From: Rick DeNatale Date: 2009-05-13T00:47:07+09:00 Subject: Re: On the Niceties of Asking For what You Want (was Re: Want some information....) On Tue, May 12, 2009 at 10:21 AM, Eleanor McHugh wrote: > On 12 May 2009, at 14:19, Rick DeNatale wrote: >> >> On Tue, May 12, 2009 at 8:59 AM, Robert Klemme >> wrote: >>> >>> 2009/5/12 Arun Kumar : >>>> >>>>  I want to know about authentication in ruby. Is it possible to scrap >>>> html of those sites which require basic authentication. >>> >>> I am not a native speaker but for all I know "want" is considered >>> impolite among English speaking people. >> >> I wouldn't say so.  To want carries the same basic connotation as >> vouloir in French, I don't know that  je veut, or je voudrais is more >> impolite than say j'aimerais and I'd think that the average native >> English speaker would consider both I want, or I would like to be >> socially acceptable expressions of a desire for something. > > I can only speak from a British perspective, but 'want' does sound slightly > too demanding compared to 'need' or 'like' in this context. A more natural > (and oblique) phrasing would be along the lines of 'I was wondering if > anyone knows how to handle authentication in Ruby?" which cares much less of > an emotional subtext than the more direct approach. Fair enough, but may have the temerity to suggest that civility would best be preserved if we follow at least the part of Postel's law about being liberal in what we accept, particularly in a 'place' frequented by a mix of American's, Brit's, other native 'English' speakers, and non-native speakers who have various ideas/knowledge of what's proper/conservative to produce. -- Rick DeNatale Blog: http://talklikeaduck.denhaven2.com/ Twitter: http://twitter.com/RickDeNatale WWR: http://www.workingwithrails.com/person/9021-rick-denatale LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rickdenatale