English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Matt Эллен

10:00 AM

Oh, actually

"Himself over there is in a bit of a bother"

Cerberus

Yes.

Matt Эллен

but that is said in mock deference

RegDwight АΑA

@Cerberus it really is a German word. I took a chance that it would be unmodified Latin so you'd be able to understand. But I was also prepared to be corrected that it should be "intae sum" or whatever.

Cerberus

@MattЭллен I am familiar with this construction.

It sounds like failed formality.

Or a mockery thereof.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus Yeah, exactly

Cerberus

10:02 AM

@RegDwightАΑA Sure, I didn't disbelieve you. It is actually an adverb in Latin (a rare few end on -us), so it is correct!

@MattЭллен I think we have a question on that.

Where I contended that it was traditionally frowned upon, and someone else said he had nothing against it, or something.

RegDwight АΑA

15

A: You can contact John, Jane or me (myself) for more information

Me. Myself is reflexive: it denotes that the person (me) is doing something to that person (myself) and no other. It's not correct to use a reflexive pronoun unless the recipient of the action is the person doing that action. You can't mix you with myself. You can talk to me. I can talk ...

@z7sg: But is it considered acceptable by modern style guides? The question is not whether anyone ever says this (the answer would be clearly yes). Politicians are not known for the readability and elegance of their language... — Cerberus May 9 at 20:13

@Cerberus This is a question about spoken English. I could find many such examples by all sorts of people. It's a common and acceptable usage that happens to fall foul of a prescriptive grammar rule. Clearly, it is the rule that is wrong. English grammar is not in fact governed by a set of fixed rules. — z7sg Ѫ May 9 at 21:14

This?

Cerberus

Yes!

I stand by my comment. It's horrible.

RegDwight АΑA

Why would you stand by your horrible comment?

Cerberus

The construction, dammit!

slams fist on table

RegDwight АΑA

Paw. Not fist.

Matt Эллен

10:06 AM

@Cerberus I don't know if it's used by higher registers. It's certainly used in middle registers aspiring to be higher ones.

Cerberus

paw

Matt Эллен

prickly

Cerberus

@MattЭллен I wasn't going to say it, but exactly.

Very middle class.

Too bad FF felt he had to support z7s.

Yes there is something wrong in saying "John, Jane or myself" when this compound is a direct object. Though not unheard of among English speakers, it is an instance of what is considered (unfairly though that may be) to be a "lower" dialect. Someone studying English as a second (or n-th) language, which the OP may well be, deserves to know, as part of a complete answer, whether something is prescriptively considered to be lousy English or not. — Kaz May 9 at 23:48

I like the idea of using "lower" relatively.

Matt Эллен

It's not wrong. it is annoying.

Cerberus

Same thing, for me!

Matt Эллен

10:12 AM

:D

RegDwight АΑA

Somewhere, right now, poor Ann Oying is weeping.

Matt Эллен

She's had a hard life

RegDwight АΑA

You lent a helping hand in that.

Matt Эллен

I like to do my bit where I can

RegDwight АΑA

Matt Эллен

10:13 AM

which one is she?

Cerberus

Meanwhile, I can't believe I will consider my lovely Nexus a slow and hideously bulky/tiny (cross out whichever will then be in vogue) rock.

RegDwight АΑA

From left to right: Morven, Ruby, Ann, and Perdita Oying.

Cerberus

Who are they?

RegDwight АΑA

Them's lost in Austen.

Texas.

Lost in Austen

Lost in Austen is a four-part 2008 British television series for the ITV network, written by Guy Andrews as a fantasy adaptation of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Loosely following the plot of Austen's novel, it sees a modern girl somehow transported into the events of the book via a portal located in her bathroom. In December 2009 it was placed at 48 in the 'Top 50 TV Shows of the Noughties', a list published in The Times (London). Plot Episode 1 – Amanda Price, a keen Jane Austen fan from present-day Hammersmith, discovers the Pride and Prejudice character Elizabeth Bennet...

