English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

People learning English are often confused by the many ways in which it is possible to talk about future events. They are not helped by the fact that some writers (eg, Sinclair1) claim that the construction with will in front of the base form (bare infinitive) of the verb is the future tense, while others (eg, Quirk et al2) claim that there is no future tense in English. Learners who have read in one book (eg, Thomson and Martinet3) that the BE + going to form expresses the subject’s intention to perform a future action will wonder what intention is present in It’s going to rain. Some course b …

for some reason this didn't get sidebar'd

Robusto

10:50 AM

@MattE.Эллен I just pinned it and that seems to work fine.

Matt E. Эллен

@Robusto Sorry, I mean sidebared on the main site. like the SE blog posts do

Robusto

Ohhh.

I think it would be better to quote it and pin that, though.

ELU Blog: How we talk about future situations.

3

Better because it's readable.

Matt E. Эллен

yeah

Robusto

Good article, btw.

Un buen articulo.

tchrist

@Robusto How we will talk about future situations.

How we gonna talk about future situations
How are we talk about future situations

Robusto

10:54 AM

@tchrist How we're talking about future situations.

@tchrist How are we talk about future pineapples?

Matt E. Эллен

@Robusto sadly, the author left EL&U

Robusto

@MattE.Эллен Why?

Matt E. Эллен

in EL&U Blog, Nov 22 '14 at 20:12, by tunny

@MattЭллен. Glad you can use the article. Thanks for the offer but any problems I have are to do with my own perverse character. I am not cut out for this type of site. I am un-perverse enough to know that, if I can't fit in, then (1) I have to change (too late for that), (2) I try to change things here (an arrogant and trouble-making approach for a newbie) or (3) I slip quietly away while no harm has been done to anybody (my chosen course). Best wishes, tunny.

Robusto

What problems did he have?

Matt E. Эллен

I don't know. he didn't discuss them

Robusto

10:57 AM

I definitely can see how people might have problems here, however.

> It's the dismal tide.

Matt E. Эллен

He was last seen in March, by the looks of it

or May, even.

Robusto

It still annoys me that such a flood of Germans came in and waxed wrathful about my assumption that mensch (or mensh) may be used in American English. It's a head-scratcher.

Nein! Das is ein deutsches Wort!

Can't immigration laws keep these people out of our English.

> my next week plan

Courtesy of the SC.

tchrist

SC?

Robusto

Subcontinent.

0

Q: Can the 'and' be omitted like this?

Is the'pounced' right in this sentence? I think that 'pouncing' or 'to pounce' is right. Is it possible to think that 'and' is omitted in front of 'pounced'? Please, tell me the answer.

grammar

tchrist

oogh

Robusto

11:09 AM

Surely this is beneath our dignity.

tchrist

He doesn't ask good questions.

But it will go to 100 for the kitty.

He doesn't accept answers.

Robusto

Unless we stop it now.

I voted to close as ELL-bait.

tchrist

ELL is not supposed to be a dumping ground.

Stuff gets closed there for GR or proofreading, too.

I like Mari-Lou am bothered by this user's failure to ever select an answer as having been helpful to him.

He has 49 undeleted questions, all unanswered.

Robusto

I couldn't think of what to close it for, so I went to the catch-all: research (which mentions ELL).

tchrist

So be it then.

Robusto

11:13 AM

Down-voting sometimes helps as well.

tchrist

I can't close-vote.

I tried to nibble at the fat end of the queue last night and ran out. As always.

Robusto

0

Q: Why aren't beldam, beldame, and carline used anymore to refer to "old woman"?

I was looking for a single-word equivalent for "old woman". Having entered the meaning in source language, Google Translate returned four words: beldam, beldame, carline, harridan. Of these four, only the latest had definition in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Why aren't these words used ...

linguistics

Well let me tease you some more, then.

This is one of my least favorite question formulae: 'Why does "English" drop words?'

Bad English! Bad! You no drop word!

tchrist

Linguistics?

Robusto

Well, even there they would have a problem. The question attributes human motivations to language.

Anthropomorphic English

English didn't drop those words. People did. — Robusto 5 mins ago

terdon

English didn't drop those words. People did. — Robusto 7 mins ago

Robusto

11:22 AM

jinx.

terdon

Damn, you're starting to sound like the NRA

jinx indeed

Robusto

@terdon Let's not say things we can't take back.

Is there a question here? — Robusto 4 mins ago

0

Q: She quit her job

Mary has been unhappy at work of late. Her superiors has been unfair to her after she has completed her tasks and obtained satisfactory reflections from the Managing Director. One day she made a firm decision. She quit her job.

meaning

And that's all we need to know about Mary. TYVM.

terdon

Speaking of the NRA, have you guys seen this?

Jim Jefferies US Gun Control Live Stand Up Comedy Best comedian ever

►

Robusto

@terdon Funny. And right, too.

terdon

Precisely.

tchrist

11:33 AM

I want to know how to select an answer for the question I posted. — 박용현 26 secs ago

I was right: he doesn't know how to select an answer.

