English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Robusto

00:43

0

Q: Which pronoun best completes the sentence?

Which pronoun best completes the sentence? Every woman received ____ prize. Is it her or their? Please explain

Don't we have a canonical somewhere?

Jasper Loy

Canonical is the company behind Ubuntu.

Cerberus

Her. Welcome to the site! — Cerberus 18 secs ago

username901345

Hey

Cerberus

@Robusto There it is.

username901345

what does it mean/

I drew him upon my knees.

Robusto

00:46

drew as in pulled

Cerberus

I pulled him up onto my knees.

OK bed time.

BAI

Robusto

Kinda early for you, yeah?

Jasper Loy

Wow, Yoichi is gonna hit 20k soon.

This means he is an expert in English.

username901345

i see

thank you

who is Yoichi?

Jasper Loy

He is a user.

username901345

00:49

where is his profile

Jasper Loy

You can do a search.

username901345

oh that old man

Cerberus

@Robusto Trying to construct this artefact they call a "sleep cycle".

It's unnatural. But.

Robusto

Well, good nighty-night then.

Cerberus

Thanks!

Jasper Loy

00:53

I will see you in your dreams.

Mitch

01:43

@Robusto Easy peasy. "Every woman received a canonical prize."

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

03:19

!!hang

!!refresh

!!afk

:(

@KitSox are you sleepy?

Robusto

I am sleepy.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

I am Dopey.

skullpatrol

04:11

I am Grumpy ;-)

Actually, I am skully :D

RegDwigнt

10:24

2048. It's a game.

4

@Cerberus

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt I have played it.

Matt is already a 2048 champion.

RegDwigнt

The rules are slightly different. Which is both confusing and refreshing.

@Cerberus Oh.

Cerberus

I don't know, I found it annoying.

RegDwigнt

I'm still in the middle of my first game, have no time for playing right now but will have a break soon.

Cerberus

So it turns out that Matt was made by God to play 2048. Others to play Threes. And yet others for crime and debauchery.

Ah OK.

RegDwigнt

10:26

I have a 256 and a 128 next to it already, but it already is getting hard.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt The thing is, as soon as you are forced to move your bottom line up, it's game over in a few turns.

RegDwigнt

Well, any game is over in a few turns as soon as [ending condition].

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus not always!

Cerberus

No?

Matt Эллен

but, yes, most often

RegDwigнt

10:28

BBL, must do some work now.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt And that's the ending condition for 2048.

Bai.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus I had to move the bottom row to win

Cerberus

@MattЭллен OK master.

@MattЭллен How many turns until your game ended from there?

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus I'm not sure. it was all a blur, but I remember the feeling of annoyance when I had to push the up key

Cerberus

in The Frying Pan, 6 mins ago, by Cerberus

So you can just shove all egg shells, onion peels, bit of bad cheese, etc. etc. into the sink.

in The Frying Pan, 5 mins ago, by Cerberus

(By the way, do you also feel that the English use shove somewhat differently from the way we use schuiven? I should probably have said slide in my line above. Or perhaps slide is a bit more modern than shove in that situation?)

@RegDwigнt What do you think about shove and schieben?

To me, schieben and schuiven seem pretty much identical, but slightly different from shove.

For example, when you push somebody in an act of provocation or aggression, we would not use schuiven for that, as opposed to shove.

Matt Эллен

10:31

I think it was close to the end.

Jez

i just had a thought

Cerberus

Ah OK.

Jez

why did humans ever start doing animal sacrifice?

Cerberus

@MattЭллен It is like stroking a kitten the wrong way.

@Jez Killing an animal you have bred for meat is an important event that requires ritual.

That's how it began, I'd say.

Don't forget that the meat from sacrificial animals is all eaten up, normally.

Jez

@Cerberus is it though? im asking why humans ever started just burning them

at some point someone had to think that was a good idea

it doesnt make sense even for a primitive culture

Cerberus

10:33

From there it expanded to uses where the meat was not eaten.

Jez

expanded how?

Cerberus

But normally, all the meat is eaten.

Matt Эллен

@Jez you're confusing what you know about the universe with what they did

Cerberus

@Jez Well, if you can sacrifice by cutting an animal up, you can also sacrifice by fire when the mood strikes you. Or sacrifice inedible animals. Or humans.

Jez

nope. i'm assuming i'm a primitive african tribesman.

why would i burn an animal and not eat it?

Cerberus

10:34

I think normally you would only burn the parts that are inedible anyway?

Jez

well evidently at some point that stopped

the liver got burnt

Cerberus

How do you mean?

