invitation to become a member of DRAFT

[HalfAce]

Man Petrulis, out of all your avatars that's definitely the one I like the best!
(Jeez, just looking at it is enough to take the hair off my mother-in-law's back!) [Shudder]

 

[Greg Truby]

...with sympathy, Erik

Erik, that's funnier than you can possibly know. If you were a native English speaker I'd almost be insulted. Given that it's a second language for you, it's just plain funny! Have a good weekend!

 

[erik.van.geit]

...with sympathy, Erik

Erik, that's funnier than you can possibly know. If you were a native English speaker I'd almost be insulted. Given that it's a second language for you, it's just plain funny! Have a good weekend!

(it's my third language)
just checked my dictionnary:
first meaning of sympathy is the same as for my native language: meaning something like warm-brother-feeling
second meaning is less neutral but still nothing bad
...
fourth is rather: I'm so sorry for you, I can feel what you feel

is that last one your "american english explanation" ?

 

[HalfAce]

In English the fourth meaning you listed is the most commonly acknowledged use of the word.
(That's what makes it so funny... at Greg's expense of course! ) - but by all accounts he's a good sport.

 

[Greg Truby]

Yes, the humor is in the last definition you give there. In English (at least here, can't say for the UK & Aus/NZ) "with sympathy" would typically be the way one signs a "Sympathy card" which is a card that one sends to someone who's loved one has died or who has experienced a tragedy. Given my post, your writing "with sympathy" could have three possible meanings, all of them sarcastic. One is "with sympathy" for my alma mater's basketball team having been eliminated; #2 is "with sympathy" for posting the picture that is indeed as scary as Jay's; and the third is that your "with sympathy" comment following your other comments could mean that you feel sorry for me in that it must be difficult to love myself or that it must be difficult not to love myself too much since I'm "just good".

The reason that it's "funnier than you know" is that I guessed correctly -- you meant none of the above -- you meant the first meaning you cited from your dictionary. The humor was in the irony of that. Anyhow, humor is like a couple of other things in life, once you start to disect and analyze it, it loses a lot of its "oomph".

 

[HalfAce]

See, I told you he's a good sport.
(At least he hasn't kicked my a$$ over the comment I made here yet anyway... )
http://www.mrexcel.com/board2/viewtopic.php?t=189040&start=50

 

[Greg Truby]

Actually, Dan, I saw that and chuckled when I read it because I was thinking much the same thing! We have no way of knowing whether Westphalia's really that cute or not. But like I said in another post, IMHO Kristy & Tracy are our reigning beauty queens. To Excel geeks like our crowd here, those two are drop-dead gorgeous.

 

[HalfAce]

To be honest, when I wrote that I hadn't seen your photo yet. I was just going by
something you wrote a while ago concerning pink spandex.
(Took me 4 days to get a good night's sleep without jerking awake with a start! )

One of these days I'll have to join Erik's "club" myself...

Dan

 

[erik.van.geit]

One of these days I'll have to join Erik's "club" myself...

you'll get all my sympathy then

 

[HalfAce]

you'll get all my sympathy then

And it will be well deserved...