Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 2 of 2 1 2
#12060 12/10/2000 1:18 AM
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
wow Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Dear Sir, When there is another chat would you consider making a separate post in the announcements...with its own tag-line such as : CLICK INSIDE FOR CHAT. This would be a great help and much easier than scrolling through all the posts to try and find it only to discover it won't work!
Really sorry I missed the chat. It's a wonderful idea and I hope you'll do it again. I think it may have been my machine. I had some problems which righted when I checked all, shut down then restarted. Sigh!
While I've your ear, thank you for this board.
(Namaste emoticon here)
Ann (WOW)


#12061 12/10/2000 1:57 AM
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
The Chat went well AnnaS. Jackie was a very good under all the pressure of having to answer quickly. What was also nice was that you could have private message conversations with the other participants while waiting.

One thing though, in the live chats, you are supposed to write in a stream of consciousness way, without hitting the enter key. If you hit the enter key it sends off your message. I think I sent two or three questions that only said -"Jackie," and one question only partly asked.

One thing I found uncomfortable was waiting for answers. A) I didn't know if Jackie was waiting for questions
b) I didn't know if anybody had asked the same questions as I did - which would tie up the line needlessly.

And you can't check your spelling. Ugh when you see it up there on the board, unable to change it. So next time, you can be sure I will be typing more slowly and re-reading myself before pressing enter key.

The editor of the OED is up next on the 19th. I will be thinking of the questions to ask in advance. I am looking forward to it.


#12062 12/10/2000 1:58 AM
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
wow, can you describe what a namaste looks like when you do it. I have no idea what you guys are talking about.


#12063 12/10/2000 1:39 PM
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
wow Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
can you describe what a namaste looks like when you do it.
Without using my hands ?? Mercy !! Let me see, hmmmmmmm.
My Intro : was when I first met my friend Roshan at the Indian pavilion at the 1964-65 World's Fair in New York City. He taught me .
How To: Place hands together palm-to-palm, raise hands so that the thumbs are roughly at the chin, simultaneously bow head slightly.
It is a greeting of respect. It is my understanding that a smile while executing the Namaste shows affectionate respect. It is also used when saying "thank you" ... the exact translation of the word, sometimes said while making the gesture, is a greeting like the Hawaiian "Aloha" ....many lovely meanings. Perhaps Anu (insert Namaste emoticon of deep respect here) would tell us more about the use of the gesture and the real meaning of the word Namaste.
Does this help?
I welcome any comment and/or further info and/or corrections to my understanding on how Namaste is said or used by the members of AWADtalk.
Aloha, WOW


Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 142
member
member
Offline
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 142
A transcript of the chat is posted at http://wordsmith.org/chat/jackie.html.


Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Well now--it was most interesting to read the transcript!
I see that there were some things left out. The only relevant thing left out, I think, was an important word in
one of belMarduk's questions: the way it is shown, she asks if I was raised in a family. But I recall reading the question at the time as: "Were you raised in a wordie family?". Makes rather a difference.

Some of the other things left out were the partial questions and answers. Several people wrote to me afterwards, and apparently I was not the only one to be surprised that hitting the Enter key sent the thing.

I was very glad to hear others' experiences--there were things that I didn't know. For example, apparently all of you could only see one question at a time. They were all on my screen, or at least all that Anu sent me--2 or 3, usually, and scrolled up as things were entered.

I was also unaware of private chats going on--was that what you meant, Jo, when you said your husb. was Bel's partner?

What you all may not have known is that I couldn't initiate anything: I could only respond! It was...quite an experience. I um, hope everyone keeps in mind that this was really a test run for Anu's new set-up. As I told a friend, it's not like I have a wealth of information that people are dying to hear. Made me rather squirmy, actually.
But anything for our Chief.


Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 347
enthusiast
enthusiast
Offline
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 347
>was that what you meant, Jo, when you said your husb. was Bel's partner?

I missed the chat session but read the transcript. Well done, Jackie and everyone there!

I, too, was most intrigued and had to read Jo's post several times before I realized that Jo and Bel aren't sharing a man. I sincerely hope that what she meant by her expression 'My husband (partner to Bel) has been a guest...' is that the word she uses for a male spouse is 'husband', where Bel would use the term 'partner'. I laughed and laughed when I realized my misunderstanding.



Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
In reply to:

I missed the chat session but read the transcript. Well done, Jackie and everyone there!


