<html><head></head><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:verdana, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:13px"><div>English and maybe Scottish members of this group may know the tale told by the comedian Max Miller of how when he was refused service in a bar he asked why.</div><div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1470712812468_8683">And when the barman said the two ladies with him seemed to be of doubtful character Max dismissed the comment on the ground that each of them was a sure thing! As Pat Ladd perhaps would tell you the actual phrase was "stonewall bleedin certs". <br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">Of course some of the SPAM which gets stopped in my Spam Filter does begin with the pretence to be a stonewall bleedin cert, though in general there is the pretence of an offer, delivered many the time in unidiomatic English. <br></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">The boss of the spammers' mafia has as unspoken catchphrase "a non-offer you shouldn't believe".</div><div dir="ltr"><br></div><div dir="ltr">another job for the one-size unisex concrete e-boots <br></div><div dir="ltr">splash!</div><div dir="ltr">Robert <br></div></div></body></html>