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00:14

0

I have been criticised for answering off-topic "is this correct" questions, which I accept, but other are still doing so without censure. What is going on?

discussion

Man_From_India

00:46

@CowperKettle thanks it makes sense.

@snailplane i found only one hit for "reeled in its beam" while searching Google and that hit refers to the book I am reading where I found that sentence. It is Chasing the Monsoon by Alexander Frater.

Damkerng T.

01:02

Maybe it's something like "jerked back".

Damkerng T.

01:16

Note to self: two possible alternatives to think of 'to'-infinitive in some sentences. (inspired by TRomano's answer ell.stackexchange.com/a/105224/3281)

In the answer, it's written:

> I told her that she reminded me of Winston Churchill, and she replied "Of all the things to say!"
That means, roughly, "Of all the things for you to have said, that particular thing is surprising or shocking". However, being an infinitive, which is tenseless, the reference is not so much to the statement as something which has been said but as one that could be said.

Which made me wonder why he didn't choose to paraphrase it as "Of all the things you could choose to say" rather than "Of all the things for you to have said".

So, the two possible alternatives are a) it's tenseless, no matter what (as suggested and paraphrased as in the answer); or b) it's "later than a reference point in time" (and this is tricky if we allow the reference point to move to any point in time, like in my paraphrase, "Of all the things [you could choose] to say").

Personally, I suspect that some native speakers may think like a), some may think like b), and some others may think like a) but tint it with b).

(The color of b) can be observed in phrases like things to come, or who is, who was, and who is to come, and so on.)

Anonymous

02:39

@Man_From_India Maybe the beam was on a cord :-)

Anonymous

And they literally reeled it in.

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. Of all the things to say is tenseless.

Anonymous

In the sense that the only verb phrase in it is infinitival and therefore unmarked for tense.

Anonymous

In the broader temporal sense (which I will refer to as 'time' rather than 'tense') I think we could discuss whether it's futurive here, but IMO it is not.

Anonymous

In other examples it is.

Damkerng T.

02:44

nods

@snailplane Somehow I imagined that the searchlight was like the Bat-signal! :-)

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. Maybe they have reels. I don't know. I can't picture it, but maybe it makes sense in context.

Anonymous

I haven't tried reading it in context.

Damkerng T.

@snailplane It's here: books.google.com/books?id=EU_KPM9_JjwC&pg=PA5

It was Dickie's searchlight.

BTW, I didn't know that the plural of aircraft is aircraft!

Anonymous

03:02

@DamkerngT. It won't let me read it.

Damkerng T.

@snailplane Strange!

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. Yes, because the plural of craft in the relevant sense is a zero plural.

Anonymous

Aircraft inherits the plural from craft.

Anonymous

In other senses craft has a regular plural, as in arts and crafts.

Damkerng T.

@snailplane nods -- It was unexpected for me anyway. :D

(BTW, that's all about Dickie's role in this story, as far as I can tell.)

user62015

03:29

@DamkerngT. @snailplane Hi! (A) Tell me / (B) the content / (C) of the letter. / D) no error

Answer is option B @DamkerngT.

Damkerng T.

I guess they may want contents, but for me, either Tell me the content or contents (of the letter) sounds strange.

I'd use Tell me about the content(s) of the letter -- contents is more likely. I think content is possible but a bit unusual.

Nihilist_Frost

/ʌðɚ/ causes so much havoc for Vietnamese immigrants as far as I've seen

user62015

@DamkerngT. Thanks.

(A) He / (B) robbed / (C) my watch. ? (D) no error @DamkerngT.

Damkerng T.

@Nihilist_Frost I didn't know that it'd difficult for them.

Nihilist_Frost

@DamkerngT. Maybe it's my ears

Damkerng T.

03:35

@user62015 What do you think? (Have you checked your dictionary?)

user62015

B

And Answer says B

Nihilist_Frost

cause I keep hearing a round vowel come out or something

user62015

But I am not sure @DamkerngT.

Damkerng T.

That's the answer, but what's your idea about the error?

@Nihilist_Frost A round vowel? Like an "o"?

Nihilist_Frost

something like /mɒðə/ seriously ticks me off.

Damkerng T.

03:37

@user62015 Try looking up rob and steal.

Nihilist_Frost

I think they're trying to approach /mɒðə/.

given that my own father coughs up /a.wad/ for award

user62015

Okay

Nihilist_Frost

one day, my parents were talking to someone on the phone

then they had to spell something over

then they said "E as in "Elizabeth""

but out of their mouths came /elizəbɛθ/

I died in disbelief.

