Off-Topic General Discussion - Page 4685

On April 02 2015 05:36 red_ wrote:


I was saying that I would dispute Frudgey on that, because ILM was revolutionary.

On April 02 2015 06:18 Carnivorous Sheep wrote:
Your first nine sentences basically have nothing to do with the rest of your post.

On April 02 2015 06:13 JonGalt wrote:
Guys. Labeling people dehumanizes them. Don't do the same to books.

Labeling in general is a strange principle to me. I totally understand why we do it. It makes things easier to categorize. But I feel that soooo many arguments and disagreements (from friendly conversations like what we have to heated hostile debates) stem from people pretty much talk about the same thing, just using different words. Speech is actually just such a terrible medium of communication. It is far too easy to misunderstand each other. And oh my god, translating from languages is NUTSO. The idioms that evolve throughout different language and culture that eventually become mainstream can be so confusing.

For example, if I were to call Frudgey my best friend in Sesotho I would say "Abuti Frudgey o motsoalle oa ka ea hloho ea khomo." In English that translates to "Boy Frudgey he friend of mine of the head of a cow." Even if you knew every word in Sesotho (or any language) it would make NO sense to you unless you lived there and had someone explain no no no, that combination of words doesn't mean "Boy Frudgey is the friend of the head of a cow OR the head of a cow himself", but that he is my "best friend".

Another example that I like to use is "Re Tsamaea" translates to "We walk". But people use it to mean we are going or leaving no matter the mode of transportation. I find this interesting because even if you are driving somehwere you rarely say we are driving, but be like hey, "re tsamaea!" The basotho people walk so much and have been for so long that it has transformed itself into the generic word or phrase for going or leaving (even though there are words for going or leaving, they are just not used as often). And then you hear things like, "Re tsama" which is just a shortened version, and while it may just seem like a shortened version it is pretty much slang. And at that point you start to think, well it doesn't have a real translatable meaning because it is a non word similar to "sup". So whenever someone was like, "Botle, re tsama!" (Botle is my Sesotho name) I equated it with someone being like "Mike, we making moves!" or "Mike, we rolling out!"

The world is a funny place and language is so interesting. I am excited for the day when we have evolved where we just communicate with thoughts. A mixture of words, images, and experiences we can draw upon to convey our true meaning.

ps If you are not married and younger than a certain age you are referred to as "Abuti", which means boy. If you are married or past a certain age you are referred to as "Ntate", which means man. There are certain exceptions such as if you are a young unmarried man in a position of authority (such as a teacher) then people will refer to you as Ntate. So Frudgey, I made the bold assumption given the general age of this forum and the fact that you are in college and called you Abuti rather than Ntate - no offfense was meant.

On April 02 2015 06:24 JonGalt wrote:


And actually to continue the rambling, as English becomes a more and more global language I am kinda scared for the world to get Tower of Babeled! Wouldn't that be crazy in this day and age for everyone to finally learn a common language and understand each other and BOOM, mass confusion.