Language Overflow

CowperKettle

01:42

Sawasdee khrap!

I woke up too early...

Now will read some interesting stuff. (0:

Lurk mode on

Anonymous

01:52

@CowperKettle Good afternoon!

CowperKettle

@snailplane Good afternoon, Snails! (0:

Anonymous

02:16

@CowperKettle Of course, there are also polytheistic religions in modern times.

CowperKettle

@snailplane Yes, but rare as hen's teeth compared with the good old days. (0:

Man_From_India

02:58

I wrote Yuvraj an answer regarding being past participle of verb here.

1

A: Being+p.p as a gerund

SENTENCE 1: He is afraid of being hated. You have to learn how the adjective - afraid - is used in a sentence. What it licenses etc. A good place to look for those things is a good learners' dictionary. Look here. You see there? afraid of doing something - I started to feel afraid of go...

After that he asked this following question -

0

Q: passive Gerunds construction being+past participle

What's the difference between the meanings of following sentence pairs: I like being obeyed by my students.I like to be obeyed my students. I don't like being laughed at me. I don't like to be laughed at me. I don't like being asked irrelevant questions. I don't like to be asked irrelevant ques...

grammar

Did I misled him? I mean whether my answer misled him and confused him between active vs passive? Though I made myself clear in comment under my answer. But I think he is still not very clear. It's apparent from the new question he asked. I don't know how to help him.

Please comment or answer to those questions.

user13267

03:44

hi

Man_From_India

03:55

Hello @user13267

Man_From_India

04:15

This is an incorrect answer. Your first example is ungrammatical. Busy, according to CGEL, has ""a reflexive as the only (or virtually the only) type of object permitted." — P. E. Dant 1 hour ago

Hmmm CGEL does says that but it also says virtually the only. But in some cases it does take non reflexive pronouns. I don't think the sentence in @V.V. answer is incorrect.

2

A: Does it need reflexive pronouns?

Compare: The video game busied the child for hours (The game kept the child busy) You don't need a reflexive pronoun. To busy oneself is to make or keep yourself busy : to occupy (oneself) with work or an activity. The children busied themselves with puzzles all day.

> The video game busied the child for hours.

What do you think?

(btw I really wonder why CGEL doesn't include such usage of busy)

Man_From_India

04:35

Oh sorry my mistake.

Reflexive pronoun occurs where the pronoun has the antecedent as the subject.

In the video games busied the child. Here the subject and the object is not the same.

CowperKettle

Shubh prabhat, Man ji

I just jogged, and listened to that Marusya song, and a translation of the refrain occurred to me

> Oh, I'm very, very
Sad without my Mary
I look near, I look far -
Dear Mary, where you are?

Маруся (Якби мені сивий кінь) -- Ukrainian folk song // by "Lionok"

►

I used Mary instead of Marusya (0:

To make it rhyme (0:

> How I wish I had a horse, I've a saddle handy
Over Danube I've a girl sweeter than a candy
I'm so very, very sad without my Mary
I look near, I look far - dearest Mary, where you are?

I'm not sure if "beyond the Danube" can be translated as "Over Danube"

> How I wish I had a horse, I've a saddle handy
There's a girl beyond the Danube, sweeter than a candy
I'm so very, very sad without my Mary
I look near, I look far - dearest Mary, where you are?

Wow

Now it is almost the same in meaning.

The second line reallly says "Then I would ride beyond the Danube, I know a girl there"

Now off to shower.

Stack Exchange

05:21

0

Q: Why so few acceptances here?

Why do so few questions have an accepted answer on this site? Why do I not see comments written to the question authors, strongly encouraging them to accept an answer, if a good one was written, or to say in a comment why none of the answers submitted so far are not suitable for acceptance?

support

V.V.

05:57

@Man_From_India Is my answer (it's not mine actually, MW's) correct?

I don't see any problem here. The subject and the object are different.

CowperKettle

Good morning, @V.V.!

V.V.

Morning.

CowperKettle

A third variation:

> How I wish I had a horse, I've a saddle handy -
And a girl beyond the Danube, sweeter than a candy!
I'm so very, very sad without my Mary
I look near, I look far - dearest Mary, where you are?

