ELL's Cabin

MARamezani

12:00

The question would've been a hot question if it was on ELU.

Damkerng T.

@MARamezani I don't follow! :(

MARamezani

@DamkerngT. Click on my profile pic.

Damkerng T.

@MARamezani I guess so! It's still hot enough here on ELL.

MARamezani

@DamkerngT. It ain't burning.

Damkerng T.

@MARamezani LOL

It's hard to get anything burning on ELL.

MARamezani

12:02

Except @Jim's meatloaf.

Woo! @Dam ya remember there was an unclear Q yesterday?

Vote to reopen.

It makes sense now.

Damkerng T.

Wow, that's a heavy edit!

MARamezani

Yeah...

I wonder why they couldn't say things like that in the original revision.

Damkerng T.

I think maybe he is a similar kind of language user I once were.

He needs time to craft his sentences.

MARamezani

@DamkerngT. Practice makes perfect.

Damkerng T.

Hmm... I would say he doesn't need that much practice. Just more self-reviewing.

MARamezani

12:08

Wooohooo! Just earned outspoken in chemistry.

For this message:

in The Periodic Table, yesterday, by MARamezani

@santiago I can't think of a reason. ASK IT! ASK IT! I NOW REALLY WANT TO DOWNVOTE AND FAVORITE THAT QUESTION. WAIT...WHY AM I SHOUTING?

Damkerng T.

Hooray! (why I write this in italics?)

MARamezani

Conclusion: Chemists are weirder than robots.

Damkerng T.

LOL

MARamezani

O0oO0oOO0ooO

109 3

Charming username.

Damkerng T.

Jim must love it!

MARamezani

12:10

@Jim will love this once he sees it.

Interesting:

-3

Q: Learners of English SE site?

What Stack Exchange site should I use to learn English to an advanced level?

support site-recommendation

They're looking for an elevator.

Damkerng T.

Not sure if they had known about ELL before they posted that meta post.

MARamezani

@DamkerngT. There's something named Google.

I guess.

WHOA!

9

Q: Deverbals: is there a rationale which allows deverbing to a noun and using the plural form or is it about usage?

There are nouns which are formed from verbs; deverbals. If I take teaching, running and rambling, I have the strong intuition that the first and last can be used as nouns, whereas I can't really imagine "running" being used as a noun with the plural form i.e. "runnings". I don't exactly know why ...

verb deverbal

WOW!

Nice English!

Damkerng T.

Hehe!

MARamezani

@DamkerngT. For a minute there I thought it's our Pyrex adiabatic water evaporator condensation chamber.

(aka shooting star, CopperKettle)

Damkerng T.

o_O

Oh! I see.

I remember I didn't see "gauge" this morning.

MARamezani

12:18

Your funeral.

Damkerng T.

Maybe I just missed it.

@MARamezani Huh?

MARamezani

49 secs ago, by Damkerng T.

I remember I didn't see "gauge" this morning.

31 secs ago, by MARamezani

Your funeral.

Damkerng T.

I meant "gauge" in the question!

MARamezani

@MARamezani Hmm...Is this gonna ping me?

@DamkerngT. Your funeral.

@MARamezani You're very smart. You're a good guy. I love you. Everyone loves you. You're cooler than the chillers in NIST labs.

Damkerng T.

Anyway, I think their reasoning was a bit confusing.

MARamezani

12:21

@MARamezani No! You are cooler!

Damkerng T.

You're chatting with yourself!

MARamezani

@MARamezani No you!

@MARamezani Let's fight for it.

Freddy

@MARamezani will win i bet

MARamezani

@MARamezani You think you can beat me? I have me right here.

The film bursts into a violent fight:

google.com/…

Damkerng T.

[lemonade] <-- freely available when you're done

MARamezani

12:24

We won autoMARs.

DeceptiMARs retreated.

