English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

user19161

12:12 AM

@kiam You are still in chat? Thought you would be asleep now.

user19161

@Mahnax Good. Maybe you can finish the book this week.

Cerberus

@aediaλ But I like doing catering! I mean, it's food!

user19161

@Cerberus Well, food not equals catering. QED

user19161

@Cerberus Do you prefer coffee or tea, and with or without milk?

Cerberus

You already know that!

I always drink tea with milk.

user19161

12:23 AM

@Cerberus OK. I do all four kinds.

Mahnax

@JasperLoy I answered a question about typography just now.

user19161

@Mahnax I just gave you some presents!

Mahnax

@JasperLoy Yay, merry Christmas!

user19161

@Mahnax Happy New Year! Boo!

Mahnax

@JasperLoy Oh, dinnertime. Be back soon!

Mahnax

12:51 AM

Hmm, review, review, review away.

Kitḫ

Hola.

Mahnax

Hello.

Kitḫ

Good lord. It's a bloody good thing I wasn't here for the birth control conversation.

Mahnax

Yeah, that was the part of the day where I chose to stay far, far away from here, for the most part.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

0

Q: Pence: Do we use them?

I have encountered a article in Dictionary.com that says that "pennies" are not used when referring to sum of the money; rather the coins themselves. It went on to say that the term "pence" was used to refer to the sum of the money. I was rather dubious about this statement, partially because I n...

word-usage

I kinda wonder what he did hear during his stay in the US.

Mahnax

12:57 AM

He is still in the US.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

"The total is twenty-five dollars and eighty-four pennies".

Mahnax

Here in Canada, we say cents. Not pennies or pence.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Well fair enough but that's beside the point.

Mahnax

Yeah, I would never say pennies there. If I couldn't say cents, I would say pence.

Cerberus

@RegDwightѬſ道 Huh?

Kitḫ

1:00 AM

He's more or less right, yah?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Huh what?

@Kitḫ Um, how so?

Kitḫ

Either cents or pence, but not pennies.

When referring to the amount.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Well my point exactly.

But the OP says the exact opposite thing.

Kitḫ

Oh. Really? Did I read it wrong? Lemme see...

Cerberus

He is saying, "people say it should be pence in a sum of money, but I hear everyone in the US say cents, and I am not interested in UK money".

Mahnax

1:02 AM

@RegDwightѬſ道 He is even younger than I am. That's no excuse, though.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Cerberus I fail to see where he says that.

And if he says that, then he just reads the article from Dictionary.com wrong.

Cerberus

@RegDwightѬſ道 The "cents" bit is my conjecture.

@Kitḫ Just to be sure, how often do people in America use "pence"?

Kitḫ

@RegDwightѬſ道 Yeah, no, I'm pretty sure he says "that "pennies" are not used when referring to sum of the money; rather the coins themselves."

RegDwight Ѭſ道

"Dictionary.com says that 'pennies' are not used when referring to sum of the money; rather the coins themselves. It went on to say that the term 'pence' was used to refer to the sum of the money."

Cerberus

I don't think I've ever heard it.

Kitḫ

1:03 AM

@Cerberus Never.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

The second sentence must not be read as a standalone one.

Cerberus

Exactly.

Kitḫ

But Brits say it, don't they?

Cerberus

They do; but he is looking for it in America.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

But why???

Cerberus

1:03 AM

That is the question!

The real one.

And the answer is not a nice thing to say.

Is anyone preparing an answer?

Mahnax

Nah. Well, maybe.

Cerberus

Yes?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

I fail to see how there can be an answer.

Kitḫ

Right. Dictionary.com says the plural of penny is pence. We don't use pence in the US. We use the abbreviated "cents" instead.

Cerberus

The answer is: you fail to understand that pence is used only in countries where they use pounds (probably).

Mahnax

1:06 AM

Okay, who wants to make an answer, if anyone?

Cerberus

I'll do it, then.

Mahnax

Have fun. Give us credit, eh? Haha.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Kitḫ Dictionary.com also keeps saying British, British, British.

Kitḫ

@Cerberus Is that true? Is that because there are not one hundred pennies in a pound?

@RegDwightѬſ道 I know. Why is it only British? Rather odd, don't you think?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

I don't care.

I am trying to understand how this is a real question.

Kitḫ

1:08 AM

Well, I think it is interesting.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Yes, but that is not what is being asked.

Cerberus

@Kitḫ There are 100 pennies in a pound now, but they used 1:20:12 until maybe the eighties.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

I fail to see where Dictionary.com is wrong.

