English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

RegDwigнt

1:00 PM

@Robusto Ha! You must be new to this whole domain of the worst crimes Britain perpetrated.

Robusto

NOU

Faheem Mitha

@tchrist What the hell?

Robusto

@JohanLarsson Me no get.

Johan Larsson

They used Australia as a prison at first.

RegDwigнt

It's Australia. They have criminals there. Like Russel Crowe.

tchrist

1:01 PM

@FaheemMitha Superduperping.

Cerberus

@JohanLarsson Nice.

Johan Larsson

@Robusto Ask the dogs.

RegDwigнt

These days they don't accept criminals anymore.

tchrist

You can do it too, but it will annoy people. I just tried it once to see where it worked.

And, now that I think of it...

Feeds

Robusto has added an event to this room's schedule.

tchrist

1:02 PM

It is good that you guys don't have non-Latin starter characters any longer.

RegDwigнt

No Way You will not make Australia home English hd720

►

Feeds

Robusto has added an event to this room's schedule.

Andrew Leach

@tchrist Probably. My ping just arrived.

RegDwigнt

Hahaha. "To interseept and sifely remove". Hilarious parody of English is hilarious.

tchrist

I think anyone on the auto-complete list for regular @pings gets pung by an @ followed by non-Latin characters.

Robusto

1:05 PM

I just scheduled Happy Hour and Happy Hour Concurrent for this chat. Did anyone get a notification?

RegDwigнt

That's what a nation of criminals will do to your language!

tchrist

% echo ᔕᖺᘎᕊ | uniquote -v
\N{CANADIAN SYLLABICS SHA}\N{CANADIAN SYLLABICS BLACKFOOT NO}\N{CANADIAN SYLLABICS CARRIER YU}\N{CANADIAN SYLLABICS WEST-CREE LO}

RegDwigнt

@Robusto everyone got a notification. Even you did.

Robusto

American is a nation of foreigners. We're used to that shit.

RegDwigнt

2 mins ago, by Feeds

Robusto has added an event to this room's schedule.

Robusto

1:05 PM

@RegDwigнt No I didn't.

RegDwigнt

Only if you can't read.

Cerberus

RegDwigнt

Yeah. Two notifications, actually.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt I can't read your screen, no. On my screen none of that shit shows up.

tchrist

Oh noes.

There's more of them now.

RegDwigнt

1:06 PM

@Robusto buy a better screen. What are you, poor?

Robusto

@RegDwigнt No, I'm at work. I have a better screen at home.

tchrist

RegDwigнt

@Robusto well there's your problem right there.

No true Australian is at work right now or ever.

Robusto

Maybe it's a firewall thing.

RegDwigнt

A burning wall of fire.

Robusto

1:08 PM

Mnemonic for remembering the four primary compass directions: No Spaniard Enjoys Washing.

RegDwigнt

So it looks like every hour 100 people more die in Mekka. Interesting.

Robusto

You wonder why those people bother to stampede. According to their religion, Allah has preordained their fate, so they should just stand still and take what's coming.

tchrist

RegDwigнt

Yeah dude, he might be Allah and all, but 700 times 72 virgins is a tall order.

Robusto

Well, are you in or are you in.

@RegDwigнt They don't have to be tall. Many will be quite short, in fact.

RegDwigнt

1:11 PM

@Robusto It's not like he didn't give them a fair warning. He only just killed 200 people with a crane a week before.

Johan Larsson

@Robusto I was evented

Andrew Leach

Apparently there's an hour of happiness starting soon.

Count me out, I think.

Robusto

Hahahaha.

RegDwigнt

@AndrewLeach Well, I for one will be shouting insults at everyone. So do stay.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Facepalm

Robusto

1:12 PM

An event is starting 11 minutes ago. Curious use of future aspect.

RegDwigнt

How do the futures and aspects in the English language relate to one another?

Andrew Leach

@RegDwigнt That might cheer me up.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt No one knows.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@Robusto Developers have always been busy proving to us that we don't know any grammar.

skill patrol

Robusto

1:13 PM

@skillpatrol Don't you mean "Keep its happy hour calm"?

Odd word order there.

RegDwigнt

Okay so apparently everyone's missed out on an entire 11 minutes of being shouted insults at, so for my convenience's sake just consider y'all insulted. You horny Trumps.

Robusto

When do we get the free drinks? That's the only reason I scheduled this thing.

