Language Overflow

ColleenV

03:21

@M.A.R. Have you seen this post on Meta.SE? What do you think?

56

Q: Add a review queue for new and for rarely used tags

Bad tags are created frequently, especially on beta sites where the barrier to tag creation is relatively low. There are a few mechanisms already existing that are meant to help remove bad or useless tags: The list of new tags in the 10k tools at /tools An automatic script that deletes tags tha...

yubraj

ldoce is best dictionary for ELL.?

Hi All!

Anonymous

@yubraj Hello! :-)

Anonymous

I think the LDOCE is quite good. I would recommend using more than one dictionary, though.

Anonymous

Macmillan Dictionary is a good choice too.

yubraj

Umm...nods..Thanks@snailplane

ColleenV

03:53

@snailplane I like some of the features of Collins when I want to get a second opinion. There's a little word frequency bar that I think is helpful.

It's not precise but sometimes you just need an idea whether it's rare or not

CowperKettle

This isn't a question about biology but about linguistics and you don't need any help because you understand what is happening. It should be closed or migrated to English Language & Usage (although my experience there is that they are aggressively anti-science as they don't understand it). — David 8 hours ago

"aggressively anti-science" (0:

Anonymous

04:08

@ColleenV The actual dictionary known as Collins Dictionary is nice, but it's mainly designed as a dictionary for native speakers. They also make the COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary, formerly known as the Collins COBUILD Learner's Dictionary, and that one has only recently become available on their website; you can click the "Learner" tab to go directly to its definitions.

Jude

05:10

Greetings!

QuokMoon

05:50

Good morning

CowperKettle

Mood gorning!

Crazy Ninja

06:09

Rise 'n Shine!

mike

Afternoon!

V.V.

Morning

Anonymous

06:25

Good morning :-)

CowperKettle

07:04

A white, nondescript morning

Anonymous

How much of the year do you get snow there?

CowperKettle

@snailplane First snow falls on October 14 (Покров День). Snow cover establishes on about November 1. Snow begins to thaw on about March 22. And by about April 10 there is almost no snow on the ground. However, there is often a severe snowfall on about May 1st

.. but that snow thaws on the same day

So it's roughly November 1st to April 1st

Five months of constant snowcover

Sorry for the delay, I'm doing some work

The coldest period of the year is January 20 to February 10

In about two weeks' time mild winter will set in

which will last from Feb 10 to March 20 - a great span of time for skiing

From March 20, it will be almost impossible to ski - the snow will be barkled with a layer of dirty ice

barkled

Verb: barkled

simple past tense and past participle of barkle

Adjective: barkled ‎(comparative more barkled, superlative most barkled)

(Britain regional) Encrusted, especially with dirt and grime.
1913, D.H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, chapter 2
'Aven't you got a drink, Missis, for a man when he comes home barkled up from the pit?...

Thank you, DH Lawrence

CowperKettle

07:44

The year 2016 was unique

Summer started on April 15, and there was no snowfall in late April/early May

at all

Thus the trees turned green by May 1

and the summer itself was hot

yubraj

08:39

Hi again!

@DamkerngT.

@snail

How can I ask politely to a head teacher of a school about if there's a vacancy available for teaching or not?

Is there vacancy available in your school? Or how?

I think that would be too direct question.

user2684291

10:36

@yubraj "Can you tell me, please, if there are any vacancies open..."

I'm certain, however, that you'll be able to unveil a heap of such email templates by forming a relevant search string.

Damkerng T.

11:20

@yubraj Hi! -- I agree with @user2684291. Some other phrases I can think of right now are I would like to know ... or I'm seeking an open teaching position. I'd appreciate it if you let me know ... or Could you tell me ...

M.A.R.

11:54

@ColleenV I just did. :) IMO a review queue should be filled with new stuff frequently to work. New tags aren't being created that quickly and frequently

user2684291

@DamkerngT. I've heard quite a few English-speaking people using "I would appreciate it if you would let me know..."

ColleenV

@M.A.R. Yeah that was my feeling too. I don't know if we need a formal queue. Maybe just some queries for the folks that care about them

M.A.R.

