ELL's Cabin

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Catija

00:57

@DamkerngT. I can't talk in there.

Damkerng T.

@Catija I've added you to the access list already.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@Catija Refresh!

Damkerng T.

Maybe it was the system's glitch.

4 hours later…

Jim Reynolds

05:23

@Cat Hi.

A: Sentence correction- Adverb

Your sentence should read: Despite knowing full well the negative consequences of our impatience, why are (so) many of us are impatient? In a question, the "are" changes its position. Also, the use of "so" in this kind of expression, while not necessary, is common and natural. As for "know...

Damkerng T.

Hi! (not Cat, though) :P

Jim Reynolds

I ask this in earnest: Why do we need to know whether the OP wrote it or where they encountered it?

Why impose a burden on someone who's asking a completely answerable question?

Hi Dam!

Damkerng T.

BTW, I don't know if you knew about the other room. I haven't invited you there yet because I wasn't sure if you want to spend more chatting time there.

Jim Reynolds

And same question to @sna Was it negligent of the OP not to supply the source of the text being asked about?

Anonymous

05:49

OPs should always tell us where their text is from.

Anonymous

On Japanese.SE, they do so even less often than on ELL . . .

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

08:31

Hey @Jims I got the same quiz result as you. I'm a colon.

Jim Reynolds

09:24

@sna Why? Why necessarily? In the instant case, for example. If the OP wrote it, or found it in x publication, illustrate for me how such additional information would help anyone answer the question.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@JimReynolds To abide by the MAR maxims.

Maxim of relevance:

> Be irrelevant.

Jim Reynolds

If I ask if Whose coming to dinner? is correct, you need to ask me additional questions instead of just helping me out with an answer?

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Yes.

Jim Reynolds

Drops MAR down a 47 story elevator shaft.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Flies

Anonymous

09:36

Time flies like a banana. Boats fly like a snail.

Anonymous

@JimReynolds It doesn't always help.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@snailboat - Boatsnail

Anonymous

But it can help, and askers tend to leave out in cases where it would be necessary because they don't realize it could help.

Damkerng T.

@snailboat Bolts fly like a bot. ;-)

Anonymous

In my experience, askers in general are very bad at gauging whether the context is necessary to answer a question or not.

Anonymous

09:38

In cases where it can be answered without that context, then the question doesn't need to be closed.

Anonymous

But the asker should always include the context anyway.

Anonymous

They might think it's irrelevant, and they might be right, but they might be wrong.

Damkerng T.

@JimReynolds Suddenly, I can think of a context that makes it correct.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@DamkerngT. He'll throw you down a 47000-story elevator shaft.

Damkerng T.

Y'know, many Transformers can fly. :P

Jim Reynolds

10:02

A question may or may not need context, but the aaker should always include it anyway. In those cases where it's not needed, why shouldit be included?

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@JimReynolds It usually isn't asked for if not needed.

Anonymous

@JimReynolds Because the asker can't trust themselves to know whether it's helpful.

Anonymous

Besides, context is helpful in probably 90%+ of cases.

Anonymous

A question can be fine without context.

Anonymous

But generally, most questions that aren't improved by context are poor questions to begin with.

Anonymous

10:08

Anyway, it's annoying as an asker seeing questions all day that would be improved by context.

Anonymous

I don't really care if people don't want to include context because they don't think they need to. They're usually wrong.

Anonymous

That said, I don't usually vote to close questions that would be improved by context (which is most of them). Only questions that absolutely need it.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Being wrong is fun.

Anonymous

But this site is definitely significantly worse off, and so is Japanese.SE, because most people don't bother to include context.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Which is also partially the reason I don't really answer stuff a lot in there.

They're either crappy, or too easy, or meh.

A good question hardly comes in anymore.

Anonymous

10:13

I could answer almost all the questions on ELL in theory, but writing good answers takes effort, and I'm lazy and don't do enough research.

Anonymous

Plus, I'm not really good at the whole answer writing thing in the first place.

Anonymous

I write a lot of answers that aren't really that great :-(

Anonymous

I should go back and improve some of my old ones.

Damkerng T.

@snailboat The voters say the opposite. :-)

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Me too. Pats @snail, boat, and himself

Damkerng T.

10:17

I wonder if I have ever commented something like "You should add this or that to your answer."

I think if I'd ever done that, it must've been really rare.

If an answer is correct, I think I'm generally okay with it.

"Better is the enemy of good," they say.

Anonymous

10:35

@DamkerngT. Sometimes I feel guilty when I write an answer I don't think is very good and it gets upvotes anyway.

Anonymous

I think, "Maybe I should try to work on that answer . . . "

Damkerng T.

That happened to me sometimes too. Than, I'd think, what's done is done.

Anonymous

True.

Damkerng T.

Let's try better next time!

2 hours later…

user116848

12:32

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M Thanks dude!

Damkerng T.

18:23

I concur with @TBridges42. Far too many folks post answers in comments and make it incredibly difficult to find the questions that are actually answerless. — Omnidisciplinarianist 2 days ago

But, but, but my comments are usually short!

And the long ones of mine aren't really answers, imho.

2 hours later…

Damkerng T.

20:13

-1

A: "Dare to be dull"

Ouse ser burro! Atreva-se a ser idiota!

Hmm... to delete or to flag?

I've already flagged it, but others opted to delete.

Maybe I should click to delete it too.

A-ha! It's confirmed: we need only 3 votes to delete.

Catija

20:45

Sometimes "unofficial" sources like the Urban Dictionary can be used, too. — J.R. ♦ yesterday

I'm not sure that I implied that only "official" sources were allowed.

Damkerng T.

I remember that I used UD once and got several downvotes. Not sure if it was on ELL or ELU.

Catija

@DamkerngT. Interesting. I don't have an issue with it... Most dictionaries don't list slang usages and people on ELL often ask about the slang usage.

Damkerng T.

Indeed!

2 hours later…

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

23:06

@DamkerngT. burro means donkey, and idiota means . . . well, so I flagged it as rude.

@Omni in fact, the SE solution for comment-answers is to post answers and steal the comments' information. — inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M 4 hours ago

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