English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Jez

09:29

0

Q: Is the phrase "in function of" proper English?

I'm not sure if this is pure English, or just something I picked up as a direct translation from my native language (Dutch). It applies to maths/computer terms. An example usage would be: "X is created in function of Y." Someone I know claims this is not English. He suggests I use "X is cre...

phrases

"Please help me prove him wrong." :-D

RegDwight

10:20

@Cerberus Yeah, a real philosopher.

I mean, it's not like Habermas is easier to parse.

Alenanno

10:49

Yo

z7sg

11:17

Well I don't like to judge solely on appearances but he looks more like a mutant turtle than Jürgen Habermas.

RegDwight

@z7sg Have you seen Habermas lately?

z7sg

12:10

@RegDwight No, I believe he rarely makes public appearances these days... are you suggesting he has turned blue and grown a shell?

Caleb

@Cerberus No that seems like scrap text generated from a grammar engine and a corpus of bad text books. However that doesn't change the fact that anybody who managed to get an upvote out of randomly generated text probably deserves some bonus credit.

2

RegDwight

@z7sg Very much so, the only difference are the sunglasses, actually.

And I dunno about you, but whenever I turn on my TV set, I see Habermas. Like all over the place.

Kit

Hup.

0

Q: "How does serverfault, stackoverflow and other stackExchange sites connect together?"

Is that "does" or "do" ? Because I'm talking about multiple items, it would be "do". What is more correct?

word-choice

Is "does" actually the correct answer? That sounds horribly, horribly wrong to me.

RegDwight

12:26

That's because it is horribly, horribly wrong.

Kit

Then we should probably fix that.

Since it's an accepted answer.

And it's wrong.

Robusto

@RegDwight — I think you're exaggerating, as usual. It's merely horribly wrong, not horribly, horribly wrong. Possibly egregiously wrong. I'll have to mull that one over.

4

Tim N

@Robusto — Do you have an em dash on your keyboard?

Robusto

@TimN — I could tell you, but then I'd be revealing secrets about my keyboard. Suffice to say that in Windows the key combo is ALT + 0151.

Caleb

@Kit Same here, something else is going on in that case besides the bits that Ham and Bacon described. "Does" in that sentence 'does' sound like fingernails on a blackboard.

Robusto

12:38

¬.¬

Tim N

I'll make sure to star you now and then for easy copy-paste instead.

Kit

@TimN Or you could just use Alt and then 0151 on your numeric keypad. ☺

I just learned how to do that last week.

Robusto

On me Mac it's Option-Shift hyphen.

RegDwight

@Robusto Argh. I took my time to compose a most excellent comment, only to be told that I can't post it cause ThirdIdiot has deleted his answer.

Tim N

Ooh, the ☺ is useful too.

Robusto

12:42

@RegDwight — I feel your pain.

Tim N

For some reason, alt + 4 digits feels even dirtier than copy-pasting. I'll try to find a typography-focused keyboard layout.

Robusto

I just posted a legit answer to the can can question and got a downvote for my efforts. I think someone's in a bad mood this morning. Hmm, now it disappeared.

The winds blow strange here in EL&U.

Caleb

@Robusto Apparently so. I mostly hang out in Unix & Linux where everything is very mechanical. I've never seen a question with three different accepted answers inside of ten minutes before. (As just happened on the "does/do" question.)

Kit

@TimN Alt 1 is ☺

@RegDwight It's Green Eggs and Ham now, not ThirdIdiot.

@TimN "Dirty" like some hot chicks, or "dirty" like the homeless drunkard living under the bridge?

Tim N

@Kit: The drunkard. But there's probably unicode for the other kind of dirty as well.

☺♥☺

Mr. Disappointment

12:52

Howdy.

Kit

@TimN ♀♥♀ Oh, yeah. Megan Fox and Jennifer Tilly. In my brain this morning, anyway.

@MrDisappointment Morning.

Mr. Disappointment

@Kit Afternoon here, and a freakin' expensive on at that!

Damn mechanics.

Kit

Yowzah.

