English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room - 2012-11-15 (page 5 of 5)

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7:04 PM

"...damit durchkommen": does that mean "to get away with it"? I think it does, although I may have misheard.

The Dutch expression is closer to English, "ermee wegkomen" ( =~ "damit wegkommen" = "to come away with it").

> this causes a single download of an MP3 to use significantly more bandwidth than in iOS 5. In one case, the playback of a single 30MB episode caused the transfer of over 100MB of data," reads the blog post.

> The report comes just over a month after Verizon said it wouldn't charge iPhone 5 users for erroneous data usage that seemed to be triggered by a problem staying connected to Wi-Fi. That bug was reportedly fixed by a carrier settings update, but it sounds as if there were multiple issues contributing to higher-than-normal data usage. If PRX's discovery is correct, the bug likely affected numerous other audio apps—and possibly video apps as well.

> I know my own cellular data use has gone up significantly since upgrading to an iPhone 5 with iOS 6 (now iOS 6.0.1), even though my behavior patterns have stayed the same—I went from consuming about 250MB per month to 1.6GB per month with no obvious changes to how I use my phone.

Aaaand another Apple débâcle.

arstechnica.com/apple/2012/11/…

7:21 PM

@Cerberus I hit pause after two minutes, but so far I understood every single word. It's Standard German with an Austrian accent I would call rather slight. Clearly he can't hide it, nor is he trying to, but it's not the usual caricature version, just a vowel here and a vowel there that gives away his heritage.

@Cerberus yes.

@RegDwighт Yeah exactly, and the occasional -unk.

I am surprised again and again how much easier German is to listen to than French, even though they are equally readable for me.

@RegDwighт Noted.

@Cerberus people still listen to podcasts? That is so 2010.

I barely know what podcasts are, except just audio streams?

Yeah.

A silly word.

7:23 PM

Just a fancy name for "audio file".

Hehe.

Just as I thought.

It's just an MP3.

That's what happens when people do not resist advertising and business speak at all.

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Take heed.

Except that it's usually a series of MP3s that get published over a longer period of time. Much like a magazine or blog. And you can subsribe to it using technical solutions, much like with RSS.

But the audio file itself is just an audio file.

i listen to podcasts all the time

evidently i am stuck in the distant past

7:25 PM

So you end up with a folder full of MP3s. Nothing to see there.

Hehe.

They are not automatically deleted?

@JSBձոգչ last decade, my friend. That's before iPad. Before iPhone. Bush was still in power.

@Cerberus Mine are not.

That's dumb.

I downloaded like twenty MP3s of a learn-Chinese-in-three-hours podcast.

I thought the -pod came from Ipod?

7:27 PM

Yeah and the chicken came from egg.

It is uncertain?

I have no idea. It was ages ago.

I do not remember.

the advantage of a podcast for me is that they're automatically synced to my listenng device, and then deleted once i've listened to them

@JSBձոգչ What? I can't hear you through the veil of time.

evidently Reg's advanced devices can't handle this unforeseen scenario

7:28 PM

@JSBձոգչ the future does not care about space. We do not delete our Gmail, pix, or podcasts.

Okay, so the main advantage is that the files are saved to memory automatically and periodically?

Yup.

Like a newsletter.

It also costs you a shitton of money automatically and periodically. See exhibit A above.

But with actual new stuff in it.

@RegDwighт Huh?

I see no A.

7:29 PM

13 mins ago, by Cerberus

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/11/ios-6-audio-framework-bug-may-be-to-blame-for-data-overages/

Oh, that.

The very first letter is an A.

Yes.

QED.

BRB

If it isn't our hairy pastry again!

If I may call you that.

Surely bread counts as such?

7:31 PM

0

A: Popular alternatives to "thank you"

You could say GRAZIE, it's Italian :)

Is that Italian??

Wow.

ELU is a trove of unique knowledge.

And trouvailles.

cornbread ninja

@JSBձոգչ @_@

3

Q: Is this specific usage --"five-yearly" -- of an adverb of manner acceptable British English?

Today's BBC News web page has this headline: "New era of five-yearly doctor checks starts" There's a word that means five-yearly: quinquennial. It's probably too long for headline writers and too difficult for most readers, so I understand why it wasn't used, but shouldn't this have been...

adjectives adverbs headline-english

Oh. Hm. On the main site it looks differently.

user image

Note the dashes.

@cornbreadninja it's great, innit?

cornbread ninja

@JSBձոգչ my god, it's full of tips.

7:36 PM

make sure you actually listen to the backwards CLOUDS.MID file

cornbread ninja

will do!

