/Bonus: lolcat protest sign...and your Bantu is, of course, flawless, right submitter?

Tabatha Static: /Bonus: lolcat protest sign...and your Bantu is, of course, flawless, right submitter?

we cannot has sense of humor

whiskeyinthejar: we cannot has sense of humor


...I thought I was being funny...

This just shows the declicing state of Zimbabwe's schools today. Zimbabwe-ean used to be something everybody could speak but now kids with their internets are using all sorts of not-words. And they're bringing their parents to job interviews, and they won't stay off my lawn!

/Taking it another direction

Dude will win just like Saddam won his democratic elections.

oh shiat, i think i just doomed America to a pointless war.

Lord_Baull: oh shiat, i think i just doomed America to a pointless war.

Nah. Zimbabwe is already in the toilet, our job is done.

Tabatha Static

Give Me SLACK or Kill Me!

"I can haz free and fair elekshuns?"

"Itz not so great akshuly"

Not impressed.

Wow, just like America!

Tabatha Static: and your Bantu is, of course, flawless, right submitter?

Bantu isn't a language, it's a class of languages. The indigenous languages in Zimbabwe are Shona and Sindebele. Furthermore, all Zimbabweans are perfectly literate in English. The sign just uses a common local abbreviation that seems amusing to us.

/Lived there during the good times. Was an awesome place.

The country has the world's highest inflation rate, at more than 100,000%, and just one adult in five is believed to have a regular job.

President Mugabe: The people of Zimbabwe will re-elect me because they look forward to six more years of my economic policies.

FTA: "I cannot sleep with my conscience if I have rigged."

So, that's the real reason politicians have mistresses?

Mugabe's probably also trying to figure out what's the largest margin of victory he can claim that won't result in his head ending up on a pike.

I'm both amused and amazed English is proving popular in Africa too. Perhaps this is the path to world peace? Everyone understanding the same language.

And then, once we're done with all these silly wars, we can build colonies on Europa...

Sandwyrm: I'm both amused and amazed English is proving popular in Africa too. Perhaps this is the path to world peace? Everyone understanding the same language.

Chinese has been and will be the #1 language in the world.

我们欢迎我们的亚裔霸主!

Also, at the risk of sounding like a war hawk, shouldn't the U.N. step in to ensure Mugabe conducts fair elections and unseat him if necessary? Zimbabweans apparently are willing to give this form of government a try, and if they think they're not getting results with it, they might want to try doing what the dudes in Somalia are doing. If they see their votes actually matter and cause changes that they desire, they will have more faith in peaceful democracy.

Shaggy_C: Sandwyrm: I'm both amused and amazed English is proving popular in Africa too. Perhaps this is the path to world peace? Everyone understanding the same language.

Chinese has been and will be the #1 language in the world.

我们欢迎我们的亚裔霸主!

Only because there are more of them than anyone else. But lots of them speak English, so Sandwyrm might have you there. Also, Mandarin is the official dialect, but Cantonese is the "official variant", whatever that means.

Sandwyrm: Also, at the risk of sounding like a war hawk, shouldn't the U.N. step in to ensure Mugabe conducts fair elections and unseat him if necessary?

Dude! It's Africa. UN isn't touching it with a ten foot pole.

Shaggy_C: Sandwyrm: Also, at the risk of sounding like a war hawk, shouldn't the U.N. step in to ensure Mugabe conducts fair elections and unseat him if necessary?

Dude! It's Africa. UN isn't touching it with a ten foot pole.

Surely Bono will save them!

Ha Ha!

We point and laugh at third world countries and their silly little rigged elections while we let Diebold, whose CEO announced that he had been a top fund-raiser for President George W. Bush, count our votes for us.

Talk about the pot and the kettle!!

South Africa could end this any time they want to. But certain high-ranking members seem far too intrigued by ZANU's "let's take all that farmland from whitey and give it to 'war veterans' who don't know anything about farming" policies.

stiletto_the_wise: Ha Ha!

We point and laugh at third world countries and their silly little rigged elections while we let Diebold, whose CEO announced that he had been a top fund-raiser for President George W. Bush, count our votes for us.

Talk about the pot and the kettle!!

But surely nobody could possibly steal an election in the Greatest Farking Country on Earth™! Blasphemer!

Gyrfalcon: Shaggy_C: Sandwyrm: I'm both amused and amazed English is proving popular in Africa too. Perhaps this is the path to world peace? Everyone understanding the same language.

Chinese has been and will be the #1 language in the world.

我们欢迎我们的亚裔霸主!

Only because there are more of them than anyone else. But lots of them speak English, so Sandwyrm might have you there. Also, Mandarin is the official dialect, but Cantonese is the "official variant", whatever that means.

"official variant" means...

Putonghua (Mandarin) = The official language of the PRC
Guangdonghua (Cantonese) = The primary language of the Guangdong region

Cantonese vs Mandarin
-Different pronunciation
-Different grammar
-Different style of writing (Traditional vs Simplified)
-Different characters (not a lot, but Cantonese does uses some characters that Mandarin doesn't)

Some would argue that Cantonese is a different language altogether, not just a variant.

