Author Topic: Funny English and Linguistics stuff... (Read 217117 times)

Jonathon · « **Reply #875 on:** February 10, 2014, 02:36:46 PM »

I got a kick out of this:

Quote

Forget fantasies of a future where artificially intelligent agents assist us under the enlightened ethical regime of Asimov’s famous Three Laws. It won’t be like that. Programs governing robots’ behavior will continue to be written ad hoc by tunnel-visioned specialists with no understanding of psychology, social interaction, or elementary pragmatics, let alone ethics; robots will fail even on minimal politeness. Mark my words.

link

rivka · « **Reply #876 on:** February 10, 2014, 02:42:09 PM »

He is complaining about something that -- by his own report -- means he got the one message mere seconds before the other.

Talk about first world problems . . .

Jonathon · « **Reply #877 on:** February 10, 2014, 02:51:50 PM »

Exactly. But the fact that it was mere seconds is irrelevant; it's still a violation of the normal pragmatics of asking a favor, and it can only happen because it's automated.

rivka · « **Reply #878 on:** February 10, 2014, 03:04:45 PM »

Except it sounds like (from the comments) that it's actually not exactly automated. You have to create the new user account to send out an invite. But the sending of the invite (and the "yes, create a new account") are both triggered by a person.

I have similar things happen all the time, for systems that require credentials. If I never log in, the credentials expire after x hours or days. Unlike the physical keys he uses as an analog, there's no real reason not to create and supply the "key" immediately.

Jonathon · « **Reply #879 on:** February 12, 2014, 11:30:50 AM »

Jonathon · « **Reply #880 on:** February 12, 2014, 11:34:22 AM »

Quote from: rivka on February 10, 2014, 03:04:45 PM

Except it sounds like (from the comments) that it's actually not exactly automated. You have to create the new user account to send out an invite. But the sending of the invite (and the "yes, create a new account") are both triggered by a person.

I have similar things happen all the time, for systems that require credentials. If I never log in, the credentials expire after x hours or days. Unlike the physical keys he uses as an analog, there's no real reason not to create and supply the "key" immediately.

Okay, it's not exactly automated. But it's still set up in a way that flouts the normal conventions of asking someone to do something. And frankly, I don't understand why you can't sent out an invite without adding someone to a database (and thus triggering the first email) first. Why can't you just email someone? Or email them through the system, and when they accept, create the account credentials?

BlackBlade · « **Reply #881 on:** February 12, 2014, 12:04:12 PM »

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This is pretty much the key for understanding people in Taiwan.

rivka · « **Reply #882 on:** February 12, 2014, 02:06:42 PM »

Quote from: Jonathon on February 12, 2014, 11:34:22 AM

Or email them through the system, and when they accept, create the account credentials?

This is quite likely impossible.

Emailing them directly probably is possible, but it's often not what people are used to doing.

dkw · « **Reply #883 on:** February 13, 2014, 07:12:11 AM »

Let the person enter text for the "automatic" email when they're setting up the account so the recipient gets one email that has the text of the request and then "if you are willing, please use the following login information."

rivka · « **Reply #884 on:** February 21, 2014, 10:10:06 AM »

On Little Bunny Foo Foo

dkw · « **Reply #885 on:** February 21, 2014, 12:45:23 PM »

I have never heard of foo foo as a synonym for frou frou.

rivka · « **Reply #886 on:** February 21, 2014, 02:56:03 PM »

I have, but I've generally assumed it's a mistake.

Jonathon · « **Reply #887 on:** March 04, 2014, 04:20:21 PM »

"How the Grinch Stole Grammar"

Ela · « **Reply #888 on:** March 04, 2014, 04:57:22 PM »

Ha!

Brinestone · « **Reply #889 on:** March 05, 2014, 11:01:14 AM »

That was some pretty impressive rhyming and meter, I gotta say.

BlackBlade · « **Reply #890 on:** March 25, 2014, 01:20:23 PM »

Comb
Bomb
Tomb

Of course that one consonant at the beginning completely changes the vowel sound.

Tortoise
Noise
Deboise

All from French, all completely different pronunciations because spelling needs to be stupid.

dkw · « **Reply #891 on:** March 25, 2014, 02:45:37 PM »

Ache
Mustache

Laughter
Daughter

Heard
Beard

rivka · « **Reply #892 on:** March 25, 2014, 03:47:32 PM »

There's a whole poem about words ending in ough. It ends with the guy killing his tutor with an rough (to rhyme with lough).

Let's see if I can find it . . .

Here we go.

Dobie · « **Reply #893 on:** March 27, 2014, 03:14:12 PM »

Like everything else in life, it was done better on "I Love Lucy".

rivka · « **Reply #894 on:** April 01, 2014, 10:59:25 PM »

If this YouTube video (posted today) sounds familiar, that's because it steals liberally from a poem of obscure origin.

rivka · « **Reply #895 on:** April 17, 2014, 10:47:16 AM »

https://twitter.com/AcademicsSay/status/456248690261655553/photo/1

Jonathon · « **Reply #896 on:** April 17, 2014, 10:48:17 AM »

Tante Shvester · « **Reply #897 on:** June 11, 2014, 07:33:41 AM »

A colleague was talking about how her daughter would be starting kindergarten in the fall, and it made me nostalgic for when I started kindergarten. I remember being very impressed and excited about all the big words and important people we were learning, even if I couldn't quite figure out the meanings yet. Words like "daunserly" and "toothery" and people like Richard Stands (that's who the Public was for, as in "and toothery public for Richard Stands".

Do they still start out the day in kindergarten with the Plejja Valigents and the Star Spangled Banner? I went to kindergarten almost 44 years ago.

Annie Subjunctive · « **Reply #898 on:** June 11, 2014, 10:23:46 AM »

Ramona Quimby thought it was a "dawnzer" and it had a "lee light."

Tante Shvester · « **Reply #899 on:** June 11, 2014, 11:45:15 AM »

Daunserly is an adjective, clearly, that modifies light. It is the kind of word that only educated people know (nursery school education is not enough, you need to go all the way to real school).