SZbNAhL's Similarly Sibilant (if unpronouncable) Random Banter #223

[Tvtyrant]

It can't really be called a tea party if the tea's that dillute. I mean, really, it's more of a water party.

It works on the same principles as homeopathic medicine, the more dilute the tea the stronger it is.

[LaZodiac]

Then why are they always brewing in the cup?

Cultural obsession with instant gratification.

[Anonymouswizard]

Well moving on to other topics, somebody at work is having a birthday party tomorrow!* One of my friends is trying to convince me to go because I need to do the social things, while another is stuck on the idea of 'inviting everybody is something you do for politeness, you don't actually want the nerd who can quote the speed of light in a vacuum and old Mock the Week jokes to turn up**'.

* and they're pretty, which is an additional reason to flee like mad.
** unless you've managed to convince them it's a costume party.

[Peelee]

It can't really be called a tea party if the tea's that dillute. I mean, really, it's more of a water party.

Well, I wasn't going to talk about British tea like that, but if you already admit it yourself....

[Tvtyrant]

Well moving on to other topics, somebody at work is having a birthday party tomorrow!* One of my friends is trying to convince me to go because I need to do the social things, while another is stuck on the idea of 'inviting everybody is something you do for politeness, you don't actually want the nerd who can quote the speed of light in a vacuum and old Mock the Week jokes to turn up**'.

* and they're pretty, which is an additional reason to flee like mad.
** unless you've managed to convince them it's a costume party.

Just go. Worst case scenario it is awkward, you drop off your gift, wish them happy birthday and leave. Nothing lost.

Best case scenario you have a great time and your self confidence improves.

[LaZodiac]

Well moving on to other topics, somebody at work is having a birthday party tomorrow!* One of my friends is trying to convince me to go because I need to do the social things, while another is stuck on the idea of 'inviting everybody is something you do for politeness, you don't actually want the nerd who can quote the speed of light in a vacuum and old Mock the Week jokes to turn up**'.

* and they're pretty, which is an additional reason to flee like mad.
** unless you've managed to convince them it's a costume party.

Gonna second that "just go" statement, with the addendum that hey; free food and cake.

[SZbNAhL]

British people use "kettle" to mean "thing that you boil water in" and "teapot" to mean "totally necessary{~} middle step between the kettle and the cup."

Americans use "teapot" to mean "thing that you boil water in" and "kettle" to mean "a certain type of popcorn."

Really? I would have thought the most famout teapot in America is the Utah Teapot, and that's definitely a (for lack of a better term) brewing teapot. Checking my go-to American dictionary, Webster's* defines a teapot as "a vessel with a spout and a handle in which tea is brewed and from which it is served". Maybe it's a regional thing?

*Specifically the Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 10th edition.

It can't really be called a tea party if the tea's that dillute. I mean, really, it's more of a water party.

Also it would be cold. Boston Harbour's part of the Atlantic, it's not like you can just boil the ocea- ... wait a minute, is that what all the pollution's for?

[Tvtyrant]

Also it would be cold. Boston Harbour's part of the Atlantic, it's not like you can just boil the ocea- ... wait a minute, is that what all the pollution's for?

USA! USA! USA!

Also you can make tea with cold water. That is what sun tea is.

[Insane Jeenyus]

Really? I would have thought the most famout teapot in America is the Utah Teapot, and that's definitely a (for lack of a better term) brewing teapot. Checking my go-to American dictionary, Webster's* defines a teapot as "a vessel with a spout and a handle in which tea is brewed and from which it is served". Maybe it's a regional thing?

*Specifically the Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 10th edition.



Also it would be cold. Boston Harbour's part of the Atlantic, it's not like you can just boil the ocea- ... wait a minute, is that what all the pollution's for?

uh oh, you figured it out! Now I REALLY need to hoard my anti matter!

