Language Overflow

Damkerng T.

19:00

kani ~ crab; neko ~ cat -- There must be something about the "k" sound in both languages!

V.V.

Good evening

Damkerng T.

Evenig!

S.R.I

Eh, @DamkerngT. Why are you still up? Isn't it something like 0200hrs there?

Rubisco

@DamkerngT. Well, to an uneducated ear like mine, half of Japanese sounds like 'k'.

Evening everyone.

I'm so happy today.

Since I learned some things I should've long ago.

Damkerng T.

@S.R.I I'm watching Bengals vs. Patriots. (^_^)

Rubisco

19:03

@DamkerngT. Chess?

S.R.I

I have no idea what that is, sorry

Rubisco

@S.R.I It's a chat message

Damkerng T.

It's 4th quarter now, and I think it's quite obvious who's gonna win.

Rubisco

@DamkerngT. Basketball?

Damkerng T.

@Rubisco NFL (^_^)

Rubisco

19:04

And boy that's boring.

You should never know who wins.

Damkerng T.

Um, for some reason, they call it "football".

S.R.I

@Rubisco Way to have an useful conversation, mate.

@Rubisco You'll live well :P

Damkerng T.

Even though most players wouldn't kick the ball. :-)

Rubisco

@DamkerngT. They kick each other's heads with those sticks.

S.R.I

@DamkerngT. NFL, pshah!

Anonymous

19:04

@Rubisco Japanese doesn't have a lot of sounds, and /k/ is quite common.

Rubisco

It seems no different at all.

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. Which two languages are we discussing?

S.R.I

@snailplane English and nothing-English? :P

Damkerng T.

Japanese and English!

Anonymous

Oh! Yes.

Rubisco

19:05

Oh, I thought Japanese and Latin.

Damkerng T.

@Rubisco LOL

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. Names like meow are also common, I think! :-)

Damkerng T.

@snailplane It's common in Thai!

Anonymous

Okinawan for cat is mayaa, and Mandarin is māo.

Damkerng T.

Oh!

Rubisco

19:07

@snailplane Now this is what I learned today. Thais are cats.

Damkerng T.

@snailplane BTW, that's my sis-in-law's nickname. :-)

S.R.I

Thighs are cats? I never knew!

Anonymous

Hehe! :-)

Damkerng T.

My cat likes my thighs. That much, I know!

V.V.

What do you call a group of schoolchildren who do some sport? Can it be a sport section?

Anonymous

19:09

Are they on the same team?

Damkerng T.

@V.V. A basket of crabs (Thai idiom), hehe!

Anonymous

Very different from a bucket of crabs!

Damkerng T.

:D

Hmm... if they are in the same club, maybe club members. :-) -- Don't take me seriously at the moment!

Anonymous

Sure, a club sounds good. If it is, in fact, a club.

S.R.I

Sure. School children are a loud bunch. So, rabble of children?

don't take me seriously!!

Damkerng T.

19:14

@S.R.I That's a bold way to go!

S.R.I

@DamkerngT. too literal, mate. Too literal

Damkerng T.

:D

Rubisco

@S.R.I Takes him too seriously

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. I'd rather go when I'm old than when I'm bold.

Damkerng T.

Hehe!

CowperKettle

19:19

@snailplane In Russian, the word is секция (section).

Like, a boxing section.

Or a chess section.

Damkerng T.

Oh, no, Patriots is killing Bengals, literally. -- And it's over! 17-36

CowperKettle

Yay

Anonymous

@CowperKettle Ah, I don't really know what that means.

CowperKettle

@snailplane It's not exactly a club. It is where children go to be taught (to fight, to play chess, to play football)

Rubisco

@CowperKettle Section? I like it.

S.R.I

19:20

@snailplane What @CowperKettle is alluding to is, when you have a group of school children, they are usually divided into groups (or sections) based on their interests

Damkerng T.

I can't think of a Thai word for it, even!

S.R.I

That's exactly how I've seen it in schools here.

Damkerng T.

Oh, and then I got one!

Anonymous

Well, in context I suppose section could make sense, although I think it would be unfamiliar.

CowperKettle

@S.R.I No, they are not divided. If they like a section, they subscibe to it (enroll into it), with their parents' permission.

