ELL's Cabin

Anonymous

00:00

> John suggested [ helping Jane with the washing-up ].

Anonymous

The non-finite clause helping Jane with the washing-up doesn't have an explicit subject. One can be inferred from context, but there's no context here.

Anonymous

So the question is natural. Who did he suggest it to?

Anonymous

I think JR's right that it could be John suggesting that he himself help Jane, but that interpretation didn't occur to me right away and seems rather awkward...

Anonymous

And Jane doesn't make sense.

Anonymous

So I'd assume it was a third party.

Anonymous

00:01

Or, possibly, John and a third party together.

Damkerng T.

nods -- Which sounds like a different thing from the direct speech version.

Anonymous

They're definitely not equivalents.

Anonymous

C is the wrong answer, because there's a clearly better alternative.

jimsug

@snailboat The matrix clause controls the subject of the embedded clause.

So in this case, John suggested [[John] helping Jane with the washing up]

@snailboat But, yes. It is the wrong answer because there is a better one.

That doesn't require that kind of mental contortion.

Hmm.

Actually, that doesn't seem right now that I'm verbalising it...

No, it does.

Wait. No. Yes. Damn it.

Damkerng T.

LOL

If @inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M was here, he would say, "Make up your mind!". :D

jimsug

00:10

I want to see it as correct because I'm rather permissive, but... yeah, it is just shy I think.

@DamkerngT. idk, I don't think my mind is something I make up on matters such as this.

Damkerng T.

For me, it could work, but very awkwardly.

jimsug

awkwardly*

ftfy

Damkerng T.

Oh, my fingers!

Anonymous

No, I don't think John is the understood subject of the subordinate clause.

jimsug

It doesn't need a subject.

As a sentence, it's fine.

Anonymous

00:12

That doesn't fit with the range of interpretations I think are available.

jimsug

But it isn't closest in meaning to the direct quote.

It's more like

> John suggested [[someone] helping Jane with the washing up]

:/

The only way it works is in an exchange like:

> Tim asked what they could do.

> John suggested helping Jane with the washing up.

But then you have to resolve the "they" :D

Anonymous

Yeah, that works. (Assuming there's more context.)

Damkerng T.

The question sounds like it uses a classroom context, imho.

> Class, what did John do?

> ?John suggested helping Jane with the washing-up.

jimsug

Nah, something at home.

Oh right.

... yes? Maybe? Like some kind of comprehension exercise?

Damkerng T.

nods -- That's how I took it.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

12:59

Pah, no one's here. Shivers

Damkerng T.

pats MAR...

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Damkerng T.

pats the Minion...

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Meta.SE Q of the day:

12

Q: Why did the SE image uploader change the colors in this image?

Take a look at this image on nasa.gov. The text in the image is yellow, the flight paths are white, and Neptune's orbit is green. When I try to use the SE image uploader to include the image in a question, the colors change, as you can see here: The text has turned green, the flight paths ar...

BTW @Harry I have some problems with the \newenvironment. mind helping me out when you enter the room?

Damkerng T.

13:17

Oh, it's the same on Firefox!

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

I love bugs.

o/ @user!

Thanks God we have one user to call like that.

Damkerng T.

I think I can guess what happened.

SE seems to strip out the EXIF information, including the ICC profile, out of the image when we upload an image.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

What happened?

Oh!

@Dam go write an answer now!

Damkerng T.

It's still just a guess, but it looks like so.

No ICC profile, no correct color space.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Wow! Then they say spammers are idiots. . .@Dam take a look at this answer:

45

A: Failed a tricky review question, not sure how to proceed

That's spam. I flagged it, and I destroyed that user. This is related to this other review case. When reviewing, you need to read the entire answer, not just the first few paragraphs. An answer by a brand new user that contains a paragraph like: If still it does make your database accessible...

And this:

Yup, it's part of a coordinated campaign to spam file recovery tools to Stack Overflow, Super User, Server Fault, and other sites on the network: meta.stackoverflow.com/a/269868/19679 . They've been getting progressively more creative with their spam, now seeding questions with one account and answering with another. The real problem is that reviewers are usually approving their spam now, so I have to sweep through every few days and remove the spam that made it through. — Brad Larson Oct 4 '14 at 21:34

Damkerng T.

13:30

Not sure about mentioning a third-party product when there is a conflict of interest.

I remember vaguely that it's not completely, strictly forbidden, though it should be avoided.

It may be allowed when it's helpful for the question/OP.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Not when they say

Damkerng T.

That's the way I can remember the guideline.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

> So if you still can't get this right, try X. It's good and helpful and solved my problemz in two milliseconds and is effectively trying to help protect your privacy.

Damkerng T.

That's very gray...

... going black.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Shady.

Damkerng T.

13:34

Very

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Let me say a no one and shiver. Shivers

Damkerng T.

:D

Oh, got an idea about that picture...

Hee... It works!

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

I'm totally not going to say what did you do?.

Damkerng T.

I'm totally not going to tell you that I worked around the problem by saving it as PNG first. :P

What I'm still not sure is what part of the information will be missing if we upload a JPEG file.

Probably the EXIF part, rather than the ICC part.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Hehe my little brother keeps finding bugs about the game he plays.

xckd of the day:

Damkerng T.

13:47

:D

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

I must be a computer God now.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

14:00

o/ @Jim!

I mean @JimR!

Damkerng T.

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M I posted my first Meta.SE post! meta.stackexchange.com/a/261001/288919

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

16:20

@DamkerngT. omg OMG OMG!

Damkerng T.

Imgur strips out the EXIF data on purpose. EXIF data may contain GPS data, and people might not want others to know where they are located. — pacoverflow 1 min ago

Makes sense.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Whatevs.

@Dam but a note: Meta.SE is the most likely place to get random downvotes.

Damkerng T.

nods

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

And here's something to read if you feel bored:

159

Q: Stack Exchange Glossary - Dictionary of Commonly-Used Terms

What are the common phrases, words, abbreviations that are used on Stack Overflow, Server Fault, Super User, Meta Stack Overflow, and the other Stack Exchange sites? This is meant to be a very quick overview, not an in-depth tutorial. When considering whether a term ought to be included, please ...

support faq glossary

Also, meta.SE is the easiest place to get the pundit badge.

Also, meta.SE is a real flag heaven; you can get deputy very easily simply by leaving a tab open and looking for when a new question appears.

Damkerng T.

How can one get it? (I kinda can't remember it. :P)

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M Hah!

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

16:33

@DamkerngT. 10 comments with at least a score of five.

Damkerng T.

A-ha!

Thanks!

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@DamkerngT. BROTHER PRINTER SOFWARE HALP AND SUPPURT - CALL ->>>>>>#####1-555-5245#####

Or most recently, it has been

How to body a strong?

And people totally thing it's legit.

Damkerng T.

o_O

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

But they have one thing in common: They all end with a link; and they aren't as smart as the spammers on SO.

@DamkerngT. One of the messages above your confused face is sarcastic; and the most recent spam is about body-building.

Damkerng T.

I guess they write it that way on purpose.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

16:39

Yes, they want it to look legit.

So that the reader will at least read before flagging and moving on.

Also with a lot of markov chains - reminds me of

meta.stackexchange.com/questions/210448/…

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