Random Questions.....

[Avatar]

Mad, you're all mad.

--A

[peter]

Can you learn to read Chinese without learning to speak the language at the same time - ie to read the symbols directly into english in your head?

[Hashi Lebwohl]

Can you learn to read Chinese without learning to speak the language at the same time - ie to read the symbols directly into english in your head?

Yes. There are some characters I can read already but I can't speak Chinese at all, unless to butcher a few phrases.

[peter]

Am I right in thinking that there are actually different forms of writing in chinese? Perhaps some lend themselves to being read without knowledge of the actual words better than others. I saw a TED talk the other day in which a young chinese woman gave a very short introduction to 8 pictograms; she seemed to say that while there were many thousands of individual pictograms/idiograms, a grasp of around 200 would provide a [very] basic inroad into being able to follow a script. Sounds doable.

[Hashi Lebwohl]

Yes, there are different forms of the characters; you have to be careful when making them because an error could cause you to write down something you didn't intend to write. Truthfully, ideogram-based written languages are highly inefficient; using standard letters and symbols to represent different sounds makes for a more straightforward method of communication; consider the difference between "c", "ç", and "č"--the first letter can be a "soft" c (as in "cider"), a hard "c" (as in "cat") or, in Czech, a "ts" sound, while most of us might be familiar with the cédille most people aren't too familiar with the "hacek" from Eastern European languages ("č" sounds like "ch" as in "chair"). Non-ideogram languages thus force the learner to become familiar only with the sounds associated with letters and then letters can be combined into words--there are only so many sounds we can vocalize, not counting the * and ! sounds you might find in languages like Khwe.

[Avatar]

Indeed. Our national motto is ‎ǃke e: ǀxarra ǁke

--A

[peter]

I believe 'spoken' chinese has far fewer distinctive sounds than say english, and the same sound/word may have many meanings [up to twenty or so I think]. Hence the language is much more heavily 'contextual' in it's spoken form than we are used to. This must be problematic if you are using a script that is essentially picto- or idiographic rather than phonetic; hard in fact, to see how the two systems can be reconcilled [but clearly they can].

[peter]

Has anyone here ever drawn the sri yantra (aka the sri chakra)? Any tips - I believe it cannot be constructed by any of the usual geometric methods.

[wayfriend]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLxPUoaBjQ8

[peter]

Very cleverly done Wf, but a little to 'freehand' for my purposes. I struggled a bit with the lack of colour as successive triangles were added. I did see the one done in two parts by the Indian man however, and this seemed to be one that I could follow. I suspect one could spend a lifetime learning about and contemplating this singularly beautiful mandala, and be no worse thereby!

[peter]

My favoite G&T used to be from M&S, and came in a can with an abv of 10%. In an act of egregious stinginess they reduced the alcohol content to 8%, and a corresponding fall in flavour was the inevitable result. In an uncharacteristic flash of illumination I realised that by purchasing a bottle of M&S gin (abv 38%) and adding a splash to my can, I could re-create my favourite tipple of old.

Question: how much 38% gin must be added to a 250ml can of 8% G&T mix to bring the resulting abv up to exactly (exactly mind you, I'm as punctilious as they are pennypinching) 10%?

[deer of the dawn]

The real question is, why stop there?

[peter]

It's a flavour thing deer; I dislike change in things I love, and hanker for a return to the status-quo!

[Avatar]

Why not just buy a bottle of Tonic and make it from scratch?

--A

[peter]

I'm serious about their 250 ml can Av. It's the best G&T money can buy and you can't replicate it with their individual gin and tonic bottles. I'm guessing someone like Greenalls produces it for them. I despise any sweetness in a G&T, and that product has got my taste off pat, except now it is just a tad short on that 'spirity' thing that gets the back of your palate when the mix is right. Dooow, life's so hard!

(Where are my maths guys: this calculation is really hard to get exactly right because every time you get the alcohol content correct you've changed the volume so the percentage is wrong.)

[Hashi Lebwohl]

Question: how much 38% gin must be added to a 250ml can of 8% G&T mix to bring the resulting abv up to exactly (exactly mind you, I'm as punctilious as they are pennypinching) 10%?

Let g = number of mL of 38% gin.

.38g + 250*.08 = (g + 250)(.10)
.38g + 20 = .1g + 25
.28g = 5
g = 17.857 mL

To measure that accurately would require borrowing some pipets from the chemistry lab...but the brewmeisters should have some in their testing lab, as well.

[wayfriend]

Damn punctiliousness, and call it a shot.

[Icarus Unfallen]

In this case, does punctiliousness just mean giving a dram?

Actually, 17.857 ml is about 5 drams...but who's counting?

[wayfriend]

In this case, does punctiliousness just mean giving a dram?

Heh. Nice shot.

[JIkj fjds j]

Let g = number of mL of 38% gin.

.38g + 250*.08 = (g + 250)(.10)
.38g + 20 = .1g + 25
.28g = 5
g = 17.857 mL

To measure that accurately would require borrowing some pipets from the chemistry lab...but the brewmeisters should have some in their testing lab, as well.

After several attempts with an ordinary kitchen measuring jug, not having pipets or a chemistry set, my results were: two parts, The Wild Rover, to three parts, Show Me The Way To Go Home.