An easier and neater way to organize tags in the tag page is more useful IMO

Damkerng T.

@user2684291 I guess it could happen in real speech.

ColleenV

I'll have to look at the SEDE - maybe we can add some queries to

8

Q: Searches that might help you find questions that need attention

This is intended to be a wiki where we can collect queries that will help find questions that could use some attention - maybe they need another answer, maybe the answers need up voting, or maybe the question just needs a little editing to make it clearer. I will add a community wiki for helpful...

discussion voting unanswered-questions

@user2684291 You have to be careful with the tone of that one though

but it's pretty common

user2684291

12:02

@ColleenV What do you mean?

ColleenV

@user2684291 It can be sarcastic, but in the proper context it's fine

I would APPRECIATE IT if you would keep your feet off my furniture youngster. I think there was a question on the main site that talked about it - I'm looking

user2684291

Well, when you say it like that...

ColleenV

I tend to say "It would be great if..." but that's kind of informal

or sometimes I put it at the end: If you could keep me updated I'd really appreciate it. but sometimes that gets awkward

Also know that I really overthink how I phrase formal stuff :)

user2684291

"I would APPRECIATE IT if you kept your big mouth..." sounds rude as well.

M.A.R.

If you kept your big mouth in a refrigerator

ColleenV

12:10

This is the question I was thinking - it's not about appreciate. I need more coffee

5

Q: How much more polite does the word please make a request?

When I learnt "could you possibly" pattern, my friend said to me this is very polite form to use when I make a request.I said 'how about if I use the please also with it" and he said ' it is a bit too polite that almost in a begging manner'. I can understand that but what I would like to ask tha...

politeness

user2684291

@ColleenV Wait, what part of that were you emphasizing? "Appreciate"?

ColleenV

@user2684291 Hrm I was thinking appreciate it but

Yeah I would AP-PREC-I-ATE IT if you

M.A.R.

@ColleenV Gee, I had to read that title three times because of lack of use–mention distinction.

ColleenV

Yeah I should fix that

yubraj

Nods...Thanks @DamkerngT.@user2684291

ColleenV

12:21

@snailplane Oh, I see what you mean. All three types of definitions show up on the same page for me when I look up a word. I assumed it was just all one "Collins" dictionary. I think the word frequency and usage trend features are neat.

M.A.R.

Colleen's dictionary

ColleenV

@M.A.R. Lol - no Colleen's dictionary doesn't have any standard English in it :)

Damkerng T.

:D

ColleenV

My vocabulistics are amazing

Damkerng T.

Macmillan does have a frequency indicator for each word, though.

3 stars = very common.

yubraj

12:26

I can say "I would like to know/could you please tell me/I would appreciate if you could let me know-If there is vacancy open in your school?@DamkerngT.

M.A.R.

@DamkerngT. 5 stars = common as hell?

Damkerng T.

@M.A.R. Hehe! 3 is the highest!

ColleenV

@DamkerngT. I know, I like the display of the Collins a bit better

Damkerng T.

@yubraj Hmm... vacancy open? I think any vacancies open is better.

M.A.R.

@DamkerngT. That's horrible

Damkerng T.

12:27

@ColleenV I haven't used that one much, to be honest. (^_^)

ColleenV

@DamkerngT. Compare collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/appreciate to macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/appreciate

But I only use Collins as a second source

Damkerng T.

Oh! 5 frequency grades!

ColleenV

The definitions are always a little different

@DamkerngT. just vacancies

M.A.R.

Passive-Aggressive People

ColleenV

vacancies mean "open"

Do you have any vacancies?

Damkerng T.

12:30

@ColleenV nods -- I wouldn't use vacancy myself anyway, though.

M.A.R.

I have a lot of vacancies

They're delicious

You have to try them

Damkerng T.

My natural choice would be either open position or job opening.

ColleenV

@M.A.R. So you're saying you're pretty vacant?

M.A.R.

Wait, isn't this about a hotel room?

