English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

> Diet - nuts, acorns, berries and fruits from trees, fresh plant shoots and buds. Bird eggs are taken where possible, as are baby birds, from the nests.

Carnivorous rodents?

Never heard of carnivorous squirls. Gosh.

Alenanno

@tchrist Omnivorous rather... But even mice eat meat occasionally.

tchrist

@Alenanno Are insects meat?

I can imagine mice eating insects.

Hummingbirds do.

Alenanno

6:11 PM

@tchrist Well perhaps they don't hunt LOL but I suppose that if they found some dead stuff they'd chomp on it. Ew.

Let's talk about rainbows now.

Mahnax

Good morning.

Alenanno

@Mahnax Evening!

Mahnax

@Alenanno Yeah, Italy, right?

Alenanno

@Mahnax Affirmative!

Mahnax

@Alenanno Neat. Lived there your whole life?

Alenanno

6:13 PM

@Mahnax Yes, of course. :)

Mahnax

@Alenanno Sounds like fun. I'd like to see Italy some day.

Alenanno

@Mahnax Got any place in mind?

In particular I mean.

tchrist

American red squirrels are primarily granivores, but incorporate other food items into their diets opportunistically.[6]
In the Yukon, extensive behavioral observations suggest white spruce seeds (Picea glauca) comprise over 50% of a red squirrel's diet,[9] but squirrels have also been observed eating spruce buds and needles, mushrooms, willow (Salix sp.) leaves, poplar (Populus sp.) buds and catkins, bearberry (Arctostaphylos sp.) flowers and berries, and animal material such as bird eggs or even snowshoe hare leverets (young).[10]

Mahnax

Probably just the major cities, and a bit of countryside here and there.

tchrist

They eat baby bunnies!

Mahnax

6:15 PM

Florence, Rome, Venice, etc.

Alenanno

@tchrist :O D:

tchrist

> American red squirrels eat a variety of mushroom species, including some that are deadly to humans.[13] They clip and gather truffles and other fungi and place them amongst the branches of trees to dry them in the sun.[14][15][16]

Alenanno

@Mahnax Nice! :)

tchrist

They eat poison mushrooms, too.

Mahnax

@Alenanno Yeah! I might be able to visit at least one of those places when I go on my after-high school Europe vacation.

tchrist

6:20 PM

Alenanno

@Mahnax Not bad. :P

Mahnax

@tchrist Er, it's… lovely.

tchrist

I wonder that I don’t like the Mochi-Mochi hat more.

Mahnax

@Alenanno Haha, thank you?

Alenanno

@Mahnax Hey that's cool! I'd like to visit overseas too.

tchrist

6:21 PM

See what I mean?

Mahnax

@Alenanno Travel is one of my favourite things. For example, this summer I'm going to Finland for a month with my family.

Alenanno

@Mahnax Who doesn't like it... But isn't it going to cost you a bit... too much? :D I mean flying over here.

Mahnax

@Alenanno Well, flights to Finland are cheap right now, and I won't mind shelling out some money for plane tickets down the road. It's worth it IMO.

Alenanno

@Mahnax Below $500?

Mahnax

@Alenanno I'm not sure. It's more than that with taxes though.

Taxes and surcharges on flights are often in the neighbourhood of several hundred dollars.

tchrist

6:28 PM

Here are the secret hats we know about so far.

@Mahnax Hm, are you sure? I know they can kick up there a good ways, but that seems a mite high.

Alenanno

@Mahnax A single ticket from here to the U.S. is at least 700. Then you get to 1000, etc.

Mahnax

@tchrist When you go international it can get pretty crazy sometimes.

Robusto

International?

Question for ELU: Can I use irrational and international interchangeably? How about irrchangeably.

Johan Larsson

why are comments not mandatory on downvotes?

Mahnax

Anonymous voting.

Robusto

6:34 PM

Because it would violate the unreasonable search and seizure amendment.

Johan Larsson

@Mahnax ok you got a point, anonymous comment?

Robusto

Hmm, how would that work? Downvoting this question because I don't like you and never did. — anonymous, just now

tchrist

People are always demanding comments on downvotes. It really is not going to happen.

Because they take such great personal offence to them.

Mahnax

Yeah. It won't happen, thankfully.

tchrist

And they need to shake that mentality.

Robusto

6:36 PM

Downvoting because I am jealous of your reps and you said something mean to me once. — anonymous, just now

3

tchrist

@Robusto You know the morphology doesn’t work that way.

@Robusto I guess that explains your stalker brigade, now doesn’t it?

Robusto

Morphology makes me sleepy.

Johan Larsson

@Robusto but that would be a good reason for mandatory comments?

tchrist

You cannot follow irr- with a consonant.

Robusto

I prefer to be in the arms of Morpheus.

@tchrist Thank you for pointing that out. I will henceforth make all my jokes morphologically correct.

tchrist

6:39 PM

292

Q: Encouraging people to explain down-votes

I used to get "upset" (though that is too strong a term) when I got down-voted without comment. If my answer isn't good enough then I'd like to know why. Not only does it improve the answer for the OP but it improves my knowledge too. Where the down-vote has been explained I've found it useful &...

