Language Overflow

userr2684291

00:11

@DamkerngT. Oh, yes. The way the enquirer maintains they've seen some of those ungrammatical forms in grammar books, and novels written by native speakers of English annoyed me quite a bit. They did the same thing in the comments of one of their answers where someone made them check themselves (unfortunately for them, they've wrecked themselves pretty seriously).

Damkerng T.

nods

Hah! CPU A10-7890K's price drops like a rock!

userr2684291

When I click "show 2 more" at the top of the starred messages list, it expands but remains covered by the opaque element at the bottom of the site. Is this how it's post to be?

Damkerng T.

@userr2684291 I guess so. This feature doesn't work well on my browser either.

Because I'm using a rather low resolution.

userr2684291

Ah, yes, I'll try decreasing the font size.

Oh yeah, it's all there now.

Damkerng T.

Yay!

Anonymous

00:24

@userr2684291 Could you please show me which question we're talking about?

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. One common class of errors in language learning is called "overgeneralization".

Anonymous

Generalization can be harmful, but it's also important.

Damkerng T.

I wonder if they quoted the price wrong. It's even cheaper than the price on Amazon! -- Earlier this year I snatched a 16GB RAM stick because its price was unusually low. I just checked it again, the current price is higher than my price over $30!

@snailplane A-ha!

Anonymous

The problem is that learners do need to generalize, but it's hard to know how much they can generalize.

Damkerng T.

Overgeneralization is a nice word!

Anonymous

00:25

This is true of native speakers as children as well.

userr2684291

-4

A: Use of tenses in a sentence

"Would" already indicates the past tense, you cannot double past-tense a sentence! It must either be: If you would have worked hard you would not have to suffer this much. Or If you had worked hard you would not have to suffer this much. When talking about something that didn’t happen in...

Anonymous

They have limited input, so they produce overgeneralized forms like goed as children.

Damkerng T.

Hehe!

Anonymous

One of the biggest challenges faced by non-native speakers is the same – limited input.

Damkerng T.

BTW, good morning/afternoon!

Anonymous

00:27

So the more time a non-native speaker can spend with the language, the better. (Output is important too, of course.)

Damkerng T.

@snailplane I think it's much more severe in the cases of non-native speakers.

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. Definitely.

Anonymous

One of the purposes ELL chat hopefully serves is giving learners another place to interact in English. :-)

userr2684291

We were also talking about their subsequent question: ell.stackexchange.com/questions/123792/…

Anonymous

That's why I think it's important to let us all relax a bit and not worry too much about correctness all the time, and maybe to let us go off-topic when we want. :-)

Anonymous

00:28

@userr2684291 Thank you for the links!

userr2684291

Sure thing.

Damkerng T.

@snailplane nods -- Yeah (and yay!) :-)

Anonymous

The second sentence ("Would you have worked hard...") may have been acceptable in the eigtheenth century, but I doubt it. Certainly this construction is never used today. The third sentence ("(If you) Had worked hard...") is only correct if the initial "If you" is present. Without that it is meaningless. — TonyK 10 hours ago

Anonymous

In that case, wouldn't it be should?

Damkerng T.

nods -- Would is indeed very weird.

Anonymous

00:32

The nonsense comments are a bit harsh in tone.

Anonymous

I'm tempted to just wipe out all the comments.

Anonymous

TonyK's first comment is obsolete, and Andrew's comment isn't really constructive IMO since it's not a proofreading question. (See the meta discussion.)

userr2684291

I agree.

Anonymous

The answer has changed since the feedback was given, and I think that if people would like to post more feedback, they can do so after I clean the slate.

Anonymous

Vanished in a puff of logic.

Damkerng T.

00:36

nods -- (Sorry, I lost my connection.)

Anonymous

Welcome back!

Damkerng T.

Thanks! :D

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Repeating characters in answer: How do you link "o" and "s" in cursive font? by dffffffff on ell.SE

Anonymous

Oof, that follow-up question is a doozy.

Damkerng T.

Hehe!

Man_From_India

00:46

Good morning, DT.

Damkerng T.

Good morning!

Man_From_India

How are you @snailplane?

