English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Cerberus

18:00

@MattЭллен Haha, no, I mean, we should all be sexists, it's fun!

Mahnax

Hi guys!

user19161

@Mahnax Boo! I am going for supper now.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus Indeed. so long as we do it equally to men and women ;)

hi @Mahnax

Mahnax

@WillHunting Enjoy!

Cerberus

@MattЭллен Of course! Men suck!

Matt Эллен

18:02

@Cerberus and women blow!

Cerberus

Yeah, baby!

As they should.

Alenanno

@MattЭллен lol

Mahnax

…

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus incomprehensible and controversial. what will become of us?

Mahnax

Mr. Atwood will kill you with fire.

Cerberus

18:05

We'll be chatting here when we're old and toothless?

I'll splash water in his face.

Mahnax

Good idea.

Cerberus

Okay I have to go...bye guys!

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus that would be nice :)

see you @Cerberus :)

Alenanno

@Cerberus bye!

Cerberus

poof

Mahnax

18:07

Bye @Cerb!

Cerberus

I mean BANG!

Matt Эллен

:D

Mahnax

Haha.

Alenanno

Yo.

Mahnax

Yo-yo?

Alenanno

18:13

No, just yo. :P

Mahnax

Bah, kids these days.

get out of my back yard

Alenanno

Kids?

Matt Эллен

All of them?

Mahnax

Kids, children, small goats.

Alenanno

Is someone in your house's backyard?

lol

Mahnax

18:16

No, but someone was last night at 1:30.

Alenanno

How do you know?

Mahnax

They hit my window a few times.

Matt Эллен

he was on guard duty!

Mahnax

Anyways, what's this "yo" business?

Matt Эллен

Yo.

Alenanno

18:23

Yo.

Matt Эллен

Gosh we're helpful

Mahnax

I agree.

Alenanno

Ahahah

Mahnax

Thanks guys.

Matt Эллен

NP!

WE R HEAR 2 HALP

Alenanno

18:25

lol @Matt... @Mahnax What do you want to know exactly?

Mahnax

@Alenanno Nothing :-)

Matt Эллен

(Although I don't know what's with all this "yo" business)

Alenanno

@Mahnax That makes my job easier lol

Mahnax

@Alenanno This is your job? 0.0

Alenanno

@Mahnax "Job" was not to be taken strictly... :P

Matt Эллен

18:28

No, Alenanno is a slave here. He's not paid

Mahnax

@Alenanno I know, I know. Just being a literalist.

user19161

2

Q: Difference between "art exhibition" and "art fair"

What is the difference between art exhibition and art fair? It seems both show something to an audience.

Alenanno

@MattЭллен Well it's true that I'm not paid, but actually I'm a boss. U_U

user19161

Why does this have two votes as too localized?

Mahnax

@WillHunting Good question.

user19161

18:29

I think it is pretty good.

Matt Эллен

@Alenanno a slave to your flock

Alenanno

@MattЭллен a slave to my flock? :P

Matt Эллен

@WillHunting I was going to down vote as it lcaks context, and leave a comment. but I couldn't think of a way to be ice about it

@Alenanno those you moderate ;)

Mahnax

Ooh, a modder8or.

Alenanno

@MattЭллен Oh yes, I am not familiar with that expression though. :D

user19161

18:30

@MattЭллен But I think it tries to understand the difference between two similar words, so it is not that trivial.

Matt Эллен

note the blueness of his name, @Mahnax

Mahnax

@MattЭллен Woah.

Matt Эллен

@WillHunting but the difference relies on the context that they are in, which is not provided.

user19161

@Alenanno Just noticed you are a mod on two sites.

Alenanno

@WillHunting Yep, the second was recent...

Matt Эллен

18:31

@Alenanno ah, well it might not be a common one.

user19161

I am looking forward to Debian Wheezy release which might even be as early as December this year!

Alenanno

@MattЭллен I don't know, but to me it was not very familiar... :D

user19161

I hope they stick to a 2 year cycle. Nobody really knows when Debian will make a release.

Matt Эллен

@Alenanno I might have just made it up :D

Alenanno

@MattЭллен Great! So you're teaching me weird stuff! :O

user19161

18:33

@Alenanno What is the standard of your Chinese?

Matt Эллен

sorry! I'm weird

Alenanno

@WillHunting My level you mean? Beginner.

Matt Эллен

"a slave to X" is idiomatic though

user19161

@Alenanno And you can be a mod effectively?

Matt Эллен

e.g. "A slave to my addiction"

or "a slave to love"

Alenanno

18:34

@WillHunting Why not? Mods aren't supposed to be the experts in a certain matter. But one "requirement" (not really strict) is that you are a high-rep user, and I am.

user19161

@matt @mahnax I have deleted my blog and won't be restoring it. I deleted all the posts before I deleted it, so even if I undelete it now there are no more posts.