This song cracks me up (0:

I did a description

> I love this song, it is so humorous and lively. The protagonist is kind of simpleton who tries to look for his Marusya (a hypocoristic, sorry, an endearing form of the name "Mary") in a village beyond the Danube.

> He does manage to travel across the Danube, but for some reason puts up at an elderly couple's house. This elderly couple have no Marusya, only a pockmarked daughter. Our hero continues to look for his Marusya everywhere. The couple give him an unskinned potato to eat, but he only rolls the potato back and forth on the table and looks for his Marusya.

> In the night, when all have gone do bed, he flees the house, but in the process awkwardly makes some noise, frightening the old couple, and gets some lashing with a chain while he tries to scale a hedge in the dark.

This song reminds me of Dylan's Motorpsycho Nightmare (0:

LOL

Motorpsycho Nitemare

►

This song also has a simpleton protagonist. (0:

And is also has the cracking up quality

Man_From_India

06:33

@V.V. I don't think it's incorrect. CGEL does say busy takes only reflexive pronoun. But it's in the context of reflexive.

CowperKettle

07:15

I cannot translate the second stanza though. It says: "I travelled across the Danube, and see a house on the hill. There's an old man, old woman and their pockmarked daughter".

Stack Exchange

0

Q: Does "should have behaved" means different from "behaved" in this sentence?

In this sentence I can't imagine any reason why he should have behaved in such an extraordinary way, did he behave or did he not behave in an extraordinary way? If he did, why the author didn't simply say, "...why he behaved..." instead of "...why he should have behaved..." ? It is not clear to ...

grammar

CowperKettle

> Then I swam across the Danube, trying hard to spot her
Some old fisherman did save me with his pockmarked daughter.
I'm so very, very sad without my Mary
I look near, I look far - dearest Mary, where you are?

This is not close to the original

V.V.

08:08

@Man_From_India if such usage exists in books, in that respected dictionary, why changing the language?

Thank you

Man_From_India

@V.V. i don't know but his claim seems doubtful. Even though he cited CGEL and many others.

V.V.

I have got Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionary. Nothing about exclusive usage.

Man_From_India

In Collins online Dictionary it only says busy yourself.

V.V.

You know there are dictionaries for learners and for native speakers.

And there are sometimes double standards as well. Though you can hear...you shouldn't...

Man_From_India

It might happen that usage is going out of fashion. It might be.

V.V.

08:23

OK, lets drop it. It's not vital.

Let's

We are having Indian summer.

Man_From_India

:-)

V.V.

I wonder if you have the same thing, in nature and in the language

Man_From_India

VV, are you from India?

CowperKettle

The Doors - Indian Summer

►

@Man_From_India No, she is from Russia.

Man_From_India

She? :O

CowperKettle

08:33

"Indian summer" is a short period during the autumn that reminds one of the summer

Man_From_India

I see, thanks.

CowperKettle

In Russia, we call it "Women's summer" actually

Babye leto

Man_From_India

@CowperKettle strange!

CowperKettle

Baba is vernacular for "woman" (stress falls on the first syllable)

Man_From_India

It's time for a short nap :-) see you later.

CowperKettle

08:36

How is "see you!" in Hindi?

Damkerng T.

Word of the Day: deliquesce

V.V.

Ok,it's the second time I am from India .

Damkerng T.

(I stole it from Merriam-Webster.)

CowperKettle

@DamkerngT. I know this word! A deliquescent drug substance takes on moisture and degrades

Damkerng T.

@CowperKettle Nice!

CowperKettle

08:37

It's in my Anki

Damkerng T.

Yay!

Damkerng T.

09:43

@Man_From_India Probably not. I think it's more to do with his learning style.

> I've read that 'being+past participle' is used in participle.But I'm confused to have found the following sentences written in one of my grammar book(This book isn't available in internet) as gerunds.These sentences are:

> ell.stackexchange.com/questions/105232/beingp-p-as-a-gerund

I think the way he uses "participle" and "gerund" is interesting.

It could be a good clue at the root cause.

I'm not sure if he used them the way he understand them or the way his book uses them in the relevant section.

Man_From_India

10:18

@DamkerngT. thanks. Can we somehow help him without going for those gerund and participle?

