Language Overflow

Cardinal

16:00

5 mins ago, by Cardinal

Have you bitten into these apples, they taste great!

Damkerng T.

@Cardinal Oh, that one is fine.

Lawrence

@DamkerngT. That's a fair call. I checked as far back as this message, but I don't see any explanation for your surprise. I see a lot of surprise, and a few assertions that it isn't idiomatic to native English speakers, but not much in the way of pointing out the root cause of that surprise. I may have missed it, though. Would you mind typing it out again, or at least linking to it?

Damkerng T.

@Cardinal For me, this one is fine, too. (I can't say for sure which choice (simple past vs. present perfect) I'll really use in my real speech, though!)

Jim Reynolds

@DamkerngT. I'd guess, mostly on intuition, that BrE peeps would prefer the present perfect here.

Damkerng T.

@Lawrence I remember that we've discussed this topic once in an old chat room, perhaps two years ago.

Lawrence

16:03

@DamkerngT. I've been a member of ELU for about 10 months, and Learners more recently. If it was two years ago, your discussion would have been with someone else. :)

Cardinal

@DamkerngT. Hmmm, doesn't it cast doubt on the relation between "being definite or indefinite" and "using past and past perfect"?

Damkerng T.

@JimReynolds I usually try to recall if I've actually heard (or read) a BrE speaker use it. Sometimes I think the general "differences" between AmE and BrE as listed in some books or on some webpages are a bit vague.

@Lawrence Of course! It was a vague we. I didn't mean the two of us. :D

Jim Reynolds

@DamkerngT. I'd expect we discussed it once here, but I'm ok with pr perf.

Lawrence

@DamkerngT. I'm used to more rigour when it comes to splitting hairs. :)

Damkerng T.

But the thing is, from that point on, I've kept observing this point when I can. And as far as I can tell, it's quite a valid point (i.e., definite things doesn't go well with the present perfect).

@Lawrence Well, my memories are usually vague. :P

Lawrence

16:06

@JimReynolds Yes, unfortunately. I burned quite badly. :P

Damkerng T.

@JimReynolds nods -- Hey, my English is not 100% American. :P

Jim Reynolds

@DamkerngT. You'd dislike I've fed the cat.?

Damkerng T.

Oh, that's fine.

Jim Reynolds

@Lawrence O.O

Damkerng T.

It's asking about something indefinite.

Lawrence

16:07

@DamkerngT. Your comment that "definite things doesn't go well with the present perfect" is the sort of statement I was looking for.

Cardinal

@Lawrence of the @JimReynolds's favorite diurnal activities is baking human beings!

Lawrence

@JimReynolds Sunburned. And a mischievous interpretation of your question. Smilie added for clarity.

Damkerng T.

@Lawrence I'm not even sure which room we discussed it in right now! So I can't guarantee if I can find it. But I'll give it a try.

Jim Reynolds

@DamkerngT. Ok. An artifact of my speak first, read background later, maybe, policy!

@Lawrence I thought you had burned cookies

And I was shocked that you'd admit it

Damkerng T.

in English Language Learners, May 27 '14 at 19:49, by Damkerng T.

> "This cake tastes wonderful. *Have you baked it yourself?"

Now I have yet to find "the book I linked to"!

Lawrence

16:11

@JimReynolds My reply wouldn't have been grammatical had it referred to cookies. :)

Which was why I thought you'd get it straight away.

Damkerng T.

in English Language Learners, May 27 '14 at 19:20, by Damkerng T.

http://books.google.com/books?id=cV4dAQAAIAAJ&q="this+cake+tastes+wonderful"

Jim Reynolds

I imagine @snailplane is so cool because she dropped a lot of LSD in the 60s. Just a sense I have.

Cardinal

@JimReynolds :))

Damkerng T.

Oops! The link looks bad! Let me paste it again: books.google.com/…

Jim Reynolds

@Lawrence I only get things fabulously away!

@Cardinal Hahaha

Cardinal

16:13

@JimReynolds Interesting, in persian we use exact the same verb "drop"=="انداختن" in (spoken/informal) Persian.

when talking about drugs

Lawrence

@DamkerngT. If you're confusing me with Cerberus in matters of English, I'd consider that high praise. :)

Cardinal

especially, pills

Damkerng T.

