who are who?

AUTOMOON · Nov 20, 2003

In your language, there are words like:

bandit, burglar, gangster, rascal
:?:

Please oblige me with the differences among them, okay?

I guess Ronbee is my teacher for this answer, am I right? :wink:

RonBee · Nov 20, 2003

This is off the top of my head. A bandit is a person who robs people. A highwayman is a bandit. A burglar is a thief that enters people's houses (usually when they are not at home) with the purpose of taking their valuables. A gangster is a member of a gang, specifically, an organization engaged in criminal activity.

There are, in AHD*, two definitions for rascal, thus:

ras·cal
1.One that is playfully mischievous.
2. An unscrupulous, dishonest person; a scoundrel.

As you can see, the first definition of rascal doesn't really fit with the other words. The second definition is, generally speaking, a person who engages in shady dealings.

I hope that helps.

http://dictionary.reference.com/
-------------------------------------------------------------

*American Heritage Dictionary

Tdol · Nov 20, 2003

bandit, - robber\criminal outlaw, especially in a hot country
burglar,- breaks into houses and steal
gangster,- organised criminal
rascal - a bit of a troublemaker, or naughty, but nothing serious.

HTH ;-)

RonBee · Nov 20, 2003

Bandits are mostly known for waylaying people on highways and robbing them.

RonBee · Nov 20, 2003

Say: "Who is who?"

cat burglar
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=cat burglar

Go figure! I thought a cat burglar was a burglar that stole cats.

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Tdol · Nov 20, 2003

People who steal pets are called 'snatchers' in BE. ;-)

RonBee · Nov 20, 2003

tdol said:
People who steal pets are called 'snatchers' in BE. ;-)

You mean it is so common they have a name for the people who do that? (Besides thieves, of course.)

Tdol · Nov 21, 2003

Stealing pedigree dogs has become a big business here, sadly.

AUTOMOON · Nov 23, 2003

They are all people we don't like, anyway.

To be a little off point:

Unfortunately enough, there is someone alike right in my dorm.
She has stolen 200-300 yuan on average from our pocket.
We don't know how to deal with her, though it is highly that she will do exatly the same thing.

If you can give me some advice on such an issue, I will be thankful.

Be back on the discussion, what do you call such a person?
Of couse, a thief, what else?

RonBee · Nov 23, 2003

Some use the term sneak thief to describe somebody who goes into somebody's room to take things, presumably when the room is otherwise unoccupied (when nobody's there).

It would be hard for me to give advice on the matter without knowing more details about the situation. (Presumably, there is a reason you haven't confronted her about it.) In any case, you should be prepared for the consequences of whatever action you might take. It is probably better to take action sooner rather than later. Are there locks on the doors to the individual rooms? (I suppose you could report her anonymously.)

Casiopea · Nov 23, 2003

Just helping out with proof-reading.

AUTOMOON said:
They are all people we don't like, anyway.

To be a little off topic:

Unfortunately enough, there is someone like that right here in my dorm. She has stolen between 200 to 300 Yuan from each of our pockets. We don't know how to deal with her, and it is more than likely that she will do it again.

If you can give me some advice on this, I would be grateful.

Back to the discussion, what is the term for such a person?
Besides [/i]thief [/i], what else is there?

RonBee · Nov 23, 2003

Casiopea said:
Just helping out with proof-reading.

AUTOMOON said:

They are all people we don't like, anyway.

To be a little off topic:

Unfortunately enough, there is someone like that right here in my dorm. She has stolen between 200 to 300 Yuan from each of our pockets. We don't know how to deal with her, and it is more than likely that she will do it again.

If you can give me some advice on this, I would be grateful.

Back to the discussion, what is the term for such a person?
Besides [/i]thief [/i], what else is there?

Click to expand...

Would you capitalize yuan? (I wouldn't.)

AUTOMOON · Nov 23, 2003

First of all, thanks for your proof-reading, Cas.
What you have done is exactly what I want. You know, we know from our errors.

And I would be grateful if you do that as much as you could.

I accept all your recorrections except these :

Mine was:She has stolen 200-300 yuan on average from our pocket.
Yours was:She has stolen between 200 to 300 Yuan from each of our pockets.

