Excepting at the start of a sentence, surely the good folks of Lesbos can distinguish themselves from the good girl-on-girl lovers through the use of a capital or lowercase "L". Hence: Lesbian - resident of Lesbos; lesbian - woman who lurve woman.

Problems may arise at the start of a sentence, whereupon you do what anyone else does and go by the context. Even better if you're a Lesbian lesbian.

While we're at it, we could call welsh ones Llesbians.

As mentioned in the article and its to good to let go, they where well and truely licked.

but... what if you're a gay woman from Lesbos.... then what do you call yourself? I guess anything you want.

So El Reg isn't a lesbian online site??? When did this happen i thought all the flame wars about the JesusPhone and Global Warming were a direct result of the lesbian readership, not to mention their fixation with Paris!

I will have to take my "straight man wanting to watch lesbians battle it out over the best OS" readership elsewhere... (Perhaps WIRED is better for this hmmm)

/I'll grab my coat with hidden camera in it then...

I noticed that the Independent has modified their story and no longer refers to El Reg as a gay on-line mag. Did you get a letter of apology?

I would like to point out, though, that while growing up in the 'merkin southwest in the mid-80s, there were certain social types ('jocks') who felt that electronics in general and computers in particular were 'gay'.

Whether said sporty types were prophets or idiots we'll leave to the Independent's readership to decide.

So, gay men from Lesbos can tick both boxes on the form then ...

Gay (X)

Lesbian (X)

Paris, because she always ticks both boxes

So a word goes into common usage to describe something, and the legal system supports it, instead of handing down a pointless and unenforceable ruling about how people use their own language.

Ok, in this case, it wasn't a trademark (Hoover, Zip, Fridge etc) but the point about common usage and the evolution of language is the same.

Of course, if they had won, then it would have opened the gates to all sorts of stupid similar cases - the one that springs to mind is the English speaking world getting the word "Gay" put back to it's original meaning. It's just not going to work. Ever.

Good for the courts. Although I am very grateful to the Mytilenians for bringing the case - the opportunity for so... many... jokes...

Mine's the one with the dictionary in the pocket.

"El Reg is not a lesbian online magazine"

I always knew that there was something missing from the Reg... :)

Paris for the obvious regions... erm regions...

" Our interest in the matter is purely legal, except for a couple of the Vulture Central adsales boys, whose interest in the matter is strictly illegal."

< ahem >

Not to mention tickle the funny bone till all the vultures

are in a heap , laughing their asses off so much they

couldnt lick a stamp to save their lives .

Which i still cant .. medics tell me ill stop laughing

around 2010 where they will be able to try make a

rescue attempt ..

Good day .

Ric

Hmmm... A _Greek_ gentleman who has problems with grrls... Hmmm.

I'm on my way out, no need to push...

I know this extreme porn thing is a bit of a worry but you're doing it tough in the UK if a man's sacred right to ogle a bit of girl/girl action is now illegal.

I laughed so hard when I read the headline, I was in tears...

I made a few xeroxes to post about the office.

Well, dip me in honey and throw me to the lesbians!

the Greek judge concluded by singing a Shania Twain song.

€230? For this much entertainment? I've been offered worse deals...

I say we have a whip-round and raise some cash so they can mount an appeal.

(huh, uhu, huh, I said "mount" ... )

When does it become compulsory?

Great headline, but for those wondering about the IT angle might I suggest: Secure Socket Layer.

None, its all tongue and groove.

The toolbelt, ta.

What are the philosophical implications?

...but I was under the impression that this was solved decades ago, like in the '70s. Correct me if you must, but I thought this fight had been fought and the ruling was that the gay women would use the word "lesbian" and the islanders would use the word "lesbosian".

No confusion there, eh?

That's choice, Sam. ...tongue and groove. Made my day.

"what if you're a gay woman from Lesbos.... then what do you call yourself?"

Stavros?

