1086 AND ALL THAT...

"And you are certain, my liege, he iz not
called Edward ze 'Compressor'?"

I keep making a fool of myself. This morning someone asked me what an acronym was short for and I told them what I thought it was.

"Matt, what does THP stand for?"

I said it stood for Transparent Huge Pages.

It's not that. I don't even know what Transparent Huge Pages are but they've got nothing to do with our THP at all! No-one seems to have any idea what THP actually is.

Then the other day, while at dinner with friends, someone was talking about being able to trace their family history back to 1066. Ron, who's from Arizona and would be impressed with just three generations of history, said,

"Oh hey yeah, 1066. That's significant, right?"

While I was chuckling to myself, someone else suggested quite innocently that it might have been the date of the Domesday Book. I foolishly dived right in.

"No!" I interjected, "It's the date of the Norman Conquest!" It was tough to keep the incredulity out of my voice, and I was immediately regretting leaping in like an offended history tutor. Softening a little, I babbled on in what I hoped would smooth out the cracked conversation.

"1066 was the Norman Conquest. The Domesday Book was 1085: William the Conqueror undertook a survey, detailing pretty much every field and every sheep in the land following the invasion, but it took a long time..."

And guess what? When I looked it up, it was 1086, not 1085. So much for me stating a half-guess like a concrete fact! Then again, had I said nothing at all, all that time mooching round the Bayeux Tapestry would have been for nothing. Sometimes knowing things is a complicated business.

Any ideas what THP might stand for? I think it uploads a package for a test harness but beyond that I.... oooh... never mind.

The Bible says 'Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps his mouth shut' (Proverbs 17:28). That's good advice, right there.