English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

RegDwighт

11:01 AM

There was a point in my life at which my style was recognizable after one word.

No exaggeration.

tchrist

Whaet!?

RegDwighт

So it looks like nohat did fail to take the MultiCollider by storm. A pity.

KitFox

But mine is recognizable after two words. Because I like "shrugged" perhaps?

Commutes. Laytah!

RegDwighт

@KitFox "[Noun/pronoun] [verb]".

Jenny shrugged off. He blahed. John blubbed. They gadoodled.

Where the noun/pronoun in question is the protagonist, that is.

tchrist

@RegDwighт But not entirely.

RegDwighт

11:06 AM

Obviously "It was a rainy day" is a pronoun + verb, too, but you don't use that.

You'd rather start with "Jenny sighed. It was a rainy day."

tchrist

Once upon a rainy day. . .

RegDwighт

@tchrist I'm just saying 15 != 115.

tchrist

How would you like this to greet you at an airport?

Pity the little children.

RegDwighт

But where's the ring?

RegDwighт

11:35 AM

So I've got 12.8% of the first 2000 words on the 100k list together. More than I expected. But also less.

KitFox

@RegDwighт Tru dat. I am a noun-verber for sure.

I like to think it's Hemingway-esque.

F'x

@KitFox writers is not yet graduated… only graduated sites can host community ads

KitFox

@F'x Oh right. I knew that.

RegDwighт

1

Q: Are synonyms always bidirectional?

By bidirectional I mean, if word A is synonymous with word B, does it follow that word B is always synonymous with word A? Are there any common exceptions to this rule? Extending this - if word A is synonymous with word B, and word B is synonymous with word C, word C may or may not be synonymous...

synonyms

I swear I've seen this before.

I could also swear it was pointless back then, and is still pointless now.

KitFox

I was going to swear that was a hot-chicks-with-douchebag pic, but then I thought it might be one of @Matt's socks.

And I don't think he's a douchebag.

RegDwighт

11:49 AM

There he is.

Matt Эллен

I don't have socks, bar the ones on my feet

RegDwighт

Hard to tell who he is, with the sock on. Pull it off of him!

KitFox

OMG! He's an orc!

RegDwighт

Orcs in socks.

Matt Эллен

@tchrist I pronounce Mary like I pronounce hairy, and I took the IPA from hairy and added it to /'m/

I am an orc

RegDwighт

11:51 AM

That's not helping. For all we know, you pronounce "hairy" as "hurry".

Matt Эллен

later I will do a recording.

then you will understand

RegDwighт

I'll give you my fern number.

Matt Эллен

although I'm not sure of the schwa, myself, that's just what the OED told me

RegDwighт

Orchestral Endeavours in the Dark?

Matt Эллен

@KitFox That's very kind of you to say!

I like your story, the little girl is a sweetheart

@RegDwighт Ostrich Entrails Divination

Do you think this is the Venn diagram that Bill Franke meant?

RegDwighт

11:56 AM

I've no idea why he didn't just embed the one he meant.

Matt Эллен

indeed

RegDwighт

What the hell is foursquare anyway?

Matt Эллен

I'm not sure. I think you can tell people you're eating and tag it with your location?

RegDwighт

This is literally the first time I hear the name.

Matt Эллен

sounds wholly unappetising

> Foursquare is a free app that helps you and your friends make the most of where you are. When you're out and about, use Foursquare to share and save the places you visit. And, when you're looking for inspiration for what to do next, we'll give you personalized recommendations and deals based on where you, your friends, and people with your tastes have been.

RegDwighт

12:03 PM

"Foursquare is a free app that helps you and your friends make the most of where you are."

"Foursquare is a free app that helps us fill this sentence with meaningless words in no particular order."

Matt Эллен

it seems to be an homogenising tool

I find it difficult to say "a homogenising"

but I also find I dislike the sound of "an homogenising"

stupid upbringing

KitFox

Ach, I can't remember how to remove background noise in Audacity. Anybody know?

Matt Эллен

the only way I've done it is unsuccessfully, by highlighting noise and telling audacity to zero the stuff like that

If I had it here I'd know the menu command

RegDwighт

0

Q: Word order "this is not so"

I am not a native speaker of English, but I study English and Dutch. I wrote down the following sentence: ... but this is not for everyone so. I realise that this might be translated to literally from Dutch: ... maar dit is niet voor iedereen zo. But, the thing is: in Dutch you can ch...

word-order

Do we want this?

