English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Ice Boy

00:04

cool

Mitch

01:52

@JohanLarsson What's a 'lib'? A library? in Excel? Can you do that?

@AndrewLeach It works in five dimensions, 3 space and 2 time. You need the extra time dimension to account for the light-cone implied by the speed of light. A square unit of time is meaningful as spatial area. Think of parallel time paths. Suppose the length of one path is one second, and the length of the parallels is one second. 1 square second of time. That's all it takes.

Anonymous

05:34

@IceBoy Then just say it's noncompositional :-)

Ice Boy

05:45

@snailboat what do they call the opposite of an idiom?

compositional?

Johan Larsson

06:18

@Mitch Yep a library, I guess you can write one in VBA

Ice Boy

08:30

@AndrewLeach as the student replied to the teacher, "if I could spell out my confusion, I wouldn't be confused" :-)

saying "the quantity πr squared" sounds too similar to "πr squared"

I believe we need to read them in two completely different ways to emphasize the difference in meaning as much as possible

Thus utilising the inborn nature of our brains to associate different meaning to different sounds

fahdijbeli

morning

how are you

the color of this room was changed ?

it was blue :(

@DamkerngT. how are you

Ice Girl

morning too

no it doesn't change

fahdijbeli

may be I was in another room already

Ice Girl

:)

fahdijbeli

thank you

you are ice :p @IceGirl

Ice Girl

08:43

@fahdijbeli :D

fahdijbeli

haha there is also iceBoy

the ice coming down in this room

Ice Girl

:)

MickLH

:)

fahdijbeli

@IceGirl I found my room :)

@IceGirl i.imgur.com/K9knrDb.jpg

Ice Girl

@fahdijbeli it is censored for me

Stack Exchange

08:57

Limerick Machine: There once was a terrible smell That was reminiscent of hell Some shoes were the source The smell...

posted on October 17, 2014 by sgdi

There once was a terrible smell That was reminiscent of hell Some shoes were the source The smell had such force It knocked a small child down a well

fahdijbeli

@IceGirl yes :)

Ice Boy

09:52

your Patriots pulled out a tight win last night

Johan Larsson

11:08

What did you do Rob?

The line of death is today.

Robusto

@JohanLarsson I finished yesterday.

Johan Larsson

At what level of quality?

Robusto

I told them I was going to veto one part of the project for this sprint.

Well, it's not the quality I would have liked. But at least it had redeeming facets.

@JohanLarsson But I still had to write lots of preprocessing code for each different data model they sent me to display the view in the same format. I didn't have to make any but minor changes to the display module I had written last week, though, so I guess that's progress. Once I got the data groomed, that view module just worked, which is as it should be. But damn, I shouldn't have to do data mining on every fucking service I have to use.

Johan Larsson

11:25

ok I'll googe facet, and redeem

Robusto

Seriously?

Johan Larsson

Yeah why?

I'm not Cerb

Robusto

Well, they don't seem like five-dollar words.

Johan Larsson

Maybe 5 kr?

Robusto

How much is a kroner?

Johan Larsson

11:27

~1/6 $

Robusto

OK, maybe that much.

$0.83 words.

Johan Larsson

ok, I knew facet just didn't know I knew :)

Robusto

Heh.

MickLH

lol did you search the facets of your mind to redeem yourself?

Johan Larsson

facett

Mitch

12:06

Farrah Facett-Majors

Robusto

@Mitch I deliberately forewent that one. Also, no -Majors no more.

@MickLH Where would you get that idea?

MickLH

@Robusto I never had that idea actually, I just mindlessly strung facet and redeem together into a sentence

Robusto

Hmm. That sounds like a bad idea.

Mitch

@Robusto which dates me precisely

The not forgoing part.

@Robusto facet and redeem are mechanical parts of the musical instrument the hurdy-gurdy. So yes not a particularly good idea.