Damkerng T.

Well, it could happen. :D

I'm quite familiar with the way the first generation of people who moved over here and have to learn to speak Thai speak. Most have an accent, one way or another.

Nihilist_Frost

lol

Damkerng T.

03:43

(E.g., instead of saying "khrap", they might say "khak" or "ka".)

Nihilist_Frost

(removed for context fail)

Damkerng T.

:32653396 "khak" is likely L1 Chinese. :D

I don't mind an accent much when it's really their accent.

Nihilist_Frost

yeah

Damkerng T.

What I really can't stand (though I try to) is when someone's trying to affect an accent to sound "cool" or "better".

(It's quite popular over here, sadly.)

Nihilist_Frost

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnamese_language#History

some interesting stuff

Damkerng T.

03:51

"Southeast Asian sprachbund"!

I thought I was reading German! :P

Interesting! Vietnamese has both /ɲ/ and /ŋ/.

Huh? But no dental /s/!

Ah, wait! I was looking at the Middle Vietnamese chart!

Anonymous

04:18

@user62015 It sounds okay to me.

Lawrence

@user62015 What is their objection regarding the content of option B?

CowperKettle

05:52

@snailplane A good scene for a cartoon! You have some imagination. (0:

> We assessed the number of peaks on the chromatograms of the control and test solution, and visually compared the chromatographic profiles of the control and test solution. (is it okay to leave the singular? there are two solutions only)

Good late morning everyone

Found an answer

1

Q: "[adjective] and [adjective] [noun]" -- Should the noun be singular or plural?

In a scientific paper I submitted, a reviewer suggested that I change the sentence The operation just substitutes "(m, l)" with "m" on both the sender and the receiver side. to The operation just substitutes "(m, l)" with "m" on both the sender and the receiver sides. by changing the ...

nouns grammatical-number

CowperKettle

06:53

> As a result of our analysis, we determined the retention times for all the CDR regions and confirmed their amino acid sequences. (Do I need the comma?)

Rubisco

You don't need it, but it doesn't hurt anything either

CowperKettle

@DamkerngT. LOL

American pre-election campaigning is a circus

@Rubisco Thanks, Muhammad!

Rubisco

@DamkerngT. Heh, where can I donate to this project?

@CowperKettle Hey, how's it goin

CowperKettle

@Rubisco More or less well.

Dobry den, Vladimir, welcome to the chat

Is there a shorter form of "Muhammad", like Tim for Timothy?

Ham? (0:

OOOOPS that would be wrong

Muh looks odd, Mad looks odd.

Ham is pure blasphemy.

I guess it's Muhammad only.

There's Mahmed, a Central Asian form of the name

BBL

Rubisco

@CowperKettle Haha

@CowperKettle Sometimes you can call me Mamad. Yeah, that Mahmed is also Mamad.

Or you can call me Amin.

Yah, Amin is better

V.V.

07:12

@Rubisco and MAR is the best, morning.

Rubisco

Morning

V.V.

Will you allow me to call you like this?

Rubisco

Sure

Call me anything you want

V.V.

A nice day, going to be +18-29°C!

Oh,I meant 20

Warm.

It was a professional holiday (translators') yesterday. And my name -day.

Rubisco

V.V. day?

CowperKettle

07:26

@V.V. Congratulation on your nameday!

Name day

A name day is a tradition in some countries in Europe, Latin America and Catholic countries in general. It consists of celebrating a day of the year that is associated with one's given name. The celebration is similar to a birthday. The custom originated with the Christian calendar of saints: believers named after a saint would celebrate that saint's feast day, or in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, the day of a saint's death. Name days have greater resonance in the Catholic and Orthodox parts of Europe - Protestant churches showing less veneration of saints. In many countries, however, name-day...

user62015

07:42

@Rubisco @[email protected]. Hi!

He asked (a)/ supposing if he fails (b)/ what he would do. (c)/ No Error.(d) Any idea?

V.V.

@user62015 what should be done?c is correct b is not

user62015

I got the answer @V.V. Thank you so much.

V.V.

You know why?

user62015

08:01

@V.V. There?

Yes, if condition

One of his many (a)/ good traits that (b)/come to my mind (c)/ was his modesty(d)/no error. I think option C as it should be comes instead of come @V.V.

Rubisco

@user62015 The tense somehow doesn't balance.

user62015

08:14

Okay @Rubisco

V.V.

