English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

I wish people wouldn't tell me to make a form exactly like that other form they like so much, and then tell me to make everything about it different afterward.

KitFox

Oh, you poor thing!

user19161

@aediaλ People are stupid you know.

aedia λ

Why do they do that? Why are they like "make it look just like the other form, for consistency!" and then decide later they don't want dashes or the same font or anything! gnaws on form

KitFox

I spent two hours in a one-hour meeting scheduling a two-hour meeting to discuss the things we didn't have time to discuss in the one-hour meeting due to time constraints.

aedia λ

@KitFox Aww, that's great counting.

user19161

5:29 PM

Sometimes bosses tell you to do things without thinking of what you would do if you heard his instructions. They just say whatever shit they want.

aedia λ

@KitFox Hahahaha!

user19161

@KitFox The first five represent an attempt at Fibonacci. He is a genius!

aedia λ

I mean, that sounds painful.

KitFox

And now I'm trying to think up presents for my littlest while waiting for my project lead to sit down with me and discuss what data he needs. This was supposed to happen right after the meeting, but it's been two or so hours since then.

I've got some good ideas though.

Robusto

0

Q: Acronymns & Abbreviations - "a .iso file" or "an .iso file", "an HTML file" or "a HTML file"

For a .iso file... Should it be "a .iso file" because that "reads" as "a dot iso file" or should it be "an .iso file" which reads "an iso file". What's the general usage when using the language in this scenario. I've seen this issue a lot to date with the "a HTML file" vs. "An HTML file". In ...

Not this again.

user19161

5:33 PM

@Robusto The issue here really is about whether to pronounce the "dot".

Cerberus

@Robusto I think this is in the top 3.

user19161

We should not dismiss these variations too quickly.

Cerberus

The Oxford comma, a/an before abbreviations, and who/whom?

user19161

Chances are there is a point yet to be covered.

Cerberus

What would you say is our top 3?

user19161

5:35 PM

I would classify all the tense questions into one group.

Robusto

@ClarkKent If it's about 'a' vs. 'an' it's a dupe. If it's about whether or not to say the 'dot' it's off topic. Either way, it oughta be nuked and filleted.

Cerberus

@ClarkKent That's harsh. Those aren't even duplicates.

user19161

@Cerberus Also, I would put all questions about modals into another.

Cerberus

Nah.

user19161

By answering specific tense questions and modal ones, OP fails to see the big picture. So they should all become too localized.

Cerberus

5:36 PM

You would also put all bad questions together, and all SWRs.

@ClarkKent Haha I like this.

user19161

@Cerberus No, there is no unifying theory behind SWRs.

Cerberus

Add the second line to the first, and I will star it.

Do it!

Combine them into one line.

Twinkle!

user19161

@Cerberus Ding!

Cerberus

Any OP that fails to see the big picture should be voted as too localised and closed.

KitFox

OMG. "Little Chubbies" is a brand name for kid toys? Eeeewwww.

user19161

5:41 PM

Wow, Vitaly's message has 7 stars.

KitFox

Oh God! There's a "Super Chubbies" too!

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox Get your mind out of the deli

Meysam رها در بند

user19161

@Meysamرهادربند What's that about?

Meysam رها در بند

What's this box called and how can I find it on amazon?

It plays a song when the door opens

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

5:44 PM

music box

user19161

Musical box?

Meysam رها در بند

ok, let me see if I can find it on amazon

KitFox

@Meysamرهادربند It's a music box with a ballerina.

Wow. I'm late to the party.

user19161

Wow, three people with the same answers! Fascinating.

Meysam رها در بند

@KitFox what's ballernia?

user19161

5:45 PM

Now I am wondering if it is "music box" or "musical box".

user19161

@Meysamرهادربند The dancer.

aedia λ

@Meysamرهادربند Ballet dancer

Meysam رها در بند

alright thanks guys

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I have a little ratchet music box that plays part of stairway to heaven

►

KitFox

Here's one for @aedia:

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

5:47 PM

like that

KitFox

amazon.com/Enchantmints-B1202-Unicorn-Music-Box/dp/B001IK3QEI/…

aedia λ

Ooh!

