"There was two Mini Cooper parked in front of my house", or "there WERE two mini coopers"?

@spendius,

spendius wrote:

I would have preferred spaghetti to wax Matt. Oodles of it.
Metaphors need very careful thought.

Obviously they don't need it, but they do deserve it.
I'll try harder next time.... Razz

@spendius,

spendius wrote:

Quote:
I do feel a little bit like I'm talking to a wall with you JTT.

You should try Apisa Matt if you really want to try to conjure up the sensation. On any subject more or less.

JT is an amateur wall compared to Apisa.

I've actually talked at great length to the wall that is Apisa. The Apisa wall at least maintains it's shape. The JT wall seems to distort itself and wrap itself in knots.
Maybe like a fortune cookie? I really do need more practice at this metaphore thing. Neutral

0 Replies

A reporter goes to Israel to cover the fighting. She is looking for something emotional and positive and of human interest. Something like that guy in Sarajevo who risked his life to play the cello everyday in the town square.

In Jerusalem, she heard about an old Jew who had been going to the Wailing Wall to pray, twice a day, every day, for a long, long time. So she went to check it out. She goes to the Wailing Wall and there he is!

So she watches him pray and after about 45 minutes, when he turns to leave, she approaches him for an interview.

"Rebecca Smith, CNN News. Sir, how long have you been coming to the Wall and praying?"

"For about 50 years."

"What do you pray for?"

"For peace between the Jews and the Arabs. For all the hatred to stop. For our children to grow up in safety and friendship."

"How do you feel after doing this for 50 years?"

"Like I'm talking to a ******* wall."

(It's a better joke if you read it with a Jewish accent!)

1 Reply

@Frank Apisa,

That's a good one, I don't remember ever hearing it before.
Do you have any on philosophy?

2 Replies

@MattDavis,

Quote:

Obviously they don't need it, but they do deserve it.

I used "need" because I understood I was addressing an American of the middle-class and, as far as I can tell, such persons do have a need, a very pressing one it seems to me, not to be thought uneducated.

A forced and obtuse metaphor is a semaphore for that state of being I'm afraid. It is better to decline altogether.

It is impossible to educate people who believe they are educated.

1 Reply

@MattDavis,

Quote:

That's a good one

Not at all. It is forced. The guy obviously goes to pray at the wall for some other reason than bringing peace. And it is not a reason he would give to a CNN nosey-parker.

It's one of those false jokes which starts with the punch line and is constructed backwards in order to invent the excuse to deliver it.

It's internally illogical as well because, big word, anybody who would say that to a lady reporter he doesn't know would likely be prepared to tell her the real reason he has been praying at the wall for fifty years.

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@spendius,

This comment seems unnecessarily mean spirited.
What gives?
I miss Mary Poppins.

0 Replies

@MattDavis,

The First Law of Philosophy:

For every philosopher, there exists an equal and opposite philosopher.

The Second Law of Philosophy:

They're both wrong.

1 Reply

@Frank Apisa,

I feel as though there may be laws of A2K along a similar vein to Murphy's law.

Law 1. If anything within a statement can be misconstrued, it will be misconstrued.

Law 2. If a statement is disagreeable, the author of such a statement is obviously willfully ignorant.

Law 3. If the decision is reached regarding the willful ignorance of an author, please use Law 1 to infer Law 2, thus inferring Law 3.
[proof by induction]

Magically circular and consistent.

1 Reply

@MattDavis,

Quote:

I feel as though there may be laws of A2K along a similar vein to Murphy's law.

Law 1. If anything within a statement can be misconstrued, it will be misconstrued.

Law 2. If a statement is disagreeable, the author of such a statement is obviously willfully ignorant.

Law 3. If the decision is reached regarding the willful ignorance of an author, please use Law 1 to infer Law 2, thus inferring Law 3.

directive 4: classified.

no wait....
that's robocop innit...not officer murphy.

1 Reply

@Berty McJock,

Perhaps Murphy's law is a uniquely American oddity (like RoboCop) Laughing

Murphy's Law wrote:

Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murphy%27s_law

To tie both our thoughts together, how about Asimov's laws of robotics?

Three Laws wrote:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Laws_of_Robotics

Ethics, wish it were so simple. Very Happy

2 Replies

@MattDavis,

lol yeah i knew about "murphys law", over here we call it "sods law", but i couldnt resist "directive 4" seeing as oficer murphy became robocop....i know...im such a sad-arse, but i love robocop lol.

anyhoo...

Quote:

To tie both our thoughts together, how about Asimov's laws of robotics?
Three Laws wrote:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

i like this Smile

one question though...

was there three laws

or

were there three laws?

this thread has gone seriously off topic lol

1 Reply

@Berty McJock,

Berty McJock wrote:

one question though...
was there three laws
or
were there three laws?
this thread has gone seriously off topic lol

No no no....!
Incorrect!
There will be three laws.
[as in, in the future]
Laughing

2 Replies

@MattDavis,

Don't fall for that Murphy's Law crap. It wasn't even written by Murphy.

It was just some guy that happened to have the same last name.

1 Reply

@MattDavis,

Quote:

There will be three laws.
[as in, in the future]

ahaaaaaaa but it's three laws created in the past, pertaining to the future, but relevant to the present.

1 Reply

@MattDavis,

would there even be three laws?

or is that just odd?

1 Reply

@Berty McJock,

Positronic Robot wrote:

...Grammar does not allow such absurdities.... please rewrite statement in terms of Boolean logic.....(Avoid destructive self-refrential loops).....then proceed.

1 Reply

@Berty McJock,

Berty McJock wrote:

would there even be three laws?
or is that just odd?

We are in some sense speaking about a hypothetical.
Perhaps it would be more clear to say:
There could be three laws.

1 Reply

@MattDavis,

Quote:

please rewrite statement in terms of Boolean logic

im even worse at maths than i am at grammar.

erm.......

eeeeeerrrrrrrrrr....

times cubed?

1 Reply

@MattDavis,

Quote:

There could be three laws.

there certainly should be!

1 Reply

"There was two Mini Cooper parked in front of my house", or "there WERE two mini coopers"?

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