this post was submitted on 03 Feb 2026
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Uplifting News

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[–] state_electrician@discuss.tchncs.de 46 points 9 hours ago (10 children)

For other ESL speakers who had problems parsing this headline, swifts are a type of bird:

[–] prex@aussie.zone 11 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

Also a programming language developed by apple.

[–] Valorie12@lemmy.world 3 points 2 hours ago (2 children)

Fuck, why'd you have to remind me of that garbage

[–] prex@aussie.zone 1 points 1 hour ago

Because the subject of this thread was just too wholesome.

[–] Toes@ani.social 1 points 2 hours ago

Objective C was so much better I agree

[–] atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works 36 points 9 hours ago

English is my first language and I was still confused about what fast bricks were for.

[–] Jake_Farm@sopuli.xyz 3 points 6 hours ago

More like non-uk inhabitants

[–] Aatube@thriv.social 7 points 8 hours ago

I'd say it's not an ESL problem so much as a "common swift not endangered nor news here" problem.

[–] tauonite@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

why do we want to brick birds

[–] prex@aussie.zone 2 points 4 hours ago

Birds need homes too.

[–] lena@gregtech.eu 8 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Ohhhhh I thought this was about the SWIFT banking system at first lol, TIL

[–] cannedtuna@lemmy.world 4 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

I thought it was about the speed the brick could fly at when thrown, so yeah…

[–] lena@gregtech.eu 2 points 7 hours ago

LMFAO that's hilarious. What's next, high-speed roof tiles?

[–] CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

English is my second language, but instead of swift bricks I had to web search what ESL stands for... When addressing non-native speakers, please don't use cryptic and ambiguous acronyms.

[–] PoastRotato@lemmy.world 2 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

ESL (English as a Second Language) is an incredibly common and widely recognized acronym (at least in the US, not sure about other countries).

[–] Saapas@piefed.zip 6 points 8 hours ago

incredibly common and widely recognized

(at least in the US

LOL

[–] CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (3 children)

I researched this term (I read the wikipedia page) and apparently it is used in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US. In Ireland and the UK, ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) is more common, and some other terms are floating around in the anglosphere. Where this is notably not used is where English is not a native language.

Again, when addressing non-native speakers, using cryptic (and ambiguous, I as a German mostly know ESL as an abbreviation for Electronic Sports Leagues, swiss people could first think of l'École Suisse de Langues, etc) terms is really not the best idea.

[–] xploit@lemmy.world 3 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

I have now spent majority of my life speaking English/living in English speaking country and yeah they love their acronyms. Unnecessary useless acronyms. I suspect they're wired for it from young age and don't even realize, because despite starting to learn English at a young age, there was no incentive for me to start coming up with or learning acronyms.

[–] ScoffingLizard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 5 hours ago

No we're not. I fucking hate them and don't understand things at work because there are too many to know.

[–] brian@lemmy.ca 3 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

notably not used is where English is not a native language

I mean, not to be blunt, but duh?

it would only really make sense to even talk about English as a second language if the general population does speak it as a native language. in the US people arent ever going to say something like french as a second language, because there's no need for the distinction

[–] CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (2 children)

But most people with English as an additional language live outside countries where English is a native language. So again, when addressing people who speak English but not as their native language, why use terms that are exclusively used in countries with English as a native language?

Or do you think the internet exists only in countries where English is a native language?

[–] brian@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 hour ago

the likelyhood of talking about ESL (an initialization of English words to begin with) wouldnt generally happen where English is non-native, though. you don't have two Germans asking if the other speaks English as a second language

[–] can@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 hours ago

So again, when addressing people who speak English but not as their native language, why use terms that are exclusively used in countries whith English as anative language?

As an English speaker in a city with many people whose first language isn't English, it was probably just habit. I didn't originally know it wasn't a well known term either.

[–] Aatube@thriv.social 1 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

unfortunately ESOL is the less common/more cryptic term generally. we all learn a lot every day!

[–] CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 8 hours ago

I figured as much. That's why I thought it might be helpful to explain the cryptic term to make communications easier. Hoped it was helpful.

[–] state_electrician@discuss.tchncs.de 0 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

I mean, you don't need to know what ESL means for my comment to be helpful. The helpful bit is in the second part without any confusing abbreviations.

[–] CyberEgg@discuss.tchncs.de -1 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

So? I mean, while honorably clearing up some confusion, you created another point of confusion for someone else to clear up.

[–] heydo@lemmy.world 1 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

The swift swift swiftly swifted in the swiftest way possible.

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 2 points 7 hours ago

You ever think about the word "saw"? It's a motorized power tool used for cutting. But it's also the past tense of having seen something. So if you see a saw, later can say you saw a saw. And it's also a verb. So if you watch a saw cutting another saw, you will have saw a saw saw a saw.

English is weird.

[–] SanctimoniousApe@piefed.social -4 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

If your goal was to seriously derail the topic of discussion, I applaud you for a job extremely well done.

[–] state_electrician@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

I just wanted to help because the headline really confused me. Then it took on a life of its own.

[–] SanctimoniousApe@piefed.social 1 points 6 hours ago

Yeah, sorry - my comment was meant to poke fun, but unfortunately came out more accusatory. Not what I meant, so sorry about that. I just thought it amusing how quickly and thoroughly things veered off in another direction.

[–] AntiBullyRanger@ani.social 0 points 8 hours ago

Adoring your generosity here.

I conceptualized perfectly the first time, but I am glad you helped others🧵