She has a point

I found this (you guessed it) on the board in good ol' room 105. I can't say I know who this Kiki is, (if you do, speak up!) but I do think she has a point.

BTW, I <3 you too, Sra:)

IAtionary: Formula Shopping

For-mu-la Shop-ping [FAWR-myuh-luh shop-ing] n.

1. The act of searching for the proper formula, equation or expression to use for solving a fisix (or, on occasion, math) problem; OK, so I know that K is one, and I know that time, being an endless motif, must be infinity. I need to find the poor child's velocity...time to go formula shopping!
2. A process into which one puts givens and finds, and out of which one takes givens, finds and an equals (=) sign

Language of Origin: Lyonese to Fisixian

IAtionary: Magic Box

Ma-gic Box [MAJ-ik bahks] n.

1. A device used to simplify tedious calculations, specifically a TI graphing calculator; I don't wanna do this by hand... Lemme go over to the magic box... Aha! 42!

Language of Origin: Guestean to Mathemagician

Marketing

In Spanish Language Culture, Mr. Stibitz was talking about problems that may arise during translation. For example, he told us about a particular model of car that sold well in English-speaking countries, but was a dud in those that spoke Spanish. This car was the Chevy Nova, which did not sell well solely because of its name. No va is actually Spanish for "doesn't go."

Unfortunately, I have to counter this assertion with this link. It's still funny though.

IAtionary: Citsatnaf

Cit-sat-naf [sit-sat-naf] adj.

1. Poorly done, obviously hurried; I didn't have time to work on my ToK Oral because of my math internal assessment...it came out pretty citsatnaf.
2. Unworthy of a high grade

Mr. Majask has a stamp that says "Fantastic!" on it, like many teachers before him. He stamped something of mine a while ago to show that he had seen it and recorded a grade. I was looking at the questions on the back of the page, and saw that the stamp had bled through.

When you reverse a word, you also reverse its meaning.

"The IA" or just "IA"? (Check all that apply)

The options were:

1. "The IA." It sounds more professional.
2. "The IA." Any school whose students know what "definite article" means should include one.
3. "The IA." We're one of a kind.
4. Just "IA." Articles are a waste of ink and air.
5. Just "IA." The fewer words copied directly from another source the better.
6. Just "IA." No one knows when to say "thuh" and when to say "thee," so best to leave it alone

The results are in!

In sixth place, option 5 with only 6% of voters. Apparently, the MLA doesn't have as much control over us as I'd thought.

Options 1 and 4 are tied in fourth, with 20% each.

Third place goes to option 2, with 26%. Perhaps IA students aren't really all that attached to their persnickety grammar points... nah, couldn't be.

Finally, in a tie for first place, with 33% of voters each, options 3 and 6. So I guess there is no consensus... which means I get to be the deciding vote! I always just say "IA," so I'll go with option 6. Not that it's entirely true, because lots of people, especially at IA, do know the difference, (it should be "thee" in this case, if you're wondering,) but I thinks that holds true in a more general sense.

And the word for this in English is "democratic" and it is spelled d-e-m-o-c-r-a-t-i-c.

IAtionary: DDDQM

DDDQM [dee-dee-dee-kyoo-EM; dee-dee-dee-KYOO-em] inj.

1. An expression of general confusion or lack of understanding
2. A way to refer to ...? in an IM conversation while making it seem as purposefully out of place as it does in spoken English
3. A manner of avoiding the fact that the effect achieved by "...?" out loud is very hard to replicate in an IM due to its not seeming out of place

Language of Origin: IMese to Spoken English to IMese

Alternate Spellings: dddqm; DDD...QM?; ddd...qm?

Camp

So I've been away at camp for the past week, and therefore haven't been paying much attention to Only At IA. However, as you may have noticed, I have enough scheduled posts to keep it updating automatically all month, after which I'll be home to stay. I'll be home on the weekends as well, so I can answer your comments and all that fun stuff then:) Meanwhile, I have to make a quick exception to OAIA's most important rule: I'm going to talk about something that happened somewhere else. Indeed, that place is camp. The reasoning I'm using to justify this blatent deviation from the site's primary driving force is this: it's something that could have happened at IA...and if you get it, it's really, really funny.

