English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Matt Эллен

3:00 PM

or to be more succint: you're dying of dehydration

badass

Indeed, but much less colloquial :-)

tchrist

3:14 PM

I starved to death.

I thirsted to death.

Matt Эллен

I survived to death

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I died to death

Matt Эллен

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 It's a tough way to go

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

The worst

Matt Эллен

0

Q: What is the origin of "acorn"?

I am from the dutch-speaking part of Belgium, and this popped into my head today. Is the word acorn (the nut of an oak tree) in any way related to the dutch word for squirrel, "eekhoorn", the animal that collects acorns for food. Looking at "eekhoorn", one will have a hard time to find any logi...

etymology

@Cerberus can you help one of your neighbours out?

Fati93

3:20 PM

Hi everybody!

tchrist

@Cerberus That's a very normal thing in a dry climate, a high climate, or a high and dry climate. We get 30-degree swings or more almost every day. 40 is hardly uncommon, like from 100 by day to 60 by night. But right now into our 2nd day of Chinooks blowing at 75 mph.

Fati93

I have a question about meaning

tchrist

@Cerberus In thin dry air, there is nothing to hold the heat in once the sun sets.

Matt Эллен

Hi Fati93

Fati93

But as a boy, Sanders(the author) was also exposed to soldiers on military bases, and he came to view soldiering as the only available alternative to a life of toil.

tchrist

3:23 PM

@Cerb This is a typical, even archetypical, desert- and/or mountain-ecozone hemerine thermal fluctuation.

But the Chinooks may be exacerbating it.

Fati93

I can't realize the meaning of that sentence

Matt Эллен

@Fati93 what do you think it means?

Fati93

I think second part means he chose soldiering as way of life

Noah

Hi

Fati93

but the first part I don't know

Matt Эллен

3:25 PM

@Fati93 that might be what happened, but what it means is that Sanders saw that life had two ways of being lived: toil and soldiering.

Noah

If I have a database that will have over 40 million rows, what do you think is an ideal system to have the database on? Oracle with a good set of hardware package or MySQL or Postgres with many machines.

Matt Эллен

@Fati93 as a boy Sanders saw (and probably interacted with) soldiers on military bases

Fati93

so?

Matt Эллен

so put them together

Fati93

sorry can you explain more?

Matt Эллен

3:28 PM

what don't you get?

I can focus on what you don't understand, but I don't knwo what that is

Fati93

the meaning of exposed?

Matt Эллен

meaning of exposed

Fati93

yes please

Matt Эллен

> (expose someone to) introduce someone to (a subject or area of knowledge)

@Fati93 it's a link to a dictionary

Fati93

I hve many dictionaries but I can't choose the best meaning

Matt Эллен

3:31 PM

given that the sentence is about Sander's development...

Fati93

so came to view means to saw that?

Matt Эллен

almost. it means that he believed that

Fati93

ok.military bases means military services?

I have to explain this sentence to my friends And I have to realize it completely that's why I ask many questions

Matt Эллен

@Fati93 a military base is a place where the military have personel and equipment

Mitch

@Cerberus haha. Yes.

@tchrist I'm finding that the NARQ's are the one's nowadays that are actually interesting. Still stupid, but, still, interesting.

Fati93

3:39 PM

so the whole meaning: Sanders was introduced to military as a soldier and he believed that life had two ways of being lived :toil and soldiering right?

Matt Эллен

no

Fati93

why not

Matt Эллен

he was introduced to soldiers as a boy

on military bases

he was not a soldier when he was introduced to soldiers

well, not in that sentence

Fati93

ow! he introduced as a boy and then became soldier?

Matt Эллен

maybe. I've not read this thing you're reading.

the sentence doesn't say he became a soldier

Fati93

3:43 PM

Let me give you the whole sentence

But as a boy, Sanders(the author) was also exposed to soldiers on military bases, and he came to view soldiering as the only available alternative to a life of toil_ the warrior, faced not with toil, but with waiting, killing,and death.

Matt Эллен

so, you could conclude that he wanted to be a soldier, because toil isn't a positive thing, but it doesn't say he became one.

Fati93

Why he wanted to become a soldier?because of toil?

Matt Эллен

yes.

Fati93

toil of life?

Matt Эллен

toil of a regular job, I suppose. I imagine that's explained in the sentence before

Fati93

3:50 PM

ok thanks

Matt Эллен

you're welcome

Fati93

Can I ask other questions from you @MattЭллен?

