English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Matt Ellen

7:48 AM

I'm not here! I'm working!

RegDwight

10:40 AM

0

Q: Referring to oneself in first vs. third person in online writing

Suppose I am writing a post/blog, how should I mention myself? For example, Ray Wenderlich (Site Admin) Ray is an indie software developer currently focusing on iPhone and iPad development. He’s the founder of a small iPhone development studio called Razware. Now an another example fr...

Belongs on Writing, methinks.

trg787

Near to me there is a gimnasiam named after Blaiz Pascal. And street named Clermont-Ferrand. Cause it's our brother-town. Pascal was born in this town. The huge shild at enter: gimnasium of Blaiz Pascal

Of course , Russians often behave themselves as crazy... But in general we like very much the culture, music, literature, paintings etc All nobles spoke only French. Actually they could not understand Russian. Pushkin spoke French with Parisien accent

His friends laughed at him: why do you speak as Parisien?

Matt Ellen

10:59 AM

@RegDwight it's not about usage in a way that is practical or answerable. It's requesting opinions, since there is no right answer. Judging from a cursory glance at writers.se, I could fit in there.

RobinHood

@RegDwight hey

Matt Ellen

11:17 AM

I meant "it could fit in there" not "I could"

z7sg

12:26 PM

Any reason why this has not been closed as dup already?

1

Q: Usage of phrase "revert back"

Is it correct English to refer to replying to someone or giving feedback as "reverting back"? People in my workplace are using that term more and more. It sounds completely wrong to me. Here are some examples: We will investigate and revert back as soon as possible. Will reschedule and ...

grammaticality verbs adverbs

RegDwight

I am waiting for votes from within the community.

I am closing too much stuff unilaterally already.

Grace Note

There you go. Flagged ♪

Jez

I've watched some Donald Duck cartoons thanks to that question

Grace Note

(Also, I see the flagging dupe interface actually picks up either other flags, or live votes)

z7sg

Yes, I agree with your policy Reg. But the community is sleeping.

I thought maybe some of them would see it here.

RegDwight

12:30 PM

May 9 at 21:23, by RegDwight

We have almost fifty 3k users now. I can't be closing questions unilaterally. That trains the community to be lazy. But if you can't count on Super Reg to close everything, that's when the site starts really working as intended.

Just a gentle reminder @everyone.

Grace Note

@RegDwight This is why I've been bringing up a lot of these into the chat channel, myself

Also because that way I don't have to flag so I don't have to pester you guys when there's so many 3k users.

RegDwight

Though I do understand that I have to run berserk a bit more than usual, because many of the 3k users are on strike right now, and I can't blame them for that.

z7sg

Who is on strike? I hope I haven't inadvertently crossed a picket line... I wouldn't want to be known as a scab.

RegDwight

Nah, I mean the people who don't know how to go on from here and either only hang out here in chat but not on the main site, or use the time to get some gasp actual work done.

Grace Note

@z7sg A scab?

RegDwight

12:35 PM

"A mean, dirty, paltry fellow; a strikebreaker"

z7sg

derogatory a person who refuses to strike or join a trade union or who takes the place of a striking worker.

Grace Note

Oh. Huh.

Well, it's not so much an actual boycott or anything, so I don't think you'd be considered a scab.

Alain Pannetier

@GraceNote, that's actually worse than a boycott. It's a loss of interest.

z7sg

@GraceNote It's stuff that happens in the real world, not to worry. I don't think there is a computer game based around industrial relations.

RegDwight

Scab Typhoon 2011!

Grace Note

12:37 PM

@z7sg My life isn't entirely dominated by gaming, y'know. I do happen to work in the food industry.

RegDwight

Scab Thai-food 2011!

Alain Pannetier

@RegDwight, you're always complaining. Look at all the new faces who have recently expressed interest in the chat room instead.

Grace Note

@AlainPannetier It's part loss of interest, part high degrees of being lost, as far as I can tell. Lost as in, people who still have interest, don't know how to progress.

