Subject: Re: Software release announcement: Tree Kernels and multiple feature vectors in SVM-LIGHT - msg#00028

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Re: Numpties and bennies

My corpora of American English show four occurrences of "bennies" meaning benefits (in a nonsexual way), two from the ANC, and I remember this usage as being popular among 1980s yuppies. Examples are: Since there is no dispute that Espy received some 35,000 worth of goods and bennies from parties with interests before Agriculture and since some of those parties pleaded guilty to making illegal gifts, it's easy for the reader to wonder how the clean-sweep verdict was possible. In addition to a package full of lush bennies, Merck provides 96% of retiree health-care premiums. Yes, they'll get these bennies from Uncle Sam - but not until they've been on active duty for 30 days, which means that their families could be left hanging in the meantime. I can't logically reconcile her objections to gaining the weight with the bennies of taking the role. I have no occurrences of "numpties" or "numpty". Cheers Paul Paul Heacock Electronic Publishing Manager, ELT Commissioning Editor, ELT Reference Cambridge University Press "Harold Somers" <harold.somers@ma nchester.ac.uk> To Sent by: <corpora@xxxxxxxxxxxx> owner-corpora@lis cc ts.uib.no Subject [Corpora-List] Numpties and bennies 12/06/2006 07:06 AM A colleague has just emailed me suggesting that the word "numpty" has become non-PC because of its association with Downs syndrome. I've never made that association ... Has anyone else? A trawl of the standard "references" suggests that numpty is a Scottish slang word (meaning 'idiot' or 'incompetent person') and is being considered fro inclusion in the next edition of the OED; but interestingly its total absence from the BNC suggests either that it has only recently entered the language, and/or that Scottish English is under-represented in the BNC. Would I be right in thinking that the word is entirely unknown in AmE? On a similar theme, I was thinking about the word "benny", a slang term which had a brief life in BrE. With the same meaning as numpty, its etymology is a character in a soap (Crossroads I think) called Benny who was "intellectually challenged". I seem to remember a news article during the Falklands War in which soldiers were being admonished because their slang word for Falkland Islanders was "bennies". "A benny" occurs twice in the BNC, both times in the same source (KCE - a conversation recorded by `Helena' (PS0EB)) as follows: KCE 7007 so she had a bit of a benny it was KCE 7260 I hadn't had a benny for a few days actually Helena also talks about "bennies": KCE 7258 Not that I ever have major bennies or anything I'm guessing that here she means a "benzedrine" tablet, though that interpretation doesn't really fit the syntax (a bit of a benny, major bennies). Anyone any idea what a benny is in this context? (Perhaps the surrounding text can help - what is the topic of the conversation?). There's one other occurrence of "bennies" in the BNC, from "Skinhead" by Nick Knight, the meaning of which I think is "Ben Sherman shirts" ARP 213 Most skinhead girls, sometimes called rennes, would wear bennies, button-fly red tags, white socks and penny loafers or monkey boots. Harold Somers

