English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

tchrist

00:00

1

A: The difference between “We’ll ever be back to normal,” and “We’ll never be back to normal.”

Double negation is not an issue. What the mayor said was I don’t believe we’ll ever be back to normal There's only one negative in that sentence. And there's only one negative in this sentence, which he didn't say, but which means the same I believe we won’t ever be back to normal I'...

Cerberus

George Pompidou

they shouldn't have named all those little regions o blast; that's the problem with Russia.

Cerberus

Hah.

It is an ancient name, I believe.

George Pompidou

oh, blast.

Cerberus

At any rate, Donyetsk is now surrounded, as you see.

And they're trying to do the same thing with Lugansk.

George Pompidou

00:05

how about zgntskxsktsztsk

Cerberus

Those are the two most important cities, especially Donyetsk.

George Pompidou

how can the international community stop the Russians from being crazy?

Cerberus

Well, crazy...the Russians just do what they do.

The Ukrainian army is doing a good job, so far.

tchrist

@GeorgePompidou By illegalizing their vodka, duh.

George Pompidou

yeah yeah, you are going bald @tchrist.

tchrist

00:12

@GeorgePompidou That’s nice, dear. Have another crumpet.

Cerberus

But also:

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@RegDwigнt I went to the lego store today to get the research institute, ghostbusters, and exo-suit, and they were sold out of all of them.

Apparently the exo-suit sold out by 11am on Friday.

tchrist

@Cerberus What’s with the photos? Where are they of?

How to make a country for everybody.

George Pompidou

Ukranian cities.

they look almost… western.

pensive hippo

tchrist

How far will Vladimir Putin go to stave off a Ukrainian victory?

Cerberus

00:22

@tchrist Donetsk.

@GeorgePompidou In what way?

The buildings in the second picture are generic, they could be in any city on the planet.

George Pompidou

definitely not in any city.

ever been to Albania?

laughs heartily

tchrist

> The Americans are contributing “nonlethal” help in the form of intelligence, military advice and $20m worth of kit

My word, I never knew @Kit came so dear!

Cerberus

@tchrist My map is more recent!

tchrist

I was noticing that.

Where did you get it from?

Cerberus

@GeorgePompidou Tirana. The same kind of generic buildings.

@tchrist I followed a link from NRC.

tchrist

00:27

> Even more perilous will be the task of winkling the separatists out of their defensive positions in Donetsk and Luhansk, cities with a combined population of 1.5m. This will require some combination of street fighting and shelling, both certain to pile up the casualties.

> Wee Willie Winkie rins through the toon,
Up stairs an’ doon stairs in his nicht-gown,
Tirlin’ at the window, crying at the lock,
“Are the weans in their bed, for it’s now ten o’clock?”
“Hey, Willie Winkie, are ye comin’ ben?
The cat’s singin grey thrums to the sleepin hen,
The dog’s speldert on the floor and disna gie a cheep,
But here’s a waukrife laddie, that wunna fa’ asleep.”
Onything but sleep, you rogue, glow’ring like the moon,
Rattlin’ in an airn jug wi’ an airn spoon,
Rumblin’, tumblin’ roon about, crawin’ like a cock,

George Pompidou

that's Tirana. there are many places in Albania, all of eastern Europe, Africa, etc that are much more decrepit. and really, I was only joking about Donetsk looking "western." I know what Ukraine looks like.

I intended to convey a tone of sarcastic ignorance—not being aware of the rest of the world.

Cerberus

Hmm ahh.

Most of China also looks like that!

Ugly.

George Pompidou

some of China looks brilliant though.

Cerberus

Sure.

Local architecture is where it's at.

George Pompidou

if you ignore the smog.

Cerberus

00:30

If.

George Pompidou

that is the best city.

^.^

(I also like Hong Kong)

tchrist

@Cerberus I know you know that you have to pay royalties to Sparta for that response.

George Pompidou

sparta means broken in Romanian.

feminine though.

Cerberus

I see generic buildings...

