English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

simchona

05:00

@Cerberus Exactly!

Cerberus

Jinx!

simchona

@DavidWallace Yes! If he were ESL but he made a real effort to try to ask good questions, I could forgive mistakes like capitalization

David Wallace

True. FWIW, the Aussie-SL game really was exciting!

Cerberus

So it's not that his two questions are essentially against the "rules", but the judges just need a break.

David Wallace

That's "True" to Cerberus.

Cerberus

05:01

Hmm what do you mean by those quotation marks?

Mahnax

@Jasper Back to the Future was awesome! You're crazy.

Cerberus

Hi!

Isn't that an old film?

Mahnax

Hello!

Yes. Well, 1985 isn't that old.

David Wallace

@Cerberus, are you asking me (re the quote marks) or someone else?

Cerberus

Ah, I thought you had just come back from watching it in a cinema or something.

@DavidWallace You!

Oh, wait, you were mimicking mine.

Mahnax

05:03

Krishna Chandra Tiwari, Nainital, India

1 2

This person does not get it.

David Wallace

OK, several lines ago, I said "True" in response to your comment about begging this person to change his questions. Simchona made a comment just before my "True", so it looked like I was answering Simchona, not answering you. My later comment was to clarify whom I was talking to; and I used the quote marks because I was quoting myself.

simchona

@Mahnax Nope. Not at all.

Cerberus

@Mahnax We've been talking about him.

Mahnax

@Cerberus Perhaps I should have perused the transcript.

Cerberus

@DavidWallace Oh, baby Jesus! I was slow and sloppy, my apologies.

@Mahnax Nahh I don't want to be the only one who never does.

Mahnax

05:04

@Cerberus I usually do.

Cerberus

Oh.

David Wallace

@Cerberus, don't mench. It's a bit tricky when there are three or so threads of conversation, and it's hard to track who is responding to what.

Mahnax

But I guess I'll be part of your club today.

Cerberus

Ehh so do I! It was a test, a test!

Mahnax

Hahaha.

Nice try.

Cerberus

05:05

@DavidWallace Yup, and my other two heads were thinking of food too.

simchona

@Cerberus I have treats

Cerberus

jumps up against Sim

simchona

holds treats above head

Cerberus

snake neck hair grabs it and eats it

No feeding the snakes!

simchona

Damn.

Mahnax

05:07

@Cerb Would you like a....

simchona

throws another treat into Chatzy

Mahnax

?

Cerberus

Yay!

@Mahnax Ohh I love it!

Mahnax

@Cerberus The puppy we have goes wild for these things.

Cerberus

D'oh!

David Wallace

05:08

@Mahnax - what country are those sold in?

Cerberus

But is that really cheaper than a real bone with meat on it?

Mahnax

@DavidWallace Canada, and probably the USA.

simchona

Dunno. I don't have a dog.

Cerberus

Yay we have a New Zealander!

Mahnax

@Cerberus I have my doubts, but it's "safer".

Cerberus

05:09

My antipode!

Vitaly

@Cerberus “Where! Where!” — Haha.

Cerberus

@Mahnax Huh, how are bones unsafe?

Mahnax

@Cerberus I have no idea.

Cerberus

@Vitaly Yeah I was lured there by Sim, but she failed to deliver...

David Wallace

It kind of looks like an Azaria joke. Anyone know what I mean?

simchona

05:09

The other Chatzy, Cerb

Vitaly

@Cerberus isn't there another room or something

Cerberus

@DavidWallace Hmm no idea?

@simchona Ahhh.

Jinx, you two.

Mahnax

There's another one? Wow. Nobody tells me anything around here.

David Wallace

OK, I think it was 1980; somewhere in central Australia, a baby died. Her mother was acccused of murdering her. But the parents always claimed that the baby was killed by a dingo.

It prompted a wave of bad jokes around Australia and NZ about dingoes eating babies.

