Language Overflow

AIQ

00:14

@userr2684291 I take it that you are fascinated by different patterns (seeing you like changing that profile image)

I just love Vietnamese food - PHO!

A warm bowl of Pho while it pours

userr2684291

00:37

@AIQ My avatar changes randomly and I have no influence over it.

@AIQ I'd call that having learned the language by immersion, rather than via formal education.

I know a couple of native speakers of a language they don't know how to write anything in. They learned it from their parents, and they talk with them and their family daily in that language, as well as English.

They transcribe it in English basically.

Eddie Kal

02:36

8

A: Why using adjective after noun?

The only situation I can think of where an adjective would follow a noun is after verbs like make (CAUSE TO BE) and consider (OPINION), which can take an object followed by an object complement, which is an adjective. My five-point plan to make Britain safe again - Daily Telegraph North ...

What is with this answer? This is obviously wrong. Can't believe how many people have upvoted it

M.A.R.

@EddieKal :/

Eddie Kal

@M.A.R. ;\

M.A.R.

@EddieKal :|

I'm sorry but this answer is just absolutely wrong.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postpositive_adjective — M.A.R. 12 secs ago

I suddenly felt either too tired or too incompetent to expand on that comment.

Seeing how it would probably have little effect flooded by learners blindly upvoting de hi-rep dood without a double check

Eddie Kal

03:04

@M.A.R. Lol, that is exactly how I felt about it. You know the amount of work you have to put in to debunk a gross oversimplification is just as daunting as oversimplifications are deceptively appealing

Thank you for saying what I wanted to but didn't have the pluck to say

M.A.R.

Sure thing

I don't have much pluck anyway. Most likely, I'm too far in zen mode to care

Eddie Kal

@M.A.R. So M.A.R stands for "Meditation Artist Reincarnated"?

M.A.R.

Something like that, yeah

AIQ

03:30

Oh no, I upvoted that answer, darn I gotta go do some research

CowperKettle

04:53

I had a dream in which I was learning the Canadian language

In the dream, I was a Russian secret agent sent to Canada to instigate a civil war, but I decided to turn over to the Canadian side and stay in Canada.

CroCo

05:30

what is the meaning of tantalizing in this sentence:
These possibilities are tantalizing from another perspective

AIQ

Means that the "possibilities" may seem very possible at first (doable, achievable, etc.), but they are actually not.

"If someone or something tantalizes you, they make you feel hopeful and excited about getting what you want, usually before disappointing you by not letting you have what they appeared to offer." - Collins

CroCo

05:55

@AIQ, can I replace it with interesting or exciting?

AIQ

No, I don't think you can do that. Something that tantalizes you excites you, before disappointing you.

CroCo

@AIQ, I see. Thank you so much.

AIQ

Imagine a friendly stripper, they get you all excited. You visit the club for her every week, just when you think she has a thing for you, she tells you its her job to be nice with everyone there.

CroCo

nice mnemonic. :)

so tantalize may also mean torture, right?

AIQ

I would say "tease"

"to tease or disappoint by promising or showing something desirable and then withholding it"

CroCo

06:05

got it.

Featured Questions

09:22

2

Q: "I take it you're not sorry?" meaning in this context

“You buried the elf,” he said, sounding unexpectedly rancorous. “I watched you from the window of the bedroom next door.” “Yes,” said Harry. Griphook looked at him out of the corners of his slanting black eyes. “You are an unusual wizard, Harry Potter.” “In what way?” asked Harry, ru...

meaning-in-context

Eddie Kal

15:15

@AIQ Academic writing, style questions can also go on academia.SE

@AIQ Three semesters in an academic year? Sort of like the quarter system adopted by some colleges in the U.S. Do you mind me asking what country?

New Meta Question

19:13

2

Q: Is it just me or does this word [𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗹𝘆] look odd to you too?

On my computer the word "𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗹𝘆" in this question looks as though it is boldfaced but in fact it appears to come pre-formatted. Does it look boldfaced to you too? It actually is non-formatted. It was originally in the title as well as the content, but OP changed the title. I was surprised ...

discussion formatting font

M.A.R.

19:35

@NewMetaQuestion Heh, thought it was a tag discussion

@CowperKettle I read that "Shoulder dystopia" and I was thinking about Blade Runner

@CowperKettle I dunno, did you have maple syrup before sleep.

@userr2684291 "I think it's alright" ur face

Boy am I glad we get to take a break for two months in the summer

Never bite the month that feeds you

AIQ

20:35

@ColleenVpartedways

If I made an error in my answer

and I had initially not agreed with a feedback, what should I do when I find out (after further research) that the feedback is valid

I am trying to incorporate that feedback

@M.A.R.

ColleenV parted ways

@AIQ I don’t understand your question fully I think. there is an example I can give you of an answer where I posted something incorrect and later fixed it. I will look for it. That was before I was a moderator and perfect 😜

AIQ

Okay. So when you later fixed it how it others react?

ColleenV parted ways

19

A: "Hope this help" or "Hope this helps"?

So my original answer was incorrect. "Hope this helps!" is a declarative, not an imperative. Instead of deleting my answer, I think it might be helpful to explain why I should have known it wasn't an imperative, and pull out the bits from the original that were correct. Imperative clauses are us...

@AIQ Pretty well over time, because I took the opportunity to explain why I was wrong and how I could have arrived at the correct answer

It’s one of my better rated answers I think

AIQ

20:54

To ensure accuracy of my answer, I had to ask a question at a different site

where someone explained it to me very well.

