English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

1:21 AM

@Jez reddit ... groups? I have barely any idea.

2:18 AM

I have never used the chat feature before. Is there only one chat room per Stack Exchange site, or are there different rooms for different topics?

Anonymous

You can create additional rooms, but the site will consume them if they aren't used. It will spare only one room from this fate per site.

2:46 AM

Okay. So anything English language-related goes in this room?

Anonymous

People aren't really strict with topicality here.

Anonymous

But this is the place to talk about English language-related stuff :-)

3:04 AM

One of the places.

Let's have a
really good
look
at
a sunny
hat.

3:22 AM

How many hats have you gotten?

Anonymous

3:34 AM

It appears that I have 18

Anonymous

But I'm only ever going to wear the boat hat. :-D

I have 13. And I love the Spock one!

7:15 AM

@Mitch here

8:01 AM

Would someone kindly upvote this please? It's the only post I managed to make on Solstice day: english.stackexchange.com/a/216196/20739

Cerberus

+1

Merci

I got my solstice hat so I am happy. :)

You may reverse your vote.

Cerberus

8:29 AM

Congratulations!

Your answer was fine, so it deserves a vote.

10:09 AM

I didn't know this.

oh! nor did I

Well that's a shame.

no space for 1 or 2 pound coins

I didn't know you were a rich banker who'd never seen a twopence. Then again, you are a Don Loner.

I've got two pences. I just don't look at them all that much

10:13 AM

What I'm saying is I'd have to look like once to wonder what the heck was going on with the symmetry.

never a borrower nor a loner be

My excuse is that I have actually never seen these coins.

I have some pences alright but them's got Freddie Mercury on themselves.

well bully for you! I'd never have thought to look.

Bully for me? What is this grammar? I think you mean bollocks for me.

Bully for you

10:15 AM

Nov 27 at 14:40, by RegDwigнt

Michael Herbig

Michael Herbig (April 29, 1968 in Munich) is a German film director, actor and author. His nickname Bully became integral part of his stage name as is Michael Bully Herbig as a comedian. == Life and work == His career began in 1992 with regular appearances on radio (more than 800 times), leading onward to appearances on various TV shows. He gained wider fame with his writing/acting/directing role on the comedy show "Bullyparade". The show featured him as the host, his good friend Rick Kavanian, Christian Tramitz and Diana Herold as a dancer and occasional actress in the skits. The show featured...

Bully for you.

thanks!

Now we can call it quiche.

sugar quiche?

Quiche Lorraine or no quiche at all. Wimps and losers, leave the hall.

> My game size is 700mg.

10:19 AM

@JasperLoy I've talked to Caleb more than once. He even shows up in this room occasionally.

that's heavy for a game

@MattЭллен how much is that in Celcius?

hmmm

@MattЭллен Um, sarcasm? My detector is breaked.

seven, or maybe 8

10:20 AM

Battlefield for Xbox One is 43 Gig.

NBA is 37.

Call of Duty is 34 or something.

but what do they weigh?

Their value in gold.

So anyway, yes, I've just finished Ocarina of Time once again, which if you care to remember fit into a 64MB cartridge, music, text, graphics, engine, warts and all.

(And don't get me started on Tetris. Or any GameBoy game, for that matter.)

I was about to, but now I won't

43 Gig is a lot of Tetrises.

@RegDwigнt yet Sony (I think) managed to mess it up

oh, my mistake, it's ubisoft

10:23 AM

Either way, when all you have is BluRay, then every game looks like 200 Gig.

Ubisoft couldn't even get Tetris right...

in The Bridge, Dec 18 at 18:49, by Rapitor

it's tetris. why is it lagging?

Bookmarked for later. No sound here.

Sounds like fun even without sound.

@MattЭллен because every block is 43 Gig. DUH.

:D

If you look really close in UltraHD, you'll notice that every pixel of the block's border is a 3D unicorn with sparkles. That is a lot of computing power right there, and you haven't even moved the block yet.

true. so each one is a different unicorn? Because you can save cycles by rendering the same unicorn multiple times

10:27 AM

You can. Yes.

