English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room - 2014-03-30 (page 1 of 2)

« first day (1235 days earlier) ← previous day next day → last day (3983 days later) »

Robusto

00:21

@RegDwigнt Nah, I'm ten times boreder than you.

@RegDwigнt I have seen a Russian smile. It wasn't a pretty sight.

skullpatrol

:-O there is an advertisement for Rosetta Stone right after the accepted answer @RegDwight?

Robusto

@terdon, @DavidM , @JohanLarsson ^^

skullpatrol

Keep your hookers^ outa this chat room @robusto :D

RegDwigнt

01:07

@Cerberus well it's a bullshit question, what did you expect.

@Robusto then you should be prepared for the next level: the Brits. But the end boss is in China.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt Fair enough.

I love how stupid that cited "study" begins, though.

RegDwigнt

The thing with the question is, you cannot possibly answer it without having been not just to Russia but also to everywhere else.

Yes people in Moscow don't smile much. But for all you know neither do they in NYC or Berlin or Adelaide or Kyoto or Bloemfontain.

I would say that in "big city" environment - smiles and talks from random strangers are recognized as weird in Russia (at least in Moscow), but in environments where ecnounters are less "random", they are totally OK, for example - public transport, stores, situations where this is not first time ecnounter, etc. It is definitely "enironmental" issue, not cultural or national-psychological or something like that. — Gill Bates 15 hours ago

This is the closest to an actual answer, except it's a comment.

I once smiled at a total stranger in a subway car in Moscow, and she smiled right back. At the exact same moment, neither of us smiled at any of the 200+ other people in there. You do the math. Also at the exact same moment, the exact same thing happened on a thousand other subway cars in a thousand different cities all over the world. You do some more math.

Anyhoo. If you have to ask whether you will be beaten up if you smile, then you are doing it wrong.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt Bloemfontein.

@RegDwigнt Right, it is all based on a very much simplified world view.

Robusto

02:19

@RegDwigнt I've dealt with Brits before. Tough, but I deal massive DPS. Them Chinese mofos, though—inscrutable as hell. I'm not ready for end-game content at this point.

RegDwigнt

user image

76560.

Not a huge improvement, but still.

Night all.

Robusto

Night.

And grats.

Cerberus

02:47

user image

My third game ever.

First two times, I lost.

I don't think I will ever approach your score.

Let alone get a 4096!

@Robusto What's your 2048 score?

1 hour later…

user58869

03:59

@RegDwigнt big numbers

user58869

my highest is about 7k, how do you do it?

Cerberus

04:20

@Alex Make sure your high tiles always stay on the bottom row.

At some point you will be forced to move up, but delay that moment for as long as possible.

David M

05:10

user image

user image

user image

@RegDwigнt ^^^^^^ Thanks for the suggestions. I got my daughter a Lego Junior set, and a Lego Star Wars kit for my son. He actually managed to construct 75% on his own.

Cerberus

Aww so cute!

Just the right pictures before bed time.

Do they also like each other's sets?

OK bed time, bye!

skullpatrol

06:12

Later.

5 hours later…

IQAndreas

11:15

Does Kris ever hang out in here?

Robusto

11:40

@Cerberus Highest ever was like 49000. I posted it a couple weeks ago.

Robusto

11:55

@DavidM Cute kids. I remember when mine were that age. BTW, understand that by the time they're grown you're likely to have a small fortune invested in LEGO. My son's closet was filled with storage boxes of LEGO pieces, sorted by color and type.

2 hours later…

Jasper Loy

13:27

@IQAndreas No.

Matt Эллен

14:17

I'm trying to be "nice"

Hi Florencia. Nice to see a new face. When you read back the sentence you want to write, what makes you think there might be a grammatical error? — Matt Эллен 10 mins ago

I'm not sure how long this smile will hold

Cerberus

@MattЭллен Haha, you're doing very well.

Matt Эллен

thanks :D

Cerberus

@Robusto Ahh impressive.

Stack Exchange

Limerick Machine: If you close your eyes and imagine really hard

posted on March 30, 2014 by sgdi

There once was a man with a scar From where he’d been hit by a car The scar that was made Looked a bit like Doug Quaid When squinting and seen from afar

Matt Эллен

bbl. lunch

RegDwigнt

14:44

@DavidM haha, this is excellent. I built the exact same Star Wars set two days ago, and also a Friends set that is different from your daughter's but uses the same pink umbrella piece, which has only ever been used in these two sets.

