Signature lines in a foreign language

[SkinnyGuy]

And by foreign I mean a language the majority of the SDMB members does not understand.

There is a Board member who has a particularly pathetic and demeaning sig line. But it's not in English. Because if it was in English, a lot of people would have seen it by now (this person's post count is incredible), and a lot of them would have complained. I hope.

Having lurked more than posted, I know UncleBeer - after having been supplied with a translation - would have taken his favourite canned beverage and shoved it up this person's anal passage, because it particularly demeans someone UB likes a lot. Someone who also understands that sig. (And someone who also will laugh at the pathetic spelling mistake in one of the words. The naughty word. There's supposed to be an 'a' between the first and second letters. And I think it's supposed to have an 'r' at the end as well. If you're going to do something, do it right.)

I like a joke just as much as the next person, but if you want to be The Man, be a man and put your sig in English. And get some kevlar.

The funny thing is, this guy's posts are okay and he's been a member for a while, so who am I to judge? But no matter how helpful or enlightning a post is, a sig line like this negates it all. A quick search learned me that he does not post in The Pit very often, so chances are he won't read this. But if you (yes, you!) do read this, get rid of the line. Please. It's pathetic.

So how's that for restraint?

[waterj2]

Restraint? Don't show restraint. Satisfy my burning curiosity. That's what you're all here for isn't it? It is all about me, right?

[tshirts]

__________________
le type maigre est trop jeune pour fumer

[waterj2]

According to Babelfish, that says "the thin type is too young to smoke." And besides, I know that's not your sig.

And SkinnyGuy, are you implying that UncleBeer would actually waste beer? I don't believe it.

[yojimbo]

SkinnyGuy you don't have to get into a flame war but you could let us know who it is or what the sig. says.

I don't think you realise how nosey I am

[Coldfire]

OK, help us out here, Aangeklede Bezemsteel.

At least tell us in WHAT language the aforementioned sig is penned down.

[Guinastasia]

Yes, yes yes...enquiring minds DEMAND to know!

[Rasa]

Eek, I was afraid for a minute it was me! But, I'm not a guy, I don't have an incredible post count and Uncle Beer doesn't know me from Eve.

In case anyone's wondering, it's Sanskrit. Lord Krsna saying to Arjuna: "Fully think on what I have said, then do as you see fit" (more or less... "deliberating fully on this, accordingly act as you see fit" might be a better translation).

But yeah, I'm curious too.

[ElwoodCuse]

Guinastasia, great quote. My favorite from the book is "Road House is the finest American film. Certainly it stinks, but I believe the filmmakers meant it to, and succeeded grandly."

[Punoqllads]

If there's a naughty word in my sig, it wasn't intentional. It's supposed to be an allusion to one of Magritte's paintings, The Betrayal of Images.

[UncleBeer]

SkinnyGuy, being a provincial typical ugly American, I only speak one language, with the exception of a few choice Spanish curses. If one of the SD members is routinely posting an offensive sig line, please bring it to the attention one of the staff members and we'll deal with it promptly. Our e-mail addresses are available in various locations on this board.

Thank you.

And Rasa, I'm certain I can tell the difference between you and Eve.

[flodnak]

Lest anyone think the accused is me (though I'm a chick with a post count that's moderate at best), the second line of my signature says "Do not cross the street before the bus has driven off". As prosaic as that. And it's spelled correctly.

I have no idea who the person is, and SkinnyGuy's accusation doesn't exactly contain much helpful information.

[DRY]

Originally posted by flodnak
Lest anyone think the accused is me (though I'm a chick with a post count that's moderate at best), the second line of my signature says "Do not cross the street before the bus has driven off". As prosaic as that. And it's spelled correctly.

I have no idea who the person is, and SkinnyGuy's accusation doesn't exactly contain much helpful information.

Hmm. Maybe all of us with foreign sig lines should explain ourselves...

Let's see. *I'm* a male (last I checked my genitalia, anyway), and I don't post in the pit very often. I also have been a member here for a while, and have a reasonably high post count.

Maybe he means me???

For those curious, "Honi soit qui mal y pense" means "Evil to whom Evil thinks" (Said in case anyone thinks I'm implying anything improper with respect to the lady friends in my sig)

Here's a webpage which elaborates further:

http://www.royal.gov.uk/faq/arms.htm

Incidentally, if I recall correctly, this phrase is credited to Edward III, grandson of Edward Longshanks of Braveheart fame.

Honi soit qui mal y pense.

[TomH]

For those curious, "Honi soit qui mal y pense" means "Evil to whom Evil thinks"

It means "shame to him who thinks evil of it", as every schoolboy knows. And, yes, the translation on the Queen's website is wrong (though the other three mottoes on that website are translated correctly).

[UncleBeer]

Thanks, SG. We'll take care of it shortly.

[Danielinthewolvesden]

Well, by dint of detective work, I figured out it was Wh*mm*. But now all his sigs say "Deleted in the name of decency". However- we are allowing profanity in the PIT, so I think ol Unca should NOT have edited it out of the PIT- elsewhere, especially his own baliwick- of course.

Next time, SG, don't leave us guessing, OK?

[UncleBeer]

Daniel, you are incorrect on all counts. It's not Wh*mm*, nor did I edit any posts/sigs. We're going to write e-mail to the offender asking that person to change the sig line. Additionally, I find this persons sig far more offensive than mere profanity; it's more along the lines of an ethnic slur. Hell, I'm one of the most profane people here; if were to edit for profanity, I'd be in serious trouble, myself.

