English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

KannE

00:30

@Mitch If this is the golden age of TV, why isn't Johnny chain-smoking or tapping a box with white pencils? Besides the fact that he's dead, I mean. Who is the new Bob Newhart (or Carol Burnett) who can make everybody laugh out loud with just a look (including deaf people without CC)? As you get older, the real choices become more limited...I like Stranger Things...Let Me In...Happy To Be Here...ha-ha, really.

KannE

00:55

I guess you could say...If you can't name Fred Sanford's deceased wife and his favorite actress in two seconds or less, we probably don't have a lot in common, TV-wise.

Mitch

01:51

@KannE Wilma?

SmokeDetector

04:23

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] URL in title, bad NS for domain in body, bad NS for domain in title, bad keyword in body, bad keyword in title, +4 more: www.thegarciniaeliteslim.com/turmeric-forskolin/ by vathotu on english.SE

Izana wistaria

05:40

@KannE Agreed. But they haven't got Sopranos or Game of Thrones on Netflix among some other cool shows.

@FaheemMitha Thanks

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Blacklisted user: Is it acceptable to use the phrase "more and more" in present perfect continuous? by Scott on english.SE

Feeds

08:19

1

Q: Linguistic term for the introductory sentence preceding a list of statements

What is a linguistic term for the introductory sentence preceding a list of statements. In the example below, the clause preceding the bullet points. A successful candidate for this position should demonstrate Sound judgement in complex situations Fairness in the treatment of others the abilit...

Færd

10:51

On the long list of plants that I confuse with each other, there is tarragon and what I guess you'd call savory.

Or what do you call it?

Satureja

Satureja is a genus of aromatic plants of the family Lamiaceae, related to rosemary and thyme. It is native to North Africa, southern and southeastern Europe, the Middle East, and Central Asia. A few New World species were formerly included in Satureja, but they have all been moved to other genera. Several species are cultivated as culinary herbs called savory, and they have become established in the wild in a few places. == Description == Satureja species may be annual or perennial. They are low-growing herbs and subshrubs, reaching heights of 15–50 cm (5.9–19.7 in). The leaves are 1–3 cm (0.39...

Feeds

0

Q: Expression for recursive/cyclical phenomena

For example, A mother passes on her mitochondrial DNA to her daughter, who then passes it on to her daughter, _________. Some phrases that come to mind are and so on/fourth and et cetera, but these aren't specific enough (they can be used for non-recursive lists e.g. "I like fruits like ap...

single-word-requests phrase-requests

Feeds

11:27

0

Q: synonym required

I need synonym (one word) of below two questions. Answers must have ‘MAR’ at the beginning or at the end. A court order freezing a debtor’s assets, usually to prevent them being taken abroad A complex and difficult situation

single-word-requests synonyms vocabulary

Izana wistaria

12:30

@Educ You could say something like: "He arranges the documents according to the name of the class in an ascending order"

Or "He organizes the documents according to the name of the class in an ascending order"

You could do away with "the order" or "in an ascending order" at the end though.

Like "He arranges/organizes the documents according to the name of the class"

There are many ways to say the same thing

MetaEd

12:52

@Færd I've heard of savory but I don't think I've ever used it in cooking.

Cerberus

17:00

I don't really like tarragon, and savory I've never consciously tasted. It is called
"bean herb" in Dutch and other languages.

Feeds

0

Q: What's the word for this geometric solid?

What's the word for a geometric solid with two congruent regular pentagons in parallel planes and ten congruent triangles on lateral faces? It's neither a pyramid nor a prism. I chose pentagons arbitrarily. It seems to me there is a word for such a figure in general, proper with any number of s...

single-word-requests mathematics

Izana wistaria

17:24

@Cerberus Can you unconsciously taste something? I guess it is a figure of speech?

Cerberus

@Izanawistaria Conscious meaning aware.

Izana wistaria

ok

yeah, like without making your unconscious conscious.

By unconscious I mean the part of the mind

Cerberus

Without knowing it.

Izana wistaria

Yep

Cerberus

> And so in fact, and yet all unconsciously, was Sir John doing for his son, William.
The Grand Old Man

Richard B. Cook
Which is, I suppose, the trend we are following, even if we follow it unconsciously.
The Conquest of Fear

Basil King
Unconsciously his arms tightened around her, drawing her to him.
The Leopard Woman

Stewart Edward White
She had, too, unconsciously to herself, solved one of the mysteries that surrounded me.
The Underdog

F. Hopkinson Smith
Unconsciously he made a nice contrast with his modern motor.

Izana wistaria

17:30

Good examples

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] URL in title, bad NS for domain in body, bad NS for domain in title: livenbaplayoffs.com/capitalsvsgoldenknights/ by Fyodor Smolov on english.SE

Mitch

17:45

"Sir, there is no settling the point of precedency between a louse and a flea."

