Funny Pics / Funny Stories / Miscellaneous -3-

Really horrid!

Anyway it's very good and you learn so much !

horse riding is very dangerous !

gerardM a écrit:

Gérard, for those who don't know

To water down is to reduce or temper the force or effectiveness of

MurielB a écrit:...
Gérard, for those who don't know

To water down is to reduce or temper the force or effectiveness of

Yes Muriel.
"To water down" is the only phrasal verb with "to water" but with several nuances:

- in French - couper (d'eau), diluer
- in French - atténuer, édulcorer
- in French - diluer (financial domain)

Tx Gérard !

Coming from an American friend of mine:

Susan H...

As Irma Approaches Florida, Stay Ahead Of Hurricane Scams
GoFundMe campaigns and robocalls have already started. Fight instances of fraud by staying informed and carefully researching reputable charities.
NPR.ORG

The American society is ahead of ours - read carefully and learn about "culture" and new words: scam, GoFundMe, purport, robocall, etc.
Note that in French, "Les Caraïbes" show a plural while the English says "Carabbean" showing a singular; in fact, En used "The Carabbean Islands" (plural" that was shortened "The Carabbean" (usual lazy tendency), let's bet it will become "The Carabbeans" later.
Carabbean takes a double b.
GB sceptical -> US skeptical.
Fr Ouragan -> En hurricane (close pronunciation)
Fr tendance -> En tendency.

~~~

Given the numerous fake news messages, American officials or big companies organized the domain a little so that people can refer to good information... something that should be done in France...

NPR is a mission-driven, multimedia news organization and radio program producer. It is a network with a strong base of member stations and supporters nationwide. NPR employees are innovators and developers — exploring new ways to serve the public via digital platforms and improved technologies. NPR is also the leading membership and representation organization for public radio.

GoFundMe is a crowdfunding platform that allows people in some but not all countries to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses.

a scam is a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation
a Purport is the meaning or sense of something, typically a document or speech

a robocall is  a telephone call from an automated source that delivers a prerecorded message to a large number of people

Hi Muriel,

MurielB a écrit:GoFundMe is a crowdfunding platform that allows people in some but not all countries to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses.

a scam is a fraudulent or deceptive act or operation
a Purport is the meaning or sense of something, typically a document or speech

a robocall is  a telephone call from an automated source that delivers a prerecorded message to a large number of people

Thanks for your words.

"Scam", "to scam" and "scammer" are very commonly used words especially nowadays with Internet possibilities; instead of "scammer", 2 other words can be used: crook and swindler.

Regarding "purport", the verb to purport is interesting and means to pretend.

OK for robocall.
Robocalls are much used for political and telemarketing campaigns; they can also be used for public-service or emergency announcements. Some robocalls use personalized audio messages to simulate an actual personal phone call.

Canada - Robocalls can be and are legitimately used by mainstream political parties in Canada to reach voters. Controversy surrounded the use of robocalls during the Canadian federal election, 2011.
...
robocalls were used in an attempt to dissuade voters from casting their ballot by falsely telling them their poll stations had changed locations.[1]

United States - Robocalls are made by many political parties
...
Political robocalls are exempt from the United States National Do Not Call Registry
...
The patch-work of state laws regulating political robocalls has created problems for national campaigns

Robocalls are used and improved more and more; they are not liked in the USA and there's a fight between providers and governments (Fed and States) to regulate.
France is far behind (fortunately) but it's coming (unfortunately).

Tx Gérard for adding more explanations !

Muriel, I exchanged messages with Susan: scams are a blight on society. Many organizations are fighting hazard on the Internet (NPR is a very trustworthy one) providing advice to help kids and families increase security.

very important and useful I hope in France they will also increase security !

MurielB a écrit:very important and useful I hope in France they will also increase security !

I had in mind to organize things in France with the help of official organizations and of a colleague who recently got retired... but I don't have enough courage

we can't do everything can we ? There are things we can do and things we can't. It is important to make the difference.

Great logic !