English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

RegDwighт

4:01 PM

I'm already closing as fast as I can.

The three most recent questions got closed within a minute of getting posted.

Robusto

This one has been around much longer than that.

RegDwighт

So why is it still open?

I can't be doing everything.

Robusto

I did my part, but the tea apparently ain't on the boil yet.

RegDwighт

There, just for you.

Robusto

We are all made of stars.

RegDwighт

4:06 PM

You mean Paris Hilton?

0

Q: How is the word "menu" pronounced?

I remember being taught that the word should be pronounced as "mmm..nu". However, when I was taught that, I was also told that it is often mispronounced as "meh-new". Which of these is correct? I have never come across the the pronunciation that I was taught, it has always been the second one. Ar...

pronunciation

Mmmmmmh... nu!

Robusto

@Reg: Found a "like to" quote from Twain, added to my answer.

RegDwighт

Hah.

My wife and I only just bought a Hörspiel of that story.

Robusto

Does your wife know you like to play with Hörs?

RegDwighт

Was on offer for 1 Euro. Yankee from Connecticut and the $Million Note.

Obviously not for us. She insisted it would make for a good present.

Robusto

0

Q: How is the word "menu" pronounced?

I remember being taught that the word should be pronounced as "mmm..nu". However, when I was taught that, I was also told that it is often mispronounced as "meh-new". Which of these is correct? I have never come across the the pronunciation that I was taught, it has always been the second one. Ar...

pronunciation

Obviously GR. I know, because Barrie was on it like a duck on a June bug.

Matt Эллен

4:15 PM

why is English so sexist? why don't we have womenus to?

Robusto

Because women don't have penuses.

Matt Эллен

or peopleus

Robusto

Women peopleus plenty.

Matt Эллен

no need to discriminate against people who don't fit the gender binary

who made people so difficult to spell?

They caused so much injustice

Robusto

People are easy to spell. Unless they're Russian, or Arabic, or any of that ilk.

Like "Men, you get to work now"? — Robusto 9 secs ago

Matt Эллен

4:23 PM

or perhaps "Men? You? Ha!"

Robusto

That question should be nuked from orbit.

RegDwighт

@MattЭллен C'était le peuple du France.

Robusto

And everyone who answered it too. Plus everyone who looks like them.

Matt Эллен

@RegDwighт zat explens a lot

RegDwighт

Ho-ho-ho-chi-men!

user19161

4:25 PM

@RegDwighт Who is Santa? We must define Santa first before we can answer the question.

RegDwighт

@JasonBourne It's Carlos Santana who got wasted and got a part of his name chopped off while lying in the gutter.

Matt Эллен

san tar. latin for "without tar", it's a type of cigarette

user19161

2

A: How is the word "menu" pronounced?

It's pronounced like 'MEN-YOU'.

user19161

Geezis, Barrie now gives this type of answer?

RegDwighт

I so wanted that answer to read "it's pronounced MUH".

In fact, that's how I read it.

pKs

4:27 PM

I am very confused :(

RegDwighт

@JasonBourne well, you want him to wait for tomorrow?

pKs

can anyone listen to me

RegDwighт

@pKs you've come to the right place.

Matt Эллен

we're all very confused

user19161

The hour of power is on.

RegDwighт

4:27 PM

We will show you that you were not confused at all by confusing you further.

pKs

Just want to get big in life

Robusto

@JasonBourne You only just noticed? He has no standards at all.

user19161

You are in luck.

RegDwighт

@pKs you mean Mr Big from Sex and the City?

pKs

nope

RegDwighт

4:28 PM

Well. You should.

user19161

So what is your problem @pks?

pKs

Big man like CEO or something

RegDwighт

Oh but he is that.

pKs

Like I want to know what are the qualities in these people

that I just don't have

RegDwighт

You want to be a CEO, found a company. You can do it right now. This very second.

user19161

4:29 PM

I can give you an answer.

Matt Эллен

to become a CEO you must kill all the people above you in the corporate structure.

pKs

I am by the way

RegDwighт

Mission accomplished!

pKs

hehe

RegDwighт

That was fast.

pKs

4:29 PM

you guys are making me more happy

Matt Эллен

but make it look like suicide

user19161

The truth is that most CEOs are quite stupid.

RegDwighт

Phew.

pKs

I just need an elegent answer right now

user19161

How do people climb to the top? Mostly by being cunning and manipulative.

pKs

4:30 PM

:(

RegDwighт

@pKs Sarah Jessica Parker voiceover but isn't that what really matters, happiness?

user19161

You don't need to be a CEO, just be what you really want @pks.

