English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

JSBᾶngs

6:00 PM

@Cerberus she's been flashing us intermittently all morning

Matt Ellen Д

@JSBᾶngs I'm not gonna post my picture. you should just adore me regardless ;-)

user19161

@Rhŵdri If so it would be too serious. possibly a combo of everything.

Cerberus

Oh, dear.

KitΘδς

@Rhŵdri I don't know. I've never seen one so harsh, so I think it must be that s/he turns 13 on the date the ban is lifted.

Cerberus

Nah.

JSBᾶngs

6:00 PM

@KitΘδς eh? wasn't vgv8 banned for basically ever?

Cerberus

V8 was banned for a year or two as well.

Jinx!

simchona

@JSBᾶngs 2013

user19161

Initially I suspected vgv8=trg787, but they are not.

KitΘδς

@JSBᾶngs People just keep missing them. It's hardly my fault that the people keep demanding more.

JSBᾶngs

@KitΘδς hey, i wasn't complaining

user19161

6:02 PM

@JSBᾶngs He's not cute.

KitΘδς

@JasperLoy I'm beginning to suspect that JSBangs and I are the same person.

Cerberus

I knew it!

That explains the no picture and the boobs.

user19161

@KitΘδς Oh dear, now you have become Nash!

Mr. Disappointment

Do I see Thursagan with yet another identicon??

KitΘδς

Shh! It's Reg!

Marthaª

6:04 PM

Aw, Reg's new characters aren't visible in chat yet.

simchona

@MrDisappointment Ehh?

aedia λ

@KitΘδς whistles innocently

Rhŵdri

@MrDisappointment Are you muddling him with Thursagen? It's easily done.

Mr. Disappointment

@simchona ...

7 mins ago, by simchona

Thursagan

1 3

simchona

@MrDisappointment Oh. He's banned.

Marthaª

6:05 PM

(Also, the last character in Reg's name shows up as a "not found" box for me.)

Mr. Disappointment

@Rhodri I actually did spell it that way in my original comment, then scrolled up, noticed, and corrected with an 'a', rather than 'e'.

Either way, I'd probably put money on them both being one in the same.

Alain Pannetier

@KitΘδς Good guess, I actually appended a phi to my display name to emulate the psi that the CHAOS team used as a recognition sign. Aren't they supposed to show us the right way?

z7sg Ѫ

@AlainPannetier I thought you had gone over to the darkness.

Rhŵdri

@AlainPannetier Either that or it's a sign that they are the Psi Corps :-)

Alain Pannetier

@Rhŵdri Although I wouldn't have chosen CHAOS as a brand.

The meaning of Χάος in Greek is emptiness, vacuity

KitΘδς

6:08 PM

@AlainPannetier Sounds dead-on to me.

user19161

@AlainPannetier sounds the opposite

RegDwight

@Martha.

Alain Pannetier

Hardly a good choice if your role is to foster order and add some interesting content.

user19161

Dao, or the way.

RegDwight

@JasperLoy One of my favorite kanji.

JSBᾶngs

6:10 PM

@RegDwight good to see you here. and i observe that you caught on to the trend even without being present

RegDwight

And yes, kanji, not hanzi.

Robusto

@RegDwight — Hey, buddy, hit the road.

RegDwight

@Robusto Jack, and never...

KitΘδς

@RegDwight How is that not hanzi? Looks like Hanzi to me.

Robusto

That's the kanji for "road" or "way" ... all I'm sayin'.

simchona

6:11 PM

So @Reg, what's the official reason for the 3Ib ban?

RegDwight

@KitΘδς Because I am using the kanji.

user19161

@KitΘδς Both then.

KitΘδς

@RegDwight nods head silently

Marthaª

@simchona His profile says "to cool down".

Robusto

Also, what that animated gif is doing is showing you the proper stroke order of the character.

simchona

6:12 PM

TRiG refuses to take suggestions here:

user19161

The order of the strokes is the same in Chinese too.

simchona

3

Q: Is there a generic name for public transport interchanges?

You know, railway stations, bus stations, ferryports, airports, tram stops. The lot.

single-word-requests hypernyms

RegDwight

@JasperLoy Are there (m)any cases in which it isn't?

Rhŵdri

@simchona Erm, the generic name would be "Public transport interchanges"

user19161

@RegDwight I dunno Jap, sorry.

