[Gerardo]

blackshoe, on 2012-April-19, 23:24, said:

An American is an inhabitant of the United States. A North American is an inhabitant of the United States, Canada, or (except, as I understand it, in Mexico) Mexico. Mexicans refer to Americans as Norte Americanos, ("North Americans").

So no, Canadians are not Americans.

American_(word)

[Vampyr]

Can't find blackshoe's post; anyway there are about two dozen countries in North America.

[helene_t]

So to denote America as distinct from USA I could say something like:

Amerind and Na-dene are groups of American languages languages spoken in the Americas

It is a bit awkward that there is no adjective that really means "American", as opposed to narrowly "US-ian"

[Gerardo]

Vampyr, on 2012-April-20, 04:02, said:

Can't find blackshoe's post; anyway there are about two dozen countries in North America.

It is on the RIP thread.

I answered here because it was off topic there, and on topic here.

[kenberg]

billw55, on 2012-April-19, 08:45, said:

Speaking of traffic, what bugs me is when people refuse to take their proper turn at a four-way stop. I can't count how many times I have pulled up to the line last of the four directions, and had to go first because nobody would budge. No, don't wave me to go ahead of you, just take your own dang turn, it is better for everybody.

It's even more annoying when I am a car or two back and they are doing it up there. For the love of god somebody just go!

There are a fair number of things that people do, intending the best, that I would just as soon they wouldn't do. One is holding a door open. OK, if I am right there, fine. But people do it when I am a dozen steps or so back. I feel a bit of an obligation to pick up my pace so they are not stuck standing there like a doorman. Really I am not yet at the stage where I cannot open my own door. If I am laden down with stuff, of course it is different and I appreciate the help.

Another example is people who decide to help me remove my cards from the card holder by picking it up and shoving it toward me. Leave the thing on the table. I can get my cards out in one quick movement. It's really not a two person operation.

By the way, I have found the following useful in these traffic situations: Suppose I am arriving at a four way stop, and I see another guy arriving on the crossing street a little ahead of me. Of course he can move on through first but he might be one of these "Oh no, please, you go first" types. I stop a tad, maybe 4 feet, short of the usual stopping place. This seems to communicate. He goes through, I go through.

[PassedOut]

kenberg, on 2012-April-20, 06:33, said:

By the way, I have found the following useful in these traffic situations: Suppose I am arriving at a four way stop, and I see another guy arriving on the crossing street a little ahead of me. Of course he can move on through first but he might be one of these "Oh no, please, you go first" types. I stop a tad, maybe 4 feet, short of the usual stopping place. This seems to communicate. He goes through, I go through.

I do this too, for the same reason, and it speeds things up here too.

Similarly, drivers here are often reluctant to pull onto a highway near my home when an approaching driver is signaling a right turn (I suppose the driver might really be planning to barrel right on through). If I move a bit closer to the right when approaching the intersection, though, it seems to reinforce the right-turn message and traffic moves more smoothly.

[lalldonn]

Interesting, I have a different strategy in those situations. If we are getting there at nearly the same time and I intend to let him through, I slow down a little early but keep rolling forward about a second after he stops. That seems to make it obvious that he has stopped first so he will go.

[PassedOut]

lalldonn, on 2012-April-20, 09:23, said:

Interesting, I have a different strategy in those situations. If we are getting there at nearly the same time and I intend to let him through, I slow down a little early but keep rolling forward about a second after he stops. That seems to make it obvious that he has stopped first so he will go.

Good idea. I'm going to try it here.

[mgoetze]

Vampyr, on 2012-April-20, 04:02, said:

Can't find blackshoe's post; anyway there are about two dozen countries in North America.

Is it so hard to click on the grey arrow next to blackshoe's name?

[Vampyr]

mgoetze, on 2012-April-20, 15:01, said:

Is it so hard to click on the grey arrow next to blackshoe's name?

I guess it must be. I do not know of a grey arrow. I saw a quote, couldn't find the quoted post. I managed, though.

