English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room - 2013-02-19 (page 3 of 4)

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TemporaryNickName

12:02 PM

guys

any English word to describe bad experience or dirty past of someone?

Matt Эллен

you could try bad experience, or dirty past

they are different things, mind you

12:26 PM

Hi, can anyone tell me what this means -- "The Guardian Of The Accolade"? (I am thinking it means something like, the guardian of the brave, but am very doubtful)

Matt Эллен

The Accolade is a thing being guarded by its guardian, i.e. The Guardian of The Accolade

TemporaryNickName

@MattЭллен why are you being so obvious?

Obvious @MattЭллен is obvious?

@MattЭллен yeah, in that sense, what's the meaning of accolade?

TemporaryNickName

@01100001 It's a thing, you can google it

@TemporaryNickName really? I do that first, before coming here

TemporaryNickName

12:33 PM

It's obviously a thing being guarded by its guardian, i.e. Guardian of The Accolade

I mean, accolade = praise, but it doesn't match the sentence. Could it mean the guardian of honor, or _the guardian of the "praised" or "honored" people, or something like that? That's what I am asking. The intended meaning of the sentence.

@tchrist They're high in a different sense.

The same sense as those Nederlanders in Colorado.

Matt Эллен

12:54 PM

contextless @TemporaryNickName is contextless

@01100001 where have you seen the title "The Guardian of The Accolade"?

Moin.

Matt Эллен

Allo

I heard the ELL is in beta! Somebody tell @Reg quick!

user19161

@KitFox Didn't that happen 9000 years ago?

Hence the joke.

user19161

1:05 PM

Oh, as usual, I am whooshed!

Matt Эллен

@01100001 I think The Accolade is the honour of the Weymouth Bank

user image

Matt Эллен

@01100001 also Mr. Robert was knighted by Miss Lucy, so he was given an accolade. Uncle Brushrod is protecting that too

user19161

@matt Did you see my wonderful display of sarcasm in this chat today?

Matt Эллен

@JacobBlack I did not. where is it?

user19161

1:14 PM

@MattЭллен Haha, just scroll a little up. Not really sarcasm.

Matt Эллен

oh, I see. I didn't realise you were being sarcastic!

user19161

Haha, that must be a whoosh!

Matt Эллен

:D

;D

user19161

I now make it a point to talk in a certain way to people who talk in a certain way.

user19161

1:16 PM

That is how we deal with these people.

Matt Эллен

fight fire with fire?

not water?

Matt Эллен

water's for wet people

real firemen use grenades

user19161

@MattЭллен Happy belated birthday a week ago!

Fires are for roasting marshmallows.

Matt Эллен

1:21 PM

@JacobBlack thanks :D

user19161

@MattЭллен We can say it as long as it is not the next one already, so we have 364 days to say it haha.

Matt Эллен

357 days?

Oh, I see

What about leap years?

user19161

Yeah you get the idea.

user19161

I am not too precise in this chat!

Matt Эллен

1:23 PM

I get two birthdays on leap years, to balance out having to put up with an extra day

Those born on Feb. 29 age 4 times slower than the rest of us.

My son told me last night that they are called "firefighters" because they fight fires.

Matt Эллен

nice. I like how they think

user19161

@KitFox That is what I think as well.

I explained to him about electron orbitals last night.

Also, he learned how to alphabetize.

I'm feeling pretty smug today.

Matt Эллен

1:27 PM

did you explain the Pauli exclusion principle?

user19161

Haha, your son should feel smug lol.

@MattЭллен Not yet. But I did tell him how electrons will absorb energy and jump to higher orbitals, and then when they come back down, light is emitted.

@KitFox Is it not how all of us think?

Matt Эллен

(I recently finished reading the rainbow glitter book of quantum mechanics)

user19161

@MattЭллен Is it not only for unicorns?

1:29 PM

@Ethereal The important thing is that he read the word and correctly split it into two pieces and then expressed an understanding of what they meant.

@MattЭллен I'm guessing that's made up.

user19161

@MattЭллен Only those who believe in unicorns can see the rainbow book.

Matt Эллен

user image

that writing is in glitter

The tough thing is, I realized in the shower this morning that I can't adequately visualize the difference between an ionic bond and a covalent bond, although van der Waals is still simple enough.

user19161

@MattЭллен There can be miracles when you believe. QED.

@MattЭллен Oh. So no quantum mechanics for kids?

