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user19161
01:11
@cerb Please take a look at my answer.
Hey.
user19161
1
Q: Is this repetition grammatically correct?

MahnaxA typical conversation among members of my age demographic could go like this: Person 1: Did you know that x > y?!? Person 2: Are you sure? Person 1: Yeah, I'm sure. Person 2: Are you sure sure? Is this grammatically correct?

What answer?
Ah.
user19161
Fumble commented, I edited, Kate commented, I edited, someone downvoted, I am saddened...
user19161
OK I am not really sad...
01:13
I'm afraid I have to agree with Fumble. I can't help it, I always do.
user19161
Did you read my comments to them?
The main question is this. Sure can be used as an adverb to modify certain verbs (probably not all); but can it also be used to modify adjectives?
user19161
@Cerberus Cerb is sure hot.
user19161
Sure modifies hot above.
Sounds weird to me.
user19161
01:14
It is informal for Cerb is surely hot.
I'd say, Cerb sure is hot.
user19161
Or Cerb is certainly hot.
I'm not happy with Cerb is sure hot.
I mean, it is perhaps possible.
user19161
So you think sure cannot be for adjectives?
user19161
OK would you say Cerb is certainly hot?
01:17
I think it would be even more slangy than using it to modify verbs. So rarer.
Besides, in the case of are you sure sure?, the problem is that people would parse are you sure as just that, the common expression—not are you ... sure and then interpret the first sure as modifying the second.
user19161
Looks like it is time to write my own grammar book!
I am quite sure that it is just plain reduplication.
Another clue is that you can't ask the same question with a different adjective: *are you sure fine with it?, *are you sure safe here?.
user19161
OK I will delete it then. @Cerb certainly is hot nonetheless!
Why delete it?
user19161
@Cerberus Because it is not correct?
01:25
The discussion can be helpful to readers wondering about the same thing as you?
user19161
But as an answer it is misleading.
user19161
Not that two points matter.
Well, it's your choice.
user19161
The issue of surely modifying other words is a tangential issue.
user19161
@Cerberus Sounds sarcastic though that's not your intention.
user19161
01:27
Your other favourite phrase is You are a free man!
Is it?
I don't recall using that.
@JasperLoy What?
user19161
Yes, or maybe you only said it once and I have now made it an epithet.
An epithet?
You probably mean something else.
user19161
@Cerberus No, I learnt it from JSbangs.
user19161
He said he was not sure he deserved that epithet when I associated him with mushrooms just because he cooked it once.
01:30
An epithet is ehm ah more like an adjective.
user19161
Epithet can mean praise too you know.
It should be a descriptive phrase or word, not just any phrase.
user19161
@Cerberus How is thy thesis?
Meh.
user19161
Means?
user19161
01:33
Not good?
Just meh.
user19161
Very cryptic!
user19161
Tomorrow is December. Happy December everyone!
Yay!
Good food is a plus.
user19161
From meh to yay, bah!
01:36
Well it is better.
user19161
I can see the Christmas lightup!
user19161
And hear the songs!
user19161
So Dec is usually the best month of the year.
user19161
I think I will blog weekly.
user19161
Daily too much, monthly too little.
01:38
Oh, you have a weblog?
user19161
@Cerberus Just started. I see you did not read the transcript.
user19161
You can link from here if you like.
I never have.
What is it about?
user19161
I dunno.
user19161
Anything I wanna write, anything.
01:39
Fascinating.
Hehe.
Such as?
user19161
Why don't you just check the first post which is up?
user19161
@Cerberus You can comment on it if you want.
Well I don't know where it is.
user19161
@Cerberus See profile.
user19161
01:44
@Cerberus That's what I meant by link from here, hehe.
It looks neat!
But I don't know anything about Debian.
user19161
I did not know what to call the URL or title so I just used my notorious name.
user19161
Maybe I will write about KFC in the next post.
user19161
I will compare the flavours of the different parts of chicken.
Haha.
Funny combination.
BRB laundry.
Laundry is spinning.
user19161
01:55
Good!
user19161
sips hot milk
02:17
Done.
 
6 hours later…
08:04
-3
Q: Chrome add-ons for English learners

GigiliI googled it but unfortunately didn't find anything interesting, for example a famous dictionary (cambridge dictionary) to add as an extension to the browser.