Damkerng T.

@Man_From_India I guess it's unlikely, considering his questions in the past.

Man_From_India

@DamkerngT. hmmm i haven't checked his questions earlier.

Damkerng T.

He seems to prefer to learn the language analytically.

Man_From_India

@DamkerngT. hmmm

I tried and he seems to be more confused :D

Damkerng T.

It's hard to present the whole language systematically in one blow.

(Which is what I think he wants.)

,What kind of sentence that you mentioned "Being frightened wouldn't solve any problem" — yubraj sharma 18 hours ago

See, to most learners, what kind of sentence that is is not the most important thing, but to him it is very important.

Man_From_India

10:23

Hmmm right. This one is completely different from those sentences in his question.

@DamkerngT. yes, if he doesn't stress on those things and just think of simantic, he would be far better off.

Damkerng T.

nods

I gave him a hint once, but I don't think it was very effective. :)

Man_From_India

I think these are for advanced students. Without a sound knowledge of language, it's hard to learn these things.

Damkerng T.

nods

Man_From_India

And when he will reach that stage, he would not have any problem constructing these sentences. And then he wouldn't bother about grammar too much, unless he is a treacher, grammarian or linguist.

Damkerng T.

I thought he was one at first. Maybe he is, I don't know.

Man_From_India

10:29

@V.V. oh i forgot. Nice!

Damkerng T.

grammarly.com/answers/questions/…

That's him on another site (I think).

Man_From_India

Oh I thought he's just a learner.

Damkerng T.

10:40

Wow, searching for "the video game busied the child for hours" is a quick way to see who uses Merriam-Webster as their source!

Man_From_India

Oh that question. This one is really interesting.

lekon chekon

11:04

hey

anyone here?

Man_From_India

I still wonder about for you as a Prepositional Phrase. In the book A Student's Introduction to English Grammar, Huddleston and Pullum described (Page 220) for them as in We arranged for them to meet the manager as an Intervening Noun Phrase. — Hồ Quang Trung May 27 at 3:39

In this book and of the same page, they also used one example, We counted on them to support us, to figure out that in on them, on is a Preposition for the Verb to count, therefore, them is the Complement of on while on them is Complement of counted. They didn't mention which phrase to support us belongs to. — Hồ Quang Trung May 27 at 3:43

I remember in CGEL i read for in we arranged for them to meet the manager is a subordinator.

But why not that on in we counted on them to support us.

The subject of the to infinitive clause is introduced by for. But in the last sentence it is on which introduce the subject.

Why on is not a subordinator there?

Damkerng T.

11:33

@lekonchekon Hi! I wasn't here. But I just came back in!

Blimey, what do you have to do get one upvote around here? — Mari-Lou A 25 mins ago

Aww... it's tough on ELL! :D

Damkerng T.

11:45

@Man_From_India On which chapter/page did you find that example? Maybe that for is not a subordinator.

But then again, maybe it it.

AFAICT (in A Student's Introduction of English Grammar, ch. 13, 2.1), they say for is a subordinator because "it does for infinitival clauses with subjects what the subordinator that does for declarative content clauses."

On what exactly they based that claim, I'm not sure.

I tried to think in terms of fronting, it doesn't tell us anything much.

> a) For them to meet the manager, we arranged.

> b) On them to support us, we counted.

Hmm... a) sounds better than b), I think.

Anonymous

Well, for and to let you know you're looking at a subordinate clause, so in that sense they fit.

Anonymous

They're unique in certain respects, though.

Anonymous

I think both a) and b) are ungrammatical.

Damkerng T.

Too much Yoda-ish like, I guess. :D

Anonymous

12:24

@Man_From_India On doesn't really seem the same as for to me, grammatically speaking. More on that tomorrow when my brain is working :-)

Anonymous

It's a very good question, though.

Man_From_India

12:39

@snailplane looking forward to it. Thanks.

Man_From_India

13:17

My attempt to analyze the sentences -

> We arranged for them to meet the manager

Here if we delete for, we have to delete them as well. Otherwise it would make no sense.

In that case the sentence will be - We arrange to meet the manager.

Who will meet the manager? The answer is not explicitly mentioned.