@Lawrence Well, what can I say now... :-)

Jim Reynolds

@Cardinal I think I've only heard drop with LSD/acid. Not other drugs.

@Cardinal Interesting

Lawrence

On "Have you baked it yourself?", perhaps it's the way it's pronounced. Try placing the stress on have and slightly less on self, with the rest of the words almost swallowed.

Cardinal

16:17

@JimReynolds I am quite sure that we use that verb only with pills <@DEAD there is an opportunity for you to refute my marginal statement>

Jim Reynolds

@DamkerngT. He disarmed you! @Law seems quite the rhetoritician. Or however it's spelled.

Damkerng T.

@JimReynolds His point was about my vague we. :P

@Lawrence Right now, I think you're okay with it (Have you bake it...) only when it's used as if it's an exclamation, right?

Jim Reynolds

I thoight his that's high praise led to your what can I say now?.

Cardinal

@JimReynolds It makes me to think that, new idioms and sentences in Persian are word-by-word translations from English

Lawrence

@DamkerngT. No, I don't consider that grammatical (with bake instead of baked), regardless of the manner of speaking.

Jim Reynolds

16:21

English Englishes a lot of things.

Damkerng T.

@JimReynolds His point was that he read my we as "he and I", which I referred to myself and others who I was chatting with. Apparently, Cerberus was in the discussion and Lawrence must know Cerberus. :)

@Lawrence Sorry for the typo. :D

But to get to the point once again, I think you're okay with Have you baked it (yourself)? only when it's used as if it's an exclamation, right?

Jim Reynolds

@DamkerngT. Why did you say What can I say now?

Damkerng T.

@JimReynolds I didn't want to hurt his or my feelings.

:D

Jim Reynolds

Awww... Your sensitivity level is set to . . . adorably charming!

Cardinal

@JimReynolds I think sensitivity parameter is a better word-choice!

Jim Reynolds

16:26

@Cardinal How ... dare ... you?!

Damkerng T.

:D

Cardinal

@JimReynolds Because the same conversation was between TARS and Cooper in Interstellar

Jim Reynolds

@Cardinal O.O

How many times have you seen it?

Cardinal

Up to now, 3 times

Lawrence

@DamkerngT. Oh. In that case, we're talking about "Have you baked it yourself?". Let me summarise my position on this. It's not in a formal register; that would be "Did you bake it yourself?" However, it is something I wouldn't be surprised to hear from a native BrE speaker as an expression of surprise or delight, or perhaps from a condescending baking teacher to a student.

Damkerng T.

16:29

@Lawrence I see. Thanks for the feedback!

Lawrence

@DamkerngT. You're welcome.

Cardinal

Cooper: Hey TARS, what's your honesty parameter?
TARS: 90 percent.
Cooper: 90 percent?
TARS: Absolute honesty isn't always the most diplomatic nor the safest form of communication with emotional beings.
Cooper: Okay, 90 percent it is.

Damkerng T.

@Cardinal In another scene, when Cooper said (to Amelia), "We agreed 90%", I almost cried!

Jim Reynolds

@Lawrence Hmm... It's interesting. I feel/sense the register difference the other way around!

Cardinal

@DamkerngT. Hmm, I see. Edmund Planet

Damkerng T.

16:31

Hi, @FumbleFingers! Welcome back!

Lawrence

@JimReynolds Are you saying that the have version sounds formal?

Cardinal

Hi @FumbleFingers

Damkerng T.

@Cardinal Yes. It was kinda bittersweet.

Jim Reynolds

@Lawrence Just reflexively, yes.

Lawrence

@JimReynolds As used by a condescending baking teacher, perhaps (cf my summary)?

Cardinal

16:33

I gotta go, I will come back soon o/

Lawrence

Bye!

Jim Reynolds

But why? Maybe it sounds more BrEish to me, then I stereotype a proper Brit asking it.

Damkerng T.

Let's get FumberFingers involved. :P -- @FumbleFingers We were (still are, I think) talking about Have you baked it (cake, after the speaker has tried a piece of cake) yourself? vs. Did you bake it yourself?

Jim Reynolds

@Lawrence That scenario seems associated with did to me. Dunno why!

