English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Only in overpopulated Europe is there this delusion that cell phone coverage is everywhere. Don’t come to this side of the world: it will kill you, since you cannot live without it.

Cerberus

You will soon freeze over.

Mahnax

No you.

Cerberus

Unless you leave the car and start walking for 30 km to the nearest town. But you don't know where it is, and walking is hard through the knee-high snow.

Mahnax

2:10 AM

@Cerberus Foolish.

Cerberus

Then what else can you do?

Mahnax

Jumping jacks.

On the roof of the car.

Haha.

Wait for help.

Wait?

2:11 AM

Sure.

Cerberus

Who would find you?

Mahnax

Also, the smart thing to do is not to travel when it's -40˚C.

Cerberus

It's -40. It's dark.

@Mahnax That's what I was implying all the time.

Mahnax

This whole hypothetical scenario in which literally everything goes wrong could be prevented by not being a ninny.

Cerberus

I was expecting people not to travel at such temperatures.

Robusto

2:12 AM

I didn't have access to any "voting information" other than a pattern of you showing up, commenting on another answer on a question I've answered, and suddenly an answer that's rested comfortably for years gets a down vote, suspiciously within a minute or two of you making your presence known. See? I'm quick like that. Add to that the fact that you believe I have secret information and have "outed" you and we have pretty much established that the down vote was in fact yours, haven't we? — Robusto 1 min ago

Haha. Kris outed himself.

Mahnax

@Cerberus Well, yeah! But people still go to work and whatnot.

Robusto

I do love being proven right.

tchrist

It was obvious.

Cerberus

@Robusto Ahh funny. So she thinks you have secret info! You shouldn't have enlightened here.

tchrist

He is an idiot.

Cerberus

2:13 AM

@Mahnax Yeah, so I was wondering how that worked.

Robusto

@Cerberus It will happen for you one day too. Give it time.

tchrist

Cerberus

@tchrist Why are you telling me this? I was describing a scenario where you don't have coverage.

@Robusto Damn. Misclick.

tchrist

Cerberus

tchrist

2:15 AM

A cellphone is a cellphone, not a phone.

Mahnax

@Cerberus If you say so. I need to go now, talk to you later.

tchrist

A landline is a phone.

Cerberus

Bye!

Robusto

@tchrist A cellphone => cellophane

tchrist

An insult to cellos, but ok.

Robusto

2:18 AM

You mean violoncellos.

tchrist

Hence the insult.

Cerberus

*celli

Robusto

I couldn't think of the word for viola today. I kept using alto, and my brain kept both registering alarm yet hiding the more familiar word from me. Stupid brain.

Cerberus

Altviola.

tchrist

No, the new ones, too.

Cerberus

2:20 AM

I am loath to star Sim's line to you-know-who.

Robusto

The better violas are old ones, yes.

Jinx.

Inverxion.

Cerberus

Even though she is 100 % right.

tchrist

> Col termine viola si indica uno strumento appartenente alla famiglia degli archi, nella quale ricopre il ruolo della voce di contralto-tenore.

Robusto

@Cerberus No, you are loath to do it. Loathe is a verb.

@Cerberus *though

tchrist

Ayup.

Cerberus

2:22 AM

Ugh.

Robusto

*Hug.

tchrist

Or loth if you’re ancient enough.

Cerberus

I knew that.

No hugs for you today, Mister.

tchrist

Loth rhymes with both.

Loathe rhymes with clothe.

Robusto

@Cerberus I'm cool with that.

Cerberus

2:24 AM

The coolness is mutual.

tchrist

Chill.

Robusto

No. I'm still cooler than you.

tchrist

–40

Robusto

That's the same in F and C.

But not in C#.

Or F#.

tchrist

> As he turned to go on, he spat speculatively. There was a sharp, explosive crackle that startled him. He spat again. And again, in the air, before it could fall to the snow, the spittle crackled. He knew that at fifty below spittle crackled on the snow, but this spittle had crackled in the air.

> In reality, it was not merely colder than fifty below zero; it was colder than sixty below, than seventy below. It was seventy-five below zero. Since the freezing-point is thirty-two above zero, it meant that one hundred and seven degrees of frost obtained. The dog did not know anything about thermometers. Possibly in its brain there was no sharp consciousness of a condition of very cold such as was in the man's brain.

To Build a Fire

Cerberus

2:30 AM

You forgot inflation, dear chap.

I'm sure "far out" was once cool.

tchrist

No, it was two cool.

Robusto

@tchrist Jack London, of course. I read all of his stories in fifth grade. Pretty depressing, they were.

tchrist

No shit. He didn’t end well, did he?

Robusto

BTW, if it's any comfort to you, I'm having more trouble than I expected bring the Italian Concerto back to life. You really have to remember the fingerings, because you can't just fudge it without obvious clams getting harvested.

Cerberus

Does "Denver" mean anything?

Robusto

2:33 AM

@Cerberus One who denvs.

Cerberus

I see.

Is it a fulfilling activity?

Robusto

Ask a professional. I'm merely an amateur denver. A dilettante, if you really want to know.

Cerberus

American topography is like Chinese nomenclature: everything actually means something.

Or proper names in general.

tchrist

> Known variations of the Denver family name include Danvers, D'Anvers, Denvers, Denver, Danver, Danvis and many more. First found in Norfolk where they held a family seat from very early times and were granted lands by Duke William of Normandy, their liege Lord, for their distinguished assistance at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 A.D.

Robusto

@Cerberus TIL that the current president of France's name means "Holland" and that's because he is descended from some Dutchmen who fled to France to escape the draft or religious persecution or too much cheese (well, wrong place to flee to in that case, what?).

Cerberus

2:37 AM

Ah, Antwerpen.

Funny.

tchrist

Just another twerp.