KitFox

ELL wants it.

Matt Эллен

12:08 PM

ELL wants it bad.

RegDwighт

Well ain't that quite a career. From Linguistics straight to ELL. Do not pass ELU, do not collect 2000.

Matt Эллен

hmmm, if there were someone with something more interesting to say than ""it is not so" is a fixed phrase"

"it is not for everyone so" is clumsy, but understandable. I wouldn't recommend it.

RegDwighт

Matt Эллен

"It ain't so" is also a possibility

KitFox

You still wouldn't say "It ain't for everyone so"

RegDwighт

12:11 PM

You would in German.

Matt Эллен

indeed

RegDwighт

Stupid Dutch keeps copying Deutsch.

KitFox

Stupid can't make a clean recording of "merry, marry, Mary."

Matt Эллен

can you put a cardboard box over your head?

RegDwighт

Along came merry, marry Mary.

Matt Эллен

12:14 PM

Along cam Merry and Pip, Sam and Mary, who were to marry. Apparently Rosie had been a balrog in disguise.

KitFox

So the consensus was "No thanks for the question"?

Matt Эллен

it's easy pickings for someone, but I'm not sure

it's pretty basic

I've answered easier questions

TIL fairy used to be a collective noun for fays

RegDwighт

Furry.

The furry is in a hairy.

Matt Эллен

Foury

RegDwighт

@MattЭллен does that include Fay Wrays?

Matt Эллен

12:25 PM

Yes.

KitFox

dropbox.com/s/3d261igvgp3rscf/marys.wav

Matt Эллен

but not x-rays

KitFox

Try that.

I'm not sure if I uploaded it correctly.

Matt Эллен

did you put your head in a cardboard box?

KitFox

I selected the correct input device.

Matt Эллен

12:26 PM

ah! that is tricky. I had that problem the other day when I'd selected the mic on my webcam by mistake

RegDwighт

Wurks.

KitFox

@MattЭллен Funny the similarity.

RegDwighт

Nau aye hev tu record it uiv havy rashan akzent.

Matt Эллен

:D

yay!

KitFox

So now you know what my marys sound like.

Matt Эллен

12:29 PM

I will listen when I'm home.

KitFox

@RegDwighт Yes! Yes!

@MattЭллен So you expect me to leave it up!? sighs

Matt Эллен

well, of course! I expect you to post it as a comment on nohat's question :D

KitFox

I have no idea what the implications of leaving a dropbox link up are.

Matt Эллен

probably nothing untoward

KitFox

How vulnerable does that make me?

Matt Эллен

12:31 PM

not very

KitFox

Mmm, OK then.

Except people will know what I sound like, which is almost like knowing what I look like.

Matt Эллен

dropbox is centralised, not based on your computer, so they can't hack you. I don't think any identity stuff is available from the file

RegDwighт

Except for the voice, of course.

Matt Эллен

well, yes, except for that

RegDwighт

And the fingerprints she left on the record button.

Matt Эллен

12:32 PM

so, they could determine the volume of your head

KitFox

And they could divine that I have a slight cold.

RegDwighт

Oh?

KitFox

And my office is underneath the elevator vents.

RegDwighт

I don't think they would.

That's what Americans always sound like.

KitFox

Bloody hell.

Matt Эллен

12:33 PM

:D

RegDwighт

Well my lousy attempt at storming the multicollider has pathetically failed.

I knew there was a reason I wasn't in the asking business anymore.

KitFox

Where? What now? I can help!

RegDwighт

Nah, too late.

Matt Эллен

I will ask a singular-they question and see how that goes (later)

RegDwighт

2 hours ago, by RegDwighт

I have posted a question.

KitFox

12:35 PM

Oh there's your question.

RegDwighт

That was right after you said Halloooo.

KitFox

I looked for it when you posted that, and didn't see it.

I figured I must have lost my mind.

RegDwighт

I should have switched off the FSB mode.

I always forget to do that.

KitFox

What's FSB mode?

RegDwighт

Federal Security Service (Russia)

The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) (; Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the main domestic security agency of the Russian Federation and the main successor agency of the Soviet Committee of State Security (KGB). Its main responsibilities are counter-intelligence, internal and border security, counter-terrorism, and surveillance. Its headquarters are on Lubyanka Square, downtown Moscow. The direct predecessor of the FSB was the Federal Counterintelligence Service (FSK). On 3 April 1995, President Boris Yeltsin signed a law ordering a reorg...

