From: Robert Dober Date: 2009-04-16T22:58:41+09:00 Subject: Re: [ANN] The "Ruby Best Practices" Collaborative Blog On Thu, Apr 16, 2009 at 2:19 PM, Eleanor McHugh wrote: Does this mean that "bastard" in "lazy bastard" does not have the same value at all than bastard in e.g. "take this you bastard"? This kills me ;) but actually there are lots of those expressions in other languages I know "salopard" in French or "figlio di putana" in Italian can be used as compliments. However this is a dangerous feature and is normally used in face to face situations where the context, a friendly setup and a broad smile or tap at the shoulders bear much more semantic meaning than the words. So I can maybe be forgiven, as would be Bill's mom ;)? Concerning Bill's advice, I believe it is very import for us foreign speakers, because these subtle things lead normally to very vulgar expressions, strangers use so often when learning a language. Maybe that is why I am so worried about it. Thank you in any case. Robert