English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Does "tell me about the places you've been in Canada" make sense to you?

have they only been to one place?

"places" would be more expected.

And yes.

12:26 PM

oh, well then. that makes sense

Uhum.

Toronto, Guelph, Gatineau.

Such nice places.

Well there are quite a few countries where quite a few people visit just one place.

Except for the French-speaking bits.

@Gigili I would probably say been to in Canada

12:28 PM

Ah yes, been to.

don't know if that's a Britishism

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 True, but I think the questioner's assumption would leave room for more.

@MattЭллен I think that's probably what I would say as well.

I'll visit a place in Turkey soon.

Good thing JSBangs posted the entire grammer.

Tell me about the place you will visit in Turkey.

It will have stuff.

12:29 PM

And things as well?

Not sure. I'll report back with more.

Oh I know that place, I've been there.

Nice. Thank you.

And good morning @Gigili. It is nice to see your beautiful eyes today.

Good afternoon, Kit. It's nice to see you're not angry and you have chocolate to share with me.

user19161

Anger leads to suffering.

12:31 PM

shares chocolate with @Gigi

Sorry it is not the good kind, but it will do in a pinch.

user19161

So Kit shares chocolate with Vitaly and Gigili but not me.

Why would you want bitter water?

@ClarkKent I didn't share with Vitaly.

user19161

Is chocolate bitter water? This is new.

> Perhaps the most cited explanation is that "chocolate" comes from Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, from the word chocolātl, which many sources derived from xocolātl [ʃokolaːtɬ], from xococ 'sour' or 'bitter', and ātl 'water' or 'drink'.[4] However, as William Bright noted[5] the word "chocolatl" does not occur in central Mexican colonial sources, making this an unlikely derivation.

user19161

12:33 PM

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 Deep.

Bitter waßer ist Beßer waßer.

user19161

@KitFox Bitter water is Bieber waffle?

Hahaha

user19161

@Monica There is no why. It is just the way the language is.

user19161

@Monica Trying to explain these things is like asking why the English alphabet has 26 letters instead of 24 or 25.

12:37 PM

Because we have like 38 phonemes, so of course that's 26 letters.

Makes perfect sense to me.

user19161

What is "why"? That is a very deep philosophical question.

ßoba ſett

sighs

Boba Gett?

Soba sett

user19161

@mask I see you have been spying on us. You were Feeds earlier today, now you are Mask.

12:38 PM

Oh. Ssoba sett.

I wanted the elongated s with diagonal bar, but my fonts don't display it

@ClarkKent No, I am not spying on anyone. Yes, I was Feeds earlier today to prevent from confusion between bot and me I'd changed my name.

user19161

@Monica "When did this cup get broken?" would be the correct way to write the question.

I am so tired. Do you think I could take a nap?

user19161

@Mask Relax, I am just joking with you. We joke all the time in this room.

12:41 PM

@ClarkKent I like jokes :)

@KitFox Sounds like it's for the best, you can't work at your best if you're tired

I have a problem with one of my tables. I can't seem to think clearly about it.

user19161

@Mask But also be careful. Sometimes the jokes get overdone and they don't look like jokes anymore.

Look, Jasper is joking. Today is the day.

(0_0)

user19161

12:44 PM

So sometimes to understand the true meaning of a single sentence, one may need to read the entire transcript from day one.

Sep 11 '11 at 15:45, by Jasper

@Alenanno Yes, everything I say is serious.

@ClarkKent I understand :)

user19161

@MattЭллен Unless it is clearly a joke.

►

user19161

@Mask You are very understanding.

12:46 PM

@ClarkKent I am trying to understand.

user19161

@Mask See the name of this room? Welcome to The Incomprehensible Room!

You're very trying-to-understanding then.

Anyways, As I am planning to give Toefl or IELTS exam for which correct English is must. So to enhance my vocabulary and to improve my English I enter here :)

@Gigili Which one is correct later one?

user19161

12:48 PM

@Mask Your English is not too smooth I can see.

@ClarkKent How can I improve my English, as I can talk in English walk in English and Laugh in English, jokes apart :)

user19161

@Mask "I am trying to understand" is correct.