RegDwigнt

You will get the free drinks when you pry them from Trump's cold dead hands.

Robusto

＠ゆめ

tchrist

12

Q: He who must not be named

For some or other reason, typing @ᔕᖺᘎᕊ pings everyone in a chat room... Works in all chat rooms (only tested 2 as I don't want to be a jerk)

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

1:15 PM

@Robusto I did get this notification, am bringing up in meta, if you don't mind.

Robusto

Didja all get pang that time?

skill patrol

The Tragically Hip - Little Bones

►

Robusto

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M Why would you do that?

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@Robusto Only I didn't. O.o

RegDwigнt

@Robusto のゆ

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

1:16 PM

@Robusto Grammar fixes are normal meals to be served there.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt Damn you, that's so good it should have been mine. No fair.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

(I mean Meta Stack Exchange if it isn't clear)

Robusto

54 secs ago, by Robusto

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M Why would you do that?

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Why would I not do that?

Cerberus

So how is the event going?

Robusto

1:17 PM

Still waiting for my free drinks.

Andrew Leach

@Robusto It took ages for the ping to arrive last time.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@Cerberus My happiness level has increased by 0.452182382943 kelvins per mole.

Cerberus

Then you must be cooking.

RegDwigнt

Cerberus

Nay, you must be obliterating your city.

RegDwigнt

1:18 PM

Robusto

@RegDwigнt Way to brighten the room, Rasputin.

tchrist

Which is longer, three Junes or three Julies?

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

I could be bombing the world with nuclear bombs.

RegDwigнt

@Robusto hey take it up with google.

I did my best for actually searching for actual free drinks.

Same as with nurses on bikes.

Robusto

Try harder.

RegDwigнt

1:18 PM

Google has just dropped the ball.

Robusto

On both counts.

That's looser talk.

RegDwigнt

Hey nonono, you got this wrong, it's me who shouts insults at you for the next 54 minutes.

Robusto

* it's I who shouts . . . FTFY

RegDwigнt

Yeah, you pricking toffee-nosed Shakespeare.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt says the same thing only in Hans Landa's voice

Win.

RegDwigнt

1:20 PM

immediately receives an Oscar

Robusto

thanks the entire cast and then craps out on next movie with tarantino

RegDwigнt

immediately receives an Oscar

Robusto

now tries the same thing in samuel l. jackson's voice, only punctuated with "motherfucker" throughout

RegDwigнt

immediately gets cast for Snakes on the Plane 2

receives no Oscar immediately or otherwise

Robusto

immediately takes any job he can get that will pay his alimony

tchrist

1:23 PM

4 mins ago, by tchrist

Which is longer, three Junes or three Julies?

RegDwigнt

Seven. Seven Junes is longer.

Robusto

> If you aren't paying money, you're paying too much. —Ogden N.

Cerberus

Heh.

It depends.

RegDwigнt

That doesn't even make sense.

Cerberus

If you knew what you would be paying exactly, that would be an improvement.

Robusto

1:24 PM

Junes is 5 letters, Julies is 6 letters, so 3x5=15 and 3x6=18. Julies wins.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt Why not?

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus good question. Might wish to ask the author?

tchrist

Three Junes are ninety days, three Julies are ninety-three days.

Andrew Leach

Three Julies is 15'9".

Robusto

What if Julie is having her period?

RegDwigнt

1:25 PM

You fools of crooks. Most calendars don't even have either.

It's a trick question.

Robusto

BTW, my answer is still correct. I just arrived at the correct answer by different means.

Damkerng T.

Does Happy Hour mean that I'll get one free drink?

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt It makes sense to the author, so he could not explain your position.

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus no, that's an assumption you only just made.

Cerberus

A valid one.

Damkerng T.

1:26 PM

Or is it just about the super-duper ping happening around the network?

RegDwigнt

There is no evidence whatsoever that just because I write something it makes any sense.

@Cerberus oh, so any assumption is a valid one? Right, I forgot you came from the philosophers' school of nonsense.

Robusto

@DamkerngT. We're still waiting for evidence one way or the other.

Damkerng T.

I see. Thanks for the reply.

RegDwigнt

Okay guys this is getting out of hand. Can everyone just stop interfering with my shouting insults at them? This is ridiculous.

We've only 43 minutes left.

And I am already behind the schedule by a solid 12 minutes.