1:31 PM

String Theory for Dummies

That's what I should do! Write picture books about really cool awesome science stuff!

Matt Эллен

@KitFox I could understand it soo that's debatable :D

@KitFox that's nice to know, but ultimately a useless bit of trivia. What I am way more interested in knowing is, when will ELL finally reach beta?

user19161

@KitFox The last time I read that was in high school lol.

@RegDwighт How is the ELL site going?

1:32 PM

@skullpatrol can't say, I am waiting for it to reach beta first.

@skullpatrol Hello.

@Ethereal Hi

@RegDwighт Is it not already in beta?

user19161

@RegDwighт When is it going into commitment phase?

user19161

@Ethereal Whoosh!

Matt Эллен

1:32 PM

@JacobBlack Quantum Electro Dynamics is no miracle

QED^

@skullpatrol Don't use that phrase when you don't need to. QED.

We registered him for kindergarten, and while I was filling out the paperwork in the library, he gets a Star Wars book off the shelf. He pointed to a picture and said "It's a plasma...a plasma...Hmm. What's this r word, Mommy?" I felt awesome.

That's right, bitches, my son can read the word "plasma."

user19161

Wow, it's nice to be a mum haha.

Matt Эллен

:D

1:35 PM

what is the r word?

He can also correctly figure how many munchkins each person should get.

@skullpatrol In this case, rotor.

oh

so he can read "plasma" but not "rotor"

user19161

To me, plasma is a really expensive kind of TV. =)

Well, we haven't had a lot of experience with rotors. He gave it a good try. He thought it might be "rider."

Although when I explained what a rotor was, he asked me if it was like a turbine.

@skullpatrol I can read neither!

1:39 PM

@KitFox What was your answer?

I said yes.

A turbine usually houses a rotor.

Good answer.

user19161

Interesting that rotor and motor differ by only a letter.

I didn't know what to say about propellers though. I mean, I guess they're rotors, but I don't really think of them that way.

@KitFox Rotors go with turbines the way propellers go with beanies.

Matt Эллен

1:42 PM

@JacobBlack motor boat -> rotor goat

user19161

@Robusto The same way manties goes with panties. Non Sequitur strikes again.

I'm reading this article and it is full of hyphens where there ought to be dashes. It is really confusing.

Matt Эллен

t-h-e

> It's Actually Simple-In Theory

What's simple-in theory?

Matt Эллен

ow. that is confusing

user19161

1:44 PM

I am not even sure how to type a dash on the keyboard lol.

@KitFox I.e., not cock-blocked.

> ...calls on more skills-more refined skills-applied at a higher plane of sophistication.

That one was difficult because there was a line break between refined and skills.

Matt Эллен

as that actress once said "I just threw up in my mouth a little"

All I ever hear is Marcia, Marcia, Marcia.

user19161

@MattЭллен I think there is a goldfish pic to go with that.

Matt Эллен

1:46 PM

ah yes

user19161

I think Kit posted that a few times in this chat.

Hmm. I must have taken it off this computer.

Matt Эллен

user image

user19161

@MattЭллен Haha that stupid movie.

Matt Эллен

yes?

1:48 PM

So I want to mention that I starting watching Breaking Bad, but I need to get coffee and plan for a meeting.

So I'm not going to mention it because then I don't have time to talk about how awesome it is.

user19161

You should just get the coffee.

@MattЭллен It's in an English text book. What you said makes sense. Thanks!

Matt Эллен

no trouble

2:32 PM

user image

Look how nice and regular the increase in mobile data use is.

It neatly doubles every year.

Matt Эллен

like a quarter pipe

Yeah!

f(x)=x²

Maybe not that.

But you know what I mean.

Matt Эллен

yeah :D

y = (r+x)^0.5 or something

That sounds better.

Matt Эллен

y = (r^2-x^2)^0.5

for positive values of x

2:37 PM

What is r anyway? A constant?

Matt Эллен

yeah, the radius of the circle

Hmm but it's not supposed to be a circle...

That is, the radius would be infinite.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus a quater pipe is a qurter of a circle

Yeah OK.

But doubling every year is not.

Matt Эллен

no, it's not

2:40 PM

If you limit x, then perhaps your formula will work.

Matt Эллен

but that's what the chart reminded me of

Sort of.

Yes.

Oh, it's palaeography time!

Happy formulating!

poof

Matt Эллен

CU!

