English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Kit Z. Fox

1:08 AM

It looks like we talked about numbers all day.

Cerberus

1:24 AM

@MassimoOrtolano Riz, as in French rice?

It is true that I know it in plural, as food...

Never eaten them, though.

@terdon People here are just crazy.

@MετάEd I'm sure my Javascript will have lots of studs.

Nay, I'll make sure.

SmokeDetector

6:29 AM

[ SmokeDetector ] Manually reported question: Contract a Reputable Moving Company for Transferring Your Stuff by kusumetrade on english.stackexchange.com

[ SmokeDetector ] Manually reported question: Have the Low cost Relocating Services for Relocating Items by kusumetrade on english.stackexchange.com

Massimo Ortolano

8:44 AM

:Cerberus: yes, I was referring to the Italian composer Riz(iero) Ortolani.

rand al'thor

4:00 PM

Plenty of mods in this room.

[hides]

tchrist

4:36 PM

@KitZ.Fox Like so many empty police cars parked by the side of a busy road.

Kit Z. Fox

Yeah. What's the deal? Something happen?

tchrist

Just echoes of earlier in the week, and even that is just our CM. Everybody else is a regular lurker.

Kit Z. Fox

I guess so. I remember seeing terdon and snailboat with some frequency.

tchrist

They do.

Kit Z. Fox

Hi @Arrowfar.

user116848

4:39 PM

Hi @KitZ.Fox!

Kit Z. Fox

How are you?

user116848

I'm fine thanks. And you?

user116848

@KitZ.Fox Wow! Arabic like for real? :)

Kit Z. Fox

Yes.

We've decided to get involved in the refugee resettlement program in my state. I think knowing some Arabic would be helpful.

user116848

Nice.

Kit Z. Fox

4:44 PM

I need to feel like I'm doing something real and tangible to help.

user116848

@KitZ.Fox Yeah of course. I didn't know they had made it to New England too. Or you mean while working with the UNHCR?

Anonymous

@randal'thor I join sometimes because I like discussing language, although a lot of other stuff seems to get discussed around here :-)

Kit Z. Fox

@Arrowfar We've resettled refugees here in the past. I'm not sure what the current status is, but we're going to figure something out.

I don't mean me personally when I say "we". I mean the state refugee services.

tchrist

You're not just talking about the room, are you? :)

Kit Z. Fox

I was debating putting the hashtag #RefugeesWelcome on the room.

user116848

4:52 PM

funneh.

tchrist

That sounds nicer than #UndocumentedAliensWelcome.

Still might draw UFOs.

Kit Z. Fox

UFOs from Skrull and Kree territory.

bbl

user116848

See ya!

tchrist

A barrel of fun.

A bushel of laughs.

And a hearty high-ho silver.

Mitch

6:23 PM

What if we discover incontrovertibly that aliens are flying spacecraft around our atmosphere. Then they wouldn't be UFOs anymore.

Just sayin

user174558

6:49 PM

I watched Prometheus, very nice.

user174558

Hello @matt!

Mitch

Did you notice that the windstorm scene in Prometheus was almost identical to the windstorm scene in the Martian?

user174558

@Mitch Yes. Also, the human robot is like the one in Alien.

Mitch

What?

Oh, well, Prometheus is supposed to be a prequel right?

user174558

I don't know, is there a part two?

crl

7:09 PM

Did @Medica show up here? not I guess :( I needed a medcal advice

user174558

Hello @crl. Are you on medication?

crl

yes, bike medication! 2 hours on saturday and sunday, 1000m elevation each

Matt E. Эллен

@JasperLoy Yes, Prometheus is a prequel to Alien

user174558

@MattE.Эллен So is there a Prometheus 2?

Matt E. Эллен

@JasperLoy no

user174558

7:10 PM

@MattE.Эллен LOLLOL.

crl

Any of you ever had inflated fingers?

user174558

@crl I am still taking 200 mg fluvoxamine per day.

crl

anti-depressants may be ok (I just hate antipsychotics :))

user174558

Antipsychotics not so OK.

crl

yes :) shrinking brain drugs

user174558

7:14 PM

I also hate them. I took two types before.

user174558

My head is still very big, LOL.

crl

Did you know taxi-drivers have very big heads too? (on average)

user174558

No. Strange...

crl

It's often due to how they memorize a lot of things (I think I've seen/heard it)

tchrist

7:33 PM

@crl May we then assume you're propsychotic? :)

Meysam

7:45 PM

Hello...

Anonymous

Hello! :-)

Meysam

I need help with this: "When one prays to Mary, many good things happen. As we all know, sons do as their mothers’ request and Mary has the special ear of her son, Jesus"

What's this mean? "Mary has the special ear of her son, Jesus". Somebody please rephrase it for me

I cannot seem to understand how the meaning of "sons do as their mothers’ request" relates to "Mary has the special ear of her son, Jesus"

Anonymous

Is it written by a non-native speaker?

Meysam

Ummm, I am not sure

Anonymous

Sons do as their mothers’ request is ungrammatical, but it probably means sons do as their mothers ask, or in other words sons do what their mothers ask them to do. Mary has the special ear of her son, Jesus is unidiomatic and somewhat difficult to understand, but I imagine it means something like Jesus is likely to listen to what Mary says.

Meysam

7:54 PM

@snailboat Yup, it's probably that, thank you :)

user174558

@snailboat It might be written by Shakespeare, lol.

Meysam

@JasperLoy Jasper, how do you do?

user174558

@Meysam Hello Meysam! Long time no see. I am the same, still struggling with my mental problems, but I am still alive.

user116848

hello.

