Things What Do Baffle Me, Like
This is a thread for those of you who have questions about anything from life that they've ever been seeking an explanation from. This could range from the average cost of a pint of milk, to the very meaning of existence itself.
Hopefully we can all help to answer each others questions, whilst also having our own curiosity and general bafflement resolved in the process.
I'll kick things off...
* Oranges are orange, but why? It's not as if we refer to bananas as "yellows"! Did our wording for the colour derive from the fruit or vice versa?
* Who the heck is Gordon Bennett anyway?! Like many others, I have a tendency to utter his name in anger when I'm in a state of minor annoyance (I reserve the phrase "fucking cunt bag" for when my annoyance levels slip into the red!) but I am completely clueless as to whom Gordon Bennett actually was.
* Why does my neighbor insist on playing on his bongos at three in the morning? The fucking cunt bag!
* Oranges are orange, but why? It's not as if we refer to bananas as "yellows"! Did our wording for the colour derive from the fruit or vice versa?
* Who the heck is Gordon Bennett anyway?! Like many others, I have a tendency to utter his name in anger when I'm in a state of minor annoyance (I reserve the phrase "fucking cunt bag" for when my annoyance levels slip into the red!) but I am completely clueless as to whom Gordon Bennett actually was.
* Why does my neighbor insist on playing on his bongos at three in the morning? The fucking cunt bag!
Sign in to comment in this discussion.
Comments
This is especially confounding when you consider their definitions. 'Sh*t' means 'poo', essentially. But why is it that one is widely considered inappropriate, yet the other is entirely innocent? They're both colloquialisms for fecal matter, yet people respond to them so differently. And the word 'f*ck' means 'fornicate' - they have the same definition - yet one will make certain people gasp when used suddenly, whilst the other would only trigger mild confusion, and perhaps slight disgust, depending on the context.
Why are these certain words so offensive, whilst their synonyms leave eyelids relatively un-batted? Why have I chosen to censor these words in this post; why do I also buy into this social code without even thinking about it? I truth, I do know why: because it's what I've been told all of my life, and it's constantly re-enforced by society. But still, I do find it kind of odd to think about.
Edit: You know, if he was still a member of this forum, this thread would be an absolute haven for doodo! and his ramblings.
I hope this answers your question!
This only raises another question, though. Why did we name the colour after the orange? Why not the papaya, the mandarin, the kiwano, the tangelo, or the persimmon?
I actually know the answer to this one!
It's because of class and language and conquerors and vanquished. Now that I've got your attention, I'll begin.
Basically, originally in England, I'm guessing when it was under Saxon control, these words were part of everyday speech. However, when William the Conqueror came over from France and conquered England in 1066, there was a major shift in the balance of power and the vast majority of the upper class (nobility and the like) were Norman and spoke a French dialect.
This dialect mixed with the basic English-type language that was already in place and certain French words, replaced words from that language. Of course, since the upper class used the French words, these words were deemed more delicate and proper to use, while the peasants were the ones using the more "common" words. Since everyone wants to sound better than they are, there was a slow shift towards using the "more proper" French words.
In a more basic example, when we eat pig meat, we don't call it "pig" which is derived from a Saxon word. We call it pork or bacon which are derived from French. I'm assuming that much the same would go for what we consider obscenities.
Partially, thank you.
Precisely. Anyone?
Ah, thanks. That's one thing that I'm no longer baffled about in life.
Like clothes, undergarments, sanitary products, makeup.
So much variety! It maddening! 0_o
(Man, I'm on a massive anti-female bent today. Must have gotten up on the wrong side of the hooker)
I don't understand men.
Why do they like explosions so much? Sure, sometimes they're cool. But anytime there's a damned loud bang, every guy I know laughs at it, and if they see something blown to bits, it makes their day.
Why can't men see what's right in front of them? My son says " male vision, on!" when I ask him to get something and he can't find it, and the damn thing is an inch from his face.
Answers:
Not all of us ladies have a hard time making up our minds. But I think where men made most of the decisions back in the old days, women had fewer choices and didn't have to make as many decisions.
There has been a gradual change over time to where women are stronger and more capable in that department, but I think this is something they learn from their mothers. Strong females tend to come from strong females, and if your mom was indecisive, the daughters tend to be. Of course there are exceptions.
