English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room - 2012-04-30 (page 2 of 2)

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5:04 PM

godtube.com

1

Q: Alternative for "room for improvement"

Is there a 'better' or different way of saying room for improvement? e.g. Despite the success of X, there is still room for improvement...

phrase-requests

unless the OP wants to improve this, close it

yro.slashdot.org/story/12/04/30/1524216/…

fuck. this country sucks.

clueless judges making clueless decisions based on clueuess policy inspired by clueless lobbyists

Matt Эллен

> BPI, welcomed the move, saying music creators 'deserve to be paid for their work just like everyone else'

hahaha, so why don't labels pay them?

5:28 PM

@MattЭллен Because they believe the are the music creators.

Anyone can play guitar. But it takes "real talent" to be a middleman.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

0

A: Obama's use of "bemused"

Lets vote for Da. Hey English professors how many times in a sentences does Obama use (and er that) count them please. (C-) (D+) So Obama speaking abilities.... please measure. Obama math skills are exceptional or are they xx + xy Da 5 trillion more in debt in 3 years is Obama prudence...

What the hell I can't even parse this.

Meanwhile, mahlzeit.

Matt Эллен

lol

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 Flush it, please.

user19161

6:21 PM

@Robusto Save water. Flush only once a day.

@JasperLoy If it's yellow, let it mellow; if it's brown, flush it down. This was brown.

Hello.

user19161

@Mahnax Hi!

Speaking of flushing, we did a urine analysis lab today.

@JasperLoy How are you today, Jasper?

user19161

@Mahnax Wow I never did a urine analysis for Bio class.

6:32 PM

@JasperLoy It was fake concocted urine.

user19161

@Mahnax Bad, but I am working on it as usual.

@JasperLoy Work hard.

user19161

@Mahnax Why don't you guys use real urine?

@JasperLoy Unsanitary.

Products of the human body are illegal in school laboratories here.

Including the students?

user19161

6:35 PM

@Mahnax Hmm, urine does not seem so bad to me. Once a woman who was stuck on a boat for days had to drink urine to keep herself alive.

Or are you all clones?

@KitFox sighs No, not the students.

user19161

@Mahnax Illegal or against the school rules?

@JasperLoy Drinking urine will not help anything.

@JasperLoy Both.

user19161

@Mahnax To keep herself hydrated.

6:36 PM

@JasperLoy The water gained from drinking urine would just be filtered back into urine, and she would be forcing her body to deal with a few more toxins.

user19161

Seawater is too salty.

user19161

@Mahnax Well, the urine would just get more and more concentrated with bad stuff but it still contains water I guess.

@JasperLoy The thing is, the water will not be used; it will just get filtered back into the urine.

We were discussing this in Biology class last week.

user19161

@Mahnax Hmm OK, I don't know.

user19161

But that story was real. It was in the news.

6:39 PM

Yes, people do try to drink their own urine.

user19161

Maybe I should have a sip too.

user19161

But faeces is out of the question. I will not try to eat it.

I don't even know what to say to that.

Don't drink your urine.

user19161

I was just kidding.

Good.

user19161

6:41 PM

No, good good.

No, just good. Reduplication is not necessary; therefore I chose good. Q.E.D. ∎

user19161

@Mahnax Very good.

@JasperLoy Can you see the end of proof sign?

user19161

@Mahnax Do you know it was Paul Halmos who invented the filled square symbol? Yes I see it.

@JasperLoy Good then. No, I did not know that.

user19161

6:45 PM

@Mahnax Have you studied functions in school yet?

@JasperLoy Eh, not much.

user19161

I remember the foetuses in my Bio lab. Human ones I think.

Human? shudders

user19161

I wonder how they got it, or maybe I recalled wrongly.

user19161

Probably some abortion and preservation.

user19161

6:54 PM

@Mahnax Do you usually use periods with abbreviations? I think that is the norm in AmE but not in BrE.

user19161

So it's like using Dr. X and Dr X or St. X and St X.

user19161

So while BrE uses more letters in spelling, it uses less periods in punctuation.

@JasperLoy Sometimes.

user19161

Wish there was similar protection from misuse of down voting. – Kris 2 mins ago

user19161

Haha, that's quite a funny comment. Well, downvoting is just downvoting. Why would we need protection from it?

