English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Anyone trying to teach English via the Internet should be forced to repeat "I am from a tiny hole in [country] and I am not so much as aware of the existence of other dialects" after, before, and instead of every sentence they produce.

KitFox

@Cerberus Pineapple.

RegDwight ΒВB

And now I gotta run for real.

KitFox

waaahhhhhnt.

Bye!

Vitaly

4:12 PM

CU.

RegDwight ΒВB

Dewwwwww noooouuuud waaaaahhhnt.

Cerberus

@KitFox Excuse me?

Bai!

KitFox

@Cerberus That's a very pineapply joke.

Cerberus

Why?

KitFox

I didn't mean to come across as rude. I was just searching for Russian accents on YouTube.

Cerberus

4:15 PM

The world "missen" works exactly the same way in Dutch.

@KitFox Oh don't worry.

KitFox

Did you miss...? to mean Is...missing?

Cerberus

You can miss a target, miss a loved one, miss a deadline in Dutch.

KitFox

So, no, why would I miss your internets?

Cerberus

Because they have been down for 24 hours. I was just randomly complaining about that.

sad faces

@KitFox I don't mean to keep on nagging you about this, but how do you mean "is...missing"? How does that fit in?

KitFox

I have heard NNS say "I miss my watch" for instance, when they mean to express "I am missing my watch," or more specifically "My watch is missing."

Cerberus

4:20 PM

Oh, I see.

I would never do that.

user19161

I see my watch. My watch is seeing.

Cerberus

Saying "I miss my watch" to mean "I can't find my watch" sounds very wrong.

KitFox

Yes, it does.

Cerberus

But you are right, it could be used like that in Dutch.

Ik mis mijn horloge.

It is a bit uncommon, but possible.

user19161

@catepillar Just in case you did not know, you may have misspelled "caterpillar".

Vitaly

4:22 PM

@JasperLoy That's deliberate.

Cerberus

Haha.

I assumed it was.

Vitaly

So you can troll Jasper without even saying anything!

user19161

@Cerberus You never know, considering the huge number of misspellings on this site.

Cerberus

Is the animal's real name Cathryn?

user19161

@Vitaly I am awesome like that!

KitFox

4:24 PM

@Cerberus It could be just Cate, you know.

Cerberus

@Vitaly +1 for Cate.

@KitFox Jinx.

Vitaly

Yeah!

Cerberus

Gee, do I know anyone called Cate...

KitFox

Not everyone has to have a fancy formal name.

Cerberus

I see.

KitFox

4:24 PM

You don't see people asking Cate Blanchett if her name is really "Cathryn."

user19161

Or people asking kitfox if she is called kitfox.

Cerberus

Most people I know have a long official name and a shorter nickname.

KitFox

And yes, Kit is a nickname, I admit it.

Cerberus

Not always, of course.

user19161

kitkat sounds better than kitfox.

user19161

4:26 PM

A kitkat is a chocolate but a kitfox is not a fox.

KitFox

But it gets annoying to have people ask you how to spell "Katharyn" or what have you, and they can't figure out why you are confused and don't know because there are a half hundred ways to spell Catherine, and why are they even asking and it's because they've gone and assumed that that is your proper name when it couldn't really be farther from it!

inhales

user19161

Jasper is also spelled as Jesper.

user19161

Then there is also Gaspar and Casper.

KitFox

And Balthazar and Melchior.

user19161

On the other hand the plural of cerberus is cerberi or cerberae.

KitFox

4:29 PM

Cerberi.

user19161

It's confusing because cerberus has 3 heads but cerberi have 3n heads.

KitFox

Cerberae is the plural of Cerbera.

user19161

There is also little Cerberella.

Vitaly

Thanks.

KitFox

The things I do for you.

user19161

4:32 PM

Haha, @vit no need to delete that!

Cerberus

@Vitaly Hmm what was that?

KitFox

I can't believe I feel jealous of lepidoptera larva.

user19161

See, now you have earned some curiosity from @cerb.

KitFox

sulks

Cerberus

@KitFox Oh, that is annoying!

KitFox

4:34 PM

I suppose I shouldn't be too angry. I mean, it's perfectly natural to assume that my nickname is related somehow to my given name, but it's not.

And Kit is a nickname for Katherine.

cornbread ninja

My government name is Cornbreadius.

user19161

@cornbreadninja government?

