English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

I am not sure of the following, but I might be wrong, but it often feels like in colloquial speech, the use of modal verbs seemed to not really impacting the notion of "unsure" to the listeners

e.g. in many conversations, that uses the word "probably" does not sound very different in weight compared to one without the word

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-1

Q: Is there a word for this?

Is there a word for a lack of order and control by authority? I think I have forgotten the word for it and can't seem to find any help anywhere.

0

Q: What is the possessive form of course?

I think the possessive form of course is course's, but it keeps appearing with a red squiggly underline in my Google Doc. Either the dictionary used by Google Docs is incomplete or I'm wrong. I'm thinking it's the latter. So, what is the possessive form of course?

single-word-requests

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1:47 AM

0

Q: Good word/phrase that describes the "process of duplication"

What can be a good word/phrase for describing the process of duplication? More specifically, this is what I want to convey: Machines are good at tasks that involve copy-pasting. What can be a good word/phrase that would say, Machines are good at data ____ PS: words considered: Data replic...

single-word-requests word-choice

SmokeDetector

2:09 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Misleading link: "Lighter" vs. "brighter" by MJXS on english.SE

Mitch

2:26 AM

@MetaEd I figured it out. I invited to chat and explained the situation

the situation in my head

that I want him to undelete

@MetaEd figured it out with your help that is

CowperKettle

4:35 AM

I can't force myself to remember the correct word order..

> 1. Anti-RFC-2 monoclonal antibody, concentrate for solution for infusion. 2. Monoclonal anti-RFC-2 antibody, concentrate for solution for infusion

D'oh

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] URL in title, bad keyword in body, bad keyword in title, blacklisted website in body, blacklisted website in title, +4 more: lumalifteye.com/tryvix/ by windhoex on english.SE

Trey

6:13 AM

what dialects use "dern" rather than "darn" ?

Tonepoet

7:09 AM

Google search engine results are sometimes a disappointment. I searched for "let there be light" and the first thing to pop up is not the direct source of the timeless quotation, but instead a derivative use of it: The name of some movie from 2017 which will be forgotten by most people in naught but five years time, no doubt!

Indeed, the first five results all seem to be related to that movie, and Genesis 1:3 itself is nowhere to be found!

AndyT

9:05 AM

@Mitch - The Friends quote was from Season 8 Episode 19 "The One with Joey's interview". Relevant quotes at: friends-tv.org/zz819.html

SmokeDetector

9:22 AM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] URL in title, blacklisted website in body, blacklisted website in title, pattern-matching website in body, pattern-matching website in title, +2 more: reviverxtry.com/soyeux/ by jinkreds on english.SE

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11:19 AM

0

Q: Neologism: Statisticsless, Statistics-less. Is it possible?

I'm writing a scientific paper and I would like to use a single word to describe the concept "lack of statistics"/"without statistics". Is statistics-less, or variants, a well-formed neologism?

single-word-requests phrase-requests terminology

Educ

12:11 PM

Hi

hope you doing well

Is it correct to say :

unfortunately, i didn't fill out my contact information, would you please open the web site again

Cerberus

1:03 PM

@Tonepoet Haha yup! Google values American pop culture above all else.

Although I do get the correct quotation as the first result!

So you use your screen vertically as well?

Feeds

2:17 PM

0

Q: What is it called when an idiom is used so out of place that it is ridiculous?

A spokesman for the UK's Department of Food and Rural Affairs seems to be indicating that either DEFRA, the UK population or the whole of humanity are due to say goodbye to planet earth in 2043. A Defra spokesman said: “We are committed through our 25-year environment plan to eliminating avoi...

single-word-requests phrase-requests idioms cliche

Mitch

@AndyT Excellent...thanks. I found it by searching too.

Since you remember the line from the show, maybe you can shed some light on the joke. I personally do not see how anyone could subtly mistake any normal (American) pronunciation of 'mentor' for 'mento' (unless you drop r's like in the UK) and no one on that show does that. So can you offer any explanation of the joke? Does it show the character Joey is that stupid that he pronounces 'mentor' (or 'mentos'/'mento') so badly?

