English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

12:00 AM

Archaeologist (the Indie Jones hat) if your answer is the first on that question to score 2, and then this Necromancer hat.

And since Necromancer is a silver badge, you can even get a Hi Ho Silver on top. Though you personally already have that one.

Marthaª

(But I still don't have unicorn horns, despite commenting the heck out of meta.)

RegDwigнt

You should have left five comments in that dedicated thread. You only left two.

Marthaª

Oh, do they all have to be in the same thread?

RegDwigнt

It's hard to get people to follow you around the site, let alone meta which no one can even find after the GUI changes.

@Marthaª I don't think so, it's just easier that way.

But I do not know for sure, what with the hat's name.

Marthaª

Ah, OK. Off I go to, uh, improve the site.

RegDwigнt

12:04 AM

Vewy well.

And I myself will be taking my leave in a minute.

Marthaª

Aw, but it'll be all lonely here. (Sorry, Cerberus, I'm really a cat person, despite being allergic to the little fiendish furballs.)

RegDwigнt

You should be fine.

There are more people lurking in this room than there are people chatting in all other rooms combined.

Just thwack some of them.

Marthaª

@RegDwigнt But that's a chicken-and-egg problem: in order for me to thwack them, they need to commit a pun, and in order for them to commit a pun, they need to wake up, i.e. I need to thwack them, but in order for me to thwack them, they need to commit a pun...

RegDwigнt

See, you already have enough entertainment for the rest of the night.

You can just keep going on like that, then at some point some of them just won't resist and interrupt you with a pun.

From there on, it's smooth thwacking.

Gilles

@RegDwigнt The “I'm not listening” hat is easy to get

RegDwigнt

12:16 AM

@Gilles looking at the stats so far, the "easy" part is veeery relative.

I'm not even sure we have anyone at all with that hat.

Gilles

@RegDwigнt not saying it's easy to figure out. If you know how, it's easy to get.

@RegDwigнt you do

RegDwigнt

OIC.

@Gilles well I dunno. That's like saying that any question is easy if you know the answer.

An easy question is one you can figure out without knowing the answer.

Likewise with hats.

Gilles

@RegDwigнt I know how to get to China: set one foot after the other, repeat. But it's hard to actually do it.

Getting that hat is the opposite.

RegDwigнt

@Gilles that is not hard. Every child can do it. You are just lazy, or don't have the time, or are going in a different direction as we speak.

Anyway, yes, I see your point.

Marthaª

I want to know how to get IG-88. Well, actually, I want to know how to get all of the secret hats, but, well, anyway.

RegDwigнt

12:22 AM

@Marthaª we're about to find out. Kit is running an experiment and I'm participating.

3 hours ago, by Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

it MUST be bounty-related. IG-88 was hired to catch Han Solo and followed Boba Fett to cloud city where Fett had him destroyed.

I am more interested in the bunny ears.

And that yellow fluffy thing.

@Gilles, does anyone have the ears or the fluffy yet?

I've not seen any in the wild.

KitFox

@Marthaª Pretty sure you answer a bountied question and then don't get the bounty.

Marthaª

@KitFox That would make sense... did it work?

RegDwigнt

She hasn't awarded the bounty just yet.

We are still waiting for good answers.

Oh and did I mention I so want that scarf?

KitFox

What are you talking about?

Marthaª

Yes, the "before it was cool" hat is seriously cool. It's obviously a Dr. Who reference, but what that has to do with StackExchange, I couldn't tell you.

RegDwigнt

12:26 AM

Gilles

@KitFox That could be it. meta.stackoverflow.com/users/210998/stephen-ostermiller has it and he answered meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/209998/… but didn't get the bounty

RegDwigнt

Oh and I want Eureka as well.

KitFox

@RegDwigнt What?

RegDwigнt

@KitFox see the image right after that.

KitFox

@RegDwigнt Oh that one. Yes, I would like that.

RegDwigнt

12:28 AM

And what is this?

KitFox

I see.

