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12:00 AM
I can no longer find him.
 
His chat account was helpfully reassociated with his parent user.
 
Which is now named guru, following the merge that he indicated in his account description.
@tchrist Oh, thanks for that.
 
What, all the delete votes I just now gave him? :)
 
You can vote to delete a user?
 
12:04 AM
Naw, just all his closed questions.
But that can have a similar effect.
 
Oh, that's not as much fun.
I wanted to delete some people.
 
Well, if we close enough of his dumb questions, he gets autozapped for being a doofus.
 
No, it's that I didn't notice that he had an unregistered account here as well.
 
Oh.
What is an unregistered account?
 
@KitFox exactly what time tomorrow is the writing exercise writers chat thing? In GMT?
 
12:08 AM
If I try to translate, I'll mess it up.
 
Oh dear, that's far too early. Never mind.
 
We need to schedule an evening one too, at some point. But there's no one to host it.
You could, if you want.
 
Hmm, I'll think about it.
I just, umm, someone asked me a little earlier if I would come to the one tomorrow. I said I'd try. It seems I lied.
 
No, you didn’t lie.
You merely failed at your attempt.
 
No, I have not yet failed.
There will be no attempt.
As you can see, I need my beauty sleep.
 
12:45 AM
Wow, one of my answers on SO has more views than all the answers I have given on ELU put together.
 
@Robusto Tell me about it.
 
1:11 AM
@Robusto But what about the ratio of upvotes to views? That's the statistic that really matters.
 
1:31 AM
beatniks and politics / nothin' is new / a yardstick for lunatics / one point of view
 
 
2 hours later…
3:01 AM
@cornbreadninja No Strawberry Alarm Clocks in chat.
 
3:17 AM
making lemon tart
Damn, that crust is difficult.
I have to daub the half-baked crust with egg twice, in order to prevent soaking and leaking.
 
3:38 AM
@Cerberus What do you think of this?
0
Q: Can't understand the meaning of 'heart finesse'

primehttp://www.confsudbridge.org/hits/brbm0014i.aspx Think about it a little: if the heart finesse was necessary to the success of this contract, then the King has to be with West. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/finesse?s=t He could try the heart finesse or, if the spirit so moved...

 
I understand this question.
This is jargon from a card game.
 
Can you help edit then? As it is, it's just like "link, quote, link, quote" with no actual words of his own.
 
Well, he says he doesn't understand either of the two quotes. I don't see how editing it would help. I could answer the question. I don't feel like doing so.
 
Then I'll leave it closed. As it is, it's really not a great question.
 
I think it's "too localised". It is very specific jargon.
Anyone who plays this particular game will understand it. Anyone who doesn't won't care.
 
3:43 AM
Oh, that's a good point. Is it about bridge?
 
Yes.
A finesse is a particular strategy.
 
That makes sense.
If you don't know the topic in the first place, it's incomprehensible.
 
And you can do a finesse in any one of the four suits. In this case, hearts.
 
And is a squeeze a different strategy?
 
Yes.
"Major suits" means spades and hearts.
 
3:45 AM
Oh, further down it shows a layout.
 
I haven't clicked on either of the two links. Like I said, I don't feel like answering this question.
 
One is a dictionary link, the other is a link to a blog on bridge.
 
A finesse is when the second or third player to play a card plays a lower card than they might need to, in the hope that the card that beats it is held by the player before them, and that their card will win a trick that it otherwise wouldn't. It's usually a roughly 50-50 proposition, but there are circumstances that swing the odds one way or another.
A squeeze is when you put one of your opponents into a situation where they need to hold on to more cards than they can; for example, they have three cards that would win a trick, but they can only keep two.
 
4:10 AM
@simchona So perhaps it should be moved to Boardgames?
 
Card games.
 
That guy doesn't understand that his question is only about finesse.
@DavidWallace There is no such site, and I believe Boardgames is also about card games.
I remember this. Somehow.
@DavidWallace See here.
There appears to be no question explaining what a finesse is, but there are many questions about finessing in Bridge.
Perhaps it would be GR for Boardgames?
Now I feel like playing Bridge again!
I didn't know you played, @David!
 