Do you think the -writer- is non-rhotic, but the actor Matt Leblanc just read the script (as he should) as an American?

Do you think the writer just wrote a poor joke?

Or something else?

AndyT

@Mitch - Joey is stupid (or, at least, often written that way). My personal feeling is that he heard the word mentor once and mis-remembered it, rather than saw it written and came up with a weird pronunciation.

It is meant to be a joke. But I agree it's not a funny one.

Mitch

2:44 PM

The following joke is classic vaudeville "Mento? Like the candy?" "As a matter of fact I do." That was reasonably funny, for vaudeville. But mistaking mento for mentor is just weird, and I was searching for a closer phonological misunderstanding.

Educ

@Mitch How are you ?

AndyT

I don't think you're going to find one!

Educ

@Mitch How are you ?

Mitch

@Educ How are you?

Educ

I'm doing well what about you ?

Mitch

2:56 PM

Even though it is supposed to be winter here it is unnaturally spring-like. NOt that that's bad, just that it seems out of step with the calendar.

Cerberus

Oh, really?

It's going to be ca. -10 next week here (at night).

This winter's coldest week is imminent.

Robusto

0

A: Is it appropriate to use 'the' in front of a company name that starts with an adjective?

Before I answer, let me tell you something. Trumpism does not exist. HE said, something like, {" GLOBAL warm ING DOESN'T EXIST."} Exist, NOT extinct. So when he "states" (He believes he is PURE, he is HONEST, HE NEVER LIES--yet he won't "prove it" YOU have to "prove him WRONG." {LITERALLY IMPOSS...

@tchrist: Clean-up needed ^.

Honestly, I don't even know what that "answer" purports to be.

@Cerberus What is the kerfuffle with the Dutch speed skater and a remark about dogs?

AndyT

@Robusto - That's "not an answer". It's an unrelated rant.

Robusto

@AndyT My point exactly.

Cerberus

@Robusto Hello.

I have no idea?

AndyT

3:07 PM

Ah, sorry. I read "clean-up needed" as "this needs polishing to get the muck off and leave the shiny surface visible", rather than "this needs sweeping up and throwing out".

Cerberus

I hope I'm not implicated.

Robusto

@AndyT That's why we go over this stuff.

Educ

npr.org/2018/02/23/588106531/…

Robusto

@Cerberus Oh, you're probably complicit in some way, shape, or form.

Cerberus

Maybe 1/3.

Better complicit than implicated.

I don't follow pop news so I don't know what this would be about.

Robusto

3:10 PM

@Cerberus They misspelled it. Should be "Let there be Lite."

Cerberus

You should call up the authors of the Bible.

Robusto

@Cerberus I just saw some headlines about "Dutch speed skater" and "dog remark" but I couldn't be bothered to read the stories myself. I figured someone who had his finger on the Dutch pulse would be able to summarize it quickly enough to let me avoid using the marginal interest I possess in this topic to actually click and read.

Prove me wrong. Please. — Pablo Gomez 4 mins ago

Now he's getting combative.

Cerberus

@Robusto Alas. But your margin is probably still wider than mine!

Robusto

Curses!

Cerberus

How do you buy wine for someone who works in a wine shop?

It's hard.

Robusto

3:21 PM

@Cerberus Find a wine they don't have, then buy it elsewhere.

Cerberus

@Robusto But what wine? I'm not enough of a vinologist myself.

Robusto

Example phone call to shop: "Excuse me, do you have a Chateau Lafite-Rothschild '59 on hand? No? Oh, well. Thanks anyway!" Hang up, go out and locate such a bottle, and purchase it.

Cerberus

Hah, but that will be a little bit on the expensive side.

Robusto

Ya think?

Cerberus

If I were more knowledgeable, I'd probably be able to pick a €10 wine that the person in question would still like.

This person buys €20 wines for himself.

But I find that too expensive for everyday use.

Robusto

3:24 PM

@Cerberus OK, so find a €25 wine and buy it for him. That will be above his store discount, and even if it comes from his shop it will be appreciated.