Freddy

Cummingtonite

Cummingtonite is a metamorphic amphibole with the chemical composition ☐Mg2Mg5Si8O22(OH)2, magnesium iron silicate hydroxide. Monoclinic cummingtonite is compositionally similar and polymorphic with orthorhombic anthophyllite, which is a much more common form of magnesium-rich amphibole, the latter being metastable. Cummingtonite shares few compositional similarities with alkali amphiboles such as arfvedsonite, glaucophane-riebeckite. There is little solubility between these minerals due to different crystal habit and inability of substitution between alkali elements and ferro-magnesian elements...

Damkerng T.

LOL

Freddy

^^ when chemistry and english got together

Damkerng T.

Oh, I thought that was edible for a few seconds!

MARamezani

@Freddy This is the beauty of the nature.

@DamkerngT. It is...

Damkerng T.

12:25

Huh! But it's not cumin!

MARamezani

@DamkerngT. I' say the structure of the word in either one of these:

Cum + ming + ton + ite

Which hardly contributes to the resonance.

Cumming + tonite

This is the dominant structure.

Freddy

No it is cum + ing + to + nite <<-- in English

MARamezani

C + um +min + gto +nite

Damkerng T.

Let's say with tonite, anything could happen!

MARamezani

This doesn't make sense...

+1 for a very interesting question. Off the top of my head I'd guess it's mostly a semantic matter: whether the deverbal sense which evolves accommodates pluralization. For instance, running usually signifies an activity, which is a sort of mass noun; but in the specific meaning of occasions of conducting a horserace we may speak of consecutive or past runnings of the Derby. — StoneyB 13 hours ago

I have nil to say.

Damkerng T.

12:31

Why doesn't it make sense?

user62015

Hi!

Damkerng T.

Welcome back @user62015! I'm glad to hear that you're working on it!

MARamezani

@DamkerngT. The not making sense was for

3 mins ago, by MARamezani

C + um +min + gto +nite

@user62015 Hullo

Damkerng T.

Oh, I see!

MARamezani

Work on everything!

Break it!

On my behalf.

But I won't pay for it.

@DamkerngT. BTW what's it they're working on?

Damkerng T.

12:32

Listening

MARamezani

Good!

I mean nice!

Damkerng T.

@user62015 How is it going?

MARamezani

@DamkerngT. One day I'm gonna ask @snailboat to give me something I can download that has a real conversation of natives going on.

@snailboat I just did.

@JimReynolds Oh so most grammarians think very unique is uniquely wrong?

user62015

What is the difference among these sentences? Do these prepositions make any difference in the sense or they work the same way: 1- I have never believed myself. 2- I have never believed in myself and 3- I have never believed on myself.

@DamkerngT. Thanks. It has been going great since you told me.

MARamezani

Believed on myself? I haven't heard it.

Damkerng T.

12:38

@user62015 Only 1 or 2 works.

MARamezani

It must be wrong.

Damkerng T.

I wonder why I typed 'Only' as 'Oh,'!

MARamezani

@user62015 Believe in yourself means to have confidence.

@DamkerngT. Oh!

Believe yourself sometimes could mean you know you exist.

user62015

So 1 and 2 have any difference in sense or they can be replaced to each other?

MARamezani

So @user I'd say believe in is the better choice.

@user62015 In 1, you can check the dict meanings of believe.

user62015

12:40

I am done.

MARamezani

In 2, you can check the dict meaning(s) of believe in.

user62015

Thanks. I understood.

Damkerng T.

1 is grammatical but weird. If I heard you say 1, I'd assume that it's a mistake of 2.

MARamezani

@DamkerngT. Yes, exactly.

> believe something:

> To know that it exists.

(MAR Dictionary)

Or

> It's true.

user62015

Which one is the better one here? They seem more afraid than I vs they seem more afraid than me.

I choose 'me'.

MARamezani

12:42

Me.

Specifically, than is treated like a prep here.

We had a question about it on ELL.