Robusto

6

Q: Alternative expression for "xyz Nazi"

I'm not a native English speaker, but I do understand and personally appreciate the use of the term "xyz Nazi" to say that someone is a bit dogmatic about their point of view, without necessarily offending them. A related question here on SE is: Is "grammar nazi" politically correct? But most o...

Hmm . . . how about "abc Nazi"?

MickLH

12:21

I've heard "xyz homo" used to the same effect before

Robusto

12:45

0

Q: A single word that collectively means volume, shape and size

With regard to a hollow object (such as a room), is there a single word that captures the collective import of the terms 'volume', 'shape' and 'size'? (particularly in the fields of mathematics or architecture, preferably the latter!)

meaning

Another awful question. The answer is no.

username901345

Hi

@Robusto can I ask you a question?

Robusto

That's already a question.

username901345

"What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?"....this "could not'" is a subjunctive version of the sense of "That can't be true."?

Robusto

Would you state that as a question, please?

username901345

what do you mean?

Is it like, "if you knew that there was no way to fail"?

Robusto

12:58

I don't know what you are asking me.

username901345

is the meaning of "if you knew you could not fail" like "if you knew that there was no way to fail"?

Robusto

Yes.

username901345

impossibility right?

like, I am God, no failure lives in me!!

?

Robusto

I think the scope is restricted in some sense.

Just because you could not fail at quoits, say, doesn't mean you cannot fail at other things.

username901345

i see

thank you

Kabir

13:20

Hello everyone

Freddy

Hello

Kabir

Hi Freddy

I think, this is the first time I am here at this time of a day.

Freddy

Me too

I have seen you once or twice

Kabir

Ohh ok. I don't remember that if I have.

Freddy

Bye, need to study!

Kabir

13:34

Sure!

Mitch

@Cerberus "What does a second look like?" Mostly the same things as the first one, but a little later.

Friday is Literal Day!

Literally!

Wait...dammit...that's already not true.

Robusto

And it is literally a day!

Mitch

But that was! Yay!!!

Also, I would fail at quoits, so I don't get it.

Robusto

Everyone fails at quoits. It is one of the oddities of that game.

Mitch

Also, how does God fit into this?

Very tightly?

@Robusto That's one thing I respect about Ninja Warrior/Sasuke. It may be that nobody wins. If not, then too bad for everybody, them's the rules.

Andrew Leach

13:45

@Mitch If the Creator of the Universe is to fit into a quoit, I suspect it would be quite tight.

Mitch

@Robusto So the question should be "What would you attempt if you knew that you could succeed at quoits?"

Robusto

Alas, I cannot.

Mitch

@AndrewLeach By 'tight' I'm guessing you mean 'with it' or 'hip' or 'boss'? What do the kidses call it these days?

@Robusto Subjunctive = falsely raised hopes.

Robusto

Don't say that to Prof. Lawler.

Mitch

His hopes are truly raised?

Robusto

13:48

Were his hopes raised, he would not show it.

Andrew Leach

@Mitch I don't think I was ever a kid, let alone now. I did actually mean "rather restricting".

Robusto

It is apparently the official position of Linguistics that the subjunctive mood does not truly exist in English.

I haven't charged my phone in over three days and I still have 55% battery left.

Ice Boy

The second 50% drains faster on mine :(

Robusto

Why does R.E.M. always sound fresh? Perhaps because they are sui generis in '80s music?

Ice Boy

the thought of "losing my religion" will always remain fresh for me

even if it was released in 91

username901345

14:19

God's wrath is bitter, but Pagan's wrath is sweet; which would YOU lick off?

Ice Boy

both

username901345

No...

Only one.

Ice Boy

yes...

username901345

Otherwise, you are foredoomed to reprobation.

Ice Boy

let it be

username901345

14:22

ha ha ha!!!

I am Satan!!

Ice Boy

►

username901345

Turn thy back!

what was that?

forgot the phrase

Ice Boy

listen to it

satan

play it backwards

}:-)

angel (removed)

username901345

But i am black, so, Afrikana

you know, Jesus was Asian

he hated me coz i was black

Ice Boy

so

username901345

14:29

so I tried to kill him

but he said, go away

so I did

now i am here, killing my demonic time with you

DONE!

