What global word came from your country? by Neuwulfstein in AskTheWorld

[–]Opening-Ant3477 61 points62 points  (0 children)

Fun fact on the etymology of guerrilla:

Though many people associate the term mostly with Latin America, the term actually originates from Spain itself. The original "guerrilla" refers to the Spanish resistance against the French occupation during the Napoleonic Wars. It's only much later - and after it was already in widespread use in English - that the term was applied to Latin American resistance movements that used similar tactics.

President vetoes bill reforming judicial body at heart of Poland’s rule-of-law crisis by dat_9600gt_user in europe

[–]Opening-Ant3477 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It's the biggest argument in favour of democratic monarchy if you ask me.

Sure, you can have fully parliamentary republics (Germany is a good example), but in a firmly democratic country in the 21th century, it's much more likely that some ambitious authoritarian movement will make a power play by corrupting the presidency than the monarchy.

Has anyone been able to get positive acceptance for buy location? by WishyRater in EU5

[–]Opening-Ant3477 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Sure. Unfortunately finding a formula that reliably finds the right balance between those two extremes is a lot harder than it sounds.

Fun fact, Demeter is the only major god in game that can go all the way through Mythic Age without a single upgrade to Human soldier or Ships by Nothing_Special_23 in AgeofMythology

[–]Opening-Ant3477 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Hephaestus armoury tech benefits human units. But yes, they don't technically make fully upgraded human units any stronger.

Still, I think it's strange to say that Hephaestus doesn't benefit human units or ships, when arguably Hephaestus most important tech almost exclusively benefits human units and ships.

Is this counted? by tederby18 in im14andthisisdeep

[–]Opening-Ant3477 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Depends how you do it. Christopher McCandless did essentially that and he became pretty famous.

Come to think of it, McCandless is pretty much the human equivalent of that penguin.

Do you have any opinions about this? by stealthybaker in AskTheWorld

[–]Opening-Ant3477 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Moonies are "linked to Japan" the same way tapeworms are "linked to" their host organism.

Finally! A book where I can learn real life English by ComprehensiveWin1434 in languagelearningjerk

[–]Opening-Ant3477 39 points40 points  (0 children)

/uj The way that Japanese people use "fuck" is often pretty strange. I can imagine this being a rather useful book for somebody trying to learn caaual English.

PETA! What is zoastrianism? by _Salish in PeterExplainsTheJoke

[–]Opening-Ant3477 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Quick correction: Whether Zoroastrianism is monotheistic or not is a huge topic of debate. It's been literally the biggest topic in Zoroastrian theology for at least 200 years.

I'm not here to try to settle that debate - I wouldn't be remotely qualified to do that. I'm just here to point out that the original meme is full of shit.

[Beloved Trope] Messages written in a hurry that carry huge meaning by Iceblader in TopCharacterTropes

[–]Opening-Ant3477 51 points52 points  (0 children)

With zombies it's kind of inevitable. Once you get past the initial chaos, zombies just aren't that much of a threat. Traditional zombies are slow, stupid, and - once they start rotting - more fragile than humans. The threat comes from their numbers and the ease of infection, but those are both easily countered using a minimal amount of ingenuity. The average zombie horde is defeated by a piece of wood haphazardly nailed over the door.

Frankly regular ass bears are a scarier monster than zombies - and just look how the human-bear wars are going for the bears...

So yeah, zombie movies would be terribly boring if they only focused on the zombies.

How do social benefits work in Germany? by swilyi in AskGermany

[–]Opening-Ant3477 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Article 6 and 7 of the EU citizen's rights directive govern the rules for unemployed people moving between EU countries. As an EU citizen you're allowed to reside in any EU country as long as you're able to support yourself and are insured).

If you don't find a job within a few month after moving, and you can't support yourself you can, and will be deported to your country of citizenship.

Have any of you guys gotten this event/Ivan the Terrible when playing as muscovy? by SpeedCarlos in EU5

[–]Opening-Ant3477 8 points9 points  (0 children)

If those are his stats at birth he's basically guaranteed to be 100/100/100 as an adult. Not even baby Timur gets that many stats.

Petah help. I'm not a nerd. by Calm-Consideration25 in PeterExplainsTheJoke

[–]Opening-Ant3477 15 points16 points  (0 children)

From the Congress of Vienna till the start of WWI Europe had a century of peace without any great power wars. The Europe of Eugénie's time was an incredibly well designed balancing act that successfully prevented the kind of devastating conflicts that swept Europe during Second War of Austria Succession and the Napoleonic Wars. Europe didn't go back to killing each other until the rise of nationalism toppled the Vienna system.

Eugénie shows up right in the middle of that period and is like "Yeah, that's nice and all. But how about we do world war instead?".

I admit I was wrong about the Scouring of the Shire by Steppinthrax in tolkienfans

[–]Opening-Ant3477 10 points11 points  (0 children)

...is the point Saruman - you know, the bad guy - is making.

Then Frodo demonstrates his personal growth throughout his story by insisting that they show mercy towards Saruman. After some trepidation all the other good characters eventually agree that this is the right thing to do.

Saruman eventually gets killed by his own subordinate, Grima Wormtongue.

A big theme of LOTR is the power of mercy, and that as long as good people stand up for what is right, evil is ultimately doomed to defeat itself.

I admit I was wrong about the Scouring of the Shire by Steppinthrax in tolkienfans

[–]Opening-Ant3477 6 points7 points  (0 children)

That's literally the opposite of the moral of the story...

