English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Alenanno

10:40

knock knock

RegDwight

10:53

Who's there?

Alenanno

11:18

Me.

RegDwight

Me who?

Alenanno

Usually it works... you know when you ring at the door, they ask "who is it?" you just reply "me" and they open it like it's obvious LOL

:D

RegDwight

Wow, that is the longest knock-knock joke punchline ever.

Alenanno

lol

Reg, what other proposals are you following or you committed?

RegDwight

RegDwight, Europe, GMT+1

740 1 3

Which is not to say, "why don't you just look it up", but rather "I actually can't keep track of it myself".

Hm, actually there seems to be a bug. I have posted a link to Area51, but it leads to the discussion zone.

Lemme test...

RegDwight, Europe, GMT+1

740 1 3

area51-meta technology merging public-beta launch commitment

RegDwight, Europe, GMT+1

740 1 3

area51-meta technology merging public-beta launch commitment

That's stoopid.

Alenanno

11:35

lol :D

yeah I could have checked, but where's the fun?

:P

Kit

11:47

@Alenanno You're welcome.

Alenanno

:)

Kit

@Alenanno I swear I'm not answer-stalking you this morning. It's just coincidence.

RegDwight

I smell strong affiliation with Knight Industries in this room.

Kit

Morning!

Alenanno

@Kit ahah no worries

:D

Kit

11:48

I smell Cylon.

What's the daily rep cap?

200?

230?

RegDwight

200. Accepts and bounties are exempt.

Kit

Crud. I am soooooo close to close-vote power!

RegDwight

Jon Skeet is reliably making 550 points a day. Robusto's record is some 300-odd reps.

Kit

I wonder if I can waste that much time today.

RegDwight

You can't waste more than 24 hours a day. Yay astronomy!

Um, why did I just misspell astronomy as astrology?

Alenanno

11:51

Freudian lapsus?

RegDwight

Slip.

Alenanno

Slip?

Well, I'm off to lunch :D see y'all later

RegDwight

Mahlzeit.

Kit

Ha ha, your Freudian slip is showing.

@Alenanno See you soon!

RegDwight

@Kit Too much time on Skeptics, meguesses.

Or too little, actually. Haven't visited for a week or so.

Robusto

12:05

@RegDwight — 347, to be precise. But I'm totally not putting up Jon Skeet numbers.

@Kit — My output goes way down when I have to, you know, work.

Kit

@Robusto :) I just want that damn close vote! Then I can stop checking this site compulsively.

Oh, crap. Was that out loud?

RegDwight

1

Q: Why are names abbreviated in translations?

Often when reading english translations I will encounter names of places or people that have been abbreviated. An example is in Catherine Hutter's translation of Goethe's "The Sorrows of Young Werther": "A few days ago I met a man called V., an ingenuous fellow with a very pleasant face." ...

names translation

18

Q: Why, in old books, are dates often given with the years redacted? [updated]

silly question, and I'm not sure this is even necessarily the right forum, but it's the most appropriate on StackExchange, so here we are. Why is it, in older books, that years are sometimes redacted and replaced with a dash when writing the date in letters and so forth? Here is an example, fro...

writing writing-style date

Variations on the same theme.

Kit

@RegDwight Yeah, Colin Fine gave the second as an answer to the first.

RegDwight

Ah, he beats me to it.

Robusto

@RegDwight — This one demonstrates the fallacy of complex question. I answered to show that the original had the same abbreviation.

RegDwight

12:11

It's not at all clear to me that this should not be closed as NARQ.

I mean, if you don't even check your very own premise, then how is it a question?

Robusto

True. And it's about translations, not necessarily English ones. I only answered because I wanted to b**** slap the dude.

But a "closed as NARQ" would be a sufficient rebuke, I guess.

RegDwight

I am actually not objecting to the answers that much, if at all.

But I am objecting to the question.

It's basically like asking, "why are all cars in Italy red?"

Robusto

@RegDwight Hence my statement above:

3 mins ago, by Robusto

@RegDwight — This one demonstrates the fallacy of complex question. I answered to show that the original had the same abbreviation.

