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>That in five minutes you COULDN'T care less about. Don't use a phrase if you don't know how to use it.

You fail it.

If you don't understand the language completely, you don't get to complain.

Both are perfectly valid turns of phrase. One American, one British.

Could care less: I am so uninterested that while I could care less about the subject, I'm not even bothered to that point. Also, I am so interested that I care about the subject, therefore proving I could care less.

Couldn't care less: I am so uninterested that my caring level is at zero. Also, I am so interested that caring less would be physically impossible.

Both are correct and incorrect at the same time.

Yes, it's on the list of English errors. That in itself is an error, as the author is American. He needs to read up on his English history a bit, perhaps? alt.usage.english beat him to the punch on this one. Oddly enough, this clearly prescriptive English teacher is pro ending sentences in prepositions. How contradictory. He does agree he is fighting a losing battle on it (One he lost BEFORE he put up the website, ironically).

Irregardless, I ain't wrong. Here's some more references on the matter. Cheap at half the price, I tell you!

BTW: This topic truly is important to me, I couldn't care less about it, so don't ask me to. I could care less for rants about it, though, but sometimes I miss them. :-P

Teach, where's my gold star?

>That in five minutes you COULDN'T care less about. Don't use a phrase if you don't know how to use it.

You fail it.

If you don't understand the language completely, you don't get to complain.

Both are perfectly valid turns of phrase. One American, one British.

Could care less: I am so uninterested that while I could care less about the subject, I'm not even bothered to that point. Also, I am so interested that I care about the subject, therefore proving I could care less.

Couldn't care less: I am so uninterested that my caring level is at zero. Also, I am so interested that caring less would be physically impossible.

Both are correct and incorrect at the same time.

Yes, it's on the list of English errors. That in itself is an error, as the author is American. He needs to read up on his English history a bit, perhaps? alt.usage.english beat him to the punch on this one. Oddly enough, this clearly prescriptive English teacher is pro ending sentences in prepositions. How contradictory. He does agree he is fighting a losing battle on it (One he lost BEFORE he put up the website, ironically).

Irregardless, I ain't wrong. Here's some more references on the matter. Cheap at half the price, I tell you!

BTW: This topic truly is important to me, I couldn't care less about it, so don't ask me to. I could care less for rants about it, though, but sometimes I miss them. :-P

Teach, where's my gold star?

Dude, we're talking about chocolate. I think you're reading too much into my comment if you think I'm coming across as elite and assholely because I like >= 70% cacao chocolate compared to the shit American corporations put out. Everyone around the world agrees cheap, American chocolate is shit. I've tried chocolates from across Europe in my travels, including some made by Monks in a monastery (Montserrat Chocolate). Some were milk chocolate but without any sugar. Again, a different taste. All of the non-US chocolate I've had were tasteful, smooth, and creamy. By comparison, the cheap US chocolate was... "sticky" for lack of a better word. So if being a connoisseur of chocolate makes me a snob, then so be it.

So why is this modded as flamebait? Is it because Bush denies(http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4829786.stm) that Iraq is in civil war (http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/civil%20war http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_war http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=civil%20w ar)?

Not sure I'd say that those seven tips are essential, because two of them are mutually exclusive (5 & 6).

dictionary.reference.com knows misspelt

Encarta knows misspelt

Meriam-Webster does not understand misspelt but suggestes the root word "misspell" (and "misspelled")

So, you misspelt "misspelt".

You and I agree that "oriental" is not nearly as offensive (or at all) compared to "nigger", but I never compared the two words in the first place. I pointed out your false logic in that if a word originally meant something non-offensive, claiming this as offensive is "inane". Then I gave you another example following your logic. I don't see how this is "grandstanding", but you can see it however you want.

One last thing, now I'm nit-picking here, but this is what you said:

As the literate among you know, the term means nothing but "Eastern."

