English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

@WillHunting No. Robusto is himself. Rubisco is the chemist, changing his name every month: DEAD, INA, um... a bunch of others. Annoys me to no end every time because he talks like we know who he is right after he changes his name.

@tchrist 1) Link? 2) I learned that at college, an American college. 3) HL has grammatical judgement different from mine. Often.

tchrist

@tchrist - You've apparently lived in several different countries and you hobnob with folks from all over the world, so I suspect you've become "desensitized" to language that is not idiomatic AmE. To me a speaker saying "at college" (in some contexts) would strongly suggest a British influence. — Hot Licks 3 hours ago

WTFMH?

tchrist

1:41 AM

TIL I'm a hobnobber.

I forget where he's from. Doubtless some old bandicoot from South North Dakota or vice versa, and without the bandi.

Færd

3:27 AM

@tchrist It serves you right for taking so much bad English from talking to learners like me all the time!

BTW: books.google.com/ngrams/…

P.S. Sometimes it feels better if you just gracefully turn a blind eye.

tchrist

@Færd Yeah, he really doesn't know what he's talking about

Tonepoet

3:55 AM

@Færd First I think it is somewhat irresponsible to make this graph without at least comparing the suggested alternative. Now you can see why Hotlicks might suggest that it's idiomatic U.S. English to prefer "in college" to "at college". "In college" sees what I estimate to be four times as much usage as "at college" whereas in the motherland there is no strong preference for either. Moreover, ngrams doesn't provide us with much context....

... so we do not know if "at college" has the same general meaning as "in college" as undertaking continuous study, or if it is simply literally being used more literally to indicate current physical location.

Færd

4:15 AM

@Tonepoet It was irresponsible of me to make that graph without reading the whole thread (the original post, the answer and the comments).

I don't intend to participate in the discussion right now, but thanks for reminding me.

Tonepoet

@Færd Hmm, to be fair, I only skimmed over it myself. @tchrist is actually the one who first suggested that which would be his own undoing! =P Anyway, my own right to discuss the matter is limited. I never attended higher education facilities to say the least...

Færd

@Tonepoet A brief scan of what dictionaries like LDOCE and Oxford Learner's have to say about at college suggests that there's no difference in meaning between the AmE and BrE usages. Particularly note the boldfaced expression in Oxford Advanced American Dictionary: oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/american_english/…

... where in/at college are both used in the same sense.

tchrist

4:32 AM

Yup!

Tonepoet

@Færd I didn't mean that "at college" is not a possible way of expressing the sentiment in the U.S.A. By "general meaning" I was trying to appealing to the commodity of use in the sentiments, since they're discussing idiomatic speech. Maybe I could've chosen a better word. As long as I'm making this comment I do have some corrections to make. One is to strikeout "current". It sounded good in my head, but it's too restrictive in actual meaning. The other is that it's closer to 5x greater...

tchrist

At home. At work. At school. At college.

Notice that none of those can take in without changing the meaning.

Tonepoet

@tchrist I'm not so sure I agree with that. I have a hunch that the rule only strictly applies to "in college". More importantly though, the first three options don't sound like they'd be a commonly expressed with "in" to me. I think we did have a question requesting comparison of "in" and "at" in regards to work though, hmm.

Færd

@tchrist So what do you think is the difference between at college and in college, or to give more context, between these sentences:

> He got interested in politics when he was in college.

> She's away at college in California.

(from the link in my previous message)

Tonepoet

@Færd My opinion is that they can be interpreted similarly, but "At college" might have connotations of transiency in some contexts. Assume thata Professor from Oxford University takes a business trip to U.C. Berkeley to give a lecture. I think "She's away at college in California" might be an applicable sentence, if one of her students asks about her whereabouts.

Bleh, I missed the spacebar with that last edit and now the comment is too old to edit again.

Færd

4:48 AM

I'm not a native AmE speaker, but I think in that case a more probable response to the question about her whereabouts would be "She's away at U.C. Berkeley (college)", not just "at college".

Tonepoet

@Færd Part of the reason I suggested Oxford is actually because in that case, you'd be using British English, because the conversation would be taking place in England, at Oxford University. Also, it's just an exemplification of how the sentence may be interpreted. It seems reasonable to assume it is more likely to specify U.C. Berkeley instead of the generic college, but I doubt that specification would change the interpretation of the sentence in the context if it was used.

