I think in Hyacinth's case, she's just being an obnoxious twit. I don't think it's just an English thing
>> ^oritteropo:

The main character is named Hyacinth Bucket, but insists it's pronounced "Bouquet".

Well it's lucky that, like David Mitchell says, a name is just a label and everyone will get used to it. My kids know a girl named "Mustang", which surely would be worse

You're right that sid-knee would be correct.

The masters of spelling a name one way and pronouncing it another are our cousins across the English channel from you. Have you heard of an English TV show called "Keeping up appearances"? The main character is named Hyacinth Bucket, but insists it's pronounced "Bouquet".
>> ^DerHasisttot:

>> I'm not good at transcribing into phonetic language, I admit it :-)

The first syllable sounds like the french "Zut" as in "Zut alors!", the second syllable sounds like the word "neigh". As opposed to a (hopefully) correct pronunciation "Sid-knee".

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>> ^oritteropo:

Even in English speaking countries, she may find herself being teased for having a name which is usually a boys name.
Does that horrible pronunciation sound, to a German, like the sound a bavarian horse would make, or like oppression of the south? Or is there another homophone that I've missed?>> ^DerHasisttot:
My father's wife's daughter called her little girl "Sydney." In English-speaking countries this would not be a problem, but here in Germany it stands out like a lighthouse. Even more problematic is the fact that the mother cannot even pronounce the name properly, which would be sth like "Sid-knee." She pronounces it "Süd-neigh," which is just ugly.



I'm mot good at transcribing into phonetic language, I admit it :-)



The first syllable sounds like the french "Zut" as in "Zut alors!", the second syllable sounds like the word "neigh". As opposed to a (hopefully) correct pronunciation "Sid-knee".

Even in English speaking countries, she may find herself being teased for having a name which is usually a boys name.

Does that horrible pronunciation sound, to a German, like the sound a bavarian horse would make, or like oppression of the south? Or is there another homophone that I've missed?>> ^DerHasisttot:

My father's wife's daughter called her little girl "Sydney." In English-speaking countries this would not be a problem, but here in Germany it stands out like a lighthouse. Even more problematic is the fact that the mother cannot even pronounce the name properly, which would be sth like "Sid-knee." She pronounces it "Süd-neigh," which is just ugly.

>> ^Crosswords:

>> ^schlub:
I personally can't stand when people think they're being "creative" by changing a letter or two in a name to make it "unique":
Jackson becomes Jaxon
Aden (or Aiden) becomes Caden, Jaden, Maden, Braden, Zaden, Gaden, and so forth...
Courtney becomes Kortny (wtf?)
Wow, so clever AND unique!

The only thing I find worse, is trend naming. I swear there was a period of time when parents only named their kids Austin or Taylor.
you mean http://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/ ?

>> ^schlub:

I personally can't stand when people think they're being "creative" by changing a letter or two in a name to make it "unique":
Jackson becomes Jaxon
Aden (or Aiden) becomes Caden, Jaden, Maden, Braden, Zaden, Gaden, and so forth...
Courtney becomes Kortny (wtf?)
Wow, so clever AND unique!


The more creative someone's name is spelled the more likely I'm apt to think their parents, and they by extension, are illiterate morons who when asked by the doctor what their child's name was, just started spitting out random consonants and vowels.

I understand to some extent in that parents want their children to have a name that not everyone has. I remember being in a class where there were 4 kids named Robert, which could be a bit of a problem when trying to address one of them, but it wasn't that big of a deal, nor did it detract from the Roberts' individualism.

The only thing I find worse, is trend naming. I swear there was a period of time when parents only named their kids Austin or Taylor.

... Andrew becomes 'Bamdrew'...
>> ^schlub:

I personally can't stand when people think they're being "creative" by changing a letter or two in a name to make it "unique":
Jackson becomes Jaxon
Aden (or Aiden) becomes Caden, Jaden, Maden, Braden, Zaden, Gaden, and so forth...
Courtney becomes Kortny (wtf?)
Wow, so clever AND unique!

>> ^blankfist:
What backlash?
This comes to mind. I also suspect that if I looked back at every Siftquisition, there was no lack of people attacking the person making the complaint by saying that they need to "grow thick skin" with varying degrees of crudeness.

I can't really think of anyone who's ever stood up and said "X crossed the line when they did Y" and they didn't get subjected to a lot of ridicule, and an extended public debate about what a terrible crime it is for someone to get offended by something someone said.

We're supposedly all adults here, right? Maybe that should also mean that when people say something crossed the line, we shouldn't just reject that out of hand, and make a big stink about the tyranny of the "white knights" or "crybabies" or "whiners." That doesn't sound like adult behavior to me.

You yourself said there are lots of other places on the internet for people to go. You seem to want the people who're offended by racist commentary and/or personal attacks to be the ones to leave for someplace else.

Me, I want the people who do those things to find someplace else to be, or at least learn to live within our already lenient (and obscenely vague) limits.

>> ^blankfist:

I've been attacked personally for my difference of political beliefs, yet you don't hear me crying foul every damn time someone calls me a libertard or blankfuck or whatever. Sometimes I feel targeted by you, dft, and some other prominent Sifters, but I'm not going to hop on a soapbox and spin a yarn how I'm a victim. That would be disingenuous.


I don't think it would be, necessarily. I think (assuming it wasn't all a stunt just to make a point), this comment by @rottenseed really makes a very cogent argument for why even a first class troll (and I mean that in the nicest possible way) like him would be offended by being singled out and called a dumbass.

I think what he said about the way he conducts himself is true -- he makes incisive satire about the overall mood of the Sift without ever being mean spirited, and I can't recall seeing him make a personal attack.

