Snow is for the weak!

I remember, they used to close schools in Russia when it was either -20C or -25C, I forgot. Well, I was one of those kids, tell you what? Instead of spending our day in a well-heated school building under control of our teachers, we were let to go home, with (normally) no adults around and with door keys on our necks, I still remember that blue string with a key. So you are 8 years old, it's all cool and white outside, you have a key for your place and no adults around, what do you do? Lie in your bed under the blanket and eat aspirin, what else?

I've never seen so many kids outside when they *did not* cancel schools!

Originally posted by Mapraputa Is:
(normally)
So you are 8 years old,

Is that you using the word " Normal ", you once said that you hate this word.

Well!.. what a 8 year old kid(s) can do even when the adults were not around ??

I remember a cold winter's night in Russia. It was at most -30C, but pushing -35C if I recall. We made plans to throw a big party if it reached -40 -- you know, to celebrate the convergence of Fahrenheit and Celsius. (Yes I know the convergence point isn't exactly 40.) Didn't happen.

I always love pics of city covered with snow but never got a chace to live

Once in Patnetop (its in Himalaya valley) I saw places coverd with snow but I was there for only few hours.

I love the winter. The best time is taking the dog for a walk at night when it is snowing and everything is quiet and snow covered and incredibly peacefull.
Also, incredible beautifull up in the mountains at night: snow on the ground, ice covering the bare branhes of the trees, the sky is cloudless and you can see all of the stars shining..... ahhhh

eat aspirin???

Originally posted by Balaji Loganathan:

Is that you using the word "Normal", you once said that you hate this word.

You mean this thread -- it is one big communication error on my part. I meant that I hate what the word "normal" means, not the word itself!

Originally posted by Elaine Micheals:
eat aspirin???

I was trying to be sarcastic

So how do you say it right: "drink aspirin"? "Take CH3COOC6H4COOH"?

We made plans to throw a big party if it reached -40 -- you know, to celebrate the convergence of Fahrenheit and Celsius. (Yes I know the convergence point isn't exactly 40.)
It's not? That's news to me. What conversion formula do you use?
So how do you say it right: "drink aspirin"? "Take CH3COOC6H4COOH"?
"Take aspirin" would be the usual choice. I think the difference is that "eat" implies chewing, which is inappropriate for aspirin usually.

[ December 05, 2002: Message edited by: Jim Yingst ]

And to me "eat" also implies a lot more volume than "take" (like a platetful vs just a tablet or two).

MM> (Yes I know the convergence point isn't exactly 40.)
JY> It's not? That's news to me. What conversion formula do you use?
For some now seemingly inexplicable reason I've had it stuck in my mind that the convergence point was somewhere right around 40 but not exactly 40. Having looked at some formulas and thermometers, I now can't even figure out why I ever would have thought that.
You know, when it get that cold the gravity waves slow down and pick up mass, then all sorts of weird ****** starts to happen.

Map, why would an 8-year old kid lie under a blanket and eat/take aspirin? The blanket part, I can understand, but why aspirin?
Btw, it's snowing in Boston - and I just came home from watching the Bond movie. I was rather inspired by the cars and their drivers in the movie, especially on ice - and got a little adventurous myself with my Toyota Corolla in the cinema's snowed parking lot - it was fun

Memo to self: before accepting rides from NN in future, check for snow or ice on the roads.

MM: yeah, I guess a lot of conversion factors are a little inexact - but not this one, as far as I know.
And just for the record, I'm currently back in Tucson, Arizona, wearing shorts.

[ December 05, 2002: Message edited by: Jim Yingst ]

A flip dark chill winter bastard though dry...

FC: And to me "eat" also implies a lot more volume than "take" (like a platetful vs just a tablet or two).
MI: Ah, I guess that was the ground I was trying to build sarcasm on. Not only does he "take" aspirin, he consumes big volume of it. Ok, how about "nibble"?

NN: Map, why would an 8-year old kid lie under a blanket and eat/take aspirin? The blanket part, I can understand, but why aspirin?
MI: As a preventive step. As a prudent action no normal 8 year old would exhibit.
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"Also, if you really have trouble understanding something because of a spelling error, try reading it aloud to see if that helps."
Ritin' fo' K5

FC: And to me "eat" also implies a lot more volume than "take" (like a platetful vs just a tablet or two).
I disagree here. You can eat a grape or even a single sunflower seed. Admittedly my own appetite usually demands a bit more, but if I were to injest a sunflower seed I'd certainly say "eat" rather than "take". Of course, there could be some sort of US/UK usage difference lurking somewhere here...
MI: Ok, how about "nibble"?
Small-scale version of "bite". Both imply use of teeth, probably to eat (though in other contexts...

