An argument we are having at work...

[Gaurnim]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

Lo Zeno, how do you say this expression in italian ?

Anch'io voglio sapere, per favore !

Ok, ho visto, grazie.

Considering that it is "le palle" in italian, I think a closest translation in english would be using the word "balls".
But as you say it's pretty vulgar, let's not dwell on it.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Lo Zeno

It's quite a vulgar saying:

"Mi fa rotolare le palle sul pavimento"

Alternatively, "mi fa rimbalzare le palle sul pavimento" which is more like "this makes my nuts BOUNCE on the floor"

thank you. i will endeavour to incorporate this into my vocabulary, but i'll be careful who i say it to.

[Gaurnim]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

thank you. i will endeavour to incorporate this into my vocabulary, but i'll be careful who i say it to.

Too bad the owner changed or you could have tried it with Mauro, from La Trottinette.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Gaurnim

Too bad the owner changed or you could have tried it with Mauro, from La Trottinette.

now that i've learned he's returning to sicile, ( me faire ça à moi !!! ) i may call him up expressly to tell him that (just how rude it is ?).

[Lo Zeno]

Originally Posted by Gaurnim

Considering that it is "le palle" in italian, I think a closest translation in english would be using the word "balls".

True, "balls" would be closer than "nuts". But watching American movies and reading American and English literature, it seems to me that "nuts" is a more widely used word than "balls", which makes it a translation more faithful to the "spirit" of the sentence, even if not so faithful to the "letter"

[Lo Zeno]

Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel

now that i've learned he's returning to sicile, ( me faire ça à moi !!! ) i may call him up expressly to tell him that (just how rude it is ?).

It depends... let's say it's impolite. Mostly, it depends also on who is listening: usually, what is considered rude in formal meetings can be just "normal conversation", or even a compliment, when talking to friends. Especially if those involved are under 18 :P
And this is actually a very popular expression among young people, at least where I live.

[Gaurnim]

Originally Posted by Lo Zeno

which makes it a translation more faithful to the "spirit" of the sentence, even if not so faithful to the "letter"

Ok, I understand what you mean.

Zelda, I replied to you via MP.

Sorry for the interruption in the normal flow of the discussion, guys.

Originally Posted by Lo Zeno

Watching TRON was impossible for me, because of all the honestly too stupid ideas about the cyberspace. And I get thrown off by every single movie or book about hackers and how they supposedly hack into other networks or computers.

What I find the funniest is the idea that the faster you type on the keyboard, the faster you are going to hack into the system !
As if he was trying all the passwords by typing them one by one.

I haven't see TRON entirely yet, but I plan to do it someday, hopefully before the next one comes out, in 2010 I think.

[Lo Zeno]

Now that I think about it:

Originally Posted by Ea

Just remembered something that really irritated me: In George R. R. Martin's "Song of Fire and Ice" there's these flint mountains, and AFAIK it's a geological impossibility. It just kept taking me out of the story and I never got futher than the first book.

In Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire", if I remember correctly, it is told that a season (any season) can be as short as 2 months or as long as 100 years, almost without predictability. Which is an astronomical impossibility.

Flint mountains bothered you, and extremely irregular and eccentric movements of the planet don't?

I'm not accusing, mind you, I'm just throwing food for thoughts: I remember reading, years ago, a fantasy saga set in a hollow world where gravity didn't pull towards the center of the planet but towards the planet's crust, so that those who lived "inside" the hollow world "walked on the roof" so to speak.
The "external" shell of the world still had mountains and oceans, even thought it would be geologically impossible as well.
This, absurdely, never threw me off. What I felt really distubing, and what kept pushing my suspension of disbelief hard, was that two of the main characters could block a zweihander (huge germanic two-handed sword) blow using a rapier. Which, if I tried when I practiced medieval fencing, would have caused my arm to be chopped off by the zweihander.

[Gaurnim]

Originally Posted by Lo Zeno

This, absurdely, never threw me off.

I'm a roleplayer, and we sometimes meet absurd situations that can't be explained by rational means.
For those, we say TGCM, wich means "Shut Up, it's Magic" ("Ta Gueule, C'est Magique" in french) to remind people about suspension of disbelief.
It's also become a joke when the situation is far too absurd.

