[Foundation-l] Re: [Wikipedia-l] Status of Serbia and Montenegro chapter

Tue Nov 8 02:49:19 UTC 2005

On 11/8/05, Mark Williamson <node.ue at gmail.com> wrote:

> Soon enough, the Zlatiborians will wage a struggle for independence
> against their evil Serbian oppressors, and they will emerge
> victorious! Finally, the inhabitants of Mt Zlatibor will be able to
> live free from the shackles of Serbian oppression, and their culture
> will be admired internationally for its glory and beauty!
>
> When that time comes, the enemies of the Zlatiborian people, yourself
> included, will meet with swift justice, and let me tell you it will
> not be pleasant!

Mark,

When the matter goes as far as Milos saying that the Serbian and
Montenegro Chapter does not want to be part of Wikimedia, I think you
should really try to evaluate what damage you have caused.

I am going to ask you to finally make your point and stop playing
around. I have reread this whole thread and am now convinced this is
all a hoax. Great. Very funny. Can you please make your point and let
us be finished with this whole thing?

I am also going to ask you to consider one thing, you the paragon of
forgotten languages and languages in general. You seem to have
forgotten one very important thing. You have been leading this whole
hoax in English, using irony and double-meanings, with emphasis and
great sentences. But you are dealing with people (myself included) who
are not native English speakers. And who, as you may have noticed,
have failed to see the irony and have taken the matter at heart. In
short, you have been using them.

As a non-native English speaker, and yet someone who strives to master
the language, I am probably best placed to say how the most difficult
thing to catch in a language is humour. And how when humour is lost on
someone and you see it drift in seriousness, you should just hold you
hand up and say "stop! I was joking". Hurting feelings and making fun
of people because they don't speak your language is about the worst
thing I can see happening in this supposedly "multicultural"
community. Most of us are making efforts to address you in a language
you master, you have not made that effort. Not even one little bit.

I feel this is not only inconsiderate, but also plain nasty.

On another note, I am sorry to tell you that you have, on top of
playing with people's feelings, failed to make your point. At least,
*I* have failed to see where you were leading. Blame it on my
non-English-speaker-ness, or whatever else suits your funny self. But
hey, target missed. Game over.

I will add just one thing. You and all of the other native English
speakers who played along and never tried to clear things up should
really once try and put themselves in our shoes. Once. Just once. I
believe it would help. Really.

Cheers,

Delphine
--
~notafish