Færd

Well, I'm not sure, and won't be until I investigate it thoroughly through corpora, if possible.

Maybe later.

And again, those dictionaries suggest that there are no transatlantic differences in meaning, so whether it's Oxford University or not prolly doesn't matter.

Tonepoet

@Færd That's certainly reasonable, especially since I'm just making suppositions based upon something I probably would not know. The closest I've ever been to a college is watching Anime highschoolers recieve their acceptance letters! Tell me the results if you do. Keep in mind that you probably wouldn't specify "in California." if you were actually in California, so that sentence tells us nothing about locale. Anyway, tell me if you do.

Færd

OK!

Tonepoet

5:26 AM

@tchrist Please shoot me. I can't thrive in a world where "He is in work." is a meaningful sentence:

8

A: "In work" vs. "at work"

"In work" means I have a job. I might not be there currently, but I have employment. "At work" means I am currently doing my job, or at least on the premises of my job.

Rubisco

9:55 AM

@Færd I'm not sure how just declining what I said and giving no counterexamples or ideas is useful.

Færd

11:06 AM

@Rubisco Guess what.

Oh, you're not around.

tchrist

@Rubisco ping

@Tonepoet To be away to/at college means you're studying there, not that you're working there.

Helmar

11:29 AM

@tchrist we've got 11 votes on this meta feature request. What's the way forward?

11

Q: Activate the StackExchange new tag warning on ELU

In this meta.SE post is a neat functionality to stop people from creating new tags is described. Unfortunately it's not active on ELU. Fortunatly, Laurel has this brought to ELU attention over here in an answer. This feature is currently enabled on Stack Overflow, Server Fault, Super User, Unix

feature-request

tchrist

@Helmar I'll ask when I find the right people awake.

Rather, it just takes an ELU mod asking a CM to flip a bit.

Helmar

@tchrist Thanks

tchrist

Sure thing.

tchrist

11:48 AM

5

Q: Under what conditions is the word Britisher offensive?

I have often heard individuals from the Indian subcontinent refer to the pre-independance British colonial rulers as "Britishers." I have never heard the word in another context. It seems that today, to call someone from the UK a Britisher might be offensive. Is this true? Is it offensive to re...

etymology pejorative-language offensive-language indian-english

Strange how it doesn’t seem to make sense to say that the British were ever the “colonial rulers” of America or Canada.

Mitch

12:33 PM

@tchrist not that I am a right people, but count me as a vote for yes, activate.

@tchrist isn't there a question with a list of these AmE/BrE differences (in the hospital/in hospital, etc etc)?

also probably written up by you

tchrist

@Mitch That's the only one of those that I know of.

Mitch

hospital, school, work, ... I distinctly remember seeing a list of about 10. maybe by reg?

60

Q: Is there a reason the British omit the article when they "go to hospital"?

Why do British speakers omit the article in constructions like "go to hospital" or "go on holiday"? Pretty much all American speakers would rephrase those as "go to the hospital" and "go on a holiday", I think. Is there any good reason, or forgotten sense behind those words that might explain why...

grammar british-english articles

no list

Færd

@Mitch The message you refer to is not an AmE/BrE difference, AFAIK.

Or rather, as far as several dictionaries suggest.

Mitch

@Færd ?? for hospital?

Færd

1 hour ago, by tchrist

@Tonepoet To be away to/at college means you're studying there, not that you're working there.

Mitch

12:38 PM

or comparing a long list of items

Færd

You responded to that particular message.

Mitch

@Færd I've already lost the sequence. What are you saying explicitly? That there is no difference between AmE and BrE with regards to 'hospital' and 'at', as delineated by many online dictionaries because they don't say anything about the difference?

@tchrist haha. answered by many, including me!

2

Q: How do American English and British English use the definite article differently?

I decided to make sure that I know this important difference between American and British English, so I wrote what I have found out so far and I would be grateful to anyone who reads this and tells me whether I am wrong, or not. In British English when people say to hospital or in hospital when...

american-english british-english articles

tchrist

Did you forget "in future"?