Implicitly it is the subject - we - who is going to meet the managers.

If we want others to meet the manager, we need to add it explicitly inside the scope of to infinitive clause.

We can achieve with the help of the subordinator for.

> We counted on them to support us.

Here on them is not included inside the to infinitive clause. It's a part of the matrix clause, and a complement of the verb - count.

Semantically it serves two things. In matrix clause, it's the receiver of we's faith (oblique of the preposition - on) and in to infinitive clause it's the supporters (the subject of the to infinitive clause).

(This is based on a quick reading of some parts in CGEL)

@snailplane @DamkerngT.

Damkerng T.

nods -- Nice! It looks like those verbs with for X to Y can be rephrased with that. The for X in for X to Y can be omitted as well.

On the other hand, We counted to support us is probably ungrammatical.

Man_From_India

@DamkerngT. right.

@DamkerngT. Mainly because the verb - count - doesn't license a to infinitive clause.

Damkerng T.

nods

Man_From_India

btw the mini CGEL is really nice to get a quick insight.

But ever since I bought OMEG, I rarely read it.

CGEL though says for as a subordinator is similar to subordinator that, it also mentions some difference of behavior between them. One difference, we can drop subordinator that but we still can retain the subject of the subordinator clause. But in case of subordinator for, if we drop it, we have to drop the subject of the subordinator clause it introduces.

I found on page 46 of English Grammar and Argumentation. Bas Aarts does call for a subordinator.

user62015

13:50

@DamkerngT. Hi!

Damkerng T.

@Man_From_India It's on page 82 of OMEG as well.

(But he calls it a subordinating conjunction.)

Man_From_India

Ok. Does it say any reason as to why it's called a subordinator?

Damkerng T.

Hi! @user62015

@Man_From_India Hmm... not really.

> Finally, we recognize for as a subordinating conjunction in clauses that do not carry tense, as in (171). This construction is more frequent in American English.
171 There is nothing I want [<sub>clause</sub> for you to say anyway].

Man_From_India

@DamkerngT. When I started reading OMEG, I was surprised to see conjunction because there is no mention of it in CGEL or its mini version.

@DamkerngT. thanks.

Damkerng T.

@Man_From_India My pleasure!

user62015

14:00

(A) He /(B) is elder than /(C) him by three years. /(D) no error @DamkerngT. @Man_From_India

elder to him

(A)He behaved /(B) me as if /(C) he is my boss. /(D) no error @DamkerngT.

Damkerng T.

@user62015 elder is strange.

@user62015 He behaved me is strange.

user62015

he were my boss?

Damkerng T.

Grammatically, you wouldn't behave anyone else but yourself.

user62015

Okay.

Man_From_India

@user62015 The question has two errors. The one you mentioned, and the other one is what DT mentioned.

Damkerng T.

14:04

But you can say He behaved to/toward me ...

user62015

Okay.

Damkerng T.

nods -- he were my boss is more proper, I think.

user62015

What we can use instead of elder?

Man_From_India

@DamkerngT. Not only strange, I think elder is never used this way. Incorrect to use elder there. @user62015 It's not incorrect because of than there, and using to in place of than doesn't improve it by any means.

@user62015 older.

Damkerng T.

@Man_From_India I'd say He's elder/older to me ... is ungrammatical. I'm not sure if elder is used in some other dialects, but it definitely sounded odd to me.

user62015

14:08

@DamkerngT. @Man_From_India Okay. I agree.

Man_From_India

I don't know about older to, I would use older than.

Damkerng T.

nods -- He's more books to me in the meaning of He's more books than me would be a mistake, I think.

(I think the exercise tries to force the meaning by using by.)

Man_From_India

@DamkerngT. right.

Cardinal

14:20

Hi guys

Sawasdee Khrap!

Nameste

Guys, can I use "by the way of example" to evade from being repetitive?

Consider that, I have already mentioned "for example" and "for instance" in the previous statements.

I want a synonym, actually.

Damkerng T.

@Cardinal Salam and sawasdee khrap!

@Cardinal by the way of example is probably unidiomatic. Better drop the article.

Cardinal

Ah- I see.

You mean: by way of example.