[Bartmanhomer]

Hey everyone. Well, this is the second day of my 30-day challenge of losing weight. So far I've been eating Poppy Bagel with eggs, bacon and cheese, Seltzer water and a free black coffee on the house for breakfast. And for lunch, I eat broccoli and chicken pizza with Seltzer water. And for a pick me up I ate cantelope chunks and a bottle of regular water.

[LaZodiac]

Antelope

C H U N K S.

That sounds extremely unpleasant, but then I imagine chicken nuggets probably sound gross too.

[Bartmanhomer]

Antelope

C H U N K S.

That sounds extremely unpleasant, but then I imagine chicken nuggets probably sound gross too.

Auto-corrected is a Mitch. I meant cantelope chunks.

[Qwertystop]

Antelope

C H U N K S.

That sounds extremely unpleasant, but then I imagine chicken nuggets probably sound gross too.

Stew meat is usually in shapes describable as "chunks", too.

[LaZodiac]

Auto-corrected is a Mitch. I meant cantelope chunks.

Okay see now that makes no sense. Interesting! It's Cantaloupe, by the way.

Stew meat is usually in shapes describable as "chunks", too.

True!

[factotum]

He was referencing an old joke on Mock the Week, thus demonstrating his earlier point.

Oops. I've always watched Mock the Week, you'd have thought I'd have picked up the reference.

[Anonymouswizard]

Gonna second that "just go" statement, with the addendum that hey; free food and cake.

I don't think I need more food

[sktarq]

Teapots? well...its complex.

Honestly...socialization....and so if I do brew in the teapot people get weirded out. and suddenly I'm being judged as "fussy" "weird" etc...and I get too much of that anyway and its just work anyway.

For a long time getting looseleaf tea in the states took time, effort etc. that most people were not willing to up with and using bagged tea in a pot is not as useful as looseleaf in a pot.

teapots being regulated to a "decorative" function which means that getting one that is easy to clean, stands up to abuse, of a decent size, actually pours decently (shockingly many don't), is a bunch of work again and many people have bad expereinces at first and so swear them off.

[LaZodiac]

I took a trip into the bad opinion zone today and now I'm all riled up but not one single friend of mine has any interest, desire, or tangential knowledge necessary to understand, a 600 word essay on why the finale to The Last Airbender was good and why Korra is a good series.

Also **** you auto-correct, there is no way tangental is spelt tangential. It's pronounced like the former! AND SPELT IS A WORD.

[Bartmanhomer]

Okay see now that makes no sense. Interesting! It's Cantaloupe, by the way.



True!

Ok my bad. Also Cantaloupe chunks are pieces of Cantaloupe mostly in cubes.

[Mystic Muse]

I took a trip into the bad opinion zone today and now I'm all riled up but not one single friend of mine has any interest, desire, or tangential knowledge necessary to understand, a 600 word essay on why the finale to The Last Airbender was good and why Korra is a good series.

Also **** you auto-correct, there is no way tangental is spelt tangential. It's pronounced like the former! AND SPELT IS A WORD.

Tangential is how it's spelled actually.

And you could rant to me about it.

[Peelee]

Also **** you auto-correct, there is no way tangental is spelt tangential. It's pronounced like the former!

Note to self, "tangential" is another word that Brits pronounce differently, apparently.

[Anonymouswizard]

I took a trip into the bad opinion zone today and now I'm all riled up but not one single friend of mine has any interest, desire, or tangential knowledge necessary to understand, a 600 word essay on why the finale to The Last Airbender was good and why Korra is a good series.

Also **** you auto-correct, there is no way tangental is spelt tangential. It's pronounced like the former! AND SPELT IS A WORD.

Tangential is correct. It's annoying that spelling isn't phonetic, but it does so some useful stuff.

Like telling apart homophones. It's already awkward in speech when you mistake formally for formerly.

On a writing stuff front, when I've got a new WordPress* blog set up I'm going to be putting a couple of my old pieces on it, as well as Valuable (a working title for my anti-alchemy story). It feels weird to actually be planning to put my stuff out there.

