NationStates Jolt Archive


Abortion

Stripe-lovers
19-01-2005, 11:52
Since it's rarely covered on here I thought a poll was in order. So, what do you think?
Stormforge
19-01-2005, 11:54
Since it's rarely covered on here I thought a poll was in order. So, what do you think?What do the characters in your sig mean? I can read them all except for the first one and the fourth one.
Kanabia
19-01-2005, 11:58
What do the characters in your sig mean? I can read them all except for the first one and the fourth one.

Me too. I vaguely recognise the fourth one though. (something-person something 205)
Stormforge
19-01-2005, 12:02
Me too. I vaguely recognise the fourth one though. (something-person something 205)Yeah, that's about where I am.
New Fuglies
19-01-2005, 12:06
I am against legalized abortions because I miss back alley "coat-hanger" clinics. ;)
Kanabia
19-01-2005, 12:06
Yeah, that's about where I am.

Do you study 日本語 or 汉语? :D
Stripe-lovers
19-01-2005, 12:10
It's:

美国人 meiguaren (Americans) (lit: beautiful country people, who said the Chinese don't know irony?)
是 shi (is/are)
二百五 erbaiwu (250, Chinese numbering conventions mean you often drop the last 10)

so altogether it's "Americans are 250".
Stormforge
19-01-2005, 12:11
Do you study 日本語 or 汉语? :DIf by "study" you mean "look at every once in a while, decide it's too hard, and then thank god English uses an alphabet", then yes, I study nihongo (far too lazy to write in kanji).

EDIT: Ah, I knew "mei" was used for "American" but I never knew the character. Is your transliteration into English correct? If so, is it pinyin or Wade-Giles?

EDIT 2: Retarded spelling mistake.
Findecano Calaelen
19-01-2005, 12:11
note to self dont post while hungry
BlatantSillyness
19-01-2005, 12:13
note to self dont post while hungry
did you eat your mouse again?
Kanabia
19-01-2005, 12:14
It's:

美国人 meiguaren (Americans) (lit: beautiful country people, who said the Chinese don't know irony?)
是 shi (is/are)
二百五 erbaiwu (250, Chinese numbering conventions mean you often drop the last 10)

so altogether it's "Americans are 250".



Oh, so that's slightly different to the Japanese numbering system then. :)

I figured the first was a group of people, (same last symbols as Japanese)

If by "study" you mean "look at every once in a while, decide it's too hard, and then thank god English uses an alphabet", then yes, I study nihongo (far too lazy to write in kanji).

lol. I studied Japanese for 7 years but I am hopeless at Kanji, and thus at reading anything. I mean, you can't exactly look it up in a dictionary if you're stumped with a symbol :(
Neo-Anarchists
19-01-2005, 12:14
did you eat your mouse again?
No, s/she ate mine, and I want it back!
:D
Stripe-lovers
19-01-2005, 12:16
EDIT: Ah, I knew "mei" was used for "American" but I never knew the character. Is your transliteration into English correct? If so, is it pinyin or Wade-Giles?


Pinyin, though I'm too lazy to put the tones in.
Findecano Calaelen
19-01-2005, 12:16
did you eat your mouse again?
*click*
Stormforge
19-01-2005, 12:18
Pinyin, though I'm too lazy to put the tones in.Oh good. Wade-Giles gives me seizures.
Findecano Calaelen
19-01-2005, 12:18
No, s/she ate mine, and I want it back!
:D
*click* im not a sshe or a she *click click*
Stripe-lovers
19-01-2005, 12:20
lol. I studied Japanese for 7 years but I am hopeless at Kanji, and thus at reading anything. I mean, you can't exactly look it up in a dictionary if you're stumped with a symbol :(

Well, if you learn the system for looking up the radicals you can use most older-style dictionaries. Here in China, though, most modern dictionaries are ordered according to pinyin, though it may be different in Japan.
Stormforge
19-01-2005, 12:22
lol. I studied Japanese for 7 years but I am hopeless at Kanji, and thus at reading anything. I mean, you can't exactly look it up in a dictionary if you're stumped with a symbol :(I got really annoyed yesterday because, for the life of me, I could not remember the kanji for "six". Every other number I could do, but not six. Pissed me off to no end.
Stripe-lovers
19-01-2005, 12:26
Oh good. Wade-Giles gives me seizures.