Færd

@Mitch This message of yours responds directly to this message of tchrist's. I thought you meant that to be away to/at college is used differently in AmE and BrE. Apparently you didn't mean that.

@tchrist In future and in the future are not one of those pairs, are they?

tchrist

American do not say in future to mean in the future.

Færd

12:48 PM

Do the British?

tchrist

They do.

Færd

I thought it meant from now on in BrE.

tchrist

Same thing.

Færd

Hmm.

tchrist

1:01 PM

@Færd Thought it pains me to risk disseminating what I consider an execrable usage, you should probably be made aware that the trendy and superlatively annoying formulation to express what we’ve always used from now on or in the future for in normal English has in North American Corporate™ BizSpeak® been rebranded as going forward.

Færd

@tchrist :) Thanks.

Tonepoet

@tchrist Are you supposing there's only one way to ever interpret that sentence regardless of context? Please tell me how that works, so I can apply that science to other words!

tchrist

@Tonepoet Prithee tell us now, would you ever have occasion to say a kindergarten teacher were in school instead of at school?

I’m not even sure about at school. I think I’d like to chew that cud a bit more.

Mitch

@Færd Apparently? I don't understand your direction or your understanding of this back and forth (I think I know my own but of course one can an be deluded or lack memory). I have never been speaking of British English at all (since I don't know the subtleties). I have heard that they say things like 'in hospital' and that's all I can report about BrE.

@tchrist "My kindergarten teacher was at school to learn education principles before she became a teacher. This morning she showed up at school to teach." No difference for me.

tchrist

@Mitch You're an old dixiyank transplant, right?

Mitch

1:14 PM

@tchrist I'd say they don't mean exactly the same thing but the explicit results are the same (I know! crazy!). e.g. 'in the future' sounds further off than from now on, but if what ws said was 'In the future, don't inter..." "Moo", that response would still be going against the sentiment of 'In the future' as obviously it does 'from now on'.

tchrist

Moo?

Mitch

@tchrist northern dixie? but not long in the northeast.

@tchrist Yeah.

Knock knock

Who's there

Tonepoet

I can't remember much about kindergarten. The children teased me for saying baby blue instead of light blue....

Mitch

Interrupting cow.

Interru..

Moo

@Tonepoet kids are bastards

caub

"my question is how do you deal with ...." do you end with a question mark or just a period?

Mitch

1:16 PM

Yes

caub

hehe, so "?"

Mitch

"My question is what to do with Maria."

Tonepoet

@Mitch Only the ones conceived out of wedlock.

caub

yea that, it's indirect interrogative form I think

Mitch

"My question is 'What do you do with Maria?'"

caub

1:17 PM

I see

thanks Mitch

Mitch

there's better examples

or there're.

tchrist

@Mitch Dixiyank = an ex-pat émigré out of Dixie residing now in New England

@Mitch Put it in a pipe and smoke it?

Mitch

@tchrist nominally so, but I have a lot of denial.

But also I think all the suburbs in the US are the same.

Wait... LA is like a different country, I'll grant you that.

Tonepoet

@tchrist Aren't you hurting your case, since this whole case arose from Hotlicks' allegation that you can't differentiate between valid Dixiyank and Esleese?

Mitch

@tchrist Hunh? I thought Maria was actually an unwed mom. That's why she was in the convent.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

1:20 PM

@Mitch Isn't your question, "How do you solve a problem like Maria?"?

Mitch

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Your question is "Isn't your question, "How do you solve a problem like Maria?"?". My response to your question is to state that "Your question is "Isn't your question, "how do you solve a problem like Maria?"?".". Or is it?

Tonepoet

Maybe you're focusing in on the fact that Mitch is no longer immersed in Dixiyank.

caub

you need to escape nested quotes :p

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Mitch Your response doesn't answer my question about your question

Mitch

Also, 'flibberitgibbet' is a euphemism for 'actress', which we all know from Shakespeare, is a euphemism for 'artist' (if you'll forgive the expression).

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Oh. Yes. Yes is the answer.

I'm still trying to figure out the canonical answer to @caub. It's the obvious quote a question vs non-inversion.

@Tonepoet I'm immersed in something all right.

