The Official Funny Stuff Thread™
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They don't make them like they used to -- they make them better than they used to, when you get into stuff that isn't built to the absolute lowest price that is
There's the key. You can look at nearly anything in Wal-Mart and say, "They don't make them like they used to...", but get to a more reasonable price point and stuff really lasts.
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in the UK the first truly reliable car was the Datsun 120Y; unlike the Austins, Morrises, Triumphs, and Rovers of the time, the Datsun would actually start in the morning
Ah yes, the obligatory invocation of British engineering, the discipline that gave us HMS Titanic.
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You want to know the most stupid thing though? Guess which company was responsible for rebuilding the Japanese car industry after WWII?
Austin
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And that's without getting into the ocean of superstitions, wars, and plain lack of morals that plagued every country.
Oh well. Can't fix everything, even now. :D
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Holy Batman! MY PUBES ARE ON FIRE!
One million forumpointzzz to the first to set that as their long name
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Where are you going to get those amounts of
cashpointzzz?*me puts on his aluminium foil hat*
Excuse me while I inspect these curtains for presence of hedgehogs....
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Excuse me while I inspect these curtains for presence of hedgehogs....
If you find one, call the exterminator right away. Worse than cockroaches those things are.
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If you find one, call the exterminator right away. Worse than cockroaches those things are.
You'll change that tune pretty quickly when the slugs come for ya…
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All diseases were basically incurable, so if you got one you might as well go jump off a cliff and spare yourself the several months of agonizing pain. Child mortality was so high (think 1/3rd) that in many places people didn't name their children until they were a certain age. Oh and the mother was very likely to die during childbirth too. The vast majority of people was illiterate, and even if you could read the only source of news you could get about the world was through letters and books that were most likely plain lies by whoever's in power, or crazy conspiracies. Good food and water (i.e. one that doesn't kill you) was barely enough to feed the king and his close servants. Hygiene was unheard of, meaning lice and rat everywhere. And that's without getting into the ocean of superstitions, wars, and plain lack of morals that plagued every country.
If you fudge the numbers a bit, you've just described a large portion of the USA.
<Citation: this post is complete bullshit>
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If you fudge the numbers a bit, you've just described a large portion of the USA.
Needs more Dwarf Fortress.
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Well, Dwarf Fortress is set in the 1400s, and all of that matches except the illiterate people not having news. Dwarf Fortress news travels via procedurally generated conversations that go like this:
Urist 1: Last year, a cherry was stolen from the capitol of Kentucky by a buzzard.
Urist 2: It was inevitable.
Urist 1: It was inevitable.
Urist 2: It was inevitable.
Urist 1: Not half an hour ago, I told you that last year, a cherry was stolen from the capitol of Kentucky by a buzzard.
Urist 2: It was inevitable.
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That's better.
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There is a debate among economists about the extent to which money grows on trees in an economy like the UK...
Source: http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2015/03/nation-states-arent-households-debating-their-economies-if-they-are-stupid. Don't bother clicking - the rest of the article is dry, boring to most. And is full of shit.
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It is believed that some guys took part of it to build a bridge foundation.
I initially read that as "fridge foundation", but then I was disappointed.
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If you fudge the numbers a bit, you've just described a large portion of the USA.
Yes, fudge the year so we're talking about the past, like he said.
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The vast majority of people was illiterate
At the risk of sounding illiterate myself, isn't the subject of this sentence the word "majority" and not "people", making the use of the singular form of the verb correct?
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My prescription medication is making me super groggy and I have a meeting in a bit that I want to be clear-headed for.
Google is not helping:
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Double espresso?
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Stole? That would indicate someone wants to use them afterwards...
I will now stop with this line of questioning.
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That's what I thought when writing it, but it does feel a little wrong. I dunno.
Filed under: haven't passed the Proficiency yet
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The effects of caffeine may vary when combined with other drugs though. But I guess it could be worth a shot (hehe shot).
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I've just drained my travel mug of black tea, hopefully it'll help some.
I've got to be at the tail end of this anyway, I mean, it was almost 12 hours ago I took the meds.... I shouldn't feel like I'm wading through syrup for much longer.
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At the risk of sounding illiterate myself, isn't the subject of this sentence the word "majority" and not "people", making the use of the singular form of the verb correct?
I have no idea, as I always did horribly in English classes. It certainly sounds incorrect to me...
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Yes, fudge the year so we're talking about the past, like he said.
Did you forget that Ben is a Turing Test? Like CleverBot, but nerdier.
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Did you forget that Ben is a Turing Test?
I just hope that something I say to him gets into that young skull full of mush.
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Good luck with that.
Hope in one hand, shit in the other...
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Harrison is good at yoga because he's got no bones. Hashtag NATURE FACT
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His e-mail password is
fudge
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Or
fudge pus
, it's not clear if "pus" is the same thought or a different one.LET'S ANALYZE A COMIC!
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At the risk of sounding illiterate myself, isn't the subject of this sentence the word "majority" and not "people", making the use of the singular form of the verb correct?
When using words like "majority" and "minority", it depends on how you are using the terms.
The Dictionary of Modern English Usage (Fowler, 1999) indicates three use cases:
- When using an abstract or generic meaning, such as when referring to superiority of numbers, the singular verb tense is appropriate.
- The great majority is helpless.
- A minority indicates it supports the proposal.
- When using a more specific meaning with numeric plurality, such as linked to a specific percentage, use the singular or plural verb tense:
- The majority was/were determined to press its/their victory.
- A 10% minority is/are opposed to the measure.
- When referring to a specified set of persons, use the plural tense:
- A majority of Canadians have voted for the change.
- A minority of the students are willing to pay more.
This analysis is supported by http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice/english-as-a-second-language/expressions-of-quantity
Now let's take a look at the sentence in question:
The vast majority of people was illiterate
Because the people referenced here are those from the past, this sentence falls into the third usage outlined above. As such, the correct usage should have been:
The vast majority of people
waswere illiterate
Badge unlocked - b
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That's 'ous' i.e. the end of the word ridiculous
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It's Reginald. What else would you expect. Heck, I'm surprised it's not 'Beartato'
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When using words like "majority" and "minority", it depends on how you are using the terms.
The Dictionary of Modern English Usage (Fowler, 1999) indicates three use cases:
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http://www.wsj.com/articles/caesars-wipe-1426020199
Paywalled...you can use google to get through, but...
##Two Papers in One!
- “Outrageous behavior from Republican senators who can’t find Iran on a map: White House Faults G.O.P. Letter to Iran http://nyti.ms/18vR0KV”—tweet, @NYTCohen (Roger Cohen), March 9
- “An earlier version of a map with this article mislabeled the country where the Islamic State has been destroying antiquities. It is Iraq, not Iran.”—New York Times, March 9
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1957 - John Backus and IBM create FORTRAN. There's nothing funny about IBM or FORTRAN. It is a syntax error to write FORTRAN while not wearing a blue tie.
1972 - Dennis Ritchie invents a powerful gun that shoots both forward and backward simultaneously. Not satisfied with the number of deaths and permanent maimings from that invention he invents C and Unix.
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I was harassed by a bot once. I AM FUCKING TRIGGERED RIGHT NOW!
Put trigger warnings on your post, you ableist CIS scum!
Filed under: CIS buttumed for joke purposes
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BTW, note how she censors "st*pid", but then goes on an F-bomb tirade. These people are crazy.
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Not to forget, they got its pronouns wrong.