[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Offensive answer detected: Why is "elsewhen" not a proper word? by Baron Ultrapoopydoodoodookie on english.stackexchange.com

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Manually reported answer: How to pronounce 'almond' in American English by Hofia on english.stackexchange.com

I just wrote an email with the subject line "A several questions from Tonepoet", in part because I decided to change few from several and forgot to delete the determiner. I feel as if I should jump off of a cliff now.

@Tonepoet As a method for avoiding the mistake in the future, that seems a bit extreme.

Anyway, since "Few questions" and "A few questions" are both valid, why not "A several"?

@AndrewLeach I was wondering about the same thing and performing some research for a question. However it seems as if I won't get to ask since naturally, Noah Webster seems to have mostly answered my question. His definition seems to indicate that the word several is actually semantically closer to the word separate than it is to any of the quantifiers.

It's always vaguely amused me that the determiner can actually reverse the meaning in cases like this. So "this method has a few flaws" kind of has the opposite connotation to "this method has few flaws".

Is it correct to say 0 items left?

@deostroll Yes.

You might want to take a look at these threads: 1, 2, 3, 4.

> We’re talking grammar, not logic; and yes we say zero apples, probably because zero is thought of as a number that is not one, even though zero is neither singular nor plural logically.

(from 2)

@Tonepoet 'Several' is historically closer to 'separate', and may well have had all those meanings ('separate', 'distinct') in the early 1800's, but nowadays by far the primary meaning is a number more than 'a few' and a little less than 'many'. 'the several' for 'the separate' is rare. Your Webster reference doesn't even mention the 'less than many' definition, so something is wrong there (for applying it to current meanings).

but now I'm wondering if there are modern words where 'a ADJ NOUN' is wrong and 'the ADJ X' is OK (ADJ = several fits in early 1800's, ADJ = separate is OK for both so doesn't fit.

Just saw someone remove the cap from a can of poison saying "I pulled the tab". It confused me.

So, to make sure, this one has a tab, and all these are/have caps, right?

1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Maybe 4 is more of a lid.

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword with email in answer, email in answer: Seek help or Seek for help by Robert micheal on english.stackexchange.com

That photo is one that someone took just a couple blocks from my house on their back porch a few days ago.

I sure don't want to see their weekly bill for cat food.

We have these "greenbelts" as they call them between our houses that have trails and connect to larger ones that often have water. These are filled with thundering herds of mule deer, and the lions' main prey is those deer.

The arrow is where the three lions were, and I'm about where the "r" is in "N Star Ct", backing on to the greenbelt. They go up and down that corridor.

So, maybe a five-minute walk away. I keep my own kitties inside except during real daylight if I can possibly do that, since cats are crepuscular.

Dangerous!

Big, wild animals living so close to hice.

@tchrist Wow. Based on the various things you've said over the years, I had always assumed you lived somewhere in the boonies. it's very surprising to hear about large wild animals so close to what looks like a moderately urban, populated area!

They do have seniority, in that they were here first. Our love of greenbelt makes for more deer, which makes more lions.

@terdon It's residential with interspersed greenbelts. The bigger greeneries to the north and west connect to very large "public open spaces" that eventually back up into the national forest after a couple more miles.

Yeah, I looked it up on google maps. Then I zoomed out and saw the large swathe of wilderness to the west. Makes more sense now.

I can't figure out how to get to the topo lines anymore on google maps.

I can't find a reference point to size up those fellas. But sure look pretty creepy.

If they learn that they can find food in the urban areas they might visit more often. Maybe don't hand-feed them.

@Færd Pumas and leopards are of the same size range, so bigger than cheetahs.

@Færd Well, this isn't an urban area. It's the edge of a town area.

Wow.

Well, it's not exactly in the middle of the wilderness either.

Right, we have public utilities, so water and sewer and electricity, etc.

Has anyone reported loss of poultry or pets to those wild animals? Or more serious damages?

@tchrist What lines?

@Cerberus The topological lines they use on maps to represent elevation.

@Cerberus Is that the plural of house?

@Cerberus These are also called contour lines.

Used to be called Terrain View on Google Maps, but I'll be damned if I can find it any longer.

So that's right at the very edge of the Rockies.

The Continental Divide is something like 17 miles west of me.

google.com/maps/place/Wonderland+Hills,+Boulder,+CO+80304/…

@Mitch I suppose to be fair, this explanation doesn't quite make sense given that several and separate can't always be used interchangeably either. It has somewhat of the opposite problem I couldn't really endorse saying "A several question" when I could say "a separate question".

@tchrist That's a very nice map.

Two different worlds, isn't it?

Indeed.