2 a : of superior grade, luster, or value b : being corundum or sapphire but simulating another gem in color

Flamebait? So young people ARE allowed to express aggression and exhuberance? Because I haven't noticed.

The last part was one of these, I think:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dichotomy

Or it was one of these (2b):
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/conundrum

And it makes people feel like one of these:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hypocrite

That could get rather toasty.

Don't know what you're getting at. Maybe it's a word you haven't learned yet?

A couple of points in reply

One -- I never mentioned Albania. I mentioned Bosnia. Those are two different wars. In Bosnia, you had the events in Srebrenica. And, Serbia has been held responsible for those genocidal events.

Two -- You appear to be confusing the term genocide with refugee. In short, Genocide is the murder of an entire people. Refugee is someone that flees from danger. In your OP, you mention that about 250,000 Serbs were displaced. Displacement is NOT genocide, they are refugees. Someone being forced to leave their home and live in a camp some distance away is a horrible event. But it is NOT genocide. So, you cannot compare the displacement of the Kosovo Serbs with the events in Srebrenica.

Yes, I know the history of the United States. The peoples who settled this country were probably guilty of genocidal acts to the Native Americans, although no one has ever been formally accused of these acts by the UN. If the Albanians have permitted genocide to take place, they should be put on trial. But, based on your evidence, you are referring to displacement. Again, that is NOT genocide and, as far as I know, it is not illegal according to the UN.

A couple of points in reply

One -- I never mentioned Albania. I mentioned Bosnia. Those are two different wars. In Bosnia, you had the events in Srebrenica. And, Serbia has been held responsible for those genocidal events.

Two -- You appear to be confusing the term genocide with refugee. In short, Genocide is the murder of an entire people. Refugee is someone that flees from danger. In your OP, you mention that about 250,000 Serbs were displaced. Displacement is NOT genocide, they are refugees. Someone being forced to leave their home and live in a camp some distance away is a horrible event. But it is NOT genocide. So, you cannot compare the displacement of the Kosovo Serbs with the events in Srebrenica.

Yes, I know the history of the United States. The peoples who settled this country were probably guilty of genocidal acts to the Native Americans, although no one has ever been formally accused of these acts by the UN. If the Albanians have permitted genocide to take place, they should be put on trial. But, based on your evidence, you are referring to displacement. Again, that is NOT genocide and, as far as I know, it is not illegal according to the UN.

Webster:
one-upmanship
One entry found for one-upmanship.
Main Entry: one-upmanship
Variant(s): also one-upsmanship
Function: noun
: the art or practice of outdoing or keeping one jump ahead of a friend or competitor

One-upmanship is, by definition, not groundbreaking. It is characterized by small hops.

Contrary to the believe of several people on slashdot, privacy is commonly not considered as "within your own four walls", but (paraphrased from M-W) usually "freedom from unauthorised instrusion one's right of being apart from company or observation".
Hence, stalking is a form "... of invasion of a person's privacy in a manner that causes fear to its target..." source.

The rules simply judged, that employers are not automatically authorised to monitor their employees.

Ironical is not a word

Looks like one to me..
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/ironical
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ironical

Though you may have learned that the plural of 'octopus' is 'octopi' and the plural of 'cactus' is 'cacti', the plural of 'virus' is viruses, not 'virii'. In fact, the -i pluralization is optional; the -es pluralization is standard.

Refer to:

• http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/virus
• http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/cactus
• http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/octopus

Though you may have learned that the plural of 'octopus' is 'octopi' and the plural of 'cactus' is 'cacti', the plural of 'virus' is viruses, not 'virii'. In fact, the -i pluralization is optional; the -es pluralization is standard.

Refer to:

• http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/virus
• http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/cactus
• http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/octopus

Though you may have learned that the plural of 'octopus' is 'octopi' and the plural of 'cactus' is 'cacti', the plural of 'virus' is viruses, not 'virii'. In fact, the -i pluralization is optional; the -es pluralization is standard.

