English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

3:18 AM

@simchona this is chatroom. I hate to go all practical on a chatroom. Give me a break. :(

user19161

@chaos Then have a Kit Kat.

@ChaosGamer This is an English language and usage chatroom, hon.

what exactly is a kit kat? I know that it is a chocolate, but what do you mean?

user19161

In fact I love typing more than clicking, so sim's practice is actually quite good.

@ChaosGamer It's from a US advertisement. "Gimme a break" was their tagline

@JasperLoy I've adopted your clicking method.

user19161

3:20 AM

Haven't you seen the ad: Have a break. Have a Kit Kat? And also referring to dear Kit here.

How did I not realize that! She's famous!

There are singing ones too.

Singing Kits?

user19161

Then Kit will say: I am too far away to be of use!

@aedia I have that jingle memorized still

3:21 AM

Gimme a break! Yeah!

user19161

Have a Kit Kat!

They started making ads with that jingle again. Though, without the words. Just the rhythm.

Collision of Worlds....

singing

@simchona So there's no chocolate crispy taste that's gonna make your day?

@FallenAngelEyes Not that I'm aware of, now.

user19161

3:23 AM

The starred messages are getting more ridiculous in nature.

3

A star for you, my good sir.

user19161

Yay!

me too. :)

Wait! @Jasper! Guess what!

@jasper wait, when did you get knighted?

Xd

user19161

3:24 AM

Now that one is sitting right on top!

@simchona guess what?

what is the guess?

You're not supposed to guess, @Jasper is.

alright alright....

user19161

@sim You mean I am supposed to guess something here? I'm lost!

hey who here likes Duck Dodgers?

3:25 AM

@Jasper I GOT CLOSE VOTES

@simchona close vote..?

@Chaos Please capitalize.

user19161

@sim I see. You didn't give me any chance to guess.

When someone says "guess what" you should say "what?"

@Jasp You took too long.

'Tis a fast-paced world.

3:27 AM

That's like, the only guess you have to make.

@aedia Alternatively, "chicken butt."

Ok, I need to go home. I'll be back on later.

@simchona world should get slower.

see ya

That works too.

@Chaos "The world"

3:27 AM

Deep words.

user19161

Do you think thursagen=thursagan, the users I mean?

@Mana me?

Hasta luego @simchona!

@JasperLoy Yes.

Yes.

user19161

3:28 AM

@aedia Is that Spanish?

It is

Sí.

See you soon

user19161

@fallen With those eyes of yours you can see anything anytime.

lol

user19161

3:29 AM

>_>

wh

Now I have the KitKat jingle stuck in my head, aaaaaaaargh

\=-)

what

Oh, I see. FallenAngelEyes. HAAAAAAAAA

user19161

@mana I notice you changed your EL avatar, but you are now using your other one to come here.

3:31 AM

I don't think I can get it to work otherwise. Chat.SE is associated with one account

As far as I'm aware.

user19161

That's not true. You can log in to any account and chat anywhere.

How many universe is there?

one

Random.. hehe

user19161

Huh?

True, but then I'd have to use my ELU avatar for everything, would I not?

nvm

user19161

3:33 AM

@mana Anyway, I think your EL one looks cuter.

user19161

Of course not as cute as JB with that kiss on his cheek.

It's because I'm a cute guy.

@Mana I have an idea! swap your profile pic!

user19161

@mana That's very true.

I'm BAD. Bad boy.

user19161

3:34 AM

@chaos No, you are just chaos. You bring chaos with your spelling.

Cause I'm bad. I'm bad, I'm really really bad...

@JasperLoy exactleeey. Being chaos is Bad.

Bad as in I'm badder.

user19161

I think we are all nuts right now.

Muwhahahhahahah!!!

thunder crackle

wolf howl

user19161

Anyone who pops in here will think we are all on drugs.

I'm on drug. Its called Charlie Sheen.

3:37 AM

@ChaosGamer I misread this as "bladder" and was really confused as to what you were trying to imply

@FallenAngelEyes lol....

user19161

@chaos Sounds familiar. No, I only like Mariah Carey for pop. And maybe Josh Groban.

