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Post by OziRiS on Jun 9, 2015 20:02:37 GMT
If you've learned something new today (and I personally have a goal to learn something new every day) and you want to share it with the rest of us, this is the place to do it. Even if the particular thing you've learned isn't all that interesting, but the story behind how or why you ended up learning it is, we want to hear it. At worst, it'll be a good read and at best, the rest of us might also learn something new and become a little smarter. I got the idea for this thread because I'm constantly learning new stuff when I go through these boards and that's one of the reasons I've kept coming here almost daily for the past three years. Yes, I just checked and I registered on the day Cyber opened this place, October 30th, 2012. It's been almost three years. Crazy, right? Anyway, sometimes I learn something new directly from one of you, sometimes I learn it indirectly from the discussions we have and sometimes (and I like those times the best) someone asks a question that catches my interest, makes me think and entices me to start trawling the web for information, trying to sift out a meaningful answer from the thousands of pages of irrelevant drivel posted to the web every day. I've become quite the googler because of those questions  Of course, this isn't the only place I learn stuff from, but it's proven to be a good source. I constantly learn more or less useful things about everything from particle physics to what kind of sauce goes well with pan-fried string beans. All of it is interesting in its own way. The things you've learned and would like to post don't have to be academic in nature. Learning that your grandmother used to sew bibs for little baby Bill Gates, that shins are excellent tools for finding furniture in the dark or that your kid has suddenly taken an interest in classical music for some reason can be just as fun for the rest of us to read about as you having learned something new and exciting about Saturn's moons or advanced robotics. The entire point of this thread is to (hopefully) get you to sit down at the end of the day and go, "Hmmm... What did I learn today?" If the answer to that question is "nothing", you've either slept through the entire day or you just haven't been paying attention to the world around you. There's always something to learn, even if that something is just that your wife might not like your tattoo as much as she's been saying all these years. It's just a matter of noticing the things around you, however small and insignificant they might seem, and using those wonderful words, loved by kids everywhere, that have been advancing our species for millenia: "Who?", "when?", "where?", "how?" and my personal favorite, "why?" In my most humble of opinions, the phrase, "we learn as long as we live," shouldn't just be something we regurgitate every time we make a mistake. It should be a goal. So, go ahead and think back over the course of the day. What did you learn today? |
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Post by OziRiS on Jun 9, 2015 21:08:00 GMT
It only seems fitting that I start this one off myself with the thing I learned that made me want to open this thread, so here goes. Today I learned what the difference between "accent" and "dialect" is and that the difference is, well, different in English than it is in my native Danish. In Danish, the word "dialect" is used to describe how native speakers of a language within the same country speak differently, depending on where in the country they come from. For instance, we'd say that someone from Northern England and someone from Southern England speak the same language, but they have different dialects. Even though they might use the same words and sentences in the same way, they don't pronounce them the same way. That they might have different slang words doesn't make a difference. That's part of the dialect. An "accent", on the other hand, is when the differences in how two people speak the same language come from them not being from the same country. For example, a German or Dutch person speaking English will often pronounce V's like F's, because that's how V's are pronounced in germanic languages. It's clear that person is not a native English speaker. However, we also call American and British English "accents". They may use the same words and sentences in the same way, but they pronounce them differently, not because they're from different parts of the same country, but because they're from different countries. In other words: Dialect: Regional differences in how a language is spoken within a country (Manchester vs. London or Philadelphia vs. Baltimore) Accent: Differences in how a language is spoken in different countries (US vs. UK or Japanese English vs. German English) The words "accent" and "dialect" have quite different meanings in English, though. Where the Danish definitions are only concerned with geography and pronounciation, the english definitions also have to do with the words themselves. "Accent" in English is any difference at all in pronounciation between two speakers of the same language, meaning that you can even have different accents within the same city, geographically separated by as little as a