Long time ago.
When I was a LOL.
 
LOL?
See here my lemon tart!
I baked it according to a French recipe.
 
In bridge terminology, LOL = Little Old Lady.
 
4:24 AM
Ehh...
 
That tart looks beautiful.
 
Thanks!
It turned out well, after an intense struggle with the crust.
Now I can't decide whether I shall have a piece.
It's already 6:30 AM...
 
@Cerberus You know that I have yet to fathom any correlation between the time on your clock and your circadian cycles.
 
nods
 
If you don't want a piece, I'll have one.
 
4:35 AM
It is perhaps best to look at me as a New-Zealander who goes to bed fairly early.
@DavidWallace gives you piece
 
Thank you.
 
Anything else?
Because I must to bed.
 
Are you expecting me to tell you something?
Is there a question you're not going to ask me?
 
Uhm no. I thought perhaps you might like some tea with that tart.
I have no deeper questions to ask.
 
That was an interesting linguistic phenomenon that you exhibited just then.
 
4:37 AM
Where?
 
By saying "to" instead of "some" in front of "tea", you changed the meaning of "tart" to "loose woman".
 
Oh haha.
Yes, I see what you mean...although tea as a verb is a bit of a stretch.
 
I wonder if there's a word for it.
I could ask my first ever SWR.
 
It's just a typo with far-reaching reinterpretation problems.
Oh, God.
Good luck!
I would close it, hehe.
 
I don't think I could live with myself, knowing that the only question I had ever asked on any SE site was a SWR.
 
4:39 AM
I make the weirdest typos.
You have never asked a question anywhere?
 
I noticed your "proposition" earlier today, but you fixed it fairly quickly.
 
How odd!
@DavidWallace Yes, and that isn't even a weird typo.
One I often make.
In Dutch too.
 
Interesting.
I have found myself making more typos recently, actually.
 
Hmm.
 
Like it's / its.
 
4:41 AM
Have you become looser?
Oh, I don't make those a lot.
 
I must have.
 
I make totally random ones far more often.
Just replacing one word with some other word.
 
I should keep a list of my mistakes.
 
Good idea.
 
I usually detect them fairly quickly. But there might be some interesting patterns.
 
4:42 AM
That is actually interesting.
But hey, it's really bed time.
 
OK, good night.
 
À la prochaine!
poof
 
Ich bin Schnappi.
 
One last question.
Should I store my tart in the fridge or not?
 
I have no idea
 
4:44 AM
I don't want it to become soggy.
Although I have made the crust impermeable with baked egg white, you never know.
 
I would say put it in the fridge. That way, the lemony part should harden up, and would be less likely to soak into the crusty part.
But I am not an expert on these things.
 
Hmm true.
I will Google around.
 
What you should do is cut your tart in half and put half in the fridge. That way, you can compare the two halves tomorrow, and you'll know for next time whether refrigerating it is a good idea.
 
Haha.
I suppose I could do that...
 
Good night
 
4:46 AM
But then I have to cut my lovely tart in half!
 
You already cut it - remember, you gave me a piece!
 
I could try and learn from the mistakes of others instead...
@DavidWallace I can give you pieces without cutting.
 
@Cerberus That's the difference between a classicist and a scientist.
There is ONE piece that you could give me without cutting.
OMG!
My son is watching a children's cartoon. One character just said "So Muscleman has a girlfriend; I wonder who has more junk in the trunk".
 
> I keep lemon tarts on the counter until they are finished. They taste better, and so far, no ill effects. I keep most pies on the counter because I think they taste better if they are not refrigerated. The exception would be cream pies, or pies with cream topping of any sort.
 
That's disgusting!
 
4:48 AM
@DavidWallace That is...weird.
 
You know what they all do.
 
Do girlfriends have junk?
 
Insert inside jokes inside kid's cartoon
 
@Cerberus Not in the trunk.
 
Hi.
 
4:49 AM
And they wait till those kids grow up... and realize what they truly meant.
 
@DavidWallace Well, there you go. It's weird.
 
@Cerberus yo
 
Yo!
 
Yo
 
Yo.
 
4:51 AM
I just hope he didn't understand it.
 