Damkerng T.

Both are okay, colloquially.

MARamezani

@Dam will link.

user62015

Okay.

Sounds good.

MARamezani

6

Q: "than I" vs. "than me"

Between you and me Suhani is intelligent. Neither he nor his brother can walk faster than me. Whom did you mean to hurt by your unkind remarks except Sita and me? In these sentence book uses me (objective form of I). But I find one more sentence from book which uses I(not me). Your husban...

prepositions pronouns conjunctions coordination case

Damkerng T.

If you want to use than I, I'd recommend using than I am instead.

user62015

12:45

I am reading a novel and there I found them. So I felt odd so came to get some help on them.

I am checking the link.

MARamezani

I'm in the me side.

user62015

It sounds more natural.

MARamezani

@Dam you can't be a pacifist and choose both.

Let's fight! Ready the canons!

Damkerng T.

@MARamezani Too bad, each of my legs is on each side of the pond.

MARamezani

@DamkerngT. Have you disintegrated?

Damkerng T.

12:47

Hmm... Not sure, but I haven't been disassembled yet.

MARamezani

Has an electrophile Bromonium ion attacked you?

Damkerng T.

I'd say we could find people who say "He can walk faster than me" say "He can walk faster than I can" as well, but probably not "He can walk faster than I".

And you can't really say *"He can walk faster than me can".

MARamezani

Noddinationificationism

Jim Reynolds

Nice answer *MAR on tickets!

"The one that makes sense, has the head of the phrase." But one can't "have" the head. One = the head.

Damkerng T.

Now I wonder if that comma is correct.

MARamezani

12:52

@JimReynolds Hmm...

I think I wrote it that way cuz I was influenced by single nouns being called phrases.

@DamkerngT. I don't think it's correct...But I don't think it's incorrect too.

Jim Reynolds

You just need "is" instead of "has."

MARamezani

I'm too lazy.

Jim Reynolds

O.O

MARamezani

Don't look at my going crazy and answering day.

Jim Reynolds

Brian Hitchcock is wrong, I believe.

MARamezani

12:54

No, he's a human.

Jim Reynolds

Those are nouns AND modifiers.

MARamezani

Hmmm?

Has he commented on my post or something?

hAS HE WRITTEN ANOTHER ANSWER?

Jim Reynolds

o.0

MARamezani

Eh.

Caps lock.

Blame Caps lock!

Jim Reynolds

Your yelling has upset me so much, I don't know whom to blame.

And I don't know whom is blaming me.

Damkerng T.

12:58

@JimReynolds Don't worry. I think most learners know that we shouldn't take grammatical assertions made by average native speakers seriously.

MARamezani

@DamkerngT. Do they?

Jim Reynolds

:-)

Damkerng T.

@MARamezani Or so I hope!

MARamezani

Guys this is interesting!

7

Q: Why do we squint when tasting very sour things?

Sometimes while tasting a very sour thing (like tamarind, lemon etc.) our eyes squint immediately and involuntarily for a second, but a little later becomes normal again. Why, and how, does this reflexive movement occur?

homework sensation reflexes

Jim Reynolds

@user62015 Do you have more context for "I never believed myself."?

Damkerng T.

13:05

I guess it's a kind of reflex; it's possibly a kind that is possible to counter.

MARamezani

Oh! The also-additionally question got a superficial answer. :(

2

Q: Usercases for 'in addition' vs 'also'

Today, also representing nations and other political entities, flags are used to represent youth groups, athletic competitions, and international bodies. In this sentence the use of 'also' should be replaced by 'in addition to'. Is the choice based on 'ear approach' or are there specific...

sentence-construction idioms phrase

Damkerng T.

(Like boxers who must train themselves to keep their eyes open, no matter what.)

Jim Reynolds

It would not be so common, but it would probably mean, "I always said that I was going to start exercising, but I never believed myself."

MARamezani

Hmm could be.

