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Eug · Jul 12, 2007, 08:19 PM

It seems a few elephants went missing for a little while in the Toronto burbs. They decided to explore their new neighbourhood.

Suzy, Bunny and Minny, weighing in at a combined 11,000 kilograms, managed to escape from the confines of their Garden Brothers Circus pen around 3 a.m. Thursday. An electric fence, the sole guard against such pachydermic freedom, had been accidentally disabled earlier in the evening.

And so Suzy and Bunny made a break for it. Minny, too, got out of the pen, but then promptly fell asleep.

A group of Newmarket residents came across the two escapees around 3 a.m., resulting in the following call to 911:

Audio of 911 call

Caller: “Hi. Umm... we've found an elephant walking down the street near the community centre, the Ray Twiney.

Operator: “Sorry?”

Caller: “We've found an elephant walking down the street. Like the ones from, like, the circus at the Ray Twiney Centre. One of them got loose and it's walking down the street.”

For the next few minutes, the caller explains that there are, in fact, at least two fully grown, trainer-less elephants milling about, as a woman in the background can be heard futilely exclaiming: “Don't let it cross the street!”

Too bad I missed out. That would have been interesting to see.

residentEvil · Jul 12, 2007, 08:34 PM

how do you stop an elephant from charging?

Eug · Jul 12, 2007, 08:36 PM

Take away his...

analogue SPRINKLES · Jul 12, 2007, 08:38 PM

Ha ha

residentEvil · Jul 12, 2007, 08:39 PM

hahaha, idiots

Doofy · Jul 12, 2007, 08:40 PM

Originally Posted by Eug

Minny, too, got out of the pen, but then promptly fell asleep.

residentEvil · Jul 12, 2007, 08:41 PM

narcaleptic elephant?

osiris · Jul 12, 2007, 08:56 PM

You know those elephants were just waiting for that fence to be turned off. No doubt.

Rumor · Jul 12, 2007, 08:57 PM

Maybe they were looking to score some pot?

Eug · Jul 13, 2007, 09:06 AM

Originally Posted by residentEvil

narcoleptic elephant?

Well, it was 3 am after all.

Originally Posted by Rumor

Maybe they were looking to score some pot?

More like their handlers had already scored some pot, given their inability to keep these guys at home.

Rumor · Jul 13, 2007, 12:24 PM

It would explain why one of them fell asleep not long after leaving.

olePigeon · Jul 13, 2007, 01:19 PM

Suzy, Bunny and Minny, weighing in at a combined 11,000 kilograms...

Must be tough being a siamese-twin elephant. Now, I'm assuming because the person who wrote the article didn't use a comma.

nonhuman · Jul 13, 2007, 01:45 PM

Originally Posted by olePigeon

Must be tough being a siamese-twin elephant. Now, I'm assuming because the person who wrote the article didn't use a comma.

Whether or not a comma belongs there is disputable. I always put one in, but AP writing style leaves it out.

Jawbone54 · Jul 13, 2007, 01:56 PM

Originally Posted by Rumor

Maybe they were looking to score some pot?

Well, it is Canada...

Doofy · Jul 13, 2007, 02:00 PM

Originally Posted by olePigeon

Must be tough being a siamese-twin elephant. Now, I'm assuming because the person who wrote the article didn't use a comma.

In English, you always have the last item of the list without a comma.

"Tom, Dick and Harry".
Not
"Tom, Dick, Harry".

"Jessica, Jessica, Jessica, Jessica, Jessica, Jessica and Doof".
Not
"Jessica, Jessica, Jessica, Jessica, Jessica, Jessica, Doof".

Rumor · Jul 13, 2007, 02:04 PM

Originally Posted by Doofy

"Jessica, Jessica, Jessica, Jessica, Jessica, Jessica, oof!"

Sounds painfully pleasent.

Doofy · Jul 13, 2007, 02:08 PM

Originally Posted by Rumor

Sounds painfully pleasent.

You get your filthy perverted eyes off my Jessicas, you damn dirty ape!

nonhuman · Jul 13, 2007, 02:09 PM

Originally Posted by Doofy

In English, you always have the last item of the list without a comma.

Not always. It's a stylistic difference. I was taught to always include that comma. Might vary largely by region (all the brits I know leave it out), but there's definitely variation within the US as well.

Doofy · Jul 13, 2007, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by nonhuman

Not always. It's a stylistic difference. I was taught to always include that comma. Might vary largely by region (all the brits I know leave it out), but there's definitely variation within the US as well.

Really? I was always taught to leave it out.

Rumor · Jul 13, 2007, 02:16 PM

Doof, you need to get Jessica to sign one of these.

Jawbone54 · Jul 13, 2007, 02:24 PM

Yup. Americans include the comma. It's just one of our "things."

Doofy · Jul 13, 2007, 02:25 PM

Originally Posted by Rumor

Doof, you need to get Jessica to sign one of these.

It's almost like that bloke doesn't have any DoofCharm. Like, none at all. Or else Jessicas would be making him sign up to be their rightful master. And stuff.

nonhuman · Jul 13, 2007, 02:27 PM

Originally Posted by Doofy

Really? I was always taught to leave it out.

Well, blame our yank bastartization of the English language then.

Doofy · Jul 13, 2007, 02:29 PM

Originally Posted by nonhuman

Well, blame our yank bastartization of the English language then.

Bloody colonials!

olePigeon · Jul 13, 2007, 02:51 PM

Originally Posted by nonhuman

Whether or not a comma belongs there is disputable. I always put one in, but AP writing style leaves it out.

The Associated Press is stupid. Leaving out the comma leads to confusion (especially for non-native English speakers), and can be downright wrong in many instances. It's never confusing nor wrong to always put in a commas as you and I do.

tie · Jul 13, 2007, 07:03 PM

Originally Posted by Jawbone54

Yup. Americans include the comma. It's just one of our "things."

I don't think it has anything to do with nationality. The serial comma is just a style thing.

Ghoser777 · Jul 13, 2007, 07:12 PM

Seems like it's up for debate:

Serial comma - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I like having the last comma whenever I'm posting, writing, or dictating.

moonmonkey · Jul 13, 2007, 07:35 PM

Originally Posted by Jawbone54

Yup. Americans include the comma. It's just one of our "things."

Now you have realised your error will you stop doing it?

Eug · Jul 13, 2007, 09:24 PM

The serial comma is correct in British English. The fact that it is also correct not to use it doesn't make using it wrong. In fact, Oxford University Press recommends its usage.

In Canada, we have sort of a mix of serial comma users and non-users. I personally always use it, because I consider it more specific.

nonhuman · Jul 14, 2007, 03:37 PM

Also, Crocodile Dundee has led me to believe that the appropriate phrasing for the title of this thread is 'Elephants go walkabout in Toronto'. Excluding the 'on'.

Jawbone54 · Jul 14, 2007, 03:46 PM

Originally Posted by moonmonkey

Now you have realised your error will you stop doing it?

You mean "realized?"
Seeeeeee what I did there?

moonmonkey · Jul 14, 2007, 08:31 PM

Originally Posted by Jawbone54

You mean "realized?"
Seeeeeee what I did there?

Thats what my spell checker thinks it is.

Yes I see, very clever!

Mithras · Jul 14, 2007, 09:26 PM

The 911 guy seemed very cheery about the whole thing. "Like, how big are we talking here?"

Eug · Jul 14, 2007, 09:59 PM

Yeah, and the kid calling was calm too. All very matter of fact...

The girl in the background was amusing though. "Don't let it cross the street!" Why not? Maybe there was some good Canadian ganja there?