What if he does?
He will survive.
It's just inappropriate—hardly shocking.
 
Umm, I would like to be able to let him watch children's cartoons, without worrying about whether he will hear inappropriate material.
 
You don't need to worry.
Kids always hear inappropriate things, and they can take it very well.
 
I know. I guess "junk in the trunk" is fairly harmless. But that's not the point.
 
Evening, folks.
 
4:59 AM
Remember, in the old days, kids used to sleep in the same room where their parents where making their new sibling.
Because they only had one room, and it was freezing outside.
Hi!
And kids pulled through.
 
My mum told me that one of my brothers was conceived on my birthday. Thanks mum.
 
Hehe.
Eww.
 
Yeah, I did not need to know.
 
See? Mahnax has survived even his mother's remark.
 
But he's scarred enough to feel the need to share it with us all.
 
5:00 AM
@DavidWallace Society is just inappropriate.
We must live with it.
 
I suppose we must.
 
And we can, without incurring serious harm.
 
They have just started Sex Education / Puberty classes at his school. So he is being forced to grow up quickly, in a sense.
 
Heh.
Good.
How old is he?
 
I guess our government doesn't trust parents to teach their children this stuff for themselves.
 
5:02 AM
@Cerberus I'll survive just about any remark these days.
 
@Cerberus 11
 
I guess it's easier just before puberty?
They need to know not to get girls knocked up before it's too late.
@Mahnax Same here.
 
I think it's a good idea to do sex ed at that age—I learned about all that stuff at school when I was 10 or 11, and it certainly didn't hurt any.
 
Oh certainly, he's the right age. The issue is whether he should learn it at school or at home.
Mind you, all my parents ever did was to leave a book lying somewhere and expect me to find it and read it.
 
I know kids whose parents would never actually talk about it.
If school won't teach them, noöne will.
 
5:05 AM
Yes, which comes back to my point about our government not trusting the parents. Perhaps that mistrust is justified in a few cases.
And I think NZ has a reasonably high rate of teen pregnancy compared to other countries.
 
Oh, that's unfortunate.
 
Hmm, lower than USA apparently. Higher than Australia, Canada and most of Europe.
 
I expected as much, to be honest.
I've heard that the American pregnancy rate is quite high.
 
The only things I know about USA, I learnt from TV and movies.
 
They're our trousers, so we have to know a bit about them.
 
5:25 AM
@DavidWallace Same here, thank God.
@Mahnax Haha. David's cartoon comes to mind.
 
@Cerberus Cartoon?
 
The metaphor fits yours perfectly.
Muscleman.
Okay, now really good night!
 
Good night, Cerberus
Oh, it's called "Regular Show". What a dumb name for a cartoon.
 
Bye!
 
@Cerberus Bonne nuit!
 
5:28 AM
Adieu!
 
5:53 AM
@Carlo You just keep bouncing in and out of here.
 
6:12 AM
@Mahnax HALT.
 
@Gigili Pardon?
 
Umm.
I can't say more.
 
OK…
Shall I e-mail you?
 
Ono, don't bother. It's not that important.
 
Can't you just say it here then?
 
6:18 AM
@Mahnax He's awesome like that.
 
Annoying.
 
@DavidWallace He?
 
I presume Carlo.
 
@Mahnax Well, you said CR keeps bouncing in and out of here?
 
OIC.
@DavidWallace It would have been clearer if you had linked your message to the one about Carlo.
 
6:22 AM
Yes, but Gigili already knew what HALT meant.
 
Is it an acronym?
He's always like that?
Hot, angry, lonely, tired?
This reminds me of CTFD day.
 
Re-read my message.
 
I am much too tired for whatever this is.
 
6 mins ago, by David Wallace
@Mahnax He's awesome like that.
 
Yes, Gigi says that all the time, sort of.
I really don't understand what you're trying to say.
 
6:26 AM
Usually, when Gigili uses the word awesome, she's talking about herself.
 
Yes.
 
8 mins ago, by Gigili
@Mahnax Well, you said CR keeps bouncing in and out of here?
And I said He's Annoying Like That.
Is it clear now?
 
gigili-puff? LOL
 
Oh, I see.
Thank you.
Seriously, I'm exhausted.
It's been a long day.
 
