English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room - 2012-05-15 (page 1 of 3)

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user19161

12:15 AM

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 An apple a day keeps the dentist coming.

1:55 AM

theoatmeal.com/comics/tesla

Food for thought, Edison fans.

2:20 AM

-1

Q: The meaning and history behind the phrase "crack the whip"?

I came across a sentence "if doctors have heeded the spirit of service ingrained in their profession,the Health Minister wouldn't have needed to crack the whip. I want to know the exact meaning and history behind this idiom. Could I have one more example in favour or this idiom which demysti...

This guy again?

@Rob: Good luck!! You'll be fine.

2:58 AM

@simchona Aww, I thought he was gone.

1 hour later…

user19161

4:12 AM

@Mahnax Let's be nice.

user19161

Hey @vit, I'm still waiting for the answer as to what the map represents. When will the answer be revealed?

8:39 AM

@sankarganesh please do no post promotional content unrelated to the chatroom discussions

Meysam رها در بند

9:11 AM

Can "with" mean "using" too? e.g. in this: "Recording a movie with my camera" vs. "Recording a movie using my camera". Is the first sentence correct and well-understood?

@Meysamرهادربند yes (twice)

Meysam رها در بند

@Fx Thanks :)

user19161

9:30 AM

@Meysamرهادربند I see your Persian characters.

Meysam رها در بند

@ClarkKent Yup!

user19161

@Meysamرهادربند So did you try out Fedora in the end? You mentioned it a while ago.

Meysam رها در بند

@ClarkKent I will be right back in a few minutes and will talk about it :)

Meysam رها در بند

9:58 AM

@ClarkKent I finally installed Mint LXDE

The desktop environment lacks a few things, but I am getting along with it

Hi @DavidWallace

user19161

@Meysamرهادربند So why Mint LXDE in the end?

Meysam رها در بند

@ClarkKent I had a low quality VGA card and thought LXDE might be the best option for me

I replaced the VGA with an NVidia card though, and the graphical problem does not exist anymore

user19161

@Meysamرهادربند OK. Why Mint then?

Meysam رها در بند

@ClarkKent Because somebody in this chat room, I am not sure if it was you, suggested that it is more similar to windows in terms of UI

user19161

@Meysamرهادربند Oh I see. I guess he might have been referring to the Mint main edition. But still LXDE looks similar to Windows too in a way.

10:23 AM

@Meysamرهادربند hey!

Meysam رها در بند

10:33 AM

@Gigili Hi gigli bigli!

@DavidWallace Do you have any children?

Just one.

@Meysam: Hi, angoori mangoori.

Meysam رها در بند

@DavidWallace How old are them?

He's 11.

He said "one".

Matt Эллен

10:35 AM

Hello!

Meysam رها در بند

@Gigili I know, but it's OK to use them for one

@Meysamرهادربند "they", "he".

Matt Эллен

pls mek codez mur faster

kthx

Hi, Matt.

@Meysamرهادربند especially if you don't know the gender.

Matt Эллен

10:35 AM

Hi, Gigili

Meysam رها در بند

@DavidWallace That's my point

But I would have said "how old are they".

Meysam رها در بند

@DavidWallace So he is not young enough to be timed-out

Time out is useful only until 5

He can be timed out.

@Meysamرهادربند Nothing is further from the truth.

@Meysamرهادربند May I assume that you don't have any?

user19161

@Meysamرهادربند What's gigli bigli?

Meysam رها در بند

10:37 AM

@DavidWallace You may

user19161

@Gigili What's angoori mangoori?

user19161

@Meysamرهادربند He may make the assumption, but the assumption may be wrong. :-)

Meysam رها در بند

This is gigli bigli:

@ClarkKent Meysam, obviously en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Grape_Ape_Show

Meysam رها در بند

user image

10:39 AM

Ciguli Miguli is a 1952 Yugoslav political satire film directed by Branko Marjanović and written by Joža Horvat. It was meant to be the first satirical film of the post-World War II Yugoslav cinema, but its sharp criticism of bureaucracy was politically condemned by the authorities and the film was banned as "anti-socialist". Plot Ivan Ivanović, a party functionary, arrives in a provincial town as a temporary replacement for a cultural official. The newcomer is fanatically eager to reform the town's cultural life in accordance with socialist ideals. He abolishes all five music societies ...