@ColleenV Yes, because it sounds like a cool adjective

Damkerng T.

@M.A.R. It was about a teaching job. :D

ColleenV

12:31

@M.A.R. It's a Sex Pistols song :) youtu.be/VcauCclfytI

user2684291

@ColleenV I see. Well, I was trying to underscore the use of the second "would". I think it cushions the potential sharpness or whatever.

@ColleenV I've seen (educated) people use "open" with "vacancies"; I know it's redundant, though.

ColleenV

@user2684291 Yes, I am a nit-picker

user2684291

OK, should I have said "I've seen people use" or "using"? "Use" sounds more definite and as if I've seen it all, so the latter would be more apt?

ColleenV

@user2684291 I think use is better

user2684291

@ColleenV Alrighty. Thank you.

ColleenV

12:36

If you had said something like "I've seen people using dictionaries as hats." using would be better

user2684291

@ColleenV Because the temporariness or one-instanceness is accentuated by the progressive aspect?

ColleenV

Yes I think so

I've seen people using inappropriate language. I've seen people use "open vacancies".

I'm sorry I don't have a more formal way to explain it, maybe @snailplane will save us

M.A.R.

@user2684291 Both are apt, no?

I guess ''use'' is perfective, while ''using'' is perfective.

I might be mistaken though

So ''use'' would be like a more general view of the process

and ''using'' the details. But in a single sentence, when you don't provide other info, both work fine.

ColleenV

13:01

@M.A.R. I don't think "using" would stand out to anyone, I just prefer "use"

M.A.R.

@ColleenV Yeah, it really doesn't make any difference

There are I think no contexts where either version would not work

ColleenV

@M.A.R. After "I have seen"? You may be right.

So this is weird Google Ngrams can't find "I have seen people using"

I must solve this mystery

I have to take off the I've and use seen people using,seen people use

M.A.R.

@ColleenV ''yielded only one result''?

ColleenV

books.google.com/ngrams/…

"seen people us" seems more common

M.A.R.

Wow, ''seen people using'' died for a moment there

ColleenV

13:15

Shorter words usually are

Hrm If I switch to the British corpus, "seen people using" disappears

M.A.R.

YOU KILLED A PHRASE :(

ColleenV

@M.A.R. It wasn't me - it was the British editors censoring it from all their written works!

user2684291

I've found dictionary.cambridge.org/us/grammar/british-grammar/…

M.A.R.

@user2684291 Ahh, so I may have been right

Perfective vs. Imperfective

ColleenV

@user2684291 Interesting - so it's not about the duration but whether or not the action was completed

M.A.R.

13:30

@ColleenV Not even that.

As I said, ''use'' does not care about the details, ''using'' does

It's just like ''I use a toothbrush'' vs. ''I'm using a toothbrush''

ColleenV

@M.A.R. I still see that as a completion issue not a details issue

M.A.R.

@ColleenV ''use'' sees it as a whole, ''using'' focuses on the process

!!wiki/perfective

Ellbot

Perfective aspect

The perfective aspect (abbreviated PFV), sometimes called the aoristic aspect, is a grammatical aspect used to describe an action viewed as a simple whole—a unit without interior composition. The perfective aspect is distinguished from the imperfective aspect, which presents an event as having internal structure (such as ongoing, continuous, or habitual actions). The term perfective should be distinguished from perfect (see below). The distinction between perfective and imperfective is more important in some languages than others. In Russian and other Slavonic languages, it is central to the verb...

ColleenV

We understand it the same way, I'm just terminology-challenged

M.A.R.

I know

It just feels fun to nitpick

ColleenV

13:34

@M.A.R. :) I enjoy a good picking of nits myself

yubraj

Nods....@dem@colen v @User91

M.A.R.

Who's @user91?

yubraj

@user2684291

M.A.R.

User91 didn't ping him though

yubraj

Oh

M.A.R.

13:39

Hmm, I never checked, but your writing seems 87.85939 percent masculine @user2

@yubraj You can just not type the @ sign

yubraj

Oh, how can I mark them then?

