English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Matt Эллен

12:00 PM

Robusto, Robusta, Robustas, Robustamos, Robustais

RegDwight АΑA

Robusto, robustes, robustamon, robustski, robuspeliamos.

user19161

Robusto sounds like Barista

RegDwight АΑA

And Jasper sounds like Kasper.

Kasperle

Kasperle is a famous and traditional puppet character from Austria and Germany. Its roots date to 17th century and was at times so popular that Kasperltheater was synonymous with puppet theater. Kasperltheater includes the following characters: Kasper, Gretel, Seppel, princess, king, witch, robber, and crocodile. The older, more traditional Kasperle shows are very similar to "Mister Punch". Then there are "Kasperle Versions" of Brothers Grimm fairy tales, and "modern fairy tales." Kasper (known as Kasperl and Kasperle in southern Germany and Austria) is the hero of German puppet theater....

tchrist

@Reg Yeah it’s been over 24h. No Reviewer badge. Must be a bug.

@JasperLoy Well, and stupid. MW is not British.

user19161

@tchrist I commented there.

user19161

12:04 PM

@RegDwightАΑA I like the nose. Like Pinocchio.

user19161

Yo @kit. Wassup?

Robusto

@JasperLoy Yes, the way Jasper sounds like Giscard.

RegDwight АΑA

@tchrist I think they should make it a diamond badge and rename it into Unattainable.

tchrist

Unobtainium.

KitFox

@JasperLoy My hackles. You?

tchrist

12:05 PM

What could possibly have your hackles up on a lovely Monday morning?

KitFox

No half-and-half for my coffee AND not enough regular beans for a pot so it's been cut with the emergency might-have-been-flavored beans.

user19161

By the way, the MW Collegiate dictionary paperback is really priced nicely. It's much cheaper than many smaller dictionaries.

Robusto

I've been demoted from 9 to 8 gold badges. Apparently some word-choice question got deleted. Hmm, and here I thought gold badges were forever.

Matt Эллен

I thought badges didn't get repealed too

user19161

@Robusto Are you sure? I thought badges are forever too.

Robusto

12:07 PM

How could I not be sure? I know the difference between 8 and 9.

RegDwight АΑA

@Robusto by trying harder and succeeding.

KitFox

Maybe you miscounted. You have so many.

user19161

@Robusto The difference is very small, only 1, not 9000.

RegDwight АΑA

@tchrist UGH. Make that go away. That was some crap movie.

Robusto

Bronze and silver badges I never know my totals on, but gold is a single freakin' digit.

RegDwight АΑA

12:09 PM

@Robusto you'll be the first one to hit double digits thanks to tag badges.

Robusto

We'll see.

RegDwight АΑA

I don't have a single silver tag badge, and probably never will.

user19161

They should intro a platinum badge.

Matt Эллен

for when you have all the other badges?

user19161

Or a diamond badge.

RegDwight АΑA

12:10 PM

@Robusto not tag badges, obviously, because tags themselves are subject to spontaneous deletion.

Robusto

They should introduce a platypus badge.

RegDwight АΑA

They should introduce a platypus.

"Platypus, Reg Dwight. Reg Dwight, Platypus."

Robusto

The platypus is indifferent to Reg Dwight and all his undertakings.

RegDwight АΑA

tchrist

@RegDwightАΑA Whereas on SO, I have gold tag badges. The numbers just don’t work for non-SO sites.

RegDwight АΑA

12:12 PM

Pictured: indifference.

Robusto

@RegDwightАΑA That's not a platypus. Where's the beak?

RegDwight АΑA

@Robusto below the fold.

Platypusae's are constructed such, by God, that beaks are below the fold.

Robusto

This conversation has once again plumbed the depths of things that are and should remain below the fold.

RegDwight АΑA

But people keep pushing it up.

And up.

And up.

user19161

@RegDwightАΑA WTF is that!

RegDwight АΑA

12:15 PM

And up.

@JasperLoy watch your word-order. Not "WTF is that", but "That is WTF".

Robusto

No. It is and will remain infra dignitatem.

user19161

@RegDwightАΑA I am Yoda's master. I appear in Star Wars 7.

RegDwight АΑA

There is no dignitatem in France.

@JasperLoy if you're his master, make it so Star Wars 7 never gets made.

Matt Эллен

@JasperLoy Star Wars 7: A New Platypus

RegDwight АΑA

Oh. Too late.

Matt Эллен

12:17 PM

if the films get better as the numbers get higher, we'll be on to a winner!

user19161

@MattЭллен Star Wars 7: There can be miracles when you believe. QED.

RegDwight АΑA

@MattЭллен Name one film that got better as the numbers got higher. Then observe how it actually got worse.

