English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Matt Эллен

15:00

most people will think you've mispronounced pollyanna

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I'm going to go with the hoi polloi on this and just use "dilemma". I'm not speaking greek, after all.

Sudhir

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇: I think ELL have less frequency of users.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Sudhir ?

Sudhir

Sister site of this site?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

No, I don't know what you mean "less frequency of users"

Sudhir

15:03

I mean no of users visiting there are relatively lesser than that of this site.

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Now who's being a pedantic snob, hating words left and right?

If you don't like polylemma, then just don't use it?

There are many, many ways to describe a situation without using either dilemma or polylemma, so I don't see the problem.

Least of all do I see why you should feel forced to use dilemma.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus It's not pedantic to hate words

Cerberus

Of course in casual conversation is doesn't matter that much.

Robusto

You know what would really annoy @Cerberus? If you start using multilemma.

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 But is it pedantic snobbery?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

15:08

And it's not snobbery to avoid words that most people wouldn't understand, even if that word could be argued to be more correct

@Robusto we have a winner!

@Cerberus I don't plan to use it

Cerberus

@Robusto Waahh! But luckily I have been hardened by academia, where hybrids are rampant.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

But I have to admit that I am just yanking your chain

Cerberus

Take such hideous words as sociology...

Robusto

@Cerberus Hmm, academia gets you hard?

Matt Эллен

hybrids like belicophagery

Cerberus

15:09

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 OMG I'm shocked!

@Robusto In the wrong way, yes.

@MattЭллен That is more like...a limping mongrel.

No offence.

Matt Эллен

I take offence. you insult our noble art!

Cerberus

Well, I'm a bit of a mongrel myself.

Matt Эллен

:D

chatkillah

@Cerberus that wasn't my cat.

Cerberus

Ohh...

Your boufriend's?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

15:15

So @cerb my parents finally joined the 21st century and bought a smartphone, a GS3

Cerberus

OMG!

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

They spent more on the case than on the phone

Cerberus

So cute that they bought a smartphone together, one for both of them.

Haha what? How can you spend money on a case?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

The phone was free, but the case was like $40

Cerberus

Oh, "free", hehe.

And they didn't get an awfully expensive plan?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

15:16

no, but they are getting almost no data

Cerberus

Ah OK.

How many?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

150MB/mo

Cerberus

That may be plenty for them?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

they leave the data switched off

Cerberus

I sometimes use less than 150 MB a month.

And I'm not particularly careful.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

15:17

I use about 400MB/mo

Cerberus

I just very rarely stream any video or audio.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus indeed. just look at your anti-virus behaviour

Cerberus

!

I'm very careful, I just don't need one of those program(me)s.

chatkillah

@Cerberus it was from the local news.

Cerberus

Ohh I see!

Matt Эллен

15:20

@chatkillah You have cats that report the news!

user19161

@chatkillah Hey K. I am here to ping you!

Cerberus

I have free Wifi everywhere. At home, at work, and in long-distance trains (which means OMG 50 km here).

user19161

@Cerberus OMG?

Cerberus

Oh My God!

user19161

That's a strange place to use OMG.

Cerberus

15:22

I know.

It is ironic.

When Dutch people are confronted with a distance of over 50 km, they say, "OMG, 50 km!? That's long distance!"

The next category is "international".

Which is 200+ km.

Look who's talking! Your country is a lot smaller.

Matt Эллен

I seems Singaporeans don't limit their characterisation of distance based on the size of their country :Þ

user19161

Well, I am not of this world...

Cerberus

@MattЭллен How odd they are.

Matt Эллен

Well, I only know one...

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus for me Google+ is the biggest offender at 100MB

Cerberus

15:27

Google+??

Matt Эллен

I find Google+ and Youtube to be very odd in their behaviour of logging me out for no reason

Cerberus

You use that?

And how can it use 100 MB??

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus yes, it's like facebook, only with useful stuff

user19161

@MattЭллен I have to click log in many times these days to log in to SE.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

it uploads my photos

Cerberus

15:27

@MattЭллен Same here! But it only began recently.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

in case I ever want to share them

that's probably it

Cerberus

I use Dropbox for that.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I don't have dropbox

Cerberus

Which is better, because it also synchs them to my computer and everywhere.

