What is the newest installment of 'Random Thoughts' on Physics Forums?

[Sophia]

Thanks, I was confused that words indicating future and past tense were mixed like that.

 

[fresh_42]

I've just heard this sentence:

"I'm sure a lot of you WILL have read this BEFORE. "

What kind of grammar is this? Is it normally used in English? The person who said this is a native speaker. Maybe I just didn't hear what she actually said by mistake. She has a slight speech impediment and said the sentence quite fast so that may be why I didn't understand correctly.

Future II. I'm sure it exists in Slovak, too. "Ich werde mich gewundert haben, wenn nicht."

I have a new favorite English word that made me laugh out loud yesterday as I first saw it:
"...<some description of a specific situation> ... You know the spiel."
How in hell has it made it into English?

And why isn't it written "shpeel" or (although wrong) at least "speel"? And where is the appendix, diminutive gone, for it's usually used as "Spielchen" = antics?

 

[Sophia]

I've seen something like "I'm sure you will know this" before , but I don't remember seeing it in combination with present perfect.

Yes, we have a similar tense when we use future for expressing belief that the other person has done or knows something. But again, it's without present perfect, because we don't have PP at all :-)

You should start using word shpeel on Facebook and I'm sure it will become popular very soon!

Edit: I also find amusing that English doesn't have a word for Schadenfreude.

 

[fresh_42]

How do you express the following?

- Tomorrow at 10 a.m. I will go to the dentist.
- Hopefully I will have left again at 11 a.m.

 

[jim hardy]

"I'm sure a lot of you WILL have read this BEFORE. "

What kind of grammar is this? Is it normally used in English?

Perhaps short for "will be found to have read" , separating time when they read it from time when we posed the question. Does that make it ablative ?

TIL

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ablative_case
The ablative case (abbreviated abl) is a grammatical case in the grammar of various languages; it is used generally to express motion away from something, although the precise meaning may vary by language. The word "ablative" derives from the Latin ablatus, the (irregular) perfect passive participle of auferre "to carry away".[1] There is no ablative case in modern Germanic languages such as English.

English is such a mishmash of older languages it has a lot of quirks. I remember studying ablatives in 9th grade Latin class . Would that i could recall the details...

 

[Sophia]

How do you express the following?

- Tomorrow at 10 a.m. I will go to the dentist.
- Hopefully I will have left again at 11 a.m.

Using future and combination of future + infinitive.
I will go: "pôjdem"
Dúfam, (I hope in present tense) že sa mi podarí (that I will be able) odísť (infinitive of to leave) pred 11 (before 11).

Or
Dúfam (I hope present), že o 11 už odídem (that I will already leave at 11- simple future tense)

Or
Dúfam, že o 11 už budem doma (I hope that I will already be-simple future, at home at 11)

I guess we create this meaning by using the word už, which means already. We don't have an official tense that is called past or future prefect. At least it is not taught at elementary or high school. That's why it causes trouble to students because they can't understand its meaning in English. Especially for kids in 6-7th grade, when they first encounter it, it's something totally unnatural.

Edit: we can express the meaning that is connected to these English tenses, but there are many ways to do that depending on context and we use other word types, not necessarily only verbs to do that. It's difficult to explain :-)

 

[fresh_42]

Edit: I also find amusing that English doesn't have a word for Schadenfreude.

... or Zugzwang. Which I find especially amusing since it has two z.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I've just heard this sentence:

"I'm sure a lot of you WILL have read this BEFORE. "

What kind of grammar is this? Is it normally used in English? The person who said this is a native speaker. Maybe I just didn't hear what she actually said by mistake. She has a slight speech impediment and said the sentence quite fast so that may be why I didn't understand correctly.

I think there's a good chance the speaker you heard is in error here. We have, in English, the Future Perfect tense:

The FUTURE PERFECT TENSE indicates that an action will have beencompleted (finished or "perfected") at some point in the future. This tenseis formed with "will" plus "have" plus the past participle of the verb (whichcan be either regular or irregular in form): "I will have spent all my money by this time next year.
Future Perfect Tense
grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/GRAMMAr/tenses/future_perfect.htm

It seems like the person you quoted has confused this with the simple past. But it depends on what they actually meant.

"I'm sure a lot of you will have read this before the course is finished." is correct. But if they meant they are sure "...a lot of you have already read this (at the current time)," then the speaker got tripped up and used the wrong tense.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Edit: I also find amusing that English doesn't have a word for Schadenfreude.

Actually, the English word for Schadenfreude is: Schadenfreude.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/schadenfreude

In other words, it's been adopted as is, and is now in most dictionaries. We steal all our words. We are linguistic kleptomaniacs.

 

[fresh_42]

In other words, it's been adopted as is, and is now in most dictionaries. We steal all our words. We are linguistic kleptomaniacs.

Oh yes. I just checked whether download has already made it into the German dictionary (Duden).
It has. And it's even conjugated in a German way: "I've downloaded" is officially "Ich habe downgeloadet". Scary. The more there is already a German word to express it. A friend of mine is annoyed by the fact that since the 80's there are no "Besprechungen" anymore. Only Meetings.

