English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

tchrist

8:02 PM

I have done everything there is to do, but one.

That would be something of a tromple l’oreille, n’nest-ce pas? :) — tchrist 51 secs ago

Gilles

@tchrist trompe l'oreille (no L in trompe)

tchrist

tpyo

@Gilles Et déjà corrigé, merci.

Transmission from

Nothing wrong. urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=tromple

However, I have my doubts about "n'nest".

MετάEd

Hey, y'all. Don't trample the oil.

Robusto

@Cerberus: I was just texting someone and "Matt and his wife" got turned into "Matt and his serifs" by the magic of Swype. I would have thought "wife" to be a little more common thing to type, but not so.

That's Are You Experienced. Yours is Axis Bold As Love.

leaves in high dudgeon

Transmission from

8:17 PM

@Robusto Do you think Jimi would know the difference?

MετάEd

@Transmissionfrom Not anymore, man. Not anymore.

RegDwigнt

8:35 PM

I think Martha needs to thwack tchrist real hard.

That would be something of a trompe-l’oreille, n’nest-ce pas? :) — tchrist 33 mins ago

ohai @Jaydles

I suppose you came in here to not refuse the two hats we have for you.

MετάEd

8:47 PM

Thirty days hat December ...

3

Gilles

so no hat for the writing contest, even for the winner

MετάEd

@Gilles In this room it's spelled "nohat".

Gilles

@MετάEd I didn't see him entering

tchrist

@Gilles He has superpowers. You can only feel him entering, not see him.

Speak of the Devil!

Jaydles

@RegDwigнt, salutations! I'm not generally one to refuse a hat.

RegDwigнt

9:00 PM

speaks of the Devil

@Jaydles there's one.

Now say nine more totally interesting things to get another.

You can also get the secret Unicorn in here.

tchrist

@Jaydles That’s a sly comment if I ever read one!

RegDwigнt

Well, another Unicorn for you.

Jaydles

@RegDwigнt, based on historical performance, I think 9 interesting things coming out of my mouth are likely to take us well past the end of the promotion.

RegDwigнt

@Jaydles I find that extremely interesting! Do elaborate.

tchrist

@Jaydles That’s why Binky is so hard.

RegDwigнt

9:01 PM

Oh yeah poor Binx.

I want him so hard, alas.

tchrist

Anyway, Jaydles already turned me down the hat.

RegDwigнt

Who whom what?

tchrist

Alas and alack, and a lad too, if that’d help.

MετάEd

@tchrist That's hard on a hat.

tchrist

@RegDwigнt Sorry, secret.

RegDwigнt

9:02 PM

Oh, be like that!

Jaydles

@RegDwigнt, you have binky, no?

oh, sorry, @tchrist - I misread

tchrist

I was trying the “Ask and ye shall receive” approach, but to no avail.

RegDwigнt

I'd need nine more questions to get binky.

Jaydles

Is it ironic that I find the "English" chat room more cryptic than any other?

tchrist

I think it is because Vail’s snowed in today.

We aren’t cryptic: everybody knows where we are.

RegDwigнt

9:04 PM

@Jaydles that is because we no longer advertise that we are the Incomprehensible Room.

Sorry for that.

We put up a different description for the holidays.

Jaydles

"The Jabberwocky Room"

RegDwigнt

Yeah you got it.

Precisely right.

tchrist

@Jaydles You. Have. No. Idea.

Dec 8 at 20:43, by tchrist

Hora aderat briligi. Nunc et Slythia Tova
Plurima gyrabant gymbolitare vabo;
Et Borogovorum mimzebant undique formae,
Momiferique omnes exgrabure Rathi.

Cerberus

@Robusto Must be because you often use Swype to search for your favourite obscene websites. I didn't know that you, too, were into hardcore typographical stuff, like Tchrist.

RegDwigнt

@Jaydles I see you still don't have the Stallman.

tchrist

9:07 PM

Apr 11 at 19:20, by tchrist

One, two! One, two! And through and through
   The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
 He left it dead, and with its head
   He went galumphing back.

RegDwigнt

Simply go remove the smiley from this answer and you'll get it.

If it tells you that's not enough for an edit, fix that dash to be a proper  —.

tchrist

Aug 4 '12 at 22:30, by tchrist

♬ This parTICularly RAPid
♬ uninTELLigible PATTer
♬ isn't GENerally HEARD
♬ and if i’TIS it doesn't MATTer.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt Newbspeak?

