Random thoughts that are pointless and too dumb to say anywhere else thread: 2015–2018 (plus one)

[LouisEly]

I just found out that my great-great-great-great-something-something was Secretary of the Navy, Governor of New Jersey, and had a USS Destroyer named after him.

 

I want to know who the great-great-great-something-something was that screwed that up.

[1992casey]

I'm related to more than one US president, Oliver Wendall Holmes, Wisconsin's Governor Dodge, Secretary of State John Kerry, and the baseball Boone family.

[rwa12]

On my father's side, I'm a direct descendent of Aaron (biblical one)...on my mother's side, the Brothers Grimm. Pretty wide split there...

[fondybrewfan]

Anyone here use Sling TV along with an Amazon Firestick or Roku? I am thinking about cutting the cord. I wouldn't get FSN anymore so no Brewers or Bucks games but the combination of Sling and a HDTV antenna could get me most of the channels I already watch for about $25 a month instead of $100+. I am not a tech weenie so I am little nervous relying on the internet for TV. I would get Charter cable internet so I am hoping that is reliable and fast enough so that it isn't an annoyance.

[1992casey]

If suction cups don't do their job, do you say that they suck or do you say that they don't suck?

[stalton]

Can you have a joke about corn without it being corny?

[Patrick425]

Was close to putting this in what's bugging me...but not sure it's really bugging me, I'm just curious about it and am trying to make sense of it. Over the last couple of years I have read articles and have come across words where they use an "s" in a word where I always assumed a "z" belonged and I'm wondering if this is a trend of some sort. I just got done reading an article on Yahoo (the byline had "Geneva - AFP", not sure if what AFP is...Associated or American Free Press?) and the word "organisation" was used in the article several times. Isn't it organization (or is it a noun vs. an adjective thing..even then, I always thought is was "z" either way) ? I can' think of other examples off hand, but I know that there was another article I read within the last week with the same issue, where they used "s" in words in that I thought should have been "z".

[Baldkin]

Was close to putting this in what's bugging me...but not sure it's really bugging me, I'm just curious about it and am trying to make sense of it. Over the last couple of years I have read articles and have come across words where they use an "s" in a word where I always assumed a "z" belonged and I'm wondering if this is a trend of some sort. I just got done reading an article on Yahoo (the byline had "Geneva - AFP", not sure if what AFP is...Associated or American Free Press?) and the word "organisation" was used in the article several times. Isn't it organization (or is it a noun vs. an adjective thing..even then, I always thought is was "z" either way) ? I can' think of other examples off hand, but I know that there was another article I read within the last week with the same issue, where they used "s" in words in that I thought should have been "z".

 

American vs British English is the main difference there. Same as some words that throw an extra U in there, like colour.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_spelling_differences#-ise.2C_-ize_.28-isation.2C_-ization.29

[1992casey]

We've always seen British spellings in literature. But with the Internet, both variations are now mainstream for audiences worldwide. With some exceptions, people are generally supposed to use what's native to them.

 

If you look really closely, you'll also see differences in punctuation rules. As an example, in the US, when commas are used in conjunction with quotes, they're always supposed to be located inside the closing quotation mark. In British, inside or outside depends on context, pretty much like the US rules for question marks and exclamation points.

 

Another thing you'll notice is different interpretations of what's plural. In British, you'll hear "Microsoft are" rather than "Microsoft is."

 

Another place that you'll find some British English is in our message board interface. To the right of the post editor, you'll see that it says "Font colour." phpBB only offers one flavor of English, and when we set up here, we decided that it wasn't worth the effort to track down those spellings and change them. We've addressed actual misspellings, though. The prepackaged e-mail notifications, for instance, contained some pretty egregious errors that would have been wrong no matter which side of the pond you were on.

[jerichoholicninja]

Was close to putting this in what's bugging me...but not sure it's really bugging me, I'm just curious about it and am trying to make sense of it. Over the last couple of years I have read articles and have come across words where they use an "s" in a word where I always assumed a "z" belonged and I'm wondering if this is a trend of some sort. I just got done reading an article on Yahoo (the byline had "Geneva - AFP", not sure if what AFP is...Associated or American Free Press?) and the word "organisation" was used in the article several times. Isn't it organization (or is it a noun vs. an adjective thing..even then, I always thought is was "z" either way) ? I can' think of other examples off hand, but I know that there was another article I read within the last week with the same issue, where they used "s" in words in that I thought should have been "z".

 

I'm pretty sure that North America is the only place where "z's" are frequently used in English. Most every news article I read from the UK, Australia, or New Zealand uses "s's".

[1992casey]

I think that Canada uses kind of a blend and Australia picks up on a small handful of American conventions.

 

Besides spelling, there's vocabulary in general, e.g. lift vs. elevator. That's usually pretty easy to comprehend.

 

A lot of words simply change pronunciation, e.g. schedule. Things like that happen within our country, so that shouldn't be a surprise to us.