@MrDisappointment Busted tranny?

Mr. Disappointment

Ya, I think (my mind is inclined to make a sexual joke, though I'll refrain.)

Kit

Ah, yes. Funny how I forget those things when I'm thinking of those other things.

Mr. Disappointment

12:56

Brake shoes detached, cylinder busted, fluid discharge and the handbrake cable snapped.

Kit

What did you do?

Avoid an accident?

Doesn't sound like a busted tranny though.

Mr. Disappointment

The guy seems to think 'wear and tear', but based on experience of driving it I beg to differ. A glass bottle got caught in the spin of my wheel on Saturday and smashed against the bottom of my car.

I'm not certain this is the cause (since a lot of the damage is in a self-contained compartment, but I'm human and so like to deduce patterns of cause and effect. I could be completely wrong.

Kit

Oh, snap. Wicked bummer.

In my region, we'd say "you got your car all stove up. That's a wicked pisser."

Mr. Disappointment

And where is that? Just in case I should ever be there and need to sound local.

Kit

That's in the United States, not Canada, despite popular opinion.

Now I'm going to delete that.

Robusto

13:06

2

Q: What is exactly Cognitive Science about?

I'm wondering what is cognitive science all about. I've read the wikipedia entry for Cognitive Science and, well, I'm not sure if what I think is cognitive science is cognitive science. So, basically, is anyone able to condense that whole page into one paragraph? Well, I'd thought that cognit...

vocabulary

This hasn't been closed yet? Really?

Kit

@Robusto I used to be a cognitive scientist, so I recused myself.

Robusto

I am one of the incognoscenti, so I didn't recuse myself.

Kit

Perfect.

Alenanno

@Robusto voted to close.

Robusto

Of course, maybe the question really is as it stands: What is "exactly Cognitive Science" about? Maybe the OP wants to know how exactly works in that sentence. Should there be a comma there? An Oxford comma, perhaps? Or a Harvard comma? Should an adjective be used? Maybe we can work in "a vs. an" somehow as well.

Kit

13:21

Skeptics: Is there any evidence that cognitive science really means anything?

Robusto

13:31

@Kit — I am fairly sure that science means something. But how would I know that without some cognitive process happening?

Kit

So few people actually have a cognitive process these days...

Cerberus

14:05

Woof.

@Kit What! I didn't claim I had any?

@Caleb: Yeah, I really wonder who gave him that up-vote. Perhaps the OP gave him a pity vote.

RegDwight

I would give him a pity downvote. But I need like 12 edits for that.

@Cerberus Also, note Caleb's very own pity upvote.

Cerberus

Hi.

Where did Caleb get an up-vote?

By the way, I'm not sure we can still win the current war.

RegDwight

He didn't get one, he upvoted that incomprehensible answer.

Cerberus

I won't be able to crunch out another 180 points in the time remaining.

@RegDwight Ah, got it.

RegDwight

@Cerberus It's only 140 now. I built a rather strong deck by accident. So for once, I am actually helping. Somewhat.

Cerberus

14:17

Haha.

RegDwight

Yeah.

Actually I was building a deck for that raid.

Because none of my six decks worked. At all.

Cerberus

Good. What's in it? And is it good on defense (probably, since attack is somewhat harder)?

Caleb

@RegDwight Yes, I did. The hover-tip for up-voting suggests doing so if the answer is useful. Trying to read that answer made me laugh until I cried. I consider that useful.

RegDwight

@Cerberus I just checked that list I posted earlier.

2 days ago, by RegDwight

Hatchet (R), Exodrone (UI), Predator (UX), Havoc (UR), Tiamat (UI), Shapeshifter (UB), Omega (LR), Hunter (UR), Stealthy Niaq (UX); Commander: Atlas (R)

And tried to build that one.

Cerberus

@Caleb A valid, but undermining mindset. I like it in a twisted way.

RegDwight

14:18

Turns out, I only have four out of those ten cards, and nobody knows what his eleventh card was.

So I just threw in six other cards like a woman buys a car.

