|
Amused to Death posted:
I asked him but he hasn't responded yet.
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 16:31
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 29, 2024 17:09 |
|
|
MadcapLaughs posted:Is he correct about the downfall to societies? These people drive me nuts. They get so pissed that people might actually speak other languages. I live in France and while I do speak good French I do appreciate when things have the option for English even if I don't really need it. Some people just have serious inferiority complexes about languages. When I was in the Army back home I had a guy actually go complain to the commander when another soldier and I were speaking French within earshot. The commander did tell him to shut up but still, he was so angry about FOREIGN MOON SPEAK. Amused to Death posted:Yup, my reasoning is though most people have anywhere between what, 100-400 friends, statistically at least one of these people will read the comments though and see what an idiot the person is and possibly even learn something. Outside of a few specific subjects I'm not a very effective arguer and I definitely appreciate seeing people pointing out people's bullshit and I'm sure others feel the same way.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 16:37
|
|
|
MadcapLaughs posted:Is he correct about the downfall to societies? Also, if you've ever met a third-generation descendant of immigrants, chances are you've met someone whose first language is English, and has a hard time communicating with their grandparents. Historically is it even normal for a country to have a single unified language? It seems to me like those countries are the exception to the rule.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 16:52
|
|
|
Make sure to point out that it's you're, not your. That's the way it's done in English.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 16:54
|
|
|
Heavily colonized countries relegate any other language into a dialect. Mostly in Latin America.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 16:56
|
|
|
Guilty Spork posted:Historically is it even normal for a country to have a single unified language? It seems to me like those countries are the exception to the rule. Offhand, I can't think of any countries without significant minority or regional languages except Japan.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 17:04
|
|
|
Hell, from a historical perspective truly "unified languages" in countries wasn't a thing up until modern travel/telecom where people started to spend significant amounts of time communicating with people outside their region. Even today regional dialects can be pretty strong depending on how isolated the communities are.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 17:10
|
|
|
Soviet Commubot posted:These people drive me nuts. They get so pissed that people might actually speak other languages. I live in France and while I do speak good French I do appreciate when things have the option for English even if I don't really need it. Do you speak good English too? 
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 17:10
|
|
|
Soviet Commubot posted:Offhand, I can't think of any countries without significant minority or regional languages except Japan. Even then distinct dialects do exist in Japan.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 17:10
|
|
|
Mitchicon posted:Do you speak good English too? Less and less  Rigged Death Trap posted:Even then distinct dialects do exist in Japan. Sure, although the real point of the "English only" thing is a society that is culturally homogeneous with ethnic homogeneity being very strongly implied. More than a few racists are pretty jealous of Japan in that regard.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 18:08
|
|
|
Rigged Death Trap posted:Even then distinct dialects do exist in Japan. Hoo boy do they ever. I studied in Tokyo but worked in Osaka. My Japanese was pretty decent, but until I started using Kansai dialect everyone I talked to was all like "OH! You came from Tokyo? Hahaha!" So many words were so different that it was like re-learning the language. MadcapLaughs posted:Is he correct about the downfall to societies? But pressing "1" is so much work! And I heard that when they say stuff in moon-speak they are saying how dumb I am! 
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 18:09
|
|
|
KillerJunglist posted:Hoo boy do they ever. I studied in Tokyo but worked in Osaka. My Japanese was pretty decent, but until I started using Kansai dialect everyone I talked to was all like "OH! You came from Tokyo? Hahaha!" Jesus, this is why learning Arabic gives me a headache. All the different dialects make it insane. 
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 18:13
|
|
|
Mitchicon posted:Jesus, this is why learning Arabic gives me a headache. All the different dialects make it insane. Arabic is fascinating - it's essentially a family of languages, sharing a grammar and written form but mutually unintelligible (or nearly so) when spoken. I think Chinese is the same; Mandarin, Cantonese, etc. have entirely different sets of consonants, vowels, tones, etc. but they're all written the same way.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 19:06
|
|
|
When I shop at Food City in Phoenix, it's pretty obvious that I'm not part of the primary demographic that they market to. I barely speak any Spanish so it makes me feel really good when the signs have English translations in a smaller font. That small effort let's me know that my business is welcome and that it's okay for me to shop there. I'd be a real shithead to gripe when the situation is reversed.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 19:18
|
|
|
Alien Arcana posted:Arabic is fascinating - it's essentially a family of languages, sharing a grammar and written form but mutually unintelligible (or nearly so) when spoken. It also hasn't changed in centuries, making it even more fascinating. If modern day Arabic speakers were transported back to the 1300's they'd be able to speak with the locals 
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 19:42
|
|
|
Dr. Arbitrary posted:When I shop at Food City in Phoenix, it's pretty obvious that I'm not part of the primary demographic that they market to. You should be FURIOUS because AMERICA is a WHITE CHRISTIAN NATION that speaks ENGLISH like the FOUNDING FATHERS intended!! Anything slightly different from that is TREASON!!!!!!!! 