@MattЭллен wtf. Is that the green squigglaboob @Kit was talking about?

@ClarkKent then, later one was correct.

user19161

@Mask Keep reading good English books is my humble opinion.

12:49 PM

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 I guess so. youtube fail at videos

@ClarkKent I read blogs will it be helpful?

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 Yes.

user19161

@Mask Blogs may not be written in standard English. Good books are better than good blogs.

@MattЭллен you know, in actual countries they are at least decent enough to write why they don't show you shit.

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 is that the one where he asks "vot r u sinking?"

12:50 PM

Yes.

@ClarkKent Can you suggest any to start from the scratch?

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 lol

Hey I can tell you another video.

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 I think it's a codecs problem or something.

user19161

@Mask You should pick something you are comfortable with. I have no suggestions. Just go to your library.

12:51 PM

@KitFox that's what Obama would have you believe.

Because I can see the same video without a problem.

If the content is blocked, it says so.

Okay, then that's what Obama would have Matt believe.

@Mask TOEFL? Hang on, I can give you some good suggestions.

Don't go to the library.

Drive there.

user19161

"This video is not available in your country" is what I sometimes get.

12:52 PM

@ClarkKent I hardly have time to go library as I work more than 12-14 hours a day and weekends are most busiest days.

@ClarkKent "This video is not available in your country" is what I will never get.

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 curses. I feel like David Cameron - now I feel sick

user19161

@Mask Oh dear. Then you need to spend some time going there and borrowing a book. No pain no gain.

@MattЭллен I don't think David Cameron feels sick. Though he should.

@Gigili I am planning for migrating to US for Masters, after search I go to know I need to clear GRE and TOEFL.

12:53 PM

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 no I feel sick for feeling like David Cameron :D

@ClarkKent What if I read e-books?

I know but I was joke and etc.

etc.

and etc.

user19161

@Mask Pick the good ones and those you are comfortable with.

12:53 PM

Not only, but also.

@ClarkKent Thanks for you suggestions, but will it be helpful for TOEFL?

i.e. e.g. and then some

user19161

@KitFox I recommend Windows Essential Codec Pack on Windows for use with Windows Media Player.

AFAIK, for TOEFL I need to mug up 500 - 600 words.

user19161

@Mask At your level, all reading is good. Your sentences are not smooth at all.

12:55 PM

@ClarkKent What do you mean by smooth?

@Mask mug up 500 words? This is a use of mug or mug up I am unfamiliar with

user19161

@Mask They don't flow very well. Grammatical errors or wrong word choice.

@Mask Well, Cambridge book series are really good. English vocabulary in use, * [...] grammar [...]*, blah and blah.

@ClarkKent Ya, you can say wrong word choice as my vocabulary is not as strong.

@Gigili Have you faced TOEFL exam ever?

user19161

@Mask It's not about vocabulary per se. One can use the right words even if he knows few words. I know very few words myself.

12:57 PM

Can you provide me link for the books? @Gigili

@Mask I will, at the end of this summer.

user19161

In fact, I know the least words in this room I think.

There are words in this room?

@ClarkKent You have good sense of English as compare to me.

user19161

@Mask Obviously! :-)

12:59 PM

Why is Mask's name Feeds?

@ClarkKent That means I am at the lowest level as I am beginning and you all are experienced.

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 I changed, refresh the browser.

oh I see, mug up means "To learn (a subject, book, etc.) by hard or concentrated study"

TIL

user19161

@Mask Why did you call yourself Mask?

@Gigili Can you provide me link of Cambridge books?

@ClarkKent I was searching for the profile name and was recalling childhood cartoons. So, I found Mask and I'd changed it to Ninja Turtle later it will reflect.

user19161

@Mask I see. Note that you can change your username only once every 30 days.

1:01 PM

Well now his gravatar changes back and forth as well.

@Mask I can! You'll have to wait.

@MattЭллен Cool, I make someone to learn new word today. Thanks to GOD.

user19161

Unless you create a new account and change it from there.

@Reg we're close at 7 minutes left.