KitFox

Panmaisia.

giggles

cornbread ninja

@JasperLoy yes, that which is official, the name on my certificate of live birth :)

(not really)

user19161

@cornbreadninja I am not one of the UD kids!

user19161

4:37 PM

I don't even know what is circlejerk!

cornbread ninja

@JasperLoy a thousand pardons! Pretend I said given name.

@KitFox dip trip, flip fantasia

user19161

So @corn, what does your avatar represent?

cornbread ninja

@JasperLoy it is from a series of helpful signs featuring prominently in a popular puzzle game called Portal.

KitFox

@cornbreadninja Thanks for that. Nice way to remove that other earworm I had in my head.

cornbread ninja

@KitFox :D

KitFox

4:41 PM

I decided to ask for Portal/Portal 2 for my birthday.

user19161

@cornbreadninja Oh I thought you were going to give someone some present!

user19161

@KitFox Next Monday.

KitFox

Indeed.

And how old will I be?

user19161

3 dozen.

KitFox

Spot on.

cornbread ninja

4:42 PM

@JasperLoy the person is holding a companion cube, which is a helpful tool for opening doors. The cube is placed on a large button that holds the door open.

feels old

user19161

I am old too. But it's OK.

KitFox

Jasper, you are not old.

Hey @cornbread, how did you inline your proposal support box?

cornbread ninja

@KitFox they are over/under over here

@KitFox I was informed yesterday that there are hidden <p> tags.

KitFox

Sorry, I meant with the pic. Mine comes through as a bare link. Or does it not do that automagically?

user19161

Oh I see that ESL has been renamed to ELL!

cornbread ninja

4:46 PM

ohhhh I used the flair version

@JasperLoy 'oly 'ell!

KitFox

Flair version?

Oh! Add flair to your account?

That thingy?

cornbread ninja

@KitFox please hold. cornbread will be with you shortly

@KitFox go to the page of your commitment. There is a 'share this' link, and two versions. The bottom one is the flair-y version.

user19161

Hey Barrie is the last one to join ELL!

user19161

That was 40 min ago!

KitFox

@cornbreadninja Yeah, I got it. Thanks!

cornbread ninja

4:48 PM

@KitFox you are quite welcome!

How soon can we commit to ELL? Does it have to reach some magical number of supporters first?

Vitaly

@cornbreadninja We need 31 more followers and 40 questions with a score of 10 or more to move on to the commitment phase.

cornbread ninja

@Vitaly ahhh okay. Thank you.

user19161

@cornbreadninja You can follow the progress on Area 51 itself if you want.

cornbread ninja

@JasperLoy I shall!

JSBձոգչ

5:07 PM

hello people and/or mythological creatures!

KitFox

feels insulted

JSBձոգչ

by me?

KitFox

I'm neither one of those, now am I?

pout

JSBձոգչ

foxes are people

KitFox

Oh.

Hullo!

JSBձոգչ

5:08 PM

i've been away for a while

Cerberus

Hello.

KitFox

I saw that you had been on a trip.

Vitaly

Hey.

JSBձոգչ

yeah, i went on a trip, then i got busy with other things

user19161

@JSBձոգչ Yeah, probably choked by whisky.

Cerberus

5:09 PM

prances around the room mythologically

3

Vitaly

feels insulted

KitFox

You got busy. Oh yeah.

Vitaly

Spiders are most definitely not people.

JSBձոգչ

and i wasn't interested in answering ESL questions all day

Cerberus

@Vitaly Neglected?

Poor...thing.

JSBձոգչ

5:09 PM

since when is Vitaly a spider?

Cerberus

Is he?

JSBձոգչ

an arachnophile, yes

KitFox

@JSBձոգչ Did you see the new proposal? Did you?

JSBձոգչ

but not an actual arachnid

Cerberus

I see an ominous sign.

No spider.

KitFox

5:10 PM

He's as much an arachnid as I am a vulpid.

JSBձոգչ

@KitFox i did... but i'm not excited

user19161

I am a Belieber.

KitFox

@JSBձոգչ meh. still nice to see you.

JSBձոգչ

i'm waiting for this guy to go into beta

65

Planned and Constructed Languages

Proposed Q&A site for questions about auxiliary, constructed, planned, and artificial languages, including Esperanto, Na'vi, Klingon, Ido, Lojban, Sindarin, Láadan, Toki Pona, etc. Also field linguistics questions, such as how to document a new language.

Currently in commitment.

user19161

@JSBձոգչ I thought you meant ELL.

user19161

5:11 PM

@JSBձոգչ Are these languages of any real use?

