Language Overflow

Damkerng T.

00:00

@snailplane It's what @yubrajsharma mentioned a few minutes ago.

Anonymous

As in, cell internet rather than wi-fi.

Anonymous

Oh, I missed it!

yubraj sharma

SIM provides survice to access internet through mobile data

Anonymous

@yubrajsharma You're free to use your own style in chat, but I'd like to caution you: some users may feel a bit overwhelmed when they see lots of exclamation points. They might think you're shouting at them.

Anonymous

It's usually better to use only one exclamation point (or period, etc).

Anonymous

00:01

And we usually don't put spaces before them.

yubraj sharma

Nods

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. Nope, 's here is is :-)

Damkerng T.

@snailplane I realized that after typing that message. :-)

It's the only way that would make some sense of that line.

yubraj sharma

00:40

Again ......use of 'would have to'--I would have to write more articles to make use of England words and phrases.

Implied conditional---I would have to agree his failure ! (If he failed in the future)

@DamkerngT. What do you think ?

CowperKettle

01:51

Sawasdee khrap

Damkerng T.

@yubrajsharma It sounds odd out of context.

But it may be okay in a right context.

@CowperKettle Sawasdee khrap!

It's getting curiouser and curiouser in Westworld!

CowperKettle

04:14

I wonder whether a kathoey uses "khrap" or "kha" in Thailand as a suffix

V.V.

Females use kha

Sawasdee kha! Minus five.

CowperKettle

(0Ж

Minus 1 here

Going for a bicycle ride now

V.V.

Fine.

Planning to go shopping

CowperKettle

Good luck! (0:

V.V.

You take care.

yubraj sharma

05:05

@DamkerngT. I think we need to make a context ....to make use of "would have to" practically

V.V.

06:14

Billiken. Interesting.

user62015

06:41

@V.V. Hi

V.V.

07:05

@user62015 hello.

user62015

Hi

Could you help me?

The criminal was
B. caught, convicted the hung
C. in a short period of time.
D. No error.

I think, convicted the hung*

is wrong

but Answer says within a short period of time.

V.V.

"In" refers to a future period, but we have "was"

See?

user62015

But could you please explain "the hung"?

V.V.

Let's consult the dictionary.

No, I don't know such usage. Usually convicted of a crime.

Found guilty

I will try another one.

No such usage, is your source reliable?

2

Q: 'Convicted the Hung' - Right?

Can we say he was convicted the hung? Is it grammatically right or just an informal sentence? I've seen sentences like 'Sentenced to hang'. But i don't have any idea about this.

Someone did the same test.

yubraj sharma

07:35

Hi

Shriram

09:10

Hello why it is taking time to reply this mail ?

is that sentence correct ?

If wrong why ?

Jim Reynolds

10:49

@Shriram What mail are you talking about? What sentence are you talking about?

Damkerng T.

12:14

@V.V. Brrr!

@CowperKettle Hmm... mostly, ha. :-)

Damkerng T.

12:26

Kha is also quite common.

เชื่อหรือไม่..!! ที่เห็นในคลิปทั้งหมดน่ะ "กะเทย" ล้วน ๆ นะจ้ะ ..( Ep.2 )

►

Anonymous

@user62015 Yes, you're right – the is wrong. It must be a misprint. They probably meant to write and instead of the.

Damkerng T.

Can you tell who is and who's not "krathoey"? (^_^) @CowperKettle

@snailplane I guess it's from the same source as the one of our old question. :-)

0

Q: Neither of ---their books or his book

Neither of the twin brothers took their books. Neither of the twin brothers took his book. Which is most suitable?

grammar

> I'm assuming that you mean neither brother took his own book. In this case, his book is the correct usage. Their books is idiomatic and should be avoided.

We should avoid idiomatic alternatives!? o_O

:D

Note to self: find out more about 'distributive possession'

7

A: The ambiguous "he is buried"

There is no ambiguity. In a present-tense narrative, it could be passive "He marries, he dies, he is buried" but in any other context, it is adjectival. He is buried is a copular sentence, where "buried", an adjective, is the complement of the copula "is". You can call it a participial ad...

Another nice answer!

> There is no ambiguity. In a present-tense narrative, it could be passive "He marries, he dies, he is buried" but in any other context, it is adjectival.

Yay, for the mentioning of 'present-tense narrative'!