And it only uploads on Wifi.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I could set it to only upload on wifi

but who cares, I never run out of data

Cerberus

15:28

Heh.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus it's been doing it to me since the merger of youtube and google accounts, I think. I didn't really use Google+ much before that

Cerberus

How about battery?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I'm using 10% of my bandwidth

Cerberus

@MattЭллен But that was a long time ago?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

battery, yes, on the Nexus S I frequently ran out. But the problem was screen time and google maps.

Matt Эллен

15:29

last year sometime

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Yeah I have plenty of data too, so I don't care either.

Matt Эллен

@JacobBlack does the site give you errors or does it say nothing at all?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I guess "bandwidth" is the wrong term. banddepth, maybe.

user19161

@MattЭллен It says "oops something bad happened"

Cerberus

My father used to run out of data (2 GB or so) because he always streamed Internet radio on his way to and from work.

Matt Эллен

15:30

@JacobBlack how odd

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 I wasn't going to say it...how about simply "data", or "data bundle"?

user19161

@MattЭллен Might be something to do with my location.

Matt Эллен

maybe

KitFox

@JacobBlack Want me to clear your cookies?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus ew... data bundle?

Cerberus

15:31

That's what they say here.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox "I'll smack you so hard your browser will log you out of Youtube!"

@Cerberus data is a mass noun

Cerberus

Don't touch my cookies!

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

you can't have a bundle of it

it's like a pie bundle

Matt Эллен

a bottle of data

Cerberus

I'm not even going to start that discussion again.

user19161

15:32

That time chat would not load for me for a week.

Matt Эллен

a sliver of data

Cerberus

As an alternative, use "MBs".

user19161

Saliva has an interesting spelling.

Matt Эллен

"mubs"

Cerberus

Is that how you pronounce it?

user19161

15:33

I used to pronounce saliva as sell-liver.

Cerberus

I say "Em Bees".

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus sometimes

KitFox

"You have one unread voice message."

WTF?

Cerberus

Hmm.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus I say "megabytes"

Cerberus

15:33

@KitFox Smack them!

Matt Эллен

I wouldn't say "em bees"

Cerberus

@MattЭллен Or that.

user19161

@KitFox Might be from 9000 years ago.

Cerberus

You never say Em Bee?

KitFox

@JacobBlack No, from 8:50am.

It's the unread part.

Unread? How does one read a voice message?

Matt Эллен

15:34

@Cerberus not referring to megabytes. I don't think I do, at least.

KitFox

I would say "meg" but I'm cool and hip like that.

Cerberus

I think I say megabytes way more often, but occasionally Em Bee.

Matt Эллен

@KitFox oh! yes, that too. when I think I'm cool enough to pull it off.

Cerberus

@KitFox Haha you could probably get away with it. I never say that.

user19161

@KitFox Megan Fox!

KitFox

15:36

Em Bees sounds like someone who has never used a computer before.

Cerberus

Haha.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox or never spoken English before

Cerberus

I guess it is a little different in Dutch.

KitFox

"Does it have the gee bees?"

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

but GB: gigabytes, or jiggabytes?

Cerberus

15:36

"Gig", for example, is not uncommon.

Matt Эллен

yeah. I definitely say gigs

KitFox

►

Cerberus

/xi:x/

Matt Эллен

gi ga bytes

Cerberus

You couldn't even pronounce it!

Matt Эллен

15:37

I could

you couldn't teach me though. you have no faith in my tongue

Cerberus

Are you sure, without sounding like you're vomiting?

I must admit Mr Shiny has left my faith in the English tongue somewhat shaken.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

? how

Cerberus

@KitFox Yeah I would never ever say that, somehow.

KitFox

"It's 3G and has the Wifis."

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 You opened with dilemma, then finished it off with "data is"!!

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

15:39

@Cerberus heheh

Cerberus

@KitFox Haha yay! I want a 3G with Wifis too!

KitFox

"I want the one with the bigger gee bees."

That was it.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Look at the usage though. "data" is a mass noun now.

Cerberus

I might say "this drive has 500 Gigs". Or "I have used only 100 Em Bee this month".

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Over my dead body. I concede that there is a bit of a problem, but that's all you're gonna get.

KitFox

kills Cerb

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

15:42

@Cerberus I guess you have a dilemma

KitFox

Well, that was easy.

Cerberus

lies on back, paws up in the air

KitFox

"Data" is a mass noun now.

user19161

Makes Cerb into a hotdog.

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Hah, you don't know me!

