English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

KitFox

18:01

First time I've heard a penis called a thumb. Must be someone who lives in a community of small penises. Or perhaps growers.

Cerberus

@Sudhir Trams are usually not overcrowded here. During rush hour, sometimes. The same as our metro lines and trains: last time I was in an overcrowded one was long ago, but, if you have to travel during rush hour every day...

Robusto

@MattЭллен I hate all those sentences.

@KitFox Or lesbians. You never know.

Cerberus

@MattЭллен It's not a sentence.

It's a sequence of words.

Robusto

Like a salad, only less orderly.

Johan Larsson

like a salad made of meat?

Robusto

18:11

Cobb salad

The Cobb salad is a main-dish American garden salad made from chopped salad greens (iceberg lettuce, watercress, endives, and Romaine lettuce), tomato, crisp bacon, boiled or roasted (not fried) chicken breast, hard-boiled egg, avocado, chives, Roquefort cheese, and red-wine vinaigrette. Black olives are also often included. A good way to remember the components is to use the acronym EAT COBB: Egg, Avocado, Tomato, Chicken, Onion, Bacon, Blue cheese. Origin Various stories of how the salad was invented exist. One says that it came about in the 1930s at the Hollywood Brown Derby restauran...

Johan Larsson

standard salad no?

MετάEd

@JohanLarsson Yes, that is the Olympic standard salad, as long as it has the approved dressing.

KitFox

@Robusto Lesbians probably have penises bigger than thumbs.

TRiG

@Cerberus Trams in Dublin are crowded fairly often, but I've never had difficulty getting on.

Cerberus

@TRiG Right, it depends entirely on the situation.

But are they crowded even outside rush hour?

@Robusto Nice, except that I would leave out the roquefort.

TRiG

18:16

@Cerberus Not crowded, as such, but there often fairly full.

Robusto

@KitFox Appliances don't count. Not even refrigerators.

KitFox

You would say that.

Cerberus

@TRiG You can't always get a seat, but does that count as crowded?

TRiG

@Cerberus To me, no.

Cerberus

OK.

Then they're less crowded here.

iAmbitious

18:24

I like less crowded places, it always very peaceful.

i really suck about crowd in Mumbai local trains...

aedia λ

Afternoon!

A friend of mine that I haven't seen in like three years is coming to visit. What am I forgetting? Besides picking up the dirty laundry from the bathroom floor?

KitFox

Her name.

TRiG

@aediaλ Matches.

aedia λ

Like, for lighting things on fire?

I don't have any, but I do have lighters.

KitFox

Booze! Don't forget the booze.

Cerberus

18:30

You need booze and finger food.

aedia λ

I think husband is picking some up.

Cerberus

Jinx!

aedia λ

Heh.

TRiG

@aediaλ Whenever anyone asks what they're forgetting, I always say matches. (This is mainly a reference to the first Swallows & Amazons book.)

aedia λ

@TRiG Someone else who loves Swallows & Amazons!

Cerberus

18:31

Not tickets, money, passports?

aedia λ

I need to reread it though, because I don't remember the reference really.

Cerberus

À la Abfab.

KitFox

mentally runs through kissing aedia scenario I think you've got everything.

aedia λ

Haha.

KitFox

Oh, but the perfume. Do you have a nice scent? You know what? That's not important. Never mind.

TRiG

18:32

@aediaλ Yup. All of them.

@Cerberus I have just the one passport these days.

Cerberus

But you might not be travelling alone.

aedia λ

@KitFox I remember his name! (It's a college friend, and there's at least a 75% chance those are male, because nerd school)

KitFox

What? Oh yeah. I was talking before now.

I need coffee.

And I have a strange craving for Skittles.

Monica

Hello

aedia λ

I just always feel a little awkward when I see people again after so long. This friend in particular is someone who is very in-the-moment, like he doesn't keep in touch that well when you don't see him (at least a bit less well than some of my other friends), so we hardly talk except holiday greetings and such. So it's like, I hope he'd warn me if he's become a vegetarian, or some other change I might have forgotten or not realized to ask about.

calms self down I am way overthinking this. I am a perfectly good host and I am sure he won't care even if I don't have time to remove the air conditioner packaging strewn about my upstairs hall.

@KitFox coming right up!

Cerberus

18:39

@aediaλ Haha, exactly.

I sometimes inquire "do you like fish?" when someone comes over for dinner.

KitFox

@aediaλ Yes. That. In-the-moment people don't even notice stuff like that.

You are an excellent host.

Very thoughtful and considerate.

And an interesting conversationalist.

Plus, the whole deity thing.

Mitch

@aediaλ You're way overthinking it. Also, he isn't a vegetarian. Rather, he secretly eats vegetarians. Even his wife doesn't know.

KitFox

I can't believe my contract expires on June 30th. We just finally agreed on it in October.

Let's hope it's not another year and a half of negotiations.

Mitch

As long as they still pay you!

