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Post by postscript on Apr 2, 2009 17:56:59 GMT
"The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names." -- Chinese proverb, My peeve of the day is that some names are just too hard or tricky to pronounce, and yet people take offense or become excessively patronising if you get it wrong. That makes me want to mispronounce it all the more! Unfortunately, letters of the alphabet don't sound the same in every language. What the world needs is a universal phonetic spelling system that will eliminate confusion. ESPERANTO SIMPLY NEVER MADE IT. You could always go retrograde and use Latin but even the Catholic church finally gave it up--that was a classic case of a universally uniform entity operating worldwide in diverse cultures and perhaps EVERY language in the world, failing completely to achieve uniformity. Could that be because it only used 24 letters instead of 26? Of all attempts ENGLISH remains the most successful. Peter S. Peter S. |
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Post by martindn on Apr 2, 2009 22:57:36 GMT
"The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names." -- Chinese proverb, I always understood that "The beginning of Wisdom is the Fear of the Lord" King Solomon Martin |
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Post by texassteve on Apr 3, 2009 0:11:12 GMT
Hello Paddy ! Its a shame some people get hung up about errors in others' punctuation !!  Yes! Much ado about nothing! A little knowledge can be a dangerous (and hurtful) thing! Ironically, apostrophes were introduced (erroneously) into English only as recently as the 18th century. But, sadly, modern-day intolerance can take much more sinister forms: political bigotry, racial discrimination, religious intransigence, 'holier than thou' morality, personal intimidation, etc. ................ The original (correct?) quote is: "a little learning is a dangerous thing..."  And how were apostrophes "erroneously" introduced? Who decides what is or is not "correct" English? "Correctness" is surely determined by usage. "It is me", is standard English, in my opinion. Linguist Geoffry Pullam argues that if he heard someone say "it is I" he wouldn't want to know them. ling.ed.ac.uk/~gpullum/index.htmlOf course this is debatable and part of the age-old debate between descriptivist and prescriptivist grammarians. Although there are not many prescriptivists left, except among the ranks of schoolmarms. English has no academy to determine what is "correct" or "incorrect" so how does one justify calling something "correct" or "incorrect"? |
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Post by texassteve on Apr 3, 2009 0:17:45 GMT
Hello Paddy ! Its a shame some people get hung up about errors in others' punctuation !! Yes! Much ado about nothing! A little knowledge can be a dangerous (and hurtful) thing! Ironically, apostrophes were introduced (erroneously) into English only as recently as the 18th century. But, sadly, modern-day intolerance can take much more sinister forms: political bigotry, racial discrimination, religious intransigence, 'holier than thou' morality, personal intimidation, etc. ................ Did you know that the double negative used to be common in English until some 18th Century grammarians erroneously labelled it as incorrect? I can prove that a negative plus another negative makes a still larger negative by mathematics, for example: (-1) + (-1) = (-2) So the addition of two negatives must make a greater negative or give more emphasis to the negative! |
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Post by stevemacdonald on Apr 3, 2009 0:51:02 GMT
"The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names." -- Chinese proverb, I always understood that "The beginning of Wisdom is the Fear of the Lord" King Solomon Martin Or how about: "The beginning of wisdom is when the third molars erupt." -- my dentist i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif |
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Post by Jeff on Apr 3, 2009 9:46:16 GMT
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Post by natalie on Apr 3, 2009 22:35:13 GMT
Im hoping my Semi final tickets for Arsenal in FA cup will come tomorrow not long to go before the game Tomorrow got Arsenal vs Man City game Rant can not find Charlotte's Arsenal lead well her red and white one  |
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Post by Paddy on Apr 6, 2009 21:35:15 GMT
On returning to this thread (from a pleasant break in a much warmer climate),
I learn with great sadness that Common Sense has died of unnatural causes;
that we need a common phonetic system - to help us mis-pronounce as many words as possible;
that the Catholic Church is a stereotype (or is that caricature?) of uniformity;
that one person is tempting us to highlight his 'deliberate' punctuation mistakes;
that another sees Mathematics as dependent on Induction;
that yet someone else is behaving as a prescriptivist in grammar in order to advocate descriptivism;
et cetera! et cetera!
and - worst of all - that I have even misquoted myself!
What a motley crew! Time to disband!
Unless we agree to rename this thread The Comedy of Errors!
