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Author Topic: crouching down  (Read 7508 times)

Offline H-Hour

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Re: crouching down
« Reply #15 on: November 06, 2010, 12:52:54 am »
To venture further into the offtopic: I always find non-native speakers can explain the rules of English much better than I can. I have no idea what a transative verb is, but I always seem to know what word I ought to use in a sentence.

Offline Brasher

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Re: crouching down
« Reply #16 on: November 14, 2010, 10:58:44 pm »
Beautiful explanation of the difference between precision and accuracy.  Darts was a great example.  Reminds me of when I play drunk.  my precision is still good with my grouping but accuracy is way off heh.
P.S. - Just one last thing about language, something kinda funny:  You might be surprised at how the phrase "Let's go smoke a fag" in the UK is a harmless, casual thing to say when taking a break from working on something, but if spoken here in the United States where I am, it has a totally different, nasty meaning, one that can make people call the police to come arrest you if they think you're really serious.  (I'm not kidding, it can really get you into trouble here!)
Not to get too far off the topic but it's my understanding the term "fag" originated during the World War.  The Nazis were known for setting ablaze homosexuals, chain-smoking them (like cigarrettes).  It became a joke amongst infantry, one bearing extremely negative conotations about homosexuality, basically saying that the only thing a homosexual is good for is being "smoked like a fag".  Being that my friggin country is wussing itself into a pansey-@ss, "I'm a victim", double-speaking social state, it's safe to say that yes... saying "smoking a fag" in the wrong company can get you into some trouble.  Now, am I against homosexuals? No. Infact I have a couple gay friends and I call them ag-fays and much worse all the time.  I also despise America's recent, cancerously spreading demand for politically correct bullcrap.  I'm ex-military and speak my mind with little to no remorse, but when I learned where this phrase came from, I cringed and tend to use it less often.  It's almost worse than saying ni....  the "n" word, because with it, it carries with it all the horror of burning people alive through narrowminded, hatred brought on by an extreme superiority complex and so much more.
Just a little FYI.

Offline Hertzila

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Re: crouching down
« Reply #17 on: November 15, 2010, 11:08:08 pm »
Didn't think I'd take part in this conversation but...

After a quick Google search it seems "fag" used to mean an already smoked cigarette, which was in turn taken from the Middle English word "fag-end", remnant/extremely short.

Offline Destructavator

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Re: crouching down
« Reply #18 on: November 16, 2010, 02:26:48 am »
Funny how the meaning of words change over time, and rather sad how many of them that once meant nice or harmless things change into such negative terms.  Some of you younger forum members who might be reading this might be surprised to know that "gay" used to have a very different meaning, a very positive one.  Don't believe me?  Look at one of the classic songs for the upcoming Christian holiday, the one that features the line:  "...Now we don our gay apparel..."  Yes, it used to mean "bright," "cheerful," and "happy."

I admit I haven't kept up on quite all of the changes, I hear young teenagers nowadays utter things I don't recognize anymore.  Of course, now that I'm getting a bit older I can talk down to them with condescending terms such as "son" and "young man" or "kid."  That's always fun.   ;D