Cerberus

Haha!

RegDwight

"Oh, look, this card is blue!"

Cerberus

Way to go!

RegDwight

The thing is, it still doesn't work in that raid. Kinda embarrassing.

Cerberus

Well, the raid is hard.

RegDwight

14:20

I wouldn't have expected that!

Cerberus

My main deck does about 1:1. Th thing is, you need to rebuild your deck entirely to fit the raid, which is tiresome.

RegDwight

The first one was a breeze. I thought the second one would be somewhat harder, but not completely impossible!

Cerberus

I had warned you...

RegDwight

Well, you warned me about like the tenth raid, not the second.

Cerberus

For one thing, kick out most of your cards with active abilities.

Xeno Walker was the only Raid I'd tried at the time... I haven't tried Arctis yet. Is it doable?

RegDwight

14:22

@Cerberus Well, I beat it all by myself in two hours.

If that doesn't mean something, nothing does.

Cerberus

So what does your feminine deck look like?

RegDwight

Um, lemme see.

Cerberus

@RegDwight It means... it wasn't excessively hard. polite smile

If you need an extremely convenient post-screenshot-to-imageshack program, let me know...

RegDwight

Kit

@Caleb Oh, which one? I love confusing answers!

Cerberus

14:24

Ah, you have the Silos!

RegDwight

@Cerberus Thanks, but what I really need is a Firefox downgrade. Like, to 0.6, the last version it was still a bird rather than a canine.

Cerberus

Hey don't bash the canines!

RegDwight

Oops.

Kit

@RegDwight face slap (just a little one)

RegDwight

I mean.

Cerberus

14:25

What is FF doing to upset you?

RegDwight

Thanks, but what I really need is a Firefox downgrade. Like, to 0.7, the very first version it was a canine.

Cerberus

What is that Xeno card? Does it work? Why siphon? I usually find that, by the time siphon could be useful, I've lost already...

@RegDwight Thank you.

RegDwight

@Cerberus Our admins upgraded my Ubuntu + FF, and now my Flash literally flashes. Random gray blocks of random sizes pop up and jump and dance all over the place. I can't see anything or click anywhere.

Cerberus

By the way, I think this game has pushed our chat room to new heights of imcomprehensibility.

RegDwight

The above screenshot is composed of three taken at different times.

Cerberus

14:27

Yikes. Use FF portable from USB?

RegDwight

Meh. I have a better solution. This stupid Firefox thing just needs to die for good, in a nuclear fire of epic proportions, visible from the backside of Alpha Centauri with your eyes closed.

Cerberus

Hmm... I sympathize with your sentiments, but I must step up for the canine. Why is it FF's problem?

Kit

But how do you really feel about it, @RegDwight? I mean, don't hold back on our account.

Cerberus

Hey don't encourage him.

RegDwight

@Cerberus Because I don't have any such problems in Opera, Chrome, or dare I say it, IE9.

Cerberus

14:31

Which version of FF are they making you use? I have no problems on 3.6 or 4.

By the way, how do those slow cards work for you? Like the silos and the Xeno guy?

RegDwight

4.0.1. But the thing is, it's not that 3.x or 2.x never sucked. They just sucked in a different way.

I mean, look, I was among the very first people on this planet to use Firefox. So I reserve the right to be among the very first people to no longer use it.

Cerberus

I am open to criticism on my beloved cousin. But if I am not effected by the things that you are suffering from, is Firefox really the problem?

RegDwight

@Cerberus I threw in silos in exchange for another card (don't remember which one it was), after losing once.

@Cerberus Hey, I never said any of my problems were yours.

Cerberus

Okay, let me known how they perform. I quit using 4's all together...

... but I may be wrong, and I don't have the Silos.

RegDwight

I got them a few days ago, but this is actually the first time I'm putting them to any use.

Cerberus

14:35

You have the time to set them up?

I find that II are quite effective against the faction we're fighting at the moment.

RegDwight

Rats, someone from the other team woke up and attacked. We're now 400 points behind.

