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00:00 - 15:0015:00 - 23:00

00:00
I think I like the conclusion!
It seems to work, and "Scarcely had" is nothing special anymore.
Anonymous
Yay!
Yay! Thank you!
Oh, I think we have this pattern in Thai too.
I bet that it was influenced by English, maybe through some old translation work.
Come to think of it, it's almost like a literal translation.
Anonymous
Ahh
But I think we changed when to before.
> They were almost not be able to get back home before the incident happened. (Thai lit-back-trans.)
So, in reality, they could make it! They got back home safely, just barely in time.
Using Scarcely had it should be,
> Scarcely had they come back home when the incident happened.
Ahh... I think I really get it!
mopping dance!
Anonymous
Yay!
00:12
An example of a robomop (talking to WALL-E).
Anonymous
I put a real snail as my Stack Exchange icon
Anonymous
But I don't know if people will be able to tell what the picture is
As your avatar?
Anonymous
Yes
Anonymous
It hasn't shown up for me in chat yet.
Anonymous
00:13
You can see it here
Oh, nice!
It's quite tempting for me to change my avatar to this one. :-)
Anonymous
Hee
Anonymous
I'm trying to pick another snail picture
Ah, I like this snail photo already!
Is she Dot?
Anonymous
00:15
Yes :-)
Anonymous
Now it's Bean!
Aw... Bean is much bigger than Dot!
Anonymous
@DamkerngT. Are you going to write an answer about scarcely had X than/when Y?
00:28
Probably not. I think CHL's answer has already been accepted too.
And, I think I will have a small meal and get some rest. :-)
Anonymous
Ahh
Anonymous
I think it could do with a slightly simpler answer
Oh, saying that makes me hungry already.
You could add a simpler answer, I think.
The OP would be happy.
But I'm now hungry. :-)
So, see you later! (and thanks for everything)
Anonymous
See you!
Btw, please say hello to Dot, Bean, and others for me. :-)
Bye!
 
6 hours later…
06:49
@skullpatrol Hi
@skullpatrol I have some questions
Can I ask?
@IceGirl sure
What does poor health mean?
not healthy
!!!!!!!!!
06:55
Can you explain more?
clearly
poor means not having money, right?
That is the noun form, we are using it as an adjective to describe health.
"not having" health
@IceGirl was that clear?
@skullpatrol yes thanks
06:59
:)
@skullpatrol He was sent home last week but his health was said to be "very fragile" because of his age.
what does it mean?
very fragile?
fragile means easily broken
here?
!!!
It means his health was not strong.
07:07
OK
The BBC's Will Grant in Mexico City says his loss will be particularly felt in his native Colombia but in Mexico too, which for more than 30 years became his adopted home.
oh, nothing
:)
loss?
what does it mean?
He lost something.
his loss will be particularly felt in his native Colombia but in Mexico too?
"loss" is referring to something he lost, look for more context to find out what that is
07:13
The cause of Garcia Marquez's death was not immediately known but he was recently hospitalised for a lung and urinary tract infection in Mexico City.
He was sent home last week but his health was said to be "very fragile" because of his age.
The BBC's Will Grant in Mexico City says his loss will be particularly felt in his native Colombia but in Mexico too, which for more than 30 years became his adopted home.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto tweeted: "On behalf of Mexico, I express sorrow over the death of one of the greatest writers of our time."
"Your life, dear Gabo, will be remembered by all of us as a unique and singular gift," the singer said.
Peruvian Nobel prize-winning author Mario Vargas Llosa called him a "great writer".
"His works gave literature great reach and prestige. His novels will survive and will continue to find new readers everywhere," he told Peruvian media.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez's other works include Love in the Time of Cholera, Chronicle of a Death Foretold and The General in His Labyrinth.
The Chilean poet and Nobel Laureate Pablo Neruda called the novel "the greatest revelation in the Spanish language since Don Quixote", the 17th-century masterpiece by Spain's Miguel de Cervantes.
This is the whole text
:)
:-O
Garcia Marquez's death is the "loss"
the death of one of the greatest writers of our time.
the death of one of the greatest writers of our time. what does it mean?
!!!
@skullpatrol Thank you very much. see you later
bye:)
 
1 hour later…
08:23
Oh, I found a good example for Fantasier's can question, but it has a swear word!
Can I post it here? -- (I will post it anyway, with some censorship.)
> You should give it to him? What was he before he was a lawyer? A f---in' comedian?
If he doesn't ask the right questions, your lawyer will.
No, he can still f--- things up.
