English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

@Robusto On the channel I was watching the game on, they showed before it a brief history of hockey, and it was fascinating. Gentlemen in Technicolor with no protection whatsoever playing against each other and scoring 110:3. What we have now is a sport for assholes who lambaste an opponent lying on the ground. Fuck that, seriously. The direct comparison to the historic footage couldn't have been more strinking.

skill patrol

10:33 AM

Interesting its beginnings come from rugby.

Robusto

10:50 AM

@RegDwigнt Fuck that. The Chicago Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup this year. That's all I need to know.

Matt E. Эллен

Poor Stanley. What will he drink tea from, now?

Robusto

@MattE.Эллен Perhaps Livingston will give him the odd cuppa from time to time.

Matt E. Эллен

Indeed! They must have shared a lot

Robusto

@MattE.Эллен So do you think Britain will pull out of the European Union?

Seems like you could use a citation for your actual answer, not for the answer to a question that wasn't asked. — Robusto 18 secs ago

Matt E. Эллен

@Robusto I don't think so. I don't know when the vote will be. certainly not this year.

skill patrol

11:00 AM

What does the queen have to say about it?

Robusto

@MattE.Эллен Probably the hoopla is just U.S. journalists looking for something sensational to write about. The story I heard driving in this morning made it seem imminent.

skill patrol

Or has she said anything...

...pardon my ignorance :P

Robusto

-1

A: Is "I am more than happy to help you" grammatically correct?

Here is a concept regarding happiness frequency. These are two sentences 1-I am more than happy to help you 2-I am happier than happy to help you in which "I am more than happy to help you" sounds more perfect than "I am happier than happy to help you". It explains: "happier" is in more favo...

ZOMG

-1 Please don't answer if you don't know what you're talking about or can't express yourself adequately in English. — Robusto 2 mins ago

Rigor

Hmmm...very strange

This message:

@MattE.Эллен Probably the hoopla is just U.S. journalists looking for something sensational to write about. The story I heard driving in this morning made it seem imminent.

Robusto

What about it?

Rigor

11:09 AM

Showed up on my iPhone but not on my iPad?

Robusto

And what about that message caused you to change your name again?

Did it function as a semiconductor, flipping you to your alternate state?

Rigor

I use one account on each device.

Robusto

What is the benefit of that?

How often does that happen?

Rigor

Enough.

Robusto

> The sentence is wrought with implicit and implied redundancies . . .

Nice!

You can't make this stuff up, folks.

Rigor

11:18 AM

Spoken language is wrought with the same and nobody complains about that?

Robusto

Is that a question?

Rigor

Yes, if you consider rhetorical questions to be true questions.

Robusto

OK, I reject your assumption that nobody complains about that. I am evidence of someone who complains about that, and I am not nobody, therefore your assumption is unfounded. QED

Matt E. Эллен

@Robusto apparently the alleged pig necrophile has said the vote will be in June next year

Rigor

Thanks @MattE.Эллен for looking that up.

Robusto

11:24 AM

@MattE.Эллен That may be one reason why Jews don't eat pork, btw.

Matt E. Эллен

lol

Rigor

:D

Matt E. Эллен

because of the chance Dave's violated it?

Robusto

It's possible.

Matt E. Эллен

true

Robusto

11:26 AM

Damn, I am in such a pissy mood this morning. I am making nothing but tart comments to posts I encounter.

Matt E. Эллен

happens to the best of us.

Robusto

Can you tell me how such software could distinguish between "I read the book" (present tense) and "I read the book" (past tense)? — Robusto 5 mins ago

Rigor

I noticed :(

Robusto

Try reading The Song of Ice and Fire series by George R. R. Martin and then ask yourself if you think having multiple protagonists is still a good idea. It will take you months, but we'll wait. — Robusto 12 mins ago

I hope "The sentence is wrought with implicit and implied redundancies" was said tongue in cheek. — Robusto 10 mins ago

Seems like you could use a citation for your actual answer, not for the answer to a question that wasn't asked. — Robusto 30 mins ago

A pattern of irascibility, no less.

@Rigor Oh yeah? Well, get off my lawn!

Rigor

Take a break from the computer pal :-)

Robusto

11:29 AM

I can't. I am using the computer to take a break from the boredom of working life.

