English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

12:04 AM

but some religious people are open to what science can offer.

the other way, also. But a tendency on both sides to not bother with the other.

user288256

Yeah, with religious people it is always a "test". They tell me "It is your test, this life. If you pass it your afterlife will be better" so should I wait till I die? Kind of mind boggling sometimes

user288256

So I mostly just go about my day without overthinking these things. But it is fun to think about these things.

user288256

@Mitch Yep. A started seeing a shrink but then came to this conclusion 'The best shrinks have always been at home (mom and/or dad)'. I never talked to my parents very openly before that. Well, before that I never felt like I needed any emotional support etc.

user288256

There is a choice here, go and see a shrink or go and see an Imam. Hah.

user288256

I have taken both routes.

user288256

12:16 AM

Well, I don't know, but to be honest, I found the shrink's route more unhelpful than an Imam's one.

user288256

Relatively.

user288256

The drugs they provided (psychiatrist) only made me dumb. They can put people to sleep but that's not progress to me, that's not a solution.

user288256

But, yeah, whatever rows a person's boat is fine I guess.

user288256

Anyway, it was nice talking to you. I have to go. See you around.

Mitch

@Ghalib THey don't always work well

@Ghalib later

tchrist

1:44 AM

Beehive, honeycomb

comb?

> From Middle English comb, from Old English camb (“comb”), from Proto-Germanic *kambaz (“comb”) (compare Saterland Frisian Koum, Swedish/Dutch kam, German Kamm), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵómbʰos (“tooth”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵómbʰ- (“to pierce, gnaw through”) (compare Tocharian B keme, Lithuanian žam̃bas (“sharp edge”), Old Church Slavonic зѫбъ (zǫbŭ), Albanian dhëmb, Ancient Greek γομφίος (gomphíos, “backtooth, molar”), Sanskrit जम्भ (jambha)).

The Spanish word is colmena, the Portuguese colmeia.

Are these related?

> From Vulgar Latin *culmēna, feminine of culmēnus, from Latin culmus. Alternatively of Celtic origin, from a root *kolmēnā, from kŏlmos ("straw"). Compare Portuguese colmeia.

Dunno.

> From Proto-Indo-European *ḱolh₂mos. Cognate with Ancient Greek κάλαμος (kálamos).

Doesn't look like it, but still feels fishy.

Cerberus

Hmm it appears to be a coincidence.

Like so many things in life.

caub

2:09 PM

@tchrist hmm, in my understanding, -ize is more Americanish, and -ise British

tchrist

@caub That's correct, to a point. The thing is that there is a small set of verbs which must always be -ise no matter what standard you follow.

caub

ah, I probably ignore them

circumcise :p as I can see on the right

tchrist

Yup, that's one.

Or disguise, advise, revise, devise, comprise, surprise, exercise.

Various others.

user685252

that's probably why the brits chose "-ise"

caub

ah, yes, I wouldn't have made the mistake for them (except disguise maybe)

tchrist

2:13 PM

Americans often do.

caub

"advize" would look terrible

tchrist

enterprise, chastise

18 hours ago, by tchrist

@RaceYouAnytime Then I can only surmize that this news will have come as a surprize to you. I would advize you to exercize some superficial investigations into these matters, and, having found, devized, or at least improvized the requizite answers, that you might kindly apprize us of your findings in this regard and suggest whether we should revize or even excize our previous position. While the invariant set admittedly comprizes a smaller number of words than the variant set, I promize you’ll have found that there's no disguizing or circumcizing away its existence. — tchrist ♦ 17 hours ago

caub

hehe

user685252

:D

tchrist

A compsci major recently asked me why English hadn't done away with the letter C, using just S or K appropriately.

caub

2:16 PM

let me supervize you, as I'm the worst manager possible

tchrist

wonders how one would spell conscionable were C to be eksized from the langwidge

k-o-n-- um, now what?

user685252

Komputer Science?

tchrist

That "sci" trigraph represents /ʃ/ there, for which surely neither S nor K shall suffice.

@user685252 Sorry, not in yours, in unconscionable I meant.

Yes, komputer siens.

caub

it'll suffice in the orifice

tchrist

The problem is that "ns" would be a /nz/.

We use C for S's that can't become /z/.

But really, I told him that it's because C over S/K is meant to represent the etymology not the pronunciation.

> EN science saɪəns
FR science sjɑ̃s
OC sciéncia sjensjɔ
IT scienza ʃɛntsa
PT ciência sjẽsjɐ
ES ciencia θjenθjɑ

If instead of the second column we all spelled it as we pronounce it in the third column, the fundamental underlying similarity would evaporate, and communication would become harder.

The selfsame issue arises when arguing for a spell-as-you-say reform within a single language as well. Different branches of that "one language" will no longer be interlegible.

By which I mean "readable between", not intelligible though that too applies.

user288256

3:27 PM

"You visit the place so you must know him" You interpret it as "very likely" right? I hope it doesn't sound "should" or "obligation" etc. like "... you should know him" or such.

Mitch

3:53 PM

@Ghalib very very likely but not absolutely so. No obligation

But 'you should know him' also means very likely and not obligation

Should has two meanings: you're supposed to do something or it is likely that you will do something

'You should go see a lawyer' means I suggest that you do it.

'You should be good friends' means I suspect you might be good friends eventually given what I know about you two

user288256

4:47 PM

@Mitch okay, cool, thanks.

tchrist

Why studying will never help you speak a language

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…