Anyway, voted to close.

RegDwight

Yeah, I know, I'm just thinking out loud.

Thanks.

Robusto

12:31

ttyl

Ham and Bacon

12:55

I probably shouldn't be here

Been busy for the past few days

Exams, theses, essays, etc.

Got to go work now.

Heaps of research to do.

Kit

Yay! I finally have a contract!

@HamandBacon crack whip Back to the grindstone!

Robusto

13:24

@Kit — Grats. Hope it's everything you were looking for.

@RegDwight: Every time I go to the home page I see that there are seven flags waiting to be dealt with. But when I click on it, it shows nothing. Then I go back to the home page and the 7 is gone. But if I close the window and open it, the cycle repeats.

Miss

13:46

hi @robusto:

Robusto

Hello.

Miss

please help me ..

Is this right sentences :

Its Miss Darling doing master in Image Processing,

I posted questions but no one replied me...:( .
so I am sending you message ..Please help me ..

I maked program for loading video and i got success. but now i want to apply the Sobel Operator and detect the boundry without using Open Cv.. i saw many programs ./.. but they use Open CV function.. i do't want to use Open-CV ..
How can i apply these operations on video thats loaded using Open Cv and VS 6.0 MFC c++ .
I need a sample Progaram or please guide me ..Its urgent.

Is there any mistake in sentences ?

Robusto

@Miss: I successfully made a program for loading video, but now I want to apply the Sobel Operator and detect the boundary without using Open CV. All of the programs I've looked at use Open CV functionality. I don't want to use Open CV. How can I apply these operations to video loaded using Open CV and VS 6.0 MFC C++? I need a sample program or some guidance. Please help, it's urgent.

RegDwight

0

Q: What does the number that appears to the right of the "tools" link mean?

I saw that to the right of the "tools" link was shown a number in a yellow background, but when I clicked on it, I have been taken to the flags page, and the page was empty. What does that number mean? I thought it could mean the number of flagged posts, but clearly it is not so.

support moderator-tools

Miss

@robusto : thanks

Robusto

13:53

@RegDwight — So I ain't alone. Funny that the number 7 shows up in @kia's case as well.

RegDwight

It's the country code for Russia.

I won't be giving any more hints.

Robusto

I think this is just a new form of torture for high-rep users. They tease us into believing we have powers, then just as we try to use them they vanish.

Miss

@robusto: can you please point out the reason for mistakes in sentences.. so that i will do care next time .. please

and please send me email [email protected] and please mention your name ..

if its possible to you ..

Robusto

@Miss — If I get time later I will.

Miss

ah ok thanks for a good reply @robusto

Robusto

13:57

np

Kit

@Robusto Everything but the benjamins. At least it's guaranteed for 9 months.

Robusto

All About the Benjamins

All About the Benjamins is an 2002 action movie/comedy movie directed by Kevin Bray, and starring Ice Cube and Mike Epps as a bounty hunter and repeat offender who join forces to find a group of diamond thieves, the former for glory, and the latter to retrieve a winning lottery ticket. Cast *Ice Cube as Bucum, a maverick bounty hunter trying to acquire the funds to start a private investigation firm. Initially interested only in finding a group of diamond thieves who shot at him, he later decides to solve the heist case in order to generate publicity for his would-be firm. *Mike Epps as ...

Kit

@Robusto Was it that recent? Gawd, it was awful.

Robusto

@Kit — It's all about that.

I wisely exercised my option not to see it.

Kit

Though personally, I'd take Ice Cube as an actor over Ice T any day of the week.

Robusto

14:04

I prefer iced coffee.

Kit

@Robusto Freak.

;)

Robusto

Or this guy:

Mr. T

Mr. T (born Laurence Tureaud May 21, 1952) is an American actor known for his roles as B. A. Baracus in the 1980s television series The A-Team, as boxer Clubber Lang in the 1982 film Rocky III, and for his appearances as a professional wrestler. Mr. T is known for his trademark African Mandinka warrior hairstyle, his gold jewelry, and his tough-guy image. In 2006 he starred in the reality show I Pity the Fool, shown on TV Land, the title of which comes from his catchphrase from the film Rocky III. Early life Mr. T was born in Chicago, Illinois, the youngest son in a family with twelve ch...