KitFox

@tchrist And that's just for the intelligent, militaristic part of me.

George Pompidou

00:34

no! they are the best buildings.

architecture marvels.

Cerberus

Umm they could be anywhere.

George Pompidou

goes to do some things

Cerberus

@tchrist Their wit did not win them the culture war in the end.

tchrist

@GeorgePompidou Roma tomatoes are the best at imparting that special Cigány afterglow to your special sauce.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox Hey! I posted final photos of my lego restaurant on G+

KitFox

00:36

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 I will look. I am preparing for a big presentation tomorrow, though, so I will not look tonight.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox Ah. Good luck! Tomorrow is a holiday here.

KitFox

I don't remember an August holiday there.

Maybe I had already gone home.

St. Jean Baptiste Day is in Juin, innit?

tchrist

@Cerberus It’s a shame that that response dissuaded Philip from Sparta alone; Chaeronea was not pretty.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox yes, and only in Quebec. In Aug it's a provincial holiday, in Ontario it's officially called Simcoe Day, after the "founder" of Toronto, but everyone calls it the "Civic holiday"

Cerberus

01:04

@tchrist It did not help them in the end...

tchrist

No, nothing did.

I still think of Athens and Thebes losing so many young soldiers to Philip as a horrible tragedy. Yet he had the Philosopher teach his son.

Johan Larsson

01:31

How did the interview go?

Cerberus

Hi!

@tchrist Many cities have lost many good men...

tchrist

@JohanLarsson I talked to their CTO this morning, and he told me that he would direct HR to draft me an offer letter first thing tomorrow.

Johan Larsson

We were hiking & fishing this weekend

tchrist

That’s a very noble-looking friend you have there.

I wish I could hike.

In fact, I wish I could simply walk.

Johan Larsson

Something happened recently?

tchrist

01:37

A dog made a charge at little Lorin yesterday on the commons green, and I sprinted to intercept him. This is just not what I should have been doing with a torn meniscus. So this morning, I nearly couldn’t get out of bed.

Johan Larsson

no fun

Lorin is the cat?

tchrist

I seem to have torn my meniscus a few weeks ago, possibly on a hike that involved a twisted leg and severe fall on rocks.

Johan Larsson

Gps collar spoils the pic, just a phone pic so no biggie.

tchrist

Yes, Lorin is a little tiny but fiercesome kitty. A bit over 8 pounds. Orange tiger with long hair.

Johan Larsson

@tchrist great

tchrist

01:39

@JohanLarsson Oh I see. So that’s what that is. Why does he have it?

Also, that looks like you are at timberline. Or is that just an illusion?

Johan Larsson

@tchrist No reason this trip, too early to let them run free. I'm a geek so I like to collect data. They run ~150 km in a day when I let them.

tchrist

I so wish I could put those on my kitties. But they are too big.

Johan Larsson

@tchrist Yes ~850 m above sea, probably a lot lower than you are used to.

tchrist

@JohanLarsson Much.

Timberline here is at 11.5–12 kf.

Lorin is the orange guy:

Johan Larsson

#snake

George Pompidou

01:43

listens to NPR about how corporations are getting more people's rights

tchrist

@JohanLarsson Garter snake.

Johan Larsson

@tchrist In the far north of Sweden the timberline is ~500 m.

Cerberus

Cute.

George Pompidou

gets egged on to be fussy about America

tchrist

@JohanLarsson Very low, but makes sense.

Cerberus

01:44

And I like your floor.

George Pompidou

it is very nice floor. I agree.

tchrist

Thanks.

George Pompidou

I have to deal with carpet here at school and it's ruining my life.

tchrist

The Deerhunter.

Cerberus

Nice.

Johan Larsson

01:46

Big ears

tchrist

Mule ears.

Mule deer.

They are rather large. The bucks normally weigh around 200 pounds, but can be up to 300.

Oh, Wiki says the biggest one on record is like 460 pounds. That was more than I realized.

> Although capable of running, mule deer are often seen stotting (also called pronking), with all four feet coming down together.

