Boils was on VT. I just checked !

On the yacht subject, there was this great thread :
http://www.fodors.com/community/cari...ng-service.cfm

(Maybe we should start a thread about the stupidest/rudest people ever...)

DD, DH, 'coz, 'cus, tix, make it nearly impossible for a (non addicted to forums) non english speaker. I find it funny when OP's ask about France or ... that they don't realize that not everybody understands them and some efforts might be useful.

On the other hand, my vocabulary gets better here... how could I have known that boils means 'furoncles' if not on such forums ?

OMG - that is hideous (the caribbean thread) - pariswat's answers are an hilarious antidote.

Another abbreviation that grinds my gears - ppl. Yes, for some it's too hard to type 'people' and it doesn't matter if they're on a cell phone - use your thumbs ppl!!! Sorry..people!

Oh, I remember that post, too, Whathello, but hard to believe as it may be, the one by the American flashing his tips around the Riviera was even worse.

Chéri, if you know what OP means, you're getting good. I have been trying to decipher French SMS texting since I arrived here - not the easiest thing in the world. It probably took me a week or two to get that rdv meant rendez-vous - so you see, no matter how good our language skills, we are all idiots at certain kinds of communication.

And now I know how to say boils in French. Thank you, though I hope not to have to use it!

Italian texting language is also a bit impenetrable. "K" means "che" (what or which), which is fairly easy, because the pronunciation of the letter (in English) sound pretty much like the pronunciation of the word in Italian. (K in Italian is "kappa", though it's not an official letter in the Italian alphabet.)

"X" is "per". Why? Because it's the sign for multiplication, which is called "per", as in "4 per 2 fanno 8".

Ergo, XK is "perchè" ("why").

xk nn c 6? = Perchè non ci sei? ("Why aren't you here?" or, "Why don't you agree?")

I see these abbreviations in Italian forums, such as the Italian TA forum, and various Italian technology forums. I don't think all these people are typing on phones.

In forums where people have different native tongues, all abbreviations should be forbidden.

Talking about abbreviations, Whathello, could you translate VT? For us Yanks that stands for Vermont.

Janis, thank you for the link. That was exceptional entertainment.

The Italian texting-derived abbreviations make my head spin, but it's very interesting stuff. Many thanks!

<i>Talking about abbreviations, Whathello, could you translate VT? For us Yanks that stands for Vermont.</i>

TV? Or Vlaamse Televisie?


But with regard to the other fodoresque abbreviations one should keep in mind that only one abbreviation is close to be commonly known elsewhere outside Fodorville, USA, which is MILF.
And first time I read MIL I thought MILF and.. whoa, TMI ;-)

VT is Virtual Tourist, I would think.

See: http://forum.virtualtourist.com/Euro...wPost=11072464

It's a travel forum.

Isn't everyone supposed to be welcomed here? Even newbies with questions you find dumb.

How do you think people like that feel reading this post?

You have an awful lot to say for a "brand new" poster on these forums.

Sheeesh! with the millions of Americans traveling to Europe, you would think that by this time everyone on the continent would be able to speak English. C'mon guys! Don't make it so hard for us... American kids at age three speak a near perfect English!

Suze - there is a difference between 'dumb tourist questions' and rude, racist, elitist and ignorant tourist questions.

>>I've noticed that most of the people using "me and my husband" in the nominative case are from the UK. I wondered if it was a fad? Even worse, though, are the people who say "my husband and I" in the accusative case.<<

Looks like the thread is ready to veer off into linguistic digressions. I don't know whether this is a specifically UK issue (I suspect we share it with Australia for historic reasons), but using "me and.." in the nominative was always taken as a flaming example of a social class marker, certainly from the time the Victorians really started laying down the grammatical law. Somehow that seems to have transmogrified into the idea that "me" is always wrong when used with "and ....", even in the accusative, and somehow (I may be wrong) I have the impression that has become more frequent in Australia and crept back in via Australian TV soaps (and Dame Edna - "Excuse I!!". Somewhere I seem to remember getting the idea that it was also a sign of self-importance to use "me and,.." in the accusative, which may have confused people more.

It seems so simple to tell people to try saying it without the "and..." and see how that sounds, but it's the obvious solution; and you'd have thought the Queen's much mocked habit of starting speeches with "My husband and I" might have had some effect.

But there are some parts of England, certainly, where the pronouns can be reversed entirely. I once heard of a case where one Norfolk girl was heard to say to her friend "Why do her wave at we? Us don't know she!"

Norfolk; where the whole son-husband and sister-wife relationship is considered acceptable, "gimme-six" is a cry of pride and the acronym NFN (normal for norfolk) is officially forbidden in Doctor's notes.

I and my husband or my husband and I (as per Liz) is the only correct solution and I was panned for pointing this out during the year.

Perhaps someone can start a thread on unhelpful responses to genuine questions - some of mine will be there sorry.

I remember the unhelpful more than the helpful (the majority) - including one person who just didn't get where I was coming from and ended saying "excuse me whilst I bash my head on the desk" not very helpful and quite humiliating.

Steve : excellent idea ! I'll start with an old acquaintance whose posts are for 50% : 'As Nuke said' (or 'as xxx said') quite helpful

Sorry Nuke, VT is indeed Virtual Tourist !

Suze : I said there was humour in this rant, and I said not to bother if you didn't like it.
You don't seem to have humour, so just pass your way..

There will be some who think others do not have a sense of humor, which in pop psychology terms, is called projection.

Oh I have a fine sense of humor. I just don't think it's very nice make fun of questions some newbies ask on this forum.

We're supposed to be here to help.

Amen.

This reminds me of the leutenant in 'Good Morning VietNam' dressing down Robin Williams and telling him HE knows what humour is - and gives his definition.

There was one question that was not covered.

"Yesterday someone asked a question about transportation into the city from the airport. Their flight arrived at 1:23 PM, mine at 1:25, do you think that will make a difference?"