Hard News by Russell Brown

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Hard News: The Short and Long of It

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  • Jackie Clark,

    You see, Sacha? You just turned this into a love fest. I like lovefests. The more sardonic amongst us may be appallled.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report

  • Kong,

    @James Green

    US spelling ain't perfect. But it's closer to it.

    Since Jul 2009 • 89 posts Report

  • 3410,

    thumbs up/down

    I'd like to take this opportunity to reiterate my very strong support for motherhood and apple pie.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Islander,

    US spelling is anaethema to this person- it's erratic, and excludes the innate linguistic history of some words. And, a rather large lercentage of English users/writers - dont use it-

    sorry Kong -aint persuaded (& yep, deliberate usage there-)

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report

  • Emma Hart,

    I agree it's against the ethos of the site. You like somebody's comment, you can always point it out through them whatchamacallem, words.

    F'n'ay.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report

  • 3410,

    ... and excludes the innate linguistic history of some words

    Yes! It's not about how words look, but how they work.

    Auckland • Since Jan 2007 • 2618 posts Report

  • Joe Wylie,

    How about the kind of emoticons - for when we feel especially delighted or saddened - that some other sites (I am thinking of AVEN)
    have?

    I'd award you three exquisitely-rendered teeny little kumera for that suggestion. Jackie, of course, would always have a sackful for unfailing niceness.

    Just to balance things a bit, how about the ability to digitally place a lamington on someone's head.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report

  • Islander,

    Oooo Joe!
    The lamington could convey - quite a lot (according to cultural heritage & sensitivities!)

    Anyone got a copy of that card showing a herd of full-blown lammingtons rushing over a cliff?

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report

  • Joe Wylie,

    Anyone got a copy of that card showing a herd of full-blown lammingtons rushing over a cliff?

    Ian Dalziel's the man for such things. The artist is Ashley Smith.

    flat earth • Since Jan 2007 • 4593 posts Report

  • Hilary Stace,

    Islander - I thought of you when I heard the word 'autochthonous' this week - spoken by an MP no less, that learned new Green MP Kennedy Graham.

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report

  • Sacha,

    I welcome our new kumara overlords.

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report

  • Islander,

    Hilary - 'autochothon' was the first 'big word' I learned from reading science fiction (ur, in 1958...)
    There's a lovely post in "Reading the Maps" (blog site...one day, soon as I win Lotto, I will hire me a Mac geek who will teach me to embed such a site in a post...) about autochthony in ANZ-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report

  • Hilary Stace,

    IIslander -Thanks for the reference to that site. I couldn't find the autochthony bit but what a lovely blogsite. Has links to my favourite History Workshop Journal and also I noted Giovanni's Bat Bean Beam with a beautiful recent post on his father.

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report

  • Islander,

    Hilary - 24th January 2009 for "The Dance of the Autochons"...

    I am about to try friendly advice about how to embed site refs-

    that blog-post of Mr Tiso's re his father is *wonderful*. Wish I'd had a father about whom I could write so well and lovingly-

    (my father died when I was 11- I still can only see him with a child's eyes & fears. He was highly socially esteemed, much loved by his 6 (!) older sisters, and not loved by me.)

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report

  • Kong,

    US spelling is anaethema to this person- it's erratic, and excludes the innate linguistic history of some words. And, a rather large lercentage of English users/writers - dont use it-

    sorry Kong -aint persuaded (& yep, deliberate usage there-)

    You're jerking my chain, right? The lercentage (I know this is not a Maori word) of misspelled words in your posts is anaethema (OK, I guess this one is like a play on 'anaesthetic', right?) to this person, it dont (does that rhyme with font?) respect the innate linguistic history of any language I've heard of and it aint punctuated period

    But it's got it's own style. Kind of Kiwi dyslexic stream of consciousness... A spell checker would cramp it severely, I can see that.

    I'm not seriously advocating US spelling, btw. I just don't particularly like EN_GB.

    Since Jul 2009 • 89 posts Report

  • Islander,

    I speak & write dialectual Kiwi English - among other forms of English.
    I've learned, over the years, apostrophes are a moveable feast.
    Re the rest of your -not quite coherent- post - WTF?

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report

  • Hilary Stace,

    Dance of the autochthons
    reminds me of another of my favourite words - numinous.
    My mother left a lovely piece of writing to be read at her funeral on the theme of numinosity.

    Islander - hearing about your father makes me appreciate both my parents (both dead now) even more.

    Strange how we seem to talk about our parents quite a lot on PAS. And I thought mine were quite irrelevant when I was growing up.

    Wgtn • Since Jun 2008 • 3229 posts Report

  • Jeremy Andrew,

    __Isn't she is the adult film actress who entered Italian politics?__

    Don't make me get out the Italian stereotype bingo card, 'kay?

    Noted. I'll refrain from mentioning the Italian politician who entered... etc.

    Hamiltron - City of the F… • Since Nov 2006 • 900 posts Report

  • Jackie Clark,

    Re the rest of your -not quite coherent- post - WTF?

    Literary giant and concise, to boot. Heart you, Islander.

    Mt Eden, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 3136 posts Report

  • Don Christie,

    You think Lance gave it bad to you?

    Just thank your stars you're not NBR:

    http://lancewiggs.com/2009/07/24/nbr-continues-their-descent-into-madness/

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1645 posts Report

  • Islander,

    Hilary - re parents et al: by the time I got to 45 - and realised I was still alive (hey! I'm slow!) and 3 years older then than my father ever got to be - I became *VERY* interested in all kinds of whakapapa...

    I mean, I'd researched the English side when I was 16 (there was a big family reunion then, and I drew very nice armorial bearings for it as well as the genealogy, carefully pointing out that no-one on that side of the family could bear them, they having become extinct on the male side in the 18th century)-

    which is why I became -lovingly obsessed by what was - who & what & when...

    I'm the family archivist: I have my grand-dad's love letters to my Nanna (my mother wont read them.) And photos (of photos) from the early 1850s...which was when I learned my right eye squint comes through the generations...

    I do think it is an age thing- and a good thing. We are mortals: keep the flame going-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report

  • Phil Lyth,

    the thump-up

    So we're getting back to the referendum debate?

    Thank goodness that these days Russ and David are only posting twice a week, it means the comments can really explore interesting stuff . . .

    Wellington • Since Apr 2009 • 458 posts Report

  • Kong,

    Islander, you invent your own language. Nothing wrong with that. It's just easy to take the piss out of, in answer to WTF. Personally, I like your style, it shows strong character.

    Since Jul 2009 • 89 posts Report

  • Islander,

    Kong, I ride on the shoulders of giants and numberless unknown experimenters with the most inclusive (not to mention devouring) language we humans have yet invented-*

    if I could only include actual colour & smells!

    And hey, take the piss by all means - I maybe (given the nature of english) misconstrued you-

    *please note I dont say 'best' or 'most worthy' or anything like that: I also relish what is my second tongue, te reo-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report

  • James Green,

    @Kong. Not seriously advocating EN_GB. However, from memory, the solution to installing your own dictionary was complicated, and for most here EN_GB better than EN_US

    Think of it how you will, but leveling and others make my skin crawl. Standardisation and simplification is poison to English. It's its own evolving bastard hybrid, and no sooner would current English spelling have been standardised than it would go steal some more words from elsewhere and you'd have to start over.

    Limerick, Ireland • Since Nov 2006 • 703 posts Report

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