There’s some new words for ya.

Johan Larsson

:)

tchrist

@Cerb That one’s Dutch!

> Stot is a common Scots and Geordie verb meaning "bounce" or "walk with a bounce." Uses in this sense include stotting a ball off a wall, and rain stotting off a pavement. Pronking comes from the Afrikaans verb pronk-, which means "show off" or "strut", and is a cognate of the English verb "prance".

I thought it was named for the pronghorns, which do this as well.

Shows what I don’t know.

> Stotting occurs in several deer species of North America, including mule deer and pronghorn, Columbian black-tailed deer when a predator is particularly threatening, and in a variety of ungulate species from Africa, including Thomson's Gazelle and Springbok.

A pronghorn is not a “deer species”!!!!!

FFS

It’s an antilocaprid, not a cervid. Wikipeople are so dumb sometimes.

Johan Larsson

in Lounge<C++> on Stack Overflow Chat, 7 mins ago, by Borgleader

tchrist

That’s terrible.

Can you imagine that sign posted at the Englischer Garten in Munich?

Johan Larsson

01:55

I think it is shopped

tchrist

I should hope so.

Cerberus

@tchrist Springbok is Dutch too.

tchrist

@Cerberus Well sure.

Cerberus

@JohanLarsson That is wise, but...it is not our coat of arms.

tchrist

I didn’t think it was just the primaveral version of Starbucks.

It makes as much sense to call a pronghorn a deer as to call it a cow.

Cerberus

02:00

@JohanLarsson Those are the arms of the city of Haarlem.

I had to Google it.

tchrist

The families in that (sub)order are Cervidae (deer), Giraffidae (giraffe, okapi), Antilocapridae (pronghorn), Moschidae (musk deer), and Bovidae (cattle, goats, sheep, and antelopes).

I nominate the pronghorn for giraffedom. Why settle for small potatoes?

George Pompidou

right?

hates small potatoes

so hard to peel and make into french fries…

Cerberus

Cut them up and fry them without peeling them.

George Pompidou

I do. I meant that as two separate scenarios—I peel them if I need mashed potatoes.

but still they are too tiny. I like medium-sized potatoes.

Cerberus

Sure.

George Pompidou

02:05

I'd prefer big ones if I didn't sense something suspicious about them.

any remote idea of where this may be?

tchrist

@GeorgePompidou The Twins.

George Pompidou

that's not a place, Tom, we are looking for a place here.

tchrist

@GeorgePompidou Why? You’re stripping them of important nutrients.

George Pompidou

because I don't like how the skin looks in my mashed potatoes. it doesn't let them get mashed right.

tchrist

Nonsense.

George Pompidou

02:12

hm… maybe I'll try leaving it sometime.

I've actually not tried doing it myself before.

tchrist

-1

A: Is it correct to mix past, present and future tense in a sentence?

i would love to sentences past future and past

You may be on to something here, Andrew. — tchrist 3 mins ago

George Pompidou

sometimes I just don't think it's worth wasting my precious downvotes.

tchrist

I love the first one, which was terminated by AL with Extreme Prejudice.

Actually, with none at all, but it sounded better that way.

@GeorgePompidou “Wasting”? You get them back.

George Pompidou

but I lose a little point

tchrist

No, you don’t. Not for long. It, too, grows back.

George Pompidou

02:17

I suppose.

tchrist

You are failing to understand.

That post is marked for death.

At which point, all your little thingamawidgets regenerate.

George Pompidou

really?!

Cerberus

@GeorgePompidou Chenonceau.

tchrist

Duh.

George Pompidou

@Cerberus yes! thank you.

good good man.

Cerberus

02:18

It is quite nice.

George Pompidou

I was there when I was very little with my father.

and since I am not talking with my father now I couldn't ask him what it's called.

Cerberus

For the record, I wasn't looking anything up while I was away, I knew it immediately I saw it!

tchrist

Chez Nun’s Eau.

@Cerberus Looks like you still a word out.

