English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Faheem Mitha

00:19

@Lawrence Knowing what in advance?

Feeds

00:59

0

Q: Single word for object that is addictive

I am looking for a single word that can be said in replacement of the activity, substance, etc. that an addict is addicted to. eg: In the case that someone is addicted to smoking cigarettes, what would the official title given to the cigarette be? (An addict person is addicted verb to a _____ the...

single-word-requests

Tonepoet

02:38

@MetaEd I see that my disease is infectious. =P

Feeds

03:04

0

Q: I need a word for overwhelming sadness

I news a general word for an overwhelming sadness that can be used in my essay.

single-word-requests

SmokeDetector

04:49

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] URL in title, bad keyword in body, bad keyword in title, blacklisted website in body, blacklisted website in title, +2 more: bettercoloncleansingguide.com/nutragenics-forskolin/ by leuizmac on english.SE

Feeds

09:19

0

Q: "Psychological disposition of car ownership" - is that a term?

I am searching for a term to describe the following: The psychological value that is attached to car ownership. The context: I am doing a research towards carsharing and writing about factors that influence the decision to participate in a carsharing program or not. It is found that some people...

single-word-requests phrase-requests terminology british-english

Feeds

10:45

0

Q: Conjugate together? Trying to explain coming together under

Context: Trying to write a short concise sentence and was wondering if the word conjugate would fit in because the definition tackles the image I want to portray well, I think... Sentence should mean the following "People can ___ with each other/together/one another under a common field of inter...

single-word-requests

Færd

10:58

@HsMjstyMstdn Watching that, I didn't know if I was more annoyed or amused.

Matt E. Эллен

11:10

@HsMjstyMstdn insouciance

MetaEd

12:22

@Tonepoet We are but Cthulhu's dreams.

Feeds

12:32

0

Q: Is there a word for a subset of English specifically designed to be easily understood by non-native speakers?

Looking at examples like Basic English or Simple English, I see phrases like "controlled language" or "controlled vocabulary". Is there a simpler word?

single-word-requests vocabulary present-tense non-native-english

Færd

12:49

Can you use low-maintenance for someone who leads a normal enough life on a low maintenance? Like, a teenager who doesn't cost their parents much more than their keep?

I realize low/high-maintenance is mainly about how much attention and care someone requires.

Mitch

13:27

@Færd Sure. It's mostly referring metaphorically to how emotionally needy a person is (and so how much attention you have to give them). But that might be similar to how much money they ask or (whether they ask for it) how much they need.

skullpatrol

When referring to women, those that are high maintenance are also high performance, if you know what I mean ;-)

Mitch

high octane. less pinging. wink wink

skullpatrol

Yup, built for speed.

Mitch

13:53

with racing stripes and a spoiler

> Bowel-shaking earthquakes of doubt and remorse
Assail him, impale him with monster-truck force

> No trophy, no flowers, no flashbulbs, no wine
He's haunted by something he cannot define

skullpatrol

> High maintenance women are like high maintenance sports cars. They're lots of fun when you're out on the town together, but for every hour of showing off, there are another 10 spent on upkeep ...

HsMjstyMstdn

@Færd At the word, at the pronunciation, maybe at the fact that you don't know the word or the speech ?

@MattE.Эллен (Y)

Feeds

14:37

0

Q: A word/characteristic for "all bark and no bite"?

I'm looking for a word or a characteristic to describe someone that is "All bark and no bite"? Describes someone who often says cutting remarks, but actually has a soft personality underneath. Its okay, I know that Danny is a little mean, but he's all bark and no bite.

single-word-requests idiom-requests

0

Q: what do you call an attendee who MUST be present at a meeting?

Is there an actual term for this other than Chair or Chairperson?

single-word-requests

SmokeDetector

14:52

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Few unique characters in answer: "Take a degree" or "do a degree" by petmalu on english.SE

Matt E. Эллен

@Feeds isn't the answer "all bark and no bite"?

Tonepoet

15:25

@MetaEd Where'd you get that avatar anyway?

MetaEd

@Tonepoet make.girls.moe

MetaEd

15:50

@Tonepoet I've broken you, haven't I.

Tonepoet

16:10

@MetaEd I've been wondering for a while. I owe Memoir-X of anime S.E's. maid cafe a reward of some sort. XP

parvin

16:59

hi everyone

can you tell me if this is grammatically correct? :

I kindly requested him to write the letter as soon as possible and so will he once he can.

(I actually doubted on the part " so will he once he can")

Cerberus

> , and he will do so.

parvin

so you mean the one I wrote is wrong?

Cerberus

Yes: so will he suggests "someone else did x, and he will do x too".

> I have written a letter to the King, and so will he.

= "he, too, will write a letter to the King"

parvin

aha I see, I was thinking about when we say " I asked him to come with me, and so did he" doesn't this mean " I asked him and he said yes" ?

