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Comic Discussion => QUESTIONABLE CONTENT => Topic started by: lunchmeat on 26 Aug 2010, 20:18

Title: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: lunchmeat on 26 Aug 2010, 20:18
Here I sit, at work, in front of my monitor, and my keyboard's soaked in tears.

Nah, but really...I know that Marten's probably just confused about Faye's earlier question in the last panel, but it really gives the impression that he's just realized what he's missed, or something. Like in a bad movie where the guy marries the girl, but then later realizes through a multitude of minutiae that she's not the right girl. I'd feel pretty bad for Marten if he wasn't a cartoon.

That's right, I discriminate against cartoons. *nods* Yeah.

Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Harun on 26 Aug 2010, 21:04
Jeph's newspost made me sadder. I don't know if he knew it or not when he wrote it, but apparently Nergal (Behemoth frontman) has leukemia?! I heard about it a day or two ago and it bummed me out. Awesome frontman, awesome live band, hope he recovers.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Surgoshan on 26 Aug 2010, 22:32
Everybody has relationship doubts.  It's about time they were Marten's instead of Dora's.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Tergon on 26 Aug 2010, 23:19
That's true.  Marten has been pretty freakishly sane about all the drama that goes on in the QC-niverse.  At most when shit goes down he reacts with mild surprise - we've almost NEVER seen him sad, and I think the closest we've ever come to seeing him get angry about something was when he decked that monk with a frying pan.  And even then he seemed more bitter than furious.

I mean, yes, I get that he's a kind, caring, non-confrontational guy.  I know people like that themselves.  But in his own way Marty has a shell that's just as impenetrable as Faye.  Where she's a smartass bitch, he's the understanding guidance councellor.  No anger, no resentment, just kind understanding and a hug when you need it, no matter how much shit other people seem to dump on him.

Mayhap in the coming arc we're going to see past that armour of his a bit.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: jwhouk on 27 Aug 2010, 06:41
It's pretty heavy armor, I'm betting.

I mean, you know what kind of crap you get when your mom's a professional (and well-known) dominatrix and your dad's gay?
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Is it cold in here? on 27 Aug 2010, 09:33
We know for a fact he was bullied.

Wonder if Marten will ever snap.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Wiregeek on 27 Aug 2010, 10:15
here's hoping Marten gives Dora her walkin' papers.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: BillyxRansom on 27 Aug 2010, 11:49
here's hoping Marten gives Dora her walkin' papers.
here's hoping Marten gives Dora her walkin' papers.
here's hoping Marten gives Dora her walkin' papers.
here's hoping Marten gives Dora her walkin' papers.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: raoullefere on 27 Aug 2010, 14:15
That's true.  Marten has been pretty freakishly sane about all the drama that goes on in the QC-niverse.  At most when shit goes down he reacts with mild surprise - we've almost NEVER seen him sad, and I think the closest we've ever come to seeing him get angry about something was when he decked that monk with a frying pan.  And even then he seemed more bitter than furious.
Not true. He got extremely angry with Dora over her reaction to the Faye-Sven hookup and was fairly put out with her 'testing' him over the Cosette thing.

I don't think there's much danger of Marten giving Dora any walking papers. I do think they've gotten past the 'first blush' of their relationship—wasn't that the basis for Dora moving in? —and are probably reshaping it a bit. The sigh is regret, naturally, but now that I've thought about it, I don't really think it has anything to do with Dora. I know, were I Marten, I'd be a tad jealous that Angus got to be the guy instead of me. I'd also be capable of not letting that have anything to do with my feelings for the wonderful woman sleeping beside me, apparently bereft of sleepwear. Although it would be nice if she woke up and showed me that…
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: jwhouk on 27 Aug 2010, 18:10
And I think the response would be, "Ever the pragmatist."
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: The Duke on 27 Aug 2010, 19:26
It made me sad too.

I think you're crazy if you think they'll break up over it, though.

Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Tergon on 29 Aug 2010, 00:50
Hmm, true, I had forgotten that we got a chance to see Marten get angry on a couple cases.  But even then, what'd we see?  A few snarky comments and an urge to go drinking with his friend, which was quickly resolved into "Yes, maybe I could have handled that better."