> He is buried
is a copular sentence, where "buried", an adjective, is the complement of the copula "is". You can call it a participial adjective if you like, as it originates as a participle: I'm not sure what the value is in doing so.

Yay for the last sentence!

> Whether or not you call it a predicate nominative depends on what you mean by "nominative", which the writer of the page you linked to didn't specify. Again, I don't know what advantage there is in such a designation.

Yay, for the last sentence, again!

Damkerng T.

13:00

There is nothing wrong with certain kinds of repetition, especially in a story which is like a fairy tale. However, I do find the repeated genderless plural pronouns somewhat jarring (child...they; child...them). Other speakers might have a different reaction. — TRomano Oct 20 at 9:01

I felt exactly the same way!

Damkerng T.

14:46

Phrase of the Day: for toffee

Damkerng T.

15:14

This appears to confuse "by" with "if," with a an ill-conceived gerund phrase (which may have been intended participially) thrown into the bargain. I think it means "If cards are filled out according to the new system..." — Rob_Ster 16 hours ago

The comment makes it sound like correcting By filing our cards according to the new system, another clerk will have to be hired to By filing our cards according to the new system, we have to hire another clerk is incorrect!

Damkerng T.

15:53

Hi @TomFreezers! Welcome to the room!

> And then when it happed any of them to be of great worship by his noble deeds, as there was no year that these failed, but some were dead, then was there chosen in his stead the most men of worship that were called the queen's knights.

> Bulfinch's Medieval Mythology: The Age of Chivalry By Thomas Bulfinch

^An interesting instance of subject-verb agreement

> then was there chosen in his stead the most men of worship that were called the queen's knights

Damkerng T.

16:15

0

A: The ambiguous "he is buried"

This "buried" is the so-called past participle. The past participle is a non-finite verb form. The other non-finite forms are the infinitive and the gerund. "Non-finite" means something like unbounded. There are two characteristics common to non-finite forms in English. They are not bou...

A thought after reading the first third of the answer: to say that 'When a participle modifies a noun in the manner of an adjective, it seems reasonable to call it "an adjective participle" or "a participial adjective". Those are nothing but shorthand for "a participle doing an adjective's job".' is like saying that googled in I googled it (however newfangled it may sound) is a noun doing a verb's job.

BTW, what's the job of an adjective again?!

CowperKettle

17:07

@DamkerngT. I know it's impossible to tell (0:

Damkerng T.

:D

@CowperKettle FYI, all of them. :D

CowperKettle

@DamkerngT. I'm not surprised.

Damkerng T.

:D

Sheba Language of Love – ชวนทาสแมวมาบอกรักเจ้าเหมียว

►

(Sorry that it's no subs) "A life of a cat slave" -- motto at the end of the clip: "Learn how to be a good cat slave with Sheba (the brand)." :-)

CowperKettle

@DamkerngT. Yes, I know, the over-priced brand, we have it here too (0:

Damkerng T.

Hehe!

CowperKettle

17:16

> I love cats, but mainly through 55.

> ชอบ ผญ ครับ แมวน่ารักดี55

Damkerng T.

@CowperKettle "ชอบ ผญ ครับ แมวน่ารักดี55" ~ "I like the girl. The cat is cute 55 (haha)." :-)

CowperKettle

OMG

What does "55" mean?

I thought he was some pervert, loving cats "through 55"

Damkerng T.

Laughter. :-)

CowperKettle

I only know 69 though

@DamkerngT. ah!

Damkerng T.

Ugh! :D

CowperKettle

17:18

(0:

Damkerng T.

I think machine translation still can't cope with internet-speak very well. :-)

CowperKettle

I0:

M.A.R.

17:28

3

Q: One-box is messing with my URL

Not sure if this is a bug or a feature, but if I link to specific sections of a Wikipedia article such as https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemistry, the link will look like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemistry#Molecule where "Molecule" is the section I'm linking to. However, when this one-boxes,...

bug chat onebox

@CowperKettle O.o

What does the I represent? A tie?

Damkerng T.

Seems so. :-)

BTW, @CowerKettle, it's not easy to tell, even among women! One of these four is not a real woman, and they sat together, questioned one another for almost an hour, and yet some of them guessed it wrong! youtube.com/watch?v=yozDmGHRYW8

(The reveal is at around 40:11.)

