Question to ADMIN: so it's OK to insult other users now, is it ?

[Vraititi<P>PSG till I die -fluctuat nec mergitur.<P>]

Just back from Paris this PM, and lovely it was too, just like in the summer. We trounced ESTAC last night, superb atmosphere (shame we're not meeting in Europe this season MIKI as I reckon by March we'd have been ready to give your spent forces a hellish time !), le Salon du Chocolat with my sis was mint, greatly recommended, and most importantly for me in my mad schedule these last 2 months it was so gret to unwind and saunter about le Cirque D'Hiver (well, more like desperately trying to find the 3 Euros a pint bar some wag had told me about -apparently called 'L'Introuvable' -  what a wind-up, can't believe I fell for it !).

Well, things must have changed drastically since I last visited this Forum as it seems to be OK for some users to insult others (muggins in this case -'Real Tit'- and it was not a miscued translation ! given the tenor of the posting wasn't a joke either). I mean, if it's OK with ADMIN, we can all go down that route, I'll volunteer to start dishing out a few chosen expletives ! Seems to me that there's one set of rules for some and other rules for the, shall we say, the 'more established' users. Shame, it is a great forum, but if we start insulting each other willy-nilly won't stay pleasant for long !

[Tresco]

Vraititi.

i saw your guys do their trouncing last night - well, sort of, being a girly type critter I was reading a book at the same time, but strangely, I thought of you, and was happy for you.

As to your question directed to Admin, (as it's on the open forum I can't resist), it is something I have often wondered about.

I think some of us stray close to the 'line' sometimes, and  cross it on occasion.

The trouble is, defining the 'line'.

[Russethouse]

Well this bit of admin has a stinking cold and is off to bed - if you want something done about it the very best thing would be if you pointed the infringement out, because I doubt any of us have got the time to look through hundreds of posts to find it.

Sorry to be brusque but a tumbler of night nurse awaits.........

[Ron Avery]

I saw the post as a joke, with your excellent French and English Vraiti why can't you?  You say that it was not a translation miscue well I think even the most basic French speaker could see that  VRAI = true/real  and TITI is english for TIT, so Real tit is  A true Franglais translation of your forum name.  Perhaps it was comment from a Lyons supporter?

[Christine Animal]

Where is it?  I didn't see it...

[Vraititi<P>PSG till I die -fluctuat nec mergitur.<P>]

Tresco, thanks a lot, were you at the Parc as well ? I really feel it is our season, the best for 10 yrs, not all our games are entertaining (even Chelsea cannot manage that !) but things are looking up, and how can you read a book when we play so well ? Whcih book was it ? I might find you mitigating circumstances.

Russet, I appreciate you cannot see all the posts IMMEDIATELY but this one is 2 weeks' old for God's sake, read below.

Ron, you made me laugh, and I mean this in a genuine non-sarky way, a 'Titi' is a 'tit' in French now ? You must have been out with some pretty linguistically confused French or English lasses in yr time ! Cannot for the life of me imagine what you got up to with them if that's the case... Was she a Marseille supporter by any chance ?

I think I call tell a humourous post to an insulting one, God knows how much humour you need in teaching to survive nearly 30 yrs in the British system, no-one's ever called me a 'Real Tit' though in the classroom and in my books it is a serious insult desperately trying in this case to pass itself off as a light-hearted one. It is obvious to me, given the context and the tenor of Alexis's post (Cultural section, about 2 weeks ago Russet) that is was DEFO not jocular, and considering she is bi-cultural by her own admission it was an insult, pure and simple. I accept she misread my previous posts, and that she has trouble discerning between my non-serious posts and my light ones (not much difference but there you are).

You have to draw the line somewhere in a civilized Forum like ours, and surely that means throwing insults at each others, no ? I am the first one to take criticisms on board and in the same thread 2 other users criticised me (part of it was for long-ish posts in French) and that is fine, no complaints, it is their prerogative bien entendu and I agree to a degree that they had a point (even if one of them -name forgotten- NEVER EVER posts in that section !) about the post in French, even if they totally misunderstood the nature of my post, but to come on line and plainly insult others for no other reason than you disagreeing with them is the lowest form of contribution in my books and summat should be done about it.

[Furry Knickers]

I remember that post saying " you fat faced Baboon lover" a while ago, I was surprised that it was not removed!

[Russethouse]

>>>Russet, I appreciate you cannot see all the posts IMMEDIATELY but this one is 2 weeks' old for God's sake, read below.<<<

We do read a good proportion of the posts, but not all. In a large part we rely on members to highlight situations and the way to do it is by PM either to one of the mods or admin (remember admin work normal office hours)

[Tresco]

V.

Of course I wasn't at the parc, even I wouldn't go to a match and read a book!!  It was on the tv.