0

A: "Key to" vs. "key for"

I can see using “key to” when the “to” is part of a verb phrase. “The key to unlock the door is under the mat.” “The key to understanding the problem was remembering PEMDAS.” If a preposition and a linking verb are used, perhaps “for” is a better choice. "To stay healthy, the key for me is wat...

Wow. This is, like, wrong.

In to unlock it's part of the infinitive. Of course you can call the whole thing a verb phrase, but it's kind of misleading. And understanding the problem isn't a verb phrase to begin with.

Commented. And AFK again.

Yeah he is wrong.

Bye!

user19161

@corn You changed into Matt!

7:51 PM

Why would anybody recommend five-yearly checkups. Nobody can keep track of that.

user19161

@MετάEd There are 5 fingers on each hand.

Five-yearly means five times per year. That's every 73 days which doesn't work with the calendar.

Now if they meant every five years they should have said so.

@JSBձոգչ Oh God, I accidentally saw a kissing scene from Dragon Age on Youtube.

user19161

It seems that many of the questions I answered recently are being closed, sad panda.

I could barely watch it. So awkward.

I don't want that.

Does romancing give you any bonus?@JSBձոգչ

7:54 PM

They should have said doctors have five-year renewable certificates.

user19161

@Cerberus Was it a guy and a girl or two guys or two girls?

renewable five-year certificates.

@Cerberus LOL

@WillHunting It was two guys, but it doesn't matter.

user19161

@Cerberus What is Dragon Age?

7:55 PM

A game.

user19161

@Cerberus Is it free to play online?

@JSBձոգչ Yeah, you lol.

@WillHunting Nope.

I paid € 15 for the ultimate edition.

user19161

@Cerberus Hmm, two guys kissing, sounds right for you.

You can get the main game for € 5.

@WillHunting It's not. I don't want to look at people kissing in a game. Especially not fake computer animations.

user19161

@Cerberus I like such animations. Sometimes, they are much better than real people.

7:57 PM

@WillHunting Right. But you aren't likely to use one hand to keep track of your checkups.

...

user19161

@Cerberus So more euros for more kisses!

Also, five-year doctor checks sounds like a recommendation to patients to visit their doctor for checkups.

I haven't seen any kisses in the game yet.

user19161

Do you guys find it is harder to earn rep these days?

cornbread ninja

8:26 PM

@WillHunting it was as uncomfortable as you might imagine.

user19161

Hello @bolt, welcome to this chat!

@WillHunting Hi there :)

Thought of posting a single-word-request but realized I wasn't logged in on EL&U, and I am lazy to log in on the Q&A soooo

cornbread ninja

ooh, my favorite

What's a word I could use for a "missed opportunity"? Alternatively, a word for "what could have been"?

(No idea how to explain the context for this...)

user19161

@BoltClock It's just a few clicks!

8:37 PM

Even so, would it be appropriate to post that ^ (what's a word for phrase A, or alternatively, a word for tangentially-related phrase B?) as a single question or should I post them separately?

user19161

@BoltClock I think they are sufficiently related to post as a single question. And also meaningful enough to post in the first place.

user19161

@cornbreadninja Why did you change into this one?

user19161

@cornbreadninja The type that gives the most rep.

user19161

@BoltClock I know what you feel, I have many missed opportunities in life...

cornbread ninja

8:52 PM

user image

@WillHunting it seemed really funny to me last night.

Thanks for reminding me - I really ought to go to bed soon

It's nearly 5 am here in Singapore

cornbread ninja

@WillHunting I have a silver tag badge for it!

@BoltClock 0_0

user19161

@BoltClock That's where I am too!

@WillHunting Cool :)

user19161

@cornbreadninja Our Matt here is also blond in case you did not know. In fact, they could be the same person.

user19161

8:54 PM

0

Q: Expressions in Tim Minchin's "Cont."

In his song "Cont.", Tim Minchin uses two expressions I cannot find in a dictionary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmTexiEZmL8 Can somebody explain the meanings? "..., who lean on their horn..." (5:34) "talk camply" (6:04)

meaning expressions

user19161

@mr.shiny You will love the above question!!!

3

Q: Is "either you or [third-person]" followed by a singular verb or a plural verb?

Or, put in examples: which of the following is grammatically correct? Either you or your sister is going to have to do the chores. Either you or your sister are going to have to do the chores. The second option comes off as really strange; am I right to say that the first is grammati...

grammatical-number verbs pronouns

> protected by tchrist Oct 5 at 20:02

What happened here?

user19161

@BoltClock Nothing much. You know what protection is?

cornbread ninja

@WillHunting I saw a picture of him!

user19161

@cornbreadninja Haha, everyone has. So this is not news. =)

8:55 PM

@WillHunting Yep I do. Surely there must be a reason for protecting my question though

user19161

@BoltClock Maybe it got many views quickly and also some crap answer that has been deleted?

cornbread ninja

@WillHunting this.

user19161

Hmm, I think I am going to post a question here at the risk of being flamed.