Robusto

@Cerberus I prefer Antweapons.

Cerberus

@Robusto Surprise, surprise!

tchrist

> The name Denver reached England in the great wave of migration following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Denver family lived in Norfolk. They were originally from Anvers, Belgium, which is the French form of the name of the city of Antwerp. It is from this location that their surname derives.

Robusto

And, of course, John Denver was not that singer's real name.

Cerberus

2:38 AM

Anvers...does that mean the town on the opposite side of the river?

As in l'envers.

Robusto

We have a Danvers here in Massachusetts, just north of Boston.

tchrist

@Robusto Unlike Bob.

Cerberus

Massachusetts sounds like an Indian name?

Robusto

@Cerberus L'enfer est les autres.

@Cerberus Duh.

Cerberus

Oui.

L'enfer, c'est ma patrie.

Robusto

2:40 AM

Holland est l'enfer?

Cerberus

Mais non, c'est pas si bas, là!

l'Hades!

tchrist

Au land des démons.

Robusto

You can't spell Hollandaise without the letters h-a-d-e-s (~~in order, I might add~~ not in order, I might add).

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Ce n'est pas la langue Française et de l'utilisation!

Robusto

@tchrist I thought every land had a daemon.

Does French even have a word for spelling? Oh, right: l'enfer.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

2:44 AM

Um. Is would not a future tense verb?

Robusto

French has managed to export names for most of the unpleasant emotions.

tchrist

French does; Spanish doesn’t.

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 Actually, it’s past tense, but that will just confuse people.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Son of a bitch.

Cerberus

L'orthographie?

tchrist

It is used in future-in-the-past constructions, amongst many others.

Robusto

2:46 AM

I thought it was a modal.

Cerberus

arstechnica.com/science/2013/03/…

Robusto

Epistemic modal, to be exact.

Cerberus

Village near Fukushima.

tchrist

“How do you spell that word?”

Cerberus

Looks pretty good for having been abandoned for...a very long time.

Robusto

2:46 AM

Would that we weren't having this discussion.

Cerberus

And they have a ridiculous text, recommending pork as particularly wholesome food.

tchrist

Ah, pork sushi.

Robusto

No. Pork sashimi. Rice is for losers.

tchrist

But you can make those wonderful pigs-in-blankets maki.

Robusto

ping-in-blanket 192.168.1.1

Cerberus

2:48 AM

Let's all chew on raw pork.

tchrist

@Robusto It is. It used to be the past of will, and in some cases, still is.

Cerberus

The status of would and the possible categories that it falls under are manifold and complex.

Robusto

@Cerberus That would establish us as hicks, unfortunately.

tchrist

I would that there were any other way.

Robusto

3 mins ago, by Robusto

Would that we weren't having this discussion.

Cerberus

2:50 AM

Okay, I guess being drunk doesn't improve my typing after all.

Funny word.

tchrist

> To perform, not what he himself would, but what the People..requir’d of him.

> 1868 Tennyson Lucretius 68 - Because I would not one of thine own doves, Not ev’n a rose, were offer’d to thee.

Cerberus

Oh, FUCK it's daylight-saving time tomorrow.

Jesus.

tchrist

And yesterday.

Cerberus

I am tempted to "forget" it.

tchrist

Rose.

Cerberus

2:54 AM

No, the clocks are supposed to switch over right now.

Well, an hour or so ago.

Robusto

►

tchrist

Fuddy.

> 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xx. IV. 532 - She..faltered out her commands that he would sit down.

> 1920 Discovery Nov. 331/1 - The bulbs were then sealed up again and set aside to ferment if they would.

Cerberus

God. Why do they always do this sodding thing when you least expect it?

tchrist

None of those are modal uses.

@Cerberus Because you live in the wrong world.

Cerberus

Yeah.

I should burn it.

Robusto

2:58 AM

I gotta go to bed. Night all.

tchrist

Same.

Cerberus

Bye.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

2:19 PM

Hoppy Easter, everybunny.

2

tchrist

3:07 PM

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 This morning, I was asked the following question by a neighborhood youth: “Why do we celebrate Easter again? I forget.”

I explained that it was a way to get rid of all the left-over chocolate from Halloween and Christmas.

user19161

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 Happy Easter, ninja!

MετάEd

3:35 PM

Happy International Zombie Day.

tchrist

Why is the Easter Bunny the only rabbit that lays eggs?

All the rest of them lay other rabbits.

Matt Эллен

A question for professor Dawkins, if there ever was one

tchrist

Did you lose any sleep last night?

Matt Эллен

I've changed my clocks

I decided that being later than people expect wouldn't work out well for me

tchrist

But did you lose any sleep?

Matt Эллен

3:48 PM

no

it's was right where I left it

tchrist

Good for you. I somehow lost three hours due to an overapplication of chopped, raw jalapeños on last night’s pizza.

A bit too volcanic a tummy.

oh dear.

@tchrist nice!

has it settled down?

@tchrist oof.

3:49 PM

Yeah, it’s ok now. Had Easter Quiche for brekky.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@JasperLoy Happy Easter, Professor Black!

tchrist

It’s frickin’ Mexican Roulette you know, these modern jalapeños.

You never know if you got the real ones or the genetically castrated ones they use at cinema concession stands for nachos.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

As in, pickled?

Time to leave.

Matt Эллен

@tchrist good, good

tchrist

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 No.

They intentionally bred out the hotness in one line of jalapeños so they could give them to people with neither the testicular nor intestinal fortitude for the real ones.

It was for the cinema concession-stand industry.

No joke.

They used Mendellian genetic engineering.

Toby

4:45 PM

hey folks wondering if anyone can tell me the root of the difference between, or the reasoning behind, the US "write me" and the UK "write to me"?

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