Mitch

@Cerberus Better complicated than implicit

AndyT

Or, buy them chocolates instead

Robusto

First make note of the kind of wines he tends to buy.

Then go out and buy him a Cheval Blanc.

AndyT

And your friend who works at a chocolate shop, buy them wine

Cerberus

@Robusto I suppose I should...but I can't do that every week!

Robusto

3:26 PM

@Cerberus Wait, he has a birthday every week?

Cerberus

@Robusto In Dutch, a knight in shining armour is the prince on the white horse.

AndyT

Seconding what Robusto said!

Cerberus

@Robusto Sorry, not birthday, but just as a present without a special occasion.

Mitch

@AndyT I was going to suggest whiskey, but chocolates sound better

Cerberus

@AndyT Hah, perhaps that is a better idea!

AndyT

3:27 PM

Chocolates are cheaper than whiskey too

Mitch

@Robusto He's really young

Robusto

@Cerberus Does it have to be wine?

Cerberus

The thing is that I am always drinking his wine, and I feel a bit "cheap" not bringing wine any more when we have dinner at his place.

AndyT

And if you're doing it every week, they're (probably) not going to have finished the first bottle of whiskey by the time you bring the second one

Robusto

I think you need to be shopping in the €5 range.

Mitch

3:28 PM

@Cerberus Flowers?

Cheese?

AndyT

Dessert?

Cerberus

@Robusto Mm preferably, because it's something one needs anyway. But perhaps not.

Robusto

Just desserts?

MetaEd

Mornin.

Robusto

@Cerberus If the occasion is so frequent, wine every time would get boring and predictable anyway.

Mitch

3:28 PM

Bathroom hand towels?

Cerberus

@AndyT Maybe whiskey could be an interesting alternative.

Mitch

To match his decor?

Cerberus

@Mitch I gave him flowers last time, and sometimes cheese. But those are also good, yes.

Robusto

And throw in the occasional designer mousetrap, or something like that.

Mitch

@Cerberus As much as cheese is life itself, I think the French are crazy to have it as a course of a meal, especially at the end.

Cerberus

3:30 PM

@AndyT I do that sometimes, but I don't really like any desserts they sell at the supermarket. So I have to bake something myself, which is a little bit too much trouble outside special occasions!

@Robusto He's allergic to beer!

@Mitch Lovely idea...

Mitch

You've just stuffed yourself on ten courses previously, and now you want the heaviest thing at the very end?

Cerberus

@Mitch I thought you hated cheese?

Was that a different green-squared Mitch?

@Mitch I kind of agree. So I prefer to wait 30 minutes between desserts and cheese.

But then I really love cheese after dinner!

The English course order.

Mitch

It's like doing speed skating sprints, and downhill races, and snowboard halfpipe... followed by a biathlon marathon.

@Cerberus What insanity is this? That's like saying you kick puppies.

Cerberus

Mitch

@Cerberus Hm... I never looked at my square. I always thought it was more multicolored. But I guess if you squint hard enough, it would be called green. I'm going to have to rectify that.

@Cerberus Oh? Then the English are mad, too. Among other reasons.

Cerberus

3:35 PM

Aug 8 '17 at 21:29, by Mitch

saying you like cheese is like saying you prefer embalming rather than cremation

& ff.

Mitch

@Cerberus For the record, I like cheese. The other green squared Mitch is an impostor.

Cerberus

@Mitch The French have fromage, fruits, dessert.

MetaEd

@Mitch Perfect.

Mitch

But, caveat, I am also a bot so I only repeat the average of what other people have said.

Cerberus

Wise.

Like Berlusconi.

I didn't know average people had caveats, though.

Mitch

3:38 PM

@Cerberus haha...he repeats the worst of what others say.

The only good reply to "You're really not going to get a husband like that." is "You'll probably die in prison"

@Cerberus Depends on the health care system

Cerberus

I believe he used to mimic opinion polls as closely as possible in his policies, as a PM.

