English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

@Mana Not on Saturdays eight months ago.

user19161

@RegDwight And not the last Sat either.

@Mana Well, English is a site about language and all, so lots of people talk. I think Gaming is so quiet right now because many of us are gaming. ;)

heh

3:01 PM

OT: when did @waiwai933 get appointed the new moderator?

@FallenAngelEyes Yeah I know it is that way in America... so where do they borrow the money? From banks, or from some government institution? It is the latter in Holland, and this institution is very mild with low rates. And the loan is simply erased after twenty years or so if you haven't paid it all back by then.

user19161

@FallenAngelEyes This site is just a disguise for our real activities.

@FallenAngelEyes Hey, I am gaming right now but I am still in this chat. Also, at work.

@Rhodri It seems fairer to me: you only pay the full cost for it if as a graduate you earn above average. In the old system, the whole country was in effect subsidizing richer graduates. I think the biggest problem now is that poorer students may be afraid to take on the debt... that would be a real pity.

user19161

@JSBangs a week ago.

3:01 PM

@Cerberus Erased loans? Erased?

@Cerberus here it's the exact opposite. you get loans from either the college or the state, but student loans are never erased, even in bankruptcy

@JSBangs Jeff e.a. did that.

user19161

@Cerberus nobody uses that abbreviation.

@RegDwight Oooh, whatcha playing?

@Cerberus hmm, it was hoping we could have another election

Q: Another Community Moderator

3:02 PM

6

Stack Exchange sites are largely self-policed by the community, but we also need leaders from the site whose focus is to provide additional moderation support and site management as community moderators. It is important that the community moderators are a team of members, sharing the load of the ...

@FallenAngelEyes WMT.

user19161

@RegDwight You can multitask, so you are a woman in disguise.

@RegDwight Hm, not familiar with that abbreviation.

May 23 at 12:53, by RegDwight

War Metal Tyrant.

user19161

OIC.

@FallenAngelEyes Gaming chat is quiet cos you lot are all in here! :D

3:03 PM

OYCDY?

@FallenAngelEyes Yup. You must pay a certain amount back each month based on how much you earn (or more, if you want); interest is low; and after twenty-ish years, what is left just disappears. But I think nearly everyone pays it all back.

user19161

@MattEllen WTF?

@JasperLoy Well if you check Wikipedia, it's rather obvious that Reg Dwight is rather open about not quite being a man.

@JSBangs I was hoping we could elect TPTB.

@z7sg Haha true.

3:03 PM

@JasperLoy MS

@Cerberus that's just the sort of mild, reasonable behavior i expect from you subversive dutchmen

@RegDwight Oooh, the Kong game? How is that? I enjoy digital TCG's and I was looking at that one the other day.

@JasperLoy Heh, but I, as a classicist, do!

@Cerberus Oh, now that you mention that, I remember what happened with my b/f's loans.

@JasperLoy O you C do you

3:04 PM

It turned out that he actually paid too much back and they returned the money to him.

@FallenAngelEyes Suffice to say that we had to chop off a major part of this room.

I was... utterly baffled.

user19161

@MattEllen OIC. What is MS?

@JasperLoy Maybe So

chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/info/748/war-metal-tyrant

user19161

3:05 PM

I know MSU. Kit taught us.

although I'm the only person to have used it

user19161

And I invented ctfd def 2.

@JSBangs Well... we are forced to pay back a few hundred a month, depending on income, and that is usually enough to pay it all back in 20 years. Otherwise...

@FallenAngelEyes Haha, nice!

@RegDwight Page not found. :o But I'll take your word for it that it is fun. :) I'll check it out later.

@RegDwight I think you may need to authorize people, admit them?

user19161

3:06 PM

@RegDwight Now I wonder if your 'wife' is a man or woman. Hmm...

@JasperLoy Wife usually designates a female.

user19161

I hereby authorize all of you to enter WMT.

@FallenAngelEyes That's very nice

user19161

@Cerberus But beard can mean a fake beard as we learnt yesterday, remember?