Damkerng T.

Yes

Cardinal

Thanks. 0/

Damkerng T.

No problem!

Man_From_India

14:29

namaste @Cardinal

About busy + non-reflexive pronoun.

> 1. They're still going strong 19 years later, and she's an inspiration to busy me to put aside one night a week just for Gordon. - 2006 (Magazine)

> 2. Holding brightness against his eyes seemed to relax him or busy him or do something else worthwhile. - 2015 (Fiction)

> 3. I realized my hands were shaking and busied them unhooking the trout and untangling the treble hook from the net. - 1994 (Magazine)

> 4. He has two major photo exhibits in two cities 80 miles apart, which busied him with last- minute framing and meant less salmon fishing or flying, ... - 2010 (Magazine)

Only this four. Others are all with reflexive pronouns.

And in other examples as it's reflexive pronouns it needs no mention that these pronouns are anaphorically linked to the subject of the sentence.

Based on the results in COCA, it's apparent that the use of busy + non-reflexive pronoun has gone out of fashion.

Can I draw such conclusion based on such small search, and nothing else?

Damkerng T.

15:10

@Man_From_India One thing is clear, I think. It's quite unusual to "busy someone else".

Man_From_India

Though the M-W example sentence doesn't seem that bad.

> Videos games busies the children for hours.

Damkerng T.

@Man_From_India It's probably the opposite, like something new. Just my guess.

@Man_From_India I'll admit that I wouldn't expect to find it in a dictionary.

Man_From_India

In that case I have to check NOW corpus. It's more recent than COCA.

Damkerng T.

It could be something very old, then went out of use, and now is coming back.

I mean, using busy as if it were occupy.

Man_From_India

I checked COHA (historical american corpus). The usage is comparatively very smaller in number just like the scenario in recent corpus.

Damkerng T.

15:15

nods

Man_From_India

@DamkerngT. I think the sense of busy as to employ trouble has been extinct now. I only found that definition on Century Dictionary.

[I haven't checked OED, my access is gone :(]

Damkerng T.

Aww

Good news is, we're in the same boat! :P

Man_From_India

haha

@snailplane has access to OED. Snail, can you please look for us the OED entry of busy as a verb?

Damkerng T.

Hi, @Lawrence! You're blinking on my screen!

Man_From_India

@DamkerngT. We really are on the same boat ;-)

Damkerng T.

15:21

:D

CowperKettle

> The number of disulfide bonds was calculated as the difference between the number of sulfhydryl groups before and after reduction with dithiothreitol. (Or is it "a"?)

Damkerng T.

I'd use the in this one.

CowperKettle

Thank you! I used "a" but upon re-reading thought that "the" is better

Damkerng T.

No problem. Don't forget to check second and third opinions as usual. ;-)

CowperKettle

Second and third, you mean those who know more grammar than you? Huddleston and Pullum?

Damkerng T.

15:30

@CowperKettle Oh, any native speaker would beat me hands down. :)

But speaking of Huddleston and Pullum...

checking emails...

CowperKettle

@DamkerngT. He would say "I would say it this way, but I can't explain why"

Damkerng T.

:D

CowperKettle

(0:

Damkerng T.

Aww... they haven't updated the errata page yet.

CowperKettle

I see. You found typos in their book (0:

Damkerng T.

15:36

Yep! :-)

Lawrence

15:48

@DamkerngT. :) . Didn't get much sleep. Feeling drowsy. Half way between falling asleep and fully waking up.

Damkerng T.

Ahh... you're in the twilight zone! :-)

Lawrence

Any interesting posts lately?

@DamkerngT. Haha. I remember those. Creepy, some of them.

Damkerng T.

We were discussing busy.

Lawrence

I noticed that one, but didn't have much to add.

I think it's fine to say "they can busy themselves with activities".

Damkerng T.

nods -- busy someone else is quite odd, though.

Lawrence

15:51

Well, that's just being a busybody, isn't it?

:)

Damkerng T.

:D

2

A: simple present for the future the way natives use it

The present simple tense is used a great deal in vernacular English. You may not have used it much since it is your instructor's job to teach you all the other tenses that you will use only rarely in everyday English. If you google the present simple tense, you will find plenty of tutorials expl...