Rubisco

19:21

Guess Iran- and Russia-originated languages have a lot of things in common.

CowperKettle

In the Soviet times, sections were free

Rubisco

The train of thought is similar.

CowperKettle

@Rubisco (0:

Anonymous

I would probably avoid section.

Rubisco

@CowperKettle (1:

Anonymous

19:22

Could you say join a club? :-)

S.R.I

@CowperKettle I used "divided" in the sense of a school representation at intercultural events.

Damkerng T.

That Thai word is translated to "gang" in English!

Rubisco

Oh, (1: looks like Charlie Chaplin.

Anonymous

Gang!

Damkerng T.

Hehe!

Rubisco

19:22

@DamkerngT. OK, you guys are weird.

S.R.I

@CowperKettle But yes, they are mostly like clubs - that students join based on whatever catches their fancy (with parents' permission, of course)

@Rubisco Didn't you know? Thighs are weird

CowperKettle

@S.R.I Ah, nice! Then club is a good translation. It's that the word "club" look too posh for Russians. We all read about British clubs. (0:

Thus the word "section" is used as a more proletariat designation. (0:

S.R.I

It's not often that I see the word proletariat :-)

CowperKettle

(0:

I recall my skiing section in Noyabrsk. It was housed in a cellar of an apartment building. It was not a club surely. (0:

Although we did have an LP player (vinyl) there and made tea and listened to music

Rubisco

Skiing sounds like fun.

In the movies.

Anonymous

19:26

Sometimes shortened to prole (derogatory).

S.R.I

LP?

Damkerng T.

ก๊วน ~ gang, group

Anonymous

LP record

The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a vinyl record format characterized by a speed of 33 1⁄3 rpm, a 12 or 10 inch (30 or 25 cm) diameter, and use of the "microgroove" groove specification. Introduced by Columbia in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry. Apart from a few relatively minor refinements and the important later addition of stereophonic sound, it has remained the standard format for vinyl albums. == Format advantages == At the time the LP was introduced, nearly all phonograph records for home use were made...

Damkerng T.

Long play, I think.

CowperKettle

@S.R.I I mean, the player that plays vinyl records

@Rubisco In the skiing section, it was tons of fun.

S.R.I

19:26

@snailplane Ah, thanks! TIL

Rubisco

@CowperKettle Are you trying to make me jealous? You're trying to make me jealous.

CowperKettle

After running our distances, we boiled some tea, took the snacks and went outside to drink tea and eat in the street.

Rubisco

It won't work.

IT WON'T WORK.

CowperKettle

(0:

Rubisco

Maybe a little bit.

Anonymous

19:27

Vinyl has gotten more popular again in recent years.

Damkerng T.

ก๊วน is related to 國, BTW! @snailplane

CowperKettle

Yes. (0:

But it was in the 1980s, when it was still popular

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. Interesting!

Rubisco

@DamkerngT. I'm reading it as AreverseLU is related to a window.

Damkerng T.

@CowperKettle Nice!

CowperKettle

19:28

(0:

Damkerng T.

@Rubisco Hehe!

Anonymous

That explains the similar sound.

Damkerng T.

Yes!

Anonymous

But the meaning seems to have drifted since Middle Chinese :-)

S.R.I

@CowperKettle must have been nice. I miss those times I used to drink tea outside, in good weather

Rubisco

19:29

I should find someone and discuss Persian with them to leave y'all in the dark.

It would be so much fun.

S.R.I

Now the weather is nothing good

Anonymous

One of my friends is a linguist and a native speaker of Farsi.

CowperKettle

And we used wooden skis. We had to take off the old skiing wax and apply new one each time before the ride

Rubisco

@snailplane Oh my

Damkerng T.

@Rubisco Well, we discuss Persian/Farsi in here, too, sometimes!

CowperKettle

19:30

@S.R.I Where do you live, if the weather is not good?

