Article: What does "nonsense" mean?

Following a set of verbal exchanges reminiscent of a Monty Python sketch, disagreement over the meaning of the word "nonsense" saw an MP ordered out of the National Assembly on Thursday.

Speaking after a statement by Acting Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Lechesa Tsenoli on the recent land audit report, Freedom Front Plus MP Pieter Groenewald told him he was talking nonsense.
 
Parliamentarians have got the thinnest of skins.

After only a couple of months on this forum you would have grown a skin that is as thick as leather.

Example: .... hey djy, djy praat *** man.
 
British parliament is sometimes absolutely hilarious. Top notch side swipes at each other.
 
Fulcrum29 said:
[video=youtube_share;KG-R3BmOtGg]http://youtu.be/KG-R3BmOtGg[/video]
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I wish someone would throw Zuma and Malema into the ring and let them sort it out. I'd pay good money to see that.
 
OrbitalDawn said:
Pathetic. So MPs are allowed to speak absolute bullschit but not get called on it?
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This is the only reason I like the FF+, very straight and verbal on any challenging matter, but this is also where it ends...

In this case it is majority rules:

He then told Mfeketo he would not withdraw the word, and she ordered him out of the House.

Groenewald told her: "Honourable Deputy Speaker, I must say that I've been more than 20 years in this House, and what I can't understand is that you say it's not unparliamentary to use the word, but you ask me to withdraw it. I will not withdraw it, and I will leave the chamber."

As he walked off the podium and out of the House, he was joined by a large contingent of DA MPs, as well as those of his own party.
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This is a walkout that I will agree upon, this scheduled sitting bear no fruit.
 
I saw several DA MPs tweeting about it. Its ridiculous. These MPs wouldn't last 1 min in British Parliament.
 
Yep. Watch PMQs every chance I get... I guess that's what you get for three hundred years of MPs actually debating rather than twenty years of snoozing, fashion shows and sulking.
 
It certainly let the world know that the land reform minister has not displayed competence
 
a definition of "nonsense"
Rubbish spewed out the mouths of Zuma and his friends every few days the media feeds upon
 
They know it gets our blood pumping, that's why they do it. Get technical about nonsense ( pun intended) in order to avoid the matter at hand. Most of them are sly and shallow beings.
 
"Nonsense" is not offensive. Mfeketo just had to stamp his authority.
"Twak", in my opinion, is not suitable language for parliament. Not offensive per se, but still a bit crude.
 
ANC: "Fall down at the feet of the minister and worship his words as true and noble."
Non-ANC: "Hell no."
ANC: "Shoo! You are not worthy."
 
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Skerminkel said:
"Nonsense" is not offensive. Mfeketo just had to stamp his authority.
"Twak", in my opinion, is not suitable language for parliament. Not offensive per se, but still a bit crude.
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You are not Afrikaans? You know that it is an Afrikaans idiom for "you will not get it right, it shall fail" and the English word for "twak" is "nonsense". Twak also have different expressions depending on the structure.
 
Fulcrum29 said:
You are not Afrikaans? You know that it is an Afrikaans idiom for "you will not get it right, it shall fail" and the English word for "twak" is "nonsense". Twak also have different expressions depending on the structure.
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It literally means "tobacco". I don't think that would have even been offensive in the old NP days when even something as mild as Beatles songs were deemed offensive.
 
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