Lizard Queen
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103/2024
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Post by Lizard Queen on Jan 7, 2017 16:40:05 GMT -5
I really enjoyed diagramming back in school. Now I barely remember any of it.
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Deleted
Joined: Oct 14, 2024 17:22:05 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2017 17:20:31 GMT -5
My 9th grade English teacher would have us diagram a Dickens' sentence. I thought it was fun. But I'm a dork. Now I'm wondering if I should try diagramming a sentence from "Beowulf" in the original Middle English. I think I need to make another drink to get that thought out of my head. I wouldn't call diagramming fun but diagramming Dickens sounds positively painful. I never got past the first page of "A Tale of Two Cities."
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teen persuasion
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Post by teen persuasion on Jan 7, 2017 22:28:43 GMT -5
I'm a polyglot. English is by far the most difficult language I had to learn. There are no rules, only exceptions. Native English speakers beg to differ. "Oh, it's so easy! What are you talking about?" It's only easy if you were exposed to it from birth. How was I to know that the plural of house is houses, but the plural of mouse is not mouses? How was I to know that the plural of moose is moose, but the plural of goose is not goose but geese? It make absolutely no sense. Actually, it does make sense. Not sense in the way that more homogeneous languages that have remained closer to their roots make sense, but as much sense as can be made by a language assembled from chunks of German and French and Latin and Greek grafted onto leftover parts of the languages native to western Europe and the British Isles with bits and pieces of other languages picked up over the course of a globe-trotting history. Many of the apparent anomalies cited when decrying how awful English is are simply evidence of the remnants of the original grammar of the language of origin still clinging to the offending words. How a word behaves today may still be affected by how it behaved in its original language, how (and when) it came to be assimilated into English, or even the particular pet peeves of the author(s) of the first written documents or dictionaries in which it appeared.
This is not to say that you are not perfectly correct in your assessment of English as an infuriating, confusing, and very difficult language to learn (even many native speakers find it baffling). It is. But it can't help it. English didn't have the benefit of its own version of Cyril and Methodius to organize it and tame it and make it all tidy and accessible. It just is what it is.
"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary." --James D. Nicoll
Love it! Makes me remember a discussion my professor started during Compiler Construction. A compiler in computer science is just a translator, changing one computer language to another, possibly to machine code. To write a compiler, you need a well defined syntax for the language being translated. The professor claimed that no one could write a compiler for English, since you couldn't define the syntax thoroughly enough. After taking Compiler Construction we had a completely different appreciation for the error message "syntax error" when compiling projects!
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jan 7, 2017 22:30:29 GMT -5
I look at electronic schematics for fun and see how the device works. Possibly redesign it. Is there hope for me? Nope. Nerd alert!
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ken a.k.a OMK
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They killed Kenny, the bastards.
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Post by ken a.k.a OMK on Jan 7, 2017 22:32:31 GMT -5
I look at electronic schematics for fun and see how the device works. Possibly redesign it. Is there hope for me? Nope. Nerd alert! And I'm proud of it.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jan 7, 2017 22:34:36 GMT -5
DH claimed he wasn't a nerd because he didn't wear a pocket protector. That's setting the bar low and I told him so!!
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ken a.k.a OMK
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They killed Kenny, the bastards.
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Post by ken a.k.a OMK on Jan 7, 2017 22:41:52 GMT -5
DH claimed he wasn't a nerd because he didn't wear a pocket protector. That's setting the bar low and I told him so!! Was he just hiding the fact? I had a pocket protector but for important colored pens and such. It usually wasn't in my pocket. I didn't fit the nerd description since I lettered all 4 years in high school track and 1 i wrestling. Soccer in college. Yes I got an amateur radio license at 14 and became an Electrical Engineer. Not a nerd or geek. Just a smart, good looking athletic hunk. I can't believe I just wrote that bio.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jan 8, 2017 8:08:45 GMT -5
DH didn't fit that description at all. He was tall, gangly, red headed, freckled , with bozo the clown hair. Majored in accounting, worked for a CPA firm. Two of them before moving to Oklahoma City which is when we broke up. Fast forward, when we got back together he was no longer an accountant but running his dad's business after his dad died. No red bozo hair and no freckles but the rest...😍
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ken a.k.a OMK
Senior Associate
They killed Kenny, the bastards.
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Post by ken a.k.a OMK on Jan 8, 2017 10:24:58 GMT -5
Did he have a slide rule? If so did he wear it on his belt (true geek) or carry it with his books like I did. I need to find mine to show my gs's.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jan 8, 2017 13:02:03 GMT -5
Dang, I don't remember. Wish he was here to ask then you both could go back and forth about nerd and geekiness !
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ken a.k.a OMK
Senior Associate
They killed Kenny, the bastards.
Joined: Dec 21, 2010 14:39:20 GMT -5
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Location: Maryland
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Post by ken a.k.a OMK on Jan 8, 2017 14:03:35 GMT -5
Sorry zib.
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Jan 8, 2017 14:56:55 GMT -5
And I'm proud of it. I take Mensa tests for fun. I guess that makes me a nerd, too.
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Jan 8, 2017 15:20:01 GMT -5
I just thought of another one. Why, oh why, do people use 's to denote a plural?
Most American's want gun control. Differentiating a plural from a possessive is not rocket surgery.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jan 8, 2017 16:09:04 GMT -5
Sorry zib. Thank you. I miss my nerd.
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Jan 8, 2017 16:59:06 GMT -5
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dannylion
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Gravity is a harsh mistress
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Post by dannylion on Jan 8, 2017 17:42:00 GMT -5
Though it might have been kind of mean to include the one from the goats. They did well to have made a sign at all what with not having thumbs.
