English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

tchrist

00:00

Probably.

Back to phone for a moment

I fly for perhaps three hours.

Valentin Drozdov

And then? It's night here so It would be better if you said when you'll be free next time.

If I don't take too much time.

tchrist

I cannot predict that.

Valentin Drozdov

Ok. Btw do you have some people who want to learn Russian pronunciation?

I would like to help, maybe it can help me learn English.

tchrist

00:38

@Robusto What's the deal with "kids these days" taking to calling cannabis weed now instead of pot like they used to? Sure these are all old words but somehow somewhen the frequency distribution mutated without anybody bothering to send me the memo.

slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2014/03/05/…

> Yes, weed is apparently the broadly hippest current term for marijuana, that venerable fount of slang

Hippy hipsters FFS

> Why the recent weed dominance? It seems clear to me that it's a generational thing.

Glad I wasn't the only one to notice.

Mitch

00:57

@Færd bears rocking back and forth, elephants knocking their heads against the wall, animals will do the same thing that people do when understimulated, in rigid institutions.like they're going mad.

Cerberus

03:32

@tchrist Perhaps because it's been in common use all that time in Europe?

tchrist

04:15

@Cerberus But Europe speaks their own languages not English.

Cerberus

Somehow, this English word is used.

tchrist

That's weird. Or maybe in Spain, huird. ;)

They have lots of their own slang.

DO Germans pronounce it viet?

/vit/

Tonepoet

@tchrist English: Hasn't been a European language since 1889. =P

More seriously though, I blame Snoop Dog.

Cerberus

04:32

@tchrist I don't know exactly how popular the term is in which countries.

But, in Dutch, it's spelled and pronounced wiet.

Tonepoet

Oh, that's a bad typo. I was one digit off in the centuries column. *1789.

Feeds

2

Q: -Word for when you ignore someone's wisdom because you don't think they really understand?

The best example is when teenagers and young adults say "yeah right" to their parents and elders who provide sound advice because they are convinced that their situation is new or different. It's sort of patronizing but maybe something else. When you just go along with whatever they say, but in...

Cerberus

@Tonepoet Then which continent's language is it?

Tonepoet

@Cerberus 1789 is the year the U.S. Constitution went into effect. =P

Cerberus

And no doubt many other laws.

Educ

08:37

Good morning

Valentin Drozdov

12:29

Why doesn't English have "double consonants"? (button is pronounced buton)

Educ

15:10

egg ==> eg

Færd

16:11

@Educ Good morning!

4

Q: Intensification of Consonants in English Pronunciation

In many languages, my mother tongue included, you frequently encounter words that have an intensified consonant within them, especially if the consonant is between two vowels. A good idea to demonstrate how intensification of a sound works, is to repeat the respective phonetic symbol, ie: to w...

pronunciation

Færd

16:53

Let's say my monthly expenditure on X goes up but the percentage of it (its share in my whole monthly expenditure) decreases. I want to report this succinctly.

> My expenditure on X rose in absolute terms, but fell in comparative terms.

Hmm?

I especially don't know how to say the percentage fell, regardless of whether the absolute amount rose or fell.

Didn't I just say it? Nah, that's ugly.

> The expenditure on X fell in comparative terms.

Valentin Drozdov

@Færd I too face this answer "why?" - "because!"

Færd

I don't like in comparative terms here. Maybe there's a nicer equivalent?

feels ashamed for asking a SWR question

Proportional?

Nah.

Valentin Drozdov

percentage.

Færd

@ValentinDrozdov Maybe you can chalk it up to the trend toward simplicity in pronunciation (and other aspects of languages).

Valentin Drozdov

Well, it's too broad answer.

Færd

17:04

Buton is easier to pronounce that butttton.

Silly example, but you get what I mean.

Valentin Drozdov

I prefer to find reasons beyond simple psychology principles.

People don't understand their language fully, so it must be something more complex.

Færd

It's better than because. And what does it have to do with psychology?

Valentin Drozdov

If you do something because it's easier even if it's not by the rules of language?

Færd

There are, at best, only broad reasons for general questions of why regarding English (or any other language) after all.

@ValentinDrozdov I meant that the rules change in time to make pronunciation easier.

How long words become shorter in time, etc. Happens especially to place names, among other words.

Maybe, just maybe, this is why geminates were gradually abandoned in English.