You are right about replacing pocket with pockets, but you left out " on average", which produced a different meaning.
She stolen more money from some of us than from others, and that's why I used "on average".

As to the word yuan, I wouldn't capitalise either, after looking it up in Cobuild.

One more question, why shouldn't I say someone alike?
We can say "things alike", right? :?

[/b]

RonBee · Nov 23, 2003

AUTOMOON said:
One more question, why shouldn't I say someone alike?
We can say "things alike", right?

Actually, no. Use like in that context to mean similar to. If two things are alike they are identical.

AUTOMOON · Nov 23, 2003

RonBee said:
It would be hard for me to give advice on the matter without knowing more details about the situation. (Presumably, there is a reason you haven't confronted her about it.) In any case, you should be prepared for the consequences of whatever action you might take. It is probably better to take action sooner rather than later. Are there locks on the doors to the individual rooms? (I suppose you could report her anonymously.)

She got our money into her own pocket and bought things she wanted. :x I don't think we are rich enough to feed her in this way, nor is it fair. All we want is to keep our own money in our own pockets, which it is impossible.
We haven't got any proof yet, and I am not sure we would report her to the school though we found any.
There is no private room for each of us , and we live together in one room. You can imagine how things are easy for her, and she took our money away when we didn't put it in a safe place. The point is, you can never be that cautious all the time. And she is at the best positon.

How do you think, Ronbee?

Casiopea · Nov 23, 2003

AUTOMOON said:
First of all, thanks for your proof-reading, Cas.
What you have done is exactly what I want. You know, we know from our errors. And I would be grateful if you could do that as much as possible.

I accept all your _corrections except these :

Automoon:She has stolen 200-300 yuan on average from our pocket.
Casiopea:She has stolen between 200 to 300 Yuan from each of our pockets.

You're welcome.

Automoon said:
You are right about replacing pocket with pockets, but you left out "on average", which produces a different meaning. She has stolen more money from some of us than from others, and that's why I used "on average".

I still don't get the meaning. Sorry.

Automoon said:
As to the word yuan, I wouldn't capitalise either, after looking it up in Cobuild.

I wouldn't either. Sorry about that.

Mind you, at the time, I was feeling kind of Spanish. :shock:

Automoon said:
One more question, why shouldn't I say someone alike? We can say "things alike", right? :?

They are alike. = They are similar to one another. (Plural)

It is alike. = It is similar to itself. (Singular)

It is like this/that. = It is similar to this/that.

S/He is like....

S/he is alike...

RonBee · Nov 23, 2003

I think you should confront her about your suspicions. It will be an uncomfortable situation, but it is not a very happy situation now, is it?

Of course, I can't predict how she will respond. Perhaps she will deny that she has done anything wrong. That is something you must be prepared for. Also, I suggest that you carefully plan what you are going to say and when you say it. Also, make sure that more than one of you confronts her at the same time. It is best, I think, that you all agree on what to do.

(Say: "What do you think?")

AUTOMOON · Nov 23, 2003

Reply to Casiopea

I still don't get the meaning. Sorry.

She has stolen 200-300 yuan on average.( She stole more than that amount from someone , and less than that amount from someone else.
She has stolen 200-300 yuan from each of our pockets.( She stole that amout of money from each of us)

I hope you can get it this time.

AUTOMOON · Nov 23, 2003

RonBee said:
I think you should confront her about your suspicions. It will be an uncomfortable situation, but it is not a very happy situation now, is it?

Of course, I can't predict how she will respond. Perhaps she will deny that she has done anything wrong. That is something you must be prepared for. Also, I suggest that you carefully plan what you are going to say and when you say it. Also, make sure that more than one of you confronts her at the same time. It is best, I think, that you all agree on what to do.

(Say: "What do you think?")

We don't think it is sensible to confront her , due to the fact that we have nothing to support our suspicions.
Even though we confronted her altogether, she is more than likely to deny all she had actually done. Probably she knew we are suspitious of her, but she still steal. You can predict, she doesn't feel any guilty at all.
Actually, we treat her quite well. She doesn't feel a thing when steal. So
she will not feel a thing even when we confront her.

Thank you for your coucil , RonBee

Casiopea · Nov 23, 2003

Re: Reply to Casiopea

She has stolen 200-300 yuan on average from each of our pockets.

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