• Steve H (unregistered) in reply to frits
    frits:
    DaveK:
    frits:
    Finn:
    frits:
    That second one reminds me of when people talk louder to someone with a foreign accent. It's as if speaking a different language is the same as having a hearing impairment.

    Living in America, but being from a foreign country, I see this all the time. What is it with Americans' inability to deal with people on an international level? There's a lot of potential for misscommunication when dealing between countries. So you have to be aware of certain protocols and such. Here is where I see people the most oblivious.

    But then, how much can you blame Americans? It's not like Europe here where you have so many different countries, cultures, and languages so close together. Most Americans don't have a passport and are born and die before ever leaving the States.

    It's called America, dude. Learn the rules.

    What, it's actually a rule that you're not allowed to leave your own country or know anything about anywhere else in the world? That sounds an awful lot like communism to me! Let's just hope that Obama can restore capitalism after the years of damage caused by the previous communitarian administration.

    Rock n' roll, baby: Freedom of speech.

    In the US you have complete freedom of speech, so long as you only use it to pledge allegiance to God and to the flag. Great country.

  • (cs) in reply to Steve H
    Steve H:
    frits:
    DaveK:
    frits:
    Finn:
    frits:
    That second one reminds me of when people talk louder to someone with a foreign accent. It's as if speaking a different language is the same as having a hearing impairment.

    Living in America, but being from a foreign country, I see this all the time. What is it with Americans' inability to deal with people on an international level? There's a lot of potential for misscommunication when dealing between countries. So you have to be aware of certain protocols and such. Here is where I see people the most oblivious.

    But then, how much can you blame Americans? It's not like Europe here where you have so many different countries, cultures, and languages so close together. Most Americans don't have a passport and are born and die before ever leaving the States.

    It's called America, dude. Learn the rules.

    What, it's actually a rule that you're not allowed to leave your own country or know anything about anywhere else in the world? That sounds an awful lot like communism to me! Let's just hope that Obama can restore capitalism after the years of damage caused by the previous communitarian administration.

    Rock n' roll, baby: Freedom of speech.

    In the US you have complete freedom of speech, so long as you only use it to pledge allegiance to God and to the flag. Great country.

    You wish. You gotta buy me dinner first.

  • Franz Kafka (unregistered) in reply to nimis
    nimis:
    Franz Kafka:
    Sorry we don't get over there that much, but it's not like we're mobbed with euro tourists over here.
    Blame all the post-9/11 quasi-security bullshit and over-zealous security personnel who think harrassment and stomping on other peoples' rights = security.

    I'll blame the closeness of the mediteranean coast instead. I know I'd go to the south of france or italy if it was a train ride away.

  • ameise (unregistered)

    You can't blame us Americans for not knowing 3 or 4 languages -- most of the time, we only get a chance to learn a foreign language by the time we are in high school (or gymnasium, or whatever you want to call it)... and even then we will almost never get a chance to use it. Past that, the only language worth knowing whilst in the United States other than English is Spanish.

    On the issue of 'American' vs 'English', there is no 'American language'. It is American English, just as there is Commonwealth English. They are dialects of the same language -- neither is better... technically speaking, American English is closer to the English spoken between 1600 and 1700 CE... Early Modern English. Commonwealth (aka British) English has deviated far more, and has adopted French spelling conventions and cut-suffix spellings (colour vs color, transport vs transportation) which were not original to English... American English is more 'English' than Commonwealth English is, although if you want accurate English, ic werthe mara than gesaelig, aef aelde englisc sprecan.

    And, as an American, I can speak German, some Dutch, some Spanish, and Old English (the latter not being terribly useful).

    Und, als ein Amerikaner, ich kann Deutsch, etwas Niederländisch, etwas Spanisch, und Altenglisch (die Letztere nicht sehr nutzbar seiend) sprechen.

    And, alswa Americaner, ic cunna Theodisc, sum Nitherlandisc, sum Speonisc, und aelde Englisc (seo Latost naht ealfel nyttan wesende) sprecan.

  • RandomUser423664 (unregistered) in reply to IT Girl
    IT Girl:
    RandomUser423664:
    Mason Wheeler:
    StychoKiller:
    OldNews:
    ...
    ...
    ...
    It seems the actual issues you are raising are the position and labeling of that function. My educated guess (I'm not taking the time to look this up) is that it stems from original typewriters, where obviously the default and perhaps only behavior was over-type.

    When these fancy new computer things made it possible to move text around with minimal effort, they wanted some way to be able to use the normal over-type mode, or the new "insert" mode.

    At some point, insert became the default. The button had become more of an "over-type" button than an "insert" button, but the button label was socially set-in-stone.

    As for the position, you may notice some newer keyboard layouts have actually rearranged that button group to make Delete bigger and move Insert elsewhere.

    Not to burst you bubble, but without looking it up, I can tell you that typewriters have never had an insert key (or any other key that acts in that manner).
    You misunderstand me. I was not saying that typewriters had "insert" keys, but rather that backing up and typing would over-type the text.

    Literally. Without an erasing mechanism, the two characters would be merged. That was how one might do underlining or accenting. Computers emulated this to a point, by over-typing with automatic erasure of the original character. At this point, we are back to my original comment.

    (Oddly enough, you are not the only one to have used mechanical typewriters in your youth.)

  • Coltrui (unregistered) in reply to erik404

    Hey, alles kits? :D

  • Imran (unregistered) in reply to Anon

    I speak English better than many Americans.

    And English is the fourth language I know.

  • Stijn (unregistered) in reply to Anon

    What is it with many Americans inability to speak English?

  • ccj (unregistered)

    "... a small store that built and configured computers for the public..." That sounds remarkably like hell. As for the ERP server debacle, TRWTF is that the building's security issued a data center access badge to a random stranger and the IT guy granted access to their systems to said random stranger under his own credentials! Ben could have hit them with an 'rm -rf /' bomb and the only one who could have been blamed directly would be the IT guy.

  • (cs) in reply to rast
    rast:
    4merK0d34:
    很抱歉打扰您了。有一个与供应问题的方案 按钮。请咨询？

    COULD YOU PLEASE STATE YOUR PROBLEM MORE CLEARLY?

    很抱歉打扰您了。有一个与供应问题的方案 按钮。请咨询？

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