"I will have to take my "straight man wanting to watch lesbians battle it out over the best OS" readership elsewhere... (Perhaps WIRED is better for this hmmm)" ... By Anon Koward Posted Wednesday 23rd July 2008 11:56 GMT

Anon Koward,

I think it would be a safe bet to imagine El Reg Readership preferring a Proliferation of Content with a Wired Parallel for Research and Recreation, rather than DeCamping Wholesale.

There are Important Lessons for Man to Learn said a spokesman.

Virtually Vital lamented a spokeswoman.

"Well, dip me in honey and throw me to the lesbians!" ....By Matthew

Posted Wednesday 23rd July 2008 13:07 GMT

This thread is to your taste and liking, Matthew? :-) Very Popular Ladies are Lesbians and aint that the Truth.

No, we have San Francisco for that.

...headline, and the one about tongue and groove.

...lesbians all around the world are now demanding that men known as 'Leslie' now NOT be referred to as 'Les' as this can be quite confusing in the workplace and has led to a few sticky moments...

...mines the one with 'Fire Fighter' on the back, as I wait for the flames.....

If Lesbians can get people to call lesbians sapphists the perhaps hackers can get clueless journalists stop writing 'hackers' when they mean 'crackers'. I thought the hacker/cracker argument was well and truly lost, but I distinctly remember Wallace did not say "We have forgotten the hackers Grommit!"

BTW: I thought the island was called something like Λεσβοσ anyway.

"but... what if you're a gay woman from Lesbos.... then what do you call yourself? I guess anything you want."

Adrianna Thanatopoulos, or so I've heard.

Whoops - just set the cat among the pigeons in the local taverna!

=)

"while growing up in the 'merkin"

You grew up in a pubic wig?

... hence the name... they used to have almost all women religious/spiritual groups who would go the impressive cliffs in Lesbos and party/pray. This was around the time of the ancient greek civilisation so er what exactly is the problem here.

(reference: some local guide when i was on holiday there. Dissappointingly I failed to see many lesbians in Lesbos, no lipstick lesbians... not even the lumberjack+doc martin ones).

Seems to me that this guy has got fed up of all the lesbian jokes and wants the law to change history for him.

well, yes, a halt on baked goods would lead to a useful cut of third world populations by starvation, but perhaps that was a slip of the tounge (the one covered in cinnamon thanks..)

Nothing patches up a spat like dripping moist cash...the island should use the publicity of this farce to launch a travel program to invite lesbians to visit their adopted "homeland." A few billion in tourist dollars should smooth over any nomenclature friction. I'm getting excited just thinking about the advertising campaign.

"Please note: El Reg is not a lesbian online magazine."

Methinks thou doth protest too much.

Besides, "Lester" is a pretty strange name for a girly-girl. Are you sure you didn't mean "Let's 'er"? [Yes, it's a lame joke, esp. compared to the brilliant tongue and groove one.]

Special bonus for the intellectually inclined, a quote from the great poetess Sappho (whence "sapphist"), the first known lesbian:

"If you're squeamish, don't prod the beach rubble."

Is ET allowed to have fun with PROMIS/LIONS ?

The good folk at Lesbos should embrace their name. Think of all the opportunity marketing tourism to DINK (double income no kids) Mytilenian couples.

While they are at it, they could also market to lager louts hoping to turn poor strayed lassies back to the true path of hetero lust (their beer bellies will no doubt help). 2 for the price of 1.

But... maybe that was the point of going to court in the first case? They were sure to lose and look stupid but this could have just been a Trojan to raise the island's profile to Phallic proportions. Bit like Borat did for K'stan.

OK, time for the island of Phallus to take folks to court to stop being called dicks. Good way to lure San Franciscan guys (just taking any random city) to their beaches.

Paris, cuz she sure would look hot in a lez 2some.

So will the good people of lesbos borrow the flag ship "Georgious Avaroff" and use it to repel the evil eye of those who have stolen the good name of the island in question ?