KitFox

I'm sure there's one.

thinks

Cerberus

Morning.

KitFox

Hiya Cerb.

Matt Эллен

12:18 PM

Morning @Cerb

KitFox

How was your holiday?

Cerberus

Hullo kids.

user19161

@Cerberus Hello, baby.

Cerberus

@KitFox It was extremely relaxed, but hot. How has the room been?

Matt Эллен

@RegDwightАΑA Star Wars 4 is better than Star Wars 3

KitFox

12:19 PM

@Cerberus About the same.

@MattЭллен And 5 was better than 4!

Cerberus

@JasperLoy Hello, big bang.

@KitFox I guess that's good for this room.

Matt Эллен

@KitFox phew!

RegDwight АΑA

@MattЭллен renumberings don't count. Also, no.

KitFox

So what do Russians call "efficiency apartments"? Anybody here happen to know?

looks @Reg hopefully

Cerberus

I have 30 notifications in my SE inbox.

RegDwight АΑA

12:20 PM

Russians don't speak English, @Kit.

Cerberus

Am I supposed to go through them all?

@KitFox What are those?

KitFox

@RegDwightАΑA Oh. Yeah. Good point.

RegDwight АΑA

Glad to help.

Cerberus

I wasn't quite sure when I read that.

Matt Эллен

@KitFox What are they? We don't have them by that name. Maybe they are Studio Apartments?

KitFox

12:21 PM

@Cerberus It's a one room apartment plus a bathroom.

Cerberus

Ah!

KitFox

Maybe a studio apartment, but those are probably bigger.

Or maybe not.

Cerberus

Yes, we call that a studio here.

RegDwight АΑA

►

Cerberus

Don't know about Russia...

RegDwight АΑA

12:21 PM

This is efficiency.

KitFox

In my experience, studio apartments usually have a separate kitchen, but only one other room for sleeping/watching TV.

Cerberus

@RegDwightАΑA Your house is full of luxury, I had no idea!

RegDwight АΑA

google.com/…

Cerberus

@KitFox Not here: you know what real-estate agents are like: they prefer pretty names for ugly closets.

RegDwight АΑA

@Cerberus my wife came across one of those images just the other day, and is still laughing.

KitFox

12:23 PM

@RegDwightАΑA Such brilliance.

Cerberus

They will call anything a studio here that isn't a real apartment.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus aye. here Studio Apartments can have a separate kitchen, but don't have to

Cerberus

@RegDwightАΑA It actually does look efficient.

RegDwight АΑA

@KitFox note how it's the same idea Americans apply to their cities.

KitFox

OK. I will change that then.

@RegDwightАΑA Because we are smart thinkers.

Cerberus

12:24 PM

@MattЭллен Yeah, but separate kitchens are getting rarer and rarer here.

KitFox

I don't see the problem with filling the sewage lines with gray water.

RegDwight АΑA

Gandalf the Gray Water.

Cerberus

People like to be able to talk to their wives/guests while cooking.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus I don't like it. Everything smells like cooking without a separate kitchen

Cerberus

That is an issue, yes.

KitFox

12:25 PM

I found that to be an advantage when seducing my dinner guests.

Unless I burned the food.

Cerberus

That's the up-side.

Matt Эллен

what is deenor gests?

KitFox

Also, I was wondering, is Anka a common nickname for Anastasia?

Matt Эллен

Is sea juice tasty?

KitFox

One person said he thought I meant to connect the two characters in the story by using that combination of names.

It hadn't occurred to me that people might associate the two names like that.

@MattЭллен Aww, poor Matt.

Matt Эллен

12:28 PM

I didn't try to seduce my last dinner guests - they were married, to each other

KitFox

... and?

RegDwight АΑA

They still are. A new concept to some, I know.

Matt Эллен

I don't think they would have gone down well

RegDwight АΑA

Depends on size of well.

Matt Эллен

:D

KitFox

12:30 PM

Well, so you weren't sexually attracted to both of them then, I guess.

0

Q: A more acceptable word to replace the word "rectum"?

I wrote in a short paragraph describing how a cartoon character, after being eaten up by a shark, swam through the shark's internal body and fled from its rectum. It was meant to be a cartoon/game-like kind of idea. A friend read and thought it was not very nice of me to have written it in this ...

word-choice

RegDwight АΑA

Bah.

KitFox

I don't even know what to say to this.

RegDwight АΑA

Chocolate starfish, of course.

KitFox

Ruby starfruit.

RegDwight АΑA

Xblast time.

Cerberus

12:32 PM

> I'm applying for a job at/with Facebook.

How would you say this?

Matt Эллен

either is fine

I would probably say at

Cerberus

Oh, OK.

