"Like him? 'Like' is not the word!"
I'm not even sure what that means. That [Joe] has exhausted his potential, reached the zenith of praiseworthiness, and it's all downhill from here?
My admiration for Joe is entirely commensurate with his accomplishments.
Mr Dalliard will be joining us as soon as is likely.
"Thank you for sending me your book. I shall waste no time in reading it"
What you did up there! I've never seen anything like it.
I had cause to use "An amazing achievement" recently.
You have truly transcended the limits of the ordinary.
Phrases that sound great in court:
With all due respect Judge,
To be honest with you,
To tell you the truth,
To be honest with you, when I hear the phrase "with all due respect," I hear "Fuck you, Clown!"
"You clearly put a lot of work into this."
I'm not even sure what that means. That [Joe] has exhausted his potential, reached the zenith of praiseworthiness, and it's all downhill from here?
Or it's the tautological observation that one can't praise someone higher than one can praise someone.
"On a scale of one to Joe, he's Joe."
"With all due respect" means "you are full of shit and/or don't know what the fuck you're talking about".
Or it's the tautological observation that one can't praise someone higher than one can praise someone.
There is an upper limit to hyperbole?
19
I shall now endeavor to use this scale in at least one conversation a day. On a scale of one to hilarious, it's hilarious.
There. Accomplishment!
There is an upper limit to hyperbole?
"One can't praise someone higher than one can praise someone" doesn't imply "there is a point higher than which one can't praise someone".
Cf. "you can't count higher than you can count".
"If I remember rightly..." = "In fact, I happen to have a vast fund of experience/secret inside information on topic X which I have kept my mouth shut about while you struggled..."
I remember reading a list of weaksause praise quotes for letters of recommendation when you don't want to outright insult the applicant, but can't honestly recommend them either. Things like "You would be lucky to get him to work for you." - Sounds like "you're lucky he applied, hire him now," but could just as easily mean "he's lazy."
Not exactly on topic, but this reminds me of what an editor of my college newspaper used to say: in his responses to unwelcome feedback, "thank you for your comments" was his personal code for "fuck you."
Some students come to class and bowl you over with their knowledge, insight, and commitment to learning. Joe comes to class.
24 - Yes, but this implies a failure of rhetorical skill on the part of the orator, or a failure of willpower or imagination. It in no way besmirches the praiseworthiness of the subject.
The comment about the formerly trendy DC restaurant reminds me of some particularly weak food praise: 'not bad, for DC.'
Or, as one can equally say where I live now, 'no one comes here for the food.'
24: But the complimenter in the OP qualified the statement with "right now," suggesting that some other factor will prevent future escalation of current praise.
In other words, the complimenter clearly has a terminal disease and is trying to share the news discreetly. Way to show appropriate sensitivity, heebie.
Hahah at 25. Absolutely correct.
If it's a synonym for IIRC, it turns out I've been using that wrong.
I probably first learned about this here, but in Germany employers are legally required to provide reference letters (Arbeitszeugnis) for former employees, and apparently because outright trashing someone could risk a lawsuit an entire coded language has developed.
So something like "He carried out all of his assignments to our satisfaction" is actually slamming someone while "We were fully satisfied with his performance" is a genuine recommendation.
"You have nice forearms."
And I admire your ability to chug an entire can of spinach at crucial moments.
24 - Yes, but this implies a failure of rhetorical skill on the part of the orator, or a failure of willpower or imagination. It in no way besmirches the praiseworthiness of the subject.
Sure.
There isn't a song that can't be sung, y'all.
sorry, I forgot to pause and play. insert where appropriate.
"With all due respect" means "you are full of shit and/or don't know what the fuck you're talking about".
"You don't 'Mister' someone unless dudgeon's on the rise." (SEK)
"I thought it was a wonderful story. And you tell it so well. With such enthusiasm!"
There isn't a song that can't be sung, y'all.
Even Cathy Berberian knows there's one roulade she can't sing.
In the area of folk humor:
Yesterday I told AB that Warren Buffet had just bought Heinz, and she made reference to piña coladas. I stared at her for a bit, and we eventually determined that she was trying to make an oblique reference to Jimmy Buffet and "Margaritaville".
20:
absolutely.
that is what makes it fabulous to hear when another lawyer says it to the judge.
42 - Maybe Warren Buffet likes getting caught in the rain.
I like mine with with pinas and coladas.
Caught in the rain and french fried yogadas.
Big kosher half a brain and making love in cold beer.
Well good god almighty, which way to the dunes of the cape?
OT:
This has been discussed previously here. http://www.graspingforobjectivity.com/2012/07/gap.html
This has been discussed previously here.
Yes, in a Front page post.
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Has anyone else noticed the transformation of the suffix -er to -or bearing a sort of officious connotation? I've always disliked "payor" for "payer" (very common in health care), and it seems to come up in more formal contexts; now I've encountered "signor" for "signer", with reference to a formal document, which isn't even in the dictionary.
(And in a nice example of some form of cognitive bias, while I was composing the above paragraph I was trying to divine the intent of the person who wrote "signor", thinking it was a particular person I don't like that much, but just now realized it's someone else who I do like.)
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I was trying to divine the intent of the person who wrote "signor"
Just a typo; should have been "señor".
I don't really get the joke in 45, but it's still a thing of great beauty.
"You would be lucky to get him to work for you."
I love this one. Someone told me they encountered it in a letter a few years ago and had to phone the letter-writer to ask if it really meant what it appeared to mean.
"He puts a lot of thought into his projects."
26: That's not so much weaksauce as backhanded and equivocal.
Weaksauce would be recommending a candidate by saying that they are qualified for the job, or punctual, or have a lot of experience.
51: What was the putcome? Was it intended as praise or blame?
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Someone asked about Elfen Lied:
Umm. The only way I can sense of this series is to pretend it is some kind of deliberate exercise in excess as a statement on the art and industry of anime:excess in violence and ecchi, moeballs, backgrounds and music, excess in sentimentality and cruelty, too-fast shifts in tone and mood, just an in-your-face dialing up to eleven of all that is problematic in seinen late night otaku culture. Evidence is references to decadence (Klimt) in the opening. For what point I can't tell.
But then I look at the credits and these folk aren't capable. So it is unintentionally just bad bad bad. I am having trouble finishing it. I kinda hate the fucker.
...
Ergo Proxy was ok fine, and would require another viewing to see if the existentialism is grounded or if the pretentiousness is unearned. But stands as a decent adult SF adventure with some kickass episodes (19 is a masterpiece) especially the finale.
Natsume Yuujinchou is wonderful. Warm, compassionate, gentle, magical realism, animism made fun and funny, sadness over the loss (or not) of ancient Japan, redemption of the past many layers all going down easy for any age audience.
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Natsume Yuujinchou probably could be usefully compared and contrasted with My Neighbor Totoro, given that it is limited to a little older audience, like maybe age 8-10 or so. Backgrounds are less detailed even given budgets, about character and feelings more than action or adventure, magic more taken for granted than marveled at, movement across rather than into, and country life still something to be left behind rather than escaped into. Lots of stuff.
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