ELL's Cabin

tchrist

01:11

No mods.

I'm sure they'll see the flags soon enough without being pinged. But that crap is really nasty.

Catija

@tchrist Indeed... you're talking about inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M's doppelganger, yes?

tchrist

Aye.

We could delete it ourselves with offensive flags, but I already customed it.

Catija

Well, J.R's got to sleep at some point. :P Maybe we should consider where are mods are in various parts of the world, so there's a higher likelihood one will be around.

@tchrist Two of them are deleted, one is waiting on a couple of votes, but close.

tchrist

One does try that, when there enough possible mods.

Catija

@tchrist It's challenging with only three. How are you all spread out?

tchrist

01:16

One in Portugal, one in Colorado, one um Germany or Japan? I forget.

I wonder if he's question-banned yet.

Catija

@tchrist That's not too bad, really... I'm not actually sure where half of the nominees are. :D

tchrist

We can get the Tavern to offend it to death if we'd like.

But with two deleted and one closed, he might be question-blocked. I actually don't know the parameters on that one.

It probably takes more than that.

What's JR's TZ?

Catija

@tchrist his profile says "US"... so something between Eastern and Pacific... what is that... it's 4-7 but I can never remember... I think it's -4 for eastern and -7 for pacific.

@tchrist But he can always make another account if he wants... right? There's no IP ban unless SE goes and does it manually?

tchrist

Ok, that one's gone.

The United States technically has 10 timezones.

@Catija He probably will, yes. It depends on, stuff.

Catija

@tchrist Oh, that's true... I always forget about Alaska and Hawaii... and all of the odd ones in the middle.

tchrist

01:23

No, where's my list darn it.

Catija

He was "last seen" 20 minutes ago... so he's been around, clearly.

tchrist

    my @zones = qw(
                UTC
         Canada/Newfoundland
         Canada/Atlantic
        America/Puerto_Rico
             US/Eastern
             US/Central
             US/Mountain
                Navajo
             US/Arizona
             US/Pacific
             US/Alaska
             US/Aleutian
             US/Hawaii
             US/Samoa
    );

Catija

Like... Arizona is an odd one... and there's a couple of other half-hour ones... and some of the reservations don't do DST... and so do some parts of states.

tchrist

@Catija Which he?

JR?

Catija

@tchrist J.R.

tchrist

01:24

I can ping him but I'm sure he's aware.

Actually, anybody can ping him.

Catija

Yeah, I'm certain he is. I'm not worried about it now.

But you have the magic ping. And access to the secret chat space.

tchrist

There is that.

@J.R. I'm assuming you have the interloper in hand. Good luck with that, and everything.

Ok yup. I, infer, that he does.

Catija

I'm going to dinner. Hopefully the world of ELL won't explode while I'm gone.

tchrist

@Catija Arizona is always MST except for Navajo.

Catija

@tchrist Yeah, all my flags just got marked helpful.

tchrist

01:27

Exactly.

User is no more.

Damkerng T.

03:37

1

Q: Use past tense or past perfect?

How would I rephrase the sentence below into past tense? I'm writing a story in past tense (e.g. she came, he said, they kissed). Present tense: z) "It was beautiful there, it is beautiful here." Past tense: a) "It ??? beautiful there, it was beautiful here." b) "It was beautiful the...

I think we need a better answer.

Though we may need a clearer context as well.

A skillful answerer may answer it without any specific context, I believe, but that would be a bit beyond me.

Hello, @MrTheWalrus!

MrTheWalrus

Hello!

Damkerng T.

Long time no see!

MrTheWalrus

Indeed. I've been busy, and the interface here makes it surprisingly easy to forget there are chat rooms. I still come by and answer questions periodically, though.

Damkerng T.

Yes, I think I saw them sometimes. :D

4

Q: "came" or "comes" in the "when" block of the future perfect continuous in the past

In some Russian book about the English grammar I have read the example of the sentence for the future perfect continuous in the past: I said that I should have been writing a letter for an hour when he came. In my opinion the word "comes" must be instead of "came" at this case. But another...

grammar tense

Another example of delicacy of tenses.

MrTheWalrus

03:57

I'm often at a loss to explain them - I can say 'this one sounds right'. And it will almost always be right. But I won't know the terminology to explain why.

Damkerng T.

in Language Overflow, 22 secs ago, by Damkerng T.

I can't come up with a good example where I said that I should have been writing a letter for an hour when he came. sounds right.

I may be able to explain it, but I'm not very sure whether my assertion is correct.

Ah, sorry! I meant ... when he comes.

in Language Overflow, 1 min ago, by Damkerng T.

I can't come up with a good example where I said that I should have been writing a letter for an hour when he comes. sounds right.