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RE: Numpties and bennies

In the British Armed Services bennies are benzedrine tablets. During the war, bomber pilots/ crew members  took them  to help them deal with the exhaustion/stress of the long runs to their 'drop' sites. British commando units also took them-in fact, I think, were issued them!   Pilots certainly used (use?) the term 'bennies' to refer to benzedrine tablets..   Ian Fleming knew of the fondness of British espionage types for amphetamines. In his novels (tougher and grittier than the ridiculous films! ) James Bond takes benzedrine tablets on a few occasions. This actually features in the wikipedia enrty for benzedrine!!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzedrine   From: owner-corpora@xxxxxxxxxxxx on behalf of pheacock@xxxxxxxxxxxxxSent: Wed 06/12/2006 15:13To: Harold SomersCc: corpora@xxxxxxxxxxxxSubject: Re: [Corpora-List] Numpties and bennies My corpora of American English show four occurrences of "bennies" meaningbenefits (in a nonsexual way), two from the ANC, and I remember this usageas being popular among 1980s yuppies. Examples are:   Since there is no dispute that Espy received some 35,000 worth of goods   and bennies from parties with interests before Agriculture and since   some of those parties pleaded guilty to making illegal gifts, it's easy   for the reader to wonder how the clean-sweep verdict was possible.   In addition to a package full of lush bennies, Merck provides 96% of   retiree health-care premiums.   Yes, they'll get these bennies from Uncle Sam - but not until they've   been on active duty for 30 days, which means that their families could   be left hanging in the meantime.   I can't logically reconcile her objections to gaining the weight with   the bennies of taking the role.I have no occurrences of "numpties" or "numpty".CheersPaulPaul HeacockElectronic Publishing Manager, ELTCommissioning Editor, ELT ReferenceCambridge University Press                                                                                       "Harold Somers"                                                           <harold.somers@ma                                                         nchester.ac.uk>                                            To             Sent by:                  <corpora@xxxxxxxxxxxx>                          owner-corpora@lis                                          cc             ts.uib.no                                                                                                                       Subject                                       [Corpora-List] Numpties and bennies             12/06/2006 07:06                                                          AM                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   A colleague has just emailed me suggesting that the word "numpty" hasbecome non-PC because of its association with Downs syndrome. I've nevermade that association ... Has anyone else?A trawl of the standard "references" suggests that numpty is a Scottishslang word (meaning 'idiot' or 'incompetent person') and is beingconsidered fro inclusion in the next edition of the OED; butinterestingly its total absence from the BNC suggests either that it hasonly recently entered the language, and/or that Scottish English isunder-represented in the BNC.Would I be right in thinking that the word is entirely unknown in AmE?On a similar theme, I was thinking about the word "benny", a slang termwhich had a brief life in BrE. With the same meaning as numpty, itsetymology is a character in a soap (Crossroads I think) called Benny whowas "intellectually challenged". I seem to remember a news articleduring the Falklands War in which soldiers were being admonished becausetheir slang word for Falkland Islanders was "bennies"."A benny" occurs twice in the BNC, both times in the same source (KCE -a conversation recorded by `Helena' (PS0EB)) as follows:KCE 7007 so she had a bit of a benny it wasKCE 7260 I hadn't had a benny for a few days actuallyHelena also talks about "bennies":KCE 7258 Not that I ever have major bennies or anythingI'm guessing that here she means a "benzedrine" tablet, though thatinterpretation doesn't really fit the syntax (a bit of a benny, majorbennies). Anyone any idea what a benny is in this context? (Perhaps thesurrounding text can help - what is the topic of the conversation?).There's one other occurrence of "bennies" in the BNC, from "Skinhead" byNick Knight, the meaning of which I think is "Ben Sherman shirts"ARP 213 Most skinhead girls, sometimes called rennes, would wearbennies, button-fly red tags, white socks and penny loafers or monkeyboots.Harold Somers

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Jobs: two positions in Computational Linguistics, Potsdam, Germany