Valentin Drozdov

@Færd If you change your rules, you still will be able to recognize old ways and distinguish them from the new ones. But now English speakers seem to not quite understand what is going on. The "teammate" example impressed me, though, because I didn't know dictionaries really put 2 m's there.

I guess they still pronounce it rather as "team mate"

Færd

17:14

@ValentinDrozdov You won't recognize the trend if it's too slow.

Like if it happens over centuries.

Valentin Drozdov

That's why you can't create this trend.

Færd

Which is the case here.

It's created unintentionally.

Many large-scale long-term changes happen to humans without anyone planning them.

But I have to go now.

Valentin Drozdov

So it's useless to give explanations such as "they changed the rules"

Færd

@ValentinDrozdov Never said that.

And since I'm out of ways to put it more simply, I'm out of this discussion. Maybe you'll have someone explain it to you in more useful terms.

Ciao.

Valentin Drozdov

17:36

@Færd Well, I can say the same to you.

Feeds

18:01

0

Q: Synonym to "instinctively move in anticipation of..."

As in: "Our heads instinctively moved closer to the TV screen in anticipation of a brilliant goal." Is there a single verb to replace the "instinctively move in anticipation of something"? Or a more effective way to describe the action? Thanks a lot!

single-word-requests word-choice verbs adverbs intensifying-adverbs

Trey

18:16

is "whither" used nowadays?

Mitch

19:04

@Trey no. Only in very archaic situations like faux-Shakespeare

Feeds

19:24

0

Q: Whats a word that can be used to describe an infinite loop or a recurring event?

Example The GIFs on the internet are stuck in an infinite loop. I'm trying to find a word that describes an event that continues on forever and is recurring

single-word-requests synonyms

Færd

Incentive and incendiary are not cognates. How weird.

tchrist

19:45

@Cerberus Can Latin ever use an infinitive attributively to modify a noun? I'm thinking it cannot. I'm looking for a book to read would be an English example.

tchrist

20:00

Spanish can't do that either; it needs a preposition since infinitives are substantives.

Færd

20:12

@tchrist Do you know any language other than English that does that?

tchrist

@Færd Germanic languages in general can.

Færd

Oh. I see.

tchrist

Ich suche ein gutes Buch zum lesen.

Færd

Yeah that was what GT gave me too.

tchrist

Where zum is the German equivalent of "to" with infinitives.

Færd

20:16

Interesting. It's not possible in Farsi. And Arabic, possible or not, would be irrelevant I guess.

tchrist

Not sure why Google was "zum Lesen", capitalizing the infinitive. You only do that with nouns.

Dutch doesn't do the weird capitalization thing of nouns that German does.

Færd

> Lesen n (genitive Lesens, no plural)

gerund of lesen; reading

tchrist

Gerund my ass.

I'm so tired of madey-uppy Latin grammatical terms applied to non-Latin.

> Ik ben op zoek naar een goed boek om te lezen.

The Dutch.

Færd

Maybe ein Buch zum lesen is also possible.

tchrist

If that's a gerund, then we ought to refer to infinitives used substantively in English only as "gerunds", and when they’re used as modifiers, call those infinitives "participles".

Færd

20:20

Dunno.

Stéphane Gimenez

I don't think so since zum contains an article.

tchrist

@StéphaneGimenez Pretty nounish then.

Færd

@StéphaneGimenez How come it's not in schwer zu lesen then?

Oh it's zu, not zum.

Right. That's a gerund there.

tchrist

Honest, if an -ing inflection of a verb magically becomes a "gerund" when used substantively but equally magically becomes a "participle" when used as a modifier, then let us do the same with the infinitive inflection of a verb :)

Sauce for the goose is sass [sic] for the gander. :)

Færd

That would make for a reform in grammar.

Why not.

tchrist

20:26

@Færd And much rejoicing there would be.

I've now realized that I've answered a Spanish speaker's question about English gerunds using that word as he was using it, which is not how English does (cursèdly).

1

A: Finish reading or finish of read. Why we use gerund forms as infinitives verbs?

In English, the gerund phrase can be used either as a substantive or as a modifier. But in Spanish, gerund phrases can only ever be modifiers, specifically adverb phrases. So if you want to treat a verb phrase as a substantive in Spanish, you can only use the infinitive form there, never the geru...

