English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Robusto

00:00

@MattE.Эллен Stop, you're getting @tchrist all in a lather.

Jul 16 '14 at 12:48, by Robusto

Heh. When I was just coding on my own I used emacs. Then I started working for companies, and so the IDE thing began.

Feeds

03:47

1

Q: Technical term for an outrageous exaggeration

I have a mind blank for a term in English. I wanted to describe a sentence I made. It's a technical term for when making an outrageous claim, not based in fact, but used for the purpose of impressing. For example "The best show in the universe!" Jeremy Clarkson often makes this kind of statem...

Cerberus

04:19

@Færd An article about the growing power of extreme Christians in Brazil.

bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-10-04/…

They're even bigger than I thought.

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Offensive body detected, toxic body detected (114): What’s do you call someone who’s attempting something they previously failed and gave up on, must be demeaning by Adodinge on english.SE

Cerberus

And have you read about Bolsonaro's shocking result of 46% in the first round?

CowperKettle

08:30

1

Q: Does this inversion take any effect, "Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."?

Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to -- everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape." I think the normal order of the sentence in bold is: Snape...

sentence-construction inversion

Interesting question. Maybe it's not an inversion per se.

Will Hunting

09:59

@Cerberus Is it shockingly low or shockingly high?

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Url in title, bad keyword in body, bad keyword in title, bad keyword in username, blacklisted website in body, +1 more (582): www.ebizoffer.com/rapid-spot-nutrition-forskolin/ by RapidSpot on english.SE

RegDwigнt

10:48

@Robusto there is absolutely no difference in sound between one hand and two hands for as long as you don't also involve an ear.

Also, emacs is for losers. True men use elm and pine. And that's how I first got to talk to @tchrist.

Feeds

12:08

0

Q: Word for short-term license

I'm looking for a word or expression for a short term license for an app. Users will pay for a license to use the software for a couple of hours or days. I have considered some words but none seem to be perfect. Here are the main ones, and reservations I have about using them: License This seem...

single-word-requests expression-requests

Cerberus

12:43

@WillHunting Shockingly high.

He said politicians from the largest party ought to be executed.

He said another politician was 'too ugly to rape'.

He said the period of the military dictatorship was fine.

He said they should have executed 30,000 people then.

He said torture is fine.

Etc.

RegDwigнt

13:14

@Cerberus How is any of that shocking when half the people actually agree with it?

When 99 out of 100 people disagree, then yes, that one other person is clearly Hitler.

But when 46 out of 100 people share the view, it's a fine view to have.

And hey, if they are a-okay with randomly executing 30k people, we can just randomly execute 30k of them. That's rather convenient, I must say.

MetaEd

16:00

@RegDwigнt I used Elm. I tried to live in Emacs but it was a twisty maze of passages, all different.

@Cerberus In my locale I would not call that liberalism but libertarianism.

Mitch

@MetaEd And full sexual freedom for men is called 'libertinism'

And full freedom of ideas is 'librarianism'

And rule by small West African nations is called 'Liberianism'

MetaEd

@mitch And being punished for stealing fire is livertearianism.

Mitch

And rule by that one Roman Emperor is 'Tiberianism'

and freedom of root vegetables is 'Tuberianism'

MetaEd

@Mitch And better living through engine additives is lubrizology.

Mitch

there's fried potatoes, boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes, creamed potatoes, scalloped potatoes, french fries, waffle fries, steak fries, shoestring cut, wedge cut, steak cut (not the same as steak fries), curlycue

@MetaEd little known fact, that's actually 'tribology'

I had a 'Slumdog Millionaire' experience which taught me that word.

Don't worry, no one was hurt.

Not physically

sigh

but back to root vegetables

MetaEd

16:11

@Mitch I tried bology but I had to switch to mathmagic.

Mitch

there's sweet potatoes, yams (which are not sweet potatoes but as far as I'm concerned can be treated identically because they're both nasty and I will never eat them again).

