Language Overflow

V.V.

03:44

Good rainy morn, T.

C.K.

CowperKettle

04:00

@V.V. Good morning!

I was absent

Anonymous

More about singular they: languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=31494

CowperKettle

> Two occurrences of singular they (they and their), with the phrase a woman as antecedent! The UN calls an emergency session to address the issue.

Alex89

06:18

Good morning.

Could I ask about two badges: Organizer and Cleanup? I don't understand well what is a retag, and how to do a rollback. I don't see a 'rollback' button anywhere.

user178049

06:52

Good morning @Alex89 ! Retag is when you edit tags in a question, you'll receive Organizer badge for that. If you are using mobile version, you wouldn't see any roll back button.

Alex89

07:11

OK, thanks, but I changed the tags in my recent question and no Retag for me by now. (Will it appear later, e. g. till the end of this day?..) And I am a little ashamed but I do not know exactly what version I use. But I always thought I do not use the mobile version...

no Retag ==> I meant the Organizer badge did not appeared in earned badges.

user178049

I think it takes time, I edited my 80th question about 4 days ago, but I've got anew badge just now.

The mobile version actually lacks of function, no worries, you'll get it soon :D

Alex89

OK, thanks for explanation.

In which cases it is correct to close a question? I understand that I can close when I do not want to receive more answers. But when it would be useful

user178049

07:32

Not sure bout that, you may need to ask our moderator bout that. But if you think the question is useful for others user, I think closing it is not a good idea.

*other users

Does anyone know why the i in "explanation" is only omitted when we add -tion. But, we keep the when we add the suffix -ing. I know it originated from latin "explanare" but why does the omission happen in a noun?

Alex89

'Explaination' for me sounds pretty ugly, since there are two diphthongs in a row. So we omit the I in explain before adding the suffix '-tion' for a better sounding word. It's my personal opinion, though.)

user178049

07:50

@Alex89 I think it makes sense :-D

user62015

08:14

The children (a)/ laughed at (b)/ the clown. (c)/ No error (d) @DamkerngT. @snailplane @M.A.R. Answer says D I agree but want to confirm

user62015

08:50

The eyes of an octopus (a)/ are remarkably similar (b)/ to those of a human being. (c)/ No error (d) Answer says D @M.A.R. @DamkerngT. @snailplane

Anonymous

09:04

@user62015 Sounds fine to me.

user62015

Both/

Both?

Anonymous

@user62015 That one also sounds fine to me.

user62015

Thanks.

Anonymous

You can tell which message I'm responding to by moving your mouse over the message (if you're on a computer).

Anonymous

If you're on a phone, I think you can do it but I'm not sure how.

user62015

09:04

Oh

Great. It was new to me.

Your answers are right. Thanks.

CowperKettle

09:19

@snailplane a phrase that applies to 90% of what I do on phone

> What's not to love about articles?
They're such a neat and tidy particles!
Wait! "Such a neat and tidy particles"
Has one too much of lovely articles

Your sentence inspired me, @userr2684291

Good afternoon, Snails!

I need to get busy

BBL

userr2684291

11:28

i.sstatic.net/UaIfw.png When I tap on the little black arrow, the message it's pointing to gets highlighted.

I was using Chrome on Android.

userr2684291

12:03

Word of the day: florisugent

2

Damkerng T.

Nice one!

userr2684291

@DamkerngT. Hm, I had to change the link into the Urban Dictionary one (the definition currently there was copied from MW directly) because, for some odd reason, when I click on merriam-webster.com/dictionary/florisugent, it doesn't show the definition; whereas when I google it and click on that same link, it shows the partial definition that's in Urban Dictionary.

Thanks, by the way. (:

Damkerng T.

The MW link works fine for me.

Strange.

userr2684291

Oh.

Damkerng T.

12:21

1

Q: When can I use 'as' instead of 'like'?

What I know like: like + noun like an apple.., treat like a doctor (he ISN"T a doctor) as: as + verb and such as.., use as..., work as.., treat as a doctor (he IS a doctor), They waved as the cars passed by What I'm dubious about: 1) He will fly as a dog 2) The table has the same height as...

as as-like

I think one sensible rule (well, I'm not very fond of rules in language learning) is that you can use them interchangeably when they mean exactly the same, e.g., Do as I do ~ Do like I do. In all other cases, they don't mean the same, so they aren't really interchangeable. — Damkerng T. 23 secs ago

userr2684291

@DamkerngT. The use of like in that sentence is commonly regarded as informal.

Damkerng T.

@userr2684291 Yes, but they mean roughly the same, nevertheless.

userr2684291

@DamkerngT. Yeah.

Damkerng T.