@Cerberus For those who fit in the gender binary, yes, but labels can always be flexible. :)

3:08 PM

@JasperLoy Oh, right! A remarkable expression.

@GraceNote I swear, the Dutch government will hunt you down to give you money. A couple years ago I received a letter in the mail saying I'd receive €50 because I take medicine more than 200 days out of the year or something.

user19161

Also in my military service, rifle=wife. Since you hold it and polish it everyday.

@FallenAngelEyes I suppose so... very confusing!

@FallenAngelEyes Wasn't that the insurance company?

@FallenAngelEyes This sounds like the stories I hear about Switzerland and vacations.

@JasperLoy that's an optimistic description of married life :P

3:09 PM

@JasperLoy ...Bwahahaha.

@JasperLoy Haha, yes, I've heard of that.

@Cerberus Nay, it wasn't DSW. I don't remember who it was exactly.

DSW?

@Cerberus My insurance company, hehe.

Ah OK.

3:10 PM

I went in the WMT room but I didn't like it. :(

What!?

user19161

@z7sg What did you see there???

In order to appreciate its subtleties, you need to play the game...

What kind of game is it, even?

@Cerberus such is life ;)

3:11 PM

A few guys sitting around a table in a fug, muttering unintelligibly.

user19161

The import of messages from another room really screws up the transcript...

By name alone, it is intriguing to me, but... I've seen similarly named stuff be radically unappealing and not even what was adverted.

@Cerberus I played a few rounds long ago...

user19161

@z7sg sounds like zombies.

user19161

I go to an arcade now and then just to look. The only game I like is House of the Dead.

3:14 PM

That ain't got anything on Typing of the Dead

@JasperLoy I have the Wii versions of that. So fun.

@JasperLoy perhaps you'll like The typing of the dead

@GraceNote jinx?

I <3 light gun games in general though.

@MattEllen People should try this before I expend my soda can inventory for the day.

Perhaps I shall play more of the Chantelise demo...

3:15 PM

@MattEllen Haha, well said.

@Grace @Matt High five.

@FallenAngelEyes How far does it go?

@Mana high five

Speaking of which, @Grace, that game can be deceptively difficult it seems. Or maybe I just suck, I dunno.

@FallenAngelEyes It is awesomely difficult.

user19161

3:15 PM

@MattEllen That should not be said with a ? but with a !.

user19161

Thwack!

@GraceNote Oh good, it's not just me then.

@JasperLoy I wasn't sure if it counted :)

Wait till you run into all the puzzles. That's what I need all those screenshots for.

I'm up to the boss in the Terran ruins now.

Who stomped my face.

3:16 PM

Terran ruins? That's what it's called?

It's kind of frustrating to have to run all the way back from town. :(

@z7sg I found it boring the first few rounds, because it is simply too easy. But it will soon start getting hard, requiring you to come up with new strategies, new decks... fortunately, you get many new and interesting cards.

Lemme fire it up, I'll doublecheck.

Remember, I'm going on the whole pre-translation bit, so everything I read is in Japanese or in pseudo-translation.

nodnods

3:17 PM

(It's "The Remains of Earth" in the original)

Or was it Remnants of Earth?

Point is, clear synonym of Ruins anyway, haha

I think my head is going to explode if I have to explain one more time that allowing alphanumeric input is not the same as requiring both numbers and letters. Why do people do this to me?

user19161

@aedia Maybe use simple unambiguous sentences.

@aedia People suck.

@aedia password problems?

Yep, Terran Ruins

user19161

3:19 PM

@aedia It also happens because people don't understand that, misuse it themselves and the confusion spreads.

At any rate, @Fallen, I've just about 100% completed the game (barring one tiny thing I'm missing but I know how to get it), so unless the localization includes brand new content, I'll be able to field any questions you have, from boss fights to puzzle solving. ♪

user19161

@GraceNote While you like to end off on a note, there was this eugene who ended off on a ))

@GraceNote Yay! Though I do have a problem I need to post about that's more on the technical side. Playing in windowed mode apparently doesn't count as activity and my monitors go into sleep mode. o_O

@FallenAngelEyes I don't play in windowed mode, so I can't say I've run into that.

