Important notice from the GRAMMAR POLICE. Plz read. This means you.

[CheritaChen]

It's just as valid to say by these standards that Americans ALSO have wildlife roaming the streets.

Indeed. Where I live, it's usually turtles, iguanas (non-native but their population has exploded), alligators, opossums and armadillos, in addition to the occasional raccoon. It's all relative. Anyone who says alligators aren't "wild" animals should probably be introduced to several, at once.

Ummm ... I think you missed something there.  Fowler is the standard guide to English grammar for the, eh, English.  Oxford is good but Fowler is generally better when it comes to English usage with Fowler being specifically a book on usage and the other being a dictionary. 

Thank you for noticing.

[rohina]

Can I please stop being the butt of conversation around here?  Don't you have somebody else to play with?

Sweetie, people are being quite tolerant of you. Also, you don't get to tell us what to do.

Oh, and about the wildlife, I used to live in a Australia, where kangaroos roamed the golf course, and now I live in Canada, where random bears wander in to hospitals.

[CheritaChen]

I live in Canada, where random bears wander in to hospitals.

Do they have insurance?

Oh, wait, that's right: nationalized health care. Silly me.

[soozelwoozel]

Cut that shit out, or I'll have to beat you over the head with Fowler. Watch out, because even my paperback copy weighs a good two pounds.

And I would have to counter beat you over the head with my hardcopy Oxford Dictionary which surely beats your Fowler.

Ummm ... I think you missed something there.  Fowler is the standard guide to English grammar for the, eh, English.  Oxford is good but Fowler is generally better when it comes to English usage with Fowler being specifically a book on usage and the other being a dictionary.  

*throws a Roget's Thesaurus into the mix for good measure*

As for animals roaming the streets in SA, I once counted 84 sizeable piles of dung on the road during a particularly boring 2 hour car journey there. Make of that what you will.

I'm totally jealous of all these exciting critters you guys all seem inundated with. All we have here in blighty is the occaisional fox and a smattering of pheasants. Oh, and on the subject of my homeland, I totally take offence at that jibe out our dental hygiene Audrey.** Watch out or I'll be sending round the football holligans to sort you out.

**Besides, everyone knows that it's Scotland's where the truly atrocious teeth are. It's all that tablet and fried Mars bar they're so fond of.

[rohina]

Oh, hey, Soozel. We used to have a WOMBAT who lived in the front yard of our beach house.

[soozelwoozel]

Oh, hey, Soozel. We used to have a WOMBAT who lived in the front yard of our beach house.

Aww, man rub it in why don't you? I hope you didn't engage him in any form of mortal combat.

I found some exciting looking fox poo today. Oh, and there's a daddy-long-legs on the windowsill. David Attenborough eat your heart out.

[chaos]

I'd prefer foxes and pheasants to pigeons that shit on my doormat and feral cats that pee on my car.

[rufio]

When I lived in Arizona, we used to get coyotes in the neighborhood from time to time.  The ones that show up in the city are usually pretty pathetic, though - one of them was actually chased off by a neighbor's cat.  My friend who lived in a significantly less urban area said she saw a javalina once, though.

[Zazazu]

Birthplace wild animals were mostly deer and Canadian geese. I almost walked right up to a woodchuck once...those things are nasty mean. There aren't a lot of stray dogs or cats or ferals except towards the farmland, where a lot of farmers get a few unfixed cats to mouse their barns and then leave them to fend for themselves.

Here there are a lot of strays and ferals. I usually see a feral about once every two weeks. I've seen one rat in the twelve years I've been here. There are a lot of coons, too. In my old subhood, there was this one huge coon that was holed up in the side yard of this home where they left bags of leaves there for ages. He pretty much minded his own business, but it was clear that he considered that his territory, and he would guard it.

Of course, both my hometown and Chicago are teeming with bunnies and squirrels. The ones in my hometown are almost all black. The ones here are more grey and brown and are freaking huge.