RegDwighт

LEGO >> CEO.

user19161

What do you really want in life @pks? That is the real question, and that is my answer to you...

RegDwighт

0

Q: What is the correct plural form for multiple bachelor degrees?

I am helping a former intern ready their resume for distribution. The candidate used an abbreviation I was unfamiliar with: B.S.s in Physics, Computer Science, and Mathematics I am familiar with the student's educational background so after a moment of thought realized "B.S.s" was their att...

grammatical-number

I've got BSes in everything.

pKs

4:32 PM

I have just come for the first time in this chatbox

RegDwighт

I can BS all day. Any subject. Go ahead, try me.

pKs

you are right

user19161

You are lucky to get my answer @pks.

pKs

@RegDwighт you are cool

RegDwighт

Jan 14 at 15:33, by RegDwighт

No flirting in this chat.

pKs

4:33 PM

@JasonBourne will be back again

Matt Эллен

B.Sc.s do these people know nothing of academia?

pKs

@RegDwighт ok

@ :D

RegDwighт

@pKs Gah. Why did he have to say that. I only just finished reading the reviews of Terminator IV. I didn't need another reminder.

0

Q: Good places to learn english for free?

Which are the bests places (open to personal opinions) to foreign people learn English for free? I'm looking to a service where I could improve my grammar, vocabulary and conversation skills in a interactive way.

learning

OT

And puhleez.

Apr 6 '12 at 20:40, by RegDwight Ѭſ道

Dear next person to not capitalize "English": I will personally come to your house and bludgeon you to death with a giant E.

user19161

Degrees mean nothing. There are many stupid people with PhDs.

user19161

These days, almost anyone can get an MBA.

RegDwighт

4:36 PM

Yeah. That's why I never got one. It's like buying a sandwich. A waste of time. And sandwich.

Matt Эллен

you're misidentifying the problem. PhDs are important as they increase the understanding of the world. Or they should, at least. The people who achieve them are secondary

RegDwighт

If only anyone ever read the PhDs. People only write them.

Matt Эллен

well, in the process they normally generate a lot of papers that do get read

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

presumably other people working on phds read them

at least some of them

RegDwighт

Depends on the domain, really.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

4:37 PM

my domain is shinyandnew.ca

clever, I know

Matt Эллен

wishes he made that joke

RegDwighт

@MattЭллен my boss's PhD was thirteen pages. Strictly to the point. My colleagues' PhDs had to be a hundred pages at least. Inflation.

Matt Эллен

and global warming

RegDwighт

if you're hot, just hang out at the mall in the uk or us. — thang 48 secs ago

@MattЭллен well that one helps with being hot.

Robusto

But what if that person has a urinary-tract infection? Who's laughing now?

user19161

4:40 PM

@RegDwighт What does that even mean?

Matt Эллен

@Robusto are you laughing now?

RegDwighт

Am I laughing now?

Robusto

@MattЭллен Yes. Does it show?

RegDwighт

Is it Jasper?

That really is a tough question.

Gosh.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@JasonBourne It means "If you're good looking, go to a public place in an English-speaking country and chat up the locals"

Matt Эллен

4:41 PM

@JasonBourne I think thang is suggesting that hot people will get talked to by hanging out in malls

RegDwighт

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 more like "...and you will get chatted up by the locals".

user19161

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Yes, I know, but that idea is so silly.

Robusto

Well, if you were hot you would know this stuff already. Like, ahem, I do.

RegDwighт

Because you gotta know, Jason does have that favorite mall of his. Where he goes for walks at night.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@RegDwighт same difference

Matt Эллен

4:42 PM

@Robusto I was worried you were convulsing because you were possessed by the devil

user19161

That has got to be the most stupid comment of all time on this site.

RegDwighт

Too lazy to search the transcript.

Robusto

@MattЭллен Those things aren't mutually exclusive.

RegDwighт

@JasonBourne nah. Call Erik Ribslog, he'll explain it to you.

Matt Эллен

ah

user19161

4:42 PM

@RegDwighт Yes, it's huge! Takes two hours to walk.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@JasonBourne Are you kidding? It works so well, they have even started making the process more streamlined and efficient. In my city, there are groups you can join whose entire purpose is to meet and chat up foreigners.

