The questions-not-worth-their-own-thread Question Thread!

[Atticus]

Can the frase "Have a nice day" be understood as an insult, and if yes, what is the logic behind that?

Can the term "lady" be understood as derogatory (when applied to... ladies), and if yes why?

Is Joe Pesci's accent specific to Italian-Americans or some region? Or has it just become paradigm of mobster voice in the mafia movies like Marlon Brando's Vito Corleone (and therefore misleads me)?

 

[Taras Bulba]

Can the frase "Have a nice day" be understood as an insult, and if yes, what is the logic behind that?

if you use it sarcastically and in spite, like to someone you don't like, and they say that they are going to have a miserable day... and at the end of the conversation, you say "Have a nice day" just to spite them, because you know they won't

that's all I could think of

Can the term "lady" be understood as derogatory (when applied to... ladies), and if yes why?

I'm not a lady, I wouldn't know

Is Joe Pesci's accent specific to Italian-Americans or some region? Or has it just become paradigm of mobster voice in the mafia movies like Marlon Brando's Vito Corleone (and therefore misleads me)?

can't answer this one either, don't know who it is

 

[Red Door]

The voice is a stereotype of Italian-Americans from New Jersey, especially Eastern Jersey. You'll hear it, but it's not that common.

 

[Taras Bulba]

The voice is a stereotype of Italian-Americans from New Jersey, especially Eastern Jersey. You'll hear it, but it's not that common.

it may be because I live in 'the most Italian town in the US'.... or at least it had that title until a lot of the illegal aliens came in and lessened the percentage of the total population.... but anyway

I looked up the guy on youtube, and you'd be surprised about how many Italians around here have that accent.... at least the older ones.... most of the kids don't, but a lot of the elderly people from around town sound A LOT like that

PS-post 666

 

[Firstlady]

Trajan, Mirc, or anyone else who might be familiar with music theory:

I'm having a little bit of trouble with enharmonics. E sharp/F flat, C sharp/ D flat, sure, sure...

But what about notes like G, D, and A?

G natural/ F sharp are two different pitches.
G natural/ A flat are two different pitches.
The only thing I can think of is G / A double flat* or F double sharp/ G...

but I don't know whether or not that's correct and my book and the internet haven't proved to be helpful.

 

[jeps]

Have a nice day can be rather ironic and spiteful, and insulting if used properly. Telling someone to have a nice day when they know for a fact that you are wishing them the opposite.

Suppose you work retail at a store. Now suppose a rather obnoxious customer comes in. They ask for help. You say "have a nice day" and walk away.

 

[Mirc]

Trajan, Mirc, or anyone else who might be familiar with music theory:

I'm having a little bit of trouble with enharmonics. E sharp/F flat, C sharp/ D flat, sure, sure...

But what about notes like G, D, and A?

G natural/ F sharp are two different pitches.
G natural/ A flat are two different pitches.
The only thing I can think of is G / A double flat* or F double sharp/ G...

but I don't know whether or not that's correct and my book and the internet haven't proved to be helpful.

Yes, G natural and F sharp or G natural and A flat are two different pitches, and yes G and A double flat are the same pitch while F double sharp is the same as G. You got it right.

It's because between C-D, D-E, F-G, G-A, A-B, there is one whole tone, while between E-F, or B-C, it is only one semitone. The structure of a major scale (upwards) is tone-tone-semitone-tone-tone-tone-semitone. Thus, there are 2 semitones, if no accidentals are used.

In any case, that only works with tempered instruments. Untempered ones are a COMPLETELY different story, and things like C sharp being higher than B flat happen, or E flat being higher than F, etc. Don't forget that the tempered scales are artificial, which is why they would never sound as perfect as the untempered ones, also called natural.

I, personally, play the guitar, which is tempered (thus artificial) but if you have a good ear you will be able, in time, to realize the slight almost unaudible differences between something like a violin and a piano playing the same thing.

 

[Firstlady]

Thank you, Mirc!