Strange starboard we have here. We still have Matt’s gay-sex-instruction-manual animated gif of the helicopter position and David’s risibly oxymoronic “Islamic jurisprudence” and Cerb rooting for his favorite sex offender.

Yuletide humor is peculiar.

Johan Larsson

@Robusto remember to make them funny too :)

Robusto

makes notes

Johan Larsson

@Robusto the last bunch were ok

tchrist

Not much supercollider activity for us today.

Barrie has the Muschi hat but doesn’t wear it.

Robusto

Maybe he wears it on his face.

tchrist

6:49 PM

And tell me that you love me.

Mahnax

I'm going to go eat lunch. See you all later.

cornbread ninja

ha!

bye @Mahnax

Mitch

@tchrist What part of Islamic jurisprudence is contradictory? There's quite a bit of actual institutions and general lawyerliness akin to that in Talmudic law.

tchrist

@Mitch You’ve been yoked.

Or Jou’ve been joked, if you prefer.

I doubt the Jews think it a joke though.

Mitch

@tchrist Shave it's tail...just a more curvy rat.

cornbread ninja

6:55 PM

@tchrist why, why aren't you at 5/50/100 yet?

Mitch

@tchrist I doubt anybody involved think it's a joke.

Alenanno

Gotta go, later!

tchrist

@cornbreadninja Because Gold badges are hard to come by.

cornbread ninja

@tchrist some

tchrist

@Mitch Many Americans do.

Mitch

6:56 PM

@tchrist lots of non-Americans think Americans are risible too for the same shallow reasons.

For example:

youtube.com/…

No, it has nothing to do with Americans. It just took me 5 minutes of trouble to find the right clip and I don't want to waste the effort.

cornbread ninja

@Mitch kill it with fire.

Mitch

@Dan: What, Wembley? (at 1:25) — Mitch 14 mins ago

Johan Larsson

@tchrist Juletider in Swedish, I suspect it is the origin

tchrist

7:22 PM

@JohanLarsson Well, it is not “from” Swedish, but yes, it is the same thing and has a common provenance.

> The modern form descends from OE. ʒeól, earlier ʒeoh(h)ol, ʒeh(h)ol, also ʒeóla sometimes pl.) Christmas day or Christmastide, and in phr. se ǽrra ʒeóla December, se æftera ʒeóla January; corresp. to ONor. jól pl. a heathen feast lasting twelve days, (later) Christmas.

> An Old Anglian ʒiuli, recorded by Bede (see quot. 726 in sense 1) as the name of December and January, corresponds to ONor. ýlir month beginning on the second day of the week falling within Nov. 10-17, and Goth. jiuleis in fruma jiuleis November. The ultimate origin of the Teut. types *jeul- (jeʒul-) and *jeχul-:-pre-Teut. *jeqwl- is obscure.

@JohanLarsson Do you have Lithe for the other side of the year from Yule?

Johan Larsson

@tchrist no, does not ring a bell

tchrist

Here.

> The first month, which the Latins call January, is Giuli; February is called Solmonath; March, Hrethmonath; April, Eosturmonath; May, Thrimilchi; June, Litha; July, also Litha; August, Weodmonath; September, Halegmonath; October, Winterfilleth; November, Blodmonath; December, Giuli, the same name by which January is called.

Johan Larsson

@tchrist ok, no we have 'juni, juli', very similar, for some mysterious reason capital letter should not be used for the names of months in Swedish

tchrist

Lithe was Midsummer’s Day, or thenabouts.

Johan Larsson

ok I have never heard about Lithe until now

tchrist

7:31 PM

You didn’t read The Lord of the Rings?

Johan Larsson

We do celebrate midsummer though, sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midsommar

tchrist

3

Q: Are there any holidays in Middle Earth, except yule, lithe, new year in Rohan and Durins day?

Does any species, in any age, in any of the works by Tolkien have designated days of celebration, except birthdays, besides the holidays mentioned in the article about the Middle Earth Calendar on Wikipedia?

tolkien middle-earth

Johan Larsson

@tchrist no, never did

tchrist

Middle-earth calendar

Middle-earth calendar refers to one of the systems of keeping time in the fictional Middle-earth devised by J. R. R. Tolkien and described in The Lord of the Rings. Because Middle-earth was intended to be our world in the distant past, the basic structure of the calendar is similar to ours. Tolkien uses his various fictional calendars as a means to present his fiction as an edition and compilation of ancient records from Middle-earth itself. In Appendix D to the The Return of the King, the system is explained. There Tolkien also notes that all the dates in The Hobbit and the trilogy are g...

> Lithe is a Midsummer holiday in the Shire. It is mentioned in The Fellowship of the Ring. Lithe fell between Forelithe, the sixth month of the year, and Afterlithe, the seventh month. In most years there were three Lithedays: 1 Lithe, Midyear's Day, and 2 Lithe. In Leap-years there was a fourth Litheday called Overlithe between Midyear's Day and 2 Lithe.

