English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room - 2014-06-19 (page 4 of 5)

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5:03 PM

@MattЭллен They all suck. some less than others.

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 facepaw

@Arrowfar It would be odd to use "had" for the future.

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 I see blue green and gray. is that considered colorful?

Here is an interesting quiz; gameswithwords.org/WhichEnglish

@Cerberus I dunno. The matter of backshifting She says she has into She said she had doesn’t seem so odd. The question is what difference might a non-backshifted second part have from a backshifted one.

>
Our top three guesses for your English dialect:
1. Australian
2. Welsh (UK)
3. Singaporean
Our top three guesses for your native (first) language:
1. English
2. Norwegian
3. Swedish

5:14 PM

@Cerberus Where are you from?

Holland.

gameswithwords.org/WhichEnglish/done.php

Matt Эллен

@Mitch glad to see you'll be happy with whomever is elected

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@Mitch it gets better.

No, I only started learning English at 12, at least officially. No, I have never been in England for more than two weeks. No, I have never had an English flatmate. No, I have never lived anywhere but in Holland. (They ask those questions.)

> Our top three guesses for your English dialect:
1. Canadian
2. American (Standard)
3. Australian
Our top three guesses for your native (first) language:
1. English
2. Norwegian
3. Swedish

Hahahaha! It thinks you're Welsh.

5:17 PM

@tchrist OK now that I read it again, it sounds perfectly normal. Introspection sucks!! Especially without context.

I think it sounds wrong.

@KitFox Better than American!

I have to make a confession: my native language is Welsh (non-UK).

And why did they add "standard" to American but not to the other dialects?

They couldn't identify my region, maybe?

No.

It's just one of their (few) options for dialects.

> Among native English speakers of your age and education,
you did as well as or better than:
93%

Bullshit.

Some of those questions kind of sucked.

user116848

@Cerberus Why odd? So "had" is grammatically incorrect if I say it?

5:26 PM

9 mins ago, by Cerberus

@tchrist OK now that I read it again, it sounds perfectly normal. Introspection sucks!! Especially without context.

user image

It's like some sort of cryptogram. I am not creative.

bounces up and down Guess what guess what guess what? I went to Wyoming on vacation and it was super duper amazing!

> Our top three guesses for your English dialect:
1. English (England)
2. Australian
3. Scottish (UK)
Our top three guesses for your native (first) language:
1. English
2. Hungarian
3. Swedish

@aediaλ hugs

Now what have I done wrong? Hungarian??

I loved Devil's Tower.

5:29 PM

@Shog9 By the way, I felt that your personal attack on Jez was unnecessary and out of line. Far more flaggable than what he said in chat.

@KitFox Hiiiii!

HIIIIIIIII!

He didn't handle the flag, just for the record.

I am so glad you had such fun!

Tell me about it.

perches attentively

I saw Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park and went on a float ride down the Snake River. AND played board games every evening!

@Arrowfar Yes.

@Cerberus Are you talking about this:

5:31 PM

@aediaλ Oh WOW! That sounds awesome. I want to do that!

13

A: Do something about puerile chat flagging

suspension is a very harsh thing that should usually be left to a mod It's a half-hour suspension per flagged post. And it takes at least 6 people or a moderator to make that happen, per flagged post. And that's assuming that other high-rep users or moderators don't decline the flags first. ...

I didn't actually see Devil's Tower because we were staying in Jackson Hole just by the bottom of the Tetons and didn't rent a car.

Or is this something else Jez said in chat?

Some of those comments, yes.

"All your contributions suck, just leave the site."

But there was so much available there and with group trips into the parks that we were busy enough without driving anywhere else.

5:32 PM

Did you take lots of pictures and eat good food?

Which is a lie anyway.

@Cerberus Was not a personal attack. But I'll note that if Jez is sensitive about his chat record, then bringing it up on Meta was a really stupid idea.

@Cerberus I missed that comment. :/

@Cerberus Not a lie so much as an opinion.

@Cerberus Opinions aren't lies, eh?

5:33 PM

The group we went with was Icarus Tours' Teton Con icarustours.com/teton.html

Jinx

So many pictures!

Such food!

btw, is this what you were referencing @Kit?

@MattЭллен or some outcomes will make me feel terrible and others just barely beter than terrible.

This? Right now? No, this is happening much later than this morning.

5:34 PM

@aediaλ What did you have?

;-)

@KitFox ha. This topic!

Mountain goat hamburgers?

Matt Эллен

@Mitch how do you feel now?

@Shog9 Your behaviour was unacceptable, just so you know.

5:35 PM

No. Let me find.

But I have no time for a discussion now.

@Cerberus I don't get why you think Shog was out-of-line, but Jez wasn't.

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 haha, visiting Colorado is like being a gay teen (or any teen), so much angst.