!!lego 41008

KitSox

user image

brickset.com/detail/?Set=41008-1

RegDwigнt

I should mention that I've had both sets for about year, but only built them now. Telepathy at work.

@Alex put your highest number in a corner (Cerberus uses a bottom corner, I use the top left one), your second-highest number right next to it, the third-highest next to the second-highest, etc. Ideally you should have and maintain a chain of 2-4-8-16-32-64-... at all times.

Feb 28 at 10:13, by RegDwigнt

@Robusto okay, forget everything, and just do this: try to only move up and left. You will more or less automatically have the highest number in the top left corner, the second highest numbers to the right of it, and underneath it, and so on.

Feb 28 at 10:13, by RegDwigнt

24 12 6 3
12 x y
6 z
3

Feb 28 at 10:14, by RegDwigнt

When the top row is full and cannot move, and only then, you may move to the right. Otherwise, continue with using only up and left. Never move down at all.

MrHen

@RegDwigнt Er, 4096? Did you find an infinite mode somewhere?

RegDwigнt

@MrHen they added one like two weeks ago.

Mar 15 at 1:14, by RegDwigнt

OMG they added a "keep going" button.

MrHen

Ah, okay. I've been playing on my phone which is just a clone of the 2048.

But 2048 is kind of easy so I've wondered how far I could go.

RegDwigнt

14:54

Yeah, what I did before they added that button, and what you can try, is getting as many points as possible before getting a 2048.

MrHen

@RegDwigнt Makes sense but I've always found scoring in these kinds of games arbitrary.

RegDwigнt

Meaning, getting as many 1024s as possible before merging any two.

@MrHen yes, but it doesn't matter that it's arbitrary compared to a different game X, what's important is that it's consistent with itself, within the game in question.

So if you get 20000 points rather than 18000, you have objectively performed better.

MrHen

@RegDwigнt I disagree. "Better" in points isn't really the same thing as "better" in progression.

RegDwigнt

Whether they call the 20000 a 20000 or a 200, and the 18000 a 18000 or a 180, is irrelevant to measure relative skill, because you measure the relative skill.

MrHen

I don't care about points; I care about progression.

Skill in "points" versus skill in "progression."

I'm here to solve puzzles; not maximize points in puzzles. :)

RegDwigнt

14:57

@MrHen but the two are the same due to the scoring algorithm. It gives you points for merging, and it gives them according to what's on the tiles in question.

MrHen

If you see the puzzle as optimizing the points; fair enough.

@RegDwigнt I'm just offering my opinion on the subject. Not trying to tell you you are wrong.

RegDwigнt

@MrHen obviously I don't, as demonstrated by my screenshots. We are talking about making the game more challenging with the constraints you have.

MrHen

The max "score" in 2048, as I see it, is "2048".

RegDwigнt

Right.

Robusto

But you can go on.

n11

14:58

> Although volatility is inherently unobservable, we proxy for it by computing a measure of volatility by using daily returns.

Robusto

Me, I'm getting bored with the game.

n11

what does 'proxy' means there?

RegDwigнt

@Robusto No, he can't. That's what we're talking about.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt Oh. Some versions don't allow continuation?

MrHen

@RegDwigнt Right. My point is that I don't care about scoring points.

RegDwigнt

14:59

@MrHen but certainly getting a 2048 with a couple 1024s requires more skill (and luck) than getting a 2048 with just a couple 2s?

MrHen

So the added difficulty is "meh"

Robusto

@n11 The same thing it means as a noun, except in verb form.

MrHen

@Robusto I play on my phone.

Robusto

Ah.

RegDwigнt

@MrHen the points are just a proxy. You can just as easily measure your skill by simply saying, "I got a 2048 and three 1024s and four 64s before it was over".

The points are a shorthand.

MrHen

15:00

@n11 we "measure a replacement for it"

n11

yes thanks

RegDwigнt

@MrHen actually it is not. Try it. It is orders of magnitude harder.

MrHen

@RegDwigнt Right, I understand that. But I don't care about leftovers. They don't really factor into my strategies.

@RegDwigнt "Meh" as in "I don't care about this" not "meh" as in "easy".