Kit

@Robusto I pity the fool who don't like Mr. T.

Robusto

Mr. T is an abbreviation for "Mr. Tea" and was originally developed as a marketing program to counter the success of Mr. Coffee.

Kit

Or BA as I prefer to call him.

Robusto

14:05

Mr. Coffee

Mr. Coffee is a registered trademark of Sunbeam Products, Inc. d/b/a Jarden Consumer Solutions. The Mr. Coffee brand manufactures automatic-drip kitchen coffee machines as well as other products. Its advertising spokesman was former baseball player Joe DiMaggio. The device was invented by engineers Edward Able and Erwin Schulze. In 1972, the Mr. Coffee brand drip coffee maker was made available for home use. In 1995, a variation was produced by the same company for tea called "Mrs. Tea". The machine differed from the Mr. Coffee branded appliance only in detail as the drip process w...

See? Mr. Tea is so obviously superior.

Kit

@Robusto Yes, I know. I had one as a child.

It says Mrs. Tea.

Robusto

I mean, Mr. Tea could clobber the hell out of Mr. Coffee.

Kit

Are you claiming that Mr. Tea is superior to Mrs. Tea?

Mr. T could Clubber Lang the hell out of Mr. Coffee.

@Kit Ta-da!

Robusto

@Kit — Mr. Tea would never claim that. Not if he ever wanted to have sex again, I mean.

Kit

@Vitaly Hello, my friend!

Vitaly

14:08

Hello.

Kit

@Robusto Too funny.

Robusto

Hey, Spiderman.

Vitaly

I am tempted to post a rant that positive superstition is an oxymoron.

Robusto

@Vitaly — Rant away. I will upvote you.

Kit

@Vitaly Where are you getting "positive superstition" from?

RegDwight

14:09

@Robusto Um, you mean "not if he ever wanted to have sex with Mrs. Tea again".

Robusto

@RegDwight — The Tea couple is nothing if not faithful. Geez, don't they teach you anything in Russia?

Kit

@Robusto They cleave one unto the other.

Vitaly

@Kit — Erm, I guess I failed to phrase that in English. Should be “superstition without negative connotation:” english.stackexchange.com/q/29012/3286

Kit

I wonder if Mr. Tea is into tea-bagging?

Robusto

I knew was Russian mistake.

Kit

14:11

@Vitaly Well, yes, but I think he explains himself well enough in the question.

RegDwight

@Robusto See, at least they do teach mistakes in Russia!

Robusto

Also, the Teas are faithful, but they do like to party.

Tea Party movement

The Tea Party movement (TPM) is an American populist political movement which is generally recognized as conservative and libertarian,See following for information on Tea Party Movement Conservatism: * [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/05/AR2010100501491.html Tea party, religious right often overlap, poll shows] Washington Post, October 5, 2010 * [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/oct/25/tea-party-movement-sarahpalin Sarah Palin's 'mamas': more grisly than grizzly] The Guardian, October 25, 2010 and has sponsored protests and supported...

z7sg

In Soviet Russia mistakes teach they

RegDwight

@Robusto I've been waiting for that.

Kit

@Robusto THWACK!

RegDwight

14:12

You don't disappoint.

Kit

My teabagging joke was funnier.

RegDwight

Knight Industries have no say in what's funny in this room and what's not.

Robusto

@Kit — Wait, who gave you THWACKing privileges? Those gotta be earned.

RegDwight

Yeah, and that.

Kit

@Robusto I am the protégé of @Martha.

Unless she thwacks me for it.

Robusto

14:14

@Kit — I'll wait for @Martha to verify that you are indeed her protege.

Kit

@RegDwight It's a good thing I'm not affiliated with Knight Industries then.

RegDwight

I am the antitege of Martha.

Robusto

@RegDwight — Wow. Dude.

Kit

@RegDwight Ouch.

RegDwight

Thank you, thank you.

Robusto

14:15

I mean, that was a total sucker punch.