Mitch

I used to think "Those poor unthinking Italians who voted for poor unthinking Berlusconi, they deserve what they got".

sigh

@Cerberus Wait...the French system is different? I thought it was one of those three rather than in that order.

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0

Q: "Scholarly accuracy"?

Collaborator A is concerned that when he and Collaborator B quote some published material in a formal letter, they should be careful not to change any of the quoted text. What do you call this concern? "Scholarly accuracy?" Example sentence for an email from one collaborator to another: We...

single-word-requests phrase-requests vocabulary

Robusto

@Cerberus Nice! And I didn't even know that was a thing!

Cerberus

3:53 PM

@Mitch Well, they do...

@Mitch Nooo.

Well, maybe if you have few courses.

@Robusto Your cellar will probably say otherwise...

I suspect there to be a large collection of designer mouse traps in there.

@Mitch Perhaps fruits as a separate course is not so universal, I don't know. It's just the phrase I was taught.

But cheese before dessert, yes.

> ... les fruits et les aliments sucrés qui, à la fin du Moyen-Âge, étaient présentés à n'importe quel service, ont été peu à peu regroupés en fin de repas. Mais cette évolution-là a été plus lente que la précédente. Jusqu'au début du XXe siècle, on a trouvé des entremets sucrés à l'avant-dernier service, en même temps que les entremets salés. Et lorsqu'on offrait aux convives des fromages affinés, parfois bien puants, c'est au dessert qu'on les plaçait, parmi les fruits, compotes et confitures.

Mitch

I'll have to retake my class in comparative historical gastronomy

Cerberus

Indeed!

Tonepoet

4:10 PM

@Cerberus I used special screen capture software to capture the entire webpage. It's a google chrome plugin called Fireshot. It's also worth note that I turned private results off.

Cerberus

@Tonepoet Ah, I have heard of it.

I just screenshotted my actual screen.

But that explains it, then.

How do you turn off "private results"? I don't whether mine are turned on or off.

I have tried turning everything off on the past, so I would expect them to be turned off for me as well.

Tonepoet

@Cerberus I clicked on settings, then search settings and then there's a toggle for that directly on that webpage.

Cerberus

4:35 PM

@Tonepoet It was off!

Maybe our "regions" are different, though.

Tonepoet

@Cerberus Hmm, interesting. I suppose it was a difference in regional settings.

Cerberus

Yes, I get your results when I switch to America.

Perhaps Google hold a low opinion of its own country...

Tonepoet

@Cerberus You know, that's rather strange. If anything I'd expect it to be the opposite, because the bible is the best selling book in the U.S.A. every year, and this is one of the most famous lines in the book, from page 1 no less.

I guess buying a book isn't the same thing as reading it though.

Cerberus

@Tonepoet But perhaps Americans value Hollywood films even more highly...

Haha, true.

Tonepoet

5:17 PM

@Cerberus I am tempted to switch my region to U.K. search settings. Britain is a smart nation, and at least those get the Wikipedia article. Still though, the U.S.A. is so much more populous that it probably is more representative of what the most native English speakers using google see. What to do; what to do? XP

Cerberus

@Tonepoet You could try several regions, each for one week.

England is perhaps not the smartest nation around, cf. Brexit.

They have such a big difference between poor and rich that the minimum level of the population is dragged down, and also the average.

Try Holland in your third week.

Or maybe Finland.

Or Germany.

MetaEd

5:32 PM

What are we saying is strange about the US search results?

Cerberus

10 hours ago, by Tonepoet

Google search engine results are sometimes a disappointment. I searched for "let there be light" and the first thing to pop up is not the direct source of the timeless quotation, but instead a derivative use of it: The name of some movie from 2017 which will be forgotten by most people in naught but five years time, no doubt!

MetaEd

5:51 PM

@Cerberus Ah. So presumably Google thinks it knows what you are probably searching for, and it's a movie if you're in the US, but it's a biblical quotation if you're not.

James Jenkins

Many of you may be interested in this Area51 Proposal for a new site Speculative Science, please stop by take a look, consider following the proposal and partipating in scope building by voting for questions and'or posting some.

