• SL (unregistered) in reply to Sgt. Preston
    Sgt. Preston:
    vt_mruhlin:
    Jens:
    Right.

    Not just French. German, Spanish (afair), just about every language in that area except for English spell it that way.

    <nitpick> Sometimes, it seems geocentrism has been replaced by anglocentrism ... see also the recent discussion about movie translations / dubbing. People, please remember that 80% of the world's population do NOT speak English. </nitpick>
    <more nitpick> 80 percent of the population does NOT speak English. </more nitpick>

    (I think that's right anyhow. Even though we're talking about multiple people, the actual subject of the verb is "80 percent", which is considered singluar.)

    I hear that argument often and I disagree with you. A percentage can't speak any language. It's the people who speak a language and they are plural. The subject of the sentence is not "80 percent'; it's "80 percent of the population". "80 percent" tells you how many people.

    Except 80 percent is describing the subject of the sentence, which is the population (singular, 3rd person). Does is the proper form of the verb "to do".

  • Sgt. Preston (unregistered) in reply to SL
    SL:
    Except 80 percent is describing the subject of the sentence, which is the population (singular, 3rd person). Does is the proper form of the verb "to do".
    Our problem here stems from the fact that "80 percent of the population" is not really what the writer meant. He meant "Eighty percent of the people". "Population" is singular, because it's a demographic parameter, not a collection of human beings.

    Be that as it may, "80 percent" doesn't describe the subject; it's part of the subject. The subject is "80 percent of the population", or more correctly, "eighty percent of the people." It's the people who do the speaking, not the population, and certainly not the percentage.

  • Mean Mr. Mustard (unregistered)

    The mistake is that it should be plural: "authentifications". Now that's a perfectly cromulent word.

  • (cs) in reply to different anon
    different anon:
    Brutal:
    That doesn't explain why english speakers will pronounce "Authentication" as "Authentification".
    It's the same reason as why people think that "prophesize" is a word. It sounds like valid English.

    It gets even better: In German there's the word "Handy", meaning a mobile phone (and some other words which sound English, but aren't). Why use existing foreign words - you can always make up your own ;).

  • different anon (unregistered) in reply to Sgt. Preston
    Sgt. Preston:
    tmountjr:
    different anon:
    It's the same reason as why people think that "prophesize" is a word. It sounds like valid English.

    Here in the Southeast, it is a word. Emphasis on "ize," like "I will prophesiiiiiiiiiiiiiiize this morning! Can I get a witness?!"

    According to Merriam-Webster, it is a valid English word that means "prophesy". A couple of notes:

    1. Merriam-Webster is an American dictionary. So, it's possible that this is only valid American English. I don't know.
    2. "Prophesy" is a verb that means "to predict with assurance or on the basis of mystic knowledge". "Prophecy" is a noun that means "a prediction of something to come". Notice the difference in spelling.
    Ok, wrong word choice. It's valid (people use it), but it's still considered bad English (see here for a traditional viewpoint). Merriam-Webster definition is correct but doesn't state the origin. The OED currently lists it under "prophesize" (previously under "prophecize") with the variants "prophecize," "prophecise," and "prophesise."

    It's a very recent addition to the dictionaries, and "prophesy" will be dropped when it drops completely out of use, but for now "prophesize" (and its variants) are considered to be bad English.

    (As a side note, people sometimes accidentally flip the definitions of "prophecy" and "prophesy" and they may be listed as alternate spellings in some dictionaries.)

    In conclusion, English-speaking people spell real gud.

  • jim d (unregistered) in reply to Netbean

    Looks like they fixed it. Just checked it out in Netbeans 6.0 Beta 2.

    Now about those load times...

  • Al H. (unregistered)

    I think whoever posted this WTF should immediately apogle.

  • different anon (unregistered) in reply to Sgt. Preston
    population vs. people
    You are all really, really bad for my job.

    Words into Type (3rd ed.) gives the following:

    A collective noun takes a singular verb unless the individuals forming the group are to be emphasized.

    The infantry was dispatched. The couple were married in 1952.

    Similarly, if the subject of a sentence is a group of words that conveys the idea of a number of individuals, the verb should be plural even though the governing noun is singular.

    A racial majority of the population are... Only a fraction of the total species of any given period are likely to leave recognizable fossil traces.