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debthaven
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Post by debthaven on Jan 8, 2017 17:45:57 GMT -5
Haha Danny! I agree! There are other compilations like that, but that one has the advantage of not having anything very rude.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jan 8, 2017 17:59:27 GMT -5
Show us the rude ones!!!
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jan 8, 2017 18:00:54 GMT -5
Did he have a slide rule? If so did he wear it on his belt (true geek) or carry it with his books like I did. I need to find mine to show my gs's. I'll bet it was in his books!!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 8, 2017 18:15:46 GMT -5
Did he have a slide rule? If so did he wear it on his belt (true geek) or carry it with his books like I did. I need to find mine to show my gs's. I have to wonder if you knew my Uncle Dick. The man was the epitome of nerd, pocket protector, glasses, slide rule and everything, and my dad was just like him (minus the slide rule, that was in the basement). He was such an awesome man and I miss them both all the time. For the record, my dad NEEDED the pocket protector. He had these really obnoxious pens that would leak ALL.THE.TIME!!!! My Aqua Net hairspray was used more for fixing his shirts than my hair when I was in high school. Jesus.
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DagnyT
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Post by DagnyT on Jan 9, 2017 13:46:40 GMT -5
Why did your parents home school you if they didn't help you or give you oversight? I home schooled my children, so I know it is a big job, and I also know that children can teach themselves with very little oversight when they are motivated to do so. I just find it really sad that your parents would do this to you. A number of factors: remote living making it difficult to get to a school, a not entirely misplaced distrust of the local school district, but mostly my father's belief that an education wasn't really necessary. Boys could go into the trades, and girls were supposed to get married and have kids. My mother did what she could by making reading material readily available, but wasn't any help when it came to math and sciences, and the Christian based curriculum they chose wasn't very good in those areas either. Fortunately, old outdated college textbooks could be had at used book stores for less than a dollar, so some of them became good resources. Probably not what most kids would choose to go look at during a rare trip into town. Thanks for your response. I'm so sorry your parents didn't value education. I'm glad you were able to overcome that. There are some Christian based curricula that have excellent math and science programs. The ones I used for my children were excellent. When they got to college, they both helped the professors teach the other students, especially in math class.
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teen persuasion
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Post by teen persuasion on Jan 9, 2017 14:55:15 GMT -5
Though it might have been kind of mean to include the one from the goats. They did well to have made a sign at all what with not having thumbs.
One of the farms nearby has a sign insisting that their cows aren't "mad cow's", they are happy ones.
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weltschmerz
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Post by weltschmerz on Jan 9, 2017 15:00:39 GMT -5
Though it might have been kind of mean to include the one from the goats. They did well to have made a sign at all what with not having thumbs.
One of the farms nearby has a sign insisting that their cows aren't "mad cow's", they are happy ones. AAAARRRGHH!! Did they really spell it like that?
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Chocolate Lover
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Post by Chocolate Lover on Jan 10, 2017 17:02:39 GMT -5
Am I the only one who remembers the Anguished English book(s)? I forget the author but it was a collection of all kinds of abuse of the language. There's a place that rents out a few tiny house type homes and the sign says (Town name) Cottage's.
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swamp
Community Leader
THEY’RE EATING THE DOGS!!!!!!!
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Post by swamp on Jan 10, 2017 19:41:50 GMT -5
A house I often pass has a hand painted picture of an American flag with the caption "These's colors don't run". It hurts my head every time I see it.
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tallguy
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Post by tallguy on Jan 10, 2017 19:44:30 GMT -5
Can you sneak in at night with a spray can and cross out the 's? Don't worry if you get caught. I'm sure you can find a defense lawyer to take your case.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2017 19:55:35 GMT -5
Can you sneak in at night with a spray can and cross out the 's? Don't worry if you get caught. I'm sure you can find a defense lawyer to take your case. Or an English teacher. A few raps with a ruler is pretty convincing. I read the most awful article today. It was on our athletics web page. The grammar was awful, and the wording was worse. I wanted to cry while everyone else focused on the subject and praised it. I feel the same way when I see posters in the hall with errors.
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chiver78
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Current Events Admin
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Post by chiver78 on Jan 10, 2017 20:17:44 GMT -5
I took a FB quiz yesterday, called something like "can we guess your age by the words you use?" that was basically a grammar quiz. there was a little bit of vocabulary, but most of it was grammar. that thing determined me to be 55 based on my answers (I'm 38). it's sad that's not a stretch to age someone because of their ability to construct a complete and properly worded sentence. "text speak" really did a number on the standards of what's acceptable now.
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tallguy
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Post by tallguy on Jan 10, 2017 20:19:32 GMT -5
Can you sneak in at night with a spray can and cross out the 's? Don't worry if you get caught. I'm sure you can find a defense lawyer to take your case. Or an English teacher. A few raps with a ruler is pretty convincing. I read the most awful article today. It was on our athletics web page. The grammar was awful, and the wording was worse. I wanted to cry while everyone else focused on the subject and praised it. I feel the same way when I see posters in the hall with errors. Tell me about it. I remember years ago walking into the classroom for my son's fourth-grade parent-teacher conference. Highest level of gifted program in the school system. They had a quote on the wall, I recall it probably being a hand-made sign? The quote was of Mahatma Gahndi, or Ganhdi (can't remember exactly.) Yeah, I had to point that one out. The teacher had never noticed.... Somehow it just bothers me a lot more if it is in a place of education. "Yes, ma'am. It's G-A-N-D-H-I. Yes, I'm sure!"
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Green Eyed Lady
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Look inna eye! Always look inna eye!
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Post by Green Eyed Lady on Jan 11, 2017 9:04:09 GMT -5
How would you like to be trying to learn the English language while listening to and reading all the people who butcher it? Yikes!
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