Profile "Welcome text" [new]

[Iris]

Ok, I accept your thanks but you didn't answer my question. What kind of metaphysical limitations are you talking about?
Right back at you

[Alfonso]

Iris, me tiras de la lengua (how do you say this in English? you pump me). I laughed for half an hour when David came out with the news that you couldn't see your welcome message because you set your background with the same colour with which you were writing. I couldn't stand it. Tears came to my eyes. I began crying, laughing, whispering, lying on the floor..., all at the same time. My neighbours called the police. Two policemen rang my bell. I couldn't even talk. Only I could point at the computer. They read the thread, they visited your profile page, they tried to keep on reading some more... and they started laughing, shouting, weeping, even shooting bullets in the air with their guns. We had fun for two or three hours and then my neighbours came along with some of my best friends, and joined the party. Even my boss came along. Now we are all here enjoying life and wondering what kind of metaphysical limitation you have that makes you the epitome of innocence.

[poli]

Originally Posted by Alfonso

Iris, me tiras de la lengua (how do you say this in English?)you say you crack me up. I laughed for half an hour when David came out with the news that you couldn't see your welcome message because you set your background with the same colour with which you were writing. I couldn't stand it. Tears came to my eyes. I began crying, laughing, whispering, lying on the floor..., all at the same time. My neighbours called the police. Two policemen rang my bell. I couldn't even talk. Only I could point at the computer. They read the thread, they visited your profile page, they tried to keep on reading some more... and they started laughing, shouting, weeping, even shooting bullets in the air with their gunson the air their guns. We had fun for two or three hours and then my neighbours came along with some of my best friends, and joined the party. Even my boss came along. Now we are all here enjoying life and wondering what kind of metaphysical limitation you have that makes you the epitome of innocence.

Divertido. Solamente la idea de hablar limitaciones metafisicales con la policía me da risa. ¡Que imagen absurdo! Ahora es mas claro, no es tanto los litros Don Simón sino «tobaco» ilicito marroquí que usas.

You nicely remember not to put the preposition at the end of the sentence. Oh, how proper.

[Iris]

Sorry, Poli, but you crack me up is not a good translation for me tiras de la lengua. Tirar de la lengua means to make somebody talk even if they don't want to.(to pump them, to drag something out of them)
Alfonso, glad to keep you entertained if nothing else.

[Jane]

Don´t take it too hard, Iris.
Alfonso is a good comedian, but I can´t help but wonder if he takes the jokes as well as he dishes them out.
Alfonso, why don´t you take on someone your size?

[Alfonso]

Originally Posted by Jane

Alfonso, why don´t you take on someone your size?

You pull my leg? How you guessed I'm little?

[gatitoverde]

Originally Posted by Alfonso

Iris, me tiras de la lengua (how do you say this in English? you pump me). I laughed for half an hour when David came out with the news that you couldn't see your welcome message because you had set your background to the same color [British English is "colour" and in all other respects, you seem to stick to American English, so . . .] with which you were writing. I couldn't stand it. Tears came to my eyes. I began crying, laughing, whispering, lying on the floor..., all at the same time. My neighbors [British vs. American again] called the police. Two policemen rang my bell. I couldn't even talk. I could only point at the computer. They read the thread, they visited your profile page, they tried to keep on reading some more... and they started laughing, shouting, weeping, even shooting their guns in the air. We had fun for two or three hours and then my neighbours came along with some of my best friends, and joined the party. Even my boss came along. Now we are all here enjoying life and wondering what kind of metaphysical limitation you have that makes you the epitome of innocence.

Still, I admire your experimentation and commitment to learning. Most of my points are subtle. Your grammar is nearly perfect despite a few awkward turns of phrase and your meaning is certainly clear. But I want to point out my addition of had to your otherwise solid sentence. Just as in Spanish, when you're speaking in the preterite (past tense) and you want to indicate something that happened even earlier on, you need to use the pluperfect (had + past participle).

