memes

Which English do you speak?

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

{{Title link: http://www.gameswithwords.org/WhichEnglish/ }}

profuseponderings:

What countries have most influenced the way you speak? Take this test designed by MIT researchers and find out.

Take this test, guys! It determines what dialect you speak (if your native language is English) and which country you are from (if English isn’t your first language!). 

It is an algorithm which maps out the differences in English grammar around the world. 

 

theheroheart:

Our top three guesses for your English dialect:
1. American (Standard)
2. Canadian
3. Singaporean

Our top three guesses for your native (first) language:
1. English
2. Russian
3. Dutch

Interestingly, I’m Norwegian, I always use British spellings and words, but standard American is probably what’s affected me most.

 

willowrosenberq:

Our top three guesses for your English dialect:
1. South African
2. Australian
3. English (UK)

Our top three guesses for your native (first) language:
1. English
2. Finnish
3. Russian

…HUH. Wasn’t expecting that at all.

 

laangol:

Cool!!!

Our top three guesses for your English dialect:
1. English (UK)
2. Singaporean
3. Australian

Our top three guesses for your native (first) language:
1. Italian
2. Finnish
3. Spanish

 

littleleofitz:

Haahaa this is awesome.

top guesses for your English dialect:

  1. Scottish (UK)
  2. Irish (Southern)
  3. Australian

Top guesses for your native (first language) a complete fail lol

  1. Portuguese
  2. English
  3. Finnish

 

ftchocoholic:

Well, it was accurate for me xD. Although Finnish does seem like a rather random second guess for a native first language…

Our top three guesses for your English dialect:

1. English (UK)
2. Scottish (UK)
3. Irish (Southern) 

Our top three guesses for your native (first) language:

1. English
2. Finnish
3. Russian 

 

 

karalianne:

Our top three guesses for your English dialect:

  1. Canadian
  2. American (Standard)
  3. Australian

Our top three guesses for your native (first) language:

  1. English
  2. Dutch
  3. German

I’m Canadian, so that’s pretty good. I find the Australian bit funny. Not sure why Dutch and German? Maybe because where we lived for grades 6-12 has way more Dutch people than anywhere else I’ve lived and my French teachers in high school were Dutch and German…? No idea. My family is UK for the most part. Mom’s parents came to Canada, Dad’s family was here for generations but came from the UK originally.

 

youneedacat:

Our top three guesses for your English dialect:

1. New Zealand
2. Scottish (UK)
3. South African

 
Our top three guesses for your native (first) language: 

1. Russian
2. English
3. Spanish

Um… I’m from California, the only language my family spoke besides English was Swedish, and the dialects of English my family spoke were generally Southern (Okie/Arkie).  So no idea how that works.

 

slepaulica:

I think it works based partially on how many people with your dialect have contributed. If there haven’t been too many with your dialect it won’t know it and won’t guess it right. Also, I think it might be on a country-level, not a within-country level, because it doesn’t seem to be making guesses like “california english” but just “united states english” or “scottish english”.

It’s possible that some of the ways you talk in your dialect of English was influenced by immigrants from one place or another, or that the rules for speaking your dialect are similar to the rules for speaking some other type english.

also for the “ntaive language” part it seems to be making guesses based on major world languages that lots of people speak. Like guessing Finnish instead of Udmurt or guessing Russian instead of Sorbian. :)

Our top three guesses for your English dialect:
1. Scottish (UK)
2. Australian
3. Canadian

Our top three guesses for your native (first) language:
1. Russian
2. English
3. Spanish

Our top three guesses for your English dialect:
1. American (Standard)
2. Australian
3. Singaporean

Our top three guesses for your native (first) language:
1. English
2. German
3. Dutch

I wonder how you tell whether someone is speaking Singaporean English.

I forgot to mention this in their own comment box, but it would be nice if they told you how good a match it is. Like, German’s the second guess for my native tongue, but how distant a second?

Tags:

#language #meme

~ Brin ~ 1 Comment

(tagged by cakehorse)

YOU CAN TELL A LOT ABOUT SOMEONE BY THE TYPE OF MUSIC THEY LISTEN TO. HIT SHUFFLE ON YOUR IPOD, PHONE, ITUNES, MEDIA PLAYER ETC AND WRITE DOWN THE FIRST 20 SONGS. THEN PASS THIS ON TO 10 PEOPLE. ONE RULE: NO SKIPPING.