RegDwight

Thank you.

Robusto

I will get you back. Just you wait and see.

►

And hell's comin' with me.

RegDwight

Followin.

Back to the Bible school for you.

Kit

I thought en-dashes were used for number spans and hyphens for words?

RegDwight

Ranges of all kinds.

Vitaly

14:20

guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/jun/06/us-hackers-fbi-informer

Robusto

En dashes are also used to find out which n is the fastest.

Kit

I think this answer is incorrect then.

2

A: "Hardware-counter-based tools" or "hardware-counter based tools"?

This one is tricky because it is solved with a mark of punctuation called the "en-dash." Its length is longer than a hyphen and shorter than a full em-dash. It's the middle one in this series: - – — So with a term like "Hardware-counter-based tools" the solution is to use an en-dash between "cou...

RegDwight

1–10, Paris–London flight, mother–daughter relationship.

Robusto

Ems have those races too.

RegDwight

@Kit Wow, that is so a dupe. How come it's not closed?

Kit

14:21

@RegDwight Right, and it's a dupe. Too new to be closed, I guess.

MrHen noticed it.

RegDwight

9

Q: How to connect a word and a phrase with a dash?

For example, "file system" and "related". Is it "file system-related"? It will appear as if it is a compound of "file" and "system-related", won't it?

phrases punctuation adjectives hyphen modifiers

@Kit MrHen is a bit off the mark there, though.

Kit

@RegDwight Better add that to the list.

180 more rep and I can vote on it!

Robusto

@Kit So get more rep! As you SO so shall you rep.

Kit

@Robusto Oh no. That is SO bad.

Robusto

Aw, come on. That was a little bit of "hell comin' with me" ...

Kit

14:24

@Robusto And I'm working on it!

RegDwight

And his name that sat on him was Robusto.

Hooray, a unicorn!

Kit

@aedia It's the IPU!

RegDwight

Hello ~~@aedia~~ @unicorn!

Kit

@aedia Greetings, most holy!

Robusto

@RegDwight — Wait till it speaks. I've never seen a talking unicorn.

Kit

14:26

@Robusto Have faith, silly. That's no ordinary unicorn.

Robusto

@Kit — To hell with faith. I demand empirical evidence.

Kit

Invisible Pink Unicorn

The Invisible Pink Unicorn (IPU) is the goddess of a parody religion used to satirize theistic beliefs, taking the form of a unicorn that is paradoxically both invisible and pink. She is a rhetorical illustration used by atheists and other religious skeptics as a contemporary version of Russell's teapot, sometimes mentioned in conjunction with the Flying Spaghetti Monster. The IPU is used to argue that supernatural beliefs are arbitrary by, for example, replacing the word God in any theistic statement with Invisible Pink Unicorn. The mutually exclusive attributes of pinkness and invisibi...

RegDwight

Um, how is that a paradox?

Kit

"Invisible Pink Unicorns are beings of great spiritual power. We know this because they are capable of being invisible and pink at the same time. Like all religions, the Faith of the Invisible Pink Unicorns is based upon both logic and faith. We have faith that they are pink; we logically know that they are invisible because we can't see them." — Steve Eley

Robusto

@RegDwight Isn't paradox the plural form of parody?

RegDwight

14:30

@Robusto No, dummy, paradox is the singular of paradoxen.

Kit

@Robusto No, a paradox is two PhDs.

RegDwight

I mean, d'oh!

Kit

And that brings us nicely back to Tea.

Or rather "teapots."

And do, as in do re mi.

RegDwight

Ut re mi.

Kit

It makes sense in my head.

Robusto

14:32

@RegDwight — I think you mean D'oh! re me ...

RegDwight

Ut queant laxis resonāre fibris
Mira gestorum famuli tuorum,
Solve polluti labii reatum,
Sancte Iohannes.

Robusto

Don't make me go all Sound of Music on your ass.

RegDwight

Not a single d'oh in there.

z7sg

The unicorn is neither invisible nor pink and as such I have no faith in it.

Robusto

@RegDwight — Obviously a mistranslation then.