Damkerng T.

Right now, we are here:

6 mins ago, by Lawrence

@DamkerngT. Oh. In that case, we're talking about "Have you baked it yourself?". Let me summarise my position on this. It's not in a formal register; that would be "Did you bake it yourself?" However, it is something I wouldn't be surprised to hear from a native BrE speaker as an expression of surprise or delight, or perhaps from a condescending baking teacher to a student.

Would you like to add anything?

@Cardinal See you soon!

Jim Reynolds

16:35

Strong Br/Am difference, I think.

Lawrence

@JimReynolds Indeed. But a proper Brit speaking informally?

@JimReynolds Yes, I agree with the BrE/AmE difference here.

Hi @FumbleFingers. Care to weigh in?

Jim Reynolds

Since it's so "present". I guess many BrEers would say it needs to be present perfect.

Again, just a guess.

Damkerng T.

Speaking of BrE/AmE makes me think of Sherlock and Elementary. Each has its own charms.

Jim Reynolds

Mother to young child as she discovers crayon scribbles on the wall, angrily: Did YOU do this?

@Law For you how about such a scene?

Lawrence

@JimReynolds As an expression of anger, "What have you done?!" seems more idiomatic.

Damkerng T.

16:42

Have you done this?! would sound strange, I think. -- Ah, THIS is now this!

Jim Reynolds

Then to one of two possible culprits?

Lawrence

"Did YOU do this?" sounds like it can be followed by "Aww, that's BEAUTIFUL!"

Jim Reynolds

@Lawrence But it's interesting! I see that as quite interchangeable. Same with condescion-cake scene.

So many factors might account for our images.

I imagine past simple first, anger, emotion, or not.

Lawrence

@JimReynolds Hmm, what's 'normal' in language depends a lot on what one's used to.

Jim Reynolds

@Lawrence Yes, either to me.

Lawrence

16:48

@JimReynolds I can imagine "Did YOU do this?" in a tone of wonder, but not "What have you done?!".

Damkerng T.

I think, basically, we all use positive evidence in language learning, first or second.

Jim Reynolds

I can imagine Look what you've done with wonder/praise/admiration.

Lawrence

@DamkerngT. I'm undecided about this. I might be suffering from semantic satiation. :)

Damkerng T.

@Lawrence Okay. That's fair enough. :D

Lawrence

@JimReynolds Yes. That's a different formulation, though.

Jim Reynolds

16:50

@DamkerngT. Strange to me, too, at least somewhat.

@Lawrence Yes. I have some reluctance to imagine What have you done? with wonder.

But I can easily see the reformulation.

Lawrence

@JimReynolds Then we have agreement on that point, and (I think) broad agreement on the rest of the immediate discussion. On that note, I'll take my leave. :)

Jim Reynolds

@Cardinal I have a preference for so far here.

Cardinal

:)

Damkerng T.

@Lawrence See you soon! And thanks for the discussion!

Jim Reynolds

@Lawrence o/

Cardinal

16:55

@Lawrence o/

Damkerng T.

I guess Interstellar to Cardinal is Prometheus to me.

Cardinal

@DamkerngT. would you teach me what is the conclusion?

@DamkerngT. I saw that movie.

Damkerng T.

27 mins ago, by Lawrence

@DamkerngT. Oh. In that case, we're talking about "Have you baked it yourself?". Let me summarise my position on this. It's not in a formal register; that would be "Did you bake it yourself?" However, it is something I wouldn't be surprised to hear from a native BrE speaker as an expression of surprise or delight, or perhaps from a condescending baking teacher to a student.

I think we more or less settled on this. At least so far.

@Cardinal I watched it like maybe 10 times.

Cardinal

For me it is enough since I am inclined to AmE.

Jim Reynolds

But I feel Did you is more common.

Cardinal

16:57

@DamkerngT. Awo, the last part of the movie was so dark, that collision I mean. Chrlie throne is gorgeous :D

@JimReynolds I meant, I agree with @DamkerngT.

Jim Reynolds

I love her in Monster.

Damkerng T.

@Cardinal Yes, but somehow it was a bit funny to me. I mean, why didn't she run in another direction to avoid that ship!

@JimReynolds That's probably the only one of her movies I haven't watched!