But, in the interest of national unity, it makes sense for China to see all the different languages within its borders as variations of the one, rather than different ones.

As for Why? Cantonese is an official variant...
-Lots of speakers
-Hong Kong = Lots of money

/我会说中文
//正在住在北京
///是老外

Shaggy_C: 我们欢迎我们的亚裔霸主!

Was that an attempt at a translation of the "I, for one, welcome..." cliche?

Digeratus: Shaggy_C: 我们欢迎我们的亚裔霸主!

Was that an attempt at a translation of the "I, for one, welcome..." cliche?

我自己欢迎我们的中国人国王们

/best I can come up with
//hungover

Shaggy_C: Not impressed.

Regardless of his grammar, I am impressed with his font selection.

magores: Some would argue that Cantonese is a different language altogether, not just a variant.

Pretty obvious, really. A lot more different than Spanish/French/Italian are from each other.

magores: Gyrfalcon: Shaggy_C: Sandwyrm: I'm both amused
Cantonese vs Mandarin
-Different pronunciation
-Different grammar
-Different style of writing (Traditional vs Simplified)
-Different characters (not a lot, but Cantonese does uses some characters that Mandarin doesn't)


/我会说中文
//正在住在北京
///是老外

Not to knit pick but you can write Cantonese in simplified and mandarin in traditional.

There are debates right now about having the PRC laws go back to traditional characters because the simplification process lost too much meaning for some terms.

0Icky0: magores: Some would argue that Cantonese is a different language altogether, not just a variant.

Pretty obvious, really. A lot more different than Spanish/French/Italian are from each other.

Pretty obvious to me too. But, there are scholars, and not just Chinese govt types, that do classify them as parts of the same language.

It's actually quite interesting to look at. (Interesting to me, at least.) Current day China is made up of a very large number of ethnic groups and languages.

Walking down the streets of Beijing, of course I see people that resemble the stereotype. But, I also see people that seem more Afghan in facial structure. Some Chinese are very light skinned. Whiter than my pasty self. While others are naturally much darker.

And, hearing a Mongolian speak their home language, is very much like listening to a Russian speaker. The sounds are similar.

/threadjack. sorry

Digeratus: Was that an attempt at a translation of the "I, for one, welcome..." cliche?

Ah, someone knows their Simplified Chinese...

Carth: magores: Gyrfalcon: Shaggy_C: Sandwyrm: I'm both amused
Cantonese vs Mandarin
-Different pronunciation
-Different grammar
-Different style of writing (Traditional vs Simplified)
-Different characters (not a lot, but Cantonese does uses some characters that Mandarin doesn't)


/我会说中文
//正在住在北京
///是老外

Not to knit pick but you can write Cantonese in simplified and mandarin in traditional.

You are totally correct. I was just referencing the "default" manner in which people typically write.

(btw.. it's "nit pick")


There are debates right now about having the PRC laws go back to traditional characters because the simplification process lost too much meaning for some terms.

PRC laws? You mean they are going to write the laws in traditional, while using simplified for everything else? That would be interesting.

I'm sure I'm missing something, but I don't really understand the problem.

To oversimplify...

Today, we all agree that "a" is the letter "a". But, starting right now, we will all use "|" instead of "a".

So, now th|t we |ll |gree with my ch|nge to the l|ngu|ge, |nd we |ll know |bout it, there shouldn't be |ny problems.

magores:


I'm sure I'm missing something, but I don't really understand the problem.

To oversimplify...

Today, we all agree that "a" is the letter "a". But, starting right now, we will all use "|" instead of "a".

So, now th|t we |ll |gree with my ch|nge to the l|ngu|ge, |nd we |ll know |bout it, there shouldn't be |ny problems.

Yes, PRC laws would be traditional everything else would be simplified. It is the lawyers that are calling for it mostly because in the simplifcation process they combined some characters together into one but that one character already had another meaning.

Simplified is fine for standard text but when you start getting into 书面 and 古代汉语 (yes they teach a simplified version of it) it gets more confusing than just sticking with traditional and your meaning becomes less and less clear.

That is the reason your a example doesn't work either because of the amount of abbreviations in the Chinese language. Hell the name of the country 中华人民共和国， to just 中国. When they simplified long words like that sometimes they would remove a character needed and replace it a sound alike thus confusing the meaning of the word as a whole and changing the abbreviation.

lolnubians?

Carth: magores:

Yes, PRC laws would be traditional everything else would be simplified. It is the lawyers that are calling for it mostly because in the simplifcation process they combined some characters together into one but that one character already had another meaning.

Gotcha. This messes me up all the time. I'll read something that doesn't make sense. Check my dictionary. And, once I see that I was reading the character in "the other" way, it will make sense.


Simplified is fine for standard text but when you start getting into 书面 and 古代汉语 (yes they teach a simplified version of it) it gets more confusing than just sticking with traditional and your meaning becomes less and less clear.

I have a book with old stories from the 3 Kingdoms period. Even with my big dictionary, I can't make sense out of them. My friends told me that I need another 10 years of living and learning Chinese before they will make sense. :(


That is the reason your a example doesn't work either because of the amount of abbreviations in the Chinese language. Hell the name of the country 中华人民共和国， to just 中国. When they simplified long words like that sometimes they would remove a character needed and replace it a sound alike thus confusing the meaning of the word as a whole and changing the abbreviation.

