PYP: Post your Picture

[Astonia]

I just have to say that language can\'t really be misused as long as people can communicate with each other. There is no right or wrong way of using language because no one can decide that but the language users themselves. Words may have had one meaning a hundred years ago, but they don\'t necessarily have the same meaning today, because language change all the time. The dictionaries doesn\'t say what\'s right or wrong, they merely describe the language as it\'s used today.
Spelling is another thing though...

I don\'t think you can call a language cute though, because what\'s associated with the word cute is ususally something harmless, small, not threatening and not to be taken really seriously, although all of these in a positive way (there are other meanings to the word as well, but these are the ones I think of).

Um, just had to say that.

 

[Astonia]

Oh wait wait wait! Salt liquorice is the best!!!! And in Sweden we have a huge variety of candy, not just the hard ones. We have chewy stuff as well, I\'d say it\'s more chewy than hard. Err, I don\'t really like where this use of words is taking me..... I like the chewey salt liquorice best though, especially together with something really sour. Mmmmm...

 

[vincegamer]

Originally posted by Astonia
I just have to say that language can\'t really be misused as long as people can communicate with each other. There is no right or wrong way of using language

Perfectly said

Spelling is another thing though...

I\'m not so sure about that. Misspelled words still convey the meaning so what\'s so great about standardized spelling?

I don\'t think you can call a language cute though, because what\'s associated with the word cute is ususally something harmless, small, not threatening and not to be taken really seriously,

Good point, but what\'s all this hostility to the word cute? Cute can definitely be a good way of describing someone, as in \"oooh, very cute.\" Inflection is lost on the internet. I read IPM\'s comment as \"The idioms of the English language as used in the British Isles (such as calling someone Bloke) arouse pleasant feelings in me and leave me smiling, making it a pleasure to hear people speaking in that manner.\"
Quite a lot of meaning in a 4-letter word, but none of it negative.

As to accents, I grew up watching \"All Creatures Great And Small\" which takes place in Yorkshire. In Jr. High we read one of the books and I was the only one who could get through it because it is written phoenetically and I was used to the accent from TV. I recently rented the 1st season DVD and had to replay a bit 5 times before I figured out what the man was saying.

 

[Avicenna]

All the swedes i know are REALLY into their SOUR stuff - I had some swedish sour sweets once - they were had and about the size of a 2p piece and came in green, pink and yellow - LOVELY!! But without ANY doubt were the most sour thing i have ever tasted! I think over here you\'d only get something that sour as a \'trick\' sweet to get at your friends!

I agree with your opinions about languages - the changing of meaning over time (and even pronounciation to some extent) shows that the english language is a living, developing, dynamic language.

I also think that the cute reference was not to the language itself but the thought of people using the language in an accent that may well be considered cute to those hearing it (beauty is in the eye of the Beholder [size=-2](TM)[/size] etc)

-Peter

 

[Avicenna]

errrr yeah... what Vince said

 

[finn17]

Peter.....

Would you walk into a Glasgow bar and tell the occupants that you found the way they spoke \'cute\'?

A straightforward \'yes\' or \'no\' will do:flip:

 

[Jkaen]

No, but I wouldnt walk into a bar in Glasgow at all !!!!1111!!oneoneone

 

[Avicenna]

Originally posted by finn17
Would you walk into a Glasgow bar and tell the occupants that you found the way they spoke \'cute\'?

A straightforward \'yes\' or \'no\' will do:flip:

No

Not unless I was up for a small period of hospitalisation, you know, something like a 6 year coma?

But saying that, I dont find the Glaswegian accent to my taste. Now Stirling on the other hand, the women have a mighty fine accent!! And yes, if there was a bar full of women in Stirling I would tell them all they had cute accents!

 

[vincegamer]

Originally posted by finn17
Would you walk into a Glasgow bar and tell the occupants that you found the way they spoke \'cute\'?

A straightforward \'yes\' or \'no\' will do:flip:

Ah, but he didn\'t first say it. Would IPM go into a Glasgow bar and say their inflection or idioms were cute? If she did I bet she\'d get a much better reception that you gave her.

 

[finn17]

That\'s possible...unlikely, but possible...

But only the first time...not the 3rd or 4th time:innocent:

 

[Astonia]

Spelling is another thing though...

I\'m not so sure about that. Misspelled words still convey the meaning so what\'s so great about standardized spelling?