Tonepoet

1:27 PM

@Mitch Is it tea and crumpets?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Mitch Oh, it was a rhetorical question anyway.

caub

and a rhetorical answer

tchrist

@Mitch City, town, or country? Are you out of Appalachia or are you out of the Heart of Dixie come? Have you any AAVE characteristics? Are you rhotic? Do you have the pin–pen or fill–fee mergers? Do you ɴᴏᴛ have the cot–caught and stock–stalk mergers? What about whether–weather? Does your bide sound strangely like a sheep? Which syllable do you stress in insurance? Do you understand the difference between a licence plate and a tag?

caub

I'm ρtic

@tchrist Yes.

Mitch

@tchrist wait..._both_ ex-pat and émigrê? an ex-pat who intends to remain? Never going back? Tell that to my Anglo-Scots-Irish-Teuton-Scando-Roman-trace Afrokenazi-null polynesian ancestors.

tchrist

1:30 PM

@Tonepoet Clotted cream and scones.

caub

an expat pédigré

Mitch

Speaking of which, they should do a genetic analysis of head lice/rats. That would give a good historical immigration pattern.

tchrist

Expat (library)

In computing, Expat is a stream-oriented XML 1.0 parser library, written in C. As one of the first available open-source XML parsers, Expat has found a place in many open-source projects. Such projects include the Apache HTTP Server, Mozilla, Perl, Python and PHP. It is also bound in many other languages. == Timeline == Software developer James Clark released version 1.0 in 1998 while serving as technical lead on the XML Working Group at the World Wide Web Consortium. Clark released two more versions, 1.1 and 1.2, before turning the project over to a group led by Clark Cooper and Fred Drake in...

caub

I prefer JaSON to Icksemel

well xml is richer (attributes, ..) ok gotta go, thanks guys

tchrist

Mitch

1:34 PM

@Tonepoet Up to my gills in tea and ... well, muffins really.

tchrist

Stop saying those.

All of them.

Mitch

@caub because there was no expectation of a question.

@tchrist ah a questionnaire! I love it. Wait... compiling...

Tonepoet

@Mitch Bran or English?

Mitch

@Tonepoet eww...no. cake muffins. Bran is for old people for regularity. English muffins are good for sandwiches maybe. and weird toast.

tchrist

Nevermore.

Mitch

1:38 PM

@caub XML is well attributed, but it is so... all those repeated tags everywhere! Overkill.

caub

yes, useful in some circumstances, HTML is less handy with other representations

tchrist

305

Q: What is the difference between YAML and JSON? When to prefer one over the other

When should we prefer to use YAML over JSON and vice versa, considering the following things? Performance (encode/decode time) Memory consumption Expression clarity Library availability, ease of use (I prefer C) I was planning to use one of these two in our embedded system to store configure ...

json yaml

Tonepoet

@Mitch Now I want a fairy cake.

caub

~~that infography is a no-brainer~~ no, not the correct use of that silly expression

tchrist

@Tonepoet Berry?

> If readability is a concern, use yaml.

Tonepoet

1:41 PM

@tchrist Fairy-cake.

tchrist

> Many programmers consider the attachment of "meaning" to indentation a poor choice.

caub

JSON.stringify({foo: {bar: [{msg: 'qwak'}, {msg: 'test'}]}}, null, 2) is decent in readability

tchrist

Not so much.

caub

slightly verbose, indeed

at least yaml allows comments, that's a +. !in my opinion, they serve different purposes

tchrist

Many people like its &symbolic_group and *symbolic_group abilities.

caub

1:46 PM

nodeca.github.io/js-yaml fun, ok sorry to be off-topic

tchrist

Drat, I’m still 6‰ down. :)

Mitch

City, town, or country? Suburbs.

Are you out of Appalachia or are you out of the Heart of Dixie come? There are more philosophies blah blah. I'm from a big city in tidewater/piedmont. But neither Appalachia (West VA, W NC/SC, E Ken/E Tenn, N Ala) or Heart (Miss/Ala/Geo)

Have you any AAVE characteristics? like copula-drop, th-fronting, um.. mostly not for me (as far as I can tell)

Are you rhotic? Totally. But it is my general impression that most southerners are rhotic.