[rufio]

Actually, we saw a lot of rock squirrels in AZ too, but I think they would be classified more as pests than as wildlife, since most of the time they were chewing holes in the crawlspace and then trying to flay us alive when we finally caught them in a live trap.  The rock squirrels are a dull greyish brown in color, and about the same shape as a ferret, but smaller.  I briefly went up to Iowa for school, and was surprised to encounter chestnut-colored squirrels with big fluffy tails about the size of small cats.  Between that and the bright green vegitation, it was like stepping into a coloring book.

[Audrey]

How many posts do you have to make to stop being a 'Noob'? 

Pescado, I didn't know you had visited our sunny shores.  I hope your 'experience' wasn't too bad.  Our local thugs are pretty hardcore and you don't always escape with your life. 

There's only a violent regime change, every OTHER month.

Sounds like there is a lot more wildlife roaming the streets, elsewhere, than there is in our game parks!!

'Stop posting'. Now, that would not be fun.

Has anyone seen an 'offering' from Canadian TV called 'This is Wonderland'?  It is about a new lawyer who gets thrown into the thick of the Canadian lower courts system.  It is so off-the-wall and portrays the court system in such a 'wacky' way compared to what I am accustomed to seeing in shows like 'Boston Legal', that it is difficult to believe that what goes on in those courts and cells is really true.  You would have to have seen it to know what I'm talking about.

[witch]

How many posts do you have to make to stop being a 'Noob'? 

Pescado, I didn't know you had visited our sunny shores.  I hope your 'experience' wasn't too bad.  Our local thugs are pretty hardcore and you don't always escape with your life. 

Yeah, are you all right JM? You poor defenceless crittur, you?

Audrey, you stop being a n00b when you get SOME idea of the people and the place, just like anywhere else.

I suspect sock. Or Boer arrogance. Or both.

*witch hedges her bets

[Audrey]

Don't know what is meant by 'sock' and definitely not Boer arrogance - I'm as English as they come.  I'm slowly getting the drift about how things work on here and the golden rule seems to be 'don't insult Americans' or the fires of hell will rise up to meet you, or you might meet witch on a dark and stormy night. 

[witch]

Don't know what is meant by 'sock' and definitely not Boer arrogance - I'm as English as they come.  I'm slowly getting the drift about how things work on here and the golden rule seems to be 'don't insult Americans' or the fires of hell will rise up to meet you, or you might meet witch on a dark and stormy night. 

Yeah, well, we're not keen on passive aggression, either.

[J. M. Pescado]

Here there are a lot of strays and ferals. I usually see a feral about once every two weeks. I've seen one rat in the twelve years I've been here.

Yeah, it should be pretty obvious what is happening to the rats. At times in the past, people have decided that feral cats are unsightly and tried to get rid of them, only to find that they were rewarded for their efforts with an exploding rat problem, and then had to reimport the cats.

[Liz]

How many posts do you have to make to stop being a 'Noob'?

That's like asking how much the lobster is. Go ahead and get comfy in n00b-land. You're not leaving it anytime soon.

Yeah, well, we're not keen on passive aggression, either.

Too right, witch. We like our aggression out in the open.

[rufio]

Don't know what is meant by 'sock' and definitely not Boer arrogance - I'm as English as they come.  I'm slowly getting the drift about how things work on here and the golden rule seems to be 'don't insult Americans' or the fires of hell will rise up to meet you, or you might meet witch on a dark and stormy night. 

I think you'll find people here are all for insulting Americans, as long as your insults actually make sense, and don't boil down to "Everyone in <foreign country> speaks weird!  I don't like it!"

[Roflganger]

Don't know what is meant by 'sock' and definitely not Boer arrogance - I'm as English as they come.  I'm slowly getting the drift about how things work on here and the golden rule seems to be 'don't insult Americans' or the fires of hell will rise up to meet you, or you might meet witch on a dark and stormy night. 

One way to shake the sock/tard label would be to show an actual interest elsewhere in the forum, rather than sticking to the spot where you're getting all this "unwanted" attention.

