User Comments - rubielyn_tenidor

Posted on: Amusement Park

martinphipps

I'm not sure what you mean by a native speaker. English is my first language, and only fluent language. If by native speaker you mean someone born/living in England, you can't seriously claim that England has the right to determine correct usage for the rest of the English-speaking world. The majority of people learning English as a second language learn American English and, whether you like it or not (and I don't) American English (ignoring spelling) has become the standard, if it can be said that there is a standard English. I think the extraordinary claim here is that a country with a small fraction of the English-speaking population should determine usage for the rest of the world. Having said that, I have not seen any proof that it is incorrect, even in England.

I have said how easy it is to find examples - just type 'suicided' into Google. Given that, there is no need to quote here. Visit these sites, and you can read it in context.

I have no problem with anyone claiming that using suicide as a verb is rare, or even that it may sound strange to some. But continuing to claim that it is incorrect usage when it clearly is used (albeit rarely), while at the same time claiming (correctly) that correct language is determined by usage, I find somewhat pig-headed.

Posted on: Amusement Park

"language lives mostly in the mouths and heads of people, not in dictionaries, on websites"

I couldn't agree more. Which is exactly why you can't say something is wrong, based on a rule you can't quote, just because it is used much less commonly and you haven't heard it. The websites found through a Google search were simply proof that suicide is used as a verb. They are not dictionaries, and I make no claim that they are authorities on the issue - just examples of the word being used.

I have heard suicide used this way, and if you take the time to do a google search, we both will have seen it written down. If it is used, then it is 'in the heads of people', so it is part of the English language. The dictionary only confirms this.

Hopefully, this is not the point where the debate degenerates into who has/hasn't heard the usage.

Posted on: Amusement Park

xiaophil

You haven't heard it used, I have. That's what made me check it out in the first place.  And the large number of web pages that use it would not have been written at some time in the distant past, when you say the usage may have been acceptable. The only two concessions I will give here are (i) I couldn't find a British source - they were all American or Australian;  (ii) it is true that the full term is much more common, which is perhaps why the shorter one sounds strange to some people.

and tal

I'm not sure why the onus is on me alone to provide sources. At least I've suggested where people can look for confirmation. What is your source?

Posted on: Amusement Park

Oh well, how can a dictionary definition and countless examples compete with someone who knows they are right.

Posted on: Amusement Park

@tal

A web-search provides countless examples of 'suicide' used in this way.

Posted on: The Dice Game

Thanks for that changye.

The expansion writes the duplicated verb with two 2nd tones. I was under the impression that the second syllable in a duplicated verb was always neutral. Which is correct here?

Posted on: Amusement Park

@tal

Sorry to correct you, but suicide is both a noun and a verb. Just to be sure, I checked this in a dictionary before I posted.

I may be wrong, but it is my belief that 'commit suicide' was originally a legal term from the time when the act was a crime, and that this term gradually became mainstream.

Posted on: The Old Man Who Moved a Mountain

In the 3rd Expansion sentence, the last 4 characters don't show pinyin.

Posted on: The Dice Game

In the 4th Expansion sentence, should 摇 occur twice?

Posted on: Amusement Park

I attempted the matching exercise for this lesson. I am not yet at the intermediate level, and recognised only a few of the characters used, and only 2 full expressions of the 15. Yet, through using only logic, elimination, and educated guesses, I managed to score 15 out of 15. Yet I feel I have learned nothing.

I'm not sure what the solution is, but perhaps a different type of exercise needs to be tried.