DanilaMe

Ok, that's your opinion. But this time let LadyLG answer. When I ask MSC I get the reply but not the answer from LadyLG, when I ask LadyLG I get the reply from Molly. Very funny, indeed I think this time it could be victorian who will reply. And thank you for explaining the whole pigtail thing. Looks like you did a solid research on the websites that you mentioned.

This is a recent movie that got many awards. Untitled by danilameshcheryakov, on Flickr

Seems like MSC likes to be rude. Oh, now I see what LadyLG meant when she told me that The main rule of our club is: “Be polite and friendly.” BTW minced oath for asshole would be a-hole. Just that simple.

Great! and welcome to the conversation. I will get you another one in a couple of minutes.

If you wonder what is wrong with naming things by obscene words I will give the exact translation. "Нам мой взгляд (ничего личного), выражение "minced oath" дерьмовое (отстойное)." You should definitely know that, but I provide it for the readers who are less fluent in English. It is difficult to disagree that it is barely polite and rude to start the discussion with a stranger naming his conversation subject crap. Stating that it is her opinion does not change anything at all. How did I pulled your pigtail or other girls "pigtails"? Be more specific, please. You are making some improvements as well. That's quite promising. LadyLG, Why don't you answer my direct questions like this one, but instead you start to defend people who are capable of defending their position themselves? It looks like we settled all the delicate issues... But you continue to bite me a little bit as if I really pulled your ponytail somehow. If so, I am sorry for that. Don't forget that we are friends as you said. So let us be easy on each other.

Try to remember a very famous character of the movie that wears rounded glasses and has a distinctive scar in the shape of a lightning.

Here is an easy one to guess.

The Thomas Crown affair is a very good one! It seems that the sequel is going to be released in the future. Below there is useful info for those who like that type of movies. Viewers who have seen The Thomas Crown Affair say that the plot, that of an insurance agent attempting to catch a master art thief, is very similar to the plot of Entrapment. They also recommend The Heist (1989), which features Pierce Brosnan attempting to heist the day's take at a racetrack, as well as Topkapi (1964), which is said to be the movie on which The Thomas Crown Affair 2 The Thomas Crown Affair 2is going to be based. Other movies involving heists of art works and museum artifacts include Gambit (1966) and its remake Gambit (2012), How to Steal a Million (1966), The Hot Rock (1972), and Incognito (1997). Our conversation reminded me of a great horror movie called "Jeepers Creepers". It is interesting to know that it is again a form of minced oath or euphemism meaning "Jesus Crist". If was scared as hell when I watched the movie for the first time

I am delighted that you liked it. Please note that I am not explaining anything to you, but replying to your comment stating that "minced oath" expression is crap. That is already rude to start with. But I am not too sensitive so I don't really care. Besides, it is certainly rude to address strangers and fellow neighbours by the "hey" word. If that's yours code of conduct consider changing it in order to be more polite in public conversations. I have no intent to lecture you, but we're here for friendly conversations, aren't we? This is a public place visited by many different people who deserve quality reading. That is why I posted a reply that provided the explanation for those who are interested in working on their English language skills. Do not consider this reply to be directed at yourself only. It is not for you, but for anybody interested. I am pretty sure that if you look up the phrase "soft words" in Oxford Dictionary or even ask a native speaker you will have the same result. It is not applicable in the situation under discussion. Since you're a long time web surfer you probably know that all the dictionaries are on the web nowadays. Next time, please, provide a link to order to sound convincing.

Finally! I thought one link in the initial posting would be enough. So after about five links to Wikipedia I did it. I am a big fan of Tarantino and Coen brothers movies. Among my favourite movies are The Big Lebowski, Fargo, Burn After Reading, Pulp Fiction, Inglorious Bustards, Reservoir Dogs and many other. This year favourite is Django Unchained, of course. What good movies did you see recently?

Alright little squirrel, thanks for making yourself clear. Have some tasty hazel nuts. Hope you will like the treat.

I have been lazy for a while. Waiting a little bit for AnutaM. But today I will continue to mine my golden shaft. 1. Perfidious - disloyal Perfidious employees fail to report that they would like to change the job. 2. Propensity - a tendency, preference, or attraction. Everybody has a propensity for discussions of their favorite topics. 3. Indemnify - to reimburse Usually we indemnify travel costs for our humble guests.

