Gesetze des Vereinigten Königreichs online. Gesetze vor 1991 erscheinen in der 1991-Fassung; Gesetze, die vor 1991 aufgehoben wurden, sind nicht enthalten.

The Statute Law Database went online on December 20 (via Delia Venables’ Internet Newsletter for Lawyers, article by Nick Holmes).

It basically contains everything, but pre-1991 statutes are given in their form as revised to 1991, and statutes repealed before 1991 aren’t there. Post-1991 secondary legislation is there too. Among other things, it has a glossary, an FAQ and a list of categories of legislation that is very useful.

Beck have sent me a flyer for

Becher: Wörterbuch Recht, Wirtschaft, Politik, von Herbert J. Becher, RA, unter Mitarbeit von Corinna Schlüter-Ellner und Beatriz Alfonso-Landgraf

I have to admit I have forgotten all my O-Level Spanish, but I am sure it must be a good thing with Corinna and Beatriz on board too (Of course, I don’t know Becher, but he has done previous editions).

The dictionary is advertised with the picture of a bull (but no torero or torera). There is an extract in the flyer and I see there is a little block defining Lebenspartnerschaft (civil partnership):

Die eingetragene Lebenspartnerschaft ist nach deutschem Recht ausschließlich für homosexuelle Partner als Eheersatz gedacht. Lebensgemeinschaften nach ausländischem Recht, die auch oder nur für heterosexuelle Paare gedacht sind, sollte man nicht mit “Lebenspartnerschaft” übersetzen.

Without quibbling about the connotations of the term Eheersatz, let’s note that the term Lebenspartnerschaft did not appear in Romain / Byrd / Thielecke (2002) or Dietl-Lorenz (2005). It is in the Langenscheidt-Alpmann Kompaktwörterbuch Recht, but translated as partnership for life, which I suspect is simply derived from Lebenspartner, a term also found in the Cornelsen Wörterbuch Recht. Therefore the bilingual German-English law dictionaries are as innocent of this term as the Bavarian register offices (you have to go to a notary to get your substitute marriage). It’s been in the BGB since 2002, and it was known it would be for some time before that.

If you thought the World Cup was bad enough, consider what some Fürth inhabitants may be wearing soon:

(from Rottmann Hörakustik)

This is a bit of a translation problem, as Otoplastik means both the process of creating shapes to fit into the ear and the shapes themselves. Otoplasty, on the other hand, is surgery to tidy up cauliflower and other misshapen ears.

Perhaps these Fürth moulds are just to keep noise out. You could pop them in and then have a cup of Fürth jubilee coffee or fruit tea. Or you could save the 45 euros and just stick a cloverleaf in your ear.

You can get a 45-cent Fürth stamp from the post office – enough to send a postcard:

or from the PZD (this actually goes out on a standard letter, but only within part of Bavaria):

Bamberg did better – but Bamberg was founded in 902; only the diocese dates from 1007.

Seen on the Fürther Freiheit this morning:

I stuck to the Galla and Pinova (note the careful distinction made between Italy and Südtirol)

A fictitious letter from Edmund Stoiber to his wife.

bq. Wenn ich jetzt aber mit ihr spreche, dann kann niemand mehr etwas sagen, weil ich ja mit ihr gesprochen habe und dann kann ich sagen: Schauts her, wir haben gesprochen, und es ist überhaupt kein Problem mehr vorhanden weil es niemals eines gegeben hat. Aber so leicht will ich sie nicht davonkommen lassen, diese Person, und deshalb könntest Du vielleicht einmal im Getränkemarkt vorbeischauen, in der Nähe wo die wohnt und einmal nachfragen, weil ich bin immer noch davon überzeugt, dass die säuft.