English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

deadrat

02:12

@tchrist There's a long comment thread here: meta.english.stackexchange.com/a/9721/125330 that could profitably be moved to chat. I tried to do that when prompted, but got an error message.

Anonymous

02:55

I don't understand why this question is closed as Primarily Opinion-Based:

Anonymous

5

Q: How is it we can omit 'what' from 'What the f--k are you doing?' but not 'how/who' from 'How/who the f--k are you doing?'

What is the difference between What (the) from How (the), Who (the), and other question words so that we can omit not only What but also What the from such sentences as (What the) frick/hell/fuck are you doing?' but not How (the) from How the frick/hell/fuck are you doing? and not...

grammaticality

Anonymous

It doesn't strike me as a "What's your favorite color?" sort of question.

Cerberus

03:13

@snailplane SE's closing system is broken.

Any up-vote by a high-rep user should could as a "don't close" vote, cancelling out a close vote.

Requiring only five votes from high-reps to close a question, without the possibility of any counter-voting while the question is open and receiving many views, does not scale well with a larger user base.

user227867

04:45

@Mitch More British. It is clear.

user227867

@MattE.Эллен At some point.

user227867

@Cerberus I disagree with this. A vote is a vote.

user227867

@Cerberus I would rather have there be no close-voting at all by users. In the first place, whatever the SE site, many high-rep users are not experts in the subject area. They may think they are, but they are deluded.

Tarun

06:21

is this sentence correct: Due to negligence he failed in examination.

Færd

07:57

> He failed the exam(ination) due to negligence.

If he failed a test.

If it's some other type of examination (like a doctor who examines a patient), then maybe it could work given the right context.

user227867

08:42

@FaheemMitha and @Caleb are always in this chat but they never talk.

SmokeDetector

09:35

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body, bad keyword in link text in body, pattern-matching website in body: How to write a best conclusion for my English seminar paper? by Danielsmith on english.stackexchange.com

user227867

10:49

Oh I forgot, @OliverSalzburg is also always in chat but never talk.

user227867

10:59

@Færd That is exactly what I would say.

Caleb

@WillHunting There is nothing wrong with leaving SE chat rooms open in SE. On the other hand pinging people that are inactive and that you don't have anything to say to is not polite. On behalf of three of us that had to come in here just to figure out there was nothing to see and go back to work, please stop doing it. If we want to join the conversation we'll do so.

Faheem Mitha

11:46

@WillHunting I'm idling in the channel.

Oliver Salzburg

12:01

@WillHunting I'm observing

I talk in other rooms

Mostly just crap though

Mitch

13:22

@MetaEd to be practical, you want to split them down the middle and then spread the butter on the soft cushy center

@Caleb Dude, @WillHunting 's just wondering. No need to get ruffled.

@WillHunting They have said volumes by their silence.

@WillHunting OK...next probing question... is your variety of Antarctican English closer to BrE or AmE? Are you rhotic? Do you have the bath-trap split?

MetaEd

13:44

@Mitch I'd like to propose an amendment.

s/down the middle/from their guggle to their zatch/.

Mitch

13:59

@MetaEd I approve of this message.

Proposal firsted. Any secondses?

I propose that only firsts are required to pass a resolution

I accept.

I propose that even firsts are not needed

Done

I propose that rules are randomly followed or not, in context or out of context.

Matt E. Эллен

14:45

objection

MetaEd

14:56

I object that proposals are randomly passed, from their guggle to their zatch.

Matt E. Эллен

15:06

I randomly passed object proposals that are from their guggle to their zatch.

MetaEd

I one the sandbox.

Matt E. Эллен

what did it taste like?

MetaEd

15:27

@MattE.Эллен Cow.

Færd

> The Bishop frowned and waved them back, but scant attention was paid him.

> It was given me by my father who favored me among his many children.

> but you were shown it, I guess.

> they come to get the money that was promised them

> returned the strings of wampum which were sent them

(All from COCA)

Interesting construction. I didn't know it was grammatical, except in I was given it and such.

Maybe informal though?