Robusto

@Matt E. Эллен: I acknowledge that my original answer gave short shrift to the first of the poster's two questions, and that perhaps I didn't provide an adequate justification for launching into an investigation of the cited quotation as part of a response to the poster's second question. I've attempted to remedy both of those shortcomings by adding three new paragraphs (and two subheads) to the front of my answer. Everything before the sentence beginning "The [Yale] Dictionary of Modern Proverbs..." is new, and almost everything after it is old. — Sven Yargs 17 hours ago

Cerberus

1:29 PM

@RegDwigнt No, only a valid assumption is valid.

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus that's an invalid assumption.

Robusto

Sven's solution seems always to be adding more text.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt You are mistaken.

RegDwigнt

You are a dog.

Robusto

He is three dogs in one.

RegDwigнt

1:30 PM

And don't call me miss.

Robusto

@Cerberus And a tautology is a tautology.

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus that's another invalid assumption that flies in the face of factual facts.

Cerberus

Or a hendiadys.

@RegDwigнt I'm afraid you are invalid.

RegDwigнt

As opposed to "you are a dog", say. Which is not an assumption at all.

skill patrol

Who let the dogs out?

RegDwigнt

1:31 PM

@Cerberus another invalid assumption. You are not afraid at all.

skill patrol

who let the dogs out-Bekhit Fahim

►

Robusto

@Cerberus But you are one through three, not two.

RegDwigнt

He's like baby Jesus without the baby.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt I am the freightest of all freights. I truly am a freight.

@Robusto It is true, I am a hendiatris.

Or how would you spell that?

Robusto

You're the Greek scholar, not me.

RegDwigнt

1:33 PM

@Cerberus You could have a freight train, if you'd just lay down your tracks.

You could have an aeroplane flying, if you bring your blue sky back.

Robusto

No Peter Gabriel impressions in chat.

RegDwigнt

I am under no impression that Peter Gabriel in chat.

Cerberus

You're making even less sense that normally, which is below zero.

Robusto

Besides, Elton John doesn't cover Peter Gabriel.

RegDwigнt

Too Low for Zero

Too Low for Zero, released in 1983, was the twenty-second official album release for Elton John. It was his most critically acclaimed disc of the 1980s, earning Platinum certification by the RIAA. It produced several huge international singles, each accompanied by successful MTV music videos, and it spent over a year on the Billboard album chart. == BackgroundEdit == For the first time since Blue Moves in 1976, all lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin, who has continued in this role to the present day. At the insistence of Taupin, John decided to go back to basics and returned to working ...

skill patrol

1:34 PM

Negative

RegDwigнt

> most critically acclaimed

Robusto

Less Than Zero

►

Elvis Costello has a song for every occasion.

RegDwigнt

Yeah, and I have an entire album.

Suck that, Elvis.

skill patrol

Did you guys know there is no such thing as 0 in scientific notation?

Robusto

@RegDwigнt Such as it is.

Thank you, New Jasper.

skill patrol

1:36 PM

-_-

Strike 2

RegDwigнt

Did you zero know there is no such thing as guys in scientific notation?

Hurry up, this happiness won't last but for 34 more minutes!

Robusto

@skillpatrol Is that some kind of threat?

RegDwigнt

No, he's combing his hair and counting.

Robusto

Bet he can't chew gum at the same time.

RegDwigнt

He can if he has a multitask force.

Use the force!

skill patrol

1:40 PM

6

Q: What is the Scientific Notation of Zero?

This question was asked here, where the answer uses this description. The last line reads: "The special case of $0$ does not have a unique representation in scientific notation, i.e., $0=0×10^0=0×10^1=..."$ My question is the value of $a$ cannot be $0$ since, as they state: $a$ is a $\color...

algebra-precalculus notation arithmetic number-systems

RegDwigнt

Hm. Three of these five people are terminally ill.

Andrew Leach

No, just cold.

... awaits insult...

Robusto

@skillpatrol "tldr: there is no scientific notation for zero in the form a⋅10k with 1≤|a|<10 and we will always write it simply as 0. stop reading here if you don't care about more information"

RegDwigнt

@AndrewLeach Yeah I know that's what you're used to hearing from American doctors, but trust me, it's not true.

Robusto

@AndrewLeach Trying to preempt insults will not save you, Leachboi.

Andrew Leach

1:42 PM

I don't think I have ever spoken to an American doctor.

RegDwigнt

Sep 16 at 15:03, by RegDwigнt

Andrew the Phlorescent Leech?

@AndrewLeach even worse.

Andrew Leach

Apart from the PhD who taught me History at school.

Robusto

@AndrewLeach Was it the language difference?

Andrew Leach

I failed History.

RegDwigнt

You're channeling American doctors without having met one. That's another terminal condition.

Robusto

1:43 PM

Just talk to Donald Trump. He's better than a doctor. He has an MBA from Wharton. Ever heard of it?

RegDwigнt

Walt Disney The Story Of Menstruation

►

Andrew Leach

@Robusto I think it's the name of a hymn tune.

RegDwigнt

Wart on, wart off, what's the difference.

Same with hair.

Mitch

@skillpatrol didn't we discuss that already? Or was it another zero in question?

skill patrol

Yes @Mitch we did.

But he wasn't listening

:P

tchrist

1:49 PM

0

Q: In which sense use would

Block quote My question is related to usage of would have Block quote Please help me out that how to use in writing and in which sense it is use

grammar british-english

Would that it were.

RegDwigнt

-1

Q: "what" information?

transfer, transport, transmit, convey, or ... information? I am reading this sentence made by basic learners. I know it's not right. But what is the correct word? "Use media and education to transport the information about air pollution. "

word-choice

tchrist

I would rather it weren't buggy.

RegDwigнt

Worst title ever.

Mitch

I knew it! I win! woo hoo! Yay! Lottery! woo hoo! wait... that's all there is to life?

tightens noose

skill patrol

:O

@Mitch It is a bit strange

Robusto

1:51 PM

0

Q: Moving present participle within sentence

The latest major stampede occurred in 2006 killing at least 346 and injuring 289 people. This sentence is a citation from news.I tried to alter the sentence as below. The latest major stampede killing at least 346 and injuring 289 people occurred in 2006. So, what kind of differences c...

meaning present-participle

You can't throw a brick at ELU without hitting a question like this.

RegDwigнt

> I am reading this sentence made by basic learners.

And that's a sentence produced by their teacher.

Oh the huge manatee.

Cerberus

I suppose one can make a sentence, but not in that context.

I wonder why not.

tchrist

Why don't we call a female egret an egress?

Mitch

Because then she would leave

Why is a raven like a writing desk?

Cerberus

I know that one. But I always forget the answer.

Mitch

1:57 PM

Because Poe wrote on both.

Cerberus

Ah, was that it? Hmm.

Mitch

Or the other answer is 'I had no idea when I wrote that, I just made it up to be unanswerable'

Cerberus

Umm.

But this is an existing riddle, right?

Mitch

'Because I'm a goofy vicar' sez Lewis Carrol

RegDwigнt

@Robusto hey why are you throwing bricks at ELU? And is that where half my yellow road went?

Mitch

2:00 PM

Six sick bricks tick
Six sick chicks tock

Robusto

@RegDwigнt Why you no complain when other throw caca at elu???????

RegDwigнt

@Robusto Why you no read when I complain when other throw caca?

For that matter, why you no read my shit?

skill patrol

How's the commie muting business?

RegDwigнt

It's a chore.

All working hours and no pay.

skill patrol

Is smokey helping?

RegDwigнt

2:04 PM

Smokey is turning into a shroomy. And his gun into a cloud.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt Not enough question marks. Try harder.

RegDwigнt

I don't know how to make enough question marks on this keyboard.

Will try again when at home.

Robusto

that looser talk???????????? !!!!!!!!!!!!!

RegDwigнt

your teh loosest of tehm all

It is true. I looked it up.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt ノヨウ

RegDwigнt

2:08 PM

@Robusto トゥー・リタル・トゥー・レート

Robusto

1 min ago, by Robusto

@RegDwigнt ノヨウ

RegDwigнt

ヨロ

Robusto

I only rive once?????????????

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

ő_ő

RegDwigнt

@Robusto I dunno, are you James Bond?

Instructions unclear.

Robusto

2:12 PM

calling mr. oswald with his swastika tattoo

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Hey! ooh-hey-ey

RegDwigнt

I wouldn't do that. I'd try calling him with a phone instead.

But that's just me with my street cred.

Robusto

That's because swastika tattoos are banned in your country.

Mr. Politically Correct.

RegDwigнt

Not if you cover them up with a swastika shirt.

What are you, twelve?

Robusto

Eight. No, seven.

RegDwigнt

2:14 PM

Ha. Name three Justin Bieber songs or it didn't happen.

Robusto

I presume you are using the term "song" loosely.

