Fore You

miss stav · Post by **miss stav** » June 14th, 2008, 12:20 pm

Sentencess like "I'll mc this one fore you" or "I'll pl this one fore you" or "I've added it to the magic window fore you" are very commen in Librivox. Why?
Stav.

AGSec · Post by **AGSec** » June 14th, 2008, 12:49 pm

Probably "thick finger" - "r" and "e" are adjacent on the keyboard.

Cloud Mountain · Post by **Cloud Mountain** » June 14th, 2008, 1:09 pm

An American disease: Chronic txt msging (usually all in lower case)

russiandoll · Post by **russiandoll** » June 14th, 2008, 1:16 pm

Or do you mean 'for you', Stav? ('Fore you' would be, as Graham says, an error, but I'm not sure if it's yours or one you've seen - there's certainly quite a bit of 'for you' about.)

If so, my theory is it's because we like to be - and sound - helpful around here

So I guess it's all down to the nuances of polite English, and now you've made me think about it far too hard...
Just saying, "I'll PL this" maybe might feel a bit, I don't know, demanding, over-assertive to some. "I'll PL this for you" is a bit more, "Hey, I'd love to help you!" Or when an mc posts to a new BC (or soloist), "I'll mc for you", I suppose it's acknowledging that it's the BC's project, in a way - after all, they're the one that's chosen the text.
I suspect it might be more experienced members who say, "I'll X for you", with newer ones more likely to say, "Can/May I X please?" or similar!

There's a whole new field of forum linguistics opening up here. But getting too far into it would be another one for the 'addiction' thread, I think.

Was that at all helpful 'for you'?

rd

gypsygirl · Post by **gypsygirl** » June 14th, 2008, 7:39 pm

In case the question referred to the actual terms, and not their spelling:

MC and PL are both abbreviations. MC stands for meta-coordinator and PL stands for proof-listen or proof-listener (depending on the context). The magic window, which I think you've mentioned you have trouble with, is basically a box in the first post that shows the admin page. Adding things to the magic window refers to adding information to that admin page, whether it's the url to a file, a reader's name or some notes.

miss stav · Post by **miss stav** » June 15th, 2008, 12:26 pm

Yes... I ment for you. Sorry about the spelling mistakes.
Rd, how about "I would like to pl this"? or "I would like to mc this"? I think that would sound much better.
Stav.

kayray · Post by **kayray** » June 15th, 2008, 1:41 pm

I think the common "I'd like to PL this for you", etc., indicates a desire and willingness to be of service.

arturo · Post by **arturo** » June 17th, 2008, 4:09 am

kayray wrote:I think the common "I'd like to PL this for you", etc., indicates a desire and willingness to be of service.

Yes, it makes one feel like a partner with that person who does things for us as we are doing something for others (recording)

.

gone to listen to "you are not alone", and "lean on me"

Post by **hugh** » June 17th, 2008, 5:22 am

Rd, how about "I would like to pl this"? or "I would like to mc this"? I think that would sound much better.

@stav: I think this is just a colloquial usage "problem" ... to my eyes/ears "i'll PL this for you..." sound perfectly cordial and helpful etc (and clear!) whereas "i would like to MC this," ... while slightly more delicate/polite, it's also sightly less direct and hence less certain. this is a wee quibble, but "i will MC this for you" says exactly what will happen, while "i would like to MC this for you..." begs the question, "well, will you??" ...

russiandoll · Post by **russiandoll** » June 17th, 2008, 6:44 am

miss stav wrote:Rd, how about "I would like to pl this"? or "I would like to mc this"? I think that would sound much better.

It would also be fine, but I don't think 'better'. It could sound either (as Hugh says) not as much of a definite commitment as 'I'll...', or as if the person is waiting for confirmation or permission before getting on with it.

I think in such a multinational and diverse forum most of us aren't too fussy about exactly how posts are worded, if the message gets across!

puffin1 · Post by **puffin1** » June 18th, 2008, 2:19 pm

I can't remember exactly where it happened, because it was a while ago. But I witnessed a scene where some children were drawing and coloring pictures. It appeared that the older sister, say seven years old, made a picture to give to her little brother, say five years old. It was presented to him by the mother saying the girl had "made it for you". The boy adamantly objected and refused the picture, and vigorously continued with his own coloring. "But Jason, she made it for you!"

It dawned on me that for all of his still short life, everyone around him was doing things "for him", in the sense that they were inserting their own capability as a replacement for his. Tying his shoes, reaching a faucet, opening a gate, "for him" whenever he struggled a bit with the task. He knew he was capable of doing things for himself, or learning how, and was sick of being interrupted, usurped, and made to feel weak by constantly hearing "Here, let me do that for you". And now his sister was making a picture "for him"?! Back off!! I can make my own picture!! Stop getting in the way of my road to self-sufficiency!! (He didn't say that in so many words, but he meant it).

The additional sense of the phrase was still outside of his usual experience. The sister wanted to present him with a contribution or gift that had nothing to do with replacing his own actions or ability to produce something. He had never heard the words applied in such a way.

So in the spirit of the second sense of the phrase, there are multiple roles to fill in LV projects, and no one does all of them at the same time on the same title. So if miss stav says she will PL a book "for me", she is not replacing my ability to hear, as if I am incapable. She is actually saying, "I want to line up behind you, on your team, to fill a role that is available in the work you have proposed." She is acknowledging my lead role as initiator when she does it "for me" in this context.

Does that make sense?

Starlite · Post by **Starlite** » June 18th, 2008, 2:24 pm

Wow I love that explanation!

russiandoll · Post by **russiandoll** » June 18th, 2008, 2:37 pm

Puffin - yes, yes, yes! You reminded me of this (Part 1, about the valentine).
There are two meanings of 'for you' - and here they're labelled 'substitutive' and 'benefactive'. Here at LibriVox, we're terribly benefactive

CarlManchester · Post by **CarlManchester** » June 18th, 2008, 3:18 pm

Actually, becoming the MC on a project is a very slightly awkward moment (for me, anyway) in terms of not being quite sure how to say it. Very, very slightly, since I hadn't consciously thought about it until now.

I tend to say things like:

I'd really like to MC this one, if I may.

Hold tight and I'll set you up.

So, I'm sort of making a show that my offer might, in principle, be rejected. But at the same time, I'm sort of denying the opportunity to do that and forcing the assumption that I'm going to be MC-ing whether the BC likes it or not.

If an MC uses "for you", it might be objected that they are one of a group of people who reserve an ability for themselves and then they are making it sound like a favour when they offer you their services.

However, I think the MC would be entitled to come back with: "Yes, a favour, that's exactly what it is. I don't expect a present or anything, but let's at least appreciate that I am doing something for you". They're at least being more straightforward than me with my disingenuous "oh, if you'll have me..." approach.

[Incidentally, in case anyone doesn't realise, MC powers are reserved for the very good reason that it involves having passwords, so if they were generally shared, people could vandalise catalogue pages, delete files and cause various other kinds of mischief.]

CarlManchester · Post by **CarlManchester** » June 18th, 2008, 3:24 pm

russiandoll wrote:There are two meanings of 'for you' - and here they're labelled 'substitutive' and 'benefactive'.

I can think of other uses of "for you", as in:

"I've been waiting for you all day";

"I've got a soft spot for you";

"That's the English for you!" (this one might not be international).

These don't seem to be clearly 'substitutive' or 'benefactive', but I've no idea what the correct terms would be.