Nothing Doing

(futilitycloset.com)

40 points | by surprisetalk a day ago ago

16 comments

  • swader999 a day ago ago

    I need this for some past companies I've worked at.

  • layer8 a day ago ago

    It’s curious how there seem to be so few combinations of place and time where nothing important happened.

    • gumby 6 hours ago ago

      It’s just the macro perspective. Down around the Planck limit, there’s something going on all the time, everywhere, all at once!

  • tolugenius a day ago ago

    Funny, does anyone know the history of any of the markers? I'm just curious why this is global thing really.

    • LahvacCz a day ago ago

      The one from Míšov, Czech Republic is tribute to the running joke of nonexistent genius Jara Cimmrman

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%A1ra_Cimrman

      • cryzinger a day ago ago

        The bust (if you even can call it that...) pictured in the article is terrifying!

    • Photogrammaton a day ago ago

      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.

    • wccrawford a day ago ago

      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.

    • clickety_clack a day ago ago

      Was it in a Monty python sketch or something?

  • bckr a day ago ago

    My great grandmother taught me that “nothing doing” meant something similar to “there’s nothing for it”.

    • arjie a day ago ago

      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”.

      • HappMacDonald a day ago ago

        Looney Toons / Merry Melodies also bear out this connotation quite well

  • TRiG_Ireland a day ago ago

    The Futility Closet website (and, formerly, podcast) is an amazing treasure trove of fascinating facts.

    • alucardo a day ago ago

      Yes! and thank you for making me remember its existence

  • rzzzt a day ago ago

    1897 seems like an important year.

  • ButlerianJihad 8 hours ago ago

    "I just wanted to mention, for those who have asked... Absolutely nothing whatsoever happened today in Sector 83 by 9 by 12."

    https://youtu.be/vZt5_27mGcE?si=PaeEaF9Ws0aDvMMt

    I am totally sure I've seen that plaque in O'Hungry's. It's a San Diego classic. It's reassuring to know that there are such places around the world.