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Offensive answer detected: What is the perfect word/idiom/phrase for a situation when enforcement of a system is futile? by user96718 on english.stackexchange.com

tchrist

16:55

I want a Chrome extension that detects annoying business jargon and redlines it as though it were a spelling error.

user227867

I posted two answers today. Based on those two answers, I now have two questions. Bonus!

user227867

I will think about them before posting them as questions.

user227867

@Mitch I think it is closer to BrE than AmE in terms of pronunciation. For spelling, BrE spelling is used. Not rhotic. No idea what bath-trap split is. But an increasing number of people in Antarctica are pronouncing and spelling the American way because of influence from Hollywood and Microsoft Word.

user227867

@tchrist Very hard to find, because annoying business jargon is not well-defined currently.

user227867

Have you ever visited 'preferences' in 'edit profile and settings'? I discovered only yesterday that main and meta have separate such preference, fascinating.

user227867

17:06

I unchecked all the boxes saying 'email me', though I never ever got any email from SE except for serious infractions etc

Cerberus

17:25

@tchrist That could easily be done through a userscript.

Using regex.

sumelic

17:55

@Færd To me it sounds markedly formal, or archaic ("scant attention was paid him" sounds archaic, while "it was given me" and "the money that was promised them" sound more contemporary, but formal or fancy)

Matt E. Эллен

"It was given me" sounds really working class to me. I default to imagining it in a Yorkshire accent.

user227867

18:27

@MattE.Эллен Does it mean you gave yourself something?

Færd

@MattE.Эллен You mean "It was given me"?

Matt E. Эллен

sorry, that should read "it was given me"

Færd

@WillHunting No. It means he was given to himself.

user227867

@Færd OMG

Færd

@MattE.Эллен Just wanted to make sure. Thanks for sharing.

@sumelic Thanks.

user227867

18:29

It is given that x equals y. By who? LOL

Færd

The giver.

user227867

It is clear that x equals y. To who? LOL

Færd

To any objector who the writer wants to silence.

user227867

You and I, we should totally wrote a poem.

Færd

Nobody would read it though.

user227867

18:31

We just wrote a beautiful 4-liner above.

user227867

See, this is the stuff that poetry is made of, not what you find in prize-winning books, LOL

Færd

I don't find prize-winning works of art particularly worthy of my time.

user227867

I am considering buying a dictionary for 170 USD. The price is absurd though.

Færd

Neither the 4-liner above.

user227867

The price is originally 270 USD but it has dropped 100 USD.

Færd

18:34

@WillHunting If you bought it and regretted buying it, come to me, I will sympathize with you then.

user227867

@Færd Have you bought any such dictionary?

Færd

Not that pricey.

user227867

Have you ever wondered why first class air tickets are so expensive?

user227867

I think I know the reason.

user227867

The reason is that there is no reason.

user227867

18:36

They want to rob you of your money.

Færd

There you go.

user227867

Interestingly, a robber robs less money.

Færd

You'll feel superior to those who sit in second class seats, because you've paid more.

user227867

I have not been robbed before.

Færd

I have.

user227867

18:38

But I have been scolded by beggars.

user227867

They scolded me because I did not give them money.

user227867

I think they should stop scolding me.

Færd

Well, sometimes you give, sometimes you don't.

user227867

I cannot always keep calm.

user227867

One day, I might punch them if they scold me again.

Færd

18:39

Not a good idea.

user227867

How do they know if I am rich or not?

user227867

Maybe I am even worse off than they.

user227867

Now that is not a joke.

user227867

Some beggars can get hundreds of dollars in earnings each day.

Færd

Well, they don't see you begging for money.

So you must have enough not to be begging at that moment.

user227867

18:41

That's because I am too sick to even beg for money.

Færd

Whatever the reason, it can justify their attitude.

Well, it can't, but I'm just joking.

user227867

So far, it's good that I just walked away and ignored them.

Færd

It's better if you aid those who are poor but can't bring themselves to beg in public.

user227867

Actually, begging is illegal here. The government does give money to people with no money.

Færd

Ah.

user227867

18:43

So there is no reason to beg here at all.

Færd

Public Welfare?

user227867

Something like that. It is not much but it suffices.

Færd

I forgot what it's called.

What if someone needs more than that?

Are they paid extra?

user227867

An apple called an orange is still an apple.

user227867

I guess they beg because they want more money.

user227867

18:45

I guess maybe there is a reason to beg after all.

user227867

Your money or your life? My life, LOL

Færd

Aha! It's called 'dole' or 'benefit' in BrE and 'welfare' in AmE. Maybe there are differences, but they don't concern me now.