Cerberus

> b. as conj. (ellipt. for immediately that). The moment that; as soon as. Cf. directly 6b.
1839 A. Gray Lett. I. 28 Immediately this was done I completed an arrangement with my publishers. 1856 Q. Rev. June 182 Immediately they came upon the ground, fourteen of them were netted. 1896 Welton Manual of Logic (ed. 2) ii. iii. §90 The diagrams+should be self-interpreting immediately the principle on which they are constructed is understood.

tchrist

Dead.

Cerberus

02:20

Immortal, I prefer to call myself.

Why do you feel it is necessary to point that out?

tchrist

Et sepultus es.

Cerberus

@GeorgePompidou Hmm why not?

George Pompidou

it just happens sometimes. my father is a tough guy to get along with.

Cerberus

If I would have used a living construction, I should have done so.

tchrist

Gee, like I wonder where he gets that from!

Cerberus

02:22

Look who's talking.

tchrist

@Cerberus You indeed should have.

@Cerberus My father is dead.

Cerberus

Not that.

And those would and should were also meant to be read in the old-fashioned way.

tchrist

@Cerberus You must be talking to somebody who didn’t apprehend that.

Cerberus

Then your reaction contradicts your earlier sentiment!

tchrist

Nope.

I just hadn’t thrown open the sepulchre yet.

Cerberus

02:25

Unwise in my presence.

George Pompidou

02:37

the twilight sepulcher

plays skyrim

Cerberus

Is it fun?

The only thing I didn't like about Oblivion was the combat.

And that is rather important.

tchrist

the midnight sepulchest

tchrist

03:49

skullpatrol

Did a half-bright twelve year old draw that?

George Pompidou

05:44

I think that in the realm of syrups, maple is a good thing.

wassup

07:13

Hi

Which is more correct: "keep as many features disabled as possible" or "keep as many features as possible disabled"?

Chris's sis

Greetings

I've just been struck by a simple question. What is the correct way? a) It looks nice, doesn't it? b) It looks nice, isn't it?

On google, b) has some more results.

wassup

I think the first one is grammatically correct :)

Chris's sis

@wassup I think the same too. However I'd like to know if I can use the second variant too.

Matt Эллен

07:40

@wassup they're both fine.

@Chris'ssis b) is not the normal way of saying it in the UK or the USA. a) is the normal way of saying it.

Chris's sis

@MattЭллен OK. Thank you.

Matt Эллен

no probs :)

wassup

@Ma

@MattЭллен Maybe one of them is prettier stylistically?

Matt Эллен

@wassup a) is idiomatic. b) is not. b) is technically grammatical, but it is not how people speak where English is the main first language. It sounds like something someone who is a non-native speaker would say.

ha! so many errors

wassup

08:06

@MattЭллен Ok, thanks :D

Matt Эллен

no probs :)

Matt Эллен

09:26

the very definitions of splitting hairs:

@RegDwigнt: I'm trying to give a name prefix to a group of functions. No variables here. — joe 4 mins ago

RegDwigнt

Yeah that's the exact wording I used.

Not to mention that for 7 out of 8 definitions of variable, a function name is a variable.

So it's actually splitting air.

Matt Эллен

:D

RegDwigнt

Change of subject: Why would anyone want to keep as many disabled features as possible?

And how are they features, then?

Matt Эллен

That question crossed my mind, but then I had to log in, so I forgot it

RegDwigнt

The features of this chat include editing, starring, inboxing, launching rockets to Jupiter, genetically engineering daffodils, and bobbin lacemaking. Some of them are disabled, though. And we always try to disable as many more as possible.

Matt Эллен

09:39

@wassup on rereading our exchange, I see that I've replied to you thinking I was replying to Chris's sis. Sorry. As to your question about style, in this particular instance neither one is better stylistically.

@RegDwigнt I've just disabled the trebuchet for launching armdillos

RegDwigнt

Noooooooooo. Now I have to make do with launching legdillos...