Yes, I guessed it must have been been that.
 
6:29 AM
@Mahnax Just sing out next time you need Gigili-translation!
 
Sure thing.
 
6:41 AM
Hey guys
 
Hi @Meysam!
 
could somebody please confirm this answer:
4
A: Is it appropriate to use "the" before an abbreviation?

coleopteristIt depends on how you pronounce the abbreviation (in this case, UNICEF) in whichever part of the world you are in. If you treat it as an acronym and pronounce it as one word (~younisef), then you won't need the article. However, if, you treat it as an initialism and spell out each letter when you...

 
It looks right to me.
 
8
A: Using the definite article with acronyms and initialisms

JezGenerally the article is not used with acronyms (initials that can be pronounced as a word), whereas it is with initialisms (initials where the letters themselves are pronounced). I would actually use the article with 'ESA' in the examples you gave, and so 'NASA' (acronym) doesn't get an article...

It says the same thing. And looks right to me too.
 
7:12 AM
I knew it was a dupe. I just couldn't be bothered looking for it.
 
flag for closure
Hi David!
 
Hello Meysam.
 
Hello
Everyone
 
Hello Noah.
 
Just to give you a hint, I am fine and dandy...
@DavidWallace Hello, David Wallace :)
 
7:23 AM
@Noah That's OK, I won't tell anyone.
 
@DavidWallace No, I trust you...
 
Odd. You've never met me. You've only talked to me twice.
 
@DavidWallace How's work
 
I am unemployed.
or "between contracts" as I like to put it.
 
@DavidWallace You could trust people virtually :)
@DavidWallace Oh thats sad..
 
7:26 AM
No, it is a situation of my own making.
 
@DavidWallace Hope you get a good offer
 
I will.
 
@DavidWallace That's cool.
 
The economy is good and I have very marketable skills.
 
@DavidWallace That's more interesting. Why dont you run for presidency?
 
7:29 AM
My country doesn't have a president. Otherwise I would.
 
A free country!
 
@DavidWallace Omm, now i remember you are a kiwi
Hey, gotta, run... see you guys later
 
We have a prime minister, plus a queen (who doesn't live here), and a governor-general (who stands in for the queen).
 
@DavidWallace nice talking to u
 
See you later.
 
7:48 AM
Nice talking to v.
Nice talking to w.
Hello, @DavidWallace.
 
You're just trying to distract me, aren't you @Gigili?
 
@Gigili what about the X's and the Y's? and the Z's? Must not forget the Z's...
 
Yes, 'Z' is a really important person.
 
8:04 AM
SALT
 
8:33 AM
@Noah Who's sad? You because you can't be "between contracts"?
 
 
3 hours later…
11:20 AM
@cornbreadninja Check out the typography question:
1
Q: What is it called when a letter is within another letter?

dav_iFor example, the letter 'o' within the letter 'L', like so: Does this arrangement of type have a name?

 
0
Q: I don't really understand Area 51

Robin MichaelMETA: I don't really understand Area 51. If I want to access 'Stack English' I can find it quite easily. "Area 51 English" INTUITIVE?????????????? What is trying to be achieved here? Actually, I can see how it is not really working. It is difficult to find a good boundary between 'English for ...

And I don't really understand Robin.
0
Q: whats the difference between I am a doctor and I am doctor?

HosseinHow are they different? and when do we use a prepositions like a,and,the and when we don't?

> when do we use a prepositions like a,and,the and when we don't?
0
A: is "slightly different" correct way to draw a comparison

SYOSCREW YOU 4-EYED FROGY BULLDOGS WITH WINGS

How could he misspell BALROGS?
 
@ЯegDwight By somehow managing to avoid the letter A anywhere
 
11:47 AM
I hope I didn't step on your toes there, my fluffy owl friend.
 
Nah.
Had I knewed that you was on it, I had spared myself teh remark.
 
I thought I should nip it in the bud. Also, you might want to go do some cleanup work on Area 51.
Next time I will not be so stealthy.
 
Cleanup work? I has no rights there.
 
I thought you had magical powers, since you was the creator and all.
 

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