English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Matt Эллен

12:03 AM

It's my birthday :)

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Here is my present:

0

Q: Can we get this over with

I confused about this phrase because it ends in a preposition, something that I though was not really grammatically correct. In addition, I can not find a restatement that would solve this issue. Things like: This can we get over Over with get this With get this over Don't really seem to mak...

prepositional-phrase

Matt Эллен

well, I answered it before I noticed you didn't like it

so thanks :D

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Yup. That was the present, as promised.

Matt Эллен

you're very kind

Mahnax

12:23 AM

@MattЭллен It is? Happy Birthday!

Matt Эллен

yes. Thank you :)

Mahnax

Anytime.

Matt Эллен

I'm celebrating with some Single Malt. mmmm

Mahnax

You adults and your alcohols.

Matt Эллен

I know, we're such terrible curs

Mahnax

12:28 AM

You don't do cocaine, do you?

Matt Эллен

me :D no I'm practically a law abiding citizen

Mahnax

Okay, good.

Hahaha.

I don't even know why I asked.

Matt Эллен

why, you looking for a dealer? ;)

Mahnax

In the UK? Definitely…

Matt Эллен

it's not about what you know, but who you know, eh?

Mahnax

12:33 AM

Oh, for sure.

Matt Эллен

Honestly, my "celebration" on Saturday was to spend the day with a bunch of geeks hacking on a python project. I didn't even contribute any code - I just spent the day learning about django (python web framework). I am so hardcore.

Mahnax

Haha, that's great.

Cerberus

@MattЭллен OMG KONGRATZ!!!

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus Yay! thanks :D

you can't see, but I'm smiling lots

Cerberus

Excellent!

There's a good birthday boy.

So you've worked on a Python project as a celebration.

Did you have fun, or was it meh?

Matt Эллен

12:42 AM

yes. well, I watched people work on a python project

Cerberus

Hmmm.

Matt Эллен

I had fun. I learned a lot

Cerberus

What kind of digital present would you like to have?

Matt Эллен

met new people

@Cerberus hmmmm

Cerberus

Mahnax

12:43 AM

Yeah, wouldst thou like a gift?

Cerberus

The earthquake in New Zealand.

Mahnax

@Cerberus Nice save.

Cerberus

Save?

It was rather my attempt at a present, hehe.

Perhaps my mind is too destructive.

Mahnax

Nah, I mean how you so quickly corrected your error.

Matt Эллен

You offer me destruction. I see. well It is something I've wanted since I was young

Mahnax

12:45 AM

You want destruction?

Matt Эллен

Although these days I also want constructive things

Cerberus

The Milkyway over Ontario.

Matt Эллен

my

that is beautiful

Cerberus

It is from NASA, so perhaps it isn't too Photoshopped.

Matt Эллен

maybe I could have a brief glimpse of what you look like? I've been curious for so long, after you showed kit :p

Mahnax

12:48 AM

I know what he looks like.

I found him.

Cerberus

You've never seen me?

I not seen you

Stalker.

Kidding.

heh

not enough snakes for hair

Mahnax

12:49 AM

@Cerberus Hahahaha. I was bored.

Cerberus

Hehe.

This is my Facebook photo.

oh! Most handsome :)

Gracias.

Thanks!

Suppertime. Bye!

12:51 AM

cya @Mahnax

Cerberus

Bye!

I have tons of photos where I have my eyes closed or look like a crazy monkey.

Matt Эллен

lol

Cerberus

Let's see if I can find one of those.

Matt Эллен

most of my photos of me have me grinning inanely

Cerberus

Sounds better!

I wish I could do that.

I rather try to smile and look like I'm on crack.

Matt Эллен

12:54 AM

like that

Cerberus

Haha, nice.

I see your point.

I would probably look like that if I could manage an actual smile.

Matt Эллен

Your almost smile looks good, I like it. You looks inquisitive. what happens when you turn the ends of your mouth up?