Mitch

19:30

@MetaEd this isn't one of your meatball games, is it?

ktm5124

19:56

I am curious to get your opinions. Do you think I am overreacting in the examples I give? meta.english.stackexchange.com/questions/9720/…

SmokeDetector

20:06

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Offensive body detected, offensive title detected: what doese fuck mean by Serenity Griffin on english.stackexchange.com

MetaEd

21:02

@Mitch No, obviously not. It's one of my daughter's meatball games. Or metaball games, maybe.

Mitch

@WillHunting stand and deliver

ktm5124

I put a lot of time and effort into this thread. If anyone has close-voted, please reconsider. I mean well.

meta.english.stackexchange.com/questions/9720/…

It has a rational argument, it is well-researched, and it has no inappropriate language. There is no reason to close-vote the thread, in my opinion.

tchrist

@ktm5124 Agree. Those should eventually age away.

ktm5124

@tchrist It's only two close-votes away from being closed, which scares me, a little. I am also a bit perplexed that a thread with 10 upvotes can be closed by 5 close-votes.

2

That's a minority decision as opposed to a majority decision.

tchrist

21:20

Be not afraid.

ktm5124

To be honest, I think the thread is bringing out the problem.

People are so accustomed to being disrespectful, that they don't even notice it when they are.

user227867

@ktm5124 I like your post. Indeed, ELU often has nasty, sarcastic comments. I have had a number of them myself.

user227867

@ktm5124 I have a theory about this. I think that there are many nasty people in the world, and when they are online they tend to show their true colours sometimes.

ktm5124

@WillHunting Thanks!

user227867

@Mitch I just sent Oxford a couple of emails again, lol. They must be saying, oh no, it's the nutcase again, lol.

ktm5124

21:33

@WillHunting I agree with your theory. I think that the 21st century needs to do a better job of teaching people good behavior. I think a lot of people have cast aside religion without coming up with any good alternative, which has left a void in moral education.

user227867

@ktm5124 I think religion may have done more harm than good in our world. Perhaps some things cannot be taught. Perhaps evil is meant to exist in the world. I do not know.

ktm5124

@WillHunting I attribute that harm to people, not religion; in the same way that Einstein wasn't responsible for the atomic bomb, the writers of the gospels weren't responsible for burnings on the cross, etc.

user227867

I wonder if cats and dogs can cross-breed. Some biologists say no, but there might be some cases mentioned somewhere which cannot be verified.

Matt E. Эллен

no they cannot.

user227867

I also wonder if humans and chimpanzees can cross-breed, being the most similar distinct species.

ktm5124

21:42

That's an interesting question.

user227867

There is no point asking such questions on SE, because they are currently at the boundaries of science. It is meant for speculation and investigation by the brave.

ktm5124

It would probably create a Medusa-like creature.

user227867

@ktm5124 They certainly can.

ktm5124

But would it be human?

user227867

Your joke is too deep for me.

ktm5124

21:45

I think its blood would be blue and its face would be red. Or would it be the other way around?

user227867

It is very possible that somewhere in the world, there are already human-nonhuman hybrids.

Mitch

@MetaEd there's somewhere I see commonly today where it says meat... and I read meta... I need to get that fixed.

user227867

But this is done in a top-secret facility.

user227867

@Mitch We have a meta post on SE, and TeX has a graphics program called MetaPost. Did you know?

sumelic

@WillHunting People would certainly have to be very good at keeping secrets to do that

user227867

21:48

@sumelic Yes, such as the US government, LOL.

MetaEd

@Mitch I could change my handle to Meathead, would that help.

user227867

@MetaEd Does that mean a head full of meat?

MetaEd

@WillHunting Yes.

user227867

@Tonepoet I was wondering where you have been the whole day lol

sumelic

@WillHunting Aren't all heads

Tonepoet

21:50

@WillHunting Hi.

sumelic

Unless they are empty, that is.

user227867

@sumelic Now, now, that made me think of something dirty, lol

Mitch

@WillHunting bath-trap split mainly in RP - it's the hoity-toity way to say some words with 'a' as /a:/ like in father. trap - /træp/, but bath /ba:θ/ (play the recording there to hear it)

sumelic

@WillHunting Lol. I meant, most people don't have plasma clouds for brains

user227867

I am thinking about endangered species.

user227867

21:51

Is there any reason to keep them alive?

sumelic

Have you read the short story "They're made out of meat"

user227867

If the food chain won't be messed up by the extinction, then I see no reason for conservationists to do that.

sumelic

@WillHunting So people can enjoy looking at them on hikes

user227867

@sumelic Nope.

