English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Cerberus

00:00

@Robusto Rest assured, I am doing neither.

Completely sober and unproductive.

Robusto

Nicht zu allem bereit?

Sondern hast du eine Ausrede parat?

Cerberus

Nein.

tchrist

If Scotland chooses to leave Britain, how are they going to haul their part of the Isle away from the rest of it?

Cerberus

Ich sollte mehr trinken, wie du sagst.

tchrist

@Cerberus It isn’t even dark yet!

Cerberus

00:03

@tchrist Broaden the ditch below Hadrian's Wall.

@tchrist No?

Then what is that gloom outside?

Robusto

In Scotland, it's called gloaming.

tchrist

Maybe they can hire Panama to build a canal for them.

Robusto

@Cerberus That's actually pretty far into English territory, IIRC.

Cerberus

They should hire Suez.

@Robusto The Antonine Wall, then.

Robusto

That's all the way in Scotland.

Cerberus

00:07

Well, someone has to give.

tchrist

They could get Ossë to do it. Well, or maybe not: last time he tried he messed up and Ireland broke off. Better to enlist Ulmo and do it right this time.

Robusto

Sep 12 at 13:58, by Robusto

Hey, let Scotland go. Find out how much they like being Northern Ireland with better whisky.

tchrist

I think they should just grab up Nova Scotia and New Caledonia and band those all together to make a new country.

But then the Queen might want New England back.

Cerberus

Ossë...he of the wind? I forgot.

tchrist

Oh wait, the Queen said she doesn’t give a flip, since she still gets to be Queen.

Cerberus

00:11

Yup.

tchrist

> Tol Eressea was drawn again east and anchored off the coasts of the Great Lands (at the geographical position of England), where the Lost Elves rose against the servants of Melko. When Osse attempted to drag the island back to the West, the western half broke off, forming the Isle of Iverin (Ireland).

Cerberus

Poor Mr Shiny.

Robusto

But she'll have to give part of her throne back.

tchrist

> Ossë guarded the waters around Middle-earth and islands, and did not go into the deep places of the Sea. Uinen was his spouse, and he was a friend of Círdan the Shipwright.

In the early days of Arda, Ossë turned to Melkor for a time, but Uinen brought him back to the loyalty of the Ulmo. However, Ossë's wild and wilful nature was still evident; he delighted in and enjoyed making dangerous Sea storms.

Ossë was a friend of the Sindar, a kindred of Elves who lived by the shores of the Sea in Beleriand, and was respected as much as the Valar by them.

Cerberus

Ah, so the wind it is.

Robusto

00:13

Also, they'll have to give back the red X in their flag.

Cerberus

What was the Doom of the Noldor, and why did they want to sail to Valinor?

And what is this talk about Tol Eressea being England??

tchrist

It is the original conception.

From the Book of Lost Tales.

> In early versions of Tolkien's legendarium, the island was later visited by Ælfwine (or Eriol), an Anglo-Saxon from the early Middle Ages, which provided a framework for the tales that later became The Silmarillion.

Most of The Book of Lost Tales Part One occurs on Tol Eressëa. The island played a significant role in those early conflicting and revised versions, as the homeland of the Noldorin exiles. From those stories, Christopher Tolkien provided a comparative summary of its story: After the war between the Eldar and the Enemy in the Great Lands (i.e. Middle-earth), Eressea is the des…

He abandoned that path.

But he still named its easternmost city Avalon.

Remember, his original intent, which he relinquished yet in a way succeeded, was to reconstruct a mythology of England.

That’s why there are all these old echoes of fairytale themes throughout.

Cerberus

@tchrist Thankfully.

tchrist

In The Hobbit, he interwove it with Norse legends, since Beowulf perforce recounts stories of the Danes, not of the Celtic substrate in Britain Greater and Lesser.

