Legos

[Greg Nog]

Or the molars of naughty orphans, ground into a fine paste.

[FreddyKnuckles]

yeah I'd always make my parents buy me the sets of whatever--castles, pirate ships etc.  Then I'd inevitably get bored of them and turn the bricks into something way lamer.  But the good part about that was that I had a really diverse cast of yellow characters... oh! and a ton of different weapons and cannons.

[santaclaustral]

Eh, non-Americans mock the differences between English languages and they get accused of high-horsery while simultaneously being called inferior. Americans do the same and their nation gets accused of winning at the cultural imperialism game. The difference is that the latter is actually true.

Heh... "to-mae-to" never stops being funny.

Whenever I asked for ketchup in Britain, they'd always ask the clarifying question "To-MAH-to ketchup?"  And I would nod.  I still kind of regret not saying "No, the other kind, please," just to see what exactly they had in mind.

Well, at least they understood you.

The first time my mum tried to ask for that in America, she asked for tomato sauce (because that was its name before America decided otherwise). The waitress had *no* idea what she was talking about. But no idea. The conversation went on for five minutes with no understanding on either side.

Fortunately, I had been raised on Sesame Street so I knew how to speak American and little seven-year-old me piped up "she means to-mae-to".

"Oh, you want ketchup?"

[jordanmichael]

My gal is still to live in a Lego house.

[Greg Nog]

She's cool with that, eh?

[Andrew_TSKS]

Eh, non-Americans mock the differences between English languages and they get accused of high-horsery while simultaneously being called inferior. Americans do the same and their nation gets accused of winning at the cultural imperialism game. The difference is that the latter is actually true.

don't get offended, i was kidding around.

also, would i be an asshole if i went to england and talked about my cell and none of you understood i meant my "mo-byle" and i got offended at your not knowing what i was talking about?

really, we should all be trying to understand each other, and living with the recognition that our language has some minor differences from country to country, rather than sitting around getting arrogant about whose is better or more correct. in fact, i only made the whole "high-horsery" comment to parody that entire line of thinking. which i guess backfired, but still.

[Doctor Bob]

also, would i be an asshole if i went to england and talked about my cell and none of you understood i meant my "mo-byle" and i got offended at your not knowing what i was talking about?

I love the fact that, in your quasi-phonetic spelling of 'mobile', you chose to spell it 'mo-byle' rather than 'mo-bile', even though 'bile' is a word and 'byle' is not (although, in checking to confirm, I discovered some lovely wood turning by one Eilam Byle), prompted, presumably, by the fact that you pronounce the word in question 'mo-beel' (as in Alabama).

What would you call the work of Alexander Calder?



For the record (because I seem to be making a habit of being misunderstood recently [do we blame the language?]), these differences make the world go 'round.  I'm not having a go- I'm marvelling.

Also- am I the only one who picked up on the sweet gag at the end of Freddy's post?  So subtle, Freddy, so subtle.  Very nice work.

[Nick Ink]

I love the fact that, in your quasi-phonetic spelling of 'mobile', you chose to spell it 'mo-byle' rather than 'mo-bile', even though 'bile' is a word and 'byle' is not (although, in checking to confirm, I discovered some lovely wood turning by one Eilam Byle), prompted, presumably, by the fact that you pronounce the word in question 'mo-beel' (as in Alabama).

These phonetic approximations are hurting me. We all need to get onto the phonmap:

[alistarr*]

Heh... "to-mae-to" never stops being funny.

Whenever I asked for ketchup in Britain, they'd always ask the clarifying question "To-MAH-to ketchup?"  And I would nod.  I still kind of regret not saying "No, the other kind, please," just to see what exactly they had in mind.

well, i mean plum ketchup is pretty good. there are other kinds also. next time the correct response would be "oh, do you have any other flavours?" that is, provided you're not scared of a scornful "you're making fun of me" look from your waiter, depending on the nature of the establishment.

get the down to the farmer's market in central manchester for a steakburger with blacksticks blue cheese, fried onions, plum ketchup and tomato relish. the need for clarification will become clear 

[santaclaustral]

also, would i be an asshole if i went to england and talked about my cell and none of you understood i meant my "mo-byle" and i got offended at your not knowing what i was talking about?

Yes, you would.

However, if you just thought that the arising confusion was funny, that would not make you an asshole.

really, we should all be trying to understand each other, and living with the recognition that our language has some minor differences from country to country, rather than sitting around getting arrogant about whose is better or more correct. in fact, i only made the whole "high-horsery" comment to parody that entire line of thinking. which i guess backfired, but still.

