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What is your favorite inconsequential fan theory? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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I'm talking about a fan theory, that if true doesn't drastically upend the fundamentals of the fiction it is set in.

Mine is that in the American Dad episode 'Can I Be Frank With You', that Snot's uncle is actually just another Roger persona. He appears suddenly and conveniently to pitch a bizarre scheme, he loves hanging around with teen boys and doing drugs, and the very instant that the plan has a setback he kills himself out of sight of everyone else. That's just Roger in a suit and glasses.

Edit: Ok, so, people are having trouble with the word "inconsequential".

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[-] leftzero@lemmynsfw.com 8 points 1 month ago

One letter for one sound is a lot less complicated ðan two letters representing two sounds.

Most languages that use alphabets have digraphs representing different sounds than their composing letters. It's trivial to understand that ‘th’ represents a different sound than ‘t’ or ‘h’.

Most sane languages, on the other hand, don't use the same letter or digraph to represent half a dozen different sounds (and when they do they use diacritic marks to distinguish them... which English only uses, without explanation, in borrowed words like fiancé or façade, which might actually be more confusing to native speakers than to ESL ones), or half a dozen letters and digraphs to represent the same sound.

you clearly didn't check my profile

I've got enough of a headache from deciphering your posts, thank you

asshats

Pot, kettle...

[-] HelixDab2@lemm.ee 1 points 1 month ago

Really? They read pretty straightforward to me. THe only real issue I have is that I can't hear a distinction between a thorn and an eth, so the usage seems arbitrary to me. I know that Icelandic people say there's a difference, and at least one has tried to explain it, but I can't hear it.

[-] apostrofail@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Ether & either are the same word in everything but the voicing of the ‘th’. Other voicing distinctions in English are like those as between fox & vox or sip & zip. Done ‘correctly’ you can feel your throat vibrate (tho not all languages have voicing & those native speakers can find it difficult).

[-] HelixDab2@lemm.ee 2 points 1 month ago

Yeah, I'm not feeling a distinction in any of those in the way I speak. :/

Ether/either to me only sound different in the e/ei. Same with fox/vox and sip/zip (if someone just said the word itself, without context, I don't think I could tell which they were saying because the f and v sounds are also very close to each other in my ear).

[-] apostrofail@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Skill issue! Nah, I have met plenty people that have the same reaction (English isn’t their first language). However, these sound are distinguishable by native speaker and will leave folks confused on occasion due to the ambiguity, or worse, hearing the wrong word entirely. The good news is that it can be learned and isn’t that difficult—you could probably pick it up from a video tutorial in a couple of minutes in your native language to which then it is just practice.

[-] HelixDab2@lemm.ee 1 points 1 month ago

I am a native English speaker though...

[-] apostrofail@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

That’s quite weird then since f & v, s & z, þ & ð are distinguishable sounds based on voicing. The only exception that is pretty wide spread for “th” sounds is in Ireland, but there is a quality difference is the aspiration between the two usually. Are you sure you are paying attention the vibrations of the throat?

this post was submitted on 27 Oct 2024

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