    The use of 80%, regardless of whether it's "population" or "people," implies a number of individuals. According to WiT, the original statement "People, please remember that 80% of the world's population do NOT speak English" is correct.

  • ArkanoiD (unregistered) in reply to nicodache

    ..or Russian (the same here)

  • Zygo (unregistered) in reply to seymore15074
    seymore15074:
    I once had a boss that hung up a memo he had typed up that started with, "I have determinated that..." I laughed hysterically!

    Sounds like a rejected Doctor Who script.

    Somewhere in Dalek middle-management, a tin can with boobies rolls around shouting "DETERMINATE! DETERMINATE!"

  • Anon (unregistered)

    There is no word to describe its perfection, so I am forced to make one up. And I'm going to do so right now. That was scrumtrulescent.

  • dkf (unregistered) in reply to seymore15074
    seymore15074:
    I once had a boss that hung up a memo he had typed up that started with, "I have determinated that..." I laughed hysterically!
    Toward the end of a slow year, was it?
  • Subtilior (unregistered)

    According to translate.google.com:

    authenticate in French: Authentification in German: Authentifizierung in Italian: Autenticazione in Portuguese: Autenticação in Spanish: Autenticación

    therefore, democracy demands that the -if- not be used.

  • (cs)

    As mentioned above, the Spybot bug is an old, old bug that doesn't happen anymore.

    'Authentification' - truly, people who use that word should just be killed.

  • (cs) in reply to KozMoz
    KozMoz:
    'Authentification' - truly, people who use that word should just be killed.

    Wow. Bye-bye France. Pity, too... There's some neat stuff in the Louvre.

  • (cs) in reply to seymore15074
    seymore15074:
    I once had a boss that hung up a memo he had typed up that started with, "I have determinated that..." I laughed hysterically!
    He re-hired some folks? He raised the dead? (How appropriate for Halloween!)
  • 多語 (unregistered) in reply to JL
    JL:
    Jens:
    People, please remember that 80% of the world's population do NOT speak English.
    While you are remembering that, please do not forget to also remember that 80% of the world's population writes VCR manuals in English that the other 20% finds hilarious.
    Please remember to also not forget that 20% of the world's population writes Microsoft "help" pages that the other 80% finds hilarious.
  • Go fourth (unregistered) in reply to ahnfelt
    ahnfelt:
    red:
    If I could speak only one language, I probably would also make fun of people doing mistakes in their second or third language.
    ... and so would I! English being my second language won't stop me though:

    Making mistakes. Claiming that you're doing a mistake is probably insulting to whoever you're fornicating with.

    Hey! Claiming that you're making mistake is also probably insulting to whoever you're fornicating with.

  • Go fourth (unregistered) in reply to grammerCop
    grammerCop:
    JL:
    Jens:
    People, please remember that 80% of the world's population do NOT speak English.
    While you are remembering that, please do not forget to also remember that 80% of the world's population writes VCR manuals in English that the other 20% finds hilarious.
    ahem, should that not be "...in English which the other 20%..." :)
    Nice name, but you should of checked you're spelling to.
  • dbr (unregistered)

    The squished-up-UI mess isn't all that uncommon. Even Apple ("Creator of Shiny UIs") have done it with Color: http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/2792/colouruimesscn5.png There are areas like that all over the application. You'd think at least one of their testers would have thought to look at the application on a non-32jigamile-wide screen before publicly releasing it.

  • Sebastian M (unregistered) in reply to TwelveBaud
    TwelveBaud:
    That last one has been in S&D for ages, and still is in there.

    Captcha: craaazy (like the coders behind these WTFs)

    It used to be there in S&D for a very very long time, but it is not there anymore...I am using 1.5.06

  • Doifnot Elsethen (unregistered) in reply to Dude
    Dude:
    why isn't there a halloween wtf???!!!
    Here you go:

    If hasNoCandy(Neighbor) Then
Trick
Else
Treat
End If
  • (cs)

    This reminds me of all the people on American 'reality' TV shows (Rikki Lake, Judge Judy, etc) saying 'conversate'.

