reverse autocorrect

Bill Wright

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Dec 10, 2015, 8:50:12 AM12/10/15

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I get texts from my kids in which there has been a nonsensical
autocorrect, and the sender hasn't bothered to put it right. Often the
whole message becomes indecipherable. What we need is a program that
will reverse engineer autocorrected words.

Today and yesterday I have received:

Cans any word off the bag

This wreck is not going to plan

Its bling a fail

Bill

NY

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Dec 10, 2015, 9:01:06 AM12/10/15

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"Bill Wright" <wrights...@f2s.com> wrote in message
news:n4bvuh$inj$1...@speranza.aioe.org...

Auto correct (as on my wife's newer Samsung phone) is a pain in the rectum.
On the other hand, auto suggest (as on my older model) is great because it
offers you the chance to choose one of the three possibilities but also
gives you the choice of saying "none of the above - I know what I mean".

I haven't got the foggiest what any of the messages above were supposed to
say, but they sound like fluent bollocks (to use a Victor Meldrew-ism) in
the form that you received them.

Half the problem is that people no longer write in proper sentences anyway,
so the messages may have been impenetrable even without the spelling
"corrections".

Davey

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Dec 10, 2015, 9:28:38 AM12/10/15

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The answer is in three parts:
1. Insist that you won't respond to any message that is not spelled and
formed correctly. Limits of word numbers are no excuse.
2. Tell them to turn off Autocorrect, it is an Option.
And finally:
3. Turn off Text Receive on your own device. You don't really need it
anyway.

--
Davey.

Tim+

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Dec 10, 2015, 9:39:22 AM12/10/15

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Davey <da...@example.invalid> wrote:
> On Thu, 10 Dec 2015 13:50:11 +0000
> Bill Wright <wrights...@f2s.com> wrote:
>
>> I get texts from my kids in which there has been a nonsensical
>> autocorrect, and the sender hasn't bothered to put it right. Often
>> the whole message becomes indecipherable. What we need is a program
>> that will reverse engineer autocorrected words.
>>
>> Today and yesterday I have received:
>>
>> Cans any word off the bag
>>
>> This wreck is not going to plan
>>
>> Its bling a fail
>>
>> Bill
>
>
> The answer is in three parts:
> 1. Insist that you won't respond to any message that is not spelled and
> formed correctly. Limits of word numbers are no excuse.
> 2. Tell them to turn off Autocorrect, it is an Option.

Too long winded. Assuming you have a reasonable text allowance, just reply
with a "?". That lets the sender know that clarification is needed.
Hopefully after having to repeatedly clarify messages, they'll realise that
taking a bit of care first time round saves time.

> And finally:
> 3. Turn off Text Receive on your own device. You don't really need it
> anyway.

Hmm, babies and bathwater come to mind. Text messages can be very handy.

Tim

NY

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Dec 10, 2015, 10:07:19 AM12/10/15

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"Martin" <m...@address.invalid> wrote in message
news:ed3j6b9ucgi2imum5...@4ax.com...
> Samsung sometimes changes the text when you click to send without giving
> you a
> chance to block the change.

That's what I meant by "auto-correct", where the phone won't let you
override its "corrections". My older phone (a slightly earlier version of
Android 4) implements auto-suggest which displays three words which may be
what you were planning to type, and these words change as you type
successive letters of each word. You can type "tom" and then click on
"tomorrow" that has offered, ignoring the other partial match of "tomato",
which saves typing all the letters of each word. But because it only offers
and never "corrects", at least my text and Skype messages make sense, unlike
my wife's to me which occasionally contain random words which may sound
slightly similar to what she was intending and which she has been unable to
correct back after the auto-correct buggered it up.

NY

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Dec 10, 2015, 10:37:35 AM12/10/15

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"Martin" <m...@address.invalid> wrote in message

news:3n5j6b17a3cbnvo06...@4ax.com...

> I've come to the conclusion that in general Samsung products are crap.
> You get what you pay for.

My wife had a Samsung Galaxy Note which she loved. Literally the day after
its manufacturer's warranty expired, it developed a fault which causing
intermittent charging problems such that you plug the tablet into a charger
(we tried a variety of chargers and cables, and even a new battery) and it
stops charging after a few seconds. Occasionally it has worked since: I
managed to get it up to about 70% charged one day before it cut out. But
mostly it refuses to charge and won't even run for more than a few minutes
when connected to the charger.

