English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room - 2013-01-17 (page 6 of 7)

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Matt Эллен

7:00 PM

maybe

hi @aediaλ

like, it might put ads on youtube

Grr, I am unreasonably annoyed that I can't identify the bug that I killed repeatedly in my kitchen and of which I have no pictures. Why do all the singularities out there want pictures to identify my bugs? I know what my bugs look like!

Hi @matt!

Matt Эллен

do they look squished?

Only after quite a lot of squishing

I was initially uncomfortable with the degree of squishing involved, but also uncomfortable with letting them roam free in my home

Matt Эллен

are the roaches?

They don't look like a typical roach or beetle picture, so I don't know enough to tell. I think they have 6 legs, and are blackish-brown, with a rather pretty bit of orange across the back. Skinny and almost flat, not like a big round beetle at all

Matt Эллен

7:06 PM

user image

Close, but not it.

Matt Эллен

ah well. I guess we need entomologists, not etymologists

The shape and color is a little wrong. They were more flat looking and more... Kite shaped almost? I haven't had one around in a couple weeks.

The summer was the worst, for them and crickets as well that kept hiding around the bathroom

Matt Эллен

damn bugs!

this one is amazing, though:

user image

I telecommute now so one cricket actually bothered me quite a bit for a couple workdays, and that's when I stopped liking crickets. Before that I thought it was nice having them outside chirping at night and now I am the bug-killer of the household, flying into a murderous rage when they invade my castle

@MattЭллен Oh wow

Matt Эллен

7:11 PM

@aediaλ raaaaaaaaaaaa! I dislike bugs. they breed and then they're everywhere, crawling up your nose as you sleep.

AAAAUGH!

Matt Эллен

I live on the 2nd floor, so I don't get many bugs, which is nice

user19161

Still deleting comments...

user19161

@MattЭллен So beautiful!

Matt Эллен

and a cool ninja pose

@aediaλ what job do you do now? is it similar to before?

7:15 PM

@MattЭллен My last apartment was in a high-rise and I think once in the few years I lived there, there were some ants in my sugar or something. That was it. Now that I've got a house we started off by fending off a woodchuck living under the porch and I suppose I should think of the bugs as minor in comparison, but I still hate 'em...

Matt Эллен

@aediaλ ants are terrible. they steal everything.

@aediaλ Oh, I see. Well, I recommend scissors. They work very well, and the wasp doesn't need to be on a flat surface or sitting till.

@MattЭллен Wow! That's Reg presiding over and giving instructions to the site.

Matt Эллен

yes!

I never have any bugs at all, not even mosquitoes, except when I leave the window open for a really long time.

With lots of light.

When it's really hot outside.

No rodents either.

Only the occasional tiny fly when I have plants.

user19161

@Cerberus Very fortunate.

7:21 PM

Yeah.

1st floor, city centre.

Renovated in the 1990s or so.

@aediaλ So how is the new house? A huge improvement? I remember your previous house was smallish, or so you said.

@MattЭллен Pretty much the same job; team got smaller with more full- or part-time telecommuters but I'm actually still with the same company. I do anything that's not backend dev work for some websites (frontend UI, writing, accessibility/webstandards), some 2nd tier user/tech support, and occasional other things no one else knows how to do like print layout.

Matt Эллен

nice nice

@Cerberus Scissors? for a wasp?

How?

@Cerberus Went from a studio apartment to owning my first house. It's crazy how large it is.

I have moments of doubt when we are mired in fixing things.

It's ~1900, not a new building.

@aediaλ You just approach the wasp with the scissors and cut it in half. It is surprisingly easy, never failed me.

@aediaλ Yay!

That's a great age.

You cut it with the tip of the scissors.

@Cerberus Family gave me some heirloom chairs and a sofa that are nearly as old - handmade wood ones - and they look right at home.

I was so excited to move my old IKEA futon to the guest room.

user19161

7:32 PM

I like IKEA furniture and meatballs!

@aediaλ Pictures!!

@Cerberus Huh. I'll have to try that. If I remember. I usually would just smack a bee of any sort with whatever I had handy, I think; I don't know that I would wait and think "where are my scissors?"

But how easy is it to smack a wasp that is moving around quickly, on uneven surfaces (the ridges of window panes), on weak/fragile surfaces (plants, wine glasses, plates)...

One can usually get a pair of scissors from the kitchen within 60 secs.

You stalk it until it's against something reasonably smackable.

It doesn't seem easy, but I promise, it will be an eye-opener.

7:37 PM

What if you lose it while you're getting the scissors? Then you have to live with the fear that the wasp is still around and it has the advantage.

@aediaλ Yeah, and that takes ages, and you miss your window of opportunity, and you have to wait some more...

@aediaλ Hmm well, they usually keep returning to windows (light). You could get someone else to watch it.

Actually, I've never lost a wasp for more than a minute or so.

But of course, it may happen.

@Cerberus Oh, but downstairs is such a mess...

@MattЭллен Kung-Fu Butterfly! Copyright Dreamworks.

Matt Эллен

can it do the face, though?

This is like the toughest scenario ever.

And yet he got the wasp in 1 minute.