"Both fleas and lice are blood sucking ectoparasites that live on animals as well as on humans"

It's poetry time:

> Siphonaptera
Augustus De Morgan

Big fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em,
And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so, ad infinitum.
And the great fleas, themselves, in turn, have greater fleas to go on;
While these again have greater still, and greater still, and so on.

Is there a good poem about lice?

Izana wistaria

I can't think of any.

But there must be

But why are we talking about lice?

How is that related to English?

Never mind me

Mitch

@Izanawistaria There must be...

and I just found one...

Izana wistaria

Let's hear it.

I mean let's see it.

Or let's read it.

Mitch

> To A Louse On Seeing One On A Lady's Bonnet, At Church
by Robert Burns

Ha! whaur ye gaun, ye crowlin ferlie?
Your impudence protects you sairly;
I canna say but ye strunt rarely,
Owre gauze and lace;
Tho', faith! I fear ye dine but sparely
On sic a place.

Izana wistaria

Internet screws with my words.

Mitch

17:52

Verbing weirds words

Izana wistaria

Why is your name in italics?

Why isn't mine?

Mitch

I hurt my foot so I'm leaning against the wall

Izana wistaria

You must be special here

Mitch

I'm special everywhere

It goes without saying

But I said it anyway

Just because I can

Izana wistaria

Why are you leaning against a wall? You need crutches I think?

Mitch

17:54

I think it is in italics because

I think they change it based on some superpowers one has.

Izana wistaria

What might your superpowers be?

Mitch

Like blue means you're a site mod

I think italic means someone designated me a chat room owner here.

Izana wistaria

Oh that kind of stuff, yep

Mitch

which has as its superpowers:

Izana wistaria

Oh okay. You are a chat room owner but I have barely seen you around since yesterday.

Mitch

17:56

- can organize picnics but doesn't have to bring anything
- can fart in public without anybody saying anything
- can second endorse checks to cash

Izana wistaria

Not judging or anything. I know people have lives.

Mitch

This is why superpowers are a terrible burden, you can't just willy nilly fart in pubic any old time, you have to wield that power responsibly and with purpose

Izana wistaria

If you fart in public and no one says anything, that's a bad sign.

That means people dislike you

Mitch

@Izanawistaria an absentee proxy landlord?

Izana wistaria

Hah

Mitch

17:58

@Izanawistaria To be honest, it doesn't help people like you no matter what

Izana wistaria

@Mitch Why the proxy? Why not the real landlord?

Mitch

@Izanawistaria because someone else made me chat room owner. I don't own it outright

and I;m sure I can be reomoved any time

The only powers I have are:

Izana wistaria

Oh

okay

Mitch

- announcing special themed days: eg today is poetry day, yesterday was 'be real quiet' day (good job, everyone!)

- ooh I can pin and unpin a message...watch

See! Unpinned!

And now pinned again!!

Woo hoo!

Awesome power!

I can feel the strength coursing through my veins, through my finger tips, trackpad moved to ... just the ... right...

point

Oops. DId it one too many times. now its unpinned unless someone else does it.

Power used irresponsibly

Anne Daunted

Hi! During a, back then, ongoing discussion in another chat room, someone wrote "This is becomig too complicated for my small brain." to which someone else replied "Is "is" the correct verb tense in that sentence?". Is it?

Mitch

18:03

Yes

Wait...

which 'is'?

There are 2 (3 if you count quoted things)

Anne Daunted

"This is becomig too complicated for my small brain."

Mitch

yes, 'is becoming' is right

Anne Daunted

@Mitch Thank you so much!

Mitch

if it was in the past, you'd say 'This became too complicated'

Next question?

I'll start you off...

How many people does it take to screw in a light bulb?

One.

Anne Daunted

All my questions have been answered.

Mitch

18:07

Nice

Wait.. all?

You're satisfied with everything?

Anne Daunted

I'm simple-minded ;-)

Mitch

You've reached enlightenment

@MetaEd I was playing around with pinning way too many times and it won't let me pin again the GPDR msg

But enough of that. This is poetry day

Either make it rhyme or make it haiku

alliteration is probably OK.

Izana wistaria

Okay, so Wednesdays are our poetry days

I didn't prepare any

Mitch

Wow, the song 'Run for Your Life' by the Beatles is really dark.

@Izanawistaria Well, it's a tradition.