Kitḫ

And I bet "cents" replaced "pence" because it is short for "percent" whereas there used to be 240 pence in a pound, not 100.

Cerberus

The reason is probably just that the words pound and penny are used together, and dollar with cent.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

1:09 AM

All I can see so far is the OP reading it wrong.

Cerberus

@RegDwightѬſ道 It isn't.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Well, then it's not a real question.

The premise is flawed.

Cerberus

@Kitḫ True, probably.

Kitḫ

Well, I think that's interesting. I never thought about it before.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

And it is interesting. But it is not what is being asked.

Kitḫ

1:11 AM

And "percents" can be paid with coins other than pennies, like nickels.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

If you want to edit the question into shape, by all means do.

user19161

@mahnax Thanks for the presents!

Kitḫ

I don't. I don't care about the question.

Mahnax

@JasperLoy Merry Christmas.

Kitḫ

I am just suddenly interested in this thing I never thought about before.

Mahnax

1:11 AM

I can't be bothered to do it either, really.

user19161

@Mahnax It's only eleven months away.

Mahnax

@JasperLoy Or -10 days away.

user19161

@Mahnax I wish I could reverse time. I would like to go back 16 years and do some things differently. Then things would be very different now.

Mahnax

@JasperLoy Yes, indeed they would be different. But for the time being, time travel is not a possibility.

We must accept our circumstances and make our best effort to change them, should the need arise.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Well I'm spending my stam and going to bed.

user19161

1:15 AM

@Mahnax I am reading sonic's question now. Why the downvotes?

Mahnax

@JasperLoy He kind of misread the sources.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

He quotes two sentences, then throws away the first and looks just at the second out of context.

Mahnax

I was trying to be nice, but yeah. What Reg said.

user19161

@RegDwightѬſ道 OK owls have very good eyesight.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Yeah. Owls never overlook the word "British" in articles they read.

user19161

1:18 AM

@RegDwightѬſ道 It is way past your bedtime.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

I have two wars on my hands.

Luckily one will be over in three minutes.

user19161

@Mahnax I know that too.

Mahnax

@JasperLoy Good good.

user19161

@RegDwightѬſ道 Just don't get blood onto your hands.

Kitḫ

Oh. War?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

1:21 AM

Duh.

Kitḫ

Shall I put a bar into Lightbringers?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

A very close one as a matter of fact.

Yes, please, that would be totally sugar of you.

Kitḫ

smooch I love it when you talk that way.

Mahnax

Yay! My answer about the dagger/asterisk squabble was accepted.

user19161

@Mahnax I heavily re-edited the pence question without changing the meaning.

Mahnax

1:29 AM

@JasperLoy Okay, I'll take a look.

Formatting is much improved, but I think that I will leave my vote where it is.

user19161

@Mahnax Once I spent half an hour doing one edit.

Mahnax

@JasperLoy Woah. I could imagine someone doing that on SO, for a question riddled with incorrectly formatted code, grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors, but here?

Hi @simchona.

simchona

@Mahnax Hi

Mahnax

@simchona How are you today?

simchona

I'm glad there was lengthy discussion on the pence question. I wanted to make sure I wasn't the only one who thought it...wasn't great

@Mahnax I'm good. Still several hours of awake-ness left for me

user19161

1:34 AM

@Mahnax I mentioned time travel because you said negative ten days.

Mahnax

@JasperLoy Oh, I see.

user19161

@Mahnax Slow.

user19161

1

Q: Is "I hear you" impatient or sympathetic?

I have several times come across the phrase "I hear you" (spoken in response to, e.g., someone relating an experience of theirs), but I haven't been able to figure out whether it signifies a polite impatience or whether it implies understanding (or some of each). How should I use this phrase, an...

meaning phrases

Mahnax

@simchona Hmm, that would mean that you most likely live in North America, but who knows these days, with all the weird sleep schedules people have.

@JasperLoy What do you mean, slow?

simchona

@Mahnax US. I think my profile says as much

user19161

1:36 AM

@Mahnax Only Cerb and I are nocturnal I guess.

Mahnax

@simchona Oh, I didn't even check.

user19161

@simchona It also says you own google.com.

Mahnax

I don't think to anymore because it's more fun to guess and people lie on there all the time.

simchona

@JasperLoy Maybe I do.

Mahnax

@simchona Can I have your autograph?

user19161

1:37 AM

@simchona And that you are just trying to figure it all out, where it is not defined.

simchona

@Mahnax scribbles on computer screen

Mahnax

@simchona Yay!

simchona

@JasperLoy I'm not sure me defining my life for you is the best option, given prior events.