Anonymous

Good morning :-)

Anonymous

I'm doing okay :-)

Man_From_India

Great :-)

userr2684291

00:47

I find the English version of the capital G in cursive rather peculiar.

Anonymous

English doesn't have an official cursive script.

userr2684291

Right.

Anonymous

Rather, there are a number of cursive scripts that are taught in different areas.

Anonymous

D'Nealian

D'Nealian, sometimes misspelled Denealian, is a style of writing and teaching cursive and manuscript ("print" and "block") handwriting for English. It derived from the Palmer Method and was designed to ease the learning of manuscript and cursive handwriting. D'Nealian was developed by Donald Thurber, who developed the system while teaching in a primary school, and was first introduced in 1978. The name of the script comes from Donald's first name contracted with his middle name ("Neal"). The system was designed as a method to alleviate the problems with teaching children the standard Zaner-Bloser...

Anonymous

I don't like this G very much.

Anonymous

00:50

Anonymous

Growing up, I had no idea that was a letter 'G'.

Damkerng T.

Looks almost like a harpsichord!

Anonymous

Perhaps a harp, but not so much sichord? :-)

userr2684291

The first time I saw it, I thought it was an uppercase Y, with an unusually long and contrived (unnecessary) starting stroke.

Damkerng T.

Ah, right! :D

Anonymous

00:52

I could be wrong, but I don't think this style of 'G' is taught in the U.K.

Anonymous

Maybe one of our U.K. chatters could confirm or deny :-)

userr2684291

I've only seen Americans writing that way.

Anonymous

Darn Americans.

Anonymous

Always writing funny letter G's. :-)

userr2684291

Oh, G.

userr2684291

01:11

ell.stackexchange.com/questions/123833/… Should this be retagged in some way? I might be nitpicking, but "have to" isn't traditionally considered a modal verb, and since I'm not sure what modality means (I believe it refers to the semantic aspect modals have that needn't be expressed through modals themselves, which this question doesn't directly address), I'm in the state of mental deadlock.

Now I'm overanalyzing my use of the word deadlock there, ugh.

user178049

@userr2684291 I think it's semi-modal. I think it's fine.

Hello smart people! :-D

Anonymous

02:50

@userr2684291 Have to is not a modal auxiliary.

Anonymous

There are two types of auxiliaries, modal and non-modal.

Anonymous

For most speakers, have in have to is not an auxiliary at all!

Anonymous

So when they put it in a question, they add do-support:

Anonymous

> Aw shucks, mom! Do I have to take out the trash right this second!?

Anonymous

For some speakers, it is an auxiliary, but it lacks the grammatical properties that are shared by the modal auxiliaries.

Anonymous

02:52

For example, it has non-finite forms.

Anonymous

So for those speakers, it's a non-modal auxiliary.

Anonymous

Usually, when people say "modal verb", they mean a verb which has these special grammatical properties.

Anonymous

They are called "modal" because their main use is to express various types of modality, a kind of non-propositional meaning.

Anonymous

But lots of other things besides the modal auxiliaries can also express modality.

Anonymous

For example, we have the modal adverb probably.

Anonymous

02:54

Probably expresses epistemic modality, the idea that something is likely to be true. If you add it to a sentence, it becomes less certain:

Anonymous

> She's home right now. (certain)

Anonymous

> She's probably home right now. (not as certain)

Anonymous

It still expresses a fairly high degree of likelihood, but it's not as certain.

Anonymous

The basic proposition expressed by the sentence is "She is home right now".

Anonymous

Probably tells you what the speaker thinks about the truth value of that proposition.

Anonymous

02:55

The speaker thinks that it may be true, but they are not as certain as if they left the word out.

Anonymous

Because this modality is not part of the proposition itself, I called it "non-propositional meaning".

Anonymous

There are several types of modality, and in English one of the most important ways to express modality is via the modal auxiliaries:

Anonymous

> She should be home right now.

Anonymous

> She might be home right now.

Anonymous

And they're tricky, because each of them can express more than one type of modality.

Anonymous

02:57

She should be home right now could have a couple different kinds of meaning. Deontic, epistemic.

Anonymous

If I use probably instead, it's unambiguously epistemic.

