Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: Squat

<paste>
Jackson: it had grown to over six feet tall, and when I came up to it,
it just shrank back down into the ground. I'm gonna back up again, see
if it does it again.
[O'Neill is angry with Jackson]
O'Neill: Witness if you will... squat.
</paste>
Squat: Slang, A small or worthless amount;
Could it mean, in this case, "worthless man" or something like that?
-- 
Yatta!,
Godspeed you.


you just went too far. have you ever been in gym? there's a physical 
exercise named "squat"
http://www.discobolo.it/rivista/esercizi/lo_squat.htm
that is also a verb:
to squat
If you squat, you lower yourself towards the ground, balancing on your 
feet with your legs bent.
now see again O'Neill sentence "Witness if you will... [verb] squat."
there's no doubt it's a verb.

 there's no doubt it's a verb.
"To squat" is also "To settle on unoccupied land without legal claim."
and "To occupy a given piece of public land in order to acquire title to
it". But even so I can't see the sense.
-- 
Yatta!,
Ronon Dex: You kill him before I do, I kill you.
Sheppard : What if he kills you first?
Ronon Dex: Then you kill him.

 But it doesn't make any sense with this meaning of squat, for me at least.
my view is it makes sense. let's read once again:
Jackson: it had grown to over six feet tall, and when I came up to it,
it just shrank back down into the ground. I'm gonna back up again, see
if it does it again.
there's a thing that had grown over six feet tall. when Jackson came up 
to it (that thing) it just shrank back down into the ground. Jackson is 
going to back up again, to see if it does it again.
as far as I know, O'Neill is trying to make Jackson the butt of a joke 
by saying "Witness if you will... [squat] lower yourself towards the 
ground, balancing on your feet with your legs bent.
maybe O'Neill is meaning that Jackson might study it by squatting.

 going to back up again, to see if it does it again.
my curiosity has been aroused... what is it? it's a tv series. isn't it? 
I bet it's StarGate.

 maybe O'Neill is meaning that Jackson might study it by squatting.
In this fashion it does make sense, you're right.


 I bet it's StarGate.
Yep, it is. I'm watching again the series I'd watched at the very
beginning of my journey, in difficulty order. Babylon 5 as easy,
Stargate SG1 as intermediate and, next, Farscape as hard.


 wrote in message 
news:gner4...@news5.newsguy.com...

None of it makes much sense . 'I.m gonna back up again' - if so , he won't 
see much , and backing up and squatting aren't easy to coordinate , even for 
a gymnast . Are you sure he didn't say ' I'm goin' back up again' ?
'Witness if you will' - difficult to imagine anyone saying this , though 
maybe O'Neill is an alien and may be excused .
'squat' - difficult to attach any likely meaning to this .
Mike

 wrote in message
news:703tg7F...@mid.individual.net...

A little more context might help, but the meaning eludes me as well.
Joe from Massachusetts

 maybe O'Neill is an alien and may be excused .
Nope. He's human but he speaks quite strange sometimes, in according
with his character.
-- 
Yatta!,
The craziest game ever! XD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg2SdQLHX8Y

 A little more context might help, but the meaning eludes me as well.
There's not much more context, I'm afraid. The scene starts with Jackson
that sees a strange plant grow up e then shrink. O'Neill is pissed off
because of an alien barely audible noise.


 because of an alien barely audible noise.
*growing and then shrinking
-- 
Yatta!,
Festerbester: The Corps is Momma and Granny.

 *growing and then shrinking
It depends on what you mean.
For instance, to see someone *playing* the piano and to see someone 
*play* the piano are two different things, according to what I read on 
grammar books.
The former means that you see someone while they're playing the piano, 
whereas the latter means that you see their (entire) performance.
Or something like that...
Kiuhnm

 whereas the latter means that you see their (entire) performance.
He wasn't there to watch the plant, while he was walking he witnessed
that fact.
Bottom line? Dunno!
-- 
Yatta!,
If a prior visits your world... leave.

 to fit better, in my opinion.
It's quite the opposite.
Kiuhnm

 It's quite the opposite.
It's an ongoing process, after a fashion. He was nearby and witnessed.
But I don't wanna insist, as I said I don't know.
-- 
Yatta!,
If the application that is locked to that proprietary file format won't
let you in, you've lost access to your data. Isn't that functionally the
same as not having that data any more?
Slashdotter

 But I don't wanna insist, as I said I don't know.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv214.shtml
Kiuhnm

 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv214.shtml
God damn you.
What do I gotta say? You're right, maybe?
You're right. I hope you're satisfy now.
-- 
Yatta!,
Her: Honey, you're so cool!
Him: Yeah, God made me cool.
(Comment: ROTFL! What kinda idiot!)

 What do I gotta say?
*get to
-- 
Yatta!,
O'Neill: Do you read the Bible, Teal'c?
Teal'c : It is a significant part of your Western culture. Have you not
read the Bible, O'Neill?
O'Neill: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Not all of it. Actually, I'm listening to it on
tape. Don't tell me how it ends

 *get to
Ma non e' vero. Basta, mi sono rotto le balle.


 God damn you.
You're welcome.
Kiuhnm

):

IMH American O, I think you're making way too much of the distinction between 
the two forms, and the entire thread that follows this is needless.
-- 
Joe/Joey da New York


Well, squat here may just mean "nothing".
"Witness if you will... squat." "Look for yourself...nothing!".
"I don't see squat" is a fairly common AE expression.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=site%3A+www.nytimes.com+%22see+squat%22&btnG=Search
Joe from Massachusetts