RegDwigнt

Yes, and they don't have to. All I'm saying is they can and then it's a different game, and a different strategy, and a different fun and more fun. Is all.

n11

Proxy (statistics)

In statistics, a proxy variable is something that is probably not in itself of any great interest, but from which a variable of interest can be obtained. In order for this to be the case, the proxy variable must have a close correlation, not necessarily linear or positive, with the inferred value. Examples Per-capita GDP is often used as a proxy for measures of standard of living or quality of life. Likewise, country of origin or birthplace might be used as a proxy for race, or vice versa. See also * Instrumental variable * Proxy (climate) References * * *

RegDwigнt

15:01

I mean, you could also try to game-over without a single 32 on the board. That's a different fun still.

MrHen

@RegDwigнt Yep, I understand. My point is that this doesn't scratch my puzzle itch effectively enough. Different folks and all that.

RegDwigнt

I see.

Well, then get yourself the "Go on" button.

MrHen

@RegDwigнt A short way to describe this: I like the game. I don't like playing a different game within the confines of the game's rules.

RegDwigнt

Yeah I understand that. But as we determined the game as is is too short and easy.

That was our starting point.

MrHen

Right. So you looked for a different game within the game; I looked for a different game entirely.

@RegDwigнt I'll have to see if I can find one. Or I could just make one. :P

RegDwigнt

15:03

Mar 23 at 15:03, by RegDwigнt

@Robusto yeah there should totally be a button "give me a 2048 right away cuz you know for a fact I'll friggin get there anyway every single time". Shorter labeling possible. Like, "cut to the damn chase already".

MrHen

@RegDwigнt Yeah, the only time I miss 2048 is because (a) my phone registered the wrong swipe or (b) I zoned out and made a stupid mistake.

RegDwigнt

After a couple plays, it becomes just grinding. And that is what takes the fun out of all games.

MrHen

Or got really unlucky three times in a row. :P

RegDwigнt

@MrHen exactly. And when grinding, it is not hard to zone out.

MrHen

@RegDwigнt Right.

Like I said, I don't disagree with you.

I just know what I find fun in games.

RegDwigнt

15:05

Yeah.

So do you play Threes?

MrHen

I haven't found a good Threes app for Windows Phone.

RegDwigнt

I haven't played in ages. Want to try again some time.

@MrHen you don't have a browser on that thing?

MrHen

But I think I had a 22k or something.

RegDwigнt

See, I don't remember the scoring on that one anymore.

MrHen

@RegDwigнt I don't use a data plan if I can help it and don't feel like loading up a website all the time.

RegDwigнt

15:06

Right.

MrHen

@RegDwigнt It was really obtuse.

RegDwigнt

Oh well.

MrHen

I only play this stuff when I'm in a boring meeting or waiting for an elevator.

It isn't exactly high priority :)

I have a ton of puzzle apps on my phone.

RegDwigнt

Yeah so do I but they are all friggin solved.

MrHen

If Threes wants me to play their game they can make it easy for me.

@RegDwigнt What kind of phone do you have?

RegDwigнt

15:07

But this one cannot be solved, so I keep playing it.

Robusto

Seriously, I guess their intent is that if you can win at Threes you automatically get a Fields medal.

RegDwigнt

@MrHen one with buttons. The kind of thing that was "wow, a smart phone!" three years ago and is a "boah, a rotary phone!" these days.

MrHen

@RegDwigнt Right; it's more of an arcade puzzler.

@RegDwigнt Heh. If you had a Windows Phone I could tell you an app with a crapton of logic puzzles.

RegDwigнt

Yeah, but I would have to have a Windows Phone for that.

MrHen

Some of them are easy; some are terrible; but most of them get hard enough to be worth it.

RegDwigнt

15:09

What's next, eating asparagus?

MrHen

@RegDwigнt Well, that's why I asked. :)

@RegDwigнt I like asparagus. :(

RegDwigнt

Jul 26 '11 at 13:00, by RegDwight

Asparagus always reminds me of that one girl Lewis Carroll once interviewed. She hated asparagus, and when he asked her why, she answered "well, if I liked it, I would have to eat it, and I can't stand it!"

It's a reference.

MrHen

I see.

Asparagus gets a bad wrap.

Robusto

Hard is fine. Impossible is not.

MrHen

@Robusto I periodically enjoy "impossible" tasks that are actually just stupidly hard. But rarely. And never again.

RegDwigнt

15:11

You could try biting your elbow.

Robusto

If your humerus is broken, that becomes ridiculously easy.