If it weren't for those blinds, it would have been trivially easy.

And the wasp is not very startled if you miss it.

And if you hit it at all, it will be dead.

The upper part of its body can continue to wriggle for a while, but it will be harmless, and no flying.

7:50 PM

Huh.

I guess I'm a convert. The not startling if you miss it is a big point in favor of the scissors technique.

Murderers.

I'm not watching this crap.

No wasp was ever hurt by me, and it stays that way.

No wasp has ever hurt me, either. We have a pact.

user19161

Wow, I still have so many comments left to delete!

@aediaλ Yeah, I mean, missing it is like waving at it with a finger: it will buzz and quickly move aside 10 cm, but otherwise it will be fine.

@RegDwighт Then you are terribly lucky. I am always careful, and they always sting me.

Like the time one fell into my bag, and I was unpacking my clothes in the dark when it stung me.

user19161

They should have a button "delete all my own comments".

user image

8:01 PM

Or the time I ate one hiding under a lettuce leaf.

@aediaλ Wow!! I love it!

user19161

@aediaλ Hehe, I don't see you!

It's a disaster in the house. And I remember why I don't use the laptop camera to take pictures. It's like the worst camera ever.

It suffices.

I love the woodwork.

My parents have dark wood on white walls too.

Great combo: stylish, and yet not too dark.

Me too. The floors are gorgeous on a sunny day with the different tones in the wood.

Yay!

8:03 PM

It was actually purple striped wallpaper when we got it.

Wooden floors are the best.

@aediaλ Ahhh you're kidding!!

I wish I were.

People...

@aediaλ Hello! Long time no chat!

The hall was dead flowers and the bedroom was different slightly less dead-looking flowers and the guest bedroom was a purple that matched the downstairs purple stripes.

@Mahnax Heya!

8:05 PM

@Cerberus my brother goes in Irrecoverable Panic Mode as soon as there's any mention of a wasp having been seen in a radius of 1000 miles.

@aediaλ Dead flowers? What does that look like?

@RegDwighт So do I.

That is, my brother probably says the same thing about me.

Well too bad. If you don't go into any mode at all, nothing happens.

Hey, are you my brother?

I let wasps walk on me.

@RegDwighт That's not true! They only sting me when I'm not in that mode.

8:06 PM

@Cerberus perhaps you are using mode version 10b. You need to upgrade.

@RegDwighт I didn't know my brother lived in an asylum.

@RegDwighт Unpossible. How am I going to prevent a wasp from slipping under a lettuce leaf and into my mouth?

@RegDwighт You should stand up for yourself. Don't let the wasps take advantage of you; you are your own, uh, beaver.

Heh.

Hey, I have just invented a cool new proverb: A cat may look at a king.

How do you like it?

Uhh...

8:08 PM

0

Q: Missing the trees for the forest

I am not sure if this is appropriate for this forum, but I thought this is a good place to ask. I think I came up with a new phrase, similar to the devil in details. Appreciate if you find it applicable and mildly amusing. Missing the trees for the forest It describes the situation where you h...

phrase-requests

It's all right. If only it had meaning.

user image

user image

user image

@aediaλ Ahh like that. Hmm, yes, I would be careful with that.

@Cerberus wait, you mean the joke falls flat on you? You don't know that proverb?

@aediaλ No!!!

8:08 PM

phrases.org.uk/meanings/a-cat-may-look-at-a-king.html

idioms.thefreedictionary.com/cat+can+look+at+a+king

@RegDwighт Sorry, I happen to dislike proverbs.

en.wiktionary.org/wiki/a_cat_may_look_at_a_king

@RegDwighт I think he missed the tree for the forest.

Entirely new to me.

@RegDwighт I'm sure he was the first person ever to think of that reversal.

8:09 PM

@Cerberus okay, then just for you I'll invent an all-new one not-proverb: "I live in a house".

Cool, eh?

OMG it's brilliant.

@aediaλ I'm flagging this as offensive.

@Cerberus Hahaha.

Reg, can you delete Aedia's purple wallpaper?

If only it had been that easy...

@Cerberus you're missing out.

Pussy Cat Pussy Cat

"Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat" is a popular English language nursery rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 15094. Lyrics and melody Common modern versions include: :Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been? :I've been down to London to visit the Queen. :Pussy cat, pussy cat, what did you do there? :I frightened a little mouse, under her chair. The last line sometimes sung as: :I chased a little mouse right under the chair. The melody commonly associated with the rhyme was first recorded by the composer and nursery rhyme collector James William Elliott in his National Nursery Rhymes a...

8:10 PM

Ktxbai.

@RegDwighт I have heard of this.

Not to mention Alice in Wonderland and other references.

I know the cat from Alice.

You don't know the reference to the proverb, though.

Indeed not. Now I do.

Wait, does Alice's cat refer to the proverb?

I haven't read her since...I was this tall.

holds hand low

'Who are you talking to?' said the King, going up to Alice, and looking at the Cat's head with great curiosity.
'It's a friend of mine—a Cheshire Cat,' said Alice: 'allow me to introduce it.'
'I don't like the look of it at all,' said the King: 'however, it may kiss my hand if it likes.'
'I'd rather not,' the Cat remarked.
'Don't be impertinent,' said the King, 'and don't look at me like that!' He got behind Alice as he spoke.
'A cat may look at a king,' said Alice. 'I've read that in some book, but I don't remember where.'