KitFox

@MrShinyandNew安宇 I had one like that, but I think it played "Feelings."

aedia λ

When I was a kid, I remember playing with a solar powered music box my mom had

Kind of like this, but it had its own case, so that you could take a felt lined lid on and off the box to let the light in

KitFox

I had a music box. I forgot about that. I can barely remember it.

One of the teeth on the player was broken.

aedia λ

5:51 PM

Funny enough, I have no memory of what it played. I do remember my grandmother's wind up "you are my sunshine" one and mine that was a little wonky and played that nursery rhyme type tune about a baby falling out of a tree

I can't think of what it's called.

Rockabye baby.

Yeah!

I forgot about that.

Oh, I also have a jewelry box that plays the love song they featured in Godfather

KitFox

Maybe I'll get him a Coral Reef Activity Center.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

5:53 PM

I'm not big on jewelry though, so it's full of seashells.

KitFox

That's a bargain at only $510.

user19161

@KitFox Oh I remember you got the rocket for the other one right?

KitFox

See, I look at these and think "your daughter's first masturbation aid."

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

@Cerberus no, it's not in the top 3. It's in the top 3 twice.

Cerberus

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 Heh I see.

KitFox

5:55 PM

@ClarkKent Yes, for Christmas.

aedia λ

@KitFox Does it preserve the ecosystem all by itself?

KitFox

@aediaλ No idea. For that price, it ought to come with fish too.

user19161

@KitFox Geezis.

Cerberus

@KitFox Haha yes, very handy.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

And it's in the top 4 thrice.

I'm a bit afraid to check how often it is in the top 10.

Cerberus

5:56 PM

So what would you say is the top 3?

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

See above.

user19161

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 That means top 1.5.

Cerberus

You know what I mean.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

Now that they've fixed the FAQ tab, there's no excuses no more.

@Cerberus I suppose you mean a vs. an, Oxford comma, whichs vs. whose.

user19161

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 I did not notice the FAQ tab until now.

user19161

5:57 PM

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 Also, that vs which.

KitFox

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 Why are there so many closed questions in the FAQ tab?

user19161

@KitFox Those are the negatively voted ones I suppose.

Cerberus

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 Hmm actually yes, whose v. something is probably higher. Oh! And how about "when to use the apostrophe in mother(')s"?

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

@KitFox because they are dupes of questions that are even higher on that same list?

KitFox

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 OK.

Cerberus

5:58 PM

What do they usually call that question?

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

@Cerberus how manyth President is Obama beats mother's hands down.

KitFox

-7

Q: Is "Sent from my iPhone" correctly punctuated and capitalized?

I'm sure everyone has seen this phrase at the bottom of many e-mail messages. My question is about the combination of punctuation and capitalization. The capitalization of the first word makes me think this phrase was intended to be a complete sentence, but when we get to the end, there's no per...

punctuation capitalization

user19161

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 Why is it always Obama? Why not Bush?

KitFox

Is the last one on the list.

Cerberus

Oh! And how about "should this compound adjective be hyphenated?" (yes, that's why it's a compound adjective).

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

5:59 PM

@KitFox well take that up with the algorithm.

Cerberus

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 Oh God, that one. Not nearly as commonly, but equally annoying.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

At least it works better than it used to.

user19161

@Cerberus Oh the other group is the hyphenation group!

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

Sep 21 '11 at 15:52, by RegDwight Ѭſ道

@GraceNote: has the algorithm for the FAQ tab changed? I see only crap there.

KitFox

And most importantly, why am I such a shitty mother?

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

6:00 PM

Sep 21 '11 at 15:56, by RegDwight Ѭſ道

It used to have actual FAQs. A vs an, Oxford comma, collective nouns in AE vs BE... Now it's "Plural of 'learning'", "What would you call a person who farts a lot?", and "Just how offensive are the terms 'retarded' and 'gay'?"