What normal people like to call KGB.

Matt Эллен

12:37 PM

@RegDwighт I remember reading that and thinking you were talking about Kit's story

KitFox

@RegDwighт Oh, right. Yeah.

It didn't show up until an hour later.

If the timestamps are to be believed.

So you don't want it multicollidered?

RegDwighт

I was joking on that part. I don't think it's got what it takes.

Mine are slowburners.

It will have 20 upvotes by the end of 2014, come Maya or high water.

KitFox

Yours are posed well enough that they give us pause.

I can't just jump in, for instance, because I am pretty sure I don't know the answer.

Matt Эллен

time for music. I must chrome flute.

RegDwighт

Neither do I. As I said, that's an actual question I have. Because I used "no other reason that" on our meta earlier today and it got me thinking.

Except this time I didn't dump it in chat, as I would normally do.

KitFox

12:48 PM

3

Q: "For no other reason than" vs. "for no other reason that" vs. "for no other reason than that"

I am looking for a comprehensive analysis of these three constructions: ... for no other reason than X. ... for no other reason that X. ... for no other reason than that X. Which is used when? Is this a question of register, dialect, style? How does the usage depend on what X is? ...

word-choice phrases prepositions conjunctions

There. I did it for you.

RegDwighт

Now this is awkward. My office colleague was singing that exact line of Brian Adams' when you said that.

KitFox

That would be funny if you had gotten the lyric right.

RegDwighт

He. Not me.

He actually sang "everywhere I go I do it for you".

He couldn't quite recollect the lyrics.

And now the phone rings, and he picks up, and in that very second the O-Zone song he has playing on his Mac has the singer say "Hallo".

And now everyone is giggling like girls of various sizes.

rofl

This one.

12:55 PM

Ha. I'd actually guessed that and was just starting to listen to it.

►

These guys are probably the worst dancers I have ever seen.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Good morning

Did you see what Apple wrote in the ads they were forced to put in UK papers?

The court ordered them to write an ad that said that Samsung didn't copy their products.

> "So while the U.K. court did not find Samsung guilty of infringement, other courts have recognized that in the course of creating its Galaxy tablet, Samsung willfully copied Apple's far more popular iPad."

KitFox

Bunch of bastards.

@RegDwighт What language is that? Moldovan?

RegDwighт

Yes. Aka Romanian.

@jsbձոգչ should be able to translate in real time.

KitFox

Not bad for pop music. Too bad about the dancing. And the relatively not very cuteness and really very gayness of the boys.

RegDwighт

Well my office colleague is gay, so that's not a hindrance.

KitFox

1:04 PM

It is disappointing that they are not more stereotypically gay, actually. They seem much more like regular people and not so much like pop stars.

Hey, have you seen Norwegian Ninja?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

The "True" story?

KitFox

Yes.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I love this bit of review from imdb

> The short running time will be a relief to almost everybody

RegDwighт

5.1. Hm.

That used to be a stellar score back in the day.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

when the scale was out of 6?

or 5?

KitFox

1:14 PM

If you liked Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, I think you'd like this one.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I haven't seen that either.

RegDwighт

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 it was out of ten, but everyone used it as if it were out of 6, yes.

KitFox

Wahoo! I fit a younger demographic in my liking of the movie!

RegDwighт

Jun 5 at 14:07, by RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

I still remember the times when IMDb was a really nice, really tough crowd. 6.0 was reserved for truly excellent movies.

Jun 5 at 14:07, by RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

Nowadays any movie with JLo in it gets a 7.0.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I never really pay attention to the ratings on imdb

RegDwighт

1:16 PM

And I'm being unnecessarily snarky to Ms Lopez there. She does have a decent movie and a half. Unlike so many others.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

She was in U-Turn, right? I liked that movie. Not so much because of her though.

RegDwighт

U-Turn and The Cell.

In U-Turn she even had a boob shot.

KitFox

Really? I can't believe I don't remember that part.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Yeah I don't remember that either.

KitFox

Probably my brain shut down because of the sweaty Kris Kristofferson.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

1:18 PM

I mean, there were sex scenes

RegDwighт

U-Turn has that peculiar style Oliver Stone went on to use in Natural Born Killers and Any Given Sunday.

dailymotion.com/video/…

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

hm, that's probably nsfw

RegDwighт

Can't check it out myself, my Flash keeps crashing ever since some stupid update.

KitFox

I don't see any boob in that.

