68 posts tagged with Language.
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Can we please stop using the term "wheelchair bound" on MetaFilter?
Recently I have noticed several different commenters on MetaFilter using the phrase "wheelchair bound." This is a phrase that a lot of wheelchair users (including myself) find deeply objectionable, as wheelchairs actually give us freedom of movement compared to not having a wheelchair. (Also, a lot of wheelchair users are ambulatory wheelchair users, e.g. they can sometimes walk a very short distance.) The preferred term is "wheelchair user". If using it as an adjective, you can say "wheelchair using", e.g. "My wheelchair-using girlfriend."
Metatalktail Hour: Vexing Grammar
Merry weekend, friends! Today I'd like to use my words to ask about the grammar and usage issues that vex you the most, either in their observance or non-observance, or possibly just in their DNA. [more inside]
What's metafilter's second language?
If English isn't your first language, what is the language you are most fluent in?
Translations of linked articles
Should I include links to machine generated translations when I link to content in languages other than English in a comment? These days, usually a pretty decent machine translation is available by right-click or offered automatically by your browser when loading the page. I used to add a link to Google Translate every time, but recently stopped, as it started to feel a bit redundant. But what do people think?
Working together on ableism
What can we as community members learn from each other and help each other improve about posting and commenting around issues that relate to disabilities/differences? [more inside]
Family-speak
Tell me about your family or household's language. What made-up words do you use? What words do you say in a different tongue? What slang, puns, or in-jokes are only valid under your roof?
People vs Garbage
The phrase "garbage people" or the habit of describing people as "garbage" or as "trash" seems to be making a resurgence on my social media lately. I've seen it on metafilter, too, recently, and... can we not do that here, please? [more inside]
Was there a substantial MeFi/MeTa discussion of using the word "guys"
I thought there was a discussion of the propriety/potential sexism of using "guys" to refer to mixed gender groups, or even groups of women. It is impossible to search for such a thing. Thanks.
Duolingo Korean club
Duolingo's Korean course was just released for Android and iOS! There was a fair bit of enthusiasm for the Japanese course when nightrecordings made a MeTa about it; can we get a decent showing of MeFi Korean learners? [more inside]
MetaFilter: Multilingual Edition?
This post (and the previouslies mentioned in-thread by veggieboy) made me wonder whether posts and comments in languages other than English could/would be a welcome part of MetaFilter. [more inside]
Another 'Only at Metafilter' Moment
In the Ask thread Did people actually say "shwench", town of cats posted a question about a 30 year old William Safire article asking about one slang term referenced in the article. A few weeks later, Slanguage Guy posted a confirmation of the slang term, and he is the one who sent the original usage to Safire 30 years ago!
Metafilter gets a Mention
Trying to track down an FPP about an adventure game
I remember reading a post here about an adventure game where the primary mechanic was using a tool that allowed you to change objects by altering a single letter in the word. For a (bad) example, if you have a nun figurine in your inventory, you would change the N to a G and get a gun figurine, which you could then use to hold up a bank. That's not an exact example, but sort of what the gameplay was like. Does anyone know what I'm talking about?
It's not shocking if you hear that sort of thing all the time.
I'd like to ask that people stop posting "ironic"/"what if we were talking about X TOPIC" type comments to make their point like this comment in the Alinea baby post. [more inside]
Duolingo Friend List Expansion Thread
Someone suggested in the foreign language thread on the Blue that we have a Duolingo username exchange thread, so I thought I'd bell the cat. [more inside]
Grammar Corrections are Douchey, Right?
like when someone posts:
"To be honest, the income difference doesn't phase us....."
I wouldn't respond with "faze", right? Even if *I* like to be corrected?
The Economist follows up on Timothy Doner
There was a fair amount of cynicism in this thread about (then) 16 year-old Timothy Doner who "speaks 23 languages". The Economist's Johnson columnist has just published a story about Doner which seems to confirm (at least in part) his prodigious ability. [more inside]
MetaFilter localization?
Has there been any discussion of setting up a localization effort for MetaFilter, at least for UI and other site elements? If not, what do you think of the idea?
(My search-fu didn't turn up anything previous in the FAQ or MetaTalk.)
Unpacking the viral ninja hack guru in the cloud
Use Your Words
I'd like to have a discussion about use of the word mansplain on this website. Man or woman, doesn’t matter, if you use a word that many people find offensive, they're going to tune out what you have to say. In conversations about gender relations, is the objective to create an atmosphere of mutual understanding, or is it to demonstrate the destructive power of gendered insults by consistently ignoring repeated requests to stop using a word that people feel unfairly defined by? Because those two objectives are not compatible. [more inside]
"Metafiltered" as a verb
So, as a newbie (on here; rather older in real life) and as (currently) an Englishman, is "Metafiltered" an acceptable verb? e.g. "Spotted this great little news story so I Metafiltered it", or, like, are people going to start getting all OED on me if I do that?
I'm afraid of Americanisms
This comment got me thinking about regional slang and different dialects of English on MetaFilter. [more inside]
Does MeFi have a policy on non-English language posts?
Does MeFi have a policy on non-English language posts? I thought it was odd to see a post that only French-speaking members could really understand or participate in since no English translation of the poem was given.
The MeFi Register, Poster and Paper
Kim Witten, AKA MeFi's own iamkimiam had asked us last month to help her collect some meta MeTa Data data. She just won the HRC Poster Competition with her poster How do you pronounce "MeFi"?
SP EAK IN GI N TO NGU ES
Languages! We speak 'em! How can we help each other? [more inside]
"Bitch" is an ugly word to throw around so casually.
