Year-end review: My favorite comments
The holidays are a time for self-indulgence. That's why I've gained five pounds in the last week and plan on getting wasted tonight. And that's why I'm dragging out a few things I tucked away in comment threads during the past year and throwing them on the main page.
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Endless Summary: Vol. 8 – Summer Days (And Summer Nights!!)
As I read the lyrics, Mike's into the girls from all around the world for different reasons. East Coast girls are hip and stylish, Southerners speak nicely, Midwesterners are hospitable, and Northerners transfer body heat efficiently. He'd like all this variety close at hand. And it's just like dumbass Mike to try to haphazardly cram every girl in the US into one state.Wednesday, August 17, 2005
How busy are you?
Here's a conversation I had with [a co-worker] recently:
J (at 10:30 a.m.): Can I get this back by noon?
Me: [cold stare]
J (meekly): By end of day?
Later, I found out that she was asking other people to bring me things because she thought I hated her. But I like her! I just hate unreasonable requests.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
Quitting English
In fact, English and French used to have two cognate forms of the second-person pronoun. In the singular, English had thou, which French had (and has) tu. In the plural, English had you, which French had (and has) vous. As you've mentioned, the French reserve tu for intimate or subordinate relationships, and use vous for strangers and superiors. It was the same for the English and thou. For instance, when Sir Walter Raleigh was on trial, Sir Edward Coke insulted him by saying, "I thou thee, thou traitor!" thus showing that he did not consider Raleigh worthy of respect. Much as vous is the more common form in French because it is more respectful, you became vastly more common in English, and thou dropped out of general usage, except among the Quakers, who used it as a sign of humility and equality.
As for marking nouns for gender, I don't care for it. It makes sense to divide people and animals into males and females, but once you get into inanimate objects, it gets bizarre. [As for why house is feminine in French] perhaps the guy who came up with French decided a woman's place was in the home.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
I require the following