Do you have the pin–pen or fill–fee mergers? pin-pen maybe, not fill-feel (I've never heard of that as a thing)

Tonepoet

@tchrist Also now that you bring that subject up again, I suppose I would've preferred if you said "Why do you think Barrie's a fruit?" since that would've drawn direct attention to the fact that I made a mistake, instead of making me guess if there was any sort of special idiomatic meaning to the statement.

Mitch

@caub Everything is on-topic

Except meta-topics. That is forbidden

Tonepoet

@Mitch No no, since this is the English Language & Usage chatroom, the English Language is off topic. That's how internet chatrooms work, right?

Mitch

1:57 PM

@Tonepoet That's a meta-topic. Such discussion is strictly out of scope. flagged

You'll note, by saying that, that I am only meta-meta-commenting which is entirely on-topic.

tchrist

2:18 PM

@Mitch Juicy, yay!

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body: Don't mind usage - Is it positive or negative? by vsn harish rayasam on english.stackexchange.com

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Mitch Ooh, I want to play

copula drop, th-fronting, no. rhotic, yes. pin-pen, fill-feel? no. caught-cot, stalk-stock yes. whether = weather to the extent that I sometimes spell them wrong. bide is like bride with no r. in-SURE-ance. "tags" I've heard as license plates on cop shows from the US.

Rubisco

Is this a more localized version of "25, retired, no family, likes potato"?

tchrist

25, jubilado, sin familia, le gusta la patata

user227867

2:49 PM

I just received my copy of the New Oxford American Dictionary today. It is HUGE.

user227867

Now I must carry it under my arm whenever I go out to show off to the crowd.

user227867

For those interested, when you remove the dust jacket, you see a black hard cover. There are no words printed on the front and back of the hard cover, but there are some words in gold on the spine.

Rubisco

Whose spine?

Oh, Oxford dictionary.

user227867

So, if you remove the dust jacket and put it on the shelf, you still can identify the tome.

Rubisco

3:07 PM

Let's enjoy this sentence for the next hour or so.

You should add more information, to avoid your question will be vote down or close. — Do Nhu Vy 6 mins ago

Mitch

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 wait; "cot-caught yes"- you do merge them?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Mitch yes

Mitch

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 How about something you do with string when you tie it vs how british people say 'zero'

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Mitch I don't use that word, but most people I've heard use it say it like "not"

Mitch

Oh my dog. It's like that Star Trek episode where the two guys have white on one side of their face and balck on the other. But it's on different sides!

how about a little kid vs what your teacher did today?

Oh, for you a 'tag' is what's on the back of your car to identify it?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

3:13 PM

merged, but nobody uses the word "tot"

Mitch

Me neither but I'm scrounging for examples to compare

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

no, for me it's a license plate, but I recognize "Tag" in the context of cops talking about running tags, etc

Matt E. Эллен

tot, as in tot up?

Mitch

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Oh. Hm. I guess I've heard them say "let's run the tags through the system', but that sounds like technical talk, and would expect them to say 'plates'

@MattE.Эллен Sure, thanks!

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I mean, cot-caught, tot-taught, not-naught: nobody I know of uses cot, tot, or naught

Mitch

3:16 PM

same here. except 'cot', which I don't have, you always say "oh no problem I can sleep on the couch if you don't have a cot' and you end up doing that anyway because no one nowadays has a cot.

Matt E. Эллен

we use "cot" to mean where you keep a baby at night

I believe Americans call it a crib

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

yeah I guess my family used to own a pair of cots that we'd use for guests and stuff. But since these days we have air mattresses and sofa-beds and also never have overnight guests.... the word "cot" is rarely used.

Matt E. Эллен

"It's all for naught" seems like a phrase from the north of England

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@MattE.Эллен Canadians too.

Matt E. Эллен

ah!

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

3:18 PM

a cot, to me, is a foldable, portable bed thingy that's used to ensure guests don't stay too long

Matt E. Эллен

:D

Mitch

@MattE.Эллен yes. for AmE a cot is a very rickety frame with the thinnest of mattress on top big enough barely for one adult.

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 yes. agreed here.

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 yes. not comfortable. but I've found sofa beds usually much worse, with some errant piece of metal poking you in the back.