MrHen

Or you could dislocate your shoulder

RegDwigнt

Which is why I brought it up.

MrHen

But I'll qualify: I periodically enjoy "impossible" tasks that don't involve a bunch of pain to solve.

RegDwigнt

It's an impossible task that is actually just stupidly hard.

Robusto

15:12

So . . . solving that problem is a mixed blessing.

RegDwigнt

Speaking of impossible tasks that are actually just stupidly hard: @kitfox, I zapped into that frigging Beggarman's Disco video again earlier today. Guess what. It only has the Disco in the lyrics but not the title.

Robusto

Usually really hard puzzles are easy once you have that necessary flash of insight; without it, they are impossible.

RegDwigнt

Smoove and Turrell, "Beggarman" (2009)

MrHen

@RegDwigнt That first sentence would send ELU into a fervor.

RegDwigнt

15:28

@MrHen the "Since September last year" one?

I'm not seeing an issue other than their funny accent.

tchrist

16:22

@Robusto Columbus’s Egg

We’re not just Customer Service for the English language: we’re Customer Service for Asians Writing Résumés in English.

Billions and billions served.

They come here for no reason beyond needing a native speaker to proofread their résumé attempts.

0

Q: use …ing as noun or use a regular noun

Which one from the below is correct or more natural? One of my greatest strengths is critically analyzing. or One of my greatest strengths is critical analyzing. or One of my greatest strengths is critical analysis.

-1

Q: Can I start a sentence saying: While working with them, we realized...?

I want to say: While/when working together with the team, we realized that... Is it ok?

word-choice grammaticality

Or their future spamvertisements.

-1

Q: Allows to do or doing?

Please help me make clear one thing. when can i use allows + to do and when can i use allow+ doing Here is my sentence: ...allows to perform (or performing) parallel computation on a powerful platform Thanks a lot. Best Regards.

Alex Saskevich

16:44

Which main forms of Past, Present and Future times used often?

skullpatrol

What do you mean by "times"?

Alex Saskevich

Ou, sorry, tenses

skullpatrol

:-)

tchrist

> Yesterday I ate breakfast. I hadn’t eaten it weeks. I eat breakfast once in a blue moon. I’ve already eaten breakfast today. I probably won’t eat breakfast again till the next blue moon. I’m not eating it tomorrow, that’s for sure.

Those are the common ones.

> eat, ate, eaten, eating

skullpatrol

@AlexSaskevich Have you read this?

Cerberus

16:53

You have a strange breakfast routine.

tchrist

Things like “I wouldn’t have been eating breakfast at all if I weren’t entertaining a house guest” are not so common as the others. Neither for that matter is If I weren’t.

Cerberus

Is that the future be + -ing used in the past?

tchrist

I’m assuming our young Alex here is a Slavic native speaker, and he may not be used to the way we use four basic inflections of a verb, sometimes in conjunction with modals or to have or to be auxiliaries, to reflect different time frames.

Cerberus

Otherwise I should have used if I hadn't been entertaining.

tchrist

@Cerberus I see what you mean. That’s possible, too.

Alex Saskevich

16:58

@skullpatrol Yes, but I do not understand a bit of the essence. My language has only three tenses. :) And we haven't Simple or Continuous forms

tchrist

Ahah!

Yes, that makes sense then.

Cerberus

> I'm not eating breakfast, because I'm getting married in an hour.

tchrist

But wait, you don’t have simple forms?

Cerberus

This is how I read your sentence, the meaning of the tenses.

tchrist

I can understand the lack of continuous ones.

But if you have tenses at all, one would think you would have some simple ones.

Cerberus

16:59

I'm sure he has.

Alex Saskevich

@tchrist Thank you, it's very usefull sentences. I'm Russian native speaker :)

tchrist

I think he means that he doesn’t use his simple forms the way we use ours.

English uses the present tense for many things, not all of which map well to other languages’ use of the present tense.

Cerberus

I think he means they don't have the distinction.

tchrist

You can use the present tense to represent repeated actions or future actions in English.

Cerberus

There is no simple without a non-simple to contrast it with.

tchrist

17:01

I eat breakfast before 7am every morning. Tomorrow I dine with royalty.

medica

@tchrist, sorry for the interruption; may I ask you a question about how this site works (how to do something)?

tchrist

Well, you may always ask.

In fact, you just have.