There are two NEW job openings for Computational Linguists or Computer Scientists at the Linguistics Department of the University of Potsdam, Germany: * Researcher/Lecturer (wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter) * Half-time (Doctoral) Researcher The text version of the job ads is below. A pdf version can be found at: http://www.ling.uni-potsdam.de/~jonask/job-openings.html A German version is at: http://www.ling.uni-potsdam.de/~jonask/job-openings-de.html Please post. ====================================================================== OPENING 1: Researcher/Lecturer ====================================================================== The Theoretical Computational Linguistics group at the Linguistics Department of the University of Potsdam, Germany, is searching for a Researcher/Lecturer (wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter) Entgeltgruppe: 13 TV-Länder (Tarifgebiet Ost; formerly BAT-O IIa) in the area of Computational Linguistics. Duties include teaching two 90-minute courses per semester. The position is temporary; the initial contract will be for three years and can be extended by another three years (subject to the restrictions of the German Hochschulrahmengesetz). The starting date is January 2007 or as soon as possible. A Master's degree (or equivalent) in Computational Linguistics, Computer Science or a related field is a requirement for the position; preference will be given to candidates holding a doctorate. The ideal candidate * has a strong background both in symbolic methods in Computational Linguistics and in statistical techniques and machine learning methods in Natural Language Processing (NLP); * has work experience in research projects that cover both theoretical aspects and implementation work; * has demonstrated the ability to do independent and goal-oriented research in key areas of Computational Linguistics by a record of relevant international publications. Specialization areas that would be highly appropriate include linguistically informed probabilistic grammar models in parsing/generation, weakly supervised machine-learning techniques for NLP, or syntax-based statistical machine translation. Knowledge of German is highly desirable. The salary and social benefits are determined by the German pay scale for state employees (Entgeltgruppe: 13 TV-Länder, Tarifgebiet Ost; formerly BAT-O IIa) and amounts to approximately EUR 3000 per month. The exact salary amount varies depending on age and marital status. The University of Potsdam offers a highly attractive academic environment: the dynamic division of Computational Linguistics is part of a strong Linguistics Department, which has interdisciplinary ties with Psychology and Computer Science. At the same time, Potsdam is a very nice, yet affordable living environment, with world-famous castles and parks, surrounded by lakes and forests. Last but not least, Germany's vibrant capital Berlin is just a 20-minute train ride away. The University of Potsdam is an equal opportunity employer. Applications (also via Email -- address see below) are requested by December 31, 2006. They should include a C.V., (links to) sample publications, a statement of research and teaching interests and two or three references. Universität Potsdam Prof. Dr. Jonas Kuhn Institut für Linguistik / Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 24/25 D-14476 Golm, Germany For further information, please contact Prof. Dr. Jonas Kuhn , Tel.: +49 331 977-2444, Fax: +49 331 977-2761, Email: jonask [AT] ling [DOT] uni-potsdam [DOT] de. ====================================================================== OPENING 2: Half-time (Doctoral) Researcher in the PTOLEMAIOS project ====================================================================== The Theoretical Computational Linguistics group at the Linguistics Department of the University of Potsdam, Germany, invites applications for the position of a Half-time (Doctoral) Researcher (wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter) Entgeltgruppe: 13 TV-Länder (Tarifgebiet Ost; formerly BAT-O IIa/2) in the "PTOLEMAIOS" research project on Grammar Induction from Parallel Corpora, a research group funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The position is temporary; the initial contract will be for two years and can be extended, subject to the availability of funding. The starting date is January 2007 or as soon as possible. The position is especially suitable for a student wishing to pursue a doctoral degree in Computational Linguistics at the University of Potsdam. The ideal candidate * holds a strong Master's degree (or equivalent) in Computational Linguistics or Computer Science, * has a background in statistical techniques and machine-learning methods in Natural Language Processing, * is familiar with grammar induction techniques and/or statistical machine translation, * has good programming skills, * is self-motivated, goal-oriented and likes working in a team. For some background on the "PTOLEMAIOS" project, please refer to: http://www.ling.uni-potsdam.de/~jonask/PTOLEMAIOS/ Knowledge of German is not required, but will be a plus. The salary and social benefits are determined by the German pay scale for state employees (50% of Entgeltgruppe: 13 TV-Länder, Tarifgebiet Ost; formerly BAT-O IIa/2) and amounts to approximately EUR 1500 per month. The exact salary amount varies depending on age and marital status. The University of Potsdam offers a highly attractive academic environment: the dynamic division of Computational Linguistics is part of a strong Linguistics Department, which has interdisciplinary ties with Psychology and Computer Science. At the same time, Potsdam is a very nice, yet affordable living environment, with world-famous castles and parks, surrounded by lakes and forests. Last but not least, Germany's vibrant capital Berlin is just a 20-minute train ride away. The University of Potsdam is an equal opportunity employer. Applications (also via Email -- address see below) are requested by December 31, 2006. They should include a cover letter, C.V., (a link to) a sample publication or paper, and two or three references. Universität Potsdam Prof. Dr. Jonas Kuhn Institut für Linguistik / Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft Karl-Liebknecht-Straße 24/25 D-14476 Golm, Germany For further information, please contact Prof. Dr. Jonas Kuhn , Tel.: +49 331 977-2444, Fax: +49 331 977-2761, Email: jonask [AT] ling [DOT] uni-potsdam [DOT] de.

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Spanish Named Entity Tagger

Hi, I'm looking for a Spanish and/or Portuguese Named Entity Tagger; preferably one that is easy to use and whose output is a simple xml tagged text file. Any suggestions? Gaby Gaby Saldanha Humanities Programme Imperial College London