Your region for free !!! no fees !!!

Oops. Sorry 'bout that. In future, we'll try to keep those emissions behind the closed doors of the batcave.

God, will nothing kill this thread? I'd offer to wave a jockstrap around but I don't think that's an acceptable substitute for Brenda's panties.

Good enough for me Qie!

Pep (Careful though: I believe that it is Brenda's "pants" that she waves in salute, which I understand are a very different thing from "panties" across the Atlantic!)

Of course dictionaries attempt to reflect current usage. The meanings of words normally get changed because dumb people use them incorrectly; it doesn't mean that I have to join the charge of the lemmings (yes, I know that it was a fiction created for a TV documentary) and I am quite happy to fight rearguard actions against the cavalier attitudes of others towards good English.

Pep ("Initialism" was in use long before Bell Labs coined the word "acronym", which is now being forced to do double duty)

"Good english" is the way it is used by people (and reflected by dictionaries).

Phil (I'm glad you're not fighting a rearguard action for english as it was used in the middle ages, and that you do accept *some* progress, if not all.)

U rly thnk so?

Pep (Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery)

Mocking or imitation, guess it's a matter of perspective, or arrogance.

IMPORTANTE
In merito alla notizia della decisione di Linden di apportare modifiche sulle caratteristiche economiche, strutturali e tecniche delle sim, mi appresto umilmente ad esprimere la mia opinione personale, nonchè il netto dissenso e controversia verso tali decisioni. Innanzitutto credo sia poco produttivo aumentare ancora i costi tra l'altro già esosi delle sim, visto che alla fine non ha alcun scopo se non prettamente di carattere ludico.Poi diminuire l'affluenza delle persone dando un limite massimo nelle varie sim, limita la libertà di qualunque individuo di accedervi qualora sia al completo come numero.Io vi parlo come owner insieme ad un amico di una piccola sim "Panarea",a nome dello staff, dei numerosi contatti e persone che frequentano la stessa e di tante altre piccole realtà come la nostra credo che questa politica che state portando avanti non farà altro che far diminuire drasticamente l'utenza che accede a questo programma...Vedesi il grande calo di utenti nell'ultimo periodo. Comprendo e approvo pienamente il fatto che Voi dobbiate guadagnare per il lavoro eccelso che avete creato, fonte di impegno e fatica, ma tenete sempre presente che è un gioco e come tale non può corrispondere ai canoni della vita reale, sia in qualità di costi ma anche di ciò che vendete,se andiamo ad analizzare il tutto alla fine non vendete nulla, se non un pezzo di terra virtuale che non ha alcun valore se non a livello di divertimento. Pertanto vi invito a valutare bene le scelte e politica che volete portare avanti perchè come ben sapete investimenti economici sbagliati possono far crollare l'intero lavoro di una vita. Io, nel mio piccolo con la presente vi comunico che qualora la decisione che avete intrapreso e divulgato prenda atto effettivo, sarà mia premura fare campagna negativa nei confronti di questo programma ed esortare i tantissimi utenti italiani e non che vi accedono a rivolgersi ad altri programmi concorrenziali a Second Life che stanno nascendo, che offrono pari servizio a costi nettamente inferiori. Auspico altresì che prendiate in considerazione la presente in quanto credo molto nella parità ed eguaglianza di qualsiasi individuo a prescindere dalla posizione sociale ed economica esso occupi, diritto inalienabile che voi con questa presa di posizione state negando, perche non tutti così facendo hanno pari opportunità e diritto di usufruire di tale intrattenimento dati gli onerosi costi.Concludo ribadendo che se la vostra politica mira ad allontanaregli utenti da questo programma allora siete a buon punto e vi attende solo l'inesorabile declino.Confido nel vostro buon senso e intelligenza.
Distinti saluti...

CristinaLuna Forcella , Pippo Farella “owner panarea”
Civ Blackburn, Linda11 Lowey, Markk Breen e tutto lo “staff panarea”

cliccate qui per visualizzare le adesioni raccolte.
http://members.lycos.co.uk/kernelg/sign.php

Well, if a thread is going to get closed down eventually you might as well make the most of it . . .

Pep (Why not rename the thread "Whistling in the wind"?)