Dora spent several hundred comics being insecure about her new relationship with Marten.  Hannelore's been openly insane since her first appearance, bless her nutty little heart.  Faye's issues have been prevalent for nearly the entire course of the comic.  Steve got insecure and obsessive when he lost his lady-friend, Marigold broke out of her reclusive shell, hell, even Sven got to grow a personality and a conscience.  Marten's worst freakouts last no more than a half-dozen strips before he's back to his normal, understanding self... he just copes with things inhumanly well.  Seriously, there were jokes about Meena's roommate Dave being a serial killer because he's too nice, but really, Marten's only a half-step behind.

Honestly?  I'd actually *like* to see Marten get his boundaries pushed a little more comprehensively.  Not necessarily with Faye- or Dora-related relationship drama, but something that puts a crack in that shell of his.  God knows that with all the crazy shit going on in his life, he's got enough reason to finally snap, and I'd be very curious to find out what that looks like.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Carl-E on 29 Aug 2010, 12:07
I don't think there's a shell there to crack.  He's an 'everyman", and so is incredibly resiliant! 

And with his upbringing, I seriously doubt that there are buttons left to push.  He's incredibly well balanced, is all.  It's rare, but it happens! 
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Is it cold in here? on 29 Aug 2010, 14:38
The fact that he doesn't have the vitality to pursue his dreams is consistent with him being inhibited. Ditto his alleged tendency to overthink things.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: raoullefere on 29 Aug 2010, 18:23
Marten probably does have a 'button'—most everyone does. At the same time, Carl's right; his upbringing has smoothed the edges of all such touchpoints until it's very hard to find them. But we do know that Marten does have limits (you'd think the son of a dominatrix wouldn't be that shocked by witnessing Tai's piercing, but he was). He also clearly has a problem with anyone acting unreasonable beyond a certain point, probably because it's difficult to rationalize such behavior, which Marten tends to do.

Naturally, Marten is attracted to women who threaten that limit—both Dora and Faye tend to act irrationally on a regular basis, even though both also cover this with a patina of rationalization. Which is not to say either woman is a complete spas-brain; just that neither is quite as 'together' as she normally appears, either.

Is it Cold may be onto something. I do wonder if Dora decided to push Marten to follow his dream the same way she seems to have begun to do with Faye, we wouldn't see Marten's 'even-steven' facade crack.

Oh, and as far as Dave goes, there is a difference. MArten's simply a nice, even-tempered guy. Dave seemed to be (at least according to Meena, which makes the account a bit suspect) on track for living canonization. When you come right down to it, the only real difference between many saints and manifestations of evil such as serial killers is the channel they choose for their energies. The average person can't really live up to either standard.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Tergon on 01 Sep 2010, 00:06
AHA

A-FUCKING-HA

I PREDICTED SOMETHING THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED

I'M FUCKING SPARTACUS NOW, BITCHES
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Binary on 01 Sep 2010, 13:07
And is Spartacus enjoying it?
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: IanClark on 01 Sep 2010, 13:20
No, I'm Spartacus!
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Carl-E on 01 Sep 2010, 13:50
No, I'm Spartacus!
No, I'm Spartacus...
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: akronnick on 01 Sep 2010, 14:06
I'm Spartacus
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Kugai on 01 Sep 2010, 17:20
NO! I'm  Spartacus!!
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: LeGrande on 01 Sep 2010, 17:54
Damn it, I'M part a cuss!!  :laugh:
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: LeeC on 01 Sep 2010, 18:04
Everybody has relationship doubts.  It's about time they were Marten's instead of Dora's.
too true, My girlfriend always fears I will cheat on her for some reason despite the fact I've been single for 8 years. :|

I worry she doesnt really like me, despite the fact we have been together for 8 months and everything seems fine.

We all have our insecurities.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Watched Pot on 01 Sep 2010, 21:17
Not to get too personal, but were you single and celibate for 8 years? If not, maybe her fear is that you spent almost a decade engaging (with whatever frequency or infrequency) in casual relationships and you've grown accustomed to that. I'm not making any accusations, I know nothing specific about you, and I'm just some asshole on the internet, but her insecurity doesn't seem outrageous in the hypothetical sense.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Kugai on 01 Sep 2010, 22:45
Damn it, I'M part a cuss!!  :laugh:

Juth so you're not thum Woman Upsthart
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Tergon on 01 Sep 2010, 23:26
And is Spartacus enjoying it?

