English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Shafizadeh

00:39

What's the meaning of "lifehacks"? what kind of questions can be asked in lifehacks.stackexchange ?

Færd

00:57

@Shafizadeh The meaning of lifehack: oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/… - A tour of lifehack SE: lifehacks.stackexchange.com/tour

@Mitch That's right. Thanks.

Shafizadeh

01:19

@Færd thx

Mitch

02:20

@Shafizadeh @DeltaEscher would love to explain it to you.

Færd

@Cerberus Why should who we want be like that? It says:

people who we want to comment = people who are yellow & green & red

But it should simply be:

people who we want to comment = people who should be commenting

No problem with what you get though (as a joke).

Cerberus

@Færd True: the yellow description is unclear.

It should be like "smart people" or something.

Færd

Mhm.

Cerberus

OMG is that you agreeing??

Delta Escher

02:38

Hark

for I have been summoned

a lifehack is a non-traditional way of solving a problem, usually in an unorthodox way that yields better results than traditional methods.

Now I must return to my slumber until someone asks what Polandball is...

Færd

03:23

@Cerberus Haha! I'm not that unagreeable.

Anonymous

Agreeing in chat is not allowed.

Lawrence

10:19

@snailboat Now you're logically in trouble. :)

@Færd I'm not sure either normally counts as a noun (use of warming as a noun in global warming is debatable).

Færd

10:47

@Lawrence Warm can be a noun in BrE. Warming is a noun in "the warming of relations between Britain and Iran" and the like. But yes, maybe they are not used commonly.

Anonymous

@Lawrence Seems like it must be a noun. It's global warming, not globally warming.

Færd

^ That too.

@snailboat Can I agree with myself?

Anonymous

@Færd Sure, why not?

Anonymous

@Lawrence I was hoping someone would respond with I agree! :-)

Færd

Phew.

@snailboat Okay. I agree.

Anonymous

10:53

@Færd I probably should have made a better wish. :-)

Færd

Next time!

Lawrence

14:41

@Færd I won't argue with this dictionary entry, but come into the warmth is much more common. In any case, point conceded (@snailboat also).

@snailboat :)

Naseem

I am non native speaker and I always get confusion about the best answer of the question ' What's up ?Is it , I am fine or what?

Lawrence

@Naseem It's an informal greeting, basically asking you what's happening in your life. As with "How are you?", your response depends on how genuine you think the other person's concern is.

Naseem

15:10

Thanks for explanation but would you give me examples of how to answer , please?

Lawrence

15:38

@Naseem For a genuine enquiry, or someone that doesn't really care?

Naseem

For 'what's up?'

Lawrence

@Naseem I was referring to whether the person asking that was genuine in their inquiry.

Naseem

For both , please

How can I answer both cases

Lawrence

@Naseem If they are genuine (and if you want to), tell them what's happening in your life. Otherwise, your original "I am fine" or "I'm fine" is fine.

Naseem

Ok. Thanks a lot

Lawrence

15:53

@Naseem You're welcome.

Anonymous

There's a really wide range of responses to "What's up?" You could respond with a greeting instead of answering the question: "What's up?" or "Hey." You can answer as though they asked "What's going on?" or "What are you up to?" If it's been a while since you talked, you can answer as though they asked "What's been going on?" or "What have you been up to?"

Anonymous

As a more genuine inquiry, it can sometimes be like "What's wrong?"

Anonymous

You can always say "Not much."

Anonymous

Or if you have something exciting to tell them, you can say that :-)

Naseem

Thanks alot for explanation , snailboat.

Færd

17:09

@Mitch Here's how I treat some books if I want to study them. Hope it's not too painful for you!:

Anonymous

@Færd Go team writing-in-books! :-)

Anonymous

Dec 4 '15 at 0:51, by snailboat

I write in books all the time :-)

Færd

@snailboat Hooray!

I have my own customary way of doing it, so that I keep it tidy and don't turn the book into a mess. Helps me remember things.

Shafizadeh

17:32

Is this correct? "based on the last long conversation."

Mitch

@Færd OMG! The horror! Why don't you just write your own book!

Færd

I can't study my own book!

Mitch

@Færd I'm making fun (sort of). I never liked getting used books that had stray meaningless notes in them from people who really didn't understand what was important and would probably never even look at those notes again.

Færd

It's very tidy. I don't understand your feeling of horror!

Mitch

@Færd it's the best way to learn a field, by teaching it.

@Færd I'm making fun (sort of). I never liked getting used books that had stray meaningless notes in them from people who really didn't understand what was important and would probably never even look at those notes again.

