Language Overflow

CowperKettle

01:20

> Research published today in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General has shown that learning to read by sounding out words (a teaching method known as phonics) has a dramatic impact on the accuracy of reading aloud and comprehension.

sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/04/170420094107.htm

Anonymous

07:26

2

A: Can we say "They are Englishes"?

When you say They are Americans you are using American as a noun. The word American can be a noun or an adjective. In both cases the word refers to a person from North America or to a US citizen. The letter s is added to American when it is used in the plural (this is the rule for most nouns in ...

Anonymous

In this answer, Laure writes:

Anonymous

> The noun english can also designate a spinning movement of the ball in bowling (wiktionary). In that case it is not capitalized.

Anonymous

How many of you all knew that? I certainly didn't! :-)

Anonymous

@CowperKettle Unfortunately, there are still people trying to push "whole language" approaches to teaching reading.

Anonymous

The interesting thing is, a lot of people can learn to read just fine whether your teaching methods are good or bad.

Anonymous

07:29

But not everyone is equally good at picking up reading, and the people who really need the instruction are the ones where it matters what sort of teaching methods you use.

Anonymous

I think that seeing success with so many students (who would have been able to learn to read fine anyway!) must be at least part of the driving force behind people sticking with whole language in spite of the science saying phonics is the way to go.

CowperKettle

08:21

@snailplane I only glanced across the article and I don't understand this "phonics/whole language" thing. I just learned letters when I was a kid, and then by trial and error taught myself to read

I don't know whether I used phonics or the whole language method

Damkerng T.

@snailplane Interesting! I'd spell that English, but I guess the person who wrote that entry knows better than me.

FWIW, I don't think I heard that or did that in both billiards and bowling. In snooker, maybe. :-)

@CowperKettle nods (not snailplane, BTW :P) -- I don't use phonics myself, though I've heard it works quite well.

I don't think it's necessary anyway.

Hmm... graphophonic -- an interesting word. I may look into that later.

CowperKettle

Teaching reading: whole language and phonics

"Phonics" emphasizes the alphabetic principle – the idea that letters represent the sounds of speech, and that there are systematic and predictable relationships between written letters and spoken words, which is specific to the alphabetic writing system Children learn letter sounds (b = the first sound in "bat" and "ball") first and then blend them (bl = the first two sounds in "blue") to form words. Children also learn how to segment and chunk letter sounds together in order to blend them to form words (trap = /t/, /r/, /a/, /p/ or /tr/, /ap/). "Whole language" is a method of teaching reading...

Ah. I see. In Russian, the spelling too closely follows the lettering.

There's no need for controversy in Russian. You just learn letter by letter

Damkerng T.

In Thai, too, though I think it's worth to point out that we also make the real spelling and pronunciation spelling obvious in primarily schools.

Not sure if it's still the same nowadays.

Maybe, maybe not. 'Cause I think the spelling ability of the younger generations is kinda deteriorating.

But it's hard to tell whether someone does that on purpose, or just because they don't know the right spelling.

CowperKettle

nods

Damkerng T.

08:38

There is a fundamental difference between inviting someone to share party drugs with you and asking about their personal practices. Asking such a personal question raises a question in the persons mind of why are you asking? Did I telegraph that? Do I come across to others as someone who will do anything? Similar to Tᴚoɯɐuo's comment about expressing your own desire to have sex with someone vs. asking them if they put out. This is a little like asking if there is more polite wording for the compliment "You don't sweat much for a fat lady." — fixer1234 15 hours ago

Ha ha

> A friend of a friend asked me recently, how to inoffensively ask a girl if she uses party-drugs or if she wants to use them right now?

Hmm... is their friend a drug dealer?

I don't know. Should we close this question?

1

Q: Which cartoon character is she referring to? And what does this conversation "How's my house?" "Fulfilled" mean?

When I read a comic book called "Thief of Thieves" by Robert Kirkman, I encountered this conversation between the thief (Redmond) and his ex-wife (Audrey). They meet at the restaurant. Redmond: May I? (He takes a seat) Audrey: Sorry, but no, I'm waiting for someone. My date. Redmond...

Oh, how can someone who hasn't read that book know exactly what this fulfilled conveys?!