No,supposing and if in one clause.

You are right, together with Rubisco about the second

@CowperKettle,thanks. You know it's hard to celebrate three events at a time.

@user62015 I think "came".

user62015

Yes. @V.V. Thanks.

V.V.

08:31

"If" is used in reporting yes-no questions.

Not "supposing ".

CowperKettle

> Éva szereti a virágokat. Eve likes flowers.
Szereti Éva a virágokat. Eve does like flowers (even if someone doubts it).
Éva szereti a virágokat. Eve likes flowers (and not someone else).
Éva a virágokat szereti. Eve likes flowers (and not something else).

The Horrible Hungarian

V.V.

Nothing horrible, the same inversion as in Russian, you just don't pay attention.

CowperKettle

08:55

Ah, yes

My sister enrolled in Hungarian courses

In New Delhi

I don't know how long this will last (0:

She has a shelf of books in different languages she started to learn but dropped (0:

Now she told me that Lake Hanto near our hometown has the same root "to" meaning "lake" as the "to" in Hungarian

The Khanty and Hungarian languages are close

Han + to = "snow sleigh" + "lake"

Ханто

Ханто́ — пресноводное моренное озеро на северо-западной окраине города Ноябрьск Ямало-Ненецкого автономного округа. == Общая характеристика == Ханто — сточное озеро, вытекающая река — Ханаяха. В западной и южной частях в озеро впадают два безымянных ручья. Имеет морфологически выраженную озёрную террасу, близко прилегающую к пойме реки Нанкпёх, которая впадает в вытекающую из озера реку Ханаяха. В юго- и северо-восточной частях асимметричной котловины озера наблюдаются относительно высокие и крутые песчаные склоны, в западной части - напротив - склоны низкие и пологие. Окружающая территория занята…

Damkerng T.

09:45

@Rubisco By changing your username back to MARS, perhaps. See, if you do, it'll fit the motto, Make MARS Great Again. :-)

Rubisco

@DamkerngT. If I win in a mod election, I'd have to stick to one username from now on. That will most prolly be MAR or something similar.

But I haven't, so I

'm free

Wheee

Damkerng T.

LOL

@CowperKettle A Hungarian course in New Delhi?!

CowperKettle

@DamkerngT. (0:

Damkerng T.

Hmm... I guess it's possible.

CowperKettle

I'm amazed myself

> I've listened this audiobook through several times. (is this okay?)

> I've heard this audiobook through several times. (maybe this is better?)

Damkerng T.

09:49

Nah, we need "'ve listened to".

CowperKettle

Ah, okay, was just making sure.

Rubisco

@CowperKettle Heard is not for things that long . . . and boring

@CowperKettle Thith be archaic use

CowperKettle

@DamkerngT. Ah, you mean we can't use it without to?

Damkerng T.

I think, except when it's just "listen".

CowperKettle

How then to indicate that I have listened to each "page" of the book?

Rubisco

09:50

Yes. transitive 'listen' is a thing of the old times, remember?

@CowperKettle Use "whole"?

CowperKettle

@Rubisco "I listened to the whole book several times"?

Rubisco

. . . this whole audiobook and it's bullshit

@CowperKettle Yeah, something like this.

Damkerng T.

"whole" and "each" aren't quite exactly the same, I think, but if the intended meaning fits, "whole" is good.

Rubisco

40

Q: Did Donald Trump call Alicia Machado "Miss Piggy" and "Miss Housekeeping"?

During the first Trump-Clinton presidential debate, Clinton said: He called this woman "Miss Piggy." Then he called her "Miss Housekeeping," because she was Latina. Donald, she has a name. Her name is Alicia Machado. Trump responded by asking "Where did you find this?", repeating the ques...

politics quotes television donald-trump hillary-clinton

The history will remember this man as the presidential candidate that scared little children.

CowperKettle

I envy him. I would just fold if I were attacked like he is.

I mean, he has some brazen streak.

Rubisco

09:57

Meh, all politicians are like that.

They've heard too much to react anymore.

Damkerng T.

It's a skill nonetheless.

Rubisco

OK OK. Let's practice it ourselves.

Damkerng T.

LOL

Rubisco

@Cowp you can't boil water in yourself effectively

@Dam your selfie's background is FAKE. There I said it. FAKE

Damkerng T.

sobbing...

Rubisco

10:01

Now someone hit me.

Common. I'm ready

Damkerng T.

(in a debate tone) You change your avatar every other day.

Cardinal

Hi folk

Damkerng T.

