AnnaS remarked admiringly There goes tsuwm wielding Ockham's Razor again
Never mind that the entire village of Ockham will now be hopelessly hirsute. Sorry, I couldn't resist. I'm much more used to seeing Occam - Ockham makes me think of a stereotypical English village.
'Das weiß ich eigentlich schon' bzw. 'Eigentlich weiß ich das schon' .... Aber DAS hätte man eigentlich wissen müssen ;-)
Por favor. Si no prefiere hablar en Ingles, es possible hablar en Espanol, porque no ententendio nada Aleman! (no hablo Espanol hace muchos anos, lo siento Juan Maria por Espanol muy malo)!
A friend of mine was recently in the States and while speaking to a friend in German, someone interrupted and told them it was rude to speak foreign languages in company (butting in on conversations, it seems is widely accepted) ... funny though, I always thought that's is how you learn and I must say, there are alot of very rude people here in Europe, all speaking multiple languages, willy-nilly! So Juan Maria can/should pull out the Spanish at will :-)
A friend of mine was recently in the States and while speaking to a friend in German, someone interrupted and told them it was rude to speak foreign languages in company (butting in on conversations, it seems is widely accepted)
My little foray into German was inspired by another thread about overused words, such as "actually", "like", and, in German, "oder", "natürlich" and "grundsätzlich". I just thought I would have a little fun and throw another overused English construction into the mix, while testing the waters to see if "eigentlich" is as abused as "actually." As for the execrable quality of my German, at least it's no worse than the quality of my English! The use of the present tense was deliberate. I hear "I know that already, actually" quite often, at least as often as "I knew that already" - bad English transformed into very bad German.
As to your friend being told that it was rude to use another language in the presence of those who don't speak it, I grew up being taught that also. However, I don't always agree. I think that, for example, if one had something important to say, and clarity of communication was necessary, then why not use one's mother tongue. I guess the suspicion is that if someone starts talking in a "foreign" tongue, that person must be saying something rude!
jmh wrote : Por favor. Si no prefiere hablar en Ingles, es possible hablar en Espanol, porque no ententendio nada Aleman! (no hablo Espanol hace muchos anos, lo siento Juan Maria por Espanol muy malo)!
Not worri. You’re spanish is prefect!. Enjoy!
Now seriously, quite good, although I’m missing the ‘eñes’. Can you see a tilde over the n in the word “eñe”?. I’m not sure if foreign computers can display this character.
belligerentyouth wrote: I always thought that's is how you learn and I must say, there are alot of very rude people here in Europe, all speaking multiple languages, willy-nilly! So Juan Maria can/should pull out the Spanish at will :-)
Speaking a language that cannot be understood by someone is as rude as you want it to be. You can speak ignoring completely or even scorning the foreign one or you can be as natural as possible and try to integrate or, at least, not exclude completely this person. On the other hand is the willingness of the foreign to understand what is being said. I know people who get infuriated when, being in Barcelona or La Coruña, are addressed in Catalonian or Galician. Being a little patient and asking not to speak too quickly, a Spaniard can perfectly understand those languages. I’m sure that these same people would try harder, and understand most conversations, if they were in Italy or Portugal.
This problem, which arises in written form in Spanish, also exists in spoken form in Italian, with exactly the same words involved. Ano in Italian = ano in Español, anno = año - and the difference in pronunciation between one N and two is subtle but noticeable. In my early days of Italian study I would tell people how old I was, without pronouncing both N's in anno, and boy was I the butt of some jokes.
A former diplomatic colleague of mine was posted to Japan for a number of years. His wife speaks nearly flawless Japanese having lived in the country for a number of years and was a major asset to him. But she encountered some funny situations, mostly arising from the general xenophobia which Japanese tend to exhibit.
One day after they had moved into their new apartment in Shibuya-ku, the lady of the house went grocery shopping in the local shops. When she went into one shop, the proprietoress and a female customer began talking about her, in Japanese of course. "She's a bit fat". "She's got good clothes". "Don't like the way her hair is done". That kind of thing.
She asked for whatever it was she wanted in accentless and perfect Japanese. Dead silence for a moment. Then the proprietoress' forehead nearly smacked into the counter as she bowed, and the customer exited out of the door quickly, they were that embarrassed. Loss of face, you know ...
The long and short of it was that Dot never paid full price for anything in that shop again!
[Sorry about the missing ñ. The only way I could think of doing it was to open Word, use "insert symbol" then paste. I think that there is an ALT-No I can use as it's not on my keyboard but I don't know the right number. I promise to look it up before I write ano not año!]