Refer to:

• http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/virus
• http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/cactus
• http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/octopus

I'm against animal cruelty, but I've heard some damning things about Peta. Watch the Penn and Teller bullshit episode on them for example, and do some of your own research.

Peta have links to the ALF for example, and the ALF have come close to killing humans involved in animal research. They gave over $100,000 in non repayable loans to Rod Coronado who firebombed laboratories for example. Ingrid Newkirk, President of Peta was has been accused of having prior knowledge of ALF actions. She was also quoted as saying "no movement for social change has ever succeeded without 'the militarism component'". Note militarism, not militant.

Seems to me you're better off joining the RSPCA / ASPCA which are against both animal cruelty and the terrorists of the ALF.

I'm against animal cruelty, but I've heard some damning things about Peta. Watch the Penn and Teller bullshit episode on them for example, and do some of your own research.

Peta have links to the ALF for example, and the ALF have come close to killing humans involved in animal research. They gave over $100,000 in non repayable loans to Rod Coronado who firebombed laboratories for example. Ingrid Newkirk, President of Peta was has been accused of having prior knowledge of ALF actions. She was also quoted as saying "no movement for social change has ever succeeded without 'the militarism component'". Note militarism, not militant.

Seems to me you're better off joining the RSPCA / ASPCA which are against both animal cruelty and the terrorists of the ALF.

Perhaps you should look it up. He is using it correctly:

Merriam-Webster:

- beg the question
1 : to pass over or ignore a question by assuming it to be established or settled
2 : to elicit a question logically as a reaction or response ("the quarterback's injury begs the question of who will start in his place")

Some people believe the second meaning should not exist, even though it makes far more sense, is more commonly used, and adds to the language -- it has meaning beyond "raises the question". If you search Google for the phrase, you only see pages using the second meaning and pages complaining about the second meaning; you rarely see anyone using the first meaning outside of a conversation about the phrase itself.

Please, do look up the difference between "begging the question" and "raising a/the question".

Okay, I did:

- beg the question
1 : to pass over or ignore a question by assuming it to be established or settled
2 : to elicit a question logically as a reaction or response

While the former definition, used in logical arguments, is regarded as more correct in an academic context, the raise-the-question definition "has nevertheless become very common", as Wikipedia puts it.

Words and expressions take on new meanings as people use them in different ways. Your post is a bit like the "hacker vs. cracker" pedant, the "Linux means a kernel when speaking of the OS you must say GNU/Linux" argument, and so on.

Are you tired of the antics of HomelessInLaJolla? Well, then do something about it. Go to this site: http://lajollalibrary.org/easymessage.htm and paste in the following letter to the form, and send it to the library. If we all work together, we might be able to stop this troll from ruining the online experience of the rest of us. If you do not wish to use a web form, you can also contact the La Jolla Administrator using the phone number listed on this page: http://lajollalibrary.org/contact.htm


SPREAD THE WORD - PASTE THIS POST! GET THIS TROLL'S NET ACCESS REVOKED! STOP THE ABUSE OF PUBLIC LIBRARY BANDWIDTH!

Dear Administrator of the La Jolla Library,
I would like to call to your attention the harassing, provoking, and potentially illegal on-line activities one of your patrons is utilizing your bandwidth for. This person claims to be Mr. Steven Baumeister, a 31 year old Homeless man who uses the alias HomelessInLaJolla on the website Slashdot.org.

Treason is defined as the offense of attempting by overt acts to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance or to kill or personally injure the sovereign or the sovereign's family.