The book I was reading is one of a huge series by Patrick O'Brien about the war at sea during the Napoleonic Wars. I now have a vast repetoire of  Naval insults from the late 18th and early 19th Centuries (some of them are astonishingly and fantastically rude).

I never saw the 'insult' post you referred to, as I was not here at the time. Personally I very much enjoy your (and Christines) French Language 'outbreaks' and the merriment and intelligence of your posts generally.

When you offload your 200 extra roles i'm hoping you'll be here more often.

[Ron Avery]

It was Franglais Vraititi, 

 VRAI being the French and TITI being the anglais bit,  which is how A****s got to Real TIT, would you have preferred true tit or blue tit?  I think you are being a bit hard on A****s as the post was only saying that even though their O/H was French they did not understand your long posting in French.

[Vraititi<P>PSG till I die -fluctuat nec mergitur.<P>]

Thanks Russet, well, I've done my job, have duly highlighted it, you've seen it now I presume, so please Web Maestro, ô Grand Vizir de Adminland devant l'Eternel, remove it a.s.a.p as it's insulting and has nothing to do in a civilized and proper forum like ours, I guess there are plenty of other forums/fora/forumuses/forumx of lesser standing where the likes of Alexis can go and insult others to their heart's content. I wouldn't PM you about it as this is not just about me (I don't care I'm rarely on here anyway) but these serious infrigements need to be 'discussed' in the open, as it were others also have come forward to express their concerns over the matter, not a PM job I'm afraid, we cannot pander to the abusive posters by seeking to minimise their actions ! We all must be vigilant not to let that sort of abusive posts slip through the net, anyway will go now as I have got plenty to get busy with, not least prepare the popotte and walk the dog for his cherished hour-long balade in the woods, lucky ******.

Tresco, excuse my ignorance but who is P. O'Brien ? We look forward to hearing your 'naval' insults, if it's OK with ADMIN of course. I personally love Captain's Haddock insults, in F/E, hats off to the translators, many are gems and such a tribute to translators who are too often unsung heros IMHO, even the bad ones deserve praise ! What would the world be w/o translators, hein ? yet they are taken for granted, c'est con hein ?

Talking of 'language outbreaks' in French, isn't it time on here that we open a French bar, a bar that we could all run, taking turns to serve drinks, in French preferably, but English is OK 'course, even short French posts translated in English (and vice-versa) on request, a place where people could come and try out new French vocab, and maybe be corrected by the resident language erudites, no ?

[Tresco]

For Vraititi. One page out of thousands on google. One thing not emphasised is the humour. These books are laugh out loud quality.

http://howard.weaver.org/columns/patrickobrian.html

[Russethouse]

I have Pm'd you, but as this post is a fortnight old and no one else has complained perhaps you are seeing it in a different light to others ?

I'm afraid I do not agree with you ideas on airing these these things in open forum either, while I appreciate the principal, in practice it leads to what I nickname 'Pantomime' season' postings....oh yes you did - oh no I didn't etc.

Better to let the mods deal with it.

As far as a bar is concerned I think you will find that another French interest forum, Total France, has a bar and a cafe.

[Vraititi<P>PSG till I die -fluctuat nec mergitur.<P>]

Thanks for your kind PM. I am sorry to hear about Alexis's current predicament, obviously it was not in my intention to bring her to the fore in such difficult circumstances. I, too, am going through difficult times at the minit, of which I sketchily outlined the nature of recently on here, anyway, one often sees one's own matters in a 'different' light as you put it, but I, for one, like the fact that, unlike other forums, this forum is a relative heaven of peace where people can debate, and passionately at times, without resorting to facile insults. As to the 'there were no complaints, so let's do nothing about it' bit, maybe so, but most probably because it is such a rarely visited and 'viewed' rubric, and that is a shame. Anyhow in the light of your information I will of course close the matter here (so NO to the question in yr PM), on va pas en faire un Munster, c'est pas mon genre. 

As for the French café in other forums, thanks for the Info, I've never visited Total France, we have got plenty of SKAWU's (So Knowledgeable And Witty Users) and learners of French here, why don't we start one of our own, could benefit many many people and learners alike, beginners, Intermediates and Advanced ones as well.

So, do I detect some reticence to allow one from Admin here, or would you be all for it Russethouse ?

[Vraititi<P>PSG till I die -fluctuat nec mergitur.<P>]

Sorry Tresco, forgot to ask you, any short O'Brien book to recommend for pleasant reading ?

[Tresco]

V.

Total France is where DOMY, the French guy you were talking to in the thread mentioned here, posts regularly.

The idea of a separate French only section here has been brought up before - I got the impression then that there would be relatively few who would join in.

For me, reading French is a whole lot easier than writing it - that would be a tortuous affair, and as I spend nearly every day torturing myself, and others, verbally, I don't feel up to doing it in writing.

