Yes Art you are quite right but i only do it in self defence.
Iam truly concerned about my countries culture being overrun by Americanisms. We have had the many incideneces of Australians dying, because of unknkowing people dialling 911 for emergency and not being able to get a reply or any help and they get this idea from American TV shows. Here in Australia emergency is 000.
My grandchildren watch just about all American shows on TV and they are pronouncing many words like Americans and not like Australians and i don't like it and neither would you under the same circumstances.
Look at what has happened to your poor old Amerinds and try comparing Hawiians with Maoris, almost identical people 100 years ago; now Hawiian culture is nearly gone, whereas the Maoris are very distinct and colourful people still and i think New Zealnd is a better place for it. I have seen this first hand as i have visted both Hawaii and New Zealand many times.
If you think this is a resonable way to proceed, well i do not.
Regards Ian
Ian, you've railed and ranted quite often about American slang, railroad and non, on the various forums. As one who uses a lot of OZzy-isms, it's quite like the pot calling the kettle black; unfortunately, I don't know if that's an English or Norwegian saying (I learned it from my Mother) or what, but my kids understood it.
As Mrs Eleanor Roosevelt (wife of Franklin D., longest serving US president, ever) said, "You can't be insulted without your permission."
Art: One who has had the pleasure of knowing and working with a number of pleasant Australians who shared their unique sayings with me. I particularly liked 'eggnishner' (phonetic spelling).
OK OK. I got the message - It was just an idea. Didn't realize something like this had been done in the past. I do understand there are some out there who might take advantage of the "system" just to see how far up the ladder they could go. It's a sad fact I guess. I for one would never do it and I don't think any of the "regulars" I've met on this forum would either
Iandor, can't belive you've never heard the term "Gandy-dancer" before. What do they teach you in school down there any way?
According to Mr. Webster, you do know who he is don't you, a Gandy-dancer is "a seasonal laborer working on a RR section gang."
Happy RR all -
Have fun with your trains
As usual i agree with every thing Jack and Danny have to say.
What is more i take personal offence at what SRS had to say; i reagrd it as the start of a plot to get foreigners off the forum, in particular Australians.
I do believe it is aimed purely at Americans as they are the only ones who would know what the Term Gandy Dancer means.
Rgds ian
Until recently there was a star system in place on the forum and as Danny said, there were "star hunters" that had nothing to add but just wanted to up the post count with a bunch of nonesense. I have no respect for an "engineer" rank on the forum with 5,000 posts but had nothing to say in any of them.
Personaly I don't really care, I'm happy to be a coal shoveler or oiler. Perhaps there is another way that would control the quality of posts, but I don't see how it could be enforced.
The Dixie D Short Line "Lux Lucet In Tenebris Nihil Igitur Mors Est Ad Nos 2001"
Another Garden Railway forum in the UK does this, and all the "wannabees" keep dropping one word messages, to each and every thread, usually something like "great model", "good" or similar, but each posting rates as as a step up the ladder, so I am not in favour of this approach.
My two cents worth, Danny Sheehan in Oz.
Rene, I was thinking it might be interesting to assign "rank" to a member of the forum, based on the number of postings he or she has made over the years. This is something that is commonly done in military forums and it is fun to watch the membership gain rank as they participate.
For a RR forum such as this new members would begin their "careers" as the lowest paid "Gandy-Dancer" on the RR. Slowly, by participation in the forum, they would gain rank, or promotions, from one position to the next until they reach the top, say, Secretary, Department of Transportion (Normally reserved for the forum moderator)
Has this every been explored? I think it would add a little additional interest to the forum membership and it would also encourage participation.
Just think of all the positions there are on a RR and you have some feel for the number of titles that could be set up and awarded to members. Eash position would have a range assigned to it that coresponds with the number of postings a person has made. If Gandy-dancer is the lowest then to move up to the next level, what ever that may be, would require X amount of postings in the forum.
RR Rank is not entended to reflect on ones knowledge of the hobby, although it could, but rather to simply serve as an indicator of that particular member's envolvement in the forum.
Anyway just an idea. Any comments?
Get the Garden Railways newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month