English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Sridhar Ratnakumar

2:38 AM

Is there a code of conduct to deal with assholes? see comments under english.stackexchange.com/a/270487/102

Cerberus

@SridharRatnakumar I have voted your comment up.

He is being a bit annoying, but it's not bad enough for flagging, in my opinion.

So I think it is best if you just ignore him.

I also disagree with his point about the metaphor.

RegDwigнt

9:49 AM

@Catija they get an automatic notification to their inbox that their question has been migrated.

@Catija never seen that one before and wasn't involved in the migration.

That said, I am surprised to see your reason for close-voting it was "Basic questions on spelling, meaning or pronunciation are off-topic as they should be answered using a dictionary". The question is not about spelling, not about meaning, and not about pronunciation. And it cannot be answered using a dictionary.

It may not be a good fit for SE, but it's an even worse fit for a dictionary. Personally, in such cases, I point the OP to our chat.

Admittedly I've not been to the ELL room in quite some time, so I don't know how active it is.

Gigili

10:13 AM

Is there an option to see the replies a specific chat message has got?

What exactly will happen to the inactive moderators? Are they mods forever?

RegDwigнt

10:31 AM

After some time an inactive mod will get contacted by a community manager. The rest is decided on a case-by-case basis.

Puzzle of the day @Cerberus:

Robusto

10:50 AM

@RegDwigнt No meals for eels?

RegDwigнt

Nobody knows!

Robusto

Somebody somewhere knows. Otherwise the universe would be random and chaotic.

Don't put little sailor hats on eels?

Matt E. Эллен

don't steal acorn cups from the heads of snakes that live in hotdog buns

RegDwigнt

For relaxing times, make it golden gaytime.

Robusto

@MattE.Эллен That's a little on the nose, don't you think?

Matt E. Эллен

11:03 AM

@Robusto I thought snakes smelt with their tongues

Gigili

3

A: What does "too on the nose" mean?

An example might help. Here is a scene from the popular comedy Family Guy where Brian, the family dog, fears he is longer wanted as a pet. He with talking to his owner Peter, as Stewie (Peter's infant son and Brian's best friend) comments acerbically: PETER Hey, Brian, I thought ma...

Was fur ein answer ist es? Using verbatim where you are supposed to use blackquotes

Robusto

Careful, or @RegDwigнt will start correcting your German.

Also, dude, the correct term is blockquotes. Blackquotes is racist.

RegDwigнt

@Robusto what do you mean, "careful, or"?

Robusto

Dammit, I have to give up my computer to IT for a time.

Laterz.

RegDwigнt

Also, dude, RegDwight will start correcting your nonracism.

@Robusto I hope it's for lent.

Gigili

11:15 AM

Blackcoats

@Robusto Wait a minute, are you implying that a black cannot quote a text?

RegDwigнt

Make my bed and light the light,
I'll arrive late tonight,
African American bird, bye-bye.

Gigili

@RegDwigнt Bye bye.

@MattE.Эллен Oops, I was editing that post

Why didn't you edit the little bit I mentioned above?

@RegDwigнt Put the candy on the red line and let the poor eel find it on his own

OK, I'm done.

RegDwigнt

My hovercraft is full of red lines.

Matt E. Эллен

@Gigili because scripts look ok in blockquotes

@Gigili sorry, I didn't realise. feel free to edit it some more

Gigili

@MattE.Эллен That's not a blockquote, it has a scroll bar

@MattE.Эллен It's OK, you're forgiven

Matt E. Эллен

11:30 AM

@Gigili I meant monospaced text, sorry. I'm hungry, so I'm losing concentration.

Gigili

@RegDwigнt In that case, look on the back of the guide sign fore more infowz.

Robusto

12:22 PM

@RegDwigнt Obviously that is longhand for "@RegDwigнt will start correcting your German."

@RegDwigнt Nobody beats the Germans at racism. Nobody.

RegDwigнt

Hallo Kinder! Aufgepaßt! Auf der Rückseite Oldtimer-Modelle!

They know the ins and outs of the business. Or would an American child not consider becoming racist if it came with a free Matchbox car?

Robusto

The American child would consider it, but would come in second to the German child.

RegDwigнt

By the way, ich kenne keine longhands. Ich kenne nur Langfinger.

Robusto

Goldfingers Brüder?