Something in the tablet appears to be sending a "stop providing charging
current" signal to the charger.

My wife decided to buy an iPad to replace it, partly so we would both have
experience of using an iPad as well as Android, in case I needed to provide
Apple support to customers. Big mistake. The problems of Android and Samsung
pale into insignificance compared with the dictatorial "you *will* do it the
Apple way" attitude of the iPad. Whenever we ask "how do we do X" questions
in Apple forums or in the Apple shop, the standard response is "why do you
want to do that - you shouldn't even want to do that". And they lock you
into needing an Apple AirPrint-enabled printer. It stores data files
alongside applications so you can't have a single "Pictures" folder, for
example, with a variety of apps that can all act on those files (eg one to
display, another to edit etc, another to print multiple pictures on a sheet
of paper etc) as you would on Windows or Android; instead (it seems) every
app stores data files alongside it and needs its own copy of the data files
that it will work on, which creates a file-versioning nightmare. Even
configuring an email account is non-intuitive: it is not part of the email
client but is configured separately in the general Settings app: fine once
you know, but baffling if you try to do it by intuition. And the on-screen
keyboard is ridiculous: unlike Android's, the case of the letters does not
change between lower and upper case - you always see upper-case letters
irrespective of whether you are pressing shift or not.

Roderick Stewart

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Dec 10, 2015, 10:44:04 AM12/10/15

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>I've come to the conclusion that in general Samsung products are crap.
>You get what you pay for.

Can't you switch autocorrect off? I have a Samsung and it lets me type
whay I want, mistakes and all.

Rod.

Woody

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Dec 10, 2015, 11:08:18 AM12/10/15

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If you really want to see bad T9 try the Doro clam-shell mobiles
intended for the grey brigade.

It tried to put my daughter's name - Kate - into it and it would not
permit anything other than late, gate, hate, or rate. The trouble is
that to turn T9 off is a pain, unlike the superb T9 of Nokia (as
distinct from Microsoft Nokia) phones where it is just a couple of
presses of the same key.

I would suggest Bill impresses on his offspring that they must read
what they have typed b4 sending.

Oops!

--
Woody

harrogate3 at ntlworld dot com

S Viemeister

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Dec 10, 2015, 11:33:56 AM12/10/15

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On 12/10/2015 11:10 AM, Martin wrote:

> A connector problem? Mine had a similar problem after 6 months. I returned it
> under guarantee. I got it back after 5 weeks. It works now but battery life is
> only about 5 hours. My daughter has a +2 years old Note. She has the same
> problem you have.On Youtube you can see how to fix the problem, but you need a
> tool to get the cover off. The tool looks like an all plastic/nylon screw
> driver. I don't know where to buy a thing like that. Once you have the cover off
> the fix is simple.
>
Something like this?
<http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EY9APTY/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3UN7CRO0HS5VK&coliid=I6A3U8147BV6U>

charles

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Dec 10, 2015, 11:36:27 AM12/10/15

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In article <n4c7ss$g9j$1...@dont-email.me>,

Woody <harro...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
> If you really want to see bad T9 try the Doro clam-shell mobiles
> intended for the grey brigade.

> It tried to put my daughter's name - Kate - into it and it would not
> permit anything other than late, gate, hate, or rate. The trouble is
> that to turn T9 off is a pain, unlike the superb T9 of Nokia (as
> distinct from Microsoft Nokia) phones where it is just a couple of
> presses of the same key.

My Nokia - with Windows 8 - simply shows suggested words above where I am
typing. I can use them if I want.

--
Please note new email address:
cha...@CandEhope.me.uk

John Hall

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Dec 10, 2015, 11:39:45 AM12/10/15

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In message <n4bvuh$inj$1...@speranza.aioe.org>, Bill Wright
<wrights...@f2s.com> writes

>I get texts from my kids in which there has been a nonsensical
>autocorrect, and the sender hasn't bothered to put it right. Often the
>whole message becomes indecipherable. What we need is a program that
>will reverse engineer autocorrected words.

The trouble is that, if run at your end, there's no way for the reverse
engineering program to know what was intended, as there are probably
usually quite a few misspelt words that would have been "corrected" to
the same word.

