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Schizm
HEAD CHEESE
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Location: Kyoto
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 Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 10:44 am Post subject: |
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I did much the same thing when I first arrived "Big Aussie guy looking for language exchange".......Every message was from a girl and every language exchanged ended up as a date. Maybe "language exchange" is code.
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Victor Ward
Bespoke gigolo
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Posts: 27839
Location: Under a Spell
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| Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 11:33 am Post subject: |
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| Schizm wrote: |
| I did much the same thing when I first arrived "Big Aussie guy looking for language exchange".......Every message was from a girl and every language exchanged ended up as a date. Maybe "language exchange" is code. |
Where "language" is a euphemism for "bodily fluids."
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yanpa
Octopus
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Posts: 18580
Location: 東京都
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| Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2007 9:09 am Post subject: |
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G.communication fails to hire about 600 ex-Nova teachers
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| NAGOYA — G.communication Co said Monday it will not be able to rehire around 600 foreign teachers, who formerly worked for failed language school operator Nova Corp, from January as planned. |
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Victor Ward
Bespoke gigolo
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| Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2007 10:17 am Post subject: |
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Surely, those commas don't belong there. It is a dependent clause, since the fact that the teachers worked for NOVA is hardly incidental. Shame on whoever wrote or edited that!
I would rewrite it as follows:
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| NAGOYA — G.communication Co said Monday it will not be able to rehire around 600 foreign teachers who formerly worked for failed language school operator Nova Corp, which it had planned to do beginning in January. |
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Supermarket Dogfood
Stuck in the theme park
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Joined: 18 Feb 2007
Posts: 28571
Location: 江戸
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| Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2007 8:39 pm Post subject: |
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Pedant.
Mind you Japantoday is owned by the same company that owns gaijinpot, so you'd expect poor quality grammar. 
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pretentiousexpatriate
EJN 赤ちゃん
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Joined: 26 Dec 2007
Posts: 3
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| Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 11:25 am Post subject: Why Must We Tolerate These Insufferable Newbies? |
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That mundane girl's blog was pretty stupid. Clearly not an expert on Japan like ourselves. I mean, who doesn't know Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana before they arrive in Japan? She's so lazy and stupid she only studied Hiragana and Katakana. Imbecile! One time I was reading a book at the train station (Kanji of course) and these other foreigners walked by holding pedestrian ENGLISH books and I laughed, because I'm so much more sophisticated and international. Thank god we have forums like this so that we can revel in our superior knowledge.
Last edited by pretentiousexpatriate on Wed Dec 26, 2007 12:53 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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imlost
The Professor
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Joined: 13 Apr 2007
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Location: Japan
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| Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 12:08 pm Post subject: Re: Why Must We Tolerate These Insufferable Newbies? |
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| pretentiousexpatriate wrote: |
| That mundane girl's blog was pretty stupid. Clearly not an expert on Japan like ourselves. I mean, who doesn't know Kanji, Hiragana and Katakana before they arrive in Japan? She's so lazy and stupid she only studied Hiragana and Katakana. Imbecile! One time I was reading a book at the train station (Kanji of course) and these other foreigners walked by holding pedestrian ENGLISH books and I laughed, because I'm so much more sophisticated and international. Thank god we have forums like these so that we can revel in our superior knowledge. |
Are you sure you are not an extension of a Door?
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pretentiousexpatriate
EJN 赤ちゃん
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| Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 12:45 pm Post subject: |
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Only if it's a Japanese sliding door through which I can make an honorable departure. Unlike the ignominy of that girl's exit from Japan!
(Did you notice how I used ignominy rather than a more pedestrian word? That's how enlightened I am.) Besides, Western style doors are too banal for my taste. |
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sucks
am I evil?
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| Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 4:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Victor Ward wrote: |
Surely, those commas don't belong there. It is a dependent clause, since the fact that the teachers worked for NOVA is hardly incidental. Shame on whoever wrote or edited that!
I would rewrite it as follows:
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| NAGOYA — G.communication Co said Monday it will not be able to rehire around 600 foreign teachers who formerly worked for failed language school operator Nova Corp, which it had planned to do beginning in January. |
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Said Monday?????