Robusto

And let's not forget the services prostitutes perform. In addition to sex, you can frequently get language lessons.

RegDwighт

Well that's Canada for you. Normally you have to make do with bears and caribous.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

dammit, out of coffee AGAIN! who keeps drinking my coffee?

Matt Эллен

global warming

Robusto

4:44 PM

And urinary tract infections.

RegDwighт

And that wasn't meant to follow Robusto's comment. But I am not objecting.

Robusto

Does a Canadian shit in the woods?

RegDwighт

Why the heck is the socks question still open?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@RegDwighт haha, my daughter wouldn't go to sleep last night because "All I can think about is bears! I can't think about anything else! Just bears!"

RegDwighт

I voted to close it yesterday.

Matt Эллен

4:45 PM

ever since they made Bears citizens

RegDwighт

It's so clearly off-topic.

Robusto

@RegDwighт What socks question?

RegDwighт

And the top answer is an eye sore.

@Robusto the one that's been sitting atop the MC for two days.

555

Q: How to pair socks from a pile efficiently?

Yesterday I was pairing the socks from the clean laundry, and figured out the way I was doing it is not very efficient. I was doing a naive search — picking one sock and "iterating" the pile in order to find its pair. This requires iterating over n/2 * n/4 = n2/8 socks on average. As a comp...

algorithm sorting language-agnostic

In what world is this a SO question?

Matt Эллен

555 people disagree

RegDwighт

569.

Matt Эллен

4:47 PM

oh

well, in aggregate

RegDwighт

And he's getting the reps for my spelling and formatting.

It's awful all around.

Robusto

@RegDwighт You should have better DRMs in your country.

Mitch

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 The police?

RegDwighт

@Robusto we have, they just don't work in that direction.

Matt Эллен

@RegDwighт what is the reddit message all about?

RegDwighт

4:49 PM

Dunno.

Robusto

I prefer askscience.reddit.com. It's about the only Reddit I read these days.

RegDwighт

I suppose it got submitted to reddit, is all.

Matt Эллен

ah

RegDwighт

Also, there was a comment I upvoted about this question being off-topic and better suited to Maths or CSTheory.

It was rather heavily upvoted. Now it's gone.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Mitch not even! just locals who want to help them "learn english".

Matt Эллен

4:50 PM

Eric Lippert, Seattle, WA

201k 43 410 1111

c# .net generics linq multithreading lambda inheritance

Great question! You might be interested in my article on a related problem, which is a discussion of the probability of pulling two matched socks out of the pile: blogs.msdn.com/b/ericlippert/archive/2010/03/22/… — Eric Lippert 22 hours ago

it's been Lippert approved

it's too late

RegDwighт

@MattЭллен sorry, what?

How is that "related".

Mitch

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 It all sounds like a good idea, but there's all the work. the walking, the meeting, the realizing they don't speak English already.

RegDwighт

> Suppose you’ve got a huge mixed-up pile of white, black, green and red socks, with roughly equal numbers of each. You randomly choose two of them. What is the probability that they are a matched pair?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Mitch I think the ulterior motive is to make friends and/or hook up.

RegDwighт

This has nothing, nothing to do with the question. Whatsoever.

Shameless plug.

Robusto

4:53 PM

@MattЭллен Does he have a line of body washes and sprays as well?

Mitch

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Ohhh... not for shopping for socks?

@RegDwighт I have an article about that which you might be interested in.

Robusto

@Mitch Which one: a, an, or the?

Matt Эллен

those

Robusto

I am interested in all of them.

RegDwighт

@Robusto dem.

I flagged Eric Lippert.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

4:55 PM

@Mitch Well, possibly, if you can communicate the notion of "socks" succinctly. For example, my parents volunteered at an air-base when the Canadian Air Force was bringing refugees from Kosovo to Canada. The refugees were welcomed by being given bundles of stuff: clothes, food, etc. At the table next to my parents, my mom's coworker was giving out socks. She's hold up the socks and yell "SOCKS! SOCKS!" right at the refugees. My mom was like "Um, they're not deaf. They don't speak English."

Mitch

@Robusto 'that'. -that-

Robusto

@RegDwighт Spam?

Mitch

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 'SOCKS' is the international sign of multilingualism. pronounce out the letters.

RegDwighт

@Robusto yes, pretty much, if you ask me. See above. This comment.

Robusto

@RegDwighт I don't have the reps to flag comments, apparently.

