Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Cutter · 07-25-2003, 07:50 PM

Thanks for all the examples guys.

Put me in the 'what the heck are semi colons for?' camp as well.

I also tend to screw up apostrophes as well.

Supramolecular · 07-27-2003, 12:53 PM

Here's one my English teacher told us years ago.

A man is putting up a sign outside a Fish And Chip shop for the owner. The sign says �FISH AND CHIPS�. The owner comes out and says he doesn�t like the spacing between the words.

He says -

�There should be more space between the FISH and AND and AND and CHIPS�!.

Howzatt. Five in a row!

Stiletto One · 07-27-2003, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by echidna
Slightly off-topic, but Thai has 6 tones & there is a phrase :

mai mai mai mai mai

... where I have omitted the 5 different tones and which translates as ...

new wood doesn't burn does it

And tellingly, Thai speakers do not even recognise this as even being in the slightest way odd. But of course to non-tonal speakers it's an excellent example of just how confusing tones can be.

Lessee...how many Mandarin words are there that, to a non-tonal speaker, sound exactly like the Mandarin word for "Four"...?

Four
Ten
Dead
Lose
Book
Wet
Tree (Iffy)

And some others, I guess.

ju'iblex · 07-27-2003, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Stiletto One
Lessee...how many Mandarin words are there that, to a non-tonal speaker, sound exactly like the Mandarin word for "Four"...?

Four
Ten
Dead
Lose
Book
Wet
Tree (Iffy)

And some others, I guess.

well, ten and book are shi, not si, so that kind of puts a dampener on it. however, there are 36 different shi4 's, so your point does stand.

07-27-2003, 02:40 PM

Quote:

I also tend to screw up apostrophes as well.

In England there is something known as the greengrocers' apostrophe. (BTW does everyone understand the word "greengrocer"?)
All it is is a way of forming the plural of any noun by adding apostrophe-s, as in "potato's", "orange's", "pea's", and so on. Other people do it, of course, but since greengrocers are constantly changing their stock, they have to keep writing new notices with the prices.

Non-praying Mantis · 07-28-2003, 01:32 PM

How about these Hawaiian words:

aa
'aa
'a'a
a'a

The " ' " is a u'aina, or glottal stop, that is barely pronounced. Each word has a different meaning (I don't remember them all), one of them being a type of lava.

NPM

Shadowy Man · 07-28-2003, 02:13 PM

a`a is lava.

And so is pahoehoe.

I like the sounds of the words.

Undercurrent · 07-28-2003, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Supramolecular
�There should be more space between the FISH and AND and AND and CHIPS�!.

That sentence would be so much more understandable if you put single quotes between 'the' and 'FISH' and 'FISH' and 'and' and 'and' and 'AND' and 'AND' and 'and' and 'and' and 'AND' and 'AND' and 'and' and 'and' and 'CHIPS'.

Supramolecular · 07-31-2003, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Undercurrent
That sentence would be so much more understandable if you put single quotes between 'the' and 'FISH' and 'FISH' and 'and' and 'and' and 'AND' and 'AND' and 'and' and 'and' and 'AND' and 'AND' and 'and' and 'and' and 'CHIPS'.

Oh fuck it, I'll just have a steak & kidney pie dinner with mushy peas.

Cutter · 07-31-2003, 11:38 PM

Kidney! Where's that puking emoticon when you need it?

07-27-2003, 12:53 PM	#22
Supramolecular Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: UK Posts: 45	Another one (or five) Here's one my English teacher told us years ago. A man is putting up a sign outside a Fish And Chip shop for the owner. The sign says �FISH AND CHIPS�. The owner comes out and says he doesn�t like the spacing between the words. He says - �There should be more space between the FISH and AND and AND and CHIPS�!. Howzatt. Five in a row!

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07-25-2003, 07:50 PM	#21
Cutter Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 1,805	Thanks for all the examples guys. Put me in the 'what the heck are semi colons for?' camp as well. I also tend to screw up apostrophes as well.

07-28-2003, 01:32 PM	#26
Non-praying Mantis Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Roanoke, VA, USA Posts: 2,646	How about these Hawaiian words: aa 'aa 'a'a a'a The " ' " is a u'aina, or glottal stop, that is barely pronounced. Each word has a different meaning (I don't remember them all), one of them being a type of lava. NPM

07-28-2003, 02:13 PM	#27
Shadowy Man Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: A Shadowy Planet Posts: 7,585	a`a is lava. And so is pahoehoe. I like the sounds of the words.

07-31-2003, 11:38 PM	#30
Cutter Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 1,805	Kidney! Where's that puking emoticon when you need it?

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