Meysam

@JasperLoy Mental problems? May Jesus or anything else you believe in help you get through that :)

user174558

8:06 PM

@Meysam Hehe, thanks. Are you translating religious works right now?

Meysam

@JasperLoy No, I am translating a letter someone has written to someone else.

@JasperLoy I am not the same person you knew though, I've been recently learning French, using Duolingo

user174558

@Meysam OK. Is it peaceful where you are, or are there lots of wars?

Meysam

@JasperLoy It's peaceful. Safer than many European countries indeed.

It's the best time to visit Iran for tourists.

user174558

Aha! I will never go for holidays overseas though.

Meysam

8:22 PM

@JasperLoy Why? Be adventurous, explore, discover, learn and grow. If you can afford it, travel a lot.

user174558

@Meysam Has your son grown up now? I remember that is his picture.

Meysam

@JasperLoy You mean my playful inner son? No, he is still the same age, and will never grow to the adults' world.

user174558

@Meysam Oh, so that is your own picture then?

Meysam

@JasperLoy Yes, and I am still the same age within ;)

user174558

@Meysam How old are you, if I may ask?

Meysam

8:27 PM

You may ask but for the sake of my privacy, please let me not answer.

user174558

OK. I am 34 by the way.

Meysam

@JasperLoy We are somehow the same age then

user174558

I wish I can go back to 18. That is the year my mental problems started...

Meysam

@JasperLoy Can you tell me about them? Maybe I could help you with them, or maybe I started writing a story based on them, or maybe I did something else.

--- Based on a true story ---

user174558

@Meysam I have OCD, mostly the checking kind. In fact, I have not worked for the past 8 years. My mum is taking care of me now. It has ruined my life. But I hope to get better soon!

user174558

8:31 PM

Hello @KitZ.Fox, welcome back to this room!

Kit Z. Fox

Hello @Jasper.

Meysam

@JasperLoy I just read about that. I am sorry to hear that. Your main problem should be the lack of ability to concentrate then, right?

@KitZ.Fox Hello Kit

user174558

@Meysam Yes, but fearing that bad things will happen all the time is a problem in itself too.

Meysam

@JasperLoy Isn't there any known cure for that?

Kit Z. Fox

@Meysam Hello.

user174558

8:38 PM

@Meysam Well, medication and psychotherapy may help. But it all varies from case to case, to cut the long story short. I will do what I can.

user174558

@Meysam What is your level of French now?

user174558

Over here, to enrol in a French class, it costs about 1000 USD per level of the CEFR.

Meysam

I hope you get better, I will pray for you. Many times I've been tricked into thinking that my prayers have been heard and answered. So don't lose your hope and keep getting better day by day.

@JasperLoy Duolingo tells me it's 34%

user174558

@Meysam Thank you. I hope you find happiness in life, this one and the next.

user174558

@Meysam CEFR levels are A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, C2. You can look it up on Wikipedia. But not all countries go by this standard.

Meysam

8:44 PM

@JasperLoy Umm, I am not familiar with them, I will take a look at them. But Duolingo is really great. Have a look at it.

user174558

@Meysam OK. I have heard of it many times.

Meysam

https://www.duolingo.com/comment/138340
"On average, it takes 34 hours of Duolingo to learn the equivalent of one semester of college. Since a semester of college generally takes a lot more than 34 hours of work, this suggests that Duolingo is more effective than a college course."

crl

9:08 PM

@tchrist good one :)

user116848

Hi @crl @Mitch.

Mitch

Hey

Jez

9:48 PM

ok why am I thinking "callous" is a noun? like, "i have a callous on my hand from years of hard work"

dictionary says it's not

tchrist

@Jez People you have the -ou- bug endemic to your isle.

Jez

what?

tchrist

The word is callus, from the Latin.

> 1563 T. Gale Antidot. ii. 56 ― It doth dry fistulas which haue not callus indurated.

Jez

yeah whatever

tchrist

I answered your question.

> 1858 O. W. Holmes Aut. Breakf. T. xii. 116 ― Editors have··to develop enormous calluses at every point of contact with authorship.

> 1678 Jones Heart & Right Sov. 396 ― Nature supplyes the··breaches, in our bones, by a callus, or hardness of the like kind.
1713 Cheselden Anat. i. i. (1726) 8 ― The Callus from the broken ends of a bone that is not set.
1845 Todd & Bowman Phys. Anat. I. 125 ― The permanent callus has all the characters of true bone.
1855 Holden Hum. Osteol. (1878) 37 ― This ferule termed the provisional callus is not removed until the fracture has been thoroughly repaired.

And now you shall never again misspell it.

You’re welcome.

Jez

10:04 PM

so how come's the dictionary wrong

dictionary.reference.com/browse/callous

adjective and verb

oh it's the spellling? weird

so "callous" means something else?

tchrist

> callous /ˈkæləs/, a.
Etymology: ad. L. callōsus (cf. Fr. calleux) hard-skinned, callous, f. callum (callus) hardened skin: see -ous.

1. (Chiefly Phys. & Zool.) Hardened, indurated: as parts of the skin exposed to constant pressure or friction, or the cicatrized surfaces of ulcers. Also applied to parts which are naturally hard.

1578 Banister Hist. Man i. 4 b, ― With gowmes, which flesh is made so callous, and indurated.
1605 Timme Quersit. iii. 180 ― Callous and hollow ulcers.
1649 Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. vi. §7 ― The flesh of beasts grows callous by stripes and the pressure of the yoke.

Jez

so the spellings change it from "hard skin" to "hard skinned"

tchrist

A callus can be soft, or it can be callous.

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…