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00:00
Heh. Unsubtle provocateurs get shot.
And in any case, I have friends in the industry and there is a dance to be done.
Les Miserables, cf.
@BraddSzonye Ugggggggghhhhhhhhhhh . . . A perfectly good novel ruined by transmogrification into a musical.
Well, except that Javert didn't get shot.
@BraddSzonye He shot himself, technically.
00:01
I read a 600-page abridged version of Les Mis. Quite enjoyed it (in the AmE sense of quite).
Never got very far into unabridged Hugo tho.
Was it in French?
Abridged and translated.
@KitFox Wait, it was written in French?
(Here's where the internet needs a sarcasm font!)
@BraddSzonye Do you remember which translation?
@DavidM The original musical was.
@KitFox Not off the top of my head, but I might be able to figure it out.
00:03
I read one like that years ago. All I remember is that the cover was pink.
@DavidM I think this one is the original: gutenberg.org/files/17489/17489-h/17489-h.htm
Yes, I think it was Denny's translation!
@DamkerngT. My French is rudimentary at best. So, I couldn't say.
The Wilbour translation sounds a bit shorter than the one I read.
@DavidM Mine is not better. I was just inspired to read Les Miserables last week.
00:06
Oh good. Denny was a good translation, I think.
@KitFox Plus, it came with pancakes.
Jez
Jez
hey @KitFox where ya been?
I do really like the translation of The Three Musketeers that I own, love the prose in that one.
We read excepts in French, but then in a couple of lit classes, we read some translations and man, they can really vary in their goodness.
@Jez Around, as usual. How did the job interview go?
@DavidM And fried cheese. Oh man, I want fried cheese.
@KitFox Ah . . . Fried Cheese.
00:08
Yum. I was in Green Bay a few weeks ago. Excellent fried cheese curds.
I was thinking more along the lines of fried mozzarella, but fried cheese curds are good, too.
I am so hungry right now.
brb
Jez
Jez
@KitFox which one?
@DavidM fried? i've heard of grilled cheese
always assumed it was some American monstrosity
@Jez Different
!!wiki grilled cheese
A cheese sandwich is a basic sandwich made generally with one or more varieties of cheese on any sort of bread. In addition to the cheese, it may also include condiments such as butter or mayonnaise. Cheese sandwiches can be uncooked, or heated so that the bread toasts and the cheese melts (a dish referred to as a grilled cheese sandwich, toasted cheese, cheese toastie or simply grilled cheese). A grilled cheese is often heated by placing the buttered slices of bread, with the cheese between the slices, on a frying pan or griddle. Cheese sandwiches with added meat (such as ham, bacon, ...
00:10
!!wiki mozzarella sticks
Mozzarella sticks are elongated pieces of battered or breaded mozzarella. In the US, this deep-fried snack is often served at restaurants as an appetizer or as North American pub fare. Mozzarella sticks are sometimes added to an "appetizer sampler" that may include other finger foods such as buffalo wings, potato skins, fried zucchini, or even nachos. Even though Mozzarella Sticks are often considered an Italian dish, they are unheard of in traditional Italian cuisine and restaurants. Mozzarella sticks may be served with tomato or marinara sauce, as well as plum sauce, jalapeño jelly,...
Jez
Jez
relatively unpleasant and fattening
@Jez Grilled cheese is also called a Toasty in some parts of the world.
Jez
Jez
it's a sandwich, not "cheese"
@Jez Yes, properly, it would be a "grilled cheese sandwich"
Where grilled is in the sense of being fried on a griddle.
It is a favorite of children and immature (like myself) adults everywhere.
Jez
Jez
00:14
i stopped going to Pizza Hut since they did away with medioum sized pizzas
they were the perfect size for me
@DavidM Tosti.
@Cerberus Right!
È Italiano, credo.
Jez
Jez
look at this:
@Cerberus Makes sense because the last time I had a Tosti was in Curaçao.
Jez
Jez
00:17
Oh, really?
Jez
Jez
Garry Kasparov Visits Bobby Fischer's Grave... and dances?
I didn't know tosti were popular in the colonies.
@Cerberus Non l'ho mangiato in Italia.
A, perche no?
Ah.
That makes more sense hehe.
To be honest, I have never heard the term anywhere else in Europe, not even in Belgium.
00:19
@Cerberus Attualmente, i miei bambini l'hanno mangiato. Ma ho chiamato per telefono, e non ho avuto un menu.
It's a croque monsieur in many places, and prepared in a different way.
@Cerberus Yes.
I met Kasparov once. Interesting fellow.
Divisive.
@DavidM I'm not going to try and answer in Italian, it would be a disaster.
@Cerberus There's a comet joke in there somewhere.
00:21
Comet?
@Cerberus Hahahahahaha. My Italian isn't perfect, either.
I can barely read it, but speaking? No way.
So your children have eaten tosti in Italy?
Called tosti?
Presumably panini tosti?
@Jez The second one.
Disaster = etymologically similar to star-crossed = related to comets and omens.
Also, Latin.
0
Q: Why is something fried on a griddle called grilled?