Stack Exchange

0

Q: Incorrect reputation history

There's a strange thing going on with my reputation history. On June 30th, I supposedly voted down an answer. I can't remember if I did; it links to this answer and in any case I'm able to downvote it again. This record does not show up at all in my 'reputation log' (http://ell.stackexchange.c...

bug down-votes reputation

Damkerng T.

Chemistry

Chemistry is a branch of physical science that studies the composition, structure, properties and change of matter. Chemistry includes topics such as the properties of individual atoms, how atoms form chemical bonds to create chemical compounds, the interactions of substances through intermolecular forces that give matter its general properties, and the interactions between substances through chemical reactions to form different substances. Chemistry is sometimes called the central science because it bridges other natural sciences, including physics, geology and biology. For the differences between...

Hmm... it looks fine here. @M.A.R.

M.A.R.

17:52

Chemistry

Chemistry is a branch of physical science that studies the composition, structure, properties and change of matter. Chemistry includes topics such as the properties of individual atoms, how atoms form chemical bonds to create chemical compounds, the interactions of substances through intermolecular forces that give matter its general properties, and the interactions between substances through chemical reactions to form different substances. Chemistry is sometimes called the central science because it bridges other natural sciences, including physics, geology and biology. For the differences between...

Weird.

I swear it didn't work the other day

Damkerng T.

Maybe it's something to do with the TeX addon in another room?

(MathJax or something similar)

CowperKettle

18:08

I think we should leave this open because it is clearly a question about the English language and there's enough context for someone to write a reasonable answer. — snailplane ♦ 16 hours ago

@snailplane - I fully agree. I'm amazed there are 4 closevotes

user62015

Hi! @DamkerngT. How are you?

Damkerng T.

@user62015 Good, thanks!

How are you?

@CowperKettle Oh, +21!

user62015

I am great. Could you help me as I have a question?

Damkerng T.

To be honest, I skipped that question all along.

@user62015 What's the question?

user62015

1. He was too conscientious in the discharge of his duties "that he could not serve"that exploiter for long.
a. that he would not serve
b. for serving
c. to serve
d . No improvement

Thanks.

Damkerng T.

18:12

Huh?

How's the question formatted exactly?

user62015

You are requested to check "that he could not serve" in the question.

If you think we can replace then replace from the given options otherwise no improvement option.

Damkerng T.

I'm not sure if I can understand that sentence.

No matter how it's phrased.

user62015

hahahahha

but still any guess?

Damkerng T.

Well, I can't relate discharge of his duties to exploiter. I'd better leave it to others. :-)

user62015

ahahaha. Okay. I can understand

Tom Freezers

18:16

Are you sure the original sentence is correct? The end seems strange "that exploiter for long."

user62015

@TomFreezers It is Indian English ahahhaha

It was asked in a competition exam 3 days ago.

Damkerng T.

Another obvious problem with the choices is the original sentence and a appear to be in the opposite direction to b and c, so we need to be sure of its meaning. (And because I can't make exact sense of the meaning, I'd better pass. :-)

user62015

I had same issue DamkerngT.

Tom Freezers

I would say A) is the answer. The other answers seem odd to me.

user62015

Yes. I had the same feeling.

Damkerng T.

18:21

But a) would be a common mistake (of using too ... that for so ... that), I think.

user62015

ok

d?

Damkerng T.

too ... to ... is typical, but it doesn't make sense for me in this sentence.

d) would be similar to a), IMO.

(Admittedly, a) sounds a little better than the original.)

user62015

Okay

CowperKettle

As a guy, I call my male friends "girlfriend" all the time. Unrelatedly, I get punched a lot. — QPaysTaxes 15 hours ago

Damkerng T.

:D

@user62015 Ah, I see. I think the answer is c).

I have to read this discharge as "perform".

user62015

18:33

C?

Are you sure?

Damkerng T.

Well, it's the only choice that makes sense to me, right now.

user62015

Okay.

Damkerng T.

The basic sense of the sentence is: He's too good a person to do such an immoral thing (for long).

user62015

You meant to say "to serve"?

Damkerng T.

Yes.

user62015

18:36

Okay.

Thanks.

M.A.R.

@DamkerngT. Dunno. We focused the issue on the room description

Damkerng T.

> He's too good a person (i.e., too meticulous in his duties) to serve such a bad person for long.

user62015

Okay

Damkerng T.

> dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2647333/…

Stack Exchange

18:53

2

Q: Indirect object, proximity, and ambiguity

As a lad I was taught that certain verbs such as "to say," "to describe," "to distribute," and "to explain" can take an indirect object only when it immediately follows a preposition, and that this indirect object can never immediately follow the verb. New learners of the language are still bein...

ambiguity indirect-objects

user62015

@DamkerngT. I "regret for" using objectionable words against a man so mighty a. repent for, b.sorry for, c.regret, d No improvement

Damkerng T.

Just regret is probably the best choice.

M.A.R.

@user62015 Regret.

Damkerng T.

But a man so mighty, really?!

Who talks like that?!

user62015

Option C?

Damkerng T.

19:02

Uh-huh

user62015

It is just for a competition exam

M.A.R.

@DamkerngT. Villains in kid cartoons

Damkerng T.

LOL

M.A.R.

Today I took one such prep exam as well.

The sentences were ridiculous.

And I prolly ended up answering a couple of them wrong.

None of the options seemed to fit!

(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

Damkerng T.

:D

M.A.R.

19:05

I took three tough exams today.

And the last was English.

Damkerng T.

Congrats on your survival!

M.A.R.

I didn't feel like dumbing myself down to the level of the examiner to see what the answer will be.

At least that's what I always do.

Damkerng T.

@user62015 Hmm... maybe the question wants repent for.

It's not at all common, though, I think.

user62015

Are you sure? @DamkerngT.

Damkerng T.

How can I be sure? It's not easy to guess how the test designer thinks!

user62015

19:10

I agree.

We are on the same page.

M.A.R.

'repent for' is prolly the choice, yeah.

Damkerng T.

"I witnessed some pastors in Korea use 'repent for' very frequently (and very energetically) in their sevices to drive the throng to give away their money lavishiy."

> forum.wordreference.com/threads/repent-of-for.2389786

M.A.R.

@user62015 After a certain point, it's not English knowledge, but the power of telepathy, that helps you ace an exam.

user62015

Okay.

M.A.R.

@DamkerngT. They witnessed! They must be 200 years old since that's what the English looks like

Damkerng T.

19:12

:D

The Witness has spoken.

(12 Monkeys meme.)

user62015

I have some questions I know the answers but I just want to confirm the answers if you don't mind? These questions were asked in a competition exam 3 days ago.

Damkerng T.

Are all these and the previous two questions from the same exam?

M.A.R.

@user62015 Sure

Damkerng T.

@M.A.R. "Sure, I do mind." you mean? :-)

user62015

ahahahahaha these are tough questions.

M.A.R.

19:17

@DamkerngT. I'll eat the minding

user62015

Let me send one by one

Damkerng T.

The reason that I think repent for is a plausible choice is because I started to think that the test designer was aiming at a specific kind of English, which most people do not use.

user62015

I am senior than him by two years. No error senior to him

Damkerng T.

It's bad either way, than or to.

user62015

We can't change we have to find just the error

M.A.R.

19:19

The exam is the error.

user62015

We always use senior to

M.A.R.

Then it would be 'senior to'.

Stick to what your book says.

user62015

Do you think it is not right?

Damkerng T.

nods -- I think it's like the Terminator in T5. -- "You're nothing but a relic from a deleted timeline." -- So is this kind of English.

M.A.R.

@user62015 Sometimes it's not about being right or wrong, but being a stupid non-native sentence and a correct, native one.

Damkerng T.

19:21

"You're nothing but a relic from a deleted timeline" - Terminator Genisys

►

user62015

Do you see any other option?

I agree.

Damkerng T.

The first book that has He was senior to me in Google Books that's written by a native speaker dates back to 1840!

user62015

Please understand these kind of questions are asked in competition exams

Damkerng T.

I understand. It's just that I have to think of it like another language.

M.A.R.

@DamkerngT. Teehee

user62015

19:24

HAHAHHAHA

M.A.R.

@user62015 I'd use different words and different structures

Whatever is wrong with I'm two years older than him.?

user62015

I agree but if I ask you to find the grammatical error then I think you will choose the same option

M.A.R.

Yes, I think your correction made it better.

user62015

Thanks. I am used to them. ahahahhahaha

When I finished writing the letter, I could not help admiring myself to have achieved the impossible.

M.A.R.

Although it still doesn't look like something you should say in everyday speech. Or chat.