Cerberus

Texan Jane?

Matt Эллен

10:15 AM

Not Austen, France?

RegDwight АΑA

@MattЭллен not even Austen, Powers.

Matt Эллен

Groovy, baby, yeah!

Cerberus

Does the first name Austin come from Augustin?

RegDwight АΑA

Oh du lieber Augustin, alles ist hin!

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus Austin

Cerberus

10:16 AM

Yes, from Augustine.

@MattЭллен Got it!

Matt Эллен

Bishop of Hippo!

Cerberus

@RegDwightАΑA We have a song that goes oh mijn lieve Augustijntje or something.

RegDwight АΑA

Oh du lieber Augustin

"Oh du lieber Augustin" ("Oh, you dear Augustin") is a Viennese song, composed by Marx Augustin in 1679. At this time Vienna was struck by the bubonic plague (see Great Plague of Vienna) and Augustin was a ballad singer and bagpiper, who toured Vienna‘s inns entertaining people. The Viennese loved Augustin because of his charming humour in bitter times and they called him "Lieber Augustin" (Dear Augustin). Once he was drunk and on his way home he fell in the gutter and went to sleep. He was mistaken for a dead man by the gravediggers patrolling the city for dead bodies. They picked hi...

Of course you do. You pirates.

Cerberus

@MattЭллен Ding!

@RegDwightАΑA Harr!

We stole your culture.

RegDwight АΑA

Viennese.

Cerberus

10:19 AM

That is why Dutch music is now famous and German music was destroyed.

Großdeutschland.

RegDwight АΑA

I like to keep my and Viennese cultures separate.

Cerberus

Bollocks.

RegDwight АΑA

@Cerberus which Dutch music is famous? Name seven.

Cerberus

Linda!

RegDwight АΑA

That's one. Also, not music.

Even though she tried hard by means of her surname.

Moll

Moll (lat. ' „weich“; engl. ') bezeichnet in der Musik ein Tongeschlecht. Dieses kann sich auf eine Tonart, eine Tonleiter oder einen Akkord beziehen. Moll ist neben Dur das Tongeschlecht, das sich im 17. Jahrhundert gegenüber den Kirchentonarten durchgesetzt hat, man spricht auch vom dur-moll-tonalen Tonsystem. Kennzeichnend für den Moll-Charakter ist das Intervall einer kleinen Terz zwischen Grundton und Terz des Tonmaterials. Die kleine Terz über dem Grundton wird auch Mollterz genannt. Molltonleiter Natürliches Moll Die natürliche Molltonleiter (auch „reines Moll“, „äolisches ...

Cerberus

10:21 AM

@RegDwightАΑA Ohhh you're so dead:

►

Matt Эллен

2 Unlimited

2 Unlimited is a Dutch eurodance group formed in 1991. The project was the brainchild of Belgian producers Jean-Paul DeCoster and Phil Wilde, and was fronted by a Dutch duo, rapper Ray Slijngaard and singer Anita Doth. During five years of enormous worldwide popularity, the act scored 16 chart hits, including "Get Ready for This", "Twilight Zone", "No Limit" and "Tribal Dance". During their career, they have sold more than 20 million records worldwide. Formation Jean-Paul DeCoster and Phil Wilde met in their hometown of Antwerp, Belgium, and their first collaboration under the name of B...

Cerberus

@RegDwightАΑA Yes, that's mol in Dutch.

RegDwight АΑA

Thank you. I'll take being dead over clicking on that crap.

Cerberus

Do it!!

RegDwight АΑA

@Cerberus mineur, Wikipedia sez.

Cerberus

10:21 AM

Click it!

@RegDwightАΑA > Dieses kann sich auf eine Tonart, eine Tonleiter oder einen Akkord beziehen.

RegDwight АΑA

Look, I don't want to be woken from the dead.