RegDwigнt

Sorry wha?

Cerberus

" —"

RegDwigнt

9:10 PM

Ah.

Cerberus

You noobspake.

Jaydles

@RegDwigнt, Stallman is too much hassle - everyone wants to discuss why it looks so much like Jesus.

RegDwigнt

@Jaydles huh where.

Cerberus

Or is the past tense of newspeak oldspake?

RegDwigнt

Link or it didn't happen.

tchrist

9:11 PM

@Jaydles Most of whom don’t even know Richard.

RegDwigнt

Also, what do you mean by hassle. You don't have to wear him.

tchrist

I know Richard.

And believe me, it fits.

He’ll even bless you like the pope.

Cerberus

What does? The leggings?

tchrist

@RegDwigнt It should have been an albatross!

Mitch

ja'pu'vawqoy

puqloDwI' ja'pu'vawq Dayep
pe'vIl chop Ho'Du'Daj; pe'vIl Suq pachDu'Daj
Ha'DIbaH puv juchyub yIyep
bInDepSuHach vaQeHmuS ghombe' DanIDjaj

(obviously just the second verse)

tchrist

9:13 PM

2

Santo Santo Santo.

Sacrosanto.

I prefer menthols.

I prefer womenthols.

@RegDwigнt Ok, you have your choice: pick one.

RegDwigнt

I pick three.

tchrist

9:16 PM

Why isn’t he green?

What, you want the dying blue babes?

They do have nice tails, don’t they?

RegDwigнt

You can dye anyone blue. Then they are also no longer red.

tchrist

Good thing it’s warm on Mars.

Jaydles

Happy holidays to all...

RegDwigнt

Happy holidays right back at you.

MετάEd

@Jaydles YOU WILL HAVE A HAPPY HOLIDAY

Gilles

9:20 PM

@Jaydles next year, do a Jesus hat, and watch the complaints about him looking so much like Stallman

Cerberus

3

Q: Term for words such as "dognitary"

Is there a term for words that have been altered in this way? For example, when speaking about a dignitary that is a dog, using "dognitary"

terminology

tchrist

18

Q: Why does the CW hat (the Stallman) look like Jesus?

I noticed that the Stallman hat looks like Jesus. Why is that?

discussion winterbash-2013

Cerberus

I refuse to accept this title, well though it be meant.

tchrist

@Cerberus Then edit it.

Cerberus

That is beneath my dognity.

2

Dammit.

tchrist

9:28 PM

invoca Herculem

Matt Эллен

lol

tchrist

MετάEd

@Cerberus That's gotta be ruff.

tchrist

cries havok

Cerberus

Curse you!

Give me that vɑːz so that I may smash it.

MετάEd

9:38 PM

How much exactly does a Grecian urn and what is it that we ode him?

Matt Эллен

RegDwigнt

Oh! We forgot @wendikidd! She needs a warm hat, too.

Matt Эллен

photobombs

Cerberus

Ohh.

Flowers!

Cat no like?

that's cats for you

9:43 PM

Yay!

I knew you would say that.

MετάEd

@tchrist Satire, not Satie.

tchrist

@MετάEd I just figured he’d appreciate the motif.

Leit as it is.

MετάEd

@tchrist I think he'd question your motive.

tchrist

9:48 PM

Bien sûr sir.

I was going to put up the Grecian urn, but figured it'd get me flagged. So I used cryptomemetry instead.

RegDwigнt

Get your major Ds off my lawn.

MετάEd

@tchrist That'll keep you out of treble.

tchrist

I just thought a bit of workout music might help us pass the time away in a more relaxed fashion.

@RegDwigнt D != Bm

RegDwigнt

Phew. That was close. Thank you.

You got him off my lawn alright.

Bm with a G in the bass? My oh my.

tchrist

@RegDwigнt Impressionists.

RegDwigнt

9:55 PM

Looked pretty much like run-of-the-mill D - A - D - A to me.

tchrist

I don’t think I’m speaking doggie. He must be a visual learner.

►

@RegDwigнt Try it with the ears.

RegDwigнt

This lays itself rather beautifully on top of Klaus Nomi I am hearing from the neighbor room.

But ok.

@MετάEd That was really rather good of you, unless you were sneaky.

MετάEd

10:00 PM

Sneaky?

tchrist

If you did some picture-matching thing instead of running it through your head.