Robusto

6:13 PM

The reason stroke order is important, sports fans, is that when people write in a calligraphic style, oftentimes it is impossible to tell what characters they are using unless you get hints from the stroke order.

simchona

@Rhŵdri Yes. He wants "one word". And he keeps saying that all of the suggestions are wrong. (I gave "hubs", which is what comes up when you google "public transport interchanges")

RegDwight

@Robusto Case in point: Water and Tree.

Marthaª

@Robusto That sounds like a less-than-optimal system, somehow.

Alain Pannetier

For Hanzi/Kanji: yellowbridge.com/chinese/…

Robusto

@Marthaª — Yeah, but it is what it is. Cf. the John McWhorter quote in my profile.

RegDwight

6:15 PM

@Robusto Oh and another reason would be that you don't turn a beautiful kanji into a mess, so you have to consider the direction the ink flows (down).

KitΘδς

@RegDwight Those should be easily distinguishable if you are paying attention. Like telling the difference between "lead" and "lead." Duh.

Robusto

@RegDwight — Part of the beauty of Japanese calligraphy is the imperfection.

KitΘδς

@Marthaª We have something like stroke order for our alphabet as well.

RegDwight

@Marthaª 水木 you be the judge.

Looks distict enough to me.

Unlike that Katakana nonsense.

KitΘδς

Consider that you always write your letters the same way, and that most people form letters in the same order.

RegDwight

6:17 PM

@KitΘδς I write the "d" in five different ways.

Rhŵdri

@simchona Given his clarification, 'hub' isn't the right word. There isn't a right word, in fact.

RegDwight

Same about "r" and "g".

user19161

@RegDwight You need a therapist.

simchona

@Rhŵdri Shhhh I like my answer. But, in this case...should it be closed?

RegDwight

@JasperLoy No, my handwriting is awesome.

It's like saying that anyone using ligatures needs a shrink.

What nonsense.

The same letter in a different position requires different handling.

KitΘδς

6:19 PM

@RegDwight But you don't randomly choose the formation, do you?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Of course not.

It has to be beautiful.

KitΘδς

q.e.d.

user19161

This is sth new to me...

RegDwight Ѭſ道

The concept of beauty is quite old.

Rhŵdri

@simchona Probably not, IMHO. "There is no right word" is an answer.

JSBᾶngs

6:20 PM

@Jasper don't worry, i'm also confused

Robusto

The art of calligraphy is in the expression in an instant of rules and practice one has spent a lifetime to acquire. The little accidents and imperfections are the perfect counterpoint to the overwhelming discipline.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

^ This.

KitΘδς

There's a word for that, isn't there?

user19161

@KitΘδς For what? This is NOT A REAL QUESTION.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@KitΘδς There's a word for everything. And here it is: everything.

KitΘδς

6:26 PM

There's a Japanese word that expresses "The little accidents and imperfections are the perfect counterpoint to the overwhelming discipline." word-kit-is-trying-to-think-of

Matt Ellen Д

@KitΘδς don't forget to tag it! single-word-request

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@KitΘδς There's a Japanese StackExchange.

64

Japanese Language & Usage – japanese.stackexchange.com

Beta Q&A site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the Japanese language.

Currently in public beta.

KitΘδς

@RegDwightѬſ道 There's a Japanese Stock Exchange too.

Marthaª

@RegDwightѬſ道 [6C34] vs [6728] do, indeed, look different. Dunno about the actual characters those are supposed to resolve to, but don't on this computer.

user19161

@KitΘδς Not an answer to your question, but serendipity comes to mind.

Mr. Disappointment

6:28 PM

Is it just me, or are these name changes legitimate?

Marthaª

@KitΘδς Well, yeah, I know that. But if the stroke order is supposed to somehow remain visible in order to make your writing readable, there's something wrong with your writing system.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

user19161

@MrDisappointment What name changes, the symbols?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Mr. Disappointment

@JasperLoy Ya.

user19161

6:29 PM

@MrDisappointment Well, I dunno what you mean by legitimate, but you can change only once every 30 days I think.

KitΘδς

@Marthaª It's like knowing a q from a g by the flick of the tail.

The word is "wabi-sabi."

user19161

To one who learns Chinese, the mu (wood) and shui (water) are totally different.

