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Post by OziRiS on Nov 9, 2013 0:59:51 GMT
Since you native English speakers can't seem to agree on this, I'll throw into the mix that it was a Dane (H.C. Ørsted) who first succeeded in actually producing nodules of the stuff. We call it aluminium too. That's two against one and more importantly: It's two who actually had something to do with discovering and making the stuff against one who just insists on naming it. We win  |
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Post by the light works on Nov 9, 2013 3:26:11 GMT
Since you native English speakers can't seem to agree on this, I'll throw into the mix that it was a Dane (H.C. Ørsted) who first succeeded in actually producing nodules of the stuff. We call it aluminium too. That's two against one and more importantly: It's two who actually had something to do with discovering and making the stuff against one who just insists on naming it. We win you mean the one who had nothing to do with it except developing a cost effective way to produce usable metal; thus converting it from a rare material to the second most used metal there is? |
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Post by OziRiS on Nov 10, 2013 8:08:14 GMT
And you call that "having nothing to do with it"? If he hadn't developed that method, it wouldn't have become the second most used metal in the world, would it? Because of him, we went from "we know it exists" to "we know how to use it".
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Post by the light works on Nov 10, 2013 15:33:02 GMT
And you call that "having nothing to do with it"? If he hadn't developed that method, it wouldn't have become the second most used metal in the world, would it? Because of him, we went from "we know it exists" to "we know how to use it". you seem to. you're the one who claimed the American had nothing to do with it. |
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Post by silverdragon on Nov 11, 2013 7:54:15 GMT
Because it isnt?
As for who has the "Rights" in naming it, who really cares?...
Tomato tom-ay-toe.....
We here in England just invented the language, we have no hold on how you use it.
We also were the first to "Programme" a modern computer and use that term, 'cept it now program......
My wedding band is platinum.
Because yellow Gold dont cut it for me.
Its too soft...
What the (?) with paltinium?... if it was called that, I would have just gone with bloody Silver.....
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Post by Lokifan on Nov 11, 2013 22:05:30 GMT
Just pointing out the silly tripe on who "owns" a language. I'm grateful there is no equivalent of L'Académie française to control just which word they permit in the English language... Many languages are flexible. What's funny is to see how the US absorbs and actually keeps older dialects alive, simply by disconnecting them from their parent countries. As I understand it, Italian went through a major change over the last 100 years so that the descendants of immigrants literally don't speak the same language as modern Italians. This weekend, I met a Norwegian-American lady in her 90s who became a minor celebrity when she returned to Norway on a visit because her accent was from a rural area, and had all but vanished in Norway itself. Historians wanted to make recordings of her voice to preserve their heritage. I heard one person claim that the American Virginia accent was closer to the English accent of 300 years ago than the modern English accent. The silliest, most ridiculously human language story I read was that apparently there is a Native American dialect that only has two remaining native speakers alive--and that due to a personal animosity, they refuse to talk to each other... Besides, as I see it, the guy named it "alumium", "aluminum", and then "aluminium". Just how many bites at that apple are you going to give him? Maybe, next time he'd try to name it "Geoff"...  |
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Post by the light works on Nov 12, 2013 7:38:11 GMT
Just pointing out the silly tripe on who "owns" a language. I'm grateful there is no equivalent of L'Académie française to control just which word they permit in the English language... Many languages are flexible. What's funny is to see how the US absorbs and actually keeps older dialects alive, simply by disconnecting them from their parent countries. As I understand it, Italian went through a major change over the last 100 years so that the descendants of immigrants literally don't speak the same language as modern Italians. This weekend, I met a Norwegian-American lady in her 90s who became a minor celebrity when she returned to Norway on a visit because her accent was from a rural area, and had all but vanished in Norway itself. Historians wanted to make recordings of her voice to preserve their heritage. I heard one person claim that the American Virginia accent was closer to the English accent of 300 years ago than the modern English accent. The silliest, most ridiculously human language story I read was that apparently there is a Native American dialect that only has two remaining native speakers alive--and that due to a personal animosity, they refuse to talk to each other... Besides, as I see it, the guy named it "alumium", "aluminum", and then "aluminium". Just how many bites at that apple are you going to give him? Maybe, next time he'd try to name it "Geoff"... no, "Bob." |
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Post by OziRiS on Nov 13, 2013 20:33:09 GMT
Just pointing out the silly tripe on who "owns" a language. I'm grateful there is no equivalent of L'Académie française to control just which word they permit in the English language... Many languages are flexible. What's funny is to see how the US absorbs and actually keeps older dialects alive, simply by disconnecting them from their parent countries. As I understand it, Italian went through a major change over the last 100 years so that the descendants of immigrants literally don't speak the same language as modern Italians. This weekend, I met a Norwegian-American lady in her 90s who became a minor celebrity when she returned to Norway on a visit because her accent was from a rural area, and had all but vanished in Norway itself. Historians wanted to make recordings of her voice to preserve their heritage. I heard one person claim that the American Virginia accent was closer to the English accent of 300 years ago than the modern English accent. The silliest, most ridiculously human language story I read was that apparently there is a Native American dialect that only has two remaining native speakers alive--and that due to a personal animosity, they refuse to talk to each other... Besides, as I see it, the guy named it "alumium", "aluminum", and then "aluminium". Just how many bites at that apple are you going to give him? Maybe, next time he'd try to name it "Geoff"... Point well written and taken |
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Post by silverdragon on Nov 20, 2013 10:23:56 GMT
There is...
