English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

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Robusto

12:39 AM

Jul 22 '13 at 20:53, by Robusto

Jul 22 '13 at 20:54, by Robusto

Some Eggs Benedict I made yesterday in my new kitchen.

That's real Hollandaise sauce, and I have to say it was absolutely perfect. Everyone agreed.

@Cerberus Yeah, I guess that's a synonym for amuse-bouche. Or whatever.

c c

Robusto

Hmm, cycloids. Or roulettes. Can't remember which.

c c

Robusto

> It was in the left hand try-pot of the Pequod, with the soapstone diligently circling round me, that I was first indirectly struck by the remarkable fact, that in geometry all bodies gliding along the cycloid, my soapstone for example, will descend from any point in precisely the same time. —Herman Melville, Moby-Dick, 1851

@cc That is exactly a cycloid, only upside-down. And stationary (as in the circle doesn't move along a path, the environment moves around it).

c c

yes depends on the reference frame

I don't see what a soapstone has to do with cycloids though

Tautochrone curve

A tautochrone or isochrone curve (from Greek prefixes meaning same or equal, and time) is the curve for which the time taken by an object sliding without friction in uniform gravity to its lowest point is independent of its starting point. The curve is a cycloid, and the time is equal to π times the square root of the radius over the acceleration of gravity. The tautochrone curve is the same as the brachistochrone curve for any given starting point. The tautochrone problem The tautochrone problem, the attempt to identify this curve, was solved by Christiaan Huygens in 1659. H...

tchrist

12:56 AM

Oh my eyes!

A: Am I using the phrase "if you will" correctly here?

Yes, this is a perfectly normal construction. The OED says in a note against sense 17 of the verb that: if you will is sometimes used parenthetically to qualify a word or phrase: = ‘if you wish it to be so called’, ‘if you choose or prefer to call it so’. So these all mean the same thing: ...

Meanwhile, we have somebody saying it sounds too sophisticated. Gorsh!

2 hours later…

Mahnax

2:39 AM

@tchrist Six eggs, an avocado, butter, hollandaise sauce, and olive oil? That's relatively substantial.

tchrist

It is. And I hope it is for three people.

Mahnax

Me too.

Usually for breakfast I'll just have a bagel with peanut butter and some fruit.

Or maybe with avocado, tomato, and pepper instead of the peanut butter.

tchrist

Yummm, peanut butter and banana sandwiches for breakfast!

Mahnax

tchrist

Or use tomato instead of banana.

Mahnax

2:42 AM

Peanut butter and tomato sandwiches?

Sounds… lovely.

Cerberus

Hello.

Mahnax

I found dairy-free cream cheese at the store today. It's relatively tasty.

Hi!

Cerberus

I'm having rillettes d'oie with tomato.

Hmm why the dairy free?

tchrist

@Mahnax Add lettuce and mayo. I promise you’ll like it.

Cerberus

Avocado is my favourite fruit in the whole wide world btw.

Mahnax

2:44 AM

@tchrist Wait, you're serious? Could I use spinach, then?

tchrist

@Mahnax Of course. And sure, if you want. I use romaine.

Mahnax

@Cerberus Oh, haven't I told you? Hm.

Cerberus

Veganist?

Mahnax

@tchrist I'm suspicious, but I will try it sometime this week.

@Cerberus Ayup.

Cerberus

I knew you were a vegetarian.

OK.

tchrist

2:46 AM

BLT =~ s/B/PB/

Cerberus

Huh.

Oh...then my memory must be cheating on me.

Mahnax

Maybe, hehe.

My IB exams start on 5 May. inhales

The IBO is even giving us an exam on our holiday, 19 May. Two, in fact.

Cerberus

Ouch!

What's IBO?

And how important are these exams?

Mahnax

International Baccalaureate Organization.

Cerberus

Ah OK.

Mahnax

2:52 AM

@Cerberus Well, extremely important if you value your IB grades. But these exams have no affect on my Alberta Education transcript, just my IB transcript.

Cerberus

Transcript?

Mahnax

So if you want university transfer credit/bragging rights, they are very important.

@Cerberus Grade history.

Cerberus

What are your IB grades important for?

Mahnax

@Cerberus University credit, or entrance, in some cases.

Cerberus

Oh, I see.

And some universities have programmes that those credits can fit into?

So you can take fewer courses at uni?

Mahnax

2:55 AM

@Cerberus I'll start at the beginning. In IB, you usually take six classes. Three are at Higher Level, three at Standard Level. Each class is graded on a seven point curve.

So if you get a 7 or a 6 in any HL subject, you can use that for transfer credit at the University of Alberta, where I'll be going.

So say I get a 7 in English HL. That means that I will have three credits automatically upon beginning university, and I will have a 4.0 in a general first year English course without taking it.

If I get a 6, it's the same, but only a 3.7.

A 5, despite being a relatively good score considering the difficulty of the program, is not good enough for transfer credit.

Cerberus

Okay, so that means one course fewer at uni if you get a 7 or 6 for a subject?

And you have generalist programmes at university, like in America, so you will have classes like English?