[Alfonso]

Thanks a lot Gatito! Anyway, I should make clear that the paragraph you corrected was previously corrected by Poli, so you are not judging my original post, but an improved version of it. It's thanks to Poli that its grammar is nearly perfect, just in case it's .

I know the proper word order would be: I could only point at... I'm not sure if I can, but I tried to do a stylistic use of the word order in this phrase, so that I wrote: Only I could point at... I thought placing Only at the beginning I'm emphasising the adverb, as I wished to try to convey a good image of the situation. Considering this, do you think it's a correct option the word order I proposed, or it's definitively wrong?

Thanks a lot for your help!

[Jane]

Originally Posted by Alfonso

You pull my leg?Are you pulling my legs? How you guessed I'm little? How did you guess I´m little?

I didn´t actually mention your size, because honestly, I´m not sure.

[gatitoverde]

I do appreciate your attempt, Alfonso, but it is definitely wrong. That order is never used. In fact, I can't think of an alternative way to say it other than "All I could do was just point . . . " Now I need to get back to reading your corrections in other threads so I can catch up and stop writing in English.

[Alfonso]

Originally Posted by Jane

I didn´t actually mention your size, because honestly, I´m not sure.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Anyway, I was trying to write slang... You pull my legs? How you guessed I'm little?
I'm sorry to insist. I think I heard these expressions a number of times. Of course, I know you turned them into proper English. But I'm still confused. Jane, don't you think the sentences I wrote are somehow right? Are they, at least, correct when talking?
I do need an explanation on this. Thank you very much!

[Tomisimo]

Originally Posted by Alfonso

Anyway, I was trying to write slang... You pull my legs? How you guessed I'm little?
I'm sorry to insist. I think I heard these expressions a number of times. Of course, I know you turned them into proper English. But I'm still confused. Jane, don't you think the sentences I wrote are somehow right? Are they, at least, correct when talking?
I do need an explanation on this. Thank you very much!

The "correct" slang would be:

You pullin' my leg? How'd ya guess I'm so little? (I'd use short instead of little).

Then if you translate that into "correct" English, it would be.

Are you pulling my leg? How did you guess I'm little?

Note that the expression uses leg in the singular, not the plural and also the present progressive (to be + gerund) sounds a lot better than the simple present tense. Hope that helps.

[Alfonso]

Thanks a lot, David. You've helped a lot!

[Tomisimo]

You're very welcome Alfonso. And let me add that in spoken English, it's very common to speak like the first example I gave.

[gatitoverde]

David, pienso que es una idea maravillosa lo que haces in varios hilos respecto a como funciona el habla informal. (Y Alfonso, espero que notes cuanto utilizo las cosas que me has enseñado, como "el habla informal".)

[Tomisimo]

Y tu Gatito, tienes mucho más conocimiento de la gramática formal que yo podría esperar aprender en mil años. Espero también aprender de tí.

[gatitoverde]

¡Mierda! Ya me siento humilde ante tu conocimiento de ambos idiomas. Si existe algo de lo cual conozca yo un poco, sería las procedencias/etomologías de las palabras. Pero el maestro verdadero es Rusty.

[Rusty]

*blush*

¡No lo crean! Todos aquí podemos algo dar y aprender.

[Tomisimo]

Originally Posted by gatitoverde

Pero el maestro verdadero es Rusty.

¡Felicidades Rusty, tú eres el verdadero maestro!

[Jane]

Originally Posted by Alfonso

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Anyway, I was trying to write slang... You pull my legs? How you guessed I'm little?
I'm sorry to insist. I think I heard these expressions a number of times. Of course, I know you turned them into proper English. But I'm still confused. Jane, don't you think the sentences I wrote are somehow right? Are they, at least, correct when talking?
I do need an explanation on this. Thank you very much!

I just saw this Alfonso.
Your questions have been well answered by David.