Mr. Disappointment

@JasperLoy I mean legitimate as in people have actually changed their names in here intentionally, and chat isn't just freaking out - it's kind of an unsettling feeling to see many names I know, but with 'odd' characters suddenly appended and interjected.

user19161

@MrDisappointment Yes they really have.

user19161

I was here and they were having fun doing it.

KitΘδς

6:31 PM

@MrDisappointment What?? Oh my Frigga!

yip yip

Mr. Disappointment

OK, next question is why? Is it related to all this conversation on Sanskrit type text?

user19161

The two characters above also show the stroke order in Chinese.

JSBᾶngs

@MrDisappointment there's a conversation on sanskrit? where?

Mr. Disappointment

@Kit I'm your Frigga, am I?

user19161

@JSBᾶngs LOL

JSBᾶngs

6:33 PM

somebody link @MrD back to the reason why we've all scribbled on our names. i'm too busy with work

KitΘδς

@MrDisappointment It's to celebrate EL&U's birthday.

user19161

Jinx.

KitΘδς

And because of Alain putting a phi on his name.

Mr. Disappointment

@JSBangs Hopefully you can stretch your intelligence to understand what I mean, or maybe I should have compounded 'Sanskrit' and 'type', or I could elaborate on how I thought that covered a general enough topic that could be picked up on; forgive me for not knowing the precise term to encapsulate the current discussion on strokes.

KitΘδς

And because we're χάοτικ.

user19161

6:34 PM

@MrDisappointment It's Jap or Chinese, not Sanskrit.

JSBᾶngs

@MrDisappointment except these are all Chinese-derived logographic systems, which are unrelated to sanskrit. this is why i was confused

@Jasper jinx

KitΘδς

@JasperLoy Japanese please.

Mr. Disappointment

@JasperLoy May I politely refer you to...

54 secs ago, by Mr. Disappointment

@JSBangs Hopefully you can stretch your intelligence to understand what I mean, or maybe I should have compounded 'Sanskrit' and 'type', or I could elaborate on how I thought that covered a general enough topic that could be picked up on; forgive me for not knowing the precise term to encapsulate the current discussion on strokes.

simchona

@JasperLoy Why can you write out Chinese, but not Japanese?

one character more.

Mr. Disappointment

Again, forgive me for being so ignorant.

Cerberus

6:35 PM

I don't see anything different in Reg's name?

KitΘδς

@MrDisappointment OH You thought that was sanskrit.

JSBᾶngs

@MrDisappointment no need to aploogize

i'm just gonna leave that typo there

RegDwight Ѭſ道

I can relate Sanskrit to whatever I want. Hungarian would be a sztárt.

2

Mr. Disappointment

Not that I thought that is exactly what it was, but that people in here would know what I meant.

@Cerberus RegDwight Ѭſ道

KitΘδς

Too far apart for me to have guessed that one.

JSBᾶngs

6:37 PM

yeah, i wouldn't have related sanskrit to chinese. to telugu, tibetan, or thai, yes.

Matt Ellen Д

@Cerberus a refresh brought up for me

Cerberus

@MrDisappointment Ah, yes, I see that too in the favourites now. But when when someone actuallt @s him, at least not half an hour ago.

@MattEllenД Yeah but I don't want to refresh!

Matt Ellen Д

@Cerberus do it! it's good for you.

JSBᾶngs

@Cerberus CTRL+R. it's not that hard. lasts about one second.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Famous last words.

Alain Pannetier

6:38 PM

@Mr. We're trying to determine how well the stackexchange software suite supports unicode (even beyond the BMP).

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Just don't use capital letters in tags.

user19161

@simchona Sorry. Is 'Jap' considered offensive? AFAIK it isn't.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Oh noes not that again.

simchona

@JasperLoy It is.

Mr. Disappointment

Hm, I thought it would have come across as 'oh, he means all this calligraphic type stuff, that doesn't occur naturally in English'.

I probably do need to aploogise, then!

Alain Pannetier

6:40 PM

I mean, if linguistics.SE is to ever go live... we'll probably need something... robust.

KitΘδς

@JSBᾶngs Or F5.

simchona

@JasperLoy It's highly derogatory in the US, because it was used around WWII. As much as one would think that feelings have died down since, they haven't. So...please don't use it here, if you can

user19161

@simchona OK, then I will avoid using it. But just to let you know, I never really heard that. Sorry.