Well, you didn't censor all of them. P_P
I'm sure we can read it as "No, I won't do that. It's possible that he will f--- things up."
I'm afraid that it would lose the meaning if I censored all of them. :P
Oh, you meant the other one. Sorry!
It's too late to edit now, but it'd probably sound better saying "No, I won't allow that to happen. It's possible that he will ..."
NOTE: It was from My Cousin Vinny (1992).
Hmm, I don't think that can is epistemic.
Between "is able to" and "it is possible that", you incline to the first one (in this context), I think?
Yeah, I read it as ability.
08:34
I think of the two as two opposite colors, and a meaning of can in this kind of context would be a shade between the two colors.
For me, the shade (of the can in that sentence) is closer to "it is possible that" than "is able to".
Anyway, I found another can in another movie that the shade of meaning is even closer to "it is possible that".
> Saw somebody standing in Mr. Riddle's back yard.
Probably Mr. Riddle.
He was watching me.
Mr. Riddle was watching you? Laurie, Mr. Riddle is 87.
He can still watch.
> --Halloween (1978)
This one is even more distant to epistemic possibility than the previous one, I think.
Hmm... reading it again and I can read it as "able to" (because of that 87).
Yes.
That one is down.
I read it as either permission ("He can still watch (me)"; she thinks it's okay to let him watch her) or ability (Mr Riddle's ability to watch; he can watch because his eyes are still able to watch).
I think it's a mix. It might be better to see the dialogue in action in the movie.
I think I need to hear how she said it.
I think permission is unlikely, given that she seemed to be uncomfortable about the watch.
Oh, yeah.
08:43
This one is also interesting: books.google.com/…
(Tender Offers by Crystal Russell)
> "[...] Could you give him a call?"
"Yeah, I think I know how to reach him. You really need him?"
"Yes, I think he **can** be the final nail in the coffin." Jim entered a dead space between the mountains, and he lost his satellite connection.
I think this is either general possibility (Thailand can be extremely hot.) or ability, taking into account what nail in sb's/sth's coffin means.
(That's a new idiom for me!, just looked it up)
Eh? I think you should be familiar with it. We also say that idiom in Thai.
Huh? We have that in Thai?
ตะปูตอกฝาโลง
I'm obviously really bad at idioms.
08:50
I'm not sure about the origin, though.
Reading it again, the epistemic read (= he could be the final nail in the coffin) is also likely, I think.
Ah, I bought instant noodles with wrong flavour!
Oh!
It's always the minced pork for me. :-)
I wanted Waiwai Hot & Spicy Stir-fried Clams, but I bought ones with the original flavour.
The original flavor is not that bad, I think. :-)
I don't know. I shall try it.
08:56
Oh, Waiwai, right? I think I like its original flavor.
Do you have PEU?
I do.
122.3 possible in the situation: We can go to Paris
I think it's interesting.
Though all the examples are about "I" or "we", they indicate a sense somewhere between "is able to" and "it's possible that".
Perhaps the key is "situation".
I read ruakh's answer, and I think his only cases are also related to "situation".
I think so.
09:09
With a good "condition(al)" or "situation", it seems like can can work the same way as could, but with even higher possibility.
what is the question?
I don't think it's the same way.
thanks :-)
@skullpatrol np. @Fantasier Can you tell me a bit more?
In any case, I guessed that this usage might vary across dialects or regions, and two answers in the question seem to say so quite clearly.
(I counted one, and I think I should count two.)
09:16
I think can (circumstantially possible) as in We can go to Paris, (because there's no work etc) is not the more probable alternative of We could go to Paris (ignoring the 'suggestion' case, we get "maybe we will go to Paris"). I think the meanings are different.
It's kind of hard to explain :\
But I agree that the can in the novel could be the situation can.
Blame it on English; it uses can for too many purposes. :-)
Heehee.
We were taught in school that "can" means "you have the ability"
Oh, explicitly?
But I think in actual use its use is extended to be more than just for literal ability?
09:21
"may" is more polite and means "possibly yes or no"
What do you think about the example sentences? -- Do you think he can still be alive? I don't think he can still be alive.
Does it sound odd in any way?
Do you think he's still alive?
This^ is how I would say it.
nods -- I see. What if someone asked you "Do you think he can still be alive?"?
I would say "Maybe."
or "Perhaps."
So the question is understandable, I think?
09:28
yes
nods -- Got it. Thanks.
I don't know if I could use all those apps I have on my old iPad 2 on my new iPad Air.
I should get it tomorrow.