Cerberus

The Tonleiter is a mol I believe, the Tonart is mineur, the Akkord can be either I'd say.

Not sure about the Akkord.

user19161

Huzzah!

Matt Эллен

Something good?

Cerberus

user19161

10:24 AM

Nothing. I don't even know what that sound means!

RegDwight АΑA

@Cerberus somehow that crashes my Firefox.

Cerberus

This is always a mol.

RegDwight АΑA

True story.

Cerberus

Hello.

user19161

I see someone is AAA and not BBB now.

Cerberus

10:24 AM

@RegDwightАΑA And it's not even forbidden in your country??

RegDwight АΑA

@Cerberus you mean a Bb is always a mol? How is that even possible?

Matt Эллен

I Against I (band)

I Against I was a punk rock band from Holland formerly signed to Epitaph Records. History I Against I was formed by two childhood friends, Ronald van Maren and Jasper Blazer, in the mid-1990s in Holland. Their name comes from the Bad Brains record, I Against I. They signed to Epitaph Records in 1996, the first European group to do so. An EP followed in 1997 and a full-length in 1998 called Headcleaner, which was recorded in "the Blastingroom" in Fort Collins, Colorado, the studio of Bill Stevenson of All. The group toured Europe and played South by Southwest in 1998. Their sophomore LP t...

Cerberus

@RegDwightАΑA No, the sign that modifies the note is the mol.

Matt Эллен

Junkie XL

Tom Holkenborg (born December 8, 1967 in Lichtenvoorde, Gelderland, Netherlands), better known as Junkie XL or JXL, is a Dutch musician. He uses the name JXL in cases where the term "Junkie" might cause offense. XL is for "Xpanding Limits". Biography He discovered music by learning and playing many instruments, including guitar, bass, piano, and drums. Although he was classically trained by his mother (herself an accredited violin teacher), it was not long until he discovered synthesizers and joined the Dutch New Wave group Weekend at Waikiki as a multi-instrumentalist and produce...

RegDwight АΑA

Ah! Well that's from French.

user19161

10:25 AM

The mol is an SI unit.

RegDwight АΑA

In Russian it's called бемоль as well.

Cerberus

Bemol?

Ah, yes.

B mol.

RegDwight АΑA

Bémol

En solfège, un bémol (symbole \flat) est un signe d’altérations, destiné à indiquer sur une partition de musique un abaissement d’un demi-ton chromatique de la hauteur naturelle des notes associées. {| cellpadding=4 |-valign=top | width=30% | __TOC__ |La note affectée d'un bémol est dite « bémolisée ». Une note peut être bémolisée pour toutes sortes de raisons : modulation, transposition, utilisation de notes intermédiaires de la gamme. Il existe aussi : # un double-bémol \flat\!\flat, pouvant être utilisé dans certaines tonalités comportant un ou plusieurs bémols à la clef. double-bémo...

No.

Cerberus

That would be a bes in Dutch.

RegDwight АΑA

Not B mol.

The sign itself is a bemol.

Cerberus

10:26 AM

Really?

Funny.

RegDwight АΑA

The whole note would be a si bemol.

Just like in French.

Matt Эллен

Vengaboys

Vengaboys are a Eurodance pop group based in Amsterdam. The brainchild of two Dutch producers Wessel van Diepen and Dennis van den Driesschen (Danski and Delmundo), they enjoyed commercial success in the late 1990s. They are best known for their two UK number one singles, "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!!" and "We're Going to Ibiza" and their U.S. Top 40 hit, "We Like to Party". The group consists of lead vocalist Kim Sasabone and backing vocalists Denise Post-Van Rijswijk, Robin Pors and Donny Latupeirissa who replaced Roy den Burger after their 2005 hiatus. They have sold an estimated 15 mill...

Cerberus

We would call the whole note a bes.

@MattЭллен Noooooo....

RegDwight АΑA

@MattЭллен please stop it already. Enough is enough!

