The "I Didn't Comment in Another Thread" Thread

[Thomas Shey]

Maybe. If usage hasn't maintained it, the vast majority of users haven't found it to be worth doing so, yes. But I'm someone who'll make a point of the difference between forte and forte, so I'm almost certainly an outlier on this.

That's the point. Getting hung up in that sort of thing in general use is just linguistic nerdery. General usage erodes off distinctions that don't serve general use. It works that way with every language.

(Of course I'm doing my usual upholding of descriptive rather than prescriptive linguistics, so I'm arguably not much better).

 

[prabe]

That's the point. Getting hung up in that sort of thing in general use is just linguistic nerdery. General usage erodes off distinctions that don't serve general use. It works that way with every language.

(Of course I'm doing my usual upholding of descriptive rather than prescriptive linguistics, so I'm arguably not much better).

And I am--I hope this is clear--not really arguing with you hard. It'd be nice to live with a language that maintained some of the distinctions I fine interesting and/or useful, but I live with English. The fact I worked recording audiobooks for fifteen years, in a circumstance where we had to stick to pronunciations from specific sources, has probably not helped my word-nerdery.

 

[Maxperson]

My wife gets called, and then released. Always.

A) She has a master's in religion and social ethics.
B) She works as the assistant reporter of opinions for our state's highest court.

A lawyer I used to work with told me that if I wanted to be excused I should pay attention to only the plaintiff or defendant and ignore the other. Perhaps smile a bit. She said it would get me kicked off by the other side.

 

[Mad_Jack]

 

[Cadence]

In totally other things, just saw the first stop on Heart's tour this year. They were awesome! Looks like they are playing all over the US and Canada as well as hitting Northern and Western Europe.

 

[overgeeked]

I get that you only read novels and hate the very idea of short stories, but short stories can be just as awesome and entertaining as novels. Sometimes they’re even more entertaining because of the concentrated delivery and focused impact. If you start every random story demanding it be a novel, that’s a great way to miss out on a lot of great stories and make yourself pointlessly miserable in the process.

 

[Mad_Jack]

In totally other things, just saw the first stop on Heart's tour this year. They were awesome! Looks like they are playing all over the US and Canada as well as hitting Northern and Western Europe.

They're playing in Boston at Fenway park with Def Leppard and Journey in August. I'm debating whether or not I want to drive the two-to-three hours each way, since I've already seen Heart twice by themselves, once with Def Leppard and once with Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience...

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

I get venom and poison right nowadays, but stalactites and stalagmites still trip me up.

Assuming the usual "T is for Top" thing doesn't work for you, is it easier to remember you can't trip on a stalactite unless you've got Spider Climb running?

Gamer nerd mnemonics, right?

 

[MNblockhead]

View attachment 359149

So these posts sent me down a rabbit hole. I remembered an episode of Voices from History reading a writings from Fukuzawa Yukichi, a member of the first Japanese embassy in the United States, written in 1860.

A write up on America from a Japanese historian in 1845, 'Konyo Zukishi' by Mitsukuri Shōgo (1845) ( the Autobiography of Fukuzawa Yukichi translated by Eiichi Kiyooka, 1934 edition). He never went to America, so what was simply recording what he learned from various sources. He is quite accurate, but the art depicting scenes of American history are fascinating as they were painted based on what they read and what minimal contact they had with Americans and westerners at that time.

George Washington punching a tiger. . The art was taken from a later work than the one read in the video, a Japanese illustrated history of America published in 1861, titled Osanaetoki Bankokubanashi (童絵解万国噺). Unlike the historian's work from 1845, this later work gets quite fantastical. Here is John Adams teaming up with a giant eagle to defeat the giant snake that ate John Adam's mother:

A full scan of all pages of this book can be found here: https://archive.wul.waseda.ac.jp/ko...80/bunko11_a0380_0002/bunko11_a0380_0002.html
Someone needs to make an alt-history RPG based on this now!

 

[Cadence]

They're playing in Boston at Fenway park with Def Leppard and Journey in August. I'm debating whether or not I want to drive the two-to-three hours each way, since I've already seen Heart twice by themselves, once with Def Leppard and once with Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience...

Saw Journey last year and Def Leppard in 1988. This was the first for Heart. That sounds like a great trio of shows! How is the temperature at Fenway for show time in August?