Comments on bulbulistan: things

John, BFF: What you say is very true, but ...

2010-09-26T18:50:36.022+02:00

John,

BFF: What you say is very true, but they are referring to the etymology - it says "ORIGIN 1996:" right there and goes on to say "from".

Hater: nobody calls themselves a hater, obviously
I did, in this very post, albeit somewhat ironically :)
Also, I associate the word 'hater' with some aspects of popular culture, rather then politics.

Waterboarding: Crucifixion is a form of capital punishment, so it's irrelevant for the purposes of this debate.
I don't see that the definition denies that merely because it doesn't include the word torture.
Leaving out an important element sure sounds like denial to me. Denial by ommission, but denial nevertheless. Or as we used to call it, a half-truth.

Steampunk: Oh that one ticked me off too, but I couldn't think of any alternative. Even WP's "speculative fiction" doesn't quite cover it.

As for Dr. K., she did indeed requested the clarification of the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, but specifically for the purpose of determining their spelling (perhaps I should have included E's original message to clarify that) and then she and the committee used it as the only criterion in their decision, without even considering PSP.

On the other hand, the NOAD's definition of
2010-09-26T18:35:06.434+02:00
On the other hand, the NOAD's definition of steampunk is really stupid. I am no lexicographer, but look at the WP article and tell me if that definition doesn't miss the point totally.

You indeed state the etymology of BFF corre...

2010-09-26T18:29:31.223+02:00

You indeed state the etymology of BFF correctly, but etymology is not current meaning, and the current meaning of BFF is what the list says it is: boys don't have BFFs, and girls' male friends are not BFFs either.

Hater means different things in the second person and the third (nobody calls themselves a hater, obviously). People referred to as haters are indeed obsessives, but to be called a hater it suffices to disagree politically with the speaker. I've been called that, and I'm the least politically obsessed American you're likely to know.

Torture can be used as punishment, not just as an interrogation technique. Crucifixion was unquestionably death by torture, but the Romans didn't care what the victim had to say: they were done with all that. And interrogation is by no means limited to asking questions simpliciter; it is any technique designed to elicit answers. Racking was indeed both an interrogation technique and torture, as is waterboarding, and I don't see that the definition denies that merely because it doesn't include the word torture.

Sounds like Dr. K was merely asking the embassy for clarification on the status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, not on their Slovak names. Why he should care is a question.

the law is that it does not do what laws are su...

2010-09-25T20:38:42.162+02:00
the law is that it does not do what laws are supposed do, i.e. solve problems

I wholeheartedly agree. However, the law is here and we have to live with that, and it is not going to go away completely. I think each and every politician (apart from Hungarian ones) thinks that revising it from scratch is a recipe for a political suicide. Even Bugár shows he has no teeth to bite through it (a bit of disappointment here).

Now, the law (in its roots) seems firmly cemented (only the details differ with each election), but perhaps something will be done with Ústredná jazyková rada - like changing the demented status of it being a political and not scientific council.

My biggest gripe with the law is that we have t...

2010-09-25T18:16:04.454+02:00
My biggest gripe with the law is that we have to publish conference proceedings and scientific journals in Slovak
Yep, this is the practical part of it and I've heard a lot of people at SAV or UK complaining about it. We could go provision by provision and highlight what's wrong with them, but my biggest gripe with the law is that it does not do what laws are supposed do, i.e. solve problems (yes, I'm a liberal). It's main purpose is to ... I was going to say 'affirm the ethnic nature' of Slovakia, but even that doesn't sound right, at least not entirely. It's more about trying to impose some people's idea of what Slovakia (and Slovak), an idea that is at least outdated, if not an outright illusion. It's the very same thing English-only advocates in the US are trying to achieve - they don't care about the language, they are only using it to make sure the United States will remain English-speaking, Protestant and white. It is much more difficult to define precisely what kind of Slovakia our ľudáks and neo-ľudáks trying to preserve, but you get a rough picture. Sweet Jesus, they might have as well written "Akýkoľvek zásah do status quo ako ho definujeme my je neprípustný".
Now it doesn't surprise me at all that a piece of crap legislation like this was put together by the likes of Slota and Čaplovič. But the fact that the new nominally right-wing government did not do away with the law right away speaks volumes about the nature of Slovak politics and Slovak politicians. And what the flying fuck is Bugár thinking?

My biggest gripe with the law is that we have to p...

2010-09-25T17:41:36.387+02:00
My biggest gripe with the law is that we have to publish conference proceedings and scientific journals in Slovak (we don't need no stinking English, thank you). I even asked then-director of JÚĽŠ to ask the ministry for exception, but my request was somehow lost in the brouhaha over "Akýkoľvek zásah do kodifikovanej podoby štátneho jazyka v rozpore s jeho zákonitosťami je neprípustný" (means the new SSSJ will be 'illegal') nd "funkčné využitie" of non-standard language means (§11 1) - who is going to tell what if "funkčné" and what not?

Not even speaking about publicly singing songs not in their original language (and not Slovak) - §5 (6).

Comments on bulbulistan: things

John, BFF: What you say is very true, but ...

On the other hand, the NOAD's definition of 2010-09-26T18:35:06.434+02:00 On the other hand, the NOAD's definition of steampunk is really stupid. I am no lexicographer, but look at the WP article and tell me if that definition doesn't miss the point totally.

You indeed state the etymology of BFF corre...

the law is that it does not do what laws are su...

My biggest gripe with the law is that we have t...

My biggest gripe with the law is that we have to p...

On the other hand, the NOAD's definition of
2010-09-26T18:35:06.434+02:00
On the other hand, the NOAD's definition of steampunk is really stupid. I am no lexicographer, but look at the WP article and tell me if that definition doesn't miss the point totally.