>
>Today and yesterday I have received:
>
>Cans any word off the bag
>
>This wreck is not going to plan

Suspect it should be "this week is not going to plan".

>
>Its bling a fail

Can't help with this or the first one, though.
--
John Hall
"Honest criticism is hard to take,
particularly from a relative, a friend,
an acquaintance, or a stranger." Franklin P Jones

Bill Wright

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Dec 10, 2015, 1:37:43 PM12/10/15

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On 10/12/2015 14:28, Davey wrote:

> The answer is in three parts:
> 1. Insist that you won't respond to any message that is not spelled and
> formed correctly.

Your use of the word 'insist' suggests you haven't had dealings with my
children.

Bill

Tim+

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Dec 10, 2015, 3:42:57 PM12/10/15

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Ah, children. In this case tease them mercilessly and respond with total
non-sequiturs to baffle them.

Tim

Davey

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Dec 10, 2015, 5:54:33 PM12/10/15

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That's an idea. On receipt of one of those that make no sense, send
back the previous one that came from that source.

--
Davey.

S Viemeister

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Dec 10, 2015, 7:08:03 PM12/10/15

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On 12/10/2015 6:08 PM, Martin wrote:

> <firs...@lastname.oc.ku> wrote:

>> Something like this?
>> <http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EY9APTY/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3UN7CRO0HS5VK&coliid=I6A3U8147BV6U>
>

> The word I am looking for is SPUDGER! :-)
>
Ooh! A new word! I love learning new words.

> This set in £
> http://www.amazon.co.uk/ELEGIANT-Spudger-Screwdriver-Motorola-Blackberry/dp/B0171S18QI/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1449788133&sr=8-13&keywords=Samsung+Galaxy+Tablet+repair+kit
>
> I guess that this is all that is needed to remove the cover.
> http://www.amazon.co.uk/ACENIX®-Plastic-Spudger-Opening-Laptops/dp/B0134ID006/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1449788539&sr=8-7&keywords=ACENIX®+New+Professional+Tools+Set
>
> or even just this
> http://www.amazon.co.uk/Plastic-Double-Ended-Spudger-Android-Tablets/dp/B01399HS30/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449788832&sr=8-1&keywords=5+Pcs+Hard+Plastic+Double-Ended+Spudger+Pry+Open+Tool+iPod+iPad+Android+Tablets
>

Bill Wright

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Dec 10, 2015, 9:17:30 PM12/10/15

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On 10/12/2015 20:40, Tim+ wrote:

> Ah, children. In this case tease them mercilessly and respond with total
> non-sequiturs to baffle them.
>
> Tim
>

I do actually send my kids some off the wall texts. When asked recently
if I'd babysit the grandchildren overnight I said I'd have to get
permission off the police first, what with me being on the paedophile
register and everything. That was bad, very bad, and Hil shouted at me.

Bill

Bill Wright

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Dec 10, 2015, 9:27:28 PM12/10/15

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On 11/12/2015 00:08, S Viemeister wrote:

> Ooh! A new word! I love learning new words.

Flangescent.

Bill

Davey

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Dec 11, 2015, 6:13:27 AM12/11/15

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Any relation to Phlogiston?

--
Davey.

Brian-Gaff

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Dec 11, 2015, 6:23:13 AM12/11/15

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This is predictive text one assumes. Most phones allow this to be turned off
which is often far better.
Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
Remember, if you don't like where I post
or what I say, you don't have to
read my posts! :-)

"Bill Wright" <wrights...@f2s.com> wrote in message
news:n4bvuh$inj$1...@speranza.aioe.org...

Brian-Gaff

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Dec 11, 2015, 6:28:44 AM12/11/15

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I wonder if its similar software in use for real time subtitles, which may
explain a lot of stuff deaf people have to put up with.
Where is Hoss?
He's out there rounding up my kettle.

Or something along those lines.

Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
Remember, if you don't like where I post
or what I say, you don't have to
read my posts! :-)

"John Hall" <john_...@jhall.co.uk> wrote in message
news:AFSDHUCCkaaWFwSI@jhall_nospamxx.co.uk...

S Viemeister

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Dec 11, 2015, 7:10:22 AM12/11/15

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A _very_ new word, that one.
When did you come up with it?

unread,

Dec 11, 2015, 7:28:33 AM12/11/15

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Near us is the Raw Milk Dairy. Maybe that's what they meant?
http://www.foulgersdairy.co.uk/on-line-shops/raw-milk-shop/products/view.html?category_id=1

--
Davey.