YES, SPARTACUS IS LOVING IT

ALL OF THOSE PEOPLE ABOVE ME ARE SPARTACUS

AND I AM HAVING ANGRY SEX WITH ALL OF THEM

AND THEY ARE LOVING IT
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: raoullefere on 01 Sep 2010, 23:37
I am most definitely not Spartacus. So go on and crucify one of those other fellows, please. I'll simply watch. From over there. Far, far over theeeeeeerrrreeeeeeee
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Tergon on 01 Sep 2010, 23:39
*flings the Useless Broom Made Entirely Out Of Dicks at raoullefere*
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Carl-E on 02 Sep 2010, 02:19
Is the handle made of dicks, too?  Or just the bristles?
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Binary on 02 Sep 2010, 02:30
I reckon so, otherwise it would be the Useless Broom Made Partially Out Of Dicks.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Dliessmgg on 02 Sep 2010, 03:06
But wouldn't a Useless Broom Made Entirely Out Of Dicks rather be a Useless Broom-shaped Whip Made Entirely Out Of Dicks?
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Tergon on 02 Sep 2010, 03:47
If you can't figure out how the handle of the Useless Broom Made Entirely Out Of Dicks manages to be other than floppy, then you're clearly too young and innocent to be on the internet.

If you have figured it out, then yes.  Yes, it is exactly as horrible as you're thinking.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Carl-E on 02 Sep 2010, 03:49
Well, time to get sweepin'!
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Tergon on 02 Sep 2010, 03:51
OH GOD I DON'T THINK THAT IS BLEACH

THIS IS SUCH A TERRIBLE BROOM
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Akima on 02 Sep 2010, 04:19
I am SO not touching the dickbroom.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: akronnick on 02 Sep 2010, 06:04
But is the dick-broom touching you?





Don't worry, it's useless, you see.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: raoullefere on 02 Sep 2010, 07:17
No, I don't see. And I don't want to, neither.

Which, to be true to dialect, is what Faye should've said in panel 2 instead of either: An' I bet you wouldn'a been wearin' pants, neither!

It's pathetic how much better I feel having posted that. *Sigh* <covers eyes with one hand> Pass me the freakin' broom.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Be My Head on 02 Sep 2010, 13:45
http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=740
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Akima on 02 Sep 2010, 13:59
Which, to be true to dialect, is what Faye should've said in panel 2 instead of either: An' I bet you wouldn'a been wearin' pants, neither!
Faye might have an accent, but I never got the impression she was a hick... :-D
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: raoullefere on 02 Sep 2010, 17:49
Ending a negative sentence with 'neither' isn't hickery in Southern—it's emphasis*, and I've yet to hear anyone who uses 'could'na' and so on who doesn't use terminal 'neither,' too, even if they never write that way. If Faye were a hick, and angry (I cannot emphasize this enough—fury makes this stuff more evident) there would have to be an 'ain't' in her speech somewhere, and possibly a 'goddam.' I do notice that in the last ten, twenty years 'goddam' has been replaced by 'fuckin' (no g, ever). Probably thanks to the goddam Yankees (with their goddam rappers, gangster movies, punks, and other goddam shit). But it can still crop up when we get really angry.

*A holdover—double negatives were perfectly acceptable in English grammar until some fancy-pants got hold of it in the eighteenth century or so.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: tomart on 02 Sep 2010, 19:44
Quite an erudite explanation, Raoullefere...  have you considered writing for urbandictionary?   :angel:   
No, really, to explain proper Southern speech to all them rappers, gangstas, & urbanites.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: jwhouk on 02 Sep 2010, 20:35
Naw, that'd be for the Southern Dictionary.

Which, I do declare, I have a copy of y'all's book downstairs in my library.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Tergon on 02 Sep 2010, 21:38
If it's any consolation, I'm an Aussie.  Do you know how painful it is to hear American actors doing their impression of an Aussie accent?  Or those ads for Outback Steakhouse?  Or being told that I barbeque shrimp, know what knives are, and fail to defend my progeny from dingoes?

So I feel your pain.

