Friday, April 28, 2006

Pronunciation of "ii"

Looking at the word "Wii," how would you pronounce it?
Now, if I told you "Wii" is a proper noun, how would you pronounce it?

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Chaka has a question

Where is Danger?

dialects

so, can animals have dialects?

more specifically i was thinking chickens. but i guess the question can apply to any comunicating animals.

and one better, could one distinguish between the chicken dialects? like say, 'hey, clearly that chicken's a southern chicken, cause of the way that cluck went'

these aRe questions that haunt me deeply.

X's?

What is the proper procedure for giving ownership to a proper name that ends in an x?

For example, Jimi Hendrix has a song named Fire. How would I say that song is owned by Jimi Hendrix? Here are the three possibilities that I see:

a) Jimi Hendrix's Fire
b) Jimi Hendrix' Fire
c) Jimi Hendrices Fire

My first instinct was option (b), because the x makes a sound similar to an ending s. Kind of like if Lars owned an item it would be Lars' item, not Lars's item. But then I thought maybe since it's not an s, it just sounds like one, it would still have the s after the apostrophe. So in the end I think option (a) is right, but I still don't know for sure. Option (c) is just kinda silly, but I included it just for good measure.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

My first post

on the front page. It's like being able to eat in the dining room instead of the kitchen. (With all respect to Langston Hughes)

Monday, April 24, 2006

Truthiness

Chaka, what are your thoughts on the word "truthiness"?
The story behind the word can be found at wikepedia here.
Basically it was sort of invented by Stephen Colbert, the comedic genius, and then all of a sudden it was accepted as 2005's word of the year by some sort of organization. Anyway, is this a true word in your opinion? Or do we have to give it time to be codified and adopted universally before it actually becomes a word of sorts? And can someone just make up new definitions when they feel they should?


ps - unfurl the sails, mateys!

i think this question has been answered before

Can Peru people distinguish differnt (southern) American accents?

Sunday, April 16, 2006

the Sons

how come the Sons of Korah almost sound completely 'normal' when they sing - but aRe clearly from New Zealand when they talk ?

Friday, April 14, 2006

i wanna catch fire

so - in tradition of seemingly random phrases:

where did the phrase:

'catch 22'

come from?

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

p.p.p.p.s.s.s.s.?

In my disorganized way of writing letters, I often think of things after I sign my name. Is it wrong for the length of a postscript to exceed that of the main body of the letter? Or does it just reflect poorly on my mental capabilities? And how many postscripts are too many before just starting over is in order?

Monday, April 10, 2006

More Seaworthy Questions!

I have another pair of questions, both in the field of naval lore.

1) Why the frick does "aye" mean yes? And what is the point of saying it twice (i.e. "aye-aye cap'n")?

2) In the spectacular naval adventure movie based on a book by the same name, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, the crew celebrate a holiday called "Salutin' Day." What date does that holiday take place, and what is it all about? I'd like to start celebrating Salutin' Day and need this information in order to give it proper treatment as a holiday.

Friday, April 07, 2006

red-colored honor amongst the armoured thieves.

Which is the correct spelling?
"Honor" or "Honour"?
"Color" or "Colour"?
"Armor" or "Armour"?
I like Honor, Color, and Armour.

Why is one a "British" and one an "American" spelling?
When was the divergence?

Also, a bonus question:
What are the origins of the common pirate phrase: "yar"?
(a.k.a. yarr, arr, arg, yarg, etc.)

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

adequaticaticism - i couldn't find it in the dictionary