English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Feeds

00:27

0

Q: Is there a technical or semi-technical expression for occasionally misreading words?

I occasionally misread words. I estimate the error rate is roughly one in 25,000 to 50,000 words (roughly 100 pages), or a misread word several times a week. Examples: undeserved: should be underserved The Appian Way was lined with crocuses: should be The Appian Way was lined w...

Lumberjack

00:58

@Cerberus Oh my goodness! Those shoes!

What do you think would be a good tagline for an online company that specializes in Organic Vegan, Natuaral products? I'm asking for a friend. ;)

"All natural. All premium."

I think it would help if we knew more about the "products."

Knotell

01:15

Sigh

1

Q: For most patients, he will monitor you once every couple months

In this sentence which is correct "couple" or "couple of"?

usage

This has gotten 4 downvotes, which I think is a good thing--given that it shows no research and is otherwise off-topic for this site.

Nevertheless it has received an answer. And frankly I don't know what prompts people to write answers to questions that are so poorly written and off-topic.

So I wrote a meta-question

0

Q: How can we do a better job of having users not write answers to blatantly off-topic/not well-written questions?

The question title is For most patients, he will monitor you once every couple months and the actual question is In this sentence which is correct "couple" or "couple of"? 24-hours ago I asked about answering a SWR that had no research. Now I am asking about a question that was so poorly ...

discussion

And I am really, actually GENUINELY curious as to why the person who provided an answer to the question did so.

But I dont feel like I can ping the person here

Lumberjack

Jason provided an awesome answer to that question. It helped me, and it will surely help others. That the question was sub optimum isn't necessarily a deal breaker.

It is nice when OP returns to improve a poorly worded question, but it is not the norm. If we can use that question as an opportunity to help others and improve the site, why not do it?

Landing and taking off are technically two different things, so one might argue that it is legitimate to say "capabilities."

Cerberus

01:32

@Lumberjack I know!

@Lumberjack "Natural" would seem to fit the intended meaning.

"Premium" is not a term a pedant could approve of in good conscience.

Lumberjack

Oh come ON premium is good ad copy!

"All generic. All encompassing."

Cerberus

@Lumberjack Hah! It's so horrible.

@Knotell I think Lumberjack has explained it well.

People like to help other people and/or they don't feel it's off topic.

Lumberjack

Let the record show that @Cerberus is a self described pedant!

Cerberus

Naturally.

Although, in theory, there could be other reasons for my disapproval.

Lumberjack

Now, how do we get this stored on the way back machine?

Cerberus

01:47

Oh, I don't think that's necessary.

Lumberjack

Yeah, I agree, it is shitty ad copy. It doesn't matter OP dropped his question and moved on to greener pastures.

Cerberus

There would be too many confessions in this chat room's transcripts from the past eight years for me to find and delete.

@Lumberjack Let's hope he roams free and without care.

Lumberjack

Guarding the river styx is a hard job. Messy from time to time I'm sure.

Cerberus

Quite.

I have learned that they throw sawdust on large blood stains when someone was murdered on a street.

Perhaps I should try that.

Lumberjack

Me, I like to press wild flowers, dress in womens clothing, and hang around in bars.

Sawdust you say? How arcane.

Poor trees.

Can't be many trees in the underworld. maybe clay would be better?

Cerberus

01:51

@Lumberjack That sounds like a pleasurable pastime as well.

@Lumberjack Well, sawdust both soaks up the blood and camouflages it, while being easy and quick to throw down.

Lumberjack

Monty Python- Lumberjack Song FULL

►

Cerberus

No self-promotion in chat.

Lumberjack

Fair enough.

Cerberus

@Lumberjack Hah!

Now the wild flowers make more sense.

Feeds

0

Q: Whats is that word?

I am looking for a general word that describes any situation where you have two people and one person is projecting onto the other their own story, when that story is wrong. Example: Say Bob is a single guy, and he has a conversation with Sally at the water cooler during work. Joe their cowor...

single-word-requests

Lumberjack

01:57

Are you familiar with Monty Python? I have much better things I can send your way. :)

Cerberus

The woman is of course emphatically correct about sex on the television.