Meysam رها در بند

@ClarkKent But in this special case, his assumption happens to be right!

user19161

All this gigli bigli angoori mangoori reminds me of tandoori chicken!

user19161

Tandoori chicken

Tandoori chicken is the national bird of Punjab. It should never be served boneless, because the bones make it easier to grip the bird while biting it. It is a popular Indian and Pakistani dish consisting of roasted chicken prepared with yogurt and spices. The name comes from the type of cylindrical clay oven, a tandoor, in which the dish is traditionally prepared. Preparation The chicken is marinated in yogurt and seasoned with the spice mixture tandoori masala. It is moderately piquant in Pakistan and India, but the heat is reduced in most Western nations. Cayenne pepper, red chili po...

But گوریل انگوری‎ seems to be by far the most interesting variant.

even if it's not a very nice way to address our Gigili :-)

I wish it had been broadcast here though, I'm sure I would have loved it.

Meysam رها در بند

@DavidWallace Is your son old enough to communicate his feelings?

10:46 AM

He's 11!

Babies can communicate their feelings.

Meysam رها در بند

@DavidWallace If so, he is not eligible to be timed out no more!

14 hours ago, by KitFox

Time outs are not particularly effective once children are old enough to communicate their feelings well.

Well, I disagree with her.

Meysam رها در بند

I don't know, it's up to you what sort of punishment you are choosing for your child

whatever you do, be kind to him

Children of all ages need discipline occasionally, whether or not they are effective in communicating their feelings.

Matt Эллен

yes, if you are kind to them, then they taste better when they are old enough to be cooked and eaten!

Meysam رها در بند

10:48 AM

brb

user19161

@MattЭллен Is that what goblins do? Eat cooked humans?

But perhaps KitFox's children respond differently to time-outs from mine. Every child is different.

Matt Эллен

@ClarkKent If dey iz luky we chuk um a bone to chew on. stinkin gobbos. De orcs get da best bits

beri interesting Matt, beri interesting

user19161

@Gigili So chat has gone downhill to goblin spelling now.

10:52 AM

I did notice that KitFox mentioned that a time-out is "usually about two minutes". Supernanny recommends one minute for every year of the child's age. Other parenting experts recommend the child's age plus one. A two minute time-out would definitely be ineffective on my son, or probably on any child over about 3.

user19161

@DavidWallace Supernanny has spoken; Superman shall remain silent on the matter.

Meysam رها در بند

@DavidWallace What happens if you timeout your child for 2 minutes, and he moves (breaks the timeout) after one minute? will you punish him again for 2 more minutes?

Yes.

user19161

@Meysamرهادربند 2 min is so short one can't even finish one's business in the toilet!

Huh?

What's min?

user19161

10:54 AM

Hey why did the 2 get moved to the left of the Persian characters?

Meysam رها در بند

@DavidWallace What if he breaks the second timeout after one minute?

user19161

@Gigili Minutes.

Meysam رها در بند

Will you let him suffer again?

@Meysamرهادربند It can go on all day.

@ClarkKent I know, but your sentence doesn't make sense.

user19161

10:55 AM

@Gigili See above explanation.

Eventually the child realises that sitting still for the required number of minutes is the only course of action available.

@ClarkKent "Minutes."?

user19161

1 min ago, by Clark Kent

Hey why did the 2 get moved to the left of the Persian characters?

Still no sense make it.

@ClarkKent There are all sorts of unavoidable glitches when you start mixing LTR and RTL languages on the same line.

user19161

10:57 AM

@Gigili You need more coffee gigili.

I dislike coffee, Jasper.

Meysam رها در بند

@ClarkKent That's the problem when right-to-left and left-to-right languages get combined

@Meysamرهادربند That's what David said.

user19161

@Gigili Noted. I typed gigili with a small g to see your response.

I'm a sensible woman, as you've probably noticed. I don't take revenge immediately.

Matt Эллен

10:59 AM

lol

@Gigili Why do so many people like coffee? I don't get it. Ghastly stuff.

Meysam رها در بند

@Gigili Oops! I missed it

user19161

@Gigili I'm not so sure you are sensible yet.

It starts with the shoes.

@DavidWallace Indeed, so are all hot drinks like tea and coffee.

11:01 AM

I wouldn't go that far. There are some tasty herbal teas.

Matt Эллен

I don't know - hot chocolate is good in winter :)

Except hot chocolate, of course.

user19161

@MattЭллен So cold chocolate must be good in summer?

user19161

How about spring and autumn?

Matt Эллен

heat to taste

11:07 AM

Hot chocolate is good all year round.