Cerberus

In addition, your once he can was redundant, because the full second clause would then be: "and he will write the letter as soon as possible once he can".

@parvin Indeed, it would not mean that.

So did he = he did the same thing as the subject of the previous sentence did.

He did so = he did the expected thing.

The difference is subtle!

parvin

17:05

I see, all these time I thought it meant sth else!

thank you

Cerberus

There is also and so he did, which is more like and he did so.

So many possibilities!

parvin

yes that's what I was trying to use actually! the "so he did" ! but does not work for "will" the way it does for "did and do"

Feeds

0

Q: What is the one word description for someone who likes spicy food?

If a bibliophile likes books, then what is the -phile word for someone who enjoys eating spicy food?

single-word-requests food

parvin

so if I say " I asked him to come and so he did" does it mean I asked and he said yes?

Cerberus

17:20

@parvin You said so will he, but you should have said so he will or he will do so. In that sentence, I would expect he will do so. Somehow, that sounds better than so he will in your sentence.

@parvin Yes, that is correct.

parvin

@Cerberus I got it , Thank you.

Cerberus

Good!

NVZ

18:54

Thoughts??

Purdue writing guide says avoid use of words with 'man'

►

"Man" is offensive in the US now?

Mitch

@NVZ So many ugh's here but not in the way you'd expect.

'offensive': no but recognized as excluding women.
'US': any English speaking area
'now': there's been a trend to replace since the 60's
'Fox News':

there's an ELU question about 'fisherman' because it's not obvious how to make it non-sexist ('fisherwoman' just doesn't roll off the tongue).

'chairperson' or just 'chair' are accepted versions.

Andrew Leach

@Mitch Not to everyone.

Mitch

'policewoman' sounds weird to you? just use 'officer'

@AndrewLeach no but it'll still sound off to call a woman a 'chairman' when she's running the show.

@NVZ This news blurb is straight out of the Archie Bunker 1950's

Andrew Leach

@Mitch Really? "Madam Chairman" is still fine in the UK, except where infected by liberalism and fake umbrage.

NVZ

@Mitch "Fox News", yeah. I for one never thought I'd be watching Fox. This was fun however.

MetaEd

19:28

It's amazing how much this has changed since I was small. (gender in English)

I watched about half a minute and it was too embarrassing to watch any more of.

Cerberus

19:44

@Mitch What's wrong with chairwoman?

@NVZ Super hilarious!

"Call me a person, so you won't offend me."

@MetaEd Embarrassing for whom?

@AndrewLeach What does that have to do with liberalism?

Economic freedom or personal freedom? cue Ed

MetaEd

20:10

@Cerberus Cringey.

Cerberus

Why not funny?

Of course it's neither fair nor serious.

Mitch

@AndrewLeach 'madam' is bizarre in the US, and 'madam chairX' is just not a thing in the US at all.

but 'chairman' is still used but on the way out.

MetaEd

@Cerberus How is it funny?

Cerberus

It's satire. It's meant to be funny.

I think it's funny, saying you want to be called a person instead of a woman.

MetaEd

Is it?

Mitch

20:17

@Cerberus I think it is common enough in the US for women, but 'chair' is now more often used for both males and females than either of the gendered terms

Cerberus

I suppose it could work as an abbreviation. But why not chairwoman?

Or just president?

For someone who presides.

Mitch

@Cerberus Sure, president, but as legal terms in corporation formation, I think the president and chair (of the board of directors) are two different roles.

MetaEd

I'd like to go back to how funny it is to want to be called a person.

Cerberus

Bleh.

Maybe that corporate terminology needs to be cleaned up a bit.

@MetaEd You have my blessing!

MetaEd

No, really, I'd like to know your explanation of the humor in that.

Mitch

20:29

@Cerberus That wasn't satire. It was making fun of

making fun of people who are bothered by assumptions, like all these roles being formerly all male

Færd

@Mitch Thanks!

Mitch

@MetaEd It's funny to people who think women aren't in those positions.

is there a single word for the verb for 'to make fun of'?

MetaEd

Ridicule

Færd

@HsMjstyMstdn None of those, but rather at his pontifications as a political pundit.

Mitch

'belittle' is too strong

@MetaEd that includes a little more humor, but maybe a bit too strong/

MetaEd

20:33

Mock

Mitch

though TC is certainly ridiculing.

MetaEd

Lampoon

Mitch

so yes, ridicule

Færd

Scorn?

Mitch

'manchester'

'mail'

Cerberus

20:33

@MetaEd Well, humour is often about surprise and irony. In this case, it is surprising that someone should not want to be called by a completely normal word. And that she should want to be called a 'person', which sounds super bureaucratic in context. The irony is of course that almost everyone would find it silly to replace the word 'woman' with 'person', so it's clearly not serious.

Mitch

he;s taking the piss but not in a nice way

Cerberus

@Mitch What's the difference? Satire makes fun of society's quirks (or commonalities).

