[HN Gopher] As the Priest Said to the Nun
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       As the Priest Said to the Nun
        
       Author : pepys
       Score  : 41 points
       Date   : 2023-06-04 22:43 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.lrb.co.uk)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.lrb.co.uk)
        
       | nunuvit wrote:
       | If you like historical accounts of what ordinary people said,
       | there's this book about interviews with peasants from the High-
       | Late Middle Ages.
       | 
       | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montaillou_(book)
        
       | cratermoon wrote:
       | Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and
       | to remove all doubt.
        
       | stefantalpalaru wrote:
       | > St Gall (or St Gallen) was a town that ran on talk
       | 
       | ...and cat and dog meat: https://www.thelocal.ch/20121227/dogs-
       | still-eaten-in-switzer...
        
       | emurray wrote:
       | I was curious to see the full text of the translated poem. Here
       | it is via google books preview of the book in question:
       | 
       | Oh man, think long
       | 
       | before talk escapes your mouth.
       | 
       | Speak thoughtfully, without anger and hatred,
       | 
       | thus you will succeed all the better.
       | 
       | Listening quickly and answering slowly,
       | 
       | considering things carefully, that is how wise men live.
       | 
       | Through talk many have been overcome,
       | 
       | in silence few have been found dishonourable.
       | 
       | There is no better protection from dishonour
       | 
       | than being the master of your tongue.
        
         | dgfitz wrote:
         | https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/James-1-19/
         | 
         | "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to
         | hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:"
        
         | CoastalCoder wrote:
         | It seems like solid advice.
         | 
         | I'm curious about the known exceptions. I.e., when has holding
         | one's tongue entirely, or taking time to think before speaking,
         | worked out badly?
        
           | Jeff_Brown wrote:
           | Maybe don't stifle the urge to say you love someone.
        
           | Swizec wrote:
           | [flagged]
        
             | lo_zamoyski wrote:
             | The advice is meant generally as a matter of having a habit
             | of listening and considering before speaking. This has
             | nothing to do with being able to handle a debate partner.
             | Prudence is assumed here, as always.
             | 
             | (W.r.t. Trump, I would not say his style is "designed",
             | even if it is exploited. As a New Yorker, his pauses are
             | conventionally short relative to those used in other
             | regions of the US such that someone from some place like
             | Texas, where pauses are longer, may not be able to catch
             | the pause in time or even discern the pause at all. So his
             | interlocutor must realize that this is the case and respond
             | accordingly.)
        
       | doodlebugging wrote:
       | Interesting account of use of gossip to spread information that
       | ordinary people might not have been in a position to learn and
       | how the author leveraged his contacts to expand his own local
       | network of trusted sources.
       | 
       | I am left wishing for a joke about priests talking to nuns
       | though. Maybe someone could dig some of these old jokes from the
       | document so that the rest of us can chuckle at the same jokes
       | this guy and his peers enjoyed.
        
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       (page generated 2023-06-05 23:05 UTC)