English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Mitch

00:05

@VitaminC misunderstanding all you see?

@Cerberus so many. Oh...about dictionaries? Sure it is hard. Lots of things are hard. They should at least try. Giving a number of example sentences (like OED) is in the right direction. But to rely on a single sentence to explain a word is probably too much of a limitation.

Anonymous

I love dictionaries :-) I think, though, that a great many words could have books written about them.

4

Anonymous

Each with its own story to tell, much longer than any dictionary entry.

Cerberus

@Mitch So how would you propose that e.g. Dictionary.com should improve its definitions?

@snailplane Some theses are written about a single word...

Shafizadeh

00:25

Is there any English word like "yeilt" which means "opening the hand" ?

> this Wrist will not yeilt ? (what should be instead of "yeilt")

Cerberus

Yield, probably.

To yield means to stop resisting, often by moving backwards.

Shafizadeh

hmm, maybe.

Cerberus

For a wrist to yield, that is not a common expression, but it is possible as a half-metaphor, I'd say.

user208178

@Mitch I meant how can you watch TV with eyes closed?

user208178

I was being light hearted.

Cerberus

00:34

Where did you read or hear this?

user208178

well anyway, I'm back to my sleep.

Cerberus

Good luck.

Shafizadeh

@Cerberus in the movie

Cerberus

How was it translated?

Or was there no translation?

Shafizadeh

yes that movie has subtitle. Subtitle says (something like) yeilt means opening

Cerberus

00:37

Opening is strange for a wrist?

When you push against a wall, it will not yield.

When you push against an unlocked door, it will yield (if you push in the right direction).

Shafizadeh

ah

Cerberus

If you push against someone's wrist and the wrist remains in the same place (it doesn't move), then it does not yield to your pushing.

Shafizadeh

ah

Yes you was right, that's yield. Here is original text:

> I am not putting my fist down until it gets the privilege of someone else's knuckles tapping lightly yet decisively. Pretty, pretty?... Pretty, pretty?... Then know this. Until my fist gets the respect it deserves - Nay, demands - it will not yield. It. Will. NOT! Yield.

Mitch

01:02

@Cerberus having the synonym list provides a good point of departure. at least attempt to differentiate the current definition against the definitions of all the items in the synonym list.

Cerberus

01:13

@Shafizadeh Ah, it makes more sense with fist.

Mitch

@VitaminC Oh. Me too. I was repeating lyrics.

Cerberus

Because a fist is often displayed or raised as an act of defiance or strength.

Woman resisting Neo-Nazis.

> The lone protest of a woman defying a march of 300 uniformed neo-Nazis is set to become an iconic image of resistance to the rise of the far-right in Scandinavia.

A photograph of Tess Asplund, 42, with fist raised against the leadership of the Nordic Resistance Movement (NRM) in Borlänge, central Sweden, on Sunday has gone viral in the country.

“It was an impulse. I was so angry, I just went out into the street,” Asplund told the Guardian. “I was thinking: hell no, they can’t march here! I had this adrenaline. No Nazi is going to march here, it’s not okay.”

theguardian.com/world/2016/may/04/…

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

04:23

@snailplane Snail-themed Lego creations

SmokeDetector

07:27

[ SmokeDetector ] Manually reported answer: Derogatory term for inconcise writing by soniya philip on english.stackexchange.com …

Sting

10:13

Hello everyone!

I am looking for some english words with funny meanings like :-

defenestration :- the act of throwing someone out of a window.

Any suggestions?

TIPS

10:36

"funny"

"hilarious"

"joking"

user208178

@Sting absquatulate, agelast, anile, apolaustic...

user208178

Just used Google

Sting

@VitaminC Thanks!

Shafizadeh

11:30

@Cerberus I thought fist and wrist are synonyms.

terdon

@Shafizadeh Not at all, the fist is what is after the wrist.

Shafizadeh

yes I got it ... fist is a closing wrist. Or wrist is a fist which is opened.

Matt E. Эллен

no, a fist is a closed hand. a hand is a wrist spider

Shafizadeh

oh

terdon

grrr

Never mind. Your wrist is the joint that connects your hand to your arm.

Your hand is the bit after the wrist, whether the hand is formed into a fist or not is irrelevant.

@Shafizadeh ^^ :P

Shafizadeh

11:48

:D

well thank you very much .. I got it completely

Cerberus

12:00

Haha nice.

Mitch

12:40

@MattE.Эллен Pointed question: is the disparagement of redheads (gingers) in the UK a connected however subtly with anti-irish sentiment? That is, does the hair's appearance mark someone as 'probably of Irish extraction' and if so, is it conscious, semi-conscious, totally unconscious but still connected, or simply an esthetic judgment?

Matt E. Эллен

@Mitch that is not something that had ever occurred to me. I don't know the origin. I assumed it was because ginger hair is unusual and kids are mean to outliers

user208178

I love redheads.