few streets. Basically, EVERYONE speaks with an accent. Accent is mainly concerned with phonology - how the spoken word sounds. It's all about intonation, rythm and how you pronounce your vowels and consonants (or don't pronounce them), but it also includes linguistic tendencies that can be said to be inherent in the way people from a certain area speak, like the incessant use of double and even triple negatives that some Southern Americans use ("I ain't not seen nobody all day!") "Dialect", on the other hand, is used to describe something that has almost (d?)evolved into its own language within the language, which means that in addition to being able to describe geographical separation by the use of certain words that aren't used (or at least not that way) anywhere outside the community that speaker comes from, it's also able to describe class and even race. "Urban" American English, as in what many black Americans speak, is actually a dialect. It uses well known words in a different way from how other English speakers use them and it even has its own words. A word like "y'all", for instance, is primarily associated with the South when white people say it, but black people say it all over America. It's part of the "black dialect". When I first read this, I went, "Wait... Wouldn't that mean there's no such thing as a British or American Accent...? Wouldn't that mean they should actually be called dialects instead?" Well, no. Dialect apparently involves some notion of "speech community" within the area where it's being used. Someone from India moving to New York speaks with an Indian accent. But move that person into an area in New York that has a large Indian population and where that accent is still being used, even by the 2nd, 3rd and 4th generations (and has maybe even evolved to be different from what other Indian people sound like) and it becomes a dialect of its own. "Dialect" and "accent" aren't interchangeable, but they are intertwined. You can speak with an accent without speaking with a dialect, but not the other way around. If you speak with a dialect, then your entire way of using the language is colored by where you came from, including both your pronounciation and certain words that aren't used anywhere else or are used differently outside that community (mainly slang). It's entirely possible for someone from Alabama to go to Las Vegas and speak with an Alabama accent, but use the same words in the same way as someone native to Las Vegas, meaning there's no dialect. But it's not possible to have an Alabama dialect and not speak with an accent. At least that's what all the linguistic sites are telling me, but who knows...? I might just be misunderstanding their dialects  |
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Post by GTCGreg on Jun 10, 2015 0:18:46 GMT
I learned something very useful today. When printing small delicate parts on a 3D printer, it is often very difficult to get the items unstuck from the printer's table without damaging them. A short blast of freeze spray and they pop right off with no damage.
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Post by the light works on Jun 10, 2015 1:34:25 GMT
I learned that cable TV techs are morons who don't bother doing things right. oh, wait, I already knew that. I did learn that they will violate the electrical code without a second thought.
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Post by GTCGreg on Jun 10, 2015 1:39:54 GMT
...I did learn that they will violate the electrical code without a second thought. But I have a feeling that you already knew that too. |
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Post by the light works on Jun 10, 2015 1:58:12 GMT
...I did learn that they will violate the electrical code without a second thought. But I have a feeling that you already knew that too. they usually don't get the chance. but yeah - I actually haven't seen one do THAT bad a job on a new house before. addendum: granted, when I roughed it in, they were going with satellite and no cable - so I only installed a provisional conduit but yeah - let's run a high speed digital communication line parallel and through the same holes as line voltage; what could possibly go wrong - I mean besides the electrician getting pissed and cutting the interloper out with a pair of dikes so he can get inspection. (not that I've gone past offering to do that, so far) It's also tempting to fix the installation, then back charge the cable company for the repair. |
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Post by OziRiS on Jun 10, 2015 8:21:06 GMT
I learned that cable TV techs are morons who don't bother doing things right. oh, wait, I already knew that. I did learn that they will violate the electrical code without a second thought. I'm guessing cable TV techs in the US aren't required to be certified electricians, like they are here? |
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Post by GTCGreg on Jun 10, 2015 12:26:01 GMT
All that cable tv techs in the US are required to know is that the shortest distance from the outside cable connection to the TV set is a straight line, how to screw on an F connector, and be able to babble in some unrecognizable language.
Being able to read a calendar or a clock is a disqualification.