@JasperLoy It's a punctuation thing.

@Cerberus This, a billion times to infinity.

user19161

3:21 PM

@GraceNote I was wondering what the )) means, but I'll keep my speculations to myself...

Did you solve all the puzzles in the Terran Ruins, by the way?

@JasperLoy I'm just talking about the music note. I do not know this eugene and do not espouse to know any motivation behind a double parens.

Hmm, I'm pretty grumpy today. Hungry. Grr.

@GraceNote The max resolution is 1280x960 and with dual monitors, running in fullscreen makes my second monitor practically useless. :/

Ah. I just do one monitor.

@GraceNote For finding the treasures? I have not. I don't even know how to go about it!

3:23 PM

@FallenAngelEyes Do you know where to find hints?

@MattEllen Some other identifiers. But people who are in charge of making them work ought to understand at least the words "allow alphanumeric values". Bah humbug. So much for education.

@GraceNote Nay. All the manual mentioned was that there were treasures in each zone and you'd have to figure it out.

user19161

@aedia How about saying 'we allow capital letters, small letters and numbers'? But that could be misunderstood too.

@FallenAngelEyes Ooh, hehehe, oh you'll have to do a lot of figuring out, uehehehe.

Even with the hints.

@GraceNote That is an evil laugh.

3:25 PM

I got almost all of them without hints, but that's because I realized early on the sheer length that EGS went in setting up those puzzles.

I really should fully finish Recettear at some point too.

user19161

There was one user on math meta who was trying to find out who revenge-downvoted him. He then tagged it as 'puzzle'!

I like what I've played of Chantelise so far. Has EGS made any other games? Also should we be talking about this in the other room? <_<

I could move...

user19161

I think the only interesting free game is tetris.

3:26 PM

So I guess I shall.

@JasperLoy best game ever. hands down. Although I still love Freecell

@JasperLoy Playing that on my uncle's Game Boy was what got me into gaming when I was 5.

user19161

I usually wait till the long one comes and then do a multiple row clearing.

user19161

But it gets dangerous if you wait too long.

Oops.

3:28 PM

@JasperLoy it's the risk we all take!

@Cerberus wrong room? :D

user19161

@MattEllen Like pulling out not soon enough. Yesterday, remember?

@JasperLoy :D quite, although without all the medical complications

@JasperLoy i have never liked tetris at any age

user19161

@Cerberus Hey is that WMT?

but i think i'm the only one

3:30 PM

@MattEllen Yes, or no...

@JSBangs Tetrisphere on N64 was awesome

@JasperLoy Yes, it is!

Also had a great soundtrack.

user19161

@JSBangs Ya that's quite rare.

@JSBangs I found it all right at first; but that was when it was the only game I owned on my first computer, a game boy. But still not really huge fun even then.

@JasperLoy Notice how I am losing.

user19161

3:31 PM

I wonder why there is 'fanboy' but not 'fangirl'.

@JasperLoy There is. I know rather a lot of them.

@JasperLoy Fangirl exists as a term in quite a few places.

@MattEllen Freecell! I love Freecell. You can easily play with a deck of cards in physical life. And supposedly all the configurations are solvable. Relaxing.

user19161

@Rhodri Well, at least not in the dictionary I checked.

Pah. Dictionaries, what do they know?

3:33 PM

@aedia not all physical configurations are solveable. however, all of the ones that are included in the computer are solveable except for one

@aedia indeed. that's why I like it :)

user19161

I will look for Rhodri English Dictionary...

@JSBangs Ooh, really? Now I'm going to have to look this up.

@JSBangs Oh! do you know which one?

FreeCell

FreeCell is a solitaire-based card game played with a 52-card standard deck. It is fundamentally different from most solitaire games in that nearly all deals can be solved. Although software implementations vary, most versions label the hands with a number (derived from the random number seed used to generate the hand). A version of FreeCell was created by Microsoft for release with the Windows operating system. Rules Construction and layout: *One standard 52-card deck is used. *There are four open cells and four open foundations. Some alternate rules use between one to ten cells. *C...