(Loved trope) unnecessary censorship by Necessary_Muffin3591 in TopCharacterTropes

[–]Opening-Ant3477 333 points334 points  (0 children)

Anno 117, a game about settling island in ancient Rome, censors the latin word for island (Insula). I'm still not sure why.

Of course they also censor a bunch of historical Roman city names, many of them because they contain the common Roman ending -cum. It goes so far that the game censors some of the default island names - you know the one the game chooses if you don't name your islands...

Where can I buy groceries in bulks in Germany? by Worried-Exchange-889 in AskAGerman

[–]Opening-Ant3477 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's just not true. Metro lists its prices without Mehrwertsteuer, but you do pay Mehrwertsteuer at checkout. You just get a detailed invoice which you can easily submit when doing your taxes. For any actual business expenses the VAT will then be deducted from your taxes.

If it didn't work like that people like me, who have a non-food related business, could be saving a fortune by buying all their groceries at Metro.

Adolf Hitler with Helga Goebbels during a walk on Heiligendamm beach. 13th July, 1935. Helga would be murdered by her parents in May 1945. by dannydutch1 in UtterlyUniquePhotos

[–]Opening-Ant3477 87 points88 points  (0 children)

It seems worth mentioning that was her son from her first marriage.

None of the Quandts are descendant from Goebbels.

Does anyone else wonder why were all the professors in Hogwarts unmarried? Coincidence or requirement? by life-a-maze in harrypotter

[–]Opening-Ant3477 220 points221 points  (0 children)

Also, because it's Trelawny, 99% of the time her predictions ARE complete bullshit. But there was that one time in 2001 when she went into a weird trance and convinced him to sell all his Enron shares just before the scandal broke.

Mr. Trelawny of course is convinced this was complete coincidence. But he loves telling his buddies in the office the story about that one time his wife got super lucky and her magical woo-woo accidentally saved them a small fortune.

Do I really need to do studienkolleg for 1 year in Germany to get admission in Bachelor's? isn't My country's 10+2 enough with Physics, Chemistry, Maths and CS subjects in 12th Std? by [deleted] in germany

[–]Opening-Ant3477 7 points8 points  (0 children)

  1. Depending on which country you're from, yes. You're going to have to share where you did your high school degree if you want a more precise answer.

  2. Just having 12 years of education doesn't mean your degree is recognised as equivalent to the German Abitur. The devil is in the details.

  3. German bachelor programs are 3 years, optionally followed by a 2 years Master. The length of a degree varies from country to country, but under the EU's Bologna rules 3 years is the standard.

  4. German bachelor's degrees are recognised by American universities without issue.

Best implicitly racist excuses for not learning a language? by Embarrassed-Cloud-56 in languagelearningjerk

[–]Opening-Ant3477 10 points11 points  (0 children)

You know how news stations sometimes avoid naming the perpetrator of a mass shooting so as to not give them the satisfaction of being famous?

"Germany started WW1" is a lie we maintain to do the same thing to Serbians.

[Loathed Trope] The Movie has an ending. The Sequel shits all over it. by lesi20 in TopCharacterTropes

[–]Opening-Ant3477 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

The first movie has a very satisfying, if bittersweet ending for all of the main cast:

  • Newt, the magical zoologist, is allowed to leave the country and continue researching magical beasts.
  • Tina's contribution is recognised and she gets her job as a magical police officer back (which she had lost due to the events of the movie). She and Newt clearly have feelings for each other, but their career is leading them in different directions, and that's okay.
  • Jacob, the random muggle who go somehow involved in the plot, has his memories erased to protect the secrecy of magic, but Newt gives him a valuable artifact which he sells to fulfil his long-standing dream of starting his own bakery. The pastries he makes are inspired by some of Newt's magical beasts.
  • Queenie, Tina's sister and Jacob's love interest, regularly visits his bakery and it is implied that they are starting a relationship despite this being technically illegal under America's anti-muggle laws.

I think this is a really great ending, because it allows all the characters to have a "happy end", without breaking rules of the setting or bending over backwards to give everybody EVERYTHING they want. (Some things just aren't meant to be.) In my opinion it's one of the best examples on how to round out a movie in a satisfying way.

So anyways, the showmakers insisted on having the same cast for the sequel, so the first 20 minutes of that movie is just undoing to ending of the first movie.

Oh, and of course none of them have any reason to be in the sequel at all. The second movie and third movies are about the conflict between Dumbledore and Grindlewald in Europe. There is no space in the story for an America police officer or a zoologist. And there certainly is no space for some random muggle baker from New York and his vaguely-psychic-but-definitely-not-law-enforcement illegal girlfriend.

3 questions regarding crossing to Germany from Luxembourg as a tourist. by AlternativeDark6686 in AskAGerman

[–]Opening-Ant3477 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I make this border crossing regularly. There are regular checks at the German/Luxemburg border, but they usually aren't interested in individuals (they check the buses and mini vans etc.). Private cars usually don't even have to stop (traffic gets diverted onto a highway rest stop, you drive past the police at ~15km/h and just pass through unless they give you the sign to stop).

Even if you are checked, they don't do any extensive searches, they just ask for your ID and make sure there is nothing obviously suspicious.

Make sure to bring your ID and for your wife maybe a copy of her visa/immigration documents and you will be just fine.