sumelic

@WillHunting That's where I took the plasma cloud idea from

Mitch

21:52

@WillHunting I think everyone has a nasty side to some extent and that the internet environment lowers the threshold needed to express nastiness.

user227867

@sumelic I have always found it hypocritical to keep pets and eat meat at the same time, but some may call that flawed logic.

user227867

@Mitch What I am trying to say is that I think I see evil more easily than others see, maybe because of my mental illness.

sumelic

@WillHunting Perhaps. People treat things nearby differently from things that they don't know well. This applies even to people's attitudes toward other humans

Mitch

@WillHunting I did not know that. I though it was Knuth's meta font

@MetaEd It might help SEO, I don't know. You should check with your marketing agent.

user227867

@Mitch MetaFont is used to create fonts, I think.

sumelic

21:56

@WillHunting Is MetaPost used to create posts?

user227867

@sumelic Just graphics in general. =P

Mitch

@WillHunting I get that. I think people in general, as a whole, and on average, are actually getting better, it's just that we have technology that makes it easier to see those times when people are being jerks. Before we had no idea.

user227867

@Tonepoet To update you on Oxford matters, I asked them just now if the green and blue dictionaries of the Paravia have the same content as each other. I also asked if the new editions of the French and German and Spanish ones will be out soon. Depending on their replies, I may get all four this year.

Tonepoet

@WillHunting Good luck!

user227867

@Mitch Someone with my mind can see some things which others cannot see, but people with such minds often become mentally ill in this world, because the world does not make sense.

user227867

22:01

@Tonepoet I prefer good luck in getting well and finding Maria, LOL.

Mitch

@ktm5124 You realize that this is a site to collect knowledge and so people who like knowing things are attracted to it, and when things they read are at odds with things they think, they use their knowledge base to correct it. Don't take it personally, they're just trying to correct what they see is an inaccuracy.

user227867

@Mitch Indeed, the jerk is the derivative of acceleration with respect to time.

user227867

@Mitch You are right. But people should be more aware of their own limitations and errors in knowledge before commenting and downvoting too, to add another point.

Mitch

@WillHunting haha and snap is.... wait isn't it the integral?

user227867

@Mitch I don't know. I think there is a whole series of terms on Wiki, lol.

Mitch

22:04

the change in position is velocity... so derivative right? but ... argh!

user227867

Displacement, velocity, acceleration, jerk, ...

sumelic

@MetaEd: Like Mitch, I wondered about comment deletion on Meta. Why would it be necessary? I found a Meta SE post about this topic, but it had no answers: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/270427/…

Mitch

YOu're right. jerk is the derivative of acceleration.

user227867

@sumelic There are more things wrong about comments than deletion, like how they are not displayed chronologically, but only the top five, if they have been voted up. I don't know if that is still so now.

sumelic

@WillHunting Well, if someone comments and is wrong, then it's also an opportunity for them to learn. It might be good to wait to downvote, though, in that case

Mitch

22:06

@WillHunting It's kinda spock-like, the truth isn't everything, everyone has an investment in what they know even if wrong) so telling someone they're wrong hurts (even if they are actually wrong)

I'm going to feel real bad if that is not correct.

user227867

@sumelic Yes, and people must learn to comment without sarcasm. To be direct and objective, and not add other, irrelevant, demeaning stuff.

sumelic

@WillHunting Yes, it's still the same. I think the whole Q&A structure is flawed for Meta discussion. But, formats are always determined by the site. Wikipedia has its Meta discussions on pages that anyone can edit, since it is an encyclopedia, and we have ours on Q&A posts, since we are a Q&A site.

@WillHunting That's right. I have had trouble remembering that in the past. But I try now to avoid making snide remarks

tchrist

0

Q: Is there a word for having lost communication for an unexpectedly long period of time?

For example: The robot had a _______ plan so it wouldn't get lost if the radio went down. In case of ______, the nuclear submarine required all 3 officers to unanimously agree to launch the missile. It's important to distinguish it from losing communication briefly, the time aspect...

single-word-requests

user227867

I repeat again that I usually delete my own comments after they have served their purpose, so if you see some thread that does not make sense, I am likely to be the culprit.

