most of what we do here could be looked at as taking glory in our language. do you think many of the folks who took scattershots at English today will stick around when they see what we're about?

Do you think many of the folks who took scattershots at English today will stick around when they see what we're about?

Perhaps they have been around but never posted anything before. I tend to think of this board as an insular little community, but it obviously can't be since it has over 2000 members. Which brings up one of my own ruminations...what do all of those non-participating members do with the board? Do they read it but not post, look at it every once in a while, or perhaps forget that they ever signed up at all? In the (admittedly short) time that I've been here, I've only seen about 35-40 members post on any regular basis.

Another observation/question-- why did so many of the people responding to "English as a Global Language" create their own threads instead of just adding to Anu's initial post? Perhaps just lack of familiarity with the format...

Well, Anu's invitation certainly bore fruit. I couldn't imagine what had happened, until very late in the day when I finally got around to that post--only read the WAD late, too.

There were some strong opinions, weren't there? Some very eloquent, and some strongly backed by personal experience.

I can't know, of course, but my instinct tells me that most will post the one time, then depart.

Another observation/question-- why did so many of the people responding to "English as a Global Language" create their own threads instead of just adding to Anu's initial post? Perhaps just lack of familiarity with the format...

I was surprised also, when I had a look in the Weekly Themes. Looking more closely, I think it is a lack of familiarity spawning the new threads. When I joined AWAD little over a week ago, I read for a couple days before saying anything myself. The message board programs can be pretty different from site to site, and as I mentioned to one of my welcomers, I didn't want to put my foot in my mouth with the first step. I guess the urgency to speak on the topic was greater than any concern for structure...


Ali

I can't know, of course, but my instinct tells me that most will post the one time, then depart.

ya think? i don't know... as satin and many of the other recent newcomers to this board (myself included) have pointed out, it's easy to like it here... and i think many of us are so impressed with the intellect and xyresic wit of the 'founding members' that we hang around - if nothing else, just hoping some of it will eventually rub off on us.

>xyresic wit

and then there's the xeric wit, joe responded dryly.
-joe bfstplk

and then there's the xeric wit

...which we collectively xertz gleefully, as well.

will eventually rub off on us

Xertz rent-a-pun?

In looking for a "z" word for possible pun on the "x...." words, ran into a new term:(not found by "Search"
zeugma (edit,copy, edit paste produces some queer changes from text as it appears in my WNW CD.

zeug-ma (zyoog me, zoog-)
n.
L < Gr, lit., YOKE
1 SYLLEPSIS
2 a figure of speech in which a single word, usually a verb or adjective, is syntactically related to two or more words, though having a different sense in relation to each (Ex.: The room was not light, but his fingers were)
zeug-mat'ic
adj.

zeugma

What a great word. Thanks.

About to close down and go to bed 'early' for a change when I saw this thread - so I'm just taking a moment to say that I'm here to stay - hope that's okay with y'all (that's said in southern Hebrew)!

It'll take me a few more days to read through more threads and get used to some of the ideas and 'humor' I see you all like to share... but, as I said when I joined this board, I like what I read and am happy to be here!

Oh - WORDS - and I'll try to spend a bit more time thinking about those (uh... in English - unless anyone wants to learn more Hebrew) instead of just replying to what I read or whatever...

And - just one more word about my joining this board - already, in only a few days of being on it, I've discovered such a relief from the 'situation' (that's what we call it) around me. From listening to the shooting and shelling which happens nightly only a few kilometres away from me, for a little while anyway, I can escape into this board and even relax a bit!

Thanks for a good time and for helping to keep me sane during this insane time!

Lila Tov

Shoshannah

Shoshannah--

May God in His infinite wisdom keep you safe.

>I can escape into this board and even relax a bit!

It is fascinating that a conversation with strangers can have an impact on our everyday lives in the crazy, sad worlds that we sometimes inhabit. AnnaStrophic mentioned in the early days something about "Strangers in Paradise", I'm glad that our petty jibes, puns (even Ted's) and tortuous attempts to unravel the world of language provide a welcome distraction. It is almost the least that we could do!

Shoshannah,
[nod-to-Jackie-and-Jo] I think what you posted just now would be apt for the Happy Birthday thread on March 15.

Shalom.

P.S. "Southern Hebrew" = Sfardi?

In reply to:

---

Jackie
May God in His infinite wisdom keep you safe.

---

Jackie - thanks. HE does - Baruch HaShem (Blessings on The Name).

In reply to:

---

AnnaStrophic
"Southern Hebrew" = Sfardi?

---

AnnaStropic - that was an interesting guess - actually, I'm originally from North Carolina (sometimes pronounced Nawth Care-liiiiiiiina), so when I speak Hebrew, I obviously don't sound like I'm from Israel - thus, I usually follow up whatever I say with the comment that I speak "southern Hebrew" (btw - I say the same about the two words of Russian I know).