RegDwighт

It's JLo. You do have to look hard.

But anyway, my Flash is breaked so I dunno.

Mitch

1:25 PM

Wait, when we're talking about sex, what is it we're really talking about?

Oh. asked and answered. Flash break downs.

RegDwighт

I'm pretty sure it was in a rape scene with Nick Nolte.

KitFox

I thought it was Kris Kristofferson in that movie. Weird.

I think I would have blocked out Nick Nolte too though.

I remembered J Lo as Salma Hayek too. So. Yeah.

RegDwighт

Perhaps you just saw a different movie.

Ben Hur?

KitFox

No. I remembered Sean Penn and the red car.

RegDwighт

Well. These are in Ben Hur as well. Twice.

Just because you don't remember doesn't mean they weren't.

KitFox

1:30 PM

True.

But I can look that shit up.

RegDwighт

Like you look up boobs? That's aiming for moderate success at best.

KitFox

OK, that's a little odd. I just got 5 direct hits from Moldova on my personal blog.

Who do I know in Moldova? Maybe O-Zone is excited that I looked at their video?

RegDwighт

I hear Baader-Meinhof is a popular name in Moldova.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I had to look that up. Now I'm sure I'm going to hear about it again soon.

RegDwighт

He might also be looking for the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon, not being able to track it down because Wikipedia no longer has an article on that term. — RegDwighт Nov 23 '10 at 9:50

KitFox

1:42 PM

sighs Either the first pages of what I write are not very interesting, or people don't understand that they should click the "Next page" link to read more of the story.

RegDwighт

Meanwhile,

0

A: What word describes someone who offers unsolicited advice?

An Asshole! (~: .

Mitch

@RegDwighт The reason given [for deletion] was "Article is created by Zionist cabal to trick Americans into complacency. Also it's a non-notable neologism.."

I like how the 'non-notable neologism' is an afterthought.

@KitFox That's why I don't believe in next pages. I want things like Project Gutenberg, the entire text on one (web) page.

RegDwighт

@Mitch oh right. I forgot about that bit.

As Lermontov once put it, "This would be funny, if only if it weren't so sad".

KitFox

@Mitch I just can't stand it. Some of my stories are 7,500 or so words.

tchrist

@Reg Please protect The Three Maries.

It will save you work in the long run. :(

RegDwighт

1:57 PM

I was about to do that, but I do kind of want to see it bumped to the front page some more.

tchrist

Yeah, ok.

RegDwighт

As long as we deal with the morons in a timely manner.

KitFox

I can't believe I have to wait another hour for lunch. I am so hungry.

tchrist

Why wait? Eat when you’re hungry. If you starve to death first, eating just isn’t as much fun.

RegDwighт

I am exceptionally hungry today as well. And I've been munching all day long.

Warum werde ich nicht satt?

tchrist

1:59 PM

And this morning, I have five new inches of snow to traipse through, over yesterday’s three or four. I think I shan’t be leaving my burrow.

KitFox

@RegDwighт Pretty weird.

RegDwighт

Snow, huh.

We've been having 20+ degrees Centigrade the whole week.

tchrist

That was Monday and Tuesday.

I showed you the pic.

RegDwighт

Some anomaly, a low-pressure area that brought warm air and sunshine and stood forever.

tchrist

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

2:01 PM

We had 20+C yesterday too. It was awesome. Also the only day this week that it hasn't been 10 and raining.

RegDwighт

Precipitation is such a weird word.

tchrist

That’s current.

RegDwighт

I tried to find a weather front map for Europe for last week, in vain. One would think past weather would be exceptionally easy to find.

tchrist

You can see how it likes to snow at night. But yesterday never even hit 32 during the day.

Mitch

@KitFox make sure you end a page in the middle of a sentence, that way they'll look for the 'next' button. Unless you're like me and forget to

RegDwighт

2:05 PM

I can have a map for five days from now, but not one from five days in the past.

Mitch

@RegDwighт It only makes sense, that particular phrasing, when you're talking about planets around other stars that are so close that the molten rock evaporates on the hot side then coalesces and falls on the cooler side as rock-rain.

RegDwighт

@Mitch no wonder the chance is mostly 0%.

Mitch

I guess snow is precipitation though. They get paid by the letter not by the word.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Mitch That's called the lava-cycle. It's the cycle of life! for rock-based life-forms.

Mitch

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 raining cats and dogs is -good- weather.

tchrist

2:07 PM

@RegDwighт Oh, you don’t know the trick then.