Cerberus

@tchrist Ahh now that you mention it...where is it located?

tchrist

00:23

> Avallónë was a city and seaport on the island of Tol Eressëa. Its name indicated that it was the city nearest to Valinor and the tower of Avallónë was the first sight that a mariner beheld as he approached the Undying Lands. Besides its tower the city was described as white-shining with a great harbor.[2]
[edit] History

After the War of Wrath and the downfall of Morgoth the Valar summoned the Eldar to return to the West. Not all obeyed this new summons but those who did dwelt on Tol Eressëa.

Cerberus

Ah, that.

I remember thinking of Aval(l)on when I first read that and shivering.

tchrist

His original ideas from his teens and twenties were different than what he came to later create.

Cerberus

Mythologies should not be mixed so blatantly.

tchrist

He removed the names, and of course anything like religion.

Cerberus

Was there more religion in the earlier versions? Christian?

tchrist

00:24

He wanted it to stand on its own. But clearly he drew on the ancient tales of the North.

Well, that’s an old thing. It is a Christian tale. You just do not notice it. He thought it wrong to have matching names or themes that were intentional allegory. He absolutely hated Narnia.

Cerberus

@tchrist Clearly. Hence "not so blatantly".

tchrist

But the morals and values are not merely Christian ones but indeed Catholic ones.

This strange idea that divorce couldn’t happen, stuff like that.

Cerberus

@tchrist Of course, it was always obvious, the Christian subtext. But did you mean to say it was once more explicitly Christian?

tchrist

But he needed to have blood-feuds in the Noldor based on half-brother kin, and this was very tricky to arrange.

Cerberus

He hated Narnia? I didn't know that.

Is there a notion that divorce cannot happen in the Lord of the Rings, any more so than in the epic genre as such?

tchrist

00:28

So he had to find a way to allow Finwe to remarry, even though that shouldn’t have been allowed.

Cerberus

I had no idea.

tchrist

No, it is because Elves mate for life.

Cerberus

Well, all the noble people in epics marry for life.

tchrist

And this transcends temporary discorporation.

Cerberus

Discorporation?

The temporary removal of one's body?

tchrist

00:30

So when Fëanor’s mother died for lack of energy and went to Mandos, she refused reembodiment because she said she had had enough of all that crap. And Finwe was unhappy because he wanted to have a wife.

So they made a special rule that he was allowed to remarry only because his first wife chose to stay “dead”.

Cerberus

Oh.

tchrist

But then he was killed by Melkor, and they met again in Mandos.

Cerberus

But do elves always return to their spouses after they are disembodied?

tchrist

YES!

Cerberus

Not only in Valinor?

tchrist

00:31

The bond is not broken by temporary loss of body.

I don‘t understand.

Cerberus

So all the married elves killed in Beleriand returned thither in short order?

tchrist

Oh no.

Cerberus

So only in Valinor did this happen?

tchrist

They were not allowed to go back to Middle Earth.

Or at least, most of them weren’t.

Cerberus

I remember Glorfindel returned to Middle Earth after dying.

tchrist

00:32

Yes, he was the exception.

He had been tasked with guarding Eärendil’s family, but he fell to the Balrog.

Cerberus

A confusing and fairly unexplained order of business, this dying.

tchrist

And then Eärendil had twin sons, one of whom remained in Middle Earth, Elrond.

And he had never seen the Light of the Trees himself, nor dwelt in Aman.

Cerberus

Elros died the mortal death.

tchrist

So they sent back Glorfindel to help continue his mission of guarding Eärendil’s family.

But no, if they were re-embodied, they were not allowed to re-rebel.

Cerberus

Why didn't they send Eärendil back?

Rebel?

tchrist

00:35

They send him back every night.

Eärendil bears on high the shining perfect light from before it was poisoned by Ungoliant. The Sun and the Moon are tarnished/sullied/dirtied/stained light.

By the Silmaril borne by Eärendil is from before the Trees’ demise, so it is unblemished and pure.

Every night he traverses the sky as a beacon of hope.

Cerberus

Still, that is not good enough.

tchrist

And now and then he does other important things, like slaying Ancalagon the Black.

He also guards the Door of Night, that Melkor does not slip back into the world. That is a very important thing.

