Papua New Guinea was the furthest place I ever visited and it was for work, which means I didn't had to pay for it.
And this year, we will stay at home during our vacation.
Thread: Wish You Were Here
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I never been to Egypt either.
Papua New Guinea was the furthest place I ever visited and it was for work, which means I didn't had to pay for it.
And this year, we will stay at home during our vacation.
Papua New Guinea was the furthest place I ever visited and it was for work, which means I didn't had to pay for it.
And this year, we will stay at home during our vacation.
Thanks Rednell, very kind.
I did ride a Camel in Morrocco once, but I don't remember it that well as I was only nine at the time, I've seen the photos though....
I did ride a Camel in Morrocco once, but I don't remember it that well as I was only nine at the time, I've seen the photos though....
I've never met a camel in real life before...hey, I want to go to Egypt too...let's take a PT outing to Egypt, shall we?
Good Idea! Can we assume you'll pick up the tab, Chikakat? 
WOOHOO! Egypt on Chika! How kind of you!
Don't get too excited, Plastic. I'm not so sure Chika is really up to financing a big party in Eqypt. Do we have any millionaires in PT?
My big vacation plans are taking me to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I can drive there in 6 hours. Better than staying home and mowing the lawn!
Rednell
My big vacation plans are taking me to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I can drive there in 6 hours. Better than staying home and mowing the lawn!
Rednell
Have fun Rednell! And a lot of things are better than mowing the lawn! but holidays are a lot better
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! And a lot of things are better than mowing the lawn!
Like working on a schooner rigged bark for instance, many would say that was a holiday. ! And a lot of things are better than mowing the lawn!
Barkentine Grondy! Big difference!
And that is exactly what I intend to do in my holidays. Sailing!
And that is exactly what I intend to do in my holidays. Sailing!
Oops, that just shows how much of a land lubber I am.
I have an old school friend who went to Egypt. Does that count?
I am sure the pyramids would be fascinating.
I cant afford hollidays either Plastic. I will be spending my holliday time organising a garage sale, to get rid of some of my junk - er stuff I dont need any more.
Anybody want to buy a slightly used trike? Or a mini-freezer? or an unused wedding album?
I am sure the pyramids would be fascinating.
I cant afford hollidays either Plastic. I will be spending my holliday time organising a garage sale, to get rid of some of my junk - er stuff I dont need any more.
Anybody want to buy a slightly used trike? Or a mini-freezer? or an unused wedding album?
I wouldn't mind a mini freezer, but I think the shipping costs would bankrupt me, and all my spare cash is spoken for...
heh...Egypt on me...yeah right...I definitely spent my last pennies this weekend...I'm broke till I find a job...maybe once I'm a millionaire (I'm guessing in about 5 years, when I'm out of college and all) I'll treat y'all to a trip - haha...
I'll hold you to that Chika...
Yay! Great trip, Egypt was brilliant. Mr. Sphinx said to say hi to you lot, so "Hi!"
Oops, sorry, didn't ride any camels there Tommy, since we have plenty here in Dubai. Smelly things, but cute. They remind me of Dietmar Hamman. Instead, I sailed up & down the Nile most of the time, in a place called Aswan & then Luxor. Saw many temples, pyramids in Giza & Saqqara, mummies, statues & tombs. I loved the Nile best...it was beautiful.
Agree with Plastic - hurry up & become a millionaire chika! I'd love to go there again.
Oops, sorry, didn't ride any camels there Tommy, since we have plenty here in Dubai. Smelly things, but cute. They remind me of Dietmar Hamman. Instead, I sailed up & down the Nile most of the time, in a place called Aswan & then Luxor. Saw many temples, pyramids in Giza & Saqqara, mummies, statues & tombs. I loved the Nile best...it was beautiful.
Agree with Plastic - hurry up & become a millionaire chika! I'd love to go there again.
Great, Chika, see you in five years! Egypt, WOW, that would be so cool...er..or maybe hot.
Any Kiwis here? Just interested to know, that's all - met a lovely couple and they said I should visit since it's a lovely country (after all, PJ's FotR was filmed there).
Checked out the atlas and found a place called Dunedin. Anyone know the history behind that name?
