Language Overflow

2:12 AM

@AIQ What kind/cultivar?

@AIQ The flag for moderator attention includes a box where you can explain the problem, so you can flag anything by that user and explain that you see a pattern of low quality questions

I was just going to say "flag the questions and we will go from there"

@ColleenV Thanks for the tip. There is only one Lowe's in my city. Not sure they carry lemongrass, but should be worth paying a visit

@EddieKal like these

@ColleenV right okay good idea

I asked all my neighbours if they want to donate to give away some plants

haha

I am a cheapku home depot plants are a bit expensive

and filled with some kind of insects

I mean the pot mud

green chilli

that is a staple ingredient in my country - chilli, onions, garlic, and ginger

in that order

donate or not to

A cement mixer truck near the K-84 nuclear submarine

@EddieKal You would probably be more likely to find them at a proper greenhouse - the Lowes we shopped at carries a more diverse selection of stuff than typical ones because it is the only store of that type within a 30 minute drive for that town.

I was shocked that there was no rosemary to be found anywhere (we stopped at 5 places with plants!) so who can tell what will be stocked

2:25 AM

I am considering getting a fish tank

and fish of course

it will be my project - there are some excellent videos on youtube - seascaping

like growing plants and making a beautiful landscape in the tank

all I need is to learn the basics

2:44 AM

@ColleenV I am not sure ginger is worth growing though. You'd need to grow it from ginger root and at least 4-5 months would be needed to get a piece of fully grown edible young ginger, or so I heard. I watched a YouTube video on the channel you suggested earlier about growing ginger and the guy makes it seem dirt simple, but he never said how much time it took for him. I've seen another YouTuber take viewers through his 6-month journey growing ginger from a cut clump of ginger root.

@AIQ I wonder what this kind is called. It doesn't seem to have a well-known name in North America

clovegarden.com/ingred/cp_indiz.html

Indian chili?

south asian

is perhaps a better term

in NA - they call it thai chilli

at least where I am - but that could be because our grocery stores import them from thailand

I thought thai chilli was much smaller

I have thai chili peppers. They are about 1.5 inches long

yes - they are a bit smaller - and only those are sold here in my province ... but in the US ... they import from India ... and some Indian families grow there as well

2:59 AM

or around 1 inch if you discard the stem

those that come from India or from south asia in general have the hardest kicks

if that is even an idiomatic thing to say

but yea super hot and has a distinct flavour

sometimes we eat it raw with some fried snacks -

like singara and samucha

Interesting. Chili is not easy to grow though. I tried with dried chili seeds last year. And aphids ruined my seedlings. By the time the plants reached 2 feet, they were swarming with aphids

yes very difficult

until you care for it like a baby

i mean like you would care for a baby

tomatoes are much simpler

I know one family from my country here who lives near me grows Habanero

And they sell it to our community at a high price

@EddieKal Do you use any kind of insecticides?

*pesticides

@AIQ I tried a couple of different ones I got from Amazon, but only neem oil seemed to work.

lol that's what my gf has been telling me to put on my face

for weeks

@EddieKal were you finally able to try your own grown chilli?

3:13 AM

No, because aphids happened. My daily chore was vacuuming up dead aphids. Man, I can't for the life of my understand where those aphids came from. I lived pretty high up in a tall building.

And they just appeared out of thin air

3:24 AM

ah sounds very serious

sorry about your plants

4:24 AM

@ColleenV Oh this guy says about ginger "Days to harvest: 8-10 months." That is a lot of work for a clump of root. I suspect that applies to all rhizomatic plants. There goes my hope to grow galangal and sunchokes.

@ColleenV I have never been to a greenhouse. lol. Don't even know what they are like.

7:47 AM

@ColleenV I don't think "academic-writing" is a good replacement for "writing". What if I need some help with business writing or other formal writing (e.g., email, letter, briefing notes, project reports)?

I think written-english is the best option ...

What if I am writing fiction and need help with grammar? That isn't academic writing ...

Q: “helps make exercising” OR “exercise”?

10:13 AM

Someone posted a question:

> A simple rule of 'five' helps make exercising a most enjoyable activity.

And then this comment says it's correct.

> There is nothing wrong with the sentence as it's written; it doesn't need to be corrected. – Jason Bassford Nov 30 '19 at 15:55

I think it's wrong. I have never heard anyone say "a most enjoyable activity".