Færd

Short-lived rejoicing, followed by a lifetime of headache and quarreling with the conservatives.

tchrist

@StéphaneGimenez As a fluent French speaker, does my answer posted above still make sense to use reading it in English? I've unconsciously used "gerund" the way Spanish and Portuguese do in answering that Spanish-speaker's question, not the way English strangely uses that term.

My guess is that because French doesn't have the -ando/(i)endo adverbial "gerunds" that Italian and Portuguese and Spanish use to form progressives, it may be confusing to a French speaker as well.

I should probably update my wording but I think I'll wait to see whether the OP returns.

That German calls an infinitive used as a noun a gerund reminds me of that OP's question. The various languages use "gerund" in mutually incompatible ways.

Valentin Drozdov

where exactly did you use it?

tchrist

@ValentinDrozdov In english.stackexchange.com/questions/423465/…

Stéphane Gimenez

@tchrist In French, parlant is a present participle (can't be used as a substantive, but can be used to form a clause without subject), and en parlant is what is called gerund (gérondif) which forms an adverbial group from a clause, sort of.

tchrist

20:38

@StéphaneGimenez Oh that's right.

The en use is interesting.

Valentin Drozdov

@tchrist I mean where exactly in the answer :)

tchrist

The -ante/ente inflections in ES/PT are formally considered present participles but you can only use them as frozen forms. Someone would know what you meant if you made up a new one using that style, but this isn't really done. And they have moved to be nouns not just adjectives in actual but specific uses.

> In English, the gerund phrase can be used either as a substantive or as a modifier. But in Spanish, gerund phrases can only ever be modifiers, specifically adverb phrases.

@ValentinDrozdov Right at the start, for example.

@StéphaneGimenez So PT em falar or ES en hablar with an infinitive corresponds to FR en parlant.

un livre pour lire sounds right to me.

But I may be calquing.

Stéphane Gimenez

un livre à lire

tchrist

That's right.

Valentin Drozdov

Maybe I don't understand what you mean by gerund? I don't see here any -ing words.

tchrist

20:44

I was calquing. :)

Stéphane Gimenez

But it can't really be used in a sentence like Je veux un livre à lire.

tchrist

If you say "un libro a leer" instead of "un libro para leer" they will know you're copying another language's preposition use.

Stéphane Gimenez

Un livre à lire à Noël would be fine though.

Valentin Drozdov

oh. I understood

tchrist

@StéphaneGimenez What would you do to that sentence to make it idiomatic in French then? Besides the à Noël part.

que je puisse lire sounds silly. :)

Stéphane Gimenez

20:46

Je veux/voudrais lire un livre.

tchrist

Well very well.

@ValentinDrozdov Good(?)

Stéphane Gimenez

From the French viewpoint a book is always "to be read", so there is no reason to say "un livre à lire".

tchrist

The tautalogical beast rearing its bestial head. :)

There is a common regional accent in English where the two words pin and pen sound the same, so if you ask someone in that region for a pin/pen, they'll ask you "For sewing or for writing?"

Valentin Drozdov

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_American#/media/File:General_American_monophthong_chart.svg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_American#/media/File:General_American_diphthong_chart.svg
@tchrist how can you explain these?

Stéphane Gimenez

Yeah it's just that the "à" preposition connects the noun (livre à) to the infinitive not the verbal construct (I want something to).

tchrist

20:51

Which perhaps would be "à coudre ou à écrire" then?

@ValentinDrozdov looking

@ValentinDrozdov What do you mean?

Valentin Drozdov

You said ai and au start from ah, which is not quite true on these pics

Stéphane Gimenez

Good try but it's tricky, it has to be an intrinsic property of the book. It would work if it meant "a book made to be sewn/written"

tchrist

Stéphane, for context at issue here is that our Russian-speaking friend is struggling with the very existence of diphthongs, something that Russian does not have and so it's driving him completely mad.

@StéphaneGimenez Now that I certainly never knew.

@ValentinDrozdov I'm talking about phonemes not phonetics.

Valentin Drozdov

Then what this means if not that?

tchrist

The exact phonetics are often quite different. So for example tight and tide have the same phonemic diphthong but not the same phonetic one.

Valentin Drozdov

20:56

If you take a loot at 2 words differing only in ah vs ai/au

then your sentence "You said ai and au start from ah" should mean exactly that, isn't it true?