Why in the world is the question closed?
08:40
@Gigili Because it's asking for a Google Chrome add-on, not anything about English Language or Usage
EL&U is only tangentially related.
if that
@Gigili - I don't think you searched very hard: chrome dictionary apps
Good pudding everyone
mmmm, Yorkshire @EdGuiness
08:59
@MattЭллен Hello
You have no idea how hard I searched !
I said "famous dictionaries like COD" in my question
@Gigili true, but if you should have started in the chrome app store
@Gigili It's still not a question about English
Actually, I installed some of apps there and didn't like the translation
and you don't explain anything about what you found in your search in your statement
@MattЭллен Why not? When there is a tag, questions like that are allowed
@Gigili have you looked at that tag?
all the posts like yours are closed
09:03
Not only that question, I asked about prepositions which are used to introduce a book or its properties like writer , publisher
But I got downvotes again
the software questions that are open are about Englsih in a software context
I think this site has its own policies which are unknown really and depends on top users' mood
The policies of the site are in the FAQ
@MattЭллен Honestly not, but I am now .. I thought it was the same as the tag we have on GL&U
I thought all something language and usage were the same
But really, I think your question is closed because it's not a question. It doesn't ask anything, @Gigili. People might be willing to reopen it if it was edited to be a question, and you put some effort in to showing what you already know and why what you have found is not satisfactory.
09:09
@MattЭллен Aha, now it sounds reasonable Matt.
Could you please tell me what was wrong with my other question?
@Gigili which one is that?
I'm not sure if you can still see it
@Gigili unfortunately not. It looks like it's deleted.
Yes it is.
I asked about prepositions which are used to introduce a book or its properties like writer , publisher But got downvotes again
@Gigili Each stack exchange site follows a certain set of core rules, but what questions are on or off topic is decided on a per site basis. On top of that EL&U is in a bit of an upheaval at the moment in terms of what the community is willing to accept.
09:15
So I guess it had always something to do with the way I asked it
Would be great if they could leave a comment instead of loads of downvotes
@Gigili yes, close vote and down votes need to be accompanied with a comment, at least in the first instance. I think it's very rude when that's not the case
World was a better place if all people thought and talked like you do
:D maybe.
Thank you for your time =)
No trouble. :)
09:41
@Matt upheaval? Is this evidenced on Meta somewhere I can read about it?
21
Q: Single word requests, crosswords, and the fight against mediocrity

Shog9A call to action This topic has been brought up here numerous times before, most recently by JSBangs: I'm now of the opinion that single word requests should be either disallowed entirely or subject to much more stringent requirements. The reasons are as follows: We get lots of...

that's the latest.
EL&U is criticised by TPTB for allowing too many low quality questions.
@EdGuiness Last night Cerberus, Mr. Shiny and New and I were discussing the problem
14 hours ago, by Cerberus
Anyway, let's talk about English.
From there onwards ^^^
There was a bit of hoohaa about this question too:
7
Q: This is a great question - why was it closed?

cindiHere is my idea of a great question: "Key thob" and "key fob" It turns out whole bunch of people say "key thob" instad of "key fob" - enough for Google to automatically correct for it. However I don't think any other English language site or blog has picked up on it. How can...

09:57
(reading)
10:19
What a storm in a pudding bowl.
11:10
6
Q: Using the ing-form

user101579Why aren't you allowed to say "I have been knowing her for ten years" or "It has been broadcasting for many years"? But you are allowed to say "I have been waiting for an hour".

