OT: NPR, sigh.
rebecca
Today I heard on NPR that reorganizing government is not Congress' forte.
Which would be fine, really, except the reporter said "fort".
We are so doomed.
rebecca
Melissa
Damn.
Love,
Melissa
"This virtual sand tastes just like real sand."
-Line from one of the cartoons SS watches.
jane
It is pronounced "fort."
jane
The Watsons
"jane" <janel...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20040805003919...@mb-m20.aol.com...
> >except the reporter said "fort".
>
> It is pronounced "fort."
I thought either way was fine?
Jess
ROPEY22461
Adrienne Winn
> Am I mistaken, or is this a support site for Step-parents, not politics?
It's a newsgroup. An unmoderated one at that. Its primary purpose is for
discussion of step-parenting issues, and marriage issues for those with
step situations.
However, it being an unmoderated newsgroup pretty much means that people
can really post anything they want and besides annoying people, there's
not going to be any repercussions. We should all just be thankful that
it hasn't descended into the mucky, spammy depths that much of the rest
of Usenet has.
But beyond the technical "it's not moderated so people can post whatever
they want" explanation, assp is a community. People here have met other
people in real life, because of this newsgroup. So it's like any group
of people who've met because of one reason, but get to know each other
better and start to talk about other things of interest to them.
Adrienne
_calinda_
> Am I mistaken, or is this a support site for Step-parents, not
> politics?
Umm.. Ropey.. you might want to take the bug outta yer butt for a few
minutes and perhaps even spend some time (longer than even a day or so..
maybe a week or two) 'lurking' (reading the group, but not posting),
till you get the hang of how a newsgroup behaves. This is standard
advice no matter which newsgroup you participate in.
Once you get the hang of how a group is, then you might want to jump
into the fray. Otherwise, you may very well incur 'flames'. Flames,
basically are where someone bites your head off in a reply to you (which
is putting it mildly). This group rarely uses that technique, however
the 'take the bug outta yer butt' comment above, while not an actual
flame might be considered a little flicker... :-P
On another note.. you will notice this post has "OT" written in the
subject header.
That is to let you and anyone else know that the post is to be
considered Off Topic, and as such will usually have *nothing* whatsoever
to do with parenting/step-parenting. If you prefer not to read OT
posts, that's fine.. hit Next. Even better get an actual newsreader
where you can set up filters that won't even download anything with the
"OT" in the subject header.
Also, there is something called "Thread Drift". This is when a thread
has taken on a life of it's own, and drifts from subject to subject
based on something that was said in a prior post.
You will find this group is made up of the Champions <G> of thread drift
and sometimes that drift will lead to where it is no longer about
parenting / step-parenting, at which point, if you're no longer
interested in the subject you can again, hit "next".
Complaining about thread drift will usually get you no where. It
happens. Think of this newsgroup as a living, working document almost.
Relax and enjoy it, or move along and again hit next if it bothers you.
You might want to look around on Google for info on Usenet, which is
what this group actually is part of and see if they have primers for
newbies who are unfamiliar with how usenet works.
HTH (hope this helps)
Cal~
jane
>
>I thought either way was fine?
Not at my house, but in general, yes.
jane
>
>Jess
rebecca
"ROPEY22461" <ropey...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20040805092903...@mb-m05.aol.com...
> Am I mistaken, or is this a support site for Step-parents, not politics?
Well, Cal my hero has already answered, but...
OT = off topic
and it wasn't really about politics, it was about pronounciation.
rebecca
rebecca
>
> It is pronounced "fort."
>
> jane
I'll be doggoned, just looked it up, the dictionary has both "fort" and
"fortay". I stand corrected, we're not doomed.
rebecca
Lee
> and it wasn't really about politics, it was about pronounciation.
>
> rebecca
C'mon, Rebecca, you *know* that anytime anyone mentions NPR, it's
automatically political! ;->
Lee
Lee
Thank goodness! I thought I was losing my mind.
