English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

01:23

@Rob do you use natatorium?

What a strange word.

@Robusto It was maybe 72 here today. WTF.

Blame Canada.

Robusto

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 Perfect.

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 Is that a swimming pool?

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@Robusto It was nice for tennis.

@Robusto yes!

It's the OED WotD.

Robusto

See? I'm not so dumb.

A word I know, not one I use.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@Robusto nothin's wrong as far as I can see.

You make it harder than it has to be.

And IIIIIIIIII can't tell you whyyyyy

Robusto

How so?

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

01:27

@Robusto do you say frappe?

I hit the teacher again.

Robusto

Felt good, didn't it?

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 Hardly ever.

I think I've said that maybe three times in my life.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@Robusto to hit the teacher?

Robusto

Of course!

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

I got him in the head today. Monday, it was more like the kidney.

No.

That class is a big social task for me so far.

I'd rather not call more attention to myself.

Robusto

01:42

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 How so?

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@Robusto people are watching me do stuff.

People are talking to me for some reason.

There's a husband and wife pair who are intermediate students. He teaches both at the same time. I can't decide if she likes me or not.

He lines us up to practice forehand, backhand. Tonight she said she has to stand behind me so she knows what to do.

The first class, I thought she didn't like me talking to her husband.

Robusto

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 Complicated being female, yeah?

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@Robusto it's why I avoid talking to them, yes.

Lady, I ain't interested in your husband. I'm interested in tennis.

Robusto

Weird.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

The time you spend talking to me is time I could be spending watching other people's swings and listening to the teacher man.

She says I remind her strongly of her cousins in Salina.

I don't know. I always say the wrong shit.

Maybe she didn't like my skirt. I got me a skirt, cause I thought it would make movement easier.

Robusto

01:49

Hawt.

What do women normally wear for tennis? Shorts?

And is the dynamic that she thinks a skirt would mean you were trying to shake your ass at her husband?

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 ^^

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@Robusto well, chicks in the show seem to wear the tennis dress.

Like the hot blond. The Williams girls.

Robusto

Tennis dress?

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Kournikova.

Robusto

How is it different from a skirt? One piece?

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Yeah. One piece sleeveless upper and skirt with built-in shorts.

Ooh, I like this one. womenstennisblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/…

Robusto

01:54

If you want to look like Lebron James in a dress?

OK, that was mean. But there are shorts on underneath the skirt?

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Yeah, they're built in.

It's easier to think of it as a pair of swim shorts with a skirt on top of them.

Here's the exact one I have. academy.com/shop/pdp/bcg-womens-layered-tennis-skirt

Black.

If there weren't shorts under there, it'd be indecent.

Robusto

> We are currently performing site maintenance. Our site will be available shortly.

Gyp.

Isn't black too hot, normally? I mean temperature-wise?

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@Robusto Probably. But when I went to Academy, that was the only one they had that had ball pockets and wasn't absolutely hideous.

Many of them were day-glo.

I might still go elsewhere and get another one. I was fully prepared to spend at least $35 on one.

Robusto

Do they have built-in support bras or something? Serena's looks like it's molded out of high-impact plastic.

-6

Q: Who are we or who we are?

We, human can only plan, but God decides the best for us. Watch XXX, Director’s Cut version on ABC Exclusive, channel 8 beginning 29 August. Are we ready for the sad ending of a happiness which may not take side on us? Who are we to against the destiny He crafts for us? Watch us in XXX, Directo...

who

Make it go away.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@Robusto the dresses? Dunno.

@Robusto did what I could.

Robusto

02:05

So if you just have a skirt, I presume you have some kind of tennis top with that? And are there shorts built-in for those as well? The skirt, I mean.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

I don't. They only had weird sleeveless polos, also day-glo. So I got a sporting brassiere and have been wearing regular t-shirts.

I don't understand why men wear such constricting clothing, comparatively.

Robusto

Constricting? How so? I would think a bra must be the most constricting thing in the world.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Long shorts, tall socks, long polos without even bowler's vents.

Got to strap them puppies down.

Tits don't help your game. Might as well stifle them.

Jiggle is uncomfortable.

Robusto

I would imagine.

Don't get me wrong, I like tits. I just think they would be a nuisance if you had to wear them.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

They're alright. Can't sit on 'em.

Robusto

02:09

No. Balls can be problematic, and you can sit on those.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Yes.

Robusto

I guess it's all what you're used to.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

"I don't know how you guys walk around with those things." --Elaine Benes

What's with the elephants on Armed Forces?

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

02:28

All's well that Thameswell.

Robusto

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 I wondered that myself.

Been a mystery for 35 years or so.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@Robusto Hey, me too.

Robusto

Haha.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Mystery to Me is among my favorite album covers. Yes.

Let us gaze upon it:

Robusto

But tits and balls and menstruation and all that is just proof that nature really doesn't give a shit about our comfort so long as we can reproduce the species.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

02:32

@Robusto I refuse.

Robusto

Too bad. You have to put up with the reproductive stuff anyway.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

It means nothing to nature.

skill patrol

War elephant

A war elephant was an elephant trained and guided by humans for combat. Their main use was to charge the enemy, breaking their ranks and instilling terror. Elephantry are military units with elephant-mounted troops. They were first employed in India, the practice spreading out across south-east Asia and westwards into the Mediterranean. Their most famous use in the West was by the Greek general Pyrrhus of Epirus and in significant numbers by the armies of Carthage, including briefly by Hannibal. In the Mediterranean, improved tactics reduced the value of the elephant in battle, while their ...

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@Robusto So do you.

To wit: unwanted, unexpected boners

Robusto

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 Yup. But I did my bit for the species.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

02:34

Hey. I didn't ask to be born. The world doesn't owe me shit? I don't owe the world shit.

Sorry.

Robusto

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 No, I mean whether or not you reproduce you still have to deal with the shit involved.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

That's how much I feel.

@Robusto yeah! So do you. Boners, &c. I was responding to "I did my bit for the species."

Robusto

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 Not saying I don't.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

So we're back in agreement.

Robusto

I think boners are probably more fun than menstruation, though.

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 I never didn't agree. Perhaps I didn't make my meaning clear.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

02:37

Yeah.

@Robusto Mayhap you didn't.

@Robusto menstruation feels like a stomachache in your spine.

Robusto

@Johan starred your Ambrosia link. Perhaps he thinks they're black? ^_^

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@Robusto I was sure it was @skillpatrol.

Robusto

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 I can picture that.

Who knows?

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Wait. Black?

Robusto

I said perhaps he thinks so.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

02:39

But why?

BRB sweater

Robusto

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 Just a wild guess.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@Robusto Okay.

tchrist

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 Yeah, weird eh?

I have a zippered sweatshirt on. So weird.

Was 45 last night.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@tchrist It was maybe 72 today.

tchrist

Warmer than here.

Robusto

02:44

It's been upper 80s to 90s here, cooling off only to low 70s at night.

I've been sleeping with the hated air conditioning on.

Feels like a mausoleum in here now.

tchrist

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

We're gonna go back up to the mid-80s tomorrow.

tchrist

So they say. 90 here I think.

Robusto

Well, I'm off to bed. Have fun, y'all.

tchrist

Night!

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

02:46

Toodles!

The bedroom could not be further from the a/c in this house.

And plus we close the door because of the cat.

tchrist

03:03

What, that works?

Mine pick the lock.

Or something.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

e_e

It works. I thought about getting a baby gate so we can get more air, but she'd jump over or sit there and meow.

skull patrol

06:00

taught the same basic course for 36 years

4

Damkerng T.

06:48

@skullpatrol A class with 1200 students!

I already need some extra oxygen when it's bigger than 25.

skull patrol

08:14

@DamkerngT. the article says: "almost 1600 students" actually, which is almost double of biggest one at Harvard. Also available on YouTube, if you're interested pal :-)

Damkerng T.

@skullpatrol Thanks for the info. Your messages usually land me on interesting places!

skull patrol

:D

Damkerng T.

What is the keyword I should use to search for the video on YouTube?

skull patrol

I'll try to work on the "usually" part to make it "always." ;-)

Damkerng T.

@skullpatrol Okay! Hehe!

skull patrol

08:19

At Harvard, a course called Justice taught by Michael Sandel, a professor of government, has 779 students this semester. @DamkerngT.

Damkerng T.

@skullpatrol Found it! Justice: What's The Right Thing To Do?: youtube.com/watch?v=8rv-4aUbZxQ

2

skull patrol

yep

Enjoy!

Damkerng T.

@skullpatrol Thank you very much!

skull patrol

np pal

tchrist

09:00

SO has 9,999,747 questions and rising.

Damkerng T.

It was 9,995,287 about 19 hours ago. About 234 questions an hour. I guess we'll get the ten-millionth question the next hour!

skull patrol

:O

tchrist

09:23

Yes. Shog has been staving off the tide for hm 8 hours now, manually pruning old questions. He had help from another SE employee but that fellow seems to have gone to bed.

It’ll be within minutes now.

skull patrol

How exciting....

...numerically 100 million will take a lot longer.

Unless the growth is exponential.

tchrist

09:43

I’m sure it’s exponential with time. The question is what the exponent is.

skull patrol

09:55

You mean what the base is? The exponent is time.

tchrist

Yes, I meant the function.

Saying it is a function of time is easy. The question is what that function is.

skull patrol

Interestingly, R. L. Moore did not use the idea of a function in his classes.

He didn't think it was "simple."

The exponent is involves time :-)

Robusto

10:54

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 This is the problem with cats.

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者: Here's a link that might explain the elephants:

> On the 18th March 1979, Gorbachev was elected the premier of the USSR, and on his inauguration at the Kremlin (which traditionally takes place on the back of a bull African elephant) he declared the US to be 'a nightmare state of capitalists and criminals'. This led to public outcry and a widespread boycott on all goods featuring elephants in the United States that year.

Would not be out of EC's reach to satirize stupid US policies with an album cover.

skill patrol

11:11

@tchrist legacyrlmoore.org/Reports/2005/sample.html

Robusto

@skullpatrol I forget what it's called, but there is some theory that incremental number systems of this sort (stock market indices, number of questions on SO, etc.) conforms to a logarithmic function: the largest portion of time is spent with 1 as the initial numeral, 2 next, and 9 least.

skill patrol

11:29

Challenge in the Classroom Part 1.mpg

►

sorry, it runs into part 2

Challenge in the Classroom Part 2

►

Today the notion of a function is one of the first ideas taught.

tchrist

13:26

You guys are slackers: I have delete-voted on ELU more than all other non-moderators here combined.

(With some hemming allowed for Community’s graveyard.)

@skillpatrol Times have changed.

skill patrol

@tchrist have they ever...

...functions taught to 13 year olds.

Or Terry Tao learned them at 7!

tchrist

13:49

Think how long it takes them to learn the minus function. :)

skill patrol

True.

Robusto

@tchrist Obviously you are overcompensating for some early childhood trauma.

skill patrol

Also what is the "Community’s graveyard"?

Robusto

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者: Forget that link. I posted that without sufficient coffee. In retrospect, the conjecture is obviously spurious.

tchrist

14:11

@skillpatrol Dead people.

And it isn’t “the” Community, but rather Community♦ as a proper noun.

Community♦ inherits all actions of dead people.

So ex-users.

Robusto

Which brings up the question: is Community♦ a superclass or a subclass of user?

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@Robusto amusing nonetheless.

Robusto

Yeah.

More strangeness from the SC:

Me: How are we doing with the back end?
SC: The code is there in the branch.
Me: Thanks. I was thinking you were going to alert me when you had finished.
SC: Sure.

Are we even on the same planet?

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Maybe they will alert you going forward.

Robusto

14:27

How would I know if they mean anything at all?

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

SC?

Robusto

Subcontinent.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Software Clowns?

Robusto

Sometimes it seems that way.

skill patrol

Where the Americas are viewed as a single continent (America), it is divided into two subcontinents (North America and South America)

Robusto

14:40

Not the subcontinent I was thinking of.

India is often referred to as "the subcontinent."

skill patrol

abbreviating subcontinent as SC is odd

Robusto

That may be. I am an odd person.

skill patrol

15:11

What's the temp like for riding today?

Robusto

Lower than yesterday, but still hot. Mid-80s.

However, three-day weekend, starting tomorrow. We get Friday off for summer hours this week.

The bad news: it's supposed to rain all weekend. Bummer.

skill patrol

Do you ride everyday?

Robusto

Every day possible.

I do the spin cycle indoors during the snow months, but if the streets are dry I cycle outside even then. I have winter gear that lets me ride in sub-freezing temps.

skill patrol

You should give your legs 24 hours to recover between rides.

Robusto

23 aren't enough?

skill patrol

15:26

yes, close enough :-)

actually for heavy resistance training the body needs 48 hours.

Robusto

Biking isn't what I would call heavy resistance training. I use low enough gears and really only meet with heavy resistance when going up steep slopes.

On average it's light resistance. Well, light to moderate.

skill patrol

but you do feel the burn in your thighs and calfs, right?

Robusto

Yes.

Not as much of a burn as you feel from lifting weights, though.

And I don't get muscle soreness from the build-up of lactic acid, etc.

skill patrol

not even after a long lay-off?

Robusto

It would have to be pretty long. I just went a week without riding (vacation) and I felt nothing but great being back out on the bike.

skill patrol

15:36

Then you'll be fine doing it everyday.

It's low impact too.

Robusto

Exactly. After my knee surgery, low-impact is the only kind of exercise I can do.

skill patrol

That was my next point: To respect any injuries, soreness...

Johan Larsson

@Robusto Ambrosia?

Robusto

@skillpatrol Yeah, it's a fine line. The week off definitely helped alleviate some incipient tendinitis symptoms I was feeling.

skill patrol

...and of course stay well hydrated :-)

Robusto

15:41

@JohanLarsson I was just tweaking you with that remark. I was thinking that the group sounded like they were trying to be black, and you definitely have a fondness (understandably) for black groups.

Johan Larsson

ok

Robusto

@skillpatrol I do.

Johan Larsson

The electro swing one?

Robusto

The link @cornbread has up on the starboard.

Johan Larsson

oh, missed it

skill patrol

15:43

@Robusto Do you take any supplements?

Vitamins etc.

Johan Larsson

. < maybe it is getting old, idk

Robusto

@skillpatrol I take a daily supplement, and a couple of other things, including Omega-3.

Johan Larsson

@Robusto Not the best I have heard after hearing 50%

Robusto

No. I said that as a joke, mainly to see if you were in the chat and paying attention.

Johan Larsson

ålrejt

I was debugging in the machine.

I worked alone here for two weeks, changed ~1000 code files.

There was a bug when we ran it today, turned out it was a hardware error that had happened when the machine was unused.

Not the first place we looked :)

Robusto

15:47

@JohanLarsson Be careful. Overwork increases risk of stroke.

Johan Larsson

yeah, I have poor life expectancy

but it is fun to code

Robusto

Yeah, but strokes are no fun.

skill patrol

^

Johan Larsson

16:10

appreciate the concern

Robusto

16:35

0

Q: Does it make sense?

Does 'which is a must' make sense? I'm writing a poem for a competion and I need to know whether it makes sense as it is a phrase I would like to use in the poem.

omissibility

This is just sad.

If you don't know whether something "makes sense" wtf are you doing trying to write poetry?

Johan Larsson

to learn?

Robusto

@JohanLarsson Not where one ought to start learning, I think. That's like trying to learn computers by starting with compiler optimization.

Johan Larsson

ok, we frown at ambition

I get what you mean

Robusto

I don't frown at ambition at all.

Johan Larsson

I was being dikk

Robusto

16:44

I know.

Cerberus

For @RegDwigнt

Robusto

@Cerberus Urban planning?

Cerberus

Urban unplanning.

Robusto

@Cerberus Or maybe it's a metaphor for how the Web grew up. Pictured: America Online and their competitors.

Gigili

17:37

@Mitch Hey my private proofreader clears throat

I have a short text, do you have time to take a look at it? pooleez

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

17:53

@Robusto ~~white-boy~~ blue-eyed soul.

Cerberus

@Robusto Haha aww.

We were spared America Online. But we did have Compuserve!

I think it came on a disc with a magazine.

So we got Internet access.

The late nineties.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

I have an AOL 1.0 floppy.

Robusto

18:10

0

Q: Which is the stronger name for a corporation? Brand A Tire or Brand A Tires?

Should a corporation's name be singular or plural? Using a singular term -tire- makes it less defined and more of an umbrella brand, while using the plural term - tires - is more specific. So, is there a grammatical reasoning behind the former vs. the latter? Thank you.

differences nouns

Yuk.

Mitch

19:07

@Gigili Short... sure.

@Robusto Which side is which? And by the way, that's me on the left.

Cerberus

19:55

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 OMG that must be worth a fortune ~~on Ebay~~ at Christie's now.

Faheem Mitha

20:40

Are commas at the end of lines in an address a British thing? I tried googling, but didn't pick up anything.

I kind of prefer them without, it looks less cluttery.

Cerberus

@FaheemMitha Where?

As in, Dear Madam,?

Faheem Mitha

@Cerberus Where what?

Cerberus

"An address" is highly ambiguous and vague.

Faheem Mitha

@Cerberus Oh, an address, in a letter.

Cerberus

All of this is about letters.

But there are several addresses in and on letters, and several possible commas.

Example?

Faheem Mitha

20:43

@Cerberus If you are writing name, street, city, state, they might be on separate lines.

Do you end those lines with commas?

They really aren't functional, those commas.

Or not needed, to put it differently.

Cerberus

Ah OK.

At the end of the line, I don't know.

It may be more common in Britain.

I've honestly never thought about it.

Within the same line, between parts of the address, I think that's standard everywhere.

But that wasn't what you meant.

Faheem Mitha

@Cerberus No, it wasn't.

So, there isn't a standard, then?

Cerberus

I don't know.

Maybe the comma is standard in Britain.

Faheem Mitha

Maybe

Cerberus

21:59

skull patrol

Where did you get that @Cerberus ?

Tech insights.

Cerberus

22:35

Yes.

skull patrol

What about service and repair?

These tech gadgets are mostly use and abuse anyway :-)

Robusto

@Cerberus Not sure what that proves, if anything.

tchrist

22:50

0

Q: Bunnies answer the answers to one of your question

Why is there so many bunnies in the world

buzzword

Fucking bunnies fucking bunnies.

skull patrol

Spam

Cerberus

@skullpatrol Yes, there are other costs. But these are the marginal costs.

@Robusto Why should it prove anything?

Robusto

I don't know. You must have had a reason for posting it.

tchrist

One more close vote and then we can delete it.

Robusto

I'm just curious to what it portends.

tchrist

22:59

One more DV please.

Cerberus

@tchrist Why don't you vote to delete it?

I am waiting.

Robusto

@tchrist I voted.

tchrist

Thanks.

Robusto

But you need to get rid of this piece of trash:

-1

Q: Which is the stronger name for a corporation? Brand A Tire or Brand A Tires?

Should a corporation's name be singular or plural? Using a singular term -tire- makes it less defined and more of an umbrella brand, while using the plural term - tires - is more specific. So, is there a grammatical reasoning behind the former vs. the latter? Thank you.

differences nouns

Cerberus

Ah, it's gone.

@Robusto I just came across it when I was looking up what phone screens cost these days. Not much, apparently.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

23:40

@Cerberus Right?

Transcript for

English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…