English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

tchrist

00:03

@snailboat hahahah but yeah

user174558

@tchrist You seldom laugh.

Lawrence

02:46

Hello. I have a question - anyone around?

(That wasn't the question. :) )

0

A: If I swallow part of an animal, am I not entitled to say "I swallowed an animal"?

As framed in your question and link, an animal refers literally to the whole animal (or at least its edible portions). Eating a horse means consuming the whole horse, not just a small bite of it, hence the force of the idiom I'm so hungry I could eat a horse. However, the puzzle posed in your li...

Consider this sentence: You can swallow chicken (the food) and live, but if swallowed by chicken (a group of live fowl), you'll die.

The second usage of chicken isn't really a collective noun or even plural, is it? Any idea what to call it?

The parenthetical expression "(a group of live fowl)" isn't critical; it may be replaced.

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector ] Repeating characters in answer: Word for the smell of freshly printed books? by lily on english.stackexchange.com …

user174558

03:50

@Lawrence Yes. I am around, lol.

Lawrence

@WillHunting Any thoughts on the above?

user174558

@Lawrence Nope. I am bad at grammar.

Lawrence

@Demisemihemidemisemiquaver Your system.out.printdoesn't flush the buffer, so nothing gets printed before trying to read. Use println instead.

@WillHunting Ok.

user174558

@Lawrence Anyway, I would write that as 'swallowed by chickens'.

user174558

@Lawrence What's your favourite movie?

Lawrence

04:01

@WillHunting Thanks. In the puzzle, the plural isn't stated; it just uses two first-person pronouns. I've taken it as implicit that the same word should be used in place of both pronouns.

@WillHunting I don't keep track, but How to train your dragon was nice.

user174558

@Lawrence That's surprising. I don't particularly like animations.

Lawrence

@Demisemihemidemisemiquaver You also have 2 input lines (lines 13 and 14). What do you enter as input?

@WillHunting Why not?

user174558

@Lawrence No particular reason. Like and dislike is just that. In the same way, you can't really explain why you love a girl.

Lawrence

@KitZ.Fox :O

@WillHunting Ok.

user174558

@Lawrence Hmm, you don't need to say OK all the time, lol.

user174558

05:04

@Lawrence No need to remove the OK, no need to fear me, I am not human, lol.

Shafizadeh

09:53

What's the meaning of this sentence?

"I keep my finger crossed for you"

Kit Z. Fox

10:23

@Shafizadeh to keep fingers crossed means to wish someone luck. It's meant to ward off jinxing.

Shafizadeh

10:39

@KitZ.Fox Ah I ee

See *

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

13:09

my wife ees sometimes. Usually when there's a spider. "eeee!"

Faheem Mitha

Hello people. I have a minor grammatical question about an old question of mine, which I just looked at after a year.

The last para says:

> NOTE: I think "The Dear Boy" was the kidnapper's approving term for the Russian boy, because he didn't resist, but I'm not sure about that.

Anonymous

I'm very frustrated today.

Faheem Mitha

If kidnappers is plural, is that correct?

Or should it be kidnappers'?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

kidnapper's is singular. So yes, it should be kidnappers'

Anonymous

I got one question wrong in English exam today, and I still don't believe I made a any mistake.

Anonymous

13:16

Not sure if I should confront the school or just accept it.

Faheem Mitha

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Ah, ok. Thank you.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@samayo Do you remember the question?

English exams are notorious for grading according to made-up rules.

Anonymous

13:33

Yeah.. something like;

Anonymous

> In Scotland pubs are often open until 11PM ...

Anonymous

Question: What can we understand from this?

Anonymous

(a) foo (b) bar (c) pubs are not open everyday (d) pubs are not open very often ..

Kit Z. Fox

Probably b then

4

MετάEd

@WillHunting Naked Gardening Day is Saturday.

tchrist

13:49

> Saturday: Isolated thunderstorms in the morning, then mainly cloudy during the afternoon with thunderstorms likely. High 57F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.

Anonymous

Yeah it was. I think I'll try to take a picture of the whole sentence, as I am certain there was that something more that made me go for (d).

tchrist

Good luck with that.

Anonymous

Got like 99/100 because of that.

MετάEd

@tchrist Saturday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 82. South wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Yay.