IMHO, given all possible choices in a specific circumstance, which means a specific context, a specific register, and so on, a typical learner seems to come to know when he or she would use which instinctively. Or should I say intuitively?

Assuming that he or she has learned English long enough.

Which is probably why I don't like rules. Learning from rules means you may learn something way, way, too early. And by the time you have to use it, you may have already forgotten it.

Damkerng T.

12:46

Typically, you can't use as instead of like and viceversa as they have different roles. — Lucian Sava 13 hours ago

Hmm... +4 already. I think it's misleading.

Personally.

Any learner can make a superficially good assertion by tagging typically, generally, and such, with it.

(Bah! I just realized how much like rules these assertions are!)

Damkerng T.

13:09

387

Q: Network-wide HTTPS: It's time

Update 2017-03-16 We've redirected all child meta traffic from meta.*.stackexchange.com to *.meta.stackexchange.com, and are now forcing HTTPS. We have also rebaked links inside the network (except comments) to point to the new domains and protocol. We'll get to comments at the end. We are awar...

discussion featured ssl announcements

Hmm...

I thought HTTP is fine for an open site.

HTTPS would be fine if everyone had the newest devices (yeah, I think PCs should be considered devices, too).

Damkerng T.

13:23

> Doubt is our product since it is the best means of competing with the ‘body of fact’ that exists in the mind of the general public. It is also the means of establishing a controversy.

> 1969 tobacco industry memo

Wow

This makes "the general public" sounds like a not very smart entity.

Which is probably true.

Stack Exchange

13:51

1

Q: Should I use past perfect for these sentences?

1) Two days after I went to school, I got sick (Two days after I had gone to school, I got sick) 2) I went to school two days ago, and I got sick (I had gone to school two days ago, and I got sick) 3) Two days later, I went to school, and then I got sick (Two days later, I had gone to school, a...

past-tense past-perfect past-vs-past-perfect

Damkerng T.

14:02

> Looking for an answer drawing from credible and/or official sources.
substantive answer why I should use past perfect OR why I shouldn't according to rules

(in the bounty message)

Rules again!

As if there's a rule that dictates us to speak in a certain way, all the time.

I doubt if this is innate, the desire to hold on to rules, or this is a product of pedagogical English in classrooms.

userr2684291

@DamkerngT. Give them freedom and they'll ask for their chains.

Damkerng T.

A nice saying!

0

Q: What is the meaning of this line you let me lose my shadow

You let me lose my shadow Apparently let me doesnt mean allow me here Then what let me could mean here

grammar

I daresay, without knowing the real context, reading it as allow would be fine.

Maybe not allow-allow, but allow nonetheless.

Whatever they think allow means, possibly in both English and their first language.

(If that doesn't work, we have to go back and look closer to their understanding of let.)

(Sometimes I think certain things in a second language are easier to explain by someone who share the same first language.)

o/

Hello, @skullpetrol

0

A: Must vs. have to for traffic signs

kot fare ca klikoj une dhe ca nxirrni ju budallenj

Let's flag it!

skull petrol

14:19

@DamkerngT. o/

How are you doing?

Damkerng T.

I'm doing okay, thanks! How are you doing?

userr2684291

@DamkerngT. Which reason should I choose? "In need of moderator intervention"?

Damkerng T.

@userr2684291 Oh, I simply chose "Not an answer" (^_^)

skull petrol

Fine thanks :-)

userr2684291

@DamkerngT. How do you know it's not an answer? :>

Damkerng T.

14:21

@userr2684291 Haha! It doesn't look like an answer. It doesn't talk like an answer. It mustn't be an answer. (^_^)

skull petrol

:D

yubraj

14:45

Hi

How are you all!

userr2684291

@yubraj All right.

Damkerng T.

Hi!

V.V.

Very high.Hi!

userr2684291

@DamkerngT. Do you know what's Spanish for the factorial of N?

¡N!

Damkerng T.

@userr2684291 Hehe!

I guess it still is N! because it's math.

yubraj

15:18

How should I call a student in a class room if I don't know his/her name?

And How should i greet to the students who sit behind?

Hi.@DamkerngT.

@userr2684291

Damkerng T.

@yubraj "You", and "You in the back".

Probably not the best way. It'd be better if you can remember his or her name.

userr2684291

16:03

@yubraj It's "What should I call..."

@yubraj Are you an English teacher?

CowperKettle

@yubraj Good morning, pupils

And if you don't know the name you'd better ask

There must be some standard English phrase for asking for a person's name

@DamkerngT. I've installed the 2GB hard drive, and it works nice. Silent and fast

I wonder if I can make it work in parallel with my 500GB hard drive (mirror mode)

So that I would be sure that the data is safe

userr2684291

16:26

@yubraj It's important to assert dominance from the very beginning. Whenever you catch one of those little imps with their hand in the air, lock your gaze with their beady little eyes, scowl at them, and do a sharp chin-up nod ("Whatcha want?"). Instill fear and discipline into them and you're off to a good start.

Alex89

I need help. How to close a discussion room? I got the answer, so I don't need that room anymore. I sit possible to close it?..

I sit ==> Is it

userr2684291

@Alex89 Why do you want to close it?

Just leave it there.

Alex89

16:41

OK. I am here for only a week. I'll leave the room as is.

user62015

He boasts of having visited Europe many times (A)/ but he can neither speak English (B)/ nor he can speak French. (C)/ No error. (D) answer says c @DamkerngT. @M.A.R. @skullpetrol @snailplane I think we should remove "he can"

userr2684291

@user62015 Either remove he can speak or transpose he and can.

Damkerng T.

16:58

@CowperKettle Probably not, cause I guess your 500GB is the system drive. (For more info, search for Storage Spaces. This page is also good: howtogeek.com/109380/…)

@user62015 That's one way to fix the sentence. The result is still probably not the most common way people would phrase it, though.

user62015

I agree/

Araucaria

1

A: Is a gerund a part of speech?

The term "gerund" is a fudge. It is used as if it was a subcategory of verb, when in fact, of course, it is just a particular inflected form of a given verb. Worse than this, this pseudo part of speech, in English at least, is actually 25% a part of speech and 50% a grammatical function label. ...

Howdy everyone!

Damkerng T.

Hi!

Ahh... singing is another word that could trip us when analyzing this kind of stuff casually.

Similar to meeting, it's a noun.

And yet, they could be gerunds in other sentences!

CowperKettle

17:14

@DamkerngT. Interesting! So I need to have at least 3 HDDs to make two of them work in parallel

Damkerng T.

@CowperKettle It seems so!

But depending on your Windows license, you could pull off something like this:

5

Q: Is it possible to use software raid in Windows 7 on the boot partition?

I want to use RAID 1 on my workstation configuration at work, and I've been looking at using the build in mirror functionality in Windows 7. When you click on the add mirror option it presents you with the following warning. I've done some Google searching and the consensus seems to be that y...

windows-7 software-raid raid-1

(I don't think Storage Spaces can do this, and I'm not sure how easy it is to use RAID on Windows 10.)

CowperKettle

@DamkerngT. thank you!

Damkerng T.

I hope it's useful!

CowperKettle

I see that I can make a RAID 1 system. Nice. I wonder if I can make it just for the 500GB section of my 2TB drive

Damkerng T.

Try it! But don't forget to back up your data first. :)

CowperKettle

17:20

So that the 500GB section mirrors the 500GB drive, and there is some "non-mirrored" space (1.5TB) left on the bigger drive

okay (0:

Damkerng T.

Backups are very important! :D

CowperKettle

Shakespeare must have a sonnet about them.

He wrote of the most important stuff

> Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea
But sad mortality o’er-sways their power,
How with this rage shall data hold a plea,
Whose action is no stronger than a flower?

..

> O fearful meditation! where, alack,
Shall time’s best jewel from time’s chest lie hid?
Or what strong hand can hold his swift foot back?
Or who his spoil of beauty can forbid?
O, none, unless this miracle have might,
That in RAID 1 my bytes may still shine bright.

He was a genius

Alex89

Does the word 'byte' have any other meaning than '8 bits'? (I am not native speaker.)

CowperKettle

@Alex89 no

But it has a word sounding like it, bite, that has other meanings

Alex89

I know, it's a homophone. Thankfully, I know the verb 'bite')

CowperKettle

17:33

Yes.

I somewhy recalled the word "allophone", but "homophone" is the right word. Nice!

Alex89

In fact, 'bite' is either verb or a noun. 'How to cure dog bites?' for example.

CowperKettle

yep

bite off more than one can chew

Verb: bite off more than one can chew

(idiomatic) To try to do too much; to take on or attempt more than one is capable of doing.
I think I bit off more than I could chew when I agreed to paint this house by myself.

Damkerng T.

@CowperKettle (^_^)

CowperKettle

(0:

Alex89

Oh, these verbs with postpositions are kind of a trouble for me. Is they called phrasal verbs?.. I learned a few of them, such as get up, write down (or sit down), go off and so on. Never tried to learn all of them.

Is they ==> Are they. Sorry.

Damkerng T.

18:02

@Alex89 I doubt if I know all of them. So don't worry. And don't worry about mistakes either. We're here to make them. :-)

Stack Exchange

2

Q: "Drug levels in the blood" vs "drug levels in blood"

The resulting molecule has a prolonged therapeutic effect even after a single-dose administration and a lower risk of adverse effects associated with fluctuations of drug levels in blood. and The resulting molecule has a prolonged therapeutic effect even after a single-dose administrati...

articles

user62015

Hi

all of you except sheena have done the homework properly

sheena has done or have done?

