“You’re dim.” Geez, doc! Psyhological trauma, much? Whatever happened to “do no harm?”
And really, that sort of statement should be levelled at some other cast members before Selkie.
Like Then . . .
Given that English is his second language, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if this was an over-literal translation between Selkie and English that overlooked the secondary connotations of ‘dim’ in English.
Or to try and simplify, the word for turning the eye flames off in Selkie translates as ‘Dim’, and he didn’t catch that calling a person dim is an insult in English, possibly because it’s a colloquialism and not part of the formal meaning of the world.
I’m not sure why so many people are taking umbrage with Pohl’s teasing-phrasing there. It’s obviously meant as a light-hearted joke, and Selkie is nowhere NEAR as sensitive to that sort of stuff as Amanda is – just look at their marker-fight as evidence of that. I can’t recall whether she’s had that type of exchange with others, though.
“Dim” isn’t an insult here. It’s not even teasing. Look at Pohl’s expression. Imagine his tone of voice: delighted triumph. Affectionate triumph. It’s a “You did it!”
There’s no way Selkie could take it for anything but praise. And given that she’s been trying hard and has been frustrated at not getting it, I don’t think she’ll pretend to misunderstand.
Of course, this is only a beginning. There’s a long road ahead, and she’s only just learned that she can balance on the bicycle.
I mean, she’s probably immediately confused. English may not be her first language, but by now it’s definitely her primary one, so him excitedly/happily telling her she’s “stupid” is gonna be a bit odd for a second.
Really? In the context of “My eyes are glowing, and I have been trying very hard to make them stop”? I should think the other primary dictionary meaning of “dim” — that is, “not glowing” — is the obvious one both meant and understood here, rather than the slangy insulting metaphorical meaning which doesn’t make any sense.
I mean, sure, if she was intent on purposely misunderstanding him just to be mischievous, she could. But she has been living in English for half her life. Unless she had quite literally never once heard the primary meaning of the word, she’s got to be adept enough at picking up context not to be confused here.
She has a Sarnothi accent in English, the extra esses, which she doesn’t want to work on getting rid of, but I don’t remember her ever having a comprehension problem.
I don’t think anyone took umbrage with Pohl. My post was made while delighted with the comedic misunderstanding, but I think it read as genuinely dismayed. I should have added a laughing emoticon.
Yay, progress!
Selkie may not see it as such yet, but it is a step towards control.
The first small steps towards becoming queens of the universe!
and thus toward world domination!
Remeber that the first step of mastering the known universe, is mastering your own super-powers.
😀 Whoop! Love is her trigger! I mean yeah it’s kinda obvious but whoop! 😀
Did Selkie’s mom’s eyes change color from the previous page?
yes, they did….though whether thats an accident or supposed to be connected to her echo-powers is not clear (yet)
aaah like how Pohl has gold eyes, but his eye fire was green back when he was telling his kid a bedtime story.
I used the wrong eye color by accident on the strip prior. 😡
“You’re dim.” Geez, doc! Psyhological trauma, much? Whatever happened to “do no harm?”
And really, that sort of statement should be levelled at some other cast members before Selkie.
Like Then . . .
Yeah, he should have said “You dimmed.” but there’s no potential for ‘comedic misunderstanding’ in that.
Given that English is his second language, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if this was an over-literal translation between Selkie and English that overlooked the secondary connotations of ‘dim’ in English.
Or to try and simplify, the word for turning the eye flames off in Selkie translates as ‘Dim’, and he didn’t catch that calling a person dim is an insult in English, possibly because it’s a colloquialism and not part of the formal meaning of the world.
yep, that looks like what happened to me
I find this exchange kind of reminds me of the comments on S&K 544. Funnily enough.
I doubt Selkie would be loathe of light-hearted teasing like that, though – nowhere near like Amanda in that regard.
BREAKTHROUGHS!
Terrible teacher! Insulting his pupil! … I thought better of Pohl.
I’m not sure why so many people are taking umbrage with Pohl’s teasing-phrasing there. It’s obviously meant as a light-hearted joke, and Selkie is nowhere NEAR as sensitive to that sort of stuff as Amanda is – just look at their marker-fight as evidence of that. I can’t recall whether she’s had that type of exchange with others, though.
“Dim” isn’t an insult here. It’s not even teasing. Look at Pohl’s expression. Imagine his tone of voice: delighted triumph. Affectionate triumph. It’s a “You did it!”
There’s no way Selkie could take it for anything but praise. And given that she’s been trying hard and has been frustrated at not getting it, I don’t think she’ll pretend to misunderstand.
Of course, this is only a beginning. There’s a long road ahead, and she’s only just learned that she can balance on the bicycle.
I mean, she’s probably immediately confused. English may not be her first language, but by now it’s definitely her primary one, so him excitedly/happily telling her she’s “stupid” is gonna be a bit odd for a second.
Really? In the context of “My eyes are glowing, and I have been trying very hard to make them stop”? I should think the other primary dictionary meaning of “dim” — that is, “not glowing” — is the obvious one both meant and understood here, rather than the slangy insulting metaphorical meaning which doesn’t make any sense.
I mean, sure, if she was intent on purposely misunderstanding him just to be mischievous, she could. But she has been living in English for half her life. Unless she had quite literally never once heard the primary meaning of the word, she’s got to be adept enough at picking up context not to be confused here.
She has a Sarnothi accent in English, the extra esses, which she doesn’t want to work on getting rid of, but I don’t remember her ever having a comprehension problem.
so anyway, what’s the odds Selkie is NOT going to deliberately misunderstand here? XD
As regards the transcript, “Baking Apples In Dimming Embers” would be a good name for a emo band. 🙂
Selkie was always a little DimmmmmMMMMMMMMHHHMMMMMMMMMMM
Couldn’t resist.
I don’t think anyone took umbrage with Pohl. My post was made while delighted with the comedic misunderstanding, but I think it read as genuinely dismayed. I should have added a laughing emoticon.