The questions-not-worth-their-own-thread question thread XIII

[spryllino]

Either is fine, and it depends if you're talking about one spineless person or lots of spineless people.

The Democrats are like the spineless [people that infest this world] who won't stand up for themselves.
The Democrats are like the [generic] spineless [person] who won't stand up for himself.

These are subtly different in their implications, but they basically mean the same thing and they both work.

On the other hand, I would personally always go for "themself" in the latter case rather than "himself" because women can be spineless too.

 

[cardgame]

You know what's really annoying?

How using 'themselves' while referring to a single person of unknown gender is improper grammar... It really kills the inner grammar Nazi in me. His or her self, he/she, etc., really jars the continuity of a sentence, whereas they is perfectly fine.

 

[PlutonianEmpire]

If my brother marries a woman, does that mean that I'm her brother-in-law AND she's my sister-in-law, or is it simply that I'm her brother-in-law?

 

[Traitorfish]

If my brother marries a woman, does that mean that I'm her brother-in-law AND she's my sister-in-law, or is it simply that I'm her brother-in-law?

Both.

 

[The Yankee]

If my brother marries a woman, does that mean that I'm her brother-in-law AND she's my sister-in-law, or is it simply that I'm her brother-in-law?

You can't have one without the other.

Love and marriage....

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

What does the German word "Aüftritte" mean? Im trying to translate an article but Im stuck on this word.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Auftritte, plural form of Auftritt.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Auftritte, plural form of Auftritt.

Thanks. I didnt know the English version of wikitionary did other languages.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

OK, heres another question. I found a Dutch article and typed it into Google Translate (just to get a rough idea of what it was about). I put in this:

Het gewelt komt vandaag uit San Francisco

And got this:

The Gewelt comes today from San Francisco.

However when I put that word into the wiktionary it directed me to a German word that means "violence." What gives?

 

[suiraclaw]

"gewelt" isn't a dutch word. My guess would be they meant "geweld", which means violence.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

I used to know the dutch word for "barbed-wire entanglement". What is it? It starts with prikkelbarben I think.

 

[Ajidica]

While we are on the foreign language tangent:
Is there a way to make Microsoft word not underline every word as misspelled because I am typing in spanish?

 

[Mathilda]

Sure there is, depends a little which version of Word you've got as to where the options tab is, on my home one it's under "file" tab, in my work one it's under that big ball in the top left corner -then bottom right of the menu that comes down.
My home version also tells the language it's presuming I'm using at the bottom left of the window and I can click on that to change it. Also my home version will automatically detect the language after one sentence.

 

[Ajidica]

I set Spanish (International Version) as an established editable language. How do I enable it on the word document I am using? Do I have to turn it on with the Primary Editing Language option?

 

[Mathilda]

Try "set as default". You can always reverse it when you're done.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

"gewelt" isn't a dutch word. My guess would be they meant "geweld", which means violence.

Yeah, I mean the article was scanned and I actually had to fix quite a few spellign mistakes. Id put them in the wikictionary thing and they would redirect me.

 

[GenMarshall]

I'm getting desperate. I am willing to take any ANY job even if it's minimum wage.

How can a person with an education background like myself (I hold degrees) overcome the barriers of the "You are overqualified" rejection when dealing with McJobs?

 

[ParadigmShifter]

Pretend not to have a degree.

 

[Communisto]

What PS said, if youre this desperate, you should lie.

 

[GenMarshall]

What PS said, if youre this desperate, you should lie.

Well, I don't want to get fired for lying on my resume/application if they find out I have a degree.