The OP is not like not knowing its dictionary meaning anyway.

0

Q: Other + noun/ others / other ones

What exactly is the difference between using 'other + noun', 'others' and 'other ones' when referred back to those remaining in a group of something that is already know about? To shed some light on this question, I would like to know which of the three sentence constructions below sounds most ...

word-choice phrase-choice grammaticality-in-context

Okay, I'm not a native-speaker, so I'll only write my thoughts here.

> 1) Our group is much quieter than the other groups.
2) Our group is much quieter than the other ones.
3) Our group is much quieter than the others.

If I'm writing a technical document, I'll use the other groups because it's clearer.

If I'm speaking casually, I might use the others or just others, but whether the meaning of this usage is clear or not heavily relies on the context.

I don't think 2) is my preferred choice in any contexts, but I wouldn't be surprised to see someone use it.

CowperKettle

09:27

Word of the Day: masher

> She rides with half a dozen men,
(She calls them "boys" and "mashers")
I trot along the Mall alone;
My prettiest frocks and sashes
Don't help to fill my programme-card,
And vainly I repine
From ten to two A.M. Ah me!
Would I were forty-nine!

poemhunter.com/poem/my-rival

I don't get the meaning of "Don't help to fill my programme-card"

userr2684291

09:42

@DamkerngT. Hm.

To me, that one sounds pretty good.

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. Out of the three choices, I don't think I have any preference. They all sound fine to me :-)

Anonymous

But I can see what you mean. If you were writing a technical document, the other groups might be a better choice.

userr2684291

It sounds the best indeed.

@snailplane I know this word, but only because I looked up English in Wiktionary for some reason.

Anonymous

@userr2684291 I suppose I must have never done that. Or, if I have, I simply don't remember.

Anonymous

There's a kind of pastry called a Danish. Looking on Google, it looks like people capitalize the word Danishes. I honestly would have expected danishes, though.

userr2684291

09:49

@snailplane It's useful for those well, technically, it doesn't have to be capitalized arguments.

Anonymous

A-ha! Some people don't capitalize danishes.

Anonymous

@userr2684291 That makes it a capitonym.

Anonymous

Hey, can I get a word of the day on that one? ;-)

userr2684291

(:

Anonymous

Word of the day: capitonym

3

Anonymous

09:50

Woo hoo! My very own star :-)

CowperKettle

Capitonym

A capitonym is a word that changes its meaning (and sometimes pronunciation) when it is capitalized; the capitalization usually applies due to one form being a proper noun or eponym. It is a portmanteau of the word capital with the suffix -onym. A capitonym is a form of homograph and – when the two forms are pronounced differently – also of heteronym. In situations where both words should be capitalized (such as the beginning of a sentence), there will be nothing to distinguish between them except the context in which they are used. Although some pairs, such as march and March, are complete...

@snailplane Hey, trump is a capitonym!

> For example, in German, where all nouns are capitalized, there are many pairs such as Laut (sound) ~ laut (loud) or Morgen (morning) ~ morgen (tomorrow).

userr2684291

youtu.be/st21dIMaGMs?t=1m59s Why does he say the Danish in this sketch? If I understood correctly, he's referring to the type of pastry, not the people. If I found a pencil, I would say "Look, a pencil!"

Damkerng T.

10:05

@userr2684291 Yes, I think it's quite normal. It's just not my preferred choice. :-)

BTW, good morning/afternoon/evening, everyone!

@userr2684291 I think the pastry is called the Danish (something).

So I think you're right that he's referring to a certain type of pastry.

userr2684291

@DamkerngT. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danish_pastry I think it's this...

Damkerng T.

nods

Anonymous

@CowperKettle Oh hey, great point! I didn't realize our country was run by a capitonym.

Damkerng T.

LOL

Anonymous

I wonder how many people would have voted for him if they knew.

Damkerng T.

10:15

I wonder how many votes he could lose and yet still won the election.

Anonymous

@userr2684291 He has happened upon a fine specimen of the Danish, a pastry which is generally quite tasty.

Anonymous

That is how I understand it.

Damkerng T.

It's a bit mind-boggling that someone who had fewer votes could win an election.