Worst title ever, and an incorrect tag edit on top of that.
user19161
11:23
Boo!
user19161
@Gigili I agree with you to some extent. Although there is an FAQ, it is editable and also subject to interpretation, much like the laws of a country which can change over time and are subject to interpretation and implementation.
user19161
@MattЭллен I would not say there is much difference between EL&U and the other sites in this regard. I guess you starred my chicken message?
user19161
@EdGuiness Hehe, you are still at it?
@JasperLoy not I!
user19161
@MattЭллен Then who? Confess!
user19161
11:27
@RegDwightѬſ道 Is there a bug? How come I have 30.8k in chat?
user19161
Ya everyone has twice the chat rep as before.
user19161
Who did the multiplication? Confess!
13
Q: Reputation being shown in my Stack Exchange chat profile is too high

Matt EllenThe reputation shown in my Stack Exchange chat profile is almost 8000 points too much If I add up the reputation from my various SE accounts (including those below 200) I get 12335 Something is amiss!

user19161
@MattЭллен JC, HB!
John Cleese, Hanna Barbera!
user19161
11:35
And Reg has not told me whether HB is standard exclamation. It is not found in UD, unlike JC.
user19161
And I seriously have not heard it anywhere except from him in this room.
user19161
Though I have heard JC many times.
is it not in the abbreviation question on meta?
no, apparently not
user19161
You also have a weird sense of humour like me!
well, I don't know either of them
user19161
11:38
BS!
I do not
it's not BS
I'd guess JC is that's Spanish guy
but I've no idea about HB
user19161
I think my second post will not be about KFC, it will be about installation of latex.
user19161
@MattЭллен Now you are just MSU!
user19161
Maybe I will do the second post tonight.
@JasperLoy Jesus? That's a Spanish name, right?
user19161
11:41
@MattЭллен Maybe, I dunno. But I was surprised that there are people named that.
user19161
Is there a way to get a counter for one's blog that excludes self-views?
@JasperLoy do you want to display it?
because you can tell blogger to ignore your own views in the stats options, but that's not displayed to people
other than you
user19161
@MattЭллен Sure, why not. But you see, I think SE includes self-views if you are not logged in. And I think the same everywhere. There's no way to implement it as IP is dynamic.
user19161
OK I dunno that much about how IP works though.
11:43
@JasperLoy yes
the way blogger does it is with a cookie
user19161
Ah and JLO stores no cookies!
so if the browser has that cookie, then the view is not counted
user19161
I am a few hundred posts behind my friends. I must catch up by blogging furiously...
user19161
I will aim to make it one of the famous blogs in the world, hehe.
user19161
The FAQ includes "problems encountered by people learning English". Would not that include all those questions asking about resources?
user19161
11:50
Yet the FAQ excludes "how to improve my English". What's the difference?
@JasperLoy - your rep in chat should be back to normal within an hour
user19161
@MattЭллен Sure, but please comment on above.
user19161
Because I am not sure what is meant by "problems encountered by people learning English" and "how to improve my English" and the difference between them.
user19161
I realised this when sometimes I know not whether to close a question or not.
user19161
Or do you think we should edit the FAQ?
11:56
I think that the difference is in the questions. What question would be a problem encountered by a pineapple? What question would be a pineapple asking for help improving their English?
I think if the FAQ is changed, it just needs clarification. I think I could identify a "please improve my English" question vs "I have this problem, please help me". The first is too general and would require tutoring, etc - not a good fit for SE. The second is a practical, answerable question.
 
1 hour later…
13:16
The crime scene had clearly been disturbed. There were strange, spindly tracks leading from the table to the door, though we knew the door had not been opened. My partner had a theory that we had all dismissed at the time, about a pudding that crawled out of the carnage. Through the cat flap he said, and we had to admit it made a strange kind of sense.
user19161
1
Q: Difference between "random want" and "whim"

ovgolovinWhat is the difference between the words random want and whim? The definition of whim can be easily found in the dictionary: a sudden wish to do or have something, especially when it is something unusual or unnecessary Random want is not on the dictionary. It turns out to be just two wor...

user19161
0
Q: When does a comma change the meaning of a sentence?

MohamadMatch the two sentences with their meaning: 1) I had a discussion with a friend and a programmer. 2) I had a discussion with a friend, and a programmer. Meanings: a) I talked to a friend who is a programmer. b) I talked to two people, a friend, and a programmer. Intuitively...