As far as clothes and makeup: I hate shopping, I only go when necessary, buy what I need, and get the
hell out. I've been told I'm like a man about that stuff. But most women I know are trained from birth by their mothers: shopping is fun, trying on clothes is fun, having more of everything is good, because you never know if you'll need or want it later. So more choices help to drag out this happy experience, and, of course, caters to as many different tastes as possible. The enormous amount of choices is also perpetuated by the manufacturers of clothing and makeup, so that they can make a fortune. Having more and prettier things was also a sign of wealth in olden times, and people still tend to want to show
it off if they have it, or make you think they have it if they don't. Some of it is neurosis; my sister in
law hoards makeup, because she's afraid she'll run out. She has enough for probably ten years.
Feminine hygiene products: women's periods vary widely. The products we choose are done based on containment and comfort, and sometimes religious beliefs.
Let's try it another way.
People like change, escapism and not feeling powerless. Explosions are physical manifestations of change, are closely linked with escapist films and they signify power. Ergo, people like explosions.
I generally don't under human beings, myself included. I don't discriminate between genders. We're all a bunch of freaks.
I don't like explosions. I really don't, I think that they're boring. Action films with lots of BOOMS and BANGS are easily my least favourite type of movie. I like character development and interesting circumstances when I watch a film.
I also don't like sports, much less football. I drink wine, as opposed to lager. Most of my friends are female. I sometimes wonder if I am even a man at all!
Huh! I guess I am a man after all! I do this a fair bit. It's as equally baffling to me as to why this happens from time to time.
Solid historiolinguistic answer, YES! YES!! Marry me!!
Errr, I mean,
For if a preest be foul, on whom we truste,
No wonder is a lewed man to ruste;
And shame it is, if a prest take keep,
A shiten shepherde and a clene sheep.
Chaucer still seemed to use the word quite freely at the end of the fourteenth century. But then again, the Canterbury Tales' aim at high literature is sometimes wonder- and purposefully off.
can you imagine going to church every week and living your life by a certain set of rules that may be all made up (its like subscription mmo's) you invest so much in something that the idea of loosing it is worse than doing it(even if it kinda sucks), and seeing other people not having to live by an unclear and contradictory set of rules is just annoying (like if WoW had a free version that was exactly the same as the paid version but in the paid one you have to log on and enter a worship hall for at least an hour each week and live by a different set of rules to keep your paid subscription) so they want you to join them so they don't feel like an idiot plus the chance it's true and they would have saved you from hell(this one can actually be hard to argue with) so in conclusion its about wanting other people to live by the rules they live by and (if they genuinely believe) also some soul saving.
That's a superb analogy right there. Seriously, that's great.
Your bafflement at being baffled baffles me.
This was the first thing I thought, but why? Was otherworldly conscience caused us to have the same thought simultaneously?
The only thing that I would add to this is that people are afraid of death and disorder. Pretty much every religion has something to say on those subjects. The idea that death isn't the end is incredibly appealing, as well as the idea of some sort of structure to the universe. When people don't believe in a religion and say so openly, it sows the seed of doubt into a religious person's mind and for an instant, they see the universe as a big, unforgiving, chaotic, disordered place... and it's terrifying.
It's like that thing in Hitchhiker's Guide that shows how important you are in proportion to the Universe and drives everyone insane because they're so insignificant. With God, nobody's insignificant, a person can face the void because they've got a special all-powerful being looking over their shoulder every day.
Then again, I'm finding myself to be something of a utilitarian nihilist, so my viewpoint may be slightly too depressing.
You have no idea how much I was stressing over that post. Linguistics isn't really my field, but I find it fascinating and do spend a lot of time learning about the origin of words in a historical context (since I like history).
And Chaucer... well, he was trying to write something that people who weren't monks would be able to read, I believe. So it stands to reason that he'd use the colloquial language. I sometimes wonder if the super educated people of the time thought of his work the same way people think of Twilight and the like today...
i'm just agnostic about everything, i believe a god is possible but the matrix is possible as well or that i am a non corporeal entity living in a non-physical reality and i invented the physical world to keep my mind occupied, i don't know what will happen when i die, i assume i will just rot, but if i do go to an afterlife and i go to hell because i didn't pick the specific religion that god is associated with, that god is an ass hole and i would want to work for the underworld
But, on a lighter note (and to steal from my hero George Carlin): It baffles me that if you cut two crumbs in half, you get two crumbs, instead of two half crumbs...