@DamkerngT. You mean it should be "any vacancies open" and rest of my sentences(questions)are correct.

CowperKettle

Good evening all

A black, nondescript evening

yubraj

@M.A.R. I thought User26..91 is male

Damkerng T.

@yubraj I meant in your "I would appreciate if you could let me know-If there is vacancy open in your school?", vacancy is countable, so vacancies is more appropriate.

@CowperKettle Good evening!

Note that, as @ColleenV said, vacancy and open in the same phrase would be redundant.

yubraj

Nods..

Damkerng T.

13:46

And appreciate it would be more appropriate as well.

yubraj

What about asking "Could you please tell me/I was wondering if you could tell me-if there is vacancy open in your school?

Damkerng T.

Your main clause aside, these are more or less the same.

Note that trying to be overly polite could come off as insincere to some people.

For example, Could you tell me ... is somewhat safer than Could you please tell me ...

But you can't overlook who you are and who you are talking with or writing to.

V.V.

14:02

Privet all

Damkerng T.

Privet, khrap!

V.V.

An amazing collocation

Damkerng T.

:D

user2684291

@M.A.R. Huh.

V.V.

I put a poem by Coleridge into MAR's textbox. The result was adequate, 24, male

user2684291

14:10

I don't know how they determine the masculinity thing.

I'm pretty sure I'm a guy.

Ca. 87.85939% sure, haha.

Damkerng T.

I guess there are two important features they might use: average sentence length, and estimated vocabulary size.

(Among other things)

user2684291

I think it's specific words women use more frequently than men.

Damkerng T.

Sounds like a good candidate. :D

Anyway, sometimes the researcher doesn't know why or how their models work!

V.V.

Coleen likes Collins Dictionary. I should like Merriam-Webster.

Because of M and W.

Lawrence

:)

V.V.

14:24

Hi, big L

Lawrence

Hi @V.V.!

I often go for Oxford Dictionaries Online (ODO), though the old format sometimes provided more useful hits.

V.V.

Do you like LDOCE?

Lawrence

What's that?

Oh, Longman.

V.V.

Longman

Lawrence

I have the impression that it's a learner's dictionary.

V.V.

14:26

Yes.

Lawrence

If the dictionaries disagreed on a word, I'd probably go with ODO or M-W.

V.V.

I never use one dictionary. OD have good examples, lots of them

Lawrence

@snailplane You made an interesting comment on ELU's chat about Japanese sentence construction the other day.

@V.V. Yes, apparently, the examples are culled from existing works, not simply put together by the dictionary's editors / compilers.

See ya!

yubraj

15:00

Nods...

I love longman dictionary(ldoce). I would download if I could find free app for it. 😀

user2684291

15:22

I'm kind of used to the O(A)LD, but I was in puppy love with thefreedictionary.com in my high school days, though I wasn't aware of other online dictionaries at the time.

user2684291

15:55

Is "It leaves something to be gotten to the bottom of." an okay sentence?

CowperKettle

@snailplane - is it true that Japan has only 9000 governmental (civil) servants (officials, clerks etc)?

user2684291

Surely it must be over 9000.

CowperKettle

I think so too. There's a political meme making rounds in Russian interwebs that there are only 9000 in Japan but 1 000 000+ in Russia

user2684291

16:14

@CowperKettle I was making a joke, but that number is suspect.

ColleenV

@user2684291 I had a hard time understanding that on the first read through

I'm used to reading "It leaves something to be desired"

user2684291

How would you rephrase it?

ColleenV

and "We need to get to the bottom of this"

I'm thinking - some replacement for "gotten to the bottom of"

user2684291

:<

ColleenV

"something to explore"

a mystery to solve

What is the context?

a conundrum to explain

user2684291

16:18

Eh, it's kind of a long discussion about who said what about a theory...

ColleenV

So, "it" is something someone said?

user2684291

Yes.

ColleenV

an explanation?

user2684291

Yeah.

ColleenV

That explanation leaves a lot of unanswered questions

user2684291

16:19

Neat.

Thank you.

