Live data from Hacker News

This blog is written in en-GB

shkspr.mobi

411–420 of 474 posts

Re: This blog is written in en-GB

#411
post #410

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Scots is complicated because there was an entirely distinct language "Gaelic" which just isn't even close to English at all, spoken in that geographic area historically. Now, today there aren't very many people who live there who would even claim to actually speak Gaelic, but the influence of that language seeped into the dialect spoken there, so while the random bloke you meet in Scotland may not speak any Gaelic, i…

You misunderstand the region. Gaelic arrived in Scotland as a medieval import from Ireland, and it never extended far enough south to affect Scots overall. The literature on English historical linguistics emphasizes far more the impact of Old Norse on Scots, as the Scots-speaking region was Norse-ruled for some time.

Oh, OK, TIL

Re: This blog is written in en-GB

#412
post #406
post #285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But I think that national identity doesn't exist in the same way, do you know what I mean? Like, being Black/African American in the US is an important part of a person's identity, but it doesn't necessarily have the trappings of nationhood in the same way that Scottish identity does. That's not to say that the identity is any weaker, just that it manifests itself differently. This means that AAV is culturally import…

Right, I think the major thing that both of you are unwittingly dancing around is the extent to which AAV is generally "popular," almost subconsciously. Especially in the US, but I'd argue the whole world. It would be exceedingly difficult to strongly distinguish it from "Gen Whatever Slang" or "US Slang" or a lot of "LGTBQ Slang" etc etc. The list goes on.

Not really, no. AAV isn't just a form of slang, it has distinct and measurable grammatical differences from standard American English, such as its own verb tense, or a requirement for negative concord. You can measure these sorts of features quite clearly, and they are distinct from slang.

Re: This blog is written in en-GB

#413

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really want to see a local Euro English[0] develop as an actual, recognized variant of English. Both because it would be really funny, but also as a way for Continental Europe to develop a common language we can shape our own way 0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_English (we don't have to take the examples in this page as-is, we can definitely make better local oddities!)

I would much prefer French be used for that purpose as the brits clearly no longer want anything to do with the rest of Europe ETA: Esperanto or Interlingua would also be acceptable

French would give France an advantage. The British don’t own English, and it is good for the common language to not be native from any member country, to avoid favoritism

Re: This blog is written in en-GB

#414

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Certain cultures teach that diversity is a bad thing to be feared and extinguished. Ok, I take the bait. Which ones?

Is it bait? I'm pretty sure it's a reasonably factual, albeit general claim. Asking chatGPT for country-specific examples for instance gives this: > Yes—some countries have (at various times, and in some cases still today) adopted policies aimed at making the population more “homogeneous,” through segregation, assimilation pressure, or exclusion/deportation. Concrete examples: - South Africa (apartheid era, 1948–1990…

Don't post generated text or AI-edited text. HN is for conversation between humans.[1]

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: This blog is written in en-GB

#416
post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can I just say that, as someone born and bred in the UK, YYYY-MM-DD is the only correct way to display a date wherever you live. Anything else is as bad as using mm:hh...

> Anything else is as bad as using mm:hh... Please tell me that's not a thing.

Just look at your crontab, love.

Re: This blog is written in en-GB

#417

I read several blogs that use British English, including this OP's blog. Some of my favourite blogs in my RSS reader are British English blogs, or at least they use British English spellings and grammar. I find their use of the English language very charming and funny in a unique way. It surprises me that anyone would feel entitled to ask a blogger to change the variety of English they use. American English is only o…

They did not say someone asked them to write American English.

Re: This blog is written in en-GB

#418

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I personally have massive problems with Rowling because of her transphobic views, as I am a transexual woman and she completely misunderstands us and has used her influence to make our lives hell in the UK. The rest of her political views aren't something I give much thought as she isn't nearly as influential in those areas >Sidenote: If you're referring to the zombie-ant fungus, those go by Ophiocordyceps nowadays N…

I can see how being personally affected would change the outlook on things like this. It just seems to me that often people that are politically still "somewhat close" (Rowling) catch more flak than politicians that associate "transgender" with something inbetween "subhuman" and "delusional", but don't talk about it too much (because their whole electorate coulnd't care less about the topic anyway). I had a similar i…

It's because JKR is a woman, and men like the one you're replying to have a particularly deranged level of ire for women who say "no".

Men with similar views to JKR receive far less vitriol.

Re: This blog is written in en-GB

#419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Regarding spelling: As an unbiased foreigner, many American variants seem superior to me (color, defense, program, meter) with british just being weird (and/or tainted by the french). Regarding Rowling: It seems to me that she gets more pushback/hate being, say "50% modern left-ish" than people that are even less aligned with left values. This gives me kinda medieval religion vibes (better an unbeliever/outsider than…

I personally have massive problems with Rowling because of her transphobic views, as I am a transexual woman and she completely misunderstands us and has used her influence to make our lives hell in the UK. The rest of her political views aren't something I give much thought as she isn't nearly as influential in those areas >Sidenote: If you're referring to the zombie-ant fungus, those go by Ophiocordyceps nowadays N…

You are a man and, like all men, need to refrain from imposing yourself on women's spaces. If you, and other men like you, stopped doing that, then there would be no problem. This is an issue that is entirely behaviourally self-inflicted. All you need to do is respect women's boundaries.

Re: This blog is written in en-GB

#420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve seen a lot of blog entries using typography so horrible, I had to use reader view to read the page—there was a trend in the mid-2010s to use pencil-thin fonts and there is now and then still a blog out there using one of those unreadable pencil-thin fonts. However, this blog uses a very readable font called “Atkinson Hyperlegible” and I had no problem reading it. If the color scheme bothers you, click on “eInk”…

Indeed, unreadable typography (and the need for Reader View) is one of my most common annoyances with sites posted to HN - but I don't see how it's applicable to this site in any way?

I somehow had a sticky setting that applied the "Drunk Mode" theme, which was remembered forever. The theme selector isn't easy to see in that mode.
Post reply on HN