English Language Learners

Jim Reynolds

17:00

backslash?

Anonymous

The forward slash is still just plain ol' slash a lot of the time, especially in speech

Damkerng T.

Backslash is a special character commonly used in programming related stuff.

MARamezani

OMG! Just found a rich ore of pistachios!

Damkerng T.

Pistachios!

MARamezani

@DamkerngT. No. I'm not giving you some.

Damkerng T.

17:01

Hee

user116848

I should scoot before I turn into geekarrow (Bad joke?)

user116848

Bye!

user116848

Wish me luck.

Anonymous

Don't worry, it's not contagious.

2

Damkerng T.

See you!

MARamezani

17:02

Bye!

Damkerng T.

[Good luck cookies] <-- Here.

user116848

Snail gets all the stars. I am jealous. Nooo!

user116848

Bye

Damkerng T.

Don't worry about the stars too much, btw. :-)

MARamezani

@arrowfar You already have outspoken. How would an outsider see a difference?

0

Q: What does the proportion 1:3 mean in the following example?

"In this case the holes were filled with a mixture of cement and sand in the ratio 1:3." Thanks a lot

meaning

They've already answered that.

It's a proportion.

Damkerng T.

17:05

Oh, someone upvoted my old answer!

Anonymous

They might be confused about whether it means it's 1/3 cement or 1 part cement per 3 parts sand

MARamezani

Maybe.

You, yourself, have described the term "1:3" as both a "proportion" and a "ratio". So what else do you want to know? — Dan Bron 57 secs ago

OK, now I wanna answer this one.

Anonymous

Too late!

Anonymous

Hey, dimensionless isn't an up-goer five word. I call foul!

Anonymous

How will our "low students" understand such a thing?

MARamezani

17:07

If I were the OP, I would've posted a new Q regarding the sentence in that answer.

Damkerng T.

Somehow I don't quite like that term!

Anonymous

I had the same reaction to "low students". I think this kind of replacement can be counterproductive if we're not careful. — snailboat 45 mins ago

Damkerng T.

Its origin must be our meta.

MARamezani

@snailboat It's arrogantly insulting. I thought I was the only one with this feeling.

Damkerng T.

Hmm... I think begin is an easy word.

Anonymous

17:09

@MARamezani I don't like the term

Damkerng T.

(Though using begin with tenses is not that easy!)

Anonymous

That's why I used scare quotes just now, even though I wasn't writing seriously

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. I think a lot of the stuff that has to do with tense and aspect would be better explained with charts

MARamezani

Now that we all agree, let's continue arguing on something else.

Anonymous

But I'm too lazy to draw them.

Damkerng T.

17:10

nods -- Hehe!

Oh, this must be a very good day. I got 3 upvotes without having to write any answer!

Anonymous

Of course, explanations with charts need to be backed up with words so they can be understood by folks who can't see the charts

MARamezani

@DamkerngT. Admit it!

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. Ah, maybe someone's going through your back catalog looking for oldies-but-goodies!

Damkerng T.

nods -- Maybe they helped me because I just offered a bounty.

MARamezani

@DamkerngT. Really?

Damkerng T.

17:12

I don't know! I don't even know who upvoted them.

Anonymous

I get random upvotes over time.

Damkerng T.

But thanks!

MARamezani

@DamkerngT. Aaadmit it!

Damkerng T.

Um... Admit what?

MARamezani

Someone loves you out there.

Anonymous

17:13

He's playing inquisitor.

Damkerng T.

@MARamezani Hehe!

@MARamezani Is it you?

MARamezani

@DamkerngT. I wonder though, doesn't this violate rule #1 about robots?

Damkerng T.

Which is? o_O

MARamezani

Robots. can't. love.

Damkerng T.

lol

Anonymous

17:17

It's actually "A robot may not harm a human being"

MARamezani

These pistachios are tough nuts to break!

Anonymous

These

Damkerng T.

@MARamezani A-ha! I can share the trick I learned last year.

MARamezani

I don't even know why I typoed that.

Damkerng T.

Use its shell against itself!

MARamezani

17:18

@DamkerngT. A glass glass? Oh!

@DamkerngT. I was planning on nuking it.

Damkerng T.

lol

MARamezani

Stupid table salt makes them stick to the stupid shell and stupidly not come out.

I wonder what superman would do in such cases.

Anonymous

Do people still say nuke meaning 'to microwave'?

Damkerng T.

@MARamezani Use his laser, maybe.

MARamezani

@snailboat I meant nuke as bombing with nuclear thingies.

But whatever.