You also can fit Battlefield into 1 Gig.

how much is that in megaquads?

Seven hogsfeet.

of course

A positive number in scientific notation is expressed as the product of a number greater than or equal to 1 but less than 10, and an integral power of 10.

Only for large numbers.

10:36 AM

and small numbers

Nobody writes 100 as 1.0 * 10².

But not zero.

0.0 * 10¹²¹³³

0.0 is not allowed.

You are not allowed.

10:37 AM

9.1*10⁻²

0.000000000001 * 10¹/0

Better?

You are the best :-)

Thank you, Tina.

Turner?

You know others?

10:40 AM

Constable

Your stables are a con job.

such a romantic notion

I prefer pimantic, or mumantic. Or even just alphamantic.

Q: What is the Scientific Notation of Zero?

5

This question was asked here, where the answer uses this description. The last line reads: "The special case of $0$ does not have a unique representation in scientific notation, i.e., $0=0×10^0=0×10^1=..."$ My question is the value of $a$ cannot be $0$ since, as they state: $a$ is a $\color...

@RegDwigнt I beta you do

10:42 AM

O. Me. Gad.

$1*10^0$

what an inefficient way to write 1

Still more efficient than others LOL!!!!!!!1!!!!!ONE

wendy.krieger

0 has maany expressions, but then do all of the other numbers, like 3 vs 3.0 vs 3.00 or 3E0 or o.3E1

Yes. Here are just some of the expressions 0 has:

lol

10:48 AM

:D

wendy.krieger

Hero to Zero?

I like wistful the best. really captures it.

his range is quite amazing

A wistful of dollars.

ah, yes, the f -> w merger. I hear it happens in a lot of Germanic languages

Morning.

10:52 AM

@MattЭллен Wistful thinking.

Hi pal

Helloes.

good day!

Everyone excited for Santa coming?

Ew.

10:53 AM

Haha

I am.

Well. There's always someone.

Rule 36

32.

36 is about Barbara Bush.

tv tropes nuh uh, it's rule 36

10:57 AM

3.6 X 10^1

@MattЭллен You mean rule 63.

Also, why the heck is your article titled Rule 34. Pay attention.

You thought I wouldn't click through to TV Tropes? MWUAHAHAHA.

@RegDwigнt because it defines rule 36 in there

You're in debt to attention, as well

And 35, and 49 others.

I am never in debt to anyone.

As a rule. 69.

I don't see it. Is there a badger in the photo?

11:07 AM

... yes

should I attempt or try to migrate that to ell?

Oh, one of those "why" questions. There is no why. If it were the other way round, you'd be asking why it's the other way round.

It has to be some was round.

I have migrated it

but yes, there is no why.

Gah. 27 seconds before I commented.

Everybody see Sunderland win the fourth North-East derby in a row yesterday? Woohoo!

Oh yes, he was great in 24.

11:15 AM

@Ste I didn't think Derby was classed as North East

You know all is lost when you're classed as North and East. Just look at Russia.

It most definitely isn't

@Ste I'm just yanking your chain.

From Connecticut.

@MattЭллен I know.

11:17 AM

I don't usually watch football, though, so it's news to me

was it a good match?

It was a good match. Hotly contested as ever. We won it in the 90th minute which is always exciting.

down to the wire, indeed

12:22 PM

@skullpatrol Nice!

Thanks.

I'm annoyed when people write 7.356343223 X 10^1

all that extra work for nothing

They are just following the "definition."

$7\times10^0$

hmmm

do you have to use the times symbol for mathjax to render a times symbol?

oops!

yeah I mean t '0'

12:26 PM

oh! I thought you meant 73.56343223

np

well sure that works too but it's not what I meant.

ah!

thanks

sci notation is only good for |exponent| >= 4

or less than 0

12:27 PM

why isn't the world listening to me!

I'm listening pal

@MattЭллен ooh I got you with my subtle use of the absolute value.

@Mitch you did. what a zinger

@skullpatrol I've said too much already. I don't want to give it away. It wouldn't be a surprise then

surprise! I'm not adopted.