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Post by comet on May 20, 2009 6:36:13 GMT
vodafone NO THANK YOU
so we went out to New Zealand with the vodafone sim card my daughter had used last year in NZ. We left the number with various doctors as both my parents are ill in hospital,we also gave the number to anyone who would need to contact us as we travelled an undetermined path around New Zealand. Including the NZ Health authorities as there was a "Potential Swine Flu " case on the plane we arrived on in Christchurch New Zealand.
We tested the number before we went to NZ and the call answering worked.
Switched the phone on in NZ when we arrived and I rang it from the hotel in Christchurch and it worked the hotel phone number came up on the screen.We bought credit to load on the phone to use while we were there.
We were expecting a call or two from other members of HWI. I rang the mobile two days later and the auto answer said the number was no longer in service. I thought a quick call to vodafone would sort the problem out. This is where we hit the wall of silence.after several calls to vodafone from the hotel land line we were eventually told to bring the phone to a vodophone shop in Christchurch and they would sort out the problem.
vodafone NO THANK YOU
The very plesant girl in the shop said they could not reconnect the number. I asked her to contact someone in a senior position who had the authority to sort this out. she said " there was no one else, she was the end of the line for us. Buy a new sim card with a new number " They also delete or remove any remaining credit you may have had on this number. THEY JUST KEEP IT OR STEAL IT FROM YOU
vodafone NO THANK YOU
It is about time that these multinational service providers realised that their most valuable single asset is the goodwill of their customers, be they single individual users or companies with hundreds of phones. Every client has a voice that will be heard. Ordinary single individuals can no longer be fobbed off by being put on hold for so long that they give up. EVERY client has mothers, fathers, children, friends, aquaintences and other internet users who WILL listen to their complaints.
This is the call that vodaphone refused to take..
vodafone NO THANK YOU
If any of our other members have had similar experiences please feel free to add them to this thread..
I did try to post on the vodafone NZ FORUM but it seemed unable to let "New Members" make posts. Nor did I see ANY posts from ANY members, anywhere. How convenient ?
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Post by comet on Aug 14, 2009 18:10:16 GMT
 funny old country this,  The banks and the government are expecting the people of Ireland (The Taxpayers) to bear the expense of all the bad debts accumulated by the banks on ridiculous loans they made to their mates and speculators who bought property from each other at over inflated prices and then defaulted on the loans. Billions were involved in this, I doubt if there was one arrest, never mind a sentence being handed down, Some of the directors of these banks have the nerve to come on the telly and smile at the camera as they announce the losses in their full colour glossy annual reports. But: on every TV station this evening in the main headlines we are hearing about some working class chap who has been arrested for nicking cigarettes and other articles from luggage at the airport. I bet this guy will go down for his crime and get a spell in prison. While the people who have really being robbing us blind drive their keyless Bentley's from behind their automatic gated residences down to the yacht or golf club.. Funny old country this.
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Post by I-H-F on Aug 22, 2009 0:00:27 GMT
The bankers are big players in the world's affairs. Bankers, like politicans, appear to be above the law. The laws were really made for the man on the street (as Comet's cigarette comment suggests), not for those with power!
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Post by comet on Nov 22, 2009 17:02:01 GMT
Me ! Off topic, Huh !   Missing Buttons. No hole in the shutter release button on modern digital cameras.. Bah ! My remote cable camera shutter release cables and my air release don't operate modern digital cameras. what a pity.. they were handy for a remotely placed camera. (At Concerts) The price of progress, I guess..... |
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Post by Bamafan on Aug 14, 2012 21:34:56 GMT
Best place to put this: I MISS MY SISTER!!!  And she's only been at college one week! I don't want to be a single child, very honestly. When she moved out, I didn't call dibs on her room, celebrate when she went, or rejoice in the fact that she would no longer be here. I helped her pack, but I didn't want to because I knew she was going for good. I didn't even get to say goodbye. I had to be at band practice. How on earth am I going to handle this?? I can't stand not having anyone to talk to at home. Sure, my parents are here, but they just aren't as easy to talk to. And i know there's Skype and such, but it's just not the same. I'm sad. Ok, soap box moment over. Sorry, I had to vent somewhere. -Taylor  |
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Joe
Administrator
Supporting Hayley since 2003!
Posts: 6,715 
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Post by Joe on Aug 14, 2012 22:47:10 GMT
Hey Taylor, Give your sister a call tonight; if campus is nearby, spend the weekend shopping or a nice dinner. Also keep in touch with her on Facebook etc. |
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Post by comet on Dec 30, 2013 21:26:15 GMT
SCART plugs
They are just so ugly
Bah Humbug ! |
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funny old country this, 
