Aaron Parecki

Tuesday, October 26, 2021

bicycle

18 min

3.3 miles

bicycle

Johannes Ernst https://twitter.com/Johannes_Ernst • Oct 26
Tech support: "I'd be glad to assist you." You would if what? So this is kind of a conditional tech support line here, but you won't tell me what that depends on? What's wrong with present tense? (Or, better, drop the fluff and give everybody their life back?)

Doesn't German do that too? "Ich würde gern..."

Similarly, "I want to help you" sounds weirdly aggressive compared to "I would like to help you"

Portland, Oregon • 50°F

6 replies

Tue, Oct 26, 2021 6:24am -07:00
Contributions from: Germany, India, Russian Federation, Spain, United Kingdom, United States

Tue, Oct 26, 2021 7:17am -07:00
Tony Fadell https://twitter.com/tfadell

This is a P68/Dulcimer iPod prototype we (very quickly) made before the true form factor design was ready. Didn’t want it look like an iPod for confidentiality - the buttons placement, the size - it was mostly air inside - and the wheel worked (poorly)

Portland, Oregon • 50°F

Sat, Oct 23, 2021 5:50pm +00:00 (liked on Tue, Oct 26, 2021 8:40am -07:00)
Micah Silverman - #BLM https://twitter.com/afitnerd • Oct 26
It's happening!!! maxed M1 MAX, 64GB RAM, 2TB Storage

💸💸💸

Portland, Oregon • 50°F

2 replies

Tue, Oct 26, 2021 8:42am -07:00
Johannes Ernst https://twitter.com/Johannes_Ernst • Oct 26
The German is just like the English: “ich würde gerne mal diesen Berg besteigen” — “I’d love to climb this mountain some day” — lots of assumptions implied, and it may never happen. I’d like tech support be a bit more certain that they want to help.

But isn't it also the same as:

"Ich würde gern Ihnen helfen"
vs
"Ich will dir helfen"

Or does being so direct in German sound less abrasive than in English?

Portland, Oregon, USA • 50°F

4 replies

Tue, Oct 26, 2021 9:20am -07:00
Johannes Ernst https://twitter.com/Johannes_Ernst

“Ich helfe Ihnen gerne” or “ich kann Ihnen gerne helfen” is what I would expect. Although help is generally less generously offered :-) but that has less to do with grammar.

Portland, Oregon • 50°F

Tue, Oct 26, 2021 4:24pm +00:00 (liked on Tue, Oct 26, 2021 9:25am -07:00)
Johannes Ernst https://twitter.com/Johannes_Ernst • Oct 26
“Ich helfe Ihnen gerne” or “ich kann Ihnen gerne helfen” is what I would expect. Although help is generally less generously offered :-) but that has less to do with grammar.

okay how about ordering at a coffee shop... I was always taught "Ich würde gern einen Kaffee" rather than "Ich möchte einen Kaffee". Same idea right?

Portland, Oregon, USA • 50°F

2 replies

Tue, Oct 26, 2021 9:28am -07:00
Johannes Ernst https://twitter.com/Johannes_Ernst • Oct 26
Not “würde”. “Eine Tasse Kaffee, bitte” would be the default. Maybe “ich hätte gerne eine Tasse Kaffee” (Note the default unit for the item Kaffee are different, as is the expected container… well, depending on the establishment.)

I just found this which seems like a reasonable explanation of the differences between the three. I'm excited that I get to practice this all in 2 weeks when I'm in Düsseldorf! https://german.stackexchange.com/questions/22566/difference-between-ich-m%C3%B6chte-and-ich-h%C3%A4tte-gerne-and-ich-w%C3%BCrde-gerne

Portland, Oregon, USA • 51°F

1 like

Tue, Oct 26, 2021 10:20am -07:00
Contributions from: Brazil, Germany, India, Russian Federation, Spain, United Kingdom, United States

Tue, Oct 26, 2021 10:50am -07:00
Contributions from: Brazil, Germany, India, New Zealand, Russian Federation, Spain, United Kingdom, United States

Tue, Oct 26, 2021 1:23pm -07:00
Contributions from: Brazil, Germany, India, New Zealand, Russian Federation, Spain, United Kingdom, United States

Tue, Oct 26, 2021 2:22pm -07:00
Nachos

Portland, Oregon, USA • 53°F

Tue, Oct 26, 2021 5:29pm -07:00
Erika Hall https://twitter.com/mulegirl

Get research papers out of PDFs into well-structured HTML with linked sources

*then* talk to me about the metaverse.

Portland, Oregon • 52°F

Wed, Oct 27, 2021 12:15am +00:00 (liked on Tue, Oct 26, 2021 8:20pm -07:00)
Why America’s New Apartment Buildings All Look the Same - Bloomberg (www.bloomberg.com)

Tue, Oct 26, 2021 8:32pm -07:00 #design #construction #zoning
Chriscreama Warren https://twitter.com/film_girl • Oct 27
Paint Shop Pro. Adobe Premiere (tho I ended up getting a student discount on that in high school). Cool Edit Pro. Macromedia Flash. Final Cut. StarCraft. WinZip. DeadAIM. That’s all I can think of right now but there was lots more.

based on this tweet i have concluded that we are exactly the same age

Portland, Oregon • 52°F

1 like

Tue, Oct 26, 2021 8:53pm -07:00
Chris https://twitter.com/MWConcertVideo

Used to work with the guy who wrote Paint Shop Pro back in 1990. Great guy. He told me that he deliberately never made the copy protection hard to break.

Portland, Oregon • 52°F

Wed, Oct 27, 2021 3:42am +00:00 (liked on Tue, Oct 26, 2021 8:54pm -07:00)
Zaid Farooqui https://twitter.com/zaid

OH: “web3 is web2 adjusted for inflation”

Portland, Oregon • 53°F

Tue, Oct 26, 2021 4:51am +00:00 (liked on Tue, Oct 26, 2021 9:41pm -07:00)
10:09pm
Asleep

5:35am
Awake

7h 26m
Slept

15m
Awake for

Portland, Oregon

Tue, Oct 26, 2021 10:35pm -07:00