King Harold Triumphant!

[Trausti]

950 years ago many French words began to be added to the English language. And there was this skirmish in southeastern England. What would the world be like today if King Harold had beat the bastard?

 

[Angry Floof]

King Harold was a big weenie. He deserved to be defeated.

 

[Bomb#20]

950 years ago many French words began to be added to the English language. And there was this skirmish in southeastern England. What would the world be like today if King Harold had beat the bastard?

But King Harold did beat the bastard.

Oh, you must have meant the other bastard.

Oh, you probably meant "bastard" in the "illegitimate" sense.

Or not.

 

[Horatio Parker]

I object to any scenarios that potentially exclude the Hundered Years War, on the grounds that that's the coolest war name ever.

 

[BH]

King Harold and his men were a pretty tough bunch. They kicked the king of Norway's arse, killing him and most of his army up in the north and then force march down to fight William with little rest.

 

[jonatha]

950 years ago many French words began to be added to the English language. And there was this skirmish in southeastern England. What would the world be like today if King Harold had beat the bastard?

1) None of this nonsense of putting extraneous u's in words (e.g., labour).

2) Many fewer castles (e.g., no Tower of London)

3) Much less effort expended by the rulers of England to exercise their hereditary rights to various French dukedoms, perhaps eliminating the Hundred Years' War, much to Horatio Parker's chagrin.

4) We'd have an Anglo-Saxon word that means "chagrin".

 

[Sarpedon]

The proto-parliament that existed in the Anglo Saxon times would probably have developed into a better representative body at a faster rate without the interruption of the totalitarian William.

There's also a good chance that the Church of England would have been even more independent from Rome than it was, as William turned that back too.

 

[EricK]

And Norman Wisdom would have been called Anglo-Saxon Wisdom.

 

[DBT]

950 years ago many French words began to be added to the English language. And there was this skirmish in southeastern England. What would the world be like today if King Harold had beat the bastard?

1) None of this nonsense of putting extraneous u's in words (e.g., labour).

2) Many fewer castles (e.g., no Tower of London)

3) Much less effort expended by the rulers of England to exercise their hereditary rights to various French dukedoms, perhaps eliminating the Hundred Years' War, much to Horatio Parker's chagrin.

4) We'd have an Anglo-Saxon word that means "chagrin".

Bah to American spelling. Down with American influence. Labour it is, and may it remain forever.

 

[jonatha]

1) None of this nonsense of putting extraneous u's in words (e.g., labour).

2) Many fewer castles (e.g., no Tower of London)

3) Much less effort expended by the rulers of England to exercise their hereditary rights to various French dukedoms, perhaps eliminating the Hundred Years' War, much to Horatio Parker's chagrin.

4) We'd have an Anglo-Saxon word that means "chagrin".

Bah to American spelling. Down with American Roman influence. Labour it is, and may it remain forever.

FTFY

Although to my surprise I find that the u was not added by the French, but by the Middle English. I wonder why.

Well, apparently it was added by the Normans....