Whether I or anyone knows the answer, or can fake it, is a separate matter altogether.

medica

In this question, F.E. answered a users previous Q which was closed off. english.stackexchange.com/questions/160479/…

Alex Saskevich

If I will say something like this: "Tomorrow I will go to the university" or "On the next week will be good weather.", will be correct those sentences ?

tchrist

Yes.

medica

17:03

It was an end run, but now (apparently) the question has been reopened

how can the answer be migrated back to the original question?

tchrist

@AlexSaskevich Well, as far as tenses go, probably. But the whole thing needs a bit of a touch-up job.

medica

It will be cast off as not an answer if it's not migrated.

tchrist

@medica I don’t understand. It was merged or migrated?

medica

it hasn't been either.

it is floating where it doesn't belong

and may be sunk because of it.

that is my question - how to migrate it to where it belongs before it is removes as not an answer.

tchrist

> If I say something like this: "Tomorrow I will go to the university" or "Next week we will have good weather", will those sentences be correct?
If I said something like this: "Tomorrow I will go to the university" or "Next week we will have good weather.", would those sentences be correct?
If I were to say something like this: "Tomorrow I will go to the university" or "Next week we will have good weather.", would those sentences be correct?

@AlexSaskevich Look at my corrections immediately above.

In English, the first part of a conditional should not be a "If I will do something" future-tense-like construct. If you ever see it, it means something else.

medica

17:07

that is the user's question that was not yet closed. F.E. tried to answer another question which was closed as OT. In this question.

tchrist

@medica Are you saying that FE’s answer somehow attached to the wrong question?

medica

yes

FE attached it, though.

tchrist

Then the only thing to do is ask him to kindly move it whither it belongs.

medica

Can I not move it (copy and paste) because he has been asked and hasn't done it yet.

tchrist

> If I had said something like this: "Tomorrow I will go to the university" or "Next week we will have good weather", would those sentences have been correct?

medica

17:10

and it's gaining flags as not an answer

tchrist

@medica Now I need to look more closely then.

medica

ok.

Alex Saskevich

@tchrist I see, I put "be" and "will" to incorrect place.. Okey, I see, that I make a lot of mistakes :(

tchrist

@AlexSaskevich Please don’t be disheartened. You’re coming along just fine.

medica

@tchrist - thanks.

tchrist

17:14

@Alex One of our moderators here, @RegDwigнt is the moniker he goes by here, is a native Russian speaker whose English (which he did not grow up speaking) is much better than that of most native English speakers, thus proving that it is indeed possible for a native Russian speaker to learn English well. It just takes a great deal of time and practice, and passive learning through exposure.

@medica Well. The problem is that a moderator cannot “move” an answer from one question to another because they cannot re-own it then. Only the user can do that, so you have get him to do so. I see comments to that effect.

user58869

how old was he when he started?

user58869

does such a thing make much of a difference?

tchrist

I don’t know for sure, so you’d have to ask him.

I imagine in his teens, though.

Alex Saskevich

@tchrist I think, that good way for learning foreign language is to talk and read on this language :)

medica

sigh if it accumulates enough flags before then, will it be lost

tchrist

17:16

@medica No, it won’t.

First off, it would need to be deleted.

medica

ok, then I'll let it go. Thanks very much.

tchrist

And that happens automatically only when there are enough spam or offensive flags.

For all others, it must be a manual decision.

Alex Saskevich

@Alex if you about me, I'm eighteen years old

medica

oh, i thought it was deleted with nor=t an answer flags

tchrist

@AlexSaskevich Watch a lot of movies then. :)

@medica Nope.

medica

17:18

ok, good.thank.

sorry to bother you; I don't know all the mechanics.

tchrist

And even if it were “deleted”, F.E. could still see it and recreate it attached to another question.

medica

good to know. it's a good answer (to the wrong question). Pissed BS off ;)

tchrist

@Alex Watching movies with subtitles in your own language is one of the better ways to get used to how a language is actually used by native speakers.

It costs only time.

Be aware that native speakers will often say things that don’t line up with things you’ve read about the language.

Often this is because what you’ve read is a simplification for foreign learners, but not always.

Alex Saskevich

@tchrist Unfortunately, study take a lot of my time, and I have only two ways to learn English. First is to read english books. Second is to communicate with other people, who speak english

tchrist

That’s why movie-watching as a passive learning mechanism can help.