Matt Эллен

4:57 PM

you so socksy

RegDwighт

@Robusto you have unless you upvoted it. :P

Mitch

those... ankles

RegDwighт

I am but a 5k user. You have three times that much.

Robusto

@RegDwighт I didn't upvote it.

This is exactly what I do! I make piles dependent on the style of the opening of the sock (I only have white), that gives me enough "buckets" to quickly match each of those up. — Scott Chamberlain yesterday

Wow. Me too! I am so scientific! Let's get together and have a science party! Cool, huh?

Matt Эллен

toodles!

user19161

4:58 PM

@RegDwighт Is it not related?

RegDwighт

@Robusto then hover over the number next to it. It's a mouseover.

Mitch

@Robusto The trick is to stuff socks into other socks. and then at the end, you stuff that sock into itself..

until it disappears entirely.

RegDwighт

@JasonBourne not in the least.

user19161

@RegDwighт Ah, then have a cookie for flagging!

RegDwighт

The question is, "Given a pile of n pairs of socks, containing 2n elements (assume each sock has exactly one matching pair), what is the best way to pair them up efficiently with up to logarithmic extra space? (I believe I can remember that amount of info if needed.)" The blog post is, "Suppose you’ve got a huge mixed-up pile of white, black, green and red socks, with roughly equal numbers of each. You randomly choose two of them. What is the probability that they are a matched pair?"

Robusto

4:59 PM

@Mitch You've been reading too much Heinlein.

Mitch

Now go check your drier. In the front is the lint trap. In the -back- is the sock trap. That's where they all are.

RegDwighт

Good thing I don't have a dryer.

Mitch

@Robusto and Tesla.

Robusto

@RegDwighт Ah, OK. I flagged it as "Spam, touting people to visit another site." ^_^

user19161

@RegDwighт Oh well, but not totally unrelated either.

Mitch

5:00 PM

Me too cuz I'd misspell it.

RegDwighт

@Robusto lulz. Thank you.

@JasonBourne the only words it has in common is "sock", "you", and "the".

Mitch

@RegDwighт But that exaplains all these weird new socks I get.

RegDwighт

@Mitch so does Chtulhu.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Mitch funny. I never lose socks in the washer or dryer. Unless they go missing in pairs.

user19161

Can I call a condom a banana sock?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

5:01 PM

@JasonBourne No.

RegDwighт

Nah, of course he can.

He can call it a red car if he wishes.

He calls many things many things when the day is long.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

It's forbidden by Article 34 of the International Rules on Calling Things Stuff.

RegDwighт

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 there's a loophole allowing you to call things shit.

Mitch

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 entropy explains that there will be outliers like you. random fuctauations looking like actual patterns. a boltzman brain. it's science, ya know?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I'm paraphrasing, but it says something like " ... 34 2-a Jasper Loy shall not call a condom a banana sock."

user19161

5:04 PM

@Mitch Wow, that typo is awful.

Mitch

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 I've called many things stuff. Article 34 I won't even stoop to though.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Mitch I like my fucktuations random.

Mitch

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 the other way around...totally OK though.

@JasonBourne oops....so sorry..._Boltzmann brain_

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Mitch Yeah I think the drafters were drunk when they forgot to prohibit that.

TimLymington

And fluck you Eulopeans too

user19161

5:05 PM

Welcome @tim to this chat.

TimLymington

apologies for the quailty of theat post,, and omitting the :)

user19161

Wow your typing is bad.

RegDwighт

@TimLymington good thing I never read the EULO.

TimLymington

No, the first was ok (that was the joke...)

Mitch

@JasonBourne Iv'e git werse.

Nope, that was bad spelling.

user19161

5:07 PM

@TimLymington The second was very bad.

Mitch

Tym wyns.

RegDwighт

@TimLymington oh. In that case it's a good thing I explained it, that makes it sophisticated.

Feb 23 '11 at 15:14, by Kosmonaut

I like to tell myself that if you have to explain it, it means it was sophisticated.

user19161

Wow I got two accepts today for answers on other days.

TimLymington

OK then, another to redeem myself. WETHOR: the worst spell of weather we've had for a long time.

Mitch

@JasonBourne better than two answers today for accepts from other days.

@TimLymington Thwacks all around for Martha

RegDwighт

5:10 PM

@TimLymington I am pretty sure Jason's misspelling it as "welcome" was worse.

user19161

I usually remove the AmE or BrE tag from a question if it has nothing to do with the variety itself.

user19161

But these tags seem to be as misused as the grammar tag.