Robusto

@RegDwight — I dunno, I've always relied on Super Reg. The cape is kinda passé, but other than that ...

Grace Note

Every time I try to add any guidance to that effect, I usually get shot down by something Jeff said, or continues to say, so it hasn't been going too well.

z7sg

12:39 PM

@GraceNote :o) What sort of foods?

Grace Note

Which, in a sense, is still loss of interest anyway because it's a form of demotivation.

@z7sg We work with a wide range of clients. Cadbury, Tropicana, Dreyers, M&M-Mars, Lender's Bagels, Sheetz, and Pepsi just to name a random assortment.

Oh, and J.M. Smuckers. Note that you'll need to actually be familiar with these companies for any of what I just said to make any sense.

(So they are: confections, orange products, ice cream/desert, candy, bakery, bakery, soda, and fruit concoctions respectively)

z7sg

no health foods or anything like that then?

Grace Note

@z7sg We have had clients in the health food industry.

Matt Ellen

rabbit ~~health~~ food s

Grace Note

But keep in mind, most health food is kinda anti-industrial, y'know, for the whole purpose of fresh, organic quality and all that.

z7sg

12:43 PM

industrial food doesn't have to be unhealthy though

i don't really like sweet foods tbh. except ice-creams, sorbets and cheesecake

Rhodri

@GraceNote Sorry we keep putting you in such a horrid position, @Grace. You too, @Reg

Grace Note

@z7sg It doesn't have to be, but "machine processed" is not something that certain food companies want to advert. They like to advert how they're not machine processed.

Robusto

As Penn & Teller point out, organic farming can feed about 4 billion people on the earth. So which 3 billion do we want to do away with?

Rhodri

I planned to "move on" today, but I have no time.

z7sg

@Robusto How many French people are there?

Matt Ellen

12:44 PM

The half that don't eat organic

Robusto

Hmm ... why are we talking about strikes and strike-breaking?

Grace Note

@Rhodri No need to apologize, but thanks nonetheless for the sentiment.

Matt Ellen

@Robusto Margaret thatcher has proposed to close all the SE sites in the UK

z7sg

We can talk about anything... as long as it's incomprehensible.

Grace Note

I'm really the one who should say sorry for, y'know, meddling and all that.

Robusto

12:45 PM

@z7sg — Wow, that was, uh, rude. I like French people.

Alain Pannetier

@z7sg 60 millions give or take a few thousands

Rhodri

@Robusto But it was very English :-)

Robusto

@MattEllen — For what reason, pray tell?

z7sg

I like French people too really it's a common British joke.

Robusto

@Rhodri — Oh, Keerist. An Englishman is half a Frenchman already. That's why they can't stand each other. Sibling rivalry.

Matt Ellen

12:46 PM

@Robusto We can get cheaper Q&A from abroad.

Grace Note

@z7sg A common US and Canadian joke, no less.

Alain Pannetier

@z7sg, if you carry on like this we won't export snails or frog legs to England any more!

Matt Ellen

@AlainPannetier Then we shall keep all the roast beef!

Robusto

Any people whose national pastime includes great food, great wine, and great conversation gets a big +1 from me.

z7sg

@AlainPannetier As long as the camembert and the fine wine keep coming I'm happy.

Robusto

12:47 PM

Jinx.

Rhodri

@Robusto An Englishman is half a Norman. It's an important distinction.

Mmm. Camembert.

Alain Pannetier

@MattEllen, the roastbeef nickname is a reference to the colour of Brits on our beaches not to their staple diet :P

Matt Ellen

@AlainPannetier ah. that's both funny and insulting. good work

Robusto

@AlainPannetier — The Brits eat staples? I'm not surprised. Better than bangers and mash, I should think.

Grace Note

@Robusto Thanks, I've now merged the tunes for Staples and Subway together and it's driving me nuts.

Robusto

12:50 PM

But seriously, it's a myth that you can't get a good meal in England. You just have to go to a foreign restaurant.