Matt E. Эллен

Why don't the NSA do something useful and make a real time map of where obscure phrases are still being used?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

so really it's unfair of linguists to define these mergers in terms of words nobody uses compared to words we frequently use.

Mitch

@MattE.Эллен You don't know that they haven't.

But people move around a lot.

Matt E. Эллен

3:20 PM

@Mitch then they should make it public if they have

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Mitch the NSA knows where you're moving and is listening there too

Matt E. Эллен

@Mitch still there would be mostly stability

Mitch

@MattE.Эллен Then people will game it, and their Prof Higginses will mismatch the street they live on, innit.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Do you have the dragon-flagon merger? The vessel-pestle merger? The SQL-sequel merger?

Matt E. Эллен

@Mitch that's fine. all language use is valid!

Mitch

3:22 PM

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 They've heard all the things I'm going to say?. Nice chooses envelope with $1M rather than $1K

Matt E. Эллен

dragon-hadron merger

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@MattE.Эллен nobody merges that!

Matt E. Эллен

because it might cause a black hole?

Mitch

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Oh yeah they do!

/hædron/ for some people (probably Star Wars likers)

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@MattE.Эллен I think we need to experiment. Let's build a Large Dragon Collider

3

Matt E. Эллен

3:24 PM

LOL

Rubisco

Leave-leave merger

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

maybe we can make a dodecahadron

Rubisco

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Sure, I can provide the money

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

or a dodecadragon

Rubisco

First, you need to accurately estimate how much money we need.

Mitch

3:25 PM

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Yes. For all three. Also chalice-palace and true/brew

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I know a guy who has the "attribute(verb)/attribute(noun)" merger.

Mitch

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 accent for both on the 1st or 2nd syllable?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Mitch I have the SQL/sequel merger only sometimes, other times it's the SQL/ess-cue-ell merger.

@Mitch 2nd

Mitch

attribute as a noun is too long anyway. should be avoided. but 'tag' is so ... overwritten

also overridden

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

well, in the context of, say, HTML or XML, tags have attributes. or a TRIB utes, according to my former-coworker-turned-food-blogger-and-skydiver

Matt E. Эллен

3:29 PM

better than a skyblogging food-diver

probably

Mitch

@MattE.Эллен starts experimental process

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 oh. yes.

user227867

I had a shower.

Matt E. Эллен

well done

user227867

My shower was medium rare.

user227867

I would like to report that my dictionary has 2016 main pages, which is amazing, since it is now the year 2016.

Matt E. Эллен

3:43 PM

coincidental!

user227867

This is a sign that a miracle is about to happen in my life.

user227867

Perhaps Maria will appear very soon...

user227867

Your Greek lesson is starting soon!

Matt E. Эллен

yes! not long now

user227867

Maybe your class teacher will use the book I mentioned. =P

user227867

3:50 PM

I learnt that the Greek pronunciation of the Greek alphabet is different from the English pronunciation.

user227867

We never pronounce borrowed words the same way anyway.

user227867

For example, English spaghetti is not the same as Italian spaghetti, pronunciation wise.

Rubisco

@WillHunting This is true for all two languages.

user227867

@Lawrence I wanted to share with you that now I think the New Oxford Annotated Bible is the best bible for reading and study notes.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@WillHunting Heck, speakers of a language don't all pronounce the same words the same way anyway

user227867

3:53 PM

@Rubisco Pairs, not two pairs.

Rubisco

It seems that some kinda "flows easier in my mind" concept shapes pronunciation systems.

@WillHunting Typo.

user227867

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Yes. For example, some pronounce Mr Shiny as Mrs Hiny.

Rubisco

Not uncommon when I'm chatting in different rooms

user227867

@Rubisco Are you DEAD?

Rubisco

@WillHunting Yep. And TIPS. And INA. And MAR. And PhMgBr. And a bunch of other names

user227867

3:56 PM

@Rubisco Can you share what RUBISCO stands for now?

Rubisco

@WillHunting RuBisCO is an enzyme in plant cells and everything that photosynthesizes. It's part of the Calvin cycle IIRC, and it's the most abundant enzyme on the planet.

user227867

@Rubisco I tried to memorise the entirety of the Krebs cycle but failed. The chemicals were too big.