Matt E. Эллен

but it could be

Ginger is also a Scottish trait

stack

Which one?
- I'm trying to show my website's users something.
- I'm trying to show to my website's users something.

Mitch

12:56

@MattE.Эллен in the US, redheads stand out too, but it is not disparaged.

user208178

@stack first one looks ok.

Mitch

@MattE.Эллен Next question: replace redhead/ginger with catholic!

stack

@VitaminC tnx

Mitch

Matt, I presume you speak for all UKer's unilaterally, even if ginger, catholic, or rhotic.

Matt E. Эллен

@Mitch Catholics don't get made fun of where I've been in the UK, at least not like redheads. There's the catholic priest == paedophile thing, but I don't think that's because of Catholicism

@Mitch of course. we are legion

@Mitch to be fair I didn't notice ginger hate until I got to uni. I assume that's because I'm not ginger, though

Mitch

13:01

The British Local Legion. Just like the French Foreign Legion but the food isn't that great.

Matt E. Эллен

@Mitch it's not great, it's the best.

Mitch

@MattE.Эллен THat could totally be a new thing.

@MattE.Эллен holds back from telling Matt the truth

stops holding back

user208178

@MattE.Эллен among adult students, that's interesting.

Mitch

English food is a little better than Icelandic cuisine.

Matt E. Эллен

@VitaminC well... students are often like kids in adult bodies

Mitch

13:04

without their parents for the first time in their lives to keep them in line

user208178

@MattE.Эллен true heh

terdon

@MattE.Эллен I only ever herd it used affectionately. At worst, as an affectionate slur between friends. Is it really used as an insult?

Matt E. Эллен

@terdon when I was at uni there was the prevalent myth that redheads (women only) are crazy

terdon

Huh.

Man, that would make life easier though. If only we could identify the loonies by the color of their hair.

Matt E. Эллен

:D

user208178

13:07

@Mitch I hadn't heard that beatles song before.

Matt E. Эллен

@Mitch Iceland is famed for its great cuisine, but they just can't compete with a Sunday roast.

stack

Is this sentence correct? "How can I create a calculating-last-seen system?"

user208178

@stack the sentence is fine but I don't know what you mean by "last seen".

stack

@VitaminC Ah ok. "last seen" is a time or date which determines the last time of user's activity on the website.

user208178

I see, that.

Mitch

13:17

@stack "How can I create a system that calculates the time last seen"

'calculating-last-seen' is all sorts of wrong

stack

seems good. thank you ^

Mitch

semantically though, I don't see how one could possibly calculate the time a person was last seen. Instead it would just be 'records the time last seen' or better 'records the time last visited'

stack

agreed

TIPS

16:14

Agreed

Kit Z. Fox

I need hand-holding.

Molly coddling.

@MattE.Эллен You can help, right?

Matt E. Эллен

yes!

you can do it!

Kit Z. Fox

So many things I can't remember how to do.

I keep having to install tools.

And nothing is working right, but I keep fixing stuff, so I guess I'm making progress.

Matt E. Эллен

It's a hard slog, but you'll make it

keep hammering until the error messages stop

MετάEd

joins Matt in the cheer line

TIPS

16:27

Can I join?

Guess that's a no?

Matt E. Эллен

4 mins ago, by Matt E. Эллен

you can do it!

Kit Z. Fox

... and that's three BSOD this morning.

TIPS

@MattE.Эллен \o/

Matt E. Эллен

from the virtual server or the machine it's on?

TIPS

Goes crazy

Kit Z. Fox

16:30

No, on the computer I'm trying to manage the work from.

Matt E. Эллен

oh!

so long as it reboots

Kit Z. Fox

Luckily most of the work is on the server.

MετάEd

17:30

*\O/*

Matt E. Эллен

18:26

how's it going @KitZ.Fox?

Kit Z. Fox

18:43

I'm about ready to quit.

Matt E. Эллен

what's happened?

TIPS

@MattE.Эллен Nothing happened. That's why she wants to quit.

Matt E. Эллен

maybe

Kit Z. Fox

I finally got stuff installed.

Now I need to remember how to grant the right permissions in the right places.

But I'm out of time, so it will have to wait.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

So I keep looking for news about how the Brexit vote is going and there is no news.

it's so weird.

Matt E. Эллен

18:58

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 the count doesn't start until after the polls close, which is in 2 hours

and it doesn't start immediately, either, given that the ballot boxes have to go to where the ballots will be counted

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@MattE.Эллен yeah! That's so weird!

Matt E. Эллен

:D

I was expecting to queue to vote, but there was only a couple of people there. that was at 3pm, though

Mitch

19:20

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 the brexit polling journalists all left the mainstream polling journalist to form their own system

@KitZ.Fox here, have some soft-boiled eggs and toast points.