Matt Ellen

@Robusto Or you just have start liking good food. Roast dinners are excellent, can't say I've had better off The Island.

Robusto

Feb 7 at 15:29, by Robusto

In heaven, the cooks are French, the engineers are German, and the police are English. In hell, the cooks are English, the engineers are French, and the police are German.

Grace Note

@Robusto This reminds me of a parody of this joke with relation to game development.

Rhodri

@Robusto So true. And in Wales, you can't even find a foreign restaurant.

Robusto

I think I may change my screen name to Rorschach:

►

Alain Pannetier

12:56 PM

Reminds me... that I used to smuggle French cheese in the US. Whole suitcases of them. One nice day, AA lost one of my suitcases for *a whole week* in Miami...
That stopped my business...

Grace Note

@AlainPannetier I recently bought some French cheese. I don't recall the kind, other than it was delicious.

Robusto

So why has Maggie got her knickers in a twist over SE sites?

Rhodri

@Robusto I doubt the old bat even knows of their existence.

Alain Pannetier

Since the last 10 or 20 years, Frenchies have discovered life abroad and there are now "colonies" of them in nice places all over the world.
The main ingredient of the expats-parties is often centred around bread cheese and wine.

@Rhodri, uh?

Matt Ellen

@Robusto Well, you know how it is. The Tories don't want to subsidise a free service that could be done off shore for considerably less money.

Rhodri

1:02 PM

17 mins ago, by Matt Ellen

@Robusto Margaret thatcher has proposed to close all the SE sites in the UK

Matt Ellen

They hate it when the free market doesn't give them what they want: more control

Robusto

@MattEllen — Well, I wonder if the phone-hacking scandal could bring down the current government.

Alain Pannetier

@Rhodri, she does not look like someone who likes jokes either ;-)

Rhodri

Anyway, no UK politician would be stupid enough to start something right now, not when they've got Murdoch out of the driver's seat.

Matt Ellen

@Robusto That would be an interesting turn of events!

@AlainPannetier I have been conflating the miners strikes of 1980s with the de-participation of some users from EL&U

Robusto

1:04 PM

guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/18/…

Already it's having serious repercussions.

Cameron looks vulnerable.

Rhodri

@Robusto Yes, this is the first time the Boy David has had to deal with something he can't blame on the LibDems.

Alain Pannetier

@MattEllen, I know "king Arthur's" story. Was just playing stoopid. Quite good at it...

Matt Ellen

@AlainPannetier Oh! yes you are :D

Or, at least ignorant

Alain Pannetier

;-)

Rhodri

OTOH, Milliband is on dodgy ground too. Labour were/are a lot cosier with News International than they are admitting.

Robusto

1:06 PM

@AlainPannetier — Speaking of political leadership, what is the post-Sarkozy France going to look like?

@Rhodri — But Cameron is looking red in tooth and claw.

Jez

►

Alain Pannetier

I"ll call myself a happy man if post Sarkozy is really post Sarkozy.

But France is still in the middle of a crisis whoever is at the rudder.

Rhodri

@Robusto Yup. It's quite entertaining, really.

Robusto

@AlainPannetier — Sounds like business as usual to me.

Alain Pannetier

1:26 PM

BRB technical/functional/we-want-money/we-don't-have-money meeting starting now.

Cerberus

Hi.

I hear Sarko is a fan of Berlusconi...

...who, in turn, is a fan of Putin.

And several of them have insulted Elizabeth.

Matt Ellen

@Cerberus Kill them all!

Rhodri

@Cerberus It figures. All three of them are "bread and circuses" types.

Cerberus

@MattEllen We should!

@Rhodri Very true! And at least two of them come from shady backgrounds.

Matt Ellen

@Cerberus I take you mean the reigning monarch of the UK and her commonwealth, rather than someone else called Elizabeth?

Cerberus

1:32 PM

Of course!

Matt Ellen

@Cerberus Then take their heads!

