Comments on: Can you catch a notebook with your butt?

By: Chip

Chip — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:32:00 +0000

Apology accepted — and I acknowledge that more readers would appreciate Nicholas' comment if it had been written in English — but translation is not always so easy, as you suggested. "On savait" doesn't really have an accurate equivalent in English — about the closest we could come is "Everyone knows", but that's not really the sense of it either. We'd like to think that "anything you can say, you can say in English" but really, English isn't all that expressive as a language.

Should we restrict comments to things that the majority of readers will "get"? That's lowest-common-denominator thinking.

By: Chip

Chip — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 15:32:00 +0000

Apology accepted — and I acknowledge that more readers would appreciate Nicholas’ comment if it had been written in English — but translation is not always so easy, as you suggested. “On savait” doesn’t really have an accurate equivalent in English — about the closest we could come is “Everyone knows”, but that’s not really the sense of it either. We’d like to think that “anything you can say, you can say in English” but really, English isn’t all that expressive as a language.

Should we restrict comments to things that the majority of readers will “get”? That’s lowest-common-denominator thinking.

By: Michael the Dumb Tec

Michael the Dumb Tec — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:41:00 +0000

What makes it an international site? That it can be accessed from multiple countries?

I've learned a touch of Japanese, Spanish, German, and Korean. What I've found is (probably due to the emphasis in their education systems) people from each of those countries have an easier go speaking to me in English than I do of speaking to them in their tongue. I agree we could do a better job in the US of language education at a younger age. I think due to recent immigration trends, some areas have made Spanish a requirement. Of course you could spend 10 years learning the ins and outs of Spanish and still be lost in the shuffle in the majority of Europe, all of Asia, and half the states.

As you say, English is one of the most accepted languages everywhere. My comments are not inaccurate, they just sounded meaner than I meant them to be. For that I apologize. But as the de facto language for this site and the vast majority of its visitors/commentors, it would have helped Nic's comment if he'd typed it in English.

By: Michael the Dumb Tech Geek

Michael the Dumb Tech Geek — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:41:00 +0000

What makes it an international site? That it can be accessed from multiple countries?
I’ve learned a touch of Japanese, Spanish, German, and Korean. What I’ve found is (probably due to the emphasis in their education systems) people from each of those countries have an easier go speaking to me in English than I do of speaking to them in their tongue. I agree we could do a better job in the US of language education at a younger age. I think due to recent immigration trends, some areas have made Spanish a requirement. Of course you could spend 10 years learning the ins and outs of Spanish and still be lost in the shuffle in the majority of Europe, all of Asia, and half the states.
As you say, English is one of the most accepted languages everywhere. My comments are not inaccurate, they just sounded meaner than I meant them to be. For that I apologize. But as the de facto language for this site and the vast majority of its visitors/commentors, it would have helped Nic’s comment if he’d typed it in English.

By: admin

admin — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:04:00 +0000

Michael, sois tolérant un petit peu svp! :)

By: admin

admin — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:04:00 +0000

Michael, sois tolérant un petit peu svp! :)

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:11:00 +0000

Damn Ninjas! Gotta say, those are some seriously tight buttocks! The guy throwing the lap top has some mad skillz too!

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:11:00 +0000

Damn Ninjas! Gotta say, those are some seriously tight buttocks! The guy throwing the lap top has some mad skillz too!

By: Chip

Chip — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:35:00 +0000

I fixed up the links in both of your comments.

By: Chip

Chip — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:35:00 +0000

I fixed up the links in both of your comments.

By: Chip

Chip — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:29:00 +0000

For the record, this is an international site. French is even Kiltak's first language. The site is published in English only because English has become the lingua franca (irony alert) of the web. We English-speaking people could stand to expand our vocabularies to other languages rather than insisting that everyone speak our way.

By: Chip

Chip — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:29:00 +0000

For the record, this is an international site. French is even Kiltak’s first language. The site is published in English only because English has become the lingua franca (irony alert) of the web. We English-speaking people could stand to expand our vocabularies to other languages rather than insisting that everyone speak our way.