Keep those cards and letters a'comin' - did y'all hear yet that we had another bomb attack this morning - in Netanya (north of Tel Aviv on the coast) - one guy, tried to get on a city bus, was denied, blew himself up - two Israelis died at the scene, one more (so far) on the operating table - one more in critical condition in hospital and about 55+ wounded. AND LIFE (such as it is) GOES ON...

So - you can see why I NEED this board! Thanks to you all for your ongoing WORDS!

Shoshannah

Here's what was happening in the real, crazy, sad world as we were ruminating in the virtual one:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1201000/1201273.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_1201000/1201213.stm

While not trying to laugh at the bombing in London or the fact that people were hurt, the article that jmh's link brought up made me smile. For absolute meaningless quotes in reporting, it has to be a masterpiece of stating the obvious. Consider this:

Mr Fry said: "We have been predicting, since Christmas, that the mainland, and London in particular, were to be subject to terrorist attacks. This was one of those attacks."

No it wasn't, it was an attack in downtown Dublin ...

and

The BBC's Laurie Margolis was on the roof of Television Centre and saw the explosion go off.

He said: "There was an explosion and a huge bang."

Mr Margolis is clearly an acute observer of events. The reporter who jotted that down and included it in the story also has a keen eye for detail. I'm so surprised that a bomb caused an explosion when it went off and that there was a large bang associated with it. I thought the IRA had mastered those new-fangled silent bombs. Someone ought to clue them in, I think. Or get them to write stories for the BBC, anyway; they couldn't do any worse.

And finally, this gem:

Police said they were keeping an open mind about those responsible.

Are they really? I would have thought that those responsible might be guilty of something if they were responsible. Or has the Met just become totally ambivalent about arresting (or not) those responsible for terrorist attacks in London?

Dear CK: since a quibble equals one post, the reporter who saw an explosion and heard a big bang was reporting accurately. There are two parts to an explosion, the visual part and the auditory part. Perhaps he should have said he saw an explosion followed by a big bang. He might have felt the shock wave. What do you say, wow?

There are two parts to an explosion, the visual part and the auditory part. Perhaps he should have said he saw an explosion followed by a big bang. He might have felt the shock wave. What do you say, wow?

I'd say that if anyone on this board should know, it's you ... a veteran of WWII in the Pacific.
And just in case nobody's mentioned it lately : Thank you for giving up part of your life protecting "our lives, our liberty and our sacred honor."
wow

Dear wow: belMarduk was kind enough to check me on a quote from DeLaRochefoucald: The refusal of praise is merely the desire to be praised twice. But I was just a lab technician hunting for parasite ova in a million stools, and then struggling to get acceptable pathology slides against the handicap of temperate zone paraffin in a tropical climate. The only explosion I saw was from ten miles away, when a shipload of oxygen and acetylene tanks blew up in the harbor. It was spectacular seeing tanks almost as big as a man flying through the air like rockets, propelled by the compressed gas. No hero I.

In reply to:

---

Here's what was happening in the real, crazy, sad world as we were ruminating in the virtual one:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_1201000/1201273.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/middle_east/newsid_1201000/1201213.stm

---

Thanks Jo for including the link to the story about the bombing today in Netanya. Just three notes on the story for those that may be interested (and for those that may be not)...
1. 'push the occupiers out of our land' - the Arabs also claim Netanya (and Haifa and Jaffa and Tiberias and Beer Sheva and every other part of Eretz Yisrael, not only the area of Judea/Samaria & Gaza). They call Tel Aviv "an illegal Jewish settlement" and claim that it's really an Arab town (never mind that it was settled in 1909 by a group of 60 Jewish families) in order to sway international opinion in their favour... and it's working!
2. the man that was 'set upon' in the market place following the explosion was an Arab... not to be confused with the FACT that no Arab actually called himself/herself a "palestinian" before it became politically expedient to do so (see just about anything by Prof. Bernard Lewis on this subject). It is, thus, the media which has exacerbated (I always loved that word) this lie! BTW - before 1948, it was only JEWS who used the designation 'palestinian' and then only in a geographic way, as in British Jew or Palestinian Jew...!
3. 'the Israel-Palestinian fighting' - it only began when the Arabs began a new intifada (uprising) and we responded... and they have finally admitted that it was NOT Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount which began it - in fact, it was already planned since JULY!

One more point (and yes, I'm very depressed and angry about this bombing and the ongoing situation... [can-you-tell-emoticon] - I send out via e-mail from time to time, articles and such (including some interesting locally-made political cartoons) and have a list I call "Friends & Family" - if any of you would like to be on it, just send me a brief message to wonderworks@iname.com and just say "Add me to your Friends & Family list, please, to receive info from the M.E." (the please helps, of course, since that's how I was raised...), and you'll begin, almost immediately, to receive some good reading material about the situation here.

