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SamBC
SamBC
00:39
There's been a couple today which I suppose could have been downvoted by supporters of Victorian-invented grammar rules.
Actually, one was probably just for me being labyrinthine and roundabout, excessively verbose, but that's me.
This is the one that surprised me: ell.stackexchange.com/questions/197416/…
(someone objects to the word "periphrastic", you'd think they could say so)
 
2 hours later…
ColleenV
ColleenV
02:37
@SamBC If the down-vote is unexplained, and I’m happy that my answer is well-written and supported, I like to make up own stories for how the DV happened. It could be a series of coincidences, secret messages being passed, or just someone having a bad day if I’m feeling uncreative.
3
@SamBC If it jumps out at you as something off-putting about your answer, you may want to think about ways to make it more accessible. You could link a definition. Some folks think that it’s the rarer words that give learners trouble; I think it’s more likely the ones with 50 different definitions, but any time folks spend worrying about your word choice is time not spent understanding your point.
 
5 hours later…
Jasper
Jasper
07:24
@SamBC Unexplained and undeserved downvotes can happen frequently on SE.
@ColleenV Someone having a bad day can happen frequently in this case. For some people, every day can be quite bad, so they cast downvotes.
 
3 hours later…
SamBC
SamBC
10:41
Thanks all
Rajat Audichya
Rajat Audichya
11:34
I would like to know any idiom for a player who on debut shocked everyone and did the unexcepted, as most people thought that he won't be able to perform
 
2 hours later…
userr2684291
userr2684291
13:59
@RajatAudichya Have you posed this question on the main site?
Anyhow, against all odds / expectations come to mind.
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
14:37
@RajatAudichya This student donald-trumped everyone!
 
1 hour later…
userr2684291
userr2684291
15:40
ell.stackexchange.com/questions/197552/… Hm.
This isn't about generic NPs at all (I can't edit this out now).
> However what thing that comes up, again and again, is the pluralizing of nouns, confused by the fact that the noun is generic.
I'm not sure if this is grammatical though.
> i.e., should be "The Component form's fields..." is always written "The Components' forms fields...".
Do English-speaking people speak like this?
(I'm asking about the parts in bold.)
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
English people, English people, please reply
@snailboat, I haven't seen you in a moonmoon
Come here, ladle your wisdom by the spoonspoon
Jasper
Jasper
16:05
@userr2684291 I do not speak like that. I would say what comes up again and again, not what thing that comes up again and again.
@userr2684291 Not sure what he intends there, but I also don't speak like that. Maybe he means what should be XXX is instead written YYY.
@userr2684291 Generally, the whole post is terribly written and quite incomprehensible.
userr2684291
userr2684291
Thank you for your insight.
Jasper
Jasper
@CowperKettle I like to wave pom poms.
userr2684291
userr2684291
@Jasper Pom-poms is normally hyphenated or spelled as a single orthographic word without the hyphen.
Jasper
Jasper
@userr2684291 Yes, thank you.
userr2684291
userr2684291
Sure thing.
Jasper
Jasper
16:15
Words go through 3 stages: X Y, X-Y, XY.
I am not sure if it is now ice cream, ice-cream, or icecream.
userr2684291
userr2684291
The first one looks the most normal to me.
Jasper
Jasper
I think what most style guides will tell you is consult the dictionary to see what the current standard form is for a particular combination.
For example, Chicago Manual of Style will tell you to consult Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, while Associated Press Style will tell you to consult Webster's New World College Dictionary.
@CowperKettle I can tell you that Xiao Yue Yue literally is translated as Little Moon Moon.
userr2684291
userr2684291
( :
@CowperKettle Did you intend moon to mean "month"?
Jasper
Jasper
@userr2684291 Yue means both moon and month in Chinese.
ColleenV
ColleenV
16:36
@RajatAudichya The first thing that came to mind for me was dark horse
2
@userr2684291 "However the thing that comes up over and over..."
@userr2684291 i.e. what should be X is often written Y
SamBC
SamBC
@userr2684291 No, that whole question is kind of in broken English.
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
Word of the eve: mine flail (a vehicle-mounted device that makes a safe path through a mine-field by deliberately detonating land mines in front of the vehicle that carries it)
SamBC
SamBC
@Jasper Used to in English as well. I mean, moon meant moon and month. Still does sometimes, poetically.
Jasper
Jasper
@SamBC Aha! I will see you in three moons, something like that!
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
> Enormous moon, that rise behind these hills
Heavy and yellow in a sky unstarred
And pale, your girth by purple fillets barred
Of drifting cloud, that as the cool sky fills
With planets and the brighter stars, distills
To thinnest vapor and floats valley-ward, —
You flood with radiance all this cluttered yard,
The sagging fence, the chipping window sills!
> Grateful at heart as if for my delight
You rose, I watch you through a mist of tears,
Thinking how man, who gags upon despair,
Salting his hunger with the sweat of fright
Has fed on cold indifference all these years,
Calling it kindness, calling it God's care.
We like the moon
►
SamBC
SamBC
16:49
@Jasper Yep. Or "many moons have passed".
Jasper
Jasper
@SamBC I see you study Latin. I don't, haha. But in case you are interested, I think the best Latin dictionary now is the two volume Oxford Latin Dictionary, but it costs a lot.
SamBC
SamBC
@Jasper Not formally. I dabble. I dabble in a lot.
userr2684291
userr2684291
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur.
SamBC
SamBC
17:30
😆
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
18:14
> In the United States, scientists recently found the population of monarch butterflies fell by 90 percent in the last 20 years, a loss of 900 million individuals; the rusty-patched bumblebee, which once lived in 28 states, dropped by 87 percent over the same period.
Holocene extinction
The Holocene extinction, otherwise referred to as the Sixth extinction or Anthropocene extinction, is a current event, and is one of the most significant extinction events in the history of the Earth. This ongoing extinction of species coincides with the present Holocene epoch (approx. 11,700 years), and is mainly a result of human activity. This large number of extinctions spans numerous families of plants and animals, including mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and arthropods. With widespread degradation of highly biodiverse habitats such as coral reefs and rainforests, as well as other areas...
ColleenV
ColleenV
@CowperKettle worldatlas.com/articles/…
Jasper
Jasper
@ColleenV LOL, the dodo bird is my favourite bird!
 
1 hour later…
SamBC
SamBC
19:49
@userr2684291: thanks for catching all those typos of mine...
userr2684291
userr2684291
20:27
Np.
Anonymous
Gotta catch 'em all.
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
22:04
1
Q: "Such level of shade for her age" - meaning of "level of shade" in a YouTube comment on an actress taking part in a talk show

Andrew TobilkoI watched this video (a very young urbane actress being interviewed on a late-night TV show) and came across the comment that I couldn't understand: Such level of shade for her age... I see great things in her future. Is it a poorly constructed sentence or does "shade" convey any other subt...

word-meaning sentence-meaning
Interesting q
Yay! I was first to see a @snailboat today! A sign of luck!

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