Cerberus

Why didn't they send a Vala to do that job?

tchrist

Good enough? What would be good enough? The Powers sent the Istari and Glorfindel. They did not directly oppose Sauron power with power.

You would think that Tulkas could have wrestled Sauron out of the Dark Tower as ages before he had enchained Melkor.

I believe it was because they were trying to withdraw from the world to let it run itself, not to intervene so directly.

It is irksome that even when they withdrew their guardianship and Ilúvatar destroyed Númenór, that Sauron escaped that destruction.

Perhaps he was a secret stowaway in one of Elendil’s seven tall ships.

Cerberus

@tchrist Yes, so what they had Eärendil do was apparently not good enough to protect his offspring, is what I meant.

tchrist

00:44

The angels sent by the Valar only showed their divine nature when confronting daemons.

What Eärendil did was talk the Valar into themselves coming to Middle Earth and defeating Melkor once and for all.

Cerberus

@tchrist Yes, the same annoying "paradox" as in the monotheist religions.

tchrist

You mean as in the other monotheist religions.

This was the same one.

Cerberus

The Valar need talking to in order to comprehend such basic needs.

tchrist

No, it was not comprehension.

They were angry with the Noldor for leaving when they were told not to.

They told Fëanor that Melkor was their problem not his, and that they would deal with him.

Cerberus

Well, in Tolkien's tale the Valar fulfil the relevant function that God does in Christianity, needing prayers to tell him what to do.

tchrist

00:46

Fëanor said fuck you and swore a terrible oath.

So they turned their backs on all that he and his did when they returned to Middle Earth.

Cerberus

They hold millions of people responsible for what one person did. People many of whom were not related to Feänor in the blood.

tchrist

To show the stupid Noldor that they could never prevail against an actual Vala.

No, the Valar are not a replacement for the God of Christianity.

They are archangels if you would. The Allfather is God.

Cerberus

> function

tchrist

What do you think Ilúvatar means, anyway? :)

Cerberus

What is the expression again, the alternative to "related by blood"?

tchrist

00:49

I believe that Tolkien had more explicit worship of the One.

Cerberus

Related in the blood sounds wrong.

tchrist

kith and kin

Cerberus

But there is something with the blood.

There is a prince of the blood, but that is different.

tchrist

Oen of the wicked things that Sauron did in Númenór was profane the Temple of Eru and have them start worshipping Morgoth instead.

Cerberus

Very Biblical.

tchrist

00:50

I do not know the blood-term you are thinking of.

It was story elements like that which Tolkien held apart from the Lord of the Rings, so that it was not too obviously Christian. He wanted it to be what it was without needing crutches.

There are only three places that I can recall which he left in there.

First, Faramir’s silent prayer, his way of saying grace before a meal so to speak.

And then when Mithrandir set the crown of the High King upon Aragorn, he invoked a blessing of the Valar.

The third is subtextual. You have to read something that he did not write, but he did.

Cerberus

Yes, the blatant Christianity I first experienced reading the Silmarillion.

tchrist

The Fellowship departed Rivendell on December the 25th.

Cerberus

Ugh.

tchrist

The Dark Tower fell on Easter Sunday.

See, you didn’t even notice.

> And before the Sun had fallen far from the noon out of the East there came a great Eagle flying, and he bore tidings beyond hope
from the Lords of the West, crying:
Sing now, ye people of the Tower of Anor, for the Realm of Sauron is ended for ever, and the
Dark Tower is thrown down.
Sing and rejoice, ye people of the Tower of Guard, for your watch hath not been in vain, and the Black Gate is broken, and your King hath passed through, and he is victorious.
Sing and be glad, all ye children of the West, for your King shall come again, and he shall dwell among you all the days of your

That is straight out of the Psalms.

He does not say which realm is ended, or which king has been victorious. It is all symbolic.

Cerberus

@tchrist Because I have a hard time remember what day Christmas is on, let alone Easter.

tchrist

00:56

King passed through what?

