English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

1:41 AM

@RegDwight — Some are born skeptical, some acquire skepticism, and some have skepticism thrust upon them. I wear my mantle of skepticism with pride and self-doubt.

hippietrail

7:08 AM

No Englishly speakenings here of present?

entered at the wrong hour I have

Vitaly

10:17 AM

Is there a way to obscure the links and still get those sharing badges if you don't want people finding out your user ID from the links?

(The people may be computer-savvy enough to decode various URL encoding stuff, so I guess it's a question about StackExchange functionality.)

RegDwight

10:40 AM

@Vitaly Nope. Putting in your user ID is the only way.

Vitaly

That's a horrible privacy violation. Thanks anyway.

Well technically I would be violating my own privacy, but then they could have offered more than two choices…

Boob

11:05 AM

@RegDwight There's a jinx on this site now

It's gone wrong this morning!

badp

0

Q: What meme is "Track and Field" responsible for?

Jeff Atwood once wrote clicked again and again until finally I saw "You can accept an answer in 0 seconds". For some reason when you said that I was thinking of this. What meme to do with "Track and Field" by Konami is being referred to?

meme

Would this belong on English?

It's about a "cultural" reference, rather than about actually playing games... it's some kind of borderline perhaps.

Robusto

11:22 AM

@badp: That doesn't belong on EL&U.

@Vitaly — Not sure what you're asking.

Vitaly

@Robusto Under every question, there is a link titled link, which is of the form: http://english.stackexchange.com/q/PostID/UserID, e.g. http://english.stackexchange.com/q/26378/3286. The user ID (3286) in this case is my user ID, so when I share that link, it obviously leads to my StackExchange profile, which I do not want.

Robusto

Ah. The link won't work without the user ID?

Vitaly

@Robusto And it seems that without that user ID at the end of the link I won't get any relevant badges (Populist, Booster, etc)

How else is StackExchange going to determine who is entitled for a badge?

RegDwight

@badp I agree with Robusto that this doesn't belong here. (Actually, I am also not quite sure why you wouldn't want to keep it on Gaming.)

Robusto

Oh, well then I have no sympathy for you. You can have privacy or notoriety, not both.

Vitaly

11:29 AM

Haha.

badp

@RegDwight It's kinda borderline, but oh well. Thanks for answering

Robusto

I'd say it's on the correct side of the border.

RegDwight

Rolling through the countryside,
Tears are in my eyes,
We´re coming to the borderline,
I´m ready with my lies,
And in the early morning rain, I see her there,
And I know I´ll have to say goodbye again.

Robusto

What was all this pederasty discussion about? Geezis, the minute I stop policing this chat it goes straight into the toilet.

RegDwight

Well, I could move the discussion to the Programmers chat.

Robusto

11:33 AM

A more appropriate spot, surely.

RegDwight

The Whiteboard

General Discussion for softwareengineering.stackexchange.com P...

Robusto

Except we all know that Programmers are panting after hot, young Microsoft applications and Windows Phones. Which is just as well.

RegDwight

See, they don't mean National Public Radio. Which leads me to believe that they mean Necrophily, Pedophily, and Religion.

Robusto

I would have said Rationalization instead of Religion, but I take your point.

RegDwight

Same difference.

Robusto

11:35 AM

5

Q: Does British English have a word for dry, starchy savoury snacks that are not fried slices of potato?

Everyone, the world over, enjoys savoury snacks, particularly dry, starchy ones. Far and away the most popular kind in the Anglosphere are the ones made from deep-fried (sometimes baked) thinly-sliced potato (sometimes other root vegetables), almost always salted, and very often flavoured in some...

single-word-requests british-english hypernyms

Is this person asking because he wants to know how to request such things more efficiently?

RegDwight

That one would make me hungry if I weren't full.

Robusto

So the British don't use the term "junk food"?

RegDwight

The British do use the term "junk food". It's just that you don't notice because in Received Pronunciation, it sounds more like "Liverpool".

Kit

@Robusto I think that's too nonspecific.

Vitaly

@Reg: what's the English word for котлета? As in, what word would they actually use if they saw a Russian котлета, as opposed to the dictionarish words?

Kit

11:38 AM

You all ready for the Rapture today?

RegDwight

@Vitaly Oh my. No idea. Burger? Rissole?

Rissole

A rissole (from Latin russeolus, meaning reddish, via French in which "rissoler" means "to [make] redden") is a small croquette, enclosed in pastry or rolled in breadcrumbs, usually baked or deep fried. It is filled with sweet or savory ingredients, most often minced meat or fish, and is served as an entrée, main course, dessert or side dish. Variations by country In Portugal, rissoles are known as rissóis (singular "rissol") and are a very popular snack that can be found in many cafes and in barbecues and house parties. Rissóis are a breaded pastry shaped as half-moon usually filled ...