RegDwigнt

What, no English Wiktionary entry for that? You suck, English Wiktionary.

Langfinger

== Langfinger (Deutsch) == === Substantiv, m === Worttrennung: Lang·fin·ger, Plural: Lang·fin·ger Aussprache: IPA: [ˈlaŋˌfɪŋɐ], Plural: [ˈlaŋˌfɪŋɐ] Hörbeispiele: —, Plural: — Bedeutungen: [1] umgangssprachlich: jemand, der lange Finger macht, das heißt: sich unrechtmäßig Dinge verschafft Herkunft: [1] Belegt seit dem 17. Jahrhundert. „Wohl von dem Herausfingern unter einem Gitter oder Riegel hergeleitet.“ Synonyme: [1] Ladendieb, Taschendieb Oberbegriffe: [1] Dieb Beispiele: [1] Zum dritten Mal in diesem Monat verschafften sich dreiste Langfinger Zutritt zum Warenlager des Ersatzteilhänd...

Robusto

12:27 PM

Halt' dein Langfinger nicht in mein Gesicht.

RegDwigнt

Also, for the record, the new Google logo sucks shit.

Just like the new Internet Explorer logo.

Robusto

I don't get how they think this is a revolutionary change.

RegDwigнt

Well, it is revolutionary to have a logo saying "Google" for a company whose name is "Alphabet".

Robusto

I thought the new name was Elphaba.

RegDwigнt

Like, a MacBook Pro saying "DELL".

Robusto

12:30 PM

Elphaba

Elphaba Thropp /ˈɛlfəbə ˈθrɒp/ is a fictional character in Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire, as well as in the Broadway and West End adaptations, Wicked. In the original L. Frank Baum book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West is unnamed and little is explained about her life. Elphaba is modeled after the Witch portrayed by Margaret Hamilton in the classic 1939 film The Wizard of Oz: green-skinned, clad entirely in black and wearing a tall peaked hat. Maguire formulated the name "Elphaba" from the phonetic pronunciation of Baum...

RegDwigнt

That's wicked.

Robusto

Indeed.

And inword.

I wouldn't mind the new Google logo so much if that damn hand didn't keep coming up to erase the old one. Note to Google: we get it already.

RegDwigнt

Well, I for one did not know they had an old logo before the new one!

It is information. Valuable information.

Which is what ~~Alphabet~~ Google is all about.

Like you search for pictures of jinx coke and get pictures of Jynx Maze with cocks.

Robusto

Oh right, like that wasn't really what you were searching for.

RegDwigнt

Exactly!

TRiG

12:33 PM

tchrist, Boulder, CO

101 3

RegDwigнt

They read my mind better than I do.

TRiG

^^ Missing a space between sentences, @tchrist.

RegDwigнt

In fact I did not even know I had a mind.

Robusto

@TRiG His sentences are meant to be served sequentially, not concurrently.

@RegDwigнt News to me as well.

What is mind? It doesn't matter. What is matter? Never mind.

RegDwigнt

What is mind? Baby don't hurt me. Don't hurt me! No more!!!

Robusto

12:35 PM

Bertrand Russell's parents tortured him with that when he was little.

No wonder he turned to philosophy.

RegDwigнt

Bertrand Russell's parents tortured him by giving him a family name that means "proboscis".

In German. Sorry, I forgot that bit. I always forget to mention Germans.

Pictured from left to right: Bertrand, Rüssel. (Artist's impression.)

JSBձոգչ

1:26 PM

@Robusto huh. i've always pronounced it with the stress on te second syllable

Robusto

-1

Q: Can proper nouns such as Canada possess abilities?

For e.g., can I write "I question Canada's ability to pay down its debt," or should it be, "I question the ability of Canada to pay down its debt"?

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇: ^^

People are wondering whether Canada has any abilities (other than hockey and drinking Labatt's).

JSBձոգչ

you forgot poutine

not a single one of the tags on that question is relevant

(before i edited them, that is)

RegDwigнt

1:48 PM

So. To this day, Wikipedia does not have an article on the most famous hobo in American history.

Shame on you, Wikipedia.

