor her products after an awkward factory mix-up. > >Nahji Chu, the owner of popular Vietnamese restaurant Lady Chu in Potts Point, in Sydney's inner-city, put through an order of profanity-laced fortune cookies for Valentine's Day. > >She was shocked and slightly tickled to receive a response from her manufacturer who said they were no longer accepting "offensive" language after her messages were mistakenly mixed into other customer orders. > > ... > > In an email, the manufacturer said their other customers were "quite upset" to find Chu's messages inside their custom cookies at the end of last year. > >"As a result, management have decided to no longer accept customised orders with offensive or expletive words," the email read. > >Chu was told she could order empty cookies from her supplier and insert the funny messages herself. > > ... > > Some of Chu's fortune messages include, "The year of the Snake bears good fortune! Your divorce is coming soon" and "I only married you for your money you ugly c---."
- Scientists are trying to figure out why [ice] hockey players all sound Canadianwww.popsci.com Scientists are trying to figure out why hockey players all sound Canadian
Plus other weird things we learned this week.
> In this week’s episode, I dive into a fascinating linguistic quirk of the sports world—why do so many American hockey players sound like fake Canadians? > >My obsession with this topic started with research from linguist Andrew Bray. He noticed the phenomenon of “fake Canadian” accents while studying hockey lingo. While he originally set out to analyze hockey slang for its own sake (e.g. “biscuit” for puck or “celly” for celebration), he found himself asking an even bigger question: Why do American players seem to take on Canadian-esque speech? > >Bray recorded his conversations with players, analyzing their vowel shifts and pronunciation. He confirmed that many American hockey players adopt features of Canadian English, but not quite enough to pass as actually Canadian. Instead, they end up in this uncanny valley: they sound just Canadian enough for other people to notice, but not enough to blend in. This could be a case of linguistic mirroring, which is when people unconsciously adjust their speech to fit into a social group. Since hockey has such a strong Canadian identity, American players may be picking up on those speech patterns as part of the sport’s culture. > > Bray isn’t the only person out there studying “Hockey English.” In fact, one study suggests that even Canadian players are accused of sounding more Canadian than they’re supposed to.
- Teen banned from play parks before trial for alleged sex act with rocking horse and branchwww.gazettelive.co.uk Teen's play park ban before trial for alleged rocking horse and branch sex act
Callum Green has been told he must stay out of recreational play parks on Teesside while he awaits trial for the alleged offence
> A teen has been banned from Teesside play parks ahead of a trial for an alleged sex act involving a rocking horse and a branch. > >Callum Green, 18, appeared before Teesside Magistrates' Court on Monday afternoon where he pleaded not guilty to the common law charge of outraging public decency, in a Hartlepool play area. > > ... > > The charge reads: "You, in a public place committed an act outraging public decency by behaving in an indecent manner, namely inserting parts of a "rocking horse" inside yourself whilst masturbating, then pulled a branch off a tree and penetrated yourself."