@ClarkKent No, you can change your profile name as many times.

user19161

1:02 PM

@Mask Are you Christian / Jewish / Muslim?

groans

@ClarkKent Does it matter?

@Gigili Sure.

@Mask Does it matter

@Gigili Thanks.

user19161

@Mask Nope. Usually nobody says "Thanks to GOD" unless he is.

1:04 PM

@ClarkKent I am human being made by GOD, so I usually thanks to GOD as every moment is done by him we are just string puppet.

user19161

@Mask Why don't you try to change it at the same account and see what happens?

@Unicorn amazon.com/English-Vocabulary-Advanced-Michael-McCarthy/dp/…

@ClarkKent Ya, it wont change till 30 days.

Wow, the title even sounds ungrammatical.

lol

1:06 PM

lol.

user19161

@KitFox Your jokes are getting more impressive.

user19161

I am also becoming more sarcastic.

user19161

I learnt it from all of you.

well, we are the best source and English Language Use in the universe

it's difficult not to learn from us

@KitFox I have a delta of 1200+ and only 11 stam left, so sorry.

user19161

1:09 PM

Hello @skull.

@Gigili Thanks, will it be sufficient?

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 Well, I was thinking of WBing but too late now anyway.

user19161

As usual, brilliant comments with "WOW!!!" to the answer.

skullpatrol

@ClarkKent Yo

Exclamation marks should be bundled and sold to stuff mattresses in third-world countries.

1:12 PM

@Mask Certainly not. You need to read over a million books. You as in the one who wants to take the exam, not specifically you.

user19161

@Gigili Do any of us read a million books?

Million books, I think I need to drop an idea.

@ClarkKent Reg does. I don't care about others.

Where are Reg's feet?

user19161

@Mask Beside each other.

1:15 PM

@ClarkKent I want to touch them, btw who is Reg?

user19161

@Mask Do you see the owl?

user19161

Reg is the owl. The owl is Reg. QED.

You mean RegDwight ΒВBẞ8 ♦?

user19161

@Mask Of course. Who else?

Q: Is "you was/were going to ..." acceptable referring to a omitted action in past?

0

Several days ago someone told me he will do something at that day. I will work on that issue today. But he hasn't done yet. Now I will ask him to do what he promised. I started with You was/were going to work on that issue. Could you please catch up today? But somehow "was/were going ...

word-usage

Was ist das?

1:17 PM

it is that grammar

No seriously, what is the question?

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 I think you mean the subjunctive: Wäre das was?

May 6 at 17:41, by Vitaly

@Vitaly Bravo. In fact, bravissimo.

user19161

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 I did not know em1 asked this type of question.

1:18 PM

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 is "was/were" a normal thing to put in a question about an unfulfilled promise?

@Robusto that would actually mean, "how about this" or "wouldn't this be nice". Which it would not.

@MattЭллен not preceded by "you", no. Or any other pronoun, for that matter.

Why would one ever use "was/were"?

@Robusto Ah, bravo Vitaly! Bravo, bravissimo! Fortunatissimo per verità!

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 I know what it means. I was just riffing on you, as usual.

> What would a native say?

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 good question.

1:20 PM

A native would not sound like a pineapple.

@Robusto well you never know.

You told me you didn't know Handy.

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 I know Raggedy Handy.

user19161

@KitFox He could after eating too many pineapples.

@Robusto I know Rutger Hauer.

(0_o) one of beard hairs is ginger. Why only one? What kind of crazy universe do I live in?

1:21 PM

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 Is he as good in the sack as I imagine him to be?

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 I NO RITE

@KitFox I only saw the outside of his sack.

user19161

em1 usually asks good questions. Maybe I confused him with another user.

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 I am disappoint.

yes, maybe you confuse em1 with someone who asks good questions

user19161

1:22 PM

@MattЭллен Like Mattie.

looking at the votes on Em's questions, the quality fluctuates, generally above 0 though.

Not great though.

aye

user19161

@monica How is your translation coming along?

So, um. What is @Kit's sockpuppet doing here?

1:25 PM

What? Who?

chat.stackexchange.com/users/34258/fox-in-socks

Oh, the soxy foxen?

Ayup.

:D

Should I change my name to Owl in socks?