Good. Because this room is not the place anyway - I'm relocating these messages. If you're actually being serious, ping me later.

@Mitch Actually we didn't go out to eat that much, but what we did have was fantastic. Some of the best was getting to go to the Snake River brewpub and try a flight of their beers and a sausage sampler, the steak chuckwagon dinner from a place existing inside Grand Teton National park, and bison burger and deviled eggs with bacon at the hotel

5:37 PM

@MattЭллен I feel great now. After the election though... you know it's the chase that's exciting.

← 22 messages moved from EL&U 2014 Election

Matt Эллен

@Mitch yeah. I understand

Ooh, teleportation.

user116848

@tchrist Yes so whats the difference between them?

@MattЭллен You're just saying that to make me feel better.

5:38 PM

Hi @Shog9

Matt Эллен

@Mitch don't you like feeling better?

@Arrowfar I’m not entirely sure.

@Shog9 I wish you'd warn me first. mops up goo

Eww

Just a couple of critters caught in the matrix.

Nothing to worry about.

5:40 PM

I hate the sight of blood.

Oh...uh...

Especially mine

@KitFox There are questions up there I should like to hear the answers to.

Yeah.

@Shog9 You're suggesting I am not being serious??

Your behaviour is unbelievable.

5:41 PM

I think I shall put the kettle on.

Let him respond people.

@Cerberus How?

13 mins ago, by Cerberus

@Shog9 By the way, I felt that your personal attack on Jez was unnecessary and out of line. Far more flaggable than what he said in chat.

@tchrist I think had there is wrong.

But I have to hurry, bye!

5:43 PM

I don't think you can backshift like that, when it is clearly future.

!!youtube happy pharrell Williams

@KitFox Hm

Mood shifter^^

:-)

!!youtube crazy gnarls barkley

5:44 PM

@skullpatrol I'll jump on that wagon.

waits

@Jarvis great song

@tchrist Whatcha waiting for, sweets?

@KitFox Cerb’s elaboration.

5:47 PM

!!youtube sweets for my sweet sugar for my honey

@tchrist Oh, he won't. He likes to drop bombs, but he's too busy for the fallout.

@Cerberus I think you haven't really given this much thought, and are being - if not flippant - at very least naive about the whole thing. In your defense, you're probably too close to it to be able to see the problem.

is so confused, hides under desk for a little while

@KitFox suppresses to the T word

5:48 PM

In any case, I'm in a meeting and you need to leave. My offer's open if you care to discuss it later.

@tchrist (I don't know what that is)

huddles under desk with @aedia

Our top three guesses for your English dialect:

1. American (Standard)
2. US Black Vernacular / Ebonics
3. Canadian

Our top three guesses for your native (first) language:

1. Norwegian
2. English
3. Dutch

@KitFox people who drop bombs

Teaser not a pleaser?

@oerkelens How peculiar.

5:50 PM

So I am possible a black American who was brought up by Norwegian immigrants 8)7

2

Getting an identity crisis here :D

@oerkelens They have to order them somehow. They're not telling you the probability of 1 is 98 and the next two are 1 each.

true

They may have 100 guesses, and these three may have a 1.003, 1.002 and 1.001 probability :P

It still makes me wonder

I can either watch the live stream in a tiny box and hear it, or I can see it full screen without sound.

Especially the Norwegian

Everybody gets Norwegian.

5:59 PM

Our top three guesses for your English dialect:
1. Canadian
2. American (Standard)
3. US Black Vernacular / Ebonics

Our top three guesses for your native (first) language:
1. English
2. Norwegian
3. Swedish

@KitFox Apparently so.

Also it thinks I'm Canadian!

@KitFox That explains it. They have just defined Norwegian as any language they cannot really pinpoint

Norwegians are stealthy.

And they hoped that Norwegian would not insult anyone.

Of course, a Swede might not like it

Swedes like Norwegians

Do you?

Why is that?

6:14 PM

@JohanLarsson Unless you live in the US and are of Swedish or Norwegian decent. The various Scandinavian groups like to stir up rivalries for some reason. (Source: Native Minnesotan.)

there is a more humorous rivalry going on ime

I have Norwegian heritage.

@JohanLarsson Like Canadians and Americans, perhaps?

The Swedish v. Norwegian rivalry is mostly a front for the Minnesota v. Wisconsin rivalry, though.

I don't think either state really knows which heritage really belongs to which state. It's all fairly tongue-in-cheek.

Norwegians also think of Swedes like Americans think of Mexicans. The poor neighbor who comes and do the work they don't want to do.

The cat is kneading on my stomach.

6:18 PM

@KitFox no idea but likely

@JohanLarsson Haha, that's hilarious. I have family that live in Sweden; I'll have to ask them about that the next time I speak with them.

@KitFox That is what cats are known for.

I don''t think that's true.

@MrHen It is due to high unemployment among young in Sweden in combination with oil billions and low unemployment in Norway.