The OED
The Oxford English Dictionary is considered the last line on what is and isnt allowable in English...
If it makes the list, its "Official".
However, that doesnt stop un-official use of other stuff...
On spelling, there was a time when spelling wasnt so important.
Them bloody victorians had to spoil it for everyone and start the forkliftingly stupid analy retentive excuse for humans that are the internet troll of a "Grammar police"... the ones that just sit there all day and all they do is point out gramatical and spelling errors.
I hope theyre spel chuckler is aving an hart atack wiv wot i is riting hear, 'cos i fink dey is the worst of all trols.
But spelling was not always so important, and spelling could alter with regional accents.
Maybe that is why aluminium is written different ways...
Absolute rubbish, and you can tell them that from me.
Reason?... there is no "One" English accent. the bit I highlighted in that statement?... cant exist.
As there is no record of that "One" accent to compare it to, how CAN it be compared?...
If the Virginian accent is, for example, Norfolk based, then its almost completely illegible to broad Yorkshire, north Cumberland, or the semi-Irish of say Liverpool.....
I am lucky that I have been well travelled in England, I can understand even the deepest accents of the extreme rural area's, with very little problem.
But it is all Fluid.
The true English language has changed from Saxon times with addition of Roma, Italian, Latin, French, Viking, Norwegian Danish..... you name it, we have adopted phrases from all of them.
And its still evolving.
We have more Asian words in use than many of us would know.
And even French has learned from us... they actually use some English words.
English language is like an inside out Borg... we assimilate and use diversity for the good of all.
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Post by the light works on Nov 20, 2013 16:48:45 GMT
There is... The OED The Oxford English Dictionary is considered the last line on what is and isnt allowable in English... If it makes the list, its "Official". However, that doesnt stop un-official use of other stuff... On spelling, there was a time when spelling wasnt so important. Them bloody victorians had to spoil it for everyone and start the forkliftingly stupid analy retentive excuse for humans that are the internet troll of a "Grammar police"... the ones that just sit there all day and all they do is point out gramatical and spelling errors. I hope theyre spel chuckler is aving an hart atack wiv wot i is riting hear, 'cos i fink dey is the worst of all trols. But spelling was not always so important, and spelling could alter with regional accents. Maybe that is why aluminium is written different ways... Absolute rubbish, and you can tell them that from me. Reason?... there is no "One" English accent. the bit I highlighted in that statement?... cant exist. As there is no record of that "One" accent to compare it to, how CAN it be compared?... If the Virginian accent is, for example, Norfolk based, then its almost completely illegible to broad Yorkshire, north Cumberland, or the semi-Irish of say Liverpool..... I am lucky that I have been well travelled in England, I can understand even the deepest accents of the extreme rural area's, with very little problem. But it is all Fluid. The true English language has changed from Saxon times with addition of Roma, Italian, Latin, French, Viking, Norwegian Danish..... you name it, we have adopted phrases from all of them. And its still evolving. We have more Asian words in use than many of us would know. And even French has learned from us... they actually use some English words. English language is like an inside out Borg... we assimilate and use diversity for the good of all. "we are English. we will adopt your cultural diversity as our own. you will be assimilated" this is actually a near reversal of the original english mindset in which our forefathers had a habit of stamping out cultural diversity and overlaying it with our own. |
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Post by silverdragon on Nov 21, 2013 8:05:07 GMT
Which is why those that chose to leave for new lands went.
They went to be free to persecute.