ColleenV

Took me a while to get there :)

M.A.R.

16:36

@yubraj Yeah he is

Damkerng T.

I wonder if I reject a suggested edit, will the text in the suggested edit be lost forever?

Okay, now it won't be lost. (^_^)

Anonymous

No, it'll always be left in the suggested edit history.

Anonymous

But you won't be able to find it easily by looking at the post itself.

CowperKettle

> But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored, and edits end.

Damkerng T.

It's an interesting suggestion. :D

Anonymous

16:42

So not "lost" exactly, but not particularly easy to find, either.

Damkerng T.

I rejected the suggested edit but fixed the time to be times as suggested.

The suggested edit actually flows better, I admit, but it's not in plain English. Or at least it's not as plain.

CowperKettle

When I consider every thing that's posted
Holds in perfection but a little moment
That this huge site presenteth naught but shows
Whereon the trolls in secret infuence comment

Damkerng T.

For someone who may not understand the meaning of in need, remain true would be a problem as well.

I also don't like their punctuation style much. I think it makes it worse.

@CowperKettle (^_^)

CowperKettle

When I percieve that bugs as plants increase
Cheered and checked even by the self-same mods

..

okay, I give up

Shakespeare would have done better

Damkerng T.

LOL

You did pretty well, IMO. :D

CowperKettle

16:48

(0:

a white, nondescript lie

Damkerng T.

Haha!

CowperKettle

(0:

Damkerng T.

Probably better than a black, nondescript van. :P

CowperKettle

Yes (0:

M.A.R.

@DamkerngT. No, you can go to revisions or timeline and see a rejected edit and what it was. Less than one percent of the users know that though.

Damkerng T.

16:51

Actually, I'm trying to figure out where to look or what I should click!

M.A.R.

Did you reject?

Damkerng T.

I can't see anything about the suggested edit in any revisions: ell.stackexchange.com/posts/15953/revisions

@M.A.R. Yes. As I mentioned above.

M.A.R.

Every question has a /timeline

Damkerng T.

Ah, I see! ell.stackexchange.com/posts/15953/timeline

Thanks!

M.A.R.

I have a userscript; SE modifications that puts a timeline link besides each question's other buttons like ''edit'', ''flag'', etc.

Damkerng T.

16:53

That's pretty neat!

CowperKettle

17:04

I feel yellow, nondescript envy!

M.A.R.

@CowperKettle You don't need to feel envious

CowperKettle

Turns out in English one gets green with envy

M.A.R.

51

Q: SE Modifications -- Username autocomplete in comments, inline revision source, and utility links

Screenshot About This userscript adds four main features: Various utility links on posts and in the top bar Inline viewing of post revision source Markdown on the post history page Links on comment timestamps for linking to specific comments (with enhanced "link-ability" for people wit...

script comments

CowperKettle

In Russian, "yellow envy" is hidden envy

Damkerng T.

In Thai, it's hot that's associated with envy. (^_^)

CowperKettle

17:06

Nice

Damkerng T.

Green and yellow are for anger. :D

Or Black and red.

It's either green and yellow or black and red. Don't know why. >:D

Anonymous

@CowperKettle The green-eyed monster

Damkerng T.

@M.A.R. Oh! That's the script!

0

Q: What does I sense a format mean here?

I always understood format as a way something is arranged, but how can you "sense a format"? Maybe it does mean that it was meant that he sense the way things are arranged, like he understands how something is arranged, even after some research I am not very sure. Here's the context or source ra...

meaning meaning-in-context

Hmm... "i sense a format coming on in my nervs" is pretty non-standard, I think.

Maybe I think the format is getting on my nerves.

CowperKettle

@snailplane probably from Shakespeare?

Yes

I remember this phrase from the poem by Kate Tempest

M.A.R.

17 Brilliant Movies Of 2016 You Totally Missed

►

CC @Card

A free bonus for anyone who knows what movie that face is from

WITHOUT watching the video, of course

CowperKettle

17:14

Ni!

M.A.R.

Obviously, I'll say you watched the video if you guess correctly

Damkerng T.