RegDwigнt

I will use any term loosely for a mere $3000.

Robusto

That again.

RegDwigнt

Yes, including the term that again.

Robusto

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者: Do you understand about the chains now?

RegDwigнt

2:19 PM

Al is in chains.

Robusto

Just buy a bunch of cheap ones and splice them together.

RegDwigнt

Use gum.

Robusto

That is a link tool. You use it to push the pin out, thereby releasing the link. Be careful not to push the link out all the way, but just enough to clear the inner link.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@Robusto yes. Some guy has a 12-minute YT video showing how to use one.

I'm excited to do it.

Robusto

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 Of course.

RegDwigнt

2:21 PM

I have a link tool in this drawer right here because that's how rad I am.

tchrist

@tchrist,Where is your comment,now?Why did you remove it?I wanted to flag your comment -rude or offensive so that other users of this site come to know about this(the way you downvoted it for no reason and edited it according to yourself) too!! — kilimanjaro 7 mins ago

Sigh.

I removed it because he complained, of course.

His edits have not done anything to help me understand better.

Robusto

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 I meant to say "be careful not to push the pin out all the way" . . . but you have the YT vid, so you should be fine.

tchrist

But I will not touch them because it pisses him off.

Robusto

@tchrist Does he have some issue with white space that we should be aware of?

tchrist

Clearly.

RegDwigнt

2:24 PM

I beg to differ.

tchrist

I just know to avoid interactions with that user now.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@Robusto what do you think is a reasonable price for used chains? We are going to a bike swap meet on Saturday.

RegDwigнt

That's no issue I need, want, or will be aware of.

I have issues of my own to attend before I attend random internet blokes'.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Is there a way to de-grease them without hurting them? Maybe I'll just wipe them with a cloth.

RegDwigнt

I wipe them vigorously with a cloth. Nothing to be afraid of.

tchrist

2:26 PM

Both his question edits and his comments are nigh unto incomprehensible.

RegDwigнt

You can't do anywhere as much damage to them by wiping them with your hands as you do by pulling at them using your legs.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@RegDwigнt there won't be any of that.

tchrist

I have autocorrect disabled everywhere but my stupid fingers alone.

RegDwigнt

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 I'm confused. You're not going to ride the bike? Or is this chain not for a bike?

I've not been following very closely.

tchrist

@RegDwigнt Best way to avoid rear-ending somebody.

RegDwigнt

2:28 PM

See. Take a tip, take a lesson.

Robusto

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 For used chains? The only reason someone gets rid of chains is if they're used up. In which case they should be glad for you to take them off their hands. They should work for your purposes even if stretched.

RegDwigнt

You never win by messin with the questions from the frickin ELU.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@RegDwigнt we are trying to make a Sigma Derby machine. It's an electro-mechanical horse racing game.

Robusto

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 Your machine doesn't put a huge load on the chain, does it?

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@Robusto don't have a machine yet.

RegDwigнt

2:30 PM

Whoa. Where do I sign up.

Robusto

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 But if you did would it?

RegDwigнt

In any case, in that case you certainly don't need to worry about damaging the chain.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@Robusto the only load on each chain will be one plastic dinosaur and some sort of way to attach him to the chain.

RegDwigнt

You could put it in sulfuric acid for three weeks, and it'd still be fine for your purposes.

Robusto

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 So you should be fine, unless the chains are damaged or bent.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

2:31 PM

@RegDwigнt then I have to source sulfuric acid.

RegDwigнt

Speaking of which, I've actually read of people who clean their chains using Pepsi.

Robusto

I think you mean Coke.

RegDwigнt

Or Coke, if you must. rolls eyes

Jinx.

tchrist

I perceive a failure to communicate raging.

Take that, parser!

RegDwigнt

I am the machine against rage.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

2:32 PM

What we've got here is . . . failure . . . to communicate.

Robusto

@tchrist Nobody ever fails to communicate that on the Internet.

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 tnx Strother!

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

I don't need your civil war.

RegDwigнt

Hey, in that case I'll take it.

tchrist

Tussle tussle, whinge and hustle:

@RegDwigнt,he changed my question (from what it was actually).And then everyone thought the question to be silly and downvoted it.Atleast,he should have first read my question properly.Why did he change it to his own "imagined question"?So, how did he do my work?By downvoting it without even reading it or by discouraging me??And before I could flag his comment,he removed it himself. — kilimanjaro 4 mins ago

RegDwigнt

It's a perfectly good civil war.

tchrist

2:33 PM

You know, it's still silly.

