English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

skill patrol

05:26

True @Robusto the use of the word "brains" is definitely informal.

Johan Larsson

08:16

in Lounge<C+plus> on Stack Overflow Chat, 3 mins ago, by Andy Prowl

Matt E. Эллен

08:50

Should we move the question about too to Cognitive Sciences?

0

Q: minor difference between sentences

My phone calls drop too frequently. My phone calls drop frequently. The difference between above two sentences is minor (only the word "too"). Actually I am working on a project of summarizing sentences, and I have to prove that the above sentences mean the same. So, I want to ask is t...

sentence-structure

Or maybe Linguistics

RegDwigнt

So they can have a laugh, too?

I want to prove that "red" means "blue".

Matt E. Эллен

Yes, but also they might know papers that point out how difficult it is

RegDwigнt

There are papers on pointing out how red is not blue?

I think those are called "dictionaries".

But yeah sure do as you please.

Matt E. Эллен

Papers on how difficult it is to extract meaning. I am assuming they are doing this computationally.

RegDwigнt

You've already put considerably more thought into this question than the OP did.

Matt E. Эллен

09:02

Lol

RegDwigнt

@JohanLarsson see, at the first gust of wind, the first one will collapse. The second one will withstand an earthquake. That's why engineers are allowed to build bridges, while scientists are only allowed to write papers about daffodils.

Johan Larsson

nice

RegDwigнt

09:57

> Medizin-Nobelpreis geht an drei Parasiten...

WUT?

> ...forscher

Oh.

Compound nouns fool me once again!

Johan Larsson

10:30

@Reg do you know how to thaw a frozen room?

or @terdon

chat.stackoverflow.com/rooms/62927/rust

A room for a language should never freeze imo

terdon

@JohanLarsson Yes, but I can't do it on chat.so that's a different server and only SO mods are mods there. Sorry.

Johan Larsson

ok np

I take it a mod can do it then.

Anonymous

@JohanLarsson Are you sure there is no other room for it already? It's hard to believe there would be no room for Rust.

Johan Larsson

It is the only room I found

Also the Rust room should be named Rust

I asked an SO mod

Robusto

10:59

@JohanLarsson Use WD-40 on it, see if that helps.

WD-40

WD-40 is the trademark name of a penetrating oil and water-displacing spray. The spray is produced by San Diego, CA-based WD-40 Co. == HistoryEdit == WD-40 was developed in 1953 by Norm Larsen, founder of the Rocket Chemical Company, in San Diego, California. WD-40, abbreviated from the phrase "Water Displacement, 40th formula", indicating it was the 40th formula the chemists tried before finding success. The product was originally designed to repel water and prevent corrosion on the Atlas space rocket, and later was found to have numerous household uses. Larsen was attempting to create a formula...

Johan Larsson

Robusto

Yup, that's cribbed from a "Red Green" episode. Which may have cribbed it from somewhere else.

The Red Green Show

The Red Green Show is a Canadian television comedy that aired on various channels in Canada, with its ultimate home at CBC Television, and on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) stations in the United States, from 1991 until the series finale April 7, 2006, on CBC. The Red Green Show is essentially a cross between a sitcom and a sketch comedy series, and is a parody of home improvement, do-it-yourself, fishing, and other outdoors shows (particularly The Red Fisher Show). Reruns currently air on CBC Television, The Comedy Network, and various PBS stations. It was produced by S&S Productions, which...

> The title character, Red Green (Steve Smith), is a handyman who tries to find shortcuts to most of his projects, trusting most of his work to duct tape, which he calls "the handyman's secret weapon".

He would say, "If it moves and it ain't supposed to, use duct tape. If it doesn't move and it ought to, use WD-40."

Also:

Johan Larsson

11:26

Problemløsing

►

In Norwegian, dunno if it is the original.

Robusto

12:12

@JohanLarsson I remember the chart from 20 years ago, and it was old then because the guy who showed it to me never got anything first, so the Norwegian one couldn't be original.