Cardinal

@DamkerngT. =))

Monster (2003 film)

Monster is a 2003 crime drama film about serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a former prostitute who was executed in Florida in 2002 for killing six men (she was not tried for a seventh murder) in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Wuornos was played by Charlize Theron, and her fictionalized lover, Selby Wall (based on Wuornos' real-life girlfriend Tyria Moore), was played by Christina Ricci. Patty Jenkins wrote and directed the film. Theron received overwhelming critical acclaim and won seventeen awards for her portrayal, including the Academy Award for Best Actress, Golden Globe Award for Best Actress...

Jim Reynolds

Emotionally and intellellectually challenging. Extremely realistic, vivid, gritty.

Cardinal

@DamkerngT. I meant the collision between two spacecrafts.

Damkerng T.

17:01

@Cardinal Oh, that was so awesome! :D

@JimReynolds I wanted to watch it because it'd gotten many awards, but somehow I missed it every time the network here ran it.

Avicenna

I don't sci-fic movies!

Hi

Cardinal

@JimReynolds I will see that movie thanks to Bit torrent. Oh, what happened to my code of ethics.

Damkerng T.

@Avicenna Aww... this one has a robot learning ancient languages. (Trying to convince Avicenna. :)

Avicenna

@CowperKettle that pic is really beautiful on my phone. :-)

Cardinal

@Avicenna Hi

Avicenna

17:03

@DamkerngT. I 30 why you like it. :D

Damkerng T.

Hehe!

Avicenna

I like movies based on real stiries. That when I watch, I tell myself " Avi it's really happened.".

Cardinal

@DamkerngT. How much do you pay for the networks per month? Which network do you have access to?

FumbleFingers

@Cardinal @DamkerngT. Cardinal: I only popped over here earlier to pick up the address for a link. Re that Have you [done sth] yourself? / Did you [do sth] yourself? distinction, I don't think there's any real element of "formal / informal". Just an ever-increasing trend towards do-support which means in contexts where the meaning can only be the same, we're more likely to go for did you.

Damkerng T.

@Cardinal It's Truevisions, probably the biggest cable TV operator over here. It's something like about $80 a month.

Avicenna

17:07

Hi @FumbleFingers!

Damkerng T.

@FumbleFingers I see! (And thanks!)

Cardinal

@FumbleFingers Thanks, it would be really great to see you here every now and then

3

Damkerng T.

+++!

FumbleFingers

@Avicenna There's a great line in 84 Charing Cross Road where Anne Bancroft's character (a rather ott bibliophile) says she hates reading about things that never happened, to people who never existed.

3

Avicenna

@FumbleFingers She is totally right to feel that way. :-)

FumbleFingers

17:10

@Cardinal You're right. I will make more effort in future. I used to find it difficult to participate on ELU chat because it really is true that I'm a fumble-fingered (two-fingered) typist, so I can't keep up very well.

Cardinal

@DamkerngT. Awo, that is expensive, but I think it is worth it.

@FumbleFingers :D, That would be great.

CowperKettle

@Avicenna (0:

Avicenna

@FumbleFingers I am one-fingered typist (using my phone to chat)

CowperKettle

@FumbleFingers Good evening! ott = over the top?

FumbleFingers

@Avicenna Ask any policeman (or psychologist) how accurate "eye witness" accounts are, and you might be surprised to discover the answer is Not very! Not to mention which, people constantly "revise" their memories every time they retrieve and retell them to others.

Cardinal

17:14

:-)

FumbleFingers

@CowperKettle indeed. I probably should have capitalized it though.

Damkerng T.

@Cardinal :D -- I just checked. It's actually more like $70. It comes with lots of channels, maybe 200-300 (I don't know why they don't include BBC Entertainment in my package), but I usually watch only a handful of them.

Cardinal

My only connection to the other parts of the world is through "Bittorrent" which makes me to break my code of ethics. :(

Avicenna

@FumbleFingers nodds. + they add to that to make it more dramatic.

Cardinal

I tried to talk vaguely! :-)

Avicenna

17:18

Vague Cardinal!

Jim Reynolds

@Cardinal Just tell yourself that Hollywood money would be donated to Hillary, and ultimately result in more fighter jets getting sold to Saudi Arabia ?