Mitch

@ktm5124 Sure, and I don't think it should be close voted, but other people may have their (possibly good possibly justified) reasons (I don't know what they could be; but that's voting).

tchrist

22:09

makes a tag synonym so that single-word-requests maps to banned-writing-advice-requests

2

user227867

@tchrist I see you are very good at chat formatting. I never use some of the functions you use.

sumelic

@WillHunting Sure, me too. Maybe it would be best for all comments to be hidden by default. I like that on Wikipedia, the meta discussion is always a click away, but you don't have to see it mixed up with the normal content on the main page.

Mitch

Butt, and it's a big one, I disagree with the particulars of your complaint (but not in general). For those particular items in which you were involved, they were factually correct and you took the correction too personally, they're not mean or snarky.

@tchrist It's all writing advice

@sumelic Oh. I wish it were a little more visible.

not in your face, but then not so hidden.

tchrist

@Mitch <ᴇxᴘʟᴇᴛɪᴠᴇ_ᴅᴇʟᴇᴛᴇᴅ>

user227867

I have sometimes cast revenge votes out of spite, but they are few and far between.

sumelic

22:11

@Mitch Comments on this site? Or you mean, Wikipedia discussions?

user227867

In particular, on my current account, I have not cast a single downvote.

Mitch

@WillHunting "Spite candy doesn't taste very good"

@sumelic wikipedia

user227867

It is now just past 6 AM in Antarctica

user227867

I think I will go to bed at 8 AM.

user227867

Ooh, Magnus Carlsen just won the World Chess Championship title again!

user227867

22:15

I think he is hot. He looks a little like Taylor Lautner, who looks a little fat these days, lol

MetaEd

@sumelic On any controversial post, comment threads tend to drift into debate and become unconstructive.

ktm5124

@WillHunting Are you a chess player, too?

user227867

You know, I was totally shocked to find out that a suit from Ermenegildo Zegna costs over a thousand dollars...

ktm5124

I watched the match, and Judit Polgar's commentary. It was riveting. Especially the last day.

user227867

@ktm5124 I stopped playing chess seriously after middle school, LOL. But I did win a few prizes before that, lol.

MetaEd

22:19

@Mitch Comments are for discussion, of course, but focused discussion. This is true at main and at meta. I'm not aware of a difference in policy between the two.

ktm5124

@WillHunting Someone characterized the match as the contest between an Irresistible Force and an Immovable Object. That's exactly what it felt like, watching.

user227867

You get education in school, but @MetaEd gives you more than that; he gives you meta-education.

ktm5124

Magnus was continually outplaying his opponent and "dictating the game", to use his own words. But Karjakin was a tenacious defender and he wouldn't give up the point.

user227867

@ktm5124 So who is which?

user227867

@ktm5124 Weird that the game ended in a series of rapids...

MetaEd

22:23

@Mitch There are very few things which comments are really intended for. Suggested edits and offers of information to add to the post, feedback on the post, pings to the author.

Mitch

@WillHunting get a cheaper lawyer

hahaha. I made a pun.

ktm5124

@WillHunting Carlsen the Irresistible Force, since he excels at creating chances and outplaying the opponent in the middle game — creating something from nothing, res ex nihilo.

@WillHunting Karjakin the Immovable Object, since he is widely considered now to be the best defender in the world, proving that it is a lot harder to win won positions than we thought.

user227867

@ktm5124 Your Latin is too deep for me. I only know how to use e.g. and i.e.

MetaEd

@WillHunting y.m.m.v.

Mitch

@MetaEd there's a certain looseness allowed on meta not on main. analogously to how up/downvotes mean something slightly different.

I know that is not much of an argument.

ktm5124

22:24

There's a famous sentence, "Nothing can come from nothing". The idea was penned in Rome and made its way into Shakespeare, among other things.

user227867

@ktm5124 I don't like Latin, so I always write 'for example' and 'that is' instead.

Mitch

but then I also think that comments on -main- should allow some discussion.

ktm5124

It shows up in King Lear—nothing will come of nothing.

Mitch

I think there should be a peasant's revolt against the elite ELUtes. Up with comments! Down with votes!

MetaEd

@Mitch I believe it's more that votes mean something different on meta. They mean agreement or disagreement. There's nothing loose about that, and there's nothing really constructive about letting comments turn into debate. It's hard to follow, it turns nasty, etc. And there's a good alternative. You have an opinion on the meta question? Post an answer.

user227867

22:26

@ktm5124 I don't like Shakespear works either. I like Charles Dickens though, so I just bought all his 14 novels.

