English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

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00:09

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Q: Term describing the smallest possible unit of data

I want to write something like: In cases where the smallest unit of data is available (e.g. houses, persons, vehicles), we can use more detailed models. So I am looking for something describing non-averaged and specific data. However, I'd like to use a less bulky / more professional express...

Feeds

00:54

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Q: A technical term for constrained motion resembling that of a snake

Imagine a point moving along a curve. This point is simply traversing the curve, I suppose. But now imagine a little "curve-segment" moving along the same curve, while conforming to the curve at all times. So no part of the curve-segment ever strays from the greater curve. Now forget about the ...

single-word-requests technical

Mitch

01:12

@KannE Where would you hear such a thing? Presumably chat. But then here is where the entire idea of rumor was born.

Or is here where rumor comes to die?

I'll just throw that out there.

haha. halloween in Walmart.

wait... holy crap... scrambles to think of xmas presents

Feeds

01:24

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Q: (We tried to beginning a healthy lifestyle) it is correct or not

Please I'm confused. What is the difference between beginning and to start Can i use this formul (We tried to beginning a healthy lifestyle)

single-word-requests grammar vocabulary

Feeds

04:25

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Q: capturing the idea of *almost/nearly* and *actually*

Consider a property like failing a test. I would like to capture the class of people consisting of those who actually failed the test and who nearly failed the test. Is there an elegant way of saying this? I would like to do this with other properties as well. Thanks for any hints in thi...

single-word-requests

SmokeDetector

07:06

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Few unique characters in answer: The word for realizing that other people are people too, with stories and depth by fsfsfs on english.SE

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0

Q: What is the antonym of shadow [i.e. the shadow-casting object]?

I am looking for a more concise expression for a shadow-casting object in contrast to the shadow itself. Is there a generalisable term for something that casts a shadow?

single-word-requests antonyms

Feeds

07:40

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Q: Word or a short phrase referring to the feeling of wanting to pinch someone you find cute, fluffy, chubby, etc

Whenever I see cute babies or animals, I oftentimes feel like pinching them, not to hurt them but to express how much I find them cute, fluffy, chubby, or adorable. What word or short phrase can I use to describe that feeling?

single-word-requests word-choice

Feeds

12:56

1

Q: What do you call a contraption for holding newspapers?

In Austria, there is newspaper holder that looks like this: This allows you to hold newspapers in a more convenient way: Is there a better word for this device in American English than newspaper holder? Sample sentence: In the library the newspapers were attached to newspaper holders which...

single-word-requests image-identification

Cerberus

14:33

@RegDwigнt You have probably already seen this:

The Amazing Life-size LEGO Technic Bugatti Chiron that DRIVES!

►

Even the engine is Lego.

They only used non-Lego for a few parts, such as the wheels, and they used a meta frame to strengthen the construction.

They used no glue.

It can drive up to 30 km/h.

It weights 1500 kg.

It took only a million Lego parts and 13,438 man-hours to build.

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Q: What do you call a wealthy person who doesnt care about how the poor feel and live?

In Persian a wealthy person with no hardships and unfeeling and cruel to the poor مرفه بیدرد It means someone who is featherbeded and cant ever understand the unprivileged's feeling and pain

single-word-requests

tchrist

15:18

Is it tomorrow yet? :) — tchrist ♦ 13 hours ago

Matt E. Эллен

it will be tomorrow tomorrow

Mitch

15:31

@MattE.Эллен awaits anxiously

Matt E. Эллен

If you were here yesterday it would be tomorrow today

Mitch

thinks

thinks some more

But...

more thinking

starts to vigorously timestamp everything

runs out of ink

Matt E. Эллен

I mean were in the subjunctive present sense

Mitch

runs out of the house

Feeds

0

Q: Word meaning "reduce chances of occurrence"?

In the aftermath of a significant problem I'm trying to express that the necessary steps have been taken to reduce the chances of it happening again. I can't guarantee it won't happen again, otherwise "prevent" would be perfect. The only other word I've been able to come up with is "mitigate" whi...

single-word-requests

0

Q: Im looking for a single word describing A callous affluent class

A filthy rich class who shows no sympathy toward the poor

single-word-requests

Færd

16:04

The macabre world of mind-controlling parasites

> Imagine a parasite that makes an animal change its habits, guard the parasite’s offspring or even commit suicide. While mind-control may sound like something out of a science fiction movie, the phenomenon is very real — and has spawned a new field, neuro-parasitology.
As outlined in an article published in Frontiers in Psychology, understanding how parasites “hack” their host’s nervous system to achieve a particular goal could provide new insights into how animals control their own behavior and make decisions.