I give up. It doesn't look like Frankenstein to me.

You've got to love the automatic transcription!

LOL s3 1976. :D

M.A.R.

@DamkerngT. It's a 2016 movie

A fun one at that

Damkerng T.

Oh! Must be a movie that I haven't watched yet. :D

Hi, @N1ng! Welcome to the room!

N1ng

Hello :) @DamkerngT.

Damkerng T.

17:20

Oh! It's not often to see an avatar with a transparent background!

M.A.R.

Welcome to the room!

@DamkerngT. Hint: Here's the answer

Damkerng T.

@M.A.R. Thanks!

I'll check that out later.

M.A.R.

Also good movie suggestions up there in the video and the link @Card

@DamkerngT. You're at work?

Oh, stupid me.

It's 3 a.m. there

And Dam is upside down, chatting from his bed

Damkerng T.

I'm on a break, but my browser can't take anything new any more.

M.A.R.

@DamkerngT. What about a ping?

@DamkerngT. Or two?

@DamkerngT. Violets are blue

Damkerng T.

17:24

LOL -- Don't give it a ping too often. :D

See, my computer is at its limits.

M.A.R.

That sounds like a cold

Damkerng T.

:D

0

A: What does I sense a format mean here?

Format in this context refers to erasing a computer's hard drive. I sense a format coming on in my nerves means that the user anticipates having to erase his hard drive's data. He has a feeling that he will have to do that soon.

Huh?

CowperKettle

@DamkerngT. how much memory does it have?

Damkerng T.

I wouldn't read it that way.

But now I have to admit that it's quite possible.

@CowperKettle 8GB

CowperKettle

Like mine!

Damkerng T.

17:29

Yay!

CowperKettle

I have 3200 MB free

M.A.R.

Can I haz some free megabytez?

@CowperKettle she'll live

Vitals reading normal

CowperKettle

(0:

Damkerng T.

It's running three browsers and two virtual machines, plus a heavy computationally intensive task, among other light programs. So that's why it's at its condition. :-)

CowperKettle

Ah!

Damkerng T.

17:32

Ellbot is very light, BTW. :D

CowperKettle

My computer is too weak for that

M.A.R.

@DamkerngT. Real ~~men~~ computers do ~~push-ups~~ virtual machines everyday

Damkerng T.

Haha!

N1ng

Ellbot is a program?

Damkerng T.

Yes!

!!greet/N1ng

N1ng

17:34

Cool!

Ellbot

Welcome to ELL's chat room @N1ng! Happy chatting!

Damkerng T.

!!ice cream

Ellbot

M.A.R.

ELLbot is a chatbot that roams in these lands

N1ng

Ohh, I love ice cream.

Damkerng T.

17:35

Hehe!

M.A.R.

@N1ng Aw yiss, finally, ICE CREAM FANATICS UNITE

We shall conquer all ice cream trucks that ever existed

N1ng

Haha, that's a dream for every kid. @M.A.R.

Damkerng T.

Okay, back to work. See you soon! o/

M.A.R.

\o

CowperKettle

Appeasement never ends well

M.A.R.

17:42

@CowperKettle Who's KIA and who's WIA?

CowperKettle

@M.A.R. killed in action / wounded in action

N1ng

pure music link(piano). Hope someone would also enjoy this

2

CowperKettle

> Virtuous motives—trammeled by inertia and timidity—are no match for armed and resolute wickedness (W. Churchill)

M.A.R.

@N1ng magnificent

N1ng

People are amazing. Beautiful things everywhere. You're one of them. :) @M.A.R.

M.A.R.

17:47

Wow. That music was just fantastic.

CowperKettle

Nice music

Damkerng T.

Ah, I just saw this! But better late than never.

Word of the Year: post-truth

2

M.A.R.

@DamkerngT. saw what?

Damkerng T.

That WOTY.

> en.oxforddictionaries.com/word-of-the-year/…

M.A.R.

Also here's a WOTD

Word of The Day: dud

3

user2684291

17:59

@CowperKettle Appeasement?

Transcript for