Matt Эллен

I've only found 4

5 if you include arman van buren

user19161

10:27 AM

@MattЭллен I am in the first.

Cerberus

Ludwig van Beethoven was of Dutch descent.

Matt Эллен

But I don't really know him

Cerberus

Hence the van.

RegDwight АΑA

@Cerberus actually that particular note is the most confusing. Some will call it a Bes, others just a B.

Matt Эллен

@JasperLoy you're not Dutch

RegDwight АΑA

10:27 AM

You see, the si already has a letter of its own, H.

Cerberus

Huh...

user19161

@RegDwightАΑA Si only has s and i.

Cerberus

I don't know enough about musical notation.

@JasperLoy NOOOO liar!

How can you say that?

RegDwight АΑA

B (musical note)

B, also known as H, Si or Ti, is the seventh note of the solfège. It lies a chromatic semitone below C and is thus the enharmonic equivalent of C-flat. When calculated in equal temperament with a reference of A above middle C as 440 Hz, the frequency of Middle B (B4) is approximately 493.883 Hz. See pitch (music) for a discussion of historical variations in frequency. Designation by octave {|class="wikitable" !Scientificdesignation !Helmholtzdesignation !Octave name !Frequency(Hz) |- |B−1 |B͵͵͵ or ͵͵͵B |Subsubcontra |align=right|15.434 |- |B0 |B͵͵ or ͵͵B |Subcontra |align=right|30....

Cerberus

My world has been turned upside down.

RegDwight АΑA

10:29 AM

B, also known as H. What's not to love?

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus you are in New Zealand?

user19161

I don't know B, but I know M. From James Bond.

Cerberus

@RegDwightАΑA Wait, flat...isn't that the same as C minor, hence theoretically "c mol" or "ces" in Dutch? That term is probably never used, but anyway.

@RegDwightАΑA BH!

You know what that means in Dutch?

David Wallace

Cerberus, this is the cartoon that has offended me so much.

Sometimes, I'm so ashamed of the country in which I live.

RegDwight АΑA

@Cerberus I think you are confusing two very different things.

Cerberus

10:31 AM

It's actually a really funny word when you think about it. Boezem-Houder = bosom holder.

Aka brassiere.

@RegDwightАΑA Ohh...

user19161

@DavidWallace That's better than making gay sex illegal.

RegDwight АΑA

Minor is a scale. It applies to a sequence of seven notes. Flat applies to just one note and says that it should be lowered by a semitone.

A minor scale might well have flats in it.

But the A minor scale does not.

user19161

@Cerberus What? No brassieres in this chat!

Cerberus

@DavidWallace Hmm why is it offensive to you? And isn't satire supposed to be offensive?

Matt Эллен

I find it offensive that they've given the British police guns.

It's army they've co-opted to do security with G4S

David Wallace

10:33 AM

@Cerberus It's offensive because of its reinforcement of a harmful stereotype.

user19161

I am disillusioned about many things in this world.

Cerberus

@RegDwightАΑA Uhh...I thought the scale was named after its most characteristic note?

@DavidWallace OK.

RegDwight АΑA

@Cerberus After its tonic, yes.

David Wallace

@Cerberus What does "most characteristic" mean? Try "first".

Cerberus

@RegDwightАΑA Okay...so A minor isn't named after it's a flat?

RegDwight АΑA

10:34 AM

So if a scale starts in A, it's A. If it starts in Aes, it's Aes. If it starts in Ais, it's Ais. Major and minor refer to what the third note of the scale is.

Cerberus

@DavidWallace Oh, first, OK!

David Wallace

@RegDwightАΑA A minor doesn't have any flats in it. But C minor does.

user19161

I expect Reg to become a CCC later this year.

RegDwight АΑA

@DavidWallace I tried to make the same joke, as you can see.

David Wallace

@JasperLoy I'd be surprised if he became a DD.

Cerberus

10:35 AM

@RegDwightАΑA Oh, really? So major and minor never refer to the first note?

user19161

By the way, are the 3 A's the same? They appear so on my system.