My iPad 2 dropped on the floor from my table, face down!
Oh, that's
unfortunate
sobbing
It survived, but I don't know for how long, and it has a long crack on the screen almost diagonally.
09:34
Ouch!
I haven't tested all functions yet.
Don't know if the cameras still work.
Oh, they still appear to work.
You can test it, they may work :-)
Hehe!
Oh, actually it has two cracks!
In any case, what I really care are the apps and the data.
Though I'm kind of emotionally attached to it a bit.
Using it for a few years, it's kind of my buddy. :-)
(Oh, I just made a dangling participial phrase!)
09:55
ingetting
What is buzzgetting here?
Nothing much, aside from the fact that I've been inbeing here for a while.
Oh, and I dropped my iPad!
@DamkerngT. thats a weird sentence my i pad?
my i eye
actually, its Apple's fault
Yeah, let's blame it on Apple!
Bad Apple!
and Oranges as well
10:02
@SteveJobs - Damkerng is talking rubbish about your company.
and he also dropped a product made by your comany... so bad
Bad me!
why are you outtesting my patience?
I hereby declare a competition of coining words. Anyone who wishes to participate can post in the following format:

Hail AwalGarg! My coined term is _coined term_

Then, the person to recieve the most number of stars by tomorrow, shall win.

Prize is my autograph...
10:41
If, I don't get entries, I might have to banish this competition. I don't want to do that
Can we see an example of the autograph first?
@DamkerngT. ...Awal Garg...
happy?
Heehee.
@DamkerngT. that aint a valid entry, sir
Okay, I will give an entry.
> Hail AwalGarg! My coined term is inbe!
10:57
@DamkerngT. congo, you get a star...
and now, the star queue hails me lol
Anonymous
11:49
> too stupid a question, stupid enough a question
12:07
That "stupid" question!
I don't know why "a too stupid question" doesn't seem to work for m.e.
 
1 hour later…
Anonymous
13:11
@DamkerngT. Too stupid appears in predeterminer position
Anonymous
This long a letter, too fast a car, how safe a car, as nice a color, so sweet a kiss, that far a drive
Anonymous
These only work when the determiner is a
Anonymous
*A this long letter, *a too fast car, *a how safe car, *an as nice color, *a so sweet kiss, *a that far drive
I found a few good explanations in PEU. (It's more like they're used that way than looking into the reason why it has to be that way.)
Anonymous
Well, why may not be the best question
13:15
And, oh yes, PEU mentions exactly those: too, how, as, so, and this/that!
Anonymous
Hooray!
Maybe I should post them.
Though I couldn't find a good explanation for FF's comment:
It gets worse! This one might be too hard of a question for a definitive short answer! — FumbleFingers 1 hour ago
Well, maybe I will post them anyway. They could be useful, I think.
Anonymous
In CGEL's terms, I think that's a fused modifier-head: too hard modifies a question, but it's also the head of the noun phrase (with a question stuck inside a PP of-complement)
Anonymous
They use the term "fusion" when they analyze a constituent as having two syntactic functions at the same time
Anonymous
So for example, a fused modifier-head is both modifier and head
Anonymous
13:24
I want to look that up though and see if I've got it right
Anonymous
(And I'm currently in bed and feeling lazy, typing on my laptop :-)
Anonymous
Maybe this is different.
Anonymous
"There were three apples on the plate; Ed took [the biggest]."
"There were three apples on the plate; Ed took [the biggest (of the three apples)]."
Anonymous
Here they have a fused modifier-head, and it makes sense to consider it the head because the of-PP can be omitted
Anonymous
But you can't really omit of a question from too hard of a question, so maybe it's something different
Anonymous
13:28
> It was [ too hard (of a question) ] for me to answer.
> It was [ too hard ] for me to answer.
Anonymous
Hmm, maybe you can.
Anonymous
I'll have to do some reading later :-)
PEU says It was [ too hard ] for me to answer. is fine.
Anonymous
Yep! I agree.
Anonymous
Anyway, I think you can treat the of version as having a different structure.
Anonymous
13:34
And just relate them by saying they have the same meaning, so either structure is okay.
Anonymous
In that sense, it's not terribly important what the structure is.
Anonymous
13:53
Jay points out that it's possible to say "a too-stupid question", but I think that's non-standard
Oh, I think it would sound strange too.
Anonymous
Maybe I should reply to the comment.
Anonymous
Although it's not true that ELL is limited to discussing standard English, I think it's often a baseline assumption when discussing what's okay and what's not.