Kit Z. Fox

I'm trying to write Star Wars trivia questions. I find that I am feeling resentful this morning.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

13:53

I'm going to have 19°, feels like 21° on Saturday

still won't be gardening, naked or otherwise

Kit Z. Fox

I'll be at the Democratic Convention. I suppose I have to wear clothes for that.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@samayo The problem with questions like this is that it's difficult to disentangle reading comprehension with logical ability

crl

How many legs does a snake have?

Kit Z. Fox

I'm not sure what's appealing about naked gardening. I don't like the idea of getting dirt in my undercarriage.

MετάEd

@KitZ.Fox This is why I don't understand nude beaches.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

13:56

@crl How many snakes does a Lego have?

Anonymous

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Yeah, that's exactly the problem.

crl

it's ventilating those parts

terdon

@MετάEd You sit on a towel. Just like on regular beaches.

Mitch

@crl wait.. snake legs or lack of clothes?

crl

both, since both are naked

Mitch

14:06

@crl geek fact: some families of snakes have vestigial leg bones hidden inside.

crl

oh, 2 I guess, fun

Mitch

it's not like they can use them to run.

crl

oh birds are in the reptile family..

Mitch

@KitZ.Fox The car dealership will throw in a salt shield coating with the whitewalls.

@crl birds are in the dinosaur family. RAWR!

@KitZ.Fox Isn't that stuff all but decided?

Giving up on democracy is like giving up clothes for gardening.

Kit Z. Fox

It's an excuse for why Gramma has to take both kids for two nights.

user174558

14:14

Hi @kit.

Mitch

@KitZ.Fox OK I'll bite. Why? May the 4th?

Kit Z. Fox

Good morning, Jasper.

@Mitch Yes.

Mitch

Nice.

any good ones?

Kit Z. Fox

It was just supposed to be a departmental activity - learn to fold origami Yoda! I said. Then everyone decided to make it an EVENT! And so what are you doing for the event, Kit? I don't know. I was just going to do origami. But it's an event, Kit. I didn't want it to be a big deal. If you want it to be a big deal, maybe you ought to do something instead of saying "We'll have a trivia challenge! Kit will write all the questions."

All the questions are stupid because I don't know what people who don't know Star Wars know.

Mitch

Ah. Responsibilites.

user174558

14:16

People are stupid, as Mitch would say.

Kit Z. Fox

So I thought - hey, what are light sabers made with? and everyone was like "what? nobody knows that?"

So then it was, ok, what was Luke's designation in the Battle of Yavin? and they were like "what are you even talking about?"

Mitch

What color is Darth Vader's ... thingie? Also what do they call 'thingie', the weapon thingie, and why don't they just use a blaster?

Kit Z. Fox

Fine. Fuck it. What is the thing that they blow up called? ... The Death Star?k

user174558

Maybe Darth Vader lost his thingie down there, lol.

Mitch

@WillHunting Not only would I say that, I do say that. I also say that people are idiots. But that is disparaging to people who actually are idiots.

@KitZ.Fox I know! Every movie!

@WillHunting Probably while gardening.

terdon

14:18

@KitZ.Fox No, that's in Iron Man.

Kit Z. Fox

And they were all like "we should do this fun thing with skits" and I said "great!" and put that out to the group and literally nobody has said a word about being interested in that. Including the people who said we should do it.

Mitch

or during that horrific fight scene in the volcano with Obiwan.

Kit Z. Fox

@Mitch No, I mean, they weren't even sure. How about WHAT ARE THE NAMES OF THE MOVIES? HOW MANY STAR WARS MOVIES ARE THERE?

Mitch

@KitZ.Fox "Thanks Kit for taking care of all that!"

@KitZ.Fox Is the trivia game over already?

user174558

@KitZ.Fox Maybe you should tell them that having an event is not a good idea.

Kit Z. Fox

14:20

Hence the resentment. Plus I brought my friend with me today and she's going through a separation and so I am being a good friend and sucking up all the crap she needs to vent, but for some reason I can't seem to shed it right at the moment.

@Mitch No, two hours from now.

Mitch

Just send a link to every one by corporate email to a star trek trivia site. That'll be the appropriate effort.

Kit Z. Fox

Want to see the questions so far?

user174558

If you want to.

Mitch

Sure.

Kit Z. Fox

1. What is Luke Skywalker's home planet?
2. Where do Obi Wan and Luke meet Han Solo for the first time?
3. Who is Luke's father?
4. Who is Luke's mother?
5. Who is Luke's sister?
6. Which bounty hunter freezes Han Solo in carbonite?
7. Which Jedi master trained Luke?
8. Who rescues Han Solo?
9. What forest moon is liberated in the final Death Star battle? (Yes, I mean the one with the little furry people.)
10. Who kills the Emperor?
11. What Force-wielding faction opposes the Jedi?
12. Name two of the Emperor's apprentices.