Yeah, it's a decent enough approximation of Cantonese but is awful for Mandarin. No tones is also pretty nightmarish. Pinyin's much better once you get your head around how to pronounce c, q, ch and zh.
Neo-Anarchists
19-01-2005, 12:27
*click* im not a sshe or a she *click click*
What?
Did you put in too many "s"s?

Are you a he, a she, or other?

EDIT:
LOL, I see what you're talking about now!
Stormforge
19-01-2005, 12:29
Yeah, it's a decent enough approximation of Cantonese but is awful for Mandarin. No tones is also pretty nightmarish. Pinyin's much better once you get your head around how to pronounce c, q, ch and zh.It came as quite a shock when I learned how to pronounce pinyin correctly. I had to relearn how to say so many things. "Zhou" for instance. Who would guess that it sounds more like "Joe" and less like "zao"?
Kanabia
19-01-2005, 12:40
Oh yeah, and as for the original topic: "Everytime you start an abortion thread, a baby dies."
Findecano Calaelen
19-01-2005, 12:43
What?
Did you put in too many "s"s?

Are you a he, a she, or other?

EDIT:
LOL, I see what you're talking about now!
hehe :)
by elimination im a....?
Neo-Anarchists
19-01-2005, 12:46
Grr, people are talking about a foreign language and I don't understand them!
So just to throw everybody off...
Hvert er skiptahlutfallið?

Nærðu þessu?
(actually, I'm not too sure about this one... might have it wrong)
Neo-Anarchists
19-01-2005, 12:46
hehe :)
by elimination im a....?
You're a ....?
I guess that goes in the "other" category, then...
:D
Findecano Calaelen
19-01-2005, 14:47
You're a ....?
I guess that goes in the "other" category, then...
:D
damn my secret is out
Squealopia
19-01-2005, 14:51
If by "study" you mean "look at every once in a while, decide it's too hard, and then thank god English uses an alphabet", then yes, I study nihongo (far too lazy to write in kanji).

EDIT: Ah, I knew "mei" was used for "American" but I never knew the character. Is your transliteration into English correct? If so, is it pinyin or Wade-Giles?

EDIT 2: Retarded spelling mistake.

It's "guo" and not "gua".
Stripe-lovers
21-01-2005, 11:36
It's "guo" and not "gua".

He's right and I'm an idiot. Always make that mistake.

Are you learning putonghua too?
Squealopia
21-01-2005, 11:38
He's right and I'm an idiot. Always make that mistake.

Are you learning putonghua too?

He's a she, and she studied it for a year in high school ;)
Trilateral Commission
21-01-2005, 11:48
did somebody say PUTONGHUA!?
Trilateral Commission
21-01-2005, 11:55
It's:

美国人 meiguaren (Americans) (lit: beautiful country people, who said the Chinese don't know irony?)

China tends to flatter all foreign nations with poetical names
是 shi (is/are)
二百五 erbaiwu (250, Chinese numbering conventions mean you often drop the last 10)

so altogether it's "Americans are 250".
What the heck does that mean!!
Neo-Anarchists
21-01-2005, 11:58
did somebody say PUTONGHUA!?
No, but somebody did say "Hún er að gera mig brjálaðan!"
Þetta er sjálfsagt...
Squealopia
21-01-2005, 12:00
China tends to flatter all foreign nations with poetical names

Plus, "Meiguo" sounds vaguely like "America" - even more so in Cantonese. "Ruidian" (= Sweden) is something like "Sui dian" in Cantonese, I've heard.

What the heck does that mean!!

250 million?
Squealopia
21-01-2005, 12:01
No, but somebody did say "Hún er að gera mig brjálaðan!"
Þetta er sjálfsagt...

She is making me...something. This is self-said (eh!).

Am I right? Icelandic is close to Swedish, but not that close, really..
Neo-Anarchists
21-01-2005, 12:03
She is making me...something. This is self-said (eh!).