Matt Эллен

if we reinforce the current trebuchet, it could be used for launching armoiredillos

We have disabled seating due to budgetary constraints. There is still disabled seating.

skullpatrol

Is there a word for a studio audience that gets paid to be there?

Matt Эллен

not a single word. not that I'm aware of

you could call it an audience of shills

although, that might not be true

"Filmed before a bribed studio audience"

skullpatrol

Ok, so a studio audience need not be employed by the studio, right?

Unless you specifically say a paid studio audience.

Matt Эллен

09:57

yeah

skullpatrol

Thanks :-)

Matt Эллен

no probs :)

kwak

@tchrist The exposure therapy

Exposure therapy

Exposure therapy is a technique in behavior therapy intended to treat anxiety disorders. It involves the exposure of the patient to the feared object or context without any danger, in order to overcome their anxiety. Procedurally it is similar to the fear extinction paradigm in rodent work. Numerous studies have demonstrated its effectiveness in the treatment of anxiety disorders such as PTSD and specific phobias. Exposure-based therapy may be effective in preventing the progression from acute stress disorder to post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a report in the June 2008 issue of Archives...

exposure to smoke without any danger is hard however...

water vapor maybe, a tiny candle

but not a cigar[ette]

I see smokers quite frequently too, this is a well spread disease here in France

It's going better, I don't go too mad, and puke now

I'll take a candle and smell that shit, even if there are dangerous compounds, but not cigarettes, it's too toxic

skullpatrol

10:17

How are your side effects from your medication?

skullpatrol

10:28

@kwak

wassup

@MattЭллен So how would you say it? :)

Matt Эллен

@wassup depends on what I thought of at the time :) I don't prefer one or the other.

wassup

@MattЭллен "to keep as many features disabled as possible" - means to keep features disabled in number that was as high as possible.

@MattЭллен I don't know if that makes sense :D

Matt Эллен

It is an intelligible sentence. Although I'm not sure why you'd disable as many things as possible

skullpatrol

Stream line?

Matt Эллен

10:37

perhaps

wassup

@MattЭллен Well, that's not the issue I'm facing here.

@MattЭллен That's a really long story.

Matt Эллен

fair enough :)

wassup

@MattЭллен I just wanted to know if this sentence could be written in a better way.

Matt Эллен

it is fine as it is.

wassup

@MattЭллен Because it sounded kind of weird to me.

@MattЭллен Ok, so the first option is better?

Matt Эллен

10:39

@wassup as I said: neither is better.

they are both equally good

skullpatrol

Both sound good to me too.

wassup

Ok, thanks guys :D

skullpatrol

Thanks for asking :-)

Robusto

11:57

> However ; Standard & Description for step 5 dosn not displayed multi standard with its Description

What happens when pineapples invade QA. ^

Matt Эллен

12:09

ouch

Robusto

I wonder in what language "dosn" is a word.

Johan Larsson

Maybe Czech?

Robusto

12:26

Six of one, half a dosn of the other.

skullpatrol

I say 3+3 of one and 12/2 of the other :D

Robusto

that dosn not displayed difference

skullpatrol

Ok, how bout 8 - 2 of one?

Robusto

@MattЭллен So the BBC mystery series Endeavour portrays Oxford as some sort of den of iniquity. At least one murder per week while the series is running.

That was their mistake. The crime rate would go down if they were to cancel the series.

Usually it's like 2-3 murders per episode.

Matt Эллен

such is the desire for ratings

we're all given knives and told what people really think of us

Robusto

12:35

How can you sleep at night with so many murders?

Matt Эллен

my front door is electrified

skullpatrol

What is the actual crime rate?

Robusto

What if they come in the back?

skullpatrol

Is Oxford safer than Cambridge?

Matt Эллен

@skullpatrol difficult to know.

@skullpatrol the page that has stats 404d on me

@Robusto trapdoor

skullpatrol

12:39

Maybe they don't want the public to know

Matt Эллен

maybe. I'm gonna put it down to civil servant incompetence

Robusto

@MattЭллен They even murdered the stats page! OH NOES!