 

And some words are similar, but change in both spelling and pronunciation. The majority of the world prefers aluminium to aluminum. They prefer it because it's consistent with other chemical elements like lithium. You'll hear "aluminium" in Apple's product videos whenever Sir Jony Ive is narrating; his fellow executives like to make wisecracks about that.

 

A few years back, several of us who participate in running message boards were trying to develop a master cuss filter. We learned that offensiveness is relative. For instance, "fanny" is tremendously offensive in England. Don't say it if you're there. If you happen to be carrying a fanny pack, it would pay to try to call it a bumbag instead. Conversely, we found a word that's tremendously offensive in the US that doesn't bother the Brits. They'd probably scratch their heads if they found that we filtered it. I won't post it; you'll need to PM me if you want to know what it is.

[adamb100]

I've only been driving regularly for almost 2 months and got into a car accident. I ended up rear ending a car in front of me on I-94 in Milwaukee because I couldn't stop in time. We're both ok, but this is going to kill my wallet. I have good insurance but it's still money I can't afford to spend, plus my premium is going to skyrocket at renewal.

[stoutdude04]

I've only been driving regularly for almost 2 months and got into a car accident. I ended up rear ending a car in front of me on I-94 in Milwaukee because I couldn't stop in time. We're both ok, but this is going to kill my wallet. I have good insurance but it's still money I can't afford to spend, plus my premium is going to skyrocket at renewal.

 

Thankfully you are okay.

 

My friends typically give me a hard time because I drive with A LOT of space between myself and other vehicles, but I have been lucky enough to never bump someone, so I suppose I can deal with a little ribbing.

[adamb100]

I got another dose of bad news. The car has been deemed a total loss. I've had the car for not even 2 months and just paid to have a new muffler on it.

 

I can't believe this is happening.

[1992casey]

It doesn't take much for a car to be totaled. Often enough, simply triggering the airbags will do it.

[adamb100]

It doesn't take much for a car to be totaled. Often enough, simply triggering the airbags will do it.

 

Airbags didn't deploy. The total damage to fix was $4,700.

[FVBrewerFan]

Anyone else have this virus (cold?) that's going around? I think I'm going on 3 weeks now, and it's beginning to p me off. I've had colds before, obviously, but this one is weird. Every day the symptoms change. One day, it's a cough that won't stop/ Nest day, nose all stuffed up, then sore throat and my voice is shot. I took a round of antibiotics and it didn't help, which tells me it is just a cold or something.

 

Anyhow, just wondering if anyone else is dealing with it, and how long does it last?!?! I really don't feel horrible, it's just a pain in the butt more than anything.

[rwa12]

We've been battling that virus at my house for months. I'm not sure how long it lasts, because we never get rid of it. It just passes between us, once you think you're over it...it's back.

 

I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.

[stoutdude04]

I just got it I am guessing. I'm on day 5.

[FVBrewerFan]

We've been battling that virus at my house for months. I'm not sure how long it lasts, because we never get rid of it. It just passes between us, once you think you're over it...it's back.

 

I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.

 

Wow, that's horrible. You hit it on the head though, sick and tired of being sick and tired. Yesterday was my favorite. I thought I may be over it, just a bit of a sore throat when I woke up. By noon I felt thoroughly exhausted and worn out, had to lay down when I got home, which I never do. By bedtime I was coughing and hacking like crazy. Point being, this thing is a tease in addition to everything else.

[Thurston Fluff]

I got another dose of bad news. The car has been deemed a total loss. I've had the car for not even 2 months and just paid to have a new muffler on it.

 

I can't believe this is happening.

 

Make sure you mention the new muffler to the insurance company. They take that into consideration when offering compensation. For example when someone t-boned me in my car I told the insurance company that I just put a new clutch in it and they offered added some of that cost to the settlement. Of course that was not my fault and I was working with a company that my have been worried I wouldn't just settle. But I imagine your insurance company has some interest in maintaining you as a customer so they should be receptive as well. Certainly doesn't hurt to mention it.

[bjkrautk]

I never actually knew Steve Miller (of the eponymous band) was from Milwaukee until today.

 

(EDIT: Not that he stopped being from Milwaukee....just that I didn't actually know about it until today.)

[jerichoholicninja]

I never actually knew Steve Miller (of the eponymous band) was from Milwaukee until today.

 

(EDIT: Not that he stopped being from Milwaukee....just that I didn't actually know about it until today.)

 

I don't think a lot of people know that and I don't think he makes a big deal of it either. I most often hear him mentioned as a Californian or at least as a Californian band.

[1992casey]

Miller's parents were the best man and matron of honor at the wedding of Les Paul and Mary Ford. His first guitar lesson was from Les Paul.

[nate82]

If you are drinking and get into one of them new fancy autonomous cars will that still be considered as drunk driving if you are not driving but the computer is?