[tweener]

quote:Originally posted by Ultima

Titanscape:  

quote:In Australia intellectuals are the cool dudes which get the girls and dress well often times but that is just my experience amidst a great diversity and unknowing. Our jocks fair about equal with the intellectuals unless they are sharp as well. Smartness is respected. Also power is and by women.

Where I live imagine the complete opposite... you are persecuted like a leper if you are the remotest bit intelligent, popularity is measured on stupidity, looks and physical strength alone. The place is over run with Chavs, which is a local word just to describe these kinds of people. Lots of my intelligent friends act like morons just to fit in… which makes them appear two faced at times…. [V]

http://www.chavscum.co.uk

wOw the world spins?

We have different names, but it's the same in the US. Any sign of intelligence is immediately persecuted.

----
John - The Eternal Pessimist.

[MayoFlyFarmer]

unless you actually associate with inteligent people (but the can be hard to find at times)

That's no moon.... its a GRAPEFRUIT!!!!

[Donnah]

Sad that so many are judged by looks or intellect, since they are both the result of a birth lottery.  I am treated differently when I'm all dollied up than I do when I'm plain.  For the record, I despise oglers, especially when they are already with a partner.  I find it incredibly rude.

[qpan]

quote:Originally posted by Ultima

Where I live imagine the complete opposite... you are persecuted like a leper if you are the remotest bit intelligent, popularity is measured on stupidity, looks and physical strength alone.

 Yep- i totally agree with you there Ultima- there is almost a negative work ethic here - it's actually wrong to do well at school! I can remember when one of my friends at school got jeered by the rest of the class just for answering a few questions right in a row!

I thought the whole of the western world was like the UK - its nice that Austrailia is different!

"I have great faith in fools; self-confidence my friends call it."
-Edgar Allan Poe

[roberth]

Sorry qpan, Australia isn't different!

[qpan]

but.......

quote:Originally posted by Titanscape

In Australia intellectuals are the cool dudes which get the girls and dress well often times but that is just my experience amidst a great diversity and unknowing. Our jocks fair about equal with the intellectuals unless they are sharp as well. Smartness is respected. Also power is and by women.

I went to 2 hi schools in Perth WA and 3 in Sydney. Mostly Catholic ones.

 

Titanscape

Maybe he's from a different part of Oz then...

"I have great faith in fools; self-confidence my friends call it."
-Edgar Allan Poe

[starburst]

my best friend is ostracized by our class and the whole sec 4 level in school. as i'm her friend i'm also ostracized, though i do not have the same problem that people think she has, which is why people avoid her and hate her and look down on her. its more of a character/personality problem, though i don't see her having any problem at all. her initials are e.t, so people mock her by calling her ET -- extra-terrestrial.

[Monox D. I-Fly]

Soz mate....we'll have to agree to disagree.....if you can argue with concise dictionary definitions and then expect people to realise Your meaning then I think no one will be able to agree with anything...If you can't trust a dictionary what can you trust ?...and does your rational apply to any and all text/reference books or any reference material of any sort ?

<font color="blue">'Men are the same as women...just inside out !'</font id="blue"> 

Me, too, don't trust my national, official, dictionary. They either didn't count evolving language, ignoring specific definition, or mixing double negatives.

[syhprum]

I notice many words are replaced by asterix,s presumably not to frighten the horses but for one not always familiar with the latest slang would it be possible to number them and include the originals in an appendix.
 

[puppypower]

<font color="blue">Around the world we have some idea of North American terms which describe people, favourably and noteably disfavourably. Such as Nerd, screwball, dork, chock, dweeb, freak and geek...

What makes a nerd and what makes a dweeb...? I hear it relates to looks and social behaviour. What effects does it have on the outcast to be named such?

In Australia we seldom use those terms and what of England? We call some people "dags" here.