RegDwight АΑA

Major and minor cannot refer to a note. Any one note.

Cerberus

And then what does this "minor" say about the third note?

Matt Эллен

@JasperLoy no - look them up on wikipedia! (individually)

David Wallace

Cerberus - any major scale begins with two whole tones. Any minor scale begins with a whole tone followed by a semitone.

Cerberus

10:36 AM

@RegDwightАΑA Huh...then what is the connection between the word "minor" and the third note?

user19161

All this major and minor is for people who don't know music. That's why they need to learn music. True music comes directly from the soul.

RegDwight АΑA

It says that the third note is a minor third or a major third away from the tonic.

Cerberus

@DavidWallace Oh...is that exactly what "major" and "minor" mean?

RegDwight АΑA

Or what David says.

Cerberus

@RegDwightАΑA Okay, then what's a "minor third"?

David Wallace

10:37 AM

@Cerberus Kind of. There are 7 possible scales that fit the normal pattern of alternation of whole tones and semitones. Only 2 of these scales are popular in Western music.

user19161

Music existed before people gave notes names. Similarly, language existed before people named parts of speech.

Cerberus

Less than two whole notes away from the tonic?

David Wallace

A minor third is three semitones. A major third is four semitones.

RegDwight АΑA

@Cerberus three semitones.

Jinx.

user19161

@RegDwightАΑA I wonder if people say 1.5 tones.

RegDwight АΑA

10:38 AM

And what David says. There can be different minors. Natural, harmonical.

Cerberus

Ah OK.

RegDwight АΑA

And you as the Greek specialist should know all about their other scales.

David Wallace

@JasperLoy They don't.

user19161

The French arias have more sharps while the Italian arias have more flats.

RegDwight АΑA

Phrygian, Aeolian, Dorian, Lydian...

Something else...

user19161

10:39 AM

@RegDwightАΑA I only know about fish scales and weighing scales.

David Wallace

Ionian, myxolydian,

RegDwight АΑA

Mode (music)

In the theory of Western music, mode (from Latin modus, "measure, standard, manner, way, size, limit of quantity, method") (Powers 2001, Introduction; OED) generally refers to a type of scale, coupled with a set of characteristic melodic behaviours. This usage, still the most common in recent years, reflects a tradition dating to the Middle Ages, itself inspired by the theory of ancient Greek music. The word encompasses several additional meanings, however. Authors from the ninth century until the early eighteenth century sometimes employed the Latin modus for interval. In the theory of ...

Cerberus

So major is tonic 1 tone 1 tone, while minor is tonic 1 tone 0.5 tone?

David Wallace

Damn, what's the other one?

RegDwight АΑA

@Cerberus yes.

@DavidWallace Locrian.

Cerberus

10:39 AM

Okay, then.

Very enlightening.

David Wallace

Cerb - major goes Tone Tone Semitone Tone Tone Tone Semitone.

RegDwight АΑA

I always forget that one. Was on my way to both myxolydian and ionian, but never locrian.

David Wallace

Minor goes Tone Semitone Tone Tone, then gets a bit fuzzy.

Cerberus

So a tone is a distance here?

Not a frequency?

David Wallace

A tone is the musical distance between two notes.

It corresponds to an increase in frequency of about 12%.

Cerberus

10:41 AM

Oh!

Funny.

David Wallace

Hilarious.

user19161

An octave corresponds to a doubling of frequency.

Cerberus

So then it means something different from ordinary speech.

RegDwight АΑA

Well more like the 12th root out of 2 or something.

I don't remember the math.

David Wallace

Um, 6th root of 2, minus 1.

RegDwight АΑA

10:42 AM

Besides this is all unnatural welltempered stuff.

David Wallace

Which is 0.12....

user19161

It is a logarithmic scale.

