Job Discussion Forums

johnslat · Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 3:45 pm Post subject:

Dear desert_traveller,

Saudi's "development" may be moot, but, thanks to satellite TV and the Internet in particular, it certainly has changed a fair amount from when I first went there in 1980.

As with "development,""change" has both its upsides and its downsides.

However, I may be arguing only for the sake of argument Very Happy

Regards,
John

desert_traveller · Joined: 28 Nov 2006 Posts: 335

dear john, your opinion is always most welcome, arguing for argument's sake or not

at the end of the day, we all have to kill these hours somehow, innit?

Wink

johnslat · Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 3:57 pm Post subject:

Dear desert_traveller,

We do - at least until all the hours accumulated return the favor and kill us Smile

.

Regards,
John

desert_traveller · Joined: 28 Nov 2006 Posts: 335

which will, in all likelihood, inevitably be the end of the story anyways

Very Happy

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

"100 Years of Progress Without Change" was the slogan some wags suggested for the anniversary of KSA.

I see things in a different light and feel that many of the changes here are for the better. Not all though.

I first came here in October 1970. Believe me, it has changed since then. I reserve judgment on whether these changes represent "development".

saharastars · Joined: 30 Sep 2009 Posts: 107 Location: Wonderland

trapezius · Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2010 10:04 pm Post subject:

Sheikh N Bake · Joined: 26 Apr 2007 Posts: 1307 Location: Dis ting of ours

Five years in the Tragic Kingdom is like One Hundred Years of Solitude and almost as boring as Marquez's frigging book.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

I would sooner spend 5 years in Buraidah than read a book by Marquez.

007 · Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 2:32 pm Post subject:

saharastars · Joined: 30 Sep 2009 Posts: 107 Location: Wonderland

I suppose argument is one sport that some on here enjoy the most.

saharastars · Joined: 30 Sep 2009 Posts: 107 Location: Wonderland

By the way what's the etymology of the word moot? it rhyms with toot & hoot, words , I have been told that both English and Arabic share ( different meanings though).

johnslat · Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2010 8:09 pm Post subject:

Dear saharastars,

"moot
1154, from O.E. gemot "meeting" (especially of freemen, to discuss community affairs or mete justice), from P.Gmc. *ga-motan (cf. Old Low Frankish muot "encounter," M.Du. moet, M.H.G. muoz), from collective prefix *ga- + *motan (see meet (v.)). The adj. senses of "debatable" and "not worth considering" arose from moot case, earlier simply moot (n.) "discussion of a hypothetical law case" (1531), in law student jargon, in ref. to students gathering to test their skills in mock cases."

Regards,
John

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

100 Years of Solitude is truly considered one of the greatest novels of the last 100 years.

Very, very different in style, is Love in Times of Cholera, but still a great novel.