English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

tchrist

00:21

I am confused about what this question really is asking:

0

Q: What is the word for "the way a word sounds to your ear"?

I do not mean "Phonaesthetics" or euphony or cacophony which carry a value judgement. Words have an audio 'pattern', mostly unique and different from other words. This is the unique audio "finger-print" of the word, which does not carry a un/pleasant connotation - it is simply the sound of a (par...

Does he want a sonogram?

I don’t know. Maybe ermanen’s answer is what the fellow is looking for. I can’t tell.

n11

sound processing, he's talking about fingerprint, he should just take the Fourier frequencies

and plot a periodogram

Cerberus

00:51

@WillHunting I don't think she is a troll.

I checked her profile and her question and messages, and she just seems to be a nice girl who likes you.

@tchrist I would say "the collection of phones that comprise a word", probably.

Robusto

@tchrist Waveform?

@KitFox I quit coffee after vacation and now I feel much more alert.

@WillHunting I thought that was your sock puppet.

Cerberus

Even more alert than when loaded with caffeine?

Robusto

@Cerberus A move even, balanced kind of alertness.

Caffeine highs are unsustainable.

n11

can 'revoke' be a noun? "the officers wanted the rigid time policy revoke"

Robusto

No.

n11

01:03

ok the sentence isn't correct, thx, (passing a test)

Robusto

The noun form is revocation.

Cerberus

@Robusto Hmm OK.

I never drink it.

@Robusto Or revoked, in this sentence.

Robusto

Yes. But he said noun.

n11

@Cerberus yes thought of it too

Cerberus

@Robusto Yeah I know.

But mine eyes reject a noun there.

@n11 OK good.

Robusto

01:06

@Cerberus Yeah, but ask me a specific question and I will respond within the scope of the question. It's not up to me to figure out what someone thinks they might mean.

Cerberus

@Robusto Sure.

I wasn't answering any question, just butting in.

n11

I am dead tired; nevertheless/therefore, I will keep working through the night (<hesitating between the 2)

Robusto

But I really do feel more alert than normal, and yet calmer. Coffee tastes good, but exhausts your adrenal glands.

n11

(but more nevertheless)

Robusto

@n11 What do you think? The answer is pretty simple.

n11

01:10

100% nevertheless 0% therefore

Robusto

100% nevertheless.

It is a contradictory statement, therefore you need a contradictory signifier.

Did you see what I did there?

n11

indeed sorry I mix therefore and however for some reason

Cerberus

@Robusto Nice.

@Robusto OK noted. Then I shan't start drinking it!

How long does the effect usually last?

Robusto

The coffee buzz?

Cerberus

Yes?

Robusto

01:19

A couple hours.

The energy lasts a couple of hours. The residual buzz lasts much longer, but isn't good for much.

Cerberus

Hmm.

What does the residual buzz feel like?

A very weak version of the primary buzz?

Robusto

It just keeps you awake when you want to sleep.

Cerberus

Ah, yes, that sucks.

The reason why many people don't drink coffee after dinner.

Robusto

Or drink decaf.

Cerberus

Yeah.

But is that good?

Robusto

01:27

I really do like the taste of coffee, though. American or French. The Dutch coffee in Curaçao was tolerable, kind of a half-assed espresso, but I like a good big cup of coffee with breakfast.

Cerberus

A big cup?

French cups aren't big...

Robusto

One of the hotels I stayed at in Paris served coffee in a cup almost the size of a soup bowl.

Cerberus

Haha.

Well, that is hardly typical...

They normally have smaller cups than we do.

Italian cups are the smallest, probably.

Robusto

A basket of croissants and brioche with butter and plenty of good strong coffee. Damn, I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

Cerberus

Heh.

Mahnax

01:29

Mm, coffee.

Robusto

Plus de café, s'il vous plait.

Mahnax

sips americano

Cerberus

Hello!

Mahnax

Hi!

Cerberus

I think I'd say encore du café?

By the way, what is American coffee like? The stereotype is not good (thin/bland).

Robusto

01:31

@Cerberus Are you asking or telling?

Cerberus

Something in between.

Robusto

@Cerberus It varies widely.

Cerberus

OK, sure, it varies everywhere...but you were saying you wanted American coffee?

I think the stereotypical Dutch coffee is not good either.

