Posted by Malbrough_LA on 7/31/13 10:29am
Msg #478701

Can you accept a signing in Shreveport for $80?

Madam, that's 6 hours away....

Is that too far for you?

I think they may have been offended/upset when I told them yes, but I demand payment in either Mastodon tusks, baby seal skin, or panda fur. (Of course, some combination of the aforementioned would also suffice..or 500 lbs of gummy worms or nonpareils...yes I have a sweet tooth).

They hung up....Scratch another one off the list

Reply by Gayle Allen on 7/31/13 11:11am
Msg #478713

Cool, :-)

Reply by Lorraine Lougheed on 7/31/13 2:24pm
Msg #478759

Hahahaha, love it!!

Reply by sueharke on 7/31/13 8:38pm
Msg #478811

A bit of synmamtics here. Can means "are you able to" and the answer is "yes." May means "to express probability" that you will do it? Which did you mean by your post?

Reply by rolomia on 8/1/13 2:48am
Msg #478841

Where do such schedulers come from? Were they dropped on their heads, as babies? I've encountered my unfair share of incompetent TC/SS employees, too (mostly SS/seldom TC, thank God). They aren't going away, either. Next time they call, tell them you'll do it for $1,000. When they say that $1,000 is ridiculous, reply that their request is even more ludicrous. JMHO

Reply by Malbrough_LA on 8/1/13 8:29am
Msg #478856

I can't vouch for which she meant in her original request; however, I'm doubting her request was one based upon the traditional usage of the term 'may'. That being said, the line has been blurred over the years between the terms 'can' and 'may'. "Can you go to the pancake discus championship" implies a black/white reply of either yes or no. "May you go to the pancake discus championship match" implies a more open-ended question to which the answer could potentially be "Only when I have finished shaving all of the caribou majestically grazing on my lawn".

While this distinction is granted, one rarely finds it used anymore...it's gone out of vogue, but an excellent linguistic catch on your part. (An easier way to avoid this whole linguistic conundrum? Use the word 'will'..."Will you go to the pancake discus championship match" (My reply in an unabashed tone would be "Indubitably" strictly to honor the memory of Jimmy Durante of course...)

Secondly, was the word you were looking for 'semantics' rather than 'synmamtics'? If so, in the words of Inigo Montoya "...I do not think it means what you think it means" (Which is ironic concerning the word 'semantics'). Philologically the term references a philosophical concept dealing with meaning as it refers to a word being a signifier and the relationship it has to the word in question. Most people use the term as "Oh that's just semantics" when they reference someone is just playing word games. It has, sadly, been imbued with that meaning; however, it was never the intended meaning to give the term a pejorative context. The term dates back to Greek philosophy attempting to demarcate connotation and denotation, intension and extension, etc. (Yes, it's 'intension'....not the same as 'intention'). [I do not miss studying all this in college, btw]. Now that my logical geek side is showing, I shall crawl back under the bridge and hide in the darknessess searching for my preciouses.