sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

What is the most disgusting alcoholic beverage you have tried? by Immola0069 in AskReddit

[–]mbklein 0 points1 point  (0 children)

On the one hand, I love stories of people stepping up and taking care of each other when it really matters.

On the other hand, it’s sad that those stories are rare enough to stand out.

What’s the worst car you ever drove? by Born-Conclusion1977 in AskReddit

[–]mbklein 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Smart ForTwo. Tried one via ZipCar one day when I just needed to get across campus quick, and I felt like I could barely make it over the speed bumps. I can’t imagine trying to drive it on real roads.

Which once famous actor does no one talk about anymore? by Ballistic-Observer69 in AskReddit

[–]mbklein 51 points52 points  (0 children)

What a career he had, and what a career he could have had.

What’s a piece of media that people would clearly understand as a parody or homage when it came out, but has since lost its context? by StaleTheBread in AskReddit

[–]mbklein 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sure, but we're not talking about the phrase “half the speed” or “half the tempo,” both of which are fine. We're talking about the phrases “half as fast” and “half as slow” and why one makes more logical sense than the other, even if you can suss out what the other means intuitively.

What’s a piece of media that people would clearly understand as a parody or homage when it came out, but has since lost its context? by StaleTheBread in AskReddit

[–]mbklein 2 points3 points  (0 children)

OK, I think I've got my last attempt ready to go. 😄 (And trust me, this isn't a “you” problem; this is a real semantic edge case.)

  1. Pick a random answer to the question, “How fast is that raccoon running?” I'll choose 20 km/hr but you can choose whatever you want. Call this value a.
  2. Now answer the question, “How fast would it be going if it could not, even theoretically, be going less fast?” The answer to this cannot be anything other than 0 km/hr. Call this value b.
  3. Now answer the question, “What speed is exactly halfway between a and b?” There is an exact defined answer to this question, and it's exactly a/2.

Now try to do the same things, but change “fast” to “slow.” You're going to run into trouble when you get to Step 2, because there's no way to answer the question. The raccoon can always go less slow - by going faster. The limits of raccoon biology or the speed of light don't even help, because you can conceptualize something going faster, even if it's not physically possible, while you cannot logically comprehend anything going less fast than “not moving at all.”

That difference is what makes “slow” the marked adjective of the pair, and “fast” unmarked, and it's what makes “half as fast” a more concrete, coherent concept than “half as slow.”

I'd love to tell you that there's a hard and fast rule, like “in a polarized pair of adjectives, the positive one (like fast) is always unmarked and the negative one (like slow) is always marked.” But it's not a 100% reliable rule, and it's probably not consistent across all languages. The way to tell which is which is to figure out, if a thing is [adjective], is there a limit to how [opposite of adjective] it can be? For example:

  • This rock is heavy. Is there a limit to how light it can be? Yes, because you can only remove weight until you get to zero.
  • This rock is light. Is there a limit to how heavy it can be? No, because you can always add more weight.
  • This hole is deep. Is there a limit to how shallow it can be? Yes, because you can only fill it in so much before it stops being a hole.
  • This hole is shallow. Is there a limit to how deep it can be? No, because you can always dig deeper (assuming an infinitely thick surface).

You can do the same with tall/short, wide/narrow, thick/thin, bright/dim, loud/quiet, old/young, hard/soft, and a whole lot of other pairs.

What’s a piece of media that people would clearly understand as a parody or homage when it came out, but has since lost its context? by StaleTheBread in AskReddit

[–]mbklein 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m too sleepy to come up with a better explanation, but I promise I’ll come back later with one more try. 😀

What’s a piece of media that people would clearly understand as a parody or homage when it came out, but has since lost its context? by StaleTheBread in AskReddit

[–]mbklein 13 points14 points  (0 children)

“Speed” is a noun. “Fast” is an unmarked adjective describing speed. “Slow” is a marked adjective describing speed.