Anonymous

17:21

Well, I didn't actually think you were going to microwave a pistachio.

MARamezani

Dammit! Now my fingers stick! If I just find the producer of this table salt....

@snailboat It seemed like a better idea than using its shell against itself.

There goes my tooth.

Only one got screwed. The others cracked.

Anonymous

Be careful! You only get about 52 of those.

MARamezani

@snailboat You meant 52000000? Zeros do count as significant figures, I guess.

Anonymous

Teeth.

MARamezani

@snailboat I'm not a shark.

A chemical, perhaps, but not a shark.

Anonymous

17:26

That's right

MARamezani

@Dam are you there?

Do you have a friend named Tryth?

Anonymous

@MARamezani 20 + 32

MARamezani

@snailboat o.O

0.0

And etc.

Anonymous

Deciduous teeth

Deciduous teeth, otherwise known as milk teeth, baby teeth, temporary teeth and now more commonly primary teeth, are the first set of teeth in the growth development of humans and other diphyodont mammals. They develop during the embryonic stage of development and erupt—that is, they become visible in the mouth—during infancy. They are usually lost and replaced by permanent teeth, but in the absence of permanent replacements, they can remain functional for many years. == Primary dentition stage == Primary teeth start to form during the embryo phase of pregnancy. The development of primary teeth...

Jim Reynolds

Delicious teeth!!!

Pops a handful of teeth into his mouth and chomps on them.

Hey! Now most of my teeth are broken. Thanks a lot, snailboat.

Anonymous

17:32

You're welcome!

Jim Reynolds

And I meant that sarcastically!

O.0

@Dam where are you getting upvotes?

MARamezani

I'm pretty sure she meant that sarcastically too.

Jim Reynolds

I'm gonna put a stop to this.

Table salt?

Anonymous

@JimReynolds Hey, you avoided dimensionless!

Jim Reynolds

I like my tables unsalted.

Anonymous

17:33

Well done.

Jim Reynolds

Hehe.

I gave what I thought was a competitive answer.

Anonymous

I don't usually worry about the competitive aspect of the site

MARamezani

@snailboat Ya know, you should lend some hands in puzzling.SE.

Anonymous

They've even got a badge for people who aren't competing: ell.stackexchange.com/help/badges/63/sportsmanship

Jim Reynolds

A hand, dottard!

Anonymous

17:34

(Or are we?)

Jim Reynolds

@MAR don't nuke anything. Nuclear weapons must remain with those countries who have demonstrated we know how to use them effectively. O.o

MARamezani

@JimReynolds Some hands do|t

Jim Reynolds

How many hands do you want?

Hint: Count all the fingers and divide by five.

MARamezani

@JimReynolds Five or six. No tentacles tho.

Jim Reynolds

:'(

That. hurt.

MARamezani

17:36

Sorry. No aliens allowed.

Jim Reynolds

hisses

Well, I meant that I paused because I wondered if my answer was more like cheating or a dirty trick, since it was essentially the same answer, but said differently.

Anonymous

@JimReynolds Hey, that's pentadactylonormative!

Jim Reynolds

(Notice how I said essentially, not basically!)

O.0

It is? Let me check.

Anonymous

How will the oligodactyls and polydactyls feel?

Jim Reynolds

Oh, hehe.

pentadactylocentric, too.

MARamezani

17:39

When did the language in chat change? I thought it was English....

Jim Reynolds

Thanks for helping me raise my consciousness.

Anonymous

You're welcome! Remember, we're putting the super in supernumerary!

Jim Reynolds

Pulls out one of MAR's eyeballs with a suction cup on his tentacle, pops it in his mouth.

:-)

Where's the robot?

Counting his reputation stats?

MARamezani

@JimReynolds Great! Now I can go all "pirates of the caribbean!"

Jim Reynolds

lol

May a parrot poop on your shoulder.

MARamezani

17:41

@JimReynolds It did.

Jim Reynolds

0.o

Anonymous

I've never had a pet bird before

Jim Reynolds

Cheaper than hair gel.

Anonymous

One of my good friends used to have zebra finches.

Jim Reynolds

But you called fowl.

35 mins ago, by snailboat

Hey, dimensionless isn't an up-goer five word. I call foul!

Anonymous

17:42

Touché

Jim Reynolds

Flying zebras!

MARamezani

No! NO YOU STUPID @#$^%$#@ bird! Not the pistachios! Poo on me instead!

Jim Reynolds

haha

Anonymous

Just pretend to be a car

Anonymous

Preferably one with a nice clean windshield

Jim Reynolds

17:43

A just-washed one.