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Post by mrfatso on Jun 10, 2015 12:38:03 GMT
It only seems fitting that I start this one off myself with the thing I learned that made me want to open this thread, so here goes. "Dialect" and "accent" aren't interchangeable, but they are intertwined. You can speak with an accent without speaking with a dialect, but not the other way around. If you speak with a dialect, then your entire way of using the language is colored by where you came from, including both your pronounciation and certain words that aren't used anywhere else or are used differently outside that community (mainly slang). It's entirely possible for someone from Alabama to go to Las Vegas and speak with an Alabama accent, but use the same words in the same way as someone native to Las Vegas, meaning there's no dialect. But it's not possible to have an Alabama dialect and not speak with an accent. At least that's what all the linguistic sites are telling me, but who knows...? I might just be misunderstanding their dialects I am not sure that I would completely agree with that assertion, the linguistics sites are making, for instance in my case I was born in the south of England, but my mothers family are Scottish and also have relatives in Newcastle, I speak with a southern accent, but sometimes use dialect words for Scotland and Newastle that other people around here do not understand like bairns or stottie. I guess you could argue I am only using parts of the dialect, but I do not think it is quite as black and white as they seem to say. |
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Post by OziRiS on Jun 10, 2015 14:16:36 GMT
All that cable tv techs in the US are required to know is that the shortest distance from the outside cable connection to the TV set is a straight line, how to screw on an F connector, and be able to babble in some unrecognizable language. Being able to read a calendar or a clock is a disqualification. I could've moved to the US and become a cable guy up until that last line about the calendar and the clock...  |
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Post by the light works on Jun 10, 2015 14:28:51 GMT
I learned that cable TV techs are morons who don't bother doing things right. oh, wait, I already knew that. I did learn that they will violate the electrical code without a second thought. I'm guessing cable TV techs in the US aren't required to be certified electricians, like they are here? they get a limited energy license specific to nailing TV cable to siding and drilling unsealed holes through the exterior walls. |
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Post by the light works on Jun 10, 2015 14:31:36 GMT
It only seems fitting that I start this one off myself with the thing I learned that made me want to open this thread, so here goes. "Dialect" and "accent" aren't interchangeable, but they are intertwined. You can speak with an accent without speaking with a dialect, but not the other way around. If you speak with a dialect, then your entire way of using the language is colored by where you came from, including both your pronounciation and certain words that aren't used anywhere else or are used differently outside that community (mainly slang). It's entirely possible for someone from Alabama to go to Las Vegas and speak with an Alabama accent, but use the same words in the same way as someone native to Las Vegas, meaning there's no dialect. But it's not possible to have an Alabama dialect and not speak with an accent. At least that's what all the linguistic sites are telling me, but who knows...? I might just be misunderstanding their dialects I am not sure that I would completely agree with that assertion, the linguistics sites are making, for instance in my case I was born in the south of England, but my mothers family are Scottish and also have relatives in Newcastle, I speak with a southern accent, but sometimes use dialect words for Scotland and Newastle that other people around here do not understand like bairns or stottie. I guess you could argue I am only using parts of the dialect, but I do not think it is quite as black and white as they seem to say. the dictionary definitions I pulled up imply that a dialect is all of the regional specifics of language, while accent is only about how the words sound in certain areas. - which is to say dialect refers to word selection, local slang, and accent. |
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Post by The Urban Mythbuster on Jun 10, 2015 14:32:13 GMT
I learned that I should have wired the shed with 14g not 12g wire. With 14g, I could have 'back-stabbed' the wire into the new outlets (5 interior + 1 exterior) rather than curling & screwing the wire in place...nope nope nope, no matter how hard I tried, 12g will not back-stab...