  • Anonymous Coward (unregistered)

    must have been some object orientated design

  • Me (unregistered) in reply to JL
    JL:
    Jens:
    People, please remember that 80% of the world's population do NOT speak English.
    While you are remembering that, please do not forget to also remember that 80% of the world's population writes VCR manuals in English that the other 20% finds hilarious.
    At least the 80% of the world's population make an effort to learn another language, so the 20% should just stop complaining and be happy regarding their brain cell's saving ;-)
  • (cs)

    I admit it, I use orientated sometimes when I'm tired.

  • (cs) in reply to Shakje

    Yeah, I was going to pick on 'orientate' but it turns out that's actually a word. A more recent synonym of 'orient' but still old enough that we can't really continue to complain about it (although some people do.) Conversate, on the other hand... that's just ridiculous.

  • (cs) in reply to Me
    Me:
    JL:
    Jens:
    People, please remember that 80% of the world's population do NOT speak English.
    While you are remembering that, please do not forget to also remember that 80% of the world's population writes VCR manuals in English that the other 20% finds hilarious.
    At least the 80% of the world's population make an effort to learn another language, so the 20% should just stop complaining and be happy regarding their brain cell's saving ;-)

    I love the fact that you put the apostrophe before the s. :^D

  • (cs)

    However many people do or don't speak English, is it too much to ask that in an English (or multi-lingual) manual/application/anything the English is actually mostly correct, and doesn't foreign words because "it's almost the same"? I'm sure if I read German/French/Mandarin I would expect the same... Admittedly, 'authentification' isn't too difficult to understand, but as has been pointed out it could be understood differently.

    Totally off-topic: here in Czech Republic, almost everyone (young and old) switches to English as soon as they hear my awful attempts at Czech... there's definitely no shortage of English-speakers here!

  • Mike (unregistered) in reply to Opie
    Opie:
    KozMoz:
    'Authentification' - truly, people who use that word should just be killed.

    Wow. Bye-bye France. Pity, too... There's some neat stuff in the Louvre.

    Oh, don't be such a Mr. Glass-is-half-Empty; this means there'll be loads of empty apartments near there soon. Loads in Canada too. Holiday homes for everyone!

    I say we let them folks authentimificate as often as they want. They're aaaaall right.

  • spgfr (unregistered) in reply to Rank Amateur
    Rank Amateur:
    Geez, now I have to make a patch so that OK opens ANOTHER messagebox that says "I told you to wait!" I think I'll label its button "I am such a luser."

    --Rank

    Shouldn't that be "I am such a looser"?

  • Bob (unregistered)

    I thought RunDLL were an 80's rap band.

  • (cs) in reply to seymore15074
    seymore15074:
    I once had a boss that hung up a memo he had typed up that started with, "I have determinated that..." I laughed hysterically!

    Cool, you've had Arnie as boss???

  • (cs) in reply to purge
    purge:
    The dumb comments are part of what makes this forum interesting. I'm just trying to do my part.

    And you do it so well.

  • (cs) in reply to Go fourth
    Go fourth:
    grammerCop:
    <snip> ahem, should that not be "...in English which the other 20%..." :)
    Nice name, but you should of checked you're spelling to.

    If grammarCop is still around, that sentence probably has him/her steaming. Along with the french (whose death will presumably not cause the loss, except by theft, of those items in the Louvre), anyone using "should of" should also be shot. (Not to mention the other errors...)

  • Sgt. Preston (unregistered) in reply to Mel
    Mel:
    Totally off-topic: here in Czech Republic, almost everyone (young and old) switches to English as soon as they hear my awful attempts at Czech... there's definitely no shortage of English-speakers here!
    I get a similar reaction to my French when I'm in Québec. I walk into a bookstore (librairie) and the proprietor greets me in about two and a quarter syllables with, "Bonjour, peux je vous aider?" I reply with, "Bonjour, monsieur." He rolls his eyes and switches to English. Foiled again.
  • NeoMojo (unregistered) in reply to Opie
    Opie:
    KozMoz:
    'Authentification' - truly, people who use that word should just be killed.

    Wow. Bye-bye France. Pity, too... There's some neat stuff in the Louvre.

    No one said you had to break anything that isn't a person.

    Now, get to work. You've a lot of killing to do.

  • Couard Anonyme (unregistered)

    It's not foreigners that expandify vocabulation, it's English speakers that simplicate words abusively ...