Anonymous

But probably is not a modal auxiliary, because it doesn't have the grammatical properties that they share. It's not even a verb! It is an adverb that expresses modality.

Anonymous

So when we look at something like have to, there are two questions.

Anonymous

One is what grammatical properties it has. As we've seen, it does not have the grammatical properties of the modal auxiliaries.

Anonymous

The other is the question of meaning. And have to does express modality!

Anonymous

03:00

The most basic kind of modality it expresses is deontic modality (obligation).

Anonymous

The speaker's attitude toward the truth value of the sentence, that it ought to be true.

Anonymous

So in that sense it is "modal", and it is a "verb" (well, the have part is, anyway!)

Anonymous

but it is not a "modal verb" (modal auxiliary).

Anonymous

So what is it, then?

Anonymous

A lot of the modal auxiliaries can be paraphrased using multiple words.

Anonymous

03:02

For example, can and be able to often have roughly the same meaning.

Anonymous

> I can play the flute.

Anonymous

> I am able to play the flute.

Anonymous

The biggest difference is that be is a non-modal auxiliary, so we can use be able to in places where a modal auxiliary wouldn't work:

Anonymous

> By this time next year, I will be able to play the flute.

Anonymous

*Will can, of course, is ungrammatical.

Anonymous

03:04

So these are sometimes called periphrastic modals.

Anonymous

In other words, ways to express the same idea as the modal auxiliaries, but using multiple words.

Anonymous

And that's how I'd characterize have to. Not as a modal auxiliary, but as a periphrastic modal.

CowperKettle

05:05

> Russian TV news report: "yesterday, some 300 people took part in a demonstration in Moscow. More than 800 of them were arrested".

unarist

05:35

I'm writing a feedback for a software, and I want to suggest better wording for an error message. So my draft is:

> It will be nice if it is "...".

I've also considered It should be "...", but I'm not sure for my suggestion ("..." part).

SmokeDetector

09:29

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Link at end of answer: Preposition "to" in "...accept the consequences of to..." by mohammed ebrahim on ell.SE

userr2684291

10:21

Thank you for expounding on that, @snailplane. It's interesting to see how a language found its way around morphosyntactic restrictions. (:

@unarist I don't know what you're asking about. Give us the complete sentence.

Usually we give suggestions with should. If you want to cushion it, you can preface the sentence with I think, or rephrase it as "I believe '...' would be a better solution."

user178049

10:52

ell.stackexchange.com/questions/123776/who-is-you-not-are/… "Who can apply to any living creature". Is tha true?

Feeds

2

Q: Meaning differences between sentences

Any meaning differences between these two sentences I was supposed to play and I was supposed to be playing

meaning

userr2684291

11:04

@user178049 Depends. Usually only when you know more about the creature. For example if you know an animal's sex.

V.V.

@Araucaria That's really awesome and "totally cool"(teenagers' language ).Thank you very much. Added my upvote.

user178049

@userr2684291 I think it's very vague statement. I'd rather use "that" instead of "who". "The cat who I'm looking for" is ridiculous.

userr2684291

11:28

@user178049 Not if I know its name, for example.

Araucaria

@V.V. Glad you liked it!

userr2684291

@user178049 You need a before very.

M.A.R.

11:55

Afternoon peoples

user178049

@userr2684291 Yes. I didn't notice that :-D

@M.A.R. Afternoon! Btw, is it possible to say "peoples"?

M.A.R.

Yes, but not the way I did it

userr2684291

@M.A.R. Hey, how are you going?

user178049

Then how?

M.A.R.

@userr2684291 I'm going by foot

@user178049 It's like 'audiences'

Person -> People

People -> Peoples

userr2684291

12:06

@user178049 The American people and the German people are peoples.

@M.A.R. I'm actually commuting by train (right now).

M.A.R.

@userr2684291 And chatting? You're addicted to this room, man

userr2684291

Not really sure what else to do.

And in about a week uni will start, so I won't be coming here. :<

M.A.R.

user178049

12:21

Thanks. I understand it now.

