arrrgh!!!!!!!!

[Tora Ziyal]

"Good morning/afternoon/evening" is used here, too. Just not to the exclusion of "hello".

[trekkiedane]

They also have this thing about the personal pronoun (?) where you have one that's supposedly more respectful of people you use it with and another one you're only supposed to use amongst friends and siblings, Sie/Du. -A relic, no doubt, from the ancient ages where being older than you automatically made people more important than you and therefore to be addressed accordingly...

We have the same thing here, and while the word used to address your 'betters' with almost disappeared from use in the latter half of the last century, I'm afraid it's having a comeback these days

[Rhubarbodendron]

yes, precisely. We have two different forms of addressing people:
du [doo] is reserved to very close acquaintances (usually after several years), friends and family. Sie [see] is for everyone else. It's just like the English you and thou.
Btw, the capital letter in Sie is no typo. It's a form of respect, like the capital L in the Lord's prayer. And it makes it easier to distinguish between Sie and sie (thou and she).

While a hello would be completely acceptable with people you address informally (i.e. with du), it is inappropriate with people you address formally (with Sie). For them you'd give the time of day: guten Morgen, guten Abend (good morning, good evening) or a general guten Tag (good day). In Bavaria we say grüß Gott, short for God bless you.

Basically, for a German to be greeted with "hello", would be like an American or Briton being greeted with "hi there!"

[trekkiedane]

Rhubarbodendron wrote:

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Basically, for a German to be greeted with "hello", would be like an American or Briton being greeted with "hi there!"

But isn't "hiya" a perfectly acceptable greeting in British?

[thestrangequark]

"Hi there!" is totally acceptable, especially in the south.

[Shanndee]

Thank you for clearing that up!

I was having an unpleasant flashback to the first retail job I had while on a working holiday in England over 20 years ago. In the space of 3 hours I had one guy (not British) whistle for my attention as I finished with my customer. I walked away with great purpose towards a different customer and let someone else respond...I am not a dog! (My supervisor laughed and told me I had a few things to learn about how things worked over here).

The second guy (also not British) made a hissing sound to get service. What?? My co-workers once again talked me down. They just told me that with so many different people from so many different places shopping in the store I had to respond to everything, and accept that whatever they did was probably normal where they were from.

I had a hard time adjusting to that. I also didn't stay in that job for very long!

[Rhubarbodendron]

I'm totally angry & sad today. I had a somewhat shabby Schefflera plant on a window sill in the corridor at my office that I was nursing through a massive lice infestation and the idiotic janitor threw it out on the compost. It had 24 hours frost on its naked roots before I discovered it! I've had this one for 35 years but it looks very much like it's completely dead now. The sheer impertinence of throwing something away without asking who it belongs to! (Plus keeping the expensive pot.) I could kill that idiot!
Just in case I replanted and watered it but the chances are astronomically small. I am tempted to plant the janitor instead. Into a very small pot

[Ghost07]

Did you say something to the janitor? What excuse did he give you?

[Ghost07]

Maintenance came today and put together my new computer desk; then dragged the old monster desk out for me.

When he transferred my computer to the new desk, he had to unplug all the wires in the back of the tower thing in order to put it on it's shelf...then plug everything back in again...

He plugged SOMEthing in wrong, because now I have no sound; and I have no idea which wire is in the wrong spot. Now what do I do?

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Rhubarbodendron wrote:

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du [doo] is reserved to very close acquaintances (usually after several years), friends and family.

And of course Rammstein fans.

[trekkiedane]

Ghost07 wrote:

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He plugged SOMEthing in wrong, because now I have no sound; and I have no idea which wire is in the wrong spot. Now what do I do?

You trace the wire going from your speakers to your computer; it should be plugged into a hole marked with the colour green on your computer. If it isn't then move it and make your computer make some sound and see if it worked.

[Sakrysta]

Why do furniture drawers require 2 hands to open?!?! A significant percentage of the times you need to open them, it is to PUT SOMETHING IN. Which you will naturally be holding where? With your magical third hand? Between your knees? On your head?

Grrrr!!!! As you might imagine, I'm doing laundry, and I'm starting to think this injustice is why so often my folded things end up in piles around my room until I can't tell what's clean and what's dirty.

[trekkiedane]

Sakrysta wrote:

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Why do furniture drawers require 2 hands to open?!?! A significant percentage of the times you need to open them, it is to PUT SOMETHING IN. Which you will naturally be holding where? With your magical third hand? Between your knees? On your head?

Remove the two handles - put one back, but in the middle of the drawer... Problem solved.

Alternatively you could add a third handle in the middle drawer.




Sorry! - I mistook this for a problem-solving thread... not one for just "arrrgh!!!!!!'-ing about life...

[Sakrysta]

^LOL! I was just about to tell you to stop trying to solve it and let me rant in peace!

Seriously, my furniture is all old bordering on antique. Changing the handles would a) ruin the look, 2) be way more work than I am willing, much less able to put in, and c) ... well ... there was a "c)" when I started typing. Oh yeah, the drawers are too wide and heavy for a single central handle to work well.

The solution is new furniture! Yeah, that's going to happen...

[trekkiedane]

Sakrysta wrote:

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^LOL! I was just about to tell you to stop trying to solve it and let me rant in peace!

Seriously, my furniture is all old bordering on antique. Changing the handles would a) ruin the look, 2) be way more work than I am willing, much less able to put in, and c) ... well ... there was a "c)" when I started typing. Oh yeah, the drawers are too wide and heavy for a single central handle to work well.

The solution is new furniture! Yeah, that's going to happen...

I'll still try to solve it

Attach a cloth'y thing in the middle of the drawer -on the inside, let a part of it hang loose on the outside. -just ½ half an inch of it should do