Also, editing a sig line changes all instances of that sig. Let us handle it, please. Speculation does nothing in the cause of fighting ignorance.

[TubaDiva]

Between the enquiring minds and the guilty consciences, I'm not quite sure what to say.

We are taking care of the situation. Thanks for bringing it to our attention. This is the second case of this type we've had lately, the previous one being a colloquialism in another culture that turned out to be a "fighting words" kind of insult. The party in question was using it as their screen name. We got clued in and got them to change it.

Some of us here at the Straight Dope do well to manage in English, so any help our multicultural Teeming Millions can give us is often quite useful.

your humble TubaDiva
Administrator

[hawthorne]

I've no idea who it is/ was (although the notion that it might have been Whammo of all people is hilarious) and maybe it would have been better if this had been sent straight to the admins, but I like your instincts as well as your style SkinnyGuy. More stuff from you would be most welcome. "Moldy" is American for "mouldy" indeed.

[yESTERDAY mAN]

My signature means "The President of the United States is very horny".

[SkinnyGuy]

Look, I'm not going to name names. I could have given everybody chapter and verse in my OP, but I didn't then and I won't now. Why? I don't want to flame this guy, I just want him to get rid of his sig line. Simple as that.

tshirts wrote:
le type maigre est trop jeune pour fumer

The skinny one? Are you talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to me?

Coldfire demanded:
OK, help us out here, Aangeklede Bezemsteel.

Nope. And who says I'm wearing any clothes?

flodnak stated:
Lest anyone think the accused is me (though I'm a chick with a post count that's moderate at best), the second line of my signature says "Do not cross the street before the bus has driven off". As prosaic as that. And it's spelled correctly.

Although I would translate 'veien' as 'the road' (isn't 'gaten' the street?), I agree completely with flodnak here. As long as you don't use any gj-words like 'gjennom', I won't accuse you of using dirty language. (Ever zoomed in on a WYSIWYG gj-combination? Ewww!)

UncleBeer confessed:
Hell, I'm one of the most profane people here

Fuckin' A!

picmr said:
and maybe it would have been better if this had been sent straight to the admins

Exactly. Mea culpa. Please, let this thread die.

[matt_mcl]

For a while I was using this quotation:

Écartons ces romans qu'on appelle systèmes,
Et pour nous élever descendons dans nous-mêmes.

A Voltaire quotation, which means "Let's strip away these novels that we call 'systems', and to raise ourselves up, let us descend into ourselves." It was the epigram of Voltaire's Bastards: The Dictatorship of Reason in the West by John Ralston Saul.

[Danielinthewolvesden]

Originally posted by UncleBeer
Daniel, you are incorrect on all counts. It's not Wh*mm*, nor did I edit any posts/sigs. Speculation does nothing in the cause of fighting ignorance.

1. Ok, but his sig line does indicate that it was edited by you guys. If it was not, then you really should not allow folks to post things that look like a moderator did it.

2. Absolutley- SPECULATION does not- so why not simply tell us, rather than having us guess. If we are here to fight ignorance- inform us. Inquiring minds want to know. Besides, if HE changes his sig- won't that be only on future postings?

SG_ then simply tell us what the sig is, or what the sig means. But if you did not want to flame the guy- why did you post in the PIT? Or, let us know of a thread where the offending sig is- and we will find it.

[Montfort]

Originally posted by Danielinthewolvesden
1. Ok, but his sig line does indicate that it was edited by you guys. If it was not, then you really should not allow folks to post things that look like a moderator did it.

Didn't someone (Homer?) get in BIG trouble doing something like this a few months ago?

[yojimbo]

Originally posted by Danielinthewolvesden
if HE changes his sig- won't that be only on future postings?

Nope. It will change for all posts dating back to the software change. Unless the poster C&P's the sig. into their posts.

[FloChi]

Just on the spelling, the naughty word should have had an r at the end, but not an initial a as skinny guy mentioned. I was quite surprised when I saw it, and it would definitely not have made it if it was in english.

[SkinnyGuy]

Originally posted by FloChi
Just on the spelling, the naughty word should have had an r at the end, but not an initial a as skinny guy mentioned. I was quite surprised when I saw it, and it would definitely not have made it if it was in english.

Not an initial 'a', but an 'a' between the first and second letters. (Thus making that 'a' the second letter of the word. The 'a' is nearly silent in pronunciation, but I guess that's an effect of the language's metre.)

Anyway, the sig's been changed already, so we can all stop worrying now.

[SkinnyGuy]

Yeah, right. Good going Skinny. Let's explain something about Swedish (that was the language the sig was in) to someone from ... Sweden!

FloChi, it is supposed to be ka*, isn't it? If it isn't, blame it on the Norwegians, because that's the language I learned. And it's pretty obvious this word wasn't part of the course.

[John Corrado]

Okay, folks, I'm gonna close this thread down. The situation has been resolved, and further speculation as to who did what and what such-and-such means isn't going to do anyone any good.


And please keep in mind the lessons we can learn from this:
* Private messages to the mods and admins are easier on everyone than a public accusation, especially when you don't want to specifically name names.
* There are lots of people on this board who speak lots of different languages, so thinking you can do something offensive and disguise it in a foreign language is not good thinking.
* Do not put slurs or other offenses in your sig.


Thank you.