Anonymous

When he says the Danish, he is referring to the class of Danishes.

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. Yeah, we here in the States don't live in a direct democracy. We're taught in school that our type of government is something called a "democratic republic", and we have only indirect representation, since the electoral college actually elects the president and vice president.

Anonymous

10:18

But in political rhetoric, people tend to say we live in a democracy rather than a republic.

Anonymous

The "democracy" word is very important politically.

Damkerng T.

Very, I suppose. :-)

Anonymous

Whoops, had to fix a bad typo there.

Anonymous

Well, more of a braino, really. My fingers did what I told them. I just told them the wrong thing :-)

Damkerng T.

I just typed and as an a few moments ago. (^_^)

Oops! I meant an as and. See? :-)

There was a great philosopher named Confucius.

I suppose I might be Confusius. :-)

userr2684291

10:27

Sometimes my fingers miscomplete you as your. It's weird.

Anonymous

11:19

Side topic of the day: What might cause us to favor functional fusion as a theoretical explanation for the English rather than calling it a headless noun phrase?

Anonymous

Functional fusion is when a single constituent can have multiple functions "fused" together.

Anonymous

In the English, the adjective English is both a modifier (an adjective in attributive function) and the head of the noun phrase, under the fused modifier–head analysis.

Anonymous

The English certainly seems to have the distribution of a noun phrase, which is what leads some people to say that English is a noun derived from an adjective, not an adjective.

Anonymous

But under the modifier–head analysis and the headless NP analysis, there's no need to call it a noun.

Anonymous

The headless NP analysis requires us to admit headless phrases into our theoretical framework. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Anonymous

11:21

@AraucariaMan :-)

RaisingAgent

11:41

How can I say something is frequently being used as a synonym of X?

"in the past X has often been made synonym of Y" ? sounds a bit strange

Araucaria Man

@snailplane Of course there's a simpler solution to that problem (but it has its own drawbacks) ...

Which is to analyse them as DPs instead.

RaisingAgent

Also: if "X literally means Y", can I use "X the literal of Y"?

Araucaria Man

Personally, I find the fused modifier-head analysis a bit difficult to accept. What is English modifying exactly? Itself? Erm, that doesn't sound feasible to me ... .I think I'd prefer a null head or something ....

Incidentally, some of the criteria which make us think that poor is an adjective in the poor don't seem to work, it seems to me, with the English. For example, we might have the stubborn English or the foolhardy English , but probably not the stubbornly English or the foolhardily English ... @snailplane

Achu

12:07

How can you shorten to 150 characters this:

To prepare and make myself available for a long career in the teaching and research field, with a bias which will favor the percentage of the populace living under poverty.

@AraucariaMan help :-)

CowperKettle

12:22

@Achu To become a teacher and researcher, and to help poor people.

Achu

@CowperKettle That's funny but i rather need a real help, its very important ;-)

CowperKettle

> To teach and conduct research, hopefully for many years, and to help poor people.

@Achu Why is this "funny"?

Do you really need a sentence stifled with officialeze?

Achu

Sorry, the fist one seems funny. I like the second one, Thanks! @CowperKettle

yubraj

13:12

Hi All!

@snailplane @DamkerngT. Hi, how are you?

What's called to the cover of a pen? Pen lid or pen cover or pen cap?

Are they all different from each other?

Araucaria Man

13:27

@Achu I like @CowperKettle's second suggestion :)

user178049

@yubraj I found "pen lid" on Cambridge.

M.A.R.

\o

Pen lid

user178049

@M.A.R. How much rep do I need to see deleted answers?

M.A.R.

10,000

user178049

Danm! 😲

Araucaria Man

13:34

0

Q: An elephant joke

I like elephants. A friend of mine was very excited therefore to tell me an elephant joke this morning. Problem is I don't get it, an she didn't hang around long enough to explain it to me. What is the language gag here? Here's the joke (I think): A friend of mine gave me an elephant for my r...

meaning

M.A.R.

@AraucariaMan future HNQ

Araucaria Man

@M.A.R. HNQ?

M.A.R.

Hot Network Questions

Araucaria Man

Oh. I'm too old for acronyms :)

M.A.R.

