Assume v. Presume

[prpr]

"There is no truth to the story that there could be a split between the Prince of Wales and I..."

You would have thought that one of Randy Andy's minions could have told him to put "me" instead of "I" there wouldn't you?
Or maybe not, seeing as SO many people get it wrong. Especially Antipodeans (that's twice I've used that word today!).

 

[Black Hole]

Are you going for a record!

 

[Black Hole]

My wife rules on subtitles and with this box we seem to have to turn on/off subtitles on order to get them to display?

Meaning: They have to turn subtitles off then back on to get them to display. {Statement}

How can you interpret that as a statement when it ends with a query? And if it's a query, what is it asking? "Seem to have to turn on/off..." - is that on or off, or on and off? It's not clear. One could read between the lines and assume the question mark is a place-holder for "is this correct?", but is what correct' exactly? And you have chosen to ignore the first clause "my wife rules on subtitles". What does that mean? Is it pertinent to the second clause?

Is this a common fault with this box?

I don't deny this is a cogent question, but what is the "this" it is referring to? If the "is this correct" interpretation is right, and the answer might be "yes", how can the actual question apply?

It's no good, Trev, there is no way anyone can interpret anything from that post without asking for clarification, or at least making a wild assumption. And as I have said many times - if you come wanting answers, you might at least have the courtesy to write rather than just type what you speak - and that, I think you will find, is the nub of the declining literacy in the general population, particularly the younger set.

 

[Trev]

That does not pass the "So what" test.

Not clear? Then ask for clarification rather than just saying "that makes no sense." as others have done, or make an assumption, state it and then answer taking the assumption into account as did EEPhil.
At least I stated exactly what was confusing me, and it turns out that it was an unspotted auto correct substitution of 'relies' with 'rules'. It would have only been the arguably misplaced question mark

The "this" is referring to the previously mentioned suspected fault. Was that not bleeding obvious.

 

[Black Hole]

Which isn't the point.

 

[EEPhil]

My wife rules on subtitles and with this box we seem to have to turn on/off subtitles on order to get them to display?
Is this a common fault with this box?

When I read the first sentence, I thought buxtonlad had a bossy wife! Combine the two sentences and I thought there was sufficient information to attempt an answer.

...there is no way anyone can interpret anything from that post without asking for clarification, or at least making a wild assumption.

I must be just a nobody then! I don't think you need to make wild assumptions - just reasonable ones.
Perhaps the first question mark reflects the Australian habit of making a statement sound like a question?

 

[Black Hole]

You must be a mind reader then. Why should a writer leave us having to make assumptions at all? Granted there was an auto-correct problem, all the more reason to check a post after posting and edit immediately. Frankly the whole post reads to me as "situation normal, what's the fuss about".

I already alluded to the rising inflection. When I spent 6 months working in Canada, everyone I talked to sounded insecure because of that lift at the end even when they were making a statement - it always sounded like they were looking for confirmation that you thought they were right, even if you had gone to them for expert advice. Thinking about it further, it could be a subconscious thing where it invites the listener (in a one-to-one situation) to show that they have been taking it in. I guess I might equally have come over strange to them, maybe as if I didn't care whether they were listening or not (which may have been true...).

 

[Trev]

I think the first ? is just a shorthand for "I'm confused" and in no way detracted from his problem as it obviously was not a question he was asking in that sentence. It was the "rules" that confused me as well, but I understood what he was on about, eventually.

 

[Black Hole]

is the shortcut for "I'm confused".

"turn on/off subtitles" - yes, wouldn't anybody expect to have to turn them on? If it had said "turn subtitles off then on again", it would have been clear - maybe I'm just railing against the disrespectful laziness.

 

[Trev]

How can you interpret that as a statement when it ends with a query? And if it's a query, what is it asking? .

Because it obviously was not a direct question, whereas the second sentence was.

is the shortcut for "I'm confused".

agreed, but it's quicker to ?

"turn on/off subtitles" - yes, wouldn't anybody expect to have to turn them on?

But on the Foxsat, it you turned them off, they just used to come back on again unless you did what GLT suggested.

maybe I'm just railing against the disrespectful laziness.

Unnecessarily and again you're being OTT with "disrespectful laziness", it was a bloody missplaced question mark. Is that a hanging offence around here (other than in AvP)? You seem to have created a major furore over an arguably misplaced question mark. Stop being so bloody pedantic, especially to newbies who don't know and may not appreciate your foibles. I suppose you are now going to have a rant at my use of "arguably" (? rhet)
Edited to correct appalling use of quotes

 

[Black Hole]

Fact remains - I couldn't quickly parse what the post was actually asking, and why should we have to wrack our brains to work out the question when we are being asked to wrack our brains to come up with a solution?

 

[EEPhil]

You must be a mind reader then.

Not really. Just applied a bit of common sense. Whether I can read minds or not, I can't read the forum properly as I forgot your Canadian/Australian comment (and the OP's reply).

Fact remains - I couldn't quickly parse what the post was actually asking,..

Probably says more about you than the poster.

...and why should we have to wrack our brains to work out the question when we are being asked to wrack our brains to come up with a solution?

You didn't have to wrack your brain. You could have said nothing. Depends on whether you want to try and be helpful or not.

 

[MikeSh]

 

[Black Hole]

Arrgghhhh!!!! (again)

Breakfast: "Time to get some news, some travel, and some weather from wherever you are this morning, we shall see you in just a few minutes time."

Bloody infiltration. Do they really need to specify "time"? Do they think we would otherwise assume "of arc"?? How long before we hear the dreaded "time frame" uttered this side of the Atlantic?

 

[af123]

I know, we've already had "my bad" on here this week!

 

[Trev]

@BH.
They were just being pedantic for accuracy and disambiguation reasons. There may be people who might think that they were describing minuets of arc as you suggest. I find it amusing that a pedant such as yourself criticises someone for giving a fully qualified report albeit the absolute value was rather vague and imprecise.

 

[Black Hole]

I know, we've already had "my bad" on here this week!

Probably by me!

 

[Black Hole]

@BH.
They were just being pedantic for accuracy and disambiguation reasons. There may be people who might think that they were describing minuets of arc as you suggest. I find it amusing that a pedant such as yourself criticises someone for giving a fully qualified report albeit the absolute value was rather vague and imprecise.

It's called being contrary.

There are traditions to respect in order to differentiate English from American. During my stint in Canada we went to bars that called themselves "English pubs" - and it was like going through a time-warp. Double Diamond and Red Barrel on tap, bangers and mash on the menu. However, ask for "a pint of cider" and they were mystified - until the penny dropped and the barman enquired: "do you mean apple cider?" (like there's any other kind), and then served only 0.8 pints.

 

[MikeSh]

Monday's XKCD:

 

[MikeSh]

Tuesday's Non Sequitur: