English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

5:00 PM

But European banks had been doing the same thing, too, and also with bonds: they had been buying overvalued bonds from countries like Greece, Italy, Spain.

So suddenly banks were sitting on a bubble of bad mortgages and bonds, all cut up and mixed together and sold on and on.

But you probably knew that.

It was a bit like cutting cocaine. If you add enough rat poison, at some point everybody dies.

Mitch

@Cerberus The primary rat poison, warfarin, is the first medication used to prevent strokes.

(prevent blood clots from forming)

Cerberus

But probably in smaller doses.

Mitch

So what happens to rats is that they get too much and they bleed internally til they die

Cerberus

I see.

Poor things.

But bad things.

Ecosystem are pyramids.

Mitch

@Cerberus yes, and you have to have you blood tested every week to make sure that you're not taking too much.

and even small bumps causing a bruise can be dangerous (not heal)

Cerberus

5:03 PM

Just like the pyramid I was trying to create but which you undercut.

Mitch

@Cerberus People are dirty stinky things. It's only good for us that they leave us really good things to eat. Aged and fermented just right.

Cerberus

@Mitch My father had more nose bleeds after taking this stuff to prevent arteries from clogging up.

Mitch

@Cerberus which pyramid? the rat hierarchy pyramid, where you're the king of the rats?

Don't make me laugh.

haha. too late. you made me laugh

@Cerberus exactly

Cerberus

This was my attempted pyramid.

But it needed to be taller.

Higher.

Mitch

@Cerberus oh

Cerberus

5:07 PM

Yes.

OMG you did it again, to my subterranean inverted pyramid.

Mitch

haha i screwed up your upside down one

Cerberus

SO MAD

Mitch

stupid rat-hater

Cerberus

Remind me to screw up your next geometrical figure.

Mitch

.

hah

that was it

o

another one

Cerberus

5:08 PM

Too little!

Mitch

O

one more

Cerberus

This looks wrong.

Mitch

your screen ratio is wrong

Cerberus

<placeholder to screw up Mitch>

Mitch

that won't work the way you think it will. I don't think

Cerberus

5:10 PM

I don't have a screen ratio.

Educ

5:30 PM

we say :

thank you for your response or respond

or Thank you for your prompt reply.

Mitch

5:44 PM

That's weird

argh! foiled again in geometric patterns!

@Educ -> "Do we say:"

@Educ "Thank you for your response."

Educ

@Mitch Tes Do we say : Thank you for your prompt reply.

Mitch

@Educ "Thank you for your prompt response."

Educ

@Mitch so it's weird to say : Thank you for your prompt reply.

@Mitch ah okay

Mitch

I may be having a 'repeating it over and over again until it sounds right when it really isn't moment' but...

Educ

Thank you

Mitch

5:47 PM

'prompt reply' sounds off to me at this moment

Educ

@Mitch okay I see Thank you

Mitch

@Educ Yeah. I think so. There doesn't seem to be any logical reason for it, I'm just telling you how I feel (and sometimes that's al the justification that is possible).

But I may be overthinking it.

Educ

@Mitch No worries feel free to tell me what you think about my sentences

Mitch

"No worries. Feel free to tell me what you think about my sentences."

haha

but I'm right

Educ

:p

yes I know that

Cerberus

5:54 PM

@Mitch Hmm it sounds OK to me?

MetaEd

Are we thanking in advance?

Cerberus

Mitch

@Cerberus I'm now wondering very strongly how they do their counting (and searching for counting).

Færd

@MetaEd Hmm I missed the analogy. Voldemort doesn't wear an orange rug, does he?

Mitch

Is it a search for all documents with the string? And then they sort by data then aggregate by date?

Færd

6:00 PM

@Mitch A bit too late to throw those guys under the bus for everything now.

Cerberus

Examples.

Mitch

@Færd Good point. But...

Cerberus

@Mitch Yes, how else?

