How are we supposed to know whether a name is Icelandic or not???

My best bet on that is....Avoid anyone who only performs in Norway !! Plus search the name in Yahoo!! If it doesn't come up...don't use it !!

Now to me that seems rather woolly. Are you saying that we can use a name with safety if it does come up in Yahoo? Provided they don't sing only in Norway??? What if they sing only in Iceland?

I'm not saying anything, I'm just telling you what I have done....I could have put a longer name in today but thought twice about it as it seemed a bit dodgy and I didn't want to get challenged !!

What you do is up to you, but just be wary that you can be challenged !!

Good morning Sypher..........

Is the rule for needing 3 websites for verification still in effect for this game?

Just curious, as some of these 'opera' people can only be found at 1, sometimes 2 websites.

Thanks.

BL

Good point....Depend how good your site is....I reckon you are only asking me this, as you have found a very long name that can't be found anywhere !!

If your site can be found, and the name is correct (Unlike mine was according to our Icelandic expert), then feel free to post. If it gets challenged...well...wouldn't that person need 3 sites to verify that your entry is incorrect !!

With this subject, there are not a lot of comprehensive sites, so the 3 site rule if flexible this game.

I was preoccupied for the end of the Icelandic challenge yesterday, but I'd like to put in my nickel's worth:
I double majored in Russian Studies at my little alma pater in New Jersey, and Russian names also employ patronymics. IMHO, these are routinely accepted as surnames, and they are only slightly removed from the common English names of "Jack-son" (son of Jack), "John-son" (son of John), "B****-son" (son of B****) and "W" (son of a Bush)!!! I think it isn't a grey area at all but a legitimate last name.

If that's the case....would that mean Zozo's challenge was wrong and I should have got an extra 10 points ? (Now, it is me who is asking the question)

Hey Bridelady,

That was the entry I was gonna use this morning, but I thought that was too dodgy due to Zozo challenging my last entry.

Your opera was sung in Norway and even I couldn't find that person's name in full. I say you are risking everything for a lousy two extra points...

Sypher....is that a challenge? If so, I'll be happy to supply a defense.

(I guess the website you referred to yesterday wasn't the one I thought it was, otherwise you would have found my entry.)

Sypher, before I answer your question, can I have half the points if I agree with you???
Seriously, I would say you won the challenge. Sorry, zozo!!

i will argue there is a significant difference between Icelandic and Russian patronymics. The Russian patronymic is generally used as a middle name, I believe.

A short article on Icelandic names

quote:

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Icelandic Names
Most Icelanders still follow the age old tradition of using the first name of their father as the basis for their last name.
"Son" (= son) is added to the fathers name if the child is a boy, and "dóttir" (= daughter) if the child is female.
Family names as such are not commonly used in Iceland, and the question "Do you know Bjarnason?"
is really meaningless, as the definition is missing.

As each Icelander's name is an individual property, the names do not change in marriage.

Icelanders address each other by their first names on all occasions, even when great respect is demanded. The telephone book is ordered by first names, and we can know a person for a long time without finding out the last name. Our current prime minister is Mr. Davíð Oddsson. You simply address him as Davíð. Our president Mr. Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson is simply addressed as Ólafur, - of course. People are born equal here ;-)

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It is improper to call the president Mr Grimsson or President Grimmson. He can be called 1) (President) Olafur 2) (President) Olafur Ragnar 3) (President) Olafur Ragnar Grimsson 4) (President) Olafur Grimsson (not quite as correct as the others)

In 1991 the Icelandic government passed a law forbidding family names being given to children anymore (about 10% of Icelander now have family names, these are people mainly of Danish or Norweigan descent). Children born now must be given a patronymic (or in some cases a matronymic). People becoming Icelandic citizens must take an Icelandic first name (they are allowed to keep their surname) and their children must be named using the patronymic.

My challenge was based on the fact that an Icelandic name must be retained in the proper order, the last name can never be placed first.

[ 07-12-2001: Message edited by: zozo ]

Tis I, PinDrivel....

Quips of Dave Barry:

Please do not misunderstand me: I am not saying that people cannot enjoy opera. I am just saying that these people are wrong. They also could be in big medical trouble.

I base this statement on an Associated Press article, sent in by many alert readers, concerning an alarming incident in Denmark involving an okapi, which is a rare African mammal related to the giraffe. The article states that this okapi--I am not making this quotation up--''died from stress apparently triggered by opera singers.''

The okapi was not actually attending an opera when this happened. It was in a zoo located 300 yards from a park where opera singers were rehearsing. A zoo spokesperson was quoted as saying that okapis ''can be severely affected by unusual sounds.''

So here are the essential facts:
1. An okapi, minding its own business, was killed by opera music being sung three football fields away.
2. Okapis are members of the mammal family.
3. Most human beings, not counting Congress, are also members of the mammal family.

When I consider these facts together, a very disturbing question comes to my mind, as I'm sure it does yours: What were three football fields doing in Denmark?

Another question is: Could opera, in sufficient dosages, also be fatal to human beings? The only way to find out is to conduct a scientific experiment, in which we would take a group of volunteer subjects--and as the person proposing this experiment, I am willing to courageously volunteer that these subjects should be scientists from the Tobacco Institute--strap them into chairs, and blast opera at them 24 hours a day until such time as they are dead.

Of course to insure that this experiment was scientifically valid, we'd also need what is known technically as a ''control''; this would be a second group of volunteer Tobacco Institute scientists, who would be strapped into chairs and blasted with some other kind of music. I am thinking here of the Neil Diamond Christmas album.

Once this experiment had proved scientifically that opera music is fatal, it would be time to think about requiring that some kind of Surgeon General warning be prominently displayed on Luciano Pavarotti. Also we'd have to study the effects of ''secondhand opera,'' which is what you get when inconsiderate individuals start humming opera music in a poorly ventilated office, and suddenly their co-workers are dropping like flies, especially if their co-workers happen to be okapis.

Ultimately, we may have to ban opera altogether, along with -- you can't take chances with the public health -- ballet, non-rhyming poetry, movies with subtitles and any kind of sculpture that does not accurately depict naked women. I realize that, for taking this stand, I'm going to be harshly criticized by the so-called ''cultured'' crowd. But I frankly cannot worry about that, because I have the courage of my convictions.

Also ''Inspector Gadget'' is on.

For Sypher

What is a snake's favorite opera?

Wriggletto.

Nuff said

Bridelady...that wasn't a challenge, and I did find your entry on the site I am using, just thought better of it, just in case !!

Still not sure, even after Zozo's explanation...it's all a foreign language to me !!

Good morning, Sypher, now I am confused!

quote:

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##### NEW RULE ####

If you want to point out a mistake in someone's entry without challenging them, then PM them...do not post it in the SnakeTalk thread, otherwise it could be considered a challenge.

---

I guess the key word here is 'could'?

Also, you said you hadn't been able to find this guy's name in full, yet you said you saw it on the same website? And just because an opera is sung in Norway, does that necessarily mean the singer is Norwegian? If that's the case, I wouldn't have had the pleasure of seeing the Three Tenors last year here in the U. S. of A.

Ok, now I'm ticked: I love Fortuanta, but how is it that my score is dead last without ever missing a day and by default, Fortunata is ahead of me only having started on Wednesday??? I'm sorry, but I think that the default score for the day should not give a person an advantage - what am I missing here???

LOL Mama. If Sypher gives me any more "O"s I'm planning on not posting an entry and going for the default score instead!!

Good morning Sypher!

I posed a question to you on Friday about the NEW rule. I was wondering if you could address it. Did you or did you not break the NEW rule? I believe you did and therefore should lose points according to this rule!

However, as I pointed out Friday, if the magic word for you in the wording of the rule is 'could', then you'd be correct in your scoring. In which case, what is the point of the rule, and how are the rest of us supposed to interpret it? lol

BL

Add me to the list of questions from Friday waiting for your response, Sypher. I'm serious - I don't think that a person who plays every day should have a lower score that the default score for someone who misses or skips or joins in late. Please think about this - before BL gives me another "G" - !!

I take it you haven't seen the scores posted for today....it shows Fortunata with a point less than you. This was the entire weeks default...

As for Bridelady and the new rule.....I wasn't challenging, never mentioned it or pointed out that your entry could be wrong....all I stated was that I was going to pick that, but thought twice about using it in case it got challenged.

Ah, so true Sypher, but in doing so you definitely intimated that there was a problem with my entry, thereby lending the aura of a bogus entry on my part. Better that you not have said anything, heh? lol

There are ways to be cunning and devious and there are ways to be smart.....I'm not saying anything now that can be held against me in a Court of Bridelady !! lol

Sorry, Sypher, I hadn't looked at the scores - just the thread. I appreciate your consideration.

LOL Sypher......that's a great comeback!

ATTENTION, everyone:

quote:

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##### NEW RULE ####

If you want to point out a mistake in someone's entry without challenging them, then PM them...do not post it in the SnakeTalk thread, otherwise it could be considered a challenge.

---

............unless you're cunning, devious AND smart!

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I never can hear a crowd of people singing and gesticulating, all together, at an Italian opera, without fancying myself at Athens, listening to that particular tragedy, by Sophocles, in which he introduces a full chorus of turkeys, who set about bewailing the death of Meleager.
....Edgar Allan Poe

[ 07-16-2001: Message edited by: BrideLady ]