HomelessInLaJolla is advocating treasonous activities when he wrote about overthrowing the United States Government in his on-line journal at this link where he advocates targetting family members: http://slashdot.org/~HomelessInLaJolla/journal/166 371

He has also requested information on exploits he could use to compromise your library computer systems: http://slashdot.org/~HomelessInLaJolla/journal/166 587

He has posted potentially libelous statements about one Mr. Tom Darling: http://slashdot.org/~HomelessInLaJolla/journal/164 024, and http://slashdot.org/~HomelessInLaJolla/journal/165 060 and potentially libelous statements about his brother, here: http://slashdot.org/~HomelessInLaJolla/journal/163 984

He has also admitted to harassing your patrons if they approach the door before your building opens: http://slashdot.org/~HomelessInLaJolla/journal/164 134

He also harasses with combatitive and profane language anyone who disagrees with him or questions him: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=226913&cid=183 80391

Mr. Baumeister's actions reflect poorly on the good name of your organization. It might be in your best interest to discuss Mr. Baumeister's potentially illegal activities with him, as he is using your equipment to engage in these activities, or perhaps to restrict Mr. Baumeister from using your facility and equipement to engage in potentially illegal activity.

Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]

Pettifogger is pretty good. It doesn't have the "unqualified" connotation that quack does, but you get "underhanded" in exchange.

It's learnt, not 'learned'. Get back in school, sun.

Are you also confused that "a big city" and 'NY' might refer to Tokyo? If not, what else do you think this would mean:

I grew up around a big city (suburbs of NY)...

Please go look up the meaning of suburb (here's a hint: I just gave you the link to it. While your at it, find the word 'state' on that page.)

Contextually: you fail. Someone should send a note home to your mother.

It extols the dangers of an information society, the rampant potential for abuse of an omnipresent informational convenience, where government can conduct surveillance at will.

Extol: (v.t.) to praise highly : glorify

Yeah, that's a new angle all right...

An example of this is Japanese's curious, and depreciated, half-width and full-width alpha-numeric characters.

How do you calculate the monetary value of characters? I didn't know they could depreciate.

Or did you mean to say they are deprecated?

Splitting hairs, I'd say - in any case, I think we agree that it's hard to reconcile "commercial software should not exist" with "I want to sell commercial software." As to 'judging the code on its merits,' I wouldn't want to buy from someone who didn't want me as a customer, even if the price were zero. If nothing else, I'd worry that they would be less likely to accept patches, fix bugs that were important to me, interact on mailing lists, and in general provide support. It's not necessarily a deal breaker, but it's a factor to consider. In large organizations, procedural issues can dominate the technical ones.

And - no offense intended - 'judge the code on its merits' is not practiced by the FSF community (if you'll permit me to generalize from RMS), who believe that, for example, schools should use exclusively free software, regardless of any technically superior proprietary alternatives. For RMS, too, procedural issues dominate the technical issues.

> The misconception that the brain is full of little conductors, and that its operation is just
> like a computer, with electrical voltages and organic logic gates giving rise to "thoughts" is
> dear to the common mind. This misconception is responsible for the glamour exercised by one of
> the great follies of the age: the notion that we are in an essential and important way like
> computers, and that computers could be made to be--in some deeply significant way--like us.

You seem to be under the impression that a computer is something built out of transistors. diodes, resistors, wire, and other electronic components. Sure, if you reduce a computer to the narrowest possible definition, you could say that the human brain is not a computer, but I don't think that would be valid.

From http://www.m-w.com/:

computer - one that computes; specifically : a programmable usually electronic device that can store, retrieve, and process data

I don't see anything there that excludes brains. There are other ways to build computers. Human beings haven't even scratched the surface yet.

Your argument is flawed... If I change my oil I may not be a mechanic, but if I change a 1000 peoples oil I sure am some kind of automotive professional....

If someone gives information to 1000's regarding a current event or incident they are indeed journalists. Maybe not mainstream journalists but they are still reporting a story and according to the dictionary at http://www.m-w.com/ " a writer who aims at a mass audience " is the 2nd entry. It does not say a writer that HAS a mass audience, merely AIMING at a mass audience qualifies...

Do you think the first journalist worked for CNN? It was probably some guy with access to a printing press that wanted to disseminate information or express himself... Sounds a lot like the internet doesn't it?