(I’ll copy the format she used.)

1. “Real Tears” || Stevie Nicks || Two Kinds of Love

2. “Some Become Strangers” || Stevie Nicks || Rock a Little

3. “Circle of Life” || Elton John || Elton John’s Greatest Hits

4. “Let the Wind Erase Me” || Assemblage 23 || Storm

5. “What the Water Gave Me” || Florence and the Machine || Ceremonials

6. “Half a Mile Away” || Billy Joel || 52nd Street

7. “I’m Not Calling You a Liar” || Florence and the Machine || Lungs

8. “Clockwork” || Turn Left || Void Stuff

9. “Mordred’s Lullaby” || Heather Dale || Avalon

10. “Storm Front” || Billy Joel || Storm Front

11. “I Missed Again” || Phil Collins || Face Value

12. “No Way Out” || Phil Collins || Brother Bear

13. “Cry Wolf” || Stevie Nicks || The Other Side of the Mirror

14. “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” || Stevie Nicks || Bella Donna

15. “Dust” || Cara Salimando || Dust

16. “Human” || Assemblage 23 || Storm

17. “That’s What You Said” || Phil Collins || Dance into the Light

18. “Journey’s End” || Chameleon Circuit || Chameleon Circuit

19. “You’ll Be in My Heart” || Phil Collins || Tarzan

20. “Another Record” || Genesis || Abacab

I suppose I’ll go with the same people as last time: eponymous-rose, cosmic-llin, shayvaalski. And there’s always sort-of-tagging.

Tags:

#oh look an original post #eponymous rose #cosmic llin #shayvaalski #there’s a distinct lack of Fleetwood Mac #but other than that it looks decently representative #meme #music

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

(sort-of-tagged by eponymous-rose)

1. What’s the weirdest thing you did as a child?

That’s the sort of question where you just know you’re going to think of something weirder ten minutes after you hit “post”, but I’ll try.

I used to collect coupons. I didn’t use them, just collected them. I would carefully cut them out, trimming off the dotted lines around the edges while leaving the bar codes and fine print intact (this sometimes required curving the cut, but I tried very hard not to do that). I kept them in the bottom drawer of my dresser.

2. Five things you love about you!

a. I managed to learn how to type 80wpm without looking at the keyboard, despite never putting any effort into it. (Well, I played a little Typer Shark as a kid, but not that much, and I never took a class on touch-typing or anything like that.)

b. I can be very persevering when other people are counting on me.

c. I’m very good at checking expiration dates. I once looked at a juice box’s jumble of alphanumeric code (a code Mom had found impenetrable) and discerned the expiration date at a glance without having to search for it. (Silver lining of a food poisoning phobia.) Back when Canadian Goldfish bags only had production codes and no expiration dates, I even learned how to calculate the expiration date using the production code. (I determined the shelf life by examining an American Goldfish bag, which had both.)

d. My introspectiveness. I like that I can untangle at least some of the layers of weird in my brain, especially when it leads me to practical implications. (How many books of a series do you need to binge on in order to induce perseveration?* Does caffeine act as a short-term libido suppressant?**)

*Four.

**I haven’t had a chance to test this yet, but I have every indication it ought to work. (I suppose I ought to do the test properly, with blinding. Mind you, even a placebo would be useful. It would be nice, about halfway through the 4 – 5 days of post-ovulation tiredness, to have a bit of a break.)

e. I have a pretty good body. Not a beautiful body, which I gather is what people tend to mean when they call a body “good”. (It looks plain, which is exactly how I like it.) Rather, it’s comfortable to live in.

3. Where is the one place you feel most at peace?

Floating in my bathtub. Unfortunately, I am now too tall to float in my bathtub. I’m pretty sure my quality of life noticeably decreased when that happened.

4. Do you have any summer plans?

Learning about geology and computer programming. The last ten days of May are the closest thing I’m getting to a summer break. (I am so taking December off.)

5. What is the most expensive thing you’ve ever purchased?

University education. Those two courses in question 4 alone cost me $1600, and that’s with Canadian subsidising. (Regarding the usual things: I’ve never bought a house or vehicle, and all of my computers over the years have cost less than $500 each, which is probably why they’ve been so crappy.)