Checked out the atlas and found a place called Dunedin. Anyone know the history behind that name?
Dunedin is the old Gaelic name for Edinburgh (apparently) and was named by the Scottish settlers in about 1848. Most of the streets have similar names.
Thanks 42. Next question - how do you pronounce it:
dune-din?
du-ne-din?
doo-ne-din?
Next question - how do you pronounce it:dune-din?
du-ne-din?
doo-ne-din?
dun-nee-din.
To rhyme with Sunny Jim?
Gaelic is a funny language, that is. Especially in spelling and pronunciation. For example: "Dun Laghaoire" is actually pronounciated as "Dun leerie". (?)
Grondy: sorry about the "great" thing.
Edited it.
Grondy: sorry about the "great" thing.
Edited it. No problem Tommy, and besides it gave me another chance to don the lampshade and make a fool of myself trying to be funny.
I wonder who decides on the spelling of these words. There are so many names of places that got a chortle or two from the locals when I tried to pronounce them. 
You know, I was told recently that the institution that decides the modern spelling of words is Microsoft! Because everyone spells acording to their spell-checker.
The English Language in the hands of a software company!!
The English Language in the hands of a software company!!
Allyssa, you are undoubtedly correct. I, however, refuse to give into the Americanization of written English and make good use of the "Ignore" button. A friend, who is a retired university prof, told me that he thinks E-mail and IRC's will completely change written English in another generation or so. At the time I didn't agree with him, but now that I see the way middle school and high school kids spell I think he may have a point. Language continually evolves. How do you make out reading old English?
Rednell
Rednell
I've made a concerted effort to use the non-American spelling on the forum, when I'm smart enough to know the difference, as I've felt it makes me sound more cosmopolitan. Probably it just shows up my ignorance all the more.
What's wrong with using American english? I see it as just sort of a different dialect...I don't think using the other sort of english (what is it officially? British english?) makes you sound any smarter or more sophisticated or anything else.
Anyhow, I don't think there's any difference between using the spell checker and using the real dictionary...the language has always been in the hands of someone else...now it's just easier to check up on what you're doing.
Also, Rednell, if you don't like your American english spell checker, you can change it...there's about 14 different english options in Microsoft word (US, UK, Jamaica, Trinidad, Canada...can't remember the rest, but you can really take your pick - haha)
Anyhow, I don't think there's any difference between using the spell checker and using the real dictionary...the language has always been in the hands of someone else...now it's just easier to check up on what you're doing.
Also, Rednell, if you don't like your American english spell checker, you can change it...there's about 14 different english options in Microsoft word (US, UK, Jamaica, Trinidad, Canada...can't remember the rest, but you can really take your pick - haha)
Yeah but the UK one is thoroughly and utterly wrong still. I tend to use my head a lot more than a spell checker. And officially it's the Queen's English dontcher know?
In Australia, we are sort of in between English english and American english. Generally, either spelling conventions are acceptable. English is a language that is evolving all the time. New words being added, others falling into missuse, new localisms and idioms and figures of speach and so on.
A bit of trivia: 200 years ago, it was believed by linguistic experts that in 200 years time (by now) the language spoken in the UK and the language spoken in the US would be unintelligible to each other.
A bit of trivia: 200 years ago, it was believed by linguistic experts that in 200 years time (by now) the language spoken in the UK and the language spoken in the US would be unintelligible to each other.
Ah, then that explains a lot of things, doesn't it? 
Actually Chik, my Spellchecker is set for Canada, but it still blasts red signals at me. 
The form of spelling one chooses to use in writing does not demonstrate their level of intelligence or position in the echelons of society. It probably does, however, indicate where they received their education. My point was that I get annoyed when MS messes my documents up with squiggly red lines. As I had mentioned and Allyssa echoed, the English language continually evolves, as do all languages. Imagine going back in a time machine to the Middle Ages. I think I would probably starve trying to find my supper.
The form of spelling one chooses to use in writing does not demonstrate their level of intelligence or position in the echelons of society. It probably does, however, indicate where they received their education. My point was that I get annoyed when MS messes my documents up with squiggly red lines. As I had mentioned and Allyssa echoed, the English language continually evolves, as do all languages. Imagine going back in a time machine to the Middle Ages. I think I would probably starve trying to find my supper.