It's only happened once

it's in its first year

@Izanawistaria me neither. you can make up stuff.

or cut and paste

or give a link

Izana wistaria

Oh okay

I will see what I can come up with

Mitch

18:16

or something else altogether that is not poetry at all

Izana wistaria

I'm multitasking so it might be a while

I'm good at writing

In chats

Mitch

call it 'Poésie Vérité'

found poetry

Izana wistaria

I can talk all day

Mitch

all words are poetic to some degree

Izana wistaria

Very poetic

Mitch

18:18

OK here's a thing. What's with all the hats at the Markle wedding?

@Izanawistaria haha. see!

Izana wistaria

Who is Markle? And when did they get married?

Oh, the Duchess of Sussex?

Who cares what celebrities do.

But yeah, interesting question

Hats? Like fancy hats?

Mitch

18:30

OMG hats. Yes, I suppose one would normally call them fancy hats.

I have other words for them

Like 'The corpulent raccoon roadkill that died on your head' hat

It goes with a tweed outfit

@Izanawistaria Yes. Enough cannot be said about the wedding

Izana wistaria

So I'm Izana Wistaria. I was the First Prince and now the current King of Clarines. You can read more about me on Google.

My anime character I mean

Mitch

Today is not 'The Wedding' day because every day is 'talk about Meghan Markle' day

Izana wistaria

Not me, me

Mitch

@Izanawistaria You sound like a decorative climbing vine that grows over the portico

Am I close?

Izana wistaria

I'm not a prince in real life of course. Pfft. I wouldn't want to be a pompous bastard in real life. Online it is phun.

Mitch

18:35

I suppose one could write poetry about Markle, but that would be gilding the lily

Izana wistaria

@Mitch haha

Mitch

@Izanawistaria I know! Down with the monarchy!

Izana wistaria

Well it is all cartoon etc.

Up with the... can't think of a good word here.

Mitch

Tell that to the subcontinent and half of Africa

Izana wistaria

Yeah, sad places

Not that I dislike those places

Mitch

18:37

the other half of Africa was crippled by enlightmenment democracies

Færd

@Cerberus OK. I guess that's a problem I won't have outside of this region, or in English.

Izana wistaria

Africa makes me sad sometimes.

Færd

I get them both on the table on a regular basis.

Izana wistaria

It has been used by many

Cerberus

@Færd What's the problem?

@Izanawistaria And it has used others, and itself...

Mitch

18:38

@Færd Savory is pretty rare in the US. I don't think I've ever had it, and maybe seen it once in a grocery store

Færd

@Izanawistaria That I confuse it with tarragon.

@Mitch I think tarragon is more bitter and poignant.

Cerberus

But Africa is generally heading in the right direction.

Mitch

I think savory is closer to sage than to tarragon

Færd

Yeah they beloong to different families.

Mitch

but I also think they're in the same family

what's the opposite of 'jinx'?

Izana wistaria

18:40

@Færd Sorry, that was part of what I was saying to the other guy here.

Chats you know.

Færd

Hehe. Xnij.

Izana wistaria

So confusing

Cerberus

Oh, but sage is great.

It tastes nothing like tarragon?

Færd

@Cerberus This train is going to run over so many before arriving anywhere satisfactory.

Izana wistaria

@Cerberus No it is not. How?

Cerberus

18:42

@Færd Like whom?

Færd

Like those who die before seeing any results of that "right direction".

Cerberus

@Izanawistaria Less poverty, less AIDS, economic growth, more Internet access, etc. etc. etc.?

Izana wistaria

Got it

I see

Cerberus

Mitch

@Izanawistaria just read. Oh

I don't really know anime

Cerberus

18:48

Lots of reason for optimism.

Mitch

except... Death Note?

Færd

@Cerberus Well, of course.

Mitch

Is that anime?

And pokemon.

Færd

But sometimes all you need is nothing more than one of those children to bring you down.

Cerberus

Sure.

But the child could be anywhere in the world.

Mitch

18:50

@Cerberus i think sage and rosemary and oregano and tarragon are pretty close

basil is a little further off (the leaves are thinner and more salady)

Færd

That's how we're emotionally messed up. We don't respond to statistical growth and improvement the way we 'should'.

We deem killing one no worse than killing all, from an emotional perspective.

Mitch

coming from someone who is not exactly culinary producer. I'm more of an amateur on the consuming side.

Yeah. The news only reports bad things, but on the whole things are getting better everywhere

reads US news

sighs

Færd

Sigh on.

Mitch

My only solace is that people are idiots every where and that the US doesn't have a monopoly on stupidity

wait... that's not a particularly good kind of solace.

Færd

@Mitch Well, you're right there.

Mitch

18:55

On a brighter note, The Expanse was picked up by Amazon for a fourth season after being canceled by SyFy

And if you go outside at just the right time and look into the right general direction, you can see the International Space Station

Færd

Wave them a hello for me.

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