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Joined: Jan 2001
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Pooh-Bah
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I would be delighted to participate, and delightfully surprised if you can offend me.


#141339 05/24/2005 1:48 PM
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I agree, Alex.

I did the survey, and after my answers I left her with these additional thoughts: I think this may be presumptious

"Better a pound of sugar than twenty pounds of shit". I put "1 - mild" for this one, even though it is a word that only describes something specific and would not be considered offensive at all to me in this context. I think you should have a choice of answers that is " "0.5 indifferent", and many of my "1-mild" and many of my "0 cannot specify" answers would then be "0.5 indifferent". "Goddamn" is a word that I just don't hear much, at all. I know it is offensive to some which is why I call it "mild" but it has no specific meaning to me, and after a while just becomes gratuitous... almost a chant-like part of the language. Most slang is like that for me. Just another part of the language. Thanks for an interesting read."


#141340 05/24/2005 2:35 PM
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Pooh-Bah
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My comments were to the effect that "goddamn" and its variants seemed over-represented, while the really offensive words in my opinion (c*nt, f*ck, and n#gger come to mind) were not addressed.


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is that "box" in the - um - mildly obscene sense? No, no; just picturing mailing a person...


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Hello, miia, and welcome! I hope you stick around for awhile!

I submitted my questionnaire from my US English/Mid-Atlantic Region (New Jersey) perspective. What a fascinating study! Hope I could be of some help.

The only comment I had was that I thought that goddamn would more accurately translate as goddammit in the context it appeared (probably overly so, though).


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No doubt my education has been sadly lacking in some respects, or maybe I just don't watch enough N. American TV, but what is the midly obscene meaning of box?

Bingley


Bingley
#141344 05/25/2005 5:21 PM
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Answer(s) in a PM, Bing.


#141345 05/26/2005 1:01 AM
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Done Miia. I sent off the questionaire a minute ago. Good luck with your thesis.


#141346 05/27/2005 3:31 PM
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Aloha. Miia, glad to have you aBoard!
I'm off to do the poll.



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stranger
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Dear all,

I have now gone through the comments you submitted with the questionnaire. They can be read in:

http://cc.joensuu.fi/~mmattila/comments.htm



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Thanks for posting this, Miia. One comment on the preposition thing that the last respondent mentioned. It's not just a postposition vs. preposition thing. Spanish, for example, uses prepostions, but uses the sme word for situations where we would use either in or on. Spanish speakers have problems deciding which to use when speaking English. And it's not just prepositions. In Spanish there are two different forms of the verb to be and we have trouble sometimes deciding which to use if we're trying to speak Spanish.


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