David MTo my understanding, to grill is cooking with a heat source located beneath an open slatted grate. (For example, using a barbecue grill on one's patio.) So, where do we get the sense of frying on a griddle to mean grill? For example, a grilled cheese sandwich. Or, in restaurants or cafeterias...

There. Now I can pay attention in here.
00:23
@BraddSzonye Disaster comes from dis-aster, really??
Who knew!
As in, an unfavourable star?
Ill-starred
> The sense is astrological, of a calamity blamed on an unfavorable position of a planet.
Pretty interesting, I never realised.
00:24
@Jez He didn't dance. At least not in the video.
He was nothing but respectful. Kasparov is a class act, all the way.
I should probably also know the etymology of calamity...
All I can think of is calamos.
Reed, pen.
Or calvados.
I think Shakespeare’s star-crossed would be the idiomatic English translation of Italian disastro.
Ah!
So it is Shakespeare.
Yep, Romeo and Juliet.
00:26
@BraddSzonye Really? Star-crossed in Romeo & Juliet merely means fated to come into contact.
It doesn't mean disastrous, though that is how the play turns out.
@Robusto Stop posting lines! Every time you post something, the page slides up, which is the wrong direction! The board is a disaster!
@Cerberus Fine. I'll leave.
Or I.
Or we should both shut up for once.
tries
It's too hard!!
I can't do it.
00:27
@BraddSzonye That's clear as mud.
But I don't know whether that's how Shakespeare intended it, or whether that's what we inferred from the play.
I think star alone implies “fated,” and star-crossed is akin to tongue-tied. But I could be wrong.
@BraddSzonye That was my understanding. Ill-fated. Because of the suicide at the end.
With Shakespeare, it's tough to say whether he coined it or stole it.
@BraddSzonye Ask Francis Bacon
Or any of the other hundred people who were supposedly Shakespeare.
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St. Alban, QC (22 January 15619 April 1626), was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, jurist, orator, essayist, and author. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. After his death, he remained extremely influential through his works, especially as philosophical advocate and practitioner of the scientific method during the scientific revolution. Bacon has been called the creator of empiricism. His works established and popularised inductive methodologies for scientific inquiry, often called the Baconian method, or simply th...
00:31
The Baconian theory of Shakespearean authorship holds that Sir Francis Bacon, philosopher, essayist and scientist, wrote the plays attributed to William Shakespeare, and that the historical Shakespeare was merely a front to shield the identity of Bacon, who could not take credit for the works because being known as a lowly playwright for the public stage would have impeded his ambition to hold high office. Bacon was the first alternative candidate suggested as the true author of Shakespeare's plays. The theory was first put forth in the mid-nineteenth century, based on perceived corresp...
Two can play at that game!
Baconian (n.) Native of the Bacon Archipelago.
Jez
Jez
@KitFox still not sure which one you're referring to
@BraddSzonye Mmmmmmmmmmmm . . . Bacon Archipelago.
I must move there.
The Baconing is an action RPG video game developed by Hothead Games. It was published by Valcon Games on the Xbox 360 and independently on all other platforms. It was released August 30, 2011 for PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Network and August 31, 2011 for Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows via Steam and for the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade. It is the third game in the DeathSpank series, and follows the character DeathSpank in his quest to defeat the AntiSpank, an evil incarnation of himself. The game received mixed views from critics. Most critics enjoyed the game's humor, and those w...
Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford (12 April 155024 June 1604), was an English peer and courtier of the Elizabethan era. Oxford was heir to the second oldest earldom in the kingdom, a court favourite for a time, a sought-after patron of the arts, and noted by his contemporaries as a lyric poet and playwright, but his reckless and volatile temperament precluded him from attaining any courtly or governmental responsibility and contributed to the dissipation of his estate. Since the 1920s he has been the most popular alternative candidate proposed for the authorship of Shakespeare's works....
Interesting. This guy is the leading candidate for the Shadow Shakespeare, and I've never heard of him.
Oh, apparently Rhys Ifans played him in a film on the subject.
Braconian (n.) unbending bacon
00:37
I wouldn't know who that is either except for Spider-Man.
Bacorn (n.) seed of the boak tree
I'm back. Making lines on the doggy's home turf.
@BraddSzonye All of that speculation is nonsense, and has been disproven. But some people can't get over the fact that a nobody could be a genius. They think he would have to be a nobleman to have written such great plays.
Give it a few centuries and Dickens might get the same treatment.
@BraddSzonye Whatever he stole, he improved.
We know more about Shakespeare than we do about Homer — if there was a single Homer.
We probably have a few prolific contemporary authors who’ll turn out the same way. We just don’t have historical perspective yet to figure out which ones will be massively influential in the future.
@Robusto Was there a single Shakespeare? I thought that was still contested.
And I only just realized that Homer (Όμηρος) in Greek means hostage. I wonder if there's any relation.
00:44
@terdon There is no debate except among dilettantes and the ignorati.
@Robusto I am one of the latter, thanks for clarifying.
@BraddSzonye I'm betting it won't be Rowling.
@Robusto Yeah, right. Probably will be though. Maybe we'll get lucky and it's be Diana Wynn Jones instead.