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A bit of trivia: 200 years ago, it was believed by linguistic experts that in 200 years time (by now) the language spoken in the UK and the language spoken in the US would be unintelligible to each other.
A bit of trivia: 200 years ago, it was believed by linguistic experts that in 200 years time (by now) the language spoken in the UK and the language spoken in the US would be unintelligible to each other.
Well, there you go, it's true and they were all right
my Brit Lit teacher read off some of the "Canterbury Tales" in old English (or maybe middle English...something that wasn't regular English...)...it was pretty neat to try and figure out what it all meant.
It's kind of interesting that (well, interesting to me at least, maybe not to everyone else...haha) we all can understand each other (most of the time) through writing, but we've all probably got such widely varying accents and manners of speaking that if we all were put face to face, I bet we wouldn't communicate half so well...
It's kind of interesting that (well, interesting to me at least, maybe not to everyone else...haha) we all can understand each other (most of the time) through writing, but we've all probably got such widely varying accents and manners of speaking that if we all were put face to face, I bet we wouldn't communicate half so well...
And I'm not nearly as coherent in real time.
When reading elder English, I always stumble over the funny esses, which take me a while to remember their function, which I have again forgotten.
Beowulf is another piece of Brit Lit that is fun to endeavor into the current tongue.
Has anyone read The Story of English by Robert McCrum, William Cran and Robert McNeil. Faber & Faber, 1986? It is very interesting how the various words and pronunciations became incorporated. Especially as there are disparate words for the same thing, concept, or action that came from the Angles, the Saxons, and the Normans; and how they all became intertwined due to the intermarriages between the different invaders as history progressed. Robert McNeil made a TV documentary series based on the book, which has been shown in the US on PBS. He is a Canadian who was co-host on PBS's McNeil-Leahr News Hour for many years prior to his retirement.
When reading elder English, I always stumble over the funny esses, which take me a while to remember their function, which I have again forgotten.
Beowulf is another piece of Brit Lit that is fun to endeavor into the current tongue.
Has anyone read The Story of English by Robert McCrum, William Cran and Robert McNeil. Faber & Faber, 1986? It is very interesting how the various words and pronunciations became incorporated. Especially as there are disparate words for the same thing, concept, or action that came from the Angles, the Saxons, and the Normans; and how they all became intertwined due to the intermarriages between the different invaders as history progressed. Robert McNeil made a TV documentary series based on the book, which has been shown in the US on PBS. He is a Canadian who was co-host on PBS's McNeil-Leahr News Hour for many years prior to his retirement.
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It's kind of interesting that (well, interesting to me at least, maybe not to everyone else...haha) we all can understand each other (most of the time) through writing, but we've all probably got such widely varying accents and manners of speaking that if we all were put face to face, I bet we wouldn't communicate half so well...
It's kind of interesting that (well, interesting to me at least, maybe not to everyone else...haha) we all can understand each other (most of the time) through writing, but we've all probably got such widely varying accents and manners of speaking that if we all were put face to face, I bet we wouldn't communicate half so well...
I find this stuff fascinating btw.
Writing things down does make them clearer. I had a co-worker with a strong asian accent once. When we had severe difficulty understanding each other, we used to write notes. 
But there are a few Americanisms and Anglicanisms that confuse me
like kewl, skwerl (seems to refer to Plastic?), blimey, corrrrrr (isn't that a band?), oh man, diss (a female dwarf?) and kick-to-the-curb. Even if these things are written down, I still dont understand them! well, kewl is just a strange spelling of 'cool'...skwerl = squirrel = plastic...oh man is a random sort of expression meaning 'oh no that's awful' or 'oh wow' or pretty much anything else (it's flexible )...diss is to insult...kick-to-the-curb is to get rid of something annoying or bothersome or push it aside, etc...
actually, I was just realizing how many slang type words I use...it's amazing anyone ever understands me...
)...diss is to insult...kick-to-the-curb is to get rid of something annoying or bothersome or push it aside, etc...actually, I was just realizing how many slang type words I use...it's amazing anyone ever understands me...