If even then acoustic parameters are not from ah then how can you say ai/au starts from ah?

look*

tchrist

Tight /taɪt/ is [tʰʌɪt] but tide /taɪd/ is [tʰaɪd]. The first diphthong is higher and shorter because the following consonant is not voiced.

Valentin Drozdov

these words differ not only in ah vs ai/au

tchrist

So /ai/ and /au/ both start with /a/ but certainly you can have /ai/ that starts with [ʌ].

I'm talking about the phoneme. I don't think talking about micro-variations in phonetics helps anybody.

Well, not for learning purposes.

Valentin Drozdov

you are talking about completly different thing

tchrist

The moment you start pointing at exact positions on a phonetic chart, all hope is lost.

Valentin Drozdov

21:01

Well, what is the criteria for ai/au to start from ah?

tchrist

Because you've lost track of what it takes for two words to be perceived as different words by native speakers.

Valentin Drozdov

maybe not, it's difficult to express yourself in a non-native language.

tchrist

The /ai/ phonemic diphthong starts with the /a/ phonemic monophthong and finishes with a semi-vocalic glide. It may be a front vowel or a back vowel, and it may be centered or heightened.

Valentin Drozdov

But how can you prove it?

tchrist

/a/ has lots and lots and lots and lots of pronunciations.

Without that changing which phoneme it is.

So too with /ai/.

Valentin Drozdov

21:03

I never opposed that. And you act as it's not true.

My question is about how can one observe what you say?

tchrist

Pointing out just where on the standard vocalic charge something manifests isn't helping. It's still /a/ and it's still /ai/.

Valentin Drozdov

Again, how can you prove ai starts from ah?

tchrist

Bach and kite and lock and not and loud all have an /a/ right after their first consonant in General American.

There's only a single central vowel in American English.

Well, down low there.

Valentin Drozdov

But I have an English speaker who doesn't thinks so.

tchrist

I'm sorry.

He must be right.

So why are you asking me? :)

Valentin Drozdov

21:07

So, please, listen to my question.

How can you prove it? You only saying it as the God Truth, while you didn't name a single criteria for it to be or not to be true.

tchrist

Do you know how many English speakers do not realize that they pronounce the same diphthong from tight and tide differently?

For what to be true?

Valentin Drozdov

that ai starts from ah

tchrist

/ai/ starts with /a/ is all I have ever said.

Which it does.

How it's pronounced varies.

Valentin Drozdov

Just because you're older than that English speaker?

tchrist

Because you are not talking about what I'm talking about.

Valentin Drozdov

21:09

What if someone else says ai starts from ee?

tchrist

Could we please stop using letter spellings?

They are very confusing and misleading.

Valentin Drozdov

ok

What if someone else says /ai/ starts from /i:/?

tchrist

Use /abc/ or [abc] with IPA in between, but realize that /abc/ does not represent actual pronunciation.

Valentin Drozdov

Yes, I know.

Færd

sight, side

tchrist

21:11

/ai/ starts with /a/ not with /i/. If it didn't, it would be /ia/.

Færd

Oh sight is /ai/ right?

Valentin Drozdov

That's the only proof you have?

Færd

It's shorter than side anyway.

Valentin Drozdov

Then /ou/ should start from /o:/

tchrist

@Færd They are both /ai/ but the sight is [sʌɪt] and side is [saɪd].

Færd

21:12

Right.

tchrist

And yes, it's shorter.

This if not always, very frequently happens with vowels that are followed by unvoiced stops.

No native speaker pays any attention.

Because they have trained their brains to ignore those tiny changes in sounds.

Færd

Interesting.

tchrist

It's learners who don't have the same phonemic buckets whom it purplexes.

Færd

I was going to go ahead and guess that was the pattern with all xights.

tchrist

Think so.

bide, bite

Færd

21:14

But rice is longer than right, right?

Oh because /s/ is not a stop.

tchrist

What's going on with @ValentinDrozdov is that he's getting hung up over sounds that although technically different, are invisible to the minds of native speakers.

@Færd I think you're probably right.

Valentin Drozdov

What is going with you is that you don't go logic way and for 10000th time say I do what I don't do.

tchrist

To know what word has been said, you must throw sounds into the same buckets that a native speaker does if you are ever to understand the language as they do.

And that means you have to stop paying attention to what they do not.

Valentin Drozdov

Did I oppose that?

tchrist

Why are you wiggling about a million different variant phonetic allophones?