Christ passed through death and spent three days in Hell, and then broke the black gate of death forever.

That is the symbolism.

Cerberus

Yes, the King that comes again is blatant all right.

tchrist

Oh, the King that comes again happens in innumerable tales.

It is the whole Black Gate thing and more than anything, the style of the Psalms.

There are other very subtle things. Like Aragorn telling Boromir upon his death that he had gained a great victory.

Cerberus

I was not brought up with religious texts.

I only know some stuff about it as an historian, and often not with pleasure.

tchrist

> Many Orcs lay slain, piled all about him and at his feet.
Aragorn knelt beside him.
Boromir opened his eyes and strove to speak.
At last slow words came.
'I tried to take the Ring from Frodo ' he said.
'I am sorry.
I have paid.'
His glance strayed to his fallen enemies; twenty at least lay there.
'They have gone: the Halflings: the Orcs have taken them.
I think they are not dead.
Orcs bound them.'
He paused and his eyes closed wearily.
After a moment he spoke again.
'Farewell, Aragorn!
Go to Minas Tirith and save my people!

So he said: No! You have conquered. Few have gained such a victory.

Cerberus

> Throne Oration to be Recorded for and Broadcast to the Oculus Rift

That's funny.

The monarchy is always so modern.

tchrist

01:03

ER2 does have a cell phone, you know.

Cerberus

What?

tchrist

She does.

Cerberus

Oh, Elizabeth?

tchrist

She makes sure she is never seen in public using it.

Cerberus

I'm not talking about the islanders.

tchrist

01:03

Oh.

Cerberus

Our Queen used to make sure she was never seen in public smoking.

It was a public secret.

Often parodied, of course.

tchrist

> The U.S. ambassador to Britain has told Tatler magazine that Britain's Queen Elizabeth II finds the obsession with mobile phone images a bit disconcerting. The monarch expressed her dismay to Matthew Barzun, who spoke with her when presenting his credentials as America's representative.

The magazine quoted Barzun as saying "she was essentially saying, 'I miss eye contact.' "

Some members of the royal family have posed for selfies with the public. The queen's most famous brush with cell-phone images was at the Commonwealth Games this summer, when she accidently "photo-bombed" - popped up…

Obama has made sure he is never caught smoking.

I think I’ll side with Elizabeth on this one.

telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/queen-elizabeth-II/11069153/…

> The Queen has had a mobile phone since 2001, when the Duke of York gave her one as a gift. He showed her how to use it and saved the numbers of other members of the Royal family in its memory. While she has never used the phone in public it is understood that she uses it to make calls when she is outdoors at Balmoral and Sandringham.

The Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry have taught her how to send and receive text messages.

However, the Queen does not have much patience for people whose mobiles ring at inappropriate times.

Well, duh.

Who would?

Boulder has just had its 6th homeless death of the current year, and we haven’t even hit fall yet.

Age 53, female. Cause of death: alcohol poisoning/overdose.

I don’t know why they don’t just call it for what it is, a drug overdose. Instead they call it alcohol poisoning.

Robusto

01:32

Ironweed (film)

Ironweed is a 1987 American drama film directed by Héctor Babenco. It is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning homonymous novel by William Kennedy, who also wrote the screenplay. It stars Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep, with Carroll Baker, Michael O'Keefe, Diane Venora, Fred Gwynne, Nathan Lane, and Tom Waits in supporting roles. The story concerns the relationship of a homeless couple: Francis, an alcoholic, and Helen, a terminally ill woman during the Great Depression. Major portions of the film were shot on location in Albany, New York, including Jay Street at Lark Street, Albany Rural Cemetery...

Ice Boy

02:43

sigh

20-20 in the 4th quarter let's go eagles that +3 is coming in handy now

Alraxite

04:55

Sorry, was testing something.

hey

05:10

What does suit means in cards. It is mention in one of my maths problem.

Ice Boy

@tchrist they don't call it a "drug" overdose because alcohol is not classified as an "illegal drug." But yes, the end result is the same.

