RyanCConnelly
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Posts posted by RyanCConnelly
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To contribute to that end, we don't habitually tip here in Ireland so 20% seems like so much. It's (or at least feels) kind of expensive to eat out too, so that's not going to help it. But to give an idea, my mother sometimes tipped a euro for a twenty euro meal when we went to lunch. And even then she tipped because we specifically knew the waitress, so €1 was a good bonus to give a family friend.
To be fair, it IS so much! But in Europe, as many others have said, the hourly pay is enough that there is no need for 20% tip. While working in Italy I actually hung out with some people who were waiters/bartenders and did so as a career, and they were proud of it, and had every right to be! They also explained that when a tourist or nonlocal tipped them (more than a Euro or so as another poster noted) it was kind of offensive because it implied that they needed the extra money because their job was bad. While I knew that it was not appropriate to tip there, it was still such an interesting different view to see how it could be misconstrued to someone who is used to doing it and would be getting an angry glance or even some choice words from a server.
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It's interesting, a lot of people in the US are also getting fed up with tipping, there have been several restaurants that I have heard of doing away with it, and instead paying their employees a living wage. Like all big changes, I think it's going to take a while before it will be very different, mostly just a few here or there. The problem that I have always seen is that there is such a huge gap in education between regions here in the states about tipping etiquette. For most establishments in the US a tip of about 18% is seen as "good service." I usually tip 20% because I have been in the service industry before and I know how hard it is to make ends meet sometimes... also I'm lazy and the math is easier. However, living in the midwest for several years has taught me that there are a LOT of people who think that a tip of 10-15% is not only acceptable but is a great tip! I don't have a solution for the problem unfortunately, but I do agree that tipping is an odd practice that we really ought to do away with, and I would very much support paying servers living wages, even if that means paying more for the experience of eating at a restaurant. Serving is very challenging, especially when working at finer restaurants where your knowledge of cuisine, alcohol, and pairings really matter, and not being compensated for that appropriately is really a shame.
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Definitely could be an affectation. I also so rarely use IPA for English anymore, I've been living in German/Italian language for the past couple months so I'm used to using open and closed o a lot more!
In the name of Pedantry I took a look in one of my textbooks and uploaded a couple pages: http://imgur.com/a/fzDGH
Now these books are for a little more "proper" English because it's intended for classical singing, so they agree with what I said before, but even in repeating some of the examples given I can see where in a more American dialect like the one I use in everyday speech I could almost use them interchangeably. -
Are you sure? According to this, [o] sounds like the vowel in "boat". The second syllable in "robot" sounds a lot more like [ɑ].
No, the second o in robot would be an "open o", which is [ɔ]... ugh although now that I'm repeating it out loud I'm not sure that it wouldn't be an [a]
PEDANTRY!
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That reader mail jingle better be a permanent fixture.
I agree! I like it as a little bumper. I've enjoyed all the recent little musical interjections lately actually, I absolutely loved the Wizard Jam remix!
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GENIUS
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Life
in Idle Banter
I have no relationship advice so instead I'm going to intrude and talk about myself instead.
This whole month has been insanely busy for me. Most of the time has been spent preparing for a big visit by the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the US Government agency that oversees nuclear power plants. Anytime they're here it's a big deal because these are the guys who can shut you down or fine you). I can't go into detail, but the visit in general covers a lot of the projects going on here. There were several members of the NRC each covering a discipline instead of a specific project (ie electrical, mechanical, etc). The exception to that was my project, which had one guy specifically assigned to it. I was super nervous about it because unlike the other projects, I'm the only one who can answer his questions. But the whole thing went great and I ended up being the only person out of the group who closed all their items. It felt really good to be able to do that. I even got some management kudos. Next week I'm going to be out of the office attending a user's group conference, which stinks because it means I'm going to miss almost all of SGDQ.
This sounds so absolutely badass. You very much live up to your username!
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This is the way I do it too. One thing: the vowel in "food" is actually . [o] is the vowel in "boat".
While we're on the topic of vowel sounds, my favourite thing about learning phonetics is that you can get nearly every English vowel between "b" and "t" and it's a word. Beat, bit, bait, bet, bat, but, boot, boat, bought. You miss a couple that way, but it's most of them.
AHHHH you're right! I don't know why but I always get those mixed up. Same with voiced and unvoiced th vowels. One is ð, one is θ and I can never remember which is which!
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If I'm not mistaken, strictly speaking the proper pronunciation of Ü doesn't exist in English. I believe it's kind of like a Y/ee sound but with with a more rounded mouth. As far as natural English phonemes go, oo is probably closest. But there are actual German-speakers on this forum so I don't know why I think anyone should care what I have to say on the subject.
You can probably trust this, though.
I got this! I'm a native English speaker with a bunch of IPA in multiple languages for work. There is no ue/Ü in English, but it is very easy to teach. You are very close with your description, the method in one of the textbooks I learned from says that to make a correct Ü vowel, which in IPA is [y], you say the vowel (like the vowel in the English words beat or meet), but with your mouth in the position of [o] (like the English word food).
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My partner actually started off studying opera in college, before ultimately deciding to go after a degree with more steady work. So even though I'm not very well versed in it, I do have a fondness for it thanks to her. And it really is badass
That's awesome! It really is a cool thing, and does not require too much knowledge beforehand to really enjoy! I love going to see new shows for this very reason.
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Life
in Idle Banter
I'm a little late to the convo, but I am long distance often due to work with my wife of almost three years. We've been that way from the beginning. It's hard work for sure but so doable! I wanted to just put in my two cents to offer a little hope.
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Badass.
:tup:HAHA It's a thing, for sure. I am, however, the very definition of a starving artist sometimes. It's still fun though to make loud noises and play dress-up though haha!
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Hi guys! I made this account during the kickstarter campaign, but was terrified of forums and interacting with people for some reason and never posted. So I'm finally joining the fray... I've actually been mentioned on the podcast, because of my website through Squarespace, and through an email I wrote that was mentioned and never read... I still write in often hoping to one day make the cast haha!
People seem to be saying what they do and what they play, so here goes: I'm a professional opera singer, freelancing around the country and playing games backstage and in my free time. I play mostly PC and 3DS, I've been playing a LOT of the latter because I was just on a 2 month contract.
Looking forward to posting more!
New people: Read this, say hi.
in Idle Banter
Posted
TWO more Ohio people today?! THERE ARE DOZENS OF US. DOZENS!