It protests the coming increase in the cost of sims; points out that it will destroy the work of many and decrease their wealth, lower the number of users in SL and drive them to other virtual worlds.

If someone *really* wants an English translation, I'll do it, but I'm a little tired at the moment.

KEY please can u translete the Cristinaluna's petition as soon as possible? I can't understand it very well... thx a lot

Being cynical, I would expect that this guy is related to the original Italian poster and wants you to propagate the manifesto for free, because they can't do the translation themselves.

Pep (Up to you of course; I wonder if the mods ban the translators of inappropriate posts as well?)

Ibbitull?

That's how it sounds in my head.

Good enough for the great dragon to consider it a word no doubt.

Pep (Not for me)

You're probably right on both counts, but it isn't particularly different from other protests of the openspace policy changes.

I'll do it later.

Well, see, that's the beauty of acronyms. When they are popularized, people know what they mean, which makes them useful as words, because they can express something as an aphorism.

So, no, despite your handwaving, it works just fine used as a word *and* an aphorism. Did you understand what the acronym meant in that sentence? I did. I think everyone else did, too. That's what makes it valid; the fact that it represented bona fide communication; that it made sense.



I'm not the clown in this circus, I am afraid. I would never deign to broach your territory. No, I think that everyone here understood exactly what I meant when I used the "proper" form "TINSTAAFL". Unlike you, I don't assume everyone else here is an idiot by default, incapable of reading or understanding, or even thinking for that matter.



All sounds like good reasons to like the "TINSTAAFL" version no less than the more "popular" version to me. You don't like it? Who the fuck cares? I used it; everyone understood it; your problems with it are strictly personal ones, demonstrated publicly due to your insistent arrogance. What is amusing is the level of inanity you're willing to go to in order to justify your dislikes to the rest of us.

Anyway, please do continue; I am enjoying the circus.



Yet no less grounded than fantasizing that you are smarter than everyone else here. That's the beauty of SL, though; everyone can live their fantasies. Thankfully, participation in other people's fantasies is still voluntary, though, and I have to say I am happy to decline yours.

No, not really. It's just your strawman.



Only in your mind, dude. Still, feel free to set up an infinite line of strawmen, shaped like Dragons, and knock them down, one by one. Oh, be sure to say "I win" after each one, too.

Everyone except me. I had to look the darned thing up.

Btw, from looking it up, it appears there isn't a "proper form" as both forms are used.

The notion of a "proper" form has to do with the wording of the phrase used to form the acronym, not the use of the acronym itself. Well, except for "Pep", that is; even using it is apparently "improper".

I've never seen the "TINSTAAFL" construction before today. IMHO and AFAIK TANSTAAFL is the one that people actually use. YMMV of course.

Poor Pep...

he fails to realize any living language is going to evolve and change.

Current english barely resembles the old queen's english in many ways.


He reminds me of a monk holding up a book and screaming cause the author wants to revise the manuscript..


Which is what the users of the language do... they make the language change

Yes, I know. I found both forms - one in Wikipedia and the other in an acronym directory. One is "There ain't no ..." and the other is "There is no ...". So both forms are "proper".

Apparently, according to Google, anyway, ~11,500 uses are documented vs ~235,000 of the more "popular" version.

It would be incorrect to say "no one uses it", since clearly a significant number of people do. I can and do use them interchangeably.

My statement that "everyone knows it" is a generalization of the concept that I don't automatically presume that people are stupid; people either know it, can figure it out, or can easily look it on the web. Do people know it as well as the more "popular" version? No, and I never claimed they did. In fact, the whole point in acknowledging "TANSTAAFL" as "popular" is that it is, well, more popular.

However, that doesn't make the usage of the alternate "proper" form any less valid, despite Pep's protestations. If you know what TANSTAAFL means, you're likely able to figure out what changed from the single letter that is different. If not, then there's always the Internet.

Not in terms of "proper" grammar. TANSTAAFL uses a double-negative, as well as the arguably "invalid" (read: non-standard English) contraction "ain't". Hence, not "proper" (well, at least as far as "Pep" is concerned).

Did I say "proper grammar"?

No, but since you are parroting the term "proper" in quotes, as I said it, I am clarifying what it is in reference to.