LoveUniHateExams

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Posts by LoveUniHateExams

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  180

  Languages, Dialects, Accents

  by LoveUniHateExams in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just though i'd start a thread devoted to languages, dialects/sociolects and accents, with the idea being that posters can comment on any language, or dialect or accent of any language, on this thread.. any phrases, expressions or idioms that you find interesting are also welcome.

  first, the subject of english accents came up on another thread.. the british isles have many different types of accent (although many of the dialects may be dying out), and if i start to take a closer look, i can't help but see 'patterns' .... in received pronunciation of standard english, the letter r is pronounced initially, between vowels, and after consonants, e.g.

  red, arrow, break.

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  LoveUniHateExams

  @Phizzy - It depends where in Ireland and Scotland you visit. All Scottish Gaelic (Gaidhlig) speakers are bilingual in English.

  Most Irish Gaelic (Gaeilge) speakers also speak English. There might be one or two elderly Gaelic speakers in Ireland who don't speak English, I'm not sure.

  The areas of Scotland with high concentrations of speakers are the Outer Hebrides, particularly Lewis.

  I'm not sure about which areas of Ireland have high concentrations of speakers, although probably areas in the west of the country would be a good bet.

  Most, if not all, speakers are fluent in English but it would be good to learn a few phrases - even just 'please' and 'thank you' - if you go to a Gaelic-speaking area.
  
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  39

  Only One Destiny for All Christians

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the following is an extract from an article i wrote when i left the watchtower 25 years ago.

  it may be helpful in reasoning with a jw about the anointed/great crowd distinction.. --------------------------------.

  to divide people into those with a heavenly hope and those with an earthly one is not a biblical concept.

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  LoveUniHateExams

  To the best of my knowledge, what is born of spirit is Spirit. Never humans - Jesus was a first century human being who allegedly went to heaven. You're gonna have to do better than that, fella.

  how do you now explain Revelation 21:3,4 that says " Humans " of flesh and blood will dwell forever without dying ? - this doesn't explicitly state that humans will live forever on planet earth. If you maintain otherwise, it is up to you to show us your working out.

  I'm not going to do your research for you.
  
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  180

  Languages, Dialects, Accents

  by LoveUniHateExams in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  just though i'd start a thread devoted to languages, dialects/sociolects and accents, with the idea being that posters can comment on any language, or dialect or accent of any language, on this thread.. any phrases, expressions or idioms that you find interesting are also welcome.

  first, the subject of english accents came up on another thread.. the british isles have many different types of accent (although many of the dialects may be dying out), and if i start to take a closer look, i can't help but see 'patterns' .... in received pronunciation of standard english, the letter r is pronounced initially, between vowels, and after consonants, e.g.

  red, arrow, break.

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  LoveUniHateExams

  So, I'd like to discuss Gaelic further.

  First, the Gaelic numbers and counting system. I mentioned the peculiarities of Arabic numbers previously. Gaelic, too, is bat-shit crazy, although in different ways. Strap yourselves in, ladies and gentlemen, because this is gonna be a fun ride, if nothing else ...

  Gaelic numerals: 1 - 10

  one - aon

  two - dà

  three - trì

  four - ceithir

  five - còig

  six - sia

  seven - seachd

  eight - ochd

  nine - naoi

  ten - deich

  ^^^ No worries here.

  Here are the numerals 11 - 20 ...

  eleven - aon deug

  twelve - dà dheug

  thirteen - trì deug

  fourteen - ceithir deug

  fifteen - còig deug

  sixteen - sia deug

  seventeen - seachd deug

  eighteen - ochd deug

  nineteen - naoi deug

  twenty - fichead

  ^^^ No worries here also. Deug is clearly a modification of deich. A parallel is found in English ten and -teen.

  After twenty, things are still reasonably ok, from an English-speaking point of view. Twenty-one is aon air fhichead ('one on twenty'), etc., all the way up to 29.