:-)

MARamezani

Jim Reynolds

Where is @DAM, DAM@MIT!!!

Oh gosh. That's . . .

You two were saying he couldn't love and stuff above?

Now he's disappeared!

What were you thinking??

By you two, I mean MAR and MAR.

MARamezani

Jim Reynolds

lol

MARamezani

The parrot flees

Jim Reynolds

17:46

You are a sick and demented person.

MARamezani

@JimReynolds Thank you!

Jim Reynolds

O.O

MARamezani

o.o

0.0

Double 0.O

How is this possible @snailboat?

Oh, nevermind.

Anonymous

I know you said never mind, but just to be clear, I don't know what you were asking about

Damkerng T.

@JimReynolds Here! raising hand

Jim Reynolds

17:53

Oh thank the Creative Power.

MARamezani

@snailboat I just unreasonably o.0'd for a moment about someone's rep.

1

Q: Difference between "hope and wish"

What is the difference between hope and wish? When we want to use them in the sentence. Are they grammatically the same or not?

word-choice grammaticality difference

Now this is "unclear".

Jim Reynolds

About whom's rep? o.0

MARamezani

Who would like to go and shove a cake on Ice Girl's face?

Damkerng T.

@Jim About where, 2 on ELL, 1 on ELU.

MARamezani

@JimReynolds A user in puzzling.SE.

Jim Reynolds

17:55

Well, for any ELL, we know what is being asked regarding hope vs wish

Or we can assume with a high degree of confidence.

@MAR! Nicen up!!

Show us, @Dam.

MARamezani

@JimReynolds Recalibrating

Damkerng T.

10

A: What is the other name of a triangular prism? (sound like "retch")

I kept guessing it for a while. I think I figured it out! I think the word is wedge. wedge /wedʒ/ NOUN [COUNTABLE] 1. a piece of wood, plastic, or other material that is thin at one end and wider at the other and is pressed into a space to hold something in place or to force things apar...

5

A: where do people say ON the weekend (geographically speaking)?

Because I've mentioned a post on Language Log, A weekend is not a surface, I think I should write about it a little, boiling it down to a short, useful post. Though this question is only about on or at (the weekend), the post on Language Log summarizes it nicely: An attempt ensued to achieve...

Anonymous

Hmm, they're mostly different in terms of meaning, aren't they? They're only a little bit different grammatically.

Anonymous

Hope and wish, I mean.

MARamezani

@snailboat Yes.

Damkerng T.

18:01

For me, I would say entirely different! Grammatically.

Anonymous

I hope so but not ??I wish so, and wish upon a star but not *hope upon a star

Anonymous

What other constructions are limited to one or the other?

MARamezani

I think something has confused Ice Girl. But as always, we can't do anything if they don't highlight what they want.

Anonymous

I wish I were but not *I hope I were

Anonymous

That's the one I was trying to remember.

MARamezani

18:02

@snailboat I now can only think of fixed phrases.

Wish me luck!

Anonymous

Ah, good point

Anonymous

No *hope me luck

MARamezani

*Hope me luck.

Anonymous

Well, we've found all sorts of grammatical differences, then.

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. Seems like you're right! :-)

Jim Reynolds

18:03

Abandon all wish ye who enter here.

Anonymous

Ah, and there are even more in the answer Jim linked to!

Damkerng T.

I should know because they're basically the same, in meaning or grammatically, in my first language.

MARamezani

@JimReynolds Are you reading the bible?

Jim Reynolds

prism -> wedge!

Yaaay!

Damkerng T.

@JimReynolds I was surprised that it got that many upvotes!

MARamezani

18:04

I wonder what made the OP of prism question hear wedge as retch.

Jim Reynolds

Well, we find that a little humorous where I'm from.

Anonymous

Well, they're definitely less alike than I thought at first.

Anonymous

All of the examples I thought of at first worked for both words :-)

MARamezani

/r/ is very different from /w/

Anonymous

(But with differences in meaning.)

Damkerng T.

18:05

@MARamezani I'd say they're not that different.

Jim Reynolds

Your "Bible" is actually a comic book one of our children wrote a few liau ago, and misplaced.

MARamezani

@DamkerngT. o.0

Anonymous

@MARamezani They're really not all that different. And there are lots of different pronunciations of /r/

MARamezani

@JimReynolds I'm a Muslim, you dolt!

Jim Reynolds

Well, I respect the Muslim Bible, too, of course!

O.0

MARamezani

18:06

It isn't just bible, it's Quran.

