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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
Re: But AWADtalk is a closed preserve of self-enforced mediocrity.
could be true.. but it could just be a general statement, thrown out to put us on the defensive..
Dr Bill works hard to keep posting interesting words, some of us respond....
My dear Mr. Bingley, gives us even more interesting words in context.
first, since AWAD is not closed, (in any sort of general sense, and specifially has only once, band one person..(who might well have returned if it was done discretely..) that part of the statement is not true.
as for the charge of mediocrity-- what have you personally done to try to change things? and what has been done to thwart your efforts? can you even prove interesting words have been ignored and threads about them have died out?
as we say in NY --Put a plug in it.. (any one beside me know were that expression originates?)
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
But AWADtalk is a closed preserve of self-enforced mediocrity.
And whoever gave this mediocrity the right to monopolize this space?
I can't help it--I just feel so sad, reading that.
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,624 |
Don't sweat it, Jackie. As "Wordminstrel" knows full well there are plenty of other forums where language is to be discussed only in terms of itself, with no digression or personality thrown in for leavening. I'm a member of one of them, and they're all very well if all you want is linguistic discussion. I check in once a week, if that.
But this place can be fun as well. Mediocre? Yep, a lot of it is, and I'm as guilty as anyone else for that. Do I care, and will Wordminstrel's bad tempered bitching change the way I post here? Not a chance.
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Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 742
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 742 |
self-enforced mediocrity
Could you clarify a bit, what you mean here, please? As to mediocrity monopolizing, I know I do post an awful lot. Other than me shutting up, do you have any suggestions on how to improve the level of postings here?
Dear Jackie, all that is offered is generalised criticism. No suggestions for improvement, nor any explanation for the complainant's continued presence in this "closed preserve of mediocrity." If it really is such a waste of space, why doesn't the complainant go elsewhere? Just ignore the whinger.
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
In reply to:
Dear Jackie:
You are such a diplomat.
But AWADtalk is a closed preserve of self-enforced mediocrity.
And whoever gave this mediocrity the right to monopolize this space?
1. "AWAD talk is a closed preserve..." Not true. It's not a private board; some people join in and remain; others leave; but the board is not closed. It might not appeal to every person who visits here, but I haven't seen evidence of chasing newcomers off in the year and a half I've been here.
The 'closed' characteristics of the board might be the topics that are eschewed to some degree here: politics, religion, food and sports.
2. "Self-enforced"--I do not know what wordminstrel is writing about here. The board covers topics related to questions people have about definitions, derivations, and applications of words; humorous observations about word use; occasional development of puns. But I don't get the sense that these topics, mediocre-seeming as they are to wordminstrel, are enforced other than by than what wordminstrel would evaluate as the mediocre interests of the writers.
3. On the subject of mediocrity: The people who do write here fairly often or those who read these threads with interest and occasionally post return here because they are interested in word use. We begin often with individual words. Words may have been misused and abused, and the may have been put to soaring use. But we begin often by examining these words--their beginnings and their applications in various situations. It's a fascination, a love affair, and, like a lover who can see little fault in the beloved, any aspect of the beloved becomes cause for celebration. If wordminstrel doesn't share this kind of fascination with word exploration--if wordminstrel would prefer moving away from the individual words we examine here in our hunger to caress every hair on the head of our Golden Darling Language, then perhaps wordminstrel could suggest to Anu that there should be a forum here called something like:
1. Beyond the Mediocre
2. Exquisite Debates
3. Publishable Arguments
4. Scholarly Treatises
5. Thoroughly Academic
Jackie, I'm not bothered a twit by what wordminstrel wrote. In fact, I've enjoyed thinking about his viewpoint. I thought, "Well, is there a problem with wordminstrel's viewing what I enjoy as mediocre?" And I concluded that there was no problem. This place has seemed to me to be a safe haven to explore words with like-minded people--and it was a relief to find it a year and a half ago because no one in my 3D world could understand how I could spend hours reading (and become excited by reading) dictionaries.
So, wordminstrel, I sincerely thank you for your observations. This is the sort of mediocrity I enjoy--altough I disagree to some extent that it is enforced, other than the eschewing of political, religious, food and sports topics. Perhaps you find that eschewing in itself a mark of the mediocre.
Interesting topic here, however. It could end up being a full one and I hope a free one, and nothing less.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 315
enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 315 |
1)we would say
scendere dal letto col piede sinistro
to go down from the bed (starting) with the left foot (pretending that it is wrong, bringing bad luck... apologizing to all the left people)
2) this is an example of one among the millions things I learnt here: and, a place to learn, something every day, is not mediocre at all for me
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
>But AWADtalk is a closed preserve of self-enforced mediocrity.
[censor's note: The previous has been deleted in the original. please ignore all previous and future references to this. TYVM. -The MGMT]
mired in my own mediocrity, I can only respond with a worn-out and sorry culch (I would have put cliché, but I couldn't remember the proper accent key-sequence): if the shoe fits...
-joe (middlin') friday
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661 |
Damn it, Tina! I'm always last to the party...
... and I was gonna add something like "*Those words could only come from someone who is bannished to the surface or is choking in the depths"
I guess I missed the chance.
- Johnny, come lately?
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
Re:1)we would say
scendere dal letto col piede sinistro
to go down from the bed (starting) with the left foot (pretending that it is wrong, bringing bad luck... apologizing to all the left people)
In the Maid-en Voyage thread, "footmen" came up-- and i know that footmen were originally servants (in ancient Rome) who assisted/monitored people entering a house, since it was considered bad luck to cross a threshold with your left foot..(almost no one has footmen any more)
We still use the express, Best foot forward or Starting out on the right foot when we want to say we are starting something, and want to show our selves off to the best advantage.
someone who is clumsy, or not very good at dancing will be described as "having 2 left feet"
i think this idea of left feet being unlucky is very old!
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