Damn I fear more downvotes for admitting I was wrong haha, but who cares as long as OP gets the right answer

ColleenV parted ways

@AIQ Being able to admit when you’re wrong and correct your mistake is an admirable quality

This site is about learning together, not proving who has the most knowledge

We all have things we misunderstand or are ignorant of, so it’s more important to be receptive to someone explaining that you’ve made an error than it is to have only correct answers posted. Mistakes are an effective way to learn.

M.A.R.

@AIQ It's normal to fear critical reception and courteous to admit one's mistake.

How did you think Hawking felt after he had to admit he was wrong 20 (30?) years after working on a theory? How did Einstein felt when he was admitting his universal constant (which we ironically do use now AFAIK) was his life's biggest mistake?

Not good I bet. But we definitely need the down moments as well.

AIQ

21:38

Thank you both. It's like a very obvious thing that I missed. And because I missed that, I came up with arguable explanations.

ColleenV parted ways

@AIQ If you missed it, chances are other people have made the same mistake and will appreciate your correction

ColleenV parted ways

21:53

music.apple.com/us/album/yuve-yuve-yu/1458120562?i=1458120563

Sorry, My husband just linked me that - it’s very cool music from a Mongolian band named The Hu. I was wondering why it didn’t show up in the place I thought I shared it.

AIQ

@EddieKal I see thanks, I knew that but I wasn't confident asking there, I don't really know anyone there.

AIQ

22:21

So I guy just asked a barista "When you are not working, are you going to school?"

Sounds odd.

I thought natives state things in the easiest manner possible

like "Are you going to school when you are not working?"

*I saw a guy

Wait - is that more sophisticated?

userr2684291

Sounds pretty unremarkable.

Either is fine.

AIQ

oh okay.

it's just he didn't pause at the comma place, but there should be a comma and a pause in speech in that form

userr2684291

Doesn't change much. By "didn't pause" I still assume he made some kind of transition in diction, as in from a statement to a question – unless the sentence began in a sort of question tone, in which case it's also fine to not make any prolonged pauses there.

@AIQ That Potter situation is becoming hairy.

AIQ

22:38

I know - I admitted I was incorrect

in the edited part of the answer, and in the comments too

userr2684291

That whole exchange is growing into an unpublished 8th Harry Potter book.

AIQ

No, no, it's fine. There are no more comments there after my last one, where I admitted I was wrong. I also gave credit to the person who pointed it out in my edited answer. I showed this to my best friend and they are quite mad how I got this "harry potter" thing wrong.

userr2684291

...a Japanese translation is on its way already...

AIQ

It's difficult to be objective and impartial when grading, I can always see the faces of some students when I see their paper, and it reminds me of how they interacted with me, made extra effort during office hours and such...

userr2684291

Don't look at the name before grading an exam paper?

AIQ

22:54

I try not to, then I keep wondering how some of these students did

darn

userr2684291

Wait, office hours is the time when you can go and ask your professor something you don't understand? That's for weaklings and iPhone-generation ducklings. Asking when you don't understand something? Pathetic.

I'd give them a lower grade because after going through all the recommended materials they weren't able to get it on their own.

Had they even spent 2 weeks thinking about it, reading everything there is on the subject online, without making progress on anything else, almost flunking other subjects before that issue is resolved?

AIQ

The students who show up are mostly the good ones. They come with problems to solve from the internet, other reference books, question papers from other better universities

These are the brilliant ones

who show up

what you are talking about is tutorial

tutorial sessions

userr2684291

Oh, you have separate tutorial sessions?

AIQ

yes

userr2684291

That's cool.

AIQ

23:08

But even then, I appreciate all who show up during tutorial sessions. Many students are international, and they fall behind in class because they can't understand the lecture

I have to break things down for them

userr2684291

What do you teach?

AIQ

In the exam hall, while I was invigilating, students asked me the meaning of "zeal", "inadequate" and "tire" in the demand and supply of "tire and suspensions"

I teach labs

userr2684291

What's labs?

AIQ

So I appreciate that they come, put in the additional hours to figure things out - as opposed to just going and partying all the time

labs are like classes - except they are instructed by grad students. attendance is essential to pass, there are lab excercises

they have to solve some problems

using statistical packages

userr2684291

When people ask you what you teach, do you normally say labs?

Are they then like "Oh, okay. I know what you mean."?

AIQ

23:14

No really, trust me, many students don't have basic knowledge about how to use google .. they get tensed and anxious when they see the question paper

yes

"lab" is pretty common

userr2684291

I know what a lab is, but normally you have labs in every damn subject, lol.

AIQ

yes - so in my case it's a computer lab

But I can relate with you, many students don't put any effort during the whole term, and then show up before exams

I am usually more eager to help students who are trying to prepare advance level stuff. For example, this guy in the second year Macro course comes to my office hour with previous year's exam materials of a third year Macro course ...

AIQ

23:39

@EddieKal How were you able to spot that answer overlooked postpositive adjectives?

Like did you know that term

Eddie Kal

@AIQ Um, it's not like it's from Kabbalah

yes I am familiar with it

I reviewed the question yesterday morning and added the proper tags to it. Later in the day I saw that the only answer, though seemingly very popular, was flawed

I would have commented on it earlier, but the system does not show you answers when it sends questions for you to review. That is just how it works. so I didn't see the answer until much later

AIQ

I see, sorry I did not mean to offend you, I know that adjectives can come after noun - that is not uncommon, but I didn't know they have specific names ... good to know

Eddie Kal

none taken. I am just saying it is a fairly common grammar issue

@AIQ You know it is kind of sad some of the most knowledgeable contributors have not been active. Otherwise they'd been able to link useful existing answers and/or resources

AIQ

23:58

Yes, that is one reason why its just you and M.A.R. who pointed it out. Another could be the issue that they have a huge rep, usually we take things for granted when it comes from a highly reputable user

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