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scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

What intrigues me is how these guys function when they find themselves in London, Frankurt or Houston. Do they still think queue-jumping is normal behaviour ?

I wonder if they change their driving style ?

trapezius · Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 11:46 am Post subject:

That's the thing... it is herd mentality.

When they travel to the West, they queue like everybody does over there. When they are here, they act like most people do here.

Sheeps, I tell ya!

Mia Xanthi · Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 3:48 pm Post subject:

Read up on monochronic and polychronic societies. You will find it enlightening on this subject.

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Yes I have across the monochronic/polychronic dichotomy. Interesting.

johnslat · Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 4:19 pm Post subject:

Dear Mia,

Many thanks - I'd never come across those terms before. So, Saudi is a polychronic society whereas the US is monochronic.

http://wapedia.mobi/en/Chronemics?t=4.

Now, I have a question: how many "tenses" are there in Arabic? The reason I ask is I wonder if a culture's "perception of time" has any influence on the number of tenses that are used in their language.

Indonesia is, I'm sure, another polychronic society, and Bahasa Indonesian has, I believe, only one tense:

"There are no plurals, grammatical gender, or verb conjugation for person, number or tense, all of which are expressed with adverbs or tense indicators: saya makan, "I eat" (now), saya sudah makan, "I eat already" = "I ate"."

"In English grammar, tense refers to any conjugated form expressing time, aspect or mood. The large number of different composite verb forms means that English has the richest and subtlest system of tense and aspect of any Germanic language."

So, would how the speakers of a language perceive time have any influence on how "rich and subtle" the verb system of a language is?

Regards,
John

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

We are all sheeple...

VS

johnslat · Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 4:21 pm Post subject:

Dear veiledsentiments,

If so, then on the "Day of Final Reckoning," there will presumably be no need to separate "the sheeple" from the goatple.

Regards,
John

007 · Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 5:08 pm Post subject:

Mia Xanthi · Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 5:35 pm Post subject:

Mia Xanthi · Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 5:36 pm Post subject:

Some might refer to us infidels as "pigple" Shocked

johnslat · Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2010 5:45 pm Post subject:

Dear Mia,

"Or would the verb system of the language determine how "rich and subtle" the thoughts of the people who speak it are?"

I suppose it may be a "chicken or the egg" sort of question, but I've always thought that rather than language determining how people think, it's much more how people perceive the world around them that influences the language.
So, in your sentence, quoted above, I'd replace the word "determine" with "reflect."

Regards,
John

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

With Malice Toward None · Joined: 20 Oct 2009 Posts: 250

Messrs. Wren, Martin and Grammar died quite a few years ago.