* I mean, as long as they don't have terms about republishing, I'm planning to put this stuff in a free ebook down the line.

Note to self, "tangential" is another word that Brits pronounce differently, apparently.

Look, at least we didn't get rid of æ (although generally written 'ae' these days). For the record it's closer to a long e sound than an a and e together.


In other news, I dropped by the party just to wish the host a happy birthday. Now I'm feeling sad that my autism keeps me from parties*, and dien because all the ladies were looking so pretty and I have to struggle not to be unkempt.

*hooray for sensory overload!

[enderlord99]

Like telling apart homophones. It's already awkward in speech when you mistake formally for formerly.

Do you pronounce an "r" in both of those or neither of them? Either way is weird.

I took a trip into the bad opinion zone today and now I'm all riled up but not one single friend of mine has any interest, desire, or tangential knowledge necessary to understand, a 600 word essay on why the finale to The Last Airbender was good.

Maybe don't use just the subtitle when referring to it, since that's also the official title for the bad live-action adaptation.

Unless that's what you were referring to, in which case: What the **** is wrong with you‽

[Peelee]

Do you pronounce an "r" in both of those or neither of them? Either way is weird.

The Brits are rhotic, they don't ever pronounce the R.

[enderlord99]

The Brits are rhotic, they don't ever pronounce the R.

Those statments are contradictory.

I'm guessing you meant the second one, in which case: "foamally" is a weird way of saying anything.

[Anonymouswizard]

Do you pronounce an "r" in both of those or neither of them? Either way is weird.

Getting a w in both is difficult, but written it.

In all seriousness, no r. I speak incredibly low RP, so I'm pretty much fully non-rhotic. Or well, non-hotic as I pronounce it. Or non-otic if I'm adjusting my speech due to a more working class environment.

EDIT: to make it clear, there's an r in the 'for' for both words. But the second r in formerly isn't pronounced, instead changing how the e gets pronounced, in this case to more of an a sound.

EDIT2: I believe you're right.

[enderlord99]

I'm pretty sure "rhotic" means "with the 'r'."

[Peelee]

I'm pretrty sure "rhotic" means "with the 'r'."

Nah, they reversed it when you weren't looking.

They also pahked the cah in the Hahvahd yahd.

[HalfTangible]

I took a trip into the bad opinion zone today and now I'm all riled up but not one single friend of mine has any interest, desire, or tangential knowledge necessary to understand, a 600 word essay on why the finale to The Last Airbender was good and why Korra is a good series.

Also **** you auto-correct, there is no way tangental is spelt tangential. It's pronounced like the former! AND SPELT IS A WORD.

"why the finale to The Last Airbender was good"

For the most part I agree, but I find Aang's compunction against killing... incredibly odd & forced considering this hasn't really been a thing before now even at times where he really should've brought it up. Like when he was sinking fire navy ships in the north. (saving Zuko because you don't want him to freeze to death is one moment in hundreds) Or when he was originally gearing up to fight the Firelord on the day of black sun. Yeah he's a compassionate goofball, the Air Nomads had no formal military, and I could very easily believe this is a part of his character, but it really feels like there should've been more buildup if it was going to affect the trajectory of the entire finale.

"why Korra is a good series"

-with some monumental flaws that are, frankly, near-impossible to overlook. *glances at season 2 in particular*

[sktarq]

I'm pretty sure "rhotic" means "with the 'r'."

Spoiler: You are correct

Show

The historical English /r/ sound is preserved in all pronunciation contexts in the "rhotic varieties" of English,[a] which primarily include the English dialects of Scotland, Ireland, and most of the United States and Canada. However, the historical /r/ is not pronounced except before vowels in "non-rhotic varieties",[b] which include most of the dialects of modern England, Wales, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and some parts of the southern and eastern—particularly coastal northeastern[4]—United States