Lumberjack

Which woman is that?

Cerberus

I am familiar with it, but I don't know that much of their oeuvre. And I don't like everything aequally.

@Lumberjack At the end of the video.

Lumberjack

I didn't understand that bit. What does "I keep falling off" mean?

Oh !

HAHAHAHA!

Sex ON the television. God I am an imbecile. LOL

I'm so moronic that i'm not even embarrassed to admit, "I never got that joke before now."

Cerberus

@Lumberjack Yes, it is humour at such an abstract level that not all of us can comprehend it.

Youtube auto-linked me through to Rowan Atkinson's Devil scene; do you know it?

One of my favourites.

In another scene, Atkinson says, imitating Biblical language:

> And then took he forth a saw, ...

Do we feel that this word order is common in older English?

Lumberjack

02:10

I'll see if I can find it

Was it this one? youtube.com/watch?v=3jzHke83iWM

Cerberus

@Lumberjack Oh, sorry, yes.

The first scene of that video is the one I meant.

I'm now also watching the rest.

Although I am brushing my teeth before bed.

Lumberjack

Yes, I need to get moving in that direction.

Work comes early tomorrow.

Cerberus

Poor thee.

Lumberjack

Yes, but for work I surely would be!

Cerberus

Alas!

Lumberjack

02:15

One final shot on the topic of Monty Python: they were ahead of their time. This is one of my favorites: youtube.com/watch?v=sFBOQzSk14c

Which is nobody's fault, not even the Romans.

Cerberus

@Lumberjack Hah.

But why "ahead of their time"?

Lumberjack

Maybe that is a false assumption on my part, but it seems that gender issues have been an ever more prevalent issue in the last few years.

The topic of gender has been on the main stage of debate in the USA for the last few years at least.

Cerberus

Oh, perhaps so.

It has garnered more attention.

But it has been on the agenda somewhat less prominently for many decades now.

And it could be argued that it was even more prominent at the height of a feminist wave or two in the past century.

Lumberjack

I should have figured. It seems like the older I get the more I realize: as much as our civilization changes with technology, it stays the same with social issues.

I think Jordan Petersen is right. At the root it is about Power Hierarchies. It is what we are evolved to be.

Cerberus

02:32

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

You'll have to explain there power hierarchies to me another time.

But I should venture to suggest that there is more to human life and society than power and hierarchy alone.

Lumberjack

02:57

@Cerberus @Cerberus Oh undoubtedly, and thank goodness for that.

Feeds

03:13

0

Q: Are my half siblings related to my half brother?

My parents Bianca and Ivan are currently married and have always been since before I was born. Both of my parents have had previous relationships in the past. Bianca had a previous relationship with Henry and have a son named John, making John my half brother. Ivan had a previous relationship wit...

single-word-requests kinship-terms

Feeds

06:28

0

Q: Collective term for bees, wasps, hornets, etc

Is there a collective term to describe bees, wasps, hornets, and the like?

single-word-requests collective-nouns

Feeds

06:58

0

Q: How to reference to a numbered list item

In my language when I would like to add some more context/explanation to some point in a numbered list I write it like so: First. Second. ad 1. This is some text explaining item 1. We took ad from latin so I thought that it is used also in English, but when I used it, readers a...

single-word-requests expression-requests

Feeds

07:13

0

Q: Is there a word to describe this psychological manipulation technique?

There are some concepts that we simply can't put into words, they are just stuck in our heads unable to be expressed. Here is one such concept... Lets say two people make a deal to share the same car which they bought together each paying 50% of the cost. Each person can use the car 50% of the t...

single-word-requests expressions

RegDwigнt

09:02

@Feeds whoever upvotes that off-topic nonsense belongs banned from this site forever.