Cerberus

I believe Berlusconi one proceeded to make a phone call while she was waiting.

Matt Ellen

didn't want to be hasty ;-)

Cerberus

Hehe.

Jez

@Cerberus we call her QE2

Grace Note

1:35 PM

Ketoo

Cerberus

@Jez Somehow, that always makes me think of a ship...

RegDwight

@Cerberus That was Merkel, not Elizabeth.

Jez

@Cerberus or a hospital

Cerberus

@GraceNote Oh, is it pronounced like that? Hyacinth Bucket pronounces it kyoo-ee-too.

Jez

Ketoo sounds Japanese

Matt Ellen

1:40 PM

@Cerberus As do I

Grace Note

@Jez Only if you pronounce it in Japanese does it.

Matt Ellen

hi @JasperLoy

Cerberus

@RegDwight Hehe. Aww... despite her fickle stance towards nuclear energy, I still like her very much.

Grace Note

@Cerberus You could pronounce it that way. It'd be far less entertaining though.

user19161

@MattEllen Hi, is it lunch time at your work place now?

Cerberus

1:41 PM

@MattEllen And I! Good thing our Queens are probably cousins or something.

Matt Ellen

@JasperLoy Lunch finished an hour and 40 minutes ago

Cerberus

@GraceNote Understandable.

Matt Ellen

@Cerberus Undoubtedly :D

RegDwight

@Cerberus She's neutral like that. You can't not like her, because she does nothing herself, she delegates.

user19161

@MattEllen You shouldn't be skiving then, go back to work!

z7sg

1:44 PM

interesting that "you can't not" does not mean the same as "you can not not"

that second one doesn't really exist i guess

Jez

lol

it does mean the same as "you cannot not"

Matt Ellen

@JasperLoy :D I'm trying! Skiving is more fun

Cerberus

@RegDwight Well... Berlusconi is a self-proclaimed neutral too: he does exactly what opinion polls tell him to do and has no visons whatsoever of his own. I'm not under the impression that Merkel is the same; she is just the Cunctator of our age.

@z7sg Example sentences? You know the drill on ELU...

Grace Note

Merkel... Merkel... Germany's Merkel? Or is there another one?

z7sg

Sorry I've lost interest now that he words cunctor and cunctation have caught my eye!

user19161

1:48 PM

@z7sg I only know functor and punctuation!

Matt Ellen

when it comes to using unleaded petrol you cannot not

done!

Robusto

@Cerberus — You misspelled cun- — oh, never mind.

z7sg

@JasperLoy Now you know cunctatory too

Robusto

@GraceNote — Ich hab' keine andere Merkel bemerkt.

Matt Ellen

@Cerberus, you got at least 3 people looking up Cunctator. Well done.

z7sg

1:50 PM

Ah it seems that cunctor is not an English word but the others are.

Cerberus

@Robusto Hey, don't talk about her like that; she is in a way Germany's Queen.

Grace Note

@Robusto Despite the potential umlaut in my name, I don't really know German.

user19161

@robusto Thanks, I have learnt how to use the arrow here now.

Grace Note

@Cerberus Guess I got the right Merkel, then.

Robusto

@JasperLoy — That's why we go over this stuff.

Cerberus

1:51 PM

@MattEllen Yay! I never miss an occasion to teach some Latin...

Jez

@Cerberus That was a cunning stunt.

Robusto

@Cerberus — You Dutch ... always thinking everyone should have a queen.

Grace Note

@MattEllen I'd say to make that 4, but "at least" covers that.

Cerberus

@Jez Hmm now you're Robusting me...

@Robusto And right I am! They should.

Robusto

@Cerberus — The verb form is Robusting ... always drop the affix before adding -ing.

Cerberus

1:52 PM

@Robusto My apologies.

Grace Note

@Robusto How fitting

Cerberus

After all, how are European politics different from the Punic Wars?

Robusto

1 hour ago, by Robusto

►

z7sg

@Cerberus No elephants?

Cerberus

@z7sg Those perished at any rate.