Robusto

If you get coffee on the East Coast, D.C. or above, it's proper coffee. Chicago as well. But if you go west, the coffee gets weaker and weaker until you hit the Left Coast.

Cerberus

I see.

The Left Coast.

Mahnax

01:32

@Cerberus American coffee is café filtre.

Many places don't have it at all.

Cerberus

Isn't all coffee filtered?

Robusto

@Cerberus You understand that?

Mahnax

@Cerberus Eh, kind of.

Cerberus

Not really. I was thinking maybe leftist, New-Age California?

Mahnax

Espresso goes through that.

Robusto

01:33

@Cerberus West Coast. On a map, west is left. Now do you get it?

Cerberus

Sure, I got that.

I thought there was a double layer.

Robusto

Well, don't read too much into it then.

Cerberus

Tsk.

I'm used to reading complicated puns into everything you say.

Robusto

Jul 19 '11 at 14:09, by Robusto

@aedia — Despite his multiple heads, @Cerberus remains a master of the single entendre.

Mahnax

They say "filter coffee" in the third-wave coffee scene to distinguish it from espresso in some places.

Cerberus

01:35

Third wave?

I know little about coffee, as I don't drink it...

Mahnax

First wave: Nestle instant. Second wave: Starbucks. Third wave: fresh roasting, focus on specific brew details.

Cerberus

I only know it's all very important and there are many subtle differences and such.

Robusto

It's one of life's little pleasures.

Cerberus

What do the "waves" indicate?

Robusto

@Mahnax That is a gross oversimplification. Starbucks didn't invent real coffee.

Mahnax

01:36

@Robusto Yeah, I'll admit that. But it's an easy way to avoid explaining anything.

Cerberus

People here say Starbucks is ehm not very high quality. But better than from the average office coffee vending machine.

Robusto

Yes. Gross oversimplifications are a way to avoid explanations.

Cerberus

The lowest "wave" people have at home here is one of those devices, I forgot the name...

Robusto

@Cerberus I don't care for Starbucks. I brew my own, when possible.

@Cerberus Keurig K-Cups?

Cerberus

No...

It's a stupidly named coffee maker, with pads.

Robusto

01:37

@Cerberus Tampax?

Cerberus

Senseo!

I Googled it.

Robusto

Nevah heared of it.

Mahnax

@Robusto How would you succinctly sum up second-wave coffee, then?

Cerberus

Is it used in your countries?

Mahnax

@Cerberus I've never heard of it either.

Robusto

01:38

@Mahnax I reject the whole notion of three waves.

Cerberus

Does this look familiar at all?

Mahnax

@Robusto Oh, why's that?

Robusto

Because there are lots of ripples and nuances.

Cerberus

Why is it a wave and not a tier or a rank?

Mahnax

Third wave

Third wave may refer to: * Third-wave feminism, diverse strains of feminist activity in the early 1990s * Third wave ska, a musical genre * Third Wave of the Holy Spirit, a 1980s expression coined by C. Peter Wagner for a Neocharismatic Christian movement * Third Wave Coffee, genesis and establishment of coffee growers, roasters and retailers focused on achieving the highest form of culinary appreciation of coffee * Third Wave Democracy, third major surge of democracy in history The Third Wave may refer to: * The Third Wave, a name given by history teacher Ron Jones to an experimental recr...

Robusto

01:39

I have been drinking gourmet home blend since the '70s. And I didn't invent it.

Mahnax

@Robusto Preground, comes in a can?

Robusto

No. You buy the beans at a local gourmet coffee shop, then grind them yourself, just prior to brewing.

Cerberus

@Mahnax Okay, never heard of the term or the movement.

Coffee has always had the interest of connoisseurs...

But w'evs.

So it just means "good coffee".

Mahnax

@Robusto Oh, good stuff. Glad to hear it.

Robusto

@Mahnax I still reject that as an oversimplification. Just because it isn't your oversimplification doesn't mean I ought to embrace it.

Just as there are many more divisions of prosperity than first-, second-, and third-world.

I live in a first-world country that has patches of third-world poverty all over it.

Mahnax

01:43

@Robusto Right. So do you propose the scrapping of any sort of organization of the various coffee movements, or something else?

Cerberus

Apparently there is a local historical reason for it, so fine.

Robusto

@Mahnax I think the whole notion of organizing the various coffee movements is ipso facto ridiculous. It will never be more than an arbitrary set of distinctions. But if that helps you, go ahead and use it.