Ice Boy

bye

username901345

come on, dont be so serious

i m being a fool

m your court jester, yo>

ok?

Ice Boy

np pal

username901345

phew

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector ] Bad keyword detected, Phone number detected: +91-9950211818 GIRL V A S H I K A R A N SPECIALIST baba ji on english.stackexchange.com

username901345

14:40

what is this?

is this about me?

what is this? NSA type snooping?

Ice Boy

you have been detected as a troll

Andrew Leach

@username901345 It's an automated spam-detector. It helps spam get flagged faster because it's brought to attention here.

username901345

but im not a spammer

Ice Boy

watch out, the last troll was IP banned

username901345

why my phone number?

it is a violation of privacy

Ice Boy

14:47

to get your IP

Andrew Leach

That's your phone number?

username901345

no

but why says phone number detected?

Andrew Leach

Because someone posted one in a question title.

Try clicking the link.

Ice Boy

run forest, run

if you click on it you are finished

username901345

so my personal info has nt been violated?

what?

i clicked on it

Ice Boy

14:49

:O

log out fast

Andrew Leach

@username901345 No. The bot is reporting on a question asked which is objectionable.

And some here play with others who might be unfamiliar with it.

Nothing has happened to you.

user4550

so tha's not about me?

Ice boy lied to me_

??

Ice Boy

20 mins ago, by SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector ] Bad keyword detected, Phone number detected: +91-9950211818 GIRL V A S H I K A R A N SPECIALIST baba ji on english.stackexchange.com

multiple account alert^

user4550

what? its about me?

oh ok

Ice Boy

all your accounts come from the same IP address, right?

terdon

14:55

@user4550 No, it has nothing to do with you. Why should it? That's not your phone number is it? If not, why would you think it was about you?

More importantly, why do you have multiple accounts?

Ice Boy

most trolls do

it makes them feel like they have a friend

user4550

just two, i dont need them

i wanna start all over again...

Ice Boy

like an imaginary friend?

are you lonely?

terdon

@user4550 Then, please merge them. I assume you created one to get around your ban from English Language Learners and that is against the rules. We can and do check these things you know. You have a t least 6 separate accounts, this is a very good way to get yourself banned from the entire network.

user116848

@terdon Hi terdon. Answerer here thinks that the sentence in my question is in past. He is wrong, right?

user116848

15:10

But he also says that it could be subjunctive. I think it is.

user116848

What is your opinion?

terdon

@Arrowfar I agree with him. The sentence you posted in is the past tense, not the present.

user116848

Oh, okay.

terdon

The whole thing is really quite clumsy what with the repeated considered but another option would be: "This could be made a ‘standing item’ on the agenda so that it would have to be considered before each time that assessments were considered."

user116848

Yeah, that version looks understandable.

Cerberus

15:13

@Mitch Except if it's BC!

Anonymous

@Arrowfar It depends on what you mean by "past".

Anonymous

It doesn't appear to have past time reference

Anonymous

It does appear to use past tense forms, although these forms have uses other than expressing past time meaning

user116848

@snailboat Exactly! I think it uses past to refer to present.

user116848

Like subjunctive.

Cerberus

15:15

@Arrowfar This is complicated.

As Terdon says, the had is not right.

Anonymous

I do like it better without backshifting

user116848

@Cerberus Because here in this paragraph we are giving advice to the client about what they should do. So I bet they are talking about present stuff.

Anonymous

Would be would also be nice, I think

user116848

You are right, I like "would be" and "would have" versions.

Cerberus

In an hypothetical sentence, one with a main clause with would and a conditional clause with if, the if clause is in the past subjunctive, and it does not refer to the past (unless you use the perfect subjunctive). However, other clauses dependent on the conditional clause are often written in the simple past, not the past subjunctive; nevertheless, those clauses, too, do not refer to the past.

user116848

15:19

nods

Cerberus

> I would kill him if he cheated on me with that woman because he was lonely.

user116848

@Cerberus Yeah, that is what I know from the grammar books :)

user4550

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 what?

i don't have six

user116848

@Cerberus We are using "was" here with present time reference, right?

