Comic will be delayed until further notice. Storm damage knocked out power in half of my town.
Bonte either means Hello or Go Away. Your call.
Comic will be delayed until further notice. Storm damage knocked out power in half of my town.
Ah yes, Todd you are the parent with the child translator.
The way she’s responding, it was a greeting.
But the look on his face in that half picture, and then the way he’s slowly pronouncing the words in the next picture, it just kind of looks like he’s begging.
I had a similar experience in a Chinese food store. Unfortunately I did not have a translator with me. Just a smile and nod, and go on about your business trying to find what you’re looking for when you don’t know what it’s called.
I’m guessing that it’s more like, “Hello. Hey? Hello? Helllloooooo?”, like he’s confused or annoyed that Todd isn’t responding to him by the end.
Idk if it’s because it’s in black and white, or what but the lower left panel…. why do I see that guy talking wildly with his hands in a New York style “fugeddaboutit!” way?
Oh neat. We’re going to learn Sarnothi.
Dunno why Todd can’t understand him; I mean, he’s clearly talking Loud And Slow, the universal language!
Sorry to say, Todd, but the reason why is that you Americans tend to think everyone can speak English.
Not without good reason, as it is the most popular second-language in the world, but the average Sarnothi refugee has not been part of the human world.
I mean more people speak English than any other single language in the world, between 1.5-2 billion. So if you were to pick a person from the world at random, speaking English to them first would be the most logical choice. But that’s globally. It gets even more logical when you’re talking about the US as over 90% speak English at a native or high level. The next closest language is Spanish at around 15%. It’s not hubris, it’s math.
I think you are unfair to imply that Todd’s not thinking about it comes from a place of hubris, even setting the math aside. A much simpler and kinder explanation exists, him not putting two and two together that the Sarnothi shop might be populated by Sarnothi only speaking people (obvious in retrospect) is more than likely him having too many other things to worry about right now like his daughters’ emerging laser powers, his sisters attempts to pump him for information on Sarnothi tech, worrying about government agents, the upcoming wedding, etc.
If Todd was in Spain, and was surprised because people were speaking to him in Spanish instead of English – well, yes, Todd you’re an idiot.
But Todd is not in Spain. Todd is in America, where people are expected to speak English. I realize there are a lot of people in this country that do not speak English, but you expect them to. Because that’s the language we use in this country.
I’d say the best comparison is going somewhere like Chinatown and being surprised that a person there only speaks Mandarin.
“[…] in America, where people are expected to speak English.”
Yeah, you’re expected to know the language, you damn refugees from a war-torn land who know nothing of the human world, much less “America”!
Dude, are you okay? You sound awfully bitter.
Nobody is saying “expected” in the sense of a parent expecting their child to clean their room. As several people have said, it’s “expected” in the sense of “statistically speaking, there’s a very high chance that they DO speak English.”
This is especially true since ALL the other Sarnothi that Todd knows (Selkie, the Pohls, Te Fahn, and Avery’s wife whose name is escaping me) speak English, and to your point, they are also all refugees from a war-torn land. The ONLY thing that Todd failed to think of is that all the other Sarnothi he knows have been above water a lot longer than your average Sarnothi, and as others have said, Todd has a lot of other things that take up space at the front of his mind right now. Your hostility is pretty un-called-for.
HE said something about statistics too man. He was remarking on the poor treatment of migrants, a seperate issue, but often the public face of that plight is people sayibg “In America, we speak AMERICAN, learn it or go away!” So they hide away while learning, being exploited and experience higher crime rates. They pay taxes without healthcare or social security buy ins. If they call public services like the police, and now in Florida even have a medical emergency, they are threatened with deportation or imprisonment simply because they can’t pay even a public defender. And primarily they work in the only industry in this country entirely exempt from the minimum wage.
Its not that he’s saying Todd is guilty of this, he’s saying your assumptions can, not do but can, have negative associations. And its not everyone’s obligation who experiences these kinds of things to educate you, nor remain un-offended at… well I hesitate to call this a microagression. Its pretty upfront actually, if you’re not quite guilty of it.
You’re not a bigot that I can see, but a lot of people with your religious association are. A lot of people who say these kinds of things are. It was clearly a gut reaction, which they’re allowed to have. We all can take two steps back and chill. We are not emotionless robots.
This feels pointlessly aggressive.
@Alpo @dancing4jesus It was Alpo who made it sound mildly condescending, using tbe word idiot and saying ‘In America, where we speak english’ in no uncertain terms. Everyone else has been matter of fact. Even Todd is more “I shouldnt be surprised oh well.” Ya used the exact phrase though.
There actually isnt an official language on the federal level. The founding fathers would be appalled at the sorry state of multilingualism in this country rn. Can’t say I’m better, only know enough spanish to say “Where am I,” request a drink, swear a bit, and say “cute dog/cat/child” or something. But there is NOT an official language. Some states have one.
We did already encounter “Bonte” as a greeting on page 1230.
Yeah, we get a lot of that “you have to speak English” in Britain too. And in Wales, oddly enough…
Sarnothi script! Have we been told about Sarnothi script? Is it alphabetic, syllabic, pictographic?
Am I a bit behind?
Given that it needs only three symbols to say sarnoth food I’d assume pictographic
Or “entrance”, or “push”, or… No, I think you’re right!
They probably wouldn’t have any of those on a big sign above the door. However, the place could well be called something else in Sarnothi – something that is untranslatable or only really makes sense in a Sarnothi cultural context.
I think that it’s almost eerily like Chinese and Japanese Kanji characters.
But not completely.
You could say the first symbol actually represents “Sarnoth” or the Sarnothi, as we’ve seen that one before.
About the other two I would be wildly guessing until we hear from Dave.
If it’s pictografic, I’d say the second character would be symbol for putting something in your mouth, and the third about something in your stomach, or representing solids (or eel steak)…
Huh, I assumed that it was the same place.
Maybe it’s “closed”?
Oh no! I hope everything works out and power is restored soon.
Oh, been there done that. Last year I had power out for six days and the phones and Internet for sixteen days.
Hope for the better, don’t drain your phone battery.
Does it look like this to anyone else? And it’s because it’s neither colored nor shaded, but just a line drawing.
Next to last panel. The bottom of the wall of the building. The man has his left arm resting on his left leg. The bottom of the wall of the building looks like he has his right arm extended – like he’s begging. Got his hand out.
When I first see that panel that’s always the way it looks, even though I know from seeing it previously that’s not it, that’s what it looks like.