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  1. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by JS3 View Post
    A Mac is better than a PC...
    PC = Personal Computer
    A Mac is a Personal Computer
    Pretty much covered the PC.

    Though I used to love to tell MAC people this.
    Richard Scardina

  2. #17
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    Quote Originally Posted by JS3 View Post
    ...A Mac is a Personal Computer
    Actually, a Mac is a personal computer, but it's not a Personal Computer. Note the capitalizations.

    Personal Computer, in capitals, is actually an IBM trade name for the circa 1981 product of their Project Chess [note the "PC" initials again] initiative; abreviated "PC" it is technically still a trade name, and in that sense a Mac is not a PC. Non-IBM computers of that type should technically be called PC-compatibles.

    The problems are that IBM hasn't exactly been aggressive in defending their trade name against infringement, and the term "personal computer" (not capitalized) had been in use before then, although at that time wasn't as widely used as either "microcomputer" or "home computer."

    Okay; back on topic:

    ER Room. Emergency Room room?

    OR Room. Operating Room room?

    Hot water heater. Why do you need to heat hot water?

    AC current. Alternating Current current?

    And last but not least (and a few insiders will get this)...

    A knight chevalier.

    Knight knight!
    Yours in Budo,
    ---Brian---

  3. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Owens View Post
    Actually, a Mac is a personal computer, but it's not a Personal Computer. Note the capitalizations.

    Personal Computer, in capitals, is actually an IBM trade name for the circa 1981 product of their Project Chess [note the "PC" initials again] initiative; abreviated "PC" it is technically still a trade name, and in that sense a Mac is not a PC. Non-IBM computers of that type should technically be called PC-compatibles.

    The problems are that IBM hasn't exactly been aggressive in defending their trade name against infringement, and the term "personal computer" (not capitalized) had been in use before then, although at that time wasn't as widely used as either "microcomputer" or "home computer."
    Thanks for the info! I guess it's like calling a photocopy a Xerox.

    Not exactly on topic but:
    When someone says "can you cut the light (or anything else) on"
    Joe Stitz

    "Black belt and white belt are the same, white belt is the beginning of technique. Black belt is the beginning of understanding. Both are beginner belts."
    - Doug Perry -Hanshi, KuDan -Shorin Ryu ShorinKan

  4. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by JS3 View Post
    When someone says "can you cut the light (or anything else) on"
    Never heard that; in these parts we say "turn on" the light.

    One of my English teachers told me that we say "turn on" and "turn off" because early gas lamps had valves that turned. Same with "turn up" and "turn down" the heat or the stove.

    My grandmother used to say "put out" the light instead of "turn off" the light. She grew up with oil lamps and candles.
    Yours in Budo,
    ---Brian---

  5. #20
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    Big question. Is it improper to say "bo staff", in the prescence of japanese and/or Japanese instructors?
    Richard Scardina

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rickster View Post
    Big question. Is it improper to say "bo staff", in the prescence of japanese and/or Japanese instructors?
    It is improper to say "bo staff" period. That's like saying "pistol handgun" or "dagger knife." That fact that the two words are from different languages does not change the fact that it's redundant.

    That horrible phrase probably came about by someone trying to make clear the difference between a "bow" and a "bo," but amongst Budoka it should not be necessary; we should know from the context of the conversation what the object is that's being discussed. Would one say "katana sword" or "kama sickle"? Hopefully not!
    Last edited by Brian Owens; 26th April 2009 at 11:29.
    Yours in Budo,
    ---Brian---

  7. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rickster View Post
    Big question. Is it improper to say "bo staff", in the prescence of japanese and/or Japanese instructors?
    Wait a minute...after writing my response above I thought to myself, Self, hasn't this already been covered?

    Sure enough, it was...by you. You wrote, "Bo Staff (In martial arts a staff is a quarter stick-bo is the Asian term and translates the same) 'Stick Staff'"

    What gives?
    Yours in Budo,
    ---Brian---

  8. #23
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    I think Rickster is aware of the redundancy of "bo staff", but his question now refers to the appropriateness of its use in front of Japanese speakers.

    My take is this. In a Japanese context, a staff is a "bo". In an English context, a "bo" is a staff. "Bo staff", like "sumo wrestling", is a useful way of getting specialized terminology across to an uninformed audience. If your audience understands "bo", there's no need to use "bo staff". If they don't, then I see no big deal in using "bo staff" to get the point across. In any case, I doubt Japanese folks will much care.

    Context über alles.
    Josh Reyer

    Swa sceal man don, žonne he ęt guše gengan ženceš longsumne lof, na ymb his lif cearaš. - The Beowulf Poet

  9. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Owens View Post
    Wait a minute...after writing my response above I thought to myself, Self, hasn't this already been covered?

    Sure enough, it was...by you. You wrote, "Bo Staff (In martial arts a staff is a quarter stick-bo is the Asian term and translates the same) 'Stick Staff'"

    What gives?
    It's another example of a redundancy: the double post

    We also have difficulties due to differences in langugage and sociolinguistics.
    There is no single Japanese word for "staff". The closest we can find are words like "bo" and "konbo", the second also covering what we would call a "club" in English.
    Compound this with jargon used in different arts - bo, jo, hanbo, tanbo, tanjo, kon, tetsubo...
    I have come across Japanese school kids who couldn't read the word "jodo", they kept pronuncing it "tsuedo" due to their lack of exposure to budo terminology.
    Why is a jo not a bo? Sociolinguistics is such a weird thing!
    Andrew Smallacombe

    Aikido Kenshinkai

    JKA Tokorozawa

    Now trotting over a bridge near you!

  10. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Andrew S View Post
    ...Why is a jo not a bo?
    In some circles, it is.

    Kurita Minoru said (if I understood the translator at the seminar correctly) that a jo is a bo, but that when we say "bo" we generally mean the rokushakubo.
    Yours in Budo,
    ---Brian---

  11. #26
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    Linguistically, in Japanese a "bo" is any thin, long stick, bar, or rod that can be held in the hand. So, for example, a long rod used to hang laundry is a "sentaku-bo" ("sentaku" meaning "laundry"). Cotton swabs/Q-tips are called "menbo" (cotton "bo"). Matchsticks are "matchi-bo". "Testsubo" is literally "iron rod/bar", and aside from a weapon (also called "kanabo", or "metal rod"), also refers to exercise bars and gymnastics bars.

    "Jo" is the Chinese reading for the character used to write "tsue", meaning "cane, walking stick". It's literal definition is "a 'bo' used for walking".
    Josh Reyer

    Swa sceal man don, žonne he ęt guše gengan ženceš longsumne lof, na ymb his lif cearaš. - The Beowulf Poet

  12. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Owens View Post
    Wait a minute...after writing my response above I thought to myself, Self, hasn't this already been covered?

    Sure enough, it was...by you. You wrote, "Bo Staff (In martial arts a staff is a quarter stick-bo is the Asian term and translates the same) 'Stick Staff'"

    What gives?
    I apologize for bringing it up twice. The post had not shown to be recorded on my view at the time, so i thought it may have been problems with the forum. therefore, i started a thread on the subject.
    Richard Scardina

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