madangela
Blueblood
We made it! Welcome, President Biden!
Posts: 1,858
Mar 20, 2006 13:52:38 GMT -4
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Post by madangela on May 24, 2016 20:33:42 GMT -4
I am just getting into "The Other Typist," which is written in the first-person and meant to be taking place in 1924. I have been brought to a screeching halt by the use of "vetting," and of the protagonist referring to Jane Austen as "Ms. Austen." There were a couple of other questionable usages that I forget now. The protagonist is also a typist. She seems to be shaping up to be a little unstable, though I am not sure yet. She claims to type 160 words/minute on the kind of typewriter used in 1924. This seems impossible to me, but i don't know if the protagonist is lying, or if the author is simply sloppy. (Or maybe that speed is possible but I really doubt it.) Did people credit others with having "charisma" in 1924? I feel the need to research these usages that seem bogus to me. But I will probably pour a glass of wine instead, and keep reading. ETA: Yeah, I just did some googling. NFW anyone typed that fast on a 1924 Underwood or whatever. It would be pretty damn impressive even today. I used the Google ngram search to see what they say, and while 'charisma' was in use in the 1920s, it seems like it was almost entirely located in academia, in religious studies or psychology dissertations. I added a few other terms for fun. Link. [click 'search lots of books'] And holy smokes, that would all drive me bonkers. ETA: I just consulted the Oxford English Dictionary and it appears that charisma wasn't used in its modern for until the mid 50s, and even then it was reserved for political or movement leaders, not just a sparky personality. Thanks, Chonies! I will have fun exploring this link. I am a little irritated about "The Other Typist." I am caught enough T to want to keep reading. But argh, these speed bumps! (I knew I was right about "charisma," too. Grumble.)
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Post by chonies on Jun 14, 2016 21:23:08 GMT -4
This was a delightful article about swearing in Quebecois French. Atlas Obscura.
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Post by batmom on Jun 17, 2016 12:06:33 GMT -4
Thank you so much for sharing that Cho. I lived in Montreal for my undergrad and I love and am fascinated by the culture. I was in French immersion but of course we were never taught to swear so that was eye-opening, especially for a former Catholic like myself. I never got the hang of the sacres (my favourite Quebec swear is still shit-uh-goddam, obviously not really French but said very Frenchily.) And fuckee warms my heart.
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Post by laurenj on Aug 5, 2016 12:20:40 GMT -4
Yahoo headlines strike again!
An article on this topic:
How USA Gymnastics can lead the way on discussion of sexual molestation in sports
had its title truncated down to this in the thumbnail:
USA Gymnastics should lead abuse
Changes the meaning just a bit, no?
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Post by chonies on Aug 15, 2016 21:41:06 GMT -4
General language nerdery: I kind of adore Fu Yuanhui, the extremely expressive Chinese swimmer. In one interview, she used the phrase "I used all of my mystic energy!" which has also been translated as "prehistoric power." I took Mandarin for one semester, and I was curious to see what she actually said. Here's an article about the etymology of phrase: it's both ancient and from a Chinese soap with Harry Potter parallels. Also, she openly mentioned that she had her period and that made her feel weak, like it was just sort of nothing. She's amazing in media, but I bet she's that friend who's a bit exhausting in real life.
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Post by cabbagekid on Aug 16, 2016 0:37:05 GMT -4
Also, she openly mentioned that she had her period and that made her feel weak, like it was just sort of nothing. She's amazing in media, but I bet she's that friend who's a bit exhausting in real life. I find this fascinating that she would mention her period. When I moved back to the Philippines in 1997, I lived in a provincial area where the internet existed, but there was still a lot of old school beliefs/superstition and it made for an interesting culture to navigate. Why do I mention this? One of my classmates at the time told me that she noticed that my hair was always wet when I arrived to school. I said "yeah, I shower before I go to school and it's too hot and humid to blow dry my hair." She paused then asked "What about during your period?" To which I responded "same thing, I shower and don't bother blow drying my hair." I couldn't quite figure out what this classmate was trying to get at so I told my mom when I got home about the conversation and my mom said "it's been a superstition of the elderly that if girls got their wet while on their period, they'll go crazy." Which goes back to why I find her comments so fascinating. The Chinese culture seems slower to challenge the crazy sayings/beliefs/superstitions that their elders have versus Filipino culture. Not that I'm saying Chinese culture believes that women on their periods who get their hair wet will go crazy, but I'm sure there's some type of similar variation to it. While the younger Chinese generation may not think much of it, I wonder how the older Chinese generation took it? Maybe they think she shouldn't have been racing at all as she'll pollute the water? Who knows? But I need to read up more on this.
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Post by ladyboy on Aug 18, 2016 7:59:50 GMT -4
Clearly, her publicly mentioning her period while WET just proves the theory and she has gone crazy.
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Post by chonies on Aug 18, 2016 8:56:12 GMT -4
Augh, I know! I remember an earlier discussion about this--it's fascinated me for a bit. Yay for menstrual lore!
I love the extended Chinese interviews with her team, with the three of them standing and giving interviews about her performance, and then the camera points down because Yuanhui is just dead with pain. It speaks to me, at every level.
So, grammar? I have a question. Can anyone think of a fairly well-known in the US who speaks with a strong Southern accent who isn't in politics? I'm trying to come up with a linguistics lesson where I compare "ungrammatical" speech from different people. I'm including Mike Brewer from Wheeler Dealers, too.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Oct 5, 2024 5:27:44 GMT -4
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2016 9:17:09 GMT -4
Billy Bob Thornton? Matthew McCona-howeveryouspellthat... ? Paula Deen!
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Post by chonies on Aug 18, 2016 9:33:56 GMT -4
Maybe...I was thinking someone who was more of a normal person, not a performer, who is in the public eye. Maybe a podcaster, or someone who is less polished than someone who has gone through a lot of media training but still speaks often, would work. An athlete who isn't Brett Favre or a Manning might be good, if I can think of one.
ETA: Paula might work!
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