CowperKettle

@user62015 - what do you think?

user62015

I think has done

CowperKettle

why?

user62015

18:10

Sheena is she

CowperKettle

yes..

user62015

But I again think all is the subject here

CowperKettle

Read it like this:

> All of you, except Sheena, have done the homework properly.

Indeed the subject is all of you

and this subject is plural

hance, have done

user62015

I agree.

I understood now.

Thanks.

CowperKettle

you're welcome!

userr2684291

18:38

@Alex89 You can edit your message the first 2 minutes.

Alex89

Did not know about that. Thanks for useful advice. Nice, I got it, it works.)

That Brazilian Guy

19:05

Hello. Good morning/evening/night/whatever.
I have a question and maybe you guys can help me understand it
Is "the hate minimum" a real expression, or a autocorrect typo?
I just saw that on a website comment, but there are a few instances on google.
Sorry if here is not the best place to ask it.

userr2684291

19:23

@ThatBrazilianGuy What's the complete sentence?

yubraj

19:35

@userr2684291 @DamkerngT. Nods

@CowperKettleo h really!

What could be some better ways to ask the name of a student in a classroom?

userr2684291

1

Q: What is the form of the verb that follows "of"?

I wonder what is the correct form of the verb that follows of for example, what is the correct form? the way of conveying OR the way of convey

gerunds prepositional-phrases

yubraj

And how to remember their names alltogether?

userr2684291

Why was that question closed?

yubraj

@userr2684291help me please!

userr2684291

@yubraj "What's your name?"

Haha.

yubraj

19:41

Can anyone provide classroom language(sentences, words and phrases)?

userr2684291

@yubraj Google it.

yubraj

Oh! Really?

Ok I will

userr2684291

@yubraj Yes, classroom language will do.

yubraj

But my one of my question "how to remember all the name of students in a classroom? "

While or after introducing

userr2684291

@yubraj Ask them to introduce themselves. If you can't remember their name the next time, ask them to repeat it for you.

@yubraj pearsonlongman.com/young_learners/pdfs/classroomlanguage.pdf

Stack Exchange

19:56

3

Q: What do we call these two parts of the s-curve?

I'm translating a text where a 4-parameter dose-response log curve is fitted to experimentally obtained data. The text says: The obtained dose-response curve (S-shaped) should contain points on the upper and lower plateaus and at least 4 points in the linear region and bending regions. As ...

word-request mathematics

That Brazilian Guy

> If you have aspirations for a promotion or even a nice raise you'll need to set yourself apart, and that comes from doing more than the hate minimum.

userr2684291

20:12

@ThatBrazilianGuy Mhm.

@ThatBrazilianGuy It's not a typo, "the hate minimum" refers to "volunteering".

I obviously googled that thing.

That Brazilian Guy

So it's not a typo for "bare minimum"?

userr2684291

@ThatBrazilianGuy Oh, well it could be, I guess, but either works.

That Brazilian Guy

Because while the former gives me 779 thousand results in Google, the latter yields only 18 results.

userr2684291

"The hate minimum" is definitely awkward, though, and that's not how I'd put it.

That Brazilian Guy

None related to volunteering

> The hate minimum of clinical tuition supetimposed upon theit ptevious expetience in othet ttades is not thetefote wholly unexpected, since a comptehensive ...

> The classic cocktails witheted on the vine, and as the old hattendets tetited, theit young teplacements leatned only the hate minimum of old tecipes and vittually ...

> You should be paid based on how much you bring in but that is not how the real world works you will always get paid the hate minimum an ...

userr2684291

20:16

@ThatBrazilianGuy In that context, it refers to volunteering.

That Brazilian Guy

ok

Anonymous

20:27

@Alex89 Bytes are most commonly eight bits today, but strictly speaking there are other sizes of bytes as well. I don't really know of any other meanings though.

Anonymous

All the other meanings are spelled bite instead.

Færd

@userr2684291 Link please!

And how can it refer to voluntary work if one is thinking about a nice raise?!

yubraj

21:00

@userr2684291 Thanks a lot

@snailplane Hi

How are you?

Can I get some articles for classroom languages?

userr2684291

21:15

@Færd reddit.com/r/talesfromtechsupport/comments/60bm5m/… Well, if "hate (minimum)" was the intended word, I figured it refers to volunteering. If it's supposed to be "bare", volunteering is referred to as "doing more". Same difference, since the message is clear. "Hate" does sound awkward, and that's not how I'd put it, anyway.

yubraj

23:42

How to ask the students if want to clen the board?

yubraj

23:57

Clean

Please help someone

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