In English, we call this foresight.

RegDwighт

@tchrist I never use weather sites. Ever. At all. Not once.

KitFox

Mmm, something smells like bean burritos. I think I want that for lunch.

tchrist

No precog for you.

Mitch

@RegDwighт nobody cares about checking up on them. I want to see if their predictions actually work out the way they say.

RegDwighт

I only started caring about weather in the last couple months, somewhat, what with the tomatoes and dill.

tchrist

2:08 PM

@KitFox Perhaps someone left the bathroom door ajar.

Matt Эллен

@KitFox they all sound the same!!

tchrist

There’s something about being under an eight-inch blanket that puts the kabash on my squash.

KitFox

@MattЭллен Do they? I rather thought so.

I think I could make them different if I really tried.

Matt Эллен

@KitFox I was going to put mine on tumblr, but tumblr is down :(

tchrist

I rescued them before it fell, though.

KitFox

2:09 PM

I can heard my Aussie friend's pronunciation of "marry" quite clearly.

@MattЭллен Wha—? Oh noes!!

Murry.

Maerry.

Maury

Roit, might.

@RegDwighт I listen religiously to the weather every morning. Then I wear what I wear, go outside, and find out 'shit, it's raining'.

tchrist

2:12 PM

envisions what a religious weather forecast would be like

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@MattЭллен They sound the same for me too. Those words are all homophones to/for me

RegDwighт

@Mitch I never carry an umbrella. Actually, worse: I always have an umbrella in my rucksack, but never use it.

If the rain is not strong, it's not worth the effort. And when the rain is strong, there's usually also lots of wind and the umbrella is all but useless.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@RegDwighт If you didn't have the umbrella, it would rain, a lot, all the time.

RegDwighт

No day without a good deed.

KitFox

enjoys the though of Reg with a rucksack

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

2:14 PM

@RegDwighт Can't you tip your umbrella into the wind, to block the rain at an angle?

tchrist

Umbrellas are stupid.

3

RegDwighт

@tchrist bears will eat your offspring from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

here we go!

KitFox

Umbrellas are good for picking up chicks.

tchrist

It was raining hard the other day, and I was so happy to have a proper raincoat on.

RegDwighт

2:15 PM

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 the wind keeps turning it inside out. Or even breaking the spikes.

tchrist

An exactly no one was wearing an umbrella.

Matt Эллен

I like the idea of umbrella, but in practice I always find them unwieldy and dangerous to others

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@RegDwighт Hm, your wind must typically be stronger than mine. Or your umbrellas cheaper.

tchrist

In fact, I rather wished I’d had rainpants and gators on, too.

RegDwighт

@MattЭллен yeah that too. Stupid people stupid can't stupid use stupid umbrellas.

KitFox

2:16 PM

"Hey, there, you looking like you're getting all wet. Want to share my umbrella?"

tchrist

Darwin would not be pleased.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox Followed up with "Let's get you out of these wet clothes"

Matt Эллен

The only type the seem remotely useful are the type that little girls have that come down to their shoulders, so they can't billow out easily

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

My umbrella is my Tilley hat. It's wide enough that it keeps the rain off my face. That's good enough for me, to get from the bus to the workplace.

RegDwighт

I always dreamt of wearing a hat.

Matt Эллен

2:18 PM

like this:

Here's my Mary Merry marry dropbox.com/s/4bay1mfsmlk334d/MaryMerryMarry.mp3

tchrist

@RegDwighт That would be a nightcap if you wore it to bed.

RegDwighт

0

Q: Why is it valid that one person can close a question as too localized?

First I would like to know why it is possible to close a question as "too localized" at all? Is it not enough that the question does not get an answer? Why is it necessary to close it? Every closed question is an act of censorship! Personally I really prefer junk to censorship. To broaden the qu...

discussion close-reasons

Oh my. I have summoned the wrath of Khan.

tchrist

From the depths of Hell he stabs at thee.

cornbread ninja

@Cerberus 27.7!

Matt Эллен

!!

cornbread ninja

2:22 PM

@MattЭллен I've wanted an umbrella like that for years.

Matt Эллен

They sell them, apparently!

