English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Cerberus

22:00

@tchrist No, I just wanted to show you there are plenty of examples where the infinitive is used.

@RegDwigнt There is even slang in some of those quotations.

tchrist

@Cerberus Nothing in the first four pages, it’s always an -ing word if its a verb.

Cerberus

I don't care.

RegDwigнt

Slang is just a fancy word for something you failed to look up in time because your beard was in the way.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt "You losing your concentration. You gonna lose the fight."

If you take that as a guide...

RegDwigнt

Could be a quote from me.

Cerberus

22:02

It is hardly high style.

Alraxite

slang is short for shortened language. So slang is a slang for slang.

RegDwigнt

But everything coming from me is high style.

tchrist

> "I know it's not a great story, but I've got six actors sitting around doing nothing but picking up their checks.
When I started out with the Benny Hinn Ministries I started out by just standing in one spot for hours doing nothing but guarding an area in the arena by the platform.
Several accused the full-time men of "doing nothing but watching TV" or "laying around" after work.
With brief interludes assigned to eating and sleeping, I lay for nearly three full days on the living room couch doing nothing but reading—it would be more accurate to say devouring, inhaling —the Eliot novel.

Alraxite

No, not really

RegDwigнt

Oh sorry: everything to come from me is high style.

Alraxite

22:03

but I found it somewhere

thought it was funny

well, amusing

tchrist

What in the name of the highest is or is not high style and why in the world does this matter?

RegDwigнt

On the plus side, I am somewhat less royally bored now. Cerberus'aes chain doth yank fine.

Cerberus

If it does not matter to you, then there is nothing left to talk about here.

RegDwigнt

Har har.

Cerberus

I'm a great yank.

RegDwigнt

22:04

From Disconnecticut.

tchrist

Please wash your hands before and after.

Cerberus

Hah.

For example.

RegDwigнt

And instead.

medica

Hey, @RegDwigнt! How are you today?

RegDwigнt

I am drinking and watching speedruns.

In one word: I today am normal.

medica

22:07

:)

as good a way to spend a day as another.

I want to ask something, don't know how to do it.

RegDwigнt

All my days are as anothers.

Just ask away, that's the simplest way.

medica

how can I promote a particularly good answer?

RegDwigнt

Bounty.

Alraxite

Or you could tell us about it in chat.

medica

@Mari-LouA just answered a question (not mine, and already answered) on this question

6

Q: What is a "canary-trainer"?

In Arthur Conan Doyle's The adventure of Black Peter, Watson casually refers to a previous exploit of Holmes:- In the memorable year '95 a curious and incongruous succession of cases had engaged his attention, ranging from this famous investigation of the sudden death of Cardinal Tosca......

vocabulary

RegDwigнt

22:09

One of the reasons you can select for a bounty is "one of the answers hasn't quite got the attention it deserves".

You can also specify which answer in particular you'll be awarding it on, so as a result if you leave the bounty up for a couple days rather than awarding it right away, other people will notice it and possibly give it stray upvotes.

That's sort of crucial, in fact, because otherwise the answerer will only get some additional reps, but his answer won't float higher than it is already.

medica

Can I post a bounty on a question in which an answer has already been accepted?

RegDwigнt

Yes.

The only constraint is that it has to be 48 hours old I think.

medica

great!!! I am going to do that. The question is more than 2 days, but her answer was just posted.

will it work?

(I can just try it, I guess)

RegDwigнt

I have only ever awarded a bounty once or twice myself, so I can't speak much from personal experience, but yes, it should work for all I know.

medica

I will do so now. If you're interested in a high-quality answer, hers is great!

Thanks, Reg.

RegDwigнt

22:14

You are welcome.

Cerberus

Hello.

RegDwigнt

2

A: What is a "canary-trainer"?

I apologize for the tardiness in answering, but sometimes a person needs time to reflect and for that eureka moment to occur :) What I offer is not the answer as to who was Watson's Notorious canary trainer, which the Op didn't in any case ask for, but rather a fuller and more complete explanatio...