  • Delphi user (unregistered) in reply to JamesCurran
    JamesCurran:
    THe funny thing about the SpyBot bug is that you could make the dialog box wider (which revealed nothing), but not longer (which might have allowed you to read it)

    Nah, the real funny thing about spyBot, is that they blame the programming environment... If they would just take a cpl'o minutes to flick through the help files about owners and parents... But I guess that would have to include using the brain...

    I have been using Delphi since 1995.. never seen that behaviour before.. Not even in one of the most used applications floating around has that feature.. (Yes, SKYPE is written in Delphi)

    Qoute Homer Simpson: Just blame it on the guy that doesnt speak english..

    Captcha= VERN ?? Defenately not biased.. definately not biased..

  • SL (unregistered) in reply to NeoMojo
    NeoMojo:
    Opie:
    KozMoz:
    'Authentification' - truly, people who use that word should just be killed.

    Wow. Bye-bye France. Pity, too... There's some neat stuff in the Louvre.

    No one said you had to break anything that isn't a person.

    Now, get to work. You've a lot of killing to do.

    Can we refrain from killing the better looking of the French women? I kind of like them, and the accent's kind of hot.

  • JL (unregistered) in reply to Anon
    Anon:
    There is no word to describe its perfection, so I am forced to make one up. And I'm going to do so right now. That was scrumtrulescent.
    Thank you for that; I loved that sketch. And, really, scrumtrulescent does sound like a perfectly cromulent word. Another TV favorite:
    Joey:
    Supposably. Supposably. Did they go to the zoo? Supposably.
  • (cs) in reply to Kzinti
    Kzinti:
    FredSaw:
    red:
    If I could speak only one language, I probably would also make fun of people doing mistakes in their second or third language.
    Humor happens naturally, and isn't politically correct. What's funny is funny.

    His point as that only people who can speak one language find these things funny.

    Why would anybody think that?

  • NeoMojo (unregistered) in reply to SL
    SL:
    NeoMojo:
    Opie:
    KozMoz:
    'Authentification' - truly, people who use that word should just be killed.

    Wow. Bye-bye France. Pity, too... There's some neat stuff in the Louvre.

    No one said you had to break anything that isn't a person.

    Now, get to work. You've a lot of killing to do.

    Can we refrain from killing the better looking of the French women? I kind of like them, and the accent's kind of hot.

    You know the rules: anyone who uses Authentification must be killed.

    Oh. Wait. Oh dear.

    /runs

  • (cs)

    Spybot fixed it in 1.5...

    I really hated that but had to live w/ it for a while...

    Can you authentificate that?

  • Your Name (unregistered) in reply to Martin Dreier
    Martin Dreier:
    different anon:
    Brutal:
    That doesn't explain why english speakers will pronounce "Authentication" as "Authentification".
    It's the same reason as why people think that "prophesize" is a word. It sounds like valid English.

    It gets even better: In German there's the word "Handy", meaning a mobile phone (and some other words which sound English, but aren't). Why use existing foreign words - you can always make up your own ;).

    See also: Japanese.

  • red (unregistered) in reply to Opie
    Opie:
    KozMoz:
    'Authentification' - truly, people who use that word should just be killed.

    Wow. Bye-bye France. Pity, too... There's some neat stuff in the Louvre.

    It's the people who post invitation to violence that should be killed.

  • (cs) in reply to NSCoder
    NSCoder:
    Yeah, I was going to pick on 'orientate' but it turns out that's actually a word. A more recent synonym of 'orient' but still old enough that we can't really continue to complain about it
    Well I shall (and do) continue to complain about it! That is simply laziness in lanugage. Before long, we will accept: Supposively and Irregardless

    {along with "I could care less"}

  • (cs) in reply to kool rick

    The first one reminds me of Loomis Simmons

    http://hotflick.net/videos/David_Alan_Grier/CmI-DAJXs-g.html

  • Christophe (unregistered) in reply to red
    red:
    Opie:
    KozMoz:
    'Authentification' - truly, people who use that word should just be killed.

    Wow. Bye-bye France. Pity, too... There's some neat stuff in the Louvre.

    It's the people who post invitation to violence that should be killed.

    No, all people who use broad generalizations should be killed.

  • LPing (unregistered) in reply to Sgt. Preston

    to prophesy is a valid verb in my Collins (Robert1Collins English/French dictionnary)

Leave a comment on “Having Fun with Words”

Log In or post as a guest

Replying to comment #:

Log Out

« Return to Article