3:34 PM

@JasperLoy I shall have to sneak some Welsh in to annoy @MattEllen

fc-solve.blogspot.com/2010/07/…

@Rhodri Welsh doesn't annoy me :D no more than any language I can't speak!

user19161

@Rhodri I was about confused about UK, GB, Eng, Wales, Ireland, Scotland. But wikipedia helped clear that up.

user19161

Similar confusion with the term Scandinavia which has several definitions.

I often wish we'd been taught it at primary and secondary school. It should be the second official language of the UK

3:35 PM

@JSBangs Really! I didn't know. Yeah Freecell is fun (until you've played it too much).

user19161

And Australia has several meanings too.

@JasperLoy This may help too:

►

@Cerberus I've not found too much yet.

@MattEllen Fun?

@Cerberus I've not played it too much so that it's no longer fun (and I play a lot)

3:37 PM

Ohh no pretty box. Sad. I am excited though. Two-cell configurations of freecell! Freecell solver! I am never going to have time to sleep now.

@JasperLoy But the one including Denmark would seem the most current one...

user19161

@Rhodri You look a bit like the ironman.

I think I'm obsessed

@MattEllen Oh! Well, I have. After 6 or 7 times it just was too much.

@Cerberus After Freecell, Spider.

3:38 PM

Kidding, of course! It took hundreds and hundreds of games, possibly thousands.

@aedia Yeah Spider can be OK... but Freecell was more fun.

@MattEllen I always get bored but I always go back.

@Cerberus that's more like it. I'm not sure how many I've played. I reset the thing 281 games ago

@JasperLoy You mean Ironside?

And Bridge is still much more fun after years and years.

Ironside (TV series)

Ironside is a Universal television series which ran on NBC from September 14, 1967 to January 16, 1975. The show starred Raymond Burr as the wheelchair-using Chief of Detectives, Robert T. Ironside. The character's debut was in a TV-movie on March 28, 1967. The original title of the show in the United Kingdom was A Man Called Ironside. The show earned Burr six Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations. Plot The show revolved around former San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) Chief of Detectives Robert T. Ironside (Raymond Burr), a veteran of more than twenty years of police service who wa...

3:39 PM

just to preserve my winning streak

anyway! toodle pip!

@MattEllen Haha.

user19161

Iron Man (film)

Iron Man is a 2008 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name. Directed by Jon Favreau, the film stars Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark, an industrialist and master engineer who builds a powered exoskeleton and becomes the technologically advanced superhero, Iron Man. Gwyneth Paltrow plays his personal assistant Pepper Potts, Terrence Howard plays military liaison James Rhodes and Jeff Bridges plays Stark Industries executive Obadiah Stane. The film was in development since 1990 at Universal Studios, 20th Century Fox, and New Line Cinema, before Marvel...

user19161

The glasses you see.

user19161

In his suit.

@Cerberus I can't play Bridge :( I like Hearts and Gin Rummy, though. I learned against ye olde Hoyle Games Suite on DOS.

user19161

3:40 PM

@rhodri I mean his iron suit, which looks like your i-glasses.

Not that I was a lonely child without friends or anything.

Robusto

Hey, what's the rule in ELU about answers that are rendered useless after the OP changes the question? I'm getting downvoted on an answer that addressed the initial question, which was subsequently edited to be entirely different.

@JasperLoy Oh, I see. I thought you were talking about Michael Flanders for some reason.

user19161

@aedia Loneliness makes you wise, for then in your quietude you begin to contemplate and reflect.

user19161

I am alone most of the time, and I enjoy it.

user19161

3:42 PM

Mostly...

@aedia If you like Hearts and Gin, you will be amazed at how much fun Bridge is! Learn it!

@Cerberus i've tried to learn Bridge like 3 times, but it never took

too many complicated rules for scoring your hand, and then bidding strategies, etc.

i love whist, though

← 1 message moved from War Metal Tyrant

@JSBangs Bridge has a bit of a steep curve if you learn it the wrong, traditional way. But the reward is so great!

user19161

@JSBangs I never learnt Bridge: it seemed too complicated for me. And I hate all card games. I think cards look ugly.