Cerberus

... said I, losing against an all-II deck for the first time in ages. Okay I'm dumping all but one II.

@RegDwight Yikes. I don't think we can salvage that.

RegDwight

Not in the 58 minutes left, no.

But hey, at least I got a new ~~car~~ deck out of that!

Cerberus

That is the right mindset! Think of possessions always.

I am proud of you.

RegDwight

BTW, how did you get into that raid yesterday?

The one you invited me to.

Cerberus

14:40

I don't remember, but someone probably invited me.

People post Raid links in chat all the time.

RegDwight

Ah, the chat.

Cerberus

By the way, you'll love the Enclave Raid. Its commander has weaken all 2, and some other skill I forgot.

Are you really planning on finishing this Xeno Raid? Because we need at least 20 more people to stand a chance.

RegDwight

Yeah well.

That's why I was asking.

How you get more people.

Though it's kinda embarrassing to invite people to a raid without having contributed to beating it myself.

Cerberus

You won't get any honour (neither game honour nor real honour) from it anyway, if you don't win several times.

RegDwight

I know, I know.

Cerberus

14:46

OK.

RegDwight

I think I'll just keep checking the chat for raid invitationg rather than starting any raids myself.

Cerberus

Yeah that's what I do.

RegDwight

Again, I was tricked into thinking the difficulty would be slowly rising from one raid to the next.

Anyhows.

I have a new strategy for the Factions.

Cerberus

Check this link for estimates on difficulty, which are a bit on the low side, if you ask me:

RegDwight

I think I will only start wars against considerably weaker factions from now on and let you handle wars declared on us by others.

Cerberus

14:48

warmetal.wikia.com/wiki/Tyrant_Raids#Difficulty

@RegDwight Might be a good idea; have you been starting wars against stronger factions of late?

RegDwight

Jun 15 at 23:16, by RegDwight

I used to pick ones with a score slightly above ours.

Cerberus

Our current enemy would be doable if I had been awake earlier, provided that not more of them wake up.

RegDwight

So, as our score rises, so do those of the opponents I choose.

Cerberus

Right.

The problem is, I don't quite see how I could improve my deck. It may be possible, but I don't see it. So, if we meet a guy with defense decks as good as the ones we had to fight just after the Update, we will fail miserably.

Just as we would fail against a faction like our current enemy but with more active members.

I think we must definitely be the only faction to have reached level 3 with only two members...

RegDwight

Well, more active members is always a problem.

Semi-jinx.

Cerberus

14:55

Yes. Could we not shanghai some EL&U'ers?

I have tried coaxing Robusto. But it'd take at least a month to get him properly trained.

Rhodri

Extra! Extra! Dog Trains Man

RegDwight

Yeah, it will always take some time for any newbie to get strong cards.

Kit

@Rhodri kiss, kiss

Can I be inappropriately familiar with you?

RegDwight

Get a room.

Kit

@RegDwight kiss, kiss to you too.

Rhodri

15:00

@Kit Just call me Mr Inappropriate :-)

aedia

Good... morning? Do I want to walk in on this?

RegDwight

You'll find out soon enough.

Rhodri

Don't worry, we're fully clothed

Kit

@aedia kiss, kiss

RegDwight

Wait, what? You are clothed?

Rhodri

15:01

@RegDwight Yup. It's the company dress code: "Wear clothes."

Kit

I'm clothed, but pantsless. That's cool, right?

Cerberus

I didn't think clothes were allowed here?

Rhodri

@Kit Possibly even chilly

RegDwight

Well, just look at the gravatars.

The fox, the hare, and the dog are all naked.

The unicorn, too.

Kit

We're wearing fur.

RegDwight

15:02

Yeah, thank god you cropped the image above your waist.

Kit

And @Rhodri's only got sunglasses on.

aedia

I'm shoeless too.

Cerberus

Yeah, that worked really well.

Kit

@aedia Like Joe Jackson.

Cerberus

Actually I don't think that line of mine was appropriate.

RegDwight

15:03

I will recite it from memory.

Kit

What a strange thing to censor.