@MetaEd When math becomes magic, then beggars would ride.

there's parsnips, and turnips, and rutabagas and swedes. You can make 'noodles' from these shaved, or noodles from these 'floured'.

You could do ll these with carrots but then you're just being weird

You can make carrot cake, but goddam you if you try to make rutabaga cake.

And that's about it.

I just saw Forrest, Forrest Gump, last night

Came out same year as 1) The Matrix, and 2) Jerry Maguire

Are memorable movies like those still being made?

If I never see another Marvel Universe based movie, I woudn't notice.

@MetaEd So where does your avatar come from?

A Fibonacci/von Neumann spiral?

A stylized map of the inhabitaed Federation solar systems, centered on Vulcan?

The electron shells of titanium?

A picture of a man dancing kinda weird?

MetaEd

16:29

@Mitch It's the Ulam spiral. It looks to me more like Kokopelli meets Rudolph.

Mitch

oops. yeah. Ulam. I'm sure von Neumann and Ulam knew each other

MetaEd

@Mitch Wasn't there a prime time docudrama about it?

Or maybe it was a drama time docuprime.

Mitch

Who is Kokopelli? Who is Rudolph?

Wikipedia says "Kokopelli is a fertility deity, usually depicted as a humpbacked flute player (often with feathers or antenna-like protrusions on his head)..."

They had me at flute

Cerberus

@MetaEd Perhaps it would be wiser to distinguish between this colloquial use and the standard meaning of the word, which has always included economic freedoms.

MetaEd

> Outside the ordered universe is that amorphous blight of nethermost confusion which blasphemes and bubbles at the center of all infinity—the boundless daemon sultan Azathoth, whose name no lips dare speak aloud, and who gnaws hungrily in inconceivable, unlighted chambers beyond time and space amidst the muffled, maddening beating of vile drums and the thin monotonous whine of accursed flutes.

Cerberus

16:42

In fact, liberals are responsible for the end of mercantilism and various economic monopolies.

Liberalism

Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on liberty and equality. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but they generally support civil rights, democracy, secularism, gender and race equality, internationalism and the freedoms of speech, the press, religion and markets.Liberalism became a distinct movement in the Age of Enlightenment, when it became popular among Western philosophers and economists. Liberalism sought to replace the norms of hereditary privilege, state religion, absolute monarchy, the divine right of kings a...

If you read the entire introduction, that seems like a fairly comprehensive description.

MetaEd

@Cerberus You're part of the conversation now :-)

Cerberus

?

MetaEd

Somebody grab me a beer. We're making philosophy.

Cerberus

Just politics!

MetaEd

2 days ago, by Cerberus

Thirdly, stop having such discussions without me!!

Cerberus

16:44

Oh, OK.

Yay!

Many people confuse and conflate terms like democracy, liberalism, and the rule of law.

And also leftist, progressive, conservative, reactionary.

Some of which are admittedly complex or even vague.

And there are many parties that call themselves liberal but that are in fact less than that, like the Dutch or Canadian 'liberal' parties.

The liberal faction in the European Parliament, however, seems to be fairly liberal in the true sense.

MetaEd

@Mitch You're welcome.

Cerberus

Even though it is composed of a variety of parties not all of which are super liberal.

MetaEd

@Cerberus I prefer inflation over conflation.

Cerberus

Not inspiration?

After all, spiro and flo both mean "to blow".

A bit like halo.

@RegDwigнt Bot most people in Brazil do not agree with that.

They just want change and a strong leader.

They believe he 'doesn't really mean' all of those things.

And in the polls he got only about 32%. So 46% is unexpected.

MetaEd

Use ambigram in a sentence. When you talk back to your ambigram, she can smack you with either free hand.

Andrew Leach

16:57

@MetaEd That's the answer. It's come up on GD, but I couldn't find it.

Mitch

@MetaEd I prefer exsufflation to insufflation

my own that is

Cerberus

@MetaEd I couldn't use hybrid words.