MετάEd

Oh. I happen to know it.

tchrist

Clearly.

I’m pretty sure I played it forever ago, but I certainly don’t have the sheet music now.

I wonder what @Cerb has against Grecian urns anyway?

MετάEd

@tchrist Don't think I've played it. Just know it from listening to it.

Cerberus

Only ones on which I am humiliated.

tchrist

10:05 PM

The urn that goes with that piece is of course this one:

MετάEd

@Cerberus And only when you've urned it.

tchrist

@MετάEd Few there are left in Middle Earth who can still read the ancient script.

RegDwigнt

So in the German room I'm right now conversing with someone in German, English, and Russian. All the same person, that is.

Crazy shit.

I shouldn't be drinking that much.

And the problem is, they also answer right back in all three.

Cerberus

That sounds as crazy as here.

Is this person perhaps yourself?

MετάEd

@RegDwigнt Check for mirrors.

Oh. I got there second.

RegDwigнt

10:19 PM

@Cerberus go and check.

deutschsprachiger Raum

General discussion for german.stackexchange.com. You may speak...

While you're at it, star something of mine. I need to test something.

Cerberus

in German Language, 41 secs ago, by Cerberus

Man sagt, dass hier drei Sprachen durch einander gesprochen werden.

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus durcheinander is a single word. Du Ananasse.

Cerberus

Ugh.

German.

RegDwigнt

And Durcheinander means "chaos".

Cerberus

Isn't it?

RegDwigнt

10:22 PM

But I'm preparing my leave for today.

Which is why I'm logged off everywhere else already.

Cerberus

I have starred your worthless line.

So I shall have to remove the star presently.

Robusto

@Cerberus Wo? In deinem Kopf?

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus Thank you. I left so many of them.

Cerberus

We are honoured.

@Robusto In welchem?

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus nou do not unstar me please please please I will no longer call you Ananasse.

Cerberus

10:23 PM

2l8

RegDwigнt

Well I couldn't even test. Hmph.

Robusto

Die drei Sprachen. Do you hear them in your head(s)?

RegDwigнt

I shall be drinking more tomorrow.

Gilles

@RegDwigнt you know as a mod you can abuse the system into starring your own message, right?

Cerberus

Do I really need to restar your worthless line?

RegDwigнt

10:24 PM

@Gilles yes.

But that's not what I'm testing.

Actually I planned to run the results tomorrow.

Robusto

So Kosmo was here and I missed him.

Cerberus

You have 1:30 minutes.

Robusto

Thanks a bunch.

Cerberus

We apologise for your not being here.

RegDwigнt

@Robusto I wasn't really here, either. I went off to drink and eat pizza.

@Cerberus it doesn't work like that. I can unstar you later myself.

That shall not the problem be.

Cerberus

10:25 PM

Then what the Greek do you want to do?

RegDwigнt

It has to do with secrets.

Cerberus

Oh, that is a very good explanation, very transparent and satisfactory, Ms NSpineApple.

RegDwigнt

I think this room could use some Klaus Nomi, too.

Gilles

@RegDwigнt there's a chat-related secret?

RegDwigнt

►

Cerberus

10:27 PM

Scary.

RegDwigнt

@Gilles well I don't know. That's my question.

MετάEd

@Cerberus There's room here for a pun about dry spit, but I'm not touching it.

RegDwigнt

There's a room for everything on the Internet. And here it is.

MετάEd

@RegDwigнt Hmm. Everything looks a lot smaller in person.

RegDwigнt

Hey there's @choster.

0

Q: "She told I ate an apple" or "She told that i ate an apple"

Should I use That in this case? On my native language (Brazilian Portuguese) the That would be like conjunction Que, I don't know if in english, That are also used like a conjunction. If yes, the correct phrase would be She told that i ate an apple? I am a begginer in english language, so i'm s...

usage conjunctions

MετάEd

10:32 PM

@RegDwigнt Didn't he write "'Twas brillig, and the shouers sote"?

RegDwigнt

@MετάEd well. Ask him!

31

Q: Are there rules about using "that" to join two clauses?

He will understand that I was not joking. He will understand I was not joking. Which of the sentences is correct? Are there any specific rules about the use of "that" in the sentences I reported as example?

grammaticality conjunctions complex-sentences

MετάEd

@RegDwigнt I tried.

