Hi there

Another not-computers topic on which I'd appreciate some intelligent replies: Recession.

Everywhere we are told (via the media) that we are in the grip of the worst recession since God-knows-when. Years. OKayyyyyyy.

I would have thought this affected the motor trade, wouldn't you?

Yet today, I informed the dealership who service our high-profile marque car (BMW) that we wanted to trade it in and buy a better one. Note the word "buy". i.e., spend money on.

No salesman called me back.

I take this somewhat askance. The last time we were there - when we bought the current model - we were the only customers there. I doubt, in the current recession, that that has changed.

I just plain do not understand. This is a Flagship Dealership for this area. i.e., it is huge and glossy with hundreds of unsold cars on their premises. A customer of long standing (me - I've been with them for over 10 years) states that they want to BUY another one, and no one calls me back.



Is it me? How can it be me? I run a company and when I get a sales enquiry I'm on the case immediately! It's a recession, right?

(See reply to election thread for background)

Service and initiative in this country has always sucked big time. People with "get up and go" emigrate to America.

Or, if it was Monday or Friday, your salesman was "sick".

Methinks it's just the car dealers. I've experienced the exact same issue in Canada. Like you, I just don't understand it.

24 hours have now elapsed. I have phoned the dealership twice. No salesman has called me back to find out what I want to BUY next.

I despair. I just plain don't understand them.

<bangs head on desk>

Audi A8?

seeing as 95% of car salesmen are on commission that would put the pay-to-tips ratio of a waitress to shame, I very much doubt they deliberately ignored you. Probably lost a sticky note or something.

Is there any chance that they just plain don't understand you?

There's a Na'vi word for that: skxawng.

There's a Na'vi word for that: skxawng.

Pronunciation please?

That's pretty close to phonetic:
sk as in sk of English skunk;
x as in ch of Scots Gaelic loch or German ach;
aw as in English ow, although ah-oo might be a better approximation;
ng as in ng of English sing.

And it means "moron" (in case you missed it in Avatar).

You can hear "skxawng" spoken here.

(The whatchamacallit doesn't show the "g" as being pronounced, but it sure sounds like the speaker is enunciating it?)

Nice site.

The pronunciation is clipped at the end, giving the impression of a velar stop [g] following the velar nasal.

> 1. ng as in ng of English sing.

> 2. The whatchamacallit doesn't show the "g" as being pronounced, but it sure sounds like the speaker is enunciating it?


Doesn't 3 contradict 1?

[quote=artie505]You can hear "skxawng" spoken here.

Shouldn't "skxawng" be capitalized?

No. I was referring to the pronunciation in the exemplar given on the website (not my earlier elaboration).
Check out the movie and listen to the word (used several times).

Only if it's the name of the car dealership(s) referred to by Bensheim.

Famous quote:
"It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job. It's a depression when you lose yours."