Am I right? Icelandic is close to Swedish, but not that close, really..
Wow, you've got the gist of it!
The first said "She is making me crazy", the next a vague translation of "That goes without saying", but it seems as though it may be a bit shaky.
I'm not too great at Icelandic yet, so half of the stuff I try to say will come out horribly wrong.
Trilateral Commission
21-01-2005, 12:03
Plus, "Meiguo" sounds vaguely like "America" - even more so in Cantonese. "Ruidian" (= Sweden) is something like "Sui dian" in Cantonese, I've heard.

True, when something is given a CHinese name the characters are based on phonetics, and whoever names things also tries to find characters that have positive definitions. Most place-names in Chinese have flattering double meanings, the characters for Rui Dian have the double meaning of "auspicious laws."

EDIT: clarification
Trilateral Commission
21-01-2005, 12:17
Every time you start a thread a chinaman eats a meal of dog! :p
Stripe-lovers
21-01-2005, 12:38
He's a she, and she studied it for a year in high school ;)

Aargh <smacks side of head> sorry. I try to never make that mistake. It's just that since you said you liked New York Trilogy I've had you linked in my mind with my friend Joakim. So just so you know I'll always picture you as a lanky, stick-insect thin, perpetually drunk, badly dressed, post-punker, anarchist, Paul Auster fanboy from Malmo (well, a small town just outside).

The knowledge that mandarin is taught in Swedish high schools has just made my respect for the Swedish educational system climb even further.

True, when something is given a CHinese name the characters are based on phonetics, and whoever names things also tries to find characters that have positive definitions. Most place-names in Chinese have flattering double meanings, the characters for Rui Dian have the double meaning of "auspicious laws."

And Ying Guo (the UK, which pisses off the Scots and Welsh no end) means "hero country" :)

What the heck does that mean!!

It's Chinese slang, of course ;)
BlatantSillyness
21-01-2005, 12:40
And Ying Guo (the UK, which pisses off the Scots and Welsh no end) means "hero country" :)




Why would you think this would piss off the Scots and the Welsh?
Trilateral Commission
21-01-2005, 12:41
It's Chinese slang, of course ;)
So can you tell me what it means?
Stripe-lovers
21-01-2005, 13:00
Why would you think this would piss off the Scots and the Welsh?

Because Ying Guo was originally a phoenetic adaptation of England, which helps to further foster the impression that England and Britain are one and the same. There is a separate conversion for England (Ying Er Lan) but a lot of my students still use England to mean the UK. I remember having to try to explain to a group of government officials about to go and study in Belfast why saying "I really want to study at the University of Ulster in England" was not the best of ideas.

And believe me it does annoy the Scots I know here, though most Scots who've travelled outside the UK are fairly used to being mistaken for English.

So can you tell me what it means?

Ah, OK then. Basically it means "Americans are idiots". The best explanation I've heard for why 250=stupid is that in China most things are measured in jin, where 1 jin = half a kilo (500g). So 250 is half the usual measure.

It's actually an in joke, more than anything else. 250 was the first Chinese slang I learnt and I used the phrase "meiguoren shi erbaiwu" as a commonly used joke response to the question "ni shi meiguoren?" which I get asked very often here. I was then greeted with it by my local shopkeeper whenever he saw me, and he taught me how to write it. So it represents my first piece of commonly used Chinese slang, a catchphrase and the first thing I learnt to write. It's also my own personal response to the election of Bush.

Now people know what it means I'll probably change it to something else.
Bogstonia
21-01-2005, 13:08
Fucking Tacos Motherfucker!

tacos
Squealopia
21-01-2005, 13:26
Aargh <smacks side of head> sorry. I try to never make that mistake. It's just that since you said you liked New York Trilogy I've had you linked in my mind with my friend Joakim. So just so you know I'll always picture you as a lanky, stick-insect thin, perpetually drunk, badly dressed, post-punker, anarchist, Paul Auster fanboy from Malmo (well, a small town just outside).

Heh, that sounds like someone I'd sleep with, though. :p

The knowledge that mandarin is taught in Swedish high schools has just made my respect for the Swedish educational system climb even further.