NY

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Dec 11, 2015, 7:41:00 AM12/11/15

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"Martin" <m...@address.invalid> wrote in message

news:9sgl6bpcfq61gthad...@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 11 Dec 2015 07:10:22 -0500, S Viemeister
> <firs...@lastname.oc.ku>

> When he put the Iceland flan still packaged in aluminium foil in the
> microwave
> oven?

In Yorkshire, anyone who did that would be described as "a reet gormless
wazzock".

S Viemeister

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Dec 11, 2015, 8:31:27 AM12/11/15

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On 12/11/2015 7:38 AM, Martin wrote:
> On Fri, 11 Dec 2015 07:10:22 -0500, S Viemeister <firs...@lastname.oc.ku>
> wrote:
>

> When he put the Iceland flan still packaged in aluminium foil in the microwave
> oven?
>

Sounds about right.

S Viemeister

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Dec 11, 2015, 8:33:33 AM12/11/15

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On 12/11/2015 7:37 AM, Martin wrote:

> People might think it is a euphemism for plonker. :-)
>
And they might well be correct in that assumption.

NY

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Dec 11, 2015, 9:22:34 AM12/11/15

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"Martin" <m...@address.invalid> wrote in message

news:nc9l6btuucn38dn8b...@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 10 Dec 2015 19:08:01 -0500, S Viemeister
> <firs...@lastname.oc.ku>

> wrote:
>
>>On 12/10/2015 6:08 PM, Martin wrote:
>>> <firs...@lastname.oc.ku> wrote:
>>
>>>> Something like this?
>>>> <http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EY9APTY/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=3UN7CRO0HS5VK&coliid=I6A3U8147BV6U>
>>>
>>> The word I am looking for is SPUDGER! :-)
>>>
>>Ooh! A new word! I love learning new words.
>

> Me too, Sheila. It has a crude sound to it, as in "he is a real spudger".

Or else something that you could be arrested for showing to young girls in
the park "he got his spudger out and started waving it around at me". :-)

Bill Wright

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Dec 11, 2015, 9:59:05 AM12/11/15

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Fifty years ago a friend and I, sixth formers, wondered if it was
possible to introduce a word into the language. We start to slip
'flangescent' into conversations very casually, where the meaning could
be derived from the context and tone of voice. It meant absolutely
superb, with overtones of 'smart', 'modern' and maybe 'flashy'. Sixth
formers do not want to show their ignorance so we we rarely questioned.
It took a term to get the word into general usage.

The real triumph came when the elderly Head of English used it. He was
always one for being trendy and 'one of the kids'.

Bill

S Viemeister

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Dec 11, 2015, 10:36:06 AM12/11/15

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:)

NY

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Dec 11, 2015, 10:42:14 AM12/11/15

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"Bill Wright" <wrights...@f2s.com> wrote in message

news:n4eobm$r0f$1...@speranza.aioe.org...

That's a great achievement. I wonder how widely the word has spread beyond
your school into the local community and to friends/relatives/colleagues of
the people you were at school with.

When I was about five, my parents had a three-piece suite with a wooden
frame with strips of rubber webbing stretched across to support the
cushions. I was at the age when I was inventing words for things if I didn't
know the real word or if there wasn't a word. For example, good old farmyard
manure, producing a strong smell as we were driving past fields in the
country, was "duvven-duvven". But the word that has lasted in our family
right up to the present day is the one I invented for the webbing strips
with the metal ends that hooked into a groove on the settee frame:
"crabbutts". Unlike the other example, this is a word for something that has
no known word already.

We've always called these things crabbutts, and when one of them broke, my
mum went into the local upholstery shop and asked whether they had "any
crabbutts like these". The assistant apparently didn't turn a hair and went
and looked in the back of the shop (in a box marked "crabbutts"?) and came
back with a couple. I'd like to think that the shopkeeper started using this
word and spread it among other people in the furniture trade!

NY

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Dec 11, 2015, 10:42:14 AM12/11/15

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"Martin" <m...@address.invalid> wrote in message

news:mbol6bp6qug9ont36...@4ax.com...