You really should understand the word Censorship and how it is defined.

Read Wikipedia or Websters

Censorship does not require government. It is the removal of information from the public, or the prevention of circulation of information, where it is desired or felt best by some controlling group or body that others are not allowed to access the information which is being censored.

It qualifies!

Demanding monetary compensation I would think would be a different matter. If not extortion, how about blackmail?

If SiteFinder is "Quietly raking it in" then someone is actually clicking on those ads, and may likely find them "useful".

As such, I think that qualifies it, by definition, as a service.

I, as a user of Firefox, do not think I would mind if Firefox had this as long as it could be disabled.

From Merriam-Webster:

1 a : a place in which literary, musical, artistic, or reference materials (as books, manuscripts, recordings, or films) are kept for use but not for sale b : a collection of such materials

Sounds exactly like a share folder to me. I wonder why nobody has used this as a defense before?

the security of the nation that keeps carbombs off my streets ...

Patriotism isn't an archaic concept; it's a survivalist one.

Everyone is putting "bases" in quotes, but that is actually the plural form of basis.

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/bases

In the case of the R rated movies, "can't" != "illegal". Minors are forbidden from entering said movies by voluntary theatre policy, not the law.

[nitpick]Illegal(Webster) is something that goes against rules or laws. In this case, they're breaking theater policy(rules), which can be described as 'illegal'.[/nitpick]

Cheers,
Fozzy

Hey Mr Pedant,

See: http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/comprise definition #3 and its usage discussion.

Merriam Webster's definition #3 for comprise is "compose, constitute." The usage discussion says that some people still think definition #3 is wrong, even though it has been in use for over 100 years.

Anyway, my key point is that the usage you dispute is still listed as a valid definition in a very reputable dictionary, so you can't appeal to a notion of "the correct definition" to support your case. :)

Have a nice day!

There is a better word meaning "multiple dictators in chage", but it excapes me right now. Plus, nobody uses it enough to recognize it.

The ADL press release is dated back in January, 1997. Even Merriam-Webster gives more or less the same alternative explanation nowadays:

b : one who is likened to a German Nazi : a harshly domineering, dictatorial, or intolerant person

The claims were questionable or suspect as to true nature or quality (1b)

The scientists were unsettled in opinion (2)

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/dubious

an encyclopedia is a work that contains information on all branches of knowledge or treats comprehensively a particular branch of knowledge usually in articles arranged alphabetically often by subject. I'd say Wikipedia hits the nail on the head possibly more so that real encyclopedias do.

Human knowledge is lots of things, but accurate it often is not.

Yes, you are. And you forgot the link for our linguistically-challenged readers: pedantic. You also forgot to capitalize a few letters. If you're going to be pedantic, at least do it properly. ;-)

I think we've seen very different parts of the community. Not sure what does it tell about you. Yeah, there's a lot of crap written in Perl. What it means though is that 1) even crap can get the job done and 2) there's a lot of Perl. There's a lot of crap in any language, but the Perl one seems to get all the attention. I guess because the (censored) that see the language for the first time get thrown off by the sigils ($scalar, @array, %hash), decide that it's unreadable (even though they actually help readability once you get used to them) and go ahunting for examples to prove their point. I guess there must be something good about Perl if they feel the need.

And BTW "separate", not "seperate".

...to get the ok do to simile stuff like add a printer...

Your post was as clear as mud. That is how you do simile stuff!

You must not have got the letter from the White House. Even Bush now claims he has been saying global warming not only exists, but man is contributing to it, ever since he took office.

Also, the author really need to learn what the word "average" means. He sounds ridiculous making statements like - "So one awkward question you can ask, when you're forking out those extra taxes for climate change, is "Why is east Antarctica getting colder?" It makes no sense at all if carbon dioxide is driving global warming".

Maybe what makes it an awkward question is his limited understanding of simple scientific concepts, and common word meanings?