 

[Sophia]

I think there's a good chance the speaker you heard is in error here. We have, in English, the Future Perfect tense:It seems like the person you quoted has confused this with the simple past. But it depends on what they actually meant.

"I'm sure a lot of you will have read this before the course is finished." is correct. But if they meant they are sure "...a lot of you have already read this (at the current time)," then the speaker got tripped up and used the wrong tense.

I believe it's the second option.
She was speaking about a certain book and wanted to express that she hopes that people listening to her now have read the book in the past. That's why I was confused. Because I've seen future perfect many times, but never in this context.

 

[zoobyshoe]

I believe it's the second option.
She was speaking about a certain book and wanted to express that she hopes that people listening to her now have read the book in the past.

In that case, I'm afraid that speaker is just plain wrong.

This happens a lot. People hear a certain phrasing and adopt it without understanding how to use it, just because it sounds more erudite to them.

 

[Sophia]

[QUOTE="fresh_42, post: 5569228, member: 572553" A friend of mine is annoyed by the fact that since the 80's there are no "Besprechungen" anymore. Only Meetings.[/QUOTE]

Exactly. And "summits". And "leaders".

 

[Sophia]

In that case, I'm afraid that speaker is just plain wrong.

This happens a lot. People hear a certain phrasing and adopt it without understanding how to use it, just because it sounds more erudite to them.

Thank you for the explanation. I always assume that native speakers are right but obviously, one should be careful with them, as well.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Thank you for the explanation. I always assume that native speakers are right but obviously, one should be careful with them, as well.

It seems to be less and less true that native English speakers have a solid education in English. It often happens that you can find a non-native speaker who has learned the grammar better than the average native speaker.

 

[jim hardy]

It seems to be less and less true that native English speakers have a solid education in English.

 

[zoobyshoe]

 

[zoobyshoe]

Apparently today is the anniversary of the release of Goldfinger. That movie blew me away when I first saw it. Never forget this character:

http://www.007james.com/characters/oddjob.php

 

[zoobyshoe]

200 mile long lightning bolt:

http://time.com/4496680/lightning-bolt-record-200-miles/

 

[zoobyshoe]

Sometimes when I read, "Log in or Sign up," for a second I think it says, "Log in or Shut up."

 

[Pepper Mint]

Sometimes when I read, "Log in or Sign up," for a second I think it says, "Log in or Shut up."

 

[Pepper Mint]

Look, this company policy isn't bad.
http://www.businessinsider.com/this...yones-salary-so-that-no-one-freaks-out-2012-6

Wherever I work, I always meet some people getting curious of how much the guys next to them earn. It is sad to realize the guys sitting next to them could get more but they never seem to realize that it's an insult they indirectly show their boss that he isn't only stupid but his company's policy is clearly unfair. Please fire the jealous!

 

[Borg]

Arrrrrh

 

[Pepper Mint]

Arrrrrh

People like to acquire and turn what are others' theirs thinking it will work that way.

 

[Sophia]

It's interesting how one encounters many people's stories when they work in a small shop as I do.
Just a while ago, a 5th grader came here crying because everyone bullies him, both kids and teachers are bad, so he run from school. I tried to calm him down and told him he needs to talk to his "main teacher" (one who is responsible for relationships and management of his class). Eventually be said he was going home. So I called the elementary school immediately and told them what happened.
I know this boy because I taught his sister 2 years ago and they always talk to me when we meet.

I feel for him because I run from school myself when I was first grader because I was so afraid the teacher would yell at me because I forgot my pencil. So I run alone through half of the town to my parents and I was so sweaty that they had to dry my hair with blow drier before my dad took me back to school.
I wonder if the Peter's situation solves or he'll have to go to another school.

 

[Pepper Mint]

...
I know this boy because I taught his sister 2 years ago and they always talk to me when we meet.
...
I wonder if the Peter's situation solves or he'll have to go to another school.

There are bad teachers and classmates in my country too but if kids are found to have been maltreated by them, they will surely get fired and/or even jailed.

 

[Sophia]

There are bad teachers and classmates in my country too but if kids are found to have been maltreated by them, they will surely get fired and/or even jailed.

I guess the main problem in this case are the classmates.

 

[WWGD]

Still wondering what the issue is with this singer adele. She is young, she has plenty of awards, millions and almost every song she sings she seems to be moaning and bitching. What else does she want?

 

[zoobyshoe]

I feel for him because I run from school myself when I was first grader because I was so afraid the teacher would yell at me because I forgot my pencil. So I run alone through half of the town to my parents and I was so sweaty that they had to dry my hair with blow drier before my dad took me back to school.

This reminds me of the story told by a woman I used to know: in grade school there was some very upsetting incident between her and her teacher (I don't remember the details) about her having to go to the bathroom during class. She developed such a huge complex about it that she determined she would never have to go to the bathroom again the whole time she was at school, and her whole life and diet became about 'bathroom use management': everything she ate or drank had to be considered with respect to how it might affect her need to use the bathroom during the hours she was at school. She worked at, 1.) ignoring thirst, and, 2.) holding her pee for hours, and this discipline became the center of her life.

 

[Pepper Mint]

Still wondering what the issue is with this singer adele. She is young, she has plenty of awards, millions and almost every song she sings she seems to be moaning and bitching. What else does she want?