Damkerng T.

19:27

@user62015 :D

user62015

I would say "myself to achieve" the impossible

Damkerng T.

Oh, that was a sentence in the exam. I thought you were talking about what you did today.

user62015

I agree but please try to understand Indian also don't speak this way but examiners have to make the exams tough so they can choose good candidates

Damkerng T.

Hmm... my problem with that sentence is could not help admiring sounds too new.

user62015

If they ask in a normal language then anyone can answer no need to work hard

Damkerng T.

19:28

In the 19th century, it would've been could not help but admire.

user62015

Okay.

Okay. Maybe you right.

Let me check

M.A.R.

@DamkerngT. Haha

@user62015 Either 'I could not help but admire . . . ' or 'I couldn't help admiring myself for having . . . '

user62015

I think, @DamkerngT. you are right. But do you think my point doesn

.....doesn't make sense?

to achieve instead of to have achieved?

Damkerng T.

@user62015 I think I've heard that myth, but I don't think it's really serious.

Now the problem is, did the test designer think the myth was real?

@user62015 To have achieved is actually okay in 19c English.

user62015

I also agree with your answer because they think the same way as you have just done. @DamkerngT. you are right because they ask questions this way.

3. I am glad that you are here. No error.

I think that is unnecessary here, what do you think?

Damkerng T.

19:35

This one should be fine.

user62015

Or maybe no error

Damkerng T.

That can be omitted, but including it doesn't make it wrong.

(In fact, I think it's probably required in 19c English.)

user62015

hahahaha

Damkerng T.

:D

user62015

Soon you will understand how Indian competition works

ahahahah

M.A.R.

19:37

@user62015 No error

Damkerng T.

Haha!

user62015

He will be cured from his fever. No error I say cured of and you?

I agree @M.A.R.

M.A.R.

I agree with your agreeing.

Damkerng T.

:D

user62015

Next....

Though he is a gifted comedian, he prefers spend his spare time watching horror movies. No error

I say he prefers spending

Damkerng T.

19:40

You're right.

It's weird because other sentences sound old but the context of this sentence sounds rather new.

user62015

Thanks

Damkerng T.

You're welcome!

user62015

We don't speak this way

but are asked to face the competition

Next...

The writer of this poetry is Wordsworth. No error

Damkerng T.

I thought we were done!

Wordsworth is capitalized like that?

user62015

No, there are some questions but if you are busy you can skip them

Yes, same way

Damkerng T.

19:44

I think it's okay, then.

user62015

Yes.

Do you want me to continue?

Damkerng T.

I'll leave you to MAR. (^_^)

user62015

I know the answers but just want confirmation

Thanks for your time.

[email protected]. Shall we continue?

M.A.R.

Later

user62015

Thank you so much.

M.A.R.

19:46

I'm now busy.

Have to go AFK.

user62015

Bye for now. Thanks

M.A.R.

20:43

Before time and space.

Anonymous

You're welcome to stick around if you'd like to help people with English :-)

M.A.R.

Thank you.

Damkerng T.

21:12

Lost and found, eh? :-)

BTW, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English looks like an interesting book.

> And then he points out that borrowing vocabulary is not even unusual, but the way English grammar works is unique. It's not Germanic, it's not Romantic - it has some features that it shares (only) with Celtic languages, specifically Welsh and Cornish, but even there it doesn't match exactly.

> librarything.com/work/6173804/reviews/54295655

Damkerng T.

21:32

0

Q: What does 'by right belongs' mean in this context?

I was reading a Islamic tradition which says "Therefore, whatever I decide for anyone which by right belongs to his brother, he must not take anything, for I am granting him only a portion of Hell." From my understanding, it seems to indicate it means, if he decides for someone and the judgement...

meaning meaning-in-context

Hmm... I think it's better at Islam.SE as said in a comment. All minor language issues have already been solved in comments as well. Should we migrate it or something?

Stack Exchange

21:58

0

Q: Flaws in the voting model in re. questions

This issue has been addressed scores of times. How can we improve our voting system? touches on some of the concerns which were exemplified today in two ELL questions (votes at the moment of this writing are in parens): The ambiguous "he is buried" (4) When a girl mentions her girlfriend, does ...

discussion voting

CowperKettle

23:45

Recent research shows brain-to-text device capable of decoding speech from brain signals

sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161025114035.htm

Transcript for