Vitaly

Enclosed in pastry?.. Huh.

Robusto

@Kit — The Rapture was supposed to start at midnight. But that raises the question, will the Rapture sweep across the time zones one by one or does God work on GMT?

RegDwight

Looks a lot like kotleta to me.

Vitaly

Sort of yeah

Kit

11:41 AM

@Robusto I heard at 6pm everywhere, then sweeping westerly.

Like that makes sense.

Vitaly

Though it's an Australian rissole, as per Wikipedia

RegDwight

Interestingly, the Germans would call kotleta "Frikadelle".

Kit

@RegDwight Are those fried meatballs?

Robusto

Well, I hope it does happen. I think if all the fundamentalists disappeared we're talking win-win.

RegDwight

@Kit Nah, meatballs are frikadelki.

Robusto

11:42 AM

BTW, @RegDwight:

Robusto

477 1 6

2012 extinction-event physiology perception cancer alcohol music

In your face mo-fo!

RegDwight

Rapture.

Robusto

RegDwight, Europe, GMT+1

231 1 6

internet nazi adolf-hitler

Kit

@Robusto No joke.

RegDwight

It's rapture, not repture. You rep plays no role in this drama.

Kit

@RegDwight Classic, but I prefer "Heart of Glass"

Robusto

11:44 AM

@RegDwight — I remain skeptical about that.

Anyway, you're the one who brought it up. Cursing me in chat when I wasn't even there.

Kit

So it's just the Rapture, right? Not the Apocalypse?

RegDwight

You can remain skeptical in your capitalizationist Hell all you want. Meanwhile in my communist Heaven, I will make like five hundred edits per second without moving a finger. I will dwarf you in every way imaginable. At last.

Robusto

I wouldn't want to hang from a rope until that happens.

Kit

Boys are up, got to run. TTFN.

Hope I see you tomorrow, sinners.

RegDwight

You wish.

z7sg

11:52 AM

@Vitaly Meatballs is the general term, but we have our own unique and delicious sort of meatball called a faggot. It's made from pork offal and some other stuff. Mmmm.

Robusto

@z7sg — Wow, that so puts me off my food. I may never eat again.

0

Q: What are all the ways the British use the word "lovely"? Especially towards pretty girls?

From watching many period dramas and plays set in England, as I like to do, I've become more acutely aware of the British overloading of the word lovely. In particular, I have two questions: What are all the contexts in which the word is used? For example, what does lovely mean as an interje...

british-english word-usage connotation

z7sg

@Robusto Sorry man, faggots are lovely really. :)

Vitaly

So in the UK you could eat a faggot and smoke a fag.

Robusto

Is Billare just looking for help in getting laid?

Vitaly

22 mins ago, by Robusto

What was all this pederasty discussion about? Geezis, the minute I stop policing this chat it goes straight into the toilet.

Robusto

11:56 AM

See? I told you.

Vitaly

On a tangentially related note, I love it how the котлета interwiki in the Russian Wikipedia leads to croquette in English and Frikadelle in German, which then lead to German Kroketten and English Frikadeller respectively, which then lead to Russian крокеты and фрикадельки respectively. What a mess.

Robusto

@Vitaly — Whatever turns you on. Me, I have simpler tastes.

hippietrail

12:10 PM

Humans!

RegDwight

Where?

hippietrail

Hmm thought I smelled humans.

Thought I'd have another looksee what the wordies get up to...

RegDwight

Now your username makes sense.

Boob

As opposed to my username

hippietrail

Did I miss the rissoles?

RegDwight

12:13 PM

There's still some left, but them's Russian.

hippietrail

Boobs don't make sense either but we like them just the same.

I'll be in Russia's former sphere of influence soon so count me in.

Vitaly

Oh this reminds me of a question that would be borderline on the main site (I think): if you say I eat girl, will it be understood that it's intentionally worded similarly to I eat meat and I drink water (notice the noncount nouns)?

Boob

XD

RegDwight

Why would you even want to say that.

From pederasty to cannibalism in just one day. This chat is... peculiar.

Vitaly

Saw that somewhere in a grammar book, it said that it (the count → noncount transition) is used in fairy tales, i.e. as in I smell boy said by a giant

hippietrail

12:16 PM

Wherever you go on the Internet... there you are.