@MattЭллен So would I, I guess.

Matt Эллен

high fives

Cerberus

Yay!

KitFox

Oh. My friend just left there.

Cerberus

12:34 PM

Facebook was just a random example.

Matt Эллен

@KitFox were they a programmer?

KitFox

You might have heard of him, actually. Ethan Beard

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus And here was I hoping you'd be giving us interesting factoids about Mark Zuckerberg

KitFox

And yes, I really do know him socially. He and my husband grew up together.

Cerberus

@MattЭллен Are there any such facts about that guy?

@KitFox Can't see him.

Matt Эллен

12:37 PM

@Cerberus I have none.

Cerberus

Nor I.

KitFox

@Cerberus Director of Platform Marketing at Facebook

Matt Эллен

@KitFox I've only just heard of him

KitFox

It was in the news recently that he quit, along with two or three others.

Matt Эллен

I don't keep up with things like I should

Cerberus

12:38 PM

@KitFox I don't know what that means, but it sounds nice.

KitFox

He was in the top tier.

He has also been the New Business Development director at Google, and Director of Operations for MTV.

Jez

talking of "rectum"...

►

KitFox

Yeah, I know. Seriously. Who gets their rectum tattooed?

tchrist

@KitFox Rectum? It darn near killed ’em!

@RegDwightАΑA Per your request, I have elevated my allusions to a loftier standard. It seems I have a new quest:

0

Q: Was Reviewer badge promoted from Silver to Mithril?

I already noted that the Reviewer badge seems like a heck of a lot of work for a paltry silver. It now looks like I may have been understating the matter. Apparently it’s even harder than I thought, since I have over 1,000 reviews (and probably over 1,000 actioned reviews, too), yet I still have ...

bug review-beta reviewer-badge

Einsteins Grandson

...ill-trained users

or ill-trained soldiers

tchrist

12:42 PM

A ship then new they built for him
of mithril and of elvenglass
with crystal keel; no shaven oar
nor sail she bore, on silver mast
the Silmaril as lantern light
and banner bright with living flame
of fire unstained by Elbereth
herself was set, who thither came
and wings immortal made for him,
and laid on him undying doom,
to sail the shoreless skies and come
behind the Sun and light of Moon.

Einsteins Grandson

what is the meaning of ill-trained?

KitFox

@EinsteinsGrandson poorly trained.

The opposite of well-trained.

Matt Эллен

@tchrist I read that only last night

KitFox

@tchrist I think it is on Meta that the new review beta doesn't count toward the badge totals.

tchrist

@MattЭллен The version above is slightly updated; it’s the one from CRRT’s HoME. His father mislaid it in the rush for publication for LotR. If you give me your email address, I’ll send you both versions of the poem, with hand-annotated diffs.

@KitFox I sought that very thing there, but found it not.

Matt Эллен

12:52 PM

@tchrist Oh, thanks! mojo-the-waffle@excite.com

RegDwight АΑA

@tchrist don't piss them off too much, they'll dupeclose the hell out of you.

Cerberus

@Jez Extremely charming.

RegDwight АΑA

-1

Q: 'pro' and 'con'

con: In opposition or disagreement; against: debated the issue pro and con. pro: In favor; affirmatively: arguing pro and con. I think people are a bit confused on exactly how effect pro and con have. More precisely, if pro and con are opposites, why is not congress the opposite of pr...

antonyms

This is still open because...?

Matt Эллен

@RegDwightАΑA I hesitated because I know I'm biased against him

tchrist

@MattЭллен Missive complete.

Matt Эллен

12:55 PM

@tchrist Thanks. :) I'll get it later

RegDwight АΑA

This is like asking why umpire is not the opposite of pire, or any of the other pseudo-negation jokes we've had in this very chat.

tchrist

@RegDwightАΑA One’s mere existence can piss people off. At least, I know that mine can.

KitFox

@tchrist The old reviewer is the only one that counts toward the badge.

tchrist

@KitFox Where is that? I didn’t find it.

KitFox

@tchrist It isn't anywhere.

RegDwight АΑA

12:56 PM

So the badge is unattainable now, in point of fact.

Einsteins Grandson

thanks

RegDwight АΑA

I don't see a way to navigate to the old review page.

Matt Эллен

@RegDwightАΑA the old lists are still there and the stats are too

tchrist

@RegDwightАΑA My eyes hit pire first before reading the whole sentence, and my brain kept spinning through its many language tables looking for a near-match.

KitFox

@RegDwightАΑA No, you can use the old review tool still.

Matt Эллен

12:57 PM

jinx!

RegDwight АΑA

@tchrist "worst" in French.

KitFox