tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Thu Jun 13 13:03:41 1996
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Re: To greet or not to greet? The canonical questi
- From: [email protected]
- Subject: Re: To greet or not to greet? The canonical questi
- Date: Thu, 13 Jun 1996 15:24:40 -0500
TL>kaylar writes:
TL>>...In Jamaica if you come up to me I will ask, what do you want?
TL>Okay, but would you ask what I want if *you* came up to *me*? That is
TL>the main point of contention here.
TL>>If I see you, I might say
TL>>something like 'what's happening?' or something that cuts through, as
TL>>you won't find ANY amenities in patois--the street language of Jamaica.
TL>I don't have a problem with this kind of greeting when the encounter
TL>is essentially unplanned. However, if you approach your landlord with
TL>the intent of reporting a leaking gas line, will you say to him or her
TL>'what's happening?' immediately before you give the information? If
TL>you leave a note for the exterminator, do you start it with the
TL>question 'what you want?'
TL>According to TKD, a Klingon would not. Starting email with {nuqneH}
TL>is, in my opinion, a misuse of the word. It's not quite as bad as,
TL>for instance, *{jen pa'} or *{maj ram} (*shudder*), but it's still
TL>(again, in my opinion) incorrect to use it to begin a message.
TL>--------------------------------------------
TL>Alan Anderson Delco Electronics
TL>{ghunchu'wI'} Remanufacturing Services
TL> Test Equipment System Software Group
if I was approaching my landlord--"You know the gas is leaking?"
Exterminator -- "Don't worry dilute the stuff the way you always do."
This is how it is spoken and written--
and yes, I admit it is rude, and when I come to the qep'a, (If I come) I
would be very polite, because I was raised in the days of please and
excuse me and using my handkerchief, but--
if at the hotel there are other Jamaicans and they are not dealing with
my level of polite--I would communicate with them in language they can
understand.