RegDwigнt

10:38

-1

Q: I and at Both of difference between

Please tell me which one is correct I will see you at class. I will see you in class.

sentence

I and at both of difference between.

Feeds

12:29

0

Q: What's the verb for prostitute?

If the prostitute solicits, the costumers what? The Japanese players were sent home for _____ prostitutes? Did they rent the prostitute?

single-word-requests verbs

Mitch

12:59

@Cerberus Or someone with even the slightest bit of taste.

And yet, it's used for everything

Cerberus

Thank you.

Mitch

Gasoline. Paper towels. Toothpaste?

Cerberus

I'm glad we don't have that here.

Mitch

I don't want to put that nasty 'regular' toothpaste on my teeth

Premium roach traps?

premium cheese?

Now that is gilding the lily.

Cerberus

My toothpaste.

Still has a couple of ugly liar's phrases.

Mitch

13:02

@Cerberus "I confess I was kidding the whole time"

Done.

Cerberus

@Mitch I'm afraid it doesn't work that way.

Do they sell Zendium in your country?

Mitch

@Cerberus and protein maximization

power, hierarchy, protein maximization

and sex

Cerberus

What is that?

Mitch

power, hierarchy, protein maximization, and sex

and ego fulfillment

Cerberus

Did you see the part about sex in that video?

Mitch

13:06

@Cerberus The reasons for stuff

Cerberus

It's only 15 seconds.

Mitch

@Cerberus what?

scrambles to play video

Cerberus

Monty Python- Lumberjack Song FULL

►

Here is the video at the correct time frame.

Mitch

@Cerberus not being able to read, the only one that seems immediately BS is 'prozyme' system, because that's not a scientific thing.

Cerberus

It's more like 8 seconds, actually.

Mitch

13:09

@Cerberus nope. first I've seen it.

Cerberus

@Mitch Yes, that is the only pseudo-sciency thing. The rest is just meaningless self-praise.

@Mitch OK.

Mitch

@Cerberus A shame.

That's a pretty old joke though.

um... yes MP is old.

Cerberus

Well, how would you have protracted it?

Mitch

but

older than that?

Cerberus

I don't really know.

The type of joke is familiar.

Mitch

13:11

@Cerberus it says 'new' at the top (or something like that. Surely it is a new formula. Don't your teeth feel better already?

Cerberus

But that specific joke I had not heard before.

@Mitch It also says "complete".

And it uses English Words like "classic", so it must be modern.

And it says "fortifies the immunity of the mouth".

And "effective protection for teeth & gums".

And "scientifically proven // Zendium Prozyme System".

Only thing is, they don't say what's been proven.

Mitch

@Cerberus Yes, it's a complete regimen of teeth cleaning paste preparation. Your mouth will feel wonderful, even ecstatic, and so will you. Other people wil recognize the extra spring in your step, your extra confidence. People will be happy to do things for you and will recognize your general excellence. People will look up to you. They will seek out your advice, even your superiors at work. Some may even resign on condition that you fill their position, once they recognize that...

It all starts with a new formula of toothpaste.

Cerberus

Are you their secret 'influencer'?

Mitch

@Cerberus You should just trust them.

@Cerberus I get paid by the word

Cerberus

Are you a cult?

Mitch

13:16

Here's a word: excrescence

Probably not the best one for toothpaste copy

"Removes abscesses"

Wait... "Prevents abscesses"

much better

If you get an abscess that means you didn't use enough

Cerberus

Doesn't sound particularly attractive.

Mitch

"Prevents most tongue and gum pustules"

"New flavor not at all reminiscent of corpses"

Cerberus

Lovely.

Mitch

"Successfully defended against most wrongful death lawsuits"

Cerberus

"Very low chance of instant death"?

Mitch

13:25

haha

Cerberus

Let's buy a ton.

And treat the room to a round on the house.

Mitch

amazon instant order' sent off

Cerberus

You're supposed to eat tooth paste after the brushing, right?

Mitch

@Cerberus hm..a party.

@Cerberus no, you are.

Cerberus

Oh.