Cerberus

I feel safe now that we have doctors in the room.

RegDwigнt

Oh, gotta run, wife's back.

Cerberus

Bai.

Matt Эллен

22:15

CU

RegDwigнt

Wife's been drinking, too!

Or, as they say in both German and Russian, she is blue.

Stupid English has to work differently again, of course.

Cerberus

Haha.

Blue, really?

RegDwigнt

Yes.

Cerberus

We don't say that in Dutch.

In Russian and German?

RegDwigнt

Well, what do you say? Gedraankcht?

Cerberus

22:17

We have over 9000 words for that, but not blue.

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus yes, curious, innit.

Cerberus

Dronken, lazarus, zat...

Bezopen.

RegDwigнt

Lazarus? Lazarus?

Cerberus

Yup.

No idea why.

Could be an ancient euphemism?

RegDwigнt

Lazarus of Bethany

Lazarus of Bethany, also known as Saint Lazarus or Lazarus of the Four Days, is the subject of a prominent miracle attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of John, in which Jesus restores him to life four days after his death. The Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions offer varying accounts of the later events of his life. In the context of the Gospel of John, the narrative of the Raising of Lazarus forms "the climactic sign... Each of Jesus' seven signs illustrates some particular aspect of his divine authority, but this one exemplifies his power over the last and most irresistible e...

Yeah he was so drunk it was a Miracle Jesus restored him.

Cerberus

22:19

I really don't know.

We also have lam and variations theron, katjelam...

Starnakel.

Do you have starnakel?

@RegDwigнt Hey, do you think "what are all the widely known words meaning "drunk" in English?" would be an OK question?

Matt Эллен

If you ask it, people might let it slide, because it's you

Cerberus

You think so?

But you wouldn't like the question?

Matt Эллен

like? oh, that's not what I was getting at. It's a list question.

plenty of people could jump on it for that

I would probably leave it, because it's pretty much a single-word-request, asked in a different way

Alraxite

Why is looking up a thesaurus not good enough?

thesaurus.com/browse/drunk

RegDwigнt

@MattЭллен actually, people won't let it slide because his English is fine enough to make the question rhetorical.

Cerberus

22:33

@Alraxite Ah, good one.

But I was thinking there might be more.

An "exhaustive" list would be kind of cool.

RegDwigнt

What would work instead, is "do some corpus analysis which of them words are actually used most and in which registers/contexts/collocations".

Something more highbrow, you know.

Cerberus

So complicated!

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus well you know there can be no such thing because there are teenagers in the Valley and in Edinburgh and Adelaide working on fifty more right now as we speak.

Cerberus

I should stop playing Threes. I'm not even enjoying it any more.

RegDwigнt

Anyway, I must be off for the time being.

Lators.

Cerberus

22:35

@RegDwigнt Hence "widely known".

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus I've long stopped. I only play 2048 these days.

Cerberus

Good-bye.

Is it more fun to you?

> Late in evening, the Chamber approved the one-of-kind bill that ensures fundamental rights of free expression and privacy online.

What do you think?

No article?

Matt Эллен

I want to put a in there

I don't like it as-is

Cerberus

Same here.

Matt Эллен

They should learn how to use one-off ;)

Cerberus

22:38

Maybe it was written by some Brazilian guy.

Ah, not that.

Matt Эллен

tchrist was saying earlier that American's don't know one-off

Mitch

@MattЭллен It's gaining in currency but not universal

Matt Эллен

Just got off the boat, eh?

KitSox

one-off is a bit informal imo.

Matt Эллен

currently begging on a street corner

The bot's alive!

it's coming for our souls!

run!

Mitch

22:43

Tuppence a bag!

Matt Эллен

feed the birds with a bag full of copper.

Mitch

that would weigh them down.

easier to shoot

Matt Эллен

oh! those victorian games

!!hello

KitSox

@MattЭллен Hello.

Mitch

!!hey?

KitSox

22:45

@Mitch That didn't make much sense. Use the !!/help command to learn more.

Mitch

!!come on!