*shares the Useless Broom Made Entirely Out Of Dicks with raoullefere*
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Carl-E on 02 Sep 2010, 22:15
*shares the Useless Broom Made Entirely Out Of Dicks with raoullefere*

No need, I have an extra one for him. 

Here.  Please.  Take it. 
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: pwhodges on 02 Sep 2010, 22:51
Oh, you colonials and your funny ways of speaking!  I am here to represent the reference standard of Received Standard speech, imbued in me by my background of Oxford (where I was educated, and now work - in the university, that is) and the BBC (where I worked for a while); it helped that my mother was Head of English at a girls' public school (that's private to you; and she pronounced it 'gels').  In more deferential past times, tourists have been known to ask me to speak for the pleasure of hearing how it should be - there are a couple of clips of me reading aloud linked somewhere in the forum if you want to hear.  Or you could just call me a patronising snob, as my wife does.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: jwhouk on 02 Sep 2010, 23:13
Dear PWHodges,

Please re-read the last part of the second line, starting with "The Unanimous" (http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_zoom_2.html).

Sincerely,
J.Houk
Waukesha, Wisconsin, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

(grumble grumble grumble)
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Akima on 02 Sep 2010, 23:19
If it's any consolation, I'm an Aussie.  Do you know how painful it is to hear American actors doing their impression of an Aussie accent?  Or those ads for Outback Steakhouse?  Or being told that I barbeque shrimp, know what knives are, and fail to defend my progeny from dingoes?
Groan... Or running across people complaining about Jesse Spencer's "bad fake Aussie accent" as Dr. Chase in House M.D., because he doesn't sound like the bad impressions, Paul Hogan etc. Well, duh! He sounds like a well-educated Melbourne boy, because that's what he is! Why would you expect him to sound like a bogan?

Of course my least favourite response when I tell someone that I'm Australian is: "You don't look Australian." Never get this in Australia BTW, only overseas.




Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Tergon on 03 Sep 2010, 00:34
I grew up on a farm in Northern Victoria, and now I work tourism... so I tend to pepper the things I say with slang, because that's just how I talk.  And then the overseas people hear me and giggle because, "Oh, you sound like a real Ohh-see!"  I'm not sure what makes me grate my teeth more... the condescending giggling at the way I talk, the assumption that I'm putting it on for show, or the way that apparently nobody from outside Australia is aware that "Aussie" is pronounced "Ozzy".  As in Osbourne.

And yes, Jesse Spencer is a depressing example.  Not because there's anything wrong with his voice, but because the rest of the planet is so used to hideous mockeries of the Australian accent that when they hear an actual Australian accent they assume it must be fake.  Yet, tell one American that they sound exactly the same as Canadians (which they fucking DO), and watch the steam pour out their ears.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: raoullefere on 03 Sep 2010, 00:49
To you, maybe. My guess is those who sound really different can't afford to go to Australia for vacation (and quite a few wouldn't if they could, but that would take more explaining than I have time for) and usually wind up on the cutting pile in national news services on the theory 'no one's going to want to hear that.' Probably right, too.

<Stares at Useless Broom Made Entirely Out Of Dicks> I'll swonney, I got no idea what to do with this thing. I mean, you talk about suchlike, joke about it some, but then it happens. A man just ain't prepared.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: J on 03 Sep 2010, 00:50
oh please, next you guys will be claiming that you don't have mohawks and ride around in dune buggies and muscle cars, clad in black leather under the desert sun, killing other drivers for the guzzoline in their vehicles while you scavenge what's left from the bones of the old world.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Tergon on 03 Sep 2010, 01:31
We don't do that, actually.  Calling it "gasoline" is another Yank term.  We call it "petrol".  Or Diesel, if that's appropriate.  A car only runs on gas here if it actually runs on, y'know, GAS.  As in, petroleum vapour.

Everything else is totally accurate, though.  Say what you want about Aussies, but we make post-apocalyptic leatherwear look GOOD.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Akima on 03 Sep 2010, 03:23
We call it "petrol".  Or Diesel, if that's appropriate.  A car only runs on gas here if it actually runs on, y'know, GAS.  As in, petroleum vapour.
Technically, vehicles that run on "gas" (also known as "autogas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autogas)") run on LPG (Propane, Butane or some mixture of the two) or sometimes CNG (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compressed_natural_gas) (Compressed Natural Gas AKA Methane) mostly in buses. For some reason diesel fuel is sometimes known as "distillate" in Australia, especially in country areas. Which is peculiar, because all motor fuels are distillates. Yes, I did chemistry at high-school, why do you ask?