Mitch

13:26

or you can save it for later

Cerberus

I thought it was like chewing gum.

Mitch

like for a week. have it as a big sunday dessert

I used to save chewing gum.

chew it some more the next day

when I was much younger

like last... no two years ago

it's being thrifty

Cerberus

Cute.

You could have been Dutch.

Mitch

You could have been American!

@Cerberus More importantly, in Dutch do you palatalize 's's before 't' and 'k' like German? eg 'weerstand' in that toothpast for 'immunity' is that /verʃtant/?

@T_Dwyer Liam neeson will play a soft drinks maker hell-bent on revenge in A Load of Codswallop

Tweeted by Harryegg on August 18, 2018 at 2:00 PM in reply to T_Dwyer

Cerberus

13:44

@Mitch Never.

Mitch

so /ver stant/?

Cerberus

We don't have /ʃ/ in Dutch except in loan words.

b_jonas

Asimov, or whoever was the editor of the short story "Mother Earth" in its first publication, has written "an historian" consistently instead of "a historian": archive.org/stream/Astounding_v43n03_1949-05_cape1736#page/n58/… . Don't you just love the English language and its uniformity?

Cerberus

Something like /'wɪər,stant/, yes.

@b_jonas That is perfectly conventional!

An followed by an h with an unstressed short vowel.

b_jonas

Apparently there's considerable variation between dialects and which h-words they pronounce with or without the h.

Cerberus

13:46

An hotel, an hilarious clown.

Quite!

b_jonas

Some people pronounce almost every h.

Cerberus

Yes, and some people even say "a apple".

I think.

terdon

@Cerberus Ewww!

Cerberus

Now, now.

In Greek, h isn't even a letter!

terdon

An historian yes, of course, but an hotel!? How dare you!

Lawrence

13:49

@b_jonas "the English language and [her] uniformity"

:)

Cerberus

terdon

@Lawrence English As She Is Spoke ? :P

Lawrence

@terdon Indeed!

Hello @Lumberjack!

Cerberus

So was spoke ever a participle?

terdon

I think it was just the first of many errors in an error-prone book, but I don't know for sure.

Cerberus

13:54

Can anyone think of anything I would need from Ikea?

@terdon Hmm I see.

terdon

English As She Is Spoke

English As She Is Spoke is the common name of a 19th-century book written by Pedro Carolino, and falsely additionally credited to José da Fonseca, which was intended as a Portuguese–English conversational guide or phrase book, but is regarded as a classic source of unintentional humour, as the given English translations are generally completely incoherent. The humour appears to be a result of dictionary-aided literal translation, which causes many idiomatic expressions to be translated wildly inappropriately. For example, the Portuguese phrase chover a cântaros is translated as raining in jars...

Cerberus

Ikea is far outside the inner city, and it's an awfully large place, so I never go there. But now someone offered to buy stuff for me there.

Mitch

@Lawrence her -> their

@Cerberus Ooh, yes. Let me draw up a shopping list...

Cerberus

Yay.

Mitch

1. That fish goop in a tube

(a little too awfuly like a toothpaste tube)

2. a kitchen. The one on the left.

get one of the prebuilt ones, those are easier to install

Lawrence

13:57

@Mitch Now now, let's be chivalrous.

Mitch

you may have to get it into your apartment through a window though

Cerberus

@Mitch Sounds terribly inviting.

@Mitch I don't need a kitchen.

And it might be a bit too big to carry by hand.

@Mitch Blaaah!

Mitch

@Cerberus Oh yeah you do. Trust my fashion advice. That kitchen you have now...

Cerberus

My kitchen is fairly uninspiring.

Mitch

I've seen raccoons who have kept better kitchens

Cerberus

13:58

But it does the job.

Mitch

haha that was mean.

To raccoons!

Cerberus

It's actually not that filthy!

Lawrence

You can cook a surprising variety with just a microwave.

Mitch

@Cerberus hahha because thats the pronoun English prefers.

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…