ABUSED WORDS

are you speaking to me?

All right, I'll say straight up that I, and you, and our words can be made fun of.

That is the nature of a2k.

so, get a grip.

I'll say straight out that you irritate me, Saab, but I also read all your posts and am curious, and may change my mind on this or that. I'm not an antagonist. at least in any automatic mode.

The nazi nazi nazi thing was a word play joke. Please don't lecture me about nazis because I mentioned this.

Well, skipping along, can I now comment re Primo Levi?

I actually like this one. My brother-in-law, born and raised in Jersey, and no mistaking it always says:

'It is what it is- what're you gonna do?' as he shrugs his shoulders and puts out both hands palms up at you and smiles sheepishly.

He also does this thing where I'll say, 'Can you believe that so and so did such and such?'
And he'll laugh and go, 'Right?'
But it's not a question- though he says it like a question - he's saying, 'Yeah, I get you, - something along the lines of 'unbelievable=right?'

But that's what makes him, him- although you have to know him pretty well to ever know what the hell he's really meaning when he says something.

I get tired of hearing the phrase: intellectually dishonest- as if there's only one sort of intellectual truth.

Sure, I'm all ears!

a link from when I was reading him, which reminds me to get the book back..

http://able2know.org/topic/1042-197#post-3490517

at the least, it was a "good read". I pored over it.

Things disappear at d & d's; I need to understand that.

JTT posted:


Maybe you can help me with this. As an American in England, many people say, 'Cheers!' to me, but in totally different situations.
Like when you're having a drink with someone - there's a general 'Cheers!' said, which I interpret to mean, 'Here's to you - drink up.'
But a lot of younger people also say, 'Cheers' when you do something for them- which I think means they are saying, 'Thanks' or 'thank you'.
So then I always feel that I should say, 'You're Welcome,' and that's what I do.

But then I feel that maybe, because that's not as commonly used here, and I'm older than they are, that they might think I'm being constricting and indirectly trying to admonish them for saying, 'Cheers' instead of 'Thank you' by redirecting them back to the more formal or accepted way of acknowledging someone doing something for you.

I'm not. But that's sort of how I feel that I might appear.
I don't hate the use of Cheers - I like it. I'm just confused as to how to appropriately respond to it.
Same with 'Ta'. Does that mean 'Thank you'? That's what I think it means, so I always say, 'You're welcome'. But then once or twice it was said in a situation which made me think it means, 'Hello', to which 'You're welcome' doesn't really work - except very literally - as in someone saying 'Hello' and me saying 'Yes - you are welcome here'.

Can you help me with this? I think you're English - right - so you get all the hidden idiomatic meaning in these phrases - right?

Yes . . . going postal is one of my favorites. There was a humor magazine published in Columbus, Ohio which had a cover several years back showing children sprawled out all over a back yard, and one kid holding a toy gun. A woman is standing on the back stoop looking puzzled and the kid holding the gun is saying: "We're playing Post Office . . . why?" I don't know if the rest of the English speaking world does this, but there was once a game played by children in the United States called post office which resulted in some innocent kissing and a great deal of giggling. The magazine cover was a grim, ironic joke on that.

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For the benefit of Saab and Osso, no one vilified anyone else for their contributions. In fact, i said i thought Saab had a good point. It seems, though, that Saab cannot take a joke.

A German politician - I forgot her name - called Bush Hitler - and she was trown out of the government. Somebody else called a German politician a Nazi and got critizied and had to take it back.
So words can be used differently in different countries it seems.
Just like humour. What is a good joke in one country just falls flat in another.
Sentanta just be between you and me - in real life I am known for my dry humour.

I irritate you! At least some impression is better than non at all.

As far as I'm concerned both your interpretations of 'cheers' are right and 'your welcome' is fine as a reply to the 2nd variety, not constricting at all to me. I also use 'ta' as thank you so again, 'your welcome' is just right. Never heard it used as 'hello' though, can't imagine how it could be. 'Tara' means goodbye though.

Good lord. I just thought Nazi Nazi sounded funny. I'm sorry for having offended you; it was meant in good fun.

I did not get offended - just did not understand the joke - I can be really slow.
You know why we Swedes laugh in church Sunday morning? That´s when we understand the joke we heard saturday night.

Good one!

Anyone have any comments on the mad slang in the inner city? Like when you are ready to bounce you leave your crib. Word!

"Family Values" and/or "Values Voters"

Ashers - It might have been to say good-bye instead of hello- I just was confused, so maybe I confused at what point (beginning or end) of the encounter it happened.
I've only heard it a few times when I haven't done anything to be thanked for, so I was confused as to what exactly it was meant to mean in those instances.
Thanks for clearing that up for me.

Perhaps its because of the language difference, but you apparently didn't get the humor here. And that humor was a recognition that you are right about "Nazi" being overworked. The German examples don't surprise me, because they are likely to be more sensitive about it, for obvious reasons.

But in American society, "Nazi" has become almost meaningless. Or rather, the meaning has deteriorated to roughly "someone i really, really hate, and whom i wish to portray in the most scurrilous terms." So, for example, Lush Lambrain (real name, Rush Limbaugh) refers to any woman he doesn't like as a "Feminazi." It is also used in completely ridiculous contexts, when the offense given was minor, so that people who point out other people's spelling errors online are called spelling nazis. Liberals and Democrats have long described conservatives and Republicans as nazis, and now conservatives and Republicans have pushed the hysteria to the point where they are calling liberals and Democrats nazis.

The following is a typical joke using this overworked, abused term:

What's the difference between Rush Limbaugh and the Hindenberg?

One is a fat Nazi gasbag . . . and the other one is just a dirigible.

Lately, since Obama has gotten elected, the conservatives and reactionary Republicans have been comparing him to Hitler, and describing liberals and Democrats as Nazis.

Your example of that word is one of the best examples of an abused word in this thread so far.

That's an old one, which is used everywhere:

Pourquoi ne faut-il-pas conter les blagues aux Suisses les vendredis?

Pour qu'ils ne risent pas pendant la messe.

Apparently, the French consider the Swiss to be even slower than the Swedes.