MetaEd

Cerberus

By documents you mean books, presumably.

MetaEd

6:01 PM

@Færd @Færd

Færd

@Cerberus Thanks for the explanation. So you're saying the catastrophe in the US wasn't enough to upset the balance in world economy? I didn't know the extent to which Europe was struggling with the same problem.

Mitch

@Cerberus "I appeal to your manhood for a prompt reply" ???

"I appeal to your mother's maiden name for a prompt reply" would make as much sense.

MetaEd

@Mitch The little guy may not be too smart, but he doesn't leave you hanging.

Cerberus

@Færd I don't know what would have happened if many other countries hadn't been playing a similar games, as they did.

Færd

OK.

Cerberus

6:04 PM

One thing to note is that a lot of damage was done by European banks buying up cut American mortgages.

Færd

Uh-huh.

Cerberus

So is that part of the American problem, or is it a European problem?

Mitch

@MetaEd Which brings up an important point which undoubtedly has been answered multiple times: Does 'Quirrel' rhyme with 'squirrel' or with 'ear ull'?

Færd

It's a common problem!

Cerberus

@Mitch I presume they don't mean 'manhood' in that one sense, but rather as in "your manly honour"?

@Færd Indeed.

Færd

6:05 PM

But it's football time.

How could you guys sit here and chat casually while the WC is going on!

Mitch

@Færd I don't know. People are still blaming the Germans for everything, but they've moved on. Always remember, but I don't know about how much you can hold against the great-grandkids

Unless they're total entitled dicks.

Cerberus

But suppose European banks had not been deregulated (along with American banks) in the 80s and 90s, and only American banks had bought and cut up and resold the bad American mortgages: what would have happened then? The crisis would probably have been somewhat less bad.

MetaEd

@Mitch That depends on how you pronounce "squirrel".

Cerberus

@Færd Nobody cares!

Sorry.

Mitch

@Cerberus I didn't interpret it any other way. I don't know what Meathead is talking about

Cerberus

6:07 PM

Actually, if I turn right, I can see a football game.

On a huge screen in the café opposite my house.

Mitch

@MetaEd Which brings up an important point which undoubtedly has been answered multiple times: Does 'squirrel' rhyme with 'whirl' or with 'ear ull'?

Cerberus

@Mitch Hmm Meathead?

Mitch

@Færd It's pretty easy

Cerberus

Oh, the horse.

@Mitch Hmm I should think whirl?

Maybe if you want to pronounce it extra clearly?

Færd

@Mitch Or they're reaping the benefits of their grand-grandfathers' loot, and refuse to take responsibility for it.

Mitch

6:09 PM

@Cerberus Yes. But only if you are capallivorous

MetaEd

10 Germans trying to say the word "squirrel" | Super Funny | English Trying to say Eichhörnchen

►

Mitch

@Færd = entitled?

Færd

@Cerberus I would think so.

Mitch

or maybe just obtuse

Cerberus

@Færd They were occupied. Almost all loot was returned.

And they were devastated.

Germany suffered more damage than any other country save perhaps Russia.

Or maybe some other Eastern European country.

Mitch

6:10 PM

@Cerberus perhaps?

Cerberus

Yes, perhaps?

Not perhaps?

Mitch

Russia won the war for everybody else and lost by far the most people

Cerberus

But the financial damage.

Færd

@Cerberus Update me, when did Britain made reparations to India?

Cerberus

I suspect Germany had far more cities bombed to the ground.

@Færd Oh, I thought this was about Germany.

I didn't click through enough times.

Maybe I will once I get my new computer and everything's fast again.

Færd

6:12 PM

Germany had the bad luck to lose.

MetaEd

I learned to pronounce squirrel from Boris and Natasha.

Mitch

@MetaEd You're Fearless Leader?

Færd

@Cerberus I couldn't care less that you don't care.

MetaEd

@Mitch It's really unfortunate that this image has transparency.

Cerberus

@Mitch Yes, yes.