I agree wholeheartedly. I was very disappointed to have missed it, and the transcript confirms how well Jackie handled the challenge. Her interrogators deserve commendation also, for the thoughful questions posed. The only flaw was that the whole thing seems to have been over far too quickly. I wonder if Anu would consider having some of the other founding members, like tsuwm and jo, as guests at some future time.


Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 347
enthusiast
enthusiast
Offline
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 347
>I sincerely hope that what she meant by her expression 'My husband (partner to Bel) has been a guest...' is that ...

Er, just checked bel's original definition for partner and I got it wrong again.http://wordsmith.org/board/showthreaded.pl?Cat=&Board=words&Number=9799

Either Jo was having a dig at bel for her definition of the word partner or Jo works with her (own) husband, or ...? Think I'd better desist from answering for other people and stick to something I know about.


Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
In reply to:

I missed the chat session but read the transcript. Well done, Jackie and everyone there!


I agree as well. I'm really sorry to have missed it. I did wake up, but an hour too late. My fault -- my biological clock is getting rusty. The next one's at 11 p.m. here, past my bedtime but I can do this.

Bingley



Bingley
#12070 12/11/2000 5:14 AM
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
From my experience in India, the most usual greeting is people holding out their hands for rupees ... sorry, cynicism will out. I'm a paid-up member, remember?

However, the formal greeting (namaste) is really quite special. Our flatmate (a friend who lives in our house from time to time) is currently in Nepal trekking. She should be back any day, and she's right into the subcontinental culture. I'll get her to demo then try to describe it for you all ...

Thinking of India and words, I went to Delhi for a SEARCC conference a couple of years ago. When I arrived, I saw that Comdex Asia, an INTERNATIOinformation technology showcase, was on at the Indian National Convention Centre. Since I had a free day the next day, I hopped a trishaw (or tuk-tuk? never can remember what they're called from country to country) and went early the next morning. There was a line for entry which I joined. Nobody asked for any money. I thought this was dead creepy! I filled out a form, had my photo taken and was handed an ID card on a cord to hang around my neck. Didn't really think anything of it - customs differ from country to country, after all - until I saw a sign saying that December 5 was a closed day for invited guests and the press only ... Looked at my watch, and sho 'nuff, it was December 5. Of course, I was dressed in pretty much standard reporter gear, jeans and chukka boots, with a camera and a camera case slung around my neck. Easy mistake on their part, hmmm? Anyway, a lot of photos, a marriage proposal, a few choice stories (only one of which was ever published) and a lot of free food later, I left, tired and happy. I still have the ID card which, when I looked carefully, had "PRESS" prominently printed on it.



The idiot also known as Capfka ...
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 460
addict
addict
Offline
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 460
Thanks for the transcript and thanks to Jackie for being the 'guinea pig'. Is there a collective term for participants in a chat session? Chatterers, chatters, chattees …


Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
I would like to add my congratulations to all who took part, and my regret that machine problems preented me from joining them.
The transcript makes it look like good fun, and a special congratters to Jackie, who I know was terrified but has kept any hint of that out of her responses, like the good trouper that I know she is!

I'll make sure that I get in on the next one!

Well done, everyone, and thanks to Anu for setting this all up.




Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 142
member
member
Offline
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 142
Jackie wrote:
> Well now--it was most interesting to read the transcript!
> I see that there were some things left out. The only relevant thing
> left out, I think, was an important word in one of belMarduk's questions:
> the way it is shown, she asks if I was raised in a family. But I recall
> reading the question at the time as: "Were you raised in a wordie family?".
> Makes rather a difference.

I was surprised to read this as I didn't omit anything except for incomplete
messages that were produced as a result of hitting ENTER too soon.

I went back to the transcript and found that the word `wordie' was still there.
belMarduk had enclosed the word in angle brackets. If you know how HTML works,
it treats any text within angle brackets as a tag and doesn't display it. I've
removed the angle brackets and if you reload the transcript page, you should
see the word `wordie' loud and clear.

> Some of the other things left out were the partial questions and answers.
> Several people wrote to me afterwards, and apparently I was not the only
> one to be surprised that hitting the Enter key sent the thing.

> apparently all of you could only see one question at a time. They were all on
> my screen, or at least all that Anu sent me--2 or 3, usually, and scrolled up
> as things were entered.