@MattЭллен Because you find Brian Cox entertaining, or because you’re a closet mathist?

Matt Эллен

@tchrist I enjoy learning about physics and I was bought the book for christmas

2:46 PM

Christmas? And you're just finishing it now?

Ah, the latter.

Matt Эллен

@KitFox yes, but I didn't start it right away. also I read slowly

I think I've mentioned my slow reading before

Oh right. It's one of the things that I judge you by.

looks judgmental

Matt Эллен

:D

Although there's really no correlation between reading speed and intelligence. I just think it's funny.

Matt Эллен

2:49 PM

I read "Bad Science" betwen Christmas and that book

@MattЭллен y = √(r² − x²)

You're probably one of those people who actually "thinks" about what he's reading and "learns" shit from books.

Or maybe y = √(̅r̅²̅ ̅−̅ ̅x̅²̅)̅,

Too bad there's no LaTeX in chat.

Aye.

The combining overlines stretch it a bit. But I think the parens make the square root operator unambiguous, so are not really needed.

Matt Эллен

2:50 PM

@tchrist aye, although I want the upside down version, so really it's y = -√(r² − x²)

Math is sexy.

Or should I say "maths are sexy"?

Matt Эллен

"maths is sexy" tyvm

There’s also ∛ and ∜, but after that, you are forced to resort to things like ⁵√, which isn’t so bad.

@MattЭллен brain explodes

Matt Эллен

@KitFox I think that happened to Mr S&N when I told him, too

2:52 PM

Your math sis has an ex-Y chromosome?

Matt Эллен

Mar 22 '12 at 19:51, by Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@MattЭллен Do you say "math is hard" or "maths are hard" or "maths is hard"

In C-derived programming languages, 5^12 is 9, not 244140625.

Because 0b00101 xor 0b01001 is 0b01100.

@Kit May I please trouble you to edit some dumb typos in a comment of mine that is too old for me to edit? “we do not expec a comma before a subordinate clause being with” should be “we do not expect a comma before a subordinate clause beginning with”. If that makes it too long, I would delete “subordinate”.

Welcome to ELU! The rules for punctuation in English are different, particularly in that we do not expec a comma before a subordinate clause being with that the way one does in German and apparently Danish. I’ve tried to edit your posting so that it reads more naturally/grammatically in English, and so it’s formatted in the style that this site is used to. This includes using paragraphs to break up a large, unstructured “wall of text”. I tried to clarify a few points that I think you were trying to make, but if I have erred, you can edit it yourself to change anything you might care to. — tchrist 23 mins ago

Welcome to ELU! The rules for punctuation in English are different, particularly in that we do not expect a comma before a clause beginning with that the way one does in German and apparently Danish. I’ve tried to edit your posting so that it reads more naturally/grammatically in English, and so it’s formatted in the style that this site is used to. This includes using paragraphs to break up a large, unstructured “wall of text”. I tried to clarify a few points that I think you were trying to make, but if I have erred, you can edit it yourself to change anything you might care to. — tchrist 26 mins ago

Hmm.

There.

Thank you.

nods

3:05 PM

I’d’ve done the delete and add thing, but it clutters up your world and puts things out of order. I just think a first-timer’s greeting should read well. Thanks.

Any time.

Except for right now, because typing is difficult with this wrist brace on.

Oh. Is this from overwork?

Not that that has stopped me this morning.

Right or left?

Too much angry mudding yesterday. Right.

3:06 PM

Rather, dom or nondom?

Dom.

Pity.

Happens.

I stopped when it started to hurt, but that's always too late.

So uhm, I can haz no merge account no more?

They were deleting them for a while.

3:08 PM

Hi @tchrist

Because it is less work, I thought. Dunno.

I just need your help.

@RegDwighт They shifted it up, I think.

I tried to merge someone earlier today and it didn't work and I thought it was because them was an unregistered user. But now I'm trying to merge someone else into Nortonn, and I'm not getting the merge option either. Where has it gone?

And you're supposed to just delete them now.

3:08 PM

Hi @KitFox

It's pinned in the TL.

@Sudhir Hi.

Is merging now dev-only then?

I need your help as you're a Database Programmer.

Although I think I saw a merge tool in the mod tools.

@Sudhir What can I do for you?

I've some questions. so I need answer of them.

3:10 PM

That means "what are your questions?"

Why we do indexing in table?

@KitFox yeah I saw that option earlier today and even tried using it for that user who deleted his cookies, but gave up.