Cerberus

And simplifications can be useful...

Robusto

Just don't expect widespread agreement.

Cerberus

Third-wave feminism is well known, however.

Robusto

01:44

@Cerberus Not to me.

Cerberus

No?

Robusto

Not by name.

Cerberus

Perhaps it is mostly used in historiography.

The first wave was about universal suffrage.

Robusto

Because I really don't give a shit what people want to call their movements.

Cerberus

The second wave was the hippies.

The third wave is now, about having female CEOs of large companies and such.

Robusto

01:46

I also reject the categorization of anything branded as hippie.

Cerberus

Hehe.

Robusto

@Cerberus That is such a crock. There is a lot of wiggle room between those divisions.

Mahnax

@Robusto Alright. I have suspected for awhile that it was terminology used to distinguish local cafés who do things differently from coffee chains to separate themselves from them, but I have no evidence for that.

Cerberus

@Robusto Certainly.

Robusto

@Cerberus And just because we have two, three female CEOs doesn't mean women have genuinely arrived at a situation of equality.

Cerberus

01:47

But it can be observed that feminism was a more frequent topic in the social and political discours during those three periods.

@Robusto They have not. But it is a common theme in politics and such.

Feminism is the movement, not the (future) result.

Robusto

Have you noticed that female CEOs tend to be promoted to those jobs only to take the fall for companies that are either on their way out or suffering a major blow?

Cerberus

Not specifically...

Robusto

Look at the GM CEO. She was given her job two weeks before GM announced the huge issue with ignition switches.

Cerberus

I have only noticed their paucity.

So why would it make sense to blame the woman?

Robusto

Those companies are desperate and feel they've tried everything else, perhaps.

Why not promote a woman in that case?

Cerberus

01:51

Haha.

Or a gay dwarf.

Robusto

Are there such creatures? I guess there must be.

Cerberus

Of course.

One out of every ten dwarves...

Hey, does English have a word like promille?

Robusto

That many? I think 10% is kind of a high estimate.

Cerberus

I don't think so?

Robusto

22 mins ago, by Robusto

@Cerberus Are you asking or telling?

Cerberus

01:53

Most estimates say around 10 % of the people are gay...but nobody knows for certain.

Robusto

@Cerberus In my experience, which is extensive (I have been in music and the arts for a long time), 10% seems way high.

Cerberus

@Robusto I'm sure you are familiar with this type of discourse.

@Robusto I think this is rather based on surveys and such.

Robusto

I'm familiar with it when it doesn't look awkward.

Cerberus

shrugs

Robusto

@Cerberus I usually see the range given as 5-10%. It depends on the area and cultural milieu. The Castro district in San Francisco seems to be pushing 90% (or more). But then you go to your average white-bread suburb and it drops way off.

Gay men flock to the cities, where they push the gay population way up in certain enclaves. But you go outside those places and it's much more dilute.

Not sure about lesbians. But I'd be surprised if that weren't also true of them.

Cerberus

01:58

Of course.

And there are tons of closet cases that you cannot identify.

Robusto

Not that I care. I tend to get on well with gay men, and enjoy the fact that they're more likely to be cultured and intelligent (for some reason) than the rest of the population.

Cerberus

I wonder whether that's actually statistically true...I think I once read that it was. Perhaps they are more eager to prove themselves in some way?

Robusto

@Cerberus But if they never come out of the closet, even to themselves, how may they be said to be gay? Hmm, I suppose it's possible. The "gay but doesn't know it" crowd.

Cerberus

There are those, but also the "knows but hides it".

I know many blokes my age who come out of the closet now.

And I'm sure many will follow over the years.

Robusto

That used to be more the case in my generation. The closet queen. Now there's just about no real reason to hide it.

Cerberus

02:00

And still many will remain in the closet.

A reason...however that may be, many still have a hard time accepting it, let alone tell people about it.

Robusto

Liberace famously won a court case against a publication that said he was gay.

Cerberus

Hah.

I think he a is a fashion designer?

Robusto

Aug 2 '12 at 18:40, by Robusto

He was a pianist.

Cerberus

Haha.

Robusto

And perhaps the most flamboyantly gay man who ever lived.