@Færd Good.

Færd

6:14 PM

In fact I'm not caring that much either.

MetaEd

@Mitch i am number six

Mitch

@Færd So who's playing right now?

Færd

The football is going on and I'm sitting my ass behind this computer chatting along with y'all.

Cerberus

@MetaEd Why? I looks kind of nice?

Mitch

The Martians vs the Belters?

Færd

6:14 PM

@Mitch Iran vs Portugal.

Cerberus

As though it belonged in this room.

Mitch

Ganymede colony vs Titan?

Cerberus

@Færd Very good.

Færd

@Cerberus leaves the room

Cerberus

Whatever happens in the match won't change depending on your watching, nor will it happen any time sooner or later.

Mitch

6:15 PM

@Færd pfft 14 minutes...nobody scores until minute 89 anyway

Cerberus

@Færd Nooo.

Mitch

@Cerberus I don't think you understand how this 'sports' thing works.

Færd

comes back

Cerberus

I like playing sports well enough.

Mitch

The players on the field are subtly moved by a collective thought pattern

Cerberus

6:16 PM

But why people enjoy watching something so simple and boring for hours on end is beyond me.

Mitch

all the chaos is really in the fans' brains.

It is totally deterministic.

Færd

@Mitch My great-granny used to say, "Why don't they give them a ball each to play with and not run after the only ball in the field?".

Cerberus

It is like all those Chinese games that are pure luck.

Why do people enjoy Mah Jong, except as a cultural ritual?

Mitch

Studies have shown that reducing beer intake before and during the game on one side leads to the sober group of fans' team winning

MetaEd

@Cerberus When I click it to enlarge, it comes up with a black background and nearly all the text disappears.

Mitch

6:17 PM

It's science

@Færd hahahha. old lady.

@Cerberus What?

Cerberus

I mean, I like to build the wall and learn the names of the special dragons and whatnot, but the mechanics are super boring and all about luck.

@MetaEd Oh! What browser?

Firefox.

Mitch

@MetaEd Oh. It was the rare one I could find that didn't scale everything by percent of population. Which is really misleading.

Færd

@Cerberus That you find it boring doesn't mean there's not enough to hold others' attention.

Mitch

@Cerberus I just had no idea it was all luck

like solitaire

or Uno

Cerberus

@Mitch Wot wot?

Mitch

6:19 PM

all it does is teach you to feel bad about losing

Is that what modern child upbringing is all about?

Is that how the west won?

Cerberus

@Færd Apparently, there is. But I still cannot understand why.

Mitch

practice at losing?

Cerberus

@Mitch It may be wore than Solitaire.

I don't get why people like poker that much either. It is only slightly better.

Mitch

@Færd I'm pretty sure that Cerb's attention strength arbitrates everyone else's

That's just logic

@Cerberus Oh. That actually is a skill. They say the cards don't matter and it is mostly about psychology and bluffing other people.

Cerberus

There is the bluffing, yes. But bluffing is also partly about luck.

And the cards do matter, that is, you win more if you get better cards.

In bridge, tournaments are played with duplicate tables.

That takes out most of the luck.

Should bridge get a capital B?

Mitch

6:23 PM

The only skills in blackjack are counting cards and the grid for when to hold/hit (which are both memory skills, not strategy skills)

@Cerberus It's not luck if some people can repeatedly win

Cerberus

Mitch

(or the probability goes down exponentially the more they win)

Cerberus

Look how much fun Mahjong looks.

It looks great.

@Mitch It's less luck than Mahjong, as I said.

Mitch

@Cerberus I like the card games for the snacks and drinks.

Cerberus

But there is still a ton of luck.

Mitch

6:24 PM

and then I don't bother with the cards

Cerberus

@Mitch Then why not play a card game that is actually fun.

Like Bridge.

See, it has a capital.

Mitch

that one has a capital, but most don't

Cerberus

Still, you should play it.

