A sense of order...

[Fridgemagnetman]

Filling up a vehicle the logic side of my brain forces much harder than the part that used to be obsessed with symmetry. When I fill a car up, I FILL it up. I wish my car would hold 100 liters instead of just 53. Stopping for fuel is a hassle and really sucks in the winter when the temperature is 30 below or worse. My parents thought I was nuts always stopping on a random number. But they came from a generation where you pumped something that would correspond with exact bills in your wallet.

As for the language thing I think it is very unfortunate that English became so world dominant while being so ludicrously obtuse. Spanish, now there is a language that would work for me. First of all to my understanding almost all Spanish words are spelled pretty much exactly how they sound. And for another, the faster flow of syllables appeals to me. English is agonizingly slow for the speed my brain works at. It causes me to speak too quickly a lot of the time also. The only slower languages I can recall listening to would be those of the native North American varieties. How great it would be if history caused Spanish to be the language of all the America's and the language other countries around the world look up towards.

I have also read that in some point in history there was a very real chance that German could have become the official language of the USA. It would be interesting to think how the world would be shaped now were that to occur.

I can say all this being someone who only speaks English for now.

Interesting. If it was german would the sense of humor be different?

A lot of humor in english can be because it is easy to surpise expectation at the end of a sentence.
In german the word order is different meaning it is harder to play those verbal games you can in english.

So the english gave americans the language.
The Germans the food (which may be why there are gurkins with everything, a saurkraut-y like taste)

 

[Pariah Dog]

Interesting. If it was german would the sense of humor be different?

A lot of humor in english can be because it is easy to surpise expectation at the end of a sentence.
In german the word order is different meaning it is harder to play those verbal games you can in english.

So the english gave americans the language.
The Germans the food (which may be why there are gurkins with everything, a saurkraut-y like taste)

I've actually been doing some poking around, it seems that German becoming the language of the USA thing is actually more based more in mythology and the story got exaggerated over the years. This article claims that in the early days of the existence of the USA only 9% of the population was German speaking.

Did German almost become America’s official language in 1795? - National Constitution Center

Fascinating idea never the less. It might have been interesting if the USA ended up with a few states that were officially German language speaking. In the same sense how Canada has the province of Quebec that is officially French and New Brunswick which is English and French.

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

I've actually been doing some poking around, it seems that German becoming the language of the USA thing is actually more based more in mythology and the story got exaggerated over the years. This article claims that in the early days of the existence of the USA only 9% of the population was German speaking.

Did German almost become America’s official language in 1795? - National Constitution Center

Fascinating idea never the less. It might have been interesting if the USA ended up with a few states that were officially German language speaking. In the same sense how Canada has the province of Quebec that is officially French and New Brunswick which is English and French.

I guess it was more Dutch, but settlements were limited i gues before the english moved in.

Being english and lazy im happy enough with the way it turned out

 

[dragoncat16]

But seriously, who wouldn't carefully arrange the remaining eggs so as to distribute their weight evenly in the carton? It just makes sense to do so, because otherwise you are likely to misjudge and drop the whole carton if the eggs are all at one end and it happens to be the end opposite to the one you are holding. That just makes sense. Surely it makes sense to NTs as well, at least those who have ever dropped a carton of eggs because of that. I can't say I've ever had a conversation about it (until now), but doesn't everyone do that?

 

[spaceman]

Consider how historically bastardized English itself actually is. Who claims this language? The Celts? The Romans? The Saxons? The French?

IMO it seems a bit pointless to claim any "standards" over a language with such a lack of a clear pedigree.

Definitely not Celts. The English language was used in Wales to eradicate the beautiful Welsh language. But yes it's been bastardised.

 

[Judge]

Definitely not Celts. The English language was used in Wales to eradicate the beautiful Welsh language. But yes it's been bastardised.

Still, there are English words with Celtic origins. You have to include the Celts to some extent, though relatively minor in comparison to other languages.

Though at best I'd still consider "Proper English" as little more than an oxymoron under the circumstances.

 

[spaceman]

Perhaps this thread should have been named a sense of odour

 

[OkRad]

On a lighter note...

I am a pack rat, most definitely, which some might call disorder... But when I'm handling bills of money (yes... I'm a luddite who hasn't fully converted to the new electronic order), I like to make sure they are in the proper placement, with the heads up and to the right... I'll place bets most people don't even notice or think about that... I have always tried to do that, just simply did it...

And another sense of order, the proper names of cars, as an amateur historian of cars in many cases I know the exact name and find that many people use shortcuts of language, either on purpose or often without even knowing... I'm such a stickler to language that it sometimes drives me crazy when I see improper name usage, I might be the only one thinking about it, probably am...

One more, being Canadian, how we spell certain words... How we use "our" rather than "or", for example the word favour, I will always use the Canadian spelling! There is a small town close to where I live, that I often pass through, there is one restaurant that uses the American spelling using "or", drives me nuts everytime I see it! Or if I see memo at work with the American spelling, that's the first thing I notice and it drives me nuts...

Me too. It is COLOUR!!!! Drives me batty. If i am in a good mood i will tweak a good oot and aboot just because i live in the redneck south and want to display proper diction. No one understands what insay anyway