Annoyed by "Newspeak"

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iliketrees
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23 Jun 2015, 1:15 am

Lintar wrote:

TTRSage wrote:

I would rather listen to fingernails on a chalkboard than to hear either of these remarks.

That's Newspeak, right there. Why do so many now refer to a blackboard as a chalkboard? Does it have something to do with the word 'black'? Is this word now only P.C. when referring to someone who isn't 'white'? If so, then why do we still call whiteboards, whiteboards? Isn't this... I don't know - 'racist' or something? Has the world gone mad?

Wikipedia wrote:

A blackboard (UK English) or chalkboard (US English; also blackboard)

It depends on where you're from what you call it. Nothing to do with political correctness.

ProfessorJohn
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23 Jun 2015, 11:59 am

Lintar wrote:

Has the world gone mad?

Yes, quite a while ago.

Fugu
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23 Jun 2015, 1:51 pm

ProfessorJohn wrote:

Lintar wrote:

Has the world gone mad?

Yes, quite a while ago.

what's the weather like in the 80s? here's a tip, invest in a little company called microsoft

kraftiekortie
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23 Jun 2015, 1:54 pm

We New Yorkers say "blackboard," by the way.

Janissy
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23 Jun 2015, 6:29 pm

Lintar wrote:

TTRSage wrote:

I would rather listen to fingernails on a chalkboard than to hear either of these remarks.

The world hasn't gone mad but the world has gone green. In the U.S. at least, chalkboards are usually green although some are black. Calling it a chalkboard covers both.

lostonearth35
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23 Jun 2015, 8:54 pm

A lot of people complain about acronyms, but they've been around forever and are a part of everyday language. It's pretty silly, but I owe it to an episode of Family Ties for knowing scuba stands for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus.

kraftiekortie
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23 Jun 2015, 9:35 pm

Acronyms are an excellent mnemonic tool, at times. They can also be quite illustrative.

One should, when communicating with someone, make sure that the recipient of the communication understands the meaning of any acronym.

If one only communicates via acronyms or other modes of "shortened" speech, it might be conceived, by the uninitiated, as a foreign language. One should seek to communicate mostly in the full-throttled version of their language.

olympiadis
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23 Jun 2015, 9:41 pm

You haven't truly experienced acronyms until you've had a military career. :!:

untilwereturn
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24 Jun 2015, 7:48 am

iliketrees wrote:

lostonearth35 wrote:

Sick means the same as "rad" did. I haven't heard anyone use it in years. Those type of words don't last very long. Same with "wicked". All have the same meaning - "cool" or "neat".

Actually, "wicked" has a longstanding use in the New England region of the United States. It's used as a superlative, roughly equivalent to "very" or "extremely." For example, someone might say "that maple syrup is wicked sweet," or "it's wicked hot out there today!". It's probably the only place on earth where someone might reverently say, without any sense of irony or blasphemous intent, "God is wicked awesome!"

I grew up in New Hampshire, and it's been in use there for as long as I can remember.

iliketrees
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24 Jun 2015, 8:17 am

untilwereturn wrote:

iliketrees wrote:

Sick means the same as "rad" did. I haven't heard anyone use it in years. Those type of words don't last very long. Same with "wicked". All have the same meaning - "cool" or "neat".

Guess there's regional variation, because where I'm from "wicked" was used on its own in a similar way "cool!" or "awesome!". This was around 10 years ago.

Edit: sorry about the format before, dunno what happened there

Last edited by iliketrees on 24 Jun 2015, 8:33 am, edited 2 times in total.

untilwereturn
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24 Jun 2015, 8:20 am

iliketrees wrote:

Guess there's regional variation, because where I'm from "wicked" was used on its own in a similar way "cool!" or "awesome!". This was around 10 years ago.

It's very much a regional thing. In Tennessee, where I live now, if anyone has heard the term it's been in the sense you describe. In New England, it's almost always used in conjunction with something else. As far as I can tell, this usage goes back multiple generations.

ToughDiamond
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24 Jun 2015, 9:26 am

untilwereturn wrote:

iliketrees wrote:

lostonearth35 wrote:

Sick means the same as "rad" did. I haven't heard anyone use it in years. Those type of words don't last very long. Same with "wicked". All have the same meaning - "cool" or "neat".

Fascinating.........apparently the word "wicked" derives from the Old English wicca, meaning wizard, so I guess it could have positive connotations, depending on the attitude towards wizards at the time the word was first coined. I guess "wizard" shares its roots with "wise," which has to be good, doesn't it? Mind you, I don't think the modern kids who first flipped the use of "wicked" had that in mind.

kraftiekortie
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24 Jun 2015, 9:30 am

When you say "wicked pissah" to something in Boston, that something is something which is extremely cool to the person who said "wicked pissah."

It's somewhat akin to a 1970s African-American saying that something is "bad."

or a present-day American saying someone has "mad skills," or that something is "mad cool."

iliketrees
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24 Jun 2015, 9:33 am

kraftiekortie wrote:

When you say "wicked pissah" to something in Boston, that something is something which is extremely cool to the person who said "wicked pissah."

Pretty sure I've heard "pissah" (probably, if ever put in written form, would be "pisser") used to meant a toilet.

So literally they are an evil toilet. :lol:

kraftiekortie
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24 Jun 2015, 9:37 am

LOL....I've never heard the bathroom/toilet/WC referred to as a "pisser."

I know there's a sculpture known as the "Pissoir" in Brussels. There's no blushing shame attached to that name.

ProfessorJohn
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24 Jun 2015, 10:06 am

kraftiekortie wrote:

LOL....I've never heard the bathroom/toilet/WC referred to as a "pisser."

I know there's a sculpture known as the "Pissoir" in Brussels. There's no blushing shame attached to that name.

I've seen that statue. Do you know the history behind it?

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