8:13 PM

Haha.

I see.

I must have read that back in the days.

But not remembered it.

The site is so laggy for me right now. Chat, too.

Posting comments takes several tries.

Really?

Hmm.

There was something weird going on when I was typing an answer, but that was resolved when I killed a running program on my PC.

Chat is not slow for me.

That guy is starting to become annoying.

Care to link me to one hit? They are for Missing the forest for the trees, which is different. I could only find one link, lesswrong.com/lw/13k/missing_the_trees_for_the_forest, but it describes a different concept — Miserable Variable 11 mins ago

@RegDwighт still waiting... — Miserable Variable 1 min ago

What, he thinks I can't google?

@RegDwighт Yeah I don't get him.

Perhaps his Google is broken.

Is he in an oppressive country?

Jwpat's isn't, thankfully.

8:26 PM

Good.

A nice answer.

1

A: Missing the trees for the forest

You ask, “Are there any other phrases that describe this situation?”. It appears that there are; examples follow. In an article called Missing the trees for the forest, N. Petrossi gives an alternate wording: “... they have focused on all of Orange County’s home market stats and failed to see ...

Though I kind of wish it went on to list thirty more examples.

Perhaps we can take a community effort.

Get jwpat the Reversal badge.

Everyone adds one quote to the answer, upvotes it, downvotes the question. Step 4: profit!

Alas, a man can dream.

Now that English.Seeore added usernames to everything, it's really easy to see the content they've copied

I just had one of my takedowns completed

@RegDwighт do you see a difference between "missing trees for forest" and "missing forest for trees"? (Hint: the second and fourth words are different) — Miserable Variable 2 mins ago

@Variable: do you see it? I have copypasted your exact phrase. — RegDwighт 1 min ago

Seriously.

What the actual F.

@Cerberus I almost just said "Glad to see some things haven't changed" but I don't mean quite that; I of course would be happy if n00bs stopped taunting Reg. Just glad that... the site's still here and they haven't broken you yet, @RegDwighт.

@RegDwighт Very very weird.

@aediaλ Never!

8:31 PM

@aediaλ right, I was going to say hello earlier when I saw you. But got distracted by wasp.

So, hello.

And, if so, we shall glue the pieces back together.

@RegDwighт Hi!

In a way that makes more sense.

@Cerberus it is in that vein that I have changed this room's description just today.

As you can see, I am helping.

I dunno. I like the old name better. This one is too positive. What a Pollyanna.

8:33 PM

@RegDwighт Uhh yes, I can see you really did your best. Your effort is laudable.

@Robusto I will work with you. How about "The single room with every possible negative discussion"?

I was kinda busy IRL for a while. I bought a house, and it was full of that purple wallpaper and other things that had to get fixed. And I moved several states. And started telecommuting and my not-commute got filled up immediately with stress and house. And my husband switched jobs. And things and stuff. So yeah!

I think that's a good summary.

@RegDwighт Not litotish enough.

user19161

Ladies and gentlemen, I declare that I have deleted all comments on main and meta!

Hi @Rob!

8:34 PM

@Robusto get out of my head.

Hi aedia!

@aediaλ Your purple wallpaper explains it all, no need to explain.

I almost suggested "The single room with every possible unpositive discussion", but then decided to reserve it for step 2.

We speak litotese here in chat.

user19161

Until now I dunno what litotes means.

8:35 PM

@aediaλ By the way, don't think you have lost our Ways if you don't understand them: I don't either, and I doubt whether they do so themselves.

In fact I had already started typing "unpo-".

@JasonBourne nice litotes!

Well, the statement is quite unpo.

user19161

@reg Do I get a cookie for deleting all my comments?

No. Go home.

@JasonBourne you don't not get a cookie.

@Robusto nicer litotes still!

8:36 PM

It's the only way not to be unsure.

Yeah there can only be untwo.

user19161

You're all confusing me.

No, only some of us are.

The rest don't care.

You were born confused.

user19161

They should have a badge for deleting all comments.

8:38 PM

> HAHA I am stupid, nothing new here

@Cerberus Maybe Left Head understands?

Well. It did take him a while, but at least he now sees the bushes between the berries.

@aediaλ If so, then the other heads don't understand lefty...

BRB groceries.

Now he's flagged it for deletion. I can haz concerted effort to close it down first?

@RegDwighт Whoops. I got to it already.

8:40 PM

@Cerberus I'll figure out what's happening. I don't not remember the litotes, at least.

Hiya @simchona!

@simchona well it's still up, so you're not interfering with my concerts.

@RegDwighт I just wanted to be able to decline it.

Jim Carrey has turned 51. Time flies like a banana.

user19161

Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

Wow, that's a nice proverb you invented.

user19161

8:47 PM

Yes, you may give me a whoosh as well.

You don't get to tell me when to whoosh you.

user19161

That's because I am testing you.

I whoosh you oft enough as is.

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