7:05 PM

I changed my Dropbox folder icon to a really lovely cat:

user image

user19161

@Mahnax Hmm why is everyone so fascinated with cats? I think they are just like any other animal.

@JasperLoy Cats are amazing.

They just so… catlike!

user19161

I just saw some hamsters in a pet shop that day.

user19161

And also huge rabbits or maybe hares.

My cat killed a mouse last night.

7:08 PM

Good kitty!

Did you pat its head nicely?

I don't think cats even like that too much.

I told her she was a very good girl, and made sure she wasn't looking when I threw it in the garbage.

user19161

I didn't know pet cats kill mice, though they may kill mouses.

@KitFox What type of cat is she?

Tuxedo.

user19161

Ah I watched Tuxedo starring Jackie Chan.

7:11 PM

Oh, I saw that some years ago.

@KitFox I love tuxedo cats.

We used to have a pair, but one of them got a clot in his spinal artery.

It was very upsetting.

When I was younger I had a cat who would sit with me while I read every afternoon and evening, and she would sleep on my bed, at my feet.

We had to give her to my aunt when we moved into town, because she liked being able to roam around outside.

user19161

Will cat whiskers grow back if you trim them?

I don't think so.

user19161

I thought you would say yes.

user19161

7:15 PM

I thought it is like moustache.

user19161

And I only recently knew about ligers.

user19161

I wonder if humans can cross breed with other animals, hmm.

No.

There are no species close enough to produce hybrids.

Matt Эллен

so, no human/martian babies on the way :(

@JasperLoy Your mind wanders today.

7:20 PM

Well, I mean, technically you can hybridize human DNA with almost any other sort of DNA, but you won't produce viable offspring that way.

user19161

@Mahnax It wanders all the time.

@JasperLoy Then I notice it in particular today.

Matt Эллен

@KitFox but that's not what audiences want!

user19161

@MattЭллен We don't know about martians since martians are not exactly animals.

Matt Эллен

They're not exactly not animals... oh wait.

user19161

7:23 PM

@MattЭллен Well, I might classify Martians as higher than humans.

Matt Эллен

You could if there were some

user19161

There might be. We don't know for sure.

user19161

Maybe they are looking at us right now.

user19161

We just can't see them but they can see us.

Higher? Smoking more dope?

Matt Эллен

7:25 PM

creatures on Mars? I'm going with no. Robots have been there and seen nothing. satellites orbit it and find nothing. Much as I'd like to meet ET, I doubt we'll find it native to Mars.

user19161

@KitFox Yeah, maybe they are naturally doped.

@MattЭллен I thought they found some bacteria there?

user19161

@MattЭллен Because our technology and senses are limited. QED.

user19161

I hope ET comes and takes me to their planet.

@JasperLoy You will most likely die there due to unsuitable living conditions.

Not to be a downer or anything.

user19161

7:28 PM

@Mahnax Well, maybe ET will inject me with something and I will be fine.

@JasperLoy Uh, that's not the way it works.

Matt Эллен

@KitFox oh. maybe. There was something that might be fossilised bacteria in a meteorite

Improper air pressure can cause lung collapse.

Lack of oxygen causes death.

user19161

@Mahnax Well, the injection is so powerful.

@JasperLoy pfft

user19161

7:30 PM

It's quite hard to believe that we are the only significant life form in the entire universe.

user19161

After all, the universe has over 9000 planets.

user image

Look! It's @Matt!

user19161

Just because of the blondness and the beard.

And the pirateyness.

And the piercings.

Matt Эллен

It's me!

user19161

7:39 PM

I am the bird on top.

Matt Эллен

I had that portrait done to show off at job interviews

Do you suppose I could take off my shirt and sit in my office topless?

Without getting reprimanded, I mean.

Matt Эллен

how many people can see you?

oddly enough I was thinking the same thing earlier on (about me)

Only the ones who walk in my office, or walk by the door to get to my neighbor's office.

Matt Эллен

the answer I came up with was "no"

but I'm in an open plan ofice

7:47 PM

removes clothing

Matt Эллен

is that number greater than 0?
if no, go for it!
else are any of those people going to be upset?
if no go for it!
else stop

Well, that's better, I guess.

