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World conker champion found with steel chestnut, cleared of cheating

(www.theguardian.com)
424 points notamy | 1 comments | 15 Oct 24 03:12 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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umanwizard ◴[15 Oct 24 03:33 UTC] No.41844648[source]▶
Is this game well-known enough in Britain and Ireland that readers will know what on earth is being alleged just from reading this article? Or are you expected to have to google it?

Apparently it’s a game where you take turns swinging a chestnut on a string and trying to hit the opponent’s chestnut and break it. Yes, I can see how a steel fake chestnut would be an advantage here, though I’m amazed it wouldn’t be instantly obvious to even a casual observer that the look and sound were wrong. So maybe I’m still missing something.

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nickcw ◴[15 Oct 24 07:35 UTC] No.41845876[source]▶
I used to play conkers at school in England, however my children didn't.

The reason? Schools have banned the game of conkers due to health and safety reasons.

I asked my 17 year old this morning and he had never even heard of the game of conkers.

So I think the age of conkers is passing, alas.

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greatgib ◴[15 Oct 24 10:09 UTC] No.41846952[source]▶
I saw on the wikipedia page the following totally stupid reason for the ban in some schools:

   In 2004, several schools banned conkers due to fear of causing anaphylactic shock in pupils with nut allergies. Health advisers said that there were no known dangers from conkers for nut-allergy sufferers, although some may experience a mild rash through handling them.[20]
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ljf ◴[15 Oct 24 10:32 UTC] No.41847081[source]▶
Interesting, as conkers are seeds (not a nut) - so shouldn't be an issue for someone with a nut allergy - though no doubt some people are allergic to them.
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joncrocks ◴[15 Oct 24 11:17 UTC] No.41847341[source]▶
It's not quite that simple. The line isn't quite as hard between seed and 'nut'. Namely people may commonly refer to things as a nut when it is a seed.

e.g. a Peanut is a seed, as are almonds, cashews, walnuts.

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_heimdall ◴[15 Oct 24 11:55 UTC] No.41847576[source]▶
This rabbit hole goes deep. Berries are particularly poorly named - stawberries, blackberries, and blueberries aren't actually berries but tomatoes and bananas are.
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barrkel ◴[15 Oct 24 11:57 UTC] No.41847592{3}[source]▶
This is only a problem if you mistake words for scientific classifications, instead of ways to convey meaning between communicating humans.

Very few people using the word "berry" are discussing scientific classifications. It would be worse, not better, to make terms more scientifically precise. Berry refers to small juicy fruits, often in bright colors.

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1. _heimdall ◴[15 Oct 24 12:49 UTC] No.41848013{4}[source]▶
I was sticking with the context of the GP though. Maybe its pedantic to point out that many berries aren't technically berries, but that's much the same as the point that many nuts are actually seeds.