Uniform = Employee?

[AdminAssistant]

Oh, dear Zod. This is so wrong. It reminds me of "My tailor is rich" Does anybody have the slightest idea why one would want to know that sentence when learning English ? Do you English speakers often discuss the wealth of your clothing craftsmen ? I've yet to hear an English teacher use this sentence during a lesson, and it still is supposed to be the first sentence you learn when you learn English. Where the hell did that come from ?

My French professor told me that English has 5 times as many words as French. Something about the Acadamie Francaise and how they 'protect' the language or somesuch.

The "Ou est la plume de ma tante" bit, I got from an Eddie Izzard stand-up film, Definite Article, in which he talks about learning French from audio tapes. He does a similar bit in Dress to Kill, discussing the first sentences he learned in French, things like: Le chat est sur la chaise. La souris est en dessous la table. Le singe est sur la branche.

[Samaliel]

My French professor told me that English has 5 times as many words as French. Something about the Acadamie Francaise and how they 'protect' the language or somesuch.

Yeah, the Académie Française is just a bunch of old farts trying to keep the language "pure", and definitely unfit for the 21st century... Heck, most of them were already out of touch with reality back at the beginning of the '90s.

They dared butchering CD-ROM into cédérom, e-mail into mél and bug into bogue, because it looks more French-ish.

I wouldn't know about which language has more words than the other, though. But I'm willing to bet dime to dollars that our grammar confuses the hell out of most enthusiastic French learners.

Anyway, it's not about the number of words, but how you use them. See Queneau's Exercices de Style, or la Tirade des Nez in Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac, for examples of how to say the exact same thing in numerous different ways.

[AdminAssistant]

Tirade des Nez in Edmond Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac

And that would only be my very favorite piece of theatre EVER. I normally despise love stories, but it has so much wit and (heh) panache that I just love it.

[edible_hat]

Something about the Acadamie Francaise and how they 'protect' the language or somesuch.

In my high school, the French classroom (I never took French but had other classes in that room) had a poster listing "French words you already know because they've become part of English". It included:
record
hamburger
weekend
babysitter

[Can I have a cheeseburger]

I try to avoid going to Loblaws in my uniform from the store I work at, because I always get customers there coming to me for help. The store I work for has completely different uniforms than Loblaws, and the name of our store is even on the shirt! Fortunately I've had no experiences even close to this one...

[Ironclad Alibi]

My French professor told me that English has 5 times as many words as French. Something about the Acadamie Francaise and how they 'protect' the language or somesuch.

That's probably because English has words from many languages, and is gaining more each day.

In my high school, the French classroom (I never took French but had other classes in that room) had a poster listing "French words you already know because they've become part of English". It included:
record
hamburger
weekend
babysitter

I could have sworn those were English words that became part of French because of public usage and over the objections of the Acadamie Francaise.

[EvilAuthor]

ok...So you told her you didn't work there and she said you had to help her anyway because you were a public servant?

I don't think you should have to put up with that kind of behavior at work, much less when you're off the clock and shopping. Woman was an idiot.

And four feet isn't that high. She could have jumped

[Listerfiend]

Am I the only one that thinks this a tad unbelievable? I mean, it did happen in a Walmart, but the whole sitting there for twenty minutes before anyone got her down just sounds like a punchline. Seems a little too pat to me...

I'm with you.

[edible_hat]

I could have sworn those were English words that became part of French because of public usage and over the objections of the Acadamie Francaise.

That all depends on if you believe the Society of French-Speaking Wankers or not. It kind of reminds me of a UK comedy show by a group of Indian (from India) comedians, one of their characters insists everything's from India.

"The Royal Family... Indian! Queen Victoria was Empress of India!"

[CarcinogenCrunchies]

I had a similar experience not long ago. After work one day (still in my "uniform" of white shirt, dress slacks), I went to a discount store with my son and my mother, and we were in the lawn/garden area. This happened to be next to the toy department, so I was chasing my 5-year-old son, who naturally was more interested in the toys than our topsoil. On my way out of the garden area, an older woman asked if I knew where the weedkiller was. I wanted to be helpful, so I pointed the way, then continued after my son. My mother remained near the garden center entrance, and the woman mentioned to her that employees these days were quite rude, just pointing and rushing off.

Mom did explain to her that I didn't work there, and helped her find the weedkiller. After I'd retrieved my child Mom told me what the woman had said, and I wanted to explain myself, but I didn't find her.

[Samaliel]

I could have sworn those were English words that became part of French because of public usage and over the objections of the Acadamie Francaise.

I'd bet my money they were English words in the first place, too. Except hamburger, which is obviously German.

[earl colby pottinger]

You are assuming

Obviously, no one would wait 20 minutes for a ladder because they were on a shelf only four feet from the ground.

Sorry, you are assuming this is a person who does something to fix situations instead of complaining. I have meet people already who would spend the twenty minutes yelling instead of jumping down.

If a 5'6" woman swung her legs over the edge of that shelf, her toes would only be two feet from the ground. She would have just jumped off and followed the OP.

You are assuming the shelf is not too narrow to get into a sitting position, you are assuming she is not wearing high heels which would make jumping down four feet a problem, you are assuming she is not wearing a tight dress that resticts her movements,you are assuming the SC is thinking instead of complaining and demanding SERVICE!

I'm more surprised that the OP managed to lift a 5'6" woman (who was presumably not making it easy for him) four feet off the ground to begin with.

Both my girlfriend and ex-girlfriend are bigger than this, and I have lifted them up this high up at the cabin to get into the unfinished cabin (no steps).

[crazylegs]

It kind of reminds me of a UK comedy show by a group of Indian (from India) comedians, one of their characters insists everything's from India.

"The Royal Family... Indian! Queen Victoria was Empress of India!"

You'll be thinking of Goodness Gracious Me then... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HJzy3WSYFM

[JoitheArtist]

Sorry, you are assuming this is a person who does something to fix situations instead of complaining. I have meet people already who would spend the twenty minutes yelling instead of jumping down.

Same here. Remember....it's the principle of the thing!

I totally believe that someone would spend twenty minutes fussing instead of getting down. I have family members that would do that.