Lee
Cornhuskeress
(Hopefully this post will show up - I tried posting this before.) It
appears to be correct both ways:
for·te1 Pronunciation Key (fôrt, fôrt, frt)
n.
1.. Something in which a person excels.
2.. The strong part of a sword blade, between the middle and the hilt.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
[French fort, from Old French, strong, from Latin fortis. See fort.]
Synonyms: forte, 1métier, specialty, thing
These nouns denote something at which a person is particularly skilled:
Writing fiction is her forte. The theater is his métier. The professor's
specialty was the study of ancient languages. Mountain climbing is really my
thing.
Usage Note: The word forte, coming from French fort, should properly be
pronounced with one syllable, like the English word fort. Common usage,
however, prefers the two-syllable pronunciation, (fôrt), which has been
influenced possibly by the music term forte borrowed from Italian. In a
recent survey a strong majority of the Usage Panel, 74 percent, preferred
the two-syllable pronunciation. The result is a delicate situation; speakers
who are aware of the origin of the word may wish to continue to pronounce it
as one syllable but at an increasing risk of puzzling their listeners.
--
**Geri**
"Remember, never take no cutoffs and hurry along as fast as you can."
Virginia Reed, Donner Party
Cornhuskeress
It looks like all of the little sound symbols didn't translate over in the
pronunciation key. On the web site, the first choice is actually the two
syllable version. In any case, both are correct.
_calinda_
> It looks like all of the little sound symbols didn't translate over
> in the pronunciation key. On the web site, the first choice is
> actually the two syllable version. In any case, both are correct.
This is like my utter distaste for the word "irregardless". I can't
stand seeing that word. There is someone on another newsgroup who uses
that word constantly, even though he's obviously very intelligent. It
is one of those "makes my eyes bleed" type of words to me.
Anyway, I once wrote this scathing post directed towards him (we sort of
don't get along to start with and that probably plays a factor in just
how much it bothers me).
Right before I hit send, decided I had *better* double check my facts
beforehand and went to www.onelook.com and looked at their dictionaries.
(This checks dictionaries from all over the globe with one quick
search).
Sure enough that thing *is* a word. It's stated that it is of crude
usage and not the preference but that it is considered a word. Ugh.
So, I hit delete to my well written flame of a post and now just bite my
tongue when I see it.
I'm sure I do things that make other people's eyes bleed. I'm trying to
get out of the habit I have of typing "...." throughout my posts. I
realized I use them when I'm thinking (hehehe- not working well, just
cut some out there), it's sort of my 'stream of conscience' indicator.
I think as I type and when you see those little "...." it means I had to
stop typing to find the right word, or how to phrase what it is I'm
trying to say. I've not been doing as well as I wanted. My sentences
also tend to be run on with too many comma's.
I was horrible in HS with my grammar and punctuation. I've recently
considered getting some books for this. Right now money is tight, which
is the only thing stopping me there. If anyone has any they'd like to
donate, let me know :)
Cal~
The Watsons
"_calinda_" <calinda...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:2nf8dd...@uni-berlin.de...
> I was horrible in HS with my grammar and punctuation. I've recently
> considered getting some books for this. Right now money is tight, which
> is the only thing stopping me there. If anyone has any they'd like to
> donate, let me know :)
Let me see if SO needs my grammar book for his english course; if he
doesn't, i'll loan it out to you. :)
Jess
Cornhuskeress
about that word. I have a suspicion it was used incorrectly by so many
people that it finally was just added to the dictionaries.
Kathy Cole
<cahusk...@sbcglobalGOAWAY.net> wrote:
> Hah- your "irregardless" story makes me laugh. I have the same pet peeve
> about that word. I have a suspicion it was used incorrectly by so many
> people that it finally was just added to the dictionaries.
I expect that's exactly what happened; dictionaries define what is,
since language changes over time.
(And 'irregardless' makes my eyes bleed too.)
Melissa
>Am I mistaken, or is this a support site for Step-parents, not politics?
>
>
Gotta love the trolls.
ROPEY22461
Cornhuskeress
> Hmmmm...okay
That was helpful.