Cerberus

So you see a main clause with would, a conditional clause with the past subjunctive cheated, and a dependent clause with the simple-past form was.

Anonymous

15:20

You don't have . . . six?

Cerberus

@Arrowfar Yes: it has the exact same time of reference as the past subjunctive cheated. There is no logic in it, alas...

Some people use the past subjunctive in such dependent clauses, but that is usually not recommended. Informally, many other tenses are used, such as the present tense.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@user4550 um. Why are you replying to that old msg?

terdon

@user4550 It was I who said, that not Mr Shiny. You have now or have had in the past many accounts. Please don't do that. This is usually done by people who are trying to game the system in one way or another. Either to get around a ban or to vote themselves. As far as I know, you have done neither of those but still, please avoid having multiple accounts. It confuses things.

Ice Boy

25 mins ago, by Ice Boy

are you lonely?

user116848

@Cerberus Yeah, I agree. So in my question they are talking about the present time, right? I mean it looks like a hypothetical sentence.

Cerberus

15:26

@Arrowfar Yes, all clauses refer to the hypothetical present.

user116848

okay, nods.

Ice Boy

@user4550 well, are you?

terdon

@Cerberus Ugh, in that case, that's horrible. I really don't read it that way, not without would have.

I would have gone for one of:

> This could be made a ‘standing item’ on the agenda so that it _has_ to be considered before each time that assessments were considered.

>This could be made a ‘standing item’ on the agenda so that it _would have_ to be considered before each time that assessments were considered. (or _would be_)

Anonymous

@terdon With has I would prefer are later in the sentence

Anonymous

There was a comment on that question before which confused me, but it seems to be gone

terdon

15:32

@snailboat Indeed, me too.

Anonymous

Oh wait, the comment was elsewhere. My mistake! :-)

user116848

Thanks for explaining guys!

user116848

Much appreciated :)

user116848

I don't get it why people write this ambiguous in formal writings sometimes.

Anonymous

@Arrowfar People don't always write very carefully.

user116848

15:35

Yeah, that. I guess I'd have to get used to this all.

Anonymous

I think sometimes the way you're thinking about a sentence changes as you're writing it, and you end up with two halves that don't quite fit together the way you meant them to

user116848

I always like the simple English though :-)

user116848

Exactly!

terdon

@Arrowfar many people confuse pomposity with erudition and obscure with elegant prose.

user116848

haha Yes.

Cerberus

15:38

@terdon Right, it is! And what Snaily says.

@snailboat Are you offended if I capitalise you?

You're Important, after all.

Anonymous

@Cerberus As long as you aren't being mean to me, you can spell my name however you like :-)

Cerberus

Great.

Henceforth you shall be Asphaloneë.

terdon

molluscship perhaps?

Ice Boy

an upper case snail is better than a lower case skully

Cerberus

@terdon Her Molluscship?

I like that.

@IceBoy Hey, I always capitalise Skully...

terdon

15:41

@IceBoy There are no sculls on a snailboat!

@Cerberus For example. :)

Ice Boy

:D

Cerberus

Ice Boy is the alter ego of Skullpatrol.

@terdon OK let's hoper Her Molluscship will approve of Her new name.

Ice Boy

alter id, actually :-)

neither of us has an ego problem

Cerberus

terdon

@Cerberus I know, if only I had a hint as to why he chose to change it to this particular one.

Cerberus

15:43

OK I haven't the foggiest idea.

Why does the Pope have servants dressed so oddly?

terdon

Swiss guards

Based on the principle that anyone who looks that ridiculous either becomes very badass or dead very quickly.

They have to be the most ridiculous soldiers ever though. And that includes these guys

And these ones:

Cerberus

@terdon I didn't know the Swiss guards looked like that!

@terdon Ah, that is Greece, isn't it?