Cerberus

I learned to play the piano when I was 10 or so, but we never did this stuff. And in high school we just sang stupid pop songs, and some story about the Beatles. Horrible. I wish we had learned more interesting, basic stuff like this!

Matt Эллен

@JasperLoy I thought you only knew about weighing scales and fish scales!

user19161

@MattЭллен Oh you are so funny!

RegDwight АΑA

10:43 AM

I am currently teaching piano to my wife.

user19161

@RegDwightАΑA After all, you are RD!

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus This is how I feel about how I was taught about English at school.

David Wallace

Cerb - can I point you to a question on stack overflow about this, that I answered incorrectly, but got a mixed bag of upvotes and downvotes for?

Cerberus

@MattЭллен Haha I understand. We did learn proper Dutch and analysing grammar and stuff. Funny that England and America should pay less attention to learning their own language!

user19161

@MattЭллен This is how most things are taught in schools, in silly ways.

David Wallace

10:44 AM

2

Q: Audio analysis: frequency vs pitch

I'm designing a simple tuner, so my target is displaying a note name (A, B, F#) and the distance in cents between the theoretic sound and the actual input. I'm completely new to audio and signal processing, so I did some research and I found a thing called Fast Fourier Transform that will analyz...

My answer is interesting, but partly wrong. I left it there because of the interestingness.

RegDwight АΑA

205

A: Mathematical difference between white and black notes in a piano

The first thing you have to understand is that notes are not uniquely defined. Everything depends on what tuning you use. I'll assume we're talking about equal temperament here. In equal temperament, a half-step is the same as a frequency ratio of $\sqrt[12]{2}$; that way, twelve half-steps ma...

Math sez, 12th root of 2.

David Wallace

Yes, that's a SEMITONE. A TONE is the 6th root of 2.

RegDwight АΑA

Though other than that that answer is meh.

user19161

@RegDwightАΑA Geezis, 205 votes?

RegDwight АΑA

@DavidWallace ah. Well why didn't you say that sooner.

Cerberus

10:46 AM

@DavidWallace Oh dear, looks complicated....

David Wallace

I got asked what a TONE was. Forgive me for not answering EVERY POSSIBLE QUESTION as part of my answer.

user19161

I hate it when the answer gets more votes than a good question.

RegDwight АΑA

@JasperLoy yes, although it keeps meandering around the actual answer, while some of the other answers are way more to the point.

@DavidWallace NO I WILL NEVER FORGET YOU PERIOD

user19161

@RegDwightАΑA Cryptic like JLO.

RegDwight АΑA

Not cryptic at all.

user19161

10:47 AM

Depends on which JLO.

RegDwight АΑA

Which part about "it does not answer the question" is cryptic to you?

David Wallace

@RegDwightАΑA you mean forgive? I'm sure you'll forget me one day.

user19161

@RegDwightАΑA I mean he is cryptic in that he meanders. QED.

RegDwight АΑA

OMG IM SO AGITATED SORRY

Matt Эллен

Is that because of your period?

RegDwight АΑA

10:48 AM

IF IT MAKES YOU HAPPY I WILL NOT FORGET NOR FORGIVE

user19161

@RegDwightАΑA It's that time of the month then.

RegDwight АΑA

@MattЭллен well certainly not because of yours.

user19161

Jinx!

RegDwight АΑA

Wow Jasper made a joke. I'm flabbergasted.

Matt Эллен

Well, all right then. No need to get so personal!

RegDwight АΑA

10:49 AM

I never said anything about a need.

user19161

I have a great sense of humour, so most of my jokes are not funny to mere mortals.

Matt Эллен

:D

RegDwight АΑA

Jul 12 at 11:52, by RegDwight ΒВB

What if I'm an immere immortal?

user19161

I often feel that I'm not human, it's true.

David Wallace

@JasperLoy including yourself, no doubt.

user19161

10:50 AM

I also think that this world will be full of shit until I take over.