MetaEd

16:40

Tomorrow tomorrow, and tomorrow yesterday, but never tomorrow today.

@KitZ.Fox Mornin!

Mitch

16:52

You know how in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams gives a proof of the non-existence of God because Babel Fish (which he made up (he says))?

on the same page, or maybe the next, he gives another great metaphor for everything, also involving the BabelFish.

Something like the BabelFish allowed everybody to communicate their exact thoughts to each other with out the intermediary of language. And that's when the real wars started.

haha

Because sometimes you really don't want to tell the truth

I've said too much already.

MetaEd

@Mitch That was just a dream.

Matt E. Эллен

I think you've conflated three things there

I'm not 100%

but babel fish doesn't grant telepathy

just the ability to understand all languages

oh, I guess you're right

my bad

hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Babel_Fish

Mitch

17:37

@MattE.Эллен From rereading from your link, yes I have but so did Adams.

"Meanwhile, the poor Babel fish, by effectively removing all barriers to communication between different races and cultures, has caused more and bloodier wars than anything else in the history of creation."

So I was wrong, it's not on the next page but in the next paragraph (maybe even sentence).

Also:

"Sorry, I'm a bit gassy, I conflated 3 things during lunch"

Matt E. Эллен

sounds like a conflatgration of doom

Mitch

Conflatulations!

Matt E. Эллен

rofl

Mitch

My conflatulences to the bereaved.

What I really want? What I really really want?

Matt E. Эллен

a zigazigar?

Mitch

17:44

Nope. But close.

At the service for my funeral, I want there to be a little card next to my casket saying "To be interred in Switzerland" so that when people walk by, they'll each and everyone under there breath go "I wonder why Switzerland" and then have the vicar or swami or whatever they have say "I don't know, but their flag is a huge plus"

Matt E. Эллен

I'm laughing and groaning

Mitch

It's the worst

Keep these mind

@Mitch I've been to bad funerals, but this would top each of them.

Mitch

I haven't been to any good ones lately.

Matt E. Эллен

I saw a terrible joke today: A frog walks into a bank and says to the teller, miss Patricia Whack, "my dad's Mick Jagger and I'd like a loan". Miss Whack says to the frog, "Well, we don't just give out loans, you'll need to put down some kind of collateral." So the frog puts a small ceramic pig on to her desk. "This is my collateral." Patricia looks at the pig and says

"I'll have to ask my manager." So she goes off and comes back with her manager, who says, "It’s a knickknack, Patty Whack. Give the frog a loan. His old man’s a Rolling Stone."

you're welcome

Mitch

17:57

Nice set up. "Miss Whack? Your first name please?"

Keep these mind

This is terrible.

Matt E. Эллен

"Patricia, but my friends call me Pat."

Mitch

I really expected it to be something like a duck instead of a frog and keeps asking the loan officer "Do you have any bananas?" ""No. " "Do you have any bananas" (repeat a couple more times) "If you ask that one more time I'll hammer your bill to the desk" "Do you have any nails?" "No" "Do you have any bananas?"

Matt E. Эллен

lol

my dad loves that song

A month or so ago I got a new niece, so we're hearing all these songs again

Mitch

Babies are great. Kinda squintchy-faced at first, but then they fill out. And they smile start to smile at you and you think it's because you're a good person but it's really gas. Their own.

Matt E. Эллен

18:06

yeah

Mitch

A small ceramic pig. That one took me some time. Still tearing up though.😂

Matt E. Эллен

:D

Færd

18:40

Isn't there a noun form for devise?

Mitch

devision

My devision is deteriorating considerably

Færd

You're in a punny mood tonight.

That ain't a word tho, is it?

Nah.

If there were a noun, it would be division, but the corresponding sense is not listed under division in any dict I checked.

.

On a different note, I think little as an adverb can't be a submodifier?

> ?This behavior is little appropriate.

(meaning almost not)

Anonymous

Device!

Færd

Oh!

But not as in the *device of a plan.

Rather as in a device as a plan.

Anonymous

Yeah, you can't really use it that way. Device and devise have diverged a fair bit, but they were originally the same word.

Færd

18:55

I didn't know they were from the same origin. Thanks.

Back to little, I think the submodifying use is archaic.