 

[Mirc]

You're very welcome!

And a small correction: "In any case, that only works with tempered instruments. Untempered ones are a COMPLETELY different story, and things like C sharp being higher than B flat I mean D flat happen".

 

[really]

Did you know this guy has his own Wikipedia entry??!?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mircea_Gogoncea

He does seem to travel a lot and he was on TV the last time I was in Bucharest.

Fair play.

 

[really]

He does seem to travel a lot and he was on TV the last time I was in Bucharest.

Fair play.

I own up pg633 is a DL, I got logged into an old unused account by mistake.

 

[Trajan12]

Trajan, Mirc, or anyone else who might be familiar with music theory:

I'm having a little bit of trouble with enharmonics. E sharp/F flat, C sharp/ D flat, sure, sure...

But what about notes like G, D, and A?

G natural/ F sharp are two different pitches.
G natural/ A flat are two different pitches.
The only thing I can think of is G / A double flat* or F double sharp/ G...

but I don't know whether or not that's correct and my book and the internet haven't proved to be helpful.

Okay, I'm kinda late anyway but that's correct. So is the rest of what Mirc says.

I, personally, play the guitar, which is tempered (thus artificial) but if you have a good ear you will be able, in time, to realize the slight almost unaudible differences between something like a violin and a piano playing the same thing.

I remember the argument you had with someone about that one.

 

[Trajan12]

Can the term "lady" be understood as derogatory (when applied to... ladies), and if yes why?

Yes, lady when used by a man to refer to a woman can and probably always is seen as condescending. Using anything other than ma'am or Miss will probably be construed as either offensive or awkward sounding.

 

[really]

Tell me some awesome places I should visit in London. I'm going to go to the normal tourist attractions, such as British Museum, Buckingham/Westminster Palace etc., but I want to know some awesome place that isn't so often mentioned as one of the must-see places in London.

Imperial war museum is good.

Depending on what type of holiday this is spend an afternoon / evening in Soho on the beer, sampling all the variety of bars. Or if it is a Sunday morning, the Church in kentish town.

Of my years in London, the only time I was randomly impressed by something touristy was walking past a hospital near Paddington (St. Mary's I think) and one of those blue plaques on the wall said 'in the room behind the window 2 stories above this sign, Alexander Fleming discovered Penicillin' It's not worth a diversion though.

 

[Mirc]

He does seem to travel a lot and he was on TV the last time I was in Bucharest.

Fair play.

Really? When was that?

I remember the argument you had with someone about that one.

Yeah, I settled that by saying the guitar is a tempered instrument that can be sometimes twisted into playing untempered sounds, and it can never be played as a real untempered instrument.

 

[LucyDuke]

Yes, lady when used by a man to refer to a woman can and probably always is seen as condescending. Using anything other than ma'am or Miss will probably be construed as either offensive or awkward sounding.

Bold is not true.

 

[Elrohir]

Can the term "lady" be understood as derogatory (when applied to... ladies), and if yes why?

Pretty much anything can be derogatory, depending on the context and the intent of the speaker. Generally I wouldn't say "lady" or "ma'am" is offensive if it's said seriously, and not as a sarcastic jibe at a woman's age. Of course, there are plenty of women who are offended by that sort of thing, but they're in the definite minority.

I view this in the same light as referring to an 'African-American' as 'black.' There are some people who find it offensive for various reasons, but most people are fine with it, even if it isn't wholly PC language.

 

[Trajan12]

Bold is not true.

I cannot fathom anyway of saying Lady to a woman that wouldn't be seen as arrogant.

 

[Atticus]

Thanks for the answers.

One more question for Americans: I've read and heard of the movement to ban lynching in the early 20th century, and it amazes me: wasn't lynching already forbidden by murder laws?

 

[Bigfoot3814]

One more question for Americans: I've read and heard of the movement to ban lynching in the early 20th century, and it amazes me: wasn't lynching already forbidden by murder laws?

Maybe in the south the lynching of black people wasn't?