Mahnax

@DavidWallace Ohhhh man!!! My friends and I make jokes about that all the time.

simchona

05:11

@DavidWallace The band in Buffy the Vampire Slayer was "Dingo Ate My Baby"

Mahnax

I think it made it into an episode of Seinfeld.

David Wallace

So I see a dog treat called "dingo" and I expect the writing at the side to say "made with real babies".

Mahnax

►

Found it!

Cerberus

@DavidWallace Oh, hehe.

Vitaly

@Cerberus — Speaking of Chatzy, we are 140 ahead in the current defense war at 1h left. Let me know if you are going to snipe.

Cerberus

05:14

@Mahnax Hmm that isn't an Australian accent, is it?

@Vitaly Ah OK.

Mahnax

@Cerberus Nope, but it's a darn terrible mockery.

Cerberus

I'll spend a bar then, lest I forget; I should be in bed in an hour.

@Mahnax Ah OK.

Vitaly

Good.

Mahnax

@Cerberus Yep.

David Wallace

Yeah, why do non-Antipodeans do such a terrible job of imitating Australian and New Zealand accents?

Even Anthony Hopkins in The Fastest Indian didn't sound particularly authentic to me.

Are our dulcet tones really that hard?

Mahnax

05:17

If I do say so myself, I can imitate an Australian accent half-decently.

simchona

Will someone read the comments here and tell me if I can stop banging my head against the wall?

english.stackexchange.com/questions/57802/…

David Wallace

And you're from Canada?

Mahnax

@DavidWallace Yessir.

David Wallace

@simchona - maybe the headline was "Chase a crooked shadow", and that's all there was?

Mahnax

@simchona You can stop banging your head against the wall. I'll take over from here.

simchona

05:19

@DavidWallace He said its "the speaking tree" or something.

David Wallace

To be honest, I'd probably do a poo job of imitating a Canadian accent. I'd probably sound Irish or something.

@simchona; yeah, I didn't get the speaking tree reference.

Mahnax

@DavidWallace Canadians don't have a truly noticeable accent.

David Wallace

You mean, their accent is not noticeable to other Canadians? Did you omit the smiley?

simchona

@DavidWallace I'm American. The accent is barely noticeable to me.

Mahnax

Canadians speak very similarly to Americans, except if the Canadian in question is from Newfoundland or Quebec.

@DavidWallace The smiley?

David Wallace

05:22

Yes, I have difficulty distinguishing Canadians from Americans. I find myself listening for specific vowels, like the one in "out", to try and spot the difference.

simchona

@DavidWallace "Pasta" and "sorry"

Mahnax

How do you say them, @Sim?

Paw-sta and saw-rry?

simchona

Pretty much.

Mahnax

Interesting.

David Wallace

I suppose if an American or Canadian were trying to distinguish MY accent from that of an Australian, they'd wait for me to say something like "fish".

But sounding like an American is not the same as having no accent.

Everybody has an accent!

That's why I put the remark about the smiley.

Mahnax

05:25

@DavidWallace I suppose.

@David What time is it in New Zealand?

simchona

0

Q: Poetic Devices or Figurative Language in the song "You can't stop the beat" - Hairspray?

This is very important for me and will be very grateful to who ever is able to help me out. I need someone to point out the poetic devices/literary devices/figurative language in the song titled "You can't stop the beat" from Hairspray. The Lyrics are: You can't stop an avalanche as it races dow...

metaphors poetry simile figurative

Close.

Mahnax

@simchona Yep.

Cerberus

@Mahnax You do have a boot.

Mahnax

@Cerberus We don't actually say that!

Cerberus

@DavidWallace Agreed.

Americans have an American accent. Only British has no accent.

@Mahnax I've heard it plenty of times.

Vitaly

05:32

@Cerberus kis (8), gri (10), пит (7)

Cerberus

When I started paying attention to it.

Mahnax

To a Canadian, Canadians don't have accents.