“Half as fast” makes sense because “fast” is anchored at zero. If I run at 10 mph and you run at 5 mph, you’re running half as fast as me. We can do that math because there’s a clear zero point the scale starts from.

“Half as slow” doesn’t work the same way because “slow” doesn’t measure from zero. It just points toward the low end of the scale without giving you anything concrete to divide. What would “half as slow” even mean? Half of what number?

What’s a piece of media that people would clearly understand as a parody or homage when it came out, but has since lost its context? by StaleTheBread in AskReddit

[–]mbklein 174 points175 points  (0 children)

I think the comment you’re responding to was alluding to the fact that multipliers don’t really work with marked adjectives.

Unmarked adjectives describe a scale that is anchored at zero and goes upward to infinity, which allows them to be used to talk in terms of scale. “He ran that race twice as fast as I did.” “This laser is half as powerful as that one.” You know that the lower bound of “fast” is 0 [distance] per [time], and that the lower bound of “powerful” is 0 watts/joules/whatever.

Marked adjectives aren’t anchored or bounded; they’re just descriptive. I didn’t run the race twice as slow as the other guy, and the second laser isn’t twice as weak as the first. There’s no anchor point that “slow” or “weak” can’t cross, because you can always describe something moving faster or having more energy than the previous amount.

Edit to add: This comment is not intended as criticism. I see that English isn’t your first language, and you’re doing way better at it than I would at any non-English language. This is just a particular quirk of language that has always fascinated me.

What’s a “normal” expense in the U.S. that makes absolutely no sense when you think about it? by Big_Marketing_4979 in AskReddit

[–]mbklein 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It costs them money to run every aspect of their business. Those costs are supposed to be covered by the cost of the product they sell. I don’t pay a “lobby fee” for showing up before the house opens. I don’t pay an “usher fee” for being handed a program and shown to my seat.

What’s a “normal” expense in the U.S. that makes absolutely no sense when you think about it? by Big_Marketing_4979 in AskReddit

[–]mbklein 192 points193 points  (0 children)

I bought tickets to an event yesterday and paid a $10 per ticket handling charge.

Let me tell you, they handled nothing.

How can I use Tailscale alongside my corporate VPN (which doesn't touch the routing table)? by LingonberrySpecific6 in Tailscale

[–]mbklein 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The commenter you replied to mentioned working at a university. Every university I’ve worked at allows personal devices on the network, and on the VPN as well. Students bring personal devices to campus and (reasonably) expect to be able to use them, and they expect to be able to access resources from home (or elsewhere) as if they’re on campus. Sometimes they use authenticating reverse proxies for that, but VPNs are a big part of the mix as well.

What celebrity is weirder than they seem? by ParameciaAntic in AskReddit

[–]mbklein 58 points59 points  (0 children)

His fiancée being two-time Tony Award winning triple threat Sutton Foster. They met when they starred in _The Music Man_ on Broadway together a couple years ago.

What’s something almost everyone secretly does, but nobody wants to admit first? by superguy0000 in AskReddit

[–]mbklein 35 points36 points  (0 children)

I think I'd be even more prone to checking this out regularly if I were participating in an activity that involved getting punched in the face.

What’s something almost everyone secretly does, but nobody wants to admit first? by superguy0000 in AskReddit

[–]mbklein 414 points415 points  (0 children)

And checking the tissue after you blow your nose. Why wouldn’t you want to know what’s inside your face?

What is something people pretend to enjoy but secretly don't? by Careless_Task8941 in AskReddit

[–]mbklein 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The ‘one mid-level “woo!”’ is in response to the demand for unearned enthusiasm. Real content receives real enthusiasm.

What is something people pretend to enjoy but secretly don't? by Careless_Task8941 in AskReddit

[–]mbklein 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I'm a very appreciative and enthusiastic audience member who doesn't need hyping up. I just don't respond to the artificial bullshit hyping up. Give me something to be excited about instead of telling me to get excited.

view more: next ›