3:46 PM

Is it better to have lots of small classes or one big one? Apparently it's better to have one big one "to keep things together".

Bridge is by far the best physical game I have ever played.

user19161

@z7sg What are you referring to?

Yeah, I really like the Bridge.

@z7sg Then the teacher must be good.

@JasperLoy Sorry was talking about programming. :L

3:47 PM

See? Mana has the right spirit.

@z7sg that's dumb. don't do that

@Cerberus then what is the correct, non-traditional way to learn?

Thanks, I'll pass on the message to the person who said that. I'll tell them @JSBangs says "that's dumb" :)

@JSBangs Play it simplified at first, learn only one convention at a time.

user19161

@z7sg Are you talking about a class with students in programming, or class as a term in programming? I know neither.

@JasperLoy As a term in programming. I know both! Oh joy!

3:50 PM

Scoring your hand, for example, should be very simple. But perhaps I am not experienced enough. I don't play it much. (But when I do, oh, Nirwana!)

user19161

@Cerberus I see you were confused too...

user19161

@Cerberus You mean Nirvana?

Ace = 4, King 3, Queen 2, Knave 1. Then add points for long suits (5+) if you have the strong/leading hand, or for short suits if your partner will play.

@JasperLoy That, too!

user19161

@Cerberus Knave is very high-class. Low-class is jack.

user19161

At least that's what I learnt from reading Great Expectations.

user19161

3:53 PM

Estella said that to Pip.

@JasperLoy out here in the american midwest we always say "jack", but "knave" definitely sounds cooler

@JasperLoy It's Jack. Estella was playing mind-games there.

user19161

In Singapore, knave is unheard of.

@JasperLoy Knave is supposed to be U, though I'm not sure how current that is now.

user19161

@z7sg So have you watched Summer Storm?

user19161

3:57 PM

@Cerberus What is U, universal?

Upper-class.

U and non-U English

{| class="wikitable" cellpadding="5" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-top: 1em" ! bgcolor="#66ccff"|U ! bgcolor="#ffcccc"|Non-U |- | bgcolor="#66ccff"| Bike or Bicycle | bgcolor="#ffcccc"|Cycle |- | bgcolor="#66ccff"| Dinner Jacket | bgcolor="#ffcccc"|Dress Suit |- | bgcolor="#66ccff"| Knave | bgcolor="#ffcccc"|Jack (cards) |- | bgcolor="#66ccff"|Vegetables | bgcolor="#ffcccc"|Greens |- | bgcolor="#66ccff"|Ice | bgcolor="#ffcccc"|Ice Cream |- | bgcolor="#66ccff"|Scent | bgcolor="#ffcccc"|Perfume |- | bgcolor="#66ccff"|They've a very nice house. | bgcolor="#ffcccc"|They have (g...

Q: Against single word requests

0

We've discussed single-word-requests before: Are single word requests always welcomed questions? Are word requests allowed? The consensus of earlier discussions was that these questions are on the low end, but not specifically disallowed. However, the last few months of experience have started...

discussion tags on-topic-off-topic

Oh. Well, you know what I mean.

user19161

@Cerberus I see, philosophers all belong to that class.

@Cerberus These are already more bridge rules than I know. I'm gonna confuse myself.

user19161

4:00 PM

@JSBangs You should include answers to this question listing the possible options for people to vote on.

user19161

One option, one answer.

I tried to read the wikipedia article and it hurts my brain. I'm going back to Carcassonne.

user19161

Hi @kit.

Hi!

It's funny you are talking about bridge. I just popped in to see what people think about me asking a question about cribbage.

user19161

@aedia Take some panadol then, or paracetamol, or whatever you call it there. But maybe you use aspirins there instead.

4:03 PM

Do you all think it's on topic for me to ask a question about the meaning of a cribbage term?

@JasperLoy We call paracetamol acetaminophen.