I do invite anyone to discuss this subject though, since it's baffling to me why anyone would stand behind a unproven theory which has fueled most major wars, has a 'world leader' behind it who thinks homosexual people are evil and bad for society, tries to ignore the raping of children, is supposed to be based on love even though there's allegedly a place where you will burn and suffer for eternity if you do not pray to the right god or break any of the set rules. And this is just the Western idea of 'righteousness'.
So, again, I'm truly sorry.
I don't care if someone believes in god, jesus, the flying spaghetti monster or ron howard; I'm just really, REALLY curious why some people can still be religious. And I'm open to all arguments.
I was raised Christian until I was 13 years old and thought to myself: Wait a minute... A dude living in a fish? People walking through the desert for 40 days? Raining frogs? Women being inferior to men?
So yeah, that wasn't for me. BUT, I can also see that there are people who hang on to religion and even gives them hope. This is exactly the spot where I get lost.
Maybe I'm waaaaay too down-to-earth to even begin to understand spiritual things, but still.. I'm curious.
This makes completely logical sense to me, and if you want me to go into it further, I can.
It's not about religion. No simple following of rules will do any good whatsoever. In fact, Jesus heavily chastised the religious leaders of his day because following the rules for its own sake was all they cared about.
Do you personally believe in a hell, as a literal place?
And I know it's called a 'belief', because you have to believe it, even if there are no facts.
But what is the use of christianity or any other belief system? What are the benefits of 'having a relationship' with god? Is it just so you can go to heaven?
I am pretty certain you don't need god, christianity or any religion to understand sin and to know the difference between right and wrong.
Would a person who has lived his life only doing good and helping others still go to 'hell' if he chose not to believe in any religion?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CreCter7AS8
I recently completed 'Puzzle Agent 2' and was surprised to find that there is a character in it named Ed Davis (who happens to be referred to as a bit of a loony). Whilst my name is spelled Davies (with an e), I couldn't help but wonder whether this name was a "homage" to myself. My whole life I've had people misspell my surname without the 'e', it's not too hard to imagine a developer doing the same.
Sure, I know that sounds egotistical and self-absorbed (and heck, it probably is) but it seems like a very strange name to use for the game's setting considering (to the best of my knowledge) that Davis (and Davies) are names of Welsh origin.
Do the developers even read these forums? If so then why would one of them make a reference to myself? Why am I so self-obsessed and neurotic?
It's most likely a coincidence but honestly stranger things have happened.
why do you want a relationship with some one who thinks you are unworthy of his presence? is it just the fear of hell? or is there some other reason you would want to suck up to a god i would define as not a nice person
I'm both relieved and slightly disappointed all at the same time.
I don't know if they are actually serious questions by people with genuine interest in what my faith means to me with an intent to learn more about it. In a way, it sounds more like a jab than a question, but given the nature of written text, the "tone of voice" in those posts escapes me.
In other words, I don't know if you're actually seeking a relationship with God. If you are seeking, then great. I'll talk about it. If you're not, and you want me to explain why you shouldn't think me ridiculous, then this really isn't the place nor do I feel up to it.
basically i am asking "what's the point of being religious?"
As I said, there is no point to following the rules for their own sake.
And I defy the argument that people would do just fine on their own moral-compass-wise without God. Sure, there are people who are of sound conscience that have no belief, but I would bet that such people are unknowingly influenced toward having said conscience by others around them who do have faith.
Also, not to rubs anyone's nose in it, but it occurs to me the number of people on these forums (and elsewhere) who have belittled my faith, some even going so far as to call God my "imaginary friend" all the while they sit and wallow in their self pity and wish they were dead because life sucks so bad. I defy these people to prove to me how being without God has benefited them.
Oh, bullshit! What absolute and utter bollocks. That's really quite offensive. My moral compass is incredibly strong and I'm not religious. I don't need to read a bible to know the difference between right and wrong, or how to treat others as I myself would like to be treated.
I have no problem with religious people but when they start to get all high and mighty about it then we've got a problem...