@JasperLoy I like Paul Newman.

user19161

I listen to Andrea Bocelli and Jose Carreras too.

user19161

Just the same few old CDs will suffice.

3:39 AM

MJ all the way.

"Life ain't so bad after all, if you live it of the wall" :)

user19161

"When you get caught in the rain"

user19161

@fallen So you speak Dutch and Eng?

user19161

@chaos So you speak Korean and Eng?

@JasperLoy yep.

ttyl. gotta go. have fun you guys. :)

later @Chaos

@JasperLoy English is my first language, I'm learning Dutch as, technically, my fourth. I took 7 years of French and 6 years of Spanish, but I've unfortunately forgotten a lot because of disuse. :(

Oh yeah, I took a semester and a half of Japanese as well.

user19161

3:44 AM

Sounds great @ fallen.

But yeah, I don't really have a chance to practice French or Spanish or Japanese anymore. :/ I'm sad that I've forgotten so much.

I can still read with at an okay level, but my speaking/writing levels have gone way down. :(

user19161

I see. I've forgotten most of my Chinese too, which I took for 10 years.

Yeah, I'm the same way with French and Spanish.

user19161

Spanish seems very similar to Italian, which I had to lean to pronounce to sing in Italian. But I don't sing nowadays.

Yeah, Romance language and all

...I just accidentally turned off my monitor with my potato chip bag.

I didn't think that was possible.

3:52 AM

claps It takes a certain amount of skill.

user19161

You are a potato chipper? I don't take chips though.

shrug Isn't everyone a potato chipper from time to time?

user19161

Well, I mean, not usually.

user19161

Reg seems to be taking my advice and sleeping earlier these days, Matt too.

My sleep sched is currently broken.

user19161

3:55 AM

Aren't you guys going to sleep soon?

To boldly hiccup go where noöne has gone before!

it's only like midnight for @Mana

Should be sleeping, but Star Trek.

user19161

I didn't know unicorns can hiccup.

Øőh î didn't know all these special chåractęrs were sõò much easïěr to fiñd on my phone.

user19161

3:59 AM

That sentence looks terrible.

user19161

And I see you have added three more photos.

Mmhmm.

heh, only like midnight

You know your sleeping schedule's messed up when you're saying that.

One photo is from the snow. It snowed a lot for here. We don't have enough plows. Up where I'm from, the area of the country Kit is in and if I'm not mistaken Grace is in or went to school in, we would laugh at that snow but it is a mess down here.

@Mana I never go to sleep before midnight unless I'm really sick

Otherwise I feel like I'm wasting the night

4:09 AM

I know how you feel, yo.

I hate goin to sleep afore midnight too.

Plus most of my friends are in the US, so I miss out on a lot of stuff if I sleep early

But it's 6am now, which does qualify as a rather messed up sleep sched.

It's nigh impossible for me to maintain a normal circadian rhythm.

Bad with mornings here though. And afternoons. And pretty much all that desk sitting time.

I'm horrible with mornings.

It's better when you're actually outside with the sun, I feel. In a field camping in summer, you wake up with the sun and get tired with the sun.

4:12 AM

Even if I get a proper night's sleep, if I have to be awake before 9am, I am grumpy and zombielike as all hell.

I've slept through ice, water, removal of my mattress, riding crops, fire alarms... I sleep really heavily.

@fallen you suuure you're not talking about me?

Hehe

Picard just figured out the alien language but... but he's in danger! Oh noes!

Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra!

Yes!

4:17 AM

That's one of my fave eps

I heard that Netflix recently got a bunch of Star Trek, is that where you're watching it?

I saw it a long time ago but I am gonna have to watch it like 3x more. Um. Unless that makes me too much of a Trekkie.

@fallen yes, Netflix

I haven't seen all of TNG yet. I'm watching it with my b/f. After that we're going to start on DS9, which he's eager to get to because it's his favorite series.

I wish I had Netflix access here. :( I have XBox Live Gold, so I technically have access, but IP blocking. sigh

DS9. Pfft. Young'uns.