Johan Larsson

ok

Norwegian guy is funny

Robusto

He may be a regular Louis CK, but as I don't speak Norwegian I wouldn't really know.

Robusto

12:44

0

Q: Why do 'shut up' and 'shut down' have a similiar meaning, while up and down have opposite meaning?

Shutting something down usually imply that it will be quiet. If you want someone to be quit, you say 'shut up'. They have a similiar meaning. However, up and down are opposite in meaning. Where does this difference come form?

etymology

Dupe of . . .

11

Q: Meaning of 'up/down' after a verb

There are lots of instances of using 'up' or 'down' after verbs. Instances: eat up, drink up, meet up, finish up, start up, fill up, clean up, wipe up, tie up, etc. What do they add as meaning to a verb exactly?

meaning verbs prepositions

Mitch

13:29

@Robusto Think of all you're missing

@JohanLarsson Just like a room for a toilet. I think there's a pattern here.

Johan Larsson

yes

RegDwigнt

13:45

@Robusto Up/down girl, she's been living in her up/down world.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt You just closed a question as a dupe of a question that is also a dupe.

Here's the original:

5

Q: Terms for duplicated words

I can't recall term used for duplicating extraneous words e.g. VIP person (Very Important Person Person), first question what is this term? Second question, is the same term used when the duplicated term is a synonym?

single-word-requests

RegDwigнt

@Robusto no.

Clearly you missed some of your reading comprehension classes.

Robusto

I don't understand what you're trying to say.

RegDwigнt

Then my job here is done.

Robusto

The one you closed doesn't really belong with the GNU one. It belongs with the other one, IMO.

RegDwigнt

13:51

No. It would belong there if it said, "if FACE = Face Acuity Characteristics Expressions, then what is it called if I said 'FACE expressions'?"

Instead, it just asks, "what is it called if FACE = Face Acuity Characteristics Expressions?"

Two entirely different questions. With two entirely different answers, unsurprisingly.

Robusto

Fair enough.

That's what I get when I try to escape from the confusion of this stupid job for a few moments to bask in the confusion that is ELU.

RegDwigнt

I mean, often enough those things he's asking about are backronyms actually, rather than acronyms.

In your question, they are acronyms by definition, and then people forget that they are.

So it's sort movements in opposite directions.

Like Krebs der Umkehrung.

It's complicated. Get a Bach to help.

Robusto

Speaking of confusion:

0

Q: guess what Barney?

In the TV show (how I met your mother) Lilly is exhausted from her job and Barney recommends her to quit it and work in a private school to make even more money. Barney:Lilly,quit your job. Work at a private school. You won't have to deal with the school board and you'll make a ton more money. ...

meaning

Whaaaaaa . . . ?

RegDwigнt

Guess what Rob?

Robusto

Guess what, Barney? I'm becoming disenchanged with Duolingo's translation immersion.

RegDwigнt

13:55

The left Rob or the right Rob? Or the Rob in the middle? Guess already!

Matt E. Эллен

I guess so

RegDwigнt

I never guess, because guesswork is work.

Robusto

I translate some text into English, taking care to make it as English-y as possible without losing the meaning, and invariably a chain of fools edits to add Oxford commas (or remove them), switch word order so that it's more like the Spanish, choose a cognate that doesn't apply ("actually" for "actualmente" which really means currently), and so on.

RegDwigнt

Such is every day of every person on every Internet the humanity's aware of so far.

Robusto

It's like ELU except where people edit your shit rather than vote on it.

RegDwigнt

13:59

Well. Some shit you can't edit. Like Justin Bieber, for example.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt I dream of a better Internet, one that has unicorns and stardust and cherry pie. Yes, cherry pie!

RegDwigнt

@Robusto Such is every day of every person on every Internet...

Mitch

@RegDwigнt But you can shit all the edit you want.

RegDwigнt

Wrong. I do not can shit.

Mitch

@Robusto That's crazy talk. Like wishing for Nutella.

