The very many questions-not-worth-their-own-thread question thread XXIII

[Gamemaster77]

Well the engine in a leaf blower can be removed from the actual thing and be used for a variety of uses since it's a pretty small but high horsepower engine.

Sneak up on unsuspecting small children and use it on them.

Can you turn it into a flamethrower?

Blowing snow, terrorizing dogs, blowing out birthday candles, simulating chain saw noises in haunted houses, launching small objects, drying paint, masking other noises.

Hmm, all good ideas. I was originally going to use it for a hovercraft, but only after we bought it did I realized that it would suck compared to other options for the same price. I actually did think about the flamethrower idea . But, removing the engine seems like it could be a good idea. I'll just have to see what it can handle.

 

[Borachio]

What is wrong with the sentence "Graffiti as an act of vandalism is a crime"?

It's used as an example of a bad translation, but I can't see anything wrong with it. I guess it shows how stupid I am at English.

I can't see much wrong with it, either.

Apart from putting in commas, as Dachs has suggested already, which is a bit over the top stylistically these days - though I tend to over punctuate myself - there's the issue of graffiti being in the plural (the singular is graffito, as we all know.)

So the sentence should be "Graffiti, as an act of vandalism, are a crime."

But this is just too awful to be read sensibly in modern English.

The only way I could make it work is "Daubing graffiti, as an act of vandalism, is a crime."

Really, though, the original sentence is perfectly fine in my opinion. Singular and plural nouns* are incredibly plastic; especially adopted straight from Latin. I can't see anyone objecting to the use of a plural as a singular in this case. The same argument goes with "data." Very few people talk about "the data are/indicate such and such."


*I should, of course, be very much more careful here - talking about plural nouns. Someone's bound to leap up and explain I'm using the wrong term. (Should it be "government is" or "government are"?)

Spoiler :

CFC addiction update: 24hrs 11 min. since last log-in

 

[Chukchi Husky]

Are you sure it's because of bad English, and not just because it doesn't convey the meaning of the Japanese sentence correctly?

It's because of the bad English. It's used as the main example of a classic bad video game translation.

Here is a picture of how the text is used.

Spoiler :

 

[Cutlass]

What can you use a leaf blower for...other than blowing leaves?

Sweeping the floor. You can blow all the dirt off it and into a pile. For big floors, of course.

 

[ELITEOFWARMAN8]

How do I look?

 

[bhsup]

Like a dark-haired Joffrey Lannister, which makes me want to punch you?

 

[ELITEOFWARMAN8]

Cool .

 

[hobbsyoyo]

How do I look?

Like Shia Lebouf if he was not rich and busy dating supermodels and therefore had nothing better to do but try and hack into a dead admin's account.

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

Like Shia Lebouf if he was not rich and busy dating supermodels and therefore had nothing better to do but try and hack into a dead admin's account.

The mark of a funny sentence is when I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about but am certain that if I did I'd be in stitches right now. This qualifies.

 

[Lohrenswald]

Chukchi Husky, could the problem be the "however" in the beginning of the sentence?

 

[hobbsyoyo]

The mark of a funny sentence is when I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about but am certain that if I did I'd be in stitches right now. This qualifies.

Elite was a notorious (in the worst possible way) user on another forum until he was permabanned for, among other things, trying to hack into the account of a dead man who was actually the forum's founder and then bragging about it. He still emails people and somehow talks them into posting on his behalf which goes to show that the internet is populated mainly by morons.

Oh and Shia Lebouf is this rich, famous actor in case that was in question:

He was in transformers and stuff.

 

[Chukchi Husky]

Chukchi Husky, could the problem be the "however" in the beginning of the sentence?

That part is for some reason forgotten.

 

[ELITEOFWARMAN8]

Elite was a notorious (in the worst possible way) user on another forum until he was permabanned for, among other things, trying to hack into the account of a dead man who was actually the forum's founder and then bragging about it. He still emails people and somehow talks them into posting on his behalf which goes to show that the internet is populated mainly by morons.

Oh and Shia Lebouf is this rich, famous actor in case that was in question:

He was in transformers and stuff.

That's not true.


And go back to your basement where you got no life Mr.7K posts . No one will miss you!

Moderator Action: Flaming.
Please read the forum rules: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=422889

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

That's not true.


And go back to your basement where you got no life Mr.7K posts . No one will miss you!

I can think of a whole number of sayings involving reaping, sowing, making beds, lying in them, pots and kettles.

 

[ELITEOFWARMAN8]

Yeah well, you someone over so many times,what the did you expect to happen?

 

[rugbyLEAGUEfan]

Yeah well, you someone over so many times,what the did you expect to happen?

I don't want to be a jerk, but your response is exactly why you should re read what I wrote.

 

[ELITEOFWARMAN8]

Meh. I'm out of this loser joint. Bye morons!

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Meh. I'm out of this loser joint. Bye morons!

We love you too.

 

[GinandTonic]

Who is this we white woman?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I'm not going to explain the joke.