Do you ever find yourself wondering about questions to which you don’t ever expect to hear an answer, and which leave you with grave doubts as to the state of mind that would cause you to think of such a thing?
Two questions that have come to me over the last few days:
You’ve no doubt seen street caricaturists, whom you pay to do a quick, humorous caricature of you, exaggerating your most prominent features in a comical fashion. If a severely deformed person asked a street caricaturist to do their caricature, what on earth would the caricaturist do?
When Star Trek is translated into Spanish, does the crew call the computer “tú” or “usted”?
My dismal lack of understanding of the Spanish language prompts me to ask: What do those terms mean, and what is the difference between the two?
As for my own:
Recently, I was walking down the sidewalk when someone in front of me dropped a plastic soda bottle. I happened to be in the right place, and I picked it up and handed it back. As I proceeded on my way, I realized that my fingerprints were now on that bottle, and that, should it be used as a murder weapon, I would likely be called in for questioning, perhaps even as an accomplice to the murder. As if this isn’t weird enough already, I then found myself wondering just how a plastic soda bottle could be used to kill someone. I actually ran through several possible avenues in which that might be done before I managed to switch to another train of thought.
In most Latin-based languages, there are two forms of “you” - a formal and an informal (also known as the familiar). The formal form is used when one is speaking to a person of higher stature, whether it’s an older person, or a boss, etc. The informal form is used when speaking to a close friend. (I should add that the formal is also used when one speaks to strangers, such as on the train or on the street.)
I’d have to think the crew would address the computer as “Usted”, no matter how familiar they are with the contraption.
Going to disagree with dantheman here, and WAG that the ships computer would be addressed in the familiar, as its status is comparable to that of servant…
I’m trying to recall if I’ve ever heard the computer in ST referred to as ‘you’ in English - don’t they always just say “Computer, modulate the signal phase” or “Computer, analyse the pattern of missing log entries” ??
But do the characters on Star Trek ever say ‘you’ to the computer? All I’ve ever heard them say is “Computer! [insert command here].” I can’t recall that they ever address it as ‘you.’
–I can’t believe I’m giving this serious thought.
The “you” is understood, and in Romance languages, the form of the verb used with the familiar form differs from the formal form… Enuff f’s in that sentence??
The soda bottle thing seems a little silly. I know, that’s the whole nature of the thread anyway, but:
There could already be multiple sets of fingerprints on it – the storeowner could have pulled it out of the case to give it to the guy, the trucker or stocker who put the bottle on the shelf, etc. I would imagine any fingerprints found and identified would be checked for any logical connection to the theoretical criminal.
What are the chances that they would mactch up the fingerprints with you? Most of us, I daresay, have never been fingerprinted, and therefore would not have our fingerprints on file.
But suppose that the person being offed is an enemy of majinborg?
OK so then the bottle with fingerprints is left at the scene. The person setting up majinborg has cleaned the bottle and then got the prints on it. Then all you do is leave it at the scene of the crime. majimborg would come up in the lists of suspects and of course I wouldn’t do this when majinborg has an alibi. So bingo! majinborg gets the chair!
If Data is truely programmed in a ‘variety of techniques’ does that mean that he is bi? And who programmed him?
Doubtful soda bottle connection. Then there’s forensics (i.e. majinborg is left-handed and the vivtim was struck by a right-handed person). By the way, what the hell does “i.e.” stand for?
Also, difference between serendipity and “happy accidents”?
You really have to specify which language if you’re gonna talk about the formal/familiar. Spanish and French differ greatly in that usage - though they also have similarities. For example, the French “vous” is used as the Spanish “vosotros, Usted, Ustedes.”
Also, cultures differentiate on how often they use the formal. In Swiss German (from my personal experience - which could be misguided), one was much more likely to use the formal than in French. However, previously in France, lovers and sometimes couples who had been married for a VERy long time would use the formal for a romantic address.
As for weird things I’ve pondered…
Why do we call French and Spanish and Italian by those names rather than Latin. What we call “Mandarin” today varies just as widely from the older Mandarin (during the Roman Empire) as each of these varies from Latin. When did we make a distinction???