Cerberus

That is one of the, like, three photos ever where I look semi-normal, which is why I put it on FB. It was early in the morning and I was surprised.

Matt Эллен

I like it :D it's funny and cute

Cerberus

This is like the second best photo of me ever, where my mouth if only weird, not insane, and my eyes are half open!

This is my normal photo look.

Matt Эллен

12:59 AM

hehehe, you're half asleep :)

Cerberus

Like someone knocked me unconscious just a hundred ms before the picture.

Most photos are like that.

Matt Эллен

yeah

Cerberus

Oh, well.

Matt Эллен

how come? do you blink really slowly?

Cerberus

Really fast, I think: I blink when I see the flash.

Matt Эллен

1:00 AM

it's my grin

Cerberus

That one is quite nice.

Matt Эллен

thanks :)

this one's alright

Cerberus

Perhaps I should show my teeth too.

Matt Эллен

perhaps!

Cerberus

That one's good! And I see a bottle of something in the background...

Matt Эллен

1:02 AM

the bigger the smile, the better, in some cases

@Cerberus could be wine

I was at some kind of fancy dress party

I think I tried to dress like I was from the 1920s

Cerberus

Haha.

Matt Эллен

This is time I dressed as lavender

Cerberus

The shawl makes sense, or what is it.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus I think it's a scarf

Cerberus

Haha, oh my God.

That is a dashing wig.

Matt Эллен

1:04 AM

It was an "L" party, you have to go as something beginning with L

I still have it somewhere

Cerberus

Oh! That genre is new to me.

Matt Эллен

it's not the first letter party I've been to, the first was "P", and I went as a pansy (the flower)

can't really explain why I didn't choose pirate

Cerberus

Haha.

Original indeed! I would never have thought of that.

There's also pioneer, pilgrim, peony...

Matt Эллен

maybe that's why I picked it

@Cerberus ah! peony would have been better. much better colour

Cerberus

To be honest I don't even know what a pansy looks like.

Matt Эллен

1:08 AM

but there was lavender growing outside our flat, so I could easily pick a sprig

Cerberus

So pansy, lavender...you're into flowers!

Matt Эллен

Cerberus

Ahhh yes.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus well, I suppose, but not really. it's not like I have flowers in my life at any other time!

Cerberus

Actually I do know that. It was just blocked by "violet".

Matt Эллен

1:10 AM

oh! yeah you can get pansys that look like violets

Cerberus

Nice.

Matt Эллен

anyway! enough about girly flowers. :p Do you go to fancy dress parties?

Cerberus

So what is the difference between violets and pansies? They are both violae, but violets are purple?

Nah I'm not a dresser-upper.

Matt Эллен

I don't know! lets see what wiki knows

Cerberus

Viola (plant)

Viola ( and )The pronunciation () is the most common one in US English, but US dictionaries also record (less common) use of () and (): [http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/viola_2 American Heritage Dictionary], [http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/viola Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary]. Interestingly, the only pronunciation recorded by the [http://web.archive.org/web/20070915234800/http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/viola_2?view=uk Compact Oxford English Dictionary] is () but the only pronunciation recorded by the [http://oxforddictionaries.com/view/entry...

Matt Эллен

1:13 AM

@Cerberus I think violets are bigger?

> Viola and violetta are terms used by gardeners and generally in horticulture for neat, small-flowered hybrid plants intermediate in size between pansies and violets

@Cerberus never? what about a masquerade?

Cerberus

@MattЭллен Hmm so it's about size!

It's always about size. How immature.

Matt Эллен

:D

well, they're not so evolved as you

Cerberus

@MattЭллен I don't know, I've never liked dressing up, except with friends or something.

Evolved, eh yes.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus well, I only did it with friends, of course!

I do get quite nervous when I'm invited to a fancy dress party, since Ihave to come up with a costume. that is a lot of effort for a one off

Cerberus

It is.