12:29 PM

Which is worse? having to tel that to your dad, or to your mom?

surprise! It's lunchtime.

@Mitch lol

also who to blame poor spelling on.

The special case of zero in scientific notation was a bit of a surprise to me.

@Mitch my brother

@MattЭллен Exactly! That's the kind of thing I've been telling everyone all the time.

@MattЭллен don't inheritance laws treat you both the same anyway?

@skullpatrol well, 0 shows up as special case in lots of things. because it is so special.

12:32 PM

Indeed.

I think the surprise is that whoever spent the time writing those definitions would have spent time getting them correct.

You just dashed my respect for MathWorld against the rocks of correctness.

foundered on the shoals of mathematical rigor

Nobody is perfect.

left a ring on the bathtub of duh.

It does seem sloppy since this is a high school topic.

And high school kids will look to them for mathematical rigor.

I did send them an email, but I doubt they will correct it.

1:08 PM

@Mitch why don't I find that surprising?

I slept for 12 hours after thinking too much.

drained your batteries, eh?

Yes. I am trying to start studying in 2015, but if I don't make it, I will have to wait yet another year. So I hope I make it.

how did talking to the professor go?

He said it would be hard but I could still try to apply. Which is what I expected to hear.

1:13 PM

fair enough

Strange that bad things seem to happen in Dec, and screw up my plans for Jan, just too often.

So I really hope I make it this time round, given my obsessive need to start on 01 Jan.

what plans for Jan?

oh, I see

The psychotherapist told me to get rid of this 01 Jan obsession, but I said it is one obsession I must keep to get rid of all others. This is the only unbreakable rule.

maybe it's the one you must get rid of to get rid of all the others

Well, it's just impossible, full stop.

There is a long story as to how this obsession developed.

But I will not describe it now.

Anyway, he also told me to leave a tap dripping for the night, but I did not do it either.

1:18 PM

that's a bit weird. why'd he suggest that?

It's called ERP. I fear not switching off taps.

ah

ERP is a part of CBT.

yeah

I do not believe in ERP for taps, though I believe in it for germs.

Using ERP for taps to me is simply flawed logic. Which is what many politicians here employ all the time.

Of course, different people have different logics.

Life is more complicated than mathematical logic.

Anyway, right now, all my efforts are focused on starting properly on 01 Jan.

1:26 PM

@JasperLoy yes

2:11 PM

@MattЭллен It's not surprising because it's not your lunchtime. QED

That's how logic works. IN YOUR FACE!

@Mitch but I would be more surprised if it was lunchtime when it wasn't lunchtime

@MattЭллен ooh that was so zen

it's the hat talking

@MattЭллен touche!

But happily surprised, non?

@Mitch lunchtime is the best time

2:13 PM

n'est-ce pas?

nicht wahr?

pas-ce que non?

@MattЭллен breakfast is pretty good too.

@Mitch but at breakfast time, I'm jaded by the knowledge that I've just woken up

hm... snacktime is up there. I mean dinner is dinner, am I right?

yeah.

2:15 PM

@MattЭллен No argument there. maybe late breakfast or brunch would be better.

maybe

I mean elevenses is a new concept to me, the word too, but the doing it, that's been a constant.

all the world except Britain

@MattЭллен shi bu shi?

moshi moshi?

2:16 PM

off to google translate for more

@MattЭллен lo? (?לא)

akuyona?

I feel much better now. I think I should be able to start studying next Thu.

yay!

The questions on ELU are getting too dry. Basic grammar questions. Instead I think we shoul allow/not close things like english.stackexchange.com/questions/216271/…, they are interesting. We should allow discussion questions.

@JasperLoy nice!

I think ELL and ELU should be merged. Until now, I still don't see much difference.

take it slow and steady. don't try and 'do it all' at once.

2:21 PM

Having said that, I might not be able to start next Thu. But I am trying to stay positive.

@JasperLoy yeah. basic questions and wild discussion questions. (still close 'look it up in a dictionary' questions)

ast na?

What will you start with?

I will start with Calculus I, lol.

Nice. limits first?