Unless, of course, you're from Quebec or Newfoundland.

@Cerberus Where?

Cerberus

That's because their ears are plugged.

@Mahnax Everywhere.

On Youtube.

@Vitaly Hmm...is it an uncommon word again?

Mahnax

@Cerberus Bleh. Whatever, then.

Cerberus

Kismet, kiss, kisser...

Gribus, griezel, grimas, grifheid, grind/grint, gril, gringo, griesmeel...

Vitaly

05:34

@Cerberus it's a name for a species, yes

Cerberus

Grit.

@Vitaly One whose name I would know?

Vitaly

@Cerberus no idea :P

Mahnax

Well, I'm off for awhile. Bye!

Cerberus

Bye!

@Vitaly Hmm then probably not...

Vitaly

@Cerberus kiskadee, Grietjebie, питанга

Cerberus

05:37

Never heard of any of those words.

Vitaly

Grote kiskadie

De grote kiskadie (Pitangus sulphuratus), in Suriname om zijn roep bekend als Grietjebie, is een insectenetende (sub)tropische zangvogel uit de familie van de tirannen. De grote kiskadie broedt in open bebost terrein, inclusief bouwland en rond menselijke bewoning, vanaf het zuiden van Texas tot Uruguay en centraal Argentinië en op Trinidad. Beschrijving De volwassen grote kiskadie is circa 22 centimeter groot en weegt circa 63 gram. De kop is zwart met een witte oogstreep. De rug, vleugels en staart zijn bruin, de borst is helder geel. De snavel is kort en dik. De roep is een luid g...

Jon Purdy

I certainly came in at an odd time.

Cerberus

"Known in Surinam as Grietjebie".

Hi!

Jon Purdy

English seems to have deteriorated while my back was turned.

Into Dutch.

Cerberus

No, it has been upgraded!

Vitaly

05:40

6 hours ago, by RegDwight Ѭſ道

No hazoodling your bloempz in this chat.

Cerberus

P.S. @Vit: I give up, I lost all but one game.

I'd better stay out of it.

Vitaly

But you did win one game!

Jon Purdy

That reminds me, I'm working on a video about spelling reform.

David Wallace

British have dozens of accents.

Jon Purdy

If anyone has any input to argue.

Cerberus

05:41

Yes, but being a net loss on active is not worth the trouble. Not worth anything, actually.

@JonPurdy Oh! Are you arguing for or against? Or not at all?

David Wallace

Bother, Mahnax and simchona have both left. I was hoping someone would explain to me how I can distinguish Americans and Canadians by their pronunciation of "sorry".

Cerberus

I remember you were hesitant about it last time.

Vitaly

@Cerberus … Oh. I thought you were talking about the word game.

Cerberus

@DavidWallace I think you would have a really hard time.

@Vitaly ...

Jon Purdy

@Cerberus Some both but slightly for.

Cerberus

05:44

Well, the main thing I would say about it is that it is never going to happen, because people don't want it.

Jon Purdy

Fair enough.

Cerberus

The second thing is, who would organize it?

David Wallace

OK, it's just that Simchona suggested "pasta" and "sorry" as words I could listen for, if I wanted to tell whether someone was Canadian or American.

Cerberus

Hmm...

Jon Purdy

The problem is that “spelling reform” is kind of an XY problem. The real problem is that the Latin alphabet isn’t natively suitable for English.

David Wallace

05:45

I figured "sorry" would be more common than "pasta", and therefore more worthwhile understanding the difference of.

Jon Purdy

So spelling reform would be solving Y when the cause is X.

Cerberus

True.

David Wallace

Sorry, that last sentence was clumsy, but I think it's clear what I meant.

Cerberus

Haha.

Yes.

Jon Purdy

I like saying what is what I meant though clumsy.

So you have a fan?

Or a competitor.

Cerberus

05:47

But the Latin alphabet could be made to do the work with digraphs.