Gilles

19

A: Winter Bash 2013: Secret Hats

They're not really all that secret if we give it all away so easily, are they? Here are some hints - if you can figure them out, you're on your way to some SECRET hats: ...then I took an arrow to the knee. Earned ten of the most meaningless points on the 'Net I live... AGAIN! He ain't no drag...

KitFox

They always put a couple of red herrings in.

RegDwigнt

@Gilles yeah that one was exceptionally unhelpful.

Gilles

@RegDwigнt I don't know, one of the hints did help understanding “you have a point”

RegDwigнt

12:29 AM

> Humpty Dumpty, or perfect in every way?

^ That is true of every single post of mine.

It is a Humpty Dumpty or perfect in every way. With a question mark.

@Gilles I for one interpreted that one completely wrong.

I thought I had to get 10 points on a single comment.

Gilles

it didn't say you had to get the 10 points together

RegDwigнt

No it didn't. So? That's what interpretation is all about.

KitFox

I wonder if the "...then I took an arrow to the knee" is the IG88 hint. "I answered a question like you, then I took..."

RegDwigнt

It also said nothing about comments or meta or really even Stack Exchange.

Gilles

they're hints, they're supposed to be obscure

RegDwigнt

12:32 AM

No, they are supposed to be hints.

Meh, not good work. Not everyone is from the US. I don't even know who the heck Chuck Yeager is, much less JBM or JWH. More to the point, I have that hat already, and know for a fact what I got it for, but still don't understand the hint. Explain it to me like I am a random human, not a random American. (Unless you yourself are aiming at the secret Discrimination and Unfair Advantage hats. Then it's par for the course I guess.) — ЯegDwight 11 hours ago

But anyway! I must be off to read and sleep!

You all have fun.

Marthaª

I don't get what JBM and JWH refer to, either.

Good night, sleep tight.

RegDwigнt

And we are 36 ahead of Code Review. @Rob

@Marthaª some cowboys or something.

KitFox

It was on the gun of a cowboy known for his quick draw.

So what would James Brown tell us?

Or Papa's got a brand new bag?

RegDwigнt

He'd tell you I'm a sex machine.

Night!

Cerberus

Why do I get random notifications that I have won another hat?

KitFox

12:34 AM

12

Q: Is there a semantic difference between "pedophile" and "pederast"?

If I understand the etymology of pedophile and pederast, both mean child lover. Is there a difference in their connotation? In some recent local news stories that discuss changing sex offender laws, the controversy has centered around dividing the pedophiles and the rapists from the more questi...

differences

24 views to go!

I wonder if I spent all my votes as downvotes, if that's a secret hat.

Marthaª

There's a list of secret hats somewhere on Meta, isn't there? So you could check if any of the names imply downvotes or criticism...

Robusto

@RegDwigнt If you don't know who Chuck Yeager is, you're really going to be puzzled when they bust out the Chuck Yeagermeister hats.

@RegDwigнt 37 now.

What a bunch of punks. Their top guy has like 17 hats. "Peer programming" indeed. More like poor programming.

KitFox

Hey! I have an idea.

Anybody have a question with a lot of stars on it?

I think @Reg does.

What about you, @Rob?

Robusto

You mean favorited?

KitFox

@Marthaª?

@Robusto Yes.

Robusto

12:45 AM

49

Q: How do the tenses in English correspond temporally to one another?

Non-native speakers often get confused about what the tenses in English mean. With input from some of the folk here I've put together a diagram that I hope will provide some clarity on the matter. I offer it as the first answer to this question. Consider it a living document. Input is welcome, ...

verbs tenses conditional progressive-aspect pp-vs-sp

KitFox

Maybe a Stellar Question gets a hat?

Robusto

49 faves.

Wait. 54 faves. 49 votes. Sorry, hard to tell the difference sometimes.

KitFox

hahaha

Not really that close to 100.

Hmm.

Robusto

That's loser talk.

Go ahead and fave it. You know you want to.

KitFox

144

Q: What is the rule for adjective order?

I remember being taught that the correct order of adjectives in English was something along the lines of "Opinion-Size-Age-Color-Material-Purpose." However, it's been a long time and I'm pretty sure I've forgotten a few categories (I think there were eight or nine). Can anyone fill them in?