dbh2ppa Wrote:A: do you want apples or bananas?
b: yes.
that SHOULD be a valid answer, but nooo, they'll look at you like you're crazy. it's not my fault english (and spanish... and probably japanese) lack a decent word for XOR!!!

XOR still returns a boolean, so that doesn't solve the problem.

A: do you want apples xor bananas?
B: yes

I think some people here are obviously learning the wrong language. You should be learning Lojban instead of Japanese

Thanks for the interesting posts. But to clear one thing up...

I had a bad day yesterday, and the last thing I needed at that moment was to worry about adding a fraction of an inch to the end of a primitive Kanji...

I should study when I'm not so stressed next time. :/

iSoron Wrote:

dbh2ppa Wrote:A: do you want apples or bananas?
b: yes.
that SHOULD be a valid answer, but nooo, they'll look at you like you're crazy. it's not my fault english (and spanish... and probably japanese) lack a decent word for XOR!!!

XOR still returns a boolean, so that doesn't solve the problem.

A: do you want apples xor bananas?
B: yes

hm, true, bad example. however, i stand by my wish for people to use XOR when they mean XOR
ammend the example, it should read: "which do you want, apples XOR bananas?" (note that in this case OR cannot apply, unless there are other options like "strawberries OR papaya" or "mango AND pineapple"...)

Codexus Wrote:I think some people here are obviously learning the wrong language. You should be learning Lojban instead of Japanese

oh, if only we could write lojban with kanji ^^

hknamida Wrote:

Jarvik7 Wrote:I will make it a point to use XOR in daily speech from now on.

Seconded. XOR is the main reason I prefer the company of computers over that of humans.

Seconded. XOR is the main reason I prefer the company of computers over that of humans.

Thirded! and don't worry about prefering the company of computers over humans, it's completely normal, if we go by 漫画's standards anyway (ちょびっツ anyone?)

Well I also prefer the company of dogs.

Is everyone here a programmer? This is weird...

masaman Wrote:

jorgebucaran Wrote:But don't compare English with Japanese, the latter which is art in every way you look at it totally kicks the former's ass!

Of course Japanese is art. English isn't so bad though, l don't know how to say "kick ass" in Japanese. May be マジすげーぜ　？ Nah, "kick ass" has to be "kick ass".

では、おやすみなさい

This absurd suggestion that Japanese is some form of high art and English is merely a collection of words put together in phrases is just insane. In every language there are artistic ways of using the language but most people just talk rubbish every day. When you listen to what a graet geal of Japanese are talking about, it's no different from anywhere else. Japanese textbooks are often based on these ideas that come from Japanese nationalism that it is something distant and ultimately superior. I'm sure that anyone who has lived in Japan will agree with me there. The more you mystify and therefore place the language in a flase hireachy, the more you make it more difficult for yourself.

You can't use "kick arse" as an example, look at the great English poets and writers, if that isn't art i don't know what is. The same could be said for every language, don't fall for the hype is what I say.

Back to the origonal idea, japanese people view European languages as extremely anal regarding the use of articles and plurals. Why is it one book but two books, a million books etc? Why is one so seperate but two, three, a trillion all us an s ? This is pretty anal if you think about it. Then when you get into genders and cases of other European languages, the analometer goes of the end. Japanese is in some ways, the most flexible and least anal of langauges.

harhol Wrote:Is everyone here a programmer? This is weird...

There's definitely overlap between learning Japanese and being a nerd if that's what you mean.

Tobberoth Wrote:

harhol Wrote:Is everyone here a programmer? This is weird...

There's definitely overlap between learning Japanese and being a nerd if that's what you mean.

hey wait, I love the Japanese language and programming, too... but I don't get the connection...

Do you want some tea or coffe? Yes.
Do you want tea or coffee? Tea.
You want some troll with that? Yup.

Tobberoth Wrote:

harhol Wrote:Is everyone here a programmer? This is weird...

There's definitely overlap between learning Japanese and being a nerd if that's what you mean.

