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"Do you want to see this thing go all the way and take the absolute piss out of the power mongers of this world" Would anybody other than a Brit say that sente
by mike-cardwell 14y ago
"Do you want to see this thing go all the way and take the absolute piss out of the power mongers of this world"
Would anybody other than a Brit say that sentence?
[edit] Although I notice a lot of American English spelling in there too.
- skore 14y ago> Would anybody other than a Brit say that sentence? You mean like somebody who tried to deliberately obscure his identity by using fake clues?
- patrickk 14y agoBrits, Irish and Aussies too I believe. When I read that comment, I thought that Dread Pirate Roberts could be using Libertarian musings (which I've never heard outside of US political discussions) and references to US law enforcement agencies as a smokescreen for his identity. Interestingly, and coincidentally, there's been speculation that the Bitcoin creator (Satoshi Nakamoto) could be an Irish computer science student called Michael Clear, due to British spelling in his (if it is his) written work: https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Satoshi_Nakamoto https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Satoshi_Nakamoto
- claudius 14y ago‘British’ English is the standard English taught in Europe and the Middle East, likely in India as well, so I doubt that this is a remotely helpful clue.
- rjknight 14y ago"take the absolute piss" is colloquial British English though. I doubt that anyone is actually taught to speak that way.
- claudius 14y agoCorrect, I was mostly responding to ‘due to British spelling’ in connection with Nakamoto. The claim that some American spelling crops up in his writing (on the linked-to Wiki site) actually supports the idea that he is neither a native Briton nor American, but learnt British spelling in school and American spelling on the net.
- norswap 14y agoNon-natives English speaker pick their English where they hear it. If you're watching British television or speaking with English people a lot, you'll surely pick some English colloquialisms.
- Tuxedage 14y agoRelevant: http://www.gwern.net/docs/2011-davis http://www.gwern.net/docs/2011-davis
- patrickk 14y agoGreat read thanks.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- alan_cx 14y agoYeah, reading through it all I got the sense he is British. But, I wouldn't bet on it.
- 0x006A 14y agoA quick Google search suggests its also used in the US, i.e. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmlwZyfhrgk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmlwZyfhrgk
- mistercow 14y ago>Would anybody other than a Brit say that sentence? If I were running Silk Road, I'd be paying attention to research and memes surrounding anonymity, and writing style has been a popular point of interest lately. Adopting another culture's colloquialisms and idioms is one potential way of masking your own identifying idiosyncrasies in writing.
- SkyMarshal 14y agoI'm American and like to use Brit slang from time to time, so not impossible. Especially for a cypherpunk intending to mislead.
- specialist 14y agoMy writing style would easily give me away. If I wanted to anonymize my writing, I'd use translation services. Perhaps French -> English -> Pirate.