RegDwight АΑA

Okay this is a déjà vu of a déjà vu.

user19161

@RegDwightАΑA Yes, you are going to say I "need to take a poo".

RegDwight АΑA

I feel obliged to point out that I am in no way shape or manner going to say imply or think that.

user19161

@RegDwightАΑA What happened to thy commas?

RegDwight АΑA

I lented them to you and never getted them back.

user19161

10:53 AM

The AAA looks nicer than the BBB. For one, it is symmetrical.

RegDwight АΑA

There's more than one kind of symmetry.

Matt Эллен

AYe

David Wallace

@RegDwightАΑA I think you mean - I borrowed them to you.

user19161

Oh, BBB is symmetrical too!

user19161

This is so amazing!

Matt Эллен

10:55 AM

B<:

RegDwight АΑA

@JasperLoy wait till we get to RЯ.

user19161

This chat is full of amazing things. QED.

user19161

@RegDwightАΑA Now I know you work for Toys R Us.

David Wallace

@RegDwightАΑA sings "Aar Yaa yaa yaa".

Sorry, that was funnier inside my head.

RegDwight АΑA

I think you mean Toys Я Us.

I like it how even they themselves have no idea how to make the backwards R.

user19161

10:58 AM

I have always wondered why the R is like that. I think it's somewhere on the internet but I never searched.

RegDwight АΑA

Look at the title of their home page.

toysrus.ca/home/index.jsp?categoryId=2567269

> Toys "R" Us

Well that means something entirely different. Morons.

We "have" all those "toys".

Matt Эллен

"Toys" Rus

user19161

I think Toys R Us is the best toy store. I think Ikea is the best furniture store.

RegDwight АΑA

I think the world is the best store store.

user19161

And I think MOS Burger is the best burger chain. But you guys don't have it where you are.

RegDwight АΑA

11:01 AM

Moe's burger?

I only ever drink Düff there.

user19161

My favourite burger there is the Teriyaki chicken.

David Wallace

What's a sophisticated-sounding word for something harmful and insidious?

I want a noun.

Matt Эллен

.ysae ton s'ti tub ,seY .sdrawkcab epyt nac I fi rednow I

user19161

@DavidWallace Poison.

David Wallace

Maybe.

Matt Эллен

11:02 AM

another useless talent to practice!

David Wallace

Not sure if it fits.

Or to practise.

Matt Эллен

or malpractice

user19161

@MattЭллен .sizeeG

David Wallace

Today, I do battle with Americanisms.

Matt Эллен

tomorrow the world!

user19161

11:03 AM

America is the world!

Matt Эллен

I'm not American.

RegDwight АΑA

@DavidWallace Perfidy?

David Wallace

...
Not sure about perfidy either.

RegDwight АΑA

Well poison is better there.

But wait.

user19161

Poison sounds lovely there!

David Wallace

11:05 AM

The Auckland Bus Driver reference is to something that happened a couple of years ago. I'll see if I can find it.

RegDwight АΑA

How about squalor?

user19161

Squalor and perfidy are out of my current vocab.

user19161

After all, I only know 18000 words, which is twice of 9000.

David Wallace

OH, crap, it has to be exclusive, or I can't send it.

@Reg - can you please delete the letter that I pasted in above?

Thank you.

Umm, about 2 years ago, an Auckland bus driver lost his job and had to pay a heavy fine, after he refused to let two burqa-clad women onto his bus. "They could have bombs or anything under there"

It seems a valid parallel to this particular cartoonist.

RegDwight АΑA

I can totally see his argument. It's just that it should be valid for purses, too.

Matt Эллен

11:10 AM

and hats and shoes

RegDwight АΑA

Or bags or pockets of any kind.

David Wallace

In fact, he should just insist that all his passengers be naked.

Matt Эллен

yes! Naked bus!

RegDwight АΑA

Well it is a nice illustration of how at the end of the day we are all victims of what we are and are not used to.

David Wallace

Entirely in the interests of public safety, of course.

user19161

11:11 AM

@RegDwightАΑA Deep.