@AndrewLeach An answer to what?

Andrew Leach

23

Q: Is there a name for text that reads the same upside-down?

This is similar to a palindrome but, instead of a word/sentence that reads the same forwards and backward, is there a word for words/sentences that read the same right side up and upside-down? See picture below where the word "yeah" is written in cursive:

single-word-requests terminology typography

Cerberus

Ah, that question.

Someone invented a hybrid word.

But it isn't nice.

Nor even descriptive of what it's supposed to designate.

Andrew Leach

17:13

Unfortunate indeed. Rather like television.

MetaEd

@Mitch I prefer just about anything to soufflé. My own that is

Cerberus

@AndrewLeach Exactly.

Mitch

@Cerberus that's a load of schadenjoy

JBis

Hi

Is there a stronger version of the word "insinuate"? I know it means to hint at indirectly.

But I am looking for something that is more than "hint" but still indirectly.

Cerberus

@Mitch Shut super!

@JBis We'd need more context.

Have you filled in "insinuate" in an online thesaurus?

JBis

17:30

A Napoleon quote to his army regarding Italian conquest: "...but there is one condition you must swear to fulfill—to respect the people whom you liberate..." By saying "liberate" he is insinuating that the Italians need freeing because they are being held prisoner by their own government.

@Cerberus Found "allude" but that basically the same thing. "Hint"

Cerberus

@JBis Implying.

Or even assuming.

But I think insinuating works fine in that sentence.

JBis

Implying may work. "strongly suggest".

@Cerberus Thanks for the help :)

Mitch

'suggest' by itself is weaker than 'insinuate'

but is not necessarily on the same dimension

MetaEd

18:25

@JBis Wouldn't "implying" work in that context also

Cerberus

@JBis Good luck!

@MetaEd See above.

RegDwigнt

@MetaEd Emacs is not an editor, it's an OS. Which is a "no shit, Sherlock" type of statement now, but I still remember the days when you'd sound facetious or controversial for saying that. People only gradually dropped the act and turned it into just that. Last time I checked back on it, it would run Tetris and Snake and whatnot. And yes, maze games as well.

By now it probably runs Quake.

I've not checked in a decade or so.

@Cerberus most people in Brazil do not agree on anything at all save for the one statement "Brazil is teh awesum". Which is why most people outside of Brazil find most people in Brazil rather annoying.

Cerberus

Most Brazilians aren't violent!

Nor is my Brazilian friend.

MetaEd

@RegDwigнt Those things are possible not because it's an OS, but because it contains a macro language, which is a full-on LISP implementation. It's still an OS though.

RegDwigнt

18:40

I know so many Brazilians who've lived in like Germany or UK or whatever for 30 years now, and are still genuinely convinced that Germany or UK or whatever is utter shit and Brazil is the only place on Earth that's worth living in. Even though when they go visit for a month, they found themselves in the exact same shithole they left back 30 years ago.

@MetaEd Yeah I also remember the days when Reddit was 90% LISP. And 9% Paul Graham, and 1% Joel Spolsky. That is all that was on there. Ever. Ah, the memories.

Nowadays more kids know about assembly than about LISP. And absolutely nobody knows about assembly.

Meaning to say, I think Emacs is Skynet by now, just idly developing itself in the background.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt Not my Brazilian friend!

Which is exactly why he thinks Bolsonaro might not be such a bad idea, anything for change...

RegDwigнt

Hah.

Cerberus

Skynet was written in Autohotkey, you know that.

RegDwigнt

Skynet invented Autohotkey. So you would do its work for it.

Cerberus

So it's circular?

RegDwigнt

18:47

It's enslaving you.

Cerberus

Petitio principii?

Can't rape the willing!

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus No Nahuatl in this chat.

Cerberus

You probably know that expression. I don't know popular it is outside Holland.

RegDwigнt

@Cerberus please go post that on Tumblr. Or even just Twitter.

I'll actually pay you.

Cerberus

@RegDwigнt Quetzalcoatl yourself.