David Wallace

I think text-speak is creating spelling reform all by itself. And is more likely to succeed than any sort of spelling reform mandated by a language body.,

Jon Purdy

That's what we've been doing for quite a bit of English history.

Cerberus

@JonPurdy You suddenly stopped making sense! Does that come with the aura of spelling reform?

@DavidWallace Yeah, probably, though its effects will be very long term, if any.

Jon Purdy

@Cerberus Yes, but usually because spelling-reform advocates insist on coming up with bad proposals, writing a whole article in them.

Then abandoning the project.

Cerberus

Haha.

David Wallace

05:49

Unless a new technology makes texting redundant before its evils have time to take hold.

Cerberus

If you had a central spelling authority, you could have it roll out the changes gradually.

David Wallace

I guess I mean obsolete.

Cerberus

That works here, to a degree.

Jon Purdy

Well, your and you're have more or less merged by way of ur because it was shorter than u r.

Cerberus

@DavidWallace Hmm but will text messages ever become obsolete?

Jon Purdy

05:50

At least so I contend.

Vitaly

There is an easy way to pass any English spelling reform. Just rewrite the English Wikipedia using the new spelling all by yourself.

David Wallace

@Cerberus - Gross! So I can write in "traditional spelling", "reformed spelling v1.0", v1.1, v2.0 and so on??

Cerberus

@DavidWallace You're supposed to write in the current spelling.

Jon Purdy

@DavidWallace That is usually what reform advocates propose, yeah.

Cerberus

It changes every 5–10 years.

David Wallace

05:51

@Cerberus, I mean, if I use something like Siri, I speak my text, rather than typing it. If the recipient also uses something like Siri, they hear their text. So what does it matter how the two Siris communicated to each other? Could just be in digitised sound.

Cerberus

By the way, to both of you, you can reply to a specific line by hovering over it, then clicking the tiny grey arrow on the right.

Jon Purdy

Ugh, mouse.

This is why I like IRC.

Get off my lawn.

Cerberus

@DavidWallace Well, but the thing about texting is that you can do it in silence. That is one of its main advantages.

David Wallace

@Cerberus what little arrow?

Cerberus

@DavidWallace Hover over my line.

David Wallace

05:53

@Cerberus, you mean something that's correctly spelt today has to be spelt differently tomorrow? And differently again next year?

Cerberus

@JonPurdy Yeah, I sort of agree. Perhaps there are hotkeys for it too.

David Wallace

How could anyone learn to spell under those circumstances?

Cerberus

@DavidWallace Yes. And it often flip-flops.

@DavidWallace Noöne can.

David Wallace

@Cerberus, OK, I see the arrow now. Need my eyes tested though.

Cerberus

It's usually less work than typing my name! Of which you only need the first three letters, by the way.

David Wallace

05:54

OK, suppose I have a Siri-like device that connects to my brain via electrodes. I think what I want to say, and the other person then thinks my thoughts.

Jon Purdy

@Cerberus That's what tab-completion is for, yeah.

David Wallace

So I should call you Cer?

Cerberus

And and another cool thing: if you press the up key on your keyboard while in an empty typing box, you can edit your previous lines.

David Wallace

Is that pronounced the same as Sir?

Cerberus

@JonPurdy True, you can do that too. But you don't need to.

@DavidWallace Yes, that could work. But you'd have to think in words, probably.

David Wallace

05:55

I can type "Cerberus" in a fraction of a second. Reaching for my mouse, going up to the right line, clicking on a tiny little arrow, then moving my hands back to the keyboard - I don't think so.

Cerberus

@DavidWallace You do not have to; but you may, and it is shorter. It will still ping me. @Dav

David Wallace

I'd get accused of sexual harassment on a regular basis.

Cerberus

Okay, well, sometimes it is easier to click the arrow than explain to which line you were replying.

David Wallace

@Cerberus Yeah, fair call.

Cerberus

Because I can hover over your reply and see which line of mine you replied to.