The abbreviated writing kills me sometimes. Often, newspaper headlines will make no sense, but then when I read the story, I understand. US newspapers do it too. Leave out words to make the headline fit the page, and to make it catchy and snappy. Great for native speakers, not so good for non-natives.

Sandwyrm: Also, at the risk of sounding like a war hawk, shouldn't the U.N. step in to ensure Mugabe conducts fair elections and unseat him if necessary?

Not likely. Reminds me of an exchange in Yes, Prime Minister:

Sir Humphrey: He's also against persecution and oppression in Africa.

The PM: So are we!

Sir Humphrey: Yes but he's against it when being practised by Black governments as well as White ones.

The PM: Oh. You mean he's a racist?

At church today a Zimbabwean Native (a white guy) talked about the country and the elections and what it is like to live there. At a party the night before I asked him every question I could, and he had some really interesting things to say.

First, he falls in the 15 percent with a job. He said it is really sad to see the destruction of the good economy and infrastructure that existed before.

He also said everyone expected Mugabe to steal the election. People really feel hopeless at this point that any change could come barring a "miracle" as he said.

He said though, the media can portray things as worse than they really are. Certainly things are terrible, he has seen most of his community leave. But there isnt any violence, and people do have food. They just have to pay 150,000,000,000 for a loaf. (he told us the real value is in billions, but they took three zero's off to make calculations easier.)

I asked him all kinds of questions about what it was like to be white, to see many whom he knew that owned farms (white people) have them taken away by the government overnight, and how that effects grudges and frustrations with the government. He said the ways Mugabe is seeking power is disgusting (and gave me examples) and how Mugabe has actually said he wants to rule like Hitler. Ironic yes, frustrating even more.

We also talked about the constitution, which is in far more disarray than we could ever complain about...

Anyway, that might not be knew to anyone, but it helped to hear it from a man living there himself rather than the Media's spin on it (whatever that may be).

volsung3: Sandwyrm: Also, at the risk of sounding like a war hawk, shouldn't the U.N. step in to ensure Mugabe conducts fair elections and unseat him if necessary?

The guy I talked with (Craig) said that the government does not allow outside entities to step in to watch the election, particularly those who have 'insulted' or condemned the current administration. So, the only people that can observe the election is the Election Commission which is appointed by the government, i.e. Mugabe. It's really a sad situation. He is doing everything he can to hold on to power.

A guy in the group I was with at church was complaining that is just sounded dumb to allow him to do that. Craig turned to him and said, "and what should we do? He controls the police and all of the government. How should we demand he let us watch the vote count?" Nothing short of a coupe would overcome this guy.

Remove all Republicans: It doesn't sound that off from the spin for whatever that's worth.

Yeah, I didn't think my account was that different from things being reported, no one likes Mugabe. I guess I think all I have to offer is the perspective from someone who lives there (albeit second generation for you) rather than someone from the BBC giving the the British reporting of it. Maybe nothing, but I sure enjoyed hearing his take on it. I asked him if the Media's reporting of the matter was accurate. He said it was analogous to the media's reporting of California and earthquakes. They have been equated because of the media's reporting on it. You only see some filtered news worthy bad things going on, but he said its not always just what the media reports. But, the straight info is about the same. The guys a jerk.

(example) The media portrays the place with people jumping over fences and long lines everywhere. In reality he says people still get together for afternoon tea, and the physical infrastructure is still (developed neighborhoods and downtown area) beautiful and working. So, he offered a good balance of pov.

Arjibuh: ...Nothing short of a coupe would overcome this guy.

Ironically (or coincidentally, whatever) I just finished reading an article in which Mugabe states that any acknowledgement of his electoral obliteration thusfar will be considered a "coup." I'm guessing that if he continues this pursuit, his regime will end like that of Idi Amin.

Good thing America doesn't have rigged elections.

Shaggy_C: Sandwyrm: I'm both amused and amazed English is proving popular in Africa too. Perhaps this is the path to world peace? Everyone understanding the same language.

Chinese has been and will be the #1 language in the world.

我们欢迎我们的亚裔霸主!

All the chineses are the number one languages in the world.

/Because they won't stop farking!!!!

I giggled when I read the sign.

+1

One way you can tell if a protest is authentic is by the signs. If they are amateurish, they are authentic.

Gyrfalcon: Shaggy_C: Sandwyrm: I'm both amused and amazed English is proving popular in Africa too. Perhaps this is the path to world peace? Everyone understanding the same language.

Chinese has been and will be the #1 language in the world.

我们欢迎我们的亚裔霸主!

Only because there are more of them than anyone else. But lots of them speak English, so Sandwyrm might have you there. Also, Mandarin is the official dialect, but Cantonese is the "official variant", whatever that means.

Even in Canton there are several mutually imcomprehensible dialects, like Toishan.

Lord_Baull: Dude will win just like Saddam won his democratic elections.

Actualy Saddam didn't have to fake the results. He just forced people to vote for him.