Grace Note

1:54 PM

@Robusto Corporate block'd.

But I can fathom what it's a video of, given the previous message

Robusto

@GraceNote — Scene from Watchmen where Rorschach says "You don't seem to get it. I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with me!

Grace Note

@Robusto Ooh, nice to be validated. Thanks. ♪

Cerberus

@Robusto What a lovely scene.

Robusto

@Cerberus — Even without the unicorns.

z7sg

@Robusto Perhaps but unicorns always make scenes lovelier.

user19161

1:58 PM

@aedia I hope enjoyed dinner with @grace yesterday.

Grace Note

@JasperLoy The filet was delicious.

Cerberus

Oh, you know each in your physical forms?

Grace Note

@Cerberus No, we don't. We just departed for dinner at the same time last night.

Cerberus

Haha. ok.

user19161

@Cerberus Physical forms is ambiguous here.

Cerberus

2:02 PM

You know I didn't mean it like that...

I am a stickler for etiquette!

Robusto

@Cerberus — Well, the Tunisians don't burn their children anymore. I think.

Grace Note

@Cerberus Now I don't even know what kind of misinterpretation you're seeing there.

Cerberus

I should think not. Alas, monotheism has eradicated poor Baal.

@GraceNote "Know each other physically" => know each other in your physical forms...

Grace Note

@Cerberus So, know each other outside of the internet.

aedia

@JasperLoy It was great. The pub was too crowded, so we went to the local Indian place. And I have leftovers that I can't wait to eat tonight.

user19161

2:05 PM

@GraceNote Exactly, I had something else in mind.

Cerberus

Well... knowing someone physically is supposed to have a certain connotation. I believe it came from Biblical euphemism.

Grace Note

I've always found "physical" to be a lot better a term than "real life", since, y'know, the Internet does happen to exist on the same real plane we live in.

@Cerberus Oh. One of those things that always goes over my head. Gotcha.

user19161

@Cerberus I was referring to the physical form of their avatars!

Cerberus

@aedia That is such a great feeling!

@GraceNote It becomes you.

@JasperLoy Oh, haha, then we have a triple entendre?

aedia

My sweet little innocents. We need to get @Kit back in here to corrupt you.

Cerberus

2:07 PM

Absolutely!

She would know how to handle the herd, or whatever you are.

Flock?

What do horses do?

user19161

@Cerberus That sounds like a menage a trois.

aedia

@Cerberus With all your heads, I'm not sure how many entendres that is.

Cerberus

Three is a nice number.

Grace Note

@aedia From my perspective, having Kit in here will only result in a torrent of thwacking.

RegDwight

I like turtles.

z7sg

2:09 PM

It's more than two, which is clearly not enough, and less than four which is too much! Five is right out!

Robusto

@aedia — Despite his multiple heads, @Cerberus remains a master of the single entendre.

user19161

@RegDwight I like owls and viscachas too.

Robusto

@Cerberus — Some think it is positively divine.

aedia

@Cerberus Um. Herd, band, or mob for horses according to Wikipedia, but the only term of venery I find for unicorns is a blessing.

Grace Note

@Cerberus Apparently, it's a "stable of horses". Not sure if the building is influenced by the word, or vice versa.

Cerberus

2:11 PM

@Robusto I'll take that as a compliment.

@aedia Aww...

@GraceNote Stable comes from Latin.

Grace Note

@Cerberus Wiktionary is the lose, then. Also conflicts with Wikipedia, to boot.

Cerberus

Stabula, unless I am mistaken.

Grace Note

I would've expected them to be in alignment.

user19161

I really don't like wiktionary, but reg likes it.

Cerberus

@GraceNote Huh? It doesn't come from Latin?

Grace Note

2:14 PM

@Cerberus I don't know. I just looked at the "Appendix of Collective Nouns". It doesn't tell you the origins, just that there's a difference between the sloths you need to be careful of, and those you don't.