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 19:49
|
|
|
To me it seems much more indicative of the downfall of society when a populace becomes too lazy and impatient to hit a button on a phone.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 20:52
|
|
|
I've seen variations of this post on some of my (very liberal) friends' Walls. I don't know if the anti-Obama/Gore elements are part of the original posting, but they seem to be insidious - the same hidden message is given in varying forms. quote:REMEMBER THIS LADY!!!
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 20:58
|
|
|
Alien Arcana posted:I think Chinese is the same; Mandarin, Cantonese, etc. have entirely different sets of consonants, vowels, tones, etc. but they're all written the same way. Yeah, Chinese is pretty nuts. Even people technically speaking "Mandarin" in some parts of the country are just for a majority of the rest of the country. Look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_varieties_of_Chinese
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 21:03
|
|
|
When I went to Japan, and seeing about 70% of things in English, I came back with a greater appreciation for having Spanish as a second language when I phone places. I studied 3 years of Japanese in college, and I still struggled there. Most places don't even say "for English, press 1." It's normally you'll hear "Para español oprima dos" and if you don't touch anything it defaults to English. The whole thing reeks of "I'm not racist, but..."
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 21:10
|
|
|
It's even better when they have that quote paired with a picture of John Wayne, who was bilingual and had several hispanic wives.
|
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 21:14
|
|
|
"Community organizing" is not why Barack Obama won a Nobel Peace Prize. Actually, to be honest, I have no idea why Barack Obama won a Nobel Peace Prize. Additionally, when Barack Obama was a community organizer it wasn't for ACORN. I have no idea what exactly Republicans think "community organizer" means; it's either something pathetically insignificant or deviously evil, but I doubt any Republican could explain to you how or why they came to either conclusion (both of which are obviously incorrect). However, I will agree with the email that the Nobel Peace Prize is, along with most other major awards, basically bullshit.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 21:40
|
|
|
MisterBadIdea posted:I have no idea what exactly Republicans think "community organizer" means; it's either something pathetically insignificant or deviously evil, but I doubt any Republican could explain to you how or why they came to either conclusion (both of which are obviously incorrect). Because it's something he did. Republicans love to talk about personal responsibility and doing poo poo by yourself without government intervention; so Obama literally took it upon himself to try and better his community and got ridiculed for it. Basically, "what did this Democrat do? that's bad because it is".
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 21:45
|
|
|
HipGnosis posted:It also hasn't changed in centuries, making it even more fascinating. If modern day Arabic speakers were transported back to the 1300's they'd be able to speak with the locals That's not even kind of true.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 21:56
|
|
|
MisterBadIdea posted:Actually, to be honest, I have no idea why Barack Obama won a Nobel Peace Prize. Basically by being a US president who wasn't George W Bush or John "bomb-bomb-bomb, bomb-bomb Iran" McCain
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 21:59
|
|
|
He responded.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 22:20
|
|
|
MadcapLaughs posted:He responded. 'The strong empires,' 'the major problems of the Society,' 'the downward slide.' Your friend is a very specific fellow, isn't he?
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 22:26
|
|
|
seiferguy posted:Most places don't even say "for English, press 1." It's normally you'll hear "Para español oprima dos" and if you don't touch anything it defaults to English. The whole thing reeks of "I'm not racist, but..." That's all it is, their post might as well be "mexicans have mexico, americans have america, this is a white country!!!" In Canada it's usually 1 for English 2 for French, and those options always precede an automated menu anyway. I want to know what company they're phoning where you press 1 for English to immediately speak to an English speaking representative.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 22:29
|
|
|
Kro-Bar posted:All House sessions can be found here, but it looks like they haven't gotten tonight's session up yet. quote:Property; prohibiting adoption of United Nations Agenda 21/Sustainable Development policies that restrict private property rights without due process; effective date. ETA: The awesome segment begins at 6:11:00 or so. ETA2: The bill passed overwhelmingly. I'm sorry, Oklahoma.