Matt Эллен

sometimes.

Fati93

ow! can I ask now? :d

Matt Эллен

OK

Fati93

3:53 PM

the meaning of this phrase

went to run errands at school,at library

Matt Эллен

errands are small jobs

"to run an errand" is to do a small job

like delivering a letter or restocking your pantry

although maybe resocking your pantry is a big job

depends on how depleted it is

but you get the idea?

Fati93

yes yes thanks

Matt Эллен

cool

Fati93

no doubt , had I looked harder at women's job

Matt Эллен

??

Fati93

3:57 PM

the meaning please

Matt Эллен

I don't understand what you mean by what you said

Fati93

I want the meaning of this sentence:
no doubt , had I looked harder at women's job

Matt Эллен

It doesn't make much sense without more context

Fati93

ok

Matt Эллен

I think that should be "women's jobs". The singular doesn't seem right. But maybe it is in context

Fati93

4:00 PM

ok yes jobs or lives

both in the context

Matt Эллен

"looked harder" means "looked with more concentration"

similar to paying more attention

Fati93

ok

Where are you from @MattЭллен?

Matt Эллен

UK

Fati93

London?

Matt Эллен

Sorry, Fati93. I'm not really comfortable about answering personal questions

Fati93

4:08 PM

oh I'm sorry

Matt Эллен

no trouble :)

Fati93

Because You are very well in English and I asked that

Matt Эллен

thanks! It's my native language

RegDwigнt

So I just began reading the very first page of A Game Of Thrones, Book One. The first ten lines already have three names dropped. What is this, some crazy Solzhenitsyn shit? Who's supposed to keep up?

Still better than this, I guess, though not by much:

0

A: French speaker here- How to pronounce " r " and " l "?

what program it speack eglish by freanch i will girl 10 thousand who really ans me

Matt Эллен

rofl

Fati93

4:16 PM

Hi @RegDwigнt

RegDwigнt

Hello Fati93.

Fati93

Thank you @MattЭллен bye

Matt Эллен

You're welcome. Bye!

@RegDwigнt that's over 9000

RegDwigнt

Easily so. But over 9000 whats?

Matt Эллен

and what does it mean "to girl"?

RegDwigнt

4:21 PM

There are so many good answers, I can't pick one.

Matt Эллен

I will girl 10,000

RegDwigнt

You'll be a woman soon.

Matt Эллен

And soon, you'll be a man my son

RegDwigнt

In the house that Jane destroyed.

Matt Эллен

is this after she found jack and jill up a hill?

RegDwigнt

4:25 PM

No, down the Benny Hill.

Matt Эллен

The Beverly Hill Benny

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@RegDwigнt There are hundreds of named characters.

Matt Эллен

and they all die

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

lol

'struth

Matt Эллен

p.s. I've not read it or watched it ;)

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

4:27 PM

!!

KitSox

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 That didn't make much sense. Use the help command to learn more.

RegDwigнt

Harhar.

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 so yes, as I was saying. Solzhenitsyn.

Matt Эллен

I'm torn between starting Breaking Bad and not starting Breaking Bad

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@RegDwigнt I don't know who/what that is, so I can't say.

@MattЭллен I liked it. It has a satisfying conclusion, so you won't feel ripped off at the end.

And it's not too long.

Matt Эллен

OK. That's good

RegDwigнt

4:29 PM

Tamara Ivanovna told Vassiliy Timofeevitch that Irina Lvovna wanted to slay the dragon once the winter cometh, alas only Aleksandr Petrovich came instead, and in fact no dragons at all were seen in the first twenty books, except by Raisa Yefimovna, but that's only because she's crazy, almost like Konstantin Dmitriyevitch.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

But Game of Thrones: yeah. LOTS of characters. And the author doesn't just name every minor dude who has a speaking line or who is thought about by some other character with a POV. He also re-uses them and makes constant reference to minor families, etc.

RegDwigнt

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 UGH.

They no teach you in Canada. A bummer.

The Gulag Archipelago

The Gulag Archipelago () is a book by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn about the Soviet forced labour camp system. The three-volume book is a narrative relying on eyewitness testimony and primary research material, as well as the author's own experiences as a prisoner in a gulag labor camp. Written between 1958 and 1968 (dates given at the end of the book), it was published in the West in 1973, thereafter circulating in samizdat (underground publication) form in the Soviet Union until its official publication in 1989. GULag or Gulág is an acronym for the Russian term Glavnoye Upravleniye ispravitel...