Remember that no native speaker ever learned how to speak by studying his own language.

skullpatrol

17:23

Start with active verbal communication.

tchrist

It was all through passive learning, with the occasional correction of a small child who might apply a regular inflection where an irregular one is called for.

Cerberus

@tchrist That's not entirely true.

tchrist

@Cerberus shhhh :)

Alex Saskevich

Maybe it is useful to listen to music and read song lyrics

skullpatrol

But you need to practice...

Cerberus

17:27

Grrr...

tchrist

Sure, if you plan to be a singer or lyricist.

Otherwise, it won’t teach you much about conversation.

Or even exposition.

Alex Saskevich

But it can give some language constructions, that can be used later

skullpatrol

You can't learn to swim by reading about it :-)

Matt Эллен

reads about swimming

drowns in metaphor

2

skullpatrol

:D

tchrist

17:29

Also, there is often a strong difference in register between formally written and casually spoken English. You won’t get the hang of contractions or phrasal intonation patterns by reading alone.

Matt Эллен

It's dangerous I tells ye

tchrist

And song messes with pitch.

@MattЭллен Tha didst say nowt of that ere now.

Matt Эллен

are you didsting me?

tchrist

Da.

Alex Saskevich

I plan to be a programmer and english is important skill... But in my past school in center of attention was math and physics, not english

tchrist

17:32

I understand.

English is an important skill in many, many places, not just in programming.

For programming, you need to be able to read design specs, documentation, and internal program documentation written in English. You may also be required to generate such.

Plus of course, all the keywords are in English.

I shan’t condescend to call the function names English, since they are often a mishmash of words scrunched together, but they probably started out in English.

I work with several native speakers of Russian. Those who learnt English in their teens do much better than those who learnt it in their thirties.

But all can be easily understood. The youngest one has only the lightest of accents, which I find very attractive — at least coming from her. :)

Alex Saskevich

Reading docs is not problem for me, problem that many vacancies require intermediate or much better level of language. Some my friends has more problems with language, I think, because they are not interested in it...

tchrist

Well, sure: anybody is more prone to having problems with things they’ve little interest in than with things that they are interested in.

skullpatrol

you won't put any effort into learning it if you're not interested

tchrist

I still cannot connect names of sports teams with the type of sport they play or the city for which they play. I have no interest, so I never learn it, despite repeat exposure.

And I haven’t the froggiest notion of who the popular pop-culture performers are.

skullpatrol

17:48

It becomes a question of "how interested" you can make yourself.

tchrist

Now there, you need to know English well enough to realize that I’m purposefully mangling the foggiest notion into something more, well, ranine.

And that you can only pick up through long exposure.

But whether froggiest alludes to frogs directly (ranine) or indirectly to matters French, I leave to your imagination. :)

RegDwigнt

@AlexSaskevich these are the only two ways at my disposal as well. These are the only two ways that work anyway. You didn't learn Russian by studying it. You learned it by paying attention to what others around you said, and repeating after them. So you can do the same for English.

skullpatrol

27 mins ago, by skullpatrol

Start with active verbal communication.

RegDwigнt

Повторенье — мать ученья.

tchrist

@skullpatrol Does that mean engaging others in oral intercourse?

skullpatrol

17:51

-_-

tchrist

@RegDwigнt Now you sound like Lawler complaining that we close dupes. :)

RegDwigнt

I don't intercourse orally. Writing is sufficient. Unless your goal is to have no accent, which is impossible to achieve anyway. Everyone has an accent that blows their cover. Every single person on this planet.

2

tchrist

@skullpatrol Er, dialogue I meant, not the oral arts of pleasure-giving.

Alex Saskevich

Altough possible to go on language courses, but it will take a lot of money and time. But our teachers do work very bad - students get only bit of vocabulary. Nothing more.

I understand :)
Which books you can advice to reading? Something like "Sherlok Holmes" ... :)

skullpatrol

@tchrist The first "smily" could have been flagged.

tchrist

17:54

Me, I in general advise reading everything, but I’m a voracious reader.

RegDwigнt

Conan Doyle, Poe. Anything that interests you, that's the key. Don't read to learn new words. Read to have fun, to enjoy a story that grabs you. Then you won't mind looking up a new word every now and then. Otherwise it's torture, reading a book just to learn vocabulary.

Learning vocabulary is nonsense anyway. You forget everything exactly as fast as you learned it.

tchrist

Be aware that Sherlock Holmes was written some time ago, and contains pre-contemporary constructs that repeated today would at times generate laughter in the audience. That does not mean that it is not worth reading.