RegDwigнt

14:00

What a rude thing to assume of people.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt I think you mean to say you cannot do shit.

Mitch

@RegDwigнt People are idiots.

RegDwigнt

@Robusto yes, I might, but even so that would include not canning shit.

Every which way you look at me, shit, a can, and myself will never cross paths.

Mitch

Canned shit. That sounds awfully like Nutella

Robusto

I think you should take up knitting. Then you could knit shit.

You might even knit wit. Who knows?

RegDwigнt

14:02

Or you could buy some tacos, then you could dipshit.

Mitch

or you could change your oil, then you could dipstick

Robusto

You might even shitwit.

RegDwigнt

The Shitwitches of Shitwick.

No Cher, Shitlock.

Andrew Leach

@RegDwigнt Literally the best weapon since, um, sliced bread.

RegDwigнt

Yes. And also before.

Robusto

14:16

@RegDwigнt What about in between?

RegDwigнt

In between is the burger. And cheese and ketchup. And a pickle, for some reason.

Robusto

You left out the special sauce in your Le Big Mac.

RegDwigнt

I never said my Le Mac was Big.

You jump to conclusions, you get disappointed. Conclusions are assholes, you know.

Robusto

You never said your Quarter-Pounder was Royale, either.

RegDwigнt

It is with cheese alright.

Robusto

14:20

You are a fluke of the universe. You have no right to be here.

RegDwigнt

Neither has the universe.

And yet lo.

And yet J.Lo, for that matter.

And yet Jet Li, while we're at it.

Robusto

Don't forget "Lo! the poor Indian."

RegDwigнt

Lol, the poor Indian.

Robusto

en.wikiquote.org/wiki/An_Essay_on_Man

RegDwigнt

Why did you misspell an l as an upside-down i?

Also, how?

Robusto

14:22

Lo, the poor Indian! whose untutored mind
Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind;
His soul proud Science never taught to stray
Far as the solar walk or milky way;
Yet simple nature to his hope has giv'n,
Behind the cloud-topped hill, an humbler heav'n.

RegDwigнt

@Robusto nice try. I mean, nice essay.

That's racist.

Robusto

Take it up with the Pope. Alexander Pope, that is.

Does Alexander Pope shit in the woods?

RegDwigнt

Just imagine "Lo, the poor Indian with untutored mind" as a tagline for this site. Nobody would call that poetry.

And yet, just because you're a pope, you can get away with everything.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt I'd call it justice.

Also, Dude, Indian is not the preferred nomenclature.

RegDwigнt

The world misspelling, by the world misspole.

@Robusto I know I know, you call them redskins.

Robusto

14:24

Just try to convince the park ranger that you're the pope next time you're caught shitting in the woods.

@RegDwigнt Redskin-Americans.

RegDwigнt

@Robusto Chip & Dale are easily convinced.

Robusto

Then, of course, you have to deal with all the Catholic bears.

RegDwigнt

I really think the Washington Redskins should be renamed. I suggest the Washington Blackskins.

I mean, if that ain't black, then Ice Cube's Chinese.

Robusto

Why not rename them the D.C. Redskins? That would solve the problem.

RegDwigнt

Because then they could no longer pretend they represent a Western state, and instead would unambiguously be representing an Eastern district.

Like some commie traitors or something.

Black Indians who are commie traitors. Who'd watch that?

Well okay, I would.

Robusto

14:29

Fact: there are no Indians in Indiana.

RegDwigнt

Indian? Nah.

Andrew Leach

Not now they've all been driven out, anyway.

RegDwigнt

Screwdrivers will do that to you.

Robusto

What about Indie Anna?

RegDwigнt

Is it the prequel to Annie Hall?

Robusto

14:30

Indiana only has screwy drivers.

Andrew Leach

Can you get screwdrivers in Indiana?

I thought that was one of the more alcohol-restricted states.

RegDwigнt

How many Indians does it take to screw a driver?