Mahnax

it = Life, The Universe, and Everything.

user19161

@simchona No need to sound so serious.

Daniel δ

1:41 AM

data.stackexchange.com/english/s/106/…

@mods: Do you check on this sometimes?

simchona

Perceived stalking? Kind of serious.

Mahnax

@Danielδ Hmm, interesting. Ping Reg about it, I think he's in here.

Daniel δ

data.stackexchange.com/english/s/2335/…

Or this?

Kitḫ

Oh that.

Probably a bunch of users who haven't linked their SE accounts.

simchona

@Kitḫ A lot of them seem to have the same name anyway--so not sock puppets

Kitḫ

1:44 AM

Exactly.

simchona

I had fun reading the lowest voted MSO posts last night. Some of them are repeated "I'm not a sock puppet, really!" posts

Mahnax

MSO is probably my second favourite SE site.

user19161

@simchona OK now I know.

Mahnax

What's a nice colour/font scheme for a website?

Kitḫ

Blues, greens, and grays.

Mahnax

1:51 AM

Hmm, and what font with that?

Kitḫ

Georgia. Book Antiqua. I don't know. What's the site for?

simchona

@Mahnax Comic sans and Papyrus.

Mahnax

@simchona Ugh, I hate Comic Sans.

@Kitḫ I think I'm just going to build an empty website for fun.

Kitḫ

Have you seen the website? Damn, I can't remember it.

simchona

@Mahnax It was purely sarcastic. All my graphic design friends hate Papyrus.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

1:52 AM

Zombo.com!

Mahnax

Mostly to play around with more advanced CSS techniques.

Kitḫ

@Mahnax Oh. Well, then it's hard to really give advice.

Sort of like saying "What color paint and furniture should I put in this room?"

Mahnax

@Kitḫ Yeah, I know.

Kitḫ

"I don't know. What do you want to use it for?"

Mahnax

@RegDwightѬſ道 What the...‽‽‽‽

Kitḫ

1:55 AM

bancomicsans.com/main

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Mahnax Are you trying to say that you are not familiar with zombo.com?

Mahnax

@RegDwightѬſ道 Well, I've heard of it. I just went there now. I want more!

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Well you must wait a little bit.

Then you will be able to buy a T-shirt.

Kitḫ

You can do anything at Zombo.com! Anything at all!

Mahnax

Haha, okay.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

1:57 AM

WELCOME!!!!

Mahnax

This is Zombo.com!

Kitḫ

The infinite is possible at Zombo.com!

RegDwight Ѭſ道

And welcome!

simchona

Is it supposed to take a million years to load?

Kitḫ

Welcome to Zombo.com!

@simchona Do you have your audio on?

Mahnax

1:58 AM

@simchona Teehee.

The unattainable is unknown at Zombo.com!

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@simchona Sorry, Kith, Mahnax and I are running a DOS attack against it.

simchona

@Mahnax I didn't, so I turned it on. Turning it off again.

Kitḫ

The only limit is yourself!

Mahnax

@simchona Heh.

Kitḫ

I think I should let that run in the background while coding.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

1:59 AM

18 minutes left. I start sniping and then you'll be rid of me.

Kitḫ

Oh right! The war!

Mahnax

0

Q: Is there a standard word that describes the expanded version of an acronym?

The title says it all. Say you have an acronym like WGAM (women get angry in the morning). What do you call the part in parentheses?

single-word-requests terminology acronyms

Dupe.

Kitḫ

Hehe.

simchona

That was fast. Seven minutes.

Kitḫ

What?

Who?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

2:02 AM

I used to close questions within twenty seconds of them getting posted.

simchona

@RegDwightѬſ道 BAM.

Kitḫ

Glory days.

Then he started leaving them up to us.

Then the bad things happened, and everyone was sad.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Yeah. Speaking of BAM, I'm not here, I gotta kill kill kill.

simchona

> The title says it all.

Kitḫ

Right. I'm with you, cappy.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

2:03 AM

@simchona That's my favorite ABBA song.

simchona

@RegDwightѬſ道 I hate when people write that in questions.

Kitḫ

Fight now, chat later. Come on, ladies! Lock and load!

RegDwight Ѭſ道

2:17 AM

Very nice job. And I'm out for today.

Night all!

Kitḫ

Good night!

Mahnax

Night!

simchona

0

Q: Origin of "Make someday today"

I guess there are other variations for this expression that one can google out on the Internet such as "Make today your someday" and "Make that someday today". However, is it possible to find out its origin?

etymology slang common-expressions

Some part of me doesn't think this is a good question.