Matt Эллен

oh

well, that's a shame

Mahnax

@WillHunting Aww.

Alenanno

@WillHunting why did you delete it?

Matt Эллен

whatever you feel's best

user19161

18:39

@Alenanno Well, I guess I did not really have much to write about anymore. And it's not really going to make a difference to the world.

user19161

Monday is Chinese New Year. If I go out on Sunday night, I might fall into the drain because of the crowd.

Alenanno

Do you celebrate it?

user19161

@Alenanno I don't really celebrate anything myself, but it is a public holiday.

Alenanno

@WillHunting What I meant is that: will you join the crowd or you don't care about it?

user19161

@Alenanno Well, I guess it's nice to look at the fireworks and the fairs and stuff like that.

user19161

18:42

That goes for all the other holidays as well!

Alenanno

@WillHunting but you're not really into it? You can choose not to answer, I was just wondering :)

I see :P

user19161

@Alenanno Not really into it, yeah.

user19161

@Alenanno I am wondering if you will put on a hat again this time!

Alenanno

@WillHunting ahah the Santa Claus one? Maybe I could put a dragon, this one will be the Year of the Dragon, no?

user19161

@Alenanno Yes, it is.

Alenanno

18:45

@WillHunting Do you understand or speak Chinese yourself?

user19161

@Alenanno Yes I do. But not as good as English.

user19161

There are not many mods who are mods on two sites.

user19161

Reg is another one.

Alenanno

Also Gilles

user19161

Any thoughts on whether http or ftp is better for downloading?

user19161

18:47

There is a lot of conflicting information on the internet.

user19161

I think eventually they are about the same.

Alenanno

I'm not sure honestly :D

user19161

This question was asked on superuser but did not get a comprehensive answer. The question did not get too many upvotes either.

user19161

I guess people are more interested in stuff that makes a practical difference.

Alenanno

Well, a lot does the phrasing.

user19161

18:49

Yeah, also depends on how you ask the question.

user19161

0

Q: What does the end of sentence "eh" tag mean in Canadian English?

It seems like it should mean something. In other languages, final tags can indicated questions, or other things.

canadian-english

user19161

I don't understand what he means by tag.

Alenanno

Maybe he means "tag-question"

or

wait

just tag

user19161

0

Q: residency (musician)

Macmillan: residency: a period during which a musician or dj works regularly in a particular place or club Hi. Is this meaning chiefly used in BrE? Is it used in AmE as well?

american-english british-english

user19161

And this one is weird.

user19161

18:53

I feel that people often ask a question about a particular variety when most things apply to the two major ones.

user19161

@mahnax Great comments on eh.

Alenanno

The OP tagged "canadian-english", that's a hint to american usage, not US, but north-american, yes

user19161

Anyway I have commented on residency. Closing as general reference.

user19161

0

Q: Can "grammatical" mean "grammatically correct"?

I have been seeing phrases like, "That sentence isn't grammatical" etc. recently, and at first I wrote them off thinking, "Oh, well that technically isn't right, but I get what he's saying so I'm not going to make a fuss..." The thing is, I've been seeing it more and more, by different people, an...

word-usage

user19161

Also closing as GR.

user19161

19:05

A lot of things can be considered GR or not GR. I choose the former when there is little or no subtlety.

user19161

Of course where we draw the line is a matter of opinion. So it takes 5 normal votes to close.

user19161

It is a little bit like the jury system in a court of law.

Alenanno

Well the jury has more people

:P

user19161

I linked to Macmillan in residency because OP used Macmillan. And it so happens that the online Macmillan has a British and American page for every listing.

user19161

Other dictionaries do not have this separation but it is understood that all words refer to both varieties, with alternate spellings and pronunciations given in case they exist.

user19161

19:14

No point soliciting the opinion of one particular American to ask if this word exists in AmE or one particular British to ask if it exists in BrE.

user19161

After all, who knows all words in the dictionary?

user19161

0

Q: Word for someone that always has to be right

The person always needs to be right and if they aren't they get angry.

phrases

user19161

Interesting question.

user19161

@Alenanno I guess we can say dragons existed if we think of them as dinosaurs.

Robusto

@WillHunting — Spouse?

Alenanno

19:25

@Robusto lol

user19161

@Robusto I would not know since I am not married!

Alenanno

@WillHunting Not quite the same thing...

user19161

Now looking back some of my own questions should also be closed as GR.

Robusto

@Alenanno But dinosaurs will do until actual dragons get here.

Alenanno

@Robusto But they aren't that similar apart from being both cold-blooded (what was that term other than mammals?)

Robusto

19:32

You mean reptiles?

It's not clear that dinosaurs were reptiles. The smart money is now on them being warm-blooded, at least the later models.

Alenanno

Yes, I think that's the word.

If we consider westerner dragons, they are similar, but if you consider the chinese dragons, they have nothing to do with dinosaurs...

