English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Cerberus

15:00

So it seems that the average Turk does not understand the Qur'an at all if he should attempt to read it.

Nor will he understand what the Imam recites, for the most part.

JSBձոգչ

@Cerberus right, but of course Turkish isn't an arabic language at all.

Cerberus

Indeed not.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus The funny thing about fatwas: since there is generally no centralized organization to Islam, anyone can essentially issue a fatwa. Whether it is taken seriously or not by other muslims is TBD.

Cerberus

It is Turkic.

@MrShinyandNew安宇 I know.

JSBձոգչ

i should ask my muslim friend from West Africa what he does. i'm pretty sure they read and pray in arabic, but the imams preach in the local language (Sooninke or Wolof)

Cerberus

15:01

Oh, dear!

Matt Эллен

I issue a fatwa! Don't eat cheese after 9pm if you're going to go to bed soon thereafter.

2

Cerberus

Oh, noes!

JSBձոգչ

@MattЭллен wisdom! let us attend!

Cerberus

What ever shall I do now?

What about shell fish?

Or was it scaled fish?

Matt Эллен

Are the shell fish cheese?

Cerberus

15:02

Wait, let me consult my holy book about that.

Matt Эллен

If the shell fish are cheese, they fall under the fatwa

JSBձոգչ

shellfish are not cheese!

Cerberus

But I am lazy. I will just wait for a fatwa from the Great Mufti of Oxfordshire.

I say we attack the evil Ulema of Cambridgeshire(?) and destroy the heretics!

Matt Эллен

Violence is the atheist way!

Cerberus

Yay!

Matt Эллен

15:04

Atheists issue fatwas, right?

Cerberus

Sure.

They just have.

Matt Эллен

:D

Gigili

What does "transport" means in this context:

> The similarity between mg2 and mn2 appears to be poorest in the context of transport.

Matt Эллен

getting/moving things around

KitFox

Are they transport proteins?

Gigili

15:07

Umm, I don't know.

KitFox

Oh. That's manganese and magnesium ions, I'd bet.

Robusto

But doesn't some scripture claim that ants are mammals?

KitFox

They must have different transmembrane transport mechanisms.

Gigili

@KitFox Yes? That's it.

JSBձոգչ

►

Cerberus

15:08

@Robusto Haha no doubt.

JSBձոգչ

^ this ought to brighten your morning

Matt Эллен

@Robusto so, does that make them cheese?

KitFox

Oh noes.

Giorgiomastrò

Hey sup?

JSBձոգչ

@Robusto i find that intuitively unlikely, since the concept of "mammal" is a modern concept.

Robusto

15:09

@MattЭллен Only mammals produce milk, right? And you need milk for cheese.

Matt Эллен

it's true!

Robusto

@JSBձոգչ I can't remember where I heard it. I'm Googling furiously now, so far without success.

Matt Эллен

@Giorgiomastrò no cheese after 9pm. we're preparing for war with Cambridgeshire

Robusto

@MattЭллен What, no cheese? And you call yourself an Englishman?

Matt Эллен

@Robusto as much as I can eat before 9pm. it's just afterwards

Gigili

15:11

@MattЭллен When will the match start?

Robusto

Do Englishmen really eat before 9pm?

Matt Эллен

@Robusto probably. There's nothing in the scriptures forbidding it

Robusto

@MattЭллен But have you ever observed that behavior in the wild?

Matt Эллен

@Gigili at high noon on the thirteenth day of the seventh month

@Robusto Not personally. I've heard tell from the brave field anthropologists of such things as pasties at lunch time

Robusto

@MattЭллен Well, a meat pie is the perfect accompaniment to the midday pint(s). But we would hardly call that eating. And the proper English breakfast is enough to curdle your arteries, of course.

Gigili

15:15

@MattЭллен Oh right, today evening.

KitFox

@MattЭллен Oh. Could we start a little later? I have family visiting that day.

Robusto

But I'm speaking about supper before 9pm. It just isn't done, from what I can tell.

KitFox

whatchristianswanttoknow.com/…

I am speechless.

Christians think of the darnedest things.

Matt Эллен

@KitFox I think I can shift it to late afternoon. I'll change the details on Facebook.

Cerberus

After tea?

Or a tea pause would be required.

@Matt: Have I ever shown you the tea scene from Astérix?

Did you read Astérix as a child?

KitFox

15:19

> if our pets will be resurrected or not, we just can not say for sure.

Cerberus

(Or as an adult.)

@KitFox That is sad. How about boy toys?

Perhaps you already know it?