Matt Эллен

they believed in gods and stuff and needed to appease gods and stuff and meat is precious, so if we give it to our gods, they will be appeased. How do we get it to them? um... burn it, that makes it go up. OK, yeah

Jez

in the old testament it talks about burning edible parts or the whole animal

Cerberus

I don't think sacrifice by burning the entire animal and not harvesting the meat after the burning is very common?

Jez

10:35

@MattЭллен yeah that's about the best explanation i can think of, lol

@MattЭллен of course, that seems to suppose that the gods need us to help them eat or something

Cerberus

@Jez It can be a display of abundance and wealth, of course, just like throwing golden statuettes into lakes. Like the tail of a peacock.

Matt Эллен

@Jez well, gods need us to believe in them and worship them at all

Cerberus

@MattЭллен In many cases, the meat is offered to the gods on an altar, then later taken away by the priests to be distributed among the people, or sold.

Jez

@Cerberus wasting stuff just for the sake of evidencing the fact that you have stuff to waste. hmm yeah i hadn't considered that. still, in that case it isn't being done in a religious way

Cerberus

What do you mean not religious?

Jez

10:37

you seemed to be talking about humans showing to other humans their wealth

not to gods

Cerberus

Why did Louis II of Bavaria bankrupt his kingdom to build Neuschwannstein?

@Jez Anything can be part of showing off your wealth, including religious practice. Like the many gifts to the Church made by noblemen.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus for giggles

Cerberus

Partly.

Jez

@Cerberus gifts to the church = gifts to humans

Cerberus

In the name of religion.

To the proxy of God, the Pope.

Jez

10:40

but even the church wouldnt ask for burnt animals... not originally, anyway. i can see why they might want live animals

Cerberus

That is a coincidence.

Jez

coincidence?

Cerberus

This is just proof that people use religious spending to show off their power. Whether the capital spent is destroyed or ends up in the hands of the Church—the nobleman couldn't care less.

He loses it, but thereby gains prestige.

What happens to it is none of his concern.

Jez

so, first humans burnt animals purely to show their wealth

then religion came along

then people used their display of wealth to impress the church

finally the church started codifying this and saying that God wanted it

i think the first step of that process is the most retarded

i mean surely your wealth can just be seen

without being destroyed

Cerberus

@Jez No, no, religion was already there, but they used religious rituals to show off their power.

@Jez It is more "visible" if you shock people.

By destroying it. Like the peacock.

Jez

10:45

so the original animal burners would not actually think they were appeasing a god

Matt Эллен

peacocks burn themselves to show their wealth?

Jez

but some people watching it might, leading to religious ideas that it really did appease a god

Cerberus

@Jez Well, to some extent, I'm sure many were. But seldom does an action have only a single motive.

@MattЭллен They burn their energy and their agility by growing a ridiculously expensive tail, to show off they can afford it.

Or so goes the theory.

Matt Эллен

I see

Cerberus

@Jez There are no gods.

Jez

10:49

@Cerberus and we don't do it today. we have this cultural idea that burning animals, or just destroying stuff, isn't a good way to show wealth... it's a good way to show mental illness

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus Hades won't be happy you said that

Jez

interesting how we've changed

Matt Эллен

@Jez shrove Tuesday

Cerberus

@Jez Yes, well, we still have very similar rituals that are far more wasteful.

Matt Эллен

christmas

thanks giving

Cerberus

10:49

They just don't happen to involve killing animals.

@MattЭллен For example!

Why do people buy those ugly Louis Vuitton bags à € 1200?

Matt Эллен

have you heard about the latest fashion trend: Normalcore?

Cerberus

Why do bankers build huge buildings and clad them in expensive marble?

@MattЭллен No?

Sounds vaguely familiar.

May have seen the word, c'est tout.

Matt Эллен

Normal looking clothes with very expensive labels

Cerberus

Hah.

And this is a trend?

Haven't people worn those since forever?

Jez

@MattЭллен they aren't wasteful in the same sense... stuff bought or eaten then is actually used in some way for pleasure or nourishment

Matt Эллен

10:51

Sorry, I mean "Normcore"

Cerberus

People who are into labels are beneath reproach.

Jez

@MattЭллен what would be similar is if you took your christmas presents and smashed them to pieces with a sledgehammer

Cerberus

@Jez No, it is equally wasteful if you compare trousers of the same quality but without the huge mark-up for the label.

You spend a lot of extra money on air.

Jez

spending money isn't physically wasting anything

it's just currency

Cerberus

Just like the nobleman, you waste your money. What happens to it is is not your concern, but, to you, it is a waste.

Jez

10:53

it's not wasteful at the same basic primitive level

Cerberus

No, it is not a physical destruction for whoever ends up with your money. However, for you, as the person who commits the act of spending the money, it is the same, as for the nobleman.

You had it, and now you've lost it.