@hey hearts, diamonds, clubs, or spades.

Google for images.

hey

@IceBoy thanks

RutvikSutaria

06:56

4

A: What chemical is responsible for making marker ink permanent?

Basically, ink is a liquid or paste made up of pigments or dyes that is used to color a surface to create printed words or pictures. Modern inks are often made of complex combinations of various chemicals, including solvents, pigments, dyes, resins and other materials. (From here) The c...

It is locked, lol

hey

I thought we do not need to mention source if we merge stuff from different places.

I got private message from moderator regarding this!

Matt Эллен

07:58

If you are citing a source, you must always reference the source.

Matt Эллен

08:20

room topic changed to English Language & Usage: Filmed in front of a live studio audience (no tags)

Johan Larsson

svengelska

Will Hunting

Have you ever come across a book with a page that was not printed at all? I have.

That book cost over 200 USD, which made it all the more ridiculous.

Matt Эллен

@WillHunting I've read eBooks, none of those pages were printed :D

Will Hunting

@MattЭллен So funny, lol.

Matt Эллен

:D

Will Hunting

08:32

There is something curious about amazon. It can say "in stock" and deliver the item only after many days, or it can say "only 1 left" and deliver it immediately. I guess when they deliver and how many left are 2 different concepts.

Matt Эллен

aye

Will Hunting

amazon.com has more books and cheaper books than amazon.co.uk

That is one advantage US has over UK.

Matt Эллен

interesting. I wonder why that is

Will Hunting

At least, it seems to me so for the math books.

Oh, I have finally finalised my reading list for next year.

I will study 12 books. They cost me about 1000 USD. Very expensive.

Matt Эллен

yes. that's a lot of money

Will Hunting

08:40

If I take 1 month to read 1 book, I can finish them in a year.

Matt Эллен

true

Will Hunting

If I take 2 months to read 1 book, I can finish 6 in a year.

And 6 is all I need to take the GRE.

The rest is for the exams later on which can wait.

Matt Эллен

You're good at this maths thing, eh? ;)

Will Hunting

I have forgotten most of the math I learnt. I also did not learn much in uni.

So this self-study can be said to be the first time I am truly studying math.

Matt Эллен

should be enjoyable

Will Hunting

08:45

Not going to Cambridge is one of the biggest regrets in my life.

If I did not go mad, there was a chance I could have gone there to study.

It has possibly the most comprehensive 3 year course in the world.

There is another amazing thing about amazon.

The hardcover CALD with CDROM costs less than the hardcover CALD without CDROM, lol.

So I pay more to get less?

Matt Эллен

10:16

that is surprising

Robusto

@IceBoy It's a push.

Will Hunting

10:49

I am trying to look for a really good treatise on punctuation. Any suggestions?

amazon.com/Students-Introduction-English-Grammar/dp/0521612888/…

That is much more accessible than CGEL.

Robusto

11:13

I don't read treatises on punctuation, sorry.

RegDwigнt

What a tritease.

Matt Эллен

...???!!;',,,,,,!"

that's all I have to say on the subject

RegDwigнt

I would pay substantial amounts of tögrögs to hear you say that.

Matt Эллен

:D

tchrist

@Robusto The first was dim, the second dimmer: I will not read their silly primer!

Robusto

11:19

My point(s) exactly.

tchrist

I just got a badge for taking the piss out of somebody.

Cerberus

Well, well.

RegDwigнt

I'm not seeing it on ELU or SO.

And I'm not interested in your activity on Cardboard Games.

Cerberus

Maybe cardboard games a lot of fun.

They could be the alot of fun.

Matt Эллен

cardboard games are a lot of fun

RegDwigнt

11:30

Maybe you verb.

Robusto

@tchrist There's a catheter badge now?

RegDwigнt

Yes, but it's called a fancier non-saying name.

Impercubatoration or something like that.

Robusto

Hardly fancier than catheter.

RegDwigнt

You're hardly fancier than catheter.

Robusto

I am heartily fancier than catheter.