  And now is where things start going a bit crazy. Because the Gaelic counting system isn't decimal (based on tens). Oh no, it's vigesimal (based on twenties).

  So, thirty is deich air fhichead ('ten on twenty'). Thirty-one is aon deug air fhichead ('eleven on twenty'). Thirty-nine is naoi deug air fhichead ('nineteen on twenty'). Forty is dà fhichead ('two twenties'). Forty-three is dà fhichead 's a trì ('two twenties and three').

  Fifty is leth-cheud ('half-hundred'). Sixty is trì fichead ('three twenties'). Seventy is trì fichead 's a deich ('three twenties and ten'). Seventy-one is trì fichead 's a aon deug ('three twenties and eleven'). Eighty is ceithir fichead ('four twenties'). Ninety is ceithir fichead 's a deich ('four twenties and ten'). You get the picture.

  A hundred is ceud and a thousand is mile.
  

  It's at this point that my mind starts to wonder. It starts to wonder if children living in Gaelic-speaking communities and going to Gaelic-speaking schools underperform at mathematics. A decimal system has been introduced but is not in common use among Gaelic speakers. All Gaelic speakers are bilingual in English. Wouldn't it be easier to teach mathematics in English rather than in Gaelic? That would make sense to me ...
  
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  14

  The Simpson's APU is now NOT politically correct...

  by The Fall Guy in

  1. social
  2. current

  ...so he's being cut from the the programme.

  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-51158261.

  the world is going bonkers!

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  LoveUniHateExams

  Hank Azaria is a white Jew making mockery of Indian people in brown face

  ^^^ sigh ...

  Ok, a couple of things: first, it could be argued that Hank Azaria isn't white because he's a dark-complexioned Jew.

  Second, Apu isn't making mockery of Indian people, he's just a joke. As are all Simpsons characters - Fat Tony is a joke but that character isn't mocking all Italians or Italian-Americans, etc.

  Third, Hank doesn't do brown face at all. He just voices a character ... a fictional character.
  
  
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  39

  Only One Destiny for All Christians

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the following is an extract from an article i wrote when i left the watchtower 25 years ago.

  it may be helpful in reasoning with a jw about the anointed/great crowd distinction.. --------------------------------.

  to divide people into those with a heavenly hope and those with an earthly one is not a biblical concept.

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  LoveUniHateExams

  I’ve always thought the JW argument for two destinies is a pretty good one - maybe, but I think a pretty good argument could be made against, too.

  Jews (nation of Israel) were chosen, according to the NT & OT. They were God's property. Strict punishments were enforced for disobedience, e.g. stoning for gays who had a sexual relationship and even for children who cursed/mocked their parents. The mainstream Christian argument goes that this was necessary to make the Jews see the need for the Messiah. Fleshly Israel lived on earth; spiritual Israel lived in peoples' hearts and their hope was also spiritual (heavenly).

  It's fascinating that Jesus never said explicitly that the 'other sheep' had an earthly hope. <---- this is correct, right?

  Neither did any of the early Christians say this - not Paul, nor John, etc.
  
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  16

  Were the JWs ever anywhere near a bona fide religion?

  by punkofnice in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  the religion/corporation has changed constantly since the start.

  they appear more whacko than ever.. but, were the jws ever anywhere near a bona fide religion at any time?.

  disclaimer: i think all religions are a scam.

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  LoveUniHateExams

  I think it depends on when you think the JWs started.

  If you believe JWs started from Rutherford, then I'd say no, JWs were never a bona fide religion.

  If you believe that Russell and his associates were JWs, then I'd argue that Russell and the Bible Students were a normal religion.
  
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  22

  Jordan Peterson - Messiah or Poseur?

  by cofty in

  1. social
  2. current

  a jp video came up on my youtube feed last week - he was on a panel in front of a huge audience and some poor disturbed guy ran on stage and started crying and wailing to peterson that he needed his help.

  it was agonising to watch.. what was even more disturbing was the comments section.

  i do not exaggerate when i say that dozens of people were extolling peterson's wisdom as if jesus had come again.