). Still not something most people would do with an aspirin.

[ December 06, 2002: Message edited by: Jim Yingst ]

Betcha Map's trying to come up with an English translation of zhrat'.

Nope. It's too rude a word to serve as a ground for sarcasm. If I wrote this in Russian, I would use "kushat", which is a "polite" variant of "eat" and semantics of which is vague enough to accomodate a colloquial expression "kushat vodku" - (to eat vodka).

Originally posted by Jim Yingst:
FC: And to me "eat" also implies a lot more volume than "take" (like a platetful vs just a tablet or two).
I disagree here. You can eat a grape or even a single sunflower seed. Admittedly my own appetite usually demands a bit more, but if I were to injest a sunflower seed I'd certainly say "eat" rather than "take".

I think the difference is that the word "aspirin" is vague as to quantity. If I say, "I am eating a grape" then it is clear that I am having one.
Compare:
"He is under the blanket eating aspirin."
"He is under the blanket eating an aspirin."
The first seems to imply a bunch of apspirin tablets.

Good point. Except when the speaker is Map, and it's usually a mistake to assign any significance to the absence of an article. I routinely retrofit "a" and "an" into my mental view of Map's posts, for readability.

Originally posted by Jim Yingst:
Good point. Except when the speaker is Map, and it's usually a mistake to assign any significance to the absence of an article.

Good point! In fact, although the image of Map munching a handful of aspirins did momentarily flash through my mind, I quickly realized that is probably not what she meant.

Originally posted by Mapraputa Is:
I meant that I hate what the word "normal" means, not the word itself!

An intersting idea... are there words themselves that you hate but like their meaning?
In terms of convergence, I recall a Monty Python routine where some obnoxious rich people were sitting around saying different words simply because they liked the word. When one of them would say a word, if the other person liked it, he would say, "That's a woody word!" If he didn't like it he would say, "That's a tinny word."
http://www.graphicszone.net/monty_python/scripts/Series_4/23.htm
[ December 06, 2002: Message edited by: Thomas Paul ]

the image of Map munching a handful of aspirins
munch
v.intr.
1.To chew food audibly or with a steady working of the jaws.
2.To eat with pleasure.
1 - yes. 2- no.
"munching" - not sure. "a handful of aspirins" - yes, but not with pleasure! I meant a 8 years old consuming aspirins for hours in full disgust only because he "knows" it is good for him. I mean how difficult is it to understand plain English?

Homework for G Vanin, who claimed that "Russian has the size of hundreds of "English"es" - find me an analog of "munching" please.

Hmm...
Хрумкать
Грызть
Перекусывать
Оттягиватся
Snow is for weak! I can't believe how many accidents we had last 2 days here in North-East.
Shura
[ December 06, 2002: Message edited by: Shura Balaganov ]

Originally posted by Mapraputa Is:
"munching" - not sure. "a handful of aspirins" - yes, but not with pleasure! I meant a 8 years old consuming aspirins for hours in full disgust only because he "knows" it is good for him. I mean how difficult is it to understand plain English?

Maybe you need to try fancy English?

Munching a hnadful of aspirins probably isn't very good for you. In fact, I think it might kill you.

munch
v.intr.
1. To chew food audibly or with a steady working of the jaws.
2. To eat with pleasure.
1 - yes. 2- no.
Well, that means that you should interpret the verb using the first definition, not the second. The two definitions are not required to be applied simultaneously.

Originally posted by Mapraputa Is:
I did not know which one Tom meant when he "quickly realized that is probably not what she meant", so I responded to both definitions.

Originally posted by Thomas Paul:
An intersting idea... are there words themselves that you hate but like their meaning?

One single word is a challenge... There is an expression, however; last time I met it right in "Le Ton Beau De Marot" book: "to work things out", when applied to relationships.
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"I can't think of an answer that's funnier than the original question."
Joe English
NOT the comp.text.sgml FAQ

>before accepting rides from NN in future, check for snow or ice on the roads

>...Nibble... Small-scale version of "bite". Both imply use of teeth
I personally prefer nibbling with my lips. It has a nice effect on unsuspecting young women.

Originally posted by Mapraputa Is:
One single word is a challenge... There is an expression, however; last time I met it right in "Le Ton Beau De Marot" book: "to work things out", when applied to relationships.

Does this mean that you are finally reading the book?!

I am on page 112