Rubisco

@WillHunting You shouldn't. No one does.

user227867

However, I once could remember the structure of all the amino acids and monosaccharides.

Rubisco

The ones that do, do because they've worked with it a lot.

user227867

3:59 PM

I also tried to draw both the alpha helix and the beta pleat.

user227867

Biochemistry was one of my favourite subjects. I studied it myself for fun.

Rubisco

Well, I guess studying biochemistry is sweet for these things.

Students carving their way towards being real scientists I mean, not merely a bunch of macromolecules

user227867

They say chemistry is the science that links different sciences together.

Rubisco

I can't think of it that way.

user227867

I read that on Wikipedia.

Rubisco

4:02 PM

Different sciences stop being different sciences when they get close to each other.

user227867

I like it that physics is applied mathematics, chemistry is applied physics, biology is applied chemistry, psychology is applied biology and sociology is applied psychology.

user227867

However, I really like only mathematics and women.

Rubisco

I never really bought that one either.

I just think everything is applied math.

After that, nothing makes sense to be an applied of something else.

user227867

It is now midnight here in Antarctica...

user227867

October has begun, time for Oktoberfest!

user227867

4:05 PM

Let's party all night long! Whee!

tchrist

This is a programming question:

0

Q: Is there a word to describe period types?

For example, what would be a generic term to categorize these words: daily, monthly, yearly, bimonthly, quarterly etc. The word should mean "type of period between reoccurring events". One type is "daily", the other type is "monthly", etc. To summarize: I need a word that these examples are inst...

single-word-requests

Rubisco

@WillHunting I'm mildly jealous

Mitch

4:23 PM

@WillHunting Oktoberfest is in September

Pretty obvious

Helmar

4:36 PM

@WillHunting It's nearly over

Stretches to Monday due to holiday though :)

Helmar

5:02 PM

Guys, is a prolific donor someone who is just rich or someone who donates a lot?

nytimes.com/2016/05/22/us/politics/trump-money-gop.html

Section "Mike Fernandez"

Matt E. Эллен

someone who donates a lot

Helmar

All the dictionaries list prolific more in connection with stuff that's actually created.

But Collins has one definition that reads just "rich or fruitful"

collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/prolific

tchrist

@MattE.Эллен You only have so many kidneys.

Matt E. Эллен

I don't donate my own

tchrist

Less messy that way.

Helmar

5:05 PM

@MattE.Эллен Not sure it's called donating then :D

Matt E. Эллен

@Helmar Well, let's say I owned them, but I never used them

tchrist

Odd how restaurants can never make up for too much time spent at donaraunts.

caub

5:25 PM

quick quizz: plural of radius? (without searching)

Rubisco

radii.

But I prefer radiusssesesess

caub

good

Rubisco

No, radii

I SAID RADII

caub

radish

Tonepoet

@Helmar Yes. Fruitful has a metaphoric meaning of productiveness.

caub

5:27 PM

loves fruits, but isn't productive

Tonepoet

@caub Perhaps if you're not productive, you can still love fruit, but not be full of it. After-all, how do you get it otherwise?

Helmar

@Tonepoet the fruitful part I got, the rich part was what threw me off

It fit the donor too much

And donations didn't fit the pattern of other prolific people as well as I thought.

Tonepoet

@Helmar Rich as in copious.

caub

nah, I was kidding, the vitamins has the best effect possible, it's just me being too distracted

Helmar

@Tonepoet Yeah :)

caub

5:31 PM

copious as in Gargantuesque

Rubisco

@caub That is the desired effect of the vitamins

@caub This is a side-effect

Helmar

@Tonepoet donating just didn't fit my mental pattern of productiveness well enough

caub

is there a (etymological) link between triangle and strangle?

Helmar

etymonline of strangle doesn't look that way

caub

nah, it's more strangulare, string vs tri-angulus, ok ^

Tonepoet

5:36 PM

The point is you donate plenty and/or often.

Færd

@caub triangle = tri + angle

Helmar

Honestly, sometimes when I read about the US election I feel like the NSA has finally got complete control over the internet and just pranks the rest of the world.

Tonepoet

Arguably you produce the donations by giving as well.