Araucaria

@snailplane Well it's not for us English syntacticians - but we caused this mess!

userr2684291

@M.A.R. I love these new trains with WiFi and AC and power sockets under every seat. The bathrooms are also very modern with sensors and buttons. In every car there's a digital display that's currently showing speed. Right now I'm travelling at 140km/h. (:

M.A.R.

-7

Q: What's beyond the universe?

A lot of people have been thinking about this- but do we really have an answer? No one really knows- but a few guesses would be nice! :) Recent finds have found alien life- are there really aliens, or are the 'alien bodies' a hoax?

atmospheric-chemistry

user178049

@Araucaria How it gives positive emphasis to the utterance? I don't understand that.

Araucaria

12:46

@user178049 Which thing?

Damkerng T.

0

Q: Why isn't "On the bottom of the MetroCard are three arrows" written "On the bottom of the MetroCard THERE are three arrows"?

Recently I found this sentence: On the bottom of the MetroCard are three arrows and little white letters that say "Insert this way/This side facing you." This sentence is correct, but I do not understand why it is. I thought an object of preposition can never be a subject. The object of p...

prepositional-phrases syntax

Ahh... a lot of learners waste their time arguing with the syntax of another language!

The real answer is, as we all know it, "because!"

Personally, I think it'd be more productive if they strove towards "How should I use it?" or "What does it mean?"

> I thought an object of preposition can never be a subject. The object of preposition in the sentence is :
- On the bottom of the MetroCard.
I think we should add "there" just after the object of preposition above to make the sentence correct, like this:
- On the bottom of the MetroCard there are three arrows and little white letters that say "Insert this way/This side facing you."

I think this is a result of learning (pedagogical) grammar.

M.A.R.

\o

Damkerng T.

o/

It would've been different if they immersed themselves in English first, enough to overrule the little voice of all those "Why?"s, and then got down to the analysis.

M.A.R.

@DamkerngT. And if you tell them, they'll say ''yessir but i needz deez rulez to understands english better'' IOW, yessir, but no sir, I wanna act stubborn anyway

Damkerng T.

I think this OP is a bit different. They seem to know grammar rather well.

M.A.R.

13:01

They think that we're not in the restraint of their upcoming exam, so we don't understand why they get in the mud.

user178049

@Araucaria Look at the NICE properties. Under emphasis. I actually don't know how the word is stressed. :(

Araucaria

@snailplane I've posted a question so that you can post your essay-length answer.

@user178049 Hang on ... :)

user178049

@Aray

@Araucaria :-D

M.A.R.

@Arraycaria

Damkerng T.

I'm gonna use the same example in a comment above. a) A man was in the room; b) A man was there; c) A man was there in the room are all valid sentences. So are a1) In the room was a man; b1) There was a man; c1a) In the room, there was a man; c1b) There in the room was a man. Note that b1) can be used in two different ways. — Damkerng T. 1 min ago

If we don't think much about grammar, it would be like this.

Anonymous

13:08

> Some syntacticians don't like this. Tough.

Anonymous

I believe the appropriate term for this occasion is "lol".

Araucaria

@snailplane :D

M.A.R.

@snailplane Or "LOL"

Or LoL

Damkerng T.

@Araucaria Wow, it took quite some time before it showed up!

M.A.R.

Or heck, even ''lel''

@Arau we're not using [grammar] anymore. Should I edit your question to add [syntax]?

Damkerng T.

13:17

I look up at Google before asking questions. However, I think that most of the answers to the questions must be clear, but the sentence structures and words used in the explanations are often more complex, so I can not be understood. — user22046 11 hours ago

This is very interesting.

Let's have a good look at the comment. I don't think it's very plain either.

So, presumably, this learner can understand this level of complicated sentences.

But why is it difficult for them to understand those explanations?

What makes the difference?

This part is possibly a good clue: the sentence structures and words used in the explanations

My guess is maybe non-plain words and possibly micro-idioms are the culprits.

They seem to be able to handle complex sentence structures just fine.

M.A.R.

Well, sometimes my mind locks in

I read the answer, but don't want to process it

So I keep staring at the screen for minutes

userr2684291

@M.A.R. If you were to use "lol" at the beginning of the sentence, how would you capitalize it?

M.A.R.

@userr2684291 I always write it as 'LOL'

userr2684291

@M.A.R. I don't like that it's in all caps.