> Midyear's Day and Overlithe were not assigned any weekday, while 1 Lithe always fell on a Friday and 2 Lithe was a Saturday. Lithe and the Midwinter holiday called Yule were the two major holidays in the Shire. Lithe was a time of great feasting and merriment. During Lithe, the Free Fair was held on the White Downs, where Hobbits gathered to celebrate and to buy and sell goods.

> Every seven years at the Free Fair during Lithe, an election was held for the office of Mayor of Michel Delving. In the years that Overlithe occurred, it was a day of special celebration. Overlithe fell during the Great Year of Plenty in 3020 after the War of the Ring, and it was the merriest holiday in the history of the Shire.

> The word lithe is from the Old English líða. This may have been the name for Midsummer, while ærra Líða and æftera Líða were used for the months June and July. The word lithe means "mild, balmy" in relation to the weather.

So we still have yule, but have forgotten lithe.

Johan Larsson

Midsommar is always on a friday, Midsommardagen on the following saturday 20 juni–26 juni

tchrist

7:36 PM

That certainly cannot be true.

Fridays float.

The solstice is not always on a Friday!

The sun is distressingly noncompliant in arranging for its solstice to fall always and only on a Friday.

We do not have the Hobbits’ cleverness:

> The other innovation in the Shire calendar was to make Midsummer's Day (and the Overlithe) outside the week, as well as the month, meaning the days of the week would not change in relation to the days of the year.

Johan Larsson

@tchrist did you check the wikipedia about midsommar link out? To be honest I read it there, was not sure about the day.

tchrist

Nay.

I hate the way they move holidays around to be Mondays or Fridays. It just isn’t right.

Not having Midsummer’s Day on Midsummer’s Day is nutty.

Johan Larsson

do you celebrate midsummer?

tchrist

“Celebrate”? Not really.

It’s like how they moved Columbus Day from October 12th, or Lincoln’s Birthday from February 12th.

Johan Larsson

@tchrist ok, in Sweden midsommarafton is right up there with julafton and new year. We do the same thing with small variations on all, eat & drink.

Miikka

7:55 PM

for midsummer, Finns go preferably to the middle of nowhere and then eat & drink :P

Johan Larsson

8:11 PM

@Miikka same here, but my gut tells me the Finns are even more serious about the drinking

tchrist

8:30 PM

I usually go to a mountain to regard the sunrise on Midsummer’s Day.

Carlo_R.

Now there are 165 people on ELL, and I posted a question to draw the line between ELL and ELU, a big, very big, line:

0

Q: Will proofreading be allowed on ELL?

Proposal: English Language Learners As we know, proofreading involves checking for grammatical, spelling, and mechanical errors, which may include problems with verb tense, subject-verb agreement, parallel structure, sentence completion, alternate spellings, capitalization, and punctuation. Sin...

culture discussion site-definition

I hope anybody, epecially the so-called high-rep users, want to answer.

Bye!

David Wallace

8:54 PM

@tchrist That is an incredibly offensive thing to say. Are you actively trying to create a hostile, unwelcoming environment for the people from all round the world, who may wish to use this chat room? Why else would you take an unjustified shot at the world's second largest religion? If you were less intelligent, I could credit this to ignorance, but sadly, I think you're just being nasty.

tchrist

Spades, David; spades.

David Wallace

Yes, I figured as much. Sad.

tchrist

But do please find another room in which to apply your religious zeal.

More harm has been done in this world in the name of God than I can tolerate. I should not have to tolerate it, I do not, and I shall not. Enough said.

It does not matter which flavor of godthing you believe in. Harm is harm.

And that is the stick by which I measure things.

Yeah, figured. Normal hit-and-run bull from David. Plus ça change. . . .

Completely rude, as always.

Robusto

9:25 PM

@JohanLarsson In these parts, we generally sacrifice a virgin to the sun god on the solstice.

tchrist

@RegDwighт Your metathetic wish is granted. Merry Christmas! Feel free to improve; it’s just a quick sketch, but it is better than the nothingness it held before.

@Robusto Where the hell does anybody ever manage to find a virgin these days?

Robusto

@tchrist I usually find them on StackOverflow.

tchrist

People should choose one to be their avatar, then wear a second one.

Johan Larsson

@Robusto that sounds nice, Texas?

RegDwighт

9:45 PM

@tchrist Yippee ki yay.

Hey @Rob, Merry Christmas.

Robusto

You too.

RegDwighт

Here's one you might like. A friend of mine texted me yesterday with "Droge Weihnacht".

Robusto

Does that mean what I think it means?

RegDwighт

"[The] drug [that is] Christmas" or something to that effect. An autocompletion/autosuggestion/whatever it's called fart.

He, of course, meant to type "Frohe".

Robusto

Ah.

I like Droge Weihnachten better. Sounds like a better party.

RegDwighт

9:50 PM

At least it didn't suggest "Dröge Weihnacht!" ("boring Christmas!"). You gotta give it that.

tchrist

0

A: Meaning of Jo's dialog in Chapter 16 of Bleak House

marsh-related partying? lol.. fen larks means "play fair" or "no cheating!". stow hooking it/cutting away means "no running away!" She asked him to keep his distance and not to look at her, he's telling her "ok, but no running off without paying me!"