Furly I have a question about the Olympics

[Firecrest]

That's because American football is the logical equivalent of driving a car into a wall at 100mph for no apparent reason.

There's something awesome about living in a country that can look at the world's sport and be like, "Nope. We're doin' it this way."

Jelly?

I bet you think the same about using imperial units while the rest of the world just laughs at you.

Actually, yeah. It amuses us to envision them "laughing" all the way to their measurement converters since they all want to do business with us and have to do it our way.

That's the best part. You think it's stupid, yet you do it anyway. Just because we said so.

This is the same amusement I got when I learned that a Mexican aviator taking off from a Mexican airport and then landing in another Mexican airport speaks English. Way back in the 40's, we got the whole world together and were like, "Look, we've decided that all pilots need to do their piloting in English. So, if you want to fly, learn our language. kthanksbye."

And now all pilots use English.

[Talith]

Actually, yeah. It amuses us to envision them "laughing" all the way to their measurement converters since they all want to do business with us and have to do it our way.

That's the best part. You think it's stupid, yet you do it anyway. Just because we said so.

This is the same amusement I got when I learned that a Mexican aviator taking off from a Mexican airport and then landing in another Mexican airport speaks English. Way back in the 40's, we got the whole world together and were like, "Look, we've decided that all pilots need to do their piloting in English. So, if you want to fly, learn our language. kthanksbye."

And now all pilots use English.

You can't compare one with another, its like programming languages, we will use them with words and structures that are clearly english since they were invented in the USA, and also english is not YOUR language anyway. The metric systems are universal, and belive me, while you are an important country you are not the only one and we rarely do conversions. Im willing to bet that Americans overall have to do more conversions to metric than the rest of the world. Hell imperial is so useless and stupid that any serious institution or study done even in the USA is done in metric.

In a somewhat related topic I think every fucking country should have english as an official language, its the fucking easiest language in the world to learn and it would easily become the global language. (I bet the romans thought the same about latin in their time though)

[mininolan]

Pilots all use metric

[Kaistine]

What do you know about being a pilot

[Firecrest]

Honestly, if I had to pick the worldwide language, I'd seriously consider Spanish. There are far fewer “exceptions that prove the rule” than English. There's something really nice about being able to point at a letter and say, "This letter makes this sound. Always."

Not to say it was perfect. The Subjunctive (iirc?) tense was pretty fucked up. There’s got to be a language out there somewhere where a major part of teaching it isn’t “well, you just have to go out there and learn to feel when to use what.” I'm not too familiar with many of the non-romantic languages. Maybe Asia has something useful.

Also for the record, in case it wasn’t abundantly clear, I was (mostly) kidding about the metric thing. Counting by tens makes more sense than 12s and 3s and 4s and whatever the hell else we use. That said, I do get a proud chuckle out of the fact that we’re always all like, “Nope. Fuck you guys. We’re doing it this way.”

[Firecrest]

You can't compare one with another, its like programming languages, we will use them with words and structures that are clearly english since they were invented in the USA, and also english is not YOUR language anyway.

I don't mean in a technical sense (calling parts by their English names because they were given English names int he first place). I mean in a real and literal "everything that's said is always said in English" sense.

You're right about the second part though. It was all Britain’s idea.

English was Established as the Standard Language of Aviation
In the year 1944 on the 1st of November in response to a British initiative, the government of the United States invited 55 allied and neutral States to meet in Chicago. Out of the allied States invited 52 attended this meeting. The aim of this meeting was to discuss the international problems faced in Civil Aviation.

Outcome of the Meeting
•The Chicago Convention on Civil Aviation.
•Formation of ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization).
The Chicago Convention saw the implementation of English as the official standardized language to be used in Aviation around the world. English speaking countries dominated the design, manufacture as well as operation of aircrafts, it thus made sense to have English as the standard language that would be used by all the countries involved in Aviation around the globe. Having a standardized language aids in avoiding misunderstanding and confusion, aspects which both have an effect on air safety.

[lawlerbation the hardcore squatter]

spanish is great until you manage to find nothing but B and V words

[Firecrest]

spanish is great until you manage to find nothing but B and V words

Haha. Truth. And the silent H's. Why even have a letter if it never makes a sound?

[myndor]

Haha. Truth. And the silent H's. Why even have a letter if it never makes a sound?

island
/ˈɑɪ·lənd/ n [C]

that is all

[Firecrest]

Haha. Truth. And the silent H's. Why even have a letter if it never makes a sound?

island
/ˈɑɪ·lənd/ n [C]

that is all

There's a difference between "sometimes won't make a sound" and "never will make a sound".

Not that I'm defending English, mind you. I was just wondering why you guys have a letter that serves no purpose whatsoever.