@skullpatrol I’m a programmer not a dictionary; if you want a dictionary, you know where to find it. More tellingly, you constantly ask for definitions of commonplace English words and cannot be troubled to look them up. I therefore believe you are either not a native speaker or there is something else amiss in you. Hence my simple question which you have yet to answer.
@Cerberus That was hardly rude. I will answer further questions from him just as soon he has answered my simple, civil question regarding his first language and geographical location, and not a moment before.
@Cerberus I mean, if you stay in the town where you grew up, everyone you knew will eventually discover that you took your wife's name, and that will be a "topic of conversation" whenever they do discover that.
@Cerberus It most certainly was nothing of the kind. Saying that you seem to be a bit of an idiot, or an uneducated brute — that would be rude. What I said was certainly not offensive, and I am flabbergasted that you of all people would consider it offensive. Rude I know, and rude that was anything but. I’m a programmer not a diplomat, and spades are spades.
@Cerberus That’s nice. The best part is that we will never again hear from you a single nonsensical complaint about words being incapable of causing offence, since you have now invalidated every single thing you have ever pontificated about that matter.
If you cut all ties with your past shortly before or after getting married, and move with your spouse to a new town where you have no contact with people from the past, you are free to easily change your whole identity or any part of it.
@Cerberus And furthermore quite obviously casuistic in the extreme. If you prefer spade-calling to fancy words because casuistry escapes you, then the normal word for such things in the vulgate is “bullshit”.
If you stay in the same milieu where you grew up, surrounded by countless people who knew you, in our patriarchal society, you will get constant shit for taking your wife's name. Just like you will if you decide to wear a dress to work. The patriarchy harms men too.
@Cerberus You’re mincing words like a lawyer, wiggling and squirming and picking and choosing. That’s casuistry. And that’s what you are doing. Everything you ever said about how idiotic people are for ever finding anything offensive has just been tossed out the window. You have foresworn yourself.
@tchrist I hate explaining things that you already know, but fine. Whether or not language is offensive depends on context. Of course what I said applied to what you said in context. If you tell someone that there is something wrong with him, that is clearly rude. There is really no other way to judge it in context. If you tell someone there is "something amiss" about him in another context, it may be fine.
Anyway I came into this room to mention a fun fact I learned today. Just as -gate is a productive suffix in English (Watergate, Climategate, Nipplegate, etc) so to is 门 (meaning gate or door) productive in Chinese.
@SȱɳɨȼƮħeǶḝÐɠḝħȱɠ No, it is not. I didn’t ask for his bloody street address. I SIMPLY ASKED HIM TO DO ME THE COURTESY OF TELLING US WHAT BLOODY COUNTRY HE LIVED IN!!
@Cerberus I know your first language, I know your country, and I even know what street you live on. Do you feel that I have used this knowledge to stalk you?
> However, whereas the "-gate" suffix of English is generally restricted to events having major political implications, the corresponding Chinese "-mén 门" suffix has been expanded to include all sorts of sensational events in which the public takes an intense interest.
Then skip ahead through a muddled aside that ought to be excised from the article, to
> A good example would be "Pōmò-mén 泼墨门" ("Splash Ink-Gate" — not Post Modernism-Gate!), which became notorious when a group of men dressed in black splashed ink on a large poster of the actress, Zhang Ziyi (of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" fame), that was displayed near her home (this was part of an even bigger scandal which is too complicated to go into here).
@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 I already hate it in English. I consider it a barbarism, a butchering of etymological lines that isn't funny. (If it were funny, it would be fine. But it isn't.)
He keeps insulting someone on purpose, like a 12-year-old, someone who hasn't said an unkind word to him at all. Is something amiss? Is he 10 years old?
@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Now, Mr Shiny, your tulips, which were planted in your own corner of the room, have expanded into Reg's corner. You have not repaired this injury. Plead your case.
@tchrist If you asked me a question, and I turned around and answered "Geez. Do you even speak English? I knew the answer to that when I was 12! Did you get an education in whatever place you grew up in?", you might feel offended.
English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…
English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…