0

I was asked to correct this sentence on my exam: A simple rule of 'five' helps make exercising a most enjoyable activity. What's the error and how do I correct it? On the exam I changed exercising to exercise, but now I'm having second thoughts.

Can someone take a look; I really can't agree with that comment ...

10:36 AM

@EddieKal well, I am not exactly growing stuff to feed myself. It’s more enjoying the plants. Ginger has interesting foliage so it wouldn’t be a complete waste of time for me.

@AIQ I think it’s funny tomatoes are easier for you, when I’ve never had success with them, but I find chili peppers pretty easy. Well Serrano and jalapeños anyhow.

@ColleenV what really? we all grow tomatoes here - cherry tomatoes too ... I mean not me I don't know anything but most people from my country grow them here in Canada

Especially families

It must be a climate thing. I haven’t tried them since I moved from Texas. I was too discouraged

@AIQ we already have formal-writing tag. I’m not sure there’s much difference between that and academic writing

I didn't know that we have formal writing. If we have formal writing then it already encompasses academic writing

But I think it was a good idea to put the option out there for people to vote on

I mean academic-writing is a subset (lack of a better word) of formal-writing

10:51 AM

I don’t think it’s useful to make fine distinctions when we’re grouping questions with tags

English is too context dependent to fit neatly into small boxes

what if you are a student working for a professor writing an email about your research? Is that business or academic writing? Formal is good enough.

@ColleenV That is exactly what I am saying. In that case it could be either business or academic, but whichever it is, it is a part of formal writing. I am saying that I think it's good enough we have formal-writing and written-english

I think formal-writing and then academic-writing is a bad idea ...

Anonymous

@AIQ Most can be an intensifier, similar to very. It's markedly formal, though, and you probably won't hear speakers say it much (or at all) where you're at.

Anonymous

Think of a most X Y as being a very X Y [formal / old-fashioned].

11:12 AM

@AIQ Yes, I think we agree, I was just explaining how I arrived at the same conclusion you did.

@ColleenV Oh sorry I am not thinking straight haha it's 4am and I am binge watching Sons of Anarchy

11:36 AM

@snailplane ummm ... I see. Thanks for confirming snailplane

SmokeDetector

12:40 PM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Pattern-matching website in body (97): Help with improving writing skills by SuzanneRuffin on ell.SE

2:54 PM

My new word for today "shicra" from this thread about ancient cities and how they built buildings that could survive earthquakes: threadreaderapp.com/thread/1261126244763987969.html

thoughtco.com/caral-earliest-civilization-in-new-world-172680

3:53 PM

@AIQ I am pretty sure there is an ELU or ELL question on this, or more

A Most Violent Year

A Most Violent Year is a 2014 American crime drama film written and directed by J. C. Chandor. The film stars Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain with Alessandro Nivola, David Oyelowo, Albert Brooks, and Catalina Sandino Moreno. The protagonist is Abel Morales (Isaac), the owner of a small heating-oil company who is stressed by the competitiveness in the oil trade and his having to secure costly loans to expand his business. When his trucks start being hijacked, there is increased pressure for his drivers to arm themselves. The film premiered as the opening film of AFI Fest on November 6, 2014, and...

> He must have been a most frugal, practical, hard-working and energetic young man, and a most lovable old one.

By good ol' Arthur Conan Doyle

5:13 PM

in English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room, 5 hours ago, by Robusto

Antidepressant or Tolkien character? You be the judge.

2

6:35 PM

@M.A.R. 12 out of 24

But Sildenafil is not an antidepressant, it's an erectile drug.

@CowperKettle Yeah that one is weird

It works quite well but can have very bad side effects, especially on eyesight.

Maybe they took the idea from the Tweet and then added Sildenafil later

@CowperKettle It sells well here. I dunno about the side effects.

It sells well everywhere. In Russia, the generic Russian version is very cheap compared with the licensed one.

In Russia, alcohol sales have shot up due to the semi-quarantine

Now it's no wonder why there were so many alcoholics in the USSR.

The range of choices for spending your free time was very curtailed then.

Now there are numerous cafes, clubs, cinemas, all kinds of bowling alleys and so on.

Back then it was booze.

I wonder how the Moslims managed to abstain from alcohol.