RegDwigнt

If you learn a hundred words for an exam in a week, in two weeks you'll have forgotten them all again.

tchrist

There is one particular device that Doyle uses that cracks people up today: he uses ejaculate to mean exclaim.

RegDwigнt

If you just use a new word here and there for years, you will acquire it naturally and not forget it again.

skullpatrol

17:57

use it or loose it

tchrist

Was it bound?

Fettered?

RegDwigнt

Harhar.

tchrist

Tied up?

Ligated?

My uparrow cannot find Skully’s post.

RegDwigнt

Uparrows are only for your own posts. Or what do you mean.

tchrist

Yes. :)

RegDwigнt

17:58

Ah.

Ok.

tchrist

And time runneth out.

skullpatrol

:-/

Alex Saskevich

@RegDwigнt it always happens when do not use the learned.

RegDwigнt

@AlexSaskevich exactly. So it's not different with languages. If you forget what you learned in school about maths or geography, then you'll also forget whatever someone teaches you in a two-week English course. So it's a huge waste of money and time.

skullpatrol

12 mins ago, by skullpatrol

It becomes a question of "how interested" you can make yourself.

RegDwigнt

18:01

Those two weeks are better spent reading YouTube or Reddit comments. Or any random blog. Really anything.

Your gravatar is so Legoey, yet it's no Lego. That messes with my brain.

tchrist

Maybe it’s just Legooey.

That would do the trick, methinks.

Gets goo in your brain.

skullpatrol

pixelated

Alex Saskevich

@RegDwigнt it's good that I found this conversation :) My gravatar is 8-bit image, maybe you heard about 8biticon.com

tchrist

So, do I close as Gen Ref, post OED citations, or pluck them from Goggle books on this one:

0

Q: How should 'beseech' be used in a sentence?

How should 'beseech' be used in a sentence? Are any of these correct? I beseech you to help me find Magrathea. I beseech your help in finding The Silver Bail of Peace. I beseech to you help in saving the universe. Or should it be used in a different way entirely?

Or some combination of those three. :)

@AlexSaskevich The 8-bit world always looks blocklike, or sounds it, for that matter. Old Atari games.

Alex Saskevich

@tchrist i understand that there a lot of archaism

tchrist

18:06

Ok then.

skullpatrol

@tchrist follow your instincts

tchrist

My instinct is bidirectional: to go for all or nothing at the same time.

I could flood him with information he should have researched on his own, or slam the door.

skullpatrol

how much time is it worth?

Alraxite

So, has anyone noticed the new www.answers.com interface?

By new, I mean like 4 months old.

skullpatrol

nope

Alraxite

18:10

Okay.

skullpatrol

any good?

Alraxite

They have these slides.

No. It's horrible. Doesn't make any sense.

The answers are distributed in different slides.

And there are like 3 words per slide.

I don't even understand.

And I can't even find a proper rant about this through google.

I mean, what should I type in google?

answers.com new interface

something like that

skullpatrol

oh yay, I did see that, and was not impressed

Alraxite

but it just pops up irrelevant stuff

so I tried, answers.com new interface -site:answers.com

that doesn't seem to work either

skullpatrol

@Alraxite ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130905010456AAK1Ws5

RegDwigнt

18:17

@AlexSaskevich it looks much nicer than a simple 8-bit sprite. What with the gradients in the upper corners and antialiasing and all.

Alraxite

That's for yahoo.answers.com

Yay, did find something

reddit.com/r/funny/comments/1ugm7c/…

Alex Saskevich

@RegDwigнt it's only look like 8-bit :) But image resolution much better

tchrist

18:58

@skullpatrol You asked for it, you got it:

0

A: How should 'beseech' be used in a sentence?

First of all, I would advise you as a non-native speaker to avoid beseech altogether, because it is virtually unused today per this ngram: And therefore using it will probably just garner stares or discomfort. The only “modern” context that comes to mind is from the musical Godspell, which h...

« first day (1235 days earlier) ← previous day next day → last day (3983 days later) »

Transcript for

Mar '1430

English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…

Not for the faint of heart or those easily triggered by Englis...

phrase-requests pronunciation single-word-requests synonyms

join this room
about this room

00:00

06:00

12:00

18:00

all times are UTC

site design / logo © 2025 Stack Exchange Inc; legal

mobile