English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

I'm not sure how marriage would improve our relationship.

user174558

Hmm, OK. I guess I have overrated marriage.

Maybe, maybe not.

user174558

I wonder who invented marriage and when.

7:04 PM

Some religious figure a long time ago.

user174558

And the same goes for divorce.

Martin Luther.

user174558

Hollywood stars seem to marry and divorce multiple times, lol.

user174558

It's like a mass orgy.

Two chances for attention.

user174558

7:06 PM

I am very proud that I have never broken up with someone before.

user174558

Mother's Day is this Sunday.

user174558

Vesak Day is next next Saturday.

Vesak Day?

user174558

Celebrating Buddha's enlightenment.

Oh, nice.

user174558

7:12 PM

Unfortunately, when a holiday falls on Saturday here in Antarctica, the following Monday is still a work day.

user174558

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 I recommend you to watch the trilogy Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight. It's so romantic.

Boris_yo

7:25 PM

Is "assignability" a word?

"I was told to notify you about assignability of your status"

Anonymous

@terdon Since people learn and repeat it as a unit, I'm not sure they're really using it as a grammatical structure. That is, there might not be any specific compositional meaning or particular grammar intended by most of the people who say it. And if people do break it down mentally, there's no guarantee that people do so the same way.

Anonymous

I'd be inclined to parse it as inchoative get taking the slang adjectival complement hype (meaning something like 'very excited about something'?).

That makes sense, I guess.

Anonymous

It could be reduced from get hyped [about something].

Anonymous

But I don't really know.

Anonymous

7:33 PM

It could be intentionally ungrammatical.

@snailplane Yes, that was my first thought, a missing d.

Woah, hang on, who's snailplane? Do I know you?

Moving up in the world, are we?

wow, hierarchical view of transportation modes much??

@question_asker Planes do tend to be higher up than boats, yes.

@MattE.Эллен #totalljerks

Anonymous

7:43 PM

Sometimes when I watch snails crawl on flat surfaces (say, a sidewalk), they seem to me like miniature land zeppelins, their shell holding them afloat as they slowly make their way forward.

as opposed to full-size land zeppelins.

OK I apologize that was the low-effortest thing I could have said there.

@Demisemihemidemisemiquaver Do you mean one time zone per ... latitude?

Anonymous

@question_asker Hey, nice nonce compound adjective :-)

thank you, I made it myself

@WillHunting where else do kids come from?

those from under a cabbage leaf have this funky ... aura.

@question_asker 'that snail went over like a led zeppelin'

@terdon jefferson snailship is next

@WillHunting Yay!

Or is 'meh' more appropriate?

'meh' captures all of buddhism in a single word. Unlike 'om' which is just breathing funny.

Anonymous

7:52 PM

@YannikK. English has both types: "I'm not uninterested." Here we have two negators, not and un-, and the result is a positive assertion (along the lines of "I am interested", although the meaning might not be exactly the same).

@WillHunting ?? the last one isn't that romantic, given that the couple isn't getting along that great.

What about these?

Anonymous

In other words, that example has two grammatical negations, and two semantic negations.

Anonymous

But English also has examples where two grammatical negations represent only one semantic negation.

Anonymous

Negative concord (multiple marking of a single semantic negation) is largely limited to non-standard varieties of English, though.

Anonymous

7:55 PM

There are exceptions:

Anonymous

> Not in my car, you're not.

@WillHunting Be even prouder that you haven't broken up somebody before.

It's a big mess and the parts never fit right again.

Negative concord is sour grapes.

Anonymous

> They aren't here, I don't think.

That doesn't count, those are two separate entities

Anonymous

7:56 PM

The negation in the parenthetical is optional:

Anonymous

> They aren't here, I think.

Anonymous

Either way, it's a single semantic negation.

Anonymous

Some examples are possible with both interpretations, depending on whether they're taken as Standard English or not:

Anonymous

> He didn't say nothin'.

Anonymous

This is a non-standard version of "He didn't say anything".

Anonymous

7:59 PM

But:

Anonymous

> He didn't say nothing. = 'He did say something; it's not true that he said nothing.'

Anonymous

Further reading: The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language starting on page 845.

Anonymous

I have to go for now.

@WillHunting there are a number of cultural universals among all human societies, from very organized to just running around the woods: music, fire, language, burial. Marriage is one of them (with some variations). So if someone invented it, a whole bunch of people in every society invented it.

@terdon Fringe is considered crap?

8:17 PM

@Mitch by me, absolutely. Opinions may differ, of course.

@Mitch ha, yes, snail Slick, perhaps.

@SvenYargs ... +1500 for any SWR question answered using a thesaurus. — Mitch 15 secs ago

@terdon i overheard the first couple seasons (like X-files with a little extra science), but then all the one offs started to be wrapped into one big plot line, which I then started to watch. so it redeemed itself eventually. I remember the acting was wooden, but the plot really picked up.