S.R.I

@CowperKettle Pune, Bangalore, Chennai - wherever I need to be. Of these, Chennai takes the prize for spoiling their good weather

CowperKettle

@S.R.I ah, India! It's too hot.. (0:

Anonymous

I say Farsi in this context because that's what he says, and I feel weird overriding his choice :-)

CowperKettle

@S.R.I If I were in India, I would pick some town in the mountains, where the weather is tolerable. (0:

S.R.I

@CowperKettle That would be up north. I would find no work there :P

CowperKettle

19:32

@S.R.I Exactly. THe good places are in the hot areas

S.R.I

@CowperKettle Other than loitering around in monasteries ducks

CowperKettle

(0:

Shimla

Shimla (Hindi: शिमला; Punjabi: ਸ਼ਿਮਲਾ; English pronunciation: /ˈʃɪmlə/; Hindi: [ˈʃɪmlaː]), also known as Simla, is the capital and largest city of the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. Shimla is also a district which is bounded by Mandi and Kullu in the north, Kinnaur in the east, the state of Uttarakhand in the south-east, and Solan and Sirmaur. In 1864, Shimla was declared as the summer capital of British India, succeeding Murree, northeast of Rawalpindi. After independence, the city became the capital of Punjab and was later named the capital of Himachal Pradesh. It is the principal...

I like the photos of Shimla. Real snow!

Damkerng T.

Himachal Pradesh -- that sounds very cold!

(Hima ~ snow, I think)

S.R.I

Hima - Tall

Damkerng T.

Oh, I misremember the word!

So, Himalaya is a place that's very tall/high, not a place where snow is!

S.R.I

19:35

No, there's Him and there's Him. :P

Hima is both tall and snow

Damkerng T.

They're not the same Him!

S.R.I

shrug

I am not a native speaker

Rubisco

Hello not a native speaker.

I'm Rubisco.

Technically RuBisCO, but whatever.

Anonymous

Like Nabisco, which is technically NaBisCo.

S.R.I

@Rubisco Hello, I am not a native speaker

Damkerng T.

19:37

When you say Nabisco, I think delicious!

S.R.I

Take whatever catches your fancy. Nothing here is native!

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. I think "processed junk food"! :-)

Damkerng T.

Haha!

Rubisco

I don't think.

Enzymes don't think.

V.V.

Thanks all, especially Snailplane, going to tell people about "club"

CowperKettle

19:38

LOL

S.R.I

@DamkerngT. Nah, Nabisco sounds like some weird mixture of a sodium solution. Sodium, Bismuth and Carbon

/o\

CowperKettle

> Kedzie Avenue, is the largest bakery in the world,[2] employing more than 1,200[2] workers and producing around 320 million pounds of snack foods annually.

Rubisco

@S.R.I Bismuth is Bi, not Bis.

CowperKettle

The USA needs a surgical airstrike in Kedzie Avenue (0:

Rubisco

Bis is used in stereochemistry, but that's unrelated to the Bis in RuBisCO.

S.R.I

19:39

@Rubisco Well, I read Bi, not Bis

Rubisco

Those aren't elements.

@S.R.I Still wrong.

S.R.I

Rubinium, Bismuth and Cobalt

Damkerng T.

@CowperKettle Oh, no! -- Snacks complained. :P

Rubisco

@S.R.I No.

RuBisCO

Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase, commonly known by the abbreviations RuBisCO or RuBPCase, is an enzyme involved in the first major step of carbon fixation, a process by which atmospheric carbon dioxide is converted by plants and other photosynthetic organisms to energy-rich molecules such as glucose. In chemical terms, it catalyzes the carboxylation of ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate (also known as RuBP). It is probably the most abundant enzyme on Earth. == Vs. alternative carbon fixation pathways == RuBisCO is important biologically because it catalyzes the primary chemical reaction...

CowperKettle

@DamkerngT. It's War on Fat! (0:

S.R.I

19:40

@CowperKettle Unless you're in snow-land, snacks aren't what I call fattening

Rubisco

Organic material hardly ever contains ruthenium.

Anonymous

It's true. I hardly ever contain Ruthenium.

CowperKettle

(0:

S.R.I

@snailplane It's too big, right?

Anonymous

Well, at least, not very much.

CowperKettle

19:42

And all in the right places

I contain copper.

Rubisco

@CowperKettle You lie.

You contain Cowper.

CowperKettle

I wish!