Cerberus

02:03

shrugs

Robusto

!!wiki Liberace

KitSox

Liberace

Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987), mononymously known as Liberace, was an American pianist and vocalist. A child prodigy, and the first generation son of working class immigrants, Liberace's career spanned four decades of concerts, recordings, motion pictures, television, and endorsements. At the height of his fame from 1950s to the 1970s Liberace was the highest-paid entertainer in the world, with established residencies in Las Vegas, and an international touring schedule. Liberace embraced a lifestyle of flamboyant excess both on and off stage, and acquired ...

Cerberus

Lovely.

Robusto

►

> This was the most Gaudiest and disgusting Queer to ever live !! Makes ya wanna throw up !!

God. YouTube comments . . .

Cerberus

Lovely.

Robusto

02:11

Ain't no rapper in the world could match him for bling, either.

Cerberus

Rappers are so gay.

Mahnax

@Robusto Interesting capitalization choices.

Cerberus

Haha.

Yes, very gay capitals.

n11

03:56

some questions are really weird i.imgur.com/OH3X1T7.png (I answered V)

Cerberus

04:59

@n11 That's kind of a funny question.

What is it for?

Is it a kind of Captcha?

Matt Эллен

08:07

0

Q: Is there or Are there?

Which is better ? which is grammatically correct ? Is there any news about my candidacy ? Or Are there any news about my candidacy ? Thanks

grammar differences american-english british-english

duplicate

12

Q: "The news is good." Why?

We use "the news is good" instead of "the news are good." What is the rationale behind this? Are there similar situations in English?

grammatical-number present-tense

@n11 you mean IV? flower is to flower pot as camera is to camera case

@Cerberus it's an interesting approach

if that's what it is

Matt Эллен

08:50

0

Q: Informal "Covered"

-=-=-==--==--=-=-==-= I am confused about the meaning of the third step in this list: link 1 "Whenever you sign in to Google you'll enter your username and password as usual. " 2 "Then, you'll be asked for a code that will be sent to you via text, voice call, or our mobile app. " ...

meaning grammar usage

troll user

skullpatrol

Sounds like a job for skull pa troll :D

On patrol for the skull of any trolls.

!!wiki troll internet

Matt Эллен

:D

KitSox

Troll (Internet)

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) 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 harassment. For example, mass med...

Noah

Apr 18 at 3:18, by xiaodongjie

@WillHunting you are a great guy. I sent you 100 kisses.

Why no body sends me anything like that.

Wondering if @Jasper will share the kisses with the community

Matt Эллен

09:10

I'm happy if Jasper keeps the kisses for himself

Noah

09:29

I am happy if I can be his shareholder.

Unless the kisses giver's mouth has awful smell.

skullpatrol

09:51

!!wiki kiss

KitSox

Kiss

A kiss is the pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, affection, respect, greeting, friendship, peace and good luck, among many others. In some situations a kiss is a ritual, formal or symbolic gesture indicating devotion, respect, or sacrament. The word came from Old English ' (“to kiss”), in turn from coss (“a kiss”). History Anthropologists are divided into two schools on the origins of kissing, one believing that it is instinctua...

Matt Эллен

!!wiki the kiss

KitSox

The Kiss

The Kiss may refer to: Art * The Kiss (Brâncuși sculpture), a 1908 sculpture by Constantin Brâncuși * The Kiss (Hayez painting), an 1859 painting by Francesco Hayez * The Kiss (Klimt painting), a 1907 golden painting by Gustav Klimt * The Kiss (Rodin sculpture), an 1889 sculpture by Auguste Rodin * V-J Day in Times Square, a 1945 photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt * Le baiser de l'hôtel de ville (The Kiss by the Hôtel de Ville or just The Kiss), a photograph by Robert Doisneau Film and television * The Kiss (1896 film), a 47-second film reenactment of the last scene of the stage musical Th...

Matt Эллен

V-J Day in Times Square

V-J Day in Times Square is a photograph by Alfred Eisenstaedt that portrays an American sailor kissing a woman in a white dress on Victory over Japan Day (V-J Day) in Times Square in New York City, on August 14, 1945. The photograph, taken with a Leica IIIa camera, was published a week later in Life magazine among many photographs of celebrations around the United States that were presented in a twelve-page section titled Victory Celebrations. A two-page spread faces three other kissing poses among celebrators in Washington, D.C., Kansas City, and Miami opposite Eisenstaedt's, which was...

skullpatrol

!!youtube kiss

KitSox

09:52