I would probably just come in my regular attire.

Matt Эллен

1:20 AM

my friend has invited me to her 30th at the end of March, and she's having a burlesque themed night - not entirely sure what I'll wear to that!

Cerberus

Oh, dear.

I never have parties like that, actually.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus In my lavender pic, you'll notice my friend to my right did that - said he came as lazy!

Cerberus

Heh.

Good outfit.

Matt Эллен

:D

Cerberus

Or you could go as "typical student/yuppie/IT guy/etc.".

Matt Эллен

1:22 AM

@Cerberus yeah, we had a superhero party, so he came as Clark Kent.

at least he's creatively lazy :)

Cerberus

Hehe.

Hmm but then he'd need at least some kind of outfit, as in glasses and a tie?

Matt Эллен

well, he wears glasses. and who doesn't have a tie?

Cerberus

Heh.

It is a rather boring outfit anyway.

Matt Эллен

yeah. He's the loveable scamp in our group - so he gets away with it :)

Cerberus

What do you think of this question?:

1

Q: Why does "-Cy" become "-Sy"?

What rule of grammar, or etymological history, makes "prophe-cy" (noun) become "prophe-sy" (verb)? What causes the C to become an S when the word usage changes?

etymology word-usage language-change

Matt Эллен

1:27 AM

I read that

I read it again

Cerberus

@MattЭллен Hmm that's pretty cheap.

Matt Эллен

I thought "prophesy"?

then I thought "This has 1 up vote?"

Cerberus

Pronounced /ai/ I believe?

Matt Эллен

I see

Cerberus

The question is, are their more pairs like this?

The s comes no doubt from the Greek suffix -sis.

The c probably comes from Latin -tia.

But why were both suffixes used with the same word?

Matt Эллен

1:30 AM

@Cerberus yeah

groceries, gross?

Cerberus

Hmm...

That is probably a Germanic root.

Matt Эллен

grocer

Cerberus

But the c/s variation is interesting.

Matt Эллен

from latin

apparently

Cerberus

Hmm yes, from grossus, which in turn is of obscure origin.

It may have been the Frogs.

They made those c and s endings.

Matt Эллен

1:33 AM

damn you frogs shakes fist

Cerberus

I know!

And they're going to steal your time too.

Matt Эллен

no! I will fight them for it, tooth and nail!

I can take all a youse

Cerberus

Haha.

Matt Эллен

what did I read the other day? somethign along the line of scrapping time based on the sun altogether

Vitaly

@Cerberus eustacy/eustasy, but eustacy is considered an incorrect spelling

Cerberus

1:37 AM

@MattЭллен Huh, then what should it be based on?

@Vitaly Hmm right. But it does illustrate the mechanism, perhaps.

Matt Эллен

there was a vote last month on dropping the leap second added in to atomic clocks, because of the drift between astronomical time and the atomic clocks

Cerberus

It also depends on which language the wrong spelling was first used in.

Matt Эллен

so it will be based purely on atomic clocks

Cerberus

(Now you know where the rule against ending a sentence with a preposition came from.)

Matt Эллен

apparently the vote passed in favour of the leap second

Cerberus

1:39 AM

@MattЭллен Hmmm but, even with the leap, isn't time still/already based on atomic time?

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus They add in the second to keep the atomic clock in line with the sun, so I guess not?

Cerberus

Well, we're still using the atomic clock as a basis whenever something needs to be calculated exactly; it is just that the leap is part of the (random) units and rules along which the clock ticks, just like the sixty seconds, sixty minutes, and twenty-four hours.

Mahnax

Hello everyone.

Matt Эллен

welcome back!

good supper?

Mahnax

Definitely! It was awesome.

Matt Эллен

1:44 AM

@Cerberus but it's time is adjusted to be in line with the sun, so we are using the sun, in effect, but just abstracting the reading to a device

@Mahnax excellent

Mahnax