I see a lot of parallels between Stephen King and Charles Dickens, but I have no idea whether posterity will treat him as kindly.
@terdon Sorry. The whole "debate" reminds me of creationism vs. evolution.
00:45
@Robusto Mine was a question of honest ignorance, no offense taken.
Rambly masters of setting and characterization. Less well known for tight plotting.
Endless terrible movie adaptations.
Never actually read King. I should at some point I guess.
The man hates plotting and outlining. He likes to set up scenarios with interesting characters and explore how it turns out as he goes.
@BraddSzonye Not if he keeps turning out crap. His latest novels are not worthy of him. And as good a writer as he is — and I believe he is very good — I don't think he says as much about human nature as the truly great writers of history. Certainly he's no Melville or Twain or Fitzgerald.
In his memoir, he claims that The Dead Zone is the only long story he ever plotted in advance that he doesn't consider a personal failure.
00:47
@Robusto I would add Fowles and Steinbeck to that list
Same here. And William Styron.
Damnit, I think I answered my own question. Can someone check this out and see if I should close it now? english.stackexchange.com/q/160086/59527
And Sinclair Lewis.
Umm. Ignorati again, who?
@DavidM Post your own answer?
00:48
!!wiki William Styron
William Clark Styron, Jr. (June 11, 1925 – November 1, 2006) was an American novelist and essayist who won major literary awards for his work. For much of his career, Styron was best known for his novels, including: * Lie Down in Darkness (1951), his acclaimed first novel, published at age 26; * The Confessions of Nat Turner (1967), narrated by Nat Turner, the leader of an 1831 Virginia slave revolt; * Sophie's Choice (1979), a story "told through the eyes of a young aspiring writer from the South, about a Polish Catholic survivor of Auschwitz and her brilliant but troubled Jewish...
!!wiki Sinclair Lewis
@BraddSzonye I'm not sure if its the actual answer.
Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930, he became the first writer from the United States to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, which was awarded "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of characters." His works are known for their insightful and critical views of American capitalism and materialism between the wars. He is also respected for his strong characterizations of modern working women. H.L. Mencken wrote of him, "[If] ther...
@DavidM Post it and see what kind of comments and votes it gets.
00:49
Ahhh, good, great authors I don't know. Lovely :)
John Anthony Bellairs (January 17, 1938–March 8, 1991) was an American author, best known for his well-respected fantasy novel The Face in the Frost as well as many gothic mystery novels for young adults featuring Lewis Barnavelt, Anthony Monday, and Johnny Dixon. Biography After earning degrees at University of Notre Dame and the University of Chicago, Bellairs taught English at various midwestern and New England colleges for several years before turning full-time to writing in 1971. He maintained a lifelong interest in archaeology, architecture, kitschy antiques, bad poetry, travelin...
Notice that I haven't mentioned Hemingway, who I believe is overrated.
@BraddSzonye Hmmmmm . . . Did you read the revision? Is grilled cheese grilled in the sense of craticula meaning a small griddle in Latin?
I feel like I'm missing a link before I could just post the answer.
Not everyone would agree with me, but I might put John Gardner on the list as well.
Ah well then give people time to sort it out and answer.
00:51
!!wiki John Gardner
John Gardner may refer to: Arts and literature *John Gardner (American writer) (1933–1982), American novelist and educator, author of Grendel *John Gardner (British writer) (1926–2007), British author of spy and mystery novels, former official James Bond author *John Gardner (composer) (1917–2011), British composer *John Lowell Gardner II (1837–1898), patron of the arts *John Gardner (boat builder) (1905–1995), American nautical historian Law, education and government *John Gardner (Rhode Island) (1697–1764), Deputy Governor, Colony of Rhode Island *John Gardner (Australian politician), A...
Someone should unembiggen that disambiguation page.
(Not saying Bellairs is one for posterity. Just loved his stuff when I was a kid.)
@BraddSzonye That's my feeling. But, people are answering: But, it means fry on a griddle, too. And, my response is, yes, but WHY?!?!?
@DavidM Heh, I feel like that sort of thing happens to most of my questions.
“Nononono please answer this question, not that tenuously related thing!”
Perhaps you could edit to say, “Why do we call this grilled instead of griddled?”
00:52
@BraddSzonye Yeah. Well, I'm going to the gym. If it gets sorted out by the time I get back, great. If not, perhaps I'll do some digging.
“Since you don't cook it on a grill.”
@BraddSzonye Hmmmmm . . . that would be helpful.
@DavidM Grill usually implies, if not an open grill with a flame underneath, at least a pan that has raised ribs.
@Robusto Exactly!
OK, Gym time. Talk to everyone later.
It sounds like, maybe, the verb and noun grill took slightly different routes, and one got overspecialized.
Or perhaps the better question is, how did griddle come to mean something other than a gridiron?
@terdon: Read John Gardner's On Moral Fiction if you get a chance. It's really good.
> What was seemingly lost in the furor over On Moral Fiction was Gardner's central thesis: that fiction should be moral. Gardner meant "moral" not in the sense of narrow religious or cultural "morality," but rather that fiction should aspire to discover those human values that are universally sustaining.
@Robusto Sounds interesting, will do. Thanks
Gore Vidal hated him, but who cares?
Hi, folks! I'm not the Earl of Oxford! Or Christopher Marlowe! Not even Francis Bacon (although I just love bacon)!
01:29
0
A: Why is something fried on a griddle called grilled?