Anonymous

17:45

@Mitch I make notes in books when they're wrong.

Færd

@Mitch Can be the worst way for your students.

And can be the best too, if you transfer your enthusiasm to them.

@Mitch Makes sense. I don't expect my books to be read by anyone else. But when I read them again, the notes prove useful to me.

Mitch

Good writing is good teaching (or the other way, I can't remember)

I know lots of academic types who write in their books. Yours are very thorough and scholarly

Shafizadeh

Is this correct?

It should be noted that their author is identical

Mitch

Also my handwriting is terrible, so it really mars an otherwise good looking book

On the flip side, with modern typesetting, it's very easy to make gibberish look superficially very professional

Anonymous

@Mitch There are a number of interesting side effects there.

Mitch

17:57

@Shafizadeh is the context that you have two works with unknown authors and you are trying to say that they have the same author?

Shafizadeh

no, one person published two images. Now I want to say the author of those two images are one person

Anonymous

Sometimes you can boost reading comprehension by making something look uglier and harder to read.

Mitch

@snailboat what kind are you thinking of?

Færd

@snailboat Make it into a challenge.

Mitch

@snailboat interesting...I feel like I've heard of that

@Shafizadeh isn't that what I said?

Shafizadeh

18:00

@Mitch Yes it is, I read it again and I understand what you said and what I said are identical

so is this correct? "It should be noted that their author is identical" ?

Anonymous

People also accept more of what they read at face value, with less critical thinking, with a more readable font.

Mitch

@Shafizadeh is say '...authors are...'

Anonymous

I think these effects are covered in Thinking, Fast and Slow.

Mitch

@snailboat oh yeah!

Anonymous

Wonderful book.

Shafizadeh

18:02

@Mitch Like This? "It should be noted that their authors are identical"

Mitch

I read that. But only halfway.

I skimmed the fast part

@Shafizadeh yes. What do you others think?

Shafizadeh

:-)

Færd

@Mitch Heh. Did you read the slow part slowly?

Anonymous

I would be more likely to say they're the same person than to say they're identical.

Cerberus

@Færd Wow, very thorough!

Færd

18:18

@Cerberus Actually it shows what an ignorant I am about English.

And that I can't stand most textbooks. I hope my way of learning proves fruitful.

Mitch

18:39

@snailboat yes that's better

I know! It's taking a while

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector ] All-caps answer: Pronoun “you” can be omitted as subject in imperative form, what other pronouns can be omitted, when and why? by wow... on english.stackexchange.com …

Cerberus

19:24

@Færd Why can't you stand text books?

I think your method is excellent: you get to read an interesting text and learn words in a context that is interesting and meaningful to you.

Færd

@Cerberus I don't know. Most of them are too dull. Maybe I'm too old to use them.

Cerberus

I have done the same thing, write down words I didn't know (well) when I was reading a novel.

The only "text book" for English I have ever used was in high school, and that was indeed terribly dull.

Færd

And the good thing is nowadays there are all sorts of novels available (and their audiobooks too): formal, informal, comical, ...

Cerberus

Haven't such novels always existed?

Færd

Yeah! Maybe not available like they are now.

Cerberus

19:29

We've always had libraries?

Færd

When I was little my dad used to study English a bit.

I didn't like his books.

@Cerberus Yes. (Here's me agreeing again.)

Cerberus

shocked

Færd

Get used to it.

Cerberus

can't

walks around aimlessly

Færd

Not gonna be good for your heart.

If you're too old, tell me. I won't ever agree with you again.

Cerberus

19:33

Never agree with me again!

Færd

Okay!!

Cerberus

Britney Spears - Oops!...I Did It Again (Official Video)

►

Anonymous

I did say agreeing in chat was not allowed.

Cerberus

@Færd That's you.

Færd

Heh.

Mitch

19:34

@snailboat I agree

Cerberus

@snailboat Did people agree not to agree?

Færd

Yes. I agreed.

Cerberus

facepaw

Mitch

pulls hair out of mouth

Cerberus

How am I ever going to teach this room?

Thanks.

Færd

19:36

@Mitch There will only be more hair in the mouth.

@Cerberus Aha! There were not as many audiobooks as there are now.

Just to take back my agreement and put you at ease.

Cerberus

True.

I mean, no.

Færd

Agreeing with me agrees with me. Don't worry.

Mitch

They're really aren't that

many books available in foreign languages

To learn from. That is interesting non grammar books

On the web there's more but still hard to find

Yet people still seem able to learn

Færd

You're typing on an ancient phone, aren't you?

Cerberus

@Mitch What languages are foreign?