Matt Эллен

15:42

I'll have a slice of data on the side of my glass of data.

KitFox

Mmm, data.

Cerberus

body enters the Underworld, is revived

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Cerb: consider the data. The data is clear that data is a mass noun.

Cerberus

The people in this room is annoying me.

user19161

Hot dog turns into hotdog, HAHAHAHA.

Matt Эллен

15:44

I have to admit that in code I write

foreach(var datum in data)
{
}

Cerberus

Yay!

See, datum in data could actually be proper Latin.

Matt Эллен

:D

Cerberus

I knew you had it in you.

Matt Эллен

thanks!

KitFox

Oh this love fest is going to make me heave.

chatkillah

15:46

@JacobBlack thanks!

Matt Эллен

@KitFox are you sure it's not the headache?

KitFox

It could be that.

Cerberus

Would you like an excessively sweet lollipop?

KitFox

Does Patricia shorten to "Patti" or "Patty"?

Cerberus

Here, have three. sticks them in your mouth

@KitFox Patsy.

Matt Эллен

15:47

@KitFox Peppermint Patty

Cerberus

Stone.

Hey, what is the social status of the name Patricia in England?

KitFox

FFS. Just pick one.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus probably middle to upper middle

Cerberus

Oh OK.

KitFox

Oh. Thanks @Matt.

Matt Эллен

15:48

no probs!

Cerberus

No lower or upper?

It is somehow stereotypically lower class here.

Matt Эллен

I don't really know. it's not a common name.

Cerberus

Along with Anita.

@KitFox Ohh did I tell you about the funny racist jokes our students made?

Matt Эллен

it might have been lower in days gone by, but not these days, I think.

KitFox

headdesk

Cerberus

15:50

I was thinking about how you would react.

Seriously.

KitFox

You know how I love those racist jokes.

Cerberus

I know!!

KitFox

What's the difference between a cue ball and my housekeeper?

Matt Эллен

mass and chemical make-up?

Cerberus

I asked, "why are there brown smudges all over the Nutella pot?"

KitFox

15:51

The harder I hit the cue ball, the more English I get out of it.

Matt Эллен

rimshot

Cerberus

This boy K., who is of Greek descent, said "J. must have touched it!". J. is of African descent.

KitFox

Hmm. I'm not sure if that's capitalized in that context.

Cerberus

Then they all laughed very hard.

And J. made some snide remark back at K. about Greece being poor and bankrupt.

They love it.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus Is he implying that the colour of J's skin rubbing off onto the pot? or that J's hands aren't clean? or what

Cerberus

15:53

They also call each other negers and niggers when they feel like it, and Chinese boy T.-H. is "Chinese nigger".

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 The colour rubbing off.

KitFox

It's not really racist if they use the word themselves.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus That's not exactly racist then

KitFox

Yeah. Agreed.

tchrist

@Kit, could you please check whether this user might be Nortonn? I don’t need to know your answer or anything, I just would like it checked if it hasn’t been yet.

Cerberus

@KitFox They all use these words, black and white and Chinese alike.

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 No??

KitFox

15:55

@tchrist Thanks.

tchrist

You’re welcome.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus I don't think so. It doesn't imply anything about J's race. Except that his skin colour is the same as the smudges on the pot.

Cerberus

I think it is teaching them how to deal with differently-coloured people and discrimination and dealing with people in general.

Robusto

@MattЭллен That is so German. Get out your Datumstempel and go to town.

Matt Эллен

goes to town Anyone need me to bring anything back?

Cerberus

15:56

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 By my definition, none of this is racism, because it is not detrimental to the affected party. But I bet many people would call it racism.

KitFox

@MattЭллен A woman. And I like them smokin'-hot, so please don't dilly-dally.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus If you ask me, it's not racist to point out that someone's skin colour is different than others. It's racist to imply that that means something more, to use it as the basis for prejudice or stereotyping.

@KitFox Get the frozen kind that you heat up in your oven. That way it won't get cold while Matt bikes home from the store.

KitFox

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Nah. The frozen kind don't taste so fresh. They get kind of skunked in the freezing process or something.

I'd rather re-heat a fresh one.

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Yeah...but you know what people are like.

Matt Эллен

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 like they're prone to stealing nutella

Robusto

15:59

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Unless the color is purple. I think people with purple skin are inferior. That's why there are Flying Purple People Eaters.

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…