While chortling @ juanmaria's faux bad English & Jo's synthesis of threads*, I feel the urge to point out that the tilde on a Mac is OH SO MUCH easier to produce (option + n).
Is it only me, does anyone else get worried by the array of character that have taken over dear old tsuwm in the past few months? I'm starting to believe that Jackie was right all that time ago when she said, "Who are you and what have you done with tsuwm?" Can anyone be sure that these multiple personalities haven't tied him up and locked him in a dark, lonely basement somewhere? Maybe we could club together for AnnaStrophic (sound mind has she) to fly up/down/across to his lair and suss out if anything dodgy is going on. All this stuff about the "U" files could really be happening. It could start with a small thing, such as an inability to spell disestablishmentarianism, where could this all be going?
I have been concerned also about the apparent changes in our long-time friend; especially since his post just above contained a not-so-veiled threat. Good thing you live out of arm's reach, my dear.
I will certainly be happy to contribute to airfare for Anna to go suss the lad. On second thought, p'raps my donation should go towards a bodyguard.
What tsay, tsuwm? If you see a mysterious stranger ducking into doorways, or feel as if you're being watched: who knows, it just might be our intrepid Anna! Not to make you feel paranoid or anything.
Jo, here's a song that was written by John Charles Thomas and recorded by Stanley Holloway many moons ago. I wonder if you remember it? It may not have crossed the pond to the US of A. I loved it when I was a kid because it used language so cleverly:
THE GREEN-EYED DRAGON
Once upon a time lived a Fair Princess most beautiful and charming; Her Father, the King, was a wicked old thing, with manners most alarming. And always on the front door mat, a most ferocious Dragon sat, Who made such a fearful shrieking noise that all you little girls and boys Beware, take care, and creep upon tiptoe, And hurry up the stairs, and say your prayers, And tuck your head, your pretty curly head, beneath the clothes, the clothes, the clothes.
The Dragon lived for years and years, and never got much thinner. For lunch, he'd try a Policeman pie, a roast M.P. for dinner; One brave man went 'round with an axe and tried to collect his income tax - The Dragon smiled with fiendish glee, and sadly murmured 'R.I.P.' Beware! Take Care! And creep upon tiptoe, And hurry up the stairs, and say your prayers, And tuck your head, your pretty curly head, beneath the clothes, the clothes, the clothes.
The Dragon went down to the kitchen one day Where the Fair Princess was baking; He ate, by mistake, some rich plum cake which the Fair Princess was making. This homemade cake, he could not digest; He moaned and he groaned, and at last went west - And now his ghost, with bloodshot eyes At midnight clanks his chains and cries: Beware! Take care! And creep upon tiptoe, And hurry up the stairs, and say your prayers, And tuck your head, your pretty curly head, Beneath the clothes, the clothes, the clothes. . . . AAAAGH!
(This last was shouted (the 'aaagh!') while throwing one's hands above one's head, and looming.)
Ah yes, Capital K, what wonderful memories that brought back. I don't remember the Stanley Holloway recording, but JCT's own version was magnificent. A similar clever use of words and verse was in "Open Road, Open Sky", if that indeed was the name of the song. And what a great voice! I had the privelege of hearing him live and his stage performance was an absolute knock-out.
I don't know which recording I heard myself. My dad had a 78 which I used to play over and over on the old wind-up gramophone, along with some rendition of "Walk in the Black Forest" and Alan Jones singing "The Donkey Serenade" (on separate 78s). I should have got a life!
[looking over her shoulder in bewilderment emoticon] There must be another Jackie here somewhere. This could not possibly have been directed at me. Unless--ohmigawd, people, somebody abducted tsuwm and took his place! All right, who are you and what do you want?
jackie, Q: why is the sky blue? A: there are a trillion dreams out there.
[music note icon]Catch a falling star, and put it in your pock-et...[music note icon]
C.K., even without knowing the tune, I love that Dragon song! Thanks for posting it. Incidentally, today I found the lyrics to the un-understandable (whoa! Anu, try beheading that one!) Walk Away Renée, if anybody wants them.
What a wonderful, scary song. After the reading last verse, I am glad that I have moved from my old "local" to a new one. The Boot and Shoe holds no fear for me, but I don't think I will ever again be able to enter The Green Dragon
For those unfamiiar with the English Pub, and who wonder about the strange names under which they operate, I should explain that The Boot and Shoe probably is a reference to the high price of alcohol in the UK. You have to be well heeled to drink in the place, especialy if you have your drink laced with spirits, and only buy drink there if your tongue is hanging out. Because of this, you are frequently the sole occupant.