MetaEd

@JamesJenkins What does SE management or the the community manager team think about this proposal?

Mitch

@MetaEd Who would win, Green Lantern or Harry Potter?

Who would win, faeries or leprechauns?

MetaEd

6:06 PM

@Mitch You just invited ... auggh!

@Mitch And Green Lantern, obviously, until Hermione discovers the color yellow.

James Jenkins

@MetaEd All I have heard has been supportive. There was a similar failed proposal that lead to it being created. Discusion around that lead Robert Cartaino to express support for the idea. Those related comments are mostly gone now. Area51 does not keep history the way other sited do.

MetaEd

6:36 PM

@JamesJenkins I'm having trouble imagining what community of experts you want to attract. I mean aside from Munro.

As it stands, it seems to be ... all scientists.

Tonepoet

6:48 PM

@JamesJenkins Well there are two problems with this proposal. The first is that nobody can predict the future with certainty, and the second is that the word speculative is in the title. Both of these lend way to the website seeming Primarily Opinion Based in nature. Now personally, I do not think predictions are necessarily P.O.B. if they have their basis in firm reasoning and trends, but others may disagree. Notice how this question is closed as P.O.B., despite the fact that I gave 8 references:

0

Q: Will we ever come up with non-gender specific pronouns and possessive pronouns for the English language?

Will we ever come up with non-gender specific pronouns and possessive pronouns for the English language? It seems that there are many new words in the English language every year, so why not gender-neutral pronouns? This would solve many problems, in literature and in everyday life.

gender-neutral

I would imagine that many of the speculative science questions can already be posted at World Building S.E. You'll probably want to make reference to that website, to show that such questions can be reasonably answered. Doing so may be somewhat of a double edged sword, since it may make Speculative Science seem pointless, but I think E.L.L. sets precedence that even extremely similar scopes does not necessarily mean that a similar S.E. website should not exist, if you can show the need

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0

Q: What would a person be called, who passes judgement and executes a criminal without trial out of necessity?

If a person witnesses a serial killer killing, but cannot prove it without more witnesses, and they take the law into their own hands, what would that person be called? EDIT: Note, I'm not looking for something like 'vigilante' or 'avenger', which are either too ambiguous or are just how these p...

single-word-requests expressions

Tonepoet

Now with speculative science, I think the fact that it would necessarily have to conform to practical reality may just suffice to show the need @JamesJenkins .

James Jenkins

@Tonepoet there have been many discussions about the difference between Spectilave Science and WorldBuilding, many are gone now but a good summary is here area51.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/27063/…

@MetaEd the same could be said about Space.se but it is doing very well, and only has a handful of rocket scientists

Feeds

7:12 PM

0

Q: Adjective for a period of time that is short but feels really long

English is such a rich language that I believe there could just be a word for describing a short period of time that feels really long. Would love to be enlightened. E.g. a word to fill in the blanks below Only few days have passed but it feels like months. How ___ . The time we spent ...

single-word-requests adjectives

NVZ

7:59 PM

86

Q: How do you write a Stack Exchange answer?

Over my years on StackExchange I've come to view answering SE questions as its own, highly specialized writing subgenre, with its own demands, and its own ideal format. By trial and error, and observation of highly upvoted answers, and of answers that I personally find useful, I've created my ow...

technique structure

Pin this to the side bar?

Tonepoet

8:47 PM

Gah! C.G.E.L. arrived and tit looks like the cover tore off in the mail As much as I'd like to overlook this, the book will probably fall entirely apart of I keep it like this, so it's off to file a claim. v_v

Færd

9:02 PM

@Cerberus So what's going on between the Turks and the Netherlands? Are tensions escalating still?

(Is it offensive if I jokingly say the Netherworld? I'm generally against such jokes..)

Tonepoet

9:29 PM

On second thought, I just didn't look at the ebay photos closely enough. It arrived as pictured. Most of the cover isn't on the book though. XD

SmokeDetector

10:18 PM

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Bad keyword in body, bad keyword in title: Is there a more polite idiom for "comparing whose penis is larger"? by j.cube on english.SE

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…