At least it wasn't "IDK"

@AraucariaMan It might be confusing because you expect the punchline to be gaggy

user178049

13:37

@AraucariaMan isn't it an idiom.. Elephant in the room

Araucaria Man

@M.A.R. IDK???

user178049

Btw, shouldn't it be "The problem is..". Or is it fine to say "Problem is.."?

M.A.R.

@AraucariaMan You should've said "IDK what IDK means"

Araucaria Man

@user178049 Well, erm, probably so ....

M.A.R.

@user178049 Such deletions are common in speech

Araucaria Man

13:38

@M.A.R. IDK what it would mean if I said IDK what IDK means, IYKWIM ...

user178049

@M.A.R. I know, but I think it might be disputed especially on ELU.

Araucaria Man

@user178049 No, it's perfectly idiomatic :)

M.A.R.

@user178049 Nah, why? o.o

There's even a tag for it

user178049

@AraucariaMan Ohh, OK :)

Araucaria Man

:)

M.A.R.

13:40

(:

user178049

@M.A.R. I think ELU prioritize formality

M.A.R.

ELU prioritize language analysis, and conversational deletion is a natural part of language analysis

user178049

Oooooooowh o..O

I joined ELU once, but got downvoted harshly. I'll never go there again.

Araucaria Man

@user178049 They an be a bit harsh with new members. Much friendlier over here ....

M.A.R.

I joined ELU once, but got upvoted harshly. I'll never post anything there again, prolly. O.O

@user178049 If they feel you're a non-native speaker, get ready for downvotes . . .

user178049

13:44

@AraucariaMan Hmm, probably

@M.A.R. I can't hide my "non-nativeness"

M.A.R.

Sure you can

By using fancy words and idioms

Speaking like Shakespeare

Or ending stuff in in' instead of ing

o.O

Using ungrammatical song language o.o

user178049

@M.A.R. I try to do so. I'll be good at it soon. Hope so :)

M.A.R.

Meh, just try to speak naturally

user178049

@M.A.R. Hahaha, I dont think that's a good idea

Do I sound natural now?

M.A.R.

Yep

user178049

13:48

:D

M.A.R.

I'm in no way the person to judge your speaking natural though

user178049

@M.A.R. At least you have taken some courses.

M.A.R.

@user178049 That was years ago

And I've only come to the realization that the major part of those was pure utter crap :(

user178049

@M.A.R. So I shouldn't use present perfect there, perhaps.

@M.A.R. Too bad.. Haha

M.A.R.

@user178049 Nah, it's fine

user178049

13:57

@M.A.R. Yeah, I think so. I was just being too "prescriptivistic".

Shouldn't it be "strategy to tackle"? ell.stackexchange.com/q/127327/35026

M.A.R.

@user178049 Both are grammatical

0

Q: Am I using "in the background" correctly?

I want to say I am working on this problem in may free time and it won't affect my daily tasks, is the following correct? "I am working on this problem in the background"

meaning

Well, @Dam sure can

Opening @Dam's task manager

user178049

See Khan's comment here (ell.stackexchange.com/questions/12716/…). Hmm.. I think the result for "traffic in London" includes "the traffic in London".

M.A.R.

14:16

books.google.com/ngrams/… — Khan 16 mins ago

You can paste the link to comments as a separate chat message

It will do what we call "one-box"

It's the same thing that's happening to question and answer links

And Wikipedia, and Amazon

And Twitter

And meta posts

And probably a bunch of other things

@user178049 Khan's comment is indicating both are possible, but one option is more common

user178049

books.google.com/ngrams/…

@M.A.R. I don't know how to do that, or probably it doesn't work on Android

If we search for "traffic", I think some of the results also include "the traffic"

M.A.R.

@user178049 Post the link to the comment and press 'enter'

Anonymous

14:35

@yubraj I call it a pen cap.

M.A.R.

Pen cap lid cover

yubraj

14:51

All of these can be called it?

Now I'm toally confused.,

Damkerng T.

15:21

@M.A.R. (^_^)

@yubraj A pen cap would be my first choice. A pen lid also sounds fine. But a pen cover would sound strange to me.

M.A.R.

A pen blanket

Damkerng T.

LOL

M.A.R.

