Americans

[CHEEKY FOIL GUY]

I want to know why american insist on trying to change everything. A piste is not a strip it is a PISTE. A guard is not a bell guard is just a GUARD. A riposte is not a return it is a RIPOSTE. These are the terms that have been used for a long time leave them alone. This is a european sport not an american one, even though mopst americans are that stupid they dont realise that there is life outside of american.
I remember one american asking me did we have TV's in Britian. Need i say more.
Lets face it in america finishing high school is a big deal. In the rest of the modern world it is expected.
So if anyone out there agrees with me leave a message and tell me what u think.

[floretje]

I agree with you, but they are not the only ones who change things. I heard some British people say: Ready? Go! Instead of: Et vous pres? Allez! And the German people say: Boden! Instead of: Parterre!
Maybe they just need to learn the French terms. It's not that difficult. Just a few French words.
Well, that was it actually.

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kus floretje

[epeetaph]

Well Cheeky that just shows what kind of Americans you know. The quote about tv's in Britain, well, that just shows you right there. No matter where you go there are always some people who are just braindead, or haven't used the stuff up there in so long they couldn't if they tried (and they don't try). I don't know where you heard the quote of finishing high school from, but it's expectected where I live. College is expected as well. The only question is how much of it. (Masters, Doctors degree, what?).

As far as the fencing terminology goes...perhaps it's just slang terms for common fencing terms. Surely you have slang terms in Britain? Yes, of course you do, every place does. Just because it's slang doesn't mean it's right or wrong, just different. Perhaps more people will know what we are talking about, and understand terminology better if we use it.

Now, to the idea of it's only a European sport, I say it's a sport where-ever it is played. If it's played in Panama, it's just as much a sport there as it is in Britain or America.

[This message has been edited by epeetaph (edited 03-04-2001).]

[Moonitic]

If someone doesn't know something, it doesn't mean they're stupid. It just means they don't know it. No one in the world knows EVERYthing about EVERY country EVER to exist. Getting your undergarments in a bunch over it is pointless & shows that you have nothing better to do with your life.

And yes, the British DO use slang: Bobbies, faggots, rubbers (as in erasers?), etc...

I sense another attack of fencing sucks punks...I could have a FIELD day correcting Cheeky's post. It's riddled with incorrect grammar & a serious lack of punctuation (they have that in England too, you know). Did you graduate from high school yet, Cheeky? I did. English (not "American") was my best subject, too. This tree may have grown in American soil, but her roots are deep in the English.

[Lordy]

Just great. Now we have to deal with some bloated-head Europeans at our beloved site, bothering us with their silly hubris. Hey buddy, has anything worthwhile happened in the UK since the Magna Carta? And the French, don't get me started... You can take your red pants and your elan and walk right into a Maxim machine gun for all I care you silly man.

[The Bayer Hunter]

Americans are cool. So are Canadians, Europeans, and Africans. The next time you get your *** kicked by a fencer that doesn't use the proper French words, you should worry less about what they call the moves, and more about why you lost. A duck, a squat, a petit bonhomme...they all mean the same thing when you just missed your attack and see your opponent looking up at you laughing.

Close your dictionary and do some footwork!

[saberwillie]

hey there foil guy that may bee a bit much. Fencing is a sport and really dont think it belongs to any one we enjoy it. So we are apart of what makes fencing fun. you on the other hand are why many dont want to try fencing. Ok, the words are used some times are incorrect but its not a big deal every one has his or her own way of explaing this so dont so bent out of shape about

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[Oor Wullie]

Moonitic,

Just a wee note on the slang front. 'Bobbies' isn't really used here anymore, except maybe down the pensioner's club. Copper, pig, fuzz are all more modern day alternatives.

As for faggot, I always thought that was an American slang. The lovely British alternatives for this unsavoury term are: 'Poof','Gay boy', 'Queer' etc...

I do have to say, though, that Scottish slang is much more descriptive!

As for the post...well, I'm not a great believer in tradition anyway, and changing the terminology for fencing isn't exactly a big crime. As for America wanting to change the world, I remember the wonderful habit we British had of colonisation and butchery. Slightly worse than changing a word or two!

[This message has been edited by Oor Wullie (edited 03-05-2001).]

[Lumberg]

Who ever said we insist on changing everthing? The USFA isn't mandating rules on terminolgy changes.
Who is to say fencing is a European sport? A Korean won the 2000 Olympics men's individual foil gold medal. Britian didn't even come close.
Have you ever visited America? You are naive and small-minded in your own little world.

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Lumberg.
"...ahhh, we have sort of a problem here... yeah, you apparently didn't put one of the new cover sheets on your TPS report"

[arcon]

[ 10-19-2001: Message edited by: arcon ]

[arcon]

[ 10-19-2001: Message edited by: arcon ]

[Mergs]

Prime, seconde, tierce, quarte, quince, sixte, septime, octave

These are french terms?

In quartata, pasa de soto?

Hmmmmm. To this backwoods Texan them sound like mexican or eye-talian.

[Bugaboo]

re "This is a european sport, not an american one...":

When we fence in my club, it's OUR sport. At that moment of competition, the rest of the world doesn't exist.

Fortunately, I'll never fence in Europe, so no one there should lose any sleep about how I mangle the language and terms. Life is too short to fret about such silliness.

Viva la difference, ya'll!

---

As for rude, flame-baiting, message posters: We should try to be patient and ignore people like that as much as possible. They get bored without a fight and move away after a while.




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[saberkid]

"This is a european sport, not an american one..."

excuese me? so what do you want us to do? just stop fencing all together? is that what you expect? realy... the fact of the matter is, is that fencing is a world sport! and about some of the terms... I've never herd somebody say parry return, no it is riposte...

about stupid americans... the same could be said for any place in the world (just look at your self, your being all close-minded!)

thats all for now Chris

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Fence with the best die like the rest!

[scarlet_woman156k]

Cheeky, that's like saying Americans should call the bathroom a water closet and call a cigarette a fag, baby carriage/pram, the list can go on and on.

It's called differences in language and communication. There are different accents, dailects, word usage and slang in English. The same would apply to fencing.

Get over it.

scarlet.


[This message has been edited by scarlet_woman156k (edited 03-07-2001).]

[Moonitic]

It really doesn't matter to me how/when slang is used. I could go back to the middle ages, where they called stupid people "addle pated." The point is, people have used slang for a long time, & will continue to use it. For this person (he's probably not even European, just a bored teen) to get mad...I think whoever suggested that he lost to someone who was better than him is right. Get a better hobby, Cheeky!

[walrus418]

well, sometimes i tell the folks in the class to go put your "hats" on ....

[chilli]

Can I get an AMEN? Mergs
As a Native-American living in Britain(well, actually Wales, that sort of counts, lol), I can truly say that you can find types like Cheeky just about anywhere. Lift a rock, et voila. Just kidding, Cheeky, don't get your knickers in a twist (to use the very British admonishment). The club where I first learned fencing, in Florida, did not use those terms that Cheeky mentioned. I guess we were to busy kicking butt to worry about slang or changing the world.

BTW,Oor Wullie, isn't a "faggot" a mushy bit of pork mince drowning in brown goo?

[Oor Wullie]

Chilli, you're absolutely right, but it's not a term that is used very often anymore in that context!

[Mergs]

I thought "faggot" was a bundle of twigs/wood.

Isn't mushy pork chinese?