Btw, I took that word game quiz thing. I was sad that they didn't ask questions related to the various American dialectal differences.

@JohanLarsson Mmk, interesting.

For instance, "Can you put up the groceries?" versus "Can you put away the groceries?"

And, being from Minnesota, we pronounce "oo" all weird. (Apparently. It sounds fine to me.)

But they didn't get into pronunciation, I guess.

There was one question where the the answers included "that" or "whom" and my reaction was "the correct answer is who."

6:22 PM

Does anyone know of a good pronunciation quiz?

Oh. There was one. I can't remember now.

Who posted it?

thinks

I can't think, I'm in a meeting right now.

@KitFox "The person ____ checked in last night..."

I think that was the question.

That was it.

You shouldn't ever have whom there.

Well, not every answer was acceptable anyway.

But it should be who, not that.

6:24 PM

But I agree. "Whom" seems completely incorrect.

@KitFox "That" is perfectly fine to my ear.

But yes, "who" is most common.

It's acceptable, but my preference is who, which wasn't an option.

Ngram

@KitFox That one bugged me too!

I was annoyed by that.

But I get annoyed by things.

Wow. Meetings via live feed are even more boring than being there.

Unsolicited commercial spamvert:

-4

A: What is the origin of the phrase "zero, zip, zilch, nada"?

Idk but wanna fuck??? Im gay and single!!!!!!!!

I swear, it’s like we need to Protect anything with >999 views.

I know Robert Cartaino questions how many Protected questions we have, but otherwise it’s contant mop-up.

6:36 PM

Would you rather say "an inverse to A" or "an inverse of A"?

an inverse of A

#2

I like it when we agree.

You know what's more boring than listening to someone mumbling through our SDLC?

Some other one mumbling through our prospective PMO.

Well, the big axe just fell at *(job-1). And of course, the person I talk to the most there lost their head to the guillotine. And there is nothing on the newswire. When a company of hundreds of thousands of employees summarily terminates all contractors and like 15% of employees, you’d think SOMEBODY would notice.

I have no idea what this stuff is, why I should be think—oh.

6:38 PM

ok thanks, like you, I just read someone using #1 and that shocked me a little

@cc Could be a BrE thing.

@Matt could say.

@tchrist Wow.

You want to do some work here?

@KitFox Not into moving.

Remote work?

Sure, maybe.

It's terrifically dysfunctional. You'd love it.

6:39 PM

I really wish the newswire would pick this up.

Send it out yourself.

Maybe people don't much care about Wizards of the Coast.

;-)

My position at WotC was paid only in cards; the one at TSR was actual W2 work.

Interesting.

Matt Эллен

@KitFox I'd use of, I think. but I'm not sure, because I don't think I'd say "X is an inverse of A", It's say the inverse

Our top three guesses for your English dialect:
1. English (England)
2. Scottish (UK)
3. Welsh (UK)
Our top three guesses for your native (first) language:
1. English
2. Norwegian
3. Swedish

Because you would say "shan't".

Matt Эллен

6:43 PM

well, it asked which was more usual

1 hour ago, by tchrist

> Our top three guesses for your English dialect:
1. English (England)
2. Australian
3. Scottish (UK)
Our top three guesses for your native (first) language:
1. English
2. Hungarian
3. Swedish

Matt Эллен

so I didn't tick shan't

it didn't ask which was better ;)

I think the multiple-tick thing got me.

That reminds me, what are some dialectal features of northern British? How can I tell where this guy I know is from?

This appears to be a question about marketing ethics, not English. — Robusto 28 secs ago

6:45 PM

@Robusto You cannot use those two words together like that.

Not even as a deliberate oxymoron?

That’s their only place. The more laconic simply say lies.

Matt Эллен

@KitFox which part of the north?

still in England, or further up?

The part north of London.

@Matt don't you have a game to watch?

6:46 PM

Not Scotland.

Matt Эллен

@KitFox ha! I'll let people tell me about it.

@KitFox hmmm. they tend to say glass so it doesn't rhyme with arse

short a

This guy sounds Scottish to me, but I wouldn't know Scots from Sheffield.

Matt Эллен

the guy who says lunatic is from New Castle

he's got a scarf on his head

Pink Floyd says "lunatic"

Matt Эллен

Ozzy Osbourne is from Birmingham

6:53 PM

Has Oxford produced any "Pink Floyds"?

Matt Эллен

How do you mean?

Radiohead are from Oxford

Orly?

Matt Эллен

Sean Bean is from Sheffield

I'm trying to think of a famous Cumbrian

hmmm

none of them will be on youtube

I got a rock

as a pet?