Well, I agree and I didn't think anybody was being serious (should maybe have inserted a after my last post). But it is interesting to me, nonetheless, that it's only when it's an American English vs Any Other English deal that people get accused of arrogance and acting superior (non-Americans) or being cultural dictators (Americans).

I mean, I still giggle at the story about my mum's boyfriend (who has a very thick Yorkshire accent) trying to order "keck and chips twice" from a London chip shop. Again, the lady behind the counter had no idea what he was talking about and it took a great deal of pointless repetition before another customer said "he means 'cake', love, and he wants two lots."

He's never accused me of getting on my high horse because I find it funny, nor have I ever accused him of the same. But it still makes me giggle. I think that these little confusions arising from cultural and linguistic difference are funny and, as Dr. Bob says, it makes the world go round. I don't think that finding those things funny makes me arrogant or an asshole but you may disagree.

[Greg Nog]

also, would i be an asshole if i went to england and talked about my cell and none of you understood i meant my "mo-byle" and i got offended at your not knowing what i was talking about?

I love the fact that, in your quasi-phonetic spelling of 'mobile', you chose to spell it 'mo-byle' rather than 'mo-bile', even though 'bile' is a word and 'byle' is not

IT'S NOT BYLE, IT'S BYLEWILLIAM

[das kranke Tier]

LULZ

[jebreject]

Remember when we had that stupid argument about how to spell aluminum.

[DCDave]

aluminium.

Fixed.

[coldforge]

Incidentally, we don't pronounce that /moʊˈbiːl/ in any context other than the name of the city. When we're talking about the Calder sculptures, it's /ˈmoʊˈbaɪl/, and when describing things capable of motion, it's /moʊbə/.

[Doctor Bob]

Incidentally, we don't pronounce that /moʊˈbiːl/ in any context other than the name of the city. When we're talking about the Calder sculptures, it's /ˈmoʊˈbaɪl/, and when describing things capable of motion, it's /moʊbə/.

Mo-beel
Mo-bile
Mo-bl

?

The technical stuff eludes me, I'm afraid.  I'm a layman when it comes to the English language.

Try this on for size:

We're aiming for a 30% MS for VRUs by 2020, subject to PT funding being made available via the TMG Committee (SDCC and DLRCoCo compliance notwithstanding).  Otherwise the MS figures will be skewed for the purposes of the TAGM and the accuracy of the RPG/NSS projections will be even more questionable.

Everyone I can see from this desk would understand that, but I'd hazard that few LPtJers would.

*** *** ***

An aside:

When talking about Route 66, do you (all of you, I mean) rhyme it with 'suit' or 'shout'?

[DCDave]

Suit, but if I'm talking about Route 154, the road I grew up in, I rhyme it with shout. 

[coldforge]

Incidentally, we don't pronounce that /moʊˈbiːl/ in any context other than the name of the city. When we're talking about the Calder sculptures, it's /ˈmoʊˈbaɪl/, and when describing things capable of motion, it's /moʊbə/.

Mo-beel
Mo-bile
Mo-bl
?

Yes, those all correspond to each other.

When talking about Route 66, do you (all of you, I mean) rhyme it with 'suit' or 'shout'?

Suit, without fail.

[Andrew_TSKS]

yeah, suit.

also, since "mobile" is spelled that way but americans pronounce it "mo-bl", i felt i should spell the uk pronunciation "mo-byle" rather than "mo-bile", which uk people would have assumed meant "mo-byle" and americans would have assumed meant "mo-bl". see what i mean?

[Greg Nog]

I saw the "yle" as a way to suggest the pronunciation of "Gomer Pyle", while the "ile" called to mind "Mobile, Alabama".

I go back and forth on Root/Rowt.  Same as Ant/Awnt for Aunt.

[jebreject]

I go back and forth on root/rowt, ant/awnt, ee-ther/eye-ther, and all kinds of stuff. I just can't decide what sounds most pleasing to me. Oh and crick/creek too.

[Andrew_TSKS]

Same as Ant/Awnt for Aunt.

i go back and forth on this too. my mother pronounces this word "ain't". i think she learned that from her mother, who is from arkansas.

[Greg Nog]

I would love to buy this, but there's no way I could justify spending 300 bucks on Legos.  Damn.

[davy]

Oh man, they had a HUGE & AWESOME lego railroad on display at the railroad days festival Finn and I went to last week. Here's some shots:










It included an impressive Taj Mahal, but alas, I couldn't find a photo of it.

[davy]

It sort of kicked the shit out of the "serious" model railroads at the same festival, which made me happy and a little sad, too.