user19161
These two questions have given me a headache!
user19161
I have put great thought into them. They are seemingly trivial but actually deep.
user19161
Unfortunately my answers have not been adequately appreciated I feel.
13:22
I like your comma answer
I disagree with your random whim answer
whims are random
user19161
@MattЭллен I did not say they aren't.
user19161
Neither did I say they are.
user19161
I said what I said, period.
@JasperLoy To me it seems that you are saying a random want is different to a whim. I think they are the same
a whim is a want that is random, all random wants are whims
user19161
@MattЭллен I stated the difference in connotation which is a linguistic issue. Anything beyond that is a philosophical issue!
user19161
13:25
After all, what is chance? What is plan? What is emotion?
user19161
What is random? What is unexpected?
that's not a helpful answer
user19161
Well, some things cannot be helped. Life is difficult.
user19161
And I was serious about it being a philosophical issue.
user19161
Yes I am joking but I am serious at the same time.
13:31
1
Q: Which is correct: "I bought it online/offline"

MrZanderOn several occasions, someone has asked me where I purchased my shirt and I replied with "I bought it offline." It didn't sound right to me. My brain thought that I bought it 'off' of something (as in "I bought it off craigslist"). But the noun 'online' confused me (I couldn't remember the na...

^ those might be three of the worst tags to ever occur together
I am fairly certain it must have been tagged "English", too, until that tag got blacklisted.
Oh wait, it's a new question?
I remember a very similar one from 18 months ago.
1
Q: Can you get files off-line?

Tester101Often times I hear people say "I got it offline" to mean they downloaded it from the internet, is this an accepted term or should it be "I got it online"?

Well okay, 12 months.
there was another one that came up a few days ago that was similar, with three or four deprecated tags at once
user19161
@MattЭллен Well, I deleted my answer since you gave yours which is more down-to-earth.
2
Q: Can something be an initialism and an acronym?

Peter LawreyInitialisms are pronounced as words and acronyms are spelt letters. However some words sound the same said and spelt. e.g. Input Output can be abbreviated as IO. It can be spelt I-O or pronounced Io as in the moon/god. There is no way to tell the difference in how it is said or written. So is I...