The cafe/bar threads in Total France are not conducted in French, as far as I know.

 

[Tresco]

Vraititi.

I'll send you a pm with details about the books - and some insults

[Russethouse]

We once had an internet party here......it was fun but not universally popular. Perhaps the balloons and champagne were going a tad too far

[Vraititi<P>PSG till I die -fluctuat nec mergitur.<P>]

Thanks for the insults, I don't mind when they are witty, the wittier the better !

Just visited TF, they have 2 French bar/café ongoing threads, one in English, one in French, to which DOMY contributes superbly and yes, granted, not the whole forum users butt in, but there seems to be a hard core of maybe 10/15 people who regularly join in, and most importantly a few users regularly comment on how beneficial it is for them, etc. I know that if I were learning English I'd certainly appreciate. I was not aware that it had been attempted on here, even a few posts a day could prove useful, no ? I would think that with the new-ish arrivals and engine-rooms on here and DOMY here, MWJ, Tourangelle, Saligo, Christine (right up yr street that Christine, non ?) it could be worth another try, non ?Bon m'enfin, moi ce que j'en dis hein ! 

Anyway must really dash off now (bon, faut que je me sauve maintenant), got the dog to walk and the cooking to sort out (y'a le chien à promener et la popotte à préparer), if not my OH will make mincemeat of me ! (ou sinon ma bergère va m'astiquer les côtes, grave !) 

[Christine Animal]

Sorry you were hurt Vraititi.  T'en fais pas mon pote, fais pas la "tronche"...  Let's hope it was meant as "vanning", not insulting.  There has been some of the second on here lately and it is better to try to ignore it and show you are not bothered by it.

You have a grande gueule et un grand coeur, some only have the first.  I always appreciate your presence, the fun and the generous way you help others with grammar queries and the French language in general.  You obviously know your job inside out and must be a good teacher, on ne doit pas s'ennuyer dans tes classes!  Stay with us as much as possible, j'aime ça!

Glad you had a nice break in Paris with your sister (did you see Fernandel dans l'escalier?).

A plus...

     

 

[Alcazar]

Just back from France myself, so I've only just seen this.

I do agree about insults, although I've strayed myself on occasion, (MUST NOT post after a few drinks!!!). It's all too easy to do from behind a keyboard, isn't it?

One problem is that we live in the "insult generation" Think back to 1970's "Batman", on TV.............when Robin "put down" drunks etc, Batman, was always on hand to chide him gently.

Now, it's clever, and almost de-rigeur to insult a foe before, and/or after defeating him/her

As regards the insult "tit", I've never really understood this to actually BE an insult?

After all, a tit is either  a very pretty, very interesting bird, or a very pretty, even more interesting part of a female's anatomy............

Alcazar

[Christine Animal]

Yes, perhaps sometimes we should put up the warning sign before posting

 

It also depends how you feel on the receiving end.  Sometimes if you are feeling a bit low and come on for a cheer up, you may take a remark like a smack in the face, when on another day in a different mood you would have taken it as a joke.

[Missy]

I am coming to the defence of Vraititi!...

Maybe it will enlighten you all to know that 'Titi' is a proper slang word used to describe a True parisian man!! He must be born, brought up in the mean, rough areas of Paris, you'll find him mostly in the 19th, 20th arrondissement of the city. 

A bit like your Del Trotter kind of character is from the east end of London, born and brought up within the sounds of Bow Bells!.. Be it way up Mandela Towers of Nyrere Estate in Peckham !!

Well... that is what my Gran in the Poitou told me when I first ventured to Paris: 'Fais attention aux Titis parisiens! Ils te comptent fleurette et hop t'as d'la marmaille sur les bras!' ... I'll never know if she spoke out of knowledge. R.I.P. Gran......

As you can't Babel this, it means : 'Beware of these Parisian men, they speak to you sweet and before you know it you have a bun in the oven!'

 

N'est-ce pas Vraititi?...

[Renaud]

The most memorable sign I have seen, was in a subway in New York in the mid 70s... it said

"Please Do Not Use This Subway As A Bathroom"

[Vraititi<P>PSG till I die -fluctuat nec mergitur.<P>]

Thanks MissYesbut, truly flattered to be likened to Del Boy, I'm nowhere near as witty as the lovable rogue, and as for having his ressourcefulness, well, I wish ! Ah, the infamous tales of Parisian Titis engrossing innocent provincials willy-nilly just with their looks alone ! So many such tales were doing the rounds not so long ago, started circa 1880 with the Titis practically snatching the poor Poitevines and Bretonnes directly from Montpar, apocryphal tales of course; truth is of course that we never had to actually do the hard work, the rosy-cheeked provincial belles all naturally fell in our arms like ripe peaches, we just had to shake a little.