David Wallace

05:57

Umm, I mean if I had thought-text.

Cerberus

Ahh...well, the idea is that you could control which messages to send!

@DavidWallace As opposed to the current system, in which you may send messages involuntarily by blushing and stumbling!

Jon Purdy

@Cerberus I'm radically honest, so most of those messages are explicit in my conversations. :P

Cerberus

@JonPurdy Really?

Then what do you say when an attractive specimen of our species greets you?

Do you say, "hello; you attract me"?

Hey @Vit, shall I put your list of -cy/sy words in my answer?

Or would you rather post your own answer?

Vitaly

06:13

@Cerberus check them first. as i said, most of them are either obsolete alternative spellings (ycy = ysy = icy) or different words altogether. there's only one legit cy/sy pair.

Cerberus

@Vitaly I would add that information, of course.

Jon Purdy

@Cerberus Sometimes. Usually it’s more polite, because I have a certain amount of inherent politeness. “Hi, nice to meet you. I hope you don’t mind my saying, but I think you’re quite attractive.”

Cerberus

@Vitaly I would say something like, "the following alternative spellings have been recorded by dictionary editors, although most, if not all, are now considered spelling errors, prophecy/-sy being the only apparent exception. This illustrates how spelling fluctuated."

Vitaly

oh, and most of those aren't even verbs!

Jon Purdy

But I don’t meet a lot of people, and even fewer that I find particularly attractive. Being bisexual I suppose my main cue for attraction is personality.

Cerberus

06:16

@Vitaly No, but the main point there is indicating how fickly c/s spelling was in general.

Vitaly

Oh, ok.

Jon Purdy

There's something to do away with. C.

Except where it preserves a useful sound change.

Cerberus

@JonPurdy Hmm you really find so few people attractive?

Jon Purdy

Though I can't think of a good example right now.

Cerberus

@Vitaly And shall I mention your name?

I would, if I didn't suspect that you had objections.

@JonPurdy What do you mean?

Jon Purdy

06:18

@Cerberus No, just so few people that I’ve met lately. Mostly I’m attracted to very intelligent or skilled people.

Cerberus

No bodies?

Vitaly

@Cerberus I don't really care.

Cerberus

@Vitaly All right, then I will mention you.

I'm removing the non-Greek words anyway.

Jon Purdy

@Cerberus In a word where adding a common suffix changes the pronunciation from [k] to [s], for example. I'm really blanking on an actual example, but that doesn't mean it's altogether uncommon.

Cerberus

@Vit: See how I used the present continuous? I haven't started actually doing it.

@JonPurdy I don't think such words exist?

Vitaly

06:22

Oh noes!

Cerberus

Not with English suffixes.

Jon Purdy

@Cerberus Bodies are nice, but I don’t discriminate as much as some. General health is important, but other than that it really just depends on the person.

Cerberus

@JonPurdy I didn't mean for actually dating, but just noticing. If you're really direct, you would comment on anybody's looks even if you didn't know him at all.

Jon Purdy

Maybe I’m thinking in Romanian or something (merg→merge = [mɛrg]→[mɛrdʒɛ]).

Cerberus

Yes, that happens in Romance languages, but not in English, I believe.

Wherever we have that, it is due to suffixes that were added before the word was adopted as English.

Vitaly

06:24

@JonPurdy is radical honesty a superset of Crocker's rules?

Cerberus

Or perhaps also by analogy.

Jon Purdy

@Cerberus Let me clarify. I’m radically honest in that I always tell the truth, and say what’s on my mind. But I’m not a member of the “Radical Honesty” movement, which precludes being an awkward penguin, which I still am sometims.

Cerberus

@Vit: By the way, you have "synracy/syncrasy": I presume the first word should be "syncracy"?

Vitaly

@Cerberus yeah.

Jon Purdy

@Vitaly No, it’s the assertion that lying is a main cause of human strife, so you should give it up altogether for ethical reasons.