@RegDwigнt Why?

RegDwigнt

18:49

If you have to ask, you must be new to life.

But all the better for my entertainment value.

Cerberus

I'm new to social sites.

I try not to use them.

This site is annoying enough.

RegDwigнt

Yeah that's why we try to keep it asocial. Just for you.

Cerberus

Thanks.

Is aso also a common abbreviation in Germany?

RegDwigнt

Who?

Cerberus

Do.

RegDwigнt

18:50

Ah yes. No. Maybe?

Cerberus

We use aso both for asocial behaviour, as in, you shouldn't park your bike against those people's front door, that's really aso.

But also, look at those asos hanging out by the snackbar.

RegDwigнt

Wer bin ich – und wenn ja, wie viele?

Wer bin ich – und wenn ja, wie viele? Eine philosophische Reise ist ein im Jahr 2007 veröffentlichtes Sachbuch des deutschen Philosophen und Publizisten Richard David Precht. Es war 16 Wochen lang im Jahr 2008 auf dem Platz 1 der Spiegel-Bestsellerliste. == Inhalt == Das Buch gliedert sich in drei Kapitel (Was kann ich wissen? Was soll ich tun? Was darf ich hoffen?, nach Immanuel Kant), welche insgesamt 34 Unterkapitel haben. Jedes Unterkapitel beschäftigt sich mit einer philosophischen Frage, wie etwa ob es einen Gott gibt oder was Moral ist. Dabei werden verschiedene Aspekte der Hirnforschung…

Cerberus

Funny.

Are there lots of tourists on the German islands?

RegDwigнt

German islands are like Monaco. So yeah lots of tourists but not the kind you have in mind.

Cerberus

It seems the Dutch islands are exploding. Lonely Planet even put Texel in the top 10 European holiday destinations, which makes no sense whatsoever.

What kinds do I have in mind?

RegDwigнt

18:53

Well, tourists tourists.

Cerberus

I hate tourists.

They're all the same to me.

RegDwigнt

I don't think the Dutch islands are exploding as a destination for billionaires.

Cerberus

I spit on them and run them over with my bike.

Billionaires probably not.

The German islands are?

RegDwigнt

Sylt and Rügen certainly.

Cerberus

I see.

I did know Rügen was popular, though not to whom.

RegDwigнt

18:55

@Cerberus meh talk about putting the least amount of effort into it. You don't need to run over tourists, they'll just stand on the bike lanes like idiots all by themselves.

Cerberus

Yes.

Or, better, they walk backwards stepping onto the bike lane without looking at anything but their selfie stick.

RegDwigнt

Right. I think I need to go fix a typo in my next video. Which I discovered by total accident just a couple hours ago by playing the violin.

I might be back. But I need to do this lest I forget or run out of time.

Cerberus

Thank G*d!

Good luck.

RegDwigнt

Bedankt.

Cerberus

And do send me text you want translated.

KannE

18:58

I think the shady part of insinuate gets lost in imply...and every synonym I can think of...but surely there is one, I assume, and lots of phrases. What I mean by shady, more or less, as it applies to insinuate (under Choose the right synonym for imply): merriam-webster.com/dictionary/imply

MetaEd

@RegDwigнt Thanks for that link. Today, at any rate, Nietzsche is not quite completely wrong.

> If we could communicate with the mosquito, then we would learn that he floats through the air with the same self-importance, feeling within itself the flying center of the world.

Cerberus

@KannE Yes, but the question is, was the shady aspect needed?

Will Hunting

@Cerberus Well, Trump and Duterte said similar things, and they still got elected. The world is in chaos.

Cerberus

@WillHunting Trump did not say that.

Duterte is indeed quite horrible.

Will Hunting

@Cerberus I mean similar, not identical. Similarly terrible, I mean.

Cerberus

19:17

I think the difference between advocating murder and the crazy stuff Trump says is significant.

But, sure, they operate in the same crazy, populist, right-wing way.

