English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

12:23 AM

@Kosmonaut I'm a bit disappointed that you, as a moderator, don't have more decorum than to complain about someone not understanding, when taking it to meta is the exactly right thing to do.

@Kosmonaut in addition, you've really only explained one thing, which is that you believe there is nothing but opinion to answer that question with - and the reason why I took it to meta is that that same reasoning applies to questions all over this site

I also simply don't believe that what usage I personally know of, combined with the dictionary, are the only things I could possibly learn about this topic

it would be presumptive of me to assume there's nothing I don't know about it, which is why I asked the question

Rhodri

Evening all

0

Q: What are some slang terms for "newspaper"?

I'm looking for some slang terms for a newspaper, whether they are archaic terms that nobody has used in the past 70 years or modern, obscure terms.

slang

Shouldn't this be CW?

Renesis

actually it doesn't seem like a "real question" - blog.stackoverflow.com/2011/01/real-questions-have-answers

Rhodri

No, it's a question all right. It's the sort of thing Community Wiki was supposed to be for, AFAICT.

Renesis

Those types of questions have been all but eliminated from Programmers

they are frowned upon, if not outright banned (by frowned upon, I mean, most will be closed by a moderator, though I don't know how consistent it is)

@Kosmonaut You're right that I'm not just interested in what people do, but people in general do a lot of wrong things. But no, I'm not asking EL&U SE to prove on or the other correct - and if that's what's set you off, I can understand your frustration. I've repeatedly tried to correct that, though - what I want to know is what is correct, and if the answer is "there's no way to determine one or the other as correct" then that itself is an answer to my question

@Kosmonaut Particularly because the whole discussion originated because somebody who published an online pronunciation guide was belligerent about one option being incorrect in the North American dialects. If you are telling me that neither is wrong or right then you should have put that as an answer.

Martha

1:26 AM

@Rhodri This is what's known in the SCA as IKA: Inter-Kingdom Anthropology. Many, but by no means all, SE sites consider "list questions" like this to be the worst of the worst, of the "kill it with fire" variety. EL&U has not evolved that particular mindset, but it's still a borderline question - how do you choose a single best answer?

RegDwight

11:26 AM

1

Q: To what extent do English words sound like what they describe?

I recently heard that all languages are influenced heavily by onomatopoiea (i.e. words that sound like the thing that they are). I am not talking just about obviously onomatopoieaic words such as "splash" or "murmur". I mean very general everyday words. For example the word "book" has a sort of ...

language-formation onomatopoeia

Robusto

@RegDwight — This is ... I can't think of a word for it.

And check out the reply.

BTW, @RegDwight, I flagged a comment in one question. I thought it was potentially offensive, but have a look. Maybe you'll disagree.

RegDwight

12:11 PM

@Robusto Actually it makes so little sense that I had to post an answer. My first one in weeks. And looks like Rhodri felt the same.

Mr. Disappointment

0

A: To what extent do English words sound like what they describe?

This is true. Examples would include "curlew", which is the name of a bird which has a call sounding like : "Ker - lu" Also, the cuckoo (using birds here), has the name that sounds like its call as well. But those were things that made noise, what about the things that didn't make noises? For...

Robusto

@RegDwight — I upvoted you both. Someone has to counteract downright nonsense, and I take my hat off to both of you.

Mr. Disappointment

Am I correct in thinking there is at least a few of us that think (know) this answer to be poppycock?

As in, downright wrong?

Robusto

@MrDisappointment — That's not the word I would use, but the answer is yes.

Mr. Disappointment

OK, my curiosity leads me to ask, albeit you, or anyone, can tell me it is none of my business, how come with input from significantly high rep users, and others that know enough about the site, has this only received the one down vote, from me?

Surely this is the very time to actually use'em.

Robusto

12:17 PM

It's so bad I flagged it. Awaiting a response.

Mr. Disappointment

And now that down vote has been countered with an up vote - God.

Robusto

That's the problem with down-votes. Someone comes along and casts a pity vote. I really don't see that down votes do much at all, honestly.

Mr. Disappointment

Well, I know there are numerous variabilities to why someone might vote, but ultimately, experienced users ought to have within them the etiquette that if an answer is wrong, it deserves a down vote - yes flagging serves its purpose, but we can't neglect one action in favour of the other.

Robusto

Flagging is a request for capital punishment. I rarely flag.

RegDwight

12:32 PM

I'm out, folks! Mother-in-law is visiting, gotta take her places.

Robusto

Me too, gotta commute. Laterz.

Mr. Disappointment

Later @Reg, and @Robusto - enjoy.

Martha

1:35 PM

Woo-hoo! Fear my godlike powers!

...wait. That's all I get? A lousy "tools" page that doesn't really allow me to do anything? Where's my "kill it with fire" button? I was told there would be a "kill it with fire" button!

2

Robusto

Grats @Martha. Welcome to the illusion of power.

Martha

At the very least, there should be a gift basket. Or someone who can finish this stupid report while I go off to celebrate. Hmph.

Robusto

Jun 15 at 12:48, by Robusto

Speaking of disappointment, I thought when I hit 40K rep there'd be, like, fruit baskets or Balloon-O-Grams or something. You know.

Join the club.

Martha

Not much of a club.

I mean, the membership is fine, but the member benefits are... ehhh.

I swear I didn't break anything! Really!

Robusto

1:53 PM

Uh-huh.

Martha

2:11 PM

Stupid system isn't letting me suggest a tag synonym. Says I need to have 5 points in the tag. I have 6. If I remember my math correctly, 6 is more than 5.

z7sg

2:22 PM

@Martha I think the member benefits are awesome! Cannot wait for my swag to arrive.

Robusto

@Martha — But that's only in a rational universe, the existence of which we can neither assume nor prove.

Martha

2:58 PM

It looks like the tag-specific "top users" lists are based on cached/denormalized data. Hence my inability to suggest a tag synonym in a tag where my 6-is-more-than-5 points were all accrued today. Hmph.

z7sg