I don't like iced chocolate.

user19161

This reminds me of a lovely Korean film Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring Again.

user19161

Warning: there is murder and sex in it.

lovely, then.

user19161

This gives me the opportunity to bring up the terrible Japanese movie Freeze, which also has murder and sex in it.

Basic Instinct.

user19161

11:15 AM

@DavidWallace Ah yes, also very good.

Oh, I just thought we were randomly naming movies containing murder and sex.

Matt Эллен

12:12 PM

it feels like we're being bombarded with ELU Lite questions today

user19161

12:34 PM

This should be closed immediately.

user19161

1

Q: Dustbins & litter

Why do dust bins have the phrase "Do not Litter"? I checked the dictionary meaning - litter means garbage or waste. Aren't dustbins meant for that ?

user19161

Perhaps it should be posted on User Experience instead, dealing with dustbin UI.

Matt Эллен

Glad I'm not the only one who didn't like it

Oh, you're a 10k user @Matt. How do you find it?

user19161

@Gigili I noticed you used capital M, unlike me.

Matt Эллен

12:42 PM

It's a lot like not being a 10K user, but I find questions that need closing more easily and it's fun to see what's been deleted

user19161

@MattЭллен The fun won't last. Nothing lasts.

Matt Эллен

it will last

user19161

he declared

Umm, the election ends in 7 hours.

It feels like the sky is falling.

Matt Эллен

what election?

12:47 PM

math.stackexchange.com/election

Matt Эллен

awww, I don't get a vote :(

user19161

@Gigili Why? Is it very important to you?

@MattЭллен Pft.

@ClarkKent Not very, but it's important.

user19161

@MattЭллен I voted.

I'll invite you to dinner if I'm elected.

user19161

12:52 PM

@Gigili Invite who?

Pah pah.

Matt Эллен

but, then again, I've only asked one question, and I answered it, so maybe I'm not the best person to be chosing mods

user19161

@skullpatrol Is that a song?

user19161

By the way I can log in to chat without logging in to any of the xxx.stackexchange.com accounts. Guess how?

user19161

@skull Why remove that? Weird.

12:56 PM

@ClarkKent A miracle?

user19161

@Gigili Nope. I logged in to stackexchange.com. QED!

user19161

Of course you have to go to stackexchange.com/users/chat-login from there.

Logging into stackexchange.com means you logged into all the xxx.stackexchange.com accounts.

user19161

@Gigili Wrong.

@ClarkKent You are.

user19161

1:03 PM

@Gigili So what will happen if you are not elected? Will you get over it in a day?

@ClarkKent I'd rather not think about the dark side.

user19161

@Gigili OK. But it's OK even if you aren't elected. There can be miracles when you believe.

Matt Эллен

indulge in the dark side! give into your fear, anger, hatred! The dark side will make you powerful beyond your dreams.

3

user19161

@MattЭллен When the night is darkest, the sun is about to rise.

user19161

I hope my night does not last too long though.

Matt Эллен

1:07 PM

@ClarkKent If you go down to the woods today, be sure of a big surprise

user19161

@MattЭллен The woods near you?

Matt Эллен

well, they're north of you, so that's up. maybe if you go to a rainforest near you

user19161

@MattЭллен Oh, so funny!

Matt Эллен

if you go down to the woods today, you'd better go in disguise

@MattЭллен Noted.

user19161

1:10 PM

Who starred that? Must be g.

Meysam رها در بند

@ClarkKent I did

It's the most meaningful message which has been starred in this room.

user19161

Wow, three stars. You're all nuts.

@Robusto I think I know where I could use the second reason lol

user19161

@Gigili Maybe if you look at the star wall, but not for all time.

user19161

1:13 PM

@MattЭллен in to

user19161

Now your folly has been starred, mwahaha.

Matt Эллен

For every bear that ever there was

@ClarkKent I've been here since the site has been proposed.

Meysam رها در بند

@MattЭллен I can guess the meaning of "give into", but what does that exactly mean?

@Meysamرهادربند I think that should be "give in to", like @ClarkKent said.

Matt Эллен

1:15 PM

Will gather there for certain, because

Today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic.

:4609051 OMG ngrams are taking over the chat as well?

Matt Эллен

@ClarkKent ngrams

user19161

@MattЭллен Well, ngrams are crap to me, mwahaha!

Matt Эллен

@Meysamرهادربند > A. prep. I. Of motion or direction: ordinary uses.

