Re: coon dog - pejorative?

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On 24 Jan 2009, Arne H. Wilstrup wrote
"HVS" <usenet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> skrev i meddelelsen
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-snip-

It's true that some of the regulars here are easily
offended
and a bit quick to see ill-intent where it's not meant,
but I
don't think it's a particular trait of "this group" in
general.

Neither do I - it was just a poor attempt to explain why I
did
what I did - I am not keen on annoying people at all as I
really need the nice English people to tell me of my
wrongdoings in the English language in the future.

I must admit I was really surprised of the outcome of the
questions here, though. It was really unintentional.

That became clear quite quickly, though, and I think most of
the
regulars here would view the clash as water under the
bridge.

As someone mentioned in that thread (Mike Lyle, perhaps?),
it's not
always obvious that you're not writing in your native
language, so
the default assumption isthat you're aware of the nuances.
At base,
the misunderstanding was a compliment of your facility in
English,
rather than something to fret about.

If it was me, I'd not dwell on it -- but I'd be resigned to
the
misunderstanding happening from time to time.

I was aware of the compliment, but as you have probably read,
a dispute between a Swede and I, deals with the fact that I am
far from being perfect - he mentioned that I made many
mistakes in the use of adverbs and adjectives, which he did
not.

He added that my knowledge of English is far from being at his
level, and I must admit that he is right. Not being an
amateur, I do think that I have a lot to learn and despite of
the compliments I am not so self-centred that I don't think -
when I get compliments for my language - that "flattery will
bring you everywhere". :-)

I am most humble to the fact that I really have problems with
adjectives and adverbs and I am doing my very best to avoid
those mistakes. What is more of my concern is the hidden
agendas in the language: Pejoratives, puns, culture,
pronunciation - so my frequently mistakes with some elementary
grammar might give a clear hint that I am definitely not a
native speaker. Therefore it astonished me: The questions were
loaded of mistakes in this aspect and I therefore could not
understand why I was "attacked" in this way.

On the other hand - it gave me another reminder of how
delicate a specific word can be when using it as a foreigner,
and this I can use when I teach children English as a foreign
language: "Beware of swear words and pejoratives" - they sound
"harder" than one should think.

One day I must definitely make a list of pejoratives and their
counterparts - a kind of contrastive "grammar" to words that
are just as offensive in Danish as in English. :-)

I must thank you in your effort to pour oil on troubled
waters, but I am not easily killed :-) - just a litle
astonished, that is all -

No, by the way, I don't like the attitude that I should not be
an applicable teacher because I make mistakes in this group -
this I detest. But correcting my language? You are all very
welcome - I shall do my very best to follow your advice. :-)


.

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