Stuff I just don't understand, post here yours.

[Florian]

learning to speak a language fluently usually means that you learn it as a child or spend years practicing it.

Hm? Ok, explain why you think that.

[Jon_Dahl]

Hm? Ok, explain why you think that.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crit...ge_acquisition

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comm...arning_process
French C2 level takes 1500+ hours, but I would guess that with Cheyenne, which is a highly agglutinating language, we are looking at least 2500 hours. I know this, because my first language is agglunating and it is pure hell to learn. No joke.

[Fawkes]

I just watched a film called Hostiles. I have a spoiler-free question.

Is it true that Confederate soldiers were able to speak fluent Cheyenne like Blocker (Bale's character) did? I am in no way questioning their talents, but learning to speak a language fluently usually means that you learn it as a child or spend years practicing it. It makes no sense to me that was able speak like a Cheyenne. Linguistics in a war usually means that you have interpreters who knows both languages - yours and enemy's - right from the start. I find very exceptional that an army officer would learn how to speak enemy's language fluently when you can save hundreds of hours of your time by having an interpreter around. Vietnam War lasted over 19 years. Show me an American officer who learned to speak Vietnamese during that time.

Couple of notes:

I have not seen Hostiles (though I intend to at some point) but Wikipedia tells me that the film is set in 1892, almost 30 years after the Civil War, so it seems unlikely that there are Confederate soldiers. The page describes Blocker as a veteran of the 'Indian Wars'.

The Cheyenne nation and the US warred on and off for about thirty years, and had signed a treaty of friendship decades earlier. If Blocker spent his career fighting the Cheyenne, there would plenty of time to pick up the language from his interpreters.

[Jon_Dahl]

Couple of notes:

I have not seen Hostiles (though I intend to at some point) but Wikipedia tells me that the film is set in 1892, almost 30 years after the Civil War, so it seems unlikely that there are Confederate soldiers. The page describes Blocker as a veteran of the 'Indian Wars'.

The Cheyenne nation and the US warred on and off for about thirty years, and had signed a treaty of friendship decades earlier. If Blocker spent his career fighting the Cheyenne, there would plenty of time to pick up the language from his interpreters.

I stand corrected, but it was thematically so Confederate-esque that I called him like that almost instinctively.

[tomandtish]

It's a bit inplausible, but not impossible. History is filled with people who ended up learning foreign languages as adults 'semi-passively' [aka didn't go out of their way to do it] in informal settings.

And there are some people who just pick them up naturally.

A girl I knew named "E" in college. She had a Japanese parent and an American parent, and grew up in Mexico, so spoke English, Japanese, and Spanish fluently by the time I met her. She took French, German, and Russian in college and was fluent in all three by the time she graduated. Last I heard she was working as an interpreter at the UN and had added three more languages.

She is also the person I would most want to be trapped on a deserted island with. Not for any romantic reason but because she ALWAYS runs into someone she knows. Stopped by once at DFW airport and some of us went to meet her. 30 minutes into the meeting, and an old childhood friend she hadn't seen in 15 years happened by. Stuff like this always happened.

So I'd want to be on a deserted island with her, because in no more than a day some random boat would pass by, someone would stick their head over and say "E? Is that you?" And we'd be rescued.

[igorpalkoo]

So there are a lot of stuff that I just don't understand, so I’ll list them here in the hopes someone cane explain it to me. If you also have your own stuff that you just don't understand, feel free to post it here as well to be clarified or mocked.

1- People who spit in the street, why do why people spit on the street? It's such a horrible habit that I see so many random pedestrians just spiting on the street as if it was something normal and no one besides me batting an eye or calling then out on their horrible behavior. Why? In my 24 years of existence I never felt the need... The urge to do that, why do people feel that they need to? Is there a thing I'm not getting?

2- Public displays of affection, it's so rude and inappropriate, I'm not a prude or anything but why don't keep private actions, you know, private?

3- People who work in the career advice field, I can't help but think they were so in doubt about their own career that they were unable to move on and decided to just advise others in something they kind of failed at, they felt they couldn't have to choose a real career so they decided to work with careers instead.

Anyway those are my points for today, what you guys think?

I agree. I do not like it either! So it's not good to do it all!

[darkrose50]

Something can be true without being 100% true. On/off, 0/1, true/false perceptions of reality are extremely frustrating.

