English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Mitch

12:00 AM

In the Galactic empire there are 37 MPs

Cerberus

So we have one senator per 170,000ish people. You have 1 senator per 3,000,000ish people.

Mitch

maybe 38 with Jar Jar

George Pompidou

I went into this documentary thinkin lol cults r dumb

Cerberus

But the uneven distribution of population per state makes it even more skewed.

George Pompidou

and now I'm just shocked

tchrist

12:03 AM

@Cerberus That's nonsense.

Every state is different.

So you cannot use that figure.

Mitch

it's true for senators, not for representatives

George Pompidou

stimmt.

Cerberus

12:57 AM

@tchrist On average.

It is the opposite of nonsense.

SmokeDetector

9:31 AM

[ SmokeDetector ] Bad keyword in username: Grammar: You are who I love by ㄱㄴㄷ on english.stackexchange.com

SmokeDetector

10:36 AM

[ SmokeDetector ] Bad keyword in username: What is the exact meaning of 'beneath'? by 박용현 on english.stackexchange.com

Robusto

10:48 AM

@RegDwigнt: "There's many ways to skin a cat." I suppose so, if some of them are ungrammatical.

@Cerberus That is a function of opportunity + access to cameras. If you go to Mongolia or Uganda, both go down rather sharply.

One of the most photographed places in the world is the Grand Canyon in the U.S. And probably to least effect as well, since I have never seen a picture of the Grand Canyon that came anywhere close to the real awe that being there engenders in you.

RegDwigнt

11:25 AM

@Robusto you know just as well as I do that "there's many" is perfectly grammatical. Non-standard, yes. But perfectly fine.

Robusto

11:43 AM

@RegDwigнt But usually you don't encounter that in a way that points to an enumerated list: "There's a lot of ways to skin a cat."

Cerberus

@Robusto Yes, opportunity, but also interest.

Robusto

@Cerberus And yet, in this day and age, opportunity is more likely. So many pictures are taken of such boring stuff.

Cerberus

@Robusto What you see is also whatever Google had access too.

I don't know how they collected those photos exactly.

Robusto

@Cerberus Google probably has access to > 90% of photos taken via smart phones these days. And more photos are taken that way per year than all the photos ever taken prior to smart phones, I'd wager.

Cerberus

11:59 AM

@Robusto Mmm I highly doubt that!

Robusto

@Cerberus Highly?

Cerberus

It has no access to my photos, and I didn't even do anything to stop them.

Robusto

Anyway, the point is, there are a lot of photos being taken.

Cerberus

Haha.

That is hard to argue with.

Robusto

It's literally exponential at this point.

Cerberus

12:00 PM

Quite so.

Robusto

Think of all the selfies taken by idiots and then posted on Facebook.

And that goes for videos too.

Cerberus

But Google picked only 20,000 or 10,000 spots for that map, like interesting landmarks, of which there were enough photo's.

So 1000 photo's of random places in the Congo jungle were useless to them, so no landmark in that jungle is on the map.

Robusto

When YouTube started, in 2007, in its first year it accounted for more web bandwidth than the entire Internet did in 2000.

Cerberus

(They automatically picked the spots based on whether or not there were enough photos of the same spot.)

Robusto

@Cerberus Meh, just not enough idiots with smart phones going there.

@Cerberus Photo's? We're possessive now, are we?

Cerberus

12:04 PM

Oops, a Batavism.

user116848

Hi Cerbs and all!

Cerberus

Hi!

Robusto

@Cerberus From Batavia?

"All" prefers to remain silent.

Cerberus

From the Batavi, Holland.

I didn't know "all" was singular.

Robusto

@Cerberus What is the significance of that? When I was growing up there was a Batavia, Illinois somewhere nearby, I think.

All Is Lost

All Is Lost is a 2013 survival drama film written and directed by J. C. Chandor. The film stars Robert Redford as a man lost at sea. Redford is the only cast member, and the film has very few spoken words. All Is Lost is Chandor's second feature film, following his 2011 debut Margin Call. It screened out of competition at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. == Plot == Somewhere in the Indian Ocean ("1700 nautical miles from the Sumatra Straits"), a man (Robert Redford) says, "I'm sorry. I know that means little at this point, but I am. I tried. I think you would all agree that I tried. To be true, to...

Cerberus

12:06 PM

Well, "Dutchicism" isn't a word: you always have to base it on whichever ancient people lived there.

Anglicism, Gallicism, Batavism.

Robusto

@Cerberus If it's not a word, how did you just use it?

Cerberus

I am like Zombo.com, I make the impossible possible.

Mitch

@Robusto For a medium that promises perfect facsimile, pictures never look like what they are of. Especially of me. I thought I was much better looking than that.

Robusto

You make the impossible impermissible.

@Mitch That is the eternal hope.

Cerberus

Batavia is the name for colonial Jakarta, after which your Batavia was no doubt named. "Dutchia".

Mitch

12:09 PM

And the picture of me at the bottom of the Gand Canyon, the worst

Cerberus

I don't believe you.

Unless I can see it.

Mitch

@Cerberus My Batavia was named after a song by Yankovich. A universal luncheon meat

@Cerberus I can't see it either. Because I'm in the picture.

You know how there's supposed to be a platform near the edge of the Grand Canyon that is basically plexiglas so you can look directly down?

Cerberus

@Mitch A meat called Batavia? Then that must be namef after the Dutch.

Mitch

@Cerberus Aren't they all?

Cerberus

Only things with Batavia.

Mitch

12:12 PM

Beef, pork, veal, maastricht, all towns in the netherlands.

Cerberus

No.

Only Pork.

Mitch

Buffalo in the US.

Cerberus

Same thing.

Mitch

Oh.. Gnaw Bone in Indiana (a real town)

Cerberus

Funny.

Oh, I have to run.

Baaai!

user116848

12:14 PM

Bai!

Mitch

later! take toilet paper!

(really, you never know)

user116848

So my last night couldn't be much worse due to insults here.

user116848

I am not starting anything here. But I have written a page or two that relates to the things that have been bothering me here. I'll paste it at the correct time (i.e. when I get insulted again)

user116848

It is all in a friendliest way possible.

Robusto

@Arrowfar Someone insulted you here?

user116848

12:18 PM

@Robusto Yeah George did. He only got half hour suspension for that.

Robusto

Link?

user116848

He said again and again: "How does it feel like to be a complete failure"

Robusto

Seriously?

user116848

@Robusto They deleted the comment. And gave him only half hour suspension.

terdon

@Robusto Yes. He was just being his usual abrasive self. To be honest, @Arrowfar, that was not meant to be taken literally. I do believe he thought it was a joke.

Mitch

12:21 PM

@Robusto they were flagged and removed.

Robusto

Sometimes people get on my last nerve like that. I usually either put them on ignore or level them with some kind of withering sarcasm.

user116848

@terdon Thanks terdon. I appreciate that you corrected him too. It is just that I can't handle such abuse here.

user116848

I mean I like you all here, don't get me wrong. But I can't handle such things psychologically.

user116848

So can I paste what I wrote?

user116848

It is covering larger isssues here.

user116848

12:22 PM

Not just yesterday's

Mitch

@Arrowfar when people say things like that, it is not about you it is showing something about the speaker.

user116848

@Mitch I know. But still... can I please paste what I wrote?

Robusto

I can handle it.

terdon

You can paste whatever you like. We reserve the right not to read it if we don't want to :)

user116848

@Robusto Thanks Rob! You rock!

user116848

12:23 PM

@terdon Thanks!

Mitch

You're safe with me. I can't read.

user116848

Wait a sec.

terdon

@Mitch Wow. It must feel really strange when you write then. Does it magically turn into muddled scribblings as soon as your cursor moves away?

user116848

Here we go:

user116848

It is a message to George.

Mitch

12:25 PM

@terdon yeah, totally messed up. What are these black squiggles? I feel like there's something... something I don't know ... meaningful about them, like they're trying to tell me something.

user116848

Then another to people in general here.

user116848

Sorry but I couldn't say anything to George yesterday I was busy with the office work.

user116848

Now I am free so I wrote this:

terdon

@Arrowfar Better that way.

user116848

This is also my complaint here in the friendliest way possible, so any moderator that sees this please take notice of this. Although ELU SE site ban users for various reasons, why do we see this disgusting/bullying behavior here by some users? Why not zero tolerance for this?

user116848

12:26 PM

I am very sorry about what I am about to say. You guys have been very helpful and friendly. I like you all, don’t get me wrong.

Mitch

Is it music? is it random gurgling? are the aliens trying to communicate with me? And when I write, are these just random muscle contractions in my fingers? am I tapping nervously on these keys?

user116848

But I can’t be quiet now after what George said the other day. And remember, I am no fool.

user116848

A little bit different topic but just hear me out:

user116848

You guys might wanna call this (what I am about to say) a ‘rant’ or whatever you prefer.

user116848

Sorry for the bold.

user116848

12:28 PM

So here we go: I am the only Muslim here (in this room) who is quite frequent and likes to talk about different subjects. Yet, still, I see some anti-Muslim talk here every so often which makes me feel pretty insulted, but I never say anything, because you guys are friendly otherwise (I’ll give you that).

user116848

Also that is not my fight. There are billions of Muslims in this world. Just open your eyes and see that not all of us are terrorists and low-lives. Not all are extremists; not all are bad.**To cut it short “Enough is enough!” Please don’t disgrace Muslims in general. You can of course swear at the fanatics and terrorists. I have no problem with that :-)

user116848

And don’t ask me for links to any particular conversation as an example because I won’t find it for you. Nor I have time to search all the transcript. It is all quite obvious the level of bias we see here. I don’t care whether you own billions of bucks or are penniless. I don’t give a crap.

user116848

Anti-muslim talk always kills my mood here. This chat has been a very good distraction for me, that’s why I thoought I should clear everything that has been bothering me here.

user116848

And if any of you think you are better than me then save it please. I don’t care where you come from, just expect a certain level of niceness. That is all.

3

user116848

Again, I don’t care whether you own billions of bucks or are penniless. Just be nice to people here. I joined this site to improve my English and chatting is a very good way to do that. Also it is a good distraction for me, from all the day’s work, when there is some good humor here and no one is being a jerk towards me. So please no personal attacks and anti-Muslims talk here in chat.

user116848

12:30 PM

Like I said this is a learning site that’s why I visit here. I would never come here otherwise.

user116848

I don’t mind swearing etc. here when it is not directed at anyone. So do away with personal attacks and anti-Muslim talks here please. And by that I don’t mean anyone in particular. No one can harm me I know, but personal attacks, I despise them.

user116848

Just something I wrote so we all could avoid further conflicts here in the future. I had only problem with George here but I thought I should say all that is in my mind, things that have been bothering me here for a while.

user116848

And me? I always try to be friendly (and I am friendly), but sometimes the personal attacks takes a toll on my mind.

user116848

That's all.

Robusto

Point taken. Good that you got that out. It's better to do that than to let the anger fester.

terdon

12:32 PM

Agreed

George Pompidou

world record for most easily trolled human on earth laughs

Mitch

Holy crap.

terdon

@GeorgePompidou Seriously?

George Pompidou

what does me being a jokester have to do with Muslims?!

user116848

@terdonb@Robusto Thanks guys!

George Pompidou

12:33 PM

I know nothing of anyone's religion, nor do I care!

am I being accused of being anti-Muslim?

Mitch

ugh

George Pompidou

"seriously?"

user116848

@GeorgePompidou Muslim part wasn't for you.

George Pompidou

well, great.

Mitch

@GeorgePompidou The "don't be a dick" was for you.

George Pompidou

12:34 PM

I said "how does it feel to be a total failure" and I get three pages of moaning in return

Robusto

George, the point is, you only get to act like that with people you know well and who get your sense of humor. You can't assume that this is open mic night at the improv.

George Pompidou

dude, I'm not the one who just open mic nighted all over everyone with a rampage at George and anti-Muslims

terdon

However, @Arrowfar, note that quite a few of us here are anti religion in general. Whatever that religion happens to be. I, for example, truly believe that organized religions are one of the worst things that humans ever came up with and are the cause of a lot of human suffering. All organized religions. Please don't confuse my anti-religion bias with anti-musilim bias. I am an equal opportunity religion basher.

George Pompidou

anyway, peace, I'm off to do an exam in the real world. you know, the one that matters?

Robusto

I'm amazed you can't see the difference.

user116848

12:35 PM

@GeorgePompidou Just be nice

George Pompidou

@terdon yes, I agree with this.

I dislike Catholics marginally more than I dislike Muslims. so don't be too flattered.

terdon

I don't dislike the people! I dislike the religions.

Robusto

I have a similar, possibly stronger, antipathy to religion. But I don't make it a point to pick a fight with every true believer out there.

George Pompidou

I do dislike people who are fundamentalists. I think they annoy other people and don't belong in modern society.

user116848

@terdon Terdon, I know. I am not a religious person myself. But it is very, very hurtful when I read things like "we should nuke the muslims out of this world etc." (not exact sentence though)

George Pompidou

12:37 PM

otherwise, yes, I was being mostly glib.

terdon

Exactly. I know that both @Arrowfar and AndrewLeach are religious and that doesn't affect my opinion of them one way or the other. The mere fact of believing is irrelevant. It's the religions themselves I dislike.

Mitch

How about the French? Can we still make fun of the French?

terdon

@Arrowfar What? What idiot said that? Of course it's hurtful!

@Mitch We can hardly speak English if we don't!

Robusto

@GeorgePompidou You need to work on that if you want to avoid seriously offending people. If you don't, don't be surprised if you get banned, shunned, whatever.

user116848

I don't consider myself religious.

user116848

12:39 PM

But guys, remember this: I never drink alcohol, never have sex outside marriage, never do drugs, never swear (try my best).

Robusto

@Mitch Hey! Without the French we'd still be speaking the King's English!

Mitch

@terdon haha. everything we say is, directly or indirectly, an insult to the French.

user116848

I thought I should be a bit open here.

user116848

Sorry though

Robusto

@Arrowfar Hey, whatever floats your boat. But I never fucking swear either, and see where it's got me.

Mitch

12:40 PM

@Robusto So are we thanking them?

terdon

@Arrowfar Those are all your prerogative. And not necessarily linked with religion either.

user116848

I am not saying I am a virtuous person. But not all of us (Muslims) are bad.

Robusto

I don't think anybody is saying all Muslims are bad.

user116848

@Robusto I see your point.

user116848

@terdon yeah

terdon

12:41 PM

@Arrowfar If you want to be factual about it, I'm pretty sure Christians have killed several orders of magnitude more people than Muslims. The Crusades and Inquisition come to mind.

Robusto

@Arrowfar You might develop a thicker skin about such things. Remember that if you show weakness, certain people will not be able to resist probing that weakness.

terdon

Not to mention the fundamentalist morons in charge of the US and UK in the last few years.

Robusto

@terdon Don't get me started.

Mitch

@Arrowfar Don't take things said here about things in general, say alcohol, as something about Muslims. It still may be offensive to you, but get the right context.

user116848

@Robusto Yeah, good point.

user116848

12:42 PM

Btw I like you all. I don't hate anyone here.

Mitch

@Robusto I think that's what bullying is about, the bully sees that they can get a reaction and they keep poking without realizing it is hurtful.

user116848

Just felt like saying all that to clear my chest.

Robusto

Hatred is singularly unprofitable. It pollutes the mind of the hater, and usually does nothing to the object of that hatred.

user116848

true

Robusto

@Mitch I think being hurtful is the point of that.

user116848

12:44 PM

@Mitch I know. I have no problem with people drinking alcohol.

Mitch

hm.. OK.. yes.. but.. well lots of it is sadism, but I think some bully's actually don't realize they are bullying.

user116848

I meant all the other slanders and insults :-)

terdon

@Arrowfar In George's "defense" that's how he treats everybody. I don't think it was about you in particular.

Mitch

@Arrowfar (it was one maybe poor example. like the religion thing, people will say things in general about religion here usually not about Islam in particular... but then I am not attuned to that)

user116848

@terdon Yeah he is like that.

terdon

12:46 PM

We're talking about someone who cheerfully admits to not caring about other people's feelings:

17 hours ago, by George Pompidou

so there you have it. we are all sensitive to something. I usually do not concern myself with what others are sensitive to, and I don't make others concern themselves with what I am sensitive to.

Mitch

@Arrowfar he can be a total dick.

terdon

Quite literally:

Mar 23 at 18:50, by George Pompidou

waves penis

Mitch

!!!

terdon

:)

user116848

heh

terdon

12:52 PM

Also @Arrowfar do make use of the ignore feature. Do you know how that works?

Mitch

OK now that we got that out of the way, an ethnic joke:

user116848

@terdon Yes I know but I like the manual ignore option better. It is easier that way to follow what is going on.

Mitch

So an alien crash lands in China. The guys in Beijing want to study the alien. The guys in Shanghai want to work out a business deal with them. And in Hong Kong they want to eat him.

user116848

But I'll try my best to ignore.

Mitch

Spot on!! am I right? :)

Robusto

12:53 PM

May 2 at 11:41, by Robusto

A priest, a doctor, and an engineer went to play golf. But their play was held up mightily by the slow progress of the group ahead of them.
When they asked the greenskeeper why the group was so slow, he told them the three golfers were blind firefighters, who had lost their sight saving the course clubhouse from burning down. In gratitude, the club had voted to let them play free for the rest of their lives.
"Oh," said the priest, quite moved the the story, "I must pray for them."
The doctor had a different idea. "I'll ask one of my ophthalmologist colleagues if there's something he can do …

Mine is funnier.

Mitch

because you know, all those educated people at the universities in Beijing, and all the business people in Shanhai, and well in Hong Kong, they'll eat anything.

Robusto

1 min ago, by Robusto

Mine is funnier.

Mitch

@Robusto And the engineer said, looking up at the stuck blade on the guillotine, "Oh, I see the problem"

Robusto

1 min ago, by Robusto

Mine is funnier.

terdon

@Arrowfar Well, kind of. When you know that people are irksome/annoying/abrasive or whatever, it's easier to just not see what they post. I usually have at least one relatively regular contributor here on ignore. I take them off from time to time, just in case they said something interesting. That usually results in my remembering why I ignore their bigoted, sexist, nationalistic ass in the first place.

It's hard to ignore things you actually see.

user116848

12:57 PM

I see.

Matt E. Эллен

@terdon tries to figure out who you mean ... succeeds!

terdon

@MattE.Эллен I'm sure that was hard :)

Mitch

I have everybody on ignore. I can't read anyway. I can tell what people meant anyway.

terdon

What? Who said that?

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…