Regards,

Jim Reynolds

I know all about that. You guys don't kill cows there, and on Christmas you eat pickles.

MARamezani

do|t TM.

Jim Reynolds

O.0

MARamezani

@JimReynolds I don't need no Christmas to eat pickles.

Jim Reynolds

The men wear dresses and ladies run naked on the streets on Tuesdays.

I think it's charming!

Anonymous

18:08

Try pronouncing the /w/ in wretch (lost around 400 years ago)

MARamezani

@JimReynolds And about cows, you're right. We only kill cows, not cows.

Jim Reynolds

I read many articles about that.

You only ... WHAT?

Anonymous

And tell me how different it sounds from retch

MARamezani

@snailboat I sound like @Jim's brother.

Anonymous

I would've guessed it'd sound pretty similar with or without the /w/, myself

Jim Reynolds

18:10

Don't need no ...

Oops.

Anonymous

Thought control?

Damkerng T.

Ah, thanks !(for another upvote)

Anonymous

Oh

Jim Reynolds

What you need is a spanking.

MARamezani

Informal English, do|t. It's not correct though, and I know it.

Jim Reynolds

18:11

I TM'd that!!

You can't use it.

Anonymous

My internal Markov chain generator didn't have MARamezani's earlier message as input :-)

Jim Reynolds

Leave Dam's vertical bar alone!

Anonymous

@MARamezani I thought do|t was a typo. But now I see you repeating it. What's it supposed to mean? Is the | supposed to resemble a lowercase ell?

MARamezani

@JimReynolds It's mine.

@snailboat Yup. Invented by do|t number one.

Jim Reynolds

@snail If you haven't noticed, MAR is a little bit . . . different.

Anonymous

18:12

Do ELL t?

Damkerng T.

@snailboat It was TMed a few hours ago.

MARamezani

I'm do|t number two.

Nice to meetcha.

Anonymous

Ah, I see. do|t™

MARamezani

Sometimes @Dam's do|t number 3, but not usually.

Jim Reynolds

Well, psychiatrically speaking, he's a dangerous madman.

MARamezani

18:13

@JimReynolds Who? Joker?

Jim Reynolds

O.0

Superscripts!

MARamezani

<sup>Hello!</sup>

Nope. Doesn't work.

Jim Reynolds

Don't tell MAR how to make them!

He'll start doing crazy things.

Like raising things up to superscript level.

MARamezani

Now that you're insisting,

Jim Reynolds

Oh . . . my . . . stars!!!

MARamezani

18:16

@snailboat <sup>Tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me tell me!</sup>

Damkerng T.

lol

Jim Reynolds

Good grief.

Anonymous

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　‌　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　‌ᴺᴼ

MARamezani

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Heart attack

Damkerng T.

LOL

Jim Reynolds

18:19

haha

Good for you, @snail

MARamezani

I can't respond. My body's numb.

Anonymous

 _ __   ___
| '_ \ / _ \
| | | | (_) |
|_| |_|\___/

Anonymous

That was my backup no.

Anonymous

In case the first one didn't work.

MARamezani

Looks like saying no to me makes some people creative.

Damkerng T.

18:21

A robot and his cat are laughing out loud rolling on the floor together...

MARamezani

MURDERERS!

Anonymous

             _ _ _
 _ __   ___ | | | |
| '_ \ / _ \| | | |
| | | | (_) |_|_|_|
|_| |_|\___/(_|_|_)

Jim Reynolds

Runs up to his roof and sets off fireworks in honor of snailboat.

Anonymous

Fire flowers!

Jim Reynolds

Accidentally lights his little remaining hair on fire.

Anonymous

18:22

Or wait, flower fires.

Anonymous

Fire flowers are sparks.

MARamezani

Commander, we're under attack by a snail vehicle. The nos are unexpectedly strong. We didn't see this coming. SET THE ALARMS OFF!

Anonymous

I mix up 火花 and 花火 sometimes!

Damkerng T.

The cat is looking at the robot suspiciously. He may wonder if the robot is still sane...

Jim Reynolds

:-)

MARamezani

18:24

Some stupid soldiers start running in the field ridiculously

OK. Now they're organized. With fancy little pink guns. Shooting bubbles. Yeah, keep your forces coming evil snail vehicle!

Jim Reynolds

Is that simplified or traditional Chinese, snail, and what do they mean?

Damkerng T.

I remember one is "fire".

MARamezani

Hmm, all o' this'll make some good drama.

Damkerng T.

So the other is probably "flower".

Jim Reynolds

GO TO BED, MAR

Anonymous

18:26

@JimReynolds They're simple enough already, so they didn't need to be simplified

Damkerng T.