(Well, I think part of why this computer is so crappy is because it’s lived too long. When I first bought it it was a five-year-old model: old, but young enough for developers to generally acknowledge that people are going to try to use their products on it. Now it’s an eight-year-old model, and nobody accounts for the possibility of eight-year-old computers. It would be too impractical.)

6. What is your sleep schedule like, if you have one?

I’ve found myself drifting back and sleeping less during my break from school, which probably says a lot about me. Right now it’s about 11:45 PM – 8:30 AM, give or take fifteen minutes on each. It’ll probably return to 12 – 9:10 once I start school again.

7. If you could relive one moment of your life, what would it be?

Well, my favourite memory is probably the time I went out dolphin-watching in the Atlantic (off Cape May) when I was about eleven or twelve. I felt…what do you call the opposite of sea-sickness? Sea-wellness, I suppose. The rocking of the boat made me euphoric rather than nauseated. And though I was having fun, time did not fly. I thoroughly enjoyed each and every second of those two hours.

The nice thing about having a favourite memory like that is that I might well be able to do something like it again.

(We did see dolphins, but as far as I’m concerned they were just a bonus.)

8. Do you have any secret talents? If so, what?

If I told you, they wouldn’t be secret anymore, would they.

(I suppose you could count some of the things in the “five things I love about me”.)

9. What do you hope gets invented before you die?

I have to agree with Rose on this one and say immortality. Failing that, a sufficiently effective and reliable treatment for Alzheimer’s soon enough that I need never worry about getting it myself. (An outright cure or a thyroid/HIV-style “you’ll be fine as long as you take your meds, but you can never go off them without becoming symptomatic”, either way.)

10. If you could have a super power, what would it be?

Wolverine-level healing factor (see also question 9). If it were only a milder healing factor on offer (does not extend lifespan, fatal injuries will still kill you), I’d probably rather go for unbreathing (in the Nethack sense), despite the potential for annoying side effects regarding consensual inhalant drugs. The number of water sports that I have seen people play on Daily Planet and thought “I would love to do that, if only I were immune to drowning”…

11. They say a friend will help you move and a best friend will help you move a body. Do you have a best friend?

I don’t think I know anyone who cares more about me than they care about not being an accomplice to murder/not allowing a murderer to go free. That’s probably for the best.

If we take a broader interpretation of “body”, I expect Mom, Brother, and possibly Dad would assist me in being someone’s caretaker (which would likely involve moving their body at some point). Not sure about non-relatives.

Tags:

#oh look an original post #(you may have noticed I talked about tiredness and heightened sex drive as if they were the same thing) #(that is because they are) #(and let me tell you once you figure *that* out there are all *kinds* of practical implications) #(caffeine is just the first one that came to mind) #meme #Possible TMI #you can be sort-of-tagged too if you like

Image ~ ~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

Tagged by cakehorse.

Rules:

  1. your name
  2. your username
  3. your blog title
  4. your favourite colour
  5. the name of your current crush
  6. CAPSLOCK ABOUT SOMETHING
  7. your favourite band
  8. your favourite number
  9. your favourite drink
  10. tag someone!

You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to! Bonus points if you write something in a different language.

(P.S. If you are having any trouble with it, the image is much easier to make out if you click on it.)

Tags:

#oh look an original post #eponymous rose #cosmic llin #there’s been so many people doing this meme it’s hard to keep track of who’s done it already #I hope I at least got someone right #the blotches on the corners are to force my scanner’s overzealous auto-trimming to let me scan the whole thing #(I don’t own a camera) #(not even a phone with a camera function) #my thought process on the capslock went like this: ‘What’s written in all-caps? …Latin!’ #’What’s the Latin-y-est Latin phrase I can think of?’ #I am told by people who have experienced both crushes and perseverations that they feel very similar #meme #handwriting meme #tag rambles

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

loptrcoptr:

I love these new “type these words into your tags box and post the first tag that automatically pops up” thingies, so fun. Let’s do another one:

  • can’t
  • don’t
  • first
  • help
  • please
  • one
  • my
  • will
  • stop
  • get
  • honestly
  • I’m

Tags:

#(You can’t see the Sun Life Financial building that well from this angle) #(don’t you remember?) #(breaking and entering to satisfy curiosity you shouldn’t have piqued in the first place: bad idea) #or so help me #[no tags containing ‘please’] #(I already knew you could tell my town from the middle three digits of my home phone) #(I don’t know if *any* of my followers actually care about this) #[is the second tag on that list because the first was a duplicate] #I will never again be able to hear Voyager crew say ‘some kind of’ without laughing #but somehow I don’t think that would stop me #(P.S. I believe Skyfall exists because I don’t think you people are powerful enough to get signs up in all the theatres) #(honestly Doctor) #(I’m just now actually watching Firefly so I couldn’t have understood ‘I was aiming for his head!’ until two days ago) #meme

To all the Tumblr users who tend to use tags very liberally:

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

justice-turtle:

shadesofmauve:

rhiannon42:

 

thejadedkiwano:

Let’s play a game.

Type the following words into your tags box, then post the first automatic tag that comes up.

you

also

what

when

why

how

look

because

never

#’you— god— with your FACE— you— FUCK!!!’

#(also sully and I think undead marco polo in the background)

#’what is this’

#when I do things that make me happy

#WHY

#’how long you been carrying that around?’

#’um I mean hey look a distraction’

#(but that’s mostly because they disagree with the church on several key levels) [please note this tag appeared before the actual word “because”]

#((not the only quote I’ll never forget))

tumblr your auto-tag thing makes zero sense, that is what I have learned from this

#You can fit a LOT of pan-galactic gargle blaster in a nalgene bottle

#also I don’t play enough games

#What Friends Are For

#When pedants attack

#Why the fuck is raspberry blue?

#HOW

#Look at me all domestic and shit

#Because living languages were too mainstream

#never really thought it was charming tbh

Well, really. Why IS raspberry blue?! It’s a good question!

Ooh, this should be fun. :D

#YOU KNOW I’M NOT WRONG

#(okay also I think I may have recognized the eyebrows)

#(oh god what is internet what is language)

#(on second thought when the fuck have i seen joker’s eyebrows?)

#Why even

#HOW ARE YOU SO MUCH AWESOME

#looks interesting

#because I can

#never forget

#‘enjoy[ing] a good or even a mediocre Benedict Cumberbatch joke as much as the next young adult’

#(also I’m a very slow showerer)

#’butternut pumpkin? wait what?’

#(when I say ‘doing the will of Satan’ I’m thinking of the ending of The Wizard’s Dilemma)

#(why do British colonists have such a hard time coming up with original names for their towns)

#(Tumblr pointed out that that was how I tagged the last math joke)

#(looking forward to that)

#(because there is that whole Easter Bunny thing)

#(I’ve never heard them called ‘popples’ before)

That is certainly an interesting selection, and makes it very clear that quotes and parentheses get first dibs in the sorting.

Tags:

#meme

Reblog if you dont shave your legs everyday.

~ Brin ~ Leave a comment

tsukinofaerii:

my-herbal-journey:

I just want everyone to see how unrealistic some expectations are.

If I shaved every day, my legs would be a bleeding wreck of scar tissue. And I’d still have stubble.

What is this “shaving” of which you speak?

Tags:

#meme #reblog if #body image #shaving’s like makeup #I’ve never done it #get along perfectly fine without #occasionally worry that someday I’ll be in a situation where doing it would be worthwhile #and I’ll have no idea how #because I didn’t learn in early adolescence like you’re ‘supposed’ to #everyone will just assume I already know how to do it #and it’ll be like fairytales all over again #(nobody ever told me fairytales because they all thought somebody else had done it already) #(so I had to piece the stories together from references and parodies) #these worries are not strong enough for me to actually bother learning #tag rambles

Get to Know Me Uncomfortably Well

~ Brin ~ 1 Comment

tisaybitch:

1. What is you middle name?
2. How old are you?
3. What is your birthday?
4. What is your zodiac sign?
5. What is your favorite color?
6. What’s your lucky number?
7. Do you have any pets?
8. Where are you from?
9. How tall are you?
10. What shoe size are you?
11. How many pairs of shoes do you own?
12. What was your last dream about?
13. What talents do you have?
14. Are you psychic in any way?
15. Favorite song?
16. Favorite movie?
17. Who would be your ideal partner?
18. Do you want children?
19. Do you want a church wedding?
20. Are you religious?
21. Have you ever been to the hospital?
22. Have you ever got in trouble with the law?
23. Have you ever met any celebrities?
24. Baths or showers?
25. What color socks are you wearing?
26. Have you ever been famous?
27. Would you like to be a big celebrity?
28. What type of music do you like?
29. Have you ever been skinny dipping?
30. How many pillows do you sleep with?
31. What position do you usually sleep in?
32. How big is your house?
33. What do you typically have for breakfast?
34. Have you ever fired a gun?
35. Have you ever tried archery?
36. Favorite clean word?
37. Favorite swear word?
38. What’s the longest you’ve ever gone without sleep?
39. Do you have any scars?
40. Have you ever had a secret admirer?
41. Are you a good liar?
42. Are you a good judge of character?
43. Can you do any other accents other than your own?
44. Do you have a strong accent?
45. What is your favorite accent?
46. What is your personality type?
47. What is your most expensive piece of clothing?
48. Can you curl your tongue?
49. Are you an innie or an outie?
50. Left or right handed?
51. Are you scared of spiders?
52. Favorite food?
53. Favorite foreign food?
54. Are you a clean or messy person?
55. Most used phrased?
56. Most used word?
57. How long does it take for you to get ready?
58. Do you have much of an ego?
59. Do you suck or bite lollipops?
60. Do you talk to yourself?
61. Do you sing to yourself?
62. Are you a good singer?
63. Biggest Fear?
64. Are you a gossip?
65. Best dramatic movie you’ve seen?
66. Do you like long or short hair?
67. Can you name all 50 states of America?
68. Favorite school subject?
69. Extrovert or Introvert?
70. Have you ever been scuba diving?
71. What makes you nervous?
72. Are you scared of the dark?
73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes?
74. Are you ticklish?
75. Have you ever started a rumor?
76. Have you ever been in a position of authority?
77. Have you ever drank underage?
78. Have you ever done drugs?
79. Who was your first real crush?
80. How many piercings do you have?
81. Can you roll your Rs?”
82. How fast can you type?
83. How fast can you run?
84. What color is your hair?
85. What color is your eyes?
86. What are you allergic to?
87. Do you keep a journal?
88. What do your parents do?
89. Do you like your age?
90. What makes you angry?
91. Do you like your own name?
92. Have you already thought of baby names, and if so what are they?
93. Do you want a boy a girl for a child?
94. What are you strengths?
95. What are your weaknesses?
96. How did you get your name?
97. Were your ancestors royalty?
98. Do you have any scars?
99. Color of your bedspread?
100. Color of your room?

Tags:

#meme #interesting #don’t think I’ve ever actually done one of these before #ask me something?

{{next post in sequence}}

~ Brin ~ 2 Comments

 

I did it!

It was easier to make the words come out once I tried it in the second-most-secluded place in my house rather than going to the third-most-secluded. (The most secluded place is the Death Trap Room, a part of the attic whose door can only be opened from the outside. No way in hell am I setting more than one foot in there without use of the buddy system, and since the point was to make sure my family couldn’t hear me (so I wouldn’t have that awkwardness)…)

Tumblr Accent Meme!

Your name and username.

Where you’re from.

Pronounce the following words: Aunt, Roof, Route, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Pajamas, Caught, Naturally, Aluminum, GIF, Tumblr, Crackerjack, Doorknob, Envelope, GPOY.

What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?

What is a bubbly carbonated drink called?

What do you call gym shoes?

What do you call your grandparents?

What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?

What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

Choose a book and read a passage from it.

Do you think you have an accent?

Be a wizard or a vampire?

Do you know anyone on Tumblr in real life?

End audio post by saying any THREE words you want.

Tags:

#eponymous rose #oh look an original post #can you tell I read this from a script I wrote up last night? #(I can) #(I’m significantly more coherent than usual) #but it was still an accomplishment that I got up enough nerve at all #and once I’d made sure the mic on my MP3 player could pick me up I did it in one take #(I could’ve sworn I was better at L’s than this) #(‘misweading statistics’) #(the following category tags were added retroactively:) #accents #fun wif forn fronting