RegDwighт

So do I but you have to be careful. Sometimes the OP actually means to add them but forgets to mention it in the question proper.

TimLymington

@JasonBourne; If OP asks for answers in one variety, tagging should prevent the question being swamped by the other (eg chips/crisps): if OP omits the tag, I add it in.

Robusto

With a regulation die, if you know the locations of any two counts, you know the locations of the other four as well. Eg, if 1 is on top and the near side is 2, then 3 is on the right, 4 on the left, 5 on the back, and 6 on the bottom. So for dice, only half a dimension more is needed to get complete information, rather than a full dimension being required. — jwpat7 5 mins ago

ZOMG. Really? A treatise on dice?

user19161

5:19 PM

Yeah, but some answers are independent of BrE/AmE. They just apply generally.

user19161

BrE and AmE are not that different after all.

pKs

@JasonBourne hey jason

I am back

user19161

@pKs Yes, another philosophical question?

pKs

nope

not another but the same

with more description

I am serious about the same.

First of all I would like to tell you that I am bachelor in Computer Science

Work as an android application developer

but when I look at big people I feel that I shouldn't be sitting on my chair and write lines of code

RegDwighт

Commute.

pKs

5:24 PM

If I do this I won't reach anywhre

user19161

OK, so why are you asking in this chat?

user19161

Is it because you learnt about The Hour of Power being held here all the time?

pKs

is it not the right place?

to discusss this

user19161

No, you can talk here about anything.

user19161

But why did you choose to come here all of a sudden to ask how to become a CEO?

user19161

5:29 PM

I just lost 10 for user removed.

Mitch

6:30 PM

Regardless of the content, I am impressed by the fluency of language in the following:

-4

Q: Should personal tone/references be avoided in our community?

Since this community is relatively large compared to, for example, Skeptics.SE, and since there are lot of users, it is relatively common to see comments and answers that: Mention other answers by author's name in an answer's body; Consider non-readily-accessible knowledge of the author's previ...

discussion

...given the OPs historical steep language learning curve in English. Congratulations Carlo. Except now you have to work on having good questions.

user19161

6:51 PM

@pKs It's good to think big, but start with small things. There is no advice to be given on such things really. All you can read about are other people's success stories.

user19161

@pKs The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. I don't like most sayings, but this one is true.

user19161

7:21 PM

The amazing thing about word requests is that often the best word is already in the question.

user19161

@robusto I see your make do answer is giving you the reps.

MετάEd

7:37 PM

@Robusto I appreciate the edit to add the hyperlink. Actually, though, that was a direct quote and I felt it should be left "as is". My use of blockquotes was supposed to indicate a direct quote. But since that doesn't seem to be clear, I have gone to inverted commas. Also I have made the quoted link a hyperlink. See if it makes sense now: english.stackexchange.com/a/100838/14073

user19161

8:24 PM

@mah Boo!

Mahnax

@JasonBourne Hello. I see you have changed hue.

user19161

@Mahnax Yes, it is now "blue".

Mahnax

@JasonBourne I see.

How are things?

user19161

@Mahnax Bad. How is your hair? Long long? LOL

Mahnax

@JasonBourne It's silky, flowing in the wind, etc.

user19161

8:27 PM

@Mahnax OMG, like Maria!

Mahnax

@JasonBourne Well, it's silky, but it doesn't flow in the wind.

user19161

@matt Plus one for your answer!

Matt Эллен

oh, thanks!

user19161

And now the three Matts are here. QED.

MετάEd

It's the answer, my friend, that's blowin' in the wind. The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Matt Эллен

8:43 PM

the answer? you know the answer? omg! tell me the answer!

Joseph Weissman

I want to know this, too.

(This is relevant to my interests.)

Matt Эллен

:D

MετάEd

@MattЭллен You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer: helter skelter!

Matt Эллен

awww. sadly I am neither. But I do like a good helter skelter

TRiG

8:57 PM

33

Q: Is there a rule of thumb for objective questions asked out of curiosity?

Isaac Moses, the patriarch of Mi Yodeya, wrote something that caught my eye the other day: [...] the general Stack Exchange directive, expressed in the uneditable part of that section of the About page, to "Focus on questions about an actual problem you have faced. Include details about what...

discussion questions stackexchange about-page

I'm pretty sure that the very best questions on EL&U are the ones that are the least "practical".

Transcript for

English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…