So that's the only way now, hm.

I'm pretty sure.

I'm just trying to ballpark if this means more work for me or less.

@Sudhir To give the processor something to order rows by to speed up scans.

3:12 PM

We can do without using it, I think

@RegDwighт Less in the sense that we can just delete. More in the sense that we have to think harder about it.

@Sudhir Without indexes? Oh yeah. Absolutely. Indexes are not necessary.

That's easy. I don't have to think if I can't.

Thinking is always more work, and with knowledge-workers, risks overloading us when we are busy with heads full of everything else.

Ouch. Now I need a brain splint.

As space overhead is associated with it.

3:13 PM

You never need indexes.

Too bad you can’t moderate ELU while doing the dishes instead of while programming.

There are very handy and speed up queries on large datasets. Otherwise, don't bother.

I never program while. Fortran all the way.

I might program a whale, though.

You will always have a job then.

@RegDwighт Are you saying my ass is fat?

3:14 PM

I find myself in that position with respect to C these days.

@tchrist Not if the Japanese keep their whale consumption at the current levels.

Thanks @KitFox

Science my lad, it’s all for science doncha know.

1,000 per annum or something, which means many times that off the books.

If you don't mind we can have seprate room

@KitFox

No flirting, I said.

3:16 PM

If only there were fewer Japanese annums to go around.

You would prefer Javanese enums?

Annums, sonnums, konnums.

I feel a kenning coming on.

See. That summons Robusto.

@KitFox:What's your thought?

3:16 PM

@tchrist *kerning

I wonder if are sore kore makes him dance.

Same thing in this font.

Are you dancing, Robusto?

Am I ever dancing?

@Sudhir We have a "coder room" but I have a meeting right now, so I have to go.

3:17 PM

@Robusto What is that, a Jewish answer?

Who needs to know?

Me?

You're in office?

Who are you?

@Sudhir Not in that of the President of the United States.

@Robusto not the President of the United States? Yet?

3:18 PM

Wait, you're not the president?

@RegDwighт:Ha ha very funny

@Robusto Why would I wait? And what for?

Hey, does either of you know the second C#m fugue, BWV 873 from WTC2?

No sound here so can't check.

It’s in 12/16.

3:19 PM

I guess I could look at sheet music, of course.

@tchrist Since I have the complete works of Bach on my iPod, wouldn't it stand to reason that I do?

@KitFox: Is Ha ha is formal word?

@Robusto It wouldn't?

If you play it at quarter note equals 60, it is just ok. If you play it at 120, it really rocks.

@RegDwighт Why do you keep asking me all these questions?

3:20 PM

And if you play it at 160 the way Glen Gould does, you need to be committed.

@Robusto why do you not keep asking them? Someone has to ask them, okay?

@tchrist Isn't this true of most music? Play it twice as fast and it really rocks?

2

@Robusto:Is Ha ha is formal word?

No, that's not rock, that's eurodance.

Also, the real issue is that everyone plays Classical music too fast.

@tchrist IIRC, he was committed for some period of time.

3:21 PM

Hi @MattЭллен

Listen to Beethoven at half the speed you're used to. It's amazing. In fact I think we discussed that here at some point.

@RegDwighт Tru dat. Which is why I like Michele Campanella's Liszt. He doesn't turn it into a horse race.

@Robusto No, sometimes it falls apart.

When they wrote "walking speed" or "driving speed", they meant their-century walking and driving, not ours.

@KitFox: there

?

3:24 PM

@RegDwighт Because it is supposed to be some courtly promenade? You mean the whole “common practice period”, or the Mozart/Haydn stuff only?

@RegDwighт Well, the Victorians played baroque slow movements, the ones with nothing but whole notes, verbatim. Apparently they were unaware of the improvisation required.

@RegDwighт I was taught that andante meant a leisurely walking tempo.

It is sometimes hard to emote fully and in a nuanced fashion when whipping through things superfast. If you slow it down, you can find subtlety in the interstices.

Music should be played only as fast as it needs to be played. Not faster. QED

@Robusto yes, and far too many people are taught the wrong meaning of "ASAP".