S.R.I

@Rubisco check his teeth

Rubisco

@S.R.I No no, that's not the point.

@S.R.I And his paws.

CowperKettle

Good night (0:

Rubisco

19:44

Organic material is mostly just carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and a bunch of other elements.

Metals are usually in the form of ions.

S.R.I

@Rubisco well, what a way to offend CowperKettle

Rubisco

And those are usually abundant metals, like K.

S.R.I

I was talking about dental fillings. /o\

Rubisco

Ruthenium? I don't think amalgam is made of ruthenium.

Mercury yes, and prolly a bunch of other heavy metals.

Sometimes gold.

But not Ru.

S.R.I

@Rubisco Eh, how often do you lose context?

We were talking about Copper, right?

Rubisco

19:48

We were?

S.R.I

Cowper -- Copper

Rubisco

@S.R.I When you chat in four rooms with totally irrelevant topics, it's not uncommon

S.R.I

I chat in 7 rooms, so what? :P

Rubisco

Well, you don't chat. You just read what they write.

And stop lying, you're only in one room

S.R.I

I didn't say 7 SE rooms, did I?

Rubisco

19:52

Drop the act, dude

DOOOOD

Frank Science

20:22

I am unclear about the policies of the main site.

The main site orders posters to post a specific question.

But for English learners, usually we don't understand a specific English sentence.

I don't know what's expected to ask in the site.

Rubisco

20:43

@FrankScience Do you have a real problem to discuss?

Welcome to chat!

Frank Science

My question was tagged as too broad.

Rubisco

@Frank there should of course be a minimum level of fluency.

@FrankScience What is it?

Frank Science

It was about understanding a sentence.

Rubisco

Link?

Frank Science

This

I have edited, though.

Stack Exchange

20:45

1

Q: My question doesn't belong to me any more

I have asked a question just entering my e-mail address but it doesn't seem to belong me after logging in with same e-mail. What can I do to save my homeless? :/ Is "at this weekend" a serious mistake?

Rubisco

@FrankScience I saw. There's a reopen vote on the question.

Frank when people post multiple questions per post, whether or not it's related to one sentence, they will get closed.

Well, 'will'

is a bit strong.

It might get closed.

Frank Science

What?

OK

The problem is that

when I read a sentence

Rubisco

You should ask only one question per post. One MAIN question.

Frank Science

Yes

But I am analyzing this behavior

When I meet a sentence

What is conceived is that, I don't understand the sentence though I know each word means.

Rubisco

Well, you should ideally do some research before asking. When I do some minimal research -- mostly only as little as one Google search -- most of my questions get answered.

Frank Science

20:47

Then I try to decompose it

Just take my question as an example.

Rubisco

I know what you mean. The questions pop up.

Frank Science

You can see that "so far", "so far ... as", "so far ... as to", are in fact different things

Rubisco

Yes.

And you could've made one question about them.

Frank Science

Sometimes I have many questions, but they are inter-related

Rubisco

You could've asked here in chat too.

We usually discuss language stuff.

Frank Science

20:49

Yes, but the problem is that, I didn't know it a priori.

Rubisco

Now you do.

Frank Science

OK, I see. So as soon as I want to ask a question about understanding of a sentence after looking up dictionaries and googling, it's better to ask a question in the chat. Breaking up a task of comprehending a sentence into relatively independent specific questions per se is based on some understanding of a sentence.

Rubisco

@FrankScience Yes. The SE model is mostly designed for professionals asking questions from professionals, so queries that would require active interaction work much better in chat.

Frank Science

Generally talking about SE model is not very helpful. I came from Math.SE, the policy of which I am relatively familiar with. It seems to me that there people pay more attention on how much you endeavored to work out.

Rubisco

Nah, math.SE sounds more like a wasteland to me.

But if that's your impression, then ELL is doomed.

Both sites have very low standards.

Frank Science

21:05

Maybe it's because of the nature of mathematics. In Math.SE, if you ask a math question off-topic, very likely because you don't show your works. In MathOverflow, a question being off-topic usually simply means that it's too easy (not at the research level).

Rubisco

@FrankScience MO is a different story.

You can't discern a homework question well in mathematics.

Not as well as you can in, say, biology or chemistry.

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