this post was submitted on 21 Mar 2024
701 points (96.9% liked)

Greentext

4397 readers
1155 users here now

This is a place to share greentexts and witness the confounding life of Anon. If you're new to the Greentext community, think of it as a sort of zoo with Anon as the main attraction.

Be warned:

If you find yourself getting angry (or god forbid, agreeing) with something Anon has said, you might be doing it wrong.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 35 points 8 months ago (4 children)

Doesn't english just get that from being three languages in a trench coat?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Also, people love to break what little rules it adheres to and claim "eh, it's already broken, so let me do this dumb thing a little further because Alicia said it was hella fetch." And that's why people can't pluralize "email" properly and why everyone under 40 knows no adverb but "literally".

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago (1 children)

"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary." --James D. Nicoll

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

This reads like Pratchett. Love it

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago (2 children)

What’s so wild is that, as a native speaker, there are SO many rules and edge cases and exceptions…. And I know them by heart without ever being told them explicitly. First example that comes to mind is the whole order of adjectives…. We say big fluffy purple cat, never purple fluffy big cat.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago

There's small cat medium cat and big cat. Any cat clothes shop will tell you the same.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 8 months ago (3 children)

I can't imagine trying to teach that or explain it in a way that would be satisfactory to someone learning English.

"I don't KNOW, its just how we do it!"

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

If you can't have a satisfactory explanation then at least you could have an unsatisfactory one from Tom Scott, and that's the next best thing, right?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

I know… wild.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 8 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 19 points 8 months ago (1 children)

The one at the bottom who is supposed to just fucking walk but keeps threatening the stability of the whole thing by randomly blurting out nonsense.

In the dimly lit boudoir, she sat at her ornate bureau, perusing an array of gourmet hors d'oeuvres, contemplating which avant-garde piece from her repertoire to perform at the soirée, her silhouette an epitome of haute couture elegance. Meanwhile, her fiancé, a connoisseur of fine arts and a critic of the bourgeoisie's penchant for laissez-faire economics, prepared a detailed critique on the nuances of ballet and the je ne sais quoi of modern art installations, embodying the esprit de corps of their eclectic salon.

Statements dreamed by the utterly deranged.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago (2 children)

They have played us for absolute fools.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 7 months ago

French was not supposed to be a real language

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I detest that meme, but you made me snort.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

It's one of the few memes that I find genuine enjoyment in ha. Glad I could bring you a bit of joy, if even for a moment.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Sweet, a win-win then!