He ain't answerin'.

RegDwigнt

Cast your votes, gents.

@MετάEd that's some grave with some saucer in it.

MετάEd

I vote myself off the island to find more pharmaceuticals.

RegDwigнt

Pharmasiouxticals.

MετάEd

10:35 PM

@RegDwigнt Farmorsiouxtickles.

Robusto

"That is no longer used as a complementizer in tensed adverb clauses in Modern English; that's what makes Chaucer sound strange." Excuse me, Prof. Lawler, but Shakespeare is considered Modern English, and he used it that way all the time. To wit, "When that this body did contain a spirit, a kingdom was for it too small a bound." Etc. QED

RegDwigнt

That wordy fellow. No wonder that's considered an early version of Modern English.

They didn't even have alpha and beta back then.

Poor British sods.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt It was still English 3.0. Not an alpha or a beta, but a full release version.

Not to be confused with "full-release" massages.

Cerberus

@Robusto Lawler likes to say "it is so" when in reality he means "I prefer it to be so" or "it is often so".

Robusto

Ad verecundiam.

RegDwigнt

10:41 PM

@Cerberus Well to his defense he sometimes does have to dumb it down for simple folks.

Cerberus

I consider that a misconception.

Robusto

He should dumb it up for smart folks, is that what you're saying?

Cerberus

If you want to simplify something, you can always add "usually" or whatever.

RegDwigнt

If you tell people "your spelling checker is wrong in this one tiny particular case", then they will come back the very next day with a more asinine question still. Easier to tell them "switch the damn thing off".

Robusto

When I spout bullshit I usually add words like, "normally" or "I think" and the like.

RegDwigнt

10:43 PM

@Cerberus not always. There's a character limit.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt Better still, nuke it with extreme prejudice.

RegDwigнt

Besides, why should you add "usually" if smart people will understand it's implied?

How's that for dumbing up?

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt But it is even better to say "it is often wrong".

RegDwigнt

@Robusto but that's what I'm saying.

Lawler is nuking it left and right with extreme prejudice.

It's not bad just because he's not us.

@Cerberus yes.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt Because you teach beginners the wrong thing, and they will have to revise what they were taught later and be confused.

RegDwigнt

10:45 PM

Beginners will always be confused. Always.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt Err sure it is.

RegDwigнt

Per definition.

You cannot teach a beginner something and not make him confused at some point in the future.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt If you add "usually", at least they know that there is stuff they don't know yet, instead of a false sense of security.

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus okay. You are right.

Cerberus

Good.

Robusto

10:46 PM

Mmm, pizza is almost ready.

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus come on, get off of me. Tell it to the Lawler.

Why do I have to discuss with you his word usage.

Cerberus

I make do with what is on hand.

RegDwigнt

I hear that often...

Cerberus

Hmm then perhaps you should adjust your expectations.

RegDwigнt

I expect nothing except the Spanish Inquisition. So far I'm faring well.

Cerberus

10:47 PM

in German Language, 4 mins ago, by Cerberus

Du brauchst Whatsapp, denke ich so? Das Gesichtsbuch benütze ich selbst nicht auf meinem Handy.

Is this correct?

RegDwigнt

No.

That was an easy question!

Cerberus

I knew it.

How do you say "I use"?

RegDwigнt

Du brauchst Whatsapp, denke ich (mal). Ich selbst benutze das Geschichtsbuch? auf meinem Handy nicht.

What the heck is a Gesichtsbuch?

And while I was typing that I understood.

Cerberus

Haha slow.

RegDwigнt

I've never heard that pun before.

So obvious yet you're the first.

Trademark it now.

Cerberus

10:49 PM

We do it all the time in Dutch, and that German guy did it first in German.

RegDwigнt

You can still be the first to trademark it.

Then sue that German guy.

Cerberus

Does that work in Germany?

RegDwigнt

I take 10% for my advising troubles.

@Cerberus no. Sue him in America.

Cerberus

The European trademark office, by the way, is truly corrupt and evil. They are currently talking (exclusively) with big European and (mainly) American companies about how they can screw over the European public with the evil TAFTA/TTIP "free trade" treaty.

RegDwigнt

And suddenly I remembered how tired I was.

Cerberus

10:51 PM

Heh.

RegDwigнt

And I yawned.

And I was off for the day!

Cerberus

You're easy to yawn.

G'bye.

RegDwigнt