The Language (and travel) Thread

[Arcadia]

Same here.

 

I think some people confuse Facebook with LinkedIn, as far as purpose goes. I've often gotten "friend" requests from people I've barely -- or never -- met, but we know each other's names because we've participated in the same art show or something. Why would they be interested in my pictures of my nephews? I think they think they're networking, but I find it rather intrusive.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I've had the same sort of experience, but less explicably. Like one gal had signed up for our class's Classmates.com page, even though I'd never heard of her. So I found her on Facebook and messaged her, asking if perhaps she had gone to a different school with the same name. That did turn out to be the case, end of story. Except that then she sent me a Facebook friend request! We don't know each other, and as far as I'm aware, we have absolutely nothing in common except that we graduated in the same year from high schools with the same name but in different states.

 

I get the feeling that some people basically collect "friends.". Like whoever has the most, wins something.

[T.o.b.y]

Yes, but why didn't Dickens write "Herbert was my intimate friend?" Why say he is a friend and "intimate companion" and what is / was an intimate companion as opposed to an intimate friend?

 

Maybe you're right, Carol, and he just used that phrasing for emphasis. I think he does occasionally waste words.

[Van Buren Supernova]

I've had the same sort of experience, but less explicably. Like one gal had signed up for our class's Classmates.com page, even though I'd never heard of her. So I found her on Facebook and messaged her, asking if perhaps she had gone to a different school with the same name. That did turn out to be the case, end of story. Except that then she sent me a Facebook friend request! We don't know each other, and as far as I'm aware, we have absolutely nothing in common except that we graduated in the same year from high schools with the same name but in different states.

 

I get the feeling that some people basically collect "friends.". Like whoever has the most, wins something.

Win the title of having least real friends?

 

The friend requests I ignored are those you mentioned, my previous lecturer (who is a old cool professor that I respect but I don't feel like having him knowing about my personal life), relatives, relatives of my S.O, friends of friends, people from work, and ironically my best friend (but he has 'befriend' too many people from work, that, and because I'm not active in facebook anymore anyway), and actually a 'mild' celebrity, a published writer. I was a member of another forum few years ago, and he was requesting help for simple photoshop works for his project, so I lent him a hand. I got credited in his work but I used unknown username :p. I helped him multiple times, so we had each other email for file transfer and it's the one I used for facebook, which is most likely how he got my fb.

 

There are also requests from people who are not connected whatsoever, which I have no idea where they come from, my fb is set on private and there is nothing to see from there, it's only silhouette profile picture and some signature I actually don't remember now, I also changed my username to gilberish that noone should able to pronounce or remember. Perhaps it's from photography pages I used to run, but then again, I used alias/alternate account for those.

 

As a rant, I also dislike people using facebook for real networking, it should be personal dammit. Long time ago I wrote playful message to my brother and he told me not to because he has people from work, his boss etc as his friend. That is annoying mixture, fine! I also don't want to be in the mix where I have to behave formally for something that is supposed to be personal.

[Arcadia]

Yes, but why didn't Dickens write "Herbert was my intimate friend?" Why say he is a friend and "intimate companion" and what is / was an intimate companion as opposed to an intimate friend?

 

Maybe you're right, Carol, and he just used that phrasing for emphasis. I think he does occasionally waste words.

Just to be contrary (and I love the nuances of language) ... a friend could be someone distant, or occasional ... companion implies someone you spend a lot of time with. So an intimate friend could be someone you correspond with, while an intimate companion would be someone you .... spend a lot of time with AND pour out your most intimate thoughts to....

 

You know what? Forget it. Clearly he's saying they're gay. :p

[T.o.b.y]

 

Yes, but why didn't Dickens write "Herbert was my intimate friend?" Why say he is a friend and "intimate companion" and what is / was an intimate companion as opposed to an intimate friend?

 

Maybe you're right, Carol, and he just used that phrasing for emphasis. I think he does occasionally waste words.