RegDwight

As a welcome to new users.

Like Kosmonaut's famous "sometimes I crap a little in my sleep".

Kit

hahaha! He didn't!

RegDwight

Apr 23 at 1:12, by RegDwight

@Kosmonaut http://chat.stackexchange.com/messages/874237/history

Apr 23 at 1:12, by Kosmonaut

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

Hey, I misquoted him. What he actually said was, "Sorry, I crap in my sleep sometimes."

aedia

@Cerberus It was appropriate for being inappropriately familiar!

Kit

15:05

So when I get my 10k rep, I can view deleted chat messages too?

I thought it was only answers and questions.

And comments.

And lions and tigers and bears.

Oh my!

RegDwight

I'm sorry, Kit. I'm afraid you can't do that.

Kit

I understand now, RegDwight. Thank you for explaining it to me.

Cerberus

@aedia I know! But, still...

RegDwight

@Cerberus: what is that War Metal Wiki talking about? It's like a completely different game.

Cerberus

I will not comment on Kosmonaut's habits.

RegDwight

15:08

warmetal.wikia.com/wiki/Titan_%28Epic_Boss%29

warmetal.wikia.com/wiki/Special_Weapons

Cerberus

Half of it is about the Facebook game.

RegDwight

So it's that different?

Cerberus

Apparently. I have no idea.

Kit

@aedia I am ridiculously worked up today.

Cerberus

@Kit About what?

Kit

15:10

@Cerberus Not worked up like irritated. Worked up like lathered. Hot and bothered. I'm having a hard time focusing on being appropriate.

i.e., my Jennifer Tilly comment earlier.

RegDwight

2 hours ago, by Kit

@TimN ♀♥♀ Oh, yeah. Megan Fox and Jennifer Tilly. In my brain this morning, anyway.

Cerberus

@Kit Aww. Well, I don't think we mind.

Kit

@RegDwight That'd be the one.

Transformers was on last night.

RegDwight

Am I the only person to think that Megan Fox is a rather hideous moron?

aedia

@RegDwight Moron, yes. Hideous, depends how far into the IPA I've gotten.

Cerberus

15:14

Thankfully I don't know her.

Kit

@RegDwight Hideous moron? Yes, but neither of those things matter when she's got her head under the hood of my Camaro.

RegDwight

So you let hideous morons touch your stuff?

With their hideous heads, no less?

Where's Mr. Disappointment when you need him?

Kit

@MrDisappointment We're summoning you to the chat room. Can you chat?

JSBangs

WTF PEEPLEZ?

i go away for two weeks and @RegDwight turns into some kind of obese bunny?

Kit

@JSBangs Ahem Morning.

RegDwight

15:16

@JSBangs Your not MrD.

Your JSB.

JSBangs

@Kit, sorry, but i'm still reeling in shock over that profile pic

RegDwight

Take a number, please.

Kit

@JSBangs He's not a bunny. He's a viscacha.

RegDwight

^ That.

JSBangs

google images is not persuading me that a viscacha can't be described as "some kind of obese bunny"

RegDwight

15:17

More pix starting here.

Kit

@JSBangs Viscacha = rodent. Bunny = lagomorph. Totally different.

JSBangs

at least @Cerb still looks familiar

RegDwight

It's actually called "Hare Mouse" in German.

Jun 14 at 13:49, by RegDwight

in German Language and Usage, 1 hour ago, by RegDwight

Hasenmäuse

Die Hasenmäuse oder Bergviscachas (Lagidium) sind eine Nagetiergattung aus der Familie der Chinchillas (Chinchillidae). Es werden vier Arten unterschieden: die Peruanische Hasenmaus (Lagidium peruanum), die Cuvier-Hasenmaus (L. viscacia), die Südliche Hasenmaus (L. wolffsohni) und Lagidium ahuacaense. Merkmale Hasenmäuse erinnern äußerlich an Kaninchen mit langen Schwänzen. Sie erreichen eine Kopfrumpflänge von 30 bis 45 Zentimeter, die Schwanzlänge beträgt 20 bis 40 Zentimeter. Die Peruanische Hasenmaus ist die leichteste Art, sie erreicht 0,9 bis 1,6 Kilogramm, während die beiden and...