Still far less silly than the Swiss clown.

terdon

@Cerberus Yeah. Almost as ridiculous as the Swiss, but not quite.

Cerberus

Heh.

terdon

Swiss Guard

Swiss Guards are the Swiss soldiers who have served as guards at foreign European courts since the late 15th century. In addition to small household and palace units, Swiss mercenary regiments have served as regular line troops in various armies; notably those of France, Spain and Naples (see Swiss mercenaries). Currently, the name Swiss Guard generally refers to the Pontifical Swiss Guard of the Holy See stationed at the Vatican in Rome. The Swiss were famous mercenaries for hundreds of years. Since Switzerland was a poor country, young men often sought their fortunes abroad, having a reputation...

Cerberus

15:49

Perhaps the problem is also that the Swiss guard stands in front of an ugly, modern door.

Ice Boy

no wonder they never went to war :D

the enemy would die laughing

terdon

@IceBoy Not quite:

List of wars involving Switzerland

This article is an incomplete list of wars and conflicts involving Switzerland, since the creation of the Old Swiss Confederacy. == Old Swiss Confederacy == === Growth (1291–1523) === === Reformation (1523–1648) === === Ancien Régime (1648–1798) === == Napoleonic Era and Restoration (1798–1848) == == Switzerland as a federal state == == See also == Military history of Switzerland Swiss Army...

Cerberus

@terdon So their older uniforms looked much less clownesque.

@IceBoy Oh, the Pope went to war!

But I believe the Swiss Guard is more like his personal guard?

terdon

@Cerberus Apparently. I think the Devil made them change.

Ice Boy

@Cerberus nah, I thought the Swiss never went to war

Cerberus

15:52

@terdon Probably.

@IceBoy Well, the Swiss Guard is not really related to the Swiss government.

Ice Boy

@terdon hmm...interesting, thanks

Cerberus

Hmm Apple is trying to break the power of telephone carriers. That is good, especially in North America.

Jasper Loy

20:12

This chat is dead.

Anonymous

Long live this chat!

Cerberus

20:30

parades around room in robes of the finest fabrics

Jasper Loy

I went out and walked for four hours today, lol.

@Cerberus My VPN is back, but I don't need it, lol.

Cerberus

Congrats!

Any idea why it didn't work?

Jasper Loy

Nope.

After reading about the censorship in China, I feel very lucky to be where I am, comparatively that is, lol.

I read that China once censored an article written in my country about how their internet was censored, lol.

OMG, this is so funny, lol.

Cerberus

@JasperLoy Good!

Singapore is, indeed, among the best places in the world to live in.

Jasper Loy

@Cerberus You feel so? Many foreigners actually migrate here, true.

Mitch

20:48

It's the weather.

And the mangoes falling from the trees into your hands.

Not the malaria. They don't come for the malaria. People are like that.

Jasper Loy

I have my own reasons to want to leave. Not everyone looks for the same factors.

Mitch

What kind of foreigners come there?

Jasper Loy

But I think most people come here just to make more money.

Mitch

Chinese mainlanders?

Jasper Loy

Well, for one, the FB cofounder, lol.

Mitch

20:50

They come for the open internet.

Who is that?

Oh... that dude in the movie.

(also real life)

Edward S... something that starts with S...

Simpleton? Snowden? Scully? Scissorhands?

Savarin? Am I getting closer?

Jasper Loy

@Mitch bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-11/…

Mitch

Oh..ok now I remember. I can't be expected to remember where a bunch of rich people go.

Jasper Loy

@Mitch LOL.

Mitch

Didn't Snowden go to Moscow? Surely of a sign that he doesn't care about earthly pleasures like warmth or good food or pleasant company.

Cerberus

@JasperLoy It may be the no. 1 best place in Asia to live after Tokyo.

@Mitch Well, Moscow is pretty cosmopolitan.

There will be plenty of interesting people there.

If you have some money and no enemies in Russia, you may have a good time in Moscow.

Mitch

20:58

@Cerberus A bunch of chess players. pfft.

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…