How people cannot see that an observation at the macro-level is not a micro-level observation.

People that take one data-point to come to a conclusion and do not look at the data-set. 9/10 X's are successful . . . then some dolt will point to the 1/10 and say that this cannot be true.

One can say that people have 10-fingers, and still accept the fact that someone with 9-fingers is a person.

One can say that group X has more money than group Y. When something like this is noted, then some idjit will always say I am from group X and have less money than those in group Y, so this cannot be true.

-----

People thinking that the higher priced items are better. There is no law in nature that the price of something is equal to its value. Vanilla ice-cream is preferred by most, and will have the lowest cost to produce. Some oddball flavor like pine-tree, would cost more because it is odd. Some idjits would think that the pine-tree ice-cream must be superior.

I once had an argument that milk, butter, and eggs at store X and store Y were the same, and that buying them at store X and store Y was the same thing. My friend did not believe me. He was convinced that the higher priced store obviously had access to superior dairy cows, and superior chickens (they were the same).

An inventor was trying to sell something for $60, and could not sell them. He changed the price to $200 and sold lots of them. People can be crazy stupid.

One of my kids picked out a $1 toy and the other kid picked out a $10 toy. The cashier told my kid that picked out the $1 toy that she got a bad deal. As if the cost of the toy was linked to the enjoyment of play. Heck as a kid some of my favorite toys were a small table (the Millennium Falcon), and some rope (tying knots).

[Some Android]

1. What's a straw man?
2. What's tsundere/What is a tsundere girl?

I think the first one might be political and the second one might be sexual so if this goes against forum rules just tell me.

[darkrose50]

1. What's a straw man?
2. What's tsundere/What is a tsundere girl?

I think the first one might be political and the second one might be sexual so if this goes against forum rules just tell me.

"Straw Man Examples. A fallacy is an argument or belief based on erroneous reasoning. Straw man is one type of logical fallacy. Straw man occurs when someone argues that a person holds a view that is actually not what the other person believes."

For example: people do not know (or perhaps agree on) what socialism is. So if you use that word people imagine totalitarian states, and not Canada, England, or Australia.

Basically socialism is streets, lights, sewer systems, police departments and such that are funded by taxes. Socialism is more useful in highly populated areas than lower populated areas. There is a point where a $1,000,000 fire truck is either worth it for a community, or is not worth it. In socialism it seems to be so much more worth it in highly populated areas that it must be a major contributing factor that makes Democratic states extremely more profitable than Republican states (it is mind boggling). This "socialism" creates more wealth than less-socialistic states, because buying in bulk is a thing.

Now some people think that socialism means that everyone is equal (nothing can do that), but I would argue that at a macro-level it comes close. The GI bill after WWII was socialism. Service men and women coming back from the war all got a chance to go to school and be a doctor, if they qualified for the spot. This was not based on if they had the money or not. These folks were not handed degrees to be a doctor, because everyone is not equal. This example of socialism simply created more doctors (or more doctors from the ranks of the poorer families). This is essentially what a meritocracy is (based on merit, not wealth, or social status).

-----

"Tsundere (ツンデレ, pronounced [tsɯndeɾe]) is a Japanese term for a character development process that describes a person who is initially cold (and sometimes even hostile) before gradually showing a warmer, friendlier side over time."

Example: my wife is my best-friends little sister. She annoyed me slightly when we were kids (I wanted to play with my best fiend, and not her). As we aged I liked her more, and more.

[ve4grm]

1. What's a straw man?
2. What's tsundere/What is a tsundere girl?

I think the first one might be political and the second one might be sexual so if this goes against forum rules just tell me.

Neither are inherently political or sexual, but they are often used in those ways.

darkrose50 explained tsundere well. I'll just add that it's a common stereotype used to portray a romantic interest character in anime and manga. In particular in a series where the main character has multiple romantic interests, one of them is likely to be tsundere, starting off cold before revealing that they were interested all along.

--

For a straw man argument, think of it literally. A straw man (say, a scarecrow) is a reasonable facsimile of the real thing, real enough to scare off the uninformed (crows), and easy to knock down to show your own superiority.

So for example:
Me: "Apples are less healthy than oranges."
The straw man argument: "He claims apples aren't healthy! They're obviously a healthy choice! What a dope."