Quote
Everything else is totally accurate, though.  Say what you want about Aussies, but we make post-apocalyptic leatherwear look GOOD.
It's true! The original Mad Max movie is really a documentary...
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: akronnick on 03 Sep 2010, 03:43
Actually, all heat engines run on gas, it's the expansion...

What?

Why are you looking at me like that?

Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, goddammit! stop hitting me with the dick-broom!
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Tergon on 03 Sep 2010, 05:22
Technically, vehicles that run on "gas" (also known as "autogas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autogas)") run on LPG (Propane, Butane or some mixture of the two) or sometimes CNG (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compressed_natural_gas) (Compressed Natural Gas AKA Methane) mostly in buses. For some reason diesel fuel is sometimes known as "distillate" in Australia, especially in country areas. Which is peculiar, because all motor fuels are distillates. Yes, I did chemistry at high-school, why do you ask?


You are more brain-having than me.  I bow.

*bows*

Also:  It's right about now that akronnick should be grateful that the Useless Broom Made Entirely Out Of Dicks is only being used to bludgeon him from the exterior.
Yeah.  Think about that for a second.  It gets worse the longer you contemplate it.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Carl-E on 03 Sep 2010, 08:57
LALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALALA.....

Sorry, what?
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: raoullefere on 03 Sep 2010, 10:15
oh please, next you guys will be claiming that you don't have mohawks and ride around in dune buggies and muscle cars, clad in black leather under the desert sun, killing other drivers for the guzzoline in their vehicles while you scavenge what's left from the bones of the old world.
Don't be silly. Everybody knows not all Australians are like that. Some of the guys there running around under the desert sun use vans, not dune-buggies, and wear feather boas and heels (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109045/). Oh, and others like to ride their plucky horses down near-vertical hillsides (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084296/).

Now, if y'all 'scuse me, I got to go jump in my car, and I do mean jump, 'cause the doors're welded shut. It makes 'er a lil' safer when I'm running 'shine. See y'all. (http://showcase.netins.net/web/tash/dukes/horn.wav)
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: tomart on 03 Sep 2010, 17:39
 :-D

ok, no peeking:  what was the original topic of this thread? 

 :laugh:
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: raoullefere on 03 Sep 2010, 17:54
Don't tell me that last post of mine wasn't at least a little sad.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: akronnick on 03 Sep 2010, 18:02
:-D

ok, no peeking:  what was the original topic of this thread? 

 :laugh:

Dick-brooms?
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: jwhouk on 03 Sep 2010, 18:48
Okay, I cheated, but now 1739 looks even more like it was the lighting of the match to the fuse string.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: ink slinger on 03 Sep 2010, 23:39
...or the way that apparently nobody from outside Australia is aware that "Aussie" is pronounced "Ozzy".  As in Osbourne.
I have never heard anyone pronounce it any other way. And I'm from outside of Australia.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Tergon on 04 Sep 2010, 02:57
I have never heard anyone pronounce it any other way. And I'm from outside of Australia.

Tell me where you are from, so that I can send presents to everyone from this place.  Seriously, that amazes me.  Like I said, I work in tourism, and I get people from all over the world coming to visit, and "Ohh-see" is a very common (mis)pronunciation.  To say nothing of how much you hear it on TV.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Carl-E on 04 Sep 2010, 04:40
Well, for me it helps that the only person I know who uses the term is from just outside Sydney  :-D
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Akima on 04 Sep 2010, 08:15
"Ohh-see" is a very common (mis)pronunciation.  To say nothing of how much you hear it on TV.
So true, especially from sports-casters...

Oh, and while we're on the subject of common blunders, the capital of China is not Beige-ing! In Standard Mandarin, it is Bay-jing. Bay as in Baywatch, and Jing as in Jingle-Bells. Simple, yes? No fancy-schmancy French-style "J" sounds in Chinese!
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Carl-E on 04 Sep 2010, 08:57
Better than "Peking". 

