English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

@Kitḫ The Freedom Trail.

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Mid-Atlantic states

{| class="infobox" border="1" cellpadding="4" style="width: 300px; border-collapse:collapse; font-size: 95%;" |- |+ style="font-size: larger;" | Mid-Atlantic Region |- | colspan="2" align="center" style="background: #fff;" | |- ! colspan=2 | Regional statistics |- |Composition | Delaware Maryland New Jersey New York Pennsylvania District of Columbia Virginia West Virginia |- style="vertical-align: bottom;" | Area - Total | 191,308.5 sq mi (495,486.74 km²) |- style="vertical-align: bottom;" | Population- Total- Density | 57,303,316 (2008 est.)299.53/sq mi (116/km²) |- |Largest c...

Hey @Matt, did you notice that I stopped thinking you were Californian once you changed your avatar? I just realized this.

@Kitḫ 1. OK that's good, we have that too. I live by the Old Church. 2. WTF!?

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We had to memorize the difference between New England and the Mid-Atlantic region in school.

6:09 PM

@Kitḫ We don't really learn american history in canadian schools; there's an elective history course in high school but I didn't take it.

@Cerberus In the South, this is how people get to know you. And there is a church on every street corner and some in between.

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At one point we learned other regions, too, but who cares about those other parts.

There is a funny joke about Southern churches...

I was the only one who went from Quincy Market to the Aquarium using two metropolitan lines.

Matt Эллен

@Kitḫ I wasn't aware when you were thinking I was Californian :) But I suppose my avatar doesn't look very Californian

6:10 PM

All I had to do was crossing a street.

@Kitḫ Churches and BBQs are two things I dislike, but I would never picture them together! Perhaps that's because the religious here are very traditional: that's different.

A guy is rescued from the island he has been stranded on for several years. As his rescuers are rowing him to their boat, he points out the house he built for himself, and the church he constructed so he could go to service on Sunday. The rescuers ask "What's that building down the way?" He replies "Oh, that's the church I used to go to."

@Cerberus BBQ is very common in the South. By which they mean "barbecued pork," mind you. Also, pig pickins are like the regular big party summer weekend thing.

(Talking of avatars, I wonder what mine would suggest, about the place where I live.)

@Kitḫ it's so true and it's both funny and sad at the same time.

The South and I just did not get along.

I can't believe I lived there as long as I did.

6:14 PM

@Kitḫ Haha, I see. So people often switch churches because they are unhappy about doctrine or feuds?

@Cerberus At the drop of a hat.

@Kitḫ That sounds awful.

@Cerberus Yep.

Big roasted whole pigs that people just pull chunks of meat—oh God, it makes me want to barf...

blaarrggg

@Kitḫ Funny. The religious Protestants here often spit off from their old sect and found a new, even-more-marginal sect to glower from.

@Kitḫ But why did you live there?

I hate barbecues, I hate most pork.

I like bacon, though...

Hmm...

But my fridge is loaded with good food already.

I like pulled pork sandwiches, though. I just don't want to be the one pulling it.

@Cerberus I was in school.

6:17 PM

Yeah, Kit, your description is making me hungry actually

School as in high school, or university?

University and grad school.

Oh.

Seven years in total, I think.

I feel very provincial, but I would never ever move to a region I didn't like.

Well, maybe for a few months if I had to.

6:19 PM

I just kind of happened that way.

And I didn't really notice how different it was until much later.

Hmm.

I suppose if your friends there are all from the same university...

Then you can avoid the locals.

University was just my senior year, so I didn't really know anyone.

Grad school were people from all over, and my advisor was from Connecticut, so practically a neighbor.

But then after I dumped my asshole ex-, I started dating the locals and mingling.

Then one day, when I was home visiting my parents, I suddenly realized that I was not myself when I was in the South.

I was passing for god-fearing proper straight girl.

With a tinge of redneck.

►

Ah yes. The local shop.

@Kitḫ Ouch.

That's not very local of you.

You should just stay in NE.

South, bad.

6:28 PM

It is a bit consterning that it took me so long to notice.

You just weren't in touch with your locality.

@Kitḫ Sometimes you need a change of perspective to see what's right in front of you.

Indeed.

I think it is probably for the best that I was not so self-possessed at the time.

Life would have been far more difficult if I had decided to fight those battles.

Does being self possessed mean that one has to be confrontational?

@Kitḫ what could you possibly have to fight with against the whole south? :)

6:33 PM

@Cerberus No. But it would have meant being who I am, which I'm sure Southerners couldn't take.

Godless heathen slut liberal Yank that I am.

Would have exploded their heads.

You forgot "liberal"

Fixed.

well, i'm glad we've all found a class of people we can feel superior to: southerners.

But ehm...aren't there some liberal southerners too?

I couldn't leave it as "Yankee," since we all know that Yankees suck.

@Cerberus No.

6:35 PM

It is the same here. All catholic pigs.

@Kitḫ That's probably the worst insult you could call a southerner, "liberal" :)

@JSBᾶngs I'm glad you feel that way too.

i don't feel superior to southerners. i feel superior to people who feel superior to southerners.

it's the circle of life

@JSBᾶngs I feel superior to people who feel superior.

@JSBᾶngs But can you understand them at all?

6:36 PM

@MrShinyandNew安宇 There was a campaign ad the first year I lived there. "John Edwards did blah, blah, blah. That's wrong. That's bad. That's liberal."

@Cerberus do you mean, because they have an accent?

@Cerberus do you mean linguistically or culturally?

@JSBᾶngs Ouch.

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Yes.