JSBձոգչ

@JasperLoy of course not

user19161

Why do people invent new languages just to study them?

KitFox

@JSBձոգչ That looks really interesting. I wish I could say I would commit, but conlangs are not one of my hobbies.

JSBձոգչ

this is neat:

JSBձոգչ, United States

666 1 5 14

KitFox

I do find them very interesting to look at however.

@JSBձոգչ guffaw

JSBձոգչ

5:12 PM

gold badge! 666!

KitFox

Which site is that? I can't tell.

JSBձոգչ

gardening

KitFox

Oh. Hahaha.

JSBձոգչ

are the tags not a clue?

KitFox

How appropriate.

@JSBձոգչ If I had thought to actually look at them, I'm sure I could have figured it out.

JSBձոգչ

5:13 PM

heh

KitFox

666 and sowing his seeds.

At least, I assume that's what you meant by "getting busy."

JSBձոգչ

heh heh

KitFox

sighs If it weren't for my automated error traps, I wouldn't get any email at all.

user19161

Although 666 is the number of the devil, 66 is the number of books in the bible.

JSBձոգչ

sure, if you have one of those defective protestant bibles

KitFox

5:17 PM

chortle

user19161

I think I should go read up more on Islam and Judaism.

KitFox

So I have a new iPad.

I installed the Sims app.

It is surprisingly not as much fun as the others.

Cerberus

JSBձոգչ

@KitFox oooh! fun!

an iphone recently invaded my home

Cerberus

Kill it!

KitFox

5:18 PM

I am happy to have one to try out for my boys.

Cerberus

Crush its Window!

user19161

Why are iproducts taking over the world?

KitFox

But it is because my project lead and the big boss think that I can just start building mobile apps.

JSBձոգչ

we didn't buy our iproduct. it was given to us.

KitFox

When the truth is, I haven't the first clue where to begin, even if I wanted to.

user19161

5:20 PM

I think I prefer Microsoft to Apple products any day.

JSBձոգչ

jasper clearly isn't one of the cool kids

KitFox

Well, I do like the iPad interface. The touch controls are smoother than other touch devices I have used in the past.

user19161

For one, Apple still does not have a full-fledged office suite.

KitFox

But how anyone could think an iPad could replace a computer... shrugs

It's a toy.

user19161

I am afraid that kids these days will go everywhere with their ipad and spoil their eyesight.

KitFox

5:22 PM

A very expensive, pretty interface for people who think computers are for checking email, FB, and playing non-Flash based games.

user19161

Also, they will be playing mindless games instead of pondering the mysteries of existence.

KitFox

And watching TV and movies.

user19161

The world is set to become more stupid then.

KitFox

Anyway, it is not surprising to me that they are so popular, and most people ought to be using tablets anyway, since they don't really need a computer.

Other than for internet access, anyway.

user19161

I think laptops are a good hybrid of desktops and ipads.

KitFox

5:24 PM

And my little son was spelling along with the game he was playing in less than an hour yesterday.

He also figured out how to watch Netflix.

And how to cancel out of the ads.

user19161

Games can be educational, yes. Anyway, I don't think I myself ever learned anything through a game.

KitFox

I guess that means it is a pretty intuitive interface.

JSBձոգչ

your son is advanced

my two year old knows how to ask me to put monster truck videos on the laptop

but that's about it

monster trucks, curious george, and sometimes Shawn the Sheep

KitFox

Well, a laptop is completely different. He just bangs on my keyboard.

user19161

You need to teach them how to not be virused and how to not let people see their history.

KitFox

5:26 PM

So it was pretty spectacular to see him figure out the iPad so quickly.

user19161

Maybe the iPhone should come in more colours.

user19161

Instead of a black one and a white one, I would rather have say a grey one.

KitFox

It has thousands of skins, dunnit?

user19161

I don't even know about them skins!

user19161

I am clearly not one of the cool kids.

KitFox

5:29 PM

Hey @Cerb, this may be a stupid question, but did you try a hard reboot on your phone?

Cerberus

@KitFox No, but I don't want to lose my data. And I had already established that it wasn't my phone, because all my other cards worked fine, including another one from the same carrier.

So it had to be a problem with the carrier's network or administration or something.

And then they posted on their website that this was indeed the case.

But thanks for trying to help!

KitFox

Oh. I see. So it's still down because they haven't fixed it?

Cerberus

Yup.

Which is a bit outrageous.