Valentin Drozdov

21:16

I'm not.

tchrist

All graphic representations are vague approximations that do not fully convey all the nuances of a sonogram's chart.

Valentin Drozdov

And?

tchrist

We just choose a generic symbol in the same vicinity.

Valentin Drozdov

And?

tchrist

It does no good to pretend that you care that sometimes /ai/ doesn't sound the same as another /ai/, or that /a/ doesn't sound the same as another /a/.

Færd

21:19

But if you don't study those invisible minutia you might end up with an obtrusive accent.

Valentin Drozdov

I don't care about that.

(to @tchrist)

tchrist

@Færd Have you ever listened to an XXX speak English? :)

Then what do you care about?

Your diphthong obsession is killing you.

Valentin Drozdov

I care about what does X sound starts from Y sound mean.

tchrist

Native speakers can't hear what you talk about.

Valentin Drozdov

But you pretend to understand it, so I just ask a question.

tchrist

21:21

At least, not past the age of 8 months.

I think you should talk to a Russian.

Not to me.

Because the time you've sunk into this has not profited you.

Færd

Valentin needs a face-to-face chat for that.

Valentin Drozdov

Ok, I'm sorry for all this. Think what you think. If you want me to talk to a Russian, then show me him.

tchrist

Just blame me and go talk to your 15 year old. Or a Russian. Clearly I am incapable of expressing myself in ways that please you.

Færd

Or a video explaining the concept of diphthong.

@tchrist You know I'd immediately spot a Farsi speaker talking English.

Valentin Drozdov

@Færd, I already said to @tchrist that I do not know anybody who speaks English as non-native language perfectly, and that's partly due to my confidence all these "videos explaining diphthongs, and whatever else" are not enough.

Færd

21:25

Even the vestige of my native accent in my English is so conspicuous it tortures me when I listen to my recorded voice.

tchrist

Using text to describe an aural phenomenon to someone who cannot hear what you're talking about it pretty useless.

Because even putting things in finely tuned technical descriptions cannot duplicate the perception.

Færd

@ValentinDrozdov If films fall short, words will certainly fail you much the worse.

Valentin Drozdov

Well, this is conversation, so it can be more useful.

Færd

You need to hear it.

And see it.

And then have a conversation about it.

Valentin Drozdov

To hear what?

Færd

21:27

That which you're asking about.

Valentin Drozdov

Do you think I didn't hear English or English phonemes?

Or didn't watch those vids...

Færd

I don't mean them in general.

tchrist

@Færd When famed English actor Hugh Laurie speaks with an American accent as he frequently does for his screen work, he completely hoodwinks "all" UK listeners and 99.999% of US listeners, but he himself is constantly pained by his own perceptions of minute deviations that to his own mind stick out as screw-ups in his emulation.

Valentin Drozdov

So, @tchrist, can you name me the Russian here?

tchrist

Reg, but he doesn't come by much.

Færd

21:29

@tchrist Oh that's so reassuring.

Valentin Drozdov

I don't know the functionality of this site very much, can I pm him somehow?

tchrist

I can summon him.

@RegDwigнt If ever you could find the time to enlighten Russian-speaker @ValentinDrozdov about the Great Alien Mystery of Diphthongs, I would be extremely grateful and I hope he would as well. We've spent many days going around in circles with him and it just goes nowhere.

There, it's done: I have called spirits from the vasty deep.

Valentin Drozdov

Well, and how often is he online?

tchrist

> Why, so can I, or so can any man,. But will they come when you do call for them?

@ValentinDrozdov His public record on the site is all I can offer you.

Even if I knew otherwise, it would be wrong of me to say more.

Valentin Drozdov

I don't even know how to look for a public record

tchrist

21:34

@ValentinDrozdov english.stackexchange.com/users?tab=moderators

From there.

Mitch

Well

tchrist

Follow to his user profile. It will say when last he was on.

Mitch

Well well

Færd

You're welling up.

Mitch

Well well well

Valentin Drozdov

21:35

Ok.

Mitch

Well well well well

@Færd +1

Færd

cries with Mitch

Mitch

tears up out of joy

Færd

laughs through sobs

Mitch

brazenly stone faced

Feeds

21:38

0

Q: Word for business practice that promises something but never delivers or makes it hard on customers

What's the word for the shady business profit strategy, often used by cell phone or internet service providers, that advertises a certain service or promotion but doesn't fulfill it? Sometimes this causes customers to register for or upgrade services that, without fulfillment of what's advertised...

single-word-requests business-language

Færd

pretends he was talking to another Mitch

Mitch

Wait...what?