9:12 PM

After looking at the question checklist in the single-word-requests tag wiki english.stackexchange.com/tags/single-word-requests/info I think I'll leave posting the question for later

Goodnight

@WillHunting what do you mean, maybe? You have more than enough reps to see the crap "answer".

user19161

@RegDwighт Well, because I cannot answer for the protector!

Oh that.

user19161

0

Q: "Before long" and "after long"

In the sentence He will be back before long long is used as an adverb. Is He will be back after long grammatical? If not, why is it that changing before to after makes it wrong?

Well, you can.

user19161

9:16 PM

So guys, well I asked this in chat before but I thought it is interesting enough to post.

user19161

Why is "before long" right and "after long" wrong? That is what the above post is.

Long does not work as an adverb there. The entire phrase "before long" works as an adverb.

And the entire phrase is an idiom.

You can't replace before with after for much the same reason you can't take it's raining cats and dogs and replace the cats with cows.

Why am I posting this here? I should be posting on the main site.

user19161

@RegDwighт You may post an answer if you wish, upvote guaranteed.

Haha, cheap tricks.

I just saw an interesting question in the grammar subreddit. Stupid title, dumb OP, but the question itself is actually noteworthy, and something we haven't had yet. reddit.com/r/grammar/comments/139126/…

user19161

Only comments? No answers?

9:23 PM

Well I'm sure Barrie will hurry to the rescue.

user19161

Anyway, the issue is not the part of speech so I edited that out to save myself. But the question remains.

user19161

Hello @brett, welcome to this chat!

I could swear I've heard/used the phrase "after long."

user19161

simchona and tchrist both thought it was incorrect. I have used it all these years myself.

I can't put my finger on a particular phrase with it though.

Seems like past tense.

shrugs

user19161

9:33 PM

5 comments and no answers or votes, sad panda!

It's been 18 minutes or something.

Patience, young padawan.

user19161

Yes, Great Fox!

Speaking of Foxen, I'm back to writing. Later.

9:47 PM

COCA has exactly one cite for after long being used like that.

1995, PRESIDENT CLINTON'S DELAYED RESPONSE TO THE CALVIN KLEIN ADS; GENERAL COLIN POWELL'S POLITICAL VIEWS; REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATIC BATTLE IN CONGRESS; AND THE PRESIDENT'S RE-ELECTION BID.

> LIMBAUGH: I'll tell you what. Somebody points their finger that close to me, that many times does not have that finger after long.

user19161

@RegDwighт Only one! What about before long? One million?

@KitFox so you are channelling Limbaugh.

It also has one cite for after long enough.

1994, Shawshank Redemption, The

> After long enough, you get so you depend on' em.

user19161

There are many variations but I think before long/after long is enough for discussion.

It has 286 cites for after long in total, but the other 284 are all of the form "after long [noun]" or "after long, [adjective] [noun]".

I checked them all.

@WillHunting it has 1813 cites for "before long", but I can't be arsed to check how many of those are relevant.

user19161

@RegDwighт Let's hope my favourite Barrie England comes to post an answer!

user19161

9:54 PM

Or perhaps Captain America as well!

10:09 PM

Starting hour nine of the eternal teleconference.

user19161

So many comments, but only FF has the balls to post an answer! =)))

@RegDwighт The negative-polarity thing reminds me of the impossibility of twice/half as slow/short/etc.

@RegDwighт Fatso doesn’t count.

user19161

11:02 PM

Ah, David Wallace deleted his account!

Huh. Why's that?

user19161

No idea. I thought it is not too sensitive info, so alright to announce here.

Only on ELU.

David Wallace, Lower Hutt, New Zealand

3.4k 1 2 16

java mockito mocking unit-testing sql junit testing

And I'm only in to say good night.

Good night!

user19161

@RegDwighт See you in your dreams.

11:04 PM

Hasta el manano.

@WillHunting You really have to stop threatening people like that.

Does this mean we are all about to lose massive rep from David’s immolation?

user19161

I am going to eat something.

user19161

@tchrist I lost none.

No love lost there, I guess.

Or maybe it is yet to happen.

user19161

11:34 PM

@tchrist I think these things happen quite fast these days.

user19161

Hello @mitch!

@WillHunting Dude!

I am writing on my phone so I can speak in fractured English.

So, topically, when cyclones go over Singapore, is there lots of flooding on the coast?

user19161

I have no idea, I am not in touch with worldly affairs.

user19161

However it doesn't often flood here, maybe once in a year or two, and only in recent times.

user19161

However the wind can overturn umbrellas a few times a year during heavy rains.

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Nov '1215

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