I have the same issue and suspect it may be correspondents "correcting" what they think is a wrong email.

My gmail has a dot between first and last name (my.name@gmail) . I've received more than a few emails for a chap in the UK at (myname.gmail). I have reason to suspect that his actual email address is (mynam@gmail) and that he's either giving out the wrong address or correspondents are assuming the missing terminal "e" is inadvertent and adding it.

What Google is doing is preventing three different people signing up with those different names. I don't know why they did this, but it does reduce the risk of a missing period sending email to the wrong person - or someone masquerading as you by registering an address that is nearly visually identical.

When you, StormReaver, sign up with stormreaver@gmail Google effectively reserves storm.reaver@gmail, s.torm.reaver@gmail, etc., along with all addresses using a plus sign (e.g. stormreaver+slashdot@gmail), preventing any other person from registering them.

Any and all of these email addresses will work, but all messages sent to them will be given to you, StormReaver, with a little info tooltip explanation.

Yes. Previous experience can provide unknown (or at least unconscious) knowns that we use to help solve new problems. We just need to be aware that this can also bring baggage with it that can lead us to interpret new problems through the lens of old ones; doing so may lead us to misunderstand / misinterpret new situations and assume they are analogous to ones previous experienced.

I share your concerns about violating the articles of the Benthic Treaty.

Well, alright then, “venomous”, (though they may be poisonous, I wouldn’t know, I don’t eat arachnids. Not even in MMOs). :)

We do have one somewhat poisonous spider, though it's endangered and no one has died from it for over 100 years.

No. That particular silliness should perhaps remain on Reddit.

"Wellingtonian" is the demonym, and if the term is in the least pejorative, it is perhaps only because we keep our politicians there. :)

Wiki list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

A few that stand out as having current use in English, that may differ from their original meanings, (and don't come via Latin, though may come via Hindi, Nepalese, etc.) are: Avatar, Gurkha, Guru, Karma, Loot, Mugger, Punch (the drink), Sulfur, Swastika, and Thug.

Only if you say it three times while staring into a mirror. At least that's what I heard on Facebook.

"Forrest Trump is like a box of chocolates..."

I'm immediately reminded of a Monty Python skit involving "Crunchy Frog" and "Lark's Vomit Swirl".

Perhaps consider putting your kid's pet in a cattery before going on holiday? ;)

I have this mental image of the look on a TSA employee's face as they see the be-kilted bandsman approaching and realize that the rest of the pipe band is waiting in the line.

"Och nae laddie, nothing's worn under the kilt... we're all traditionalists!" :)

I wonder if it may be an example of Clarke's First Law:

"When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is probably wrong."