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus yes many months ago did we discuss this :)

Cerberus

Ah OK.

KitFox

> In the Book of Job, dinosaur-like creatures are mentioned and so they appear to have existed at the same time that Adam and Eve and their descendants existed.

makes notes

Cerberus

That's what I thought, but I cannot trust my memory.

Matt Эллен

15:21

Yes I've seen it and I did read Asterix as a child.

Cerberus

Yay!

It proves that even the French have a sense of humour.

Gigili

I just saw an answer and was thinking how stupid the answerer could be ... When did I answer that question? It's silly.

Cerberus

It was your own answer?

Aww.

KitFox

> The flood may have been the reason that many of the dinosaurs died out. Even the sea creatures would have died since many of their prey could have perished in the flood.

Gigili

I'll delete it. But ... what about that +10?

JSBձոգչ

15:24

@KitFox oh, that line again

Matt Эллен

Mar 8 at 16:33, by Cerberus

I posted the Asterix bit where the Brits drink tea, didn't I?

KitFox

@JSBձոգչ I think it's funny.

But I've always found religion confusing.

Gigili

@MattЭллен Wow! Amnesia?

Cerberus

@KitFox A 100-tonne plesiosaur would of course hunt for land-bound prey.

KitFox

@Cerberus Don't get me started on the evil ducks.

Cerberus

15:26

@MattЭллен Haha I keep repeating myself, huh.

Matt Эллен

@Gigili it's just that Cerb is so smart some of the trivial things fall out of his heads

KitFox

Lunch. BBL

Matt Эллен

CU

Cerberus

@KitFox The evil ducks...like Donald?

Bai.

Matt Эллен

Gigili

15:28

@MattЭллен So being smart is not as good as I thought. I have important things in my head.

Cerberus

@MattЭллен Ohh yes!

Donald's evil self.

Matt Эллен

@Gigili well, I'm sure the important things will stick!

Cerberus

Hey I have a question.

Gigili

Bah, Ukraine vs. Sweden. Boring.

Cerberus

When I call a certain number that starts with an asterisk, my mobile provider tell me how much money I still have on my pre-paid card.

But what happens when I call is that a message pops up on my phone directly.

No actual call happens.

And no sms or anything.

Just a balloon tooltip.

How is that possible? And what is it called?

JSBձոգչ

15:31

0

Q: Of or relating to Omniscience

I'm looking for a word that relates to the concept of omniscience, and I swear I've seen it in use before but every spelling I've tried appears to be not a word. Here are the examples I'm trying to find in various dictionaries and literary searches: omniscion omnition omnision All of these ...

Gigili

Huh? I don't get the second line.

JSBձոգչ

i can't figure out what the hell this guy wants

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus services messages are probably treated differently

Cerberus

@MattЭллен Oh, a service message...and that can directly give me a system message?

It is kind of cool.

And efficient.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus Yeah, I guess so. It must be catered for in your phone somehow

or your sim

well, both I suspect

Cerberus

15:33

@JSBձոգչ NARQ

@MattЭллен My phone is several years older than my mobile provider. What does that say?

Isn't there some standard?

Do you ever get this?

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus I don't know for sure, but I would guess so

Cerberus

OK.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus I don't pay enough attention to my phone :D I get more missed calls than received ones. Any message I won't notice until a while later

Cerberus

I'm going to get me this SIM-only plan that allows me to call 550 minutes (or send 550 text messages, or use 550 MB of data) monthly for € 9,25. Yay!

This month so far: 21 outgoing calls, 12 incoming, 14 missed.

Mahnax

Hi!

Cerberus

15:37

I've never used my phone as little as the past year or so.

Mitch

@JSBձոգչ If the OP explains, then OK. Otherwise, close and delete with prejudice. after giving the OP a chance to fix.

Gigili

Hi @Mahnax.

Cerberus

Hello.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus you used to use it a lot more?

Mahnax

How is everyone?

Cerberus

15:39

@MattЭллен Yes. I used to have several plans, allowing about 1500 minutes a month, so more than 24 hours.

Matt Эллен

@Mahnax good thanks. How's your day?

Cerberus

Peachy.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus ah, so I take it you were involved in nefarious deeds that need lots of coordination!

Cerberus

Always.

Now I am just stealthier.

Mahnax

@MattЭллен It's OK.

I have to write an oral presentation for French.

Cerberus

15:40

I sell dog children as slaves to pet owners.

Matt Эллен

:O

Cerberus

Ahh better practice on your accent!

You can rehearse it for us.

Gigili