It's reasonably close to what I said, but is easy to knock down/discredit. Those who don't look carefully will dismiss my arguments due to thinking I'm way off base. But if you look at what was actually said, it's probably less objectionable.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

1. What's a straw man?
2. What's tsundere/What is a tsundere girl?

I think the first one might be political and the second one might be sexual so if this goes against forum rules just tell me.

Couple of references:
Straw man fallacy
Tsundere

Straw man in particular is the process of misrepresenting someone else's argument in order to make it easier to "win" a debate (by pretending they said something easy to dispute, rather than what they actually did say). Like all fallacies, it does not survive logical scrutiny. ve4grm's example is excellent.

Grey Wolf

[Some Android]

Okay. I think I understand. I'll try and use both in an example:

Person A: I hate how annoying tsundere girls are. They always start off unrealistically angry, and their character development to nice is so predictable.
Person B: So you just hate all anime? You're not even gonna give another country's entertainment a chance? That's pretty closed minded of you!

Am I doing it right?

[Mr Blobby]

From RationalWiki:

'A straw man is a logical fallacy which occurs when a debater intentionally misrepresents their opponent's argument as a weaker version, and rebuts said version — rather than their opponent's genuine argument. Intentional strawmanning is usually done with a certain goal in mind, including:

- Avoiding real debate against an opponent's real argument, because the misrepresenter risks losing in fair debate
- Making the opponent's position appear ridiculous as a way of 'poisoning the well'

Unintentional misrepresentations are also possible, but in this case, the misrepresenter would only be guilty of simple ignorance. While their argument would still be fallacious, they can be at least excused of malice.'


Outside of the usual spheres, this is often seen in works of fiction [often novels] inhabited by an Author Avatar [usually the MC, who is also a Mary/Marty Sue] wishing to peddle a particular 'line' or with an axe to grind. Tactics often involve:

- Nutpicking [Taking the most extreme position of Straws' side, and suggesting it is normal]
- Liberal use of stereotypes regarding Straw.
- Making the Straw dislikeable to audience.
- Playing on the unconscious bias of audience.
- Deploying Straw's weakest/most controversial arguments rather than their strongest.
- Making sure Straw takes things to stupid/unacceptable conclusions.
- Ensuring that Straw's position is 'proven' wrong later in the text. Straw will either a) 'be converted', b) die [ideally, because of their 'stupidity'] or c) cling to their 'wrong' belief[s], thus making them look ridiculous.

Another 'Straw' warning sign can be the fact they're a flat character - their main purpose of existence is for the MC to yell at.

[Keltest]

Okay. I think I understand. I'll try and use both in an example:

Person A: I hate how annoying tsundere girls are. They always start off unrealistically angry, and their character development to nice is so predictable.
Person B: So you just hate all anime? You're not even gonna give another country's entertainment a chance? That's pretty closed minded of you!

Am I doing it right?

Yep, you got it!

[Some Android]

Yep, you got it!

YAY!

Now I'm learning! Understanding! Finally I'm becoming human!*

*The link is just to a video that has a quote similar to what I just wrote.

[Rynjin]

Yep, you got it!

But it's not like he's happy about it, b-baka.

[Some Android]

But it's not like he's happy about it, b-baka.

Okay I just did a google search on "b-baka."



Someone want to explain what I found and all the memes?

[Rynjin]

The joke is that it's a common Tsundere catchphrase, wherein they try to hide their feelings even as they do something nice for the object of their affection/physical and verbal abuse.

Tsundere: *Gives gift*
Poor Shmuck: "Wow! Thanks!"
Tsundere: "D-don't get the wrong idea! It's not like I like you or anything baka. I'm just repaying you for helping me earlier!"

For further explanation"baka" is a Japanese insult that basically means "idiot".

[Knaight]

For further explanation"baka" is a Japanese insult that basically means "idiot".

It's a rough approximation at best. Japanese doesn't have the rich variety in vocabulary that English does when it comes to denigrating someone's intelligence.

[Rynjin]

It's a rough approximation at best. Japanese doesn't have the rich variety in vocabulary that English does when it comes to denigrating someone's intelligence.

So is any translation from Japanese, I generally just stick with the common translations.

As funny as it is to point out that "kisama" (usually translated as "you bastard" or something) basically just means "You, but I'm saying it very rudely so you know I'm quite miffed with you good sir" sometimes, it's really not usually worth the effort.

