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Warp wrote:
> Invisible <voi### [at] dev null> wrote:
>>> The longest English word found
>>> in the entire result set was the word "rare".
>
>> Ooohhhh the irony! ;-)
>
> I have sometimes noticed that people use the word "irony" in situations
> where it doesn't match the definition of the word. I think this is one
> such case.
Could that be because many of us are native English speakers and
therefore understand the subtleties of the Eng. Lang. more intuitively?
BTW Not meant offensively
John
--
I will be brief but not nearly so brief as Salvador Dali, who gave the
world's shortest speech. He said, "I will be so brief I am already
finished," then he sat down.
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On Thu, 05 Jun 2008 16:42:36 +0100, Doctor John <doc### [at] gmail com>
wrote:
>Warp wrote:
>> Invisible <voi### [at] dev null> wrote:
>>>> The longest English word found
>>>> in the entire result set was the word "rare".
>>
>>> Ooohhhh the irony! ;-)
>>
>> I have sometimes noticed that people use the word "irony" in situations
>> where it doesn't match the definition of the word. I think this is one
>> such case.
>Could that be because many of us are native English speakers and
>therefore understand the subtleties of the Eng. Lang. more intuitively?
>BTW Not meant offensively
>
Was that rionic? :p
--
Regards
Stephen
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On Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:23:47 +0100, Stephen <mcavoysAT@aolDOTcom>
wrote:
>
>Was that rionic? :p
I must learn to spell check before posting.
I must learn to spell check before posting.
I must learn to spell check before posting.
I must learn to spell check before posting.
I must learn to spell check before posting.
I must learn to spell check before posting.
I must learn to spell check before posting.
I must learn to spell check before posting.
I must learn to spell check before posting.
I must learn to spell check before posting.
I must learn to spell check before posting.
:)
--
Regards
Stephen
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Stephen wrote:
> On Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:23:47 +0100, Stephen <mcavoysAT@aolDOTcom>
> wrote:
>
>> Was that rionic? :p
Another Gentleman's measure, Stephen?
>
> I must learn to spell check before posting.
> I must learn to spell check before posting.
> I must learn to spell check before posting.
> I must learn to spell check before posting.
> I must learn to spell check before posting.
> I must learn to spell check before posting.
> I must learn to spell check before posting.
> I must learn to spell check before posting.
> I must learn to spell check before posting.
> I must learn to spell check before posting.
> I must learn to spell check before posting.
> …
>
> :)
Why? Most of us wouldn't even notice :-)
John
--
I will be brief but not nearly so brief as Salvador Dali, who gave the
world's shortest speech. He said, "I will be so brief I am already
finished," then he sat down.
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Doctor John <doc### [at] gmail com> wrote:
> Warp wrote:
> > Invisible <voi### [at] dev null> wrote:
> >>> The longest English word found
> >>> in the entire result set was the word "rare".
> >
> >> Ooohhhh the irony! ;-)
> >
> > I have sometimes noticed that people use the word "irony" in situations
> > where it doesn't match the definition of the word. I think this is one
> > such case.
> Could that be because many of us are native English speakers and
> therefore understand the subtleties of the Eng. Lang. more intuitively?
> BTW Not meant offensively
I'm not the only one who thinks that the word "irony" is misused.
For example, see entry number 3 here:
http://www.cracked.com/article_15664_9-words-that-dont-mean-what-you-think.html
A good example of irony is something like this: The boy who appeared in
the infamous "star wars kid" video got so upset by all the unflattering
media publicity, that his family pressed charges against the people who
posted the video on the internet. The irony is that the lawsuit attracted
even *more* media attention than the video itself.
The example in this thread is more akin to the bad example of "irony"
given at that webpage: "She always said she wanted to marry a dentist!
And then she married Bob, who is a dentist! Isn't that ironic?"
--
- Warp
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Warp wrote:
> Doctor John <doc### [at] gmail com> wrote:
>> Warp wrote:
>>> Invisible <voi### [at] dev null> wrote:
>>>>> The longest English word found
>>>>> in the entire result set was the word "rare".
>>>> Ooohhhh the irony! ;-)
>>> I have sometimes noticed that people use the word "irony" in situations
>>> where it doesn't match the definition of the word. I think this is one
>>> such case.
>> Could that be because many of us are native English speakers and
>> therefore understand the subtleties of the Eng. Lang. more intuitively?
>> BTW Not meant offensively
>
> I'm not the only one who thinks that the word "irony" is misused.
> For example, see entry number 3 here:
> http://www.cracked.com/article_15664_9-words-that-dont-mean-what-you-think.html
I've just reread Andrew's post and I think that it is perfectly possible
that he might have meant the remark 'Ooohhh the irony!' in an ironical
fashion :-)
John
--
I will be brief but not nearly so brief as Salvador Dali, who gave the
world's shortest speech. He said, "I will be so brief I am already
finished," then he sat down.
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On Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:38:28 +0100, Doctor John <doc### [at] gmail com>
wrote:
>Stephen wrote:
>> On Thu, 05 Jun 2008 17:23:47 +0100, Stephen <mcavoysAT@aolDOTcom>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Was that rionic? :p
>
>Another Gentleman's measure, Stephen?
Mock not ye the afflicted
>> I must learn to spell check before posting.
>>
>> :)
>Why? Most of us wouldn't even notice :-)
>
True but it might send some running to
http://dictionary.reference.com/
--
Regards
Stephen
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John VanSickle wrote:
[snip]
> Setting the match string to a longer length made it more likely that the
> random text would consists of lengthy passages from the source text.
>
> He then tried a different tack; instead of matching letters, he decided
> to match whole words. A word to follow the current word was randomly
> chosen from all of the words that follow the current word. This
> produced interesting results as well.
>
Sounds a lot like 'dissociated press' or perhaps that was what meant.
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From: John VanSickle
Subject: Re: Randomly-generated "Finnish" text
Date: 11 Jun 2008 07:31:47
Message: <484fb7a3@news.povray.org>
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Doctor John wrote:
> Warp wrote:
>> Invisible <voi### [at] dev null> wrote:
>>>> The longest English word found
>>>> in the entire result set was the word "rare".
>>> Ooohhhh the irony! ;-)
>> I have sometimes noticed that people use the word "irony" in situations
>> where it doesn't match the definition of the word. I think this is one
>> such case.
> Could that be because many of us are native English speakers and
> therefore understand the subtleties of the Eng. Lang. more intuitively?
> BTW Not meant offensively
What it more likely means is that native speakers, being exposed to more
usages of the word, are consequently more exposed to incorrect uses.
A foreign speaker is more likely to know only the dictionary definition.
Regards,
John
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>> Could that be because many of us are native English speakers and
>> therefore understand the subtleties of the Eng. Lang. more intuitively?
>> BTW Not meant offensively
>
> What it more likely means is that native speakers, being exposed to more
> usages of the word, are consequently more exposed to incorrect uses.
>
> A foreign speaker is more likely to know only the dictionary definition.
Define "correct" and we'll continue. ;-)
Seriously - do you have any idea how many "English" words are actually
misused or misheard words from other languages? The same probably goes
for most languages of the world - except those belonging to remote tribes.
So just who exactly defines what is the "correct" meaning of a word? And
if it isn't the native speakers of the language that word belongs to,
then who the hell is it??
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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