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Post by The Urban Mythbuster on Jun 10, 2015 14:37:38 GMT
I've been told that I have a 'Connecticut accent', which is halfway between a New Yawk and Bahston accent... "Urban" American English, as in what many black Americans speak, is actually a dialect. It uses well known words in a different way from how other English speakers use them and it even has its own words. A word like "y'all", for instance, is primarily associated with the South when white people say it, but black people say it all over America. It's part of the "black dialect". I suppose I speak with an Urban dialect... |
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Post by the light works on Jun 10, 2015 15:47:36 GMT
I learned that I should have wired the shed with 14g not 12g wire. With 14g, I could have 'back-stabbed' the wire into the new outlets (5 interior + 1 exterior) rather than curling & screwing the wire in place...nope nope nope, no matter how hard I tried, 12g will not back-stab... NEC has prohibited sale of receptacles that would accept "stab" connections of #12 wire for at least two code cycles, because it is a known failure point. I will not use them at all - and I'd estimate I make a couple thousand dollars a year on service calls for failed stab connections. you could have pigtailed all the boxes with #14 wire and then stabbed - that way when the stab failed you would know immediately which receptacle had gone bad, but that takes more time than curling the wires. protip: with a set of Klein lineman's pliers, you strip the width of the jaws, and then use the tip of the jaws to make the curl. - always hook the screw counterclockwise (from the top) so tightening the screw draws the wire in. |
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Post by the light works on Jun 10, 2015 15:49:04 GMT
I've been told that I have a 'Connecticut accent', which is halfway between a New Yawk and Bahston accent... "Urban" American English, as in what many black Americans speak, is actually a dialect. It uses well known words in a different way from how other English speakers use them and it even has its own words. A word like "y'all", for instance, is primarily associated with the South when white people say it, but black people say it all over America. It's part of the "black dialect". I suppose I speak with an Urban dialect... the law of conservation of dialect says that for every new yorker who "pahks the kah," there is a mainer who cuts wood with a "sawr" |
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Post by The Urban Mythbuster on Jun 10, 2015 15:53:29 GMT
I learned that I should have wired the shed with 14g not 12g wire. With 14g, I could have 'back-stabbed' the wire into the new outlets (5 interior + 1 exterior) rather than curling & screwing the wire in place...nope nope nope, no matter how hard I tried, 12g will not back-stab... NEC has prohibited sale of receptacles that would accept "stab" connections of #12 wire for at least two code cycles, because it is a known failure point. I will not use them at all - and I'd estimate I make a couple thousand dollars a year on service calls for failed stab connections. you could have pigtailed all the boxes with #14 wire and then stabbed - that way when the stab failed you would know immediately which receptacle had gone bad, but that takes more time than curling the wires. protip: with a set of Klein lineman's pliers, you strip the width of the jaws, and then use the tip of the jaws to make the curl. - always hook the screw counterclockwise (from the top) so tightening the screw draws the wire in. I got a great Klein 9-in-1 electrician's screwdriver (includes two sizes of square tip heads which appears to be the standard), but I wish it had the hole on the end for curling the wire (it did not) and could not locate my lineman or needlenose pliers yesterday...so, I improvised and got the job done anyways. In the end, I looked around the shed and had a 'it looks like I actually know what I'm doing' moment. |
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Post by OziRiS on Jun 10, 2015 16:58:57 GMT
I've been told that I have a 'Connecticut accent', which is halfway between a New Yawk and Bahston accent... "Urban" American English, as in what many black Americans speak, is actually a dialect. It uses well known words in a different way from how other English speakers use them and it even has its own words. A word like "y'all", for instance, is primarily associated with the South when white people say it, but black people say it all over America. It's part of the "black dialect". I suppose I speak with an Urban dialect... You say "y'all" a lot? Just watched an episode of "Inside the Actor's Studio" with Will Smith. When he was a kid and yelled stuff like, "Where y'all goin'?" at his friends, his mother, who was pedantic about proper English use, would tell him, "Sweetie, a yawl is a boat." |
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Post by GTCGreg on Jun 10, 2015 17:12:29 GMT
- always hook the screw counterclockwise (from the top) so tightening the screw draws the wire in. Don't you mean clockwise? When looking down at the top of the screw, the open end of the wire hook should be to the right, no?  |
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Post by craighudson on Jun 10, 2015 19:24:25 GMT
- always hook the screw counterclockwise (from the top) so tightening the screw draws the wire in. Don't you mean clockwise? When looking down at the top of the screw, the open end of the wire hook should be to the right, no? That was a deliberate mistake to make sure you were paying attention. |
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