Hi Tracy

>I was absolutely astounded to read these messages.

Don't be. There is more important stuff happening <s>.

>The tone seemed unbelievably argumentative to me while there was no clear (in my opinion) disagreement.

There is/was no disagreement. Terry just doesn't like his Englishness being called into question - he was speaking (verbalising) with a "plum" in his mouth and reminded me of Prince Charles; I just pointed it out to him - end of. On an international board, I'm all for "plain English" so everyone can understand. If you look at the replies, Terry was being undeniably agressive with a healthy does of bad language (despite his Englishness <bg>) thrown in for good measure. When he responds so vehemently, I'm sorry but its pure entertainment ;)

>Since I have no idea what a mank or a scouser is

I am from Manchester. Terry is from Liverpool. A Scouser is another name for a Liverpudlian, like a "Cockney" is a term used for a Londoner (well, from a certain part of London). It stems from, IMHO, a football rivalry (Liverpool FC v Manchester United), Scousers don't like "Mancs" (pronounced Manx - folks from Manchester), and Mancs don't like Scousers. However, it probably runs deeper than that; Liverpool is an adjacent large city to Manchester so, there is often rivalry in these cases. In the UK, generally, Liverpool has a not-so-good reputation that is the butt of many comedians jokes, stolen car hub-caps, scams, a tendency to sue anyone for anything etc.,

But then, the Scots don't like the English, the Welsh don't like the English, the French don't like the English and so it goes. We are quite agressive for such a little place and we also argue with ourselves too <s>.

>these messages are nothing more than bandy:

What the heck is "bandy"?

Best