Do you?

Mitch

anyway, back to the World Cup that we're missing

Cerberus

No, let's talk about funner games!

MetaEd

6:28 PM

Go for strategy, Backgammon for wagering.

Mitch

> Iran needs a win to guarantee last 16 spot, draw enough for Portugal

Educ

morroco 1

@Mitch Morocco 1

Mitch

nice

Educ

@Mitch :)

Mitch

@Cerberus There's nothing more fun than drinking beer with your Kumpeln, eating a bratwurs OFFSIDES! MF'ing REFERREE SHOULD BE STRUNG UP! DID YOU SEE THAT FAKER!

I was at a fascist riot once and a soccer game broke out.

Cerberus

6:32 PM

Or the other way around?

Or does it matter?

Mitch

@Cerberus No. I remember trying to learn and just not getting it. If you don't play right, it makes it really bad for your partner, especially if they care about the game

Cerberus

They shouldn't.

It should be fun for everyone.

So you got a bad partner in that regard.

But, yes, it does take a while to 'get' it.

MetaEd

Solution: play a game that's fun to lose.

Cerberus

At least a couple of rounds.

Bridge can be fun enough if you lose.

Maybe not if you draw really bad cards for like 6 rounds in a row.

Mitch

I like War..where you just lay down cards one by one and the higher one gets both. The winner is the one that gets all of them at the end.

How do you deal with ties, you may well ask.

you lay down three extra cards face down, and the 4th decides.

What if that one is a tie?

Keep going.

So now you ask, what is the strategy to all that? It's determined by the order of the original deck.

The strategy is to sometimes just take a pair that the other person won.

It's not exactly cheating, it's more of a hedge

MetaEd

6:40 PM

Playing to lose: hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Janx_Spirit

Cerberus

@Mitch Ugh, I remember that game.

Mitch

@MetaEd isn't there a game where you play to be mediocre? That is to win and lose about equal measure. That is you try to be the most mediocre to win. And then you have a meta game where you try to be the most mediocre at being mediocre (and you try to win that). It's mediocrity al the way down.

@Cerberus another game that teaches everybody that losing sucks, and for no good reason.

Cerberus

@Mitch Something similar is what we call peasant's bridge.

MetaEd

There's always drinking games

Cerberus

Instead of a communicative bidding round, you have to make a single bid before each round, as to how many tricks you will make.

And every trick over or under that number is a malus point.

Does that sound familiar?

MetaEd

6:52 PM

And then there's NOMIC.

Which is a drinking game, if you like.

Mitch

7:35 PM

@Cerberus interesting, but no, never heard of it

Cerberus

Hmm.

Educ

Morocco 2 vs 1 spain

Mitch

7:50 PM

Woo hoo!

Portugal 1 vs 0 Iran

Boo hoo.

Færd

9:21 PM

@Mitch It ended up a drawer.

We leave the Cup, but we did fight in style.

@Cerberus Talk about fun being lost on some people.

Cerberus

Hmm?

Færd

Did I really say drawer?

A draw, I meant.

@Cerberus Exactly.

Cerberus

A Freudian slip?

What lady's drawers were you thinking of?

Færd

The ones where they keep their half-slips.

They look gorgeous in those.

Mitch

9:38 PM

@Færd which half?

@Færd those last couple minutes is when things happen

Færd

@Mitch I'm gonna leave that to your imagination.

Mitch

@Cerberus he was thinking of the drawer that the garments are kept in

Cerberus

10:07 PM

@Færd That's a new word for me!

But Google Images told me what it is.

@Mitch An odd fetish.

Feeds

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single-word-requests

lılostafa

11:05 PM

Quick question: which one is correct (do or does): Each of the two modules (does/do) the expected job.

It should be "does" but "do" sounds normal to me too...

Andrew Leach

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lılostafa

@AndrewLeach Nice, thanks :)

Feeds

11:43 PM

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single-word-requests names

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…