@Cardinal Hi!

Cardinal

> the diamond now ----------- in the Louvre
> 1. reposes
> 2. resides
Me: both are correct ^_^

Rubisco

@DamkerngT. You really should practice being mean.

@Cardinal Yo

Damkerng T.

10:04

@Rubisco That was a little mean already. :)

Rubisco

@Cardinal "repose" is odd to be seen there. If it's an Iranian test, they have taken commonness into account, not correctness.

Cardinal

@Rubisco No it's an example from OD.

I put that sentence in anki

OD went through with "repose"

OD = Oxford Dict.

Rubisco

books.google.com/ngrams/…

Damkerng T.

There are several of OD ones, like ODO, OALD, OED ...

Rubisco

Then OD is ooooooooooooold.

I feel like being mean to someone today.

With the minimum damage done.

Cardinal

10:08

@Rubisco I see.

Rubisco

@DamkerngT. OLD

Oxford Learner Dict

I mean other than the advanced thing

Damkerng T.

Ahh

Rubisco

Let's make up some more.

Cardinal

@DamkerngT. en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/repose

Rubisco

OILED = Oxford Intermediate Learner English Dict. Hah, it works

Damkerng T.

10:09

Strange, searching for "the diamond now reposes in the Louvre" in Google Books returned nothing but that example in an Oxford dictionary.

@Rubisco It's well oiled, even!

Cardinal

@DamkerngT. nods

Rubisco

BOILED = Best Oxford Intermediate Learner English Dict

Cardinal

FOILED

0:)

Damkerng T.

I wonder what diamond it is. :)

Rubisco

@Cardinal Frigging Oxford Intermediate Learner English Dict?

Cardinal

10:11

Fallacious

Rubisco

Fictitious

Cardinal

Free

Rubisco

Frowning

Cardinal

Flourishing!

Rubisco

Fortifying

Cardinal

10:13

Frigid

Rubisco

Fort

Cardinal

Fanatic

Rubisco

Or Forte, not sure

Flying

CowperKettle

Frying

Cardinal

Let stop making spam !

CowperKettle

10:13

Fumbling

Rubisco

Nah

Cardinal

Flying

Rubisco

Fickling

@Cardinal VTC duplicate

Cardinal

Feledgling

Rubisco

Fiddling

Cardinal

10:14

@Rubisco Oh, I didn't notice that

Frocious

Rubisco

Froggy

Cardinal

Fractious

Rubisco

Frail

Cardinal

Fastidious

Rubisco

Festering

Cardinal

10:16

Flamboyant

Rubisco

Founding

Cardinal

Fostering

Rubisco

Farming

Cardinal

Frugal

Rubisco

Flaming

Cardinal

10:17

Frightening

Rubisco

Fleming

Cardinal

Foible

Rubisco

Firing

Cardinal

Fused

Rubisco

Fleeing

Cardinal

10:19

Feasible

Rubisco

Foxy

Cardinal

Frisky

Rubisco

Freckling

Cardinal

I have no Idea what Firsky means

:-)

Rubisco

Accept defeat, ye sir knight

Cardinal

10:20

No, :-)

Rubisco

Yes

Cardinal

Word of the day: hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian

:D

I gotta go, see you later!

Rubisco

A hippopotomonstrosesquipedalian everyday keeps the doctor away.

Cardinal

@Rubisco en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/frisky

Rubisco

I SAID ACCEPT DEFEAT

┬─┬ ノ( ^_^ノ)

Damkerng T.

10:47

Flibby is frolicking with her Frisbee and her friend Frisbey friskily.

Rubisco

10:57

@Colleen any time now we may start.

Damkerng T.

motivatedgrammar.wordpress.com/tag/most-importantly

Another language change?

Rubisco

@DamkerngT. Well, I guess the change has mostly happened

Damkerng T.

11:32

0

Q: Did the action happen?

Here are the sentences: I needed to wait until my girlfriend came.(Did his girlfriend come?) In the past, If it rained, I wouldn't go outside.(The condition means "it already rained or it would rain?) Last year, I always had waited 30 minutes before the bus came.(This means finally the bus cam...

grammar past-tense clauses future-tense subordinate-clauses

Rubisco

@DamkerngT. Voting to close to migrate to puzzling.SE

Damkerng T.

Note to self: one trait of leaners' made-up sentences is that they don't have any particular intended meaning because there's no real "speaker"

@Rubisco LOL

Damkerng T.