Robusto

Careful, or I will call the capital Indiana police.

RegDwigнt

Yeah yeah, from Moscow.

Robusto

Their official state motto is: Indiana, Gateway to Illinois!

RegDwigнt

14:35

Robusto

@RegDwigнt Moscow, Idaho.

RegDwigнt

Joke, Joke.

@Robusto Nice ring. Kind of like "New York, Gateway to Connecticut".

Also, shouldn't it be Idatheho? And who's Ida anyway?

Robusto

That's my own private Idaho, so I can call it whatever I want.

For example, in my own private Idaho the license plates do not say "Famous Potatoes" . . .

Interestingly, the google image search also turns up this hit for famous potatoes:

Them ain't any potatoes I ever heard of.

So I can't imagine they're at all famous. But I concede that they are potatoes.

Mitch

That's Clannad last night

Robusto

No, this is Clannad.

RegDwigнt

14:48

These are not potatoes.

More like pikachus.

With Down Syndrome.

Like seriously, just look where the fuck their eye sockets are sitting.

Robusto

Hey, they're tired from fighting evil. That causes eye sockets to drift outwards.

RegDwigнt

I'd say that suggests the evil has won.

It may have been defeated, but they are the ones who'll have to suffer the consequences.

Robusto

Nobody ever said they won. Only that they were fighting.

Nobody ever said they were fighting hard, either.

RegDwigнt

Well. Just one fist to the face will do wonders.

I suppose that's where their noses went.

Robusto

It's not a requirement of fighting evil that one has a nose.

RegDwigнt

14:53

Oh it very much is. BO spearheads most lists of evil things.

Robusto

Any expression is grammatically defensible. Linguistic grad students need something to write dissertations about, after all. I think you need another adjective. — Robusto 13 secs ago

RegDwigнt

Yes, it is a much more pressing question indeed if that sentence is submarinally defensible, or nukeheadally defensible.

And for me, of course, the tankally defensibility is of utmost importance.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt You're as sweet as Tupelov honey.

RegDwigнt

What's Van Pelvisson to do with this?

Robusto

Van Morrison - Tupelo Honey

►

Let him state his own case.

Note: he left out the "v" from the title, but we know what he was really singing about.

RegDwigнt

15:02

I always found No Guru, No Method, No Teacher to be superior.

Or In The Garden, as it be.

Robusto

Two Gurus, One Cup

RegDwigнt

Which reminds me: when you come down from your Ivory Tower, you will see how it really must be to be like me.

Have fun!

Matt E. Эллен

15:14

NOU

Mitch

@RegDwigнt like Saruman

RegDwigнt

Take a look at me, I'm a poor man's son, I never did no harm to nöone.
You've got money in the bank, I ain't got none.

Mitch

@Robusto Too Fast Tupac

RegDwigнt

Sha the kur up, Donny.

Mitch

Chaka Khan, I feel for you.

Robusto

15:25

Chakin' the Tree

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

Let me rock ya, that's all I wanna do.

RegDwigнt

Chakin Treehorn treats objects like women.

Robusto

ROCK MY PLIMSOUL (1968) by the Jeff Beck Group

►

RegDwigнt

Meh. The Mick Jagger Group. The Paul McCartney Group. The Roger Daltrey Group. The Bono Group. Meh.

Who'd listen to those. They suck at writing so much, they can't even come up with a name for themselves.

Robusto

You have no class.

RegDwigнt

15:37

I have, but I'm playing hooky.

Robusto

That's looser talk.

RegDwigнt

Au contraire, that's Commie Muter Ninja Turtle talk.

Cioa-cocoa.

Robusto

I'm calmer than you are.

Robusto

15:51

OK, let me get something straight: If a designer sends you "final" comps, and you ask questions and are told that "it won't really be like that" . . . then are they really final?

