The Amazing World of Books

Drop it you retards. You're fighting out of your class.
Way, way, out of your class.

You're right. I shouldn't have descended to your level.
You moron, you mullethead, you porcupine, you unpaid bill, you horse's
patoot, you rutabaga, you dipstick.

--
Bob Finnan
The Hardy Boys Unofficial Home Page
http://www.Hardy-Boys.net
New & Out Of Print Books, Books-On-Tape, Videos, DVDs, CD-ROMs For Sale
http://users.arczip.com/fwdixon/hbsale.htm
To reply: replace nospam with fwdixon
.................................................. ....................

I wrote:

Not up to your usual standards, Paghat! Perhaps this kind of
half-baked definition is to blame for the widely-believed idea that
Americans don't "do" irony.

Michael Adams replied:

Or perhaps it would indicate that some of them at least, for all
their seeming "Americanness" are in fact rather better at it, than
you are yourself.

Oh, I don't doubt it. But what is the point of the word "seeming" here? Do
you mean they are not really American after all?

I'm sorry John, but you are the one who appears to be mistaken here,
in totally missing the intention behind Paghat's Post. As I read it
anyway, this purported definition of irony is simply a hollow pretext
which allows Paghat to direct this deliciously absurd suggestion
towards Alfred Armstrong -

" are you saying you're in love with Michael who is so wise &
well-tanned & a prancing stallion? "

You see John you really do have to work at these things.

Try working a little harder then, and see how ironic it is that you are
jumping to Paghat's defence and calling her comments "deliciously absurd".
Could it be you are doing this because you perceive her as attacking Alfred
Armstrong and, by implication, siding with you? Perhaps you should look a
little deeper, my friend. There may be unplumbed depths of irony there that
have eluded you.

A familiarity with the Google Archive for this Group might instead
suggest a rather delicate line being drawn in the sand.

Do you really mean you've been digging into the archives to try and see what
kind of a fool I've made of myself on previous occasions? Get a life, do!

Because for someone who teaches Literature John, I do find myself
rather astonished by your alarming propensity

Goodness! This could be serious!

toward literal mindedness at every opportunity.
And your seeming blindness towards poetic licence,
creative ambiguity, irony, and the use of metaphor generally.
And this resulting seeming inability of yours to distinguish betwen
literal meaning, and intention, at every turn.

Oh, *that*! I thought you were actually onto something. No, you're quite
right. I have this sense when reading your posts that some exquisite use of
poetic licence - or perhaps some masterfully creative ambiguity - is
floating just beyond the grasp of my limited intellect, but what can I do?
We can't all have your gifts.

Or to put it another way John, in the a world of the "Likely Lads"
you're much more likely to be counted as one of the Bobs, rather than
as one of Terrys.

Ooh! Now that's hitting below the belt! You utter cad! Well, I won't take
that sitting down! Why, in the world of Monty Python you wouldn't make it as
a dead parrot. In the world of Mr Bean you wouldn't make it as a teddy bear.
Even if they sedated you first. So there!

Your reference to "the widely-believed idea that Americans don't "do"
irony." was also noted in passing John. And is, if I may say so, totally
unwarrented

How so, old fruit? What's wrong with that?

Citing a generalisation of this kind when addressing *an individual* is
simply inexcusable unless that person, in this case Paghat is actually
claiming to be speaking as an American ..."As an American I think...."

Oh, I see.

Which Paghat clearly isn't. She's speaking as an individual person in
her own right and voicing her own opinions. And has the right to be
treated as such. Not simply treated as a member of some lumpen mass
upon which you wish to hang your loose generaliations.

Ah, right.

In other words, Paghat's nationality has no relevence here. None
whatsover.

You mean the same way Jon didn't stand up and say "As a Norwegian I
think..." and was speaking as an individual person, not as a member of some
lumpen mass, and hence his nationality had no relevance to the discussion
and it was simply inexcusable of you to say:

Possibly your code of honour is different in Norway Mr Stuest$B�M(B

Is that what you mean?

--
John
http://rarebooksinjapan.com

michael adams wrote:

In making my request to you on this NewsGroup I immediately identified
myself as an animals rights *crank*. And to people who like nothing
better than to bait and make fun of people, they identify as animal
rights *cranks*.

This is pathetic. You don't need to go to these lengths to find excuses for
why people are flaming you. No one has baited you as an animal rights
crank - they just think you're a jerk, full stop.

It's because I get so heated up about this that I avoid situations
where this can crop up. Because I cannot stay silent on this.
And it doesn't do my blood presure any good.

Ah! It's as I said in the Oxfam thread. You really must stop getting so
worked up about these things or you'll do yourself an injury. By now,
though, that's probably precisely what most of this newsgroup is hoping for.

If you've read any of my other posts, I think you'll agree that I can
give a good enough account of myself alraedy, by the use of words alone.

"Words alone"?! What *else* would you use in a newsgroup? Smileys?! And,
yes, I can't speak for Jon, but I've certainly got the measure of you...

Childish in the extreme,

Yes, that's right. How did you guess?

It would be patronising of me in the extreme, to congratulate you
on your excellent English. But...

= "But I will find another way of patronising you, to wit:"

...I do hope that my use of figurative
expressions such as "cleared the air", which native English speakers
use unthinkingly, didn't present you with any additional problems.

