English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

J doh

01:06

Hello. I've always thought that modal verbs cover ability, advice, permission and obligation. Someone suggested that they show intention. Is that true or is intention covered by obligation?

Thanks

tchrist

@Jdoh Will you tell me?

J doh

?

you mean a request?

Mitch

-2

Q: The End of days

I asked a question previously about maximum points per day and was told that I could get a maximum of 200 points excluding accepts and bounties. I wanna know when does that 24 hour period star and when does that day end? Did it start after my 200 point limit was reached?

I really wanted that to be about US Republican presumptive nominee

J doh

:)

user174558

@Mitch What's with the nudity there?

user174558

01:19

@Cerberus You have not talked for days. Are you alright? Are you in distress?

user174558

@snailplane Because the British care more about British than American English. ODE also stands for ordinary differential equations.

user174558

Not many people know that there is ODE and NOAD, COED and COAD, and OALD and OAAD.

user174558

I find it quite silly to have 2 dictionaries for essentially the same language. One can easily combine British and American variants into 1.

user174558

Perhaps this is a marketing strategy by OUP.

user174558

@Mitch Sounds like Armageddon.

user174558

01:28

@Jdoh He often says naughty things.

user174558

@anongoodnurse And sometimes, I delete upvoted answers that I don't really like for some reason or other as well. And hi again!

Anonymous

01:56

@WillHunting You can. The OED works for both British and American English, for example. There are a few reasons to do them separately, though, I suppose.

Anonymous

The OED has no real limits on entry length, but most dictionaries are actually single-volume dictionaries that are published physically.

sumelic

@snailplane: Hi! I see you've upgraded your mode of transportation

Anonymous

So it's not surprising that a dictionary for native speakers of American English, like the NOAD, would include only American English pronunciation (and with the respelling scheme people educated in the U.S. are used to), for example, instead of including AmE and BrE pronunciation everywhere.

Anonymous

@sumelic Yes! :-)

Anonymous

I'm somewhat faster now.

Anonymous

01:59

Dictionaries for native speakers of British English are more likely to use IPA these days.

Anonymous

(Dictionaries for learners of all varieties have used IPA for quite a while.)

sumelic

@snailplane It doesn't seem like all dictionaries published by Oxford use Clive Upton's system. For example, oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/…

The transcription of "nurse" is /nɜːs/ not /nəːs/

Anonymous

@sumelic Sorry, their dictionaries written for native speakers.

Anonymous

That's what I should have said.

sumelic

@snailplane: Oh, that makes sense. I don't have any physical dictionaries at the moment, so I just use online ones.

tchrist

02:45

@WillHunting Not that time.

Færd

Why does this sound funny to me? :

> I can't seem to find my keys.

Anonymous

@Jdoh Will and would have volitional uses.

Anonymous

@Færd = It seems that I can't find my keys.

Anonymous

You must think seem is positioned oddly.

Færd

Is it?

Anonymous

02:51

No, it's fine.

Anonymous

But it's interesting.

Anonymous

Well, that's my only guess, so if that's not why you think it sounds funny, I have no idea. :-)

Færd

Okay. What about this? : I can't appear not to be surprised about this.

Anonymous

I'm sorry, my brain turned off halfway through that sentence.

Anonymous

I guess in context it could work, now that I re-read it.

Færd

02:53

Give your brain some rest then!

Anonymous

Someone is very worried about someone perceiving them the wrong way!

Anonymous

Perhaps someone has broken a law, and they're afraid that if they don't look surprised when someone tells them what happened, they'll be found out.

Anonymous

I guess in that sort of context that sentence would be fine.

Færd

Okay, thanks!

Anonymous

It's always hard reading sentences without context.

Anonymous

02:55

We have to invent some sort of mental context to really understand them.

Færd

Mhm. The fact that the context is inventable is good enough for me.

Anonymous

04:02

@Færd But although your appear and seem sentences are superficially similar, I don't think they have the same grammar.

Anonymous

Nor do I think they have similar interpretations.

Anonymous

> 1a. I can't seem to find my keys.
> 1b. It seems that I can't find my keys.
> 2a. I can't appear not to be surprised about this.
> 2b. #It appears that I can't not be surprised about this.

Anonymous

Examples 1a and 1b have similar meaning, but examples 2a and 2b don't have the same kind of relationship.

Anonymous

The # symbol here means there's something wrong with the meaning of the sentence.

Anonymous

When you say "I can't seem to find my keys", you're telling someone that you've been trying to find your keys, but you haven't been able to do so yet.

Anonymous