Oh, he uses Wolf Hall.

Lawrence

Presents are nice. :P

Damkerng T.

(As an example of the narrative present.)

@Lawrence It's quite popular nowadays!

Well, I was about to quote something from 50 Shades of Grey, but I changed my mind. :P

Lawrence

@DamkerngT. The examples in the post have the feel of something 'normative' or 'typical', which is not quite the same as 'future'.

Damkerng T.

nods

Lawrence

15:54

@DamkerngT. I haven't read it, but have heard a lot about it. It probably deserves to stay in the shadows.

No pun intended.

Damkerng T.

:D

Rubisco

No intend punned

Damkerng T.

o/

Lawrence

I saw a huge number of strawberry punnets on the sidewalk yesterday. Probably someone trying to sell them.

Damkerng T.

That's punny! :-)

Lawrence

15:57

Oh, hello @Rubisco! In my bleary state, I didn't see you there for a while. I thought @DamkerngT. was waving good bye.

Damkerng T.

LOL

Rubisco

\o @Dam @Lawr

@Lawrence And you were about to get dramatic, or romantic. I understand.

We all live in a sitcom.

Lawrence

@Rubisco You might be mistaking me for someone else.

Rubisco

@Lawrence I mistook you for a slanted L.

Lawrence

@Rubisco Oh, you're referring to @DamkerngT.'s grey matter.

Rubisco

16:00

I am? I prolly am.

Lawrence

Pun intended that time.

Rubisco

Dam has blue matter, as a side point. It's all over his background.

Damkerng T.

nods

Lawrence

@DamkerngT., are you a translator, too?

(Like @CowperKettle, I mean.)

Damkerng T.

@Lawrence No, I'm not.

Lawrence

16:02

May I ask what you trained as?

Damkerng T.

Well, I'm an engineer by trade. (^_^)

Lawrence

Ah, @Rubisco, are you also an Engineer?

Rubisco

@Lawrence I hardly know what I am, since I'm not even out of high school

Lawrence

I remember someone at the ELU mod elections noting their professional credentials.

@Rubisco Do your interests tend towards Chemistry, or do you have other ambitions?

Rubisco

I like chemistry in small caps more than other sciences, but my math is really good.

I process things fast.

Lawrence

16:05

Maths is a good foundation for many subjects.

Rubisco

I just generally like science.

I've seen it. I've enjoyed it.

I crave for it.

Lawrence

@DamkerngT. Which branch of Engineering?

Damkerng T.

@Lawrence Computer :D

Lawrence

@Rubisco The mathematical sciences, or natural sciences? Or both?

@DamkerngT. Yay!

Damkerng T.

Oh, I guess we're in the same field, perhaps. :D

Lawrence

16:07

@DamkerngT. I have some background in EE, but my degrees are in Computer Science.

Rubisco

@Lawrence Both

Damkerng T.

Ahh... I see. I'm lousy at the electrical part of it. :D

Lawrence

@DamkerngT. What kind of jobs does a Computer Engineering degree lead to?

Damkerng T.

@Lawrence Lots of jobs and projects.

It's fun to take a dab at this or that field every now and then.

CowperKettle

> The calibration curve has the following form: [large equation] (Is this an okay expression, "has the following form"?)

Lawrence

16:09

@DamkerngT. I mean, how does it differ from CS, EE and Mechatronics?

Damkerng T.

It's probably like CS+EE.

Lawrence

@CowperKettle The expression is fine.

Damkerng T.

Somewhere between.

CowperKettle

@Lawrence Thanks!

Lawrence

@CowperKettle :)

Rubisco

16:10

@CowperKettle It's as natural as it gets

You can't get naturalerer

CowperKettle

"curve has the following form" gives only 57 Google-hits

Lawrence

@Rubisco I find that the mathematical sciences and the natural sciences tend to take different skills. You're doing well if you're doing well in both. :)

Damkerng T.

@CowperKettle I suppose "is of the following form" is more common.

CowperKettle

@DamkerngT. Wow. I wonder why!

A million results

Damkerng T.

I suppose if one wants to sound stilted, one should go all the way of it!