Matt Эллен

@Jez but the amount of food is disproportionate. It is wasteful in the sense that you don't need to eat it. you could save it and energy.

Cerberus

Yeah.

Or people shaking a champaign bottle and then opening them.

Jez

there's just something very obvious about burning an animal that is wasteful. it's very much like destroying property

Cerberus

True.

Matt Эллен

10:55

you are essentially destroying it. making yourself overweight and perpertuating the idea that feasting is necessary

Jez

not paying more for it, not using it for pure pleasure but still using it: destroying it.

Cerberus

Some people like to burn money.

Jez

not many

Cerberus

Not many.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus classic example

Cerberus

10:55

I don't think burning expensive animals whole was ever very common?

Jez

yet many human societies have been riddled with animal and even human sacrifices

Cerberus

@MattЭллен Yeah, it's the same thing.

@Jez Perhaps a prisoner of war is not worth very much to an Aztec king.

Jez

@Cerberus Leviticus is full of bullshit about killing all sorts of animals, and splattering their blood on the altar, and sometimes separating out the "clean" parts to burn but not the "dirty" parts

Cerberus

Yeah, the dirty parts are the ones that are less useful.

Blood is also less useful.

Jez

yeah and they're not being burnt

Cerberus

10:57

But thrown away...

Jez

still, by the time that book was invented, the notion that god(s) was/were appeased by animal sacrifice was widespread

Cerberus

My guess would be that burning lots of animals whole without removing useful parts before or after burning was always rare, exactly because it is so wasteful.

But, if you're a rich city and you do it once in a while, the waste is negligible.

Jez

but removing the "clean" parts and only burning them is, if anything, emphasizing the fact that what you're doing is wasteful

Cerberus

Who knows what "clean" means...

Jez

biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+1&version=NIV

"you are to offer a male without defect"

even in the first part of Leviticus it wants to make sure the best animal is taken rather than one without defect - the maximum waste

Cerberus

11:02

The Bible is not a very reliable historical document.

Who knows how what they normally did actually went about?

Jez

well even if they didnt actually do that it seems to be the aspiration

Cerberus

I'm sure they wasted capital by destroying it on occasion. How often and how much, I do not know.

Jez

"He shall take out the memorial portion from the grain offering and burn it on the altar as a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord."

hahaha i love the idea that the lord has nostrils

Matt Эллен

"No, really, this is my best lamb. I know it's missing an eye and its hind limbs, but what can I say, it's been a tough year."

Jez

I say they can have the 10 commandments in US courts, as long as they have this on a stone slab next to them:

> 2 You are to lay your hand on the head of your offering and slaughter it at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Then Aaron’s sons the priests shall splash the blood against the sides of the altar. 3 From the fellowship offering you are to bring a food offering to the Lord: the internal organs and all the fat that is connected to them, 4 both kidneys with the fat on them near the loins, and the long lobe of the liver, which you will remove with the kidneys.

Cerberus

11:08

@Jez Don't forget that it is possible that they, for example, only burned a small part of the grain, and the rest was given to the temple. There are customary ways to describe actions that do not in fact describe what actually happens.

@MattЭллен Aww.

@Jez They really have religious texts in their courts?

Jez

some courts have the 10 commandments on slabs outside

Cerberus

Wow.

Strange lands.

Jez

11:23

don't Christians usually have a big problem with all these "Satanic" rituals involving blood?

funny that their holy text says that god commanded people to do it all the time

Matt Эллен

0

Q: what are some of the -gry words?

Aside from hungry and angry, what are other words that end with -gry? Sorry if this is a duplicate question.

single-word-requests

there must be a way to close this

we need a legitimate reason to close questions that are asking for a list of words based on the last three letters

Jez

NARQ

Cerberus

> 24.219

Matt Эллен

no longer a reason

Jez

why not

Matt Эллен

11:34

@Cerberus is that your threes score?

Cerberus

@Jez Next thing you are suggesting believers would be...consistent?? If they were, they wouldn't believe.

@MattЭллен Yes.

Does 2048 give you a score?

Matt Эллен

@Jez we have "primarily opinion based", "too broad" and "unclear what you're asking"

@Cerberus yes

Jez

@Cerberus you seen this?

►

Cerberus

@MattЭллен I want to close it, but I have to think of a reason why.

Matt Эллен

@Jez Stack Exchange decided to change the close reasons

yay! genref

good morning, @KitFox

Cerberus

11:41

I still don't think it's GR.

The user can't easily look up what words end in -gry.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus the link I give lists words that end in gry

it's in one of our common references

Cerberus

Yes, but it is neither a general reference nor complete.