M.A.R.

@userr2684291 Then you don't like acronyms and abbreviations and initialisms and all that stuff?

Araucaria

13:32

@DamkerngT. I'd written it but not posted it :) Was wondering how detailed to make it ...

Damkerng T.

Ahh

userr2684291

@M.A.R. It's not quite the same thing, now is it? Because with "lol" you express an emotion. The all-caps version is rather emphatic, by my lights.

Damkerng T.

I thought it was the system. Sometimes it takes several minutes before my post comes up.

M.A.R.

@DamkerngT. No, the post immediately appears, but because of caching, some users still don't see it for a while

Damkerng T.

A-ha! I see now!

Araucaria

13:37

@user178049 So imagine you're a kid and somebody gives you a present and you say "thank you". Afterwards your Mum tells you off and says "VV, you should say 'thank you' when somebody gives you a present. You didn't say "thank you". That's very, very rude." What will you say to your Mum?

userr2684291

"Oh, give me a break you old hag!"

Araucaria

@userr2684291 "Go straight to your room and don't have any dinner! You're grounded"

userr2684291

@Araucaria "I am in my room, mom."

M.A.R.

@Araucaria Lose self-confidence all out of a sudden, say 'OK' and 'Thanks'

userr2684291

@M.A.R. "Thanks, OK."?

Araucaria

13:45

@M.A.R. But you already said "thanks"

@userr2684291 Don't you stress your auxiliaries at me young man!

Damkerng T.

@userr2684291 Ass whooping would be the consequence if it were in my days. :-)

M.A.R.

@Araucaria Oh, then VTC as 'unclear what you're asking'. My mum/mom never does that.

Araucaria

@M.A.R. Vote to close your mum?

M.A.R.

Your question

Araucaria

@M.A.R. Which question?

M.A.R.

13:49

11 mins ago, by Araucaria

@user178049 So imagine you're a kid and somebody gives you a present and you say "thank you". Afterwards your Mum tells you off and says "VV, you should say 'thank you' when somebody gives you a present. You didn't say "thank you". That's very, very rude." What will you say to your Mum?

userr2684291

I thought ELL was supposed to teach us never to say "thank you" after someone helps us.

@Araucaria I just realized you mistook user178049 for V.V.

Haha, that was...

M.A.R.

@userr I just realized you mistook me for Arau.

V.V.

MAR likes my nick,right?

userr2684291

@M.A.R. Exactly. (:

M.A.R.

rimshot

V.V.

13:54

Oh, somebody else!

Araucaria

@user178049 So imagine you're a kid and somebody gives you a present and you say "thank you". Afterwards your Mum tells you off and says "User178049, you should say 'thank you' when somebody gives you a present. You didn't say "thank you". That's very, very rude." What will you say to your Mum? (sorry about the typo in the last comment!!)

@userr2684291 Ooops. Yes, you're right :/

Damkerng T.

Looks like it's time to... shuffle our usernames!

userr2684291

"Mom, why did you call me by my handle on ELL? Am I just a user to you now?"

V.V.

I actually came to ask where to read about the post-position of past participles. Like in this sentenc.e."The bill was withdrawn on Friday because it could not get the votes required."

Damkerng T.

@userr2684291 LOL

@V.V. This part: the votes (that are) required?

user178049

13:59

@Araucaria Umm, maybe I'll say "I will", or "I can't".. is that what you mean?

V.V.

Yeah.

userr2684291

@user178049 No. "I did say 'thank you', mom!"

Araucaria

@user178049 But aren't you upset/annoyed? You said thank you, and now your in trouble because your Mum thinks you didn't say it ....

V.V.

When is past participle placed before a noun and when after a noun.?

user178049

@userr2684291 Ohh yes, I misread that

@Araucaria I will say "I did"

userr2684291

14:01

@user178049 Note that all auxiliaries exhibit NICE properties as well.

V.V.

I am sure I lost an article. Lol.

Araucaria

@user178049 You did ...what?

Damkerng T.

@V.V. When it sounds right! :P -- More seriously, I think generally, the longer the phrase is, the likelier it will be post-positioned.

M.A.R.