Do we have a nice little animated demo of this?

Robusto

@tchrist I suppose that is possible.

terdon

@tchrist No, we have this:

english.stackexchange.com/help/someone-answers

And this:

Robusto

But we're always getting prompts to accept an answer.

terdon

735

Q: How does accepting an answer work?

How does accepting an answer work? When should I do it? Why can't I accept my own answers right away? Which answer should I accept? For more information, see "What should I do when someone answers my question?" in the Help Center. Return to FAQ index

support faq answers accepted-answer self-answer

Robusto

When i ask a question on a site where I have low rep, I always get prompted to accept an answer, with an explanation of how to do it.

terdon

11:37 AM

Yeah, I have a canned comment for that.

tchrist

That's what I was wondering. Ok, here's how to do it from our Help Center: “Choose one answer that you believe is the best solution to your problem. To mark an answer as accepted, click on the check mark beside the answer to toggle it from greyed out to filled in. You may change which answer is accepted, or simply un-accept the answer, at any time.” More info at this FAQ on Accepting Answers: How does it work?. When you select an answer, you will gain +2 rep each time, and on ELU it will turn green. Good luck! — tchrist 2 mins ago

We'll see if that helps. It may.

He's also only voted once. Sigh.

Rome was not built in a day, but gosh.

He's not a troll, though.

RegDwigнt

11:57 AM

I have an idea. Let’s have all answers accepted by default, and take five votes to be unaccepted.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt FIFO queue?

tchrist

There Can Be Only One.

Robusto

Well, they all could be accepted serially.

Last one wins.

That would encourage a lot of answers.

tchrist

Hot Network Questions

RegDwigнt

We could have a daily lottery.

If your answer wins, it is automatically accepted. And deleted.

Robusto

12:05 PM

Ease down, Shirley Jackson.

RegDwigнt

Don't call me Jackson.

Robusto

Johnson, then.

RegDwigнt

Oh, no.

Robusto

What do you need that for, Dude?

tchrist

Abidance.

RegDwigнt

12:07 PM

Eight year olds, dude.

tchrist

> I am voting to close this question because we are not a cut rate thesaurus.

That just might catch on.

Matt E. Эллен

:D

RegDwigнt

Dunno. I might not be thesaurus, but I'm asaurus alright.

Robusto

> I am voting to close this question because we are not answerable for the mistakes people make trying to write in English on the Internet.

tchrist

@RegDwigнt You migrated a Perl question to ELL?

Except this is just reading dumbness.

Appositives.

RegDwigнt

12:19 PM

@Robusto that's not your decision to make. The Supreme Court has appointed you to answer for the mistakes people make trying to write in English on the Internet. Deal with it or die trying.

@tchrist what, you want me to migrate it to Photography instead?

Matt E. Эллен

perl.se

RegDwigнt

You are not wrong per se.

perl.se before swin.ee

Matt E. Эллен

I bet the cast are unholy

Robusto

That's an odd bet.

tchrist

Off-castes.

Robusto

12:23 PM

Cast-offs.

tchrist

Shills.

Matt E. Эллен

@Robusto can't have a bet without odds

tchrist

The lady's in the middle.

Robusto

@MattE.Эллен How about evens? Like on a roulette wheel.

Matt E. Эллен

@Robusto even even odds are odds

Robusto

12:26 PM

What are the odds of that?

@MattE.Эллен It has more symmetry if you say "Even odds are odds even."

tchrist

Sigh, that's Learning Perl 2.4 Scalar Operators.

docstore.mik.ua/orelly/perl/learn/ch02_04.htm

RegDwigнt

Unlearning Perl: Secular Operators.

tchrist

Stoopid UAs.

Matt E. Эллен

@Robusto aye. I gave it my best!

RegDwigнt

United Americas?

tchrist

12:27 PM

That's pisstests to you, you hemphead.

Robusto

United Artists.

RegDwigнt

What a commie thing to say.

Urine Academy

No, you are.

Urine Assessment

12:29 PM

@MattE.Эллен Peeass testing.

Urinanalist.

Matt E. Эллен

:-o

RegDwigнt

You should see an antictologist about that.

Robusto

-1

Q: AWOL - what's the potential meaning of it?

I found a very difficulty prorblem For example, he's AWOL. What does this means?

meaning

It's a military term meaning absent without leave. The problem would be less difficult if you were to consult a dictionary. — Robusto 27 secs ago

tchrist

Shoot them all. God will know his own.

Robusto

And he wants to know what is the "potential" meaning of AWOL. Not what it means, but what it could mean.

Matt E. Эллен

12:32 PM

it's potential a misspelling of an owl

tchrist

Oriental inscrutability.

For which one should see a urologist.

Not ELU.

Robusto

How come no ethnic types are ever scrutable?

tchrist

Testicular misalignment.

Robusto

That's racist.

RegDwigнt

@Robusto a mind-boggling lack of phantasy on your part. He's asking for a potential meaning, and all you can come up with is the only meaning that it already has. You suck!

tchrist

12:34 PM

@Robusto Only in nut-racing.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt Jinx.