Matt Эллен

I searched in the reference for "words ending in gry"

KitFox

Good morning.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus the answer, for contemporary English is "angry and hungry" any others are pointless

Jez

11:43

hello kitty

KitFox

Foxy, not kitty.

Cerberus

@MattЭллен Then the article you linked to doesn't tell the user that.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus it does

Cerberus

in The Frying Pan, 5 mins ago, by Cerberus

Hello, Kitty.

KitFox

@Cerberus Then go answer the question and have done with it.

Cerberus

11:44

in The Frying Pan, 5 mins ago, by Cerberus

Hello Kitty

(full name ) The character's first appearance on an item, a vinyl coin purse, was introduced in Japan in 1974 and brought to the United States in 1976. The character is a staple of the kawaii segment of Japanese popular culture. At age 36 as of 2010, Sanrio has groomed Hello Kitty into a global marketing phenomenon worth $5 billion a year. Originally aimed at pre-adolescent females, Hello Kitty's market has broadened to include adult consumers. She can be found on a variety of products ranging from school supplies to fashion accessories and high-end consumer products. Several Hello Kitt...

Jez

@Cerberus i wasnt in the frying pan

i was in the fire

Matt Эллен

> Aside from angry, hungry, and some derivations thereof, there are no other words in current usage that end in -gry, but there are several archaic and obsolete words in this category.

Cerberus

We know.

Matt Эллен

from my link

Jez

i have an interview coming up today in about an hour

second stage

hoping they will offer the job

Matt Эллен

11:45

you should make a burnt offering

Cerberus

@MattЭллен Ah, I missed that part. My eyes skipped it, thinking it was a boilerplate text.

Jez

hmm

Cerberus

Good luck!!

Jez

burns cat shit left in back garden

Matt Эллен

yes, I meant Good Luck, too!

Jez

11:45

thanx

Cerberus

How lovely your house must smell.

Jez

how do you know God doesn't like that odour?

he is mysterious to us

Cerberus

Ehmm you're not a very good believer. You need to apply circular reasoning here.

Jez

what circular reasoning?

Matt Эллен

God does like that odour, if God didn't then God would not allow me to create it.

Cerberus

11:47

God doesn't like that odour because it's in the Bible. Why should we believe in the Bible? Because it's God's Word.

Why should we believe that? Because it's in the Bible.

Jez

i see your point

i'd better try and find a way to interpret the bible such that catshit is pleasing to the lord

Cerberus

@MattЭллен Like...the Holocaust?

Matt Эллен

EL&U chat is better than the bible

Cerberus

True.

Matt Эллен

God made me write that

Cerberus

11:49

God made me do this funny thing...it tickles.

Matt Эллен

!!

Cerberus

He's an old perv.

Matt Эллен

lol

Cerberus

Pondering sex all the time.

All the religious precepts about sex.

RegDwigнt

@Robusto gute Frage, nächste Frage.

Actually, I would guess every language uses them...

Anyway, my first game is over, though I sort of gave up at the end and moved willy-nilly to start a new game.

Cerberus

11:53

Nice try.

Ah, it has a score.

RegDwigнt

Yeah I was basically talking with a colleague about the game just shoving the tiles left and right and discussing it.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt I think what he really meant was 300 000 000 euros.

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus well, you don't need to think that because clearly that is what he asked.

And my idea would be, every language does that. Because useful and stuff.

Cerberus

He asked "decimal", but he really meant separators for large numbers.

RegDwigнt

Yeah you see the thing about Rob is that I understand him. Sometimes.

Cerberus

11:55

I don't know, I don't think Dutch normally uses spaces.

RegDwigнt

He's still a filthy capitalist, but alas, nobody is perfect.

Cerberus

Then you must be crazy, because he used the wrong words.

Matt Эллен

in base 300 000 000, that would be written 10

RegDwigнt

Not 1?

Matt Эллен

in base 2 2 is written 10

Cerberus

11:56

300.000.000, or just driehonderd duizend.

RegDwigнt

@MattЭллен Yeah, but we are talking base 300000000 here. Don't change the subject!

Matt Эллен

how else can I distract you from the truth!

RegDwigнt

Very unsuccessfully, that's how.

Matt Эллен

look over there! A three headed monkey!

scarpers

RegDwigнt

That's 3 in base 300000000.

Jez

11:57

I r in suit and tie now

Matt Эллен

spiffing

KitFox

Nice. Good work.

RegDwigнt

Just make sure your tie is not pants.

And hello Kitty.

Cerberus

@MattЭллен Hey!!!

Rude.

@Jez Picture!

And post it on your OK Cupid.

RegDwigнt

I'm with cupid.

Cerberus

11:59

Yeah?

I'm as good as Cupid, and I'm with stupid. Soo...

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…