Mitch

14:21

Also, check out scifi.SE. I bet they have lots of good ones.

user174558

I can answer almost none of the questions.

Kit Z. Fox

Yeah, I know.

And these aren't even hard ones.

I have no idea how to write these questions.

Lawrence

@KitZ.Fox Looks good. Another trivia question: what number in the series is first Star Wars movie?

user174558

I think maybe you can call off the event. Just explain it to someone.

Mitch

@KitZ.Fox you need some more from #7

crl

14:23

Dark vador is the answer to all

2

Mitch

like... holy crap I can't remember a thing about it.

Who is that Snopes character with the big ugly head?

Lawrence

@KitZ.Fox Questions you fold. Yoda origami you get.

Kit Z. Fox

@Mitch Fine. Who is Kylo Ren's father?

Mitch

Wait... who is the girl? Their names all sound the same.

Kit Z. Fox

What main character does not appear in Star Wars Monopoly or in action figure character packs, or on basically any of the marketing materials?

user174558

14:25

My favourite actor now is Brenton Thwaites. He is so handsome.

Mitch

@KitZ.Fox I know. That's terrible. She's the center.

@WillHunting He's not in Star Wars.

I'm just sayin

Kit Z. Fox

@Mitch It's not just that. It's that they put Poe in instead. Who's in all of 3 scenes. Oh, and a stormtrooper and a tie pilot.

Lawrence

The panda?

Mitch

which one is 'Poe'? Is that Oscar Isaac?

Kit Z. Fox

That's the X-wing pilot.

Mitch

14:27

@Lawrence hahaha

user174558

@Lawrence Do you like Kung Fu Panda? I hate it.

Mitch

@KitZ.Fox is he supposed to be integral to the plot later? No spoilers!!

Kit Z. Fox

@Mitch No. He is approximately as important as Lando Calrissian.

Or maybe Boba Fett.

Mitch

@WillHunting The action scenes are OK. in between they talk too much

Kit Z. Fox

It's like omitting Han Solo in favor of Lando Calrissian.

Mitch

14:28

@KitZ.Fox ooh ask one about Lando and PBR.

user174558

I know Jabba is the fat one.

Mitch

they're related, right?

Kit Z. Fox

They are.

And no.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitZ.Fox Who was the prototype for the clones?

Mitch

@KitZ.Fox wait, the girl is more like Luke than Han, right?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

14:30

Who shot first?

Mitch

Use your easy ones, then ratchet up to hard ones.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

What is the name of Jabba's majordomo? He has tentacles on his head.

user174558

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Medusa.

Mitch

#16 Of what did Anakin have a great excess that convinced Obiwan that he was 'the one'?

Kit Z. Fox

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 I thought of that, but probably nobody would laugh but me.

@Mitch Yes and no.

Mitch

14:31

#29 Which pill did Neo take, blue or red?

question_asker

oh shit, I know the answer to the jabba thing

Kit Z. Fox

Blue.

No! Yellow!

question_asker

but it just left me

PhMgBr

@Mitch Purple

user174558

@Mitch Isn't Neo from the Matrix?

Lawrence

14:31

@WillHunting I don't hate it.

user208178

@Mitch You take the blue pill, the story ends.

Mitch

@WillHunting It's all one story arc

user208178

Hello

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

What was the name of the old guy who ordered the destruction of Leia's planet? What was that planet called?

user174558

@Mitch He's not in Star Wars, I'm just saying.

Kit Z. Fox

14:32

I need more Force Awakens ones. I have a lot of the classic ones.

Mitch

By 2025, all movies will be either starwars spinoffs or Marvel comics.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Luke claimed that shooting the exhaust port on the death star would be easier than hitting what kind of animal?

Mitch

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 I thought it was Aldebaran. But that's an understandable geek mistake.

Kit Z. Fox

Beggar's Canyon womp rats.

user174558

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Cockroaches. They run all over the place.

Kit Z. Fox

14:33

@Mitch Oh. Oh my god. You're right.

My brain ... hurts.

It's like that time I realized that cavalry and calvary were not the same word.

user174558

Or neoplasm and pleonasm.

Saladin

hello

" The rationale is to show core-strength of the solution and also to limit unnecessary exposure to client environment by performing LIVE-attacks on target systems"

is above correct English?

terdon

@KitZ.Fox Dunno, who is it?