MetaEd

@Cerberus How many times a second do you suppose men casually insult other people simply by calling them women, or some rude synonym thereof?

Cerberus

@MetaEd I believe people tend to use more specific words than normally, when they want to insult people.

But, of course, most of the time people are just going about their business, not trying to insult anyone.

MetaEd

Maybe there are a lot of women who would like to be thought of as people first, in many situations where they are now thought of first as something less than a man.

Cerberus

20:39

Quite possibly.

I used to have three colleagues: one young man, one young woman, and one old man.

At some meeting, the old man said about something, to the young woman: "but you'll probably know more about this".

Why he said this, the rest of us didn't understand.

But it probably had something to do with her being a woman.

Which we found rather awkward.

But it was awkward, not insulting.

Maybe if he did that every day, I would talk to him about it.

Færd

Is it awkward to tell someone they know more about something?

Cerberus

If there is some supposition behind that women are different from men in ways that just aren't true, then I find that awkward.

I also find it awkward to place emphasis on how different people are where it isn't relevant, if that happens a lot in a certain setting.

Færd

I can see that.

MetaEd

@Cerberus My point is that people are asking to be called people, not because they object to being women, but because it helps expose and change how many people think about women now. As less than people.

Cerberus

But the emphasis has to be real, there has to be some kind of objectivity to it.

And it shouldn't be exaggerated.

@MetaEd I don't know what to say about that.

I'm sure my colleague doesn't think of women as "less than people".

I don't think it's necessary to insult him so badly (even though that probably wasn't anyone's intention...).

Færd

20:46

@MetaEd Then we must get rid of all our titles as Mr and Ms and stuff, which refer to our genders!

Cerberus

And get rid of most of our languages, in which all nouns, articles, and adjectives have genders!

Færd

Yeah.

MetaEd

I don't know your colleague so I am not trying to describe him in particular. But I have met many, many men whose go-to insults are forms of "woman".

Færd

@Cerberus But at least some of those acknowledge the existence of neuter words too.

That's a plus.

Cerberus

@MetaEd I would say, them fight the actual insults.

Not words out of context.

@Færd But neuter words are seldom used for people!

How many genders do you have?

We have three.

Færd

20:49

@MetaEd You can use the same word to exalt someone.

MetaEd

@Cerberus It's not the insults that are the problem. It's the idea that many men have that such words are insults.

Cerberus

Although masculine and feminine have almost fused. But not quite, especially not in all dialects.

@MetaEd Why aren't insults the problem? Insults sound like problems?

Færd

@Cerberus No genders in Farsi. Not like in Arabic or French or German, anyway.

Cerberus

Ah, OK.

When did you lose them?

Færd

Hmm, dunno.

Cerberus

20:51

How many Indo-European languages are there without genders?

Færd

Dunno that either.

MetaEd

@Cerberus I'll try to be more clear. Insults aren't the problem that gender-neutral language is addressing. Gender-neutral language is addressing the belief that women are less than people.

Cerberus

Then why doesn't it address the actual problem?

And who believes that women are less than people? Depending on your interpretation of that phrase, I would say it's extremely rare in the West.

@Færd I sort of always assumed that almost all kept at least some bits of gender.

I have no idea about the Indian languages.

But I think English is the only European one that has lost most of its genders?

Because it's a creole language.

Færd

You'd know better about European languages.

Cerberus

And I think there are very few European languages are creolish as English.

So it surprises me about Persian.

How many Indo-European languages are there in India?

Færd

20:55

I don't know! :)

Cerberus

Hindi has m. and f.

And so does Urdu, no doubt.

Færd

Oh.

Cerberus

Those are the big ones.

As you know.

MetaEd

@Cerberus It's common. I won't generalize to "in the West" but I can certainly say "in the US".

Færd

I didn't know about the role of gender in them.

Cerberus

20:56

List of languages by type of grammatical genders

This article lists languages depending on their approach to grammatical gender. == No grammatical gender == Certain language families, such as the Austronesian, Turkic and Uralic language families have no grammatical genders (see genderless language). Ainu Afrikaans (Indo-European; Afrikaans has three gendered pronouns, but not other grammatical gender, very similar to English.) Armenian (Indo-European) Azerbaijani (Turkic) Bashkir (Turkic) Basque Bengali (Indo-European) Burmese Carolinian (Austronesian) Chamoru (Austronesian) Cebuano Chinese Chuvash (Turkic) Crimean Tatar (Turkic) English (Indo...

@MetaEd So they would answer "yes" to the question "are women less than people?"?

So they aren't allowed to own property?

When you kill them, you shouldn't be punished as a murderer?

I find that hard to believe.

There are female bosses, mayors, managers, representatives, etc. throughout the West.

Even in the most backward regions, I believe.

I do agree that women are not always treated aequally even in the West.

But not as "less than people"?

Færd

Women are women. If people indult women as women I believe they should be confronted about that directly.

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…