Cerberus

Oh, you would have it be a group again. But groups defeat the purpose of the top 3: I want pure duplicates!

@KitFox Nonsense.

user19161

And now there abide the three: tense, modal and hyphenation.

Cerberus

Why would you be?

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

@KitFox check the "mother" tab under "Questions".

KitFox

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 kthx

Cerberus

6:01 PM

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 Haha yes, those are god ones too! At least some of them. Perhaps we should make a top 10.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

@Cerberus I maintain they did it on purpose.

Perhaps it was JA Rule himself! It's a conspiracy.

Cerberus

Who did?

The gods?

user19161

Where is JA by the way?

user19161

Is he still patrolling SE?

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

@ClarkKent he's on the site closing questions.

Cerberus

6:02 PM

AFK

user19161

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 So he still has GOD status.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

As opposed to Kosmo.

skullpatrol

@ClarkKent Did you say "patrolling"?

user19161

@skullpatrol Yeah, Rob.

skullpatrol

I found an interesting tongue twister:
"A synonym for cinnamon is a cinnamon synonym."
Try saying that one **fast** 5 times :D

user19161

6:03 PM

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 I wonder which planet Kosmo is on now.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

@skullpatrol I just did. That was easy.

May 5 at 16:59, by RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

@MattЭллен Three Swiss witch-bitches, which wished to be switched Swiss witch-bitches, wish to watch three Swiss Swatch watch switches. Which Swiss witch-bitch which wishes to be a switched Swiss witch-bitch wishes to watch which Swiss Swatch watch switch?

user19161

@skullpatrol I prefer using "of" instead of "for".

skullpatrol

@ClarkKent Me too.

user19161

@skullpatrol too

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

@ClarkKent the Bagel planet.

user19161

6:04 PM

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 I can only do "She sells seashells on the seashore".

user19161

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 I am typing from planet Kryptonite, but I might visit Earth soon as I hear that ELU is in disaster.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@ClarkKent sigh sigh sigh It's Planet Krypton! sigh

KitFox

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 *Bagle planet

user19161

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Oops, as you can see, the kryptonite is too strong!

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@ClarkKent I don't think kryptonite is a problem on the planet krypton.

user19161

6:08 PM

The way Americans pronounce "status" is so sexy.

KitFox

Do we say it "status" or "status"?

Which way is the sexy way?

skullpatrol

"status"

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

swoons

aedia λ

I always thought our way was the less awesome way. Maybe I'm wrong

user19161

@KitFox Oh, I mean the stats way.

KitFox

6:10 PM

stahtus or staytus?

user19161

@KitFox The first is sexy.

KitFox

Hmm. One of the few words for which I prefer the American pronunciation over the British.

skullpatrol

tomato or tomato?

user19161

ˈstætəs is sexy.

user19161

ˈsteɪtəs is not sexy.

user19161

6:13 PM

@skullpatrol The potatoes are more similar.

user19161

So I noticed that different browsers display web pages slightly differently.

skullpatrol

would a rose by any other name smell as sweet?

user19161

@skullpatrol Yes, to those who judge it by its smell. No, to those who judge it by its name.

user19161

That is the simple answer.

user19161

The complicated answer is that it could be no for the former group because people feel differently on different days, and also yes for the latter group because two names could give the same smell quality.

KitFox

6:17 PM

I am reading this web page, wondering why on Earth these people are together.

user19161

@KitFox She is clearly a nutcase.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

> I eat two-fingered Kit-Kats like I'd eat any other chocolate bars of that size, i.e., without feeling the need to snap them into two individual fingers first. Margret accused me of doing this, 'deliberately to annoy her'.

heheh

KitFox

@ClarkKent So is he.

user19161

@KitFox Wait, I thought it was two she's.

user19161

OIC the picture is his gf and not her.

user19161

6:20 PM

OK they are all nuts. QED.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

> 'Ha! Difficult to check up on that, isn't it? As all the other men you've been with can now only communicate by blinking their eyes!' I said. Much later. When Margret had left the house.

user19161

Also Margret seems to be an uncommon spelling.

user19161

@skull No need to remove those messages, relax! I think you are too anxious.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

Stupid machine is stupid slow. Stupid.

