English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Mitch

20:00

@XanderHenderson for your definition of 'Jewish'

Xander Henderson

From the page I linked above:

> At its core, Brandeis is animated by a set of values that are rooted in Jewish history and experience.

Robusto

@XanderHenderson I had no idea Tulane was so Jewish.

alphabet

There are only 3 colleges in the US with a majority Jewish student body, and two of them are "Yeshiva University" and the "Jewish Theological Seminary of America."

Mitch

@XanderHenderson OK sure. But hopefully by my repeating that number you realize it's not a 'Jewish' only campus or even a 'mostly Jewish' campus.

Xander Henderson

@Mitch I NEVER CLAIMED IT WAS!

alphabet

20:02

Some of those do seem like suspiciously round numbers. What are the odds that BU has exactly 4000 Jewish students?

Xander Henderson

Not once.

Mitch

@XanderHenderson sigh

Xander Henderson

The strongest claim I made about the demographics of Brandeis is that it is "Jewish-serving" and that Jews are overrepresented at Brandeis as compared with the general population in the US.

Mitch

Sure, Brandeis is a Jewish university, but not in the same way as say Wellesley is a women's university or Howard a black university.

Is that acceptable?

alphabet

Granted, "Keep an comprehensive up-to-date list of all our Jewish students" is probably not a high priority for them.

Robusto

20:04

@Mitch Is Lesley a women's university?

Mitch

@Robusto I don't know.

I thought it was just a small liberal arts school.

alphabet

Wellesley is.

There's been some controversy there over admitting trans students, as I recall.

Robusto

@alphabet You can't spell Wellesley without Lesley.

Xander Henderson

@Mitch I never claimed that Brandeis was Jewish in the way that Wesleyan is a women's college, nor in the way that Howard is black serving.

alphabet

This seems like an extremely useful, important, and productive debate.

Robusto

20:07

Hear! Hear!

Mitch

@XanderHenderson OK, OK, sorry I pressed all the buttons.

Xander Henderson

@Mitch I mean, telling someone that they are wrong, and then going on to tell them what they think is gonna push buttons, yes.

Mitch

Robusto: It's not like Brandeis is a center of Jewish thought.
Xander: Brandeis is very much a Jewish institution.
Mitch: That's not wrong but it's leaving a lot out. Misdirection by oversimplification.

alphabet

Let's just all agree that Jif is the only acceptable brand of peanut butter, and that anyone who accepts others is a delusional pervert.

Xander Henderson

Maybe next time, instead of telling me that Brandeis isn't "as Jewish as [I] think", maybe ask a question or two about what I actually think.

Robusto

20:09

45 mins ago, by Robusto

Look, if you guys are going to beat my jokes to death, I'm eventually going to stop bringing them in here.

Mitch

@alphabet Uh...

Robusto

Don't forget I said "eventually" ...

It might take longer than you think.

alphabet

And that Hawaiian pizza is delicious.

Xander Henderson

@Mitch In that exchange, you accuse me of leaving out context, but you are ignoring the message I posted immediately below my first comment, which is a link to Brandeis' own marketing materials, in which it is explained how Brandeis is a Jewish institution.

Mitch

@XanderHenderson OK

alphabet

20:11

And that cereal is in fact, technically, a soup.

Xander Henderson

You also accused me of misdirection, there.

Robusto

OK OK OK OK OK, can we just agree that my slight reference to Brandeis earlier is nothing to go to war over.

Mitch

@XanderHenderson My apologies.

Would it be acceptable to say that 'Brandeis is not as Jewish as many people think'?

Of course I don't know that, but that's a feeling I get. Also, it's something I hear form Brandeis people a lot.

Xander Henderson

@alphabet No, technically, it is nachos.

twitter.com/Phosphatide/status/974067376894328833

Mitch

Maybe misdirection was a bit too strong.

Xander Henderson

20:13

cuberule.com

alphabet

And that Powerade is just as good as Gatorade.

Xander Henderson

@Mitch Accepted.

@Mitch I am happier with that.

Mitch

Yay!

Xander Henderson

Note, also, that when I say that Brandeis is a very Jewish institution, I do so with admiration and respect. Those are my people, after all.

Mitch

@alphabet But both are better than Pedialyte. (which is mostly the same but way more expensive)

Robusto

20:15

Now let's get down to the real issues here: 1. Why do people keep trying to promote Hawaiian pizza in chat? and 2. Can they be stopped?

Mitch

@XanderHenderson No need to mention admiration and respect.

alphabet

@XanderHenderson Likewise.

@Robusto I encourage everyone to try it. If you don't like it, feel free to put it in an easily accessible garbage can.

Mitch

@Robusto Sadly, no.

Robusto

@alphabet So that's why you keep promoting pizza that most people would throw away.

Xander Henderson

@Robusto (1) Because it is delicious. (2) No. Why would you want to stop them?

Mitch

20:17

What are your opinions on prosciutto-wrapped cantaloupe?

Robusto

@XanderHenderson I do not approve of what you eat, but I will defend to the death your right to eat it. —Voltaire the Raccoon

Xander Henderson

@Mitch That used to be one of my go-to "I don't want to cook, but I am at the grocery store and I need food for tonight" meals.

Mitch

I don't get the problem with pineapple-ham pizza. If you don't like it just pick off the ham.

Robusto

Speaking of which, is it desperately unwoke to raccoons as coons now?

Mitch

@XanderHenderson Both are awesome.

But together? I don't get it.

@Robusto Dude, I raccoon them all the time.

Xander Henderson

20:19

@Mitch What's not to get? It's salty and sweet, all at the same time.