> TIME Magazine: Love in the Time of Cold War
It was one of the odder subplots of the late cold-war era: in April 1986, a New Yorker named Joseph Mauri became a Moscow media celebrity as the main character in The Man From Fifth Avenue, a 90-minute Soviet television documentary about poverty in New York. Homeless and jobless, Mauri was the embodiment of American capitalism's indifference to the poor; in August 1986 the KGB hauled him on a month-long, all-expenses-paid propaganda tour of Soviet cities, where he collected petition signatures "to protect ordinary Americans evicted from their ho…

Mr Mauri collecting said petition signatures.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

2:01 PM

@RegDwigнt Not to be pedantic but Alphabet owns Google, it isn't Google.

well, okay, I totes meant to be pedantic

tchrist

So it's Alphabet's Google not Google's Alphabet?

RegDwigнt

Not to be pedantic, but Alphabet was invented by Ancient Greeks. For make benefit glorious nation of Kazakhstan.

There should be a law against naming your company a common noun. What do you think Alphabet'll do next, not sue all dictionaries for "genericizing" their "trademark"?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@tchrist I'm pretty sure that's how it is structured, legally

@RegDwigнt Alphabet is just a holding company.

RegDwigнt

I'm pretty sure they should just stop jerking off to Warren Buffet's business structure and instead go fix ~~Google~~ Alphabet Spreadsheets.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I don't think it needs that strong a trademark

RegDwigнt

2:16 PM

Yeah let your legal department tell that to their legal department. Oh wait, you don't have a legal department, because you don't need that strong a trademark.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Well, you asked what we thought Alphabet would do next, and this is me telling you they won't sue for "genericizing" their trademark because it won't be used in the same way that other marks are, e.g. "Google"

RegDwigнt

Nah, I never ask anyone anything. I just post pointless remarks. I thought that's how chat works. Am I doing it wrong?

I am new to this whole MySpace thing.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

It's a holding company, it only needs to protect its trademark from businesses pretending to be held by the same company.

tchrist

That depends what the meaning of it is.

RegDwigнt

It is the economy, stupid.

Gigili

2:23 PM

Should we avoid using it?

RegDwigнt

Should we avoid using we?

Thou shalt not use you.

Andrew Leach

I think we should avoid using.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

> Stop saying that word!

Gigili

I don't think.

RegDwigнt

I do think it means what you think it doesn't.

Now, what happens if we decide to avoid avoiding?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

2:27 PM

The same thing that happens if Pinocchio says "My nose is going to grow now."

Gigili

A whole year?

RegDwigнt

When I was seventeen, it was a very whole year.

Gigili

The whole room is shocked

tchrist

@RegDwigнt Inevitable.

RegDwigнt

Quiz question for everyone except Mr Shiny, who knows the answer:
Why did the logo of the first McDonalds in Moscow, built in 1990, incorporate the USSR flag?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

2:37 PM

I know the answer?

RegDwigнt

Well, you're most likely to.

More accurately still, you're most likely to ask back, "er, why shouldn't it".

But I'm giving away half the answer already.

Andrew Leach

Or more than half, perhaps.

RegDwigнt

Well, it's very apropos our discussion of holdings and trademarks and umbrella companies and whatnot, plus I actually learned the answer only earlier today.

Not a single McDonald's anywhere in Germany ever featured the German flag, say.

Andrew Leach

Shall I be more explicit in my answer then?

RegDwigнt

If you think you have the answer, speak up. That's how quiz questions work.

At least according to Wiktionary.

Andrew Leach

2:42 PM

Oh.

OK then.

51% of the franchise was owned by the State.

RegDwigнt

Close but no cigar.

Cerberus

Hello.

I can't think of any non-trivial reason.

So I must not know.

RegDwigнt

How much of the franchise is owned by the state in the US? In Germany? In the Hollandlands?

Is it less than 51%?

Andrew Leach

None. That's the point.

Cerberus

Presumably 0.

RegDwigнt

2:43 PM

I see.

Still not the answer, however.

Cerberus

If anything the government would shut it down, rather than own it.

RegDwigнt

Not to mention that one year later, said state stopped existing.

Cerberus

We know that the reason is something that we can't possibly know.

RegDwigнt

But Mr Shiny can.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

The McDonalds Canada logo has the maple leaf on it.

RegDwigнt

2:45 PM

Bingo.

Now work from there.

Cerberus

Why?

RegDwigнt

Because I told you to work, you slacker.