2

Cardinal

@JimReynolds Hmm, I am not a big fan of justifying wrong doings! but, I have no choice in that case but keep downloading!

:-)

CowperKettle

(0:

Yo ho ho and a harddrive of movies

Cardinal

@CowperKettle :-)

Jim Reynolds

It's actually not necessarily ethically simple, in my view.

We can borrow a book from a friend and read it.

Cardinal

17:25

I can think we do the same with Bytes over Torrent. :D

Jim Reynolds

And instead of helping support Charlize, who is probably doing fine financially, you could instead give her a hug if you see her someday!

Cardinal

@JimReynolds I see. I hope so.

:-)

Jim Reynolds

Hi @Avi

I was happy to read your information

Cardinal

@Avicenna Nebulous and Nebular are my preferable adjectives. Perhaps, they have something to do with cosmos!

Jim Reynolds

And you helped prompt me into doing something I want to do.

FumbleFingers

17:30

@CowperKettle In my case, that's several hard drives (nearly 2500 movies and counting! :) But sometimes it's just too much effort to find which drive an old movie was stored on, so I end up torrenting a new copy anyway if I want to watch it again (in which case I usually go for the largest file I might be able to download, since storage space isn't really an issue these days).

Jim Reynolds

@Avi docs.google.com/document/d/…

Cardinal

A friend of mine downloaded the first "Lord of the ring" having 60GB size. o_O

He loves that movie(s).

Jim Reynolds

Another point: Downloading a lot helps clean the world's fiber optics networks!

Cardinal

Clean from dead frames?

Jim Reynolds

It sort of scrubs them out, polishing their reflective surfaces!

Anonymous

17:34

@Færd Agonize was used that way originally, but I don't think it's used that way anymore.

Cardinal

@JimReynolds :D yes yes

Anonymous

@JimReynolds Oh, yes, when I was negative fifteen years old :-)

Cardinal

@snailplane What is your favorite movie?

Anonymous

@Cardinal Oh, I'm not sure! That's a difficult question . . .

Jim Reynolds

@snailplane That's exactly the type of creative weirdness I meant! Seriously, it agonizes me to hear that I was wrong. Couldn't it?

Cardinal

17:38

I think you would like SpongBob because of the snail Gary (^_^)

Anonymous

Gary is adorable :-)

Jim Reynolds

It agonizes me to [verb] seems not uncommon.

Cardinal

@snailplane Would you mention a number of them?

Jim Reynolds

@Car TV series: Justified

Cardinal

@JimReynolds I thought you would like Madmen

Jim Reynolds

17:43

TV series: Rome. Big Love.

I have only seen one or two episodes. I might like it.

Anonymous

@Cardinal The Princess Bride :-)

Jim Reynolds

Movies: The Lives of Others. Victoria.

Anonymous

The Princess Bride is also an excellent book. It's one of those rare cases where I think the movie is just as good – in its own way, of course.

CowperKettle

A great movie, yes.

Cardinal

I am bookmarking those movies.

CowperKettle

17:46

Hello, My name is Inigo Montoya....

►

Jim Reynolds

Yes.

rottentomatoes.com/m/amy_2015

Cardinal

@JimReynolds Is that a movie in Germany Language? -> " Das Leben ..."

CowperKettle

I love "Adventures in Babysitting"

imdb.com/title/tt0092513

Jim Reynolds

@Cardinal Yes.

rottentomatoes.com/m/rich_hill

Cardinal

@JimReynolds I didn't listen to her songs, but after her death I heard some of them on media. Her voice and sound was really great.

Jim Reynolds

17:54

@Cardinal I didn't know her music, really, until I saw the documentary.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Train_(film)

Damkerng T.

18:15

@JimReynolds Weird. I just watched that movie (documentary?) some weeks ago!

Jim Reynolds

@DamkerngT. Insight into a substantial aspect of American life. Heartbreaking, some hope and beauty.

Damkerng T.

nods

Jim Reynolds

It'a a documentary film, yes.

Damkerng T.

It's almost unbelievable. Quite eye-opening.

The gap is very, very wide.

Jim Reynolds

The psychologist Carl Rogers said, What's most personal is most general.