> LOL
>
> Did it bring tears to your eyes, when you used yours to remove the cover
> from
> your Samsung Tablet?
>
> BTW did you locate the youtube video that shows you how to fix the problem
> in
> your tablet?
> --

Ah I must have missed that message. What's the URL? I wonder what it
suggests, given that it involves going inside the case. If it's replacing or
checking the seating of the battery, I've tried that. But maybe it's
something else.

c...@isbd.net

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Dec 11, 2015, 11:16:03 AM12/11/15

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Martin <m...@address.invalid> wrote:

> On Thu, 10 Dec 2015 15:07:36 -0000, "NY" <m...@privacy.net> wrote:
>
> >"Martin" <m...@address.invalid> wrote in message
>

> I've come to the conclusion that in general Samsung products are crap.
> You get what you pay for.

Er, that doesn't really make sense. :-)

Samsung products are not cheap by any means, they're some of the most
expnsive Android based devices competing with top of the range Apple
stuff.

--
Chris Green
·

NY

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Dec 11, 2015, 12:22:12 PM12/11/15

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"Martin" <m...@address.invalid> wrote in message

news:p1vl6btlhmua4vqo4...@4ax.com...
> The spudger is larger and red or orange on the first youtube that I found.

If your spudger is large and red or orange, all's well. If it gets smaller
it needs "encouragement". If it turns blue, put more clothes on. It's it
goes green, see a doctor quickly. :-)

NY

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Dec 11, 2015, 12:25:21 PM12/11/15

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"Martin" <m...@address.invalid> wrote in message

news:p1vl6btlhmua4vqo4...@4ax.com...

>>Ah I must have missed that message. What's the URL? I wonder what it
>>suggests, given that it involves going inside the case. If it's replacing
>>or
>>checking the seating of the battery, I've tried that. But maybe it's
>>something else.
>

> I lost the link but this one is similar
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIi__P86hyA
>
> There are others on the same page.

>
> The spudger is larger and red or orange on the first youtube that I found.
>

> This one uses a plastic pry tool, referred to by the cognoscenti as
> spudger.
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2VJ_VRIRSI

Thanks. I'll have a look at those and see if they help solve the problem. If
I can resurrect my wife's Note, I'll be in her good books. The Note is
sitting on my desk, waiting for the day when someone comes up with a
do-it-yourself remedy that doesn't involve returning an out of warranty
device to Samsung and paying through the nose for what may be a simple
repair.

Johnny B Good

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Dec 11, 2015, 12:55:16 PM12/11/15

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On Fri, 11 Dec 2015 13:37:07 +0100, Martin wrote:

> On Fri, 11 Dec 2015 07:14:35 -0500, S Viemeister

> <firs...@lastname.oc.ku>
> wrote:
>
>>On 12/11/2015 5:31 AM, Martin wrote:
>>> On Thu, 10 Dec 2015 19:08:01 -0500, S Viemeister
>>> <firs...@lastname.oc.ku>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 12/10/2015 6:08 PM, Martin wrote:
>>>>> <firs...@lastname.oc.ku> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>> Something like this?
>>>>>> <http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EY9APTY/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?
_encoding=UTF8&colid=3UN7CRO0HS5VK&coliid=I6A3U8147BV6U>
>>>>>
>>>>> The word I am looking for is SPUDGER! :-)
>>>>>
>>>> Ooh! A new word! I love learning new words.
>>>
>>> Me too, Sheila. It has a crude sound to it, as in "he is a real
>>> spudger".
>>>
>>I'm looking forward to working it into a conversation.
>

> People might think it is a euphemism for plonker. :-)

As in "Wodney! You're a real plonker!"? :-)

--
Johnny B Good

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Dec 11, 2015, 5:51:01 PM12/11/15

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On 11/12/2015 12:10, S Viemeister wrote:

> When did you come up with it?

When he was at school. Which was some time in the last millennium...

Andy

Davey

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Dec 11, 2015, 8:50:17 PM12/11/15

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On Fri, 11 Dec 2015 13:41:05 +0100
Martin <m...@address.invalid> wrote:

> This happens everyday. If there is a word we don't understand, it
> never appears in the subtitles. The subtitles aren't corrected when
> the same news item is repeated later in the day.

And that's the rub. They have time, but nobody cares.

--
Davey.

Bill Wright

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Dec 11, 2015, 9:35:08 PM12/11/15

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Some of thy buggers on here are that sharp tha'll cut thasens.