Maybe. Just going with the book. I have 12 books. If I go slowly, hopefully I can finish 1 book in 2 months and finish 6 books in a year.

If I go quickly, then I can finish 1 book in 1 month and finish 12 books in a year.

no
no
no no
no
no
no no
no
no

no
no

2:25 PM

I'm sensing some negativity here.

there's no limits

Or was that embedded morse code. A cry for help, akuyona?

@MattЭллен Sorry, I don't understand.

@JasperLoy it's an attempt at rhythmic representation in text

@MattЭллен If you just eyeball it, you'll get it wrong.

2:27 PM

@JasperLoy newlines take longer than spaces

@MattЭллен And what rhythm are you trying to do here?

►

Oh. I thought it way 'Mony Mony'

All I saw was an ad for Madagascar

@MattЭллен That hair looks terrible,

see it was a pun, based on Mitch saying "limits"

2:30 PM

@JasperLoy She spent hours on it.

Anybody here speak French?

@MattЭллен I didn't get it. I was hiding my lack of clue behind brazen incoherence

good plan. I do that all the time

which is quite a bit more than my pedestrian incoherence.

I'm looking for the French spelling of the word that sounds like "cru" but means "the crust that forms at the bottom of the fondue pot" . . .

2:31 PM

Except that got clipped by a car.

sitting on the curb beside the road.

@Robusto it's definitely not raw.

the cooked, lo?

@JasperLoy it was the 90s

today her hair is straight as...

How straight is it?

probably not very. those look like natural curls

apparently I'm all types of wrong

@JasperLoy how do you think here hair should look, to make it better?

2:34 PM

@MattЭллен why? was it photoshopped?

@Mitch I think straight hair is the best, not curly hair.

@MattЭллен wow. she got a lot of tattoos. and worked out.

@Mitch yup

@JasperLoy Straight hair takes a lot less upkeep.

@MattЭллен but really, that's the same (female) singer?

also, was that big in the UK? I've never heard that before.

What should I do to make my hair grow back? See a doctor about it?

2:36 PM

@Mitch I expect so. she has the same name

It's definitely not male pattern baldness. It's just severe stress.

@Mitch very big.

@MattЭллен this is ELU, man! That's no guarantee!

true that woman could be a homonym

The clock in the living room is spoilt. Today my mum bought an identical one to replace it.

2:37 PM

@JasperLoy hair doesn't grow back overnight. did you do a google search for 'hair loss stress'?

@Mitch No. I have not done any research on this.

@MattЭллен I feel like I've missed out. Only a little. Ah... feeling has passed.

@MattЭллен It's becoming more acceptable in polite society nowadays.

Let's hope the new clock brings good luck for 2015.

how is the clock spoilt?

@JasperLoy Don't take the first info you see too seriously. look at lots, and then ask a real doctor.

2:39 PM

@MattЭллен Well, it keeps stopping even after batteries were replaced.

@JasperLoy ah

@JasperLoy Is that a thing? new clock, good luck? thinks about getting a clock.

@JasperLoy Oh. that's broke. You should get a new one.

@Mitch Well, it's just my own silly thought, to make myself feel happy.

But sometimes those kinds of things really are 'things' if you get my drift.

no

I have not received any drift

2:41 PM

Well, things is not well defined.

I started my previous 3 lines with well. This is a sign.

like a new pair of shoes can have orthopedic consequences ((I've heard) usually for the good, because of wearing down of the sole), but they also have psychological changes, like one is a new person just because of the shoes.

@MattЭллен gift card for drift ordered

I see

@Mitch a drift card, if you will

I think it works for more than just shoes. But shoes (I've heard) are somehow the thing.

Like a coat... well maybe it works for coats too. Pants, it really doesn't work for me.

@MattЭллен IF U!

@MattЭллен a grift card works anywhere with the right look in your eye.

do you think the littlest hobo did much grifting?

How else did they get by?

amazon.com/How-Read-Book-Intelligent-Touchstone/dp/0671212095

I didn't get much out of that.

2:48 PM

"How to sell a book"

:D

I've known how to read a book for a while now.

Me too!

Reading math taught me how to read everything else.