It's disheartening to read a bunch of users, particularly women, repeatedly refer to another woman as a "bitch". [more inside]
Spaces are for sissies!
Dump "awesome"
Aren't you tired of "awesome"? [more inside]
It's "Its"
It's "Its". Mefites are unusually smart and literate people. It seems weird to me how often mistakes like this are made. Grocer's apostrophe, too. It's like everybody loses their minds when an "s" comes at the end of a word. What is with this? [more inside]
Datawank much?
Here, because I didn't sleep well last night, is a look at the use of the rhetorical device "[verb/adjective/descriptor] much?" on Metafilter. Specifically, on the blue, the grey, and the green. [more inside]
'Tis not.
America's copyeditors would like to encourage Metafilter to change the message at the top of the site. [more inside]
Steal this Derail
There's a legal term for violating a copyright owner's exclusive rights: it's "infringement," not "theft." And to this day I have not heard a single justification for why not to use it. I'm done with this derail, but I look forward to having it again every time this subject comes up" - Well, me neither. How about we don't? [more inside]
Disgusting/discussing female bits
Douchebag retro-sexism: not cool [more inside]
Is the term "Batshit Insane" offensive?
Yesterday, this post about the Discovery hostage-taking was edited (with the poster's permission) by Matt. The main result of editing was to remove the term "batshit insane" and the batshitinsane tag. I have mixed feelings about this. Is the term so offensive (presumably, to sanity-challenged folks) as to be unusable? If so, should it even be allowed as a tag? [more inside]
Not ok to use spastic
I dunno if I'm out of touch with what the kids are saying, but I thought it was not cool to throw the word 'spastic' around. [more inside]
Why the sudden rash of "honey"s?
Is it me, or has MeFi been infected with "honey" recently? It seems as though in the past week or so, every thread I go into has someone referring to another poster as "honey" or "hon" -- a term that I find startlingly condescending (with overtones of ageism and sexism, to boot). [more inside]
Thanks a lot, Tower of Babel
I'm working on a post in which I'd like to use a certain article that provides useful and interesting background information, information I can't find anywhere else. Unfortunately this article is a PDF file... and in Spanish. [more inside]
The etymology of HURF DURF
I've seen a few comments recently claiming or intimating that "HURF DURF" originated here, and I would like to set the record straight on this extremely trivial matter. [more inside]
that's what my daddy made me
Kenya hack it?
25 new posts about how it doesn't say that.
Very short question. Why does it say 'X new links' when most posts here don't have links? Shouldn't it say 'X new posts or X new flameouts/hugesexismthreads/podcasts'?
regulation
Recently jessamyn rushed to edit the title of an Ask Metafilter question, changing it from "Nice bag that isn't gay" to simply "Nice bag." Today, on Metafilter, there is "It's harder than you think to differentiate between what's gay and what's High School Musical."
Why is one offensive, and one is not, if they both reference ideas that are generally accepted as being attractive to gay men?
[less inside]
On this question, brownpau claims that there is information missing from the original question. However, it's just that the words "[more inside]" are not displayed in the question's page. I've noticed this a few other times; a turn of the phrase that is meant to end in the [more inside] looks out of whack and, until I realize that it's happened again, appears to be have something missing.
Should [more inside] perhaps be placed inside the thread, as well, to lessen confusion, even though, technically, we're already inside?
Should we say "digg-effected" or "digg-affected"?
One of the links in this FPP references a "digg-effected link." This is probably overly nitpicky and more a matter of curiosity than anything else, but would it be "digg-effected" or "digg-affected?" It's a link that fell prey to the "digg effect," but on the other hand it was "affected by digg." Thoughts?
so cool!
Pronunciation of MeFi and MeFite?
MeFi: may-fee [mefi] or mee-fie [mifaɪ]? Mefite: mee-fight or may-fight? I was a little disconcerted at a meet-up to realise that some people pronounce these terms differently than I do. Is there a dominant pronounciation? Any other variants? (idle curiosity of a linguistics student)
strawmen everywhere!
During my sophomore year in college, my classmates apparently all simultaneously discovered the word "ambiguous." We couldn't go through five minutes of a class discussion without the word being used. It was like, "I'm smart! Look at my new word! Watch me use it in any mildly appropriate way!"
I can't get ten comments through a thread here without someone cleverly pointing out a "straw man" argument. Not every argument that is contrary to your own is a "straw man" argument. An unsupported argument is not a "staw man" argument. If you disagree with someone's point, then take the time to attack the logic or the premise of that argument. Don't just call that person a "straw man." It's too ambiguous.
I can't get ten comments through a thread here without someone cleverly pointing out a "straw man" argument. Not every argument that is contrary to your own is a "straw man" argument. An unsupported argument is not a "staw man" argument. If you disagree with someone's point, then take the time to attack the logic or the premise of that argument. Don't just call that person a "straw man." It's too ambiguous.
What happened to ?? ?
What happened to 김치? Because if for nothing else, he actuated this and i liked it.
plus the caps lock thread kicks this year's anniversay thread in the ash.
plus the caps lock thread kicks this year's anniversay thread in the ash.
weird phrasing in question
Strange superlative.
I have many delicious vegetarian recipes, but I better not tell this guy. I would hate to be responsible for him punching his mother in the mouth.
Or worse, my mother.
I have many delicious vegetarian recipes, but I better not tell this guy. I would hate to be responsible for him punching his mother in the mouth.
Or worse, my mother.
MetaFilter Members In Iraq
Are there any members who are serving or have served in Iraq? Any members who live, or have constant contact with someone who lives, in Iraq? If you're willing, I have language-related questions, both about American military usage and colloquial modern Iraqi Arabic. Email me at the address on the web site linked in my profile.
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