I always wondered if the "old" western versions of Chinese place-names came from some other dialect than Cantonese, or just a general careless mangling by the British. 

Probably some of both...
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: ndperfesser on 04 Sep 2010, 10:46
single and celibate

(vocabulary nerd alert)
This is one of my pet peeves. Celibate means not married. Chaste means no sex. That's why Catholic priests can remain in the clergy even if they are rapists but are bounced out if they decide to marry.

You may go back to your regularly scheduled forum thread.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Carl-E on 04 Sep 2010, 11:12
You're oversimplifying. 

The root of the word celibate is caelibs, Latin for "unmarried", and that is certainly one of the remaining meanings.  However, by implication (by the church, in fact) of "no sex outside marriage", celibacy took on the meaning "going without sex (as a decision, not just 'cause you can't get any)". 

And the vow of a (catholic) priest is poverty, chastitiy and obedience, not celibacy.  Of course, the assumption is that you can't keep chaste if you're married, so the one follows from the other. 

But really, aside from the assumptions that celibacy is a decision and chastitiy stems from a lack of opportunity/desire, the words are really pretty much interchangeable. 

[/wordnerd]
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: raoullefere on 04 Sep 2010, 16:15
"Ohh-see" is a very common (mis)pronunciation.  To say nothing of how much you hear it on TV.
So true, especially from sports-casters...

Oh, and while we're on the subject of common blunders, the capital of China is not Beige-ing! In Standard Mandarin, it is Bay-jing. Bay as in Baywatch, and Jing as in Jingle-Bells. Simple, yes? No fancy-schmancy French-style "J" sounds in Chinese!
I liked 'Peking' better. Bay-jing duck just doesn't have that same je ne sais quoi.  :-D (I know they've not changed that—yet.) Anyway, if I had a dime for every time I heard some yankee passing through talk about going to Bil-ox-i, I'd be a couple hundred bucks richer. It's Bil-ux-i. No oxen allowed. You can, I suppose, bring all the uxen you wish. (The casinos and Katrina, btw, seem to have managed to correct this. Maybe Bay-jing needs a Harrahs and to have the living shit beaten out of it by a gigantic cat 5 hurricane.)
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: jwhouk on 04 Sep 2010, 18:32
...So, how 'bout does Packers, dere hey? Oh, fer Criminy cripes sake, Rogers is da best quarterback of dem all, aina? Hey, start wit' me last with those cheese curds, dere; I'm still finishin' up the last of my fish fries.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Watched Pot on 04 Sep 2010, 18:41
single and celibate

(vocabulary nerd alert)
This is one of my pet peeves. Celibate means not married. Chaste means no sex. That's why Catholic priests can remain in the clergy even if they are rapists but are bounced out if they decide to marry.

You may go back to your regularly scheduled forum thread.
Carl-E has already defended my honor. Every dictionary I've checked (and I have a few ooooold dictionaries) lists "unmarried" and "not engaging in sexual activity" as two separate but equally acceptable definitions of celibate. If it makes you feel better, though, I'll only use celibate in reference to marriage from now on.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Akima on 04 Sep 2010, 21:46
Better than "Peking". I always wondered if the "old" western versions of Chinese place-names came from some other dialect than Cantonese, or just a general careless mangling by the British. Probably some of both...
There are few avenues for misunderstanding that Chinese people and "Westerners" have left unexplored. Just to scratch the surface, there are:

Romanization problems. Imperfect and changing systems for writing down Chinese in the Roman alphabet. This is how Chou En-lai changed to Zhou Enlai, and Mao Tse-Tung became Mao Zedong. The habitual omission of tone-marks from English-language texts makes correct pronunciation, and therefore meaning, a matter of guesswork. Untutored readers will inevitably pronounce the letters of the romanization in the manner habitual in their own language, producing ear-bleeding solecisms like pronouncing Cáo Cāo (one of the central characters of The Romance Of The Three Kingdoms, and many anime, comics, video-games etc.) as "Cow Cow" (it is "Tsao Tsao"). For English-speakers, correct reading of the old Wade-Giles romanization, or modern Pinyin, requires study. Only the Yale romanization (developed for the US Army) was created with the specific intent of making it relatively easy for native English-speakers to approximate correct Chinese pronunciation, and in many ways it's a pity it went out of style.

