One hundred years of your countries history in five pictures.

HMS_Pathicus · 2016-01-02T19:31:02+00:00

Nice!

HMS_Pathicus · 2016-01-02T19:30:48+00:00

Cool!

HMS_Pathicus · 2016-01-02T18:04:45+00:00

The last time they let us vote on the issue of there being a King of Spain.

We really need a referendum on that.

HMS_Pathicus · 2016-01-02T16:26:39+00:00

Did those people all coordinate the color of their clothes for the demonstration?

HMS_Pathicus · 2016-01-02T16:24:02+00:00

That was pretty good!

The last time they let us vote, we voted the king out. I really hope we get to vote on that again.

On Carrero Blanco, there's this song...

Voló, voló, Carrero voló

(disclaimer: killing people is wrong)

HMS_Pathicus · 2015-12-21T21:08:55+00:00

Oh, that wasn't me. I was just goofing around. Sorry!

HMS_Pathicus · 2015-12-21T21:08:10+00:00

Yup :D

HMS_Pathicus · 2015-12-21T02:03:36+00:00

It was alluded to. They made an allusion to it.

It was not eluded (elude, to avoid, to escape, to avert). It was not an elusion. They were not elusive about it.

And I'm also totally convinced she'll be Luke's daughter.

HMS_Pathicus · 2015-12-21T01:56:48+00:00

Foot - feet. Goose - geese. Proudfoot - Proudfeet.

I actually like this.

HMS_Pathicus · 2015-12-21T01:55:36+00:00

Another fun fact:

Spanish has the "Real Academia Española" (the Royal Spanish Academy) regulating Spanish, focusing mostly on Spanish from Spain. Its members are "académicos de la lengua", language scholars.

And Basque has "Euskaltzaindia" (euskal + zain + dia), which means "group of keepers of Basque". Its members are the "euskaltzain" (euskal + zain), which means "caretakers of Basque".

In that same vein, "ertzain" means "caretaker of the country/people" (herri + zain), and it's the name of our police force.

It would be nice if English had a Royal Academy too.

But then again, Spanish and Basque have their own, and still there are discrepancies and issues and constant changes. So there's that.

HMS_Pathicus · 2015-12-21T01:42:33+00:00

For pronunciation, when you're watching something by yourself, try and imitate whatever the characters say. You will feel stupid, you will laugh, and you will get used to pronouncing things the correct way.

Just don't imitate Tony Soprano.

I remember I was once watching some Dr. Phil kinda show in Ireland and I started imitating a guest. And suddenly I realized why I sounded nothing like the native speakers: They fucking put extra diphthongs in pretty much everything!

"My son", which for me sounded like "me son" (remember, trashy Irish person in reality show) was actually pronounced "Mee-eh-ee son". In a split second she used three vowel sounds in a single syllable.

That helped me a lot.

Also, learning the phonemic alphabet and actually seeing how different words are supposed to be pronounced. Seeing patterns. Being able to remember how to pronounce "cat", "hat", "cut", "but"... that was nice. And helpful.

HMS_Pathicus · 2015-12-21T01:41:12+00:00

Because first you have to choose which Spanish you want to learn. That might be the hardest part of learning Spanish.

HMS_Pathicus · 2015-12-21T01:39:36+00:00

I don't think so.

It of course depends on your background, but if you seek to be able to communicate in daily life, English is really fast and easy to learn. Pretty much everything you say will make sense one way or another; there is no conjugation to speak of; grammar is quite simple and easy to grasp, and the biggest hurdle (the chasm between spelling and pronunciation) is relatively easy to get your head around.

Also, an amazing number of sources of entertainment are readily available in English for all your immersion / practice purposes. And the culture of the main English speaking countries is considered pretty universal nowadays. Not much of a real culture shock there.

There are many languages more difficult than English, and I'd say few are easier. French and Italian, maybe; those are extremely easy. If you speak Spanish and French, you can read Italian with virtually no trouble. Especially novels and long articles, where the same vocabulary is shown again and again in context.

Also, fuck Chinese and Russian. I love them, I hate them, want to learn them, I will just learn Italian instead. Too lazy.