What are these American terms?</font id="blue">

<font color="green">Titanscape</font id="green">

In the more masculine societies of old, men often made sport of each other, using these and other words. This was all part of a pack mentality, pointing out superficial differences, until they no longer made a difference with respect to the pack. If you enlisted into the army, your comrades will come from all parts of the country. In battle, you will work as a team in spite of these shallow differences. But in peace time and training, you will spar and compete, with the goal of toughen each other up, so you can work as a team when needed.

I remember when I lived down south in the USA, I was called a Yankee by the indigenous males, while my southern friends were called the red necks. It was not done in anger or hate, but in humor. The clever insults from both sides and the group laughter, made us all friends. This is natural male behavior and is part of organizing.

Many of the terms you mentioned were originally coined in American colleges, among guys making friends and forming packs. Nerd was originally spelled, " knurd ", which was "drunk" spelled backwards. It was originally a friendly insult giving to a friend, who wanted to study, when there was a party. It was peer pressure, with a limited amount of pressure. The spelling was changed to nerd, remove this play on words. PC made it an insult.

As culture became more feminine, the original male pack banter got lost in the shuffle; locker room talk. Women are more concerned with their surface appearance, which is why they spend so much time on make up. This may be due to the fact this is how they attract males, since men tend notice female secondary sexual characteristics and many will not see much deeper.

The problem with living in a world more concerned with the needs of the surface, than the strength of the pack, is it does not take much for someone to smear your eye liner and degrade the perfection of your look. There is no foundation in the depths.The change from depth to shallows changed the entire dynamics of these words. If you add to this, broken homes where mothers raise sons, then many boys lose access to that friendly banter, among their dad and his male peers. The boys starts to think like mom, more concerned about makeup, less she/he become less desirable to suiters  like employers.

President Trump is an old school male. He was born at the end of WWII, when culture as still very masculine. He is  not feminized or PC, but is an old fashion male pack mate. His words appeal to the more masculine on the right, who look at this differently. The more feminized political left has a cow, because even though President Trump is trying to make the American pack strong, all the left can see is their make-up is being smudged. Even a hand gesture runs the risk of the lip stick being smeared and the whole look is ruined.

We may not be able to change male and female human nature, but we can show boys how to be men, who can spar with words, to strengthen packs, while having respect for the ladies who are concerned with makeup.

[alancalverd]

Some good observation there.

The British characteristic is to be utterly polite to your enemies ("with the greatest respect....") and rude to your best friends (tosser, prat...) but you don't refer to actual appearance or shortcomings. This has confused many of my American friends and colleagues.

It's more complicated in the military, where class and rank are overlaid with necessary skills. I have heard of a famous exchange on a firing range:

"Sergeant, why do I keep hitting low and left of the bull?"

"Because you is an orrible little man wot cannot clean a rifle or stay awake in my classroom, Your Highness."

[Bored chemist]

Soz mate....we'll have to agree to disagree.....if you can argue with concise dictionary definitions and then expect people to realise Your meaning then I think no one will be able to agree with anything...If you can't trust a dictionary what can you trust ?...and does your rational apply to any and all text/reference books or any reference material of any sort ?

<font color="blue">'Men are the same as women...just inside out !'</font id="blue"> 

Me, too, don't trust my national, official, dictionary. They either didn't count evolving language, ignoring specific definition, or mixing double negatives.

There is some irony to resurrecting a 14 year old thread to talk about evolution in language.

[Monox D. I-Fly]

Soz mate....we'll have to agree to disagree.....if you can argue with concise dictionary definitions and then expect people to realise Your meaning then I think no one will be able to agree with anything...If you can't trust a dictionary what can you trust ?...and does your rational apply to any and all text/reference books or any reference material of any sort ?

<font color="blue">'Men are the same as women...just inside out !'</font id="blue"> 

Me, too, don't trust my national, official, dictionary. They either didn't count evolving language, ignoring specific definition, or mixing double negatives.

There is some irony to resurrecting a 14 year old thread to talk about evolution in language.

Well, languages do evolve in 14 years, don't they?