A pen shirt

Damkerng T.

Is this sentence yours, or did you find it somewhere? If it's the latter, please cite your source properly. Thanks. — Damkerng T. 7 secs ago

M.A.R.

A pen hat?

@DamkerngT. Certainly non-native article usage

Damkerng T.

15:30

I think including a link to our meta post about citation would've been nice in my comment. But I was lazy.

@M.A.R. Could be, but might as well not be.

M.A.R.

You can always say ''See Details, please" to which the OP responds "I think I willed the link to remove itself"

Damkerng T.

@M.A.R. Not sure if the See Datails, please covers citation, but I guess you're right. I'm still lazy, though. :-)

CowperKettle

Leader of the California Secession Movement moved to Yekaterinburg and teaches English here

Yes California

The Yes California Independence Campaign is an American political action committee that promotes the secession of the state of California from the United States. The organization promoted a proposed initiative to be placed on the 2018 California state ballot, which, if it had passed, would have required an independence plebiscite to be held in March 2019 on the question of California's independence. It would have still required an amendment to the United States Constitution. In January 2017, the office of California Secretary of State Alex Padilla gave its approval for organization to gather petition...

Hey, maybe after the secession California will join Russia.

Damkerng T.

:D

CowperKettle

I could then send mail to Snailplane using Почта России

Damkerng T.

15:44

!!translate/Почта России

Ellbot

ru: Почта России
en: Post of Russia

Damkerng T.

Ahh :)

CowperKettle

Russian Post

Russian Post (Russian: Почта России, Pochta Rossii), is a unitary enterprise which is the national postal operator of Russia. The company is responsible for the delivery of mail in Russia, and the issuing of postage stamps. Russian Post employs about 390,000 people and has over 42,000 post offices, with its headquarters in Moscow. In 2012 the Russian Post delivered more than 2.4 billion pieces of mail and accounted for more than 54 million parcels and more than 100 million in remittances. On March 2013 a presidential decree signed by President Vladimir Putin included the Russian Post in a list...

Of course California will be renamed Californiyskaya Oblast

Or Californiyskiy Federal District

M.A.R.

15:56

Flagging NAA on SO has exposed me to a damn lot of non-native ungrammatical-ness.

I wonder if it will have any effect on my English, or already has.

CC @Dam

Damkerng T.

@M.A.R. I guess so.

M.A.R.

@DamkerngT. But I've been flagging for a while now

So not sure why it doesn't have much of an effect

Or much of an effect I'd notice

Damkerng T.

I think it's very hard to hide who we are anyway.

Then again, in technical writing, sometimes native speakers write something I wouldn't expect from them. I guess it's probably because they are out of their comfort zone.

M.A.R.

Yep, that's so true

Damkerng T.

Ahh -- the OP deleted the question after I told them that proofreading is off-topic.

M.A.R.

16:02

Incidentally, I noticed a lot of users have experienced this vote reversal, which is one or two votes per site. — M.A.R. 2 hours ago

@Dam have you had such voting reverses?

You have a couple of accounts, so it might be the case for you as well

Damkerng T.

Huh?

Oh, when a user is removed/deleted.

Yes, it happened a few times.

M.A.R.

@DamkerngT. You've gained a new swear word today! Track the next person who will swear at their screen.

@DamkerngT. No, I mean recently

Damkerng T.

Hmm... probably not, then.

M.A.R.

Hmm, maybe it's only recent posts.

in SO Close Vote Reviewers on Stack Overflow Chat, 9 secs ago, by M.A.R.

I'd say I'd say I'd say I'd say I'd say I'd say I'd say I'd say it.

Damkerng T.

BTW, I think it's not that hard to find out which user just deleted their account in a small community.

@M.A.R. LOL

Good thing you didn't forget that it. :D

M.A.R.

16:12

@DamkerngT. Nah, it really is

Unless they had large amounts of rep

Or votes

In the latter case, the votes might not even be invalidated

Damkerng T.

I remember I was able to figure it out at least twice.

M.A.R.

As I said in my answer, it's usually socks or voting rings, or newish users losing interest

Well, those weren't particularly quiet users :)

Damkerng T.