Rigor

Go watch some Super Bowl highlights.

:D

Robusto

There's only one highlight in the last Super Bowl that matters.

And it involves Malcolm Butler.

Rigor

We are 1-1 for the first time in 13 years.

Robusto

Does it bother you that your example sentence demonstrates a different verb's infinitive usage? — Robusto 8 secs ago

@Rigor You got your win out of the way early this year.

Rigor

-_-

Whatever.

Robusto

11:38 AM

Hey, you could win two. It could happen, right? Any given Sunday?

Mmmmmmhhh.... tart comments.....

And I've not got one so far.

Who do I have to frigg in here to get a neenish?

tchrist

Two new neverland answers to @Mitch's WTH CVRQ meta question.

RegDwigнt

11:54 AM

What's Michael Jackson to do with it?

Robusto

@RegDwigнt Keep it up. You may never get a neenish again.

RegDwigнt

What is a single word for "not fair"?

tchrist

What is a single word for "what is a single word"?

RegDwigнt

ELU.

tchrist

EWW

RegDwigнt

11:56 AM

No, that's the single word for "everything wrong with".

tchrist

EWWELU=?

RegDwigнt

People.

Everything wrong with what is a single word = people.

tchrist

But surely more people always betters all the things!

RegDwigнt

Viel hilft viel.

tchrist

I have cold feet and I don't know how to warm them. I am not 100% convinced that bumping our site from a 24 close-votes-per-person and 20 close-vote-reviews-per-day site to a 50/40 one will address the current issue well enough, and in a way that's reasonably free of undesirable side effects, for this to be a clear path forward on all this.

I don't know how to scale participation in close moderation.

Just giving Reg over 9,000 CVs is not the answer.

Demonstrably.

RegDwigнt

12:06 PM

Curriculum Vitæs?

tchrist

Owie owie owie.

RegDwigнt

Legitimate question. I've no idea what you're planning on giving me over 9,000 of. I hope it's money.

tchrist

Close votes.

RegDwigнt

Oh.

Well I already have over 9000 of those.

tchrist

And yet, the issue abides.

Matt E. Эллен

12:08 PM

close voting is only satisfying until you realise how thankless the task is. Then it gets boring for most people. Why do something people, at best, don't say anything about and at worst, they complain about? Might as well just answer questions. you get points that way.

RegDwigнt

So if you want to give me something I don't have, do get me over 9,000 money.

Matt E. Эллен

you don't want over 9000 blood sucking leeches?

RegDwigнt

@tchrist I can, and will, get the count down to 0. But I'm not here to keep it down at 0. When it rises back to 300, not my fault.

tchrist

No, Reg, I was NOT asking for you to do that!!!!

RegDwigнt

I know you wasn't.

Mitch

12:10 PM

@tchrist It's a big chunk of time already to wade through 20 close vote decisions, bumping up would make the task nauseating.

RegDwigнt

I've been getting it down to 0 regardless.

tchrist

I know.

But they keep coming and coming and coming, and not a drop to drink.

RegDwigнt

They should implement platinum badges, then everyone would be all over the review queues.

tchrist

Would they?

RegDwigнt

As it stands, I have like 5 gold out of 6 so I'm not motivated in the least.

tchrist

12:11 PM

Same.

Mitch

@MattE.Эллен If by the end of the day you have no takers, I'll consider it. I'll take them off your hands for 300; you can send a check with delivery.

RegDwigнt

Yup, 5 out of 6.

tchrist

@RegDwigнt Ditto.

And look at what it's gotten us.

RegDwigнt

A most trivial fix would be to scrape the two words "awarded once" bit.

Other gold badges can be collected any number of times, so why not the ones for fixing ONE FUCKING THOUSAND things.

tchrist

I've said that about Copy Editor.

Most people stop helping when they get their badge.

RegDwigнt

12:14 PM

Which in a way is only fair, because there's thousands of other people who deserve one as well.

tchrist

Would that they were so intent upon the matter as to earn them.

RegDwigнt

We used to suffer from the opposite problem: not enough items to review. In fact, in all queues but one we still do.

Which is why now that I think about it I totally took a back seat on purpose.