Matt Эллен

yay!

opens window

It's 78 degrees in here.

If it hits 85, I'm leaving.

Matt Эллен

that's warm!

7:51 PM

notty codez!

Matt Эллен

oe noe! wat themz do?

wat i iz tellin em to do.

but tahts not wat i wantd.

Matt Эллен

i shud just kno already!

i no rite?

i fixt it tho

wiv a hamer!!1!!

Matt Эллен

you show those codez!

8:07 PM

6 hours ago, by KitFox

♪ Plasma...Electrons are free...Plasma...A fourth state of matter, not gas, not liquid, not solid! ♫

8:19 PM

Laterz!

Matt Эллен

CU!

8:38 PM

Hellllooo.

Nathan C. Tresch

8:58 PM

@KitFox okay, so, I came back.

My gravatar appears to be messed up here.

@KitFox Electrons aren't free. Stop pretending they are. I get royalties on those too, so if you're downloading electrons for free you're breaking the law. And you owe me money.

9:15 PM

Notification made to all interested international tax authorities. They should be at your door in a few moments. Don't bother packing a bag.

@NathanCTresch: your auto-gravatar is based on the string that is the email address you typed on the stats page. It's like a hash, so if you mistyped one letter, you'll get some wildly different image.

Hello.

cornbread ninja

9:32 PM

hello, nurse

Nathan C. Tresch

@Mitch weirdly it works in every other SE chat

And on my profile for ELaU

Matt Эллен

good night

Nathan C. Tresch

Also, wierdly, there is an SE site, scifi and fanstasy, where my gravatar works for the chat but not for my profile.

@cornbreadninja Uhh I am a nurse?

@MattЭллен Hi and bye!

9:50 PM

Hi @Cerberus

Have you seen this?

guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2012/apr/30/…

@z7sgѪ Hi invisible purple unicorn!

Never been a sucker for cute animals before.

@z7sgѪ Awww how cute!

Except the full body shot.

Yeah that is an odd one

They range from cute to funny to handsome.

9:54 PM

some of them look salon styled

proper dudes

Yep.

well anyway, apart from that.. i was reading some Nietzsche. if you remember you said it would be worhtwhile

which i guess it was but some things bothered me a lot

@z7sgѪ Awwh. So fuzzy.

@aedia hello uni! they are awesome yes!

@z7sgѪ Like which? And what did you read?

I haven't read that much of his work.

@aediaλ Do you want to be shorn too?

10:04 PM

Oh man. Now I feel old. I've found an unfinished style guide from four years back, at some point when I apparently thought someone else might use it.

@Cerberus Yes!

If only I could be so adorable.

Okay, pick out a hairdo and we'll see what we can do.

@Cerberus beyond good and evil

Hmm I'm afraid I don't remember much of that. I probably only read parts.

Not a Nietzsche connoisseur.

But I think his style is somewhat comparable between books?

i haven't finished it. first he starts attacking a lot of other philosophers and then he talks about things related to the will to power and son

Sounds like him.

He's very un-Anglo-Saxon.

10:08 PM

it seems an immature way to set about somethign to me, to first rubbish everyone else

ordinarily i would have stopped reading after that point

Yeah.

perhaps i didn't understand the context of the criticism

Sometimes I wish he would cut to the chase.

Don't google unicorn haircut. I uh, found this bit of awesome that I'm feeling too nice today to inflict on you oneboxed.

owww i just did it!

10:09 PM

Haha very...soothing.

I know right?

I do hope neither of you have epilepsy. Um. Well, future epileptic transcript readers, here's your warning.

@Cerberus yes that too. why can't everyone do that?

@aediaλ the warning should be before the link, oh dear what have you done?

Greetings.

Greetings. I've knocked up a Welsh Language & Usage on Area 51, if anyone's interested:
http://area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/40305/welsh-language-usage?referrer=e_o83MA72grMOiSSVGBfGQ2

@Hugo I'm in.

user19161

10:16 PM

@Hugo Thanks for the announcement. Now we all know you speak Welsh. Shh...