Matt Эллен

@Robusto RUN FOR THE HILLS

skullpatrol

:-O

runs

Robusto

And you thought you were doing well to keep out of Birmingham and Manchester. Who knew they'd come for you in Oxford?

skullpatrol

12:42

Cambridge has the larger population, right?

Matt Эллен

Oxford has more people in it, by about 25K.

(2011 census)

skullpatrol

Orly? interesting...

...I always thought it was the other way.

Robusto

Macbeth doth murder stats pages . . .

Matt Эллен

dosn he just.

RegDwigнt

13:19

@Robusto I've seen documentation by native speakers that was far worse. In fact, there is no way to tell yours wasn't written by a native speaker, other than knowing the person who wrote it in person.

KitFox

1

Q: What is a word to describe the state of singularity?

When we have reached as far back into some history as we can theoretically go, like for instance in describing the precise theoretical moment when time began we have reached a singularity. Is there a word to describe that state? It seems like the obvious answer is 'singular'. To us it in a se...

RegDwigнt

And pretty much the only grammatical posts on Reddit are those by Czechs.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt Well . . . in corner cases, maybe.

KitFox

I asked him to provide a second example, and he did.

I think the question is clearer now.

RegDwigнt

Even Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges can't write their way out of a paper bag.

Quite terrifying.

Robusto

13:22

@RegDwigнt That's just, like, your opinion, man.

Someone just said something was impordant. I wonder if that's a regionalism.

RegDwigнt

Perhaps he just has a cold.

Robusto

Nope. No other signs off lingual difficulty.

Southerners often say it. Al Gore says impordant.

But this guy doesn't have a Southern accent.

This guy:

►

RegDwigнt

Blowing his cover. It's a bingo.

Also, the video is titled "PORTLAND OR" but it never explains or what. Such a letdown!

Robusto

And YouTube comments are still YouTube comments. Even on serious topics that are unrelated to cat videos.

RegDwigнt

I think I will just go with or Prague.

@Robusto lol your fag.

skullpatrol

13:27

:-)

RegDwigнt

If anything they are getting worse, because every other comment these days is some Google+ shit someone posted on his Google+ shit in a completely different context so it makes no sense whatsoever without that context.

Back in the day, it would be "your fag!!!" — "no U!!!". It wasn't spectacular conversation, but it was conversation. These days it's just "no U!!!! via +Thomas Giles".

RegDwigнt

13:41

I am not familiar with that meme.

Or did he mean to say "image" rather than "meme"?

skullpatrol

the "image"

Matt Эллен

I don't see you / chop off an old man's feet / put them in a mason jar / and pickle them

I don't always make non-sequiturs. I'm sure that I could get higher if I tried.

RegDwigнt

skullpatrol

hockey?

RegDwigнt

Can someone explain to me in most simple terms the point of watching an ice hockey game from OVER 9000 feet away?

And paying for the privilege?

skullpatrol

13:47

fanaticism

RegDwigнt

What is the point of fanaticism if you can't even tell from the distance who you are a fan of?

You really can't see individual humans, much less the puck.

skullpatrol

they are too drunk to care

Matt Эллен

fanaticism isn't logical. it's fanatical.

skullpatrol

that^ too :-)

RegDwigнt

So if you're a really huge fan of ManU, I can get you to pay a hundred pounds to watch the wall in my office for two hours? Damn, I did not know that! So many wasted opportunities.

Matt Эллен

13:51

if you can convince them that it will help ManU, probably

RegDwigнt

Nonono, I mean to say they are actually watching a game.

In much higher resolution than would be possible in that stadium, too.

Matt Эллен

sounds possible

you have to convince a group of them, I would think

skullpatrol

first get them too drunk to tell the difference

RegDwigнt

Oh, more money? Damn I could have been rich by now.

@skullpatrol there are 105000 people in that image alone who can't even tell the difference between being able to tell the difference and not being able to tell the difference.

So sounds doable.

skullpatrol

Go for it :)

Transcript for

English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…