11:53

GIVE US MORE MONEY! NEVERENDING WAR IS EXPENSIVE! Pentagon Budget Hearing

►

I heard that as "all wall"! :-)

Cardinal

12:45

@DamkerngT. :-)

Damkerng T.

@Cardinal :D

Cardinal

14:06

> The period is the basic unit of geological time in which a single type of rock system is formed. Two or more periods comprise a geological Era. Two or more Eras form an Eon, the largest division of geologic time. Some periods are divided into epochs.

Does this definition work in general contexts- excluding geology?

Era comprises some periods.

user62015

15:10

@DamkerngT. (A) People believe that / (B) the God / (C) is omnipresent. /(D) no error @V.V. @CowperKettle @Cardinal

Damkerng T.

Just God without the is more usual.

CowperKettle

yes

user62015

Okay.

Is there any case where we can use the?

Damkerng T.

It sounds like something we might find in Greek tales.

CowperKettle

Yes, where there are many gods

Man_From_India

15:23

It sounds like it's from low rated (in some cases even high rated) nonsense exam preparation books from India :D

Damkerng T.

LOL

CowperKettle

Hear here "the god" used in the context of Ancient Greece

3

This is from a series of lectures that I love very much

Damkerng T.

Nice!

CowperKettle

Hear at 43:50

> A dream comes to Agamemnon, and the god says to him:

Meaning, the god who is in the dream

Man_From_India

@CowperKettle I starred it to listen to it later. Sounds interesting.

CowperKettle

15:26

@Man_From_India It's a great series, I listened to it several times

He uses this verb, quite rare I think

inspirit

Verb: inspirit ‎(third-person singular simple present inspirits, present participle inspiriting, simple past and past participle inspirited)

To strengthen or hearten; give impetus or vigour...

Damkerng T.

Imagining the lecture being retold in Eric Bana's voice...

:P

Cardinal

15:55

@CowperKettle reminds me of "invigorate"

@CowperKettle That seems to be delicious to listen!

@TRomano Interesting. That reminds me of back shifting discussion in reporting speech. I thought that "He realized that I say something incorrectly" means that "he still thinks that my saying is wrong" I often confuses such sentences. — Cardinal 2 hours ago

CowperKettle

@Cardinal I thought it was a pirated series. I listened to it in mp3. A couple of days back I discovered that it is whole on YouTube. (0:

I like his voice and his love for history, I mean the lecturer

Damkerng T.

16:32

@Cardinal Try this: He knew right away yesterday that I say something wrong now today. -- It's too weird, isn't it?

CowperKettle

> Sway up the sails!
But Captain, we have no sails, only a diesel engine.
Sway up the diesel engine!

V.V.

18:07

@user62015 God is without "the"

Cardinal

18:20

@DamkerngT. It is.

Deo

19:56

Hi!

Is this phrasing ok? "Button markings specifically placed between spaces to make it explicitly clear when you cross them."

I've used word "specifically" but I meant "intentionally"

Is it acceptable substitute?

Damkerng T.

@Deo I guess so, but I'm afraid that I'm not sure what you mean in that sentence.

Deo

It concerns this game i.sstatic.net/ZfDAm.jpg

Patchwork

There were question regarding those markings.

Damkerng T.

20:16

@Deo Thanks for the photo! It looks like an interesting game.

BTW, you know that your phrasing is not a sentence, just a noun phrase, right?

Deo

20:33

Is it incorrect?

Ah, you mean I missed "are"?

Yeah, it's a cool game. Abstract strategy about making a quilt for 2 players by Uwe Rosenberg

@DamkerngT. In only one word I would describe it as "cozy"

Damkerng T.

@Deo Nice!

Deo

I should have used "abstract strategy for 2 players about making a quilt"

So that reader wouldn't think that quilt is for two players. No. Game is :)

Damkerng T.

:D

Deo

In two words I'd describe it as "cozy and elegant" :)

Thinking about third word now...

Third word problems. sigh

Damkerng T.

LOL

Deo

20:42

Can "cozy" and "cool" be used in same sentence?

Wouldn't they just cancel each other out? :)

Damkerng T.

@Deo I don't see why not. :-)

Deo

Well, "cozy" associates with warmth, but "cool" associates with cold

Damkerng T.

Hmm... the other kind of "cool" isn't much like "cold", I suppose.

Deo

It was tongue-in-cheek :)

Damkerng T.

Okay :)

Deo

21:16

Thank for nice chat and for quick help

Good night!

Damkerng T.

21:37

Good night!

Transcript for