Fun fact: in French, it's called a "nature mort", or "dead nature". I find it interesting that the same thing is associated with life in some languages, and with death in others.
The only difference I've found between the two, and I don't think its a strong enough difference or widely known enough to be particular on...
Murphy's Law seems to suggest that eventually everything that could have gone wrong will have at some point. While Sod's Law is more of a singular reference - on this particular occasion, so much can go wrong that something must.
But I don't think this is upheld in its common usage - ie. in the UK we just say its Sod's Law as a generalisation : Things can go wrong, things will go wrong.
Also: while it is true that German submarines were called "u-boats", or more accurately "U-Boote" in WWII, they are also still called that today! It's just the regular German word for submarine (short for "Unterseeboot" - or "underwater boat" - which is a pretty accurate description of those things).
No need for the AD for the Maya clue. I can't imagine anyone wondering if it was supposed to be BC/BCE. Really, there's never a need for denoting anything after BC/BCE, only before.
Murphy's Law did not come to the forefront of my mind although have heard of it.
Murphy's Law seems to suggest that eventually everything that could have gone wrong will have at some point. While Sod's Law is more of a singular reference - on this particular occasion, so much can go wrong that something must.
But I don't think this is upheld in its common usage - ie. in the UK we just say its Sod's Law as a generalisation : Things can go wrong, things will go wrong.
BTW, Q1 is slightly incorrectly worded - should remove "that" or add "is an". Noticed it on the front page today...
Chaise longue for a psychiatrist's couch? That's just daft