Kit

14:33

@RegDwight Have you seen the Simpsons Do Re Mi?

RegDwight

@Kit I have no idea which scene from which episode you mean, but yes, I most certainly have.

Kit

@RegDwight It begins "Dough, the stuff that buys me beer"

"Ray, the guy who serves me beer"

RegDwight

"Me, the guy who drinks the beer."

Kit

"Fa, how far I'll go for beer"

So, let's have another beer

La, let's have another beer

Tea, no, thanks, I'll just have beer

RegDwight

You mean coffee?

►

aedia

14:40

I'm awake! Really! I swear!

Martha

@Kit Well done on the thwacking.

RegDwight

With a high heart, because there was a unicorn in his chatroom, the man went upstairs and roused his wife again. "The unicorn," he said, "spoke a word."

Kit

@RegDwight But the unicorn is too polite to speak with its mouth full of roses!

RegDwight

Not this one, obviously.

Or perhaps we're just out of roses.

I need a lily, quick.

Kit

@Martha @RegDwight @Robusto See!

@RegDwight Try violets. Unless you're opposed to the use of violets, of course.

Martha

14:44

Will this do? The picture was taken on Easter Sunday...

aedia

@Martha Awwh!!!

RegDwight

@Kit Meh. That coming from a protégé of someone who can't even be bothered to thwack antitégé doesn't mean jac... omygod not baby pictures nooooo im out

Martha

My work here is done. Have fun, folks!

RegDwight

@Kit (how come nobody thwacks you for THAT awful awfulness???)

Jez

kawwwwwwwwwwwwfie

Kit

14:46

@RegDwight Untouchable.

Jez

americans, pronounce words properly.

Kit

@Martha We have that same xylophone, except in purple.

Jez

also, stop saying 'go to the bathroom' instead of crap

RegDwight

@Kit I never realized your social status was that low.

Kit

@Jez It's "drop a deuce," doucheknuckle.

Martha

14:47

@RegDwight Oh, just THWACK! already.

Kit

@RegDwight Ha! I was thinking Elliot Ness, not Indian caste system.

RegDwight

@Martha Why on Earth? Why?

I am not opposed to the use of violets!

Martha

@Kit That's funny. I wonder if my cousin got hers here in America. It seems an odd thing to lug that far, but my cousin can be rather odd.

Kit

@RegDwight You are all about flax and violets, aren't you, flower lover?

Gardenmonger!

Martha

Careful, Kit. You are not as untouchable as you think you are.

Kit

14:51

@Martha I'm begging for a thwacking. It helps my focus.

RegDwight

Untouchable with a finger ≠ untouchable with a ruler.

Martha

Oh, ok then: THWACK!

Kit

@Martha Thank you, mistress.

@Martha BTW, I finally got my contract!

Martha

@Kit Yay for non-unpaid work!

Kit

Um, those two statements are not as related as they might appear.

RegDwight

14:52

Your protégé contract?

Martha actually sends you stuff to sign?

Martha

@RegDwight No. See above about "those two statements are not as related as they might appear".

Kit

@RegDwight I am not affiliated with Martha.

RegDwight

@Martha I am regarding the second statement as completely separate from the first.

Martha

Well, then, what's the confusion?

RegDwight

No confusion. Just a question.

Certainly I may ask questions in this room!

I could have just as well asked, "your contract with Knight Industries?"

But I haven't.

Martha

14:57

Jun 3 at 0:45, by Kit

@Martha Thanks. I'm kind of slacking badly. I have technically been working without a contract for the last two days.

RegDwight

That is so June 3rd.

Besides, my question is still valid.

Kit

@RegDwight Oh. Right. Professional, contracted, regular employee.

RegDwight

At Knight Industries?

Kit

I'm distracted because I keep looking at the paperwork.

@RegDwight No. I'm not affiliated with Knight Industries.

RegDwight

But will you once you sign?

Kit

14:59

I'm offically a database programmer.

RegDwight

Ah.

Kit

But not with Knight Industries.

RegDwight

So it's a super-secret spin-off. I understand.

Transcript for

English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…