I am here to moderate you.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

and now I know the answer, because I just read up on the history of the first mcdonalds restaurant

I don't know why the Canadian McD logo has the maple leaf. But, lots and lots of US companies that have operations in Canada have maple leaves on their logos.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt If they do outlaw Alphabet I guess Apple is next. I think Microsoft is what we'll end up with in that case. Or Linux.

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 I consider that a syrupy sort of pandering.

tchrist

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Because they are just so Canadian.

RegDwigнt

2:48 PM

@Robusto no way. My math professor's dog's name was Linux. He will totally sue.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt Why would you have a common dog? That is so un-@Cerberus.

RegDwigнt

So anyway. Apparently, from what I hear, the shady McDonalds umbrella corporation is structured such that there is a US McDonalds subcorporation and a Canada McDonalds subcorporation, and they divide the world between themselves in some quirky unfathomable ways, and as chance would have it Russia belongs to Canadians, and thus the first McDonalds to be built in Russia was not a US but a Canadian one.

And so they just put a USSR flag in the logo because that's what they were used to in Canada. It simply didn't occur to them that strictly speaking it was not an actual part of the actual logo.

Cerberus

@Robusto Hey, I'm all for open-sourcing things, even dogs.

@RegDwigнt Hilarious.

RegDwigнt

Kind of how Aldi divided Germany, and subsequently Europe, in North and South.

Cerberus

Large organisations pretend to be rational and efficient, but in reality they are often the most irrational and wasteful.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

2:54 PM

@RegDwigнt I'm sure there are more than just two sub-corporations, and most of them are probably owned by the US one.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt But that is like Charlemagne, German brothers dividing Europe, isn't it?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

The article I read said that the USSR one was owned by the Canadian branch because 1) it was a Canadian who started it, and 2) Canada was deemed to be more palatable to the Soviets than America.

RegDwigнt

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 so am I. The thing remains, There Could Be Only One to whom the first McDonald's in Russia belonged, and Canada it was.

Cerberus

spits

tchrist

I'm glad we've got that settled now.

RegDwigнt

2:55 PM

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 which sounds about 100% right.

Much like no Soviet Russian would ever try Coke, but Pepsi kiosks were everywhere.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

And strictly speaking, the maple leaf is part of the logo in Canada.

@RegDwigнt yeah, pepsi, so un-american

Cerberus

Can you name the 7 largest countries by land area, in the right order?

RegDwigнt

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 hey it had its name in Russian. Back in the fookin 70s, mind you. Coca Cola refuses to spell its name in Cyrillic to this day.

Gigili

Russia

RegDwigнt

Nov 16 '11 at 21:48, by RegDwight Ѭſ道

Gigili

2:58 PM

Russia, Russia, Russia and Russia

RegDwigнt

Dec 26 '12 at 4:04, by RegDwighт

The Coca Cola Company still today pretends Russian has no case system. You have to say "Coca Cola" in all situations. Need dative? Use the nominative. Need accusative? Use the nominative. Need instrumentalis? WTF is instrumentalis, now drink the nominative already, jeez.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt Fuck they.

RegDwigнt

Exactly.

@Cerberus Antarctica has 0% water? Shit. Even Sahara has some.

Gigili

Who is Sahara?

RegDwigнt

Сахар

Са́хар — бытовое название сахарозы (C12H22O11). Тростниковый и свекловичный сахар (сахарный песок, рафинад) является важным пищевым продуктом. Обычный сахар относится к углеводам, которые считаются ценными питательными веществами, обеспечивающими организм необходимой энергией. Крахмал также принадлежит к углеводам, но усвоение его организмом происходит относительно медленно. Сахароза же быстро расщепляется в пищеварительном тракте на глюкозу и фруктозу, которые затем поступают в кровоток. Глюкоза обеспечивает более половины энергетических затрат организма. Нормальная концентрация глюкозы в крови…

Gigili

3:04 PM

Sounds like an Arab female name

RegDwigнt

Is there a female version of Muhammed?

Or would that be considered offensive to al Lah?

Gigili

Depends on what you mean by female version.

Or better, depends on you.

RegDwigнt

Well, like Alexander Alexandra, Peter Petra, Mohammed Mohammeda.

Gigili

Depends on the thing that hides in between single and double.