Cerberus

06:28

@JonPurdy Hmm I don't know that movement. But, when you say "what's on your mind", that doesn't mean you say whatever comes up whenever it comes up?

Or does it mean "when asked"?

Vitaly

@JonPurdy So you are still allowed to be offended whenever someone else, who is “radically honest”, says something that your mind finds offensive?

Jon Purdy

@Cerberus If I’m not interrupting. I don’t like to interrupt. But when asked, absolutely.

@Vitaly I can be offended by whatever I want. But I don’t remember a point in my life where I was legitimately offended except on a personal level, like a teacher unjustly punishing me based on a misunderstanding or what have you.

David Wallace

@Vitaly - it's more the converse.

@JonPurdy, so have you ever told someone on first meeting them that they attract you?

Jon Purdy

@DavidWallace Yeah. It hasn’t gone that well, but so what?

David Wallace

Yeah, seems counterproductive to me.

BUt to your credit, you're way braver than I.

Vitaly

06:35

@DavidWallace that was my impression too, yes, but i wanted to make sure.

Jon Purdy

Not at all. Once you know someone’s not interested in you, you can spend that much less time bothering with them romantically, and focus instead on other things.

David Wallace

Has it occurred to you that letting them know you're attracted to them may CAUSE them not to be interested in you?

Jon Purdy

A lot of bisexual guys, if they’re attracted to a guy and they’re not sure if he’s into men, will try to figure it out by observation or guessing or whatever. And that’s stupid. You should just ask. It’s so much simpler.

@DavidWallace Not really. I’m attractive enough that if someone’s not interested in me then I’m just not their type. If “their type” is “someone who doesn’t admit their attraction”, then yeah, I’m not.

Cerberus

@JonPurdy OK, I understand now.

Vitaly

@Cerberus hey, this is one area where my opinion differs from Yudkowsky's opinion, if you are interested. :P

Jon Purdy

06:39

It’s fun, though, and it’s simplified a lot of things for me. And got me out of a bad relationship and into a very good one.

Cerberus

@JonPurdy Haha, nice reasoning.

@Vitaly Oh! A unicum! Tell up!

David Wallace

@JonPurdy. Good for you. It still seems not right to me, but if it works for you, who am I to say otherwise?

Vitaly

@Cerberus hahaha. well, Yudkowsky states that the neural circuits we use to lie to others also censor our own thoughts, and so radical honesty offers an advantage over Crocker's rules, while I maintain that if you have the right kind of mental discipline to invoke Crocker's rules permanently, you shouldn't have too much of a trouble un-censoring your own thoughts

Jon Purdy

@DavidWallace Not right in what way? Logically or morally?

Cerberus

@JonPurdy But how about this. It is probably unpleasant for you, at least to some degree, to be rejected. The other person knows this. That's why he will really hate to have to do that. And, if forced to do so, he may feel awkward, and the whole atmosphere may become a bit awkward for you all.

David Wallace

06:42

I think that a hypothetical Jon Purdy who doesn't admit his attraction on first meeting would be attractive to a larger number of people than the real Jon Purdy.

Cerberus

@Vitaly Hmm I understand your reasoning; but why the choice between Crocker and radical honesty? Why not use both?

David Wallace

However, since (you say) you're in a very good relationship, I suppose that doesn't really matter to you.

@Cerberus - I mean if you had to adopt one or t'other, but not both.

Jon Purdy

@Cerberus In theory, yes, but not in practice. People find honesty startling, and it tends to create a certain intimacy in the conversation. It’s the same reason public speakers and teachers will swear a little, to catch you off guard and level the playing field. When you’re honest, people tend to be honest back, and there are no hard feelings.

Cerberus

@DavidWallace Jon has a point that he may not care to be attractive to those people, because they just do not appreciate his character.

David Wallace

@Cerberus - I completely didn't mean to make that last comment, about adopting one or other but not both. Something went awry in my thought processes.