So roll it back. Tell me how that works out for you.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

The way they've always done before.

Tonepoet

Yes, lovechrist seemed to ping everybody with the power of Cthulu... >_>

tchrist

Indeed.

Cerberus

Lovechrist.

2

I see.

Lilienthal

13

Q: What does "My shoes are too tight" mean?

On Babylon 5, episode 7 ("War Prayer"), Londo Mollari says, "My shoes are too tight, and I've forgotten how to dance." The scene: LONDO: ...My shoes are too tight. VIR: ...Excuse me? LONDO: Something my father said. He was... Old, very old at the time. I went into his room, and he...

babylon-5 quotes

This was posted over on SciFi (and it's probably staying there), but would this be on-topic here?

RegDwigнt

2:40 PM

Nope. Because it is not specific to English.

"My shoes are too tight" means just that, word for word. No English-specific idioms involved. The OP would still have the exact same question if the original was in Turkish or Russian.

Lilienthal

Hmm, yeah, good point actually.

tchrist

In other words, the same issue or lack of same would exist were that conversation translated into some other language.

Lilienthal

Interestingly enough, for the same reason I'd consider it off-topic on SciFi since it can be transplanted from Babylon 5 to any text in any medium (in any language).

RegDwigнt

Yeah.

I can translate it word for word into my mother tongue, using any dictionary of my choice. If I still don't understand it then, that's clearly not a problem with English or with Babylon 5. That's a problem with my understanding. (And if I do understand it then, then I no longer have a question.)

Tonepoet

It probably should be noted that tight does have a more colloquial meaning in that some people use it to effectively mean awesome, much like cool...

Lilienthal

2:44 PM

Indeed. I doubt there's any site where this question is really on-topic.

Cerberus

Which probably means that it should be neither migrated nor closed, if it is a valid question in itself.

RegDwigнt

And of course the elephant in the room is that the quote ends in the words "I don't understand" — "Nor should you".

Come on.

Like, honestly.

Robusto

Wait, my shoes are too tight and I don't know what it means! How can I get help?

RegDwigнt

You can't. Nor should you.

Robusto

@Tonepoet That does not apply here. Nor does the slang expression meaning "drunk" . . .

RegDwigнt

2:50 PM

Your shoes are made for tighting, and that's just what they'll do.

Robusto

Gonna tight all over you, pard.

RegDwigнt

@Robusto "drunk" applies to everything on Babylon 5. Have you seen Babylon 5?

Robusto

Ask Johnny Cash.

Tonepoet

@Robusto I primarily mention that because if the question was initially asked on E.L. & U., I believe one of the first comments would be "Would you clarify what your misunderstanding is?"

RegDwigнt

Robusto

2:52 PM

@Tonepoet No tagbacks.

RegDwigнt

@Tonepoet you are being too kind to us.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt I love the way TV sci-fi makes other species that look curiously like human beings, only with big jowls or a metal eyebrow or some kind of huge wattles.

Or bad hair. Not Donald Trump bad, but bad.

RegDwigнt

makes notes

Very good. Tell me more about your love interests.

Robusto

I didn't mean I love it. Quite the opposite, in fact.

That's the trouble with you pineapples. You always take things so literally.

RegDwigнt

makes more notes and also some scratch-outs

Robusto

2:55 PM

Is that some kind of Eastern thing?

Tonepoet

I am not a pineapple. I am a human being. Who is Number I?

RegDwigнt

Well, it's still West of Stalingrad, if you must know.

@Tonepoet I is robot.

But who was phone?

Tonepoet

Home: Full name E.T. Phone Home.

Robusto

@Tonepoet We don't engage in persiflage with users who prefer to keep an air of mystery about them.

RegDwigнt

Oh my. All these years. And the answer's so simple.

Robusto

2:57 PM

Do you have Prince Albert in the can?

RegDwigнt

@Robusto which is precisely one of the main reasons big jowls or a metal eyebrow are so cuil. You can still engage with aliens in persiflage, and also other things.

Robusto

Can we speak to Mike Hunt if he's there?

RegDwigнt

You can speak to Ethan Hunt.

But he'll be wearing a mask, if you don't mind.

Robusto

How about Richard Head?

RegDwigнt

No. Not head. Mask.

Robusto

2:59 PM

Seymour Butz?