Robusto

16:04

Just because you can thinking up a description doesn't mean there will be a single word it applies to. What's a single word for a left-handed nun who eats pickled herring before chanting vespers at a Lithuanian convent? — Robusto 1 min ago

Mitch

Did you say left or right handed?

also creamed herring much more likely. so good it's like fish flavored Nutella

MετάEd

This might be easier in Turkish.

Also German.

Mitch

writes up business plan for Ferraro

How about Turks in Germany?

Robusto

Germany doesn't celebrate Turkey Day.

Mitch

Their loss

tchrist

16:20

I wonder what they will rename Berlin to.

Robusto

Who says they're renaming it?

tchrist

The Constantinoplans.

Robusto

16:42

Istanbul is a-bustlin'

Robusto

17:49

@MattE.Эллен: Are you here?

Matt E. Эллен

hi

Robusto

Would you render me an inestimable service?

Matt E. Эллен

how can I help

Robusto

Would you change "thinking" to "think" in the comment referenced above?

2 hours ago, by Robusto

Just because you can thinking up a description doesn't mean there will be a single word it applies to. What's a single word for a left-handed nun who eats pickled herring before chanting vespers at a Lithuanian convent? — Robusto 1 min ago

Brain cramp.

Matt E. Эллен

done :)

Robusto

17:51

Thank you. I will never say another bad thing about orcs.

Matt E. Эллен

:D

Robusto

And so ends the in-the-office portion of my day. Ciao for nao.

Matt E. Эллен

CU

Jez

18:12

bought a treadmill - heaviest damn thing i've ever had to shift - and i can't put it together because the screws aren't quite long enough >.<

crl

18:28

Should You Climb In Or Out Of The Saddle? GCN Does Science

►

I'd like that treadmill

much heavier though

Also shouldn't we say Ninja tortoises rather?

I have too many dumb questions I know

crl

19:21

Let's do a game, (as a former sailor) let's list all the names for body of waters (without googling of course)

In French first: océan, mer, baie, lac, golfe, havre, étang, fleuve, canal, rivière, estuaire, retenue, bassin.. (not easilly sailable)

wow there are so many en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_of_water | fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89tendue_d%27eau

terdon

20:19

@GregLee you said that "finite be is always an auxiliary" and I pro ides evidence in the form of dictionary definition that clearly shows that's not true. So, where's your evidence supporting your claim that be is always auxiliary? — terdon 3 hours ago

Perfectly good argument foiled by phone typing.

I swear, the best thing about being a mod is being able to edit your own comments.

skill patrol

@RegDwigнt

Robusto

@crl So the answer is "Umm, I don't know, what do you think?"

Robusto

20:44

@crl Ocean, sea, lake, pond, swamp, bayou, bay, lagoon, river, rill, creek, stream, estuary, strait, puddle, morass, canal . . .

terdon

torrent

skill patrol

pool

crl

pond

skill patrol

:-)

crl

oh damn :/

cove, then

could cloud be considered one too?

skill patrol

20:53

no

inlet

crl

what about oceanic trenches? they are technically body of water

skill patrol

Water within water

Jez

woot

got my treadmill set up. i just ended up connecting those screws with only 1 washer instead of 2, ignoring the instructions

just did half a kilometre at 9.6km/h and i'm exhausted lol

hopefully i can get fitter now

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

21:19

@Robusto did you ever hear from Cerb re: Tasker? I use it to turn stuff off when I'm at home.

Tasker is not very easy to use.

But it is quite powerful.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

21:36

Raise your hand if you would ever use careered instead of careened.

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector ] Few unique characters in answer, repeating characters in answer: "Large amount of calories" vs. "high amount of calories" by helpmelol11 on english.stackexchange.com

terdon

22:10

@crl Heh, it should, strictly speaking. It is water after all.

Robusto

23:02

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Yeah, we talked.

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 Only for the sake of variety.

Mitch

23:14

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 Never. I'd apply the brakes before getting into the curve.

Robusto

23:41

@Mitch What if a tree jumps out in front of your car while you're driving down a quiet road? It's been known to happen.

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…