Bill

Bill Wright

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Dec 11, 2015, 9:37:05 PM12/11/15

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You have a long memory. I didn't mention this time that we sent a letter
to Radio Peking using the word.

Bill

Johnny B Good

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Dec 11, 2015, 10:06:43 PM12/11/15

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Not memory, just some 'google-fu'. I came across one of your postings in
a forum from nearly 8 years ago where you mentioned this exploit. I was
googling the word 'flangescent' to see whether it was an actual word in
any dictionary. I found no dictionary entries but came across that old
posting of yours here:

<http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Uk/uk.tech.broadcast/2008-03/
msg00355.html>

Apologies for the line wrap.

--
Johnny B Good

thesimpsons

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Dec 12, 2015, 3:53:54 AM12/12/15

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It may be apocryphal, that a grafittist is supposed to have once added
to a poster advertising an organ recital. Beneath the headline "Bach's
Organ Works", he wrote in "So does mine".
--
John Hall

_____________________________________________

Ah Graffiti
The one I remember seeing in my early days.

"My mother made me a lesbian!"
Followed by
"If I give her the wool will she make me one."

That was in the days when we only just about knew what a lesbian was.

F

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Dec 12, 2015, 7:57:27 AM12/12/15

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On 12/12/2015 09:29, Martin wrote:

> I worked in a multinational place. We had an English manager, who for some
> reason spoke the Franglais that his French boss spoke. His favourite phrase was
> "at the level of the principle" referred to as "atlop" by his staff. People did
> atlop counts during meetings.
>

A Polish workshop manager I knew, (and this was many years ago; he was
here because he came across to join the RAF during the war) never really
got to grips with English. He would come out with things like, "You boys
tink I know fuck notting. I tell you I know fuck all!"

The workshop was upstairs and on one occasion when an apprentice had
been larking about with a charged electrolytic he picked the youth up
and hurled him bodily down the stairs, causing broken bones. The youth
didn't complain because he would have got the sack if the whole story
had come out.

Bill

NY

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Dec 12, 2015, 9:25:36 AM12/12/15

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"Bill Wright" <wrights...@f2s.com> wrote in message

news:n4h5jj$j4p$1...@speranza.aioe.org...

> On 12/12/2015 09:29, Martin wrote:
>
>> I worked in a multinational place. We had an English manager, who for
>> some
>> reason spoke the Franglais that his French boss spoke. His favourite
>> phrase was
>> "at the level of the principle" referred to as "atlop" by his staff.
>> People did
>> atlop counts during meetings.
>>
>
> A Polish workshop manager I knew, (and this was many years ago; he was
> here because he came across to join the RAF during the war) never really
> got to grips with English. He would come out with things like, "You boys
> tink I know fuck notting. I tell you I know fuck all!"

I've also heard that story attributed to the film director Mike Curtiz,
quoted by David Niven
https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/28380.David_Niven, and to conductor
Georg Solti, quoted by Daniel Baremboim
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/daniel-barenboim-the-maestro-6112434.html

But it is quite possible that several people have said it (maybe even
independently of each other) because it is a perfectly logical extension
from f-nothing to f-all, for anyone who doesn't know that f-all means the
complete opposite of what the "all" would appear to imply.

Phil Cook

unread,

Dec 12, 2015, 10:48:11 AM12/12/15

to

On 12/12/2015 13:35, Martin wrote:

> On Sat, 12 Dec 2015 10:09:39 -0000, "Woody" <harro...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>
>> I remember seeing one in South Lincolnshire.
>>
>> A road sign saying
>>
>> 'To Mavis Enderby and
>> Old Bollingbrooke'
>>
>> and underneath a sub-sign hanging
>> 'The gift of a son'
>
>

> LOL
>
> HIGNFY had a good one of a Xmas greeting made by sticking one letter on each
> window of a three sided office block, The window facing the street had something
> obscene on it.

The phrase was "let it snow" the L and E were on one side of the
building which left the remainder without spaces on the front. YCWIO
--
Phil Cook

Indy Jess John

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Dec 12, 2015, 11:56:08 AM12/12/15

to

On 12/12/2015 12:57, Bill Wright wrote:

> A Polish workshop manager I knew, (and this was many years ago; he was
> here because he came across to join the RAF during the war) never really
> got to grips with English.