Feeds

0

Q: Quote (proverb like structure) of knowing ones options

I'm looking for a quote to use in a sentence that says if its free and doesn't cost anything to know your options (like a free estimate to a customer) then it cant hurt to find out. And that knowing your options in life is very important.

single-word-requests idiom-requests quotes

Will Hunting

It seems that you are very interested in politics. You should run for Dutch government @Cerberus.

MetaEd

19:32

@WillHunting I don't think actual politicians have these interests.

Cerberus

@MetaEd Some do!

Many politicians are historians.

At least here.

I believe both the King and the PM are.

Yup, I've looked it up.

But the King's doctoral thesis is secret.

The subject was France's attitude towards NATO, something like that.

MetaEd

@Cerberus My point is that being interested in politics and being interested in being elected are hardly related at all.

At least to the point where you cannot predict from a person's interest in being elected whether they are interested in politics -- interested in the way you are interested.

Cerberus

@MetaEd I think there is some relation, but it is admittedly not super strong, contrary to Jasper's suggestion.

@MetaEd The proportion interested in politics will be far higher than among those who don't want to be elected, I praedict.

Mitch

19:57

@WillHunting Looking at the news, the world is not (yet) in chaos.

@KannE Is insinuate a little bit shady? Hm...I supposed it is used in that way in most cases. 'What are you trying to insinuate?'. but also you might say similarly shadily 'What are you trying to suggest?'.

And then the murders began.

@Cerberus What the hell are you doing, biking through a good vantage point? They should have bike lanes put in for these rude Dutch pot-smoking sex-worker locals.

Cerberus

> She suggested that children love chocolate.

Mitch

What? Those bike lanes are everywhere? I'm calling my congressman. They won't stand for this.

Cerberus

> ~~She insinuated that children love chocolate~~ — too shady.

Mitch

High speed rail

Cerberus

@Mitch Put in?

Mitch

20:05

@Cerberus If I may continue in that vein, what the hell does she expect from that statement? Obviously she will destroy their wills with chocolate.

Wonderful chocolate

@Cerberus Yeah, put in some bike lanes.

install

construct

add to the municipal transport infrastructure

Wait... you've never heard of Sylt?

That place is smothered with Germans that can't afford to cross the border into nearly any other better equipped for vacation country.

Cerberus

@Mitch You need to break people before you can rebuild them.

Færd

@Cerberus That is messed up.

Cerberus

@Mitch Okay, that's how I read it, but I didn't really get the joke, then.

@Færd Yes.

I hope Bloomberg is too pessimistic.

Færd

@Cerberus sighs

Cerberus

Until recently, I thought Bolsonaro was evangelical.

Færd

20:09

I hope you are not overly optimistic.

@Cerberus He's not?

Cerberus

It turned out he was ultra-Catholic, which I think is better.

Færd

Ah.

What difference does it make in terms of policy making and governing?

Cerberus

But the article (or was it another one?) suggested that he was Catholic only in name; he is friends with powerful evangelical people and has lectured in an evangelical church.

@Færd At least the Catholic Church in Brazil isn't expanding, and at least we know what they do. Better the Devil you know.

Færd

@Cerberus Well, it's only natural for them to unite in the face of the anti-religion or progressive surge.

Cerberus

The extreme Protestant sects (evangelical/Pentecoastal) are growing rapidly. I think growing churches of the Puritan kind are the most dangerous.

Of course those churches are heavily influenced by the American crazy Christians.

Færd

20:13

Hmm. I don't know much about the difference between churches, and how some could be more belligerent than others.

Cerberus

@Færd Well, there is an extreme-Protestant surge, as mentioned in the article, and Catholic decline. I wouldn't say there is a progressive surge.

Will Hunting

@Cerberus I only recently learnt about the AMD Ryzen processor you mentioned. It has very good rankings. One site lists it as the best, better than all Intel chips.

Mitch

@Cerberus it's not a language joke. You already have bike lanes covering the city, how could you possibly put in more?