[onoway]

Outfits like Stumbleupon which email with a message, " it's been so long since you've visited us, please come back we'd love to see you again"; then when you click on the link you get an insistent message, "who are you? log in." I leave, but it's irritating, as clearly they already know exactly who I am and when I am on the site.

Also sites which demand you log into Facebook to make a comment. Don't do that either. Why is so much on the internet now under the direction of control freaks?

[kenberg]

These things about Facebook have gotten completely out of hand. Recently my younger daughter posted a picture someone took of a small pond near where she grew up. She somehow (I don't know the techniques or the lingo) tagged the picture to me. Now when someone I don't know makes a comment about a picture taken by someone I don't know I get a message informing me of this.

Let me state for the record: Mostly I totally ignore any message arriving from either Facebook or LinkedIn about anything. My daughter, the one mentioned above, has taken down her Facebook page because she was spending too much time on it. My older daughter largely dropped it sometime back. I sense a rebellion brewing. I don't feel the need to have 437,603 close friends and I gather quite a few others are coming to the same conclusion.

[wyman]

kenberg, on 2012-May-08, 10:05, said:

These things about Facebook have gotten completely out of hand. Recently my younger daughter posted a picture someone took of a small pond near where she grew up. She somehow (I don't know the techniques or the lingo) tagged the picture to me. Now when someone I don't know makes a comment about a picture taken by someone I don't know I get a message informing me of this.

Let me state for the record: Mostly I totally ignore any message arriving from either Facebook or LinkedIn about anything. My daughter, the one mentioned above, has taken down her Facebook page because she was spending too much time on it. My older daughter largely dropped it sometime back. I sense a rebellion brewing. I don't feel the need to have 437,603 close friends and I gather quite a few others are coming to the same conclusion.

Changing your notification settings is hard?

[kenberg]

wyman, on 2012-May-08, 10:26, said:

Changing your notification settings is hard?

Probably not, but I don't know how to do it. I don't even know just what a notification is. I got these things saying I have a notification and I should click on something. I did it for a while, usually it was nothing of even peripheral interest if I could find it at all, now I usually ignore it. I have never missed anything of importance as far as I know (and I suppose that if it were important, I would by now know). We all have to choose what we want to look into.

I get friending requests from people whom I have never heard of. I have no idea why. I know from experience that it is possible (on LinkedIn anyway) to inadvertently send such a request. I once made some sort of error, I never discovered what, that sent requests to everyone in my address book. I had meant no such thing. It had happened as I was trying to deal with a friending request from someone on bbo who, it turned out, also had not meant to send the request to me. You don't, they tell me, have to be alive to vote in Chicago and I am thinking the same is true of friending on Facebook.

Anyway, for now, I just let it float by. I may deal with it someday but I can't see that I am under any obligation to do so.

[mgoetze]

People interchanging "affect" and "effect" at random e.g.

phil_20686, on 2012-May-08, 07:08, said:

I am certain that this effects people in a less dramatic manner.

[PassedOut]

mgoetze, on 2012-May-08, 14:44, said:

People interchanging "affect" and "effect" at random e.g.

In the same vein, people interchanging "insure" and "ensure." I find split infinitives grating also, but am getting more tolerant with age.

[kenberg]

These things rarely have any affect on me, I insure you.


Actually, I find I make many more mistakes of this sort when typing than I do when I am writing by hand. I rarely typed anything until the computer revolution, and it rattles my brain. I am getting better, much better, my wife just proofread something for me and some pages had no mistakes at all.

[gwnn]

PassedOut, on 2012-May-08, 16:35, said:

In the same vein, people interchanging "insure" and "ensure." I find split infinitives grating also, but am getting more tolerant with age.

And assure!

[barmar]

PassedOut, on 2012-May-08, 16:35, said:

In the same vein, people interchanging "insure" and "ensure."

If it can be a question on "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me"'s "What's the Difference?" round, I don't bemoan most people getting it wrong.

[Vampyr]

I have been getting a lot of spam texts lately, and this has me peeved.