Mitch

@tchrist Wait... you're not looking for advice like 'wear socks' or 'hold close to heater'?

tchrist

Oh, you can hit 20 on the Very Low Quality queue easily enough.

The others are harder.

Robusto

@tchrist Have you tried goose down slippers?

tchrist

12:17 PM

And flights of angels wing thee to thy rest.

Robusto

Every time I use up all my close votes, the world conspires to send unusually horrid questions to ELU just to mock me.

It is an unpleasant experience, I assure you.

tchrist

Every. Single. Time.

RegDwigнt

@Robusto LOL Y U still read sight?

Just stop reading sight wehn u no haz votes

tchrist

Hush, Cerb.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt UR A LOOSER!

RegDwigнt

12:19 PM

American and proud!

Go Trump!!!

Mitch

Hell Yeah!

Robusto

I hate to say it, but Trump, bad as he is, isn't the worst thing in the Republican's arsenal of shitheads.

tchrist

@terdon The apparent scope of ELU is anything to do with thinking itself which has been or which can be expressed in something bordering upon English.

Mitch

Xi Jinping or Pope Francis? Who'd win?

Robusto

@Mitch Pope Frank ftw.

RegDwigнt

12:20 PM

@Robusto I am firmly on Jon Stewart's side of the fence: the man is a fucking idiot but God do I love him. What would we even do without him?

tchrist

Prince Jumping the 9th always wins.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt Did you see his interview on Colbert?

Mitch

@Robusto Wrong. Xi doesn't shit in the woods.

RegDwigнt

@Robusto nope, not watched Colbert in a while, been catching up on Stewart for obvious reasons.

tchrist

Cooking reasons.

Matt E. Эллен

12:21 PM

@Mitch Ξ?

RegDwigнt

But let me guess, it was in no way different than any of his other interviews?

Robusto

@Mitch How do you know? He prolly has his own private woods to shit in.

tchrist

@RegDwigнt Vanity, vanity, all is vanity.

Mitch

@Robusto They use a clearing.

RegDwigнt

Ivanity, Theity, Terribleity.

All is terribleity.

Robusto

12:23 PM

@RegDwigнt I really really really hate to say it, but he is not the worst thing ever. Stand him up next to any of the Koch Bros. surrogates and he's almost appealing.

RegDwigнt

I have question about word in language english: why is Ivanhoe? Should be Ivan The Ho?

Articles is hard very, help pls.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt no no no no bros before hos ftw dude

Mitch

@Robusto Not the worst ever? slips noose over neck

Robusto

Another thing that is almost likable about Trump is that Fox News hates him, and he hates them back.

Matt E. Эллен

@RegDwigнt Ivan The Ho is how you name your employees if you're a pimp. Ivanhoe is how you declare that you have an hoe.

Robusto

12:25 PM

Up is down, black is white, smile is frown, day is night

RegDwigнt

@MattE.Эллен good thinking.

Mitch

@Robusto THat's like watching a scorpion and snake in a pit

Robusto

@Mitch True. Entertaining enough, but you don't want to be in that pit.

Mitch

Or pick up the winner

RegDwigнt

@Robusto Whoa whoa whoa, black is white? Next up you'll allow them on buses and in restaurants?

Robusto

12:26 PM

@RegDwigнt Well, at least thems not gay.

RegDwigнt

That is not The Trump Way.

@Robusto some blacks are gay and Mexican.

Robusto

lies

Mitch

Build a wall.

RegDwigнt

See.

I WARNED YOU

Robusto

You shopped that.

RegDwigнt

12:28 PM

I will never shop at a blaxican's.

Also, they totally stole that from Scrubs.

Mitch

They deliver so what's stopping you now

No! I'm Dominican!

@MattE.Эллен Haiti gonna hait.

tchrist

-2

Q: Permissible uses of passive infinitive clauses as objects of bitransitive verbs

Is it grammatically correct to say sentence #1? Consider f to be defined by f=x. Well, then what about sentence #2? Let f be defined by f=x. I am sure #2 is ok because it's correct grammatically, but is #1 also grammatically correct or could it be wrong?

RegDwigнt

12:31 PM

Scrubs Cox Tortures Interns on Slow Days

►

tchrist

I have eyes of jade.