Damkerng T.

19:46

@snailboat Disagree to agree to disagree to agree. (I don't know what I just said!)

Cerberus

And why am I listening to the Spicegirls now?

Færd

@Cerberus You're still disoriented by some agreement you've had with certain people.

@Mitch Actually there are, but it takes more interest and determination to endure the difficulty of reading them. They're not considered popular entertainment.

Matt E. Эллен

@Cerberus to spice up your life

Færd

For example, if I'm ever learning Russian, I'm going to read The Brothers Karamazov, hard as it's going to be for me.

user206384

20:01

Hello

Færd

20:12

@salman Hi!

user206384

Hi @Færd.

Færd

:)

Cerberus

@Færd Yeah, but it's probably better to begin with something much easier, like Wikipaedia articles. I find that those are very accessible if you don't know the language well.

user206384

Is your name Fard the Arabic word fard that we use?

Færd

@Cerberus I'm afraid I have to agree with you.

@salman Yes, that's my username, but not my real name.

Cerberus

20:17

!

user206384

Yes I thought so. I speak Arabic but never heard that name. We use it in everyday language though.

user206384

Wait... let me think again.

Færd

Fard can mean alone and unique in Arabic, can't it?

user206384

Um, I mostly use it to mean "obligation" or "a religious duty commanded by Allah"

Færd

@Cerberus All this joking we did about agreeing and disagreeing makes me think: whatever deeper meaning we may consider for agreeing, a world of no agreement is not conceivable.

Cerberus

20:20

@sumelic Do you happen to know anything about primary endings in (Proto-)Indo-European?

1

Q: What is the origin of the 3rd-person plural perfect ending "-ēre"?

Laudavēre is an (apparently older) alternative to laudaverunt. What is the origin of this ending? Is it connected with any other known endings or affixes? Clackson & Horrocks say it is from an alternative 3rd-person plural ending -er plus a "primary marker" -i. I don't know this marker: I only k...

Færd

@salman That's another word: فرض

My username is فرد

Cerberus

@Færd How do you mean a world?

Færd

The actual reality.

user206384

@Færd Oh ok.

user206384

The pronunciation is same though. Pretty much.

Cerberus

20:21

@Færd Why not? Consider for example plants. Do they need agreements?

Or a world with only a single plant?

Færd

I know I'm being very vague.

I have to come up with an accurate philosophical definition of agreement to continue this.

That was kind of a first impression.

user206384

So I'm a non native speaker and I'm taking a part in a debate somewhere IRL which is in English. I want to get feedbacks on how I sound like. Is that okay to ask it here?

user206384

And can I paste the audio files here?

Færd

@salman People do those kinds of things here.

user206384

ok thanks.

Færd

20:27

@Cerberus No, they don't need conscious agreement.

And I'm off to dreamworld.

I hope I won't have wet ones tonight.

Cerberus

Dream well.

Oh?

user206384

20:38

Feel free to give me honest feedbacks. Here is a small recording that I made: vocaroo.com/i/s0MuOuaOiNJb

Cerberus

@salman Hi! There is so much noise in the background that I can't understand most of it.

user206384

Yes I'm sorry about that.

user206384

Is there a software that can clean the audio?

Cerberus

I don't think so.

You'll probably need to make a clean recording.

user206384

ok I'll try again.

Johan Larsson

20:53

@Cerb your font is so blue

Cerberus

@JohanLarsson I apologize.

Latin did that to me.

Johan Larsson

you will be a good mod I think

unless the power gets to you :D

user206384

21:08

@Cerberus How about this one? A friend told me I seem dragging. What do you folks think?

user206384

vocaroo.com/i/s1PMN06kn38n

Cerberus

@JohanLarsson Oh it already has.

But tak.

I think SE needs a lot less moderating than it gets.

I don't expect Latin to need much.

@salman That is better, though the quality of the recording is still poor, and it makes you harder to understand.

I could understand most of what you said, when you were pronouncing the words clearly; but you were sometimes mumbling, not pronouncing words clearly.

user206384

Sad okay thanks anyway. I used the windows sound recorder. What would you use to record an audio?

user206384

Yes I stutter in real life as well. Sometimes I mean.

user206384

21:24

Thanks again by the way.

Damkerng T.

22:53

@salman Most of the time it's more about your microphone and your room than the software you use.

Mitch

23:04

@Cerberus all except mine. whoever I am.

@Færd I totally respect those who write in books in a principled manner as you do. It's your book.

I just feel that writing the book is violating the book somehow. Probably the echoes of some librarian from my childhood.

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…