--
John
http://rarebooksinjapan.com

"michael adams" sez:
Because for someone who teaches Literature John, I do find myself rather
astonished

You teach literature in the john?
Or, as is more likely, is it literature FOR the john?
--
Bob Finnan
The Hardy Boys Unofficial Home Page
http://www.Hardy-Boys.net
New & Out Of Print Books, Books-On-Tape, Videos, DVDs, CD-ROMs For Sale
http://users.arczip.com/fwdixon/hbsale.htm
To reply: replace nospam with fwdixon
.................................................. ....................

That's the best you could muster with your purported great wit - spelling my
name wrong?
I'm crushed ;(
You leaking cesspool, you pile of cow flop, you perforated condom, you
pathetic pantywaist, you nancy-boy, you gum on the shoe of humanity.

--
Bob Finnan
The Hardy Boys Unofficial Home Page
http://www.Hardy-Boys.net
New & Out Of Print Books, Books-On-Tape, Videos, DVDs, CD-ROMs For Sale
http://users.arczip.com/fwdixon/hbsale.htm
To reply: replace nospam with fwdixon
.................................................. ....................

"John Yamamoto-Wilson" wrote in message
...
Jon Fredrik Stuest$B�M(B wrote [snip lots of perfectly reasonable stuff that I
quite agree with]:

If the misspelling of my last name is intentional, I did not get the
point.
If it is unintentional, it is quite ok, most people can't spell it
correctly, even here.

I'm afraid I don't even know how your name is spelt; my e-mail programme
(which is set to read English and Japanese) just renders anything after
"Suest" as a small square dot. I just copy and paste it, square dot and
all.
I've no idea how that comes out on other people's software!


I am not quite sure if my mail and news client is coorectly set up. The
letter between "Stuest" and "l" is a Norwegian character. It is pronounced
about the same as the wovel in "earn".

In this picture, you can see the entire Norwegian alphabet:

http://folk.uio.no/jonfs/norwalpha.jpg

The character in question is the second last one (the O with a line across).
It is actually a ligature of "o" and "e".

You might be familiar with the others, especially the ae-ligature, which is
used also in latin, and in some older English texts. We pronounce it a bit
more open than the ae-sound in Gaelic.

The last charachter is a sort of ligature too. The sound is like the
au-sound in "augmented". In older Norwegian and Danish texts the sound is
written as two "a"s. Like in "Borregaard", a Norwegian place. Some clever
mind came up with putting the two "a"s on top of each other, and as time
went by, the uppermost was simplified into a circle. There were a lot of
controversy when this new letter was introduced in schools and governmental
documents.

For you especially interested, and with trouble reading my name, here it is:

http://folk.uio.no/jonfs/myname.jpg

--
Jon Fredrik Stuestoel
Norway
NB: Note change in signature

Anyone missing a stick?

Why, yes, Bob, I am indeed missing a stick. Now, where did I
put....Oh, never mind, I found it. It's stuck up Michael
Adams' ass.

...

He's already said that, you simpering moron.

Why are you simply repeating his own words back to him ?

So what are you exactly ?

Illiterate, retarded, or both ?

michael adams

...


Perhaps correct?


Sold any more books recently at a vast profit, have you?


Yes, it's called capitalism - and selling book is surely one of the more
interesting ways of doing it.

How absolutly thrilling for you!

Lift any rock and the slugs all come sliding out eventually. Desparate
for their little bit of recognition. But they soon shrink away again if
they can sense anyone coming.

Now back under your stone.

boo!


michael adams


Michael - surely it is you who strives for recognition - since the beginning
of your presence in this newsgroup (Google groups appears to suggest this
was the 10th June 2003) you have bawled your views to us at every opotunity.
The group is now, in my opinion, less enjoyable as a whole. Whilst it was at
first amusing to banter with you, it is now mind-numbingly boring.

Quit thinking that you are inherantly superior to everyone - and end this
infernal habit of addressing others in a patronising way.

I will not be drawn - this will be my last post on this topic.

Tom L-M

"michael adams" wrote...
Lift any rock and the slugs all come sliding out eventually. Desparate
for their little bit of recognition. But they soon shrink away again if
they can sense anyone coming.

Indeed, Michael, you will (and do) always get the last word, because you
don't know when to shut up. Most of the rest of us have enough
consideration for one another, and for the group in general, to stop
posting--even if we'd love to make just *one* more retort--when a thread has
become so tied in knots that it is no longer useful.

These are for you... :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-) Have a nice
day!

--
Jon Meyers
Beef, It's What's for Dinner
http://www.itswhatsfordinner.com/

"Tom" sez:


Quit thinking that you are inherantly superior to everyone - and end this
infernal habit of addressing others in a patronising way.


Tom, Adams thinks he's a wit. He's half-right.



"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that
English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow
words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways
to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."
--James D. Nicoll

I wrote:

you're quite right. I have this sense when reading your posts that
some exquisite use of poetic license - or perhaps some masterfully
creative ambiguity - is floating just beyond the grasp of my limited
intellect, but what can I do? We can't all have your gifts.

Michael Adams commented:

You got there the end though didn't you, John? The curtain finally
fell away.

Um, OK, since you insist (and your other posting suggests that perhaps this
really is necessary):

irony html start
you're quite right. I have this sense when reading your posts that
some exquisite use of poetic license - or perhaps some masterfully
creative ambiguity - is floating just beyond the grasp of my limited
intellect, but what can I do? We can't all have your gifts.
irony html end

I'm not on here to take sides with anyone. Just to talk about
books as it happens.

Come on, then, Michael. Show you mean it. Put an end to all this and let's
get back to books.

--
John
http://rarebooksinjapan.com