> Also with verbs in which the idea of motion is not explicitly expressed.

> "A sensible limitation which can easily be read into deed or will."

admittedly "give in" is usually a separate entity

read it as "give yourself into etc."

or, perhaps even:

user19161

@MattЭллен Maybe this should be a question on the main site!

1:21 PM

@ClarkKent How is Lois?

user19161

@Alenanno Lois? What's that?

@ClarkKent You forgot about Lois??? How could you do that?

user19161

@Alenanno googles Lois

@ClarkKent You don't deserve that nickname. :P

Matt Эллен

Oh dear. Is this like superman, uh, 3? where superman is infected with red Kryptonite?

user19161

1:25 PM

Lois Lane is a fictional character, the primary love interest of Superman in the comic books of DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in Action Comics #1 (June 1938). Lois is Superman's chief romantic interest and, for fifteen years in the DC continuity, was his wife. Like Superman's alter ego Clark Kent, she is a reporter for the Metropolis newspaper, The Daily Planet. In conceiving of Lois, her creators drew upon a wide array of influences. Lois' physical appearance was originally based on Joanne Carter, a model hired by Siegel and Shust...

user19161

@Alenanno Yes, you are right!

@ClarkKent Admit it. You thought I was someone out of their mind. xD

Something like "who's this guy?"

But I thought you would catch the joke right away, honestly.

user19161

@Alenanno I was also thinking whether you could have meant Louis which is a more common name.

@ClarkKent Oh...

user19161

@Alenanno Well, the kryptonite made me lose my memory you see.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

1:28 PM

@ClarkKent I never realized Lois Lane was a werecar.

@ClarkKent Ah... Was it Lex again?

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 ahahahah

user19161

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 Werecar?

user19161

I am not getting all your words today!

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

@ClarkKent Here's your first whoosh of the day. It's well deserved.

user19161

The kryptonite is too powerful!

Matt Эллен

1:30 PM

oh, apparently I mean "synthetic kryptonite" which is black

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 I think you mean wocar

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

2

Q: How should I understand "all the more reason to"?

The following sentence is from a commencement speech. All the more reason to be grateful, this and every day, that we live in America, where the talents God gave us may be used in freedom. I don't understand the phrase "all the more reason to" even after I looked it up on thefreedictiona...

Is this for real?

> I don't quite understand the explanation: what does "with even better reason" mean?

Matt Эллен

it means "all the more reason"

user19161

I think the dustbin question today is the most funny question of all time.

Matt Эллен

thanks Kanye

user19161

I think the dustbin question will hit the multicollider soon!

Matt Эллен

1:47 PM

@ClarkKent it's not in the top 100, so hopefully not

user19161

@MattЭллен Hopefully yes! It's fun!

Matt Эллен

that is what passes for fun in Singapore? Well, I suppose you have an island made of rubbish, so that explains a lot.

Matt Эллен

2:07 PM

That's not to say Singapore is made of Rubbish, but you've reclaimed offshore landfill.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

2:32 PM

Of course "butter my butt" got multicollidered. Of course. This is unbearable.

Matt Эллен

the butt is unbearable

2:52 PM

'Ello.

Matt Эллен

hello

how are you @Mahnax?

@MattЭллен I am feeling grand today, but that will change come Biology class. How are you?

Matt Эллен

@Mahnax struggling to optimise an algorithm. currently running with N^2 time.

@MattЭллен Hmm, my less-than-basic Computing Science knowledge fails me here, what is the significance of N²?

Is N the amount of time you want?

Matt Эллен

N is the number of elements in the thing I'm iterating over

2:57 PM

And your actual time is N²?

Matt Эллен

and I'm currently iterating over them N^2 times, which is a lot

Oh, I see. So you need to make your algorithm more efficient?

Matt Эллен

yes

Ah.

Matt Эллен

7 minutes to process 130,000 points of data is too long

2:59 PM

Ooh, that's a lot.

Matt Эллен

and that's only the first part of the whole algorithm :(

(No offence).

I wish you luck!

Matt Эллен

(none taken)

thanks!

What do you have ahead of you in Biology?

Making a "food web".

Matt Эллен

I see. I vaguely remember that. how all the animals kill eachother?

3:02 PM

Yeah.

But with the critters we looked at under microscopes.

Matt Эллен

oh! seeing anything cool?

Ehh, a cyclops.

Matt Эллен

does it actually have an eye like thing?

Here.

Take a look.

Matt Эллен

thanks!