Just to be contrary (and I love the nuances of language) ... a friend could be someone distant, or occasional ... companion implies someone you spend a lot of time with. So an intimate friend could be someone you correspond with, while an intimate companion would be someone you .... spend a lot of time with AND pour out your most intimate thoughts to....

 

You know what? Forget it. Clearly he's saying they're gay. :P

 

 

:D Clearly. And if you think Holmes and Watson could be a couple the way they were written, oh my god, take a look at Dickens' flat-sharing bachelors. :P Poor man. I doubt he even knew homosexuality existed and he would certainly have never hinted at such a thing, I mean, he went so far as to self-censor the word "trousers" out of his novels when he learned it was offending his readers' sensibilities.

 

You're probably right that it's a matter of proximity.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

"Trousers" is an offensive word?! It just occurred to me that we are NOT living in the first-ever era of extreme political correctness. We just have different criteria in effect.

[Doe]

The hardest words are "get" and "have"

[T.o.b.y]

"Trousers" is an offensive word?! It just occurred to me that we are NOT living in the first-ever era of extreme political correctness. We just have different criteria in effect.

I don't know if I would call that political correctness, it seems more like classic Victorian prudery to me.

[Arcadia]

The hardest words are "get" and "have"

 

"Have" is what you are doing after you "get" something. If I go and "get" a banana, then I "have" a banana. Does that help at all?

[Carol the Dabbler]

"Trousers" is an offensive word?! It just occurred to me that we are NOT living in the first-ever era of extreme political correctness. We just have different criteria in effect.

I don't know if I would call that political correctness, it seems more like classic Victorian prudery to me.

 

Excuse me, I should have said "political correctness" (with quote marks).  You mentioned that Dickens "went so far as to self-censor the word 'trousers' out of his novels when he learned it was offending his readers' sensibilities."  Which sounds exactly (in certain regards) like our current era, except that people's sensibilities are now offended not by terms for clothing but by terms for ethnic and racial groups -- even when it's clear that no offense is intended.  For example, consider all the ruckus over Mr. Cumberbatch's sympathetic use of the word "coloured."

[Doe]

 

The hardest words are "get" and "have"

 

"Have" is what you are doing after you "get" something. If I go and "get" a banana, then I "have" a banana. Does that help at all?

 

 

Little bit

 

for "have"

 

Where "have" you been?

 

I "have" a car.

 

I "have" breakfast

 

I should "have" studied hard when I was at universty.

 

[Doe]

 

The hardest words are "get" and "have"

 

"Have" is what you are doing after you "get" something. If I go and "get" a banana, then I "have" a banana. Does that help at all?

 

 

for get

 

Are they "getting" married?

 

If Benedict "get"s up very early, he will catch his job.

 

Benedict "got" tired of waiting for Sophie.

 

I couldn't let Benedict "get" away with her.

 

:P

[SherlockedCAMPer]

Have is one of those verbs that stands on its own as well as can be a helping verb. Is generally used in the compound tenses in a language. Languages such as Spanish have 2 different words for have: Tener would be used for the I have a car and Haber for the I should have studied. In English we tend to use get in so many ways that would be considered colloquial where the situation could use a different word in its place: If Benedict wakes up very early, he will catch his job.

[Doe]

Have is one of those verbs that stands on its own as well as can be a helping verb. Is generally used in the compound tenses in a language. Languages such as Spanish have 2 different words for have: Tener would be used for the I have a car and Haber for the I should have studied. In English we tend to use get in so many ways that would be considered colloquial where the situation could use a different word in its place: If Benedict wakes up very early, he will catch his job.

Thank you my dear

 

[Van Buren Supernova]

Actually I'm a bit more confused about the usage of 'agreed'.

I saw multiple times when someone agrees to a post, the response is agreed, instead of agree.

 

Why? If it's a general truth, and means you always agree with that point, why is it in past tense?

If I remember correctly, I see it quite often that I used agreed as well one or twice. Monkeys see, monkeys do. :P

But then it bothers me too much I started to look for another phrasing to avoid using that.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Hey, that's how all of us learned English! If you ask us why something is that way, we may quote some "rule" that we heard from our teachers. But mostly it's that way because it's that way. So just keep monkeying along, and you'll do just fine.