Part of it was because I know who downvoted my answer. :-)

@M.A.R. Right! :D

M.A.R.

They account for 1 percent>

Damkerng T.

17:06

Word of the Day: pumps

2

TIL pumps is another word for high heels.

(I wonder how come it got this meaning.)

I don't know who I am.

18:36

Hello, @DamkerngT.How are you?

I am happy to see you online over here.

Hello, @snailplane. How are you?

M.A.R.

Hello, @Idon'tknowwhoIam. How are you?

@DamkerngT. Someone doing a lot of calculus

Damkerng T.

@M.A.R. Huh? Why does calculus have something to do with it?

@Idon'tknowwhoIam. Hi! I'm good. How are you? Long time no see, eh?

M.A.R.

@DamkerngT. Heels in math are all those curves and functions

Damkerng T.

Oh!

I don't know who I am.

18:55

Hey, how are you both?

@M.A.R. When did I do calculus?

M.A.R.

@Idon'tknowwhoIam. Hey!

@Idon'tknowwhoIam. You didn't. Or maybe did. I dunno. That was related to the previous discussion

I don't know who I am.

@DamkerngT. I am as busy as a bee nowadays just because of my exams, and I am not as free as a bird.

Mars! You're still alive. I can't believe this.

Damkerng T.

@Idon'tknowwhoIam. Good, good. Exams are good for you. :-)

M.A.R.

@Idon'tknowwhoIam. Sorry, should've died. O.O

I don't know who I am.

@DamkerngT. Exams are good but to be ready for them is not a piece of cake, I believe.

@M.A.R. Just chill. I am just shooting the bull. Don't take it seriously, mate!

Damkerng T.

18:59

@Idon'tknowwhoIam. That's exactly why they're good for you. :-)

I don't know who I am.

@DamkerngT.I burn mid night oil these days. Exams keep me busy like a bee, but I will do the best if I could.

Where is uncle Stony bay?

I came here for a while and you people are busy. Why don't you talk to me?/@M.A.R. and @DamkerngT.?

M.A.R.

I'm chatting in different rooms

We can talk about anything you like

I don't know who I am.

So, just say them ciao for a while!

I am in love.

N@DamkerngT. i am in love.

M.A.R.

Nice

Damkerng T.

@Idon'tknowwhoIam. Good for you. (^_^)

@Idon'tknowwhoIam. We're talking to you, aren't we? :-)

I don't know who I am.

19:08

How to make my girlfriend overjoyed? In fact, she doesn't love me but someone esle. I like her the most. She said, 'We can be just good friends ". The moment when she said so was unbelievable and hurting too.

@M.A.R. Did you get married or still walking in the space?

M.A.R.

Neither

I'm sitting in space

It feels kinda empty

Thank God I have my laptop

@Idon'tknowwhoIam. Dunno, but just being a nice, or a normal person

I don't know who I am.

Why didn't you get married yet?/@M.A.R.

M.A.R.

Uh, because I'm 18?

Catija

@M.A.R. Woah... has it really been that long... the last I remember you were only 16. Stop growing up. :(

I don't know who I am.

@M.A.R. It is a white lie. You're not 18. In fact, I am 19.

M.A.R.

19:12

@Idon'tknowwhoIam. What

@Catija Can't help it

I don't know who I am.

@Catija Hi. Nice efforts. I appreciate your explanations on different posts.

Catija

@Idon'tknowwhoIam. I'm not sure why your age would affect someone else's... that's like saying "I'm a banana... as such, you can not be a pineapple".

I don't know who I am.

@M.A.R. You're 34. I guess so.

Hahahaha! @Catija I am a mango. Call me mango.

But I am in love. @Catija

M.A.R.

@Catija Hey, I can be a pineapple all I want

You will not suppress my pineappilicity

I don't know who I am.

@M.A.R. You're a carrot. Don't be worried,man!

M.A.R.

19:33

-2

Q: EACH OF THE GIRLS IN MARK'S SHOP SPENT THEIR MONEY BUYING CAKES

can you please tell me if we would use their or her as a possessive pronoun in this sentence?

usage pronouns possessives

I don't know who I am.

19:49

Either are used.

nbro

21:27

Can I say: "carry on a reasoning"?

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