Sir Percy, no one questions the literacy of your own responses; equally so, it becomes frustrating after a while to read posts which are either ill-conceived (HELP!!??!! HOW DO I DROP A PARTY MEMBER????!?) or clearly prepared by someone that left school to join the business world at the age of seven. However, I tend to give the benefit of the doubt to those individuals whose posts contain no bad attempts at slang ("You cummin 2, dUDe?"), and assume they are not native English speakers. I suspect neither you nor I would fare especially well in whatever may be their native tongue--whether it is Norwegian, or Korean, or Turkish, or Hungarian--and assume that a little forebearance on our respective parts will perhaps promote as much on theirs, were the situation reversed (as it undeniably will be) in the future.
For the rest, no nation has such a stainless past that its people can throw bricks at others, unless they're armor-plated in ignorance.
Romance and Aerie and Jaheria
You know, I don't think the question of english being or not being a 2nd language was relevant in this case.
The point I was making was that somebody (in the USA, I believe) had obviously posted one of those 2 O'clock-in-the-morning-my-brain-is-fried-from-playing-6-hours-of-BG2 bits of gibberish that we are all at some point guilty of. And it certainly *was* gibberish. Not that there is any shame in that.
Anyway, when I make a fool of myself in my pigeon-German/Spanish or Italian, I tend to laugh along with those who can't help finding my attempts humorous. It kind of helps to have a sense of humour, and nowhere did the person that I was having a go at even complain about my post - that honour was apparently taken up with relish by those who make it their business to take offense at things on behalf of other people. I believe it's called the lunatic fringe of the PC-fad.
The point I was making was that somebody (in the USA, I believe) had obviously posted one of those 2 O'clock-in-the-morning-my-brain-is-fried-from-playing-6-hours-of-BG2 bits of gibberish that we are all at some point guilty of. And it certainly *was* gibberish. Not that there is any shame in that.
Anyway, when I make a fool of myself in my pigeon-German/Spanish or Italian, I tend to laugh along with those who can't help finding my attempts humorous. It kind of helps to have a sense of humour, and nowhere did the person that I was having a go at even complain about my post - that honour was apparently taken up with relish by those who make it their business to take offense at things on behalf of other people. I believe it's called the lunatic fringe of the PC-fad.
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Don't get defensive, please, Percy. No one is out to get you for your post, and I strongly doubt whether the assembled group in this topic area truthfully "make it their business to take offense at things on behalf of other people." In any case, I would sooner live in a society where some people spend at least a small piece of their time being concerned for the culture of others, than in a society--like the US was, back in the 50's, or in the 70's and 80's--where it was both common and socially acceptable to laugh at "foreigners." Having been on the receiving end of abuse because of my physical handicap, I can empathize with those who seek to protect the emotions of others from perceived maltreatment. It's certainly possible to go overboard, but usually the erring doesn't occur in that direction.
That said, the poster you chided *was* from the US; though the post was made during the daytime. It certainly does appear scrambled in a fashion that could be due to sheer sloppiness, or just as easily to lack of familiarity with English--either one. All I'm suggesting is that forebearance does anybody credit in such instances, and that the lack of response from the person you insulted is no guarantee they weren't insulted. They may simply have left.
That said, the poster you chided *was* from the US; though the post was made during the daytime. It certainly does appear scrambled in a fashion that could be due to sheer sloppiness, or just as easily to lack of familiarity with English--either one. All I'm suggesting is that forebearance does anybody credit in such instances, and that the lack of response from the person you insulted is no guarantee they weren't insulted. They may simply have left.
To the Righteous belong the fruits of violent victory. The rest of us will have to settle for warm friends, warm lovers, and a wink from a quietly supportive universe.