Cerberus

11:50

Card games are fun.

Board games are fun.

But cardboard games?

Robusto

They are funfun.

Or unfun.

Cerberus

Alot.

Ice Boy

What is a cardboard game?

A game played with both cards and a board?

Sorry, I need an example.

Cerberus

I wish I knew.

Ice Boy

Have you ever played monopoly?

RegDwigнt

12:05

You don't play monopoly. Monopoly is serious business.

Matt Эллен

> (I expect an explanation)

Ice Boy

Yes, having a monopoly is very serious business.

Matt Эллен

orly?

Ice Boy

Eton has a monopoly.

RegDwigнt

I have a monopoly on monopolies.

Matt Эллен

12:12

noöne has a monopoly on monopoles

RegDwigнt

Lies. Noöne ain't got shit.

Ice Boy

I have a oligopoly :-)

Matt Эллен

@RegDwigнt all the monopoles, I'm telling you

RegDwigнt

Oli go Poly? Is that the latest movie with Jennifer Aniston?

Ice Boy

Nope.

Matt Эллен

12:14

Jennifer Lawrence?

RegDwigнt

Too bad for Jennifer Aniston.

@MattЭллен Ugh. No Jennifer Lawrence in this chat.

Matt Эллен

Jennifer Lopez?

Ice Boy

Invite Jennifer Lopez.

RegDwigнt

This chat is only for things that are not awfully overhyped. For example, my excellence and prowess.

Matt Эллен

how green my gravatar is

RegDwigнt

12:16

►

Robusto

@RegDwigнt A prowess is a female prow.

Ice Boy

Then what's a pussy?

RegDwigнt

I pussess that knowledge.

@Robusto not to be confused with a proweses, a nazi prow.

> In math, how do you refer to a subscript or superscript indifferently?

Robusto

Das ist mir wesenfremd.

RegDwigнt

By using any word at all.

Can't get any more indifferent than that.

Ice Boy

12:23

A nazi pussy would be a pusses.

Mitch

@tchrist There's a Urology badge? Nice!

Ice Boy

What for pissing people off?

Robusto

54 mins ago, by Robusto

@tchrist There's a catheter badge now?

You're way late to the party.

Ice Boy

Better late than never.

RegDwigнt

Depends on the party. Also, on you.

Mitch

12:27

@WillHunting That's just a book on grammar, which is mostly syntax, which is mostly linguistics. It doesn't look like they have a chapter even remotely related to punctuation. For punctuation though you'd have to get something much more elementary.

RegDwigнt

Um, every single sentence in that book has punctuation.

Why would you need a dedicated chapter?

Mitch

But yes, your linked item seems to be the severely abridged and accessible shortened version of CGEL.

RegDwigнt

Ajeffbridged or abeaubridged? These things matter.

Mitch

@RegDwigнt Put it all in one place.

Ice Boy

The CGEL is a monopoly

Robusto

12:29

2 days ago, by Robusto

@StoneyB It will be Abridged Too Far.

RegDwigнt

@Mitch Impossible. All is the opposite of one.

As soon as all things are in one place, they are actually in different places.

Mitch

@Robusto ?? catheters aren't just for the urethra.

Robusto

@Mitch You can be as kinky as you want. Me, I don't swing that way.

Mitch

@RegDwigнt and none is the opposite of one. So nothing is like anything.

@Robusto Oh. You're into tires.

RegDwigнt

@Robusto Abridged too far? Where'd that be? River Kwai?

Robusto

12:31

@Mitch No. I'm just tired.

RegDwigнt

@Robusto that's because you're not winning. You only swing when you're winning.

Mitch

@Robusto They have catheters for that.

RegDwigнt

Do they also have aneters?

Robusto

@RegDwigнt You're whining.

Mitch

@RegDwigнt You can't swing without win. Unless they walk you. Whatever it takes to get on base.

Robusto

12:32

@RegDwigнt *anteaters

RegDwigнt

@Robusto I swine when I'm whining.