Mitch

@Mitch See the Ballad of Shameless Enjambment for a didactic moment on all that. — tchrist 3 mins ago

cornbread ninja

@MattЭллен maybe in jolly old England.

brb bagel

Mitch

now I get it. when I first read it, I didn't know what you were talking about because I pronounced them 'correctly' in my head (without the 't's)

Matt Эллен

@cornbreadninja :D perhaps. I've not seen them in shops. only owned by other people or online.

tchrist

2:24 PM

@Mitch The enjambments gardenpath you into saying the silent t’s.

Matt Эллен

error page explanation is down

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@MattЭллен your dropbox link doesn't work for me

Matt Эллен

oh

nor me :(

tchrist

So does “they oft would soft-”, since it entices you with phantom internal rhyme.

Matt Эллен

what's going on...

the internet is braking before my fingertips

RegDwighт

2:27 PM

@tchrist oh, and "You must be confuising this with kibosh, which is in the dictionary with the meaning to put an end to something." — Urban Dictionary.

tchrist

@RegDwighт That wouldn’t rhyme with squash, now would it?

Matt Эллен

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 I guess the world will be denied my voice until tumblr is back. hohum.

tchrist

Silly mergers.

RegDwighт

@tchrist kibosh wouldn't rhyme with squash? What? Have you fallen victim to the kibosh–merry merger?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@tchrist Do "kabash" and "squash" rhyme for you?

Because they don't for me, while "kibosh" does.

@RegDwighт or the boat-cheese merger

RegDwighт

2:30 PM

I am genuinely interested, though. Which is why I brought it up in the first place. How you get from kibosh to kabash.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@RegDwighт The Urban Dictionary seems to suggest that people use "kabash" in place of "kibosh"

Unless tchrist made up all three of those entries.

Mitch

@tchrist Right, but due to my superior excellence (Not your everyday awesome ness), I didn't fall into your insidious garden trap.

RegDwighт

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 he makes up more on a good day.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

All part of his insidious plan

RegDwighт

0

Q: How to know when to use someone or anyone?

I am trying to write a grammar rule that will be able to identify which is correct when using someone or anyone, and I got confused. I couldn't find any clear way to do this. For instance, Anyone can do it, is totally different from Someone can do it, but since both are pronouns referring to unk...

grammar grammatical-structure some-any

This must be a dupe. But I can't find it.

I've spent the last four minutes searching.

I even created a tag in the process.

Mitch

2:32 PM

@tchrist yeah, that takes actually reading closely and being swayed by subtleties of which I am not only unconscious but totally oblivious... of and to.

Matt Эллен

@RegDwighт the so-many tag!

KitFox

Wow, @Matt, your voice is deeper than I imagined.

You'd make a good book reader.

Matt Эллен

did you download it?

KitFox

I did.

Matt Эллен

excellent! me and Mr S are having troubles

KitFox

2:37 PM

I thought your Mary & Merry were the same, but "marry" sounded a little flatter to me.

Matt Эллен

@KitFox that funny as your voice was higher than I expected!

KitFox

I am rather girlie, I guess.

tchrist

@RegDwighт Kabash like squash has /ɑ/, wheras kibosh like wash has /ɔ/. Those are utterly different phonemes to me. I suppose you could put an /æ/ in kabash as though one were bashing someone, but I do not do that.

Robusto

@RegDwighт Maybe it's not about language. Maybe they just want to know when it's appropriate to use people.

RegDwighт

What about the first syllable? A schwa?

@Robusto for millenia people have been using people without asking first.

tchrist

2:39 PM

Generally, sure. Certainly reduced. Kabash starts with a schwa. Kibosh may start with the roses vowel instead of the Rosa's one.

RegDwighт

I see.

tchrist

But that is nearly the only minimal pair for those, so I think you could just call it a schwa in either case and be fine almost always.

RegDwighт

I had to laugh at your Joseph, @Matt.

Matt Эллен

orly? :D why's that?

RegDwighт

I dunno, but it's a good thing it's not Johnson.

tchrist

2:42 PM

Maybe those who put /æ/ in kabab would put one in kabash. I don't know. They always sound like silly willies to me.

KitFox

It's a very charmingly British "Joseph."

Matt Эллен

thanks!

KitFox

Jozif.

With a long J.

Oh dear.

2:45 PM

I think I was expecting your voice to be more country-like @Kit, not necessarily deeper. You sound not posh exactly, but less rough and ready than I imagine you to be.

KitFox

laughs heartily

tchrist

@KitFox J's can be long?

RegDwighт

Johnsons can.

tchrist

What kind of j's are we talking about? :)

jinx

RegDwighт

I'm sorry to spill the beans to you.

tchrist