!!wiki pet rock

6:56 PM

Pet Rock were a 1970s collectible conceived in Los Gatos, California by advertising executive Gary Dahl. Development In April 1975, Dahl was in a bar (which is now Beauregard Vineyards Tasting room in Bonny Doon) listening to his friends complain about their pets. This gave him the idea for the perfect "pet": a rock. A rock would not need to be fed, walked, bathed, groomed and would not die, become sick, or be disobedient. He said they were to be the perfect pets, and joked about it with his friends. However, he eventually took the idea seriously, and drafted an "instruction manual" fo...

Our top three guesses for your native (first) language:?
1. English
2. Norwegian
3. Swedish

@MattЭллен You can't abridge a Cantabrigian.

Matt Эллен

@KitFox compare Sean Bean to David Tennant's real accent

@KitFox yeah that bugged me too. quiz made by somebody who doesn't actually know anything.

Mmmm, David Tennant.

Matt Эллен

@Robusto Luckily I wasn't :D

although there are a few bridges in Cambridge

6:59 PM

20 something

Sep 13 '12 at 14:57, by Robusto

I prefer Oxbridge. It's a step up from an ox ford.

user116848

@skullpatrol How can I ask someone from the main site to chat here or on ELL?

@MattЭллен inverse unicity or uniqueness would you say?

Matt Эллен

@Robusto yes. a technological advancement and no mistake

@cc uniqueness

@Arrowfar ask them politely in a comment

user116848

7:01 PM

@skullpatrol In a comment of the main site you mean?

yes

user116848

ok

@MattЭллен OK, kind of like that, only I don't think he says "aye".

Matt Эллен

@KitFox ?? then he's not from the north of the UK!!

but, OK. sounds like probably somewhere in the northeast

what's the longest english word made up of all vowels?

7:02 PM

@MattЭллен Oh, yeah. I bet that's it then.

Matt Эллен

oh

not as far north as I thought

Well, I wasn't the one who said he was from the north. Someone else told me that.

Matt Эллен

ah

I thought he sounded Scottish, but mostly it's the way he chokes on words.

Matt Эллен

people in the south call Sheffield the North. People in the North call Sheffield the Midlands. Mostly to wind them up, I think.

7:04 PM

He does sounds kind of like Sean Bean though. Not quite.

Matt Эллен

People in the midlands don't care either way

@MattЭллен That’s a good pairing. But can you tell Carlisle from Newcastle? I have an acquaintance who says she can, but then, she’s from there.

Matt Эллен

@tchrist I have no idea. I have a hard enough time telling Newcastle from Middlesborough

The a sounds too flat in Birmingham.

He's certainly not Londoner.

Matt Эллен

@KitFox you'll have to surreptitiously record his voice and play it for us, so we can judge

7:07 PM

Bummingham.

Newcastle was similar, and Sheffield seemed very close.

@MattЭллен Well yeah, but those are separated on the latitude more than on the longitude as with Carlisle.

Matt Эллен

@KitFox does he call people pet?

that's New Castle

Don't think so.

@MattЭллен Did you mean Newcastle-upon-Tyne?

Matt Эллен

7:08 PM

@Robusto yes

What's Hugh Laurie's?

@MattЭллен What is that, East Anglia?

@KitFox Etonian, Oxbridge, modified.

Or Northumberland?

Matt Эллен

@Robusto now, far more north

7:09 PM

Cleveland?

Matt Эллен

I can't think of the county...

Looks like E. Yorkshire.

Matt Эллен

Tyne and Wear is the county

user image

So the Lake District is Cumbria, or is that Lancashire?

Matt Эллен

yeah, it might be in that bit just above durham

@Robusto yes, Cumbria

maybe both

:16170811 no, Cambridge is far to the south east

7:15 PM

I don't see East Anglia on any of these maps.

@Robusto You’d think it would be West Anglia.

Last day of school! Time for ice cream! Bye!

Matt Эллен

CU!

Try Norfolk.

later

Matt Эллен

7:16 PM

@tchrist yeah, I was going to say. It's the lump with Norfolk and Suffolk in it

@MattЭллен Both tricky words to deliver natively to a large public audience. :)

Matt Эллен

:D

Hmm, NUT is farther north than I remember. For some reason I thought it was farther south.

@MattЭллен Why doesn't Cambridge have its county named after it like Oxfordshire?

Matt Эллен

@skullpatrol it does

7:19 PM

I've driven there from London, and now I don't recall if we made it on the first day or the second. I know it took half a day just to get out of London.

Matt Эллен

@skullpatrol Cambridgeshire

Ah, now it makes sense. We stopped in Scarborough the first night.

And NUT is north of that.

Matt Эллен

aye

7:37 PM

Limerick Machine: Vomitting means he guessed wrong

posted on June 19, 2014 by sgdi

In one hand the man held some nuts The other held cigarette butts To tell them apart He’d developed an art He basically went with his guts

7:58 PM

Apparently my native language is most likely Swedish then Dutch before my actual native language.

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