Hmm... maybe in a very strange context, like he comes every day or very often and every time he comes, instead of writing a letter for an hour, I usually do something else, and this is what happened so far.

> "What did you say?"
"I said that I should have been writing a letter for an hour when he comes."

Does that really work?

MrTheWalrus

I think so. I'm still turning it over in my head. It's easier to think about if I drop the 'I said that'.

Ok, here's a situation where it works, sort of. Suppose the speaker is telling the story of their day, using the present tense: "I plan to spend the morning writing a letter. I sit down, and am immediately distracted. I get a cup of coffee. I drink it. Time passes. I should have been writing the letter for an hour when he comes. I go to the door to greet him."

Later on, someone asks the speaker to repeat what they said earlier, and then they have the exchange you provided. It seems very contrived, though.

Damkerng T.

04:13

nods -- I think the example sentence sounds a bit contrived and quite ambiguous anyway.

For one thing, it's not very clear what part when he came/comes is related to.

For another, I think I said that I must have been writing a letter for an hour when he came is probably better.

MrTheWalrus

I don't know whether it's more accurate, but it certainly makes more sense.

Anonymous

04:52

room topic changed to ELL's Cabin: This is the main chat room for ELL. Welcome! (no tags)

Damkerng T.

I'd just like to know there's a difference in meaning so I can say anything I want. I'm sorry If I sounded like I want it to be rephrased. TT — jihoon 1 min ago

Aww

There is definitely a difference, but it's probably not that much. Now I don't know how to help jihoon.

I can see two problems tangle with each other.

One is the pattern itself: "Many things <verb> in <topic>."

The other is the verb. I think there is a class of verb that allows us to do this without having to change the verb or passivize it.

We may need to pick a different verb in the rephrased version if the verb is not in this class. (I have no clear idea about this class of verb.)

> The black op caught 5 suspects.

> Many suspects were caught in/by the black op.

MrTheWalrus

The only real distinction I can come up with has to do with 'number of things <that have verbed>' vs. 'total amount of <verb> happening'. If a thing changed a great deal but in only one way, you might say the first but not the second.

Damkerng T.

Huh? Special program on TV! -- (That's not a good sign.)

MrTheWalrus

(and by 'first' I mean the form that comes first in the question)

Damkerng T.

nods

(Phew! It's just a progress report (on TV).)

Damkerng T.

05:22

0

Q: The difference between 'rating' and 'rated'

In order to improve your chess skill, you need to play it with the higher 'rating' or 'rated' players more often. Which one is correct? Thank you!

word-choice

Hmm... that's an interesting voting pattern...

Damkerng T.

08:34

-3

Q: Is there a specific term for black chav people in the UK

Is there a specific term for black chav people in the UK I am planning on visiting the UK, I heard the term chav, which is kind of offensive word, but I was just wondering if there is a specific term for black chav people in the UK.I ask that because sometimes some people teach me bad offensive...

word-request

Questions with negative things are trending on ELL!

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

09:00

@DamkerngT. Trolls are trending on ELL.

@Cat that's your imposter.

Catija

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M Are you sure?

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

No, I'm inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M. Nice to meet you.

Jude Niroshan

Hi. Good afternoon everybody

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

\o

Catija

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M ... if I knew how to make a "peeved" face, I would.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

09:02

ಠ_ಠ

Like that?

Damkerng T.

@JudeNiroshan Hello!

Catija

Right now I'm peeved because I got a downvote on an answer... and I don't understand why.

But I don't want to post it because I don't want people thinking that I'm asking for votes.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

BTW @Cat something tells me it'd be more obvious if their question gets closed; keep an eye on comments . . .

Jude Niroshan

@DamkerngT. how are you? It is a tragedy that my office network administrators had blocked SE sites. That's why i could come here for several days. Today i didn't go to office.

Damkerng T.

I've heard that. Sorry about your situation.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

09:05

@JudeNiroshan It's a tragedy on ELL too.

Damkerng T.

@JudeNiroshan On the bright side, you have more time to work. :P

Jude Niroshan

@DamkerngT. lot to work, less to learn

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

BTW guys I'm astonished by how many people have voted.

@Jude don't forget to vote!

Damkerng T.

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M Huh? Is there a stat for that?

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

ell.stackexchange.com/help/badges/81/constituent

Damkerng T.

09:06

Oh, I see!

Jude Niroshan

can i have the link?. Ok; i got it

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

13 hours ago, by inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Good people! The election started. Cast your votes! Please.

Damkerng T.

Hey, Nico voted too!

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Who's that?

@Snail voted too. In the beginning of the election actually.

Damkerng T.

