Elementary, my dear Mrs. Watson!

There's a fun little story (German, available today only) about an exchange of letters to the Sydney Morning Herald. The actual trigger was the need to save water, which got those Aussie letter writers rolling: One suggested to have one's whisky straight only, while a certain Tony Watson said that henceforth, he would be taking showers only with his wife. This stoked the fantasy of people, of course, who wanted to join in - literally. Anyway, a couple of months later, there was another letter by Tony, announcing that it worked and his wife was pregnant. Another couple of months later, there was the announcement of the birth of their baby daughter Miranda. And now they're famous not only in Sydney, but also in Switzerland and in the blogosphere.

Koi29? Since we're at it, there's another fun article (which is not available online) about the somewhat unconventional use of French among young folk in the French speaking parts of Switzerland, which seems to arise out of the pervasive use of texting & blogs. There's a slang called Verlan, which is a permutation of l'envers (invers), and that's exactly what it means: words are turned upside down, c.f.: Vénèr is proper énervé, tof = foto, meuf = femme. Very drôle! Unsurprisingly, language purists (such as teachers) are throwing a fit! And the kids enjoy it, I am sure. But what's the meaning of that Koi29, you wonder? Well, it's Quoi de neuf? (what's new?)! Here's another one for you to work out on your own (a pint for the 1st correct answer): J'tapLDkej'pe ...