Mitch

@snailboat nice

@Færd It's not common

It's little used

TWO POINTS!!

I put it in the same weird category as words that were introduced in children's literature (to me) but hardly used afterwards except by people trying to sound fancy and instead sounding like a children's book.

Like:

"I don't care for the likes of them" (I don't care for people like them)

"I don't care for their ilk" (Also, I don't care for people like that).

Færd

@Mitch It's fairly common in various combinations with know,

> little did he know ...

> know little about ...

But that's not the use I asked about.

Mitch

I remember distinctly when I first came across (8 years old?) the word "seldom" in some comic strip and having to look it up in a dictionary and for years afterwards trying it out replacing often with seldom and it never ever ever feeling right.

I seldom use it now

Færd

19:10

@Mitch Yeah children's fiction is the most humiliating kind of "hard" for a learner of English.

Mitch

@Færd Oh yeah, that's a common phrase. It's not set in stone or a stormy petrel, but it fits the 'children's book' theme for me.

@Færd It's terribly uninteresting.

It's obvious who that bird's mother is. Why does he keep asking everybody???

Færd

I mean you can't approach it hoping to find learner-friendly prose.

I don't recommend it to students.

Mitch

@Færd Dr. Seuss though is pretty good.

but it's almost intentionally... hard?

Færd

I've heard of it!

Mitch

@Færd in what way are you thinking?

Færd

19:15

Like if I wanted to introduce a learner of English to unadulterated unsimplified easy English, I wouldn't suggest that they read children's fiction.

Not just any children's fiction, anyway.

Mitch

@Færd It's just "Are you my mother?" "no, I'm not your mother" over and over, a little bird asking a dog, a cat, a truck, pile of dirt, etc etc. It's pretty riveting if you're two years old (but you're still wondering what kind of idiot this bird is, but you're two years old you play along maybe the ending willl be different this time)

@Færd Oh. Yeah. THose authors thro in these crazy words you'll never ever ever use again.

like 'ilk'

work in 'windshield wiper' or 'manufacturer's suggested retail price'. Something useful

Jasper Loy

Wow, today I got the mortarboard badge on interpersonal.stackexchange.com.

Mitch

@Færd what would you suggest for an early reader then?

@JasperLoy Did you feel like you helped someone?

Færd

@Mitch As a child, I would listen to cassettes of fun stories. I should go back to them and see if they were really that intelligent.

Mitch

Your avatar is very subtle

Jasper Loy

19:19

@Mitch Well, just a little.

Mitch

That's enough

Færd

@Mitch Hmm, to an early learner I wouldn't suggest reading too much.

Jasper Loy

@Mitch You mean dark. Yeah, it's sort of like black and white.

Færd

Simplified stories are practical.

Mitch

@Færd oh. good point

@JasperLoy subtle, in the sense that it's a picture, but its very hard to tell what's goin on

Færd

19:20

But listening to easy colloquial conversations is more useful for them.

Mitch

@Færd Oh. Yeah.

Færd

Sitcoms could be easy and attractive enough.

Jasper Loy

@Mitch Well, that's because nothing is going on, other than me taking a picture, lol.

Mitch

@Færd For a beginner? I find that things go way too fast and I miss all the jokes.

In other news...

Everybody Dance Now

►

That's totally messed up

You know why?

Because it was so easy

Some grad students (sure, they're no slackers) just mashed together some existing software in some new way and ta da!

tchrist

19:35

-1

A: How to use "same" as an adverb?

Same is one of the most common words in the English language. It has been long used as an adjective, a pronoun or quasi-determiner, or even as a noun proper. But being roped into use as an adverb is now fairly rare in today’s literature, and is almost only ever used to mark rustic or uneducated s...

Mitch

What I want to see is this to make an elephant dance. That'll be the real test.

Færd

@Mitch Beginners almost always deal with simplified material tailored to their level. So more like intermediate sutdents.

@Mitch Those replicating their shapes on cave walls never thought it reach this scary level someday.

They're now putting real faces on pornography.

That'd be useful for Trump tho, if a pee-pee tape ever surfaces. He could claim it's not him.

(Correction: never thought it'd reach this scary level)

Jasper Loy

@Mitch When I see the title of the video, I am immediately reminded of the song, lol.

Mitch

20:07

I think of that song, but I imagine Dance Dance Revolution

Cerberus

23:58

@Færd Yes.

Although I believe doctoring videos has been possible for quite some time; it just used to take a lot more effort.

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…