@KitFox hey someone noticed!

user19161

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 Machine no stupid, user stupid.

KitFox

6:22 PM

> Hannah isn't how you imagine an agent will be. She is what you'd get if you asked a mad scientist to construct an agent in his castle-top laboratory.

skullpatrol

@ClarkKent OK

user19161

@skullpatrol I know because I am an anxious person.

KitFox

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 Of course I did. I love you and Kosmo.

user19161

Oh @skull I think Jordan got suspended from chat for 7 days.

skullpatrol

@ClarkKent I have been there :(

user19161

6:26 PM

@skullpatrol Aww. Just be more careful!

skullpatrol

@ClarkKent I'll try, but it's hard; being an anxious person...

user19161

@skullpatrol it's

skullpatrol

that^ had a double meaning :D

user19161

@skullpatrol Yes I know. I am not Superman for nothing.

skullpatrol

I didn't know Superman was anxious?

user19161

6:33 PM

He is because of kryptonite.

skullpatrol

Ahh.. the fear of it.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

Ouch, we're unfair.

0

Q: It worths it or it worth it?

Which one is correct? and why? I think "worth it" is an adjective phrase. So what is "worth" then? Sample, You should try spending money on her. It worths it. You should try spending money on her. It worth it. You should try spending money on her. It is worth it. Which one is right? The l...

grammar

Got an answer from Barrie.

-5

Q: Is worth an adjective or a verb?

She worths it? Fail grammar checker She is worth it. Success grammar checker However, if worth is a verb the former should work too right? So where do I went wrong?

verbs adjectives

Got shot down hard.

Meysam رها در بند

Will and Jasper

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

Only two weeks apart, too.

And then there's also...

KitFox

Well, don't we suck?

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

6:38 PM

15

Q: What is the lexical class of the word 'worth' when used in a sentence like "Is this apple worth $3?"

The question "Not worth the paper it's printed on" - wrong meaning? got me thinking about what part of speech, or lexical class, the word 'worth' takes? A comment in "Is it worth it?" vs. "Does it worth it?" advises to treat 'worth' as an adjective, but I'm not ...

part-of-speech

Matt Эллен

@Cerb Oh, right, well of course!

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

0

A: Where does the phrase "dry run" come from?

I know this has been dormant for a few months and, at the risk of necroposting, wanted to suggest something I hadn't seen here (or yet investigated). My wife postulated that "dry run" originated with printing: a dry run was a run without ink to make sure all the letters were properly aligned.

I wonder if he noticed the accepted answer with 17 upvotes that says something else...

Matt Эллен

it's a malapropism for dry rum, which used to mean practice, because sweet rum gets you drunker.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

@MattЭллен dry rum is just a misspelling of dry mum, a euphemism for AA.

In fact, the more I think about it, the less sense it makes.

Printers don't make dry runs.

They check whether everything is aligned by making wet runs.

How could you possibly check if everything is correctly aligned by looking at an empty sheet?

Matt Эллен

lol

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

6:51 PM

I'm serious.

I used to work on a printing press.

Mahnax

Oh, nice to meet you, Mr. Gutenberg.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

Well technically, I worked in a copy shop, but next door there was a small printing shop, and I used to help out there.

Matt Эллен

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 Which is a type of battery, also known as LR03, which is the third anniversary edition of Logan's Run, written by Nolan and Johnson, which are slang for women and baby powder, respectively. So dry run originated from how Women use talcum powder to keep dry

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 no doubt, the thought hadn't occurred to me, so it made me laugh to think of testing a print without being able to see the result

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 I'm stealing that and commenting, by the way.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

Be my guest.

I am GISing right now for those color alignment marks.

No idea what they are called in English.

But that's how you actually check if everything's proper.

At least with screen printing.

KitFox

Yes, those things. Damn it. I bet @Robusto would know.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

6:59 PM

I can't find anything for the life of me.

Not in English, not in German.

Transcript for

English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…