a 5-minute long video
At 2 minute and 18 second, this self-described so cool, albeit at time boring 17-year old utters the magic word "bored." Then again at 3:29. You decide whether it sounds exactly like "board" or not.
The shirt-optional Iggy Pop proclaims that he is bored, probably a dozen times.
In reference to comments exchange between Hong Kong Big Uncle, also
That's been most helpful, LAICHUNGLEUNG.
ReplyDeleteHong Kong Big Uncle
Rather thoughtful of you LCL to dig up an actual song for that purpose. I'm dying to hear it, but alas, I'm at work and cannot secretly listen to it even if I want to, as there's no speakers on my PC.
ReplyDeleteWill try later.
Coincidentally, I did have a discussion with fellow colleagues in the office here this morning about this subject, and there is a difference of opinions regarding how similar / dissimilar "bored" and "board" are. Most agree that the sounds are the same (which I didn't disagree with at all), but the stresses are different (which was my point really).....
In any case, thanks HK Big Uncle aka Sidney for kindly indulging me in this little linguistic debate, and thanks LCL for actually accommodating such off-topic comments on your blog.
Hello Everyone,
ReplyDeleteYou are most welcome.
Oh man, you have to wait like 8 hours to actually hear them.
Iggy Pop just has the most unbelievable ab. And he can't keep his shirt on, I guess I would too if I got his ab. Iggy is an American, so I don't know how Queen his English is, but he is of English and Irish descent. The lad is English by birth I guess, so that gives him instant credibility.
My blog is here to serve all the intellectuals (and pseudo-intellectuals alike,) unlike most other more popular sites that lack substance. So feel free to rant and discuss.
I thought your workplace should be pretty liberal, everyone should have a pair of speakers. Oh man, you are so deprived. Even Sidney has a pair of speakers right? Let me guess, I think both of you are still using chunky CRT monitors at work. I remember that's the choice of the Bourne movies, to make the NSA look really bureaucratic, only big CRT monitors will do. (I edit too much, now I really sound incoherent) At the same time, I do "hate" people listening to radio or songs at work. The occasional listening to my Youtube selections are of course allowed and encouraged.
Forgive me for sounding pompous [I could've saved all this baloney 'cos we are liberal-minded people].
ReplyDeleteIMHO, since both words are monosyllabic, there's no such thing as different stresses, as in the phonological sense.
Of course when they're said in a sentence under a specific circumstance, there are [different] intonations, which in essence are emotions, used by individual speakers.
At long last, you're wrong, LAICHUNGLEUNG.
ReplyDeleteIn my office [I've got magnificent harbour view up on 27th Floor. I can see the new Star Ferry pier from up above. You know, executive perks, that kind of thing] my hp [Compaq, of course, is optional] dx7300 Slim Tower PC came equipped with state-of-the-art Realtek HD Audio [it's "HD", man], but sadly my 15" Acer FP563 LCD monitor has got a pair of good-for-nothing speakers.
So in order to harvest the great sound of the YouTube videos posted on your blog, I use a pair of Sennheiser earphones which render out-of-this-world sound [and that's why my productivity has always been near the lower end].
LCL: Yes we're seriously deprived when it comes to anything that could be deemed as mechanisms to be used by idle academics to waste even more time than they are already wasting by actually working. All our PCs are from Dell, and they don't come with speakers as standard (in fact, my own privately-purchased new Dell didn't come with speakers either, this is Ireland for you, where you pay the most for the least amount of merchandise as you'd get elsewhere). Furthermore, the tech service here pre-formats all office PCs so that any of the built-in lame Windows games like Solitaire are removed before they are installed in your office.
ReplyDeleteWe do have flat-screen monitors though. You see, it's the ascetic ideals of the ancient scholars surrounded only by books and free from earthly distractions that's being aimed for here, and not oppressive bureacracy a la Bourne movies (though it certainly feels that way some times).
Sidney: Now I understood why LCL calls you "Hong Kong Big Uncle". Wow, big sea view from the 27th floor! That must be something.
Re: stress in monosyllablic words. That's why I was saying that "bored" is pronounced almost like two syllables in my original comment, because of the lengthening of the -re sound. "Bored" is not truely monosyllabic like a simple "No" is. And the "stress", or shall I say emphasis, is towards the end of the word. "Board" is monosyllablic, and as such it sounds distinct from "Bored".
I rest my case.
Thanks a lot, Snowdrops. Unlike you and LAICHUNGLEUNG and perhaps vl2008 I was deprived of my opportunity to study abroad. [The harbour view I've got from 27th floor above sea level can hardly compensate me for that loss {'cos I might have married a blonde woman in the US}].
ReplyDeleteI go by the books and I rest my case, too. I'd like to visit you and do a field trip studying the sounds of Irish English at the same time. But be warned: I might come with wp2007 who could give you a heart attack any minute.
Last but not least, I enjoyed our discussion very much and would like to end it with:
吾生也有涯
而知也 无涯
以有涯随无涯
殆已
— 莊子《养生主》
Thanks Sidney, I enjoyed our discussion too, though I wish I could really understand the Chinese quotation you've kindly cited. One of my regrets of not growing up in Hong Kong and finishing my education there is that I could probably never understand the ancient classics. But thank you, all the same.
ReplyDelete