Robusto

God, I tab out for, like, 5 minutes and the chat is already in the gutter.

hippietrail

much more gutterlike that I had anticipated

RegDwight

Quick, post some Shakespeare.

hippietrail

Extruded snack, anyone?

Vitaly

@RegDwight From Titus Andronicus?

Robusto

12:18 PM

@hippietrail: Little-known fact: Wherever you go on the Internet you're still in the basement of your mom's house with empty Mountain Dew cans and Cheetohs bags lying about.

RegDwight

Interestingly enough, Shakespeare used the word gutter exactly once. Or more like, halvce.

Has had most favourable and happy speed:
Tempests themselves, high seas, and howling winds,
The gutter'd rocks and congregated sands—
Traitors ensteep'd to clog the guiltless keel,—
As having sense of beauty, do omit
Their mortal natures, letting go safely by
The divine Desdemona.

hippietrail

@Robusto: this much has become apparent

Robusto

"Can such things be, And overcome us like a summer's cloud, Without our special wonder?"

Or, from a darker play: "Words, words, words."

RegDwight

"words, vows, gifts, tears, and love's full sacrifice"

Robusto

"He thrusts me himself into the company of three or four gentleman-like dogs under the Duke's table. He had not been there — bless the mark — a pissing-while but all the chamber smelt him."

hippietrail

12:23 PM

the last 2% for the japanese SE is taking forever

RegDwight

Same with German.SE.

Robusto

だめですね。

RegDwight

One more committer. Just one.

hippietrail

dame desu ne?

Robusto

I would commit, but for all the derision I get from certain German speakers in this chat.

z7sg

12:25 PM

@RegDwight Looks to me like it has actually accelerated.

hippietrail

asoko e ikimasu mo

Robusto

@hippietrail そうですね。

RegDwight

kono dokki doki wa naze tomaranai

hippietrail

ich habe zu des deutches SO auch kommittiert d-;

RegDwight

Wie bitte?

hippietrail

12:26 PM

the good part about german is you can just make your own up

RegDwight

Not in this chat.

z7sg

Polish to English translation: kono Dokki doki wa naze tomaranai

Thanks google

if that's Polish, my leg's a hat

RegDwight

Hey, at least it capitalized Dokki!

hippietrail

i was learning some polish a few hours ago and learned once again that every language is easier than danish

Robusto

あそこえ行こう？

@hippietrail — Shoe polish? Nail polish?

hippietrail

12:29 PM

Linguistic polish

RegDwight

Danish so-called pronunciation.

Robusto

@RegDwight — Herrscht hier keine Gemütlichkeit!

hippietrail

i think every consonant in danish is an uvular

RegDwight

They have consonants in Danish???

Anyhow, Polish is quite easy. It's basically the Russian rip-off of Portuguese.

May 2 at 15:25, by RegDwight

Through a series of highly scientific experiments, I was able to determine that in Portuguese, every letter of every word is pronounced as either /ʒ/ or /ʃ/, except for the letter a in some rare cases.

See? Same with Polish.

hippietrail

nasal russian with two latins for every cyrillic

Robusto

12:32 PM

@RegDwight — I think these highly scientific experiments involved lots of Internet porn. See, the thing is, those are the noises you hear in all porn, whatever the language.

Boob

I thought "Danish" is a person's name.

RegDwight

@hippietrail Well, nasal Russian is the original Russian.

hippietrail

danish is a non savoury snack's name (except in denmark)

Robusto

A "Danish" is a breakfast food. So is a "Berliner".

hippietrail

bah russian is for children anyway. give me georigan.

RegDwight

12:34 PM

Kartvelian, you mean.

hippietrail

what do they call wienerbrød in vienna again?

@RegDwight: lelo lelo sakartvelo!

i haven't had a chance to familiarize myself with any of the other kartvelian languages yet. hopefully before christmas.

Robusto

Apr 18 at 21:34, by Robusto

John McWhorter: "English really is easy(-ish) at first and hard later, while other languages like Russian are hard at first and then just as hard later! Show me one person who has said that learning Russian was no problem after they mastered the basics—after the basics you just keep wondering how anybody could speak the language without blacking out."

RegDwight

Uh. I only know gamardžoba. Coincidentally, you can use that as an answer to your brød question.

Mr. Disappointment

Hey you guys.

RegDwight

And boob.

hippietrail

12:36 PM

eine homogene Stoffmischung aus bindenden

RegDwight

aus bindenden was?