[Knaight]

So is any translation from Japanese, I generally just stick with the common translations.

As funny as it is to point out that "kisama" (usually translated as "you bastard" or something) basically just means "You, but I'm saying it very rudely so you know I'm quite miffed with you good sir" sometimes, it's really not usually worth the effort.

That's absolutely true - I just find this particular one funny because of how well it illustrates the extreme variety English has for certain kinds of insults.

[Rynjin]

It is kind of interesting. The funniest part is, most didn't start out as insults, they were medical terms first, but got twisted into insults so new words had to be made for the same thing which then in turn became insults as well.

English speakers just have a penchant for making value neutral words negative, I guess.

[factotum]

Hey, some of our most common cursewords have been in use for a thousand years or more, but I obviously can't say which ones due to forum rules!

[Eldan]

-----

People thinking that the higher priced items are better. There is no law in nature that the price of something is equal to its value. Vanilla ice-cream is preferred by most, and will have the lowest cost to produce. Some oddball flavor like pine-tree, would cost more because it is odd. Some idjits would think that the pine-tree ice-cream must be superior.

I once had an argument that milk, butter, and eggs at store X and store Y were the same, and that buying them at store X and store Y was the same thing. My friend did not believe me. He was convinced that the higher priced store obviously had access to superior dairy cows, and superior chickens (they were the same).

An inventor was trying to sell something for $60, and could not sell them. He changed the price to $200 and sold lots of them. People can be crazy stupid.

One of my kids picked out a $1 toy and the other kid picked out a $10 toy. The cashier told my kid that picked out the $1 toy that she got a bad deal. As if the cost of the toy was linked to the enjoyment of play. Heck as a kid some of my favorite toys were a small table (the Millennium Falcon), and some rope (tying knots).

Actually, I've had pine nut ice cream. It's not bad.

[Some Android]

The joke is that it's a common Tsundere catchphrase, wherein they try to hide their feelings even as they do something nice for the object of their affection/physical and verbal abuse.

Tsundere: *Gives gift*
Poor Shmuck: "Wow! Thanks!"
Tsundere: "D-don't get the wrong idea! It's not like I like you or anything baka. I'm just repaying you for helping me earlier!"

For further explanation"baka" is a Japanese insult that basically means "idiot".

Awesome. Now I just need an explanation of "waifu," "husbando," "desu," and "doki doki."*

*For the record I know what all those things mean, but if anyone wants to give a joke answer I might find it amusing.

[Yora]

Logarithms. I know how to read a logarithmic graph and they are helpful in displaying information in some cases. But the math behind it always flew past my head.

Something can be true without being 100% true. On/off, 0/1, true/false perceptions of reality are extremely frustrating.

"You'll find that many of the truths we cling to depend greatly upon our own point of view."

[Tvtyrant]

Awesome. Now I just need an explanation of "waifu," "husbando," "desu," and "doki doki."*

*For the record I know what all those things mean, but if anyone wants to give a joke answer I might find it amusing.

Waifu: Taoist martial arts style. Involves accepting your circumstances, and then hitting them.

Husbando: Famous band of Hussites.

Desu: Way of announcing which member of the group is the Mary Sue. Compare Nadesu for members who aren't.

Doki Doki: Sound of Homer Simpson fighting a hawk.

[Sinewmire]

Waifu: Taoist martial arts style. Involves accepting your circumstances, and then hitting them.

Husbando: Famous band of Hussites.

Desu: Way of announcing which member of the group is the Mary Sue. Compare Nadesu for members who aren't.

Doki Doki: Sound of Homer Simpson fighting a hawk.

I'd always believed Waifu was a home internet network without cables, Husbando was a Spanish revolutionary, Desu was a chain of noodle bars and Doki Doki was a childish phrase meaning "Yes, alright."

You learn something new every day!

[Vinyadan]

Actually, I've had pine nut ice cream. It's not bad.

Pine nuts are one of the best things ever when it comes to taste, so I'm not too surprised.

[Tvtyrant]

I'd always believed Waifu was a home internet network without cables, Husbando was a Spanish revolutionary, Desu was a chain of noodle bars and Doki Doki was a childish phrase meaning "Yes, alright."

You learn something new every day!

Glad I could set things straight!

I really like the idea of a Desu noodle chain.