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  LoveUniHateExams

  I think he is the leader (perhaps by accident) of a personality cult - yeah, quite possibly.

  I came to know Peterson only because of the Cathy Newman interview, which then led me to learn about his refusing to go along with Canada's proposed compelled speech Bill. Before the Newman interview, he wasn't on my radar.

  Both of these, the interview and his refusal to accept compelled speech, made me see Peterson in a good light - here he was, talking sense whilst being hounded by deranged Leftists.

  I haven't seen many of his lectures - although I did watch one of his public tours, a debate vs Sam Harris, moderated by Douglas Murray.

  Murray did an excellent job moderating, I thought. The actual debate between Peterson and Harris was interesting. I kinda agree with you that Peterson often takes forever to say very little. His response to Sam's question 'do you believe in God?' was ridiculous.

  Is he a poseur? - yeah, probably.

  Does he like the sound of his own voice? - I couldn't say for sure.

  Is he a Messiah? - obviously not, although some people may be inclined to see him that way. I think this says more about the state of Western culture in general than it does about a few sad men.

  We're at a point in our culture where someone like Peterson can make a career out of telling men to feel good about themselves, telling them to clean up their bedroom, etc. That's rather sad, I must say.
  
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  14

  Movie Review 1917

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  movie review"1917".

  i so seldom seek to sit inside an actual movie theater anymore.however ...some films are absolutely tailored for it.life of pigravityavatar3 examples of movies which do not translate to your home viewing...at all.good, bad, or indifferent - some films are visual and immersive.. here is a sacred pronouncement:movies are a visual medium.in the hands of an orson welles (i.e.

  citizen kane) they are a radio play+visual storytelling medium._____.

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  LoveUniHateExams

  Yeah, I've heard that lots of people like 1917. It seems like a very good film.

  TBH, I don't go to the cinema because I'm kinda poor and war films aren't really my thing so I'm not exactly champing at the bit, waiting for the DVD release.

  (My favourite genre is horror - I'm eagerly waiting for the DVD release of The Lighthouse.)
  
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  28

  I am now 73 and the road has been filled with wonders

  by Terry in

  1. jw
  2. friends

  i appreciate all my friends who stop to read what i write and post.

  you help me more than you know simply by being there as a sense of 'family of friends' for me to talk to and 'share' thoughts with.i guess if i didn't have stories left to tell or people to listen, i could pack it in and join elon musk in a colony on mars.january 15, 2020. .

  which world is this?_________________when the doctor pulled my screaming body out of mom all those 7 decades ago, i landed in a post-wwii world.it was--compared to today's world--an alien planet.the world i live in today has nothing in common with the world in which i grew up.there were no cell phones back then--there were black telephones with a dial-tone and an operator who placed your call.everywhere you found telephone booths!

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  LoveUniHateExams

  Happy birthday, Terry!
  
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  29

  Greta

  by road to nowhere in

  1. social
  2. current

  the daily wire.

  facebook glitch reveals father, activist behind greta thunberg's facebook .... i'm not good at getting links right.

  but this is interesting in light of greta supposedly doing things on her own according to dear old dad.

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  LoveUniHateExams

  Greta is 16 years old. And 16 year olds know nothing, generally speaking.

  Forget, for a moment, that she is on the autism spectrum.

  It's good that she takes an interest in the welfare of the planet but education should be a priority - she should be thinking about what she wants to do with the rest of her life ... what subjects she'd like to pursue, what career she would like to go into, and learning how to socialise with other teenagers and adults, learning how to act responsibly, etc.

  Instead her parents approve of her travelling for weeks across the Atlantic on a yacht when she should be learning stuff at school.

  Her parents are failing her, I think.