It's not commonly taught, really, but our school had a kind of "supply and demand" policy. There were a lot of kids that wanted to learn Chinese, and since we knew that one of the teachers spoke it fluently, we all signed a list of interest...and voilá! ;)
Stripe-lovers
21-01-2005, 13:58
Heh, that sounds like someone I'd sleep with, though. :p

Only if you'd be prepared for him to dissapear on week long drinking sessions only to return with bizarre, drunken philosophy.

It's not commonly taught, really, but our school had a kind of "supply and demand" policy. There were a lot of kids that wanted to learn Chinese, and since we knew that one of the teachers spoke it fluently, we all signed a list of interest...and voilá! ;)

That's still a hell of a lot more freedom than most British schools have. I also love the fact that Joakim has managed to be in higher education for about 6 years, interrupted by various jaunts in the far east, and still gets a nice grant. Oh to have been born Swedish (says I, in mortal fear of the huge amount of debt awaiting me in the UK).
Legio ex Mens Mentis
21-01-2005, 14:08
Tacos*****
Kanabia
21-01-2005, 14:10
Heh, that sounds like someone I'd sleep with, though. :p

Cool, So I have half a chance? (Kidding ;))
Squealopia
21-01-2005, 14:11
Only if you'd be prepared for him to dissapear on week long drinking sessions only to return with bizarre, drunken philosophy.


It still sounds like someone I'd sleep with. :D

That's still a hell of a lot more freedom than most British schools have. I also love the fact that Joakim has managed to be in higher education for about 6 years, interrupted by various jaunts in the far east, and still gets a nice grant. Oh to have been born Swedish (says I, in mortal fear of the huge amount of debt awaiting me in the UK).

You live in China now, right? How long have you been there, are you studying Chinese or something else? You don't need to go back to the UK - you and your alcoholist friend can stay in my storage room for as looong as you like. :p
Belperia
21-01-2005, 14:20
I think the main problem with abortion is stupid people.

Look at it like this:

ABORTION
ADOPTION
ABOPTION
ADORTION

Now OK, this may also affect dyslexics as well, but they are not stupid people when all's said and done. But your average stupid person will put an unborn whatever-you-want-to-call-it up for one of the above and only has a 25% chance of getting it right. Or 50% depending how you look at it. Or 75% if "aboption" or "adortion" are real worlds relevent to pregnancy.

Either way it's not an A is it? No. It's a C at most.
Legio ex Mens Mentis
21-01-2005, 14:34
Taco***
Stripe-lovers
21-01-2005, 14:45
It still sounds like someone I'd sleep with. :D

Are you sure you'd want to sleep with this?

http://www.paullouis.co.uk/joakim.jpg

(he's the one on the right, sleeping on a Latvian's left nipple)

You live in China now, right? How long have you been there, are you studying Chinese or something else?

I've been here for a year and a half now, teaching English at a provincial-level teacher training university. You cannot understand the amount of willpower it takes not to teach the students completely inappropriate things in the hope that in 10 years or so the whole of Liaoning Province will think that "rimming" means kissing.

The Chinese has mostly been picked up (badly) in a semi-informal way, with individual tuitions. I'm unfortunately a very lazy student, however.

You don't need to go back to the UK - you and your alcoholist friend can stay in my storage room for as looong as you like. :p

Sounds an interesting offer, maybe I could be an international student-loan exile. I'd probably have to bring the gf along, too, though, is there room for 3?
Squealopia
21-01-2005, 15:05
Are you sure you'd want to sleep with this?

<snip>

(he's the one on the right, sleeping on a Latvian's left nipple)


If he's good enough for the nipple, he's good enough for me. ;) Seriously, though, I have a thing for tall and skinny guys. Mmm. Collar bones...


I've been here for a year and a half now, teaching English at a provincial-level teacher training university. You cannot understand the amount of willpower it takes not to teach the students completely inappropriate things in the hope that in 10 years or so the whole of Liaoning Province will think that "rimming" means kissing.

The Chinese has mostly been picked up (badly) in a semi-informal way, with individual tuitions. I'm unfortunately a very lazy student, however.


Haha, classic! :) "French-rimming". I do understand the temptation.. ;)


Sounds an interesting offer, maybe I could be an international student-loan exile. I'd probably have to bring the gf along, too, though, is there room for 3?

Ah, well, the storage room is approximately 2 square meters large, but hey...if there's love, there's room.