@Mahnax Da iawn!

@z7sgѪ Lesson 1 for sarcasm-impaired epileptic transcript readers: This was a test. You should know better than to click scary links. But after you quit having that seizure, there will be cake.

2

@Hugo I don't actually speak Welsh, but I'm interested. Perhaps I will start learning this summer.

@z7sgѪ Yeah...sometimes a literary or associative approach can work, but I often find myself cursing those who try, including famous philosophers.

user19161

@aediaλ I would like to have the cake now.

10:18 PM

@Mahnax As long as you don't neglect your Finnish and your Latin!

2

@Mahnax I've no idea if it'll ever get accepted as it's quite a small topic, but perhaps it could widen out to language and culture, or to other Celtic languages, and I also read a comment from shog9 that they have plans so smaller sites can work

@Cerberus Of course I won't!

Good, good.

@Hugo good luck with that!

@Cerberus Combine them both by listening to the Latin radio broadcasts by the Finnish state broadcaster!

10:19 PM

@Hugo Good luck! Perhaps Celtic languages would be a nice and practical compromise.

@Hugo Heh, do they have those?

user19161

@Cerberus I think he should forget the Latin.

On a unicorn-related note, here's my favourite unicorn video.

I think he should forget the Jasper.

@JasperLoy gasps

user19161

@Cerberus Thanks, he can forget me because I am not Maria.

10:20 PM

@Mahnax Oooh it's catchy.

@Cerberus yle.fi/radio1/tiede/nuntii_latini/…

@Mahnax Sounds like the kind of thing Reg might like.

@Cerberus Haha.

@Hugo Wow, I never would have guessed that something like that existed.

Olen onnellinen nyt.

@Mahnax No hyvä!

@Cerberus I'd like to read a condensed form, so I don't have do deal with the huge cultural scientific and literary time gap and also to save a lot of time.

user19161

10:22 PM

@hugo I noticed many of your answers contain selections from google books. Very interesting! Just like some people who particularly like ngrams.

@Hugo Oh dear, I can't even remember what that means, exactly.

@JasperLoy Yep, some interesting things to be found in them old books

It has been too long!

Hyvä is good, but…

@Mahnax "well, good!"

@Hugo Oh, it's that simple? For some reason I thought it was idiomatic.

Out of curiosity, how do you know Finnish, @Hugo?

user19161

10:23 PM

@NathanCTresch You may have misspelled "weird".

user19161

@Mahnax Because he has finished Finnish.

@Mahnax Just a little bit

@Hugo Oh, nice! I think I have seen those transcripts before. The voice sounds a bit odd, though.

@JasperLoy thwack

@z7sgѪ That doesn't work for every genre.

10:24 PM

@Hugo Sorry, I meant "by what means/why did you learn Finnish?"

@Mahnax I'm in Finland, but not Finnish

@Hugo Oh, cool!

I intend to do some studying in Finland.

user19161

@Hugo It must be terribly cold there.

@Cerberus Listening to it now, news about the French presidential elections in Latin with a Finnish accent ( areena.yle.fi/player/… )

but then, no-one really knows what Latin sounded like

user19161

@Mahnax Really? Hmm.

10:26 PM

and all sorts of foreigners spoke it

Yeah I listened to the same one.

@JasperLoy Nope, it was quite warm today

@JasperLoy Hmm? Is that an issue?

We do know a lot about it, but I think there are several theories about certain details.

@Hugo Are you anywhere near Oulu? I have relatives there, perhaps you know them…

user19161

10:27 PM

@Mahnax Nope. I was just surprised since you did not mention it. Any reason?

But this woman's intonation is odd, and she doesn't pronounce all consonants very clearly. Sounds almost like a computer-generated voice.

@Mahnax Nope, Helsinki

Cool.

@Hugo Ah, that would've been my first guess.

So I guess I'll add Welsh to my plans for this summer.

user19161

@Mahnax I know what you did last summer...

10:33 PM

@JasperLoy ORLY

Joined SE, that's what.

user19161

Mwahaha.

Oh dear, I have to leave for work.

Goodbye.

10:59 PM

Bai! Sorry I only popped in briefly today. I must run too.

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Apr '1230

English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…

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