@Kitḫ wow, and I was exaggerating!

6:37 PM

@JSBᾶngs The former.

@Cerberus the accent isn't too bad but it can take a bit of practice, depends on how strongly they lay it on.

It's certainly no worse than a thick scottish or irish accent

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Depends on the area too.

Heh.

@Cerberus southern speech isn't that bad

@Kitḫ so did you say which part of the south you were in?

6:38 PM

Yeah I know.

But it's the same up here. Lots of people have a hard time understanding the locals.

@MrShinyandNew安宇 I didn't, but you probably could figure out it was NC, given the John Edwards reference.

So practically the North.

I watched a video of a solider in Iraq who was coming out of the closet to his parents on the phone. Their southern accents were barely comprehensible, but it was a cute scene.

@Kitḫ ah.. well, I didn't know where Edwards was from.

@Cerberus Really? That is very surprising.

@Kitḫ His dad was fine with it, but his mother started with Bible quotes. But she did tell him she still loved him, and things turned out well when he came back home later.

6:41 PM

@Cerberus link, so we can evaluate your listening comprehension? :p

@Cerberus Even more surprising.

@Cerberus and this is why I would never come out to my parents on the phone if it could be avoided.

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Hehe, sure. That video is a bit long, though, and the quality of the phone conversation is bad.

@MrShinyandNew安宇 A lot of times, that's the safest plan.

@Kitḫ I dunno. a phone call can go awry so fast.

6:42 PM

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Understandable; but he had already told his girlfriend and didn't want them to find out from someone else.

But I guess it depends on what I think might go wrong.

@Cerberus that complicates things, a bit. :)

My neighbor's kid came out to her when I lived there. She freaked, but then he came out to his dad (they were divorced) and he literally beat him out of the house.

Not exactly a safe situation.

@Kitḫ yeah.... that's a bad outcome. I suspect that a soldier shouldn't have to worry about that too much.... unless they're unwilling to stand up to their parents, I suppose.

I suppose.

sigh what a messed up world we still live in.

6:44 PM

Doesn't much matter how well trained they are, if their parents try to shoot them though.

@Kitḫ Yikes. How old was he?

This is dad.

@Cerberus 17.

This is mom.

@Cerberus Oh, he's cute.

@Kitḫ That's terrible. But at least he wasn't 12: he could, with pain and effort, take care of himself. I heard a story about a 12-y-o who was kicked out of the house and actually slept under bridges for a while.

6:46 PM

@Kitḫ true.

@Kitḫ three heads nod

His accent is pretty OK too.

@Cerberus how many generations will it take before this sort of thing is no longer a problem? sheesh

Only one or two more, at most, I think.

@Cerberus I just want to hug him; he's so nervous.

6:47 PM

OMG. He immediately switches on his accent when his dad picks up the phone.

@Kitḫ Yeah, his accent is fine. Dad's sounds pretty southern to me, mom's too.

@Kitḫ Hehe yeah. But things turned out well for him, so he'll be OK.

@Kitḫ Wait lemme hear that...

@Kitḫ Still not a very strong accent at all, I barely noticed it

@Cerberus It's not as thick as his dad's, but he ramps it up.

@Kitḫ I wonder to what degree military training helps eliminate accents

"Will you love me no matter what?" Aww. ((big hug to soldier boy))

I hope my kids will never have that doubt.

6:50 PM

@Kitḫ me too

He sounds like a good daddy.

Just surprised, and not sure what to do.

It would be tough to swallow, if I found out my son were gay

@Kitḫ Hmm yeah, I think I can hear it. But his accent is already a bit southern before that, isn't it?

@Kitḫ Yeah that was cute.

@Cerberus A little.

@N3buchadnezzar Yeah? What would you do?

6:53 PM

"It's going to be hard for you. I still love you and I will always love you. You are still my son. I'm proud of you." Good job, Daddy!

Accept it? There is not much else to do, its not my life nor decicion to make =)

I also love his "this isn't going to change our relationship". It sounds like a phrase from Oprah or something, but it's still sweet.

@N3buchadnezzar Yeah.

I got really mad a few days ago, when I watched a clip from Opera.

@N3buchadnezzar So what would be most problematic about it for you?

@Cerberus That my son had to hide it from me =)

6:56 PM

My husband and I make jokes about our son coming out as straight.

@N3buchadnezzar Oh. Well, he will probably hide anything related to sexuality from you anyway.

@Cerberus 21 minutes? Hmm.

@Cerberus um... really? anything?

@Kitḫ If such evil should befall you, I know a camp where you can send him to cure him.

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Maybe not anything: it depends on the child. But lots, for shoa.

@Cerberus Stay away from my children, filthy pervert!

6:57 PM

There was an interview with a straight man who played in gay movies, and got fired from his job at subway for his part time job. Although Opera just picked on him for staring in those movies, not caring about him getting fired at al.

Opera is a female dog!

Like, I don't tell my parents about my sex life, but on the other hand, I was pretty open about having a girlfriend. And if I were gay, I'd want to be able to be open about having a boyfriend.

@Kitḫ Yeah it's too long, and I can't understand half of what his mother is saying anything.

are we talking about Oprah, the talk-show host here?

or Opera the web browser?

Yeah... Oprah, the talk-show hostess

@Cerberus "I'm gay." "huh?" "I'm gay, Mom." "What?" "MOM, I'M GAY!" ... "oh."

6:58 PM

@Kitḫ What? You aren't...*shudder*...liberal about heterosexuality, are you? I say, let them burn!

@N3buchadnezzar Ohh I think I saw one of those guys on another show. Pretty hilarious.