Word: londonized
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Snowfall in London is not unlike the city's quixotic bus service: you wait for what seems an eternity only for several to arrive in quick succession. Serial flurries starting on Sunday had by Monday morning spread a nice little blanket of snow across the British capital. It was only 6 inches deep, but it managed to shut down or sharply curtail service on most Tube lines, it caused chaos at airports, and it halted London's entire fleet of red buses. As disgruntled commuters were quick to point out, unlike today, buses continued running throughout intensive aerial bombardment during...
Germans, used to being the butt of such comments, were quick to exploit the humor in Britain's floundering response to what the country's weather forecasters called an "extreme weather situation." "Where I come from, this isn't snow," a Croatian living in London told the Munich-based Süddeutsche Zeitung. But "in Britain, different measurements apply," the paper added. Another publication from southern Germany, the Badische Zeitung, turned Britain's enduring addiction to wartime jokes back on their old adversary with a simple two-word headline: "London Capitulates...
Many English schools have yet to reopen, suggesting that Britons even more than Washingtonians lack the "flinty Chicago toughness" that President Obama missed when his daughters' new school closed its doors during a recent wintry blast in the U.S. capital. When Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's London visit was disrupted by the snow (at a joint press conference with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, his British host was diverted toward answering questions about the meteorological emergency), Britain's international humiliation was complete. (See pictures of London's Tube after midnight...
...predict that the disruption will hasten the demise of businesses already struggling in the inclement economic climate. Now the snow on the ground is turning to ice, creating fresh problems, and further snowfalls are predicted. Additionally, England could run out of gritting salt in two weeks. (See pictures of London's financial crisis...
...teeth of what could prove a real crisis, many Britons are remarkably insouciant, including London's remarkably insouciant mayor, Boris Johnson. Echoing a spokesman from the national rail operator who in 1991 told an incredulous interviewer that trains were not running because of the wrong "type of snow," Johnson said yesterday, "This is the right kind of snow - it's just the wrong kind of quantities. My message to the heavens is, 'You've put on a fantastic display of snow power, but that is probably quite enough...