Showing posts with label really random. Show all posts
Showing posts with label really random. Show all posts

Monday, May 31, 2010

The Past Tense of Text or The Word of the Day

Among conversations I often hear different pronunciations of the past tense of the word "text".
Some people say "I tex'd you." While others will say "I texted you." with the word having 2 separate syllables; "text-ed".
In order to resolve this matter of grammar, (as I am a bit of a grammar fiend), I have spent some thought and google time studying it out.
Apparently, the word "text" is still not recognized by many as a verb. Most dictionaries still list it as a noun and it is only considered a verb when used as slang. Under which rule it would be most appropriate to say "I sent you a text."
So while we are waiting for the officials who define the English language to catch up with the people who actually use it, I have come up with the answer.
Most Americans text (v.) everyday, so it must have a past tense.
Most English verbs follow one of three rules:
1) Many English verbs become a different version of the word when used in past tense:
sit, sat
run, ran
lend, lent
drink, drank, etc.
2) Many verbs end in -ed which is simply combined with the last syllable:
walk, walked
pour, poured
look, looked, etc.
3) Many English verbs that ends with 2 consonants, the second of which is a hard D or T (when not following rule #1), add an -ed as an additional syllable:
lift, lifted
act, acted
halt, halted
mend, mended etc.
One can assume, that when the word "text" is finally accepted as a verb, and in the mean time while it is being used at length by the American public as a verb, that it will not follow the first example and become a different version of the word ("taxt? tixt? I don't think so).
"Text" should instead follow other verbs such as handed, landed, gifted and sifted such as referred to in the third rule and should be pronounced "texted" (text-ed) with 2 syllables.
Please realize that I am not a linguist (however cunning I may be), and I am certain there are further exceptions to the rules I mentioned. If you choose to disagree with me? Fine, just go disagree with me to someone else. You might even sound smart.

Friday, March 12, 2010

The Square Root of a Duck

Random wanderings on the internet bring up interesting findings. For example, someone on Yahoo Answers asked "What is the square root of a duck?"

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Even more interesting than the question were some of the answers.
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See for yourself:

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Answer #1, given by Questor

D=500 (roman numeral)

u=(.000001) (prefix of of millionth)

C=100 (roman numeral)

K=1000 (metric system)

so

DuCK = (500)(.000001)(100)(1000)

=(5x10^2)(1x10^-7)(10^2)(10^2)(10^8)

=5x10^1

=50

sqrt*50= +/- 7.07

And you may add the inverse of Duck is roasted duck lying on its back in spices and sauce. (kind of makes me hungry, what's for dinner?)

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Answer #2, given byDylan:
Well, I'm sure you've heard 2+2=fish, so a fish=4, so the square root of fish is 2.
Ducks and fish are closely related, they both live in/on lakes, both have 4 letters and are both part of the canine family. So the square root of a fish must be very close to 2.
Therefore the square root of a duck is 2.2
Dylan cites his source as: Personal experience in being a duck.
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Answer #3, given by 3k1yp2:
I disagree with Dylan. I have been a duck and a fish, and ducks and fish are very different. I can make blow kisses to everyone when I'm a fish, but not when I'm a duck.
When I'm a duck I have an indescribable desire to wiggle by butt. So butt wiggling considered, and also considering that a duck has only 2 wings (unless it is a dragon duck) so... the square root of a duck must be 7.
Yes, 7. But not seven. Just 7.
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There were a few other answers given, but I felt those 3 were the most worth posting.
Do you have a better answer? (Mike, you should take this as a direct challenge.)