CowperKettle

16:13

no, "curve is of the following form" - only 13 Google hits

Damkerng T.

Ahh

Lawrence

@CowperKettle The Ngram for "expression has the following form" doesn't have all that many hits either. But it sounds ok to me.

CowperKettle

@Lawrence Thank you! I wonder what is the conventional way to put it

Damkerng T.

Another possible alternative: is in the following form -- Now it's my turn to check n-gram results!

Lawrence

@CowperKettle The Ngram for just "is of the following form" has more hits.

CowperKettle

16:15

Maybe "The calibration curve follows the following equation"

Lawrence

@CowperKettle No, the "has / is of the following form" is more idiomatic.

Damkerng T.

CowperKettle

@DamkerngT. Thank you!

Damkerng T.

My pleasure!

Lawrence

... at least in a computer science / mathematics (academic) context.

CowperKettle

16:17

nods

Lawrence

@CowperKettle You're welcome. :)

CowperKettle

(0:

Lawrence

Ok, time to try to catch 40 winks. See you all later ... or soon, depending on how successful I am. :)

Damkerng T.

Sleep tight!

2

CowperKettle

Sleep tight!

2

Rubisco

16:20

Sleep tight!

2

Damkerng T.

Wow, our starboard is very useful! :P

CowperKettle

(0:

Rubisco

Trains are more so

Damkerng T.

Wow, look far we've come. Only 14 years later, the plot in The Ring is irrelevant now! It's based on VHS tapes!

CowperKettle

> She has eyes that folks adore so, and a torso even more so

@DamkerngT. I should have ditched theVHS player and all stuff cinematical, that would have allowed me to read way more poetry. (0:

Damkerng T.

16:31

:D

CowperKettle

(0:

Damkerng T.

@CowperKettle A verse from a poem?

CowperKettle

@DamkerngT. From a funny song.

I once quoted it here

Damkerng T.

Ahh :D

CowperKettle

Jan 3 at 16:49, by CopperKettle

You can learn a lot from Lydia and her questions.

Damkerng T.

16:33

Oh, that song!

CowperKettle

Yes, a great song. (0: The movie was reportedly poor, but the song's great

Damkerng T.

Word of the Day: viselike

Rubisco

Vase-like?

Damkerng T.

It's the BrE version of vice-like.

Damkerng T.

17:06

The problem in your original sentence is that you use "a" twice. If it is only one person, you only use the article once. So your sentence (when talking about a single person) should read "A well-known poet and talented painter is coming..." — Catija 5 hours ago

Good point!

Another possibly confusing case:

> A well-known poet and not a talented painter is/are coming.

(If that's passable in real English.)

Stack Exchange

19:29

0

Q: Why are users not being more actively guided to accept?

Long version of the question title: Why are users not being more actively guided to accept (or give feedback that will help lead to an accepted answer)? This question relates to a previously articulated question on Meta: Why so few acceptances here? Background: there appears to be a general co...

discussion support

Damkerng T.

19:49

Unless you were Phil Williams, this answer would be considered plagiarism. Please fix it by citing your source appropriately. Thank you. — Damkerng T. 24 mins ago

I guess attribution is not common in many countries.

Rubisco

@DamkerngT. Even if they really are Phil, they should disclose that.

Damkerng T.

nods -- It's probably not that bad if it's unintentionally done.

Rubisco

@DamkerngT. sure, we deal with a lot of plagiarism from misguided Indians with bad post formatting.

I guess if I can't bother about correct capitalization of 'I', I couldn't care less about attributing as well.

Damkerng T.

Heh!

Rubisco

And that's mostly to blame on the shitty educational system.

It's saddening.

When I'm done with education, I'm not even gonna be looking back

Let's talk about . . .

ice cream.

Damkerng T.

19:56

LOL

Rubisco

@Dam does Thailand have good ice cream?

Damkerng T.

Oh, we have ice cream "kati"!

It means "coconut". :)

Rubisco

@DamkerngT. I don't eat catties

Damkerng T.

Very delicious.

Rubisco

@DamkerngT. Closer people to the equator surely love coconut

Damkerng T.

19:58

We also have durian and mango flavors. :)

Rubisco

@DamkerngT. noice

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