dontfeartheringo wrote: Thu Feb 01, 2024 3:55 pm

seby wrote: Fri Jan 26, 2024 6:25 pm

enframed wrote: Fri Jan 26, 2024 3:06 pm

Do you think he asks to "try" because he's an idiot, or because he enjoys the extra attention? Either way I think he needs some therapy.

Using “try” here is weird. There would need to be a lot of emphasis for the intended meaning to cone across at all.

I think you guys are underestimating the commitment of the true alcoholic.

"I'll try 16 ounces of [x] beer before I commit to ruining my life with it."

16 ounces IS a trial dose. A moment on the lips. Pure ephemera. A confetto in a cyclone of pints.

A_Man_Who_Tries wrote: Thu Feb 01, 2024 11:45 pm

losthighway wrote: Thu Feb 01, 2024 9:14 pm Brits have been doing this for decades then, haven't they? But you didn't mention that, did you?

I know Canadians do it too, eh?

Who made me the defender of what Brits do? Not that I ever noticed it much to be honest, no.

losthighway wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2024 7:38 am

A_Man_Who_Tries wrote: Thu Feb 01, 2024 11:45 pm

losthighway wrote: Thu Feb 01, 2024 9:14 pm Brits have been doing this for decades then, haven't they? But you didn't mention that, did you?

I know Canadians do it too, eh?

Who made me the defender of what Brits do? Not that I ever noticed it much to be honest, no.

You're not. My example turned out sounding aggressive. Which is funny because it's really a way to make an argument more passive aggressive. You also have to read it in the distinct British melody not employed in the flat Yankee affect.

A_Man_Who_Tries wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2024 7:43 am
You've lost me there mate. I mean, the two 'Brit examples' you've stated are actually questions, so of course they'll be phrased as questions. So I don't get it.

losthighway wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2024 1:15 pm

A_Man_Who_Tries wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2024 7:43 am
You've lost me there mate. I mean, the two 'Brit examples' you've stated are actually questions, so of course they'll be phrased as questions. So I don't get it.

Oh my, but I'm tedious. Sorry, but I'll persist in the egocentric desire to be understood.

The basic formula is this: take an argumentative statement, tack on a question that almost implies agreement from the listener before they've given it. So:

"I'm being tedious."

*becomes*

"I'm being tedious, aren't I?"

Or:

"But no one's going to bother to read this shit."

*becomes*

"But no one's going to bother to read this shit then are they?".

Half of the meaning is pitch. A rising tone on the question words actually sounds uncertain, but many a British rhetorician adores punctuating the half question quickly and in a descending tone.

A_Man_Who_Tries wrote: Fri Feb 02, 2024 4:26 pm
Yes, but the moronic interrogative is the tonal shift upwards at the end of a non-question sentence, e.g.

"I bought some apples."

losthighway wrote: Sat Feb 03, 2024 8:43 am Pundits and politicians who say, "an historic".

People who say, "octopi".