CapK wrote: here's a song that was written by John Charles Thomas and recorded by Stanley Holloway ...
In the mid-to-late 1940s, every Sunday afternoon, I sat by the radio and listened to a program with John Charles Thomas. What a singer! And great diction, too. Loved his program. I heard the Green Dragon song once ... and all these years I remembered the phrase "the king was a wicked old thing, with manners most alarming." Thank you Thank you Thank you for the lyric. Don't know if Holloway sang it as a guest artist ... unlikely as those were the WWII Years. wow
Don't know if Holloway sang it as a guest artist ... unlikely as those were the WWII Years.
No, Stanley Holloway recorded it, although I've never heard that version. Pater meus tells me that the version I cranked up so often was by John Charles Thomas.
And, as I remember it, one of the choruses went:
"Beware, take care, of the green-eyed Dragon with the fourteen tails, He'll feed, with glee, on little boys, puppy dogs and big, fat snails. So hurry up the stairs ..."
I think it was at the end of the first verse. The lyrics I posted have obviously been politically corrected. And since I haven't heard the song sung for probably 40 years, I consider this to be a considerable feat of memory. [polishing fingernails on shirt emoticon] Or I've totally lost the plot, as they say. [dirtying fingernails emoticon]
Jo dares: Maybe we could club together for AnnaStrophic (sound mind has she) to fly up/down/across to his lair and suss out if anything dodgy is going on.
Weather wuss though I be, And fully convinced that only Mad Dogs and Minnesotans go out in the Northern-Tier-of-States winter, Aceept shall I this dodgy mission, noblesse oblige* and all that, but.
(Y'all'll foot the bill, right?) (Can I have Max as a bodyguard?)
somebody's gotta do it. You go, girl! All riiiight, Anna! She's on the trail, cloak, dagger, and all. Tsuwm, you will be found, whether you've been in de skies or kidnapped! No aspersions on our Maxie, but perhaps a Commando would make a more appropriate bodyguard?
Anna: Having the Olympics in Atlanta has clearly gone to your head, athletically speaking. You'll wind up being frozen solid, dismembered with an axe and then fed through a log chipper by a mad actor while a nine-months pregnant lady sheriff actor watches waving a fake pistol.
Jackie: You are acting as an accessory before the fact to a probable acted murder. And the acting was pretty damned convincing. Vicarious thrills, indeed!
tsuwm may well turn out to be the single voice of a bunch of raving survivalist nutters who have learned English grammar, discovered all sorts of worthless words for every day and then joined the board to lure unsuspecting Southern belles to their lair where all sorts of thrill... unmentionable and degrading things may befall them.
And you're both playing right into their hands! Turn back, girls, turn back - before it's too-o-o-o l-a-t-e! [Praying for your immortal souls with tongue in cheek emoticon]
ssh-sh! [whisper emoticon] that's what we want them to think! what is not common knowledge is that anna has had special training in infiltration tactics. she is teaching them to max and the commando even as we speak. she can handle anything that comes along, trust me on that--that girl can shoot from the hip, both guns at once. i've seen her in action.
It's early in the snowy Minneapolis morning. Huddled in a snowbank, I train my sights on the Museum of Questionable Medical Devices, where apparently tsuwm -- or someone impersonating him! - is acting out MPD before a befuddled staff, who are attempting to apply Victorian technology to determine if worthless words are indeed a precursor to Tourette's. Send back-up:
The one on the right in the third photo layer down (not wearing glasses) is my guess for tsuwm. Other than that, the whole thing is questionable. Besides, we discontinued Anna.
...Besides, we discontinued Anna. Who, zackly, is "we"?
Sorry, that information is on a need-to-know basis, and you're not cleared for it. Why are you asking? Who have you been talking to lately? What guilty secrets could we unravel if we chose to? Hmmm?
What guilty secrets could we unravel if we chose to? Hmmm?
Wouldn't *you like to know... as to my recent interlocutors, only those poor befuddled folk at the phrenology museum. But you already know all about that....
Oh, Bill, oh, Bill--I LOVE you! Thank you SO MUCH for resurrecting this thread!!! This is my all-time, absolute FAVORITE THREAD that there could ever be. I laughed and laughed all over again! Thanks to you, I just now was able to bookmark it--the only thread in my entire Favorites.
bill, I don't think there was any black(thorn) magic; this is one thread you get with a search for "Museum of Questionable Medical Devices" -- now who's been doing that, hmmmm? <squinting>
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Sorry, I couldn't resist. I'm much more used to seeing Occam - Ockham makes me think of a stereotypical English village.
Thank you