@RegDwigнt It seems you already know the answer and you're trying to test my knowledge of Arabic language and usage.

RegDwigнt

Actually no. I do not know the answer, and am thus asking the only person with any knowledge of Arabic in this chat.

I've not met or read about a single Mohammeda in my entire life.

And I'm not even sure what the Arabic female suffix would be.

Gigili

3:13 PM

@RegDwigнt That's because the word does not exist.

But you are correct about 'a' being the female suffix.

RegDwigнt

I see.

Gigili

How do I know if I am being ignored by a user?

RegDwigнt

So is there a religious reason for there not being a female version of Mohammed, or is it plain tradition like there's no male version of Maria?

@Gigili no idea. But normally you should be able to tell from the conversation if someone's missing half the things being said.

Actually, come to think of it, I guess Mario is the female version of Maria.

Which is doubly offensive to all Christians.

And Christines.

Gigili

@RegDwigнt I think it is the same as millions of other names with no female version. It wouldn't considered offensive if there was one.

RegDwigнt

Okay.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

3:21 PM

@Cerberus what definition of "Canada" do they use that puts us behind the US in land area?

Andrew Leach

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Mercator projection.

Gigili

@RegDwigнt I mean like when you ignore a user, their avatar is shown smaller than other users so you will be aware of their presence... Is there such a thing for the ignored user?

RegDwigнt

Hm. I don't know.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Gigili I would guess not.

RegDwigнt

I guess some people might be ignoring me by now, but I'm not seeing any indication of that.

Gigili

3:24 PM

> normally you should be able to tell from the conversation if someone's missing half the things being said.

RegDwigнt

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 probably "places not covered by snow".

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@RegDwigнt Oh, it counts inland lakes, etc, as "water" and thus because Canada has a higher percentage of lakes than the US, we end up actually "smaller" by a bit.

RegDwigнt

@Gigili yeah right, not seeing that either.

Gigili

Ugh, where is @Mitch when I need him

RegDwigнt

If witches were Mitches, we'd all swim in riches.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

3:26 PM

@Gigili I have noticed that, at times. Like, one time one user was ignoring another user, and when I'd reply to the ignored user, the first user was like "you're making no sense"

Then both I, and the ignored user, deduced that he was being ignored

drama ensued

tchrist

@RegDwigнt Remember that María José is a woman but José María is a man.

RegDwigнt

What about José van Tutte?

Gigili

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Oh, that's dramatically wise. And what did user one do about it?

Did user one unignore user two?

They lived happily ever after.

RegDwigнt

I doubt the point of ignoring a user is unignoring them as soon as the ignoring starts working as intended.

But I've never ignored anyone, sadly not even Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus.

So what do I know.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Gigili I don't think so, not right away anyway.

user two rage-quitted.

Gigili

3:33 PM

@RegDwigнt Right, but the one is losing half of the conversation and soon people will be thinking of him as a doltish person

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Gigili yeah, the ignore feature doesn't work very well.

It punishes the person who uses it

Gigili

Exactly

RegDwigнt

@Gigili Everyone is already thinking that of everyone else. That's the only way to get access to the Internet.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt I say never give a Сахар an even break.

RegDwigнt

Andrei Sakharov

Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov (Russian: Андре́й Дми́триевич Са́харов; IPA: [ɐnˈdrʲej dmʲiˈtrʲɪjevʲɪtɕ ˈsaxərəf]; May 21, 1921 – December 14, 1989) was a Russian nuclear physicist, Soviet dissident and human rights activist. He became renowned as the designer of the Soviet Union's Third Idea, a codename for Soviet development of thermonuclear weapons. Sakharov later became an advocate of civil liberties and civil reforms in the Soviet Union, for which he faced state persecution; these efforts earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975. The Sakharov Prize, which is awarded annually by the Europea...

Robusto

3:35 PM

I knew what the article was about because I know what C12H22O11 is, not because I know Russian.

Which I don't.

RegDwigнt

You are two of my heroes.

33% less heroic than Cerberus. Or 50%, depending on who's looking.

Robusto

My very first gf was named Sladky, which I guess means sweet in po-russki.

That was her surname, not her given name.

Gigili

@RegDwigнt No one knows that everyone is already thinking that of everyone else. If they knew, suicide rate would be higher than what it currently is.

RegDwigнt