English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Matt Эллен

18:00

Ah

Jez

i stopped counting a long time ago. it's just bloody-fucking expensive.

Cerberus

@ClarkKent It is a copy of an Austrian village in China.

Matt Эллен

Sinaustrian

Cerberus

More like Sinsilly.

Matt Эллен

Sin City, you say?

Cerberus

18:01

Well...

Who knows what happens behind those plastic gables?

Matt Эллен

LOL

Jez

Some Americans are just living on a different planet though. "Boo hoo, waahhh wahh gas prices are too damn high!! i have to pay 1/8th tax compared to most other people in the world! Wahhhhh, evil oh bammma!!"

Cerberus

Well, they do have longer distances to travel.

That's partly why they are addicted to their cars.

Matt Эллен

that and the heroin in the drivers' seats

Cerberus

I wouldn't want to live somewhere in the provinces without a car either, even in my tiny country.

Oh?

They stuff heroin into the linings?

Matt Эллен

18:05

Oh, yes, especially if you believe the stuff I make up

Jez

@Cerberus Self-imposed.

Cerberus

Oh, I believe that especially if you make it up.

@Jez Not entirely true...

We have more trains too.

Jez

Well it's self-imposed that they don't have more trains too

user19161

Hey @cerb, good luck with the 22!

Cerberus

@ClarkKent Oh, I don't see it happening.

Jez

18:06

you know what Obama should do? apply 200% tax to petrol.

watch a few Republican heads explode, and enjoy

user19161

@Cerberus Well, you never know. There can be miracles when you believe.

Cerberus

You can't take any steps so drastic. It would have to be gradual.

@ClarkKent If you don't want the miracle to happen, it would be a disaster, rather.

Jez

What 22?

user19161

@Cerberus Oh, sorry. I thought you mentioned it because you wanted it to happen.

Cerberus

Oh, asked whether dating someone 3/4 your age was allowed.

@ClarkKent I was in doubt. But probably not.

Jez

18:08

so you're 28?

Cerberus

29.

Wow petrol is cheap in America.

Jez

so how did you lay a 22 year old?

@Cerberus you just figured that out?

Cerberus

About 67–83 € cents per litre. It's 180 cents here.

@Jez I knew it was cheap, but not how cheap exactly.

How much is it in England?

Matt Эллен

lots

Cerberus

Oh.

Then we win.

Because 1.80 is superlots.

Matt Эллен

18:10

I haven't bought petrol in a while (yay!)

Cerberus

Nor I.

I remember buying mixed petrol (for the boat) at € 1,77 or so.

Years ago.

Matt Эллен

I will go and find out the price (and buy some breakfast). BBL

Cerberus

Yay!

user19161

@MattЭллен Enjoy.

Cerberus

@MattЭллен We win!

Jez

18:13

@matt so you've had the fortune of living near everything you want to get to, or paying a fortune on some other mode of transport.

Cerberus

It's € 1,65 in England.

Youlucky bastards with your cheap petrol.

brandstofprijzen.info/brandstofprijzen-europa.php

Jez

Interesting how many European countries have significantly lower diesel taxes than ours, but the UK's diesel tax is close to the petrol tax

Cerberus

Huh but Diesel is much cheaper here.

Jinx.

user19161

@Cerberus You use a boat? Fascinating!

Cerberus

@ClarkKent Yeah? Why is that fascinating?

We lost the boat btw. But it was fun while it lasted.

I still have the engine here.

user19161

18:14

@Cerberus Well, simply because we don't use boats here. QED.

Cerberus

Hmm you don't have many canals?

We don't use them for daily transportation (except ferries).

user19161

I mean nobody uses it to travel. Maybe fishermen will have boats of course.

Cerberus

Just for recreation, and for freight.

Jez

@Cerberus How do numbers in 1,234.56 as opposed to 1.234,56 read to Europeans? Because I have to say, the latter looks ugly as hell to me. I don't know how to deal with your numbers looking like that.

Cerberus

@Jez We use the . and the , exactly in the opposite way.

user19161

18:16

@Jez Well, they are used to it. They will think the other version looks bad.

Jez

i know

Cerberus

So I am used to both notations.

user19161

Aliens who come here will think we are aliens.

Cerberus

Not sure whether all countries on the Continent use our way.

Jez

yeah and I get both, but the European way just somehow looks...... sloppy and ugly to me

Cerberus

18:17

Haha.

Well. You know what I will say.

Jez

that comma instead of a decimal point, i can't get used to it

it's like a typo

Cerberus

Heh.

We also write hours like this, I think: 13.05.

Jez

not so bad; at least you're only missing a dot

Cerberus

I don't think we normally use a colon there, like 13:05.

@Jez Hahaha right!

What else...

user19161

So my local TV schedule is no longer written using Silverlight. This means I can now view it on Linux.

Jez

18:19

what else?

Cerberus

Wow look at Turkey: € 1,881.

And Norway is over 1,90.

user19161

@Cerberus A palindrome!

Cerberus

Except for the comma.

user19161

And also a multiple of 9.

user19161

You know the quick way to check that right?

Cerberus

18:21

I see 100 x 2 x 9 + 9 x 9.

I don't know whether that's what you have in mind, but it's quick.

user19161

OK let me tell you the trick. A number is divisible by 9 if and only if the sum of digits is divisible by 9.

Cerberus

Hmm that makes sense.

simchona

Civ 5 is being buggy today. I want to kill barbarians.