(I probably saw more of that on first run than TNG, actually. So I shouldn't talk.)

Incidentally, I thoroughly agree with your statement about the uselessness of women's pants pockets

4:33 AM

:)

What am I still doing awake?

Must sleep. Byes!

I'm...back

Night @aedia

Wibbles @simchona

Q: "Next Friday" vs. "This Friday"

Also, dupe here:

20

Q: What day is next Tuesday?

At what point does next Tuesday mean the next Tuesday that will come to pass and no longer the Tuesday after the Tuesday that will come to pass`? And, when does the meaning switch back?

meaning idioms

with

4

I have always considered next Friday to be not this coming Friday, but the one after. This Friday is the Friday at the end of this week. I have a Canadian friend, however, who enforces the more literal meaning of next Friday - the Friday that comes next. Is there a correct meaning for next Frid...

grammar etymology

4:50 AM

So, what's with the nickname 3I for Thursagen?

His old screenname

ahh

also known as HB

so is this like a nickname change that happened when he went off the deep end?

Embraced his dark side, y'know?

I wasn't really here so I'm the wrong person to ask. But, he went 3I-->HB-->Thursagen

9:53 AM

@Caleb jinx on that faq word choice question

@Jez Eh?

i posted almost the same answer

@Jez Sorry :) Although that comment from @Unreason might deserve to be at least part of an answer -- along the lines of "call a spade a spade".

which comment?

@Jez The only one on that question ... about how the behavior described actually qualifies for the malware moniker.

word-choice writing-style

10:03 AM

no i mean this question:

3

Q: Weird wording in our FAQ

This is completely minor, but it caught my eye in the signature section: Please don’t use signatures or taglines in your posts, or they will be removed. Maybe it's me, but the "or" feels redundant in there. It feels like "as", "because", . or ; would be better. (Asking this here as oppo...

Oh, my bad. I forgot I'd just answered that too :)

Wow we really did have the same pair-o-thoughts!

11:25 AM

@aedia I'm a New Englander, so if it is in the New York/New England area, then yes, that'd be accurate

Kim

11:47 AM

Hello

Robusto

Hullo

12:08 PM

it's a scorcher today

yep, really nice day outside

yep... the kind of day you dont wanna be sitting in an office.

indeed.

Robusto

There are few days I'd rather be sitting in an office.

today the desire to leave is geater than normal!

Right. I'm gonna do it. Goodbye to pyscripter and notepad++. Hello emacs.

12:19 PM

You'll always look back.

at the help file

12:30 PM

@MattEllen Touché

anyone ever have the phenomenon of somebody just in the corner of your eye making enough movement to distract you constantly?

not that I remember. I don't have the best memory

12:52 PM

hello everyone

Kim

hello

Hey @Fx, @Kim, @Matt, @Jez, @Caleb, @Robusto, @fatai

hi, I have a problem with a sentence. If I write to here, Can anyone help me ?

@GraceNote nope, can't ping me

@fatai yes, write it, I'll help

I could if I wanted to, @fx

12:57 PM

@GraceNote oh, your blueness allows you to… blush

"instead of defensing freedom of cartoons, unfair advantages of it has been token to trigger unwanted sequences of events, such as demonstration, violence and crime. " I think there is something wrong, but I cannot figure out

@GraceNote I can't evade you, then

No better than you can evade Dwig, nope ♪

@fatai instead of defending freedom of cartoons, it has been taken unfair advantage (singular) of to trigger unwanted sequences of events, such as demonstrations (plural), violence and crime.

@GraceNote Ack

12:59 PM

it's somewhat too long for my taste

The sentence seems jumbly to me

@F'x thanks

also, I don't quite like "freedom of cartoons", and I'd say "freedom of cartooning"

@Grace Note why ?

Especially because you're transitioning the direction of the verbs (that F'x conveniently bolded)

1:00 PM

@Jez Heh. Given that I got sunburned on Sunday, I'm happy sitting here in my office.