What kind of retard has to hang his head in shame? Sackcloth & ashes for you, young man.
I would rewrite it as follows:
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| NAGOYA — G.communication Co said on Monday that it will not be able to rehire around 600 foreign teachers who had formerly worked for failed language school operator Nova Corp; something which it had planned to do beginning in January. |
[/quote]
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Supermarket Dogfood
Stuck in the theme park
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Location: 江戸
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| Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 7:04 pm Post subject: |
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Burly will be happy that there are fewer Nova drones in employment in Japan.
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pretentiousexpatriate
EJN 赤ちゃん
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| Posted: Wed Dec 26, 2007 10:25 pm Post subject: |
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| He certainly will and I couldn't concur more! Get those morons out of here so we can concentrate on more stimulating concerns such as Gaba, Aeon, Berlitz and G. Communication drones. Not to mention those appalling comma errors. |
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Victor Ward
Bespoke gigolo
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Joined: 15 Feb 2007
Posts: 27839
Location: Under a Spell
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| Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2007 8:44 am Post subject: |
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| sucks wrote: |
| Victor Ward wrote: |
Surely, those commas don't belong there. It is a dependent clause, since the fact that the teachers worked for NOVA is hardly incidental. Shame on whoever wrote or edited that!
I would rewrite it as follows:
| Quote: |
| NAGOYA — G.communication Co said Monday it will not be able to rehire around 600 foreign teachers who formerly worked for failed language school operator Nova Corp, which it had planned to do beginning in January. |
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Said Monday?????
What kind of retard has to hang his head in shame? Sackcloth & ashes for you, young man.
I would rewrite it as follows:
| Quote: |
| NAGOYA — G.communication Co said on Monday that it will not be able to rehire around 600 foreign teachers who had formerly worked for failed language school operator Nova Corp; something which it had planned to do beginning in January. |
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But you've added an extra three words, where the aim of newspaper prose style is to pare down and let the reader fill in for himself. We don't have to like "said Monday", but there's nothing unclear about the meaning. "Monday said" would be quite a different matter. So, you can eliminate "on" and "that". It's not lovely, but it conveys the meaning.
If you add "something" in the last part of the sentence, you now have to change "which" to "that", since it now becomes restrictive rather than supplemental information (or better yet, eliminate it entirely).
Oh, and you left a hanging tag. 
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Wage Slave
Sucker
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Joined: 27 Jun 2007
Posts: 8130
Location: At The Bratface
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| Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2007 12:00 am Post subject: |
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| Victor Ward wrote: |
We don't have to like "said Monday", but there's nothing unclear about the meaning. "Monday said" would be quite a different matter. So, you can eliminate "on" and "that". It's not lovely, but it conveys the meaning.
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Agreed and I haven't checked a corpus but strikes me as a common elision to use in the genre.
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If you add "something" in the last part of the sentence, you now have to change "which" to "that", since it now becomes restrictive rather than supplemental information (or better yet, eliminate it entirely).
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I agree that "something" and the semicolon are unnecessary and clumsy. I don't though agree that restrictive (or defining) clauses can only take "that" - They can take either which or that.
The car which/that caused the accident over didn't stop.
Supplemental (or non defining) clauses can only take which.
The white Toyata Noah, registration number 1234, which caused the accident, didn't stop.
The clause is restrictive (I prefer defining) in both cases so "which" or "that" are equally acceptable. There may be some very marginal snob value in using "that" just because it shows you know the rule and it is possible. I am happy though to encourage my students to always use "which".
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Victor Ward
Bespoke gigolo
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| Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2007 12:41 am Post subject: |
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While you're technically correct, I prefer to maintain the which/that distinction less for snob value than for clarity.
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Wage Slave
Sucker
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| Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2007 11:26 am Post subject: |
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Interesting. I had never thought of it that way. It carries through to a who/that distinction as well. It is pretty marginal though, don't you think?
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My fear is that heaven may be sort of geospecific. Since I've been a good boy here, I might get consigned to here's version of heaven. |
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