Cerberus

@Færd Puritans are the most dangerous because they are the most intolerant; rapidly growing churches are the most dangerous because they get bigger and bigger, possibly until they control the country.

@WillHunting Well, there are many different Ryzen processors, and many different Intels.

Færd

@Cerberus They do have some shared concerns to unite and fight against: legalization of homosexuality, women's rights, ...

@Cerberus I see.

Mitch

20:16

@Cerberus Are you insinuating that there's something wrong with... crazies?

Cerberus

@Mitch Okay, well, we don't have that many. When I cycle to work, I'm cycling on the street most of the time. There isn't enough space for a separate lane, so cars and bikes have to share.

Mitch

@Cerberus Oh

Cerberus

@Færd Yes. That may be partly what's happening. Although I think most newly converted evangelicals are former Catholics, so I would expect them to be competitors as well.

Mitch

I thought you're mostly inner city where there are hardly cars at all. mostly moats

Cerberus

They have gay marriage in Brazil.

It's fairly modern.

Will Hunting

20:17

@Cerberus I am happy with my Acer laptop, except for the fact that the backlit keyboard is not as good as it should be. The light goes off automatically after 30 seconds if you don't touch it, and there is no way to set it to be always on. That is something to note when you buy a backlit keyboard.

Mitch

or whatever they call those water things.

canals!

Færd

You could pedal a boat bike.

Mitch

@WillHunting there's gotta be a setting somewhere

Cerberus

@Mitch There are quite a few cars. But they all go very very slowly. In my neighbourhood, it's probably 70% taxis. The number of taxis has grown by like 200% over the past decade, and they love driving slowly, to pick up people.

Færd

@Cerberus Good to know.

Will Hunting

20:18

@Mitch Sometimes, there just isn't, because I wasn't the one who made it. But maybe there is one in this case.

Mitch

because that's really annoying and basically every buyer would have complained

Cerberus

@Færd There are such vehicles.

But they are slow and only used by tourists.

Mitch

> Select a link below to see answers to the most commonly asked questions for your Acer Nitro keyboard backlight. Yes. You can press FN+F9 to turn the keyboard backlight on and off.

Cerberus

@WillHunting Hmm that sounds annoying! Have you Googled the problem?

Færd

@Cerberus Oh I know. I just remembered.

Will Hunting

20:20

I am still waiting to see if there will be a new entry level MacBook this month.

Mitch

@Cerberus What, so people have a chance to just jump in?

Færd

I think even Our Man In Tehran featured them.

Mitch

@WillHunting October is not over.

Cerberus

@Færd But I'm not sure, so do post more information here if you happen to see it!

Will Hunting

Yes, I have googled and it seems that for some models, there is no solution. However, I have not tried all the solutions available but might do so soon @Mitch and @Cerberus.

Færd

20:21

@Cerberus Okay!

But if it's only going to make me more upset ...

Cerberus

@Mitch Yes, so taxis can stop in the middle of the road (which is illegal) and pick up people who wave at them.

Færd

Then I'll DEFINITELY do it.

Will Hunting

Not that I am going to buy the MacBook, but I might ten years from now after my Acer laptop has run its course.

Færd

Such a masochist.

Cerberus

@Færd Oh, you have those in Tehran as well?

Mitch

20:21

@Færd You could paddle a bike boat, peddled by a bike boat peddlar. decorated with petals

Cerberus

@Færd Then don't read more!

@Færd Noooo.

Færd

@Mitch You need a pedal there man.

Mitch

@Færd and if you sell the wooden foot control, decorated with flowers, it's a peddled paddle pedal petal

Færd

@Cerberus It's worth it.

Cerberus

A common paddle boat.

Called a waterfiets in Dutch, a water bike.

Mitch

20:25

@WillHunting In ten years we should all be accessing all computer resources through implanted contact lenses

Cerberus

They also have small ones for one person.

All for tourists.