-1

Q: cleverness and formal saying question

I want to say because of Maryland university I thought you live there, but I want to say in a cleverness and also formal form. How should I say this sentence: I thought you are in Maryland :D

phrase-request

Jim Reynolds

Oh ... it's "I have never believed myself."

I've always said that money isn't important. But I have never believed myself.

MARamezani

13:08

Even if the question gets a good answer, the guy would say where did you copy that phrase from?

Damkerng T.

@MARamezani :D

MARamezani

@JimReynolds I've always told the police that you didn't kill those 714 children, but I've never believed myself.

o.o

Damkerng T.

English skills are very hard to fake. Some people say they can tell right away at "Hello!".

MARamezani

Hullo!

Jim Reynolds

How can I cleverly say, "Because he's in Iran, I thought @MAR's main problem might be that his turban is wound up too tight."

Damkerng T.

13:10

LOL

MARamezani

Now did they tell right away?

@JimReynolds Normal people don't do turbans here, but yeah...

Jim Reynolds

Key word: normal.

MARamezani

Keyword: Key word

Jim Reynolds

Why you little . . . !

Damkerng T.

That's the very key, um, word.

Jim Reynolds

13:13

Key keyword.

MARamezani

Why you very large . . .!

Damkerng T.

@MARamezani Too many Big Macs?

:P

MARamezani

@DamkerngT. No thank you. I'll hang to Windows.

Damkerng T.

LOL

@MARamezani Also, everyone seems to overlook the fact that the OP was trying to use "in addition to", not "in addition".

MARamezani

Yes. And it's kinda the OP's fault.

Damkerng T.

13:27

Maybe I should've split the puzzle into two. Nobody tried what she said. :-)

-1

Q: Either [name of a person] or [second person] followed by a singular or a plural verb?

In the sentence: Either Don or you is going to lead the class discussion on Tuesday I believe that it will be you are rather than you is for the verb must agree with the noun/pronoun closest to it, right? However, in my book, the answer says that the original sentence is correct. What am I ...

verb subject-verb-agreement subject

Book English vs. real-world English!

The Japanese is 花より団子 ("hana yori dango"). — snailboat Mar 6 '13 at 9:43

Hey, I've watched a few episodes of it!

@user62015 In case you might want to evaluate your listening skill level, try transcribing this clip (it's about 80-90 words long): pd.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/me/2014/01/…

user62015

@DamkerngT. I will do it.

Thanks.

But it is in English?

Damkerng T.

13:43

Yes, it's in American English.

user62015

You said, I should listen to other languages.

MARamezani

@user62015 That's a nice question!

user62015

@MARamezani Thanks!

Damkerng T.

@user62015 Only as the first step. It's time for English now! :-)

user62015

@DamkerngT. Thanks. I watch many Hollywood movies.

Damkerng T.

13:44

Good! How do you watch them?

MARamezani

@DamkerngT. Like a human?

Damkerng T.

@MARamezani Umm...

user62015

And I also worked in many international call centers. Where I had to talk to Americans and British people.

MARamezani

i.e. with mouths open.

Damkerng T.

@user62015 Oh, that's really good!

MARamezani

13:45

@DamkerngT. I know I know. I meant this was his answer. I know that I'm not...

user62015

@MARamezani I only watch that kind of scenes with the open mouth.

MARamezani

that huh?

user62015

@DamkerngT. Thanks.

@MARamezani And after sometime I close my mouth when scenes get over!!!

MARamezani

@user62015 Squinting Whaddya gain in the process?

user62015

@MARamezani Was it right? 'that kind of scenes'

Or it should have been 'those kinds of scenes'

Damkerng T.

13:48

This is where Jim should jump in, but I'd say "that kind of scene" is much safer.

MARamezani

@user62015 Hmm...

user62015

@DamkerngT. I agree!

Damkerng T.

How long did you use to work in international centers?

user62015

I think for a few months.