I worked for a while with a Cypriot.
His English was very good but he struggled with metaphors. Tou knew what
he meant but we don't say it like that.
My favourite was "I'll throw one stone at two pigeons".

Jim

Indy Jess John

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Dec 12, 2015, 11:58:08 AM12/12/15

to

On 12/12/2015 14:25, NY wrote:

> But it is quite possible that several people have said it (maybe even
> independently of each other) because it is a perfectly logical extension
> from f-nothing to f-all, for anyone who doesn't know that f-all means the
> complete opposite of what the "all" would appear to imply.
>

It reminds me of the Arab who was completely baffled by the idea that
first you chop a tree down, and then you can chop the tree up.

Jim

NY

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Dec 12, 2015, 12:05:22 PM12/12/15

to

"Indy Jess John" <jimw...@OMITblueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:ymYay.1130245$2u2.4...@fx37.am4...

Chopping a tree down is reasonably logical in that it makes tree fall down
to the ground. But chopping a fallen tree up into logs is pure idiom and
can't really be explained logically.

Bill Wright

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Dec 12, 2015, 7:35:03 PM12/12/15

to

On 12/12/2015 17:05, NY wrote:

> Chopping a tree down is reasonably logical in that it makes tree fall
> down to the ground. But chopping a fallen tree up into logs is pure
> idiom and can't really be explained logically.

'Up' seems to be used a lot after a verb that means to break down into
smaller parts. Chop up, break up, smash up, etc.

Bill

S Viemeister

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Dec 12, 2015, 8:40:41 PM12/12/15

to

On 12/12/2015 11:52 AM, Martin wrote:

> and a Spanish colleague, who reported that he had been shopping with his wife.
> "I got completely pissed in a shoe shop" Long afterwards I realised that he may
> have learnt English from Americans. I think they say that they were pissed, when
> we mean pissed off.
>
Yes.

Bill Wright

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Dec 13, 2015, 9:47:52 AM12/13/15

to

On 13/12/2015 13:08, pamela wrote:

>
> A Polish officer has been married for a few years, and his English
> friend asks if he has been blessed with any children.
>
> The officer replies: "No, my wife is impregnable".
>
> His fellow officer corrects him: "I'm sorry, my comrade's English is
> not quite perfect; he should have said his wife is unbearable".
>
> A third Polish officer helps out: "I am sorry, but neither of my
> comrades are correct. In fact, his wife is inconceivable".

The version that has a Chinese dignitary making a speech in London at
the Lord Mayor's Banquet goes on to include 'insurmountable'.

Bill

Johnny B Good

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Dec 13, 2015, 1:33:57 PM12/13/15

to

I think "up" is used in the sense that the 'number of bits and pieces'
being produced is going 'Up'. On that basis, the use of 'up' is entirely
logical. The phrase "break up into smaller parts" makes more sense than
the phrase "break down into smaller parts" hence the more common usage of
the former.

--
Johnny B Good

Roderick Stewart

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Dec 13, 2015, 2:35:26 PM12/13/15

to

On Sun, 13 Dec 2015 18:29:07 GMT, Johnny B Good
<johnny...@invalid.ntlworld.com> wrote:

>>> Chopping a tree down is reasonably logical in that it makes tree fall
>>> down to the ground. But chopping a fallen tree up into logs is pure
>>> idiom and can't really be explained logically.
>>
>> 'Up' seems to be used a lot after a verb that means to break down into
>> smaller parts. Chop up, break up, smash up, etc.
>>
>
> I think "up" is used in the sense that the 'number of bits and pieces'
>being produced is going 'Up'. On that basis, the use of 'up' is entirely
>logical. The phrase "break up into smaller parts" makes more sense than
>the phrase "break down into smaller parts" hence the more common usage of
>the former.

Hmm. That makes sense, but then if I was to talk of dismantling
something that could be taken to pieces without destroying it, such as
some piece of technology for cleaning or modification, or re-using the
parts, I probably would talk of "breaking it down" into its
components. I guess it depends on context. If you think of something
as being greater than the sum of its parts, and you understand how
it's been made from its parts, then as a concept "parts" is lower in
value than "completed item", so the implied direction is downwards. On
the other hand, if you were smashing it to pieces to discard it, you'd
probably only consider the number of fragments, as you suggest.

Rod.