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So the other day my wife was out shopping at thrift stores. I stayed home doing yard work. She called me an asked if I received a picture she had texted me. The picture was of an old church pew she thought would look nice in our dining room...but it was an expensive purchase. For whatever reason, my phone was not receiving texts at the time, so my response to her was: "If there is anyone I trust to make a purchase 'sight unseen' it is you." (Meaning that, even though I had not seen the item, I was okay with her buying it on her own judgment.) That got me thinking: Is the expression "sight unseen" redundant? I have used the expression before in similar circumstances. Am I using it wrong? Something seemed "wrong" when I said it this time. We really don't have an article on the expression. Any resources you can point to about the origin and/or correct usage? Quinn ✩ STARRY NIGHT 03:29, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
What does this mean: 屌你老母? For context, found here [1]. Bielle ( talk) 03:37, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
I don't speak Cantonese but as a native speaker of Mandarin (a deeply related language) it is my opinion that it does not mean "F*** your old mother" but rather just "F*** your mother"; in the Chinese dialects '老' is often used before a person to convey a sense of familiarity, not necessarily with the person but in the situation in general. For example (and I apologize for pinyin only, I am not capable of proper Chinese input on this computer): in putonghua 'wo3 de lao3 ma1' would mean 'my mother', 'lao3 ye2 zi' is "old man" (understood in the idiomatic sense, not the literal sense in ENglish), and 'lao3 xiong1' would be an older brother or male relative. 72.131.55.194 ( talk) 03:50, 27 November 2011 (UTC)
[2]? Magog the Ogre ( talk) 07:27, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
I was thinking that too, but the script looks a little different than the script at pa.wikipedia. Magog the Ogre ( talk) 19:41, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
The leading singer is actually British(!), and he has a page on Wikipedia: Jassi Sidhu. And somewhere in the videoclip there's also Aman Hayer. Their articles say that they work in Bhangra style, which is commonly sung either in English or in Punjabi. But the writing system in the subtitles is not Punjabi or Devanagari, I can't recognize it right away. Seems remotely similar to Thai, but it's not Thai either.-- Itinerant1 ( talk) 23:50, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
India's Wall Street Journal confirms that they sing in Punjabi. KägeTorä - (影虎) ( TALK) 15:02, 28 November 2011 (UTC)
hello,
are there any differences between "hint", "allusion" and "innuendo"? I mean they are all synonyms, but maybe they will sound oddly when used in different contex. For example "error" is technically, while "issue" and "problem" sociological, etc. Thanks.-- ♫GoP♫ T C N 17:22, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
I've noticed that some English speakers ponounce the "t" in "often", while others say "offen" (as do I). I have not been able to connect this difference in pronunciation with the different varieties of English in a conclusive way. Myself, I learned to speak English by immersion in my early teens (late sixties), in Lusaka, Zambia, and I didn't even notice that some people pronounce the "T" until years later. Some of my classmates were the sons of UK foreign aid workers, some were the children of farmers who had lived in the country for generations, and some were the children of diplomats or foreign aid workers from many countries, including many from the USA.
My quesion is, which dialects, sociolects, national varieties of English pronounce the "T", and which don't? Thanks. -- NorwegianBlue talk 23:30, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
There are many examples of this trend to "speak as you spell", once condemned by the purists but allegedly encouraged by schoolteachers (maybe so they didnt have to teach so many exceptions (?!). If so, the teachers won because it seems to be irreversible, and indeed the traditional pronunciations can now seem affected or even ridiculous to the modern ear. See the article on Spelling_pronunciation or google "speak as you spell (movement)" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.172.239.226 ( talk) 01:17, 28 November 2011 (UTC)
I'm an Australian from NSW from a blue collar industrial worker suburb with white collar parents in the education industry who received a BA education from a regional university that maintained high standards without class bigotry. Half my mother tongue was the primary school with blue collar, half was the household with more white collar. I say "offen" "offén" and "oftén" but never "oft'n". I tend to only say "often" when it makes poetic sense for mid word consonance or to mimic priggishness or upper class wankery. A normal offen is "off'n", whereas offen being in a stressed position is more "offén". I hope this gives you a linguistic data point. From what I can see it involves sociolects of class, though it seems to be a created distinction. Fifelfoo ( talk) 09:41, 28 November 2011 (UTC)
Language desk | ||
---|---|---|
< November 25 | << Oct | November | Dec >> | November 27 > |