KitSox

@Mitch I didn't understand that. Use the !!/help command to learn more.

Matt Эллен

!!tell kitfox coffee 'thanks'

KitSox

@MattЭллен Command > does not exist. Did you mean: t

Alraxite

Oh good.

!!hang

Mitch

22:46

!!!!

Matt Эллен

!!coffee 'thanks'

KitSox

@MattЭллен I'm not that skilled a barrista.

  +---+
  |   |
  |
  |
  |
__+__

-------

Matt Эллен

@Alraxite there is a specific hang man room, too

Alraxite

!!hang a

KitSox

  +---+
  |   |
  |
  |
  |
__+__
a
-a-a---

Alraxite

22:46

@MattЭллен I know.

But I feel the need to show-off my hangman skills.

Matt Эллен

right

Mitch

I think Matt is telling you something.

Matt Эллен

I see

Alraxite

!!hang e

KitSox

  +---+
  |   |
  |
  |
  |
__+__
a, e
-a-a--e

Matt Эллен

22:47

no, it's fine. I have some code to debug anyway

Alraxite

I'll be moving to that room after this one game

!!hang i

KitSox

  +---+
  |   |
  |   O
  |
  |
__+__
a, e, i
-a-a--e

Alraxite

!!hang s

KitSox

  +---+
  |   |
  |   O
  |   |
  |
__+__
a, e, i, s
-a-a--e

Alraxite

!!hang r

skullpatrol

22:47

We don't like show offs :/

KitSox

  +---+
  |   |
  |   O/
  |   |
  |
__+__
a, e, i, r, s
-a-a--e

Alraxite

!!hang h

KitSox

  +---+
  |   |
  |  \O/
  |   |
  |
__+__
a, e, h, i, r, s
-a-a--e

Alraxite

!!hang o

KitSox

  +---+
  |   |
  |  \O/
  |   |
  |  /
__+__
a, e, h, i, o, r, s
-a-a--e

Alraxite

22:48

Well, this is embarrassing.

Mitch

Important comment in the middle of hangman game

Alraxite

!!hang t

KitSox

@Alraxite Nope! The word is macaque. I still like you though and you made a good effort!

skullpatrol

!!wiki show off

KitSox

Show Off Must Go On Tour

The Show Off Must Go On Tour is the debut concert tour by British recording artist, Robbie Williams. The tour supported his debut album, Life thru a Lens. Setlist #"Let Me Entertain You" #"Lazy Days" #"Killing Me" #"Baby Girl Window" #"One of God's Better People" #"Ego a Go Go" #"South of the Border" #"Angels" #"Teenage Millionaire" #"Life Thru a Lens" #"Kooks" #"Back for Good" #"Old Before I Die" Tour dates {|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |- ! style="width:150px;"|Date ! style="width:150px;"|City ! style="width:150px;"|Country ! style="width:250px;"|Venue |- ! colspan="...

Alraxite

22:50

I did make a good effort though, as the bot says.

So that's something.

skullpatrol

Go on tour @alraxite

Cerberus

That word was just too difficult.

It doesn't count.

Alraxite

Yes, yes, of course.

That was implicitly implied. The only ones that count are those that I win.

So not many count.

But that's alright.

I make good efforts 100% of the time.

skullpatrol

Not everything that counts can be counted.

or

Not everything that can be counted counts.

Cerberus

@Alraxite yay!

@skullpatrol So complicated!

skullpatrol

23:01

Indeed, this was said by a complicated man @cerb

Cerberus

Oh, yeah?

skullpatrol

Einstein.

Cerberus

Haha.

skullpatrol

:-)

RegDwigнt

23:30

29

Q: Do Russians smile at each other?

I'm planning to go to Russia. For my culture smiling is really common even to strangers. And I heard that Russians don't smile or laugh unless it's something funny or something that make them happy. Will it be strange or will I insult anybody in Russia if I smile?

russia culture

Jez

23:47

wow they sound like a bunch of miserable cunts. Putin is highly representative.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt OMG such bullshit answers.

Or at the very least annoying.

Transcript for

English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…