Anonymous
That is, if I say "he doesn't" and mark "he don't" wrong, I'm not saying it's wrong in all varieties of English, just that it's not valid in standard English
13:57
A handful of standard dialects are already too many for learners to cope with.
I've heard (or read) from somewhere that there are some areas that people really say "he don't", but I can't remember where.
Anonymous
Oh, sure. People say it all the time.
I mean, native speakers.
Anonymous
Me too.
Ah, okay. :-)
Anonymous
> He don't be crazy.
Anonymous
13:59
Nonstandard English, but fine in AAVE.
Anonymous
And speakers of that dialect (which is not really one dialect, but you know what I mean) typically learn to speak standard English when the situation demands it
I guess that they might feel a little weird when they had to write in standard English.
Anonymous
So, assuming they've learned the difference and know when to use which way of speaking, they usually aren't wrong when they say things like that, because they're usually not failing to achieve a goal (speaking standard English, for example)
Anonymous
Whereas for learners, there's usually a tacit assumption that the goal is to learn the standard variety, so "he don't" actually is wrong for them
If I say "he don't", I'm sure everyone will think that I said it incorrectly.
Anonymous
14:03
@DamkerngT. It's very normal for people to natively speak a nonstandard dialect and, in the course of their education, learn how to speak standardly
Anonymous
@DamkerngT. Dialects like AAVE aren't prestige dialects, so a lot of people characterize utterances belonging to them as mistakes. Linguists generally do not
Anonymous
Actually, AAVE is grammatically more complex than standard English
I think I agree with linguists in this case.
Oh!
Anonymous
I joined a bunch of SE chat rooms this morning.
Anonymous
So messages keep popping up at the right side of the screen
14:05
:-)
I think that "wandering about" conveys so many subtexts.
Anonymous
Ah, maybe you could write a more complete answer, then :-)
No, I'm a non-native speaker, so I'm not sure if most native speakers will think the way I think.
But I can think of a few, and then some. :-)
I think "wandering" was used in three senses at the same time.
"traveling in dream", "being unfocused in thought", and "blabbering"
I think "about" also means both "around" and related to the previous "about" in "dream about".
I also think "wandering" was purposely used to evoke "wondering".
And all those were packed concisely and neatly in just "wandering about".
Anonymous
I don't understand dream about in this sense
English can be very neat at times, I think.
Anonymous
I understand dream about X where X is the topic of the dream
14:18
It was in the context.
Anonymous
The question doesn't appear to contain any context.
> The Doctor: Clara sometimes asks me if I dream. "Of course I dream", I tell her. "Everybody dreams". "But what do you dream about?," she'll ask. "The same thing everybody dreams about," I tell her. "I dream about where I'm going." She always laughs at that. "But you're not going anywhere, you're just wandering about." That's not true.
> Not anymore. I have a new destination. My journey is the same as yours, the same as anyone's. It's taken me so many years, so many lifetimes, but at last I know where I'm going. Where I've always been going. Home. The long way around.
Anonymous
Oh, no, that seems like a different about to me.
Anonymous
It would never occur to me to relate them
I think movie scripts do this kind of thing very often.
Anonymous
14:21
I think the about in dream about is a different word which is grammaticalized, and the about in wander about is used for its spatial sense
That's why I didn't post what I thought.
Though the "dreams about" nudges me to think that "wandering about" must be related to it somehow.
Anonymous
Maybe I can draw a different contrast.
Anonymous
The first about is transitive: "But what do you dream about ____ ?" "The same thing [ that everybody dreams about ____ ]" "I dream about [where I'm going]"
Anonymous
About what, about the same thing, about where I'm going
Anonymous
The other one is not (which is why dictionaries call it an adverb): wandering about
Anonymous
14:26
Oh, remember when we were discussing the question of whether to class words as intransitive prepositions or adverbs?
Anonymous
And we discussed cases like this: is about sometimes a preposition, sometimes an adverb? Or is it a preposition which is sometimes transitive and sometimes not?
I thought of this "wandering about" (one meaning among many other possibilities) as "wandering about your dream" or "wandering about the place you're dreaming about".
Anonymous
Oh, you can't put an object there.
Even when "wandering" means "blabbering"?