Mitch

vine.co/759ec8d8-9cea-4583-8f43-cf29fb4a66a3

RegDwigнt

@tchrist Bitransitive verbs treat Caitlyn Jenners as objects!

tchrist

And her identical twin brother.

RegDwigнt

@Mitch linky no worky.

tchrist

12:34 PM

Is that question one that shows no research, or one that is just proofreading asking for "is this correct", or one that deserves migration to ELL, or one that should be answered with a 1-one bit response?

I'm edging toward proofreadery.

Virtually all "Is this grammatically correct" questions are crap.

Mitch

vine.co/v/eP0QIhdBbMh

Francis checking his watch while other cardinal speaks. (well, that's what it looks like)

RegDwigнt

Mmmmmmmhhhh... Francis Bacon....

tchrist

ELU is too tired of close voting to even bother any longer.

I close voted that question nine hours ago and nobody has touched it since.

And my editing it didn't make it not be proofreading, although if the asker did some research and work, then maybe it might not be.

RegDwigнt

I've just spent a good ten minutes looking for that list of questions-to-be-closed sorted by votes already cast.

And it's not there.

It was in the old 10k tools.

Mitch

english.stackexchange.com/tools

RegDwigнt

12:40 PM

Very convenient for putting your votes to good use.

@Mitch oh yes, that.

Mitch

better than the other queue where there are lots of old single votes.

Robusto

Throw, throw, throw your vote
Gently down the stream

RegDwigнt

Gently? Pfft. Who do you think I am, an ice hockey player?

tchrist

@ᔕᖺᘎᕊ Ph’nglui mglw’nafh C'thulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.

TRiG

@tchrist Oh. You.

tchrist

12:46 PM

Magical summoning.

I wonder if everyone on the network just got pinged.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt It's the song, numbkins.

What in the deuce?

Yeah, I know.

I did @tchrist

balpha knows about it.

Robusto

12:47 PM

@tchrist JA Rule angry today mon?

tchrist

I was trying to find out whether it was a localized phenomenon. Apparently it is not.

Cerberus

Huh, how did you do that?

You certainly pang me.

RegDwigнt

@Robusto it's the joke, numbking.

tchrist

The power of Cthulhu compels you? :)

Robusto

@Cerberus *pung FTFY

Cerberus

12:49 PM

Then again, it is only proper that I should be pung by Cthulhu, yes.

@Robusto No, silly, that's the past participle.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt Back atcha, nummerdummer

Cerberus

Ping, pang, pung.

Robusto

@Cerberus Same as past tense in this case.

Ping, pung, has pung.

RegDwigнt

@Robusto Lolwut go play wagner u looser.

Cerberus

You are mistaken, Sir.

Begin, began, begun.

Ping, pang, pung.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

12:50 PM

LOL @TCh you couldn't resist the ping crisis in the Tavern?

Cerberus

Drink, drank, drunk.

Robusto

@Cerberus Fan fun fun

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

I didn't get the ping though, so it must be anyone in the chatroom.

tchrist

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M Tavern might have been special. Remember that Shog lives there.

Oliver Salzburg

@tchrist Why did that ping me? O__o

tchrist

12:51 PM

@Trig You were pung, right? And you were not here.

RegDwigнt

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M not possible. Nobody is in the chatroom.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@tchrist Yet his existence didn't . . . @Oliver there's a ping crisis.

Cerberus

@Robusto Dince, dance, dunce.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@RegDwigнt Y'all were.

tchrist

@OliverSalzburg A fine question, sir, a most excellent question.

RegDwigнt

12:51 PM

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M were. Simple past.

TRiG

@tchrist Aye. And I knew what was happening, because I had been similarly summoned to the Ask Ubuntu General Chatroom not ten minutes prior.

RegDwigнt

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M.: Automatic for the People

4

Q: "I am finished my sandwich" sounds correct but "I am started my sandwich" does not?

Grammatically these 2 sentences seem to have the same structure I - pronoun am - verb finished/started - verb my - pronoun(dictionary.com -> possessive, used as an "attributive adjective") sandwich - noun Why is it that "I am finished my sandwich" sounds correct but "I am started my s...