It's just that in every other thread someone will say, "Oh yeah I wrote a script to do ______" and then someone else will say, "You wrote that script? I wrote a much more efficient one this afternoon..." and I'm like o_O

And now we a have a thread where people are making programming-related jokes about apples and bananas.

hknamida Wrote:...I prefer the company of computers over that of humans.

http://imgur.com/2uzee.jpg

@Kyotokanji

As far as your response to Jorge and Masaman, they never said that you can't create great art in English. They also didn't mention novels or poetry which are the products of language and not be confused with language itself; Masaman stated that Japanese IS intrinsically art. I think all languages have artistic features, but a case could definitely be made that some languages are more conducive to art than others. For example, a Japanese writer can choose to use a certain word based not only on the meaning and the sound, but also on the visual appeal of the kanji. Also, there is the fact that Japanese is actually a very loose language which allows for a higher degree of individual subjectivity and is therefore more open to artistic interpretation. Because many European languages are so concerned with rigid specificity, they tend to come across as more utilitarian and a bit boring due to the redundancy.

harhol Wrote:

Tobberoth Wrote:

harhol Wrote:Is everyone here a programmer? This is weird...

There's definitely overlap between learning Japanese and being a nerd if that's what you mean.

It's just that in every other thread someone will say, "Oh yeah I wrote a script to do ______" and then someone else will say, "You wrote that script? I wrote a much more efficient one this afternoon..." and I'm like o_O

And now we a have a thread where people are making programming-related jokes about apples and bananas.

It gets annoying when people suggest using scripts or programming as a solution to questions. I don't know the first thing about that stuff. "All you have to do is write a script to ..... It's so easy anyone could do it!" Sure...

Really though, modern scripting languages like Python and Ruby are actually very easy to learn. Spend 2-3 days and you can write simple useful programs for personal use.

One could say "I'm not a programmer" but hell, this is 2009. The computer is an integral part in the lives of most westerners. You can't really expect to use computers to their fullest unless you learn to speak their language.

But can you tell me, why is Python so anal about seemingly insignificant things like white space? j/k

vosmiura Wrote:But can you tell me, why is Python so anal about seemingly insignificant things like white space? j/k

C++ FTW =D I saw an article once which showed a game programmed in C++, and the *code* was in the shape of an airplane... I'll try and dig that up...

Piece of cake:
http://99-bottles-of-beer.net/language-perl-737.html
http://www.perlmonks.org/index.pl?node_id=45213

This thread is scary.

bombpersons Wrote:

vosmiura Wrote:But can you tell me, why is Python so anal about seemingly insignificant things like white space? j/k

C++ FTW =D I saw an article once which showed a game programmed in C++, and the *code* was in the shape of an airplane... I'll try and dig that up...

If you're talking about anal though, I'd say C++ is a perfect example.

I'd say Perl and Ruby are the most non-anal, but it depends on situation of course.

kyotokanji Wrote:This absurd suggestion that Japanese is some form of high art and English is merely a collection of words put together in phrases is just insane. In every language there are artistic ways of using the language but most people just talk rubbish every day. When you listen to what a graet geal of Japanese are talking about, it's no different from anywhere else. Japanese textbooks are often based on these ideas that come from Japanese nationalism that it is something distant and ultimately superior. I'm sure that anyone who has lived in Japan will agree with me there. The more you mystify and therefore place the language in a flase hireachy, the more you make it more difficult for yourself.

I didn't think anybody would actually take it seriously, I was just kidding. My bad on that one.

Japanese is in fact pretty distant from English and I don't think Japanese text books brag about Japanese's superiority though.

and can anybody tell me why JAVA is so anal about what's inside the varia....
No, stop Masa, You're gonna look real nerdy....

masaman Wrote:

kyotokanji Wrote:This absurd suggestion that Japanese is some form of high art and English is merely a collection of words put together in phrases is just insane. In every language there are artistic ways of using the language but most people just talk rubbish every day. When you listen to what a graet geal of Japanese are talking about, it's no different from anywhere else. Japanese textbooks are often based on these ideas that come from Japanese nationalism that it is something distant and ultimately superior. I'm sure that anyone who has lived in Japan will agree with me there. The more you mystify and therefore place the language in a flase hireachy, the more you make it more difficult for yourself.

I didn't think anybody would actually take it seriously, I was just kidding. My bad on that one.

Japanese is in fact pretty distant from English and I don't think Japanese text books brag about Japanese's superiority though.

and can anybody tell me why JAVA is so anal about what's inside the varia....
No, stop Masa, You're gonna look real nerdy....

Because it's strongly typed and a static typed language.... >_>

Tobberoth Wrote:Because it's strongly typed and a static typed language.... >_>

Oh, you should have saved that talk for a party. Chicks would love it

masaman Wrote:

Tobberoth Wrote:Because it's strongly typed and a static typed language.... >_>

Oh, you should have saved that talk for a party. Chicks would love it

Hey, I know chicks who can program. I even know a hot chick who can program. She sucks at it, but she can do it

mmm I should seriously consider learning Swedish....