Robusto

Hmm ... white looks gray in Europe.

KitFox

18:48

Hahaha

Dirty Europeans.

Robusto

Seriously. Don't they ever wash?

Mitch

I was going to say that crane white really stands out.

KitFox

Not that I can tell.

Mitch

But that doesn't make sense.

Robusto

All the other whites are #FFFFFF. The "Euro White" is #E2E2E2.

So I think it's fair to say, "What color are the clouds in your land?" to a European.

KitFox

18:50

They are fifty shades of grey.

Robusto

But this raises a good question. Why have different name for #FFFFFF if you can't tell the difference between Crane white, cotton white, and American standard white?

KitFox

Branding?

Robusto

What brand is plain white?

Mitch

@Robusto It's subtle?

You have to have an eye for nuances?

KitFox

@Robusto Plain white or white?

Robusto

18:52

I think you mean unances.

Mitch

@Robusto Oh nobody uses that anymore, it's uncool.

KitFox

ungulates

Are beefalo ungulates?

Mitch

are you about to be run over by a herd of cows or are you verbing a noun?

No they're meat. Except for the bones. And other stuff.

Robusto

No, not ungulates. you're thinking of the way gentle waves move.

Mitch

But yes, of course they're ungulates.

KitFox

18:54

Of course? Why of course? Are both cattle and bison ungulates?

Robusto

We should get @Cerb to pick out the true white from those swatches.

Mitch

no no not wavy, you mean what middle-eastern people do to make noise (also used once in 'Lord of the Flies')

@KitFox yeah, of course bison are ungulates.

KitFox

Well, how am I supposed to know that? Oh! Ice cream time! Bye.

Robusto

@Mitch You missed undulates. Five-point penalty.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Hello! I don't want to work.

Robusto

18:55

Welcome to the club.

Mitch

> Bison are large, even-toed ungulates in the genus Bison within the subfamily Bovinae. There are two extant and four extinct species recognized...

TRiG

@Robusto *ululates*

Mitch

@TRiG ha ha,...that was my word.

Robusto

@TRiG Yes, of course I know that. He blew the sequence by using wavy.

TRiG

@Mitch <grin>

Mitch

18:56

@Robusto no no no no no. it's the water that has 5 stomachs, and the cows that wave back and forth. In a strong wind

TRiG

@Robusto Wavy ... sound wave?

@Mitch Seven fat cows, and seven thin cows, one of them riding a bicycle.

4 hours ago, by tchrist

I wonder why he says cycling instead of biking. Here it’s always biking. Cycling suggests motorcycles.

For me, the associations of the words would be precisely the opposite.

Mitch

How many were going to St. Ives? oh that's easy... 117649.

Oh shit that's how many -cats-.

Robusto

@TRiG Look, if you're not gonna make at least a little effort to do your homework, don't ask me to explain it to you.

Anyway, errands.

Cerberus

19:14

Hmm what?

aedia λ

@KitFox blushes

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 but I want the work to be done

Always this terrible dilemma.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@aediaλ meh.

aedia λ

The ambivalence is strong with this one.

user58869

19:30

what does "as it were" mean?

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

19:51

8

Q: Why do we say "as it were"?

In English we often add "as it were" to indicate that a phrase is not to be taken literally; for example: He's flown from the nest, as it were. ... would indicate that a boy has left his parent's house, via the "flown from the nest" idiom. But, why does "as it were" clarify that this is an...

Robusto

4

Q: What's the difference between "erroneous" and "wrong"?

Are these words totally interchangeable? I made the "erroneous" or "wrong" decision.

meaning

Really?

Cerberus

> as 24. as it were, in a way; so to speak: He became, as it were, a man without a country.

Robusto

If you don't vote to close this as gen ref, you're wrong.

user58869

well! thank you. i often use the phrase, even though I could never quite explain it, as it were

KitFox

I'm back and full to busting with ice cream.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

20:02

@KitFox ooh.

aedia λ

Mmm. I want ice cream. I want my work to be eating ice cream instead of laughing maniacally over how incredibly messed up our stuff might be.

I'm a little worried, but every time I worried in the past it turned out to be okay and there was a new level of insane after that, so I think I should stop worrying.

Right? I don't know anymore ohgodisthatanothermosquito phew no it's just a fly.

KitFox

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Bomb.

Hey scary green orc.

I'm talking to you, @Matt.

Matt Эллен

ohai!

was just starting a webserver

I'm trying to figure out some bugs

KitFox

The revision was either better or I was more focused when I read it. The only thing I would suggest is maybe, possibly mentioning that if chat is too crazy, separate rooms can be created,

Matt Эллен

oh yeah! good idea

KitFox

20:16

Only because some users seem intimidated by chat.

Matt Эллен

how is your draft coming?

KitFox

And the chat room can be linked via a comment on a post of interest.

@MattЭллен It's. There's something there.

But I think I might scrap the idea and write about words instead.