@MARamezani Poor chemical!

Jim Reynolds

:-)

Oh. So they are the same.

Anonymous

花火 huāhuǒ 'fireworks' and 火花 huǒhuā 'spark'

Jim Reynolds

He is a bag of chemicals.

MARamezani

@DamkerngT. This is me now. All my soldiers are dead.

Damkerng T.

18:27

@MARamezani Welcome back!

Jim Reynolds

O.o

MARamezani

@JimReynolds A phuunny bag of chemicals.

Do|t!

Anonymous

So I was calquing them back into English to be silly :-)

Anonymous

(calque = loan translation)

Damkerng T.

Nice word! I remember I've seen it somewhere, but can't remember where.

MARamezani

18:29

This is the ending of the movie when MAR strangles Jim:

Anonymous

Possibly here in chat.

Anonymous

It's one of those words I use!

Damkerng T.

@snailboat Possibly!

Anonymous

chat.stackexchange.com/search?q=calque&room=7227

Anonymous

CopperKettle does, too!

Anonymous

18:30

See? Calque is practically the only word I use around here.

MARamezani

Unfortunately, I haven't encountered its equivalent in Persian.

Anonymous

Maybe you should loan translate loan translate

Damkerng T.

Oh, calque reminds me that... there is no /l/ in chalk!

Jim Reynolds

You really know how to thalk, then!

Damkerng T.

That's another one without /l/!

So is balk, but there is /l/ in bulk.

Jim Reynolds

18:33

I'm going to bed. MAR exhausts me.

Anonymous

Wait, you don't pronounce the /l/ in balk?

Damkerng T.

Good night! (In normal script, superscript, and subscript.)

Anonymous

Rest well, Jim Reynolds!

Damkerng T.

Eh? You do?

MARamezani

@JimReynolds Yeah. Mission accomplished.

Anonymous

18:34

I think I do…

Damkerng T.

Hah!

Anonymous

Maybe because I learned it from writing.

Jim Reynolds

:-)

MARamezani

dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/british/balk

@JimReynolds Image not found

Jim Reynolds

Oh. . .

Damkerng T.

18:35

@MARamezani Interesting!

MARamezani

America likes ELL...

Hullo @Fantasier!

Jim Reynolds

gyazo.com/a2da81e3e708ca94cb3d2d6761551646

?

Damkerng T.

I can't guess if gyazo is Chinese or Japanese!

macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/american/balk_1

This one gives /bɔk/.

I can't hear the /l/ in US pronunciations given by dictionary.cambridge.org/pronunciation/british/balk!

switched to headset

Anonymous

I think it might vary from speaker to speaker

MARamezani

@DamkerngT. That's cool! How does a robot do that? Imagining

Damkerng T.

18:40

Sounds like /l/ is possible in there.

@MARamezani I switched my speaker, didn't transform into one!

MARamezani

@DamkerngT. Whirr whoorr whirrrr

Damkerng T.

:D

Ah, thanks for another upvote! (to whomever out there)

Anonymous

Not I, said the snail

MARamezani

nerdtests.com/pics.php?id=173

Cookie monster is angry.

Damkerng T.

I want to admit that I keep thinking about him in the wrong color.

But I'm not sure in which color I keep thinking about him.

MARamezani

18:53

Ah, @Dam @Snailor The hope/wish question is getting closed as a dup.

WOW!

5

Q: Can adjective phrases, adverb phrases and bare infinite clauses function as a subject?

This is Chapter 5's exercise in a textbook by Bas Aarts, English Syntax and Argumentation, 4th edition, published 2013, on page 88: In previous editions of this book I allowed for adjective phrases, adverb phrases and bare infinite clauses to function as Subject, and I used the examples be...

grammar subject adverbial-phrase adjective-phrase bare-infinitive

Damkerng T.

@MARamezani Yes, a reasonable close. I think.

MARamezani

NICE QUESTION!

a) There are no passives in these sentences, though it is true (and a useful thing to point out) that one function of these constructions is the same sort of "information packaging" the passive aims at. b) The bare infinitive is grammatical, and colloquial. It is licensed as the referent of pro-verb do at the end, which bears the necessary to marker: A fun thing to do is party all night → Party all night is a fun thing to do. — StoneyB Mar 28 at 16:36

Hmm,

> Chewing gums during school time is an irresponsible thing to do.

Why not the gerund?

Damkerng T.

That's an -ing verb.

MARamezani

@DamkerngT. I sometimes think something and write another.

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