There are like OVER 9000 freedom prizes alone named after that guy.

Not sure why, but the point is the name is ubiquitous.

So anyway. The Gulag Archipelago is basically a phone book.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I didn't find it too hard reading A Song of Ice and Fire. Most of the minor characters you don't really need to pay attention to, but it is rewarding if you can keep track of the meticulous detail and piece together the back-story that isn't fully revealed. However, by the 4th book the author starts spending too much time on detail and not enough time advancing the plot.... but the first three books were great.

I enjoyed the 4th and 5th books (the series is unfinished) but then again I also enjoyed the Silmarillion.

RegDwigнt

@MattЭллен you should start. You'll be done with it faster than you think. You will also like it. A lot.

Commute!

Cerberus

5:45 PM

@RegDwigнt Do you like the book so far?

I like the series at first, but at some point you realise there is no overarching or deeper layer, just a lot of repetition and unending plot lines. No plot or sub-plot ever ends, except perhaps when he kills all the people in it.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

6:15 PM

@Cerberus What do you mean, no overarching layer? What about the battle in the north?

That's a battle that threatens all of Westeros

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 I rather mean something deeper than that.

It's just either an abstract notion or lots of fighting, not something to really contemplate and analyse.

Mitch

6:56 PM

@RegDwigнt The Gulag Archipelago is a tropical resort.

No one has responded to:

0

Q: Can I ask questions related to wordplay?

If yes, then which tag should I be using? For example: Q: Wordplay on WebDAV - DAV - caDAVer There is this software tool called cadaver that is used to connect to Web DAV repositories over the Web. Below the author of the tool explains how he came up with the name.. Now was the work cadave...

support

It is my my opinion about the nature of the universe that it would be a better place if the meta-question remained unanswered and uncommented. No malice intended, just having no response would be hilariously maddening.

On the other hand, this:

0

Q: When writing about Mongolian felt tent houses in English should the word "ger" or "yurt" be used?

I'm travelling in Mongolia at the moment and being a language buff I've been wondering whether if I were writing about my experiences here whether I ought to use the term yurt or ger when mentioning the traditional round felt tent houses used by nomads and elsewhere. Mongolian гэр used as a res...

word-choice vocabulary loan-words

...has a lot of discussion underneath it.

Matt Эллен

@Mitch I almost responded, then I stopped wanting to

Mitch

@MattЭллен exactly!

Cerberus

You guys are nasty...

Yay!

Matt Эллен

not out of nastiness. I became indecisive

I started out: clearly this question is only answerable by asking the source

and then I noticed the only reason that cadaver is used is because it has the letters DAV in it. and that's what it says in the FAQ

so I didn't even understand why he's asking

I don't want to ban pun questions but his is clearly explained

Mitch

@MattЭллен No, I think I am nasty.

Matt Эллен

7:09 PM

he seems like a nice enough person and I'm just likely to say "Y U ask? FAQ says ansr."

tchrist

8:12 PM

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 In the books, yes. In the shows, not so much.

Stack Exchange

8:50 PM

Limerick Machine: Chunder on the high seas

posted on December 03, 2013 by sgdi

There once was a man on a ferry Who didn’t feel happy or merry He was up all the night not a moment’s respite Seasickness afflicting his belly

Einsteins Grandson

anybody here?

how can i say other way

business branch

business sector

business area

business segement

business industry

Cerberus

Context?

Why not just say "business" or "industry" or "sector" or "field" or whatever?

Einsteins Grandson

On the contrary there is another one which has probably the best product in the but its sales and marketing is its greatest weakness.

the best product in ...?

RegDwigнt

9:08 PM

Wait, when did the MultiCollider invade the actual page real estate?

Cerberus

@EinsteinsGrandson In the industry could work, or in the market.

Matt Эллен

@RegDwigнt well, it's the first time I've seen it

Tim Timmy

Unfortunately there isn’t anyone in the Geography chat room, so my simple question to you is:
Research suggests that whatever the age of a women is, her fear of being mugged remains the same. Any suggestions to why this is so? Thanks

Cerberus

Well, why should be otherwise?

Matt Эллен

@TimTimmy why not ask in the Cognitive Sciences chat room?

not that you're not welcome, but, you know, areas of expertise and all

@TimTimmy what research? how does it suggest this?

Tim Timmy

9:25 PM

@MattЭллен @Cerberus Thanks, I'll just ask there.

Einsteins Grandson

9:35 PM

ok, thanks Cerberus