ZBB Census 2013

[patiku]

That's really all you need to know.

God forbid we get to know you a little better.

[makvas]

That's really all you need to know.

God forbid we get to know you a little better.

In due time. I don't know how much time I'll spend on this board in the future, so I'd rather that determine how much you get to know me rather than a single post would could end up being unnecessary. If you have any questions or would like a chat, I'm open to that.

[finlay]

who are you and how do you have >3000 posts and i still have to ask that question? did you use to be someone else?

[makvas]

who are you and how do you have >3000 posts and i still have to ask that question? did you use to be someone else?

I haven't really posted with any frequency in the last 2-3 years so it's irrelevant anyway, I think.

[Ser]

Zoris.

Nope, I don't recall anything.

[ZMoring]

Basics
Username: ZMoring
Name: Zach Moring
Other nicknames: Jack Boring, Not-Jared, SB ("Selfish Bastard"), all IRL
Birthplace: Austin, TX
Place of residence: San Antonio, TX, at Trinity University
Occupation: Secretary

Identity
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Straight
Relationship: In the prospective stages of one; second date later this week
Nationality: American
Ethnicity: Mostly white, but technically Hispanic
Religion: Spiritually undecided
Politics: Mid-left

Measurements
Age: 17
Height: 6'1''
Weight: 165-170, depending on what I'm wearing
Shoe size: I really have no clue.
Blood type: No clue.
Handedness: Right

Languages
Native language(s): English
Other languages: Spanish (kind of), Ancient Greek and Latin starting next semester (majoring in Classical Languages)
Your conlangs: Too many to name, none of which have ever become anything worthwhile

Favourites: 1 each!
Favourite language: English, 'cause I speak it
Favourite colour: Green
Favourite food: Grandmother's home cookin'
Favourite drink: Water (boring!)
Favourite sport: Rowing
Favourite book: "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
Favourite movie: "O Brother, Where Art Thou"
Favourite game: Changes constantly

Extra credit
Name one interesting talent you have: I'm a state championship expository essay writer
Your favourite pun: Too many to name.

[Cedh]

Basics
Username: cedh audmanh
Name: Jan
Other nicknames: Cedh
Birthplace: Willich, Germany
Place of residence: Tübingen, Germany
Occupation: Academic counselor

Identity
Gender: Male
Sexuality: Straight
Relationship: None
Nationality: German
Ethnicity: European
Religion: Atheist
Politics: Left side of green. Political compass -6.63/-6.75

Measurements
Age: 34
Height: 179 cm
Weight: 72 kg
Shoe size: 43 (European)
Blood type: Don't know
Handedness: Right

Languages
Native language(s): German
Other languages: English, Latin, French, a little Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish and Dutch
Your conlangs: Buruya Nzaysa, Ndok Aisô, Tmaśareʔ, Doayâu, Omari, Hkətl’ohnim, Tsemehkiooni and several others (all part of the Akana project)

Favourites: 1 each!
Favourite language: Georgian and Mohawk
Favourite colour: Orange
Favourite food: Interesting vegetarian dishes
Favourite drink: Coffee
Favourite sport: Soccer
Favourite book: The Languages of Native North America (M. Mithun)
Favourite movie: LOTR
Favourite game: Conlang relay

Extra credit
Name one interesting talent you have: Juggling
Your favourite pun: None

[Rhetorica]

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[KathTheDragon]

Favourite game: Uru

Yay! There are others around!

[masako]

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[Grunnen]

How is it that people in America consider their skin colour an ethnicity?

[masako]

How is it that people in America consider their skin colour an ethnicity?

Who do you mean? I mentioned nothing about skin color.

[Grunnen]

How is it that people in America consider their skin colour an ethnicity?

Who do you mean? I mentioned nothing about skin color.

I wasn't specifically talking about you. But I noticed that people from most places say something like their ethnicitiy is Catalan/French/German/Russian/Flemish or whatever, but Americans say stuff like I'm white or mention their hair colour (as you did). So That left me wondering. What does the word ethnicity mean in America, or what else explains these responses.

[ObsequiousNewt]

How is it that people in America consider their skin colour an ethnicity?

I said "Polish"...

[Grunnen]

How is it that people in America consider their skin colour an ethnicity?

I said "Polish"...