@Kit Given that you don't know the answer, I'd say go for it.

user19161

@aedia I see. Same, since it is para-acetyl-amino-phenol.

There's a lot of folk history bound up in some cribbage terms.

@JasperLoy No I haven't!

4:04 PM

Hi, btw!

Hi @Rhodri!

Hi @Kit!

Thanks, I'll ask then. If y'all don't like it, you can always vote to close.

Hi @aedia!

user19161

@Kit What is cribbage. I have ctfd!

@JasperLoy It's a card and board game.

4:05 PM

@JSBangs Answered. I am undecided.

Cribbage

Cribbage, or crib, is a card game traditionally for two players, but commonly played with three, four or more, that involves playing and grouping cards in combinations which gain points. Cribbage has several distinctive features: the cribbage board used for scorekeeping, the eponymous crib or box (a separate hand counting for the dealer), two distinct scoring stages (the play and the show) and a unique scoring system including points for groups of cards that total fifteen. History According to John Aubrey, cribbage was created by the English poet Sir John Suckling in the early 17th cent...

@Kit There's the Board & Card Games SE too

user19161

@Kit No wonder it wasn't in the fd.

@JasperLoy Ha!

@FallenAngelEyes I know, but this is about the meaning of the term. I'm not sure it fits on B&CG.SE

@aedia But, see, the GOOD way to learn Bridge is with friends at a table, having fun, while someone explains the rules to you one by one, with lots of practice and discussion all the while.

4:08 PM

@Cerberus That's exactly how I learned beer.

3

@Kit if it's about meaning/etymology, then this would be the place

of course, if it's about the meaning as it relates to gameplay, then go to B&CG

@Cerberus That's the best way to learn any game. I should try and get someone to teach it at our occasional board game nights.

@z7sg Eh, yes! One by one would seem prudent.

@aedia You might like Euchre. It's a faster paced game than Bridge, but very similar.

@aedia If you lived here, I'd happily make the sacrifice!

user19161

4:11 PM

@z7sg I prefer wine, but reg prefers vodka.

user19161

But really, tea, coffee and water are the best.

Just thought I might share a nice picture.

Lightning bolts appear above and around the Chaiten volcano as seen from Chana, some 30 kms (19 miles) north of the volcano, as it began its first eruption in thousands of years, in southern Chile May 2, 2008. Cases of electrical storms breaking out directly above erupting volcanoes are well documented, although scientists differ on what causes them. Picture taken May 2, 2008. (Carlos Gutierrez)

user19161

@Cerberus Yup I was going to ask what this is about. I would rather see a picture of you. :)

boston.com/bigpicture/2008/06/chaiten_volcano_still_active.html

@JasperLoy Now would you?

I'd have to delete it immediately...

@Cerberus wow that's an impressive picture

4:16 PM

It is, innit!

@Kit Ooh. I don't remember if I've ever played that either. It looks good.

Several more impressive pictures on that link.

user19161

@Cerberus I have it, you can delete it. But I don't know which is you though...

@Cerberus Awwh, thanks.

@Cerberus Wow. That is effing apocalyptic.

4:19 PM

Nice, huh.

Whenever I want to test stuff with pictures in a browser, I always just Google-Image "volcano" because it makes testing more fun.

That was a few years ago, by the way.

It will disappear in a minute.

@Cerberus Believe it or not, that has been my desktop wallpaper for quite a while now!

Q: His Knobs, the right jack in the game of cribbage

0

Before we got married, my husband taught me cribbage as his way of showing me how important our relationship was to him. One of the points in cribbage is for having "the right jack," or the jack whose suit matches the flip card. There are two (that I know of) alternate names for this card. O...

history

@Rhodri heh

@Rhodri Seriously!? God exists.

There's my question for all you experts!

@Cerberus What happened to your other heads?

4:23 PM

@Kit Well, "knob" is British slang for a knave's naughty bits, but I don't know if that's the derivation.

@Kit Didn't fit in the picture.

"Nob" is also slang for noble.

Naughty bits—what are those?

@Cerberus Twig and berries. Big Johnson and the twins.