At the end of each week of camp, we have a big picnic/slash/cookout to which all the campers and staff come. I was standing outside talking to another counselor named Brian, who is very linguistically talented. We had talked about some fun stuff the day before, like how to speak Denglisch (he also studies German), the rules of Russian Reversal, and the incredibly weird grammatical structure of the language he is in the process of writing. Anyway, at the picnic, he gave a metal chain to one of the campers standing around us, explaining that it was a reward: if a kid does something nice, they get to wear it for a day. He told us that it was completely unbreakable. Then:

Me: I bet the Flying Spaghetti Monster could break it.
Brian: Only if the teapot is aligned between the Sun and the Earth.
Me: No, the teapot is way out past Mars.
Brian: Prove it.

We both immediately, and quite literally, doubled over laughing. The kids, confused, could not decide whether or not they should be laughing too. We've told the story to several people that we thought would get it, and it's just as awesome every time.

IAtionary: Marx Scheme

Marx Scheme [MAHRKS skeem] n.

1. A method of scoring tests, papers, and other assignments based on the idea that credit should be given out to candidates as they need it, and that (if handled competently) there should always be enough credit to fulfill everyone's needs
2. A method of avoiding the social tensions created by letter grades; A: Ha! I got an A and you got a C! I must be better than you! B: I sure wish the test had been graded using a Marx Scheme...maybe then you would see that we are all equal to each other, and that these divisions are unjust!
3. An ideology based on the principles of "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs"

Language of Origin: IBan

Alternate Spelling: Mark Scheme

Honesty

I don't like it when teachers assign too much homework...but at least most of them are usually pretty straightforward/honest about it. Here's Exhibit B (first, Exhibit A): these two images of Mr. Giromini's whiteboard, taken on the same day. I like the contrast between the outright emphasis on "two" and the more subdued parenthetical exclamation mark:



There were forty-four problems. It really was a lot. And when he collected it, he asked, "You did the worksheets, right? That I posted with it?" He had us for a sec.

Ich mag Deutsch

Throughout my studies of the Juhrmen language, I've come across several false friends that I find entertaining. The first of which is the word Igel, pronounced like eagle. It does not mean eagle, it means hedgehog. In German class, when we were in a circle playing a game, Frau Boyle was asking us to name examples of things from different categories. When she said Tiere (animals), I was first to respond with my favorite word in the world, Schnabeltier, which means platypus. Austin then said Igel, and Frau Boyle asked him if he knew what it meant. He did. She then asked if anyone knew how to say eagle in German, to which at least one person responded "Hegdehog!" (It's actually der Adler.)

I also like bald (bahlt) meaning soon, fast meaning almost, Roman (roh-MAHN) meaning novel and Rock (a masculine noun) meaning skirt.

Finally, there's das Gift. I first saw this one on a flash card that someone in German 10 had made, and then I confirmed it by asking Phil. Get this: it doesn't mean gift, it means poison. Wikipedia enlightens us:

Gift originally had the same meaning in English and German. About thousand years ago, this word was sometimes used as euphemism for "poison" in German. During the centuries following, by a process of "pejoration", this meaning of "Gift" became predominant. Today, "poison" is the only meaning for German "Gift", except in the word Mitgift ("dowry") which in German means das Mitgegebene, "that which is given with (the wedding)".

That makes sense, I guess. It's still pretty funny though. Click here for more, then click here just for fun.

IAtionary: Francias

Fran-ci-as [frahn-SEE-ahs]

1. n. The French language, culture, or people; Hey, do you know what fromage means? No, sorry, I don't take Francias. You could ask Clément, he is Francias.
2. adj. Of or relating to the French language, culture, or people

Language of Origin: Francias

Alternate Spelling: Françias

Tangent: A ToK Love Song!?

Some months ago, near the beginning of ToK, I saw a video on YouTube that made me think of the class. I couldn't help it: I posted it to the discussion board with this post's title as the subject. I figure that this applies to everyone at the IA, not just those special few in my ToK class, so I'm reposting it here. But I am going to use the same text that I posted then, albeit with the insertion of this paragraph and an embed instead of a link:

Hello everyone: I saw this the other day and I couldn't help but share it here. I don't expect this to count for points or anything, it's just for fun. Hank Green, a popular vlogger on YouTube, was challenged to write a song consisting of only ten words. He picked: I, You, Baby, Think, Know, That, But, Maybe, What, and Don't. Being a true IA student, I thought of ToK. "Baby, I know that you don't know what I know," I mean, c'mon! It's fun to listen closely enough to hear that the all sentences actually make sense, and they're the kind of thing you'd hear in ToK. Well, some of them are, anyway. I liked it a lot, and I hope you enjoy it as well!



You can stop watching after the song ends at 1:27 if you want. And I promise that the rest of my posts will be extra-relavent, to even it out:)