Luckily I haven't fully switched yet.

KitFox

5:47 PM

►

Wow. Sudden downpour.

cornbread ninja

6:00 PM

@KitFox but it's over now?

KitFox

Just about. It must have been good, but I missed it somehow.

cornbread ninja

@KitFox :D

I actually didn't check if it was that one or the other one, but the video looks more like that one than the other one.

KitFox

►

I keep getting these 80s songs stuck in my head.

Trouble is, I thought they were supercheesy when I was in school. Now I think they are superfun to sing along with.

cornbread ninja

what was the one that flip fantasia knocked out?

KitFox

Oh, hang on. I've got Journey still playing.

Um, Bette Davis Eyes, I think.

cornbread ninja

6:09 PM

her head is hollow gold

KitFox

Her lips sweet surprise.

cornbread ninja

she had nothing but vocal fry going on

KitFox

Head? Not hair?

cornbread ninja

I forgets :S

KitFox

It's been a very musical day for me.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

6:10 PM

@KitFox wait... what else do you do with your computer?

KitFox

I usually just have one song per day.

@MrShinyandNew安宇 porn

Oh, no. Sorry. Stock answer.

I write codez.

And hack into mainframes and cool shit like that.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox you can get porn on the ipad

KitFox

Oh really?

iPorn?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

sure, in the browser

KitFox

Which app?

Oh, browser

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

6:12 PM

not porn apps

Unless it's an app for a site like flickr which has, along with non-porn, porn content.

KitFox

Well, given that I have to put all my personal info into the iPad in order for it to work, I shall have to decline to use the browser.

Flickr has porn?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

of course flickr has porn. it's a photo-sharing site

KitFox

I admit that I actually very rarely surf for porn.

Most of my collection is DVD.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

that implies paying for porn.... that's a concept i'm not familiar with

KitFox

Although interestingly, Picasa must have recently rescanned all of my photo-containing folders.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

6:15 PM

@KitFox ... and uploaded them to the 'net, for easy sharing?

KitFox

Because a whole bunch of intentionally excluded pictures popped up when I was showing my mother-in-law the new pics I had taken of the boys.

Robusto

I hate when iPhoto scans every frickin' picture on any thumb drive I ever stick into my Mac.

KitFox

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Oh Jesus, I hadn't even thought of that.

catepillar

lol

Vitaly

Oh, finally. :P

Hey @KitFox @Cerberus @Robusto, meet an officer in my new Tyrant home.

KitFox

6:16 PM

With my luck, my eldest open Picasa, rescanned all the pictures, and posted interesting ones to his Facebook account.

By accident.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox yeah, like my phone, it is set to upload all its photos to google+ (which is replacing picassa)... it doesn't SHARE them, but it does UPLOAD them.

Vitaly

@catepillar, meet my former faction mates.

KitFox

Hullo, @catepillar.

catepillar

howdy

been a busy morning for me

KitFox

Did you get involved in a land war in Asia?

Because that's always a time suck.

catepillar

6:19 PM

more of a virtual war for the game :P

We win, we jump back to 1st. we lose, we stay in 2nd

KitFox

Ever study chimpanzee behavior?

catepillar

but the goal is to have them lose close to $200 off this war, while we spend nothing

can't say that i have

KitFox

It's not the alpha male, but rather his second that gets shagged the most.

Vitaly

Haha.

catepillar

lol

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

6:22 PM

Hi @catepillar. Since this is English Language and Usage chat, I must inform you that it's traditionally spelled caterpillar.

KitFox

And all this time, I've spelt it "capelillar."

Robusto

@Vitaly Where is that?

Vitaly

@Robusto Iron Fist Sect, the current no.1/2 faction.

catepillar

yea, it was a mispelling when i was like 12/13

Robusto

@Vitaly No, where would we meet?

Vitaly

6:25 PM

@Robusto In your backyard. :P

Robusto

...

Vitaly

@Robusto He's @catepillar

Robusto

Oh. Well, hello then.

KitFox

offers coffee

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@catepillar that's the ticket! spell it wrong for so long that your "mistake" becomes standard! You can help it along by editing the Wikipedia entry on catepillars

catepillar

6:27 PM

lol

Robusto

So, @catepillar, how do you feel that you lost the #1 spot after welcoming @Vitaly into your fold? I mean, you can point to it. :)

catepillar

naw, losing #1 was a long time coming

MoM did some things right, and some things wrong

but it won't last for long