Bradd SzonyeGriddle, grill, and gridiron all ultimately derive from the same root: gridiron (n.) cooking utensil, early 14c., griderne, alteration (by association with iron) of gridire (late 13c.), a variant of gridil (see griddle). Confusion of “l” and “r” was common in Norman dialect. Also a medieval ...

Hopefully, this will sufficiently answer the question for @DavidM!
 
2 hours later…
03:43
@BraddSzonye Just as you need an infinite number of digits to represent 2 as 2.0000 ... . The truncation of the trailing 0s is just shorthand, like writing 1.9 with a bar over the 9. The infinite 0s are still there, behind the behind the apparently finite notation.
And the interesting thing is 1.999...=2.000...
04:01
Is either one of you British by any chance?
04:26
!!wiki 0.999...
In mathematics, the repeating decimal 0.999... (sometimes written with more or fewer 9s before the final ellipsis, or as 0.9, 0.(9), or {{nowrap|\scriptstyle\mathbf{0}.\mathbf{\dot{9}}}}) denotes a real number that can be shown to be the number one. In other words, the symbols "0.999..." and "1" represent the same number. Proofs of this equality have been formulated with varying degrees of mathematical rigor, taking into account preferred development of the real numbers, background assumptions, historical context, and target audience. Every nonzero, terminating decimal has an equal twi...
04:52
!!youtube 0.999...
 