 

As for "agreed," lemme think. I don't think that's a past tense verb, it's more of a past participle. In other words, it's not short for "I agreed" because you're right, we'd say "I agree." It's something closer to "that has been agreed upon," I think. But mostly we just say it like that. If you don't like it, just hang around a few decades and it'll probably change.

[Arcadia]

I agree. :P

[Van Buren Supernova]

A few decades :D?

By then I'll have something else to worry about.

But NOW, my single purpose in life is to get that explanation..!

And you have given that.

 

Dang. Now I have to find other purpose.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I just came across an interesting spelling online.  A customer review complimented the vendor's "prompt cuddious service."

 

Judging by the context, I assume the word intended is courteous (even though Google seems to think I mean curious).  What I'm trying to figure out is what sort of accent the reviewer must have in order to come up with that spelling.  My first inclination was the sort of English accent where some r's are pronounced almost like d's (as in "veddy, veddy British"), but upon further reflection, I'm leaning toward one of the American regional accents where some r's are not pronounced -- so the r is omitted and the t is pronounced in American fashion, as an intervocalic flap, similar to a d but briefer.  (In fact, I'm fairly certain that our "t" is actually the same sound as that odd British "r".)

 

Anybody have more ideas?

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

OK, if y'all won't answer my last question [eek!  I just got auto-saved!!! and I haven't changed a thing!], I'll ask a new one:
 
It seems to me that I've heard British people use the word "packet" in ways that I would not (but darned if I can think of any examples).  Which got me to thinking about how I use the word, and I think I have it fairly well narrowed down.  A packet (at least around here) is a small, single-serving, single-dose, single-use (etc.) container, generally flat like an envelope, generally made of paper, cellophane, or possibly foil.  Examples of contents are:
 

Garden seeds (typically about 50) in a roughly 3" x 4" paper packet (with a nice picture of the plant and instructions for growing)
 
Sugar or artificial sweetener, one teaspoonful or equivalent, as found in many restaurants, in roughly 2" X 2" paper packets

 

Instant oatmeal, single servings (about 1/3 cup dry) in 4" x 5" paper packets, sold 12 per box
 
Cookies or cracker sandwiches, approximately three per cellophane packet, as sold in vending machines or in boxes of a dozen or so packets for use in lunch boxes, etc.

 

 

How does that compare with the way the word is used where you live?  More examples would be interesting.

[Arcadia]

I also think of a "packet" as being something that comes specifically in a flat package. A "packet" of folders; a "packet" of boxes (that are delivered flat, not folded into boxes). And we had a "packet" of roofing tiles delivered when we got a new roof; the conglomerate shape wasn't flat, but the tiles were. Now that I think of it, I associate it with shipping things in general, but I'm not sure if it's just certain (flat) things, or anything that's shipped. Maybe I'm just influenced by the term "packet boat", though.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Right, judging by "packet boat" I'm guessing that the term used to have a much broader application.  I agree regarding small packages of folders, envelopes, paper, etc (any small fraction of a ream, packaged in a paper wrapper rather than a box).  Not so sure about the tiles, though I suppose if what you bought was a fraction of the usual package....

 

Anything that comes in a box or that's more box-shaped, though, I would call a parcel or a package or a carton, depending on several other factors plus my mood at the time.

[Carol the Dabbler]

Aha!  According to whatever it is that Google brings up at first, a "packet boat" originally carried shipments of mail from one city to another.

 

That source also gives an example of packet as cigarettes.  Maybe that's the British phrase I was trying to think of.  I'm pretty sure that it would be "pack of cigarettes" anywhere in the US -- certainly in all the places where I've lived.

[Arcadia]

Agreed there.

 

The tiles were just wrapped in plastic wrap, and not even completely ... just enough to hold them all together. Maybe that's a factor? Certainly none of those other words seem to apply. "Stack" of tiles would work.