Interesting Facts

In the UK it is a crime to insult someone through words or behaviour. (Section 5 of the 1986 Public Order Act currently means that "threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour" might be deemed a criminal offence. The law was used to arrest a student who asked a police officer whether his horse was gay. Probably as a result of ridiculous arrests like this, the law is to be amended, removing the word "insulting".  I wish I'd known it was a crime when I was at school. I could have had half my teachers arrested, they really knew how to insult your intelligence.)

If I say to you someone is "milking", it would usually mean that someone is getting milk from an animal like a cow. At a push "milking it" ca mean trying top get the maximum profit from a situation. But this month "milking" has a new meaning, thanks to the wonderful webby thingy. (The latest craze to sweep the internet "milking" can go alongside planking as a pointless exercise, albeit in this case less dangerous. The craze, started by 5 students at Newcastle University, involves pouring milk over your head in a public place without showing any emotion and then walking away. The video 'Milking Newcastle' went viral and had over 300,000 views within 5 days. When I found the video, I was surprised to say the least. It's an odd thing to do, but relatively harmless in the great scheme of things, but of course everyone has an opinion: So far the video has amassed 632,566 views 2,825 likes and  1,189 dislikes. I will just say tha...

Lèse majesté (usually written Lese Majeste because no one can find the right symbols on their keyboard) is the crime of violating majesty, an offense against the dignity of a reigning sovereign or against a state. (The 2007 Constitution of Thailand, and all seventeen versions since 1932, contain the clause, "The King shall be enthroned in a position of ) revered worship and shall not be violated. No person shall expose the King to any sort of accusation or action." Thai Criminal Code elaborates in Article 112: "Whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent, shall be punished with imprisonment of three to fifteen years." 15 years! Missing from the Code, however, is a definition of what actions constitute "defamation" or "insult". From 1990 to 2005, the Thai court system only saw four or five lèse majesté cases a year. From January 2006 to May 2011, however, more than 400 cases came to trial, an estima...

Each year in Nepal the youths in two villages in the south of the Himalayan country, Parsawa and Laxmipur, save up their choicest insults for a 10-day "cursing festival" that reaches its climax today. (The insults range from, "Monkey face", "I hope your sons are as ugly as frogs," to more culturally relevant insults like, "I hope your buffaloes die of diarrhoea". They should be fine, as long as they don't post their insults on Facebook.)

In Indonesia, seemingly it's against the law to insult someone on Facebook. (A student, who shall remain nameless, referred to his marching band mentor as a "scoundrel" and "very greedy". He's ended up with a suspended six-month jail sentence - that's the student, not the greedy scoundrel. Just imagine if this law became popular in the UK or the US. Personally I think the student needed to be a bit wittier, and slightly more up to date. I like to read witty insults.)

The insults "moron", "idiot", "imbecile" and "cretin" were once official medical diagnoses. (You can use it in the following way:- Some ..... smashed into the back of my car yesterday. Just insert your preferred insult.)