2 mins ago, by Robusto

And he wants to know what is the "potential" meaning of AWOL. Not what it means, but what it could mean.

RegDwigнt

Who reads your shit.

Robusto

Oracles.

And Larry Ellison.

RegDwigнt

Here, have your phantasy coke.

tchrist

Acerbic wanking only lachrymates.

RegDwigнt

12:35 PM

@Robusto so. You're saying Larry Ellison reads your shit twice?

Poor Larry.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt At least twice. Every day. Because now he owns mysql.

RegDwigнt

Too much information.

I don't want to know which body part you've sold to whom.

Robusto

You don't have to shy away from putting spaces after punctuation. Or from putting punctuation at the end of a piece of text. — Robusto 8 secs ago

RegDwigнt

Robusto's so active on the main site. Go Robusto.

tchrist

We need a minder for after GMT. These are horrible.

Robusto

12:38 PM

That's show business.

RegDwigнt

You got your 100k imaginary points for answers, go get your 100k imaginary points for comments.

They are even more imaginary!

tchrist

Imagine it were otherwise.

Robusto

14 hours ago, by Robusto

So I just got a notice that I have received the "access to site analytics" privilege. I just wonder of what possible use this might be to me.

RegDwigнt

One very useful use is finding out just how many ~~complete idiots~~ nice people you dodge day after day after day.

Robusto

11.5 million served!

RegDwigнt

12:43 PM

You go ballistic after meeting up with just two, but now you know you could have met 150000 more.

If that ain't consolation, then airport has no meaning.

Matt E. Эллен

Saturday is an unpopular day at EL&U

RegDwigнt

Because on Saturday, everyone is preparing their questions to flood it on Sunday with.

"What is the meaning of what?"

Matt E. Эллен

"Is there a word that means 'what was I doing on Saturday?'?"

RegDwigнt

This is what Jupiter does on Saturn's day.

Also, any other day.

Matt E. Эллен

nice

Robusto

12:47 PM

"Why does flood look funny when i type it but fluid doesn't?"

RegDwigнt

Because moist.

Robusto

And the ever-popular "Which is correct?"

RegDwigнt

Yeah. About that. How about we spice it up by rewording at least some of these as "which is wrong"?

Who is not phone?

Robusto

A buckwheats hit ordered for them.

RegDwigнt

Ordered is French for red gold.

Robusto

12:50 PM

I thought ordured was French for "shitty."

tchrist

Only at the abbey.

RegDwigнt

No, that'd be murdered.

Sorry, merdered. My French spelling is béd.

Robusto

bête.

RegDwigнt

I bête you will.

Robusto

Why don't the French give in to their Gallic impulses and mark vowels with more than one diacritic?

RegDwigнt

12:52 PM

Holly shit, Bêtmon.

tchrist

@RegDwigнt Noir.

RegDwigнt

@Robusto because raisons.

d'être, no less.

tchrist

@Robusto They do. They use four.

Robusto

Feb 3 '11 at 20:16, by Robusto

I used to want to open a little pub and call it Maison d'Etre

RegDwigнt

Tchrist prépares to argue semantiques.

Robusto

12:53 PM

@tchrist At the same time?

RegDwigнt

Je grabe du corn popé.

Robusto

Does the corn popé shit in the woods?

tchrist

@Robusto One mark per vowel.

RegDwigнt

I shall tell you for 3000 centimes.

Robusto

@tchrist See, that's just not even trying.

French slackers.

RegDwigнt

12:54 PM

@Robusto Very French.

Jinx.

Donnez-moi de la coke française !

Robusto

C'est la.

RegDwigнt

Ah, quelle beauté.

Ah, quelle boutelle.

Oh to the là to the là.

Robusto

Isn't it bouteille?

When in doubt, the more complicated spelling is preferred.

RegDwigнt

Ah, quelle boûtellaise !

Robusto

Je m'appelle Robûto.

tchrist

12:57 PM

Tête-à-tête

Sans aucun doute.

Tampoco.

La Rue buse to

Pourquoi-et-il que tu t'apelle? Tu t'as perdu?

Matt E. Эллен

> And Why it that thou call'd? You lost you?

tchrist

12:58 PM

Mais ça serait aucune doute avec autre e, penses pas?

Matt E. Эллен

Google Translate, ladies and gentlemen

RegDwigнt

Sans aucun doute

Sans aucun doute est une émission de télévision française diffusée sur TF1 en deuxième partie de soirée du 8 septembre 1994 au 18 décembre 2009 puis diffusée du 16 septembre 2013 au 30 mai 2014 sur TMC. Produite par Quai Sud Télévisions, elle est présentée par Julien Courbet jusqu'en mai 2008 puis par Christophe Moulin. L'animateur, grâce à une équipe de médiateurs, d'avocats et de journalistes intervenant en duplex sur le terrain, s'y donne la mission de venir en aide aux téléspectateurs confrontés à des soucis juridiques importants (administratifs, erreurs médicales, escroqueries, immobiliers...

Learn French, slackers.

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…