Mitch

@WillHunting Well, yes and no. The Matrix plot was actually a holodek story line (a plot within a plot in a virtual room). This was the reasoning behind their eventual prohibition by the Butlerian Jihad

user174558

@Saladin The rationale is to show core strength of the solution and limit unnecessary exposure to the client environment by performing live attacks on target systems. Unless LIVE is some abbreviation.

Saladin

14:37

thanks @WillHunting

Mitch

@KitZ.Fox What?

rubs eyes

Kit Z. Fox

@terdon I'll give you a hint. It's Star Wars currently only female lead role (in the movies).

terdon

@KitZ.Fox Leia or the new one?

Kit Z. Fox

I'd argue that Leia was a principal, but I'm referring to the new one.

The one the movie is about.

terdon

Oh wow. Rey? That's ridiculous, she's the lead!

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

14:39

@KitZ.Fox What was the numeric designation of Finn? What did Finn recover from the wreckage of the stolen tie fighter? What was the name of the round droid? What was the name of the new planet-sized death-star? What planet did it destroy? Who owned the bar where Han, Rey, and Finn go? What did she have in her basement?

user174558

@KitZ.Fox Somehow now I think you are Alice in Resident Evil, LOL.

Mitch

I think #7 is pretty unmemorable. Except for... well that one thing.

Kit Z. Fox

@WillHunting Yikes.

Mitch

@terdon Exactly!

It's crazy. She's the center of the whole thing.

Kit Z. Fox

But the X-wing pilot you see three times in the movie will sell stuff better! Let's all be like him!

Lawrence

14:40

@KitZ.Fox You know, you could say you don't like being forced into things :P .

Kit Z. Fox

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 OK. Two of those I lifted.

Mitch

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 All good ones. Also, I have no idea.

user174558

@Lawrence Yes, the Force awakens.

terdon

@KitZ.Fox I don't even remember who that is. I've only seen the new one once.

Kit Z. Fox

I know most of these but not all of them. I've only seen the movie once.

@terdon Exactly.

Mitch

14:41

Finn is a funny name for a black dude. Finn = blond in Irish... or something.

Kit Z. Fox

Also, I can't remember if I bragged about my eldest son (that's girl stuff!) choosing to play a female character in Minecraft because she knew all the cool redstone stuff.

Mitch

Like in Shawshank redemption... ooh trivia qn: Why do the cal the Morgan Freeman character 'Red'?

terdon

@KitZ.Fox Heh, way to go kid!

Kit Z. Fox

@Mitch It's because his designation started with FN.

Mitch

@KitZ.Fox Oh.

terdon

14:42

@KitZ.Fox Which does not stand for free n... right?

Mitch

Truth is so disappointing. even when made up.

terdon

Hell, I wouldn't put it past them.

Kit Z. Fox

@terdon Yeah, he also likes playing ... the lead from Metroid, I can't remember her name, when he plays Super Smash Bros, because she's super tough.

crl

Do any of you know a bit some works laws? In france for example, is it illegal to pay an Indian via paypal?

user174558

I remember Power Puff girls.

Kit Z. Fox

14:43

Powerpuff Girls kick ass.

crl

(I didn't do that, but knowing this could help me)

Matt E. Эллен

Tommy Westphall

Tommy Westphall, portrayed by Chad Allen, is a minor character from the drama television series St. Elsewhere, which ran on NBC from October 26, 1982, to May 25, 1988. Westphall, who is autistic, took on major significance in St. Elsewhere's final episode, "The Last One", where the common interpretation of that finale is that the entire St. Elsewhere storyline exists only within Westphall's imagination. As characters from St. Elsewhere have appeared on other television shows and those shows' characters appeared on more shows, and so on, a "Tommy Westphall Universe" hypothesis was postulated by...

user174558

@crl You should really ask a law professional there.

Lawrence

@crl Why does ethnicity matter in that context?

crl

@Lawrence just meaning a foreign person

doesn't matter indeed

Mitch

14:44

@crl law is hard enough in your own place, that much worse to know the intricacies of another.

user174558

@Lawrence It might matter in the law.

crl

thanks, ok, I'll ask to a professional

Mitch

@crl why would you think that that is illegal?

crl

in France it's rather strict, but if the boss declares it, it's probably fine

terdon

@KitZ.Fox 'S weird how easily sexism creeps in. My sister is fiercely feminist, sexism is probably the most important issue in her life and she has done a great job of keeping macho crap out of my nephews head. Nevertheless, when I went to pick him up with my ex-GF who was a medical doctor, he was so impressed to see her driving he said "Wow, a woman who's a doctor and drives!".