Cerberus

OED says:

> L. stabulum (also pop.L. stabula pl. used as fem. sing.) stable, stall, enclosure or fold for animals, lit. standing place

Ah, ok.

aedia

@GraceNote Ooh, that appendix also says a "glory of unicorns".

You hear that, @z7sg? We're almost enough for a glory or a blessing. Maybe we are enough. It's not too specific.

z7sg

I think we're a blessing... a glory to me implies a rather more numerically impressive collection of unicorns than two.

I'm happy enough with that though! :D

Jez

2:37 PM

Grace Note

Can the Uncanny Valley be used to refer to objects that aren't specifically humanoid but just on the realm of realism? Because I'd totally reference that right now.

Jez

aedia

shivers

Grace Note

Oh, hey, I remember that image from when I was doing research for my paper from a few years back

Jez

hmm this is interesting

upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/…

That solid black line; what is still, but has 'more human likeness' than a corpse?

aedia

2:47 PM

@Jez Are you asking non-rhetorically? Corpse is supposed to be at the bottom. I would think maybe "person in a coma" would fall a little to the right, maybe where they've plotted "prosthetic hand".

But this specific chart is just hypothesized emotional response. Not a lot of research yet. It's hard to do research where you intentionally disturb people, much less scare them with zombies.

Jez

a person in a coma appears the same as a corpse

in neutral surroundings

user19161

@Jez What is the picture of the woman all about?

Jez

an android which is in or just beyond the uncanny valley

user19161

Oh dear I thought she was real...

Jez

i like this un:

►

arrrghhh! get the lights off.. show's over, folks

that's The Power Of Dreams (tm).

Robusto

2:53 PM

@Jez — Hey, I have a patent and a copyright on all dream-related materials.

Jez

hahahaha

►

that robot is just a joke isn't it?

Cerberus

@Jez Aww... that is sad.

aedia

@Jez It kinda depends but for observers to think a person in coma is the same as a corpse, the person in coma would need to be in deep coma with respiration affected. Otherwise, they'd be more alive looking.

@Jez Ohhh I feel bad for the little robot.

I guess since I feel bad, he didn't fall into the uncanny valley.

Jez

but you are a unicorn

aedia

I can fly. I know better than to fall into the uncanny valley.

This question is hurting my lack of coffee.

0

Q: Aren't the double verbs "to be" in "..., which is what the X is about" redundant?

Sometimes I find sentences that have the following pattern: [clause], which is what [noun] is [optional phrase]. For example: I had just read about a five-petaled rose in the book, the major symbol in a book of symbols, because it represents the Holy Grail, which is what the book is...

verbs redundancy

Rhodri

3:07 PM

It's not redundant. it's just stacked clauses.

"...which is [what the book is about]"

Grace Note

It's an awkward way to phrase things but I think it's valid all the same.

Jez

awkward?

Grace Note

@Jez I might be misreading the second example.

But specifying something, then using the lengthy "which is what [it] really is" to define it seems like something that could be done without so much extension.

aedia

@Jez Which is what it is.

Jez

I am what I am.

aedia

3:12 PM

A yam, what a yam!

Matt Ellen

@aedia A yam? What a yam?

Jez

jasper's hopping in and out of chat like a kangaroo

Grace Note

"I am someone who makes bread for a living, which is what a baker really is", compared to "I am someone who makes bread for a living, also known as a baker" or any number of similar constructs of similar smoothness.

RegDwight

0

Q: Looking for an adjective describing a system with small number of assumptions (or rules)

I am looking for a word that can be used to describe a system (or a model) with a small number of rules or assumptions. For example, the number of grammatical rules in Japanese is much lower than in Russian. The meaning I want is close to: concise, succinct or terse, except that these words spec...

single-word-requests adjectives

Alain Pannetier

@Jez Malheureux, ne prononcez pas ce mot ici....

RegDwight

3:14 PM

Linguist needed to fix all the awful misconceptions.

@nohat @JSBangs.

aedia

@RegDwight I tried to make it readable but I've no hope of answering it.