Thanks to all who pray and are doing so vis-a-vis the situation here (and in London). Oh, and on that bombing in London - I'm really sorry about that happening - BUT, I must say I find it curious that such a thing NEVER stops tourism to London and yet, the US State Dept. is always quick to issue travel warnings to Israel when these things occur! Just another one of my pet peeves... .

Shoshannah

The refusal of praise is merely the desire to be praised twice.

Yrch! Such a cynical view! I know that it is often true, but as a generalisation it rankles muchly. Almost as much as the argument that all altruism is inherently selfish. I find the desire to deny the possibility of purity of motive distressing. I am fortunate to know dozens of people who would deny praise for no other reason than their sincerely held conviction that it was unwarranted. I wonder if the duck de la Rochefoucald simply arrived at the conclusion that what was true of his nature was true of all people.

>it has to be a masterpiece of stating the obvious

I suspect that you are absolutely right. The hardest thing to write is a piece of journalism where, under anti-terrorist legislation you are not allowed to give away any information that might prejudice investigation of the case. The police were not "keeping an open mind", they had been given a coded warning but were not prepared to release that information at the time that this piece was written.

You are left with the sentence. "There was a bomb, it went bang." Whilst, we all know that y'all could make a much more interesting story , y'all'd have the same problem writing the story.

>Thanks Jo for including the link to the story ...

It looks like I was adding my post at the same time that you were adding yours, I hadn't seen your mention of the bomb as I logged out shortly afterwards. I suspect that, like the reporting of the London bomb, almost anything other than the barest facts are open to spin, depending on the current interpretation of the politics, the background investigation, diplomacy issues and the desire not to give too much away. As they say, the view we get of history is usually the view from the "winning" side, so it will all be interpreted and re-interpreted many more times. I don't know enough to get too bogged down in discussion here so add me to your e-mail list and I can find out more.

My main point was that it is hard to escape the world that exists outside our front door and it is good to have friends here who are not necessarily part of that world.

I wish you well.

Jo

Intereting discussion ... however it's a wiiiiide one again and I'm having trouble reading it.
Would One Who Knows and Remembers re-post that thing about how to fix it thru copy and paste? That was it wasn't it?

wow

y'all'd have the same problem writing the story.

Well, Jo, at least I think I'd know when to end it - after about the third paragraph!

Dearest Bill,

You said, "No hero I."
Well, this is something I cannot attest to, at least re:
your WW II service. But you did in fact turn over a part of your life for the protection of us all, and you did indeed face danger, and all of us who live here in freedom now owe you and your fellow servicepeople a huge thank-you.
By the way--I think you're heroic, now.

Love,

Jackie

===========================================================
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Max--I quite agree with you. Thank you. There are times when it is much more difficult to be a gracious recipient than a gracious donor, but just as necessary.

y'all'd have the same problem writing the story.

Nice use of the Suthrin present conditional, Jo

CapK, thank you for that lovely bit of reporting. Has anyone besides wow and myself read Lilian J. Braun's cat mysteries? The local radio station in the tiny northern town of Pickax is unsurpassed in this type of reporting, to wit:

"The mayor of Pickax has assured local merchants that the downtown business district will have a new municipal parking lot before the snow flies. In a speech before the Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Blythe said downtown would definitely have a new parking lot before snow flies."

>I'd know when to end it

I wonder if that is a function of the fact that there is a rather lot of web space to fill up. It's rather like those broadsheet Sunday papers that drop through the door and if you have a spare month or so, you can read, cover to cover and then wonder why you bothered.

I wonder how many people read much below the first or second paragraph of news stories? I tend to skim read, then go back and look again at the stories that interest me. I agree that the story has far too much "padding" and there are other gramatical errors which should not have got past the editor's eye but then it isn't every day that the BBC gets blown up, so they may have had an excuse to be otherwise engaged.

A friend who works in insurance made an interesting comment. He said, "When I read about insurance issues, I very rarely come across anything that is accurate so I tend to dismiss those reports. On the other hand, when I read about matters that I know much less about, I assume that the paper is correct".

A friend who works in insurance made an interesting comment. He said, "When I read about insurance isses, I very rarely come across anything that is accurate so I tend to dismiss those reports. On the other hand, when I read about matters that I know much less about, I assume that the paper is correct".

Yes!!!!!!!!! I agree! I never see the media get ANY physics/science/medical physics/physical oceanography explanations right, and I always make fun of them for that, but then I turn around and believe what they write about other subjects. Scary, to think that all of that information helps form my view of the world - and everyone else's - and so much of it is wrong!

the surprising word for the day (SWFTD) is: urinator

one who dives under water in search of something, as for pearls

(as to the dedication, y'all'll'av'ta ask her)