@Araucaria Say thanks

user178049

@Araucaria I did say "thank you".

@Araucaria I think I get it. did here is emphatic so it's stressed?

Right?

V.V.

14:04

Dam, I mean. a single past participle.

Why not "the required votes "

?

user178049

@userr2684291 @Araucaria I think I understand it now. The context should appear like this sb : You cannot dance, user178049 Me : Shut up, I can dance!

userr2684291

@V.V. I think this is a case of ellipsis.

user178049

Is that right? :D

Damkerng T.

@V.V. To be honest, I don't know the answer.

In this specific sentence, both the required votes and the votes required sound fine to me.

But I don't know why.

userr2684291

To me as well.

Damkerng T.

14:10

I wish I could help more, but I don't know how. (^_^)

V.V.

Me neither. Perhaps there was such a question earlier, perhaps you know.

M.A.R.

@DamkerngT. Help me carry this cabinet

userr2684291

I think the sentence in full reads: "The bill was withdrawn on Friday because it could not get the votes required [for it to pass]."

Damkerng T.

@M.A.R. LOL

Araucaria

@user178049 Yes, so you might say "But I did say thank you!"

@user178049 Yes, exactly!!!!

V.V.

14:12

Tell me what to goggle.

Araucaria

@user178049 Yes, you've got it :D

Damkerng T.

@V.V. Hmm... post-positioned participle?

Araucaria

@user178049 There's a reasonably good video on emphatic Do here:

Do Does Did for Emphasis

►

Damkerng T.

Ah, postpositive is probably a better candidate.

user178049

Yes, thank you so mucch @Araucaria! :-D

V.V.

14:14

OK, thank you, Dam.

Damkerng T.

I hope it helps!

Ah, this paper is interesting (though it could complicate the problem even further):

> Postpositive Past Participles Used on Their Own by Yae Furata

> These verbs are all transitive action verbs and are descriptors used to describe the preceding nouns. They are used as a kind of cue to remind someone of something and save the audience the effort of recalling what that noun refers to.

Required is among these verbs.

An interesting sentence pair from Wikipedia:

> Quite a significant difference in meaning is found with the adjective responsible:
- I'm here to find the responsible people.
- I'm here to find the people responsible.

3

Q: Is "supposed to play" semantically different from "supposed to be playing"?

Any meaning differences between these two sentences I was supposed to play and I was supposed to be playing

meaning gerunds continuous

Another question that asks us to assign meanings to sentences out of context.

unarist

@userr2684291 Thanks!

Damkerng T.

My motto: no intended meaning, no meaning to discuss the meaning

M.A.R.

@userr2684291 Here's a ping because why not

@DamkerngT. That's too "meaning"ful

Damkerng T.

LOL

Suppose that play as an intransitive verb can have N different meanings, and in each of these meanings, using to play and to be playing always convey subtly different meanings. It's easy to see that the answer needs to discuss 2N meanings, to fulfill the requirements in the question.

And we still haven't considered ellipsis.

It's similar to writing an entry in a dictionary, but with the multitude of possible combinations.

Wow, Colleen is pretty quick!

userr2684291

14:38

@M.A.R. I appreciate all the why-not pings I've been getting.

M.A.R.

@userr2684291 I see no appreciation

Araucaria

15:06

0

A: Why is letter not plural in "two letter words"?

Measure phrases are special noun phrases that we use to explain how long or big or heavy or expensive something is: The programme was ten minutes. The walk was five miles. The meal was twenty pounds. These measure phrases all include a number, like one or seven and a noun afterwards. In the e...

userr2684291

@Araucaria Why'd you say: "We see no S on the ends of the words in the measure phrases." – shouldn't it be at instead? Would it be wrong to say "We see no Ss at the ends of the words..."? Also, there's a typo in the previous sentence: "...the noun in he measure phrase is not plural."

Araucaria

@userr2684291 I don't know why we say on the end of something (I think we do this is the thing is horizontal) - but we do! You could use at there, but on would be more normal. Thanks for the heads up about the typo!

userr2684291

15:22

books.google.com/ngrams/…

V.V.

@DamkerngT. I have just read that article.

M.A.R.

Which article?

