Posts by Mark Harris
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Pretty much.
However, I know a few people who will get pretty shirty if you consistently get their name wrong but tell them it doesn't matter because everyone knew what you meant.
With Te Reo, the macron indicates pronunciation (in non-macron capable systems, you might see a double vowel used instead) and the presence or absence of a macron may change the meaning of a word or proper name.
It's not pedantry to respect how a language is transcribed. The path you describe leads to ignorance and disrespect of any culture or language.
What holds up papers in government and academia is less a matter of typography as it is a function of "consultation" and peer review of content.
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I read out a telegram from Tharg at my brother's (first) wedding. The bride's family thought I'd lost my mind (not saying they were wrong) but my brother, who'd turned me on to 2000AD got the joke.
Borag Thungg, Earthlets!
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Booty party, report to Geoff's place for random pillaging!
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Does it really matter?
Well, BanWolson, I think it does for one.
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And why not, when to come down to it, open a meeting by asking the participants to observe a two minute silence and contemplate the common work ahead in whatever manner floats their respective boats.
I think this pretty much encapsulates where I'm coming from.
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LOL Craig
Although I think a slideshow of LOLCats in Te Reo might have something to recommend it...
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Me also, Stephen.
I take Mikaere's point about the christianisation being a post-colonial thing but I'd object just as much to pre-colonial Maori religious ideas as well, I think. Not to them having them but to me being required to accept them.
As you say, on a marae I'd have no issue. Same as if I attended a wedding in a church. It's my choice to make to put myself in those situations, and I'm happy to accept whatever ritual applies. A powhiri in a workplace to welcome new staff has its place and can be a positive thing, but I will not sing hymns in English or Maori. Likewise I object to making the women stand at the back. If it's a worplace, then the workplace gets to set the tikanga, not the manuhiri. Paying lip-service to a wrong thing merely encourages it to continue.
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@Steve
Spot on. -
The fact that most karakia are Christian is an artefact of colonisation, and there's no reason for a karakia to invoke a deity at all - in terms of it's purpose within the context of a hui.
I take your point, but most do involve some form of religious interaction and I object to this mightily.
Hmm, which aspect of "we welcome you visitors to our place" or "thanks for welcoming us" do you find culturally inappropriate ?
The bits that call on "te Atua" to bless the hui/meeting/powhiri/whatever. I'd find it just as offensive if it was in English, by the way. I even object to the prayer at the opening of the parliamentary session. I do not object to the use of Te Reo, and use it myself (if haltingly), just all the quasi-religious stuff that gets put around it.
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Or warehouses, even shops (though not where the customers can hear). The only reason I think it got any coverage was the liberal use of the F-bomb, but any one who's worked in theatre and film will acknowledge that effing and blinding is pretty much the lingua franca of those industries.