This test session was useful as we discovered a few glitches. belMarduk (and
probably a few other people) suggested posting the question in the chat for
everyone to see instead of sending it to the guest first. I'll experiment with
this and it may be a better approach as attendees will see the question first
and they will know the answer to what question the guest is typing at the
time, instead of having the question and answer appear at the same time.

> What you all may not have known is that I couldn't initiate anything: I could
> only respond!

This may be my fault in that I didn't explain it to Jackie very well. The guest
can type any message in the chat window and it will appear for all the
attendees. In other words, the guest is not limited to answering questions only.

Thanks again to everyone for participating.



Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Anu,

It was a good first attempt. The timing of your session with the maestro of the OED is ever so slightly inconvenient for antipodeans, however ...

Could you make it 7 p.m. GMT in future? That way most of the board users could probably "attend".





The idiot also known as Capfka ...
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
jmh Offline
Pooh-Bah
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
>My husband (partner to Bel)

Thanks Marty for unravelling my mention of the word partner in the above quote. I think you were spot on!

I only noticed it myself, when reading the transcript, just now – oh dear! I am definitely not sharing a relationship with Bel (although I don’t rule it out as a concept, given enough money for airline tickets!!!!)

I think the short answer was that it was a quick, off the cuff, joke that didn't really work in the slo-mo nature of the chat session. In a more quick fire situation, I would have been able to hint at the reason but it was all a bit slow and certainly doesn't stand close inspection. Think conversation, rather than essay.

It did indeed relate to Bel's posting on the subject of partners. It would have worked better (and would have been funnier) as "my partner (husband, to Bel)", thus demonstrating the inherent weakness in the on-line-chat process. Even though I can type nearly as fast as I think. I can't do this as grammatically as I would like. To prove it, I have already made several corrections to this message and it still isn’t quite right.

I am sure that because our brain has been trained to take in years of perfectly honed and re-written prose, our brain is rather unforgiving of the imperfectly written word, even when we know that it has been written quickly in a conversational way. The written word, as we have said many times, is robbed of the “twinkle in the eye” that gives away a subtle touch of irony and renders a joke “readable”

This creates a problem in some environments. Do we accept that communications will become more "quick fire" allowing for the possibility of inaccuracy or misunderstanding? Alternatively, do we set higher standards for e-communication, where communication is checked to the same standard as a business letter? In business and politics, misunderstandings cost time and money. We don’t write verbatim minutes of a meeting, should we be careful in publishing a verbatim report of a “chat” conversation. Here, we are amongst friends and no big decisions are being taken, so it doesn’t really matter. In the wider context, how many negotiations conducted using a chat or a whiteboard would bear scrutiny?


#12076 12/12/2000 10:15 AM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
I think that there is already a change in the way that we write, and that there are different changes depending on context.
I use e-mail constantly to converse/communicate with my work colleagues. We have developed a chatty style of writing for casual "conversation" messages which has a close analogy to the way we speak when we are face-to-face. We have a totally different style when it is an "Official Communique."
As for misunderstandings - well! The potential for misunderstanding in face-to-face conversation is limitless (especially if you are married to the respondent! ) In some ways, written conversation is better in this respect, as there is time to reconsider a response, and to search for a different meaning. This is nullified, to some extent, in a chat-session such as we have just experienced, of course, but I think that, so long as participants are aware of the potential for misunderstanding and are tolerant, (as everyone is, on this board ) a convention will build up that removes the worst possibilities for dissent (but probably won't remove the potential for descent )


Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 2
stranger
stranger
Offline
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 2
Here's a namaste emoticon for y'all:

C=

Enjoy smile
pk

Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 390
enthusiast
enthusiast
Offline
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 390
Originally Posted By: pefty
Here's a namaste emoticon for y'all:

C=

Enjoy smile
pk


how is this a नमस्ते emoticon?

Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
... and what's it doing in this old thread? Fun to re-read the thread, though.

Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Originally Posted By: AnnaStrophic
... and what's it doing in this old thread? Fun to re-read the thread, though.


well, pefty (he of the two, and only two, nearly identical posts) necro'd the thread.


formerly known as etaoin...
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Hey, Anna--nice to see you here again! [hug]

Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Carpal Tunnel
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Originally Posted By: Jackie
Hey, Anna--nice to see you here again! [hug]
Would be nicer to see you in other threads too.

Page 2 of 2 1 2

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2025 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 8.0.0