Kid was 8 or so, but my sister still had a conniption.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

14:45

@KitZ.Fox What dangerous creatures did Han Solo have aboard his ship? aside from pirates.

user174558

@crl Wait till you come to Antarctica.

crl

@Mitch For the foreign worker side, it's quite illegal

he doesn't pay revenue taxes

Mitch

Holy crap. Antarctica. You can't look sideways without some law being broken

user174558

@terdon She is overdoing it. What your nephew said is totally fine.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@WillHunting um. not really.

crl

14:47

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 some hairy monkey

terdon

@WillHunting Well, while I agree that she is overdoing it, I don't think this is an example of it. Why in the world should a young child associate either the ability to drive or being a doctor with a specific sex? That's ridiculous.

user174558

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 He could mean that he has not seen many female driver doctors in his life.

Mitch

@crl oh. wow. that's...protectionist. but anyway there are alternatives, like paying to a French account?

terdon

@WillHunting I'm pretty sure that was the first driving doctor of any sex he'd seen.

tchrist

sick drivers

Mitch

14:48

he probably watches TV

Matt E. Эллен

@terdon luckily there was a doctor on hand to administer live saving treatment

terdon

@tchrist gloria mundi

@MattE.Эллен heh, her hands were kinda busy though.

user174558

@MattE.Эллен life, not live

Lawrence

Well, that too.

Matt E. Эллен

hi, Jasper

user174558

14:50

Hello! To you and Maria, lol.

user174558

@MattE.Эллен Have your Greek classes begun?

Matt E. Эллен

no. they don't start until september

user174558

Geezis.

Matt E. Эллен

I know

user174558

That's like light years away.

crl

14:51

first lesson: financial crisis

Mitch

@WillHunting You're entirely inside the Star Wars universe

MετάEd

@terdon Good think I know where my towel is.

user174558

@Mitch Maybe there is only one universe.

Mitch

@KitZ.Fox Ooh #17 how many parsecs bla h blah Kessel Run?

terdon

@MετάEd Now all you need is a decent gargle blaster

Mitch

14:53

@WillHunting What I don't get about this multiverse thing... don't all of those multiverses together comprise the single universe?

Matt E. Эллен

@Mitch which is entirely inside Tommy Westphall's head!

user174558

@Mitch I don't know anything about physics, lol. Ubuntu has repositories called universe and multiverse, lol.

Mitch

@MattE.Эллен Exac... whut?

@WillHunting That's ubuntu for you.

(I don't know anything about ubuntu, so I guess we're even)

user174558

@Mitch I think we are odd.

Mitch

@MattE.Эллен I never saw that show. But I do know people who work there.

Matt E. Эллен

14:54

@Mitch I'm looking for the connection... I can't pinpoint it yet. I'm sure I will. Laurence Fishburne put The Matrix inside Tommy's head.

Kit Z. Fox

@terdon Wow. I'm kind of surprised that those things were impressive. Sexism amongst my boys is generally related to "gender-normative" dress and color choices.

Then again, my boys also think that computer programming and robotics are things that girls do.

Lawrence

@KitZ.Fox Hmm, stereotype reversal.

crl

:)

Kit Z. Fox

No, it's just that I do it and my husband doesn't.

So they've generalized that to the population at large.

user174558

I am thinking if the world would be better if the words sexism and racism don't exist.

Kit Z. Fox

14:58

I think the world would be better if the word moist didn't exist.

Lawrence

@KitZ.Fox It's the Mindstorms :) .

crl

and if cigarettes didn't exist too, and asshole bosses that don't pay the bill

Mitch

"I am thinking if the world would be better if the words ... and ...don't exist."

doesn't have the same punch

Lawrence

@KitZ.Fox Why?

Kit Z. Fox

Because it is gross.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

14:58

@WillHunting Even if he's never seen that particular combination, neither should be surprising, and the fact that they are surprising is a sign of either basic ignorance, or sexism.

Lawrence

@KitZ.Fox Not with chocolate cake. Beats dry chocolate cake.

MετάEd

@terdon True. Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good pangalactic gargle blaster at your side, kid.

Kit Z. Fox

@Lawrence I prefer my chocolate cake luscious.

Transcript for

English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…