Mitch

@WillHunting me too. except when it is just too much to write.

ktm5124

I think it's nice to pay homage to one of our language's most important influences.

Mitch

@MetaEd something work better as a conversation.

sumelic

@MetaEd Actually, I've never liked that convention for votes. If you disagree with a proposal, how hard is it to write an answer of a few sentences saying "I disagree"? And posting that helps separate votes that mean "I approve/disapprove of bringing up this issue on Meta" from votes that mean "I approve/disapprove of the specific solution being proposed for this issue"

Mitch

like conversations.

user227867

22:28

@Mitch Talking about MetaEd, there is a book by Kleene: Introduction to Metamathematics, which I think is good for the computability theory part. Maybe you recommended me that too.

sumelic

@MetaEd Well, comments on comments often wouldn't make sense as separate answers

Mitch

Is that what we were implicitly doing, talking about @MetaEd? I thought we were talking about food.

so hungry

@WillHunting I did.

It blew my mind when I got to the 'deduction theorem'

user227867

@Mitch You can grap some potato chips and eat them on the couch with @Tonepoet

Mitch

it was like modus ponens but on crack

user227867

@Mitch Modus ponens is the single rule of inference in some axiomatic systems of first order logic

Mitch

22:30

@WillHunting and still complete.

er... one of the comletenesses, semantic or negation I forget which (and which one means which)

Tonepoet

@WillHunting Hmm, its been a while since I had potato chips.

Anyway, I'm heading out. I'll see you folk later.

user227867

@Tonepoet I think I like them with sour cream. Yes, I have not had chips for about a decade, I think

Mitch

'Autological' can be autological or not. 'Heterological' can't be heterological or not.

user227867

I may have urological and neurological problems.

Mitch

one's the drain and the other the brain

user227867

22:33

LOL. Good, good!

Mitch

@WillHunting I did recommend that one, but probably best to do Enderton first.

user227867

That was not a joke. I have a pain in the perineum upon jumping-landing and I have severe head jerks when I sleep at night. Hence those two problems.

Mitch

and in between your stomach processes...plain grain

user227867

However, these two are pretty harmless, and I can just ignore them mostly.

Mitch

@WillHunting hm...as a doctor I'd recommend to not do that then.

Since I am not a doctor... anything goes!

user227867

22:35

@Mitch I don't jump anymore, but of course I still need to sleep, and the jerks are involuntary.

Mitch

@WillHunting Some things are ignorable and do go away. Others don't. If you have a regular check up, mention them then.

@WillHunting If you jumped on your head you'd forget about the perineum and there'd also be an explanation for the neck problems. Win-win.

user227867

@Mitch Enderton, Boolos, and Spector all died from cancer. They were all logicians.

Mitch

@WillHunting Aieee!

Also millions of other people.

user227867

@Mitch Good medical advice

Mitch

...were logicians that did not die from cancer but from head jumping.

user227867

22:38

Godel died from starvation from paranoia.

Mitch

Medical science is solving or preventing so much disease that people live so long that pretty much the only thing left is cancer.

user227867

And suicide.

user227867

Medical science has not been able to cure mental problems.

Mitch

@WillHunting I think he had a mild neurosis that is not uncommon among the older.

user227867

@Mitch But his case was definitely paranoia, not just common neurosis.

user227867

22:40

I would like to say that the two most romantic movies I have ever watched are: (1) A Walk to Remember (2) Love Everlasting. Watch both of them this Christmas!

Mitch

@WillHunting Curing is a weird word. Pharmaceuticals weren't around for a long time, but when they came out for dpression/anxiety/psychosis they really changed a lot of people's lives for the better. non-severe types of schizophrenia could be managed well enough for more people not to be institutionalized.

MetaEd

@Mitch Do what?

Mitch

@WillHunting I like 'Elf'

user227867

@Mitch I am not so sure about the better part. Maybe the better is only an illusion, and the worse part became unheard of.

user227867

@Mitch I think I will no longer watch The Polar Express for Christmas. But Home Alone 1,2,3,4,5 are still great.

Mitch

22:42

@MetaEd Sorry. Some things work better as a conversation.

MetaEd

@sumelic Comments on comments aren't out of the question as long as they are narrowly focused on improving the post. For more wide-ranging discussion or debate, we have chat.

ktm5124

23:50

@tchrist Hm, there are already 4 close-votes. One more and it's closed :-/

I'm expecting it will receive a 5th close-vote sometime tonight or tomorrow.

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