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Classic gags discovered in ancient Roman joke book. We may admire the satires of Horace and Lucilius, but the ancient Romans haven't hitherto been thought of as masters of the one-liner. This could be about to change, however, after the discovery of a classical joke book. Celebrated classics professor Mary Beard has brought to light a volume more than 1,600 years old, which she says shows the Romans not to be the "pompous, bridge-building toga wearers" they're often seen as, but rather a race ready to laugh at themselves.

Written in Greek, Philogelos, or The Laughter Lover, dates to the third or fourth century AD, and contains some 260 jokes which Beard said are "very similar" to the jokes we have today, although peopled with different stereotypes – the "egghead", or absent-minded professor, is a particular figure of fun, along with the eunuch, and people with hernias or bad breath. An ancient version of Monty Python's dead parrot sketch sees a man buy a slave, who dies shortly afterwards. "It's one of the better ones," said Beard. Passive-aggressive (and just plain aggressive) notes — painfully. Technology Laws. Murphy's technology laws Logic is a systematic method of coming to the wrong conclusion with confidence. Whenever a system becomes completely defined, some damn fool discovers something which either abolishes the system or expands it beyond recognition.

Technology is dominated by those who manage what they do not understand. If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization. The opulence of the front office decor varies inversely with the fundamental solvency of the firm. The attention span of a computer is only as long as it electrical cord. The Fantasy Novelist's Exam. The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form. Kittenwar.com. PIGGY!!!!!!! Bunny suicides. MyCatHatesYou dot com. Explodingdog 2005. PostSecret. Bore Me - the best of your inbox.