I do think it'd be hard for you to make the case that (for example) me calling you a dumbass would be over the line. But that doesn't mean there are no limits on the kinds of things it's reasonable for me to say to you, either. If you feel hectored by me, you shouldn't be forced to either live with it or leave the Sift. You have a right to be here without being bullied. I also think you have a right to have it dealt with privately so you don't have to deal with the insensitive assholes who'd call you names for complaining in the first place...

>> ^NetRunner:

Not the comment itself, but the backlash that occurs against people who take action in response to it.
Anytime anyone says they're offended by something, they get a huge target on their back, and have to put up with a tremendous amount of derision aimed at them.
I'm cool with questioning whether an instaban is an appropriate punishment for this particular infraction. I don't think a permanent ban is warranted (and I don't, but I do think comments like that should result in something more serious than a mere response in comments.
Your comments indicate that your issue isn't just that the punishment is too severe, but that you object to the notion that racist speech should result in any kind of punishment at all. You even say nobody should've even taken offense in the first place. Then you go so far as to cast bobknight as the victim of some sort of conspiracy to silence political opposition, since obviously nobody could or should've really been offended!
This is nuts, and it happens anytime anyone offends someone else deeply enough for them to take action rather than just let it slide.
If this really was "liberalsift" there'd be some sort of consensus that being sensitive is a positive trait, and not one we should try to beat out of people with our policies and social conventions...


What backlash? You mean this discussion on my personal blog? Oh the poor people who are forced to read my blog and have zero other places to go on the internet.

And this: "Anytime anyone says they're offended by something, they get a huge target on their back, and have to put up with a tremendous amount of derision aimed at them."

Hilarious. Yes, there's a real movement on here to target people. I think I remember that time when bk33 rounded up all the black people and gassed them. What a tactless exaggeration, NR. I've been attacked personally for my difference of political beliefs, yet you don't hear me crying foul every damn time someone calls me a libertard or blankfuck or whatever. Sometimes I feel targeted by you, dft, and some other prominent Sifters, but I'm not going to hop on a soapbox and spin a yarn how I'm a victim. That would be disingenuous.

The bottom line is this. Bk33's comment was luke warm racism. I understand some people could've been really offended, and apparently that was the case, but some people are offended when I order meat or wear leather or use the Christian God's name in vain. I think we all need to relax and move on.

I think a hero can be more than a dangerous situation or accomplishments..

The man who works his fingers to the bone for his children and still has time to throw them around in the air like superman (That's to you dad.)

The woman who looks to an abusive husband and says, "Fuck you, I don't need you." (That's to you Mrs. Lawdeedaw--when she did that to her previous husband.)

The little girl who returns the penny to the man who dropped it because his mother gives 'that nod' to her. Then the man who smiles at her, and gives her a dollar for the effort.

We have sensationized 'hero' so much that few people are heroes at all. The Soldiers fighting the wars? Mecenaries. The cops? Same. It is why you do something that vastly outweights what you do.

*Steps off soapbox.

>> ^messenger:
I mostly like the risk/sacrifice definition of "hero", but I think there's also an element of "saving a dire situation with a feat of excellence at a critical moment". It's like when Joe Carter hit his walk-off home run to end the 1993 World Series (heroic), as opposed to when he merely caught the ball in a routine play at 1st base to win the 1994 series (not heroic). That's the one that I feel applies here which unquestionably makes this guy a hero.>> ^burdturgler:
>> ^EMPIRE:
He saved her, and that's great. Really is.
But... isn't the word hero being thrown around rather lightly? Why was that heroic at all?

I can't win with titles on the sift. I say a cop smashes a girls teeth out and I get called a liar because her teeth were only chipped out, not knocked out. A cop leaps forward and snatches a girl when she has half an inch of ass on the ledge of a 40 foot roof.. "hero" is too strong a word.
You say he saved her life and then ask why that's heroic in the same comment. Isn't that enough? What did you do today?

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>> ^kymbos:

Yeah, I think he's talking about people like you, Spoco.
I'm with him all the way.
He had me at the remote with hundreds of buttons. God I hate those things. Give me channels, volume and mute, and I'm happy.


Uh, but wait, he says that he wishes VHS was back. Are you trying to tell me that a VCR was easier to operate than a Tivo? How many people did you know that had no friggen clue how to set up a recording to happen in the future? Yeah, they were stupidly difficult to use.

Tivo... looking through program guide, ooh, I like that, button pressed, job done.

Other PVRs same thing really... I don't actually have a Tivo (wish I did), but my PVR is almost as easy... go through guide, see show, press record, press it again if you want it to record it weekly.

Seriously, he's clutching at straws for things to whinge about now, and has some serious rose tinted glasses on about how good VHS was to use, it was shit. Analogue is shit.

I have a lot of DVDs, and 4 kids under 8 years old.... ALL of my DVDs still work, no scratches.

He's making shit up.

It's a pity, because I love most of his stuff, but I think he's finding himself backed into a corner of having to live up to an image of him being about to rant about things really well, but having run out of things to rant about.

Well he's talking about VCRs, and your dream remote won't PLAY anything.

I watched a movie a year ago on VHS after watching it on Netflix streaming. 4:3 picture, poor audio quality, "tracking", whatever the hell that was. Let's be honest, VHS was serious crap.

DVDs were better, hands down.

You know what's even better? Movies on my hard drive.

Arguing against DVDs is like arguing against CDs or laserdiscs. Nobody cares anymore.>> ^kymbos:

Yeah, I think he's talking about people like you, Spoco.
I'm with him all the way.
He had me at the remote with hundreds of buttons. God I hate those things. Give me channels, volume and mute, and I'm happy.

>> ^mxxcon:

or a monkey buttler


or a pig butler!
LOL