Welcome to the Wikipedia Language Reference Desk Archives |
---|
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages. |
So the other day my wife was out shopping at thrift stores. I stayed home doing yard work. She called me an asked if I received a picture she had texted me. The picture was of an old church pew she thought would look nice in our dining room...but it was an expensive purchase. For whatever reason, my phone was not receiving texts at the time, so my response to her was: "If there is anyone I trust to make a purchase 'sight unseen' it is you." (Meaning that, even though I had not seen the item, I was okay with her buying it on her own judgment.) That got me thinking: Is the expression "sight unseen" redundant? I have used the expression before in similar circumstances. Am I using it wrong? Something seemed "wrong" when I said it this time. We really don't have an article on the expression. Any resources you can point to about the origin and/or correct usage? Quinn ✩ STARRY NIGHT 03:29, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
What does this mean: 屌你老母? For context, found here [1]. Bielle ( talk) 03:37, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
I don't speak Cantonese but as a native speaker of Mandarin (a deeply related language) it is my opinion that it does not mean "F*** your old mother" but rather just "F*** your mother"; in the Chinese dialects '老' is often used before a person to convey a sense of familiarity, not necessarily with the person but in the situation in general. For example (and I apologize for pinyin only, I am not capable of proper Chinese input on this computer): in putonghua 'wo3 de lao3 ma1' would mean 'my mother', 'lao3 ye2 zi' is "old man" (understood in the idiomatic sense, not the literal sense in ENglish), and 'lao3 xiong1' would be an older brother or male relative. 72.131.55.194 ( talk) 03:50, 27 November 2011 (UTC)
[2]? Magog the Ogre ( talk) 07:27, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
I was thinking that too, but the script looks a little different than the script at pa.wikipedia. Magog the Ogre ( talk) 19:41, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
The leading singer is actually British(!), and he has a page on Wikipedia: Jassi Sidhu. And somewhere in the videoclip there's also Aman Hayer. Their articles say that they work in Bhangra style, which is commonly sung either in English or in Punjabi. But the writing system in the subtitles is not Punjabi or Devanagari, I can't recognize it right away. Seems remotely similar to Thai, but it's not Thai either.-- Itinerant1 ( talk) 23:50, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
India's Wall Street Journal confirms that they sing in Punjabi. KägeTorä - (影虎) ( TALK) 15:02, 28 November 2011 (UTC)
hello,
are there any differences between "hint", "allusion" and "innuendo"? I mean they are all synonyms, but maybe they will sound oddly when used in different contex. For example "error" is technically, while "issue" and "problem" sociological, etc. Thanks.-- ♫GoP♫ T C N 17:22, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
I've noticed that some English speakers ponounce the "t" in "often", while others say "offen" (as do I). I have not been able to connect this difference in pronunciation with the different varieties of English in a conclusive way. Myself, I learned to speak English by immersion in my early teens (late sixties), in Lusaka, Zambia, and I didn't even notice that some people pronounce the "T" until years later. Some of my classmates were the sons of UK foreign aid workers, some were the children of farmers who had lived in the country for generations, and some were the children of diplomats or foreign aid workers from many countries, including many from the USA.
My quesion is, which dialects, sociolects, national varieties of English pronounce the "T", and which don't? Thanks. -- NorwegianBlue talk 23:30, 26 November 2011 (UTC)
There are many examples of this trend to "speak as you spell", once condemned by the purists but allegedly encouraged by schoolteachers (maybe so they didnt have to teach so many exceptions (?!). If so, the teachers won because it seems to be irreversible, and indeed the traditional pronunciations can now seem affected or even ridiculous to the modern ear. See the article on Spelling_pronunciation or google "speak as you spell (movement)" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.172.239.226 ( talk) 01:17, 28 November 2011 (UTC)
I'm an Australian from NSW from a blue collar industrial worker suburb with white collar parents in the education industry who received a BA education from a regional university that maintained high standards without class bigotry. Half my mother tongue was the primary school with blue collar, half was the household with more white collar. I say "offen" "offén" and "oftén" but never "oft'n". I tend to only say "often" when it makes poetic sense for mid word consonance or to mimic priggishness or upper class wankery. A normal offen is "off'n", whereas offen being in a stressed position is more "offén". I hope this gives you a linguistic data point. From what I can see it involves sociolects of class, though it seems to be a created distinction. Fifelfoo ( talk) 09:41, 28 November 2011 (UTC)