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SweetFreedom Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
'Lions 10; Christians nil'?
Does 'Lions 10; Christians nil' mean "ten lions have eaten up all Christians/reduce them to nil"?
Background info:
Sir, Under the gleeful headline 'God comes a poor Second
before the Majesty of Science', your science correspondent
reported (on Easter Sunday of all days) how Richard
Dawkins 'inflicted grievous intellectual harm' on the
Archbishop of York in a debate on science and religion.
We were told of 'smugly smiling atheists' and 'Lions 10; Christians nil'.
Background info:
Sir, Under the gleeful headline 'God comes a poor Second
before the Majesty of Science', your science correspondent
reported (on Easter Sunday of all days) how Richard
Dawkins 'inflicted grievous intellectual harm' on the
Archbishop of York in a debate on science and religion.
We were told of 'smugly smiling atheists' and 'Lions 10; Christians nil'.
Top answer
It means Lions beat the Christians 10 times (it literally means 10 points), and the Christians beat the Lions 0 times (literally nil (0) points). Obviously to say 10 times here assumes 1 point per win. Whether the Lions are meant to be the atheists or not, the context will show.
- It means Lions beat the Christians 10 times (it literally means 10 points), and the Christians beat the Lions 0 times (literally nil (0) points).
- Obviously to say 10 times here assumes 1 point per win.
- Whether the Lions are meant to be the atheists or not, the context will show.
- d
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4 Answers
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It means Lions beat the Christians 10 times (it literally means 10 points), and the Christians beat the Lions 0 times (literally nil (0) points).
Obviously to say 10 times here assumes 1 point per win.
Whether the Lions are meant to be the atheists or not, the context will show.
d
Obviously to say 10 times here assumes 1 point per win.
Whether the Lions are meant to be the atheists or not, the context will show.
d
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SweetFreedomLions 10; Christians nil~ Lions 10; Christians 0.
The debate is being compared to a sporting event by giving the scores of the opposing teams. I don't see that eating comes into it very directly, though it's an allusion to historical events.
CJ
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Lions 10; Christians nil
The idea here is just that the Lions overcame the Christians easily.
ie Dawkins won the debate easily.
Clive
The idea here is just that the Lions overcame the Christians easily.
ie Dawkins won the debate easily.
Clive
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This is a very old joke. I recall seeing a TV program back in the 1970s (Monty Python?), which had a sketch set in ancient Rome. There was a scoreboard saying "Lions 103, Christians nil".
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