I find readin math the toughest of all. You can spend an hour on just one line.

2:49 PM

Many people have problems with math because they fail to read with understanding.

Look I'm g-dropping again. It's my Irish accent showing through.

@JasperLoy it's necessary effort. There's a story there but you have to work hard to pull it out.

Hey @MattЭллен, who are the g-droppers in the british isles? Who tend to say 'anythin'? (instead of 'anything'). Even in the US, no one is so radical as to say 'anythin'? They'll totally say 'droppin' (dropping the 'g' on verbs.

@Mitch Sometimes, g droppin just happens.

@Mitch most accents have g-dropping

it's more a status marker than a geographical marker

What kind of status?

@Mitch Reading other people's code is worse, usually. At least math mostly makes eventual sense.

2:54 PM

@JasperLoy like class, but different

a sort of u / non-u distinction

Oh. like careful speech isn't g droppin, but casual is, and casual at any register? Like does david cameron probably g-drop but just not when on camera?

@MattЭллен also, in the US there's no U/non-U distinction.

@Mitch possibly

What is u non-u? Color and colour?

It's 11 pm here.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Mitch g-dropping happens in almost every register

U and non-U English

U and non-U English usage, with "U" standing for "upper class", and "non-U" representing the aspiring middle classes, was part of the terminology of popular discourse of social dialects (sociolects) in Britain in the 1950s. The debate did not concern itself with the speech of the working classes, who in many instances used the same words as the upper classes. For this reason, the different vocabularies often can appear quite counter-intuitive: the middle classes prefer "fancy" or fashionable words, even neologisms and often euphemisms, in attempts to make themselves sound more refined, while the...

tchrist

3:08 PM

@Cerberus Do you recognize this quote: “quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus”? I don’t mean do you know what it means; I mean do you know who said it and why.

3:29 PM

@tchrist I believe that's Horace, and he said it because he meant that even so great a master as Homer sometimes screws the pooch.

tchrist

Yes, it’s Horace. Perhaps it means that.

The verb is dormito meaning “falls/gets sleepy/drowsy” not dormio meaning “sleeps”. He’s not asleep on the job, but he may getting sleepy show the occasional lapse. At least, I think that’s what it means. I think, but am not certain, that it is excusing the occasional formal imperfection in verse that otherwise stirs us profoundly.

Horace sounds good when pronounced in Italian.

tchrist

@JasperLoy Like this?

> Sunt delicta tamen quibus ignovisse velimus.
Nam neque chorda sonum reddit, quem volut manus et mens,
poscentique gravem persaepe remittit acutum,
nec semper feriet, quodcumque minabitur arcus.
Verum ubi plura nitent in carmine, non ego paucis
offendar maculis, quas aut incuria fudit,
aut humana parum cavit natura. Quid ergo est?
Vt scriptor si peccat idem librarius usque,
quamvis est monitus, venia caret, et citharoedus
ridetur chorda qui semper oberrat eadem,
sic mihi, qui multum cessat, fit Choerilus ille,

Philip Francis, a Pope contemp, made it sound nice when pronounce in English, too, although he took rather longer to do so than did Horace:

> Yet there are Faults that we may well excuse,
For oft the Strings th’intended Sound refuse;
In vain his tuneful Hand the Master tries,
He asks a Flat, and hears a Sharp arise;
Nor always will the Bow though fam’d for Art
With Speed unerring wing the threatening Dart.
But where the Beauties more in Number shine,
I am not angry, when a casual Line
(That with some trivial Faults unequal flows.)
A careless Hand, or human Frailty shows.
But as we ne’er those Scribes with Mercy treat
Who, though advis’d, the same Mistakes repeat;

3:44 PM

@JasperLoy what Matt linked to. But, contra Cerb's opinion, the US doesn't really have a U/non U distinction. It has regional differences and some register differences (formal vs informal) but not really a class distinction (the closest that it does is in the regional differences)

@Robusto Homer was a Cynic.

No. Diogenes was the Cynic.

@JasperLoy Srirace hot sauce

@Robusto And Diogenes screwed the pooch too.