Mr. Disappointment

Hm, @RegDwight, could provoke a question: can 'guys' be used to refer to 'man' as in 'beings'? ....nah, scratch that

hippietrail

gamarjoba was one of the two first phrases i looked up as soon as i located a cybercafe in batumi

RegDwight

@MrDisappointment Yeah, we've only ever had five of these.

hippietrail

@RegDwight: ich habe keine ahnung

Mr. Disappointment

12:38 PM

But yea, anyway, hey @Boob.

hippietrail

@MrDisappointment: don't worry i made the mistake of addressing them as "humans" earlier

Cerberus

Hello DS&G!

RegDwight

Oh noes. The Latin dog is here. We are doomed.

Boob

@MrDisappointment Heyhung

Cerberus

Your German already doomed you.

RegDwight

12:39 PM

Just a quick reminder:

Mar 27 at 1:29, by RegDwight

Nobody may post any additional Latin sentences until everybody's memorized those already posted.

Mr. Disappointment

@hippietrail Wow, now that's pushing it.

@Boob Whoa!?

Cerberus

Oh dang. I'd hoped you had forgotten.

Boob

@MrDisappointment Hey hung chao? Huh

Cerberus

What else may one post here, then?

Chinese?

Français?

RegDwight

As long as it's not Chinese/Français/Dutch baby pictures, knock yourself out.

Cerberus

12:40 PM

Dutch?

Oh, right, Martha.

@RegDwight Pardon?

Hey! Sneaky.

@Boob No.

@RegDwight Please?

@Boob never mind, I guess, so long as peace it retained.

RegDwight

12:41 PM

What do you want from me. I wasn't the one who pinged you.

z7sg

@Robusto It always seemed to me that Russians manage to get their esoteric grammar rules right most of the time which is amazing given the blunders I hear native English speakers making every day.

Cerberus

I have a question: I am often struggling with I think, that is, I use it too much. I know there are alternatives, like I believe, it seems, etc.; but I was wondering whether I was the only one with this issue.

hippietrail

i refuse to speak russian until they bring back the yat

Boob

@RegDwight I'll never give up.

RegDwight

The rules of Russian are clear and inflexible.

Cerberus

12:43 PM

I am specifically thinking (there I go again) of answering questions on this very site.

I just love the pair clear and inflexible. So very prescriptive, it turns me on.

RegDwight

@hippietrail бѣз проблѣм.

Cerberus

Several Latin quotes come to mind...

hippietrail

@RegDwight: +1

RegDwight

Okay, so far Russian has turned on: 1. a multiheaded dog, 2. um...

Cerberus

That must count for something.

Boob

12:45 PM

@MrDisappointment Never mind? After my special respects to you and all

hippietrail

my bog i even understood that without looking anything up

RegDwight

Is bog the antonym of dog?

Feb 23 at 15:56, by Kosmonaut

The antonym for bee is pee, btw

hippietrail

gob only knows

Cerberus

I am nobody's bog.

RegDwight

@hippietrail Wow, how do I make that upside-down λ?

Cerberus

12:47 PM

Oh and where is Pullum? What's his account name?

Mr. Disappointment

@Boob Oh, and I accept and cherish such; my most sincere apologies, and... be sure to keep'em comin'. ;p

hippietrail

@RegDwight: take an upside down y and invert it

Robusto

Doggy is back! And me without a biscuit or three.

RegDwight

Calum

101

Cerberus

Aww.

sits up nicely

hippietrail

12:48 PM

why didn't i get one of those hats when i hit 101? )-:

Cerberus

@RegDwight Nice try. The hat will do; but I am missing the descriptivist flag.

RegDwight

@hippietrail ʇı ʇɹǝʌuı puɐ ʎ uʍop ǝpısdn uɐ ǝʞɐʇ

Yup. Works.

Thanks!

hippietrail

at the risk of not being off topic, should we have a tag that covers both "single word requests" and "phrase requests"?

Cerberus

Hmm...

RegDwight

Why do you want a single tag?

Cerberus

12:50 PM

They do share most properties.

hippietrail

it's fortunate i'm downunder here so i can read the occasional line without calisthenics

RegDwight

@Cerberus So do verbs and past participles.

Mr. Disappointment

Yea, in that case why not just have an all encompassing tag - 'shtuffs'?

RegDwight

@MrDisappointment Precisely. We used to have usage, words, and english. That should be enough for everyone!

Robusto

I've concluded Writers.SE could be good, but it seems to have some kind of automatic governor on its throttle. That is, people only seem to want to ask about bad writing, or how to write better dreck, etc.

3

Q: Vision/dream as an effective opening?

I'm looking for opinions on the effectiveness of this opening scene. It's a vision, not that he knows that at first. He thinks it a dream and won't quite act on it straight away. The vision was given to him by a sentient alien. It's basically the first of a few visions meant to kick start a bit o...