Defending is the subject acting, but taken is the subject being acted on. Which is fine in a normal scenario except it feels awkward (to me) when it's joined by the "Instead of"

@Rhodri Uf, that's unfortunate

@fatai: my rule for writing foreign languages (including English, for is a foreign language to me): if unsure, write shorter sentences. Even if sure, write shorter sentences.

@GraceNote It was a fairly light roasting, I'm not peeling or anythiing.

@Rhodri Good to hear you didn't get sun poisoning

@Fx This is a good rule if English is your first language, too!

1:03 PM

I'd say: “Freedom of cartooning was not defended. Instead, it was taken advantage of, which triggered undesirable events, such as demonstrations, violence and crime.”

@fatai Instead of simply defending the freedom to draw cartoons, unfair advantage has been taken of the issue triggering an unwanted sequence of events including demonstrations, violence and crime.

@F'x but how can we improve our ability if we donot write long sentece?

@Fx That sounds a lot stronger to me

@fatai I can tell you from experience, you do not need long sentences to improve your ability.

@fatai I believe you could improve it to the point of being a professional writer, even without writing longer sentences

Hi @GraceNote

1:04 PM

The problem is that it is very easy to make a sentence too long, which can subsequently make your ability worse, especially if you do it too frequently and don't control it very well.

2

mrbauld.com/proustsent.html

nothing wrong per se with long sentences, but the mere mortal should avoid it

(on the link given, the exercise is interesting: “can you find the simple subject?”)

@fatai In school the object was to stretch everything out to fill as many pages as possible. In the real world, the advantage goes to those who can communicate the clearest in the smallest space possible.

2

@fatai I wrote a long sentence today. I'm not sure if it's good. I am a native speaker.

> Because the real channels affect the current channels according to the input matrices, and each current channel has a maximum value of 32767 and a minimum value of -32767, there will be times where the real channel value will not change when requested because that would put one or more of the current channels it is associated with into an invalid state.

I keep reading it and trying to make it better, but I'm too tired.

Electrical Engineering?

@MattEllen: the long sentences of the type "Because X, Y." I tend to rewrite as "X. Thus, Y."

YMMV (by which I mean, it's a cheap trick, not a silver bullet)

1:10 PM

@GraceNote Software help file, but related

Mm

@caleb, you mentioned a good point, I think. "In school the object was to ... space possible.

@fatai I think it heavily depends on the schooling; I spent lots of time at school being given texts of N words, and having to write N/10 word summaries

@Fx interesting. you might have guided me to a better path here...

@Fx Me too, in fact arguably one of the most useful studies I did was a course on Précis Writing. Unfortunately I think the generalization I just made that the opposite behavior is encouraged is true, particularly in English classes at foreign schools.

1:17 PM

Can one fix one more sentence ? I have one more long sentence, but I will give you a part of it ; ... , carrying a meaning of democracy and freedom of speech ""contributes"" to spread of feelings of freedom. Do that verb "contributes" fit, or break meaning of that part of sentence ? OR, is this part really bad? If so, should I rethink to rewrite ?

@fatai contribute is probably the right verb there

Again this feels like something that is so long it is tying itself in grammatical knots. I'm not entirely sure this will work in context, but how about: "carrying a meaning of democracy and freedom of speech that contributes to spreading feelings of freedom."

I'd say it fits, but I'd change the ending to "[...]contributes to the spread of feelings[...]"

okay, gotta go, see you all later!

...actually, I like Rhodri's version better.

Later, F'x!

1:24 PM

@fatai: (Or what @GraceNote said. That works too.)

see ya @F'x

@all I noticed that writing long sentence is dancing with an evil. I will break my all long sentence to short one.

I've broken up my sentence :)

> Each current channel has a maximum value of 32767 and a minimum value of -32767. Each real channel can be mapped abitrarily to any of the current channels, through the mapping matrices. This means that a real channel might not change when you instuct it to if one or more of its associated current channels is at a limit.

@MattEllen when you **instruct** it to

1:40 PM

@GraceNote thanks! ^_^;

@all thanks so much for all your effort