[Tutor] Issue w/ string input "for", "not", "while", "else" etc.

[Peter Otten]

Steven D'Aprano wrote:

> On Wed, Nov 27, 2013 at 09:45:20AM +0100, Peter Otten wrote:
> 
>> I took the freedom to report it myself:
>> 
>> http://bugs.python.org/issue19808
> 
> Thanks for reporting the issue!
> 
> 
> [off-topic]
> 
> You might like to know that the standard English idiom is "I took the
> liberty" rather than "freedom".

It must sound really odd to an English ear, as I got another off-list 
correction ;)

My Bad English is beyond the point where I naively translate German 
expressions, though, so I have either seen it in the text of another speaker 
of Bad English, or misremembered the correct phrase.

> In general, liberty is a synonym for freedom. We might fight for liberty
> from oppression or freedom from hunger. However, the phrases "to take
> the liberty" and "to take liberties" are a little different. Both carry
> connotations of going a bit too far, both are very old-fashioned, with
> the flavour of Victorian England, or perhaps as late as the 1920s.
> 
> To take liberties is (potentially) a criticism, typically spoken by a
> women to a man who has been a little too enthusiastic about making
> romantic advances. The image it often brings to the mind of English
> speakers is of a very prim and proper young women mildly chastising a
> young gentleman for being too forward with his romantic overtures (but
> often with a twinkle in her eye, as if to say they're not completely
> unwelcome).
> 
> Alternatively, the words may be said by an elderly matron, severely
> chastising a young gentleman who has been a bit too keen on the matron's
> daughter or niece (definitely NOT with a twinkle in the eye!), or
> perhaps to a servant for talking back, relaxing, or otherwise not
> obeying her every whim.
> 
> To take *the* liberty is less negative and more a self-deprecating
> acknowledgement that the speaker has stepped out of bounds and taken on
> more responsibility than he should have, but has done so from the best
> of motives. (Sometimes spoken seriously, these days more often
> ironically.) 

That's the meaning I was aiming to convey.

> The image it brings to mind is of an exceedingly polite,
> very proper, and hyper-competent butler or valet:
> 
> "Sir has an appointment with the bank this morning. I have taken the
> liberty of laying out Sir's best trousers and tweed jacket."
> 
> Think of Jeeves: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeeves
> 
> 
> Personally, I love both phrases :-)
> 
> Does German have anything similar?  (I presume you are German.)

[I kept my .de email address because I don't like the idea that we're all 
from planet google ;)]

In German liberty and freedom are both covered by "Freiheit" (I presume 
that's how it would be in English were it not for the Normans).

For example "Freiheitsstatue" is "Statue of Liberty" whereas 
"Schadstofffreiheit" indicates that something contains no poisonous 
substances.

We also have

sich die Freiheit nehmen - to take the liberty
sich Freiheiten (heraus)nehmen - to take liberties

with roughly the same meanings as the English counterparts.
A woman might say

Was nehmen sie sich heraus?

to a "too enthusiastic" male, without an explicit "Freiheit", but most 
likely in a stuffy comedy or light opera.