3:07 PM

Anytime.

I also found some Hyalellae.

Matt Эллен

mmmm cloak of slime! +1 to saving roles on a D6

@Mahnax looks like some sort of flea

@MattЭллен Yeah, they aren't nice.

I found a paramecium, too.

Matt Эллен

so you've been looking through pond water. that sounds... unpleasant

It was.

Some of the girls in my class were a ~~little~~ friggin' lot disgusted.

Matt Эллен

heh :D

gotta love those delicate sensibilities! Best not tell them what's in saliva ;)

3:16 PM

Oh, they know.

Amylase.

Matt Эллен

right, and maltose ( is that what amylase breaks stuff down into?)

ah yeah! All those years in biology class pay off

Yep.

Good ol' Biology.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

3:53 PM

2

A: "Wallpaper" vs "background"

It depends what your intentions are. The 'wallpaper' is an image displayed in the background. If you are pointing out that a context-sensitive menu may be opened by right-clicking on the background then the presence of a wallpaper image in the background is immaterial. If you are pointing out...

0

A: "Wallpaper" vs "background"

It depends what your intentions are. The 'wallpaper' is an image displayed in the background. If you are pointing out that a context-sensitive menu may be opened by right-clicking on the background then the presence of a wallpaper image in the background is immaterial. If you are pointing out t...

Hm...

Haha.

Gotta run bye.

Matt Эллен

4:08 PM

gotta get soaked in the rain! see ya!

4:19 PM

Evening, I'm looking for a way to better describe 'to act in agreement with a choice'. At first I thought 'to honor a choice' would be okay, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Any suggestions?

Oh, in >accordance< with (rather than in agreement with) might be a better fit here I see now, but that's still quite long.

5:02 PM

@Chris Can you give a sentence, or more context?

Such as, how formal is it supposed to be?

What does the "acting" entail here? What is this choice about?

5:18 PM

Hi.

Advertising is to encourage people to buy or to use a product or service, what's the opposite?

To discourage people from buying it.

Matt Эллен

5:31 PM

@Gigili defaming?

Hey @Matt, if I say "I'm deadly serious", is that in any different to you from "I'm dead serious"?

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus um... not really. I suppose deadly is a little more emphatic as it uses a proper adverb

user image

@MattЭллен OK, how about this. "I talked to me mother on the phone, and she said she was going to wear white to my brother's wedding. I assume it was a joke, but she was dead serious!"

Would you as easily replace that with "she was deadly serious"?

Meysam رها در بند

@MattЭллен Very interesting :)

Matt Эллен

I mean longer, not proper

@Cerberus yes

5:45 PM

@MattЭллен And would that not add some extra meaning?

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus more like it would remove a small amount of non-u vocab

As in, "dead serious" just means "contrary to what you expected, I am serious", whereas "deadly serious" adds "...and this is a dramatic situation, in some way".

@MattЭллен Dead serious is considered non-U?

Hmm.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus I consider it thus

What do you base that on?

Matt Эллен

no, "but she was serious" means "against expectation she was serious", "dead/deadly serious" means very serious - like the internet

cornbread ninja

5:47 PM

books.google.com/ngrams/…

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus personal experience I guess. the higher class(?) you are, the less often you shorten your adverbs

@MattЭллен Hmm isn't it more about formality?

cornbread ninja

ClassCasteException

"Dead serious" is certainly informal.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus well, maybe, but isn't that the same thing?

5:49 PM

No!

There are four quadrants.

U-formal, U-informal, non-U-formal, non-U-informal.

Matt Эллен

so I would say "can I talk to you really quickly?" someone not raised like I have been would say "can I talk to you real quick?".

Haha.

cornbread ninja

:S

It is like a Venn diagram: some kind of informality are also non-U.

So I guess you mean that kind.

Matt Эллен

probably

5:52 PM

Do you think an Eton schoolboy would be told not to use such a "vulgar" expression if he said "I'm dead serious"?

Matt Эллен

no

I don't know

Oh, well. Perhaps we're reading too much in all this.

Matt Эллен

I guess my mum would make fun of me for sounding common if I said "real quick"

@Cerberus but I don't think his teachers would say "dead serious"

@MattЭллен Hmm OK.

I guess "real quick" sounds informal/"common"/American or whatever.

Haha, very nice.

whistles

@MattЭллен Yes, fits perfectly. Thanks.

5:59 PM

@MattЭллен But would you sooner use "dead serious" in chat?

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