2 hours later…
06:22
!!wiki antisymmetric tensor
In mathematics and theoretical physics, a tensor is antisymmetric on (or with respect to) an index subset if it alternates sign (+/-) when any two indices of the subset are interchanged. The index subset must generally either be all covariant or all contravariant. For example, :T_{ijk\dots} = -T_{jik\dots} = T_{jki\dots} = -T_{kji\dots} = T_{kij\dots} = -T_{ikj\dots} holds when the tensor is antisymmetric on it first three indices. If a tensor changes sign under exchange of any pair of its indices, then the tensor is completely (or totally) antisymmetric. A completely antisymmetric covar...
06:51
@BraddSzonye Uggggggg. Irritating. Someone edited my post within 1 minute of my posting it. And, then when I rolled it back and the nerve to edit something else.
@DavidM - are you in here alone?
are you being trolled?
07:07
Trolls are everywhere.
!!wiki internet troll
In Internet slang, a troll (, ) is a person who sows discord on the Internet by starting arguments or upsetting people, by posting inflammatory, , or off-topic messages in an online community (such as a forum, chat room, or blog), either accidentally or with the deliberate intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion. This sense of the word troll and its associated verb trolling are associated with Internet discourse, but have been used more widely. Media attention in recent years has equated trolling with online harassmen...
Skull Pa Troller is on patrol for their skulls
@medica Oh hi there! Was on mobile before so couldn't chat. Sorry about all of the hostility, was not intentional.
@medica I try to be polite, but I am also very matter-of-fact and persistent, which can come across as aggressive and blunt. My bad.
I usually try to give people the benefit of the doubt, just seemed increasingly like I was being picked on there, thanks for de-escalating. I'm usually better about that myself, but some days I am a drama llama.
@DavidM I saw the edit history on that. It was a mess.
Trying to chat on mobile will make anyone aggressive :-)
Haha yes there is that too. Especially when it insists on autocorrecting everything. Today my iPad seems to think it's a good idea to replace commas with exclamation points. Which is both amusing and tragic.
Whoops, looks like both of the people I came in to reply to have left. :) Need to run, taking my fiancée to the airport early. Night!
07:18
Later
 
2 hours later…
09:07
@terdon Thanks! I'm glad you've enjoyed some of them :)
@BraddSzonye my opinion is that they're on topic
09:47
I just saw the worst case of porn spamming on a math help web site :-(
I'm glad I didn't, then!
There are still sick predators alive and well roaming the internet for children.
...disturbing, but true
10:20
I think I'm going to stay off line for awhile...
...nice meeting you people.
Good luck out there!
10:38
@MattЭллен I got 12 downvotes on math meta for asking about my 3 downvotes on math, lol.
At least the downvoting seems to have stopped today. The culprit is probably aware that if he continues he will be caught.
@JasperLoy or there wasn't a cuprit in the first place.
@MattЭллен I suspect multiple sockpuppets by the same user, lol.
@JasperLoy I suspect noöne would go to the bother
10:53
@MattЭллен Because they went to the brothel instead.
You might think so, I couldn't possibly comment.
12:02
@JasperLoy No one is out to get you. Everyone is spite-voting. Everyone is piling on to humor vote you down. "ha ha this guy thinks he got serial downvoted ? Let's all vote him down as much as possible because that would be funny." Forced irony.
12:16
@JasperLoy Anybody (with a keyboard and internet) can author things in wiktionary (just like wikipedia).
For example, here are the authors of the entry for 'provenance''
Of course all dictionaries have authors but some make them public, some don't. OED makes their list public. I think they list all the contributors in one place, not per tiem like wiktionary.
12:50
@Mitch the provenance of provenance
13:06
@skullpatrol Porn is different from paedophilia.
-1
Q: In my example, did I use dashes correctly?

user66800For example, someone who would normally drink at home because they are under 21 — but suddenly visits bars more often because they just turned 21 — would be more likely to die in motor vehicle accident as they drive back home.