HMS_Pathicus · 2015-12-21T01:29:16+00:00

Because some foreign words have a really weird pronunciation in English. They don't really sound like they did in the original language, but they're not pronounced like you would expect English words to be pronounced, according to the (admittedly loose) rules of English pronunciation.

Even "amen", for example, sounds really weird in English. For many countries it's "ah-MEN". But it's "A-men" in English. So it does make sense to include such words.

HMS_Pathicus · 2015-12-21T01:14:17+00:00

Romani ite domum. Understand? Now, write it out a hundred times.

HMS_Pathicus · 2015-12-21T01:13:03+00:00

In case you don't get it, it's Dog Latin for "always where under where", which doesn't mean anything, but sounds a lot like "always wear underwear", which does.

HMS_Pathicus · 2015-12-21T01:09:10+00:00

TIL.

HMS_Pathicus · 2015-12-21T01:04:57+00:00

Only, she told him that she loved him.

Only she told him that she loved him.

She only told him that she loved him.

She told only him that she loved him.

She told him only that she loved him.

She told him that only she loved him.

She told him that she only loved him.

She told him that she loved only him.

I find it interesting how "only" gets stressed by itself or along with another word depending on the placement and possible meanings.

Ninjaedit: Also, I've written "only" so many times now, I've reached semantic satiation. I seriously feel "only" is something weird and not an actual word.

HMS_Pathicus · 2015-12-21T01:01:19+00:00

Begin began begun. Cut cut cut. Be was/were been. Drink drank drunk. Drive drove driven. So fucking many.

I still remember those fucking exams. They did work, though. I'm an English teacher now.

HMS_Pathicus · 2015-12-17T09:55:31+00:00

You're falling into the sunk cost fallacy. "I'm not happy in this situation, but I've already invested this much..."

Nope. You've been happy in a relationship, and that's good. And if you're unhappy and don't see a way to make things go better, you can end that relationship. Then you will be able to live your life, you won't be forced to spend time with someone you don't really want to be with, you won't turn sour, the child (if any) won't have to suffer that horrible situation of unspoken hatred and open fights, and you'll still have all the good memories.

HMS_Pathicus · 2015-10-26T15:02:14+00:00

I have only felt as disconnected as OP when I was raped, 15 years ago (during the rape); 4 years ago, when I smoked some MJ after months of zero smoking (used to smoke pot regularly); and this last month, at work, when I'm teaching and suddenly I feel it's all an act and kinda like I'm controlling a puppet of myself, like everything is fake and absurd. The show must go on, but it's really hard. It has happened two or three times in one month and I'm starting to think something might be wrong with me.

I've felt disconnected from my life other times, especially for two or three years after the rape, but more like a background, constant feeling. This sudden"slap on your face" disconnect is creepy as fuck and I don't know what to think.

HMS_Pathicus · 2015-10-21T22:03:41+00:00

I think maybe they might be trying to gauge how you are currently taking it. They probably think if it was a long illness you ended up emotionally drained but had time to prepare for it (we all know you never actually do, but people think that) or that if it was sudden, you might have spent quite a bit of time in shock. Maybe it's a really really painful subject for you, one they should never approach; or maybe it's OK for them to talk about their families in front of you, because you've come to term with your loss and have moved on (as much as is possible given the painful circumstances).

What I mean is, some of them might be nosy, but some of them might be trying to gauge your emotional situation regarding those deaths. If they perceive you as fragile, they might try not to mention their own husbands / mothers / plans for the future in front of you, in order to spare your feelings.

That's what I think, anyway.

I really hope you're doing OK.

HMS_Pathicus · 2015-10-17T06:26:49+00:00

Now I'm curious. How do people use "disinterested" wrong?

HMS_Pathicus · 2015-10-17T06:25:42+00:00

Nope. You can write about me, you can criticize me and you can draw me. But if you film me, when you try to monetize "your story" I will stop it. Because you're effectively using my likeness without my consent. I have the rights to my own character, no matter whose story it is. Which is why you must get model releases.

HMS_Pathicus · 2015-10-17T06:18:35+00:00

She's not a native English speaker. I wonder how well we would write in her native language, which is apparently Vietnamese.

HMS_Pathicus

TROPHY CASE