Also let me turn the tv on for you. Can I get you a blanket?

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 No? I see all sorts of remain-news.

It is illegal to publish the results of polls until voting ends.

But the financial markets have installed their own pollsters.

And the markets are doing well.

So their pollsters must have concluded that Remain will win.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus it's virtually nothing but crickets compared to any kind of election or referendum held in Canada

Cerberus

19:40

Odd.

My newspaper has a live blog and stuff.

Mitch

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Are you saying Canadians are chatty?

@Mitch wait... that's pampering not molly-coddling.

user208178

20:01

@Mitch It's confusing, I thought there were two Mitches.

TIPS

Who taught this Mitch person self-replying?

user208178

@KitZ.Fox Good luck with the blue screen of death. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you.

Mitch

@TIPS self taught, obviously!

@VitaminC we are legion

user208178

@Mitch good. now make a voting ring ;)

TIPS

@Mitch Then I'm going to kill this "Self Taught" dude.

user208178

20:12

that's not a very nice thing to say.

TIPS

Not a very serious thing either.

But TV noise, as @Mitch is, is usually annoying.

Mitch

@TIPS fine. He's dead to you.

TIPS

@Dead doesn't ping him.

BTW @Mitch you didn't take those seriously, did you?

Mitch

@TIPS I heard that

TIPS

Mitch

20:16

@TIPS sticks and stones blabla la, but words hurt worst of all. sobs incontrollably

TIPS

@Mitch Let's cry together

:'(

:_(

>:)

:_<

Kit Z. Fox

Please don't threaten other chat users.

TIPS

K

user208178

I agree with Kit.

TIPS

K, I said

Mitch

20:24

@TIPS Wanh wanh wanh

TIPS

@Mitch Too late, party's over

We may, however, cry for that cause.

Mitch

@TIPS no but it's probably better to shy away from that. Even if I understand other people may not.

@TIPS brightens up a tad

TIPS

Well, pretty sure I said those because I knew you wouldn't take them seriously.

ELU will be another ELL without SWR. I think questions about basic grammar are bigger annoyance. Still I don't understand what the expected standard is for ELU. Is there any? ELU with higher standard has never existed in reality. It has been ELL from the beginning and will continue to be ELL with a little stricter close reasons. — Rathony 19 hours ago

I love how your meta is the most dramatic meta all over SE.

Always going back to the roots, as if this tree's living on thin air.

In theory, meta.SO would be messier, and posts there are funnier too, but they've grown large enough to be an independent country and that stops much drama.

And well, they have more objective and serious problems.

Mitch

The SWR problem is not serious.

I think the commenters on my SWR question are just getting worked up over some inner demons.

TIPS

You may have some seriouserer problems, but the problems are

1) Not everyone agrees they're a problem.

Mitch

20:33

'You'?

TIPS

If they do, they'll find a goddamn nitpick to disagree with someone else.

@Mitch Plural.

ELU

This. Thing.

MετάEd

If you find a nit, best thing is to pick it.

TIPS

2) Your problems are well-disguised in complaints over question/answer quality and you're left with a bunch of subjective . . . things.

Mitch

@MετάEd that's lousy

@TIPS no, I mean 'you' as in not 'we'? You're not part of us?

TIPS

@Mitch Dunno. Can I join in?

I don't have a post on ELU so I can't.

Mitch

20:38

Oh.

one eyebrow raised

TIPS

Well really.

Mitch

I never

TIPS

I'm just a guy standing on the far. Giving opinions, mostly unjust.

I can have a say on what to do on Chem because that's home.

ELU isn't.

Mitch

Like the cat i'th'adage...

MετάEd

@Mitch fleas the scene

Mitch

20:40

Or was it two Kilkenny cats?

MετάEd

@Mitch You'll nae ken 'till ye observe them.

Mitch

@TIPS anyone can have an opinion about anything and even justly. I just didn't realize you have no skin in the game

TIPS

@Mitch One of those

Mitch

Ah! That's it! Skinning a cat!

Now what did I do with the cat?

TIPS

Skim it.

Mitch

20:41

Here kitty kitty kitty!

MετάEd

@Mitch You put it in a skinner box.

Mitch

@MετάEd that's not a Kilkenny cat. It's a cat Ina box. Or box cat. Like the wine. But aged better

TIPS

Making Persian cats since 6/24/2016.

OK gotta sleep. \o

Mitch

@MετάEd +1

@MετάEd seals the deal

MετάEd

@Mitch monkey seal, monkey doo.

Mitch

20:47

Aye...aye otter whale ewe

Matt E. Эллен

22:00

donkey giraffe pineapple

MετάEd

22:17

@MattE.Эллен Toadally.

Kit Z. Fox

@MattE.Эллен was the Brexit vote today?

googles

Huh. Looks like bremain has it.

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…