Anonymous
You can make a comparison to verbs: verbs are sometimes transitive and sometimes not. But no one suggests that we should call transitive eat and intransitive eat different parts of speech
Anonymous
14:29
@DamkerngT. I take it back: you can write "wandering about the place you're dreaming about"
Anonymous
I didn't read very carefully
Anonymous
I got confused when I read "wandering about your dream"
Anonymous
But that too I think is possible
Anonymous
Here, about is a spatial preposition
Anonymous
I got confused because I tried to read it as the same about you find in dreams about, which can't occur in those phrases
Anonymous
14:30
So I failed to understand until I re-read it with the other about
Anonymous
Is it time to haul myself out of bed and make breakfast and tea yet? :-)
Anonymous
My laptop has made me lazy.
Maybe I think too much. (Actually I didn't try that much to think in those different ways. Being a learner, my flexibility is built-in.)
Anonymous
In my mind, both abouts are different words.
Anonymous
So I have, mentally, wandering about your dream and *wandering about your dream, the latter of which has the grammaticalized about
Anonymous
14:34
Paula keeps revisiting the whereof question
Anonymous
She cited the OED in an edit.
Anonymous
I feel like the OED might not be the best resource for learners in some cases.
And we still have two Paulas!
Anonymous
(Depending of course on what that learner wishes to know)
I don't really care much about OED, really.
Out of the few dictionaries I have (Longman, Cambridge, Oxford), I like Oxford the least.
Longman hits many good spots I need (as a learner).
Anonymous
14:36
The OED is a very nice dictionary.
Anonymous
But it's a historical dictionary.
But after I found Macmillan online, I think I've almost never used paper dictionaries again.
Eh? Maybe I thought of a different dictionary.
Anonymous
The OED is not freely available online.
Anonymous
I have an Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English (a very old version).
Anonymous
14:38
That is an extremely different dictionary.
Anonymous
Let's see
Ahh... I see.
Anonymous
My OALD is the 8th edition
Anonymous
It says copyright 2010
Mine is Forth Impression 1988.
I think it's in the Third Edition 1974.
Anonymous
14:39
Ahh, that fits
Anonymous
Say, when you asked me to correct mistakes, did you mean to include spelling mistakes?
Anonymous
Forthfourth
Yes, please.
Anonymous
Okay, I wasn't sure if that sort of correction was useful to you, since presumably you know how to spell fourth :-)
Oh, I'm always prone to that one.
Anonymous
14:40
And just made a typo.
I know it should be Fourth, but I think my original memory usually led me to spell Forth.
Anonymous
Well, forth is also a word, so spell checkers won't highlight it
This one is one of my weak spots, I think.
Anonymous
Sally forth, my good men!
And they're pronounced the same!
Anonymous
14:42
That's probably not a great example of sally forth :-)
I think forth is common enough.
Anonymous
It's what popped into my head.
Anonymous
Yeah, more common in back and forth, probably
move forth sprang up in my mind.
Anonymous
Checking COCA
Anonymous
14:45
The most common result for * forth is and forth
Anonymous
The second most common is so forth
Anonymous
So I changed my query to * * forth
Anonymous
Which gives the top collocations back and forth, followed by and so forth
Oh, so forth, how can I forget that?!
Anonymous
Those are around 9500 and 4500 results each.
Anonymous
14:47
Those are three-word collocations.
Anonymous
No other three-word collocations are common in COCA, so I return to the two-word list:
Anonymous
Set forth, put forth, brought forth, bring forth, come forth, go forth at 1100 1100 360 270 260 190 results respectively
I think I'm more familiar with put forth than set forth.
Anonymous
> Look for products marked "American Grassfed," as they meet rigorous standards set forth by the American Grassfed Association including certifying meat that comes only from animals that ate nothing but their mother's milk and fresh grass or grass-type hay from birth to harvest.
Anonymous
Funny that I thought of sally forth :-)
Anonymous
14:50
Sallied forth is way down the list with 30 results.
Anonymous
> You are going to write about a nice Jewish boy from Brooklyn who sallied forth to do battle with the evil dragons of the Philippines.
Oh! What a strange context!
Perhaps evil dragons means something special there.
Anonymous
Yeah, presumably it's figurative.
Anonymous
(And that sort of figurative language is what makes sally forth fit, though it's juxtaposed with modern, down-to-earth sounding language)
> They are too kind girls to refuse.
The OP wondered if it's a typo. (which it's not.)
However, I'm not very sure if this is fine:
> They are too kind a girl to refuse.
Though I believe that it would be fine.
The book suggests this:
> Those girls are too kind to refuse.
Anonymous
14:57
@DamkerngT. No, because a is not appropriate. They're not a single girl.
Anonymous
And this construction only works with a, so you need to work around it:
Okay, that is another guess of mine.
Anonymous
@DamkerngT. This is fine.
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