RegDwight АΑA

If he were driving around women in burqas, he'd not let a man with a purse on board.

Journeyman Geek

or thumbs.

You could kill people with them

Matt Эллен

Saudi Arabia are allowed to enter the Olympics this year, because they have 2 female athletes on the team. They will be required to compete covered up. I'm not sure how well they'll do

Journeyman Geek

@MattЭллен: like they care

Matt Эллен

If they don't care about the competition, why enter it?

Journeyman Geek

11:14 AM

This is the same country which had religious police push schoolgirls into a burning building

Its a matter of control more than anything else

RegDwight АΑA

@MattЭллен Depends on whether it's steeple chase, pole vault, equestrian or swimming.

user19161

@JourneymanGeek What is that about?

RegDwight АΑA

I suppose I wouldn't break a sweat playing chess in a burqa. Well at least not non-literally.

Matt Эллен

@RegDwightАΑA Yes, I can't remember which events they're in.

Pakistan, I think, enter women in shooting events, so their dress is appropriate

/lunch

David Wallace

I keep forgetting you northerners have Daylight Savings now.

RegDwight АΑA

11:18 AM

Huh? We only have them in winter.

user19161

I won't take part in the spelling Olympics this year. I'm giving others a chance to win.

RegDwight АΑA

Summer Time is the same around the world, I got explained in this very room.

And lunch is a lovely idea. BBL

David Wallace

@RegDwightАΑA Yes, it's when the livin' is easy.

RegDwight АΑA

Don't forget how high the cotton is.

David Wallace

That would be impossible.

RegDwight АΑA

11:20 AM

And your mom is rich, and your dad's good looking.

Why don't you write a letter to that sexist Gershwin?

David Wallace

Just realised that my Dad might come into this room some time.

Along with KitFox's son.

RegDwight АΑA

Teehee.

David Wallace

For all I know, Reg, YOU might be my Dad.

Actually, no, you couldn't possibly be.

THinking about it some more.

RegDwight АΑA

I could be not him pretending to be him pretending not to be him.

David Wallace

Then you'd fail.

RegDwight АΑA

11:29 AM

I'd fail anyway. That's beside every point.

David Wallace

My Dad is unable to write in Russian, for a start.

Or to remember things that you said over 9000 years ago.

And I believe that your English vocabulary far exceeds his.

Anyway, I'm going to bed. Enjoy your lunch. See you.

Matt Эллен

11:45 AM

@RegDwightАΑA 800m running and judo

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Here is rather extreme example of Jelly-Bean incompatibility:

> COMPLETELY BREAKS JELLY BEAN - Do not install on 4.1! Rudolfe is exactly right it forces your phone to soft boot when it starts. And since it runs at start up you get a lovely boot loop effect until you end up in recovery and either hack it out with cwm or fact reset. This was easily a 5 star app so I hate downgrading like this but this wins the award for most spectacular app crash. Fix it please I miss lbe already.

Many users report this problem with LBE Privacy Guard.

I so happen to have LBE installed.

So do you see now why I don't like to rush into upgrading operating systems?

This would have cost me half a day of frustration at least if I had tried upgrading to JB.

Matt Эллен

because you're a scaredy pants

Cerberus

And I really want LBE. I want it more than JB.

@MattЭллен Excuse me?

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus you 'eard

Cerberus

Boy, am I glad I waited and checked all my applications for problems with JB.

Robusto

11:54 AM

0

Q: Is there a Public Library that lends English Audiobooks?

In germany there are now a plethora of public libraries where I can borrow Audiobooks. I can search and download DRM protected files and can use them for a couple of days or weeks before they get invalidated automatically. Alas, there are (almost) only german ones. But I am much more interested ...

speech internet reading

OT

Matt Эллен

All the ones in the UK!

@Cerberus what are ya? Sensible or sumint?

Cerberus

Very.

Transcript for

English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…