3

He meant that those things we think are "most unique" to ourselves, our secret thoughts, feelings, experiences, are typically the very things that we have in common.

Cardinal

18:25

nods

Jim Reynolds

That film takes us pretty deep into some people's realities.

Damkerng T.

I thought the system would've been better. It could've been better. It could still be better. I still believe in our future.

Færd

@JimReynolds Maybe the use of the verb in that sense is dated (as Snails suggests)?

@Lawrence Yeah, I'm becoming convinced.

Jim Reynolds

At least, it's much less commonly used that way niw.

Færd

Mhm.

Jim Reynolds

18:33

But not obsolete.

Færd

I'd like to have the freedom of using in that sense too. It may also metaphorically work for those who relate it only to mental pains.

But not common usage, I agree, after rummaging for examples here and there.

Jim Reynolds

But it agonized him knowing she was struggling, and his soul was bleeding because

Novel, 2013

Færd

Which is mental.

Jim Reynolds

Quintero was torturing his body as well as his mind, and as the familiar pains arrived they agonized him ...

Usually

What torture isn't mental? ;-)

Færd

> ... his body as well as his mind ... agonized him and set him off about his wife.

I'd say it's about the mental effect too.

@JimReynolds True, but your viewpoint can vary, and that's the difference between torture and agonize, apparently.

Jim Reynolds

18:41

He wore Jonah's sandals and they agonized him.

I'm just saying it is used that way.

Færd

I don't disagree with that.

Let's not agonize over it.

Jim Reynolds

:-)

I won't agonize you.

Well, never say never. I might!

Færd

I'm a carefree bird. Try as you might.

Jim Reynolds

No. You might poop on me

Anonymous

18:59

@JimReynolds You don't think that's strange at all?

Anonymous

1

Q: Usage of the subjunctive word "would"

After an English class on the subjunctives, I am now confused about the usage of "would". The definition provided for "would": (expressing the conditional mood) indicating the consequence of an imagined event or situation. Before the class, I would typically say something like "I'm sure th...

Anonymous

This is in the reopen queue. Thoughts?

Færd

19:14

If their question is whether would can be used after be sure, then they should edit it accordingly, and then it'd be less of a duplicate.

CowperKettle

Goodnight all

Anonymous

The reviews so far are split. I have to admit I can't see exactly what the sure part changes.

Færd

I guess they confused being imaginary with being probable and not certain, and therefore thought it's contradictory to use would after be sure, because how can you be sure of something that is not sure?

Cardinal

19:37

@CowperKettle goodnight o/

Avicenna

@JimReynolds @Cardinal I had some guests, so I had to go and disappear suddenly.

Cardinal

No problem :)

Avicenna

@JimReynolds Thank you!

@JimReynolds Impressive!

Damkerng T.

20:00

@snailplane Ah, that question! That question is the question that sent me to that Wikipedia page on conditionals (which I don't think is very good).

Damkerng T.

21:42

-1

A: Present Simple or Continuous in this sentence? Which is correct?

Well first off, it sounds a little bit weird. It should be: I'm working at least ten hours a day and some Saturdays." In the first part of the sentence you're talking about hours and at the end you're talking about days, so you have to add "a day" Now to your actual question: "Well, I ...

I tried hard, but wasn't able to explain why the answer got 2 downvotes. I don't want to cast a mercy vote, though. It's already gotten one upvote.

Anonymous

22:31

I don't think this should be closed: ell.stackexchange.com/q/102775/230

Damkerng T.

Agreed.

nytimes.com/2016/08/30/world/europe/…

Poor reindeer!

I just learned about the news on a late show. The show poked fun at the phrase sweet and sour a bit.

> Olav Strand, a senior researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, inspected the site on Sunday, and said the animals appeared to have died “as if someone just turned off a switch.” The air was filled with a smell that seemed both sweet and sour, he said.

Sweet and sour!

I was reading this:

1

Q: Can "come to" mean "gradually"?

In sentences like: The scientists came to realize that they were opening up a worm can. I came to understand that he was lying to us all the time. Can come to mean gradually? I have checked the dictionaries but have not found this sense up to now.

vocabulary

And I wondered if I could find the phrase came to realize near instantly on the web. I found this:

> “While I was brought to the position by something short of choice, I came to realize almost immediately what a wonderful path I had taken. … Life as a public servant was more interesting. ..."

