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 5 of 13 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 12 13
#4344 07/24/00 03:31 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
J
jmh Offline
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Pooh-Bah
J
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,981
Apparently it means - You can look it up.

First posted Re: lexiphanicinism (Q&A about words)- 6th May by tsuwm, Explanation - 12th May - Pieman, same thread. Also mentioned somewhere re:segue (Miscellaneous).

#4345 07/25/00 04:52 AM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
B
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
B
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 3,065
In reply to:

Apparently it means - You can look it up.


But how rude (the expression, jmh dear, not you). I mean if someone doesn't want to explain why can't they keep quiet? Posting isn't obligatory.

Only mildly tangentially, I wonder why some people prefer to ask somebody else and others prefer to look up whatever they want to know. Generalising wildly, Indonesians seem to be much more likely to ask someone than those of European-descended cultures (there must be an easier expression) are, and women are often alleged to be more willing to ask somebody for information such as directions than men are.


Bingley



Bingley
#4346 07/25/00 11:47 AM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
>>But how rude. I mean if someone doesn't want to explain why can't they keep quiet? Posting isn't obligatory.<<

I can think of three possible reasons: 1.) They do want to
show off. 2.) They want to give others a learning
opportunity (this is the least likely of the three, I think.) 3.) These things are so familiar to the users that they use them without even realizing that not everyone
knows what they know. (Oh dear; too much repetition!)

>>I wonder why some people prefer to ask somebody else and others prefer to look up whatever<<

My opinion is that this is just due to the person's characteristics: whether he/she is self-confident, fearful, social, more of a loner, etc. Perhaps the
supposed reluctance on the part of males to ask for
help is due their feeling the primeval need to be the infallible bringer-home of the sabretooth, etc.






#4347 07/25/00 01:24 PM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
tsuwm Offline OP
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
>They want to give others a learning
opportunity (this is the least likely of the three, I think.)

why would you think this? if one is to use this medium to any extent there are some very basic and easy tools one can (should?) learn, for answering questions such as "what is the meaning of the word x" or "who was person y", and in the process avoid importuning others -- you don't even have to crack a book very often to Look It Up!


#4348 07/25/00 01:57 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Ok, first--
If I understood you correctly, Tsuwm, what you said just above means that it would be nice if people would learn
how to learn, and then they wouldn't have to pester others
for help. Would you believe I agree?
Though I will say that there are points where folks are so
lost that they don't know what questions to ask, or that means of self-help are even available. I hope that people will be understanding, or at least forthcoming, in this case, as I am in that position frequently!

>>Poster: tsuwm
Subject: Re: YCLIU

>They want to give others a learning
opportunity (this is the least likely of the three, I think.)

why would you think this? <<<

My point here was based on the fact that things such as
YCLIU, just as an example, get posted with no explanation.
I think it is not very likely in that case that the post-er
would be offering a learning opportunity. If that was
the intent, then he or she would post the explanation as
well, or at least give some clue as to a reference.



#4349 07/25/00 03:25 PM
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
tsuwm Offline OP
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
>My point here was based on the fact that things such as YCLIU, just as an example, get posted with no explanation.

and I agree, that would be rude. it's the same situation as in writing technical documentation, you don't use a *real acronym until you've introduced it parenthetically to the long form, otherwise you have discourse that is Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition (FUBAR). Once I've introduced You Could Look It Up to a thread, YCLIU is all you get if you are rude enough to continue to behave in a neanderthalish manner.


#4350 07/25/00 03:41 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Ohmigawd, 1.--
For the second time today, I have read something on the 'net
and then gone out and seen the same thing! Just got back from a shop that had a sign behind the counter that read,
"If you're ashamed to ask, then you're ashamed to learn.
Ask, ask, ask...until you know it for yourself!"

Ohmigawd, 2.--
Tsuwm is in agreement!! Whistles! Cheers! (After I recover from my faint! )

And, I am unable to resist taking the bait: "continue" is the operative word in your last sentence, sir. I feel
sure that a fair number of these questions come from people who have not found the original post that explains things,
in which case they are innocent of neanderthality (what
about marking that one in your dictionary, william?)

And then there are those who simply need more than one
session to really take something in.


#4351 07/25/00 05:53 PM
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
>"pc-ness" (which BTW seems to be another created word which fits uncomfortably in the mouth, but is not
considered an abombination)

Gosh, I'd not have used IMNSHO and PC-ness if I had known I was going to raise a ruckus. I plead cultural ignorance on the first count (using an acronym that not everyone knew). In my very early days of doing this computer stuff, we used modems that were so glacially slow acronyms and any other shortcuts were absolutely essential. My first modem was, if I remember correctly, had a speed of 256 baud. That's less than one percent of the 28.8 speed with which I now connect. Connect time was also pretty expensive. I courted my wife, whom I met on the Internet, at those speeds! I plead guilty to not thoroughly checking out the culture before I made that "offending" post.

As to PC-ness, I used that term with a sneer in my fingers, and I just assumed that the disdain I hold for political correctness would bleed through. Our culture suffers when we can no longer call a shovel a shovel.

Ted



TEd
#4352 07/26/00 12:20 AM
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 37
S
newbie
Offline
newbie
S
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 37
>I'd not have used IMNSHO and PC-ness if I had known I was going to raise a ruckus<

Ted,
I don't think IMNSHO and PC-ness caused a ruckus. They're words I use regularly and happily. I just used them as a example of awkward new, made up words that nobody objects to, to show that perhaps it wasn't the form of the word that mattered.

Agreeing with many other posters, I think open debate is the precious and important thing. Long live it!

BTW if you had checked out the culture before posting, would that have been "pc" of you? ;)




#4353 07/26/00 01:38 PM
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 7
J
stranger
Offline
stranger
J
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 7
Aren't most of the discussions about terminology ways of mocking serious issues? Those of us old enough to remember the 60's saw how the feminist movement was treated. The issue was never about burning underwear, but that was a way of deflecting discussion. When you don't have a logical or ethical leg to stand on, use sarcasm.

The issue about words is not that a group of "Them" wants us to say "spokesperson" instead of a perfectly good neutral term like "representative." The issue is respect (as was previously posted.) There is a real difference between the people who refer to my son as "autistic", "developmentally delayed", or "mentally challenged" and the ones who call him "dumb", "weird", or a "retard". By making people think about what they say, and what it means, the "PC Police" are, on balance, doing us a favor. Certainly it is easy to find humor in terms such as "waitperson", but remember a time when labels based on skin color, gender, first language, creed (or lack of it), or even birthplace were used to decide who could live where, who had tax money spent on their education, who could run for office, who could vote, or even who could live.

It's easy to laugh about the fuss that was made at a recycling center. Seems that dyed and undyed paper are recycled differently, so two bins were marked respectively "White" and "Colored". On the one hand it is refreshing to know that the young man who posted the labels had no idea why anyone would find that offensive. On the other hand it is well within the lifetimes of many of us to have seen signs like that on public restrooms, drinking fountains, waiting rooms, or entrances to buildings. Those same signs also were on a lot of things, even when they weren't physically present. Oversensitivity? Maybe. After all, we all know how *those* people overreact to everything. On the other hand maybe we are just erring on the side of trying to be fair and kind to each other for a change.

Sorry for the length of the post, it just hurts to see good ideas fail because people want to make fun of them rather than think about them.


Page 5 of 13 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 12 13

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,577
Members9,187
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
Karin, JeffMackwood, artguitar, Jim_W, Rdbuffalo
9,187 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 148 guests, and 2 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
wofahulicodoc 10,710
tsuwm 10,542
LukeJavan8 9,931
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
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

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5