- I need this for some past companies I've worked at.
- 1897 seems like an important year.
- The Futility Closet website (and, formerly, podcast) is an amazing treasure trove of fascinating facts.
- Funny, does anyone know the history of any of the markers? I'm just curious why this is global thing really.
- The one from Míšov, Czech Republic is tribute to the running joke of nonexistent genius Jara Cimmrman
- The bust (if you even can call it that...) pictured in the article is terrifying!
- The plaque is identical in two of the photos (one from Ireland, one from Luxembourg), and the wording is identical in those two plus a third (from Western Australia). That makes me curious.
- You don't think this is just a joke that multiple people thought of independently?
Some of them might be in reaction to a local event, or even a worldwide event that had no local impact. But I think they're mostly just jokes.
- Was it in a Monty python sketch or something?
- My great grandmother taught me that “nothing doing” meant something similar to “there’s nothing for it”.
- I’m in my late thirties and it was still in common use in India, and perhaps specifically among Anglo Indians? But it meant more like “no chance”.
“Can I go out to the movies with my friends?”
“Nothing doing! You have an exam tomorrow”
Or failure to do something.
“I tried to fix it myself but nothing doing”.
- Looney Toons / Merry Melodies also bear out this connotation quite well