Cerberus

06:44

@DavidWallace Hmm but why the choice?

Oh haha...

Jon Purdy

@Cerberus Yes, that. I am how I am, and I like to be liked for who I am.

Not who I’m imagined to be.

David Wallace

I meant to say "I think Vitaly means ... ". But "think Vitaly" disappeared between brain and keyboard.

Jon Purdy

@DavidWallace The brain–keyboard connection is often tenuous at best.

Vitaly

@Cerberus because RH is counter-advantageous. those awkward situations wouldn't serve my utility function too well.

Cerberus

@JonPurdy I don't know. It's not really about hard feelings, but rather about knowing you have displeased someone. I find that extremely uncomfortable.

@DavidWallace Shouda bought a brand brain-texting device.

David Wallace

06:47

Sure, but if you became the hypothetical Jon Purdy of which I spoke, you'd have more options. And you wouldn't care what those people thought of the currently-real Jon Purdy, because he wouldn't exist anymore.

@Cer LOL!

Jon Purdy

@DavidWallace Why do I care about options? Any reasonably attractive or charismatic person can go out and have sex with a new person every week if they want. I prefer a longer-term relationship, so I have to be more selective about compatibility. If I lied, even by omission, to spare someone’s feelings, then I’d be creating an unstable situation that would ultimately need to stabilise. And that’s precisely what happened in my last relationship.

David Wallace

Also, what if that person was someone that you had to see again and again, for example someone you worked with? Or a sister-in-law, or something. Is the risk of ongoing awkwardness worth it?

Cerberus

@Vitaly Ah OK. So being brutally honest all the time would cause you disadvantage. E. then says it is still necessary, because self-deception is the consequence of any other attitude, and that is worse. Then you say, no, the self-deception can be avoided. You bring forward the ability of applying Crocker's rules as evidence that it is possible.

Jon Purdy

@DavidWallace Yes, undoubtedly, because the awkwardness will be mitigated by my lack of giving a damn. Once I know someone isn’t attracted to me, I’m done. Frankly, it’s a turn-off to be turned down. And I don’t bear grudges.

And I would make that clear.

Cerberus

I am more like David, but I can theoretically appreciate Jon's point.

Jon Purdy

06:53

It’s happened to me before several times. “I think you’re a pretty attractive guy. Are you into men? No? Okay, it’s just easier to ask.”

David Wallace

Yes, so can I. But it seems a bit idealised to me.

@Jon do you get beaten up much when you say that?

Cerberus

But it works better if you really don't care; it is also easier for the other party to bear then.

@DavidWallace He probably moves in circles where people are civilized enough not to do that.

David Wallace

Or do you get "yes, I'm into men, but not ones who are as forward as you"?

Jon Purdy

@DavidWallace Nope. I’ve never been attacked for anything, much less my sexuality. And getting “beaten up” would probably mean death for me, because there’s not much to me. :P

@Cerberus Aye, thar.

Cerberus

@DavidWallace Then he can say back, "OK, that's exactly what I wanted to know".

Jon Purdy

06:56

@DavidWallace Now that’s interesting. I wouldn’t mind it, yeah, but somehow it doesn’t seem like that would arise, particularly because (in my experience) men are very ready to seek out romantic partners.

Cerberus

If being forward is very important to you, it makes sense that you might not want to date someone who does not accept it.

Jon Purdy

@Cerberus I don’t see what you mean?

Cerberus

@JonPurdy I don't mean to be mean, but I am usually put off if someone is too forward.

@JonPurdy Oops! I said "want" twice, instead of "not want" (corrected).

Jon Purdy

@Cerberus How forward is too forward? I’m not a leering pervert. I’m quiet, soft-spoken, and polite. But also honest.

David Wallace

If I were single (and I'm not) and a woman was that forward with me, I would be put off by their forwardness. My reponse would be polite but negative.

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