RegDwight

It's just rubbish the way it's formulated, but a good answer would address that.

Rhodri

@GraceNote I prefer the first one, to be honest. It's the OP's first example that is a horror of twisty clauses, all alike.

Grace Note

@Rhodri Well, the first example is just nyargh so I figured I'd just not touch it at all.

RegDwight

Japanese is less inflecting than Russian, but that doesn't mean that it has less grammer.

I should be pinging @Robusto as well.

Matt Ellen

3:17 PM

@RegDwight Are you debating the validity of the assumption?

Grace Note

@RegDwight For a second I thought that was a subtle hint to correct a typo.

RegDwight

@MattEllen Yes.

Matt Ellen

ah

RegDwight

I think I must comment.

Rhodri

I think JSB is away for a few more days, isn't he?

aedia

3:17 PM

JSB is on sabbatical, right?

Rhodri

Jinx!

Alain Pannetier

@aedia Many regular users have entered a Lint.

aedia

@Rhodri Here you go...

►

Rhodri

@AlainPannetier Ow! THWACK

Robusto

@RegDwight — Yes, it has less grammar. That's one of the nice things about it.

I think every other language has less grammar than Russian, btw. But that's just me.

RegDwight

3:22 PM

I disagree.

Robusto

About which?

RegDwight

First of all, I need a definition of what counts as a "grammar rule" and what doesn't, and who counts them and where I can check if he's wrong.

Otherwise it's a complex question.

Robusto

@RegDwight — Just like a Commie, to introduce rules after the game has already started.

RegDwight

Well, playing by the rules that were in place when the game started, I am allowed to do anything.

user19161

@RegDwight The question does not specifically refer to grammatical rules but only uses that as an example.

RegDwight

3:25 PM

@JasperLoy That's what I asked to clarify in a comment.

The question does not know what it's about.

I hope the OP does.

Matt Ellen

@RegDwight Good point. I only answered the question posed on the last line.

Grace Note

@MattEllen Yay for descriptive qualifiers!

Matt Ellen

@GraceNote I do love them so

Robusto

Japanese does have verb inflections, but they aren't affected by gender, number, whether the sky is cloudy or clear, or what you had for breakfast this morning.

user19161

@MattEllen I may interpret syntactically concise to mean that the syntax is concise, and not the rules.

Grace Note

3:29 PM

@Robusto Don't forget whether the person you're speaking to is Rock or Grass type

Matt Ellen

@JasperLoy I believe the syntax to be the rules

user19161

@GraceNote What is rock and grass???

RegDwight

@Robusto Russian does have verb inflections, but they aren't affected by politeness, social status, whether the sky is cloudy or clear, or what you had for breakfast this morning.

Robusto

The hard part about learning Japanese is not the grammar or vocabulary. It's learning what social register to use in what context. Then it can be maddeningly difficult.

Jinx!

Grace Note

Very quite so

Matt Ellen

3:30 PM

@JasperLoy Pokémon?

RegDwight

Mar 4 at 12:57, by RegDwight

Russian also has exactly one pronoun for "I".

Robusto

I found Russian much more difficult than Japanese. There.

user19161

@RegDwight Is that a drink to thank Robusto?

RegDwight

9 mins ago, by RegDwight

I disagree.

There.

Grace Note

@Robusto That terrifies me to imagine, and has probably successfully scared me from trying to pursue Russian any more.

RegDwight

3:32 PM

Your loss.

Robusto

One of the simpler things about Russian was the zero copula. But that exists in Japanese as well.

RegDwight

That one is nice.

@JasperLoy It's a drink I owe him because he said Jinx and I didn't.

Robusto

You don't have to say desu or da. Sore wa neko. Means "that is a cat." So does Sore wa neko desu.

RegDwight

In garage car.

Perfectly valid sentence in Russian.

z7sg

Yeah Russian is like, so easy-peasy.

Robusto

3:34 PM

@RegDwight — You misspelled "English" ... and "valid" ...