And then you get into idioms where one word explains a concept. The Russian idioms are claimed to be the worst, many being untranslatable.
Untranslatable, sort of like in the old Down East (Maine) joke where a stranger asks the local, "How do you get to (blank)" (Fill in the blank with any location except 'Carnegie Hall' which is another joke). The local answers, "Well you go up here to the intersection and turn ... no that won't work. Well then you go three blocks north to ... no that won't work either. Well I'm sorry, you just can't get there from here".*
*In order to make the joke legible, I dropped the local's accent where all the "er"s would sound like "ah"s.
Untranslatable, sort of like in the old Down East (Maine) joke where a stranger asks the local, "How do you get to (blank)" (Fill in the blank with any location except 'Carnegie Hall' which is another joke). The local answers, "Well you go up here to the intersection and turn ... no that won't work. Well then you go three blocks north to ... no that won't work either. Well I'm sorry, you just can't get there from here".*
*In order to make the joke legible, I dropped the local's accent where all the "er"s would sound like "ah"s.
As to the question of whether we'd all understand each other face to face, people who've known me for years still have difficulty understanding my incoherent yabbering, coupled with my bad hearing meaning I never understand anything people tell me til I've had a good minute to translate it in my head would mean it could be fun.
As to colloquiallisms, I recently tried using good old cockney rhyming slang in the chatroom and was met with blind incoherence on all sides.
As to colloquiallisms, I recently tried using good old cockney rhyming slang in the chatroom and was met with blind incoherence on all sides.
Yeah, I know a bit about cockney rhyming slang, we saw it in our English class. Where Bristols mean breasts and things like that. There are some other words I should remember.
Idioms are funny things. We had them in our English class as well. Some are hilarious when you think about it.
But it's indeed amazing how many young kids (native speakers!) can't spell English properly. Sometimes I think they don't want to!
And I'm reading some of Shakespeare's plays now, which are not too difficult to understand, but it sometimes takes you a while to do so. Or you can just read it without understanding it. But I like the Old English a lot. Fun to read!
Idioms are funny things. We had them in our English class as well. Some are hilarious when you think about it.
But it's indeed amazing how many young kids (native speakers!) can't spell English properly. Sometimes I think they don't want to!
And I'm reading some of Shakespeare's plays now, which are not too difficult to understand, but it sometimes takes you a while to do so. Or you can just read it without understanding it. But I like the Old English a lot. Fun to read!
Ok, about holidays and stuff, I'll be going on holiday for four weeks soon, and that means I won't have access to the Net for that time. 
So if you don't see me around for a while, don't worry, I'll be back!
So if you don't see me around for a while, don't worry, I'll be back! Where you heading out to this time, Tommy? Back to Ireland or some sandy dry spot?
have fun Tommy...tell us about all your adventures when you get back!
Wha choo talkin bout Wilis???
How were your exams Tommy? Did you graduate?
LMAO Gimli
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Where you heading out to this time, Tommy? Back to Ireland or some sandy dry spot?
Where you heading out to this time, Tommy? Back to Ireland or some sandy dry spot?
Naah, it's Belgium all over for me this year. Just staying here, but cruising the country a bit, you know, by boat. (we have our very own boat, by the way)
And then perhaps I might head for Dublin, just for a weekend.
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have fun Tommy...tell us about all your adventures when you get back!
have fun Tommy...tell us about all your adventures when you get back!
Ta, chika. And I will, don't worry. You'll be wishing you didn't ask.
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How were your exams Tommy? Did you graduate?
How were your exams Tommy? Did you graduate?
I'm proud to say I did. I got a year total of 76.5 %. Yay!
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Wha choo talkin bout Wilis???
Wha choo talkin bout Wilis???
Must say you lost me...
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I'm proud to say I did. I got a year total of 76.5 %. Yay!
I'm proud to say I did. I got a year total of 76.5 %. Yay!
Yeah !! Tommy graduated !!!
This calls for celebration!!!!!!
congratulation Tommy !!!
[Edited on 3/7/2002 by gnampie]
Gosh! Ta!