Absurd Alhazred fucked around with this message at 23:52 on Mar 14, 2013 |
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 22:56
|
|
|
MadcapLaughs posted:He responded. Thankfully we don't need the article to already declare it bullshit.
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 23:43
|
|
|
Absurd Alhazred posted:It's up now: HB 1412 by Kern and Anderson Thanks for linking this, Absurd Alhazred. :p I usually have our House video feed on in the background when I'm at work, and the Democrats generally have pretty reasonable discussions, but there's always a depressing "You fuckers are going to pass this anyway, aren't you?" vibe to their debates. Shelton in particular--when debating or asking questions regarding ridiculous laws--tends to say "Please don't let us end up on national TV over this [stupid bullshit]"
|
|
#
?
Mar 14, 2013 23:55
|
|
|
Kro-Bar posted:Thanks for linking this, Absurd Alhazred. :p Fortunately (?) for him, Stewart and Colbert are on hiatus, and this is a bit too specialized even for them, I think.
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2013 00:00
|
|
|
Absurd Alhazred posted:Fortunately (?) for him, Stewart and Colbert are on hiatus, and this is a bit too specialized even for them, I think. Probably. But it's not like it hasn't happened in the past.
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2013 00:05
|
|
|
totalnewbie posted:Yeah, Chinese is pretty nuts. Even people technically speaking "Mandarin" in some parts of the country are just As someone who lives in Hong Kong I am loving ecstatic that most of the time I can press 2 for English. Cantonese shares characters with Mandarin but it's written differently enough it could be considered being a different language within the same family, like English and German. "Where are you going" would be "Ni choo nah lee?" 你去那里 in Mandarin but "Lay hoi bin dough?" 你去邊度 in Cantonese. When I was in Beijing there were some tourists from Henan at the forbidden city arguing about what country the Cantonese-speaking people from Guangdong province were from. (drat foreigners)
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2013 00:34
|
|
|
If we're going to pick a national language, we ought to think ahead and choose one that will fit the changing demographics of our country. Spanish, Tagalog, Chinese or Russian might all be great choices!
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2013 01:03
|
|
|
I love living around foreign language speakers. It adds a lot to a community. I am sometimes angry at my parents for discouraging me from learning a foreign language. It was the greatest, most enriching thing to learn loving German. I love being able to engage with another culture. I can barely fathom people who get pissed about pressing 1 for English. It's ignorant, racist poo poo and as a multilingual I say gently caress you.
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2013 05:18
|
|
|
Dr. Arbitrary posted:If we're going to pick a national language, we ought to think ahead and choose one that will fit the changing demographics of our country. Spanish, Tagalog, Chinese or Russian might all be great choices! My grandparents have worked for the local tribal government for decades, and based on their experience and mine I would like to put forward the suggestion that we make this a Native-language-only nation, and ban not just Spanish, but English as well. Seriously, Native American languages sound so cool, especially coming from the mouth of an incredibly old man who lives out in the boondocks and barely speaks a word of English at all. I know all you're talking about is boring stuff about land parcels, buddy, and I barely understand a word you're saying, but I don't even care, I could listen to you all day. 
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2013 06:28
|
|
|
Aeka 2.0 posted:my conservative boss has texts with a poo poo ton of ellipsis. "Common sense" is code for "I don't actually know any of this, or know how to find information on my own to check it out, but it sounds good and confirms what I already thought, so that's good enough for me."
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2013 11:29
|
|
|
Walter posted:"Common sense" is code for "I don't actually know any of this, or know how to find information on my own to check it out, but it sounds good and confirms what I already thought, so that's good enough for me." But it's a term with Patriot-Founding-Father-Revolution-cred, and is therefore unassailable.
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2013 11:35
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 29, 2024 17:09 |
|
|
Kegluneq posted:I've seen variations of this post on some of my (very liberal) friends' Walls. I don't know if the anti-Obama/Gore elements are part of the original posting, but they seem to be insidious - the same hidden message is given in varying forms. Six million jews and ten million christians murdered by the nazis..?
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2013 15:20
|
|