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Post by the light works on Nov 21, 2013 14:46:42 GMT
Which is why those that chose to leave for new lands went. They went to be free to persecute. somebody made a study, I forget who, or where, but their conclusion was that different personalities have different root meanings of "freedom" some people consider freedom to be the ability to control their environment by forcing it to adapt to their will; while other people consider freedom to be the ability to control their environment by preventing other people from forcing them to adapt to the others' will. the former group tends to be conservative, while the latter tends to be liberal. |
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Post by OziRiS on Nov 21, 2013 19:20:38 GMT
Which is why those that chose to leave for new lands went. They went to be free to persecute. somebody made a study, I forget who, or where, but their conclusion was that different personalities have different root meanings of "freedom" some people consider freedom to be the ability to control their environment by forcing it to adapt to their will; while other people consider freedom to be the ability to control their environment by preventing other people from forcing them to adapt to the others' will. the former group tends to be conservative, while the latter tends to be liberal. What are the people in between? The ones who do both depending on the situation? It's a serious question. I'm a little of both. As a dad and as a leader I'm constantly trying to be one step ahead, shaping events as I want them to go. At the same time I'm very big on not being forced to do anything and not allowing others to strip anyone of that same right or ability. I occasionally have to force my son to do certain things, but I never force my family, friends or employees to do anything. At worst, I present them with choises and inform them of possible consequences and leave the rest to them. |
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Post by User Unavailable on Nov 21, 2013 21:14:50 GMT
Which is why those that chose to leave for new lands went. They went to be free to persecute. , being English, has quite the history of stamping out cultural diversity overlaying it with their (our) own culture. "We" learned it from you all.  For example, their are many former English colonies where English is the official or Secondary official language and is spoken with a noticeable similar "British" accent. Though as noted by TLW, the role of "stamping out" is no more. Assimilation is more the the thing now. If it was still "en vogue" for the British Empire to be colonizing and expanding, we can be pretty sure more and more folks would be being "forced" to speak English. |
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Post by the light works on Nov 22, 2013 3:00:04 GMT
somebody made a study, I forget who, or where, but their conclusion was that different personalities have different root meanings of "freedom" some people consider freedom to be the ability to control their environment by forcing it to adapt to their will; while other people consider freedom to be the ability to control their environment by preventing other people from forcing them to adapt to the others' will. the former group tends to be conservative, while the latter tends to be liberal. What are the people in between? The ones who do both depending on the situation? It's a serious question. I'm a little of both. As a dad and as a leader I'm constantly trying to be one step ahead, shaping events as I want them to go. At the same time I'm very big on not being forced to do anything and not allowing others to strip anyone of that same right or ability. I occasionally have to force my son to do certain things, but I never force my family, friends or employees to do anything. At worst, I present them with choises and inform them of possible consequences and leave the rest to them. well, nearly everybody falls in between the two extremes. some closer to the middle than others. |
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Post by the light works on Nov 22, 2013 3:04:20 GMT
Which is why those that chose to leave for new lands went. They went to be free to persecute. , being English, has quite the history of stamping out cultural diversity overlaying it with their (our) own culture. "We" learned it from you all. For example, their are many former English colonies where English is the official or Secondary official language and is spoken with a noticeable similar "British" accent. Though as noted by TLW, the role of "stamping out" is no more. Assimilation is more the the thing now. If it was still "en vogue" for the British Empire to be colonizing and expanding, we can be pretty sure more and more folks would be being "forced" to speak English. the global superpowers discovered imperialism is an expensive hobby. some more recently than others. |
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Post by silverdragon on Nov 22, 2013 7:53:30 GMT
I may have to think this over.
The sins of our fathers are hard to forgive............
Are we the same?... well, I certainly aint.
Yes I "Force" my kids to do things... as in, not leave their boots at the bottom of the stairs where they are a trip hazard?...
You know, the "Sensible" stuff...
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Post by the light works on Nov 22, 2013 15:07:01 GMT
I may have to think this over. The sins of our fathers are hard to forgive............ Are we the same?... well, I certainly aint. Yes I "Force" my kids to do things... as in, not leave their boots at the bottom of the stairs where they are a trip hazard?... You know, the "Sensible" stuff... there is a point that we must recognize our ancestors' folly, and simply do better in the future. there is no civilization on the planet that I am aware of that didn't practice some activity in the past that we could consider brutal and barbaric, today. |
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Post by silverdragon on Nov 23, 2013 10:10:00 GMT
Parts of this likkle blue marble of a planet are STILL barbaric and brutal.
Its what it is.
Diverse.
Dunno if that makes me happy or not?
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Post by the light works on Nov 23, 2013 12:49:01 GMT
Parts of this likkle blue marble of a planet are STILL barbaric and brutal. Its what it is. Diverse. Dunno if that makes me happy or not? brutality (real brutality) never makes me happy. |
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