Kit

Think of Reg as an obese chinchilla.

RegDwight

I mean, come on, Kit has changed her gravatar, too. And half the room is unicorns!

JSBangs

15:19

huh

RegDwight

Unicorns, @JSB, unicorns!

JSBangs

@Kit was just a quilt square before, wasn't she?

unicorns, yes

Kit

No, I was a clock.

JSBangs

i like the kit fox, though

@Kit, well, that shows how well i remember

Kit

@JSBangs Actually, it's a fennec fox. It was a little cuter than the kit fox.

Makes it more surprising when I POUNCE!

But thanks.

☺

You missed my unicorn. It was wacky.

JSBangs

15:21

were the unicorns in celebration of anything in particular?

Rhodri

tomsmithonline.com/lyrics/my_unicorn.htm

Kit

@JSBangs Now, what do you think of Megan Fox: hot with her head under your hood or kick her out of bed for eating crackers?

RegDwight

Actually, @Kit is lying to you, @JSB.

Her old gravatar wasn't a clock.

aedia

@RegDwight It's only @z7sg who's left as a unicorn besides me! We're not half the room. Being a viscacha is fluffling up your math skillz.

RegDwight

JSBangs

15:23

sheesh. i can't believe anything anyone says to me here any more

Kit

@RegDwight Dude, WTF? Where's my clock?

RegDwight

@JSBangs Hey, at least you haven't moved on from Chrono Trigger to Shadow of the Colossus. Or Kinectimals. Or something.

Robusto

Where's your what? Oh, clock ...

JSBangs

@Kit having never watched any transformer movie, i have only the vaguest idea of what Megan Fox looks like

aedia

@JSBangs I think suddenly everyone rediscovered how to be unicorns, that's all.

RegDwight

15:24

Kit

@JSBangs Well, let's move on to Jennifer Tilly then.

RegDwight

And that's a picture where she looks smart.

JSBangs

@RegDwight that face certainly isn't doing anything for me

Kit

@JSBangs It's not her face that does it for me.

There. There's my damn clock.

RegDwight

Hey, look, even I would never put on a black bra under a white shirt, and I am a guy.

aedia

15:27

@Kit Gina Gershon is better.

JSBangs

i'll take jennifer tilly over megan fox. based on what google images shows me. but where is she famous from?

RegDwight

Poker.

aedia

@Kit I think they're both in Bound, though. Okay, now I'm distracted.

JSBangs

hmm. she looks familiar, but i don't recall actually having seen her in any of the things that the Wik mentions

Kit

►

Megan Fox

@aedia Yes, Bound, yes, thank you @aedia. Yum.

Martha

15:29

Kit

@JSBangs Well, duh. Jennifer Tilly is smart and hot, and she's got that voice that will just ... ah, excuse me a moment.

RegDwight

@Kit Yeah well. Even Shia LaBoeuf is a hotter ~~bia~~ chick compared to that.

@Martha Why does the hand move back and forth?

JSBangs

@RegDwight i actually like The Beef, going back to his stint on that Disney Channel show

Kit

@RegDwight Barf.

Martha

@RegDwight I dunno, I just found it on the internets.

RegDwight

15:31

Hey, Martha just found a perpetuum mobile!

Luck one must have, young Padawan.

►

Kit

youtube.com/watch?v=8QY22dFvVq0 [Maybe NSFW]

0

Q: General rule for pronouncing initialisms?

Some initialisms are pronounced letter by letter, some as a word. Is there a general rule as when to use which pronunciation for acronyms that are new and don't have well established pronunciation yet? I've seen a lot of confusion, especially in the IT world. For example WSGI — most often ...

pronunciation initialisms

Isn't this a dupe?