It's confusing if you don't use replies

userr2684291

@Araucaria The Google Ngrams Viewer shows that at is more common in the phrases at the end of words and at the ends of words. Even when I choose to search only the BrE corpus.

V.V.

I can't @M.A.R. because of bad connection

Araucaria

@userr2684291 Must be my idiolect!

userr2684291

15:33

@Araucaria I see.

Araucaria

@userr2684291 I suspect it's actually because I mean something like "stuck on the ends" ... Maybe ask snailplane ...

userr2684291

@Araucaria Why do you insist that in a five mile walk, five mile isn't an adjective? Why did you leave them unhyphenated? CGEL says: An alternative means of expressing measure is to use a compound adjective, as in a [two-hour delay], a [five-mile walk], an [eight-pound baby], etc.

Araucaria

@userr2684291 Really? I'll have to check that out. What page is that?

userr2684291

470.

Araucaria

@userr2684291 Ok, let me have a look ...

Damkerng T.

15:42

@userr2684291 But It works fine on my end is common, right? (cc @Araucaria)

@V.V. Yay! :D

userr2684291

@DamkerngT. Yeah. I'd use at, though.

The same with at our side, etc.

userr2684291

15:56

ell.stackexchange.com/questions/115422/… "Implicates is a technical term for having a 'default' meaning which may in fact be contradicted." I don't understand this sentence. Could someone give me an example of this contradiction they mention?

Araucaria

@userr2684291 Woah. Well, I stand corrected (and confused - I don't understand why they consider them adjectives there ... they just look like nominals used as modifiers to me)

Damkerng T.

@userr2684291 A simple example: He's here. -- The implied meaning could be overridden with a simple clause, which changes the meaning completely: He's here, but he's not.

(maybe 'the default meaning' would be better than 'the implied meaning')

userr2684291

@DamkerngT. Right, thanks.

Damkerng T.

No problem. (^_^)

Oh, that day of year is coming soon... Maybe I should think of a good thing to post on that day. :-)

M.A.R.

Oh, right

CowperKettle

16:11

Good evening

M.A.R.

\o

Damkerng T.

Good evening!

userr2684291

@DamkerngT. What day?

Damkerng T.

@userr2684291 The first of April. (^_^)

I wonder if I'll see any Unicorns this year. :P

userr2684291

Ah.

CowperKettle

16:24

Speaking of April jokes

M.A.R.

I think it's gonna be a minigame again

CowperKettle

There's a Russian parliament deputy who wore a t-shirt with a sign "Orthodox Christianity or Death!"

One guy posted this photo on his social network page and wrote that this is wrong to have such slogans. It's too hateful.

userr2684291

@M.A.R. What's a mini game?

CowperKettle

This guy was brought to court and the court found him guilty

@M.A.R. minigame?

You mean a StackExchange game?

I recall some game.. with a unicorn

M.A.R.

Yeah, like the trolls game of the previous year

userr2684291

16:27

I thought we played that game all year long. There are points and time-outs and everything.

Trolls, too.

CowperKettle

16:39

In a Russian university, a teacher told a student to read a text about the "Fifth Column" (i.e. Russian liberals) and the student read it in such a mocking way that it became a bit of a hit.

Like "let's love our leader Putin and burn the Constitution on the Red Square"

LOL

Hanaa

16:56

Hello all!

@snailplane or @DamkerngT.

We took the bus back to home.

Is it natural to say that?

M.A.R.

17:17

I'd say

> We took the bus back home.

Hanaa

Thanks @M.A.R.!

Heihej

18:20

Hi. I hope it's fine to ask english usage questions here. I'm not sure if my question is a good fit for the site proper. I'm writing an email to a person who dropped out of an email chain (no longer a Cc) a while ago. Would it be fine to title the email "Follow up [on topic]", or does "follow up" have specific meanings in this context (e.g. is it just used when someone doesn't respond)?

CowperKettle

Hmm. Could it be "An update on [topic]", I wonder.

I'm a non-native speaker

Heihej

That might work, but the problem is that it's not really an update. The email is to ask them whether we should publicly acknowledge them for their help on a project. It's not really an update on the topic of the email.

But thanks for the input :)

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