You know. Naughty bits

@Kit I'm reading that in Austin Powers' voice.

user19161

4:28 PM

@Rhodri Looks at Rhodri suspiciously.

@FallenAngelEyes I couldn't think of the others off the top of my head.

@Kit I can't either. Been a long time since I've seen those movies.

@Cerberus I always use space things. Like "nebula". I never thought to try severe weather!

A: His Knobs, the right jack in the game of cribbage

1

Indeed the NOB seems to refer to the head. Alt source 1 - Alt Source 2

Answers like this always make me a little crazy.

@Kit Ah that was my first thought, but... it seemed odd to refer to those in the context of a card game!

@aedia Nebulae can be nice too! But I like it rougher.

4:42 PM

giggle @Cerberus likes it rough!

3

@Kit It is not a great answer, I agree

@Cerberus Rawr.

@Kit Aaaaaand we're back to being XXX rated. Hi @Kit :-)

@Rhodri He's working on it. The links have useful information. But the answer itself is lackluster.

It looks like it's spelled "nobs" though instead of "knobs," which explains why I couldn't find it.

@Rhodri Only one X really.

Maybe two.

Unless @Cerberus is into the kinky stuff.

@Kit I was talking about the weather, you naughty-naughty!

4:46 PM

Oh great, now FF has added a comment on that answer.

@Kit I am quite conservative, thank you.

@Cerberus With three heads? You expect me to believe that?

@Kit ...cannot...unsee...

Can one of you please post a good answer? This guy's saying "head," but the last source says "his nobs" is a reference to an important person, which seems far likelier to me.

Apparently, he's also called "his Nibs" sometimes too.

@Kit OED has the Cribbage term under Nob (n.), "head".

4:50 PM

@Cerberus Does it have the "nob = important person" reference?

2. In Cribbage, the knave of the same suit as the turn-up card, counting one to the holder; esp. in phr. one for his nob.
1821 Lamb Elia Ser. i. Mrs. Battle's Opinions on Whist, There was nothing silly in it, like the nob in cribbage. 1844 J. T. J. Hewlett Parsons & W. liv, Fifteen two, and a pair's four, and his nob's five. 1870 Hardy & Ware Mod. Hoyle, Cribbage 18 If you hold in your hand or crib a knave of the same suit as the card turned up you peg one. In the familiar phrase, you take ‘one for his nob’.

@Kit This page claims it comes from the cribbage ancestor game noddy, but doesn't say how noddy became nob.

(slang) (nQb) Also Sc. 8 knabb, 8–9 nab. [Of obscure origin: the Sc. forms are against the suggestion that it is an abbreviation of nobleman.]
"A person of some wealth or social distinction."
a 1755 R. Forbes Ajax Sp., Shop Bill ii, Doughty geer That either knabbs or lairds may weer. (...)

This is a separate entry in the OED.

Hmm.

What about "nibs"?

@aedia That sounds plausible as well. Even more plausible, since it was the "Knave Noddy" in that game.

here's The Nob of to-day rejoicing in the name of Noddy

4:56 PM

Nibs sounds like an even tinier bite

@aedia Oh excellent!

> Nibs: [Origin obscure.] = nabs. Esp. his nibs, His Nibs, an employer, a superior; a self-important person.

@Cerberus I would have an immensely difficult time calling a superior "nibs" with a straight face

It should count for something that the OED has the Cribage term under "nob=head"; but they do not explain it any further...

And the card is also sometimes called his Nibs.

4:58 PM

@GraceNote I think that's how it is used, jocularly?

And it looks like Nobs might be related to Noddy, which apparently meant "fool"

@Kit Ah, now that makes it interesting.

@Cerberus I think so, or disparagingly behind the back.

@Cerberus This entire conversation is just a string of words which I have to look up in a dictionary, isn't it?

But don't forget how great the influence of folk etymology and false analogy can be in changing spellings and usage.

4:59 PM

@Cerberus I know. It's making my head hurt.

@GraceNote You'd never say to your boss over here. It's a way of referring to your boss when talking to someone else.