Another chat regular. A medical doctor from Spain, working in the UK.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

09:08

Kiam also voted.

Jude Niroshan

I'm sorry, I don't have 150 rep. :9 So, I can't vote this time

Damkerng T.

I thought most people would wait until they read answers first.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@DamkerngT. ? I haven't met them. Sad

@DamkerngT. @Stoney does, but it doesn't really matter, since you can change your votes any time you want during the election.

Jude Niroshan

I'm happy to see @inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M had decided to be present on that list.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

For instance, when you find out that I'm a total lunatic. O.o

Damkerng T.

09:09

o_O

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@JudeNiroshan There's not much hope for me though, especially since this troll is faking me.

Jude Niroshan

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M " especially since this troll is faking me." o.O what do you mean?

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@JudeNiroshan Someone's making different accounts named "inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M" and insults me and my country in disguise of an ELL question.

Ooooh Ben also voted.

Jude Niroshan

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M why don't you report this ?

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Everyone's reporting this.

Damkerng T.

09:12

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M Yep!

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

J.R. has deleted three accounts and three questions up to now.

Damkerng T.

Okay, I cast my ballot.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

YAY!

Too bad I'm too busy today to write an answer to the questionnaire.

I'll be saying bye bye in 15 minutes.

Damkerng T.

You have only three days, I think.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Answering it is optional IIRC.

Damkerng T.

09:16

Ah! (just saw this in the election room)

8

A: Policy for coarse language in posts

This was fought out on ELU back in the summer of '11, mostly between the mods and the SE Powers-That-Be. (Before my time, but it's fascinating to go back and read the discussions on Meta there, sort of like Classical tragedy where all the real action takes place off stage!) The accommodation eve...

Catija

09:38

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M It's sort of scary that there are so many users I've never "met" who have voted already... That's a lot of users... Movies & TV only had 166 votes total and we have 153 already and it's not even been 24 hours.

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M Sure... and I'd bet most people don't read it, either.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@Catija Total election votes on chem are 61; ELL has doubled that in half a day.

Catija

Wow... guess we have a big user base.

Damkerng T.

More of less active members (at least in questions/answers/comments) showed up more than I expected.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Indeed.

Damkerng T.

Though I can remember most of them.

I really don't want my speculation turns out to be correct another time.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

09:44

Then don't speculate sheesh.

Damkerng T.

> (in Optimus Prime's voice): I am ELL Robot, and this message is to my ELL fellows. Your votes are important. I trust that you will vote wisely, and hope that our beloved ELL will remain a nice and useful place as it always was and still is.

jimsug

10:17

@Catija the doppelganger has been deleted.

destroyed, even.

Damkerng T.

11:07

0

Q: Is there is word we can refer to all minorities like blacks, hispanisc,asians,gays, muslims,iranians

Is there is word we can refer to all minorities like black, hispanic,asian,gays, muslims,iranians Is there any word I can use in my essays, when I want to refer to all minorities in the USA which doesn't offend anybody?

word-request

Another one?

jimsug

11:37

Most likely.

Rafael Telles

13:01

Hi! What does ELL stand for?

jimsug

@RafaelTelles English Language Learners :)

Welcome!

Damkerng T.

^That!

Argh! I never type fast enough. :-)

Rafael Telles

13:21

Thanks!

I've been in a English course since a long time ago, but I feel I have to practice a lot, because it's rare to have a English talk here

Damkerng T.

nods -- Do you use English at work?

Rafael Telles

I'm only studying now

I just use English at the computer

Damkerng T.

Ah, I see.

ASR

Hi friends, good evening.

Damkerng T.

This chat room is a nice place to hang out and "type" things in English. :P

Rafael Telles

13:25

Hi. Good morning from Brazil!

Damkerng T.

Hello, ASR!

Rafael Telles

I see! xD

Where are you from?

ASR

please correct this sentence:

Hi Vijay!, Please check your email in june 11th you can find the functionalities of PTO

Damkerng T.

@ASR It's on.

But even with on, I'm still not sure what you meant in that message.

ASR

ok, remaining all are correct?

Rafael Telles

13:27

hmm

I think there should be a preposition (?) between "11th" and "you"

I don't know xD

Damkerng T.

Oh, maybe "Please check my email sent to you on June 11th for the functionality of PTO."

ASR

@DamkerngT. thank you :)

Damkerng T.

Welcome!

Rafael Telles

that sounds better :)

where are you from, guys?

Damkerng T.

I'm from Bangkok, Thailand!

(Saying that makes me feel like I'm a Miss Universe contestant again. :P)

Rafael Telles

13:30

Again?

o.o

You have been a Miss Universe contestant?

Damkerng T.