RegDwight

@Robusto You misspelled RedDwight.

Robusto

@RegDwight — No, you did. You should change it in your profile. Then everyone wouldn't be so confused.

RegDwight

You mean "invalid"?

Matt Ellen

Perfectly English valid in Russian?

user19161

@RegDwight It is very hard to spell, you should change your name to dwig.

RegDwight

3:35 PM

I can't let Grace have its way like that.

user19161

Now you are referring to Grace as its...

RegDwight

I am still not quite sure how "valid" constitutes a misspelling of "valid". Oh well. Perhaps in Russian it does. I dunno.

Grace Note

@JasperLoy A pronoun that puts me on the same level as self-propelled artillery is a major positive in my book!

aedia

@JasperLoy You know how to tab-complete? You should only need to type @Re followed by the tab key if Reg is in the room :)

Matt Ellen

see you sockers!

Robusto

3:38 PM

@RegDwight — Hey, you're the one who typed an English sentence and called it Russian. It was a crummy English sentence, but I saw no Russian words in it.

Cerberus

@aedia Oh, nice!

RegDwight

@Robusto В гараже машина.

There, go get yourself drunk or something.

Robusto

@RegDwight — Thank you.

RegDwight

Не за что.

aedia

@Cerberus You can do it with just the first letter and tab through the matches, but I like to type until I'm down to just one that matches. It helps reduce mix-ups.

Robusto

3:40 PM

@RegDwight — It actually takes more than that to get me drunk. I know, I know, I can smell the vodka on your breath, but that doesn't raise my blood-alcohol level.

RegDwight

Kids these days. Tab here, tab there, la-di-da. I still type "ShreevatsaR" and "kiamlaluno" by hand, uphill, both ways, barefoot in the snow.

Cerberus

I usually type @Aed as that works too.

Robusto

@RegDwight — Before breakfast?

RegDwight

@Robusto Then it's not really my breath you're smelling.

Cerberus

@RegDwight Really? And you flog yourself on weekdays too?

Robusto

3:42 PM

@RegDwight — Then I'm confused about what you were offering.

RegDwight

@Cerberus I would reply, but typing Cerberus takes too much time. I have to look up if it's Ker or Cer, and us or os. It's a nuisance, really.

aedia

@RegDwight And do your division out longhand with a pencil stub? By candlelight?

user19161

@RegDwight Yes, and I don't store any history in my browser. I always type out every address in full.

Cerberus

I feel your pain. It was a tough choice at the time. But even at 17 I could see that the Latin spelling is superior.

@JasperLoy Crazy! I have everything in bookmark keywords, and the rest I Google.

user19161

@Cerberus I practise simplicity in all things, no unnecessary clutter or storage. Of course I omit the http://

Robusto

3:46 PM

@RegDwight — Just for the record, your answer is message #1386666 ... that's like Satan 3.0.

Rhodri

@RegDwight stevemacdonald.org/lyrics/wiwab.html

user19161

Oh dear, we have this unclear question again.english.stackexchange.com/questions/33608/…

aedia

@Cerberus I admire your wisdom. I have spent much time replacing the (embarrassing in retrospect) Star Wars references I chose as internet handles in my younger years.

Cerberus

@JasperLoy You omite the http://!? Heresy!

@aedia Aww, how did that work? Sounds cute.

user19161

@aedia I prefer the Star Wars to unicorns, but use what you like.

aedia

3:56 PM

@JasperLoy See, at least the unicorn is unique. Like the standard gravatar but a little more special. And when I use this name (or some places I use my real name) it's not, well, representing myself as nothing but a fan of a particular movie.

Grace Note

@aedia Instead you're nothing but a fan of unicornify ♪

aedia

@Cerberus I was Obi-Wan (though since I never managed to dress as him, I always had shamefully stolen photos)...

user19161

@aedia What movie? I looked it up and I thought aedia is a butterfly, not a unicorn.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aedia

Cerberus

Aww cute.

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…