I think this is a dupe.
It is very similar to the asker's other questions
We also have lots of comma v. dash questions, don't we?
yeah
74
Q: When should I use an em-dash, an en-dash, and a hyphen?

kiamlalunoI generally know how to use a hyphen, but when should I use an en-dash instead of an em-dash, or when should I use a hyphen instead of an em-dash?

we sort of have a cover all for all dash-as-comma questions
13:24
Thanks. I closed it anyway, but I'll dupe it for that one if it gets reopened.
...these should all be closed. WTH?
The "As" question does point out a specific concern: can they use as to start a sentence
It doesn't say that, does it?
that's the title
the body is a bit ... proofready
especially the end
No, the title is "In this example, can I use 'As...' to introduce a sentence?" which doesn't anywhere say "Can I use 'as' to introduce a sentence?"
how are they different?
13:36
Because the former doesn't ask for a general rule.
It makes no intimation about a general rule.
In fact, quite the opposite.
I suppose
And I hate to close all his questions, but they should all be closed.
I don't think the user will be missed
If they are asking for the general rule, then they are dupes. If they aren't, they are proofreading.
I stopped closing after four or five, but shame on EL&U for letting them stay open.
Small wonder the user kept asking similar questions.
Hi @kit @matt, lol.
Hi!
Heroic Mushroom in Toyland sounds vaguely familiar.
Invisible Business Carnage is another name for the stock exchange
Damn that generator makes me laugh too much
There is a site, I don't know what, that generates fake math articles.
14:01
has it produced any new proofs?
It combines difficult sounding terms to produce a fake paper.
Everything it does is fake, lol.
some people get fooled by it
Yes, it is quite easy to be fooled by it, since each individual only knows a fraction of math.
14:05
I know 1/2 and 1/4, so I know two fractions of maths!
0
Q: I don't understand how to interpret this sentence

user4550Though a blue grass singer, there was somewhat of an operatic peculiarity in his voice, such as we often hear as some opera singers are about to reach climactic notes in dramatic arias, in an inflected sort of way; as if indulging in a blissful, temporal oasis of a resting place in the midst of a...

ELL?
Yeah. I think the user would benefit from that perspective
15:03
Blog chat time!

 EL&U Blog

Discussion for the EL&U Blog. For more info see meta.english.s...
How dee.
@KitFox If that.
That is one of the crappiest sentences I've seen in weeks.
@KitFox: So... now that I am "Trusted", I can vote delete/undelete on more things? Is there much of a point? Do those votes ever hit the needed thresholds?
15:19
Morning!
15:31
> Screaming Hoedown Wasteland
Next game from id
15:42
@MrHen easily, it only takes 3 votes to delete an answer for example
"old people have that typical craggy voice."
is that correct?
Which old people? What craggy voice?
I am not specific about those points.
is it correct to say "craggy voice" to mean " a voice of senescence"?
Feb 8 '11 at 15:59, by Robusto
And remember: all generalizations are false.
@user4550 No.
Craggy brings to (my) mind rugged, an image of cliffs or a weather beaten face, not age and I wouldn't use it to describe a sound.
15:47
but hits many google results
so its a matter of style.
thats not for anyone to judge.
surely it's for everyone to judge?
If you're happy with google search results, by all mean use them.
She looked at me with those hateful, all-knowing eyes as she spoke in her tremulous, old fogie, wrinkled voice.
What an awful sentence.
what?
it is by a novelist
15:49
um, so?
Then I must be wrong.
It is still pretentious.
maybe so
Wrinkled is better than craggy since it is very much associated with age, still a bad fit to describe sound though.
15:50
I would call it crap.
@user4550 Which publishing house is the novel publish by?
just out of curiosity
^^ that one apparently
iuniverse
15:51
which seems to be a self-publishing website
but he is a native speaker.
Well, then, that settles it.
not every native speaker can speak correct english.
mind you
Brilliant, in the paragraph just above, the author mentions tit-bits.
Not tidbits mind. I wonder what kind of bits those are?
oh well. I was hoping it was an established house, so I could make easy money :D
I've written two terrible books
15:54
Hahahahahaha. "She went through her spiel uninterrupted before the obvious question, standing out like a beacon — metaphorically speaking — was asked ..."
Emphasis my own.
Whenever you use figurative language, always remember to declare it.
English is a typed language
Just in case the question was really really bright?
Speaking of tit-bits, what a great name for a site:
@terdon Yes, in case someone might have assumed that the question could be used to light, say, a football stadium.
@user4550 unfortunately, being a published writer is no indication that you write well.
Do you agree that William Faulkner's english is great?
15:57
Faulkner knew enough about English to break the rules.
So did Joyce.
But his prose is so long winded.
and grammar is so broken.
But one author's idiosyncrasies don't justify legions of idiots writing drivel.
2
E. E. Cummings. I rest my case.
Thoreau's english is full of mistakes.
Define "mistake"

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