Originally Posted by Lo Zeno

What I felt really distubing, and what kept pushing my suspension of disbelief hard, was that two of the main characters could block a zweihander (huge germanic two-handed sword) blow using a rapier

There are lots of absurdities about medieval fighting in fantasy books.
Medieval fencing is very interesting to practice (I did during two years), but it's not really useful in day-to-day life, so it's why most people don't mind reading such things.

[Ea]

Originally Posted by Jellby

...
And it's fun when you see these thin crescents in movies with stars inside the obscured portion

LOL

Originally Posted by Gaurnim

...
Ea, it's too bad that this prevented you from enjoying the story, as Martin has created a very interesting setting.

I feel that it depends on the goal and advertised genre of the book.
If a book is hard sci-fi, it HAS to be solid and scientifically credible. There shouldn't be much suspension of disbelief at play, in fact, it should mostly consist in accepting the author's hypothesis about scientific progress.
If a book is *simple* science-fiction without claims of scientific accuracy, then I am much more flexible.
I think I'm even more permissive with fantasy, especially for magic-based stories.

In the end, for me it's more about internal consistency than about compliance with an external set of rules.
The author might have to explain important discrepancies, though, either in the foreword, a footnote or integrating it within the story.
...

I don't think it was *only* the flint mountains, I have to admit I found it a bit dense with regards to politics. It was part of it.

Originally Posted by Lo Zeno

...
I'm not accusing, mind you, I'm just throwing food for thoughts: I remember reading, years ago, a fantasy saga set in a hollow world where gravity didn't pull towards the center of the planet but towards the planet's crust, so that those who lived "inside" the hollow world "walked on the roof" so to speak.
The "external" shell of the world still had mountains and oceans, even thought it would be geologically impossible as well.
This, absurdely, never threw me off. What I felt really distubing, and what kept pushing my suspension of disbelief hard, was that two of the main characters could block a zweihander (huge germanic two-handed sword) blow using a rapier. Which, if I tried when I practiced medieval fencing, would have caused my arm to be chopped off by the zweihander.

I know - and you have just given a great example of a similar situation.

I've just read Jasper Fforde's "Thursday Next" series (again), and I don't even think that world is properly consistent within itself, but all that is different is so crazy that it's easy to accept. The devil is in the detail

[Gaurnim]

Originally Posted by Ea

I've just read Jasper Fforde's "Thursday Next" series (again), and I don't even think that world is properly consistent within itself, but all that is different is so crazy that it's easy to accept. The devil is in the detail

You had me very afraid here (I hadn't seen the "again" at first), because I thought you hadn't liked them.
I really really like those books, there are some really brilliant ideas.
We have started a campaign of evangelisation towards our friends in order to haev them all read those books. It has worked well so far, nobody has sued us for subjecting them to mental torture, so they must have enjoyed the books.

There are some books for which I don't even ask myself if the world is consistent, and these are an example.
Enjoyment plays a good part in the willingness to believe the world created by the author.

[Jellby]

The Discworld, on the other hand, is extremely absurd, but surprisingly consistent

[Ea]

Originally Posted by Gaurnim

You had me very afraid here (I hadn't seen the "again" at first), because I thought you hadn't liked them.
I really really like those books, there are some really brilliant ideas.
We have started a campaign of evangelisation towards our friends in order to haev them all read those books. It has worked well so far, nobody has sued us for subjecting them to mental torture, so they must have enjoyed the books.

There are some books for which I don't even ask myself if the world is consistent, and these are an example.
Enjoyment plays a good part in the willingness to believe the world created by the author.

A fellow fan I'm sorry, I guess I took it for granted that of course I liked them How could I not? Okay, this time I didn't like no. five as much as the others. The Well of Lost Plots is my favourite. I think his world a great balance between the absurd/weird and the mundane. Rather like Douglas Adams, and, I guess, the Discworld novels (have still to read them)

[yvanleterrible]

Originally Posted by Lo Zeno

It's quite a vulgar saying:

"Mi fa rotolare le palle sul pavimento"

Alternatively, "mi fa rimbalzare le palle sul pavimento" which is more like "this makes my nuts BOUNCE on the floor"

I like the second one much better. It's like being caught offguard by something so stupid that you drop'em for an instant.

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by yvanleterrible

I like the second one much better. It's like being caught offguard by something so stupid that you drop'em for an instant.

i didn't realise that was a possibility. doesn't that make you nervous ? i think if i knew i was in constant danger of such an event i would live my life in a much quieter fashion...