Mr. Disappointment

Ya, I must admit, I cringed a bit when I read 'Jap'.

simchona

@JasperLoy Thank you.

For more:

-4

Q: Since "Jap" is a racist/derogatory word, what's an appropriate short form for Japanese/the Japanese language?

Since Jap may turn out to be derogatory/offensive, what's an appropriate short form for Japanese/the Japanese language?

word-choice abbreviations politeness

Mr. Disappointment

6:41 PM

What's wrong with just using Japanese?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Haha someone's working on an HTML 4.0 page.

simchona

@MrDisappointment The OP is dumb and doesn't want the URL to be long

KitΘδς

@MrDisappointment I think that was the consensus.

@RegDwightѬſ道 What? Who told you? Nothing to see here!

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Arda Ξ

@KitΘδς I didn't intend anything! I just decided to put my name back as it used to be. You guys all started copying me.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

6:43 PM

Try to type your HTML with that.

KitΘδς

@RegDwightѬſ道 (Last meeting, I got a "If you could just tch center all of those fields, that'd be greeeaaat.")

user19161

@RegDwightѬſ道 This is your Russian keyboard?

KitΘδς

@RegDwightѬſ道 Feeling hot and bothered again.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@JasperLoy Yes, except for the "your" and "Russian" part.

KitΘδς

@ArdaΞ We were copying Alain, not you!

Arda Ξ

6:44 PM

@KitΘδς Then what did I have to do with anything?

KitΘδς

@ArdaΞ I have no idea.

Except you thought we were all copying you.

Alain Pannetier

I was copying the CCC.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Feb 23 at 11:18, by RegDwight

Also, don't copy that floppy.

Matt Ellen Д

@AlainPannetier CCCP*

Arda Ξ

@KitΘδς Well, yes, because everyone started changing their name the moment they noticed I did.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

6:45 PM

@MattEllenД СССР*

KitΘδς

@ArdaΞ I don't think Alain was copying you.

Arda Ξ

@KitΘδς I wasn't talking about Alain.

I was talking about the people in the room at that time.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Unless, of course, you mean the Combined Community Codec Pack.

KitΘδς

Now, look, does it set off alarms when pictures get posted?

user19161

@alain @cerberus once called you god, because he said thank god when you helped him, and I said thank Alain, and he said alain=god.

Alain Pannetier

6:46 PM

@JasperLoy, ask Vitaly. There's no god. It's just a lie.

JSBᾶngs

@AlainPannetier now, now. quit trying to hide it and admit that you're god

RegDwight Ѭſ道

►

user19161

OK people, relax before this gets into a religious argument.

Alain Pannetier

@JSBᾶngs If I were I'd probably find something witty to answer.

user19161

@RegDwightѬſ道 Isn't that you?

Rhŵdri

6:49 PM

3

Q: Using a question mark mid-sentence

May I use a question mark in the middle of a sentence? Examples: Would you like the drapes to be white? or perhaps something off-white? Would you like the logo to be centered? at the bottom? left off entirely?

punctuation question-mark

RegDwight Ѭſ道

It's tough to be a God
Tread where mortals have not trod
Be deified when really you're a sham
Be an object of devotion
Be the subject of psalms
It's a rather touching notion
All those prayers and those salaams
And who am I to bridle if I'm forced to be an idol
If they say that I'm a God, that's what I am

KitΘδς

@Rhŵdri Dupe!

Rhŵdri

This is a dupe, but I can't find it.

Mr. Disappointment

@JasperLoy I agree, with the concern that use of the word 'argument' implies either side has a reasonable chance of winning.

KitΘδς

4

Q: Does the word after a question mark start with a capital letter?

Should I write it like this? Or perhaps like this? Should I write it like this? or perhaps like this? What about after an exclamation mark or semicolon?

punctuation capitalization

This one maybe?

simchona

6:50 PM

2

Q: Should I place a question mark after "Can you (just) imagine"?

I mean should I always split the sentence into two ("And can you imagine? He escaped through the window!") or I can just get away with one long sentence without a question mark at all (something like "And can you just imagine - he escaped through the window!"). What punctuation would be correct i...