Supergrunch
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Not necessarily. Take, for instance, the word "fuck," which you (along with many others) describe as being offensive however it's being used. Let's say one guy says to another (for whatever reason), "You fucking legend!" Unless this sentence is being used very sarcastically, it's not likely to be intensionally offensive, and if the other guy understands it to be a compliment and nobody else is present, then nobody has been offended. Indeed, far from being offensive, the addition of the word "fuck" into the sentence has increased the force of the sentiment expressed and also created a sense of camaraderie between the guys - the fact they're able to freely swear suggests they aren't watching what they say, and are friendly. Of course, the word can also be used offensively - if, say, one guy says (in an insulting tone) to another guy, "You fucking idiot!" It's hard to see what's going on here - while the first guy clearly wants to insult the second, this doesn't explain why adding "fuck" makes the insult more potent. The best suggestion I've come across is that as a taboo word, "fuck" carries negative associations and is linked to unpleasant feelings, and using it in this manner is like using a weapon - the recipient of the insult is forced to feel these unpleasant feelings and associate them with themselves. However, people don't just get offended by "fuck" when it's used towards them as an insult. Indeed, many find it offensive when used at all, presumably because it forces the link to unpleasant connotations. However, such an objection to the way others use language seems a bit spurious to me, especially when the swearer in question isn't even speaking to the offended person in question. It's a bit like when people are offended by others wearing nose rings or somesuch - even though they might not like it, the wearer of the ring should be free to do so, and arguing otherwise is absurb. So when people use swearwords in non-offensive contexts, they shouldn't be offensive at all. (in fact there are some things that invoke such unpleasant feelings in such large majorities of people that it seems reasonable to ban them - this is why we need laws about indecency and so on)
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Strictly speaking, it's not words themselves that should be offensive but the way in which they're used, as Dyson says. Some people still take offence at specific phonological forms though, for various reasons...
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I saw this and thought "Cool, a new derivational affix! Whereas we couldn't introduce a new inflectional affix." *gets back to essay*
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Yep, thought you'd get it. Anyway, just be pleased it isn't called "FAMIRY" or something. Though actually, the game (unlike KyoAni) tends to have reasonable English.
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Sleep some more or if that isn't an option, just try and ignore it, and have some water/other beverage etc. The only proven "cure" is hair of the dog, which just pushes it back until later.
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I'm pretty sure it just acts straight upwards at the joint.
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A pigeon once crapped on my shoulder, too. It turned what was an average day into a bad day, especially as the public toilets were closed so I couldn't wash it off. It also happened to me during a go tournament once, although that was all down my front - I had to go back and change, so was late for the next round, but won anyway. But that wasn't luck, it was just being better than my opponent. I lost all but one of the other games in that tournament.
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He Lives In A Pineapple Under The Sea...
Supergrunch replied to Slaggis's topic in General Chit Chat
Happy birthday. -
Hmm, never heard of that one. You wouldn't like our formal halls - people cross a knife and fork to indicate when a space has been taken. Anyway, I'd like to think I have transient thoughts of superstition but deep down think it's rubbish. In reality I'm probably a little bit more influenced than that, but only to the extent sufficient for admittance to the human race. Incidentally, there are some cool studies to do with superstitious behaviour of pigeons in Skinner boxes that suggest some kind of explanation for such things.
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Burger Kings New Advertising Scheme
Supergrunch replied to Kirkatronics's topic in General Chit Chat
Lol, this is quite amusing. I'm sure there are more than 10 people I could happily delete from my facebook. -
Wow, that really is reminiscent of Kafka on the Shore. I always though Oshima was a great character. Anyhoo, I might take some pictures once I get hold of my camera again and have a free moment.
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They also mark secondary boundaries, to a weaker level than semi-colons or clauses, meaning they're involved in various types of coordination, supplementation, combination of main clauses, marking out of reported speech, delimitation, and in older texts the separation of subject and verb (see the first sentence of Pride and Prejudice). I guess you can use them for that kind of emphasis, although it's a bit rare. That's a rough explanation of how things work. Basically, there are various boundaries that occur in our speech, which correspond to the grammar. The most obvious of these is the sentence boundary, which is the strongest, but there are also weaker boundaries, marked by semi-colons and occasionally colons, and even weaker boundaries that are marked with commas. We often pause at boundaries, and usually for less time if the boundary is weaker, so you can generalise and say they represent different lengths of pause. Things are actually a lot more complex than that though, as we pause all over the place, not even necessarily at boundaries or for consistent lengths of time, but your teacher taught you that because it's a good rule of thumb.
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Lol, see how Clannad instills family values! Kazokutte no wa, sou iu mon nan da yo! (points if you identify that quotation) Edit: Where is my beloved normal [noparse][/noparse] smiley? Hmph!
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The argument is actually hilarious to read, he's losing so badly yet can't tell.
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I think you'll find only admins can set animated avatars, but have done so for other people in the past.
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Writing is not the same thing as language.
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Thanks, though I'd already wikied him - I meant the guy arguing with Fish's sister.
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Who is that guy? Incidentally, they're still arguing under your status now.
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This is my room in Hertfordshire from about 2 years ago: Nowdays it tends to just be filled with piles of books. Anyhoo, my room at Cambridge is usually cleaner, although I don't have a camera here at the moment. I will endeavour to obtain it soonish.
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I just bought World of Goo, and... wow. Best game I've played in a very long time.
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That being my point - the site hosting it is down.
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He submitted a drunken spambot warning too: :p (we need those xsorbit smileys dammit, this one is far too happy)
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Happy birthday.
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I think there was one with a puzzle on a billboard that you had to solve to work out the URL, and if you went to that, it gave you another puzzle to solve before they let you submit their application. But then that's a good way of getting applicants who're good at solving puzzles, which is presumably what they wanted.