Though I see the word used less often with donations, and more often with writing. I suppose the reasons for that bias might be made evident by my presence here. =P

Helmar

@Tonepoet yeah, still don't feel that donation being productive thing, but hey

actually ran the ngram almost immediately when I read it. There is no hit for a prolific donor

Tonepoet

@Helmar Check the Contemporary Corpus of American English.

Helmar

5:40 PM

Nothing either

Tonepoet

How strange.

Helmar

Even with minimum frequency 1

:D

Tonepoet

Something seems wrong. Check Google Books.

Helmar

Gotta add those quotation marks, but there are still hits

But a lot of them are metaphoric

Tonepoet

Ugh, barf "philanthropist"...

Helmar

5:44 PM

"The Fiat Tipo was the most prolific donor, though further components were drawn from the 155 saloon car,"

Or at least not about money

But you're right, there are also many with actual money involved

Tonepoet

Donations don't have to be money, although they usually are.

Helmar

Yeah, I know we had Matt's kidneys already :D

Matt E. Эллен

:D

Helmar

His unused kidneys, that he just happens to own prior to donation. :)

Helmar

6:42 PM

We got 15 up votes on this burnination request.

15

Q: Should the 'language' tag be deleted?

The language seems like the ultimate cop-out tag. It has five questions with an accumulated score of -8, I expect it to sink further today with the question that made me stumble upon it. There is no description or usage guide and of the five questions three are closed and today's most likely wil...

discussion support tags burninate-request

Next steps?

@Mods?

Mitch

@Helmar are any needed? Reg got rid of them all.

@MattE.Эллен you borrowed them? Keeping them for a friend?

Helmar

@Mitch Actual burnination deletes the tag. It won't come up with auto-complete

Although I just saw it doesn't. Maybe it is already burninated.

Mitch

Oh. Who can do that?

Matt E. Эллен

@Mitch Yes... Well, they are on permanent loan. Not so much friends as rich acquaintances.

@Mitch Community Managers

Helmar

Maybe it doesn't show up because it only suggests 6 and there are 6 containing language with tagged questions.

Færd

6:57 PM

@Rubisco I could substantiate, but don't feel too comfortable about doing it here.

Rubisco

@Færd K

Færd

7:21 PM

A father is helping his child to get on a horse and is repeatedly saying to him "Easy!". What does that mean? Be careful? Slowly?

Rubisco

@Færd Something like, be careful, slowly.

Matt E. Эллен

don't be hasty

Rubisco

Mhm

Færd

Where does easy come from then?

Rubisco

don't be tasty

Matt E. Эллен

7:24 PM

@Færd something along the lines of dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/go-easy

Færd

I couldn't find the exact meaning in dictionaries too.

Thanks.

Matt E. Эллен

@Færd also "easy does it" from here: en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/easy

Færd

@MattE.Эллен That does it I guess.

Matt E. Эллен

OED:

> b. colloq. As word of command. easy!: (move) gently! Also easy ahead!: (steam) at a moderate speed!; easy on: steady on! go easy! In Boating, easy all!: stop (rowing)! Hence as n. A short rest.

Færd

Now you've gone the full distance. Thanks again.

Matt E. Эллен

7:31 PM

no probs :D

tchrist

7:53 PM

> You walk out in the white cap and you rant for an hour about stuff that means nothing and the fans scream and wave their signs and you wish you could level with them for once and say one true thing: I love you to death and when this is over I will have nothing that I want.

That's an English Major for you. It always gives me pause to see manifest examples of how little good writing caters to the fake rules your composition teacher expected you to follow slavishly. I do know why they insist on it, but I wish the people they taught did as well.

Mitch

10:12 PM

@tchrist all those rules are for beginners because without those rules, their texts are horrendous. The rules help bring them up to legible. The rules aren't for people with talent.

user227867

11:38 PM

@Mitch I have no talent, but I don't need to follow rules. I am the Emperor of Antarctica.

Lawrence

11:59 PM

@WillHunting I haven't used that version, but if you get one, let me know how you go with it. With Bibles, I prefer to consider the text separately from commentary. Keeping them separate also furthers your goal of reading something faithful to the original. If you aren't familiar with Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic (the languages originally used in the Bible), but are familiar with other languages, reading the same passage in multiple languages can be an interesting exploration of semantic range.

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…