RegDwight

3

Q: Pronouncing acronyms

I've noticed that some people in my office spell out "data import tool" as D. I. T., whereas others will say "dit" (like "ditty"). Is trying to pronounce an acronym as a word, as opposed to spelling it out, ever correct?

pronunciation acronyms

Kit

@JSBangs Jennifer Tilly is also the voice of Joe's wife on Family Guy.

Mr. Disappointment

@Kit Depends on the subject.

Kit

@MrDisappointment Well, @RegDwight said he needed you for the Megan Fox-Jennifer Tilly ~~free for all~~ conversation.

Mr. Disappointment

15:37

@RegDwight @JSBangs wishes to be the harbinger of disappointment. Only I can give foresee and prescribe adequate doses.

RegDwight

@psmears is in my internets leaving strange comments, saying the exact same thing I am saying, but making it sound as if he disagreed with me.

Mr. Disappointment

@Kit Ahh, maybe he expected some bad jokes?

Kit

Could be.

RegDwight

Hahaha, Martin Beckett votes to close the intialism question as a dupe, and then goes on to answer it...

Rhodri

@RegDwight It's always possible that he's giving a better answer than the existing ones. Except he isn't, but that's a mere detail.

JSBangs

15:44

@Rhodri i've done the same thing a few times

RegDwight

The thing is, if he thinks this is a dupe, he should be answering the original question.

Mr. Disappointment

@RegDwight: Now, that is silly.

RegDwight

The thing is, I will merge, and then he will end up answering the original question anyway.

Mr. Disappointment

I had a a comment discussion the other day with some guy that found it quite bizarre that I would answer a question that I had voted to close / migrate.

RegDwight

Migration is different.

Basically you say, this question should survive (on another site, but still), so here's my answer.

Mr. Disappointment

15:45

That's what I thought ...the answer would still stand (I thought it was a reasonable question, just in the wrong place.)

Rhodri

0

Q: Is the meaning of "This is it" figurative?

The phrase "kick the bucket" is a figurative phrase - it means "to die", although using it does not imply any actual kicking or any actual buckets. The question I am asking is if the phrase "this is it" is figurative or literal? Let us look at an example: Well boys, I reckon this is it. ...

figures-of-speech

Mr. Disappointment

But to close as dupe then answer, I actually do think this is silly...

Rhodri

I've provoked Unreason into uncertainty. I'm so proud.

Mr. Disappointment

Merging, as it 'should' occur, doesn't. <-- That's a generalisation, and not to come across as belittling your pro-active efforts here on EL&U.

RegDwight

16:05

K piplz, I gotta go. Laterz.

Mr. Disappointment

And me, home time!

Good job my far was fixed in time - see ya.

Rhodri

@MrDisappointment It was a near thing, then?

psmears

16:31

@RegDwight No, I'm disagreeing with you, but sounding like I'm saying the exact same thing. Or something...

(that's better - it scrolled just as I clicked on the "reply" arrow, and I got the wrong one!)

JSBangs

@psmears i was wondering why you had pinged me :)

psmears

@JSBangs Yeah, sorry about that!

z7sg

16:57

@psmears should i read your name p smears p s mears or p s m ears??

Bogdan Lataianu

i have a question

i offered bounties to some questions of others. What happens with the bounties if I dont give them within 7 days;

JSBangs

@BogdanLataianu they are eaten by Nidhoggr, the Net Serpent

(meaning that you lose the rep, but no one else gains it)

Bogdan Lataianu

(shaking in fear) aah better give them

z7sg

@BogdanLataianu Leave them... so that Nidhoggr may be appeased by the offering!

Bogdan Lataianu

lol thanks

psmears

17:06

@z7sg Online you can read it however you choose, but irl it's the first of those options :)

@JSBangs Actually sometimes some of the rep does go to other people in these circumstances

59

A: How does the bounty system work?

Sources: the official FAQ and blog. See also the official privileges page for bounties. What is a bounty? A bounty is a special reputation award given to answers. This feature was designed to motivate answerers, and make questions get the answers they deserve. As a bounty starter, the boun...

RegDwight

17:59

@psmears You are saying that substituting another phrase is cheating. Which was precisely my point.

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…