Mitch

@Cerberus That's a pitiful paddle pedal pusher

also with petals

Will Hunting

Do they still sell tricycles where you live? I can't find any here.

You see, I can't ride a bicycle, and I would like to go riding sometimes, so I wanna get a tricycle for adults. Not those for kids in Toys R Us.

Cerberus

@Mitch Yes.

@WillHunting Mostly for children...

But, yes, tricycles for adults are sold.

Færd

@Cerberus No, it was there in the documentary we watched... never mind.

Will Hunting

20:29

Looks like I should look harder, and find out the laws governing their use as well on roads here.

Færd

@Cerberus Those in the red boat seem to be having a better time.

Will Hunting

I have tried using a bicycle many times, but I really can't do it.

Cerberus

They also turn normal bikes into tricycles. Apparently, it's not hard to do.

This is the result ^.

Will Hunting

Is there any reason why I can't bicycle?

Cerberus

@Færd I don't remember.

@Færd Yes, they could be natives. The other two boats are tourists.

@WillHunting I don't know. You'd have to maybe try an instructor?

Maybe you have balance issues?

Will Hunting

20:32

@Cerberus I think there's something wrong with my brain, in the ways other than mental illnesses. Like I can't swim properly either, though I can swim improperly using my own pathetic strokes.

Cerberus

Hmm.

Could be a matter of proper training/instruction.

Look, many adult tricyles.

They're expensive, though.

margewebshop.nl/producten/fietsen/driewielersvolwassenen/s/…

Will Hunting

Certainly can't be as expensive as a computer.

Cerberus

Sure it can.

A cheap computer is like €200.

Those tricycles start at €500 or so.

Mitch

You can't buy a phone for that anymore!

Will Hunting

Oh yeah, expensive tricylces and cheap computers.

Cerberus

20:33

@Mitch For what?

The cheapest reasonable smartphones from an A brand are around €100.

@WillHunting You can probably find cheaper tricycles elsewhere. Especially second hand.

Will Hunting

I like it that my Acer laptop is blue in colour. Very nice brushed aluminium all over.

Cerberus

Good.

Will Hunting

The other colour is a subdued pink. I think both colours are suitable for both boys and girls.

Cerberus

Certainly.

Will Hunting

Did you meet Mr Shiny in the end?

Cerberus

20:40

Turquoise, though, is strictly prohibited for girls under 12 and boys under 16. That immoral colour will corrupt any who see it.

I did!

Will Hunting

LOL

I am wondering what you look like now. Do you have a recent pic you can show?

Cerberus

Uhh I don't think so.

I don't keep pictures of myself in any organised location.

Will Hunting

OK. The pics I saw were taken like ten years ago or something.

Mitch

@RegDwigнt do you recommend this book?

@Cerberus Oh? What's an 'A' brand? Fixing a broken screen on any of these is like $50.

@Cerberus Boys are slow to mature

Cerberus

@Mitch Of the highest class. Perhaps this expression is less common than I thought...

Mitch

20:54

Oh. I thought it was some reference to Apple. That expression 'A brand' is not familiar to me (maybe BrE?) just 'top brand' would work for me.

BUt more to the point, you certainly can't get an iPhone for near that price, can you?

Cerberus

Probably not, but why do you ask?

Will Hunting

21:20

I just had a cold shower. Woof!

Mitch

@Cerberus Wouldn't it be nice to know what brands are cheap?

Cerberus

@Mitch I don't understand.

I mentioned a cheap phone.

Mitch

@Cerberus But which brands are so cheap?

Cerberus

21:43

@Mitch Most brands are.

The phone I was thinking of is the Moto E by Motorola–Lenovo.

Mitch

oh. Their commercials have lots of color. That's all I know.

Cerberus

These should be OK.

They can do anything a normal smartphone can do, and they feel snappy enough.

Of course they won't be as good as a truly good smartphone, but those cost €300.

And at € 500 you have the best smartphones available. Going any higher is a waste of money.

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