Cerberus

Oh! Is it fun?

Better than 4?

simchona

It is!

I never played 4. Started with 5 with the new doggy

Cerberus

18:23

I heard some bad things about it.

Oh.

Ohh that's a good start.

It is possibly the best game series ever.

simchona

It all started when he torrented it and I stole his computer and played for hours

We ended up both buying it

Cerberus

Yay!

See, that's how it often happens.

Piracy increases sales in many cases.

user19161

@Cerberus Often publishers don't let people take a look at even a few pages.

Cerberus

Yeah, they are so stupid.

They don't even do what's best for themselves.

They don't think about it in a rational manner: they just hammer on a few idées fixes.

user19161

@Cerberus That word is beyond me.

user19161

18:33

I only know 18k words according to testyourvocab.com.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

0

Q: "Of me" vs "From me"

Which of these two sentences is the right one? Or are both right? What's the difference here? "What sort of work would be expected of me?" "What sort of work would be expected from me?" Thanks!

word-usage

Cerberus

Idée fixe (psychology)

An idée fixe is a preoccupation of mind held so firmly as to resist any attempt to modify it, a fixation. The name originates from the French [French : idée, idea + fixe, fixed]. Although not used technically to denote a particular disorder in psychology, idée fixe is used often in the description of disorders, and is employed widely in literature and everyday English. Today's usage As an everyday term, idée fixe may indicate a mindset akin to prejudice or stereotyping: :Here again cognitive psychologists have done miracles in disclosing the well-nigh unlimited capabilities and eage...

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

Why do people insist on quoting the exact wrong part of their question in its title?

user19161

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 I was about to ask what you wanted with that question.

Cerberus

Yeah people suck.

user19161

18:40

But it is a good question.

user19161

It is a difficult question...

Cerberus

It is a duplicate.

I have answered the same question not long ago.

5

A: Expected of, or expected from someone

When you want to express the person who you expected would do something (as in the first example, and possibly the second too), one would normally use of. I would be inclined to say from is unidiomatic in your first sentence, especially because it is expected of you means "you are supposed/oblige...

Voted to close.

user19161

@Cerberus I just posted an answer. Pardon my ignorance.

Cerberus

Haha.

Happens all the time.

user19161

I am not an English expert, that is what I meant.

Cerberus

18:54

Happens all the time too.

Have you looked at the site?

user19161

Please comment on my answer.

user19161

Oh I see Reg has merged it.

user19161

Now I have to edit my answer for it to make sense. I will do it myself @reg.

user19161

19:10

0

A: "Expected of" vs. "expected from"

You expect of someone something about them but expect from someone something to be given. There is a slight difference in connotation. For example, work expected of you refers to the quality of work associated to you, while work expected from you refers to the work you have to submit. Behaviour ...

Matt Эллен

and then about 100m down the road

a penny cheaper per litre!

user19161

@MattЭллен I wonder if some strategy is at play.

Matt Эллен

Tesco has more money and can buy more petrol, so it probably get a discount

user19161

I am sort of against the idea of merging questions.

user19161

It's hard to answer both questions at once and still make sense.

user19161

19:17

The way would be to expound on the general principle and then follow up with examples from both questions.

user19161

@MattЭллен I wonder if it is because Tesco has more Tabasco.

Matt Эллен

Well, it's certainly true that Tesco sell more Tabasco that Total

user19161

There is also Taco Bell.

user19161

It usually runs beside KFC.

Matt Эллен

but they don't sell petrol

user19161

19:21

They sell cheese fries.

Matt Эллен

you can't put that in your petrol tank and expect your car to go!

user19161

I have given 100 pi answers corrected to 3 significant figures. Yay!

Gigili

21:22

So what does dating someone mean? A particular day-ing someone?

Vitaly

21:35

@Gigili Well…

user19161

21:53

@Gigili Are you joking or is that a serious question?

user19161

@Vitaly This answer may not help the OP.

Vitaly

@ClarkKent If that was a serious question, a few of the major dictonaries list appointment as one of the senses of date, and Partridge Slang mentions that the romantic sense of date probably comes from its conventional appointment sense. Moreover, the OED article lists a few citations which make it possible to trace how the meaning of date has changed over time. I think it answers the question sufficiently well.

user19161

@Vitaly OK, I was just saying that the OP may not know where to look for the answer, since you have essentially thrown the entire dictionary entry in.

user19161

While big dictionaries are good as they give you more words and definitions, small dictionaries are good as they give you the words and definitions most commonly used.

Vitaly

@ClarkKent It's easy enough to read it all.

user19161

22:03

@Vitaly lol

user19161

@Gigili Anyway if that were a genuine question, A is dating B or A and B are dating means they are seeing each other in a romantic relationship.

Vitaly

@ClarkKent Try it!

user19161

@Vitaly I could not even scroll to the bottom!

user19161

It's quite strange that sometimes answers are accepted rather quickly. Shouldn't they wait a while?

user19161

It is as if they are so sure the answer is correct.

user19161

22:14

Well, if they are so confident they would not need to ask in the first place!

David Wallace

23:45

@Mitch Yes, milo is very similar to ovaltine, but (IMO) nicer.

@MattЭллен No way! Should I remove my comment on Spolsky's answer in this light?

cpx

Hi.

So, guys I took your advice and I ordered this book instead.

amazon.com/Cambridge-Grammar-English-Paperback-Comprehensive/dp/…

I hope to learn something useful and understandable after reading this.

Transcript for

English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…