Mahnax

@simchona I get that feeling all the time.

Kitḫ

Meh. It seems legit, but doesn't show any effort and the user has a low accept rate.

simchona

2:19 AM

I see no effort. I'm tired. Trigger finger activating.

kiamlaluno

@Cerberus The computer never sleeps; I just forgot to close the tab where the chat lives it.

Mahnax

I recently earned the badge "Suffrage". I feel like some sort of women's rights activist now.

Oh hi @Kiam.

And there's @Jasper again!

kiamlaluno

@Mahnax Hi.

user19161

@mahnax I just sent you something, check your inbox.

Mahnax

@JasperLoy Okay.

user19161

2:24 AM

@kiamlaluno You are still awake?

kiamlaluno

@Cerberus I am sorry, I picked you by mistake. I was trying to reply to a post for me from somebody else.

@JasperLoy That depends from how you use still; I slept 8 hours, or more.

OK, maybe it's 6 hours.

Robusto

@Cerberus: Doggy, you awake?

user19161

@Robusto Probably falling asleep at this time.

Robusto

Nevah!

Cerberus

@kiamlaluno No prob!

@Robusto Always!

user19161

2:36 AM

@Cerberus Clearly not true.

Kitḫ

@Cerberus licks

Cerberus

@Kitḫ slobbers

@JasperLoy Prove it!

Mahnax

@JasperLoy He must always be awake if he is to effectively guard the gates to the Underworld.

user19161

@Mahnax Just replied again.

user19161

@Cerberus Though I understand that expression was just a hyperbole.

Kitḫ

2:38 AM

I thought it was parabole.

Cerberus

A symbol.

kiamlaluno

(I thought it was an underbole.)

Cerberus

Or...a mystery?

Mahnax

@JasperLoy Selvä.

user19161

@Mahnax You always make me look things up.

Mahnax

2:43 AM

@JasperLoy You looking that word up probably would not have done any good.

The first definition in Google Translate is clear, whereas in spoken Finnish, it means OK.

Ah look, another new person.

Cerberus

Is anyone using Libre Office?

Mahnax

@Cerberus I have before.

Cerberus

And did you like it?

Mahnax

Well, it wasn't amazing (and I've only tried the word-processing bit so far), but as far as free Office-esque programs go, it's pretty good.

Unfortunately, it's a little touchy and sometimes things get weird.

user19161

@Cerberus It's installed but I have not really used it before.

Cerberus

2:47 AM

Hmm.

@Mahnax Do you remember anything in particular?

user19161

@Cerberus In any case libreoffice is better than openoffice.

Cerberus

You have noticed an improvement?

I know LO is a fork.

simchona

-1

Q: *Compared to*: Preposition or dangling participle?

I got these examples from the COCA. Which, if any, strike you as prepositions? Compared to ICS alone, there was a significantly greater improvement in FEV1 with the addition of LABA. Compared to the United States, there is greater interest in exchange of ideas and in cooperative research on po...

prepositions participle

I feel like I'm being asked to do homework.

Cerberus

Hi Sim!

user19161

@Cerberus I read many reviews and compared the differences. My answer is forget about openoffice, it's dead.

Robusto

2:49 AM

@Cerberus Can you get on Chatzy for a sec?

simchona

@Cerberus Hi!

user19161

@Mahnax Replied.

Cerberus

@JasperLoy Yeah I'd read the same.

@Robusto OK.

user19161

@Cerberus Oracle made a big mistake and caused the developers to leave. Essentially all the developers went over to libreoffice which has many new features.

Mahnax

@Cerberus I tried to make a numbered list with a lettered list inside of it, that failed miserably.

Cerberus

2:54 AM

@JasperLoy Yeah I know, but I don't know how substantial those new features are.

user19161

@Mahnax I fail using Microsoft Office too, so sometimes I try to do things manually or rewrite the whole thing.

Cerberus

@Mahnax Hmm and do you generally succeed with that in Word?

Mahnax

@Cerberus Haha, I have not used Word for anything more than just writing paragraphs stuff in ages, I always use Mac's Pages. However, when I tried Word 2007, I couldn't (and still can't) get half the crap to work.

@JasperLoy Me too!

user19161

@Mahnax You will be using latex soon!

Cerberus

Ah, that must be due to the infamous ribbon.

I have never seen it live. I use XP and Word 2003.

I see no reason to switch.

New ≠ better.

user19161

2:57 AM

@Cerberus 2007 is much better, but of course there are even newer versions now.

Cerberus