> 125.stanford.edu/the-law-school-class-of-1952

I suppose that I came to realize almost immediately is not exactly immediately. :D

Anonymous

22:54

I think there's some sort of causal relationship here. Walk toward a train station, and the train will arrive as soon as you get close, but just far enough that you can't get on the train in time.

Anonymous

Do I really have the power of summoning trains? If so, how do I harness it to create a perpetual motion device?

Damkerng T.

@snailplane I happened to me sometimes, too!

Sometimes, when I got up to the platform of my train, the train was just leaving. Worse, it happened to me several days in a row once. And I thought something might be wrong with me!

Anonymous

Me too! Well, it's okay. The next train is sure to be the snailtrain :-)

Damkerng T.

Yay!

Anonymous

It's just taking its time getting here. You know, snails are as snails do. Or something.

Damkerng T.

22:58

Hehe!

0

Q: Unusual usage of a word in conditional 3

Prologue I was talking to a friend about riddles and without thinking too much, I said the following: "I would've liked the riddle more if it had come with a real solution." Putting the if-clause front, for stylistic reasons, it changes to: "If the riddle had come with a real solution I...

word-usage conditional-constructions

Aww... all the OP needs is just some sort of a reconciliation between their intuition and grammar!

Anonymous

What the OP needs is for that comment to be an answer :-)

Damkerng T.

Indeed!

Anonymous

I can see the snail train off in the distance with my eagle-like eyes!

Anonymous

My eyes are like that of an eagle with very poor eyesight.

Damkerng T.

Oh, eagle-like-eyed power!

@snailplane LOL

Anonymous

23:08

I probably should have said those rather than that. Thoughts?

Damkerng T.

I think so. Those sounds better than that to me.

Anonymous

English mystery of the day: Why do we say bite down when we actually bite up?

Damkerng T.

But wouldn't we actually bite both up and down?

(Maybe I'm missing something here.)

Anonymous

People usually move their lower jaw and keep their head relatively still.

Anonymous

So when you bite, the main motion comes from moving the lower jaw upward.

Damkerng T.

23:10

Hmm... (after trying a few air bites) I think you're right!

@snailplane To be fair, I think it's bite down in Thai, too.

And we also have, perhaps even more mind-boggling, bite inside!

(Basically, bite + swallow. -- Wait, it's not swallow, technically. Or at least, it doesn't have to be. Keeping it in the mouth is okay, too.)

Oh, bite+in+come makes sense in Thai, too!

Language is curious!

Simone Giertz is Queen of Crappy Robots

►

Funny robots!

BTW, I think she nails her American accent!

Anonymous

I'll have to listen when I'm not on public transit :-)

Anonymous

23:25

In Japanese, drink and swallow are very close. The basic verb for both (nomu) seems to mean 'to pass in through the mouth and throat (usually into the stomach) without chewing'.

Anonymous

You can use nomu for taking pills too, although you can also use toru 'take'.

Anonymous

The dividing point between eat and drink in English seems similar but not quite the same.

Damkerng T.

I just realized that English has no word for holding something in the mouth!

(If it has, I don't know it.)

Anonymous

Yeah, I guess you'd just say hold/keep it in your mouth?

Damkerng T.

Yes!

Lawrence

23:27

@Avicenna What does "30" mean in this context?

Anonymous

Perhaps with without swallowing :-)

Lawrence

@DamkerngT. :)

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. So do you eat or drink soup in Thai? :-)

Damkerng T.

@snailplane Hmm... I guess either would work.

Anonymous

English is fuzzy on soup too.

Damkerng T.

23:29

[eat] (กิน) would sound (much) more colloquial. I guess I wouldn't use it except at home.

@Lawrence IIRC, 30 reads "see" in Avicenna's language (not sure if it's in Azery or Persian.)

@Lawrence And welcome back!

The single word for hold/keep it in one's mouth in Thai is อม (read "om", somewhat like English ohm, but it's a short vowel).

Lawrence

@DamkerngT. Thanks! (It's Azery.)

@DamkerngT. And thanks again! Just in for a short while this round.

Damkerng T.

@Lawrence My pleasure!

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