Mitch

@RegDwigнt They have anteaters which have catheter-like tongues, so I guess the answer is yes.

RegDwigнt

@Robusto I prefer ansinemas.

Mitch

I like to go to the movies too... for the music

Ice Boy

And the popcorn.

Mitch

12:36

That hurts my ears.

Matt Эллен

are there that many films with popcorn in them?

Robusto

@MattЭллен All the ones I watch have it.

RegDwigнt

►

GnomeSlice

Today's Listening | Retro electronic / cyberpunk with a hint of chiptune

Mitch

@RegDwigнt I've never seen that before. Really.

RegDwigнt

13:01

@Mitch It's not an official video. It's a fan tribute. I think some commenter said the footage was from some Twilight Zone episode(s).

And I never play that song in concerts, either. I made the one and only exception for Centre Bell, Montréal earlier this year.

tchrist

@Mitch Yes.

RegDwigнt

The piscar is thicker.

And I just can't see through to him, for his cardinal sings a collection of hymns. And a collection of coins is made after.

Interesting. If you open an answer in two tabs, and upvote it in one, the number updates in both, but the arrow only in one.

ok ok....i got it!!couldn't directly come to here to interrogate!! SORRY!! — kiruthiga 5 mins ago

Will Hunting

13:24

@Mitch I was not trying to say that it contained punctuation. Anyway, the CGEL seems to at least have a chapter on punctuation. But it's terribly expensive, and also terribly expansive.

Mitch

@tchrist haha. fish already swim in their own pee.

Will Hunting

@Mitch As well as poo, in a way.

Mitch

@WillHunting If I misunderstood, it would be reasonable for me to do so. You said you're looking for a good book on punctuation, then immediately followed that with an amazon link to a book asking if it's any good.

Will Hunting

@Mitch I never said it was unreasonable that you misunderstood, lol.

And you never said that I said so, lol.

Ice Boy

14:25

@Robusto what's the call for Thursday night: Tampa bay @ Atlanta(-6.5)

Robusto

I'd take Atlanta and give the points.

Ice Boy

the opening line was -4.5, so a lot of people agree with you...

...in fact, 63% of the bets are on the Falcons.

Robusto

Tampa Bay is stinking up the joint this year. As are the Raiders. Did you see the line on Raiders-Pats?

Ice Boy

one game at a time

Robusto

9/21 1:00 ET At New England -14.5 Oakland

I might take Oakland in that contest. > two touchdowns seems kinda high, but then again I haven't seen the Raiders in action this year.

Ice Boy

14:36

the line went up to 16

New England 58%

bettors on NE^

Robusto

Time to take the dog?

Ice Boy

not sure which one...

Robusto

I still think the Pats will win, I just think they might not beat the spread.

Ice Boy

15:01

who knows which raiders are going to show up :-)

I think I'll just take the bucs +6.5 and leave the raider game alone.

Don't want to get too greedy so early in the season.

Will Hunting

15:53

If Huddleston came here to answer all the grammar questions that would be awesome.

Robusto

Huddleston is The Big Lebowski. You could look it up.

David Huddleston

David William Huddleston (born September 17, 1930) is an American actor, best known for his roles in Blazing Saddles, Santa Claus: The Movie and The Big Lebowski. == Early life == Huddleston was born in Vinton, Virginia, the son of Ismay Hope (née Dooley) and Lewis Melvin Huddleston. He was briefly an officer in the United States Air Force before beginning his formal education in acting at the prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Huddleston attended Fork Union Military Academy for high school (Class of 1949) and is listed among the school's prominent alumni. == Career == Known mainly...

RutvikSutaria

17:12

hello everyone

hey

My name is

RutvikSutaria

@hey lol. nice

Will Hunting

17:35

Hi @Mahnax!

Mahnax

Hello.

Robusto

@CodesInChaos: Sad but true. A lot of people aren't really fluent in their native language. — Robusto 25 mins ago

Will Hunting

17:56

Hey @TRiG missed you, lol.

Transcript for

English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…