blackshoe, on 2014-July-19, 12:55, said:
Most folks would never consider jumping a line when on foot at a bank or store or whatever, but put 'em behind the wheel of a car and it's a different story.
You need to travel abroad more often Ed. Some cultures barely respect queuing "rules" at all. And some cultures use different rules to the ones we would be used to.
helene_t, on 2014-July-22, 02:22, said:
Yes, negations are often ambigious in English. In most other languages I know of it would be clear that it means "Do not (exercise until the heart is pounding)". If they meant "(Do not exercise) until the heart is pounding" they would have said "Do not (exercise before the heart is pounding)"
It is very rare that I disagree with you on a point of language but to me this has the opposite meaning. If "Do not (exercise...)" had been meant, it could have been phrased using a construction along the lines of "Do not continue exercising once the heart starts pounding".
gwnn, on 2014-August-13, 03:04, said:
People pronouncing Toni Kroos like Toni Cruz. I still can't get used to it, pisses me off every time.
This is nothing. I regularly watch ECL on UK TV and during a Dortmund game found it very distracting that "Ray-oos" was playing on the left wing (aka Reus). There were actually a number of strange names in that game. Surprisingly the same commentators have less difficulty with Toni and say his name as "Crows", pretty close by English standards.
kenberg, on 2014-August-13, 12:34, said:
You wouldn't think a person, at least a fellow American, could do much with Berg but they do. I am sometimes addressed as Berge, sort of like barge with an e sound where the a is. I usually try to mention how sad it was that the Titanic was struck by an iceberge.
There are several parts of the world where Berg is pronounced Bairg rather than Burg, Ken. I would hazard a guess that this was probably the original pronunciation in your family too!
barmar, on 2014-August-25, 18:09, said:
Getting back to the sub-thread about traffic, I wonder what people think about this situation:
Another one for you. A well known junction in SW London sees 2 roads coming together in an X, which is completely chock-a-block during rush hour. Cars coming from the left generally need to get to the right and those from the right to the left. To make matters worse there are traffic lights further along meaning that no smooth zipping action is possible. If no one gives way at all then no one gets anywhere. It is quite simple - when everyone drives with respect, as opposed to the letter of the law, it works. I daresay it is stressful for the drivers though!
kenberg, on 2014-August-27, 06:30, said:
A young woman was driving her boy friend's stick shift
This kind of sounds a bit dirty, Ken!
Vampyr, on 2014-October-10, 02:09, said:
I wasn't aware that the renown of that old cult film reached so far afield, but give me the straw man every day!
Christopher Lee commented once that it was the best film he ever made. Given his body of work that ought to count for something.
helene_t, on 2015-July-03, 02:52, said:
And "axiomatic". And "inversely proportional".
If we are going on little phrases then my addition to the list is "very unique". Something is either unique or not.