Hasn't this been discussed to death already?
user19161
@RegDwightѬſ道 But after death there is new life.
user19161
13:38
Today is a bad day. I deleted many answers.
user19161
@MattЭллен Normality of chat rep has returned.
user19161
@JSBᾶngs Did you once have a bomb as your avatar?
@JasperLoy yes i did
user19161
@JSBᾶngs Ah I vaguely remember. I thought you chose it to signify "bang!"
14:04
for you, @RegDwight
user19161
@MrShinyandNew安宇 Looks like Simpsons.
@MrShinyandNew安宇 huh. i don't get it.
14:56
My signature has devolved over the years, first to a scribble, then to a scrawl, and now it looks as though a pudding has crawled out of an ink pot and had a seizure.
15:14
Didn't you know? Ink pots are toxic to puddings. You should keep your pudding in a proper container, such as an empty toothpaste tube
15:29
@aedia smooch
runs away
chases
Good morning @Kit, @aedia
trips over own feet trying to catch fennec before having coffee
@MrShinyandNew安宇 Good morning!
falls into pudding
peeks out from hidey spot Morning, @MrShiny.
hm, pudding-covered unicorns.
15:32
Mmm, chocolate-covered rainbow...
is it chocolate pudding?
In my fantasy, yes.
Or maybe butterscotch...
Now I'm imagining something like a caramilk, melted over a unicorn
or Rolo
@MrShinyandNew安宇 This was definitely an interesting time to pop in here.
When Kit is here, this chat room is always interesting
15:37
So it would seem.
blushes, hides
wonders why there are so many italicized actions
hehehe: Neil deGrasse Tyson:
"I grew up in the Bronx. You could see 12 stars. One weekend my parents took me to the Hayden Planetarium, and I thought 'this is a nice hoax, pfft, there aren't this many stars'. Now when I look out from a high mountaintop, at the night sky, I think 'This reminds me of the Hayden Planetarium'"
@Kitḫ Oooh, butterscotch is my favorite.
@Kitḫ snorkels back under pudding to look for Kit
You really are me from ten years ago, aren't you?
15:51
@JSBᾶngs
@Kitḫ It does seem so.
16:04
@Cerberus This is actually normal in speech for me (Cerb is sure hot, Cerb is certainly hot) and the other variation (Cerb certainly is hot, Cerb sure is hot) sounds old-fashioned, not like something I would say. I might write it. It sounds to me like something I would read in older fiction, like Nancy Drew books or something, where the characters are trying to sound... I don't know, folksy. By golly, he sure is a looker!
I think I've finally caught up on all the recent transcript just as I have to go spend my day in meetings again.
Oh, @MrShinyandNew, I narrowly escaped getting your song stuck in my head. I don't know the tune well enough.
runs away before being assailed by audio
But you should also watch this video, it's long but entertaining:
@JasperLoy It seems the asker riffed off it, so you did some good! :)
Oh for Frig's sake. Apparently my baby boy just bit my elder boy hard enough to break the skin.
Now Gramma's all freaked out.
16:23
@Kitḫ fun stuff.
That hasn't happened for me yet. But since my kids are in daycare, they've both encountered the "scratchy" kid and come home with huge scars on their faces.
my daughter's scar still hasn't completely faded.
I just need to teach him how to talk, I think.
He certainly tantrums more than the older boy.
I think it is because he is frustrated that he can't do everything his brother can.
You should see my daughter when she's "babysitting" her brother. She's very... erm, "take-charge", and when they play together she is constantly telling him what to do and what not to do.
My husband and I had all we could do not to giggle the other day when the little one literally threw himself on his stomach on the floor and started kicking his feet and banging his fists.
I thought that was made-up cartoon stuff!
user19161
@mahnax Boo!
user19161
@MattЭллен As always!
16:38
My daughter, who is 3 1/2, occaisionally has a kicky tantrum like that. But usually only after an escalating scale of defiance, crying, etc.
@kit Amusing! My 3 year-old's current resistance trick is to collapse in what we call a "puddle of sad". Imagine a collapsed marionette.
So far my son, 1 1/2, doesn't have tantrums much. But he is only just now learning defiance. Last night I said "Bed time!" and he said "No! No!"
@EdGuiness Yes! That's what my older boy does!
@EdGuiness Both my kids do this too. "Jelly legs" we call it.
@MrShinyandNew安宇 Yeah, see, he will do it at the drop of a hat.
16:40
@Kitḫ Ah, best bet then is to just ignore it completely, after isolating any dangers.
And instead of outright "no!" we get "not yet"... cunning.
@MrShinyandNew安宇 our younger son is starting to do that
Mostly he'll just plop down and cry.
user19161
So many parents here...
What is great though, is that he really likes bed time.
16:41
@JSBᾶngs It's so funny because his voice is so tiny, those little "no"s are so cute!
@EdGuiness that is clever. My daughter has started trying to defer stuff too. "I just want to do X first".
His daddy will say "Are you ready for night-night?" and his face will light up and he will run toward the stairs, yelling and pointing.
@Kitḫ both my kids like bed time, more or less
@Kitḫ wow, not THAT much though
@MrShinyandNew安宇 we feel the same way! he shakes his head and says "nu! nu!" it's adorable.
user19161
@mahnax I did not write about KFC in my second post, I wrote about LaTeX installation and it's up too!
My older boy likes bed time, but still does some foot-dragging. "Can I watch Poppy Cat tonight?" etc.
16:43
@MrShinyandNew安宇 yeah, our older one has learned that he can delay quite a bit by going to the bathroom (he's being potty trained)
When confronted my daughter pulls the most precious sad faces. It's all I can do to stay focused on the issue and not start a series of comparisons with orphans from well known musicals.
The only thing my youngest says is "Gang gu" (thank you), "Elcome" (You're welcome), and "Air yu go" (There you go).
@JSBᾶngs my daughter has resumed her post-bedtime bathroom trips, which I'd be ok with if she actually needed to go, and if it meant she didn't need an overnight diaper, but no, it's just stalling
Also, his brother's name, and Mommy, Daddy, and Gramma.
@Kitḫ he says all that, but doesn't say things like "nose"?
16:44
And I think his cousin's name now too.
@MrShinyandNew安宇 Isn't it weird?
@Kitḫ a bit surprising
He has been hollering an approximation of his brother's name almost since the day he was born.
But we count 'gang gu' as his first words.
my son LOVES learning words for things; once he learns what something is called, he shouts it out at any opportunity. Driving with him is now a constant stream of "Car! Car! Duh Duh (truck)! BUS! BUS BUS BUS!"
meta(this is kind of cute, this comparing of parental notes, unexpected here, but nice)
hey, sometimes we even post pics of the kids
16:46
How many do you have, @EdG?
@MrShinyandNew安宇 Oh, oh! Me, me!
@Kit djguiness.com and lauraguiness.com
@Kit oooh he looks like a handful. (I assume he)
@MrShinyandNew安宇 oh, yeah, our littlest does that do. "Tacu! Ina! To!" (truckul, masina, ventilator) when he sees trucks, cars, windmills
meta(I notice I've been distracted from pudding crawls, probably for the best)
16:49
@EdGuiness Yes. And yes.
@EdGuiness Oh my sweetness! So you are a recent daddy of two!
@edg, yeah, it seems some congratulations are in order :)
congrats, @EdG!~
OMG! THe cuteness is killing me!
Thank you @Kit @MrShinyandNew @JSBngs yes very recent. I'm still in zombie land sleep wise.
16:52
@kit awwww!!
Look at that tummy!
He was about 2 in that picture.
@Kit they look mischievous :)
@Kit too too sweet, big eyes, little hands, the cap is perfect
The oldest is not too much, but the youngest is turning into a wicked punk.
16:53
^ two of these are mine, and two are my brother's
cousins!
Wow!
I have to scoot, I'll come back later and continue with the aww!s
We all have such cute children!
@JSBᾶngs awesome! My brother has no kids, I kinda wish he did.
I gotta run! Later!
16:55
this is the little one playing with a scarf
Uh-oh. can't take THAT to daycare :p
0
Q: How do I have to refer to God?