That\'s right. I should have written \"grammar\" because I ment that there actually are rules to grammar and syntax. Here we can talk about right or wrong (you can\'t for example change the order of subject and predicate in a swedish or english sentence). Spelling is also important because two very similar words can still convey totally different meanings and in certain contexts they can therefore be misunderstood.

In swedish for example you can just put two words together to form a new word, like brun(the color brown) and hårig(that you are hairy) becomes the one word \"brunhårig\"(you have brown hair on you head). In english you say brown haired, it\'s two separate words. This is starting to become a problem in swedish, people are separating these sort of words, they write \"brun hårig\" instead of \"brunhårig\" and the meaning changes from being a person with brown hair on their head to someone who is instead brown and hairy.

How did this turn into a swedish lesson???

Sorry about that, it\'s just that I study linguistics, keep on with the pics instead

 

[t_haye2]

Originally posted by finn17
Would you walk into a Glasgow bar and tell the occupants that you found the way they spoke \'cute\'?

A straightforward \'yes\' or \'no\' will do:flip:

hehehehehe....i have...several times. but on the other hand, i used to date a weegy for two years, and the fact I knew what tatty scons and heavy were did help a lot nice city glasgoy btw.....

anyway, cutecutecutecutecute

 

[finn17]

Hmmmm...

Originally posted by vincegamer

Spelling is another thing though...

I\'m not so sure about that. Misspelled words still convey the meaning so what\'s so great about standardized spelling?

I suspect we only extract the meaning from misspelled words, because we can refer to a standard.

 

[Dr. Bob]

Originally posted by Astonia
Oh wait wait wait! Salt liquorice is the best!!!! And in Sweden we have a huge variety of candy, not just the hard ones. We have chewy stuff as well, I\'d say it\'s more chewy than hard. Err, I don\'t really like where this use of words is taking me..... I like the chewey salt liquorice best though, especially together with something really sour. Mmmmm...

Here in the US there\'s a candy called \"Swedish Fish.\" It\'s a sort of red, chewy, candy... uh... fish. Is it really a swedish candy or is this more along the lines of \"French Dressing\" and \"Italian Ice\"?

p.s. Right on about the evolving nature of language (and spelling)!

 

[Astonia]

@ Dr Bob
Here in Sweden we have chewy candy fish with either fruit taste and they are red, green, yellow and orange, or with salty liquorice taste (they\'re black).
Could it be those?

 

[Dr. Bob]

Yes, that sounds like them. (You don\'t call them American Fish, do you?)

However, the only black, salty snack I\'ve ever had was beef jerky.

 

[G-nome]

Certain accents could be thought of as cute but consider who it is speaking them. The Irish accent could be quite cute coming from the lips of a softly spoken red headed nurse from Galway however if that bloke (just for you vincegamer ) Sean(Shane?) McGowan from the pogues started talking, \"cute\" would not be one of the words to spring to mind. (\"Oh my God what happened to his teeth?\" would be)

And as for spelling( deep breaths ) spelling is in my opinion rather important. I realise that language changes and evolves with use and that 100 years from now there will be huge differences in the way english is spoken. What I dont like is the way it changes due to ignorance of words meanings in the first place. Should the speaker know what the word means and then give it a different nuance thats fine, but to make stuff up just annoys me.
Spelling shows where the word came from. Funny spellings of words can show if it came from french from german or old english. If it is all standardised to God forbid txtspk then the origins of the word are lost. So even if the meanings change at least we should be able to go back and find out where the word came from.

(runs round shaking pointy stick in the air shouting \"It\'s not cute! It\'s not cute!)

 

[vincegamer]

Originally posted by G-nome
The language of Shakespeare and Byron, is cute? And you\'re not making fun ...honest?
Pfttt ....sure.

Thinking back to how this tangent started, I don\'t think Shakespeare or Byron ever used the word \"Bloke\".

 

[abstract_incendiarie]

Originally posted by vincegamer
Thinking back to how this tangent started, I don\'t think Shakespeare or Byron ever used the word \"Bloke\".

Romeo, Romeo, wherefore arthou, my bloke?
AI

 

[finn17]

That\'s very true...

Originally posted by vincegamer
Thinking back to how this tangent started, I don\'t think Shakespeare or Byron ever used the word \"Bloke\".

But they certainly used the slang and idiom of their day...so what\'s the difference?