Matt Эллен

ok :D

KitFox

I'm not so good at soapboxing, despite what you might think.

Matt Эллен

hmmm

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

20:18

Mormon soul flowchart

Robusto

20:39

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Mormon soul ... isn't that the musical genre to which the Osmonds belong?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Robusto probably.

user58869

anyone seen clockwork orange? i recorded it on sky, but i hesitate to watch it, don't know why, i've heard people say it's a good film and i think it was banned once upon a time

Meysam

What's the meaning of "having a balance of zero" in "Premier Account balance after outgoing transfer should have a balance of zero or must maintain at least USD100,000."

user58869

it means having no money

user58869

that's what i think

Matt Эллен

20:47

yeah, that's the normal meaning

Robusto

@axrwkr It's iconic enough you should probably watch it just to get the thousands of references to it that have been made since.

Meysam

Could it mean that the balance should be a multiple of 10 (so that its value ends in zero)?

user58869

i tend to think that it means the balance shouldn't be less than zero

user58869

and if it ever is, it's ok just as long as you usually have 100,000 usd

user58869

or so

user58869

20:52

then again, the sentence as is says, you must either have a balance of zero or at least 100,000, but that doesn't make sense does it

Meysam

@axrwkr I don't think that makes sense either.

user58869

where did you see that?

Meysam

In a bank statement.

user58869

is that sentence on it's own or does it have other sentences with it, maybe the context would make a difference

Meysam

I am transferring millions of dollars from one of my current accounts into my primer account. There are a lot of bureaucracy I have to go through.

the sentence is on its own.

user58869

20:57

ok, that's much clearer, i think it means you either take everything out or leave at least 100,000 in there otherwise you are not conforming with the terms... i suppose

user58869

so take it all out or leave 100,000 and you will be ok

Cerberus

What axrwkr says.

Mitch

"primary account"; "There is a lot of bureaucracy I have to go through"

Meysam

@Mitch Ouch, I meant "premier".

@axrwkr Makes sense now.

@Mitch Why is "there are" wrong?

Mitch

ok on "premier" (though that sounds like the bank made up a fancy name for their account)

bureaucracy is a mass noun. "There is a lot of water on the ground"

Cerberus

21:02

What Mitch says.

Meysam

@Mitch What you say.

Meysam

21:16

How can I improve this sentence? "The format of address in English is different from the format of address in Persian". I think the second "the format of address" is redundant and can be replaced by something more concise.

Robusto

I would use "form of address" instead of "format of address"

Meysam

"The format of address in English is different from Persian" sounds wrong to me.

tchrist

21:28

The form of address in English is different than in Persian.

The form of address is different in English than in Persian.

Cerberus

This is one of those (few) cases where than is probably better than from, although I wouldn't bat an eyelid at from in Persian.

tchrist

Right.

Mitch

21:46

@Meysam I'm just askin'!

I agree with cerb and tchrist.

Cerberus

No!

I had already agreed with you.

Then you can't agree with me back.

Mitch

Augh! You are correct! Stop agreeing with me!

Let's disagree that we are agreeing with each other, even though we do agree. Agreed?

Cerberus

22:36

@Mitch No.

What else could I say?

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Hi.

Johan Larsson

hej

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

We have a soccer/football team here that's fairly new.

Before I say what I think of their name, I want to ask what others think of it.

Cerberus

Hi.

Bring it on.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

23:03

Sporting [City Name]

Cerberus

Umm I have no opinion.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

I think it's lame.

But, Americans don't use sporting in that way very often.

We say sports instead of sport.

Cerberus

I see.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Okay, I think it's downright idiotic.

It's somehow worse than the New York Red Bulls.

Cerberus

Haha.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

23:08

As in ... Red Bull.

Cerberus

Bleh.

Scratch them all.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

$180 million for the naming rights.

Johan Larsson

there is a Sporting Lissabon I think

Sparta Prague, dunno if it exists and what it means

hockey team close to here are called Brynäs Tigers, pretty lame I think, not many tigers here in Sweden

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

We have many teams with questionable names like that.

That I'm used to.

Johan Larsson

big European soccer teams often have more classy names, probably because they are old

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

23:20

Manchester United, brought to you by Stella Artois

Johan Larsson

Did Ray Nelson quit?

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Big Country?

Johan Larsson

yes

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Not that I know of o_o

Johan Larsson

I think I read it somewhere, dunno where

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

23:23

Doesn't sound like a new contract is completely off the table, but it also doesn't sound like the UFC will offer him what he wants.

bleacherreport.com/articles/…

Johan Larsson

put himself in an ugly spot

Cerberus

23:48

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Would you pick the Galaxy S3, the Nexus 4, or the Optimus G, if they cost the same?

I'm helping a friend choose.

The LGs have 2 GB RAM, the Samsung 1 GB.

The Nexus 4 doesn't have a card reader, the others do.

The rest of the specs are pretty much identical.

Like battery and resolution.

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