But I was in the calling process so I used to talk a lot.

Damkerng T.

A few months is great!

user62015

13:51

Thanks.

I can understand any accent in English.

I am used to watching videos on Youtube etc.

My accent is also fine. People could understand me easily.

Damkerng T.

Well, that's great. I think you will do fine on transcribing.

MARamezani

@user62015 I can't understand you. Please be clearer. Thank you.

user62015

@MARamezani Could you please let me know which part you cannot understand?

I would love to explain it to you.

MARamezani

Whoa whoa! I was just messing! It was a joke!

user62015

@MARamezani But just the talking not the scenes..........just joking.

@MARamezani Me too!!!!!!!

MARamezani

13:55

@user62015 I can't understand you. Please be clearer. Thank you.

user62015

@MARamezani Could you please paste the text here which you cannot understand?

MARamezani

@user62015 OK. Here:

> Could you please paste the text here which you cannot understand?

user62015

@MARamezani My some customers used to say this line in the beginning but after sometime I got used to me.

and they would understand me perfectly.........

MARamezani

@user62015 Here we always fool call center operators.

user62015

@MARamezani Hahahaha........I knew that!

@MARamezani Which part of the word you come from?

Gowtham

13:58

how do you deal with the odd timings of call center job

MARamezani

@Gowtham I remember that psycho thingie:

> Let them handle themselves....

@user62015 Word? You mean world?

user62015

@MARamezani Yes. Sorry. It was a typo mistake.

@Gowtham Hi! Are you asking me?

Gowtham

@MARamezani sorry i dont follow you ,

MARamezani

@user62015 Typo itself means some kind of a mistake. So, typo mistake is hypercorrection or whatever Snailorians call it.

Gowtham

@user62015 Hi , yes

user62015

14:01

@MARamezani Okay.

@MARamezani So I should say: It was a typo?

MARamezani

@Gowtham Psycho thingie in my language means: Psychological Quote.

@user62015 Yep!

@Dan you here?

user62015

@Gowtham I am from India so I used to work in night shift and I was doing graduation so earning some money while studying but it was a great exp.

MARamezani

What is typo mistake called?

Gowtham

@user62015 I am from India too :P

user62015

@Gowtham Which part of it?

Gowtham

14:04

@user62015 Tamilnadu

MARamezani

@user62015 The I. :P

user62015

@Gowtham Okay. Sounds great.

Gowtham

@MARamezani could be tautology or pleonasm , not sure

MARamezani

@Gowtham NO SWEARING!!!

Anonymous

15:20

Me? I'd say typo mistake is just a little bit redundant

Anonymous

See, the original typo comes from typographical error

Anonymous

And the shorter word has the "error" sense all on its own

Anonymous

So most people don't say typo mistake

Anonymous

Not that it's ungrammatical or anything! It's just not very common

Anonymous

In fact, the -o at the end has been reinterpreted as a word ending meaning something like "error"

Anonymous

15:24

Which we can see in words formed by analogy such as thinko and braino

Anonymous

Others have been used, I think quite infrequently, like speako and moutho

Anonymous

All of these derivations should be considered relatively informal and probably nonstandard as well

Anonymous

But they help to illustrate how typo is taken as a complete unit

Damkerng T.

@DamkerngT. information-rich! Why not write an answer? — Juya 6 mins ago

Maybe I should!

Damkerng T.

16:10

0

Q: Correct use of the word THROUGH

I always had a doubt using the word through; basically I would like to say this sentence: Thanks Alex for all the money saved through your tips. Is the use of the word through correct in this sentence? NOTE: I want to keep the sentence unchanged; if there's anything to be corrected, it must on...

grammar synonyms

It's a preposition!

> OP's: Thanks Alex for all the money saved through your tips.

Hmm...

Is it tips or trips?

If it's tips I think Man_From_India's suggestion is good.

Transcript for