But not even westerners, just something

user19161

@Alenanno Oh dear, I did not know there were different types of dragons. You seem to have seen some of them.

Alenanno

There are many types of dragons.

Depending on their shape, and also the wing shape.

If I remember well...

user19161

I guess the Chinese ones are more like snakes and the others are more like birds.

user19161

Actually biologically birds and dinosaurs are very much related I think.

Robusto

19:38

And we are coming up on the Year of the Dragon. How fitting.

It all starts February 5th this year.

Alenanno

@Robusto Will mentioned dragons because we talked about that earlier... :D

Robusto

I see.

user19161

@Robusto It's Jan 23 here, not Feb.

user19161

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. In China, it is known as "Spring Festival," the literal translation of the Chinese name 春節 (Pinyin: Chūn Jié), since the spring season in Chinese calendar starts with lichun, the first solar term in a Chinese calendar year. It marks the end of the winter season, analogous to the Western carnival. The festival begins on the first day of the first month () in the traditional Chinese calendar and ends with Lantern Festival which is on the 15th day. Chinese New Year's Eve, a day where Chinese families gather for...

user19161

I wonder how the Feb 5 came about.

user19161

19:41

Glad Wikipedia is back in full glory.

Robusto

@WillHunting My bad. I read the wrong column in the Wikipedia table.

user19161

The closest related words I can think of for the person who has to be right is authoritarian or perfectionist but these do not apply.

Alenanno

Gotta go, bye guys :)

user19161

@Alenanno Bye! Enjoy your weekend.

user19161

19:59

0

Q: One word for encoder decoder

Modem is a common word for Modulator/Demodulator. Therefore it is MoDem. Is there a word that in a similar fashion (or in general) would describe the encoder and decoder functionality presented in one piece?

short-form

user19161

Not sure what OP is asking but I commented with codec/endec.

user19161

Closing as NARQ.

user19161

20:14

I put as answer at request.

Mitch

@WillHunting Why is it a NARQ?

THere's exactly one perfectly god answer (which you gave).

To those who know it's obvious. To others, not at all.

user19161

@Mitch Because there are many things which can encode and decode. He may not have something specific in mind.

user19161

I think dogmatist is probably the best answer we can get for the right question.

Mitch

@WillHunting it's best so far but I don't think captures the emotion of 'has to be'.

user19161

@Mitch Yeah. Such is the nature of word request questions. There is seldom a perfect match.

Mitch

20:20

@WillHunting anyway, you should still make your comment an answer and it should end up being the only one.

@WillHunting except for 'codec'!

user19161

@Mitch Done at OP request.

user19161

But I really do wonder why OP sometimes accepts an answer to a question but does not upvote it as well.

user19161

Of course one possibility is that he has run out of votes for the day.

user19161

Perhaps SE should change the system so that accepts automatically come with an upvote.

user19161

Currently upvoting a question adds 5, upvoting an answer adds 10. I think it would be good to make accepted add 15 altogether and disable the possible additional upvote.

Mitch

20:25

@WillHunting yes Ive seen that pattern before.

i dont understand it either.

@WillHunting maybe that's what people assume somehow.

user19161

@mahnax I saw your comment on codec. I was the one who closed it, heh!

Mahnax

@WillHunting Haha, that is funny.

I will be leaving soon to go to a music store with my dad.

user19161

@Mahnax Yes, I am very funny after all.

Mahnax

@WillHunting It should not be closed! :D

user19161

@Mahnax Getting Justin Bieber CD?

Mahnax

20:29

@WillHunting Hah, never.

user19161

@Mahnax Never say never. That's in one of his songs I think!

Mahnax

@WillHunting defies I repeat, never.

user19161

@Mahnax I was thinking of changing my username to Justin Bieber at the next round.

Mahnax

@WillHunting Yeccch.

user19161

@Mahnax Then Sonic will change to Michael Jackson!

Mahnax

20:33

@WillHunting Yecccch!

user19161

@Mahnax What does eh mean to you?

user19161

It is just an exclamation to me that can mean a lot of things.

Mahnax

@WillHunting It doesn't mean much of anything.

user19161

@Mahnax Yeah like oh.

Mahnax

@WillHunting Indeed.

Jan 6 at 20:23, by Mahnax

I speak Canadian, eh?

chat.stackexchange.com/search?q=eh&user=21584&room=95

user19161

20:36

@Mahnax Yeah I know eh is one of your favourites.

user19161

In fact I learnt it from you.

user19161

And ahah is one of Alenanno's favourites.

Mahnax

@WillHunting Good.

user19161

My favourite of course is ...

user19161

Boo!

Mahnax

20:39

Okay. Bye!

Music store time!

user19161

@Mahnax Have fun with music!

RegDwight Ѭſ道

21:42

Yo @Rob @Cer @Kit, we could use moar firepower.

Matt Эллен

22:31

Here is a long stream of d'awwwww

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