And I can't speak for anyone else, but I would react this way to any stupid generalizations, not just those against Americans.

[rohina]

Don't know what is meant by 'sock' and definitely not Boer arrogance - I'm as English as they come.  I'm slowly getting the drift about how things work on here and the golden rule seems to be 'don't insult Americans' or the fires of hell will rise up to meet you, or you might meet witch on a dark and stormy night. 

Dude, you can insult the USistanis all you like. Just don't be an ass, and if you are going to try to flop out your academic dick, make sure it isn't a tiddler.

[Audrey]

Taking points made on board.  

[Zazazu]

Here there are a lot of strays and ferals. I usually see a feral about once every two weeks. I've seen one rat in the twelve years I've been here.

Yeah, it should be pretty obvious what is happening to the rats. At times in the past, people have decided that feral cats are unsightly and tried to get rid of them, only to find that they were rewarded for their efforts with an exploding rat problem, and then had to reimport the cats.

I know, right? I leave the ferals be. I have a feral myself, and I know how hard they can be to have as a pet (and mine is a shy feral, not a mean one). Plus, they're helping with the rat population. They always look nice and healthy. The rare strays are the ones I try to catch. I've had a stray dog that had just run off from down the block but was trying its damnedest to get run over, which I was able to get back to its owners that night. I also had a stray cat that I kept for a couple days back when I only had Soren. No ID on it and I had a studio at the time, so that one had to go to Anti-Cruelty.

[Audrey]

Too right, witch. We like our aggression out in the open.

Aggression knocked out of me by Fowler, Oxford and Roget.  But, I'll get it back. 

[Jelenedra]

Just remember, you can talk bad about Americans, as long as you make sense. Bitching about how American English is different than British English is what got you in trouble. Of COURSE they're different. DIFFERENT LANGUAGES, sweetheart. Did you notice how no one jumped down your throat for the "lazy and fat Americans" comments?

[reggikko]

Just remember, you can talk bad about Americans, as long as you make sense. Bitching about how American English is different than British English is what got you in trouble. Of COURSE they're different. DIFFERENT LANGUAGES, sweetheart. Did you notice how no one jumped down your throat for the "lazy and fat Americans" comments?

Or the "my darker-hued compatriots" butchering the language comment. I almost went for a smackdown on that one, but I was busy with other matters.

How many posts do you have to make to stop being a 'Noob'? 

Pescado, I didn't know you had visited our sunny shores.  I hope your 'experience' wasn't too bad.  Our local thugs are pretty hardcore and you don't always escape with your life. 

There's only a violent regime change, every OTHER month.

Sounds like there is a lot more wildlife roaming the streets, elsewhere, than there is in our game parks!!

'Stop posting'. Now, that would not be fun.

Has anyone seen an 'offering' from Canadian TV called 'This is Wonderland'?  It is about a new lawyer who gets thrown into the thick of the Canadian lower courts system.  It is so off-the-wall and portrays the court system in such a 'wacky' way compared to what I am accustomed to seeing in shows like 'Boston Legal', that it is difficult to believe that what goes on in those courts and cells is really true.  You would have to have seen it to know what I'm talking about.

That shit has got to stop. Now.

[Audrey]

It's news to me that they are different, different languages.  Italian is different, different language to Japanese, but US English and UK English have the same intrinsic base, except the US has chosen to go in another direction with some of the spelling, notably the dropping of the 'u' in words such as labour.  I would love someone to admit that saying "I don't like ice-cream", said Jane. "Me either", said Dick,  is grammatically incorrect, yet this is something that is very prevalent in teen American speech (from what I have heard on TV).  

South Africa has its fair share of the incorrect use of language, like 'taking' a decision, instead of 'making' one. I cringe at every time I hear it.  Every other 'English-based' country uses the latter.  Does this make South African English 'different'?  No, it has become the norm in SA speech with constant misuse.  

I think you all had a bunch of fun bashing the newbie, admit it, you did.  Anyway, water under bridge, clean slate, yada, yada, yada.