As Slow as Possible

Organ²/ASLSP (As SLow aS Possible) is a musical piece composed by John Cage and is the subject of one of the longest-lasting musical performances yet undertaken. It was originally written in 1987 for organ and is adapted from the earlier work ASLSP 1985; a typical performance of the piano piece lasts for about 20 to 70 minutes. In 1985, Cage opted to omit the detail of exactly how slowly the piece should be played. The current organ performance of the piece at St. Burchardi church in Halberstadt, Germany, began in 2001 and is scheduled to have a duration of 639 years, ending in 2640. His...

Driving speed in central London was the same at the end of the 20th century in cars as it was at the end of the 19th century in horse-drawn carriages.

I’m afraid I am not so much of a Cage fan, although I once dated one.

3:27 PM

@RegDwighт I can play it way slower than that. I actually started playing it in 1987 and haven't even hit the first note yet.

I plan to not even hit the first note yet three centuries from now.

@Robusto In Texas they drive so slowly if there’s any illiquid precipitation that I once slide down into the shoulder while rounding a corner at idiotically crawling speeds.

I think that article had an mp3 of a tone change.

Listen to it. Such noobs. I would have changed the tone much slower.

In a three-decade glissando.

Glacial.

@RegDwighт Pfft, I will not begun until well after the heat death of the universe is but a dim memory.

3:30 PM

Dude. That is like, slow, you know.

i no rite

You should go on tour with that.

I'll think about that tomorrow.

You will kick that rapper-boy's butt real good.

What's his name again.

Spolski? Walski? Waldo?

Something.

Meanwhile, I have a meeting in real time. AFK.

3:31 PM

Watsky.

CU

And I'm off as well.

bye!

Sounds shitty on the synth.

Or the recording they made at least.

Feels a bit sped up, but Gould wouldn’t say so.

This is better:

I tried to skip ahead to the fugue part.

The tripleted rhythm reminds me of some Irish reels.

IIRC Gulda uses q=120.

4:21 PM

1

Q: The meaning of “one-time decision”

Sorry for my English. But could somebody help me? What does "one-time decision" mean in the sentence "This isn’t a one-time decision either"? Is it some kind of idiom?

What part of "one" and "time" doesn't this person understand?

Something like 2/3 or maybe 3/4 of the ELU questions of late (and maybe always) are ones that are just too dumb to believe. I don’t even know if they should be shoved off on ELL.

But I have a feeling that they aren’t going to allow a General Reference close option there on ELL, so good luck with dupes. And with dupes.

People simply refuse to think.

There is no cure for that.

“For the poor shall be with you always.”

The problem is not that they do not know something. It is that they do not know how to figure shit out.

Our policy is more like a paraphrase of the Christian maxim: "Suffer the people who speak and think like little children to come unto us."

There should be an automatic disqualification for people who begin a question "Sorry for my English." buzzer, activate ejector seat

It is not the speak-like-children thing that is the problem. It is the think-like-children thing that is the problem. No research. No initiative. No background. No theories. Just gimme gimme gimme that thing.

It’s the old “Stack Overflow is not a research assistant” buzzer.

The result is the same: buzzer, activate ejector seat

0

Q: Proposal for new close reason: "no prior research/work"

This is a proposal to add the following new close reason. no prior research/work The question refers to a complex problem where the asker has shown no evidence of prior research or work. Reasoning Recently, Stack Overflow has been victim to a lot of questions where students post full h...

feature-request close-reasons homework

Plus ça (ne) change (pas)

1

Q: reason for Close: lack of research?

Possible Duplicate: Introduce a “general reference” close reason I'm deliberately reopening this (see Should a clear lack of research be grounds for closing a question? and links from there). Often I want to vote to close a question by a newbie on the grounds that this is ...

feature-request status-declined close-reasons

148

Q: Introduce a "general reference" close reason

There is a certain amount of questions that are absolutely trivial in nature: How to format a date, how to concatenate a string, et cetera. Questions that could be solved by taking a look into the manual. Random examples from the tags I frequent: php timestamp function needed http://stackoverf...

feature-request status-declined close-reasons general-reference

Awfully high vote for a status-declined.

The reasoning is given.

59

A: Introduce a "general reference" close reason

FYI, this close reason was implemented for testing on http://scifi.stackexchange.com and http://english.stackexchange.com We've finished our evaluation. For background see http://blog.stackoverflow.com/2011/02/are-some-questions-too-simple/ And specifically Per the discussion in Stack Exch...

I fear this means ELL is doomed to lack a GR close reason.

That sentence is too long.

4:42 PM

They are going to phase out general reference.

They are going to make some significant changes to the close process in general.

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