cayitaI am always wondering about the proper way to conjugate the verbs when it comes to "God". Do I have to add the "s" to the verb?

^ gen ref. comments have it covered.
I think a lot of people who visit this chat room would like 2D Goggles: sydneypadua.com/2dgoggles/vampire-poets-part-one
user19161
17:36
@MrShinyandNew安宇 You seem to love comics.
@JasperLoy I don't know if I would say that
But I bet you don't read any comics, having sworn them off after finding numerous inaccuracies in The Amazing Spiderman #403 back in 1995
18:15
The inaccuracies in The Amazing Spider-Man date back much farther than 1995.
user19161
What kind of inaccuracies? Typos? Spelling mistakes?
user19161
Not many questions today. Need more questions to get more rep.
DNA-splicing spider venom was the first thing I thought of.
What do you need more rep for?
user19161
Oh I see. Nah I don't look for these errors, only spelling errors.
user19161
@Kitḫ For fun. Not really a need.
user19161
18:28
There was a notification: Chat will be down for maintenance soon.
3
Q: "Told" vs. "Said to" somebody?

Gapton I told him that you hate him I said to him that you hate him I was choosing between these two options, and I can't help thinking about the subtle differences. As in "I told him your secrete." , it is referring to something REAL and FACTUAL etc. While as in "I said to him the moon is made of ...

0
Q: What is the difference between 'tell' and 'said'

Anderson Silva Possible Duplicate: “Nothing to tell” versus “nothing to say” Both words seem to be used interchangeably. I generally don't differentiate between them and intuitively pick one over the other. Is there a standardized way to distinguish between two?

11
Q: "Nothing to tell" versus "nothing to say"

RiMMER Ψ There's nothing to tell. There's nothing to say. Can anyone explain the difference between those two phrases, and give some examples on how they should be used? I think I do have a basic understanding, but I'd like to hear it from someone who knows this to the deepest roots. EDIT: I'm sta...

user19161
The owl is fast.
18:44
@aediaλ Hmm yeah, I had sort of scrambled backwards on second thought. Slang is not really my thang. Both expressions sound very American to me anyway. I still think Cerb sure is hot is the more ingrained pattern, c.q. the one most likely to be copied to other expressions. But it is inconclusive at best, so I'll have to rely on *are you sure fine? as my main argument: if sure is modifying the adjective, then why isn't it possible here? Or is it? I just really feel it is simple repetition.
18:54
Cerb really is hot or Cerb is really hot. Sure is used the same way as really here.
Yeah.
But I'm not buying it for are you sure sure?
Except that it doesn't really matter.

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