Okay guys, you don't all have to tell me if you said something else, that doesn't answer the question. If it helps, I did notice not all Americans responded in said fashion. So, there you go. Still, can anyone shine some light on the original question?

Also, it wasn't meant to be an attack or anything, I'm just curious.

[masako]

I won't speak for anyone else, but to me ""ethnicity"" is a social category that I do not find useful or important. I do not self identify as any particular ethnicity and that's why I answered the way I did.

[Grunnen]

I won't speak for anyone else, but to me ""ethnicity"" is a social category that I do not find useful or important. I do not self identify as any particular ethnicity and that's why I answered the way I did.

Ah, that's funny, seeing that to many people here in Europe it's one of the most important categories. Quite a different attitude in that regard. Could you say if that's got something to do with all the mixing going on in America. Speaking for yourself?

[masako]

Ah, that's funny, seeing that to many people here in Europe it's one of the most important categories. Quite a different attitude in that regard. Could you say if that's got something to do with all the mixing going on in America. Speaking for yourself?

Nope. I just don't think it's as important of a thing as others seem to.

[KathTheDragon]

Interestingly, 'English' and 'British' are generally not interchangeable, and you can probably guess with a high degree of accuracy which a person living in England would pick. Someone whose family has lived in England for numerous generations will likely identify as 'English', whereas a person whose family has immigrated in the last generation or so will likely identify as 'British'. Or so the report I read suggested.

[Rhetorica]

Interestingly, 'English' and 'British' are generally not interchangeable, and you can probably guess with a high degree of accuracy which a person living in England would pick. Someone whose family has lived in England for numerous generations will likely identify as 'English', whereas a person whose family has immigrated in the last generation or so will likely identify as 'British'. Or so the report I read suggested.

I think a slightly more elaborate way of putting it might be you put down British if you're ashamed of being Welsh or Scottish (or perhaps Manx, I guess.) Personally I'm mostly Scottish, with an English grandmother on one side and an Irish great-something-or-other on the other side, with some possible French blood in there somewhere or other, so it gets messy to summarize it.

[ObsequiousNewt]

To be honest, I don't see any more sense in saying "Polish" than "American" (although I pretty much invariably hear the former when discussing ethnicity). After all, it ultimately derives from Proto-Indo-European society.

[Salmoneus]

Interestingly, 'English' and 'British' are generally not interchangeable, and you can probably guess with a high degree of accuracy which a person living in England would pick. Someone whose family has lived in England for numerous generations will likely identify as 'English', whereas a person whose family has immigrated in the last generation or so will likely identify as 'British'. Or so the report I read suggested.

I think a slightly more elaborate way of putting it might be you put down British if you're ashamed of being Welsh or Scottish (or perhaps Manx, I guess.) Personally I'm mostly Scottish, with an English grandmother on one side and an Irish great-something-or-other on the other side, with some possible French blood in there somewhere or other, so it gets messy to summarize it.

Very much no, no. If you're ashamed of being Welsh, you say 'Welsh' and then make a joke about the Welsh. Welsh people don't say they're British, normally. 'British' is what people say if they're proud of being British, mainly. So, as Kath says, lots of immigrants, also some middle-class people. Also some people who have either moved around or have mixed ancestry. Personally, I'm on the borderline between 'British' and 'English', I think.

Anyway, I thought you said you were Canadian? Have you emigrated from Scotland to Canada?

That business about 'too messy to summarize' is true of almost everybody (hence all americans claiming to be 1/16th cherokee) (although not of my father's family, oddly enough - they seem to have inbred only with people within a 50m distance from their house for the last couple of hundred years at least, until my grandfather's generation). This is why this is essentially meaningless in terms of 'ethnicity'.

It's only really your ethnicity if it's relevant in your life. You're ethnically Polish if you or people you know speak Polish, you eat Polish food, most of the people you know are also ethnically Polish, you go to the Polish church, etc. Ethnicity is a social phenomenon. These lists of what fraction of your blood is from which specific patch of soil is genealogical trivia.

[Nesescosac]

Favourite game: Uru

Yay! There are others around!

Meh, I prefer Chipaya.

[Rhetorica]

Favourite game: Uru

Yay! There are others around!

Meh, I prefer Chipaya.

Cheeky. Seriously, though, the later Myst games are glorious and impossible to overrate.

[KathTheDragon]

I presume you've seen Cyan's Kickstarter campaign?