Geographic confusion problems. Applying the wrong name to places because the European asking "What is this place?" and the Chinese person answering didn't really understand each other. For example the city now known as Guangzhou (pron: Guang-jo) was called Canton based on the local pronunciation of the name of the province, Guangdong, in which the city is located.

Indirect adoption problems. Some English names for Chinese things are adopted from languages other than Chinese ones. One example is the word "China" itself, which comes from Sanskrit via Persian and Italian. Another is "Mandarin", a Sanskrit word adopted via Malay and Portuguese, meaning something like "counsellor" or "minister". Mandarin Chinese is so called in English, because it was the language spoken by officials, as opposed to the many other regional languages.

"Dialect" problems. The "official" language of China has been based on the North Chinese "Mandarin" family of languages for hundreds of years, but Europeans often entered China from Southern coastal regions where other languages like Cantonese, Hakka, Hokkien etc. were, and still are, spoken. Even where the words are the same, and quite often they are not, the pronunciation can be very different.

Language change problems. Like any other languages, Chinese ones have changed over time. The first European scholars to study Chinese language seriously were Jesuit missionaries in the 16th century, and they created the first Romanization systems. We still use many of the names they invented, such as Confucius (Kǒng Fūzǐ), but in some cases Chinese has changed since their time, leaving their romanizations behind like fossils.

The case of Peking is a combination of the last two. The word Peking originated with French Jesuit missionaries and is based on an old pronunciation that altered in a subsequent sound change in Mandarin. The pronunciation "Peking" is also close to that used by speakers of the Fujian (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fujian) "dialect" around the port city of Xiamen, through which much of China's early contact with European traders, missionaries took place. "Beijing" is closer to the Northern Chinese pronunciation, and is now of course the officially correct one. Bear in mind however that "B" is less "explosive" in Mandarin than English, and can sound quite close to "P" to the untutored ear.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: akronnick on 04 Sep 2010, 22:01
Now that that's cleared up, any insights on Bombay/Mumbai, Burma/Myanmar, Ceylon/Sri Lanka or New Orleans/Nawlins?
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Tergon on 04 Sep 2010, 23:38
Hell, very few non-English-speaking countries will have their maps match up exactly to the maps of English-speaking countries.  Sometimes it's as small as a town or a river... sometimes it's an island in an archepelago... sometimes it's the name of the freaking country.  I think the solution is pretty straightforward:  the English-speaking fellows who wrote the maps were kind of arseholes.

None of which explains why people think I would barbeque shrimp.  That one just bewilders me.  Mispronouncing or misunderstanding something I would say is one thing, but making completely inventing a phrase that makes no sense and claiming it's a stereotype of the country?
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: Akima on 05 Sep 2010, 00:16
None of which explains why people think I would barbeque shrimp.  That one just bewilders me.  Mispronouncing or misunderstanding something I would say is one thing, but making completely inventing a phrase that makes no sense and claiming it's a stereotype of the country?
Yeah, but we can't blame foreigners for it. The whole "shrimp on the barbie" thing dates back to Paul Hogan's appearance in Australian Tourist Commission TV ads (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn_CPrCS8gs) in 1984.

I've always assumed that the use of "shrimp", when Aussies normally refer to the sort of crustacean that Hogan the Bogan is placing on the barbie as a "prawn", was intended to make the whole thing more accessible to USAnians.
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: raoullefere on 05 Sep 2010, 00:18
Ahah! It has to do with advertising, just as I suspected before I was ninja'd. Which means, of course, there's no reason for it, no sense in it, and no reality behind it. I sometimes think Shakespeare's suggestion 'The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers' needs to be updated. Douglas Adams had it right—the first asses against the wall when the revolution comes need to be anyone and everyone involved in advertising. They're our Golgafrinchan Ark Fleet Ship B, although I tend to doubt anyone with die without their services.

Except, maybe, the internets, o' course.  :-D
Title: Re: I found today's comic (#1739) quite sad
Post by: sitnspin on 06 Sep 2010, 13:50
I've never heard anyone pronounce it Ooh-see.  I've always heard it pronounced Ah-see.