"Where are you from?" is quite a popular question in this chat room. :D

ASR

@RafaelTelles I am from India.

Damkerng T.

When someone asked me that in this chat room, I'd reply "I'm from Bangkok, Thailand."

And somehow that reminds me of those Miss Universe contestants. :P

Rafael Telles

Oh, haha

I misunderstood :)

Damkerng T.

No worries! :D

Rafael Telles

13:33

what do you do for a living?

Damkerng T.

I chat for a living. :P

Apparently, I'm in a weird mood today!

Rafael Telles

you are very funny :P

Damkerng T.

Actually, I run a small IT company.

ASR

@RafaelTelles I am swe.

Rafael Telles

swe? What is this?

ASR

13:34

software engineer

Rafael Telles

Cool!

ASR

its winter here :)

Rafael Telles

I am a programmer too

Damkerng T.

@ASR Ooohhh! I don't really like a cold place! Brrrr!

@RafaelTelles Hello, a programmer from Brazil!

Rafael Telles

It's winter here too, but it's REALLY HOT today

yea o/

The weather is crazy here

Damkerng T.

13:41

Miss Universe 2014 - Preliminary Competition Introduction (Part 1)

►

^Miss Universe contestants' self introduction. :-)

Rafael Telles

Now i'm imagining everyone i've ever asked this question to doing this

Damkerng T.

:D

Rafael Telles

haha

Do you code too?

Damkerng T.

Yes, but not as often as I used to.

Used to would sound more natural.

Rafael Telles

hmm

StoneyB

13:48

@DamkerngT. All those Latin American blondes remind me of the Peter Lorre line: "Zere are lots of Chermans in Chile whose names are becoming O'Hara".

Rafael Telles

which language(s)?

Damkerng T.

@StoneyB Ahh... international accents!

I like Miss Peru the most in the self-introduction section. :D

Oh, interesting. Miss Spain pronounced Spain as Espana.

Rafael Telles

Woww

I got a reputation bonus :DD

Damkerng T.

@RafaelTelles Yay!

Rafael Telles

That's so cool! I got 100+ on every stack exchange's site

I'm starting to "contribute" now

Damkerng T.

13:59

Yay! -- That green little rectangle is cute, isn't it? :-)

Rafael Telles

the one that shows your reputation earnings?

Damkerng T.

Yep!

Rafael Telles

yes! haha

Damkerng T.

Well, +100 on each stack is nice, but be warned, if you clicked to join too many stacks, you may get this as a result...

Rafael Telles

I love how stack exchange works :)

LOL

Damkerng T.

14:03

xD

Rafael Telles

did it happen to you? haha

Damkerng T.

Apparently, it happened to some of us. :D

Rafael Telles

this bonus happens only once?

Damkerng T.

+100 only happens once on each stack.

Rafael Telles

but are there more kinds of bonus?

Damkerng T.

14:07

The rest you have to earn by posting questions and answers, as far as I know.

Rafael Telles

Cool :)

I'd like if stack exchange went open source

I would make a stack for my university, we need something like this

Damkerng T.

@RafaelTelles I think the engine wouldn't go open-source, but you can write a proposal in Area 51.

Rafael Telles

what is area 51?

Damkerng T.

area51.stackexchange.com

> Area 51 is the Stack Exchange Network staging zone, where users come together to build new Q&A sites. New site ideas are proposed, discussed, and the best go on to beta. See the faq for more information.

Basically, it's where people propose new stacks.

jimsug

@RafaelTelles There are free clones

question2answer.org

Damkerng T.

14:20

@jimsug Neat!

Rafael Telles

Thanks! I'll see

Do you know if this project have a reputation system?

jimsug

23:02

@RafaelTelles Whoops, I went to bed. Yeah, it does.

Hmm

A whole lot of close reviews for meatie's questions

OTOH if they keep this up, a whole lot more people will get Steward badges :P

Nathan Tuggy

23:18

@jimsug Yeah, I'm really wondering about this spree.

I mean, some of them deserve closure... but some of them don't, just a sigh and a downvote.

jimsug

I need to wait 42 minutes to clear it up.

Most of them don't, IMO.

The dictionary close reason is overused.

Nathan Tuggy

@jimsug Somewhat; but it's not the only one being thrown about willy-nilly here, either.

jimsug

It really seems more like most of the close reasons were chosen at random between proofreading, dictionary, too-broad and primarily opinion-based.

Nathan Tuggy

Could be.

Opinion might even be the worst here.

All that said, I am now very heartily sick of "Could that be an error?"

May that not be considered maybe the second-most annoying written tic of all users who may be on ELL, maybe?

jimsug

23:37

@NathanTuggy Yeah, but that's still no reason to go on a close-voting spree.

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