As for royal names I came across an entertaining widget, that allows to generate royal baby name. Since 1660, there have been more than 100 members of the immediate royal family. Between them, they've had about 80 names, including middle names. As I understand royal baby name will be chosen from these 80 names. Correct me if I am wrong since I am not a big fan of the royal family. Mind that many of the children born into the royal family, including Prince Charles, Prince William, Prince Harry and King George VI, had four names. I generated three possible name which are: 1). Francis Patrick Arthur Alfred 2). Andrew John Duncan Arthur 3). Philip Michael Edmund Christian Try it out yourself right here: http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/2013/07/you-choose-the-royal-baby-name.html

Well, if I am the bear, then you are for sure one of the creatures that were described in your orgy. No offence Molly, lets be friendlier to each other. Time after time you feel that your postings might sound offensive. If you feel so it might be nice not to write them at all. Let's be polite and respectful. Once again, I apologize if you were offended by me. I never said that "everything we write/discuss etc. is chicken-feed and primitive rot". I would be grateful if you show me the links of your allegations. And I love funny tasks and discussions - go on and propose one.

Dear Ladies and Gents, First of all, please, accept my apologies. I never meant any offence to anybody. You should take into consideration that it is not a simple task to reflect emotional nuances over the web. Let us not judge each others English. Everybody on this topic has its own strengths and weaknesses including the teachers. What made you think that I am showing off? I was born on the first of September and since that time I just crave for learning. I am afraid you might have mistaken this passion for studies for showing off. I am an active supporter of any interesting English language conversation. Propose your topic and I will follow.

Actually I also never met "minced oath" expression before. I found an informative Wikipedia article when I became interested where the word "drat" which is used in children books came from. According to this article: A minced oath is a euphemistic expression formed by misspelling, mispronouncing, or replacing a part of a profane, blasphemous, or taboo term to reduce the original term's objectionable characteristics. Some examples include "gosh" for God, "darn" for damn, and "heck" for Hell. As you see from the definition, everybody uses these words, even little children. For instance, my good friend from the US uses minced oath expression "oh, my goodness" quite often. That is not insulting or inappropriate in any way. It's kind of interesting to know which words are more useful then the others. Hence I asked the fellow forum members to share their words. I inferred that since there is a solid Wikipedia article it is worth to know minced oath expression. I wouldn't use the "soft words" here, because it has a different meaning. Euphemism sounds much better and makes more sense to me then "minced oath". Thank you for your fruitful participation.

Hi, MSC, Nobody is fighting here. I proposed a topic that was misunderstood at first. Well, lets pick something else =) If you want clear and simple discussions - go for it. I would love to participate. Unfortunately, the topic was abandoned for three weeks when I started posting. Jokes and "guess the film" are fantastic activities as well. I wouldn't mind talking about the films as well =)

Dear LadyLG, You're wrong about minced words, please refer to the link that I provided for the explanation. "Minced oath" words and expressions are part of everyday language and I'm sure that you use them as well.

Are you curious about the concept itself or do you prefer riddles, Shakespeare and backwards translation instead of discussing anything here? The true purpose for creating any English club is to inspire any form of discussion. I believe we had a good and fruitful one with Lady LG. We made a modest attempt to discuss a very interesting subject - the use of so called minced oath words and expressions which are so common in every day use of every person. Indeed they are so widespread that even evil wolf from a very popular British iphone/ipad app designed for children is using the word "drat" that softens the word "damn". I provided the picture in order to show you how common and useful it is.

Lady LG, You're right about the explanation. I edited my message and provided the wikipedia link. You said that you hardly ever use minced oath expressions and that really fascinates me. What words and expressions do you use instead? Is it an F word if I may ask?

Yesterday I read an interactive iPad version of "Little Red Riding Hood" to my 2,5 year old son and surprisingly I found an interesting minced oath that I never came across before. Untitled What kind of minced oath do you use? What is your favorite one? Or maybe you find them not acceptable? You're welcome to share your thoughts on this.

That's an interesting one. Check it out. 7741_625319527478328_538748565_n by danilameshcheryakov, on Flickr

Dear friends, Studying might be sometimes very stressful. Let's face it. Long sleepless hours. Tons of pages to read and notes to make. Dates and figures to memorize... During my school and university years and later on when I was doing my postgraduate studies I was hardly taught any solid studying techniques. Mostly I had to invent them myself. They worked fine to get excellent marks but when I started my GMAT preparation I realized that my arsenal is not broad enough, and my memory isn't as good as it used to be. Hence I have to review my old methods and find new and effective ones. The prime reason of creating this topic is knowledge sharing concerning studying techniques. I ask you kindly to avoid off topics and encourage to be productive. Let's share our study secrets right here!