Some years ago I was being served by a shop assistant whose T-shirt had tiny (about 5 point) writing just above her left breast. As my eyesight was quite keen, I was able to read it with no more than a namaste-like inclining of the head. The text read "Nosy bugger, ain't ya?" It was absolutely correct, and that same nosiness leads me to issue a new challenge.
Many who post here have been able to divine a new poster's sex from the content of his or her posts, without any assistance from the poster's chosen handle. I propose taking such divination to a new level.
Satin has mentioned having a sibling here. This led me to wonder if there were any other family connections on the Board, and whether such could be discerned purely by reading posts. I challenge those who are gifted at discerning a poster's sex to try and figure out who satin's sibling is. I am
not suggesting that any guesses be posted, as the information is clearly private and should stay that way. Rather than poster
X saying, "I think satin's sibling is
Y", I suggest that any poster who tries this challenge detail the elements looked for as evidence of familial ties. This could include shared idioms or cultural references. I stress that I am proposing this purely as an academic exercise in liguistic detection, an extension of the sort of detection that discerns a person's sex from what they post. I must also add that I will not be attempting this challenge myself, as I am totally lacking in the skills needed. Having been guilty of several mistaken assumptions already, I am simply throwing down a gaunlet for those more empathic than I.
a shop assistant whose T-shirt had tiny (about 5 point) writing just above her left breast
If you don't want people reading your T shirt don't have anything on it to read.
Faldage suggested
If you don't want people reading your T shirt don't have anything on it to read.Absolutely. I once had a T-shirt speciaaly made with the only top half of the words, SHARE AND ENJOY. No one ever commented on it, or understood the reference enough to be insulted by it. That was very disappointing for me.
Methinks the lady protested too much and insincerely.Reminds me of the dirty look I got from a bimbo who had a bathing suit with a pattern cut through the bra,who glared at me, apparently thinking I was trying to see her nipples. And nosy bugger sounds suggestive of a really revolting erotic activity.
since the topic seems to have moved immediatly to t-shirts (there are so many good ones-- but i never wear them, since i hate to think i could , or the outside world could, be reduced to a "quip"
Still, my daugher has a black one, that looks like it has a Name tag on it the (US) standard red border with white center , and the top border says: Hello, my name is...
in the write in field is "Queen of the Fuckin Universe" it was alway one of my favorites.. (and reflected my daughters attitude.. after all, the world started when she was born..)
Methinks the lady protested too much and insincerely
Perhaps it's because bugger is used more affectionately here, but, whatever the reason, I read the slogan as a good-natured jibe, and am sure that's what was intended. Had I been sufficently brave, I would have laughed aloud and complimented her on it, instead of smiling quietly to myself.
Rather than poster X saying, "I think satin's sibling is Y", I
suggest that any poster who tries this challenge detail the elements looked for as evidence of familial ties. This
could include shared idioms or cultural references.
I have to admit to being confused a bit, max (he digressed, futilely attempting to return to the challenge) -- just how are we to "detail the elements" without, in effect, posting a guess as to identity??
I have to admit to being confused a bit, max (he digressed, futilely attempting to return to the challenge) -- just how are we to "detail the elements" without, in effect, posting a guess as to identity??I was bit muddled when I wrote that, which certainly did not help. What I should have said was that those who accept the challenge could post something like "when I made my guess, I looked for things like ...". This way, they could train the less discerning among us by showing us what sort of things we should be looking for. Giving specific examples could be done from one's own experience. As an exampe of what I mean, I and all my paternal cousins refer to our common grandfather as Father, a learned family idiosyncracy that is quite distinctive. Were I to attempt the challenge, I could cite my own family's idiom as a "names have been changed" example of the sort of thing I was trying to find. I suspect that all I have done is make my murky post much murkier. Sorry.
I once had a T-shirt speciaaly made with the only top half of the words, SHARE AND ENJOY. I'd considered doing this by private message, to save the "
" factor, but i'll just come out and admit it: I don't get it. please explain??
That may be a little hard to do right now MaxieQ. Hasn't Satin posted only some four or five posts.
I must admit her "I have a sibling" post made me wonder. Rightly or wrongly, this is what I thought...
I assume she is a young lady because men rarely use such feminine titles.
I assume she is young because she uses the word sibling. All the older people I know would have said, "my brother/sister is also on the board."
I also assume the sex of her sibling by the use of that word and will not go into more detail because then you'll know who I mean.
There are not a whole lot of young people on board.
I may be way out in left field. Maybe Satin will let me know in a private e-mail.
funny, i was picturing satin as a guy. but then again, i was picturing Hyla as a girl... i'm terrible at that sort of thing.
and i agree that satin is probably young (although i suppose that's all relative); i'm guessing mid-30's and that satin's sibling isn't even a regular poster, or we'd likely have heard from that person by now. but what the heck do i know?
heh poor satin... you don't have to tell us anything, you know. i'm just waiting for jackie to log on and freak over this one... "leave poor beelzebub...er, satin... alone!!"
oh, but if you *want* to tell us, PM *me* first... i promise i won't tell
There are not a whole lot of young people on board.well, just to get it cleared up now, it's not me. My only siblings are 12 and 3, and you think I'm young.
Plus would I be confused about the name "satin" if I knew about it already? You probably weren't inferring that it's me, but I just thought I'd say something.
I'm not sure if it's what you were implying, bel, but maybe satin's use of the word "sibling" means that the said person has not/refuses to reveal his/her gender.
Dear Jazz: you used the words imply and infer, correctly, as far as I can tell. I once saw a distinction made between them that may in some special circumstances be appropriate.
"I imply, you infer."
From
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe © Douglas Adams
"Share and Enjoy" is the company motto of the hugely successful
Sirius Cybernetics Corporation Complaints division, which now
covers the major land masses of three medium sized planets and is
the only part of the Corporation to have shown a consistent
profit in recent years.
The motto stands - or rather stood - in three mile high
illuminated letters near the Complaints Department spaceport on
Eadrax. Unfortunately its weight was such that shortly after it
was erected, the ground beneath the letters caved in and they
dropped for nearly half their length through the offices of many
talented young complaints executives - now deceased.
The protruding upper halves of the letters now appear, in the
local language, to read "Go stick your head in a pig", and are no
longer illuminated, except at times of special celebration.
Hope This Helps
Is the pig live, or cooked, and from which end must it be approached?
i'm just waiting for jackie to log on and freak over this one...
Ackshually, I know who the sibling is, and I knew before satin signed on that persuasion was under way.
Satin, Dear, if you are the least concerned/wary, feel free to contact me, or inquire of your sibling. I was invited to contact you cold, but would not do that, as I would really not appreciate having that done to me. Ah, sibling love--nothing like it, apparently. (And, at times like this, I think I'm glad I don't have any to give me that kind of "love"...)
If you read the avid posts concerning the location of Anu's
abode, then you know that there are times when this group
pounces on the least little thing, and wrestles it into the dust like a bunch of terriers! No harm meant.
thank you, max, for the explanation. at least it's esoteric enough that i don't feel as embarrassed to have asked.
btw, i've seen several references to D. Adams in my brief time on this board, but noone has mentioned one of my favorite books of all time: Last Chance to See. Anyone else read it? Liked it?
I enjoyed Last Chance To See very much, and my only regret is that I did not get to see the TV series of the same name. It is sad that so little heed has been taken of warnings like the ones in that fine book.
I don't know where the T-shirt Max saw came from, but I saw a similar one on a rather well-developed young lady in Auckland last year which (fortunately) I managed to read without even having to namaste (courtesy of the upper layer of my bifocals) which read something like "Does staring at my left breast make you feel like a right charlie?". She probably wondered why I was smiling. Probably from the same manufacturer.
But my all-time favourite T-shirt slogan was from America during the "Titanic" movie craze. It showed the sinking ship graphic from the film and underneath it "It Sank. Get Over It!" Pretty much summed up my feelings!
I'm an only child...
Ahhh! Poor babe! I'm only an child...
But my all-time favourite T-shirt slogan was from America during the "Titanic" movie craze. It showed the sinking ship graphic from the film and underneath it "It Sank. Get Over It!" Pretty much summed up my feelings!That one is great. There's a shop not too far away that has a section of "special" t-shirts. One of them probably in the vein of the tiny print shirts. Dead center was a small, cute happy-face sun, like a number of the nauseating "Barbie girl" t-shirt that are out these days... With very small print underneath: "I'm just a fu**ing ray of sunshine, aren't I?" Without, of course the ** edit.
Ali
Dear CK: "Does staring at my left breast make you feel like a right charlie?"
What is a "right charlie"
just a fu**ing ray of sunshine
I know they're not always subtle, but I confess a real soft spot for these things. Your examples all made me laugh out loud! My daughter has one with a large sassy cat looking morose, saying:
Nine lives - and I picked THIS one!
wwh asked
Dear CK: "Does staring at my left breast make you feel like a right charlie?"
What is a "right charlie""right charlie" is a Brit slang expression for someone who has made him/herself look like a fool. But "charlie" on its own is another of the myriad slang expressions for the female breast. So, armed with that information, "Does staring at my left tit make you feel like a right charlie?" should be pretty self-explanatory!
My niece, who I believe earns more than I do selling "Orca" brand sports gear (wetsuits and what have you), has a T-shirt that has a duplicate of the Orca company logo (killer whale rampant, the heraldic gurus would probably say) on it, and "I am what I sell" under it with blood dripping off the wording...no wonder that at 27 she doesn't have a steady boyfriend...
killer whale rampant... no steady boyfriendBut what's that thing whales do through a special hole in their head?
[runs-for-cover-for-a-long-weekend]
"But what's that thing whales do through a special hole in their head? [runs-for-cover-for-a-long-weekend]" omG lol...
... you'd better run, or the head honchos will be all over you.... shoot, awad isn't supposed to be so risque!
hope your weekend's a productive one.
...Hasn't satin already named her sibling? [blank-blonde emoticon]
That's what I thought. [blank-gorevan emoticon]
Hmmph. I missed it. [kooky redhead emoticon]
what is 'gorevan'? a color?
I'm not really blonde. Just find my life is an ever-increasing succession of alternating blonde and senior moments.
FiberBabe, if you want me to spill the beans via private, just ask
Dear Max ... I am a big fan of Douglas Adams. When the book first landed in my hands I was hooked by the description of where the planning board notice was posted that Arthur Dent's house was scheduled for demolition.
A short version : down cellar, with a torch, no stairs, in "the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying Beware of Leopard."
As a former reporter who had to deal with the body politic and the legally required notices I was in tears of laughter! I read it aloud to other reporters at an informal gathering which resulted in a sell out of the book at the local bookstore.
wow
Sibling shmibling, I prefer to be called "Lover".
Hey, how about "Member Lover" (wait, did I say that
?)
Sibling shmibling, I prefer to be called "Lover".
Interesting!!!
CJ
>Sibling shmibling, I prefer to be called "Lover".
Whoa there. What EXACTLY are you talking about? I, and I think most people here, think that you are satin's brother. And, well, around here, those two things are mutually exclusive.
Did you miss this bel'? (near the end)
http://wordsmith.org/board/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=announcements&Number=15266
Apologies to Fiberbabe for toying, but boys will be boys...
...and siblings, well, I do love my sister!
...and I'm sure I could peel myself away from her long enough to extend some of that your way
!