There are no others

Færd

The one sitting behind you.

Mitch

Well, others may be named the same...

Færd

I was commiserating with him all along.

Mitch

21:39

But they're just not the same

CowperKettle

0

Q: Meaning of "He says it still of truth, which is his own" (in "Aurora Leigh")

From Aurora Leigh: The book has some truth in it, I believe: And truth outlives pain, as the soul does life. I know we talk our Phædons to the end Through all the dismal faces that we make, O'er-wrinkled with dishonouring agony From any mortal drug. I have written truth, And I a w...

meaning aurora-leigh elizabeth-barrett-browning

Reading Aurora Leigh gets me exhausted.

About 30% of the text is undecipherable

Mitch

@Færd pay no attention to him. He's an idiot

Færd

At least he don't go stone faced when I'm so vulnerably shaking with sobs.

Mitch

@CowperKettle you think that's indecipherable. Try the twilight series by Stephanie whatshername.

CowperKettle

Stephenie Meyer

Stephenie Meyer (née Morgan; ; born December 24, 1973) is an American young adult fiction writer and film producer, best known for her vampire romance series Twilight. The Twilight novels have gained worldwide recognition and sold over 100 million copies, with translations into 37 different languages. Meyer was the bestselling author of 2008 and 2009 in America, having sold over 29 million books in 2008, and 26.5 million books in 2009. Twilight was the best-selling book of 2008 in US bookstores. Meyer was ranked No. 49 on Time magazine's list of the "100 Most Influential People in 2008", and was...

Mitch

21:42

Yeah her.

A modern James Joyce

'Vampire romance'

Færd

How come she's a best-seller then?

Joyce wouldn't sell so well.

Mitch

Joyce was an idiot

Maybe more of a moron

Færd

You read 'im?

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Email in answer: What do you call a government when the rulers are gods? by Ken Unger on english.SE

Mitch

I was forced to at ruler point in high school

I looked at the first page of Finnegan's Wake. It needs more footnotes than the original

The footnotes need footnotes

It's footnotes all the way down

It bottoms out around Stephenie Meyers

where you wish you didn't understand it

CowperKettle

21:54

0

Q: Meaning of "that all the towns make offal of their daughters for its use on summer-nights"

From Aurora Leigh: Thus is Art Self-magnified in magnifying a truth Which, fully recognized, would change the world And shift its morals. If a man could feel, Not one day, in the artist's ecstasy, But every day, feast, fast, or working-day, The spiritual significance burn through...

meaning aurora-leigh elizabeth-barrett-browning

Some gruesome phrase I cannot begin to understand

Mitch

@CowperKettle doesn't sound like it turns out well for the daughters

caub

22:06

It's always confusing that "quadratic" is power 2, it makes think of 4

tchrist

square

caub

square -> 2 -> quadratic?

cube -> 3 -> cubic

tchrist

22:25

a square has four sides

Valentin Drozdov

a square has 4 points.

caub

I fail to see your mnemonic with square

Yes, quadratic makes me think of degree 4 because of square, quadri, ..

ew.. degree 4 is quartic, so close and confusing

degree 2 should be dualic, duic or something

Valentin Drozdov

in Russian a square is called a "quadrat"

caub

how do you call quadrilaterals then?

Valentin Drozdov

four - angled

we use Russian numbers for it

caub

22:33

Четырёхугольник

how do you pronounce that?

Valentin Drozdov

Четыре + угол

hmm

not sure how to write properly

caub

like you did with quadrat

well nvm, gtg

Valentin Drozdov

chetyreh ugolnik lol

quadrat is easier

Mitch

22:51

@caub same here

Valentin Drozdov

what is power 4 btw?

Mitch

23:10

@ValentinDrozdov x^4 is pronounced 'x to the fourth' in English

Valentin Drozdov

23:22

@Mitch can you say x to the second?

tchrist

23:33

Quadrangles. Quads. University greens.

Very rarely triangles. Never pentangles. Till the Pentagon.

Tetragons?

Quintangles?

Valentin Drozdov

forgot about triangles...

tchrist

Sacred septagons and hiero-heptagons.

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