No!

1:26 PM

That's a clever strategy, hiding things by putting them out in the open.

Then people will know that Reg is my sockpuppet's sockpuppet.

:D

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 I do that all the time.

It's getting tiring to have a threeway conversation with oneself.

@KitFox who now?Me?

I keep getting my keyboards confused.

1:27 PM

so I am your sockpuppet's sockpuppet's sockpuppet?

No, but you are.

lol

My great-grandsockpuppet, yes.

user19161

What is a puppetsock?

It's a Яussian sockpuppet.

1:28 PM

Now I am distracted by thinking of sexual relations with Rutger Hauer.

dressed as a vampire?

Huh. Really?

user19161

I think the simple answer is that a sockpuppet is a puppet while a puppetsock is a sock.

Looks like vampire to me.

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 Foe Cyrillic strikes again.

user19161

1:30 PM

I need to take a poo, brb.

Oh dear. No.

That's not dressed. That's him IRL.

lol

@ClarkKent Better leave one instead.

1:31 PM

I was thinking more as a replicant, less as a droob.

A droob is like a bed.

But longer.

dr boob?

There you go with that neg-head stuff. Focus on the replican, not the replicant.

Oh lordy.

Is The Barber of Seville included in the standard U.S./U.K. school curriculum?

1:32 PM

@Vitaly Not in my neck of the woods.

@Robusto Only merkins vote for replicans.

@Vitaly Not in the U.S. Not no way, not nohow.

There there is music, and we don't teach that in school.

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 Are you saying Bush is a replican?

Are you not saying he isn't not?

1:33 PM

THE U.S. EDUCATION SYSTEM SUCKS. There, I said it.

@Vitaly Not in under 16 curriculum. I don't know about A-levels (16 - 18), but I don't think so.

@Robusto that's on their official seal.

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 Well, but a merkin is a fake Bush.

@Robusto Tru dat.

I'd take a Brazilian over a fake Bush any time.

1:34 PM

There is a huge feud here about teacher evaluations.

Awww.

@KitFox let me guess, most teachers evaluate to zero?

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 You'd still have to have a merkin to have a Brazilian.

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 No, the teachers claim that what they do can't be fairly subjected to evaluation.

@KitFox And never anything about school system evaluations. Or curriculum evaluations. If it were up to me, I'd burn ever single elementary-school history book in the country.

is that greener than coal?

1:36 PM

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 Only math teachers. English teachers evaluate to nothing. And gym teachers evaluate to less than nothing.

@KitFox so they outright admit that no one can tell if they are of any use?

@Robusto Which is why I really should homeschool my kids.

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 They don't just admit it, they hold it up triumphantly. "You can't tell if I am doing a good job, and if you try, then I will sue you!"

amazon.com/Lies-My-Teacher-Told-Everything/dp/0743296281/…

Good book.

Well that's what the country was built on.

NinjaTurtle

@Robusto Will it help in TOEFL?

1:38 PM

It makes me crazy.

@NinjaTurtle If you can read it easily, you should have no trouble with TOEFL.

And it is true to some extent. Any evaluation tool we can think of has been routinely abused by management.

Ignorant people who don't consider context.

And use data to further their own ends.

Bastards.

bastards

spits

My puppets are in agreement.

now I'm confused. who is whose puppet?

1:45 PM

coffee time

I thought I was Kit's great-grandpuppet, Reg is Kit's gandpuppet. But if Kit's Reg's puppet and I am Reg's puppet and Reg is Kit's grandpuppet, then is this some sort of Escher sock puppet thing?

is it puppets all the way down?

You are obsessed with puppets, man! Get hold of yourself!

Mitch

@Vitaly The serious musical arts, classic music and opera, used to be taught in saturday morning cartoons in the US. Children were expected to watch, and they were force fed culture with a veneer of primary colors.

@Robusto with Reg's hand?

@MattЭллен Up to him.

1:54 PM

@Mitch Erm, I meant the play by Beaumarchais (on which the Rossini opera is based).

That could well fall under literature, no?

@Vitaly Not under any literature you would learn in an American school, unless you were studying comparative lit in college.