Subject: RE: sts- [was: RE: [lojban] Brochure updates

From: "Craig" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2001 20:45:51 -0400

>Craig wrote:
>> >Surely also the plural of any word ending in "st"?
>> >Beasts, feasts, fests, breasts, guests, bequests, quests, forests...
>>
>> But English and lojban do not expect STSTS, and can be typed on a normal
>> roman-alphabet keyboard.

>(Oh, this doesn't sound like an auspicious beginning... Those who are
>uninterested in nonsensical language flamewars may as well ignore the rest
of
>this thread. Sigh.)

Nonsensical? Flamewar? Not really. I was explaining my personal reasons for
not liking esperanto, NOT pushing others to not use it.

>Chu? Cxu? Digraphs are *always* an acceptable alternative for those without
>the time to use a character map or adjust their OS's keyboard layout.

>I'd also point out that English *does* use diacritics and punctuation not
>available on a standard keyboard. What standard US keyboard lets me type
>"fiancée" with the acute accent as it appears in a dictionary, quotes with
>the proper directions, or a long dash? I need to configure a special
>"international" keyboard, use a character map, or have software which
>corrects it for me. "ASCII is enough for English" is a myth.

No, but word is good enough. F-I-A-N-C-Ctrl+'+E-E. Now what's the shortcut
key for c^?

>> Lojban has harder consonant clusters than Esperanto,
>> but one of the things that sold me on lojban is that if you
>> can't say them, we have buffer vowels. They don't.

>postscio == postascio == posta scio ("after[wards] knowledge")

That's like saying "Selbri is hard so say 'se bridi'". Tanru != lujvo.

>> And the weird letters
>> and absurdities were both major turn-offs about esperanto.

>Oh dear. Have you visited a psychiatrist about your xenophobia?

Letters I can't type are weird, since Zamenhoff could have even WRITTEN THE
MARKS UPSIDE DOWN and had most of them appear in many character sets. As for
absurdities, what's the Esperanto word for 'Computer'? 'Komputero' or
'komputilo'? How do you say Canon? Some variant of 'fusilo', right? So why
does 'kanono' exist?
How do you say 'filino' in English? Daughter? Dirty Linen? And what of
'Lingvo Internacia' - why isn't it 'Internacia Lingvo'?

>> I wasn't actually looking to learn an artificial language, but lojban
>> seemed to offer more than even any natural languages - and esperanto
seemed
>> like another natural language that happened not to be natural.

>Er, then why should you care about Esperanto enough to complain about it?

I'm not complaining, I'm stating why I haven't learned Esperanto. You don't
flame xorxes...

>Shall we compare apples and oranges next? Oranges tend to be more
spherical,
>with an orange color and dimpled skin. Apples vary in color from red to
>yellow to green, or mottled, and their shape is somewhat asymmetrical, with
a
>larger top than bottom... And that's just the surface!

>Below, the pulpy mass of the orange is bizarrely different from the meaty
>goodness of the apple... which will win the hearts and minds of the
nation's
>fruit-eating community??

Blackberries.

I've had these fruit debates before. This is the first time it's closer to
'apples and oranges' than 'apples and pears', but it's pretty near the line
here.

>> Question for Esperantists: Is a female eunuch a neutrino?

>It makes an excellent pun, but a more correct and less ambiguous word would
>be eunukino.

At least I didn't bring out the old line about Mr. Wo's wife. (He left her
because she was a wino.)

--la kreig.daniyl.

'segu le bavli temci gi mi'o renvi lo purci
.i ga le fonxa janbe gi du mi'
-la djimis.BYFet

xy.sy. gubmau ckiku nacycme: 0x5C3A1E74