Mea Cabbages Culpa

I was quite rightly pulled up for accuracy on Thursday. The bone of contention was this quirky introduction to a speech from Mark Wallace.

· Pythagoras’ Theory – 24 words
· Lords’ Prayer – 66 words
· Archimedes Principle – 67 words
· Ten Commandments - 179 words
· Gettysburg Address – 267 words
· US Declaration of Independence – 1,321 words
· Magna Carta (including signatures) – 3,856 words
· EU regulations on sale and trade of cabbages – 26,253 words

Commenter salegamine pointed out that this was an urban myth debunked by Snopes.

The truth is that there are nowhere near 26,253 words regulating cabbages. In fact, it's a mere 1,990.

Along with 2,950 for cauliflowers and artichokes, 2,675 for asparagus, 1,972 for aubergines, 2,004 for beans, 3,980 for sprouts, celery and spinach, 2,260 for chicory, 1,925 for courgettes, 2,031 for cucumbers, 2,281 for mushrooms, 2,190 for garlic, 1,928 for leeks, 2,138 for lettuces, 2,235 for onions, 1,927 for peas, and 2,298 for sweet peppers ...

... not counting amendments.

Therefore, the illustration of absurdly overweening EU hyper-regulation should have read thus:

· Pythagoras’ Theory – 24 words
· Lords’ Prayer – 66 words
· Archimedes Principle – 67 words
· Ten Commandments - 179 words
· Gettysburg Address – 267 words
· US Declaration of Independence – 1,321 words
· Magna Carta (including signatures) – 3,856 words
· EU regulations on sale and trade of vegetables – more than 36,784 words

Happy to clear that one up.

It might be worth firing that around liberally by e-mail and see what Snopes think of it. Just a thought.

Links courtesy of Gawain