Yum.

Mitch

@XanderHenderson Yesp, never got it. Chinese sweet and sour pork? Just pick one!

lack of decisiveness.

jlliagre

@alphabet I learned it three weeks ago: chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/message/65446969#65446969

Xander Henderson

@Mitch Nah, fam. Sweet and savory go together. Though with cantaloupe and prosciutto, it is the sweet plus umami; with sweet and sour, there is, well, sweet and sour, which is a different combination, which is usually added to meat for some umami.

Mitch

Honey glazed ham? How about a honey glazed cake!

Xander Henderson

Ugh....

Mitch

20:22

@XanderHenderson No worries, I just take them apart.

Xander Henderson

Cake... :(

Blech.

Pie is the superior cake.

Mitch

Or, and stick with me, bacon-glazed ham!

Or one of those sculpted cakes that's made up to look like a ham.

Xander Henderson

Not a big fan of honey-glazed ham, either, if I'm being honest. I don't really like pork all that much, in general. Canadian bacon on a pizza and bacon-bacon in pasta are okay, but I didn't grow up with pork, and am not a big fan of it now.

Mitch

I don't care for ham.

It never cared for me, so we're even

Robusto

@XanderHenderson Agree 100%. My wife bakes me pies for my birthday, which suits me fine.

Xander Henderson

20:26

@Robusto I bake pies when I want them. I don't really do birthdays. :/

Though I do generally make cupcakes for my brother on his birthday.

Mitch

@Robusto Wait... you made a joke?

Xander Henderson

He seems to like them.

Robusto

@XanderHenderson I'm at an age where my wife buys the big number candles.

@Mitch snarf

Mitch

At 100, I want -all- the candles.

@Robusto snort

jlliagre

Mille-feuilles, babas au rhum, éclairs au chocolat, Paris-Brest, tartes au citron, here are the best cakes.

Xander Henderson

20:28

@Robusto I do candles on Fridays and holidays, but not so much birthdays.

@jlliagre You left out pecan pie, pumpkin pie, strawberry-rhubarb pie, sweet potato pie, apple pie, cherry pie, and so on.

Mitch

@jlliagre Mille? In Texas they have millions.

jlliagre

@XanderHenderson Fraisier.

Xander Henderson

@jlliagre I think a joke has gone flying over my head.

jlliagre

@XanderHenderson No joke.

Mitch

@XanderHenderson cheesecake, uh..., some other cake thing, oh... tiramisu, maybe some more cheesecake

jlliagre

20:31

Fraisier

The fraisier is a strawberry cake made of an almond sponge cake or meringue, pastry cream, and strawberries. The pastry is typically made during strawberry season, as the crucial ingredient is the strawberries. The name derives from the French word for strawberries, fraises. It is a classic among French desserts. According to the New York Times the required construction is often elaborate. The cake's origin dates back to a cake created by Auguste Escoffier at the end of the 19th century that included fresh strawberries. The recipe appears in his Guide Culinaire. The initial version evolved as...

Xander Henderson

@jlliagre Ah. Some Frenchy thing I've never heard of. It is almost pie, but not quite.

jlliagre

Plum pudding contains no plum.

Robusto

20:55

@XanderHenderson Best pie ever is shmirkase pie. Made with cottage cheese, eggs, cinnamon, brown sugar, etc. My Yiddishe grandma used to make those. Nothing like them anywhere now.

@jlliagre That's just plum wrong.

Xander Henderson

@Robusto I've made those. They are high on my list of good pies. But I prefer pecan. :D

Robusto

@XanderHenderson Pecan pies are a bit sweet for my taste. I do love tart cherry pies, though.

Xander Henderson

@Robusto Other people's pecan pies are too sweet. I tend to make them with a lot less sugar.

Robusto

Interesting.

Next time I'm on my way to California I'll stop and give that a try. ^_^

Xander Henderson

I usually make the custard-y part with maple syrup (rather than corn syrup) and just a skosh of brown sugar.

alphabet

21:29

@XanderHenderson Canadian bacon on its own is delicious IMHO.

If you're lazy like me, you can just microwave it for a minute and have a breakfast that isn't just a protein bar and a can of Monster Energy (which may have been my breakfast today).

Xander Henderson

@alphabet Break... fast? I don't understand.

Oh, you mean morning coffee!

alphabet

I recommend switching to energy drinks.

People say they're unhealthy, but I only buy the sugar free kind, so I'm definitely gonna be fine, right?

Xander Henderson

But I like coffee.

I like the flavor.

60 ml espresso, 30 ml steamed milk. Mmm... breakfast.

Also, coffee is cheaper than energy drinks.

MetaEd

21:59

I like coffee but one a day is my limit. So I make it count -- grind whole beans and use an espresso maker

Xander Henderson

@MetaEd That is what I do, as well.

Dannyu NDos

22:24

I once drank 0.9L of coffee at once and nearly got my head exploded.

Xander Henderson

@DannyuNDos As an undergraduate, I would typically start my day by brewing up a pot of coffee. The pot held 8 cups (about 1.9 L). Most days, I would go through at least the first pot, and often a second pot.

Pour over, not espresso, so the density of caffeine is quite so scary. But it was still quite a lot.

Dannyu NDos

Huh, that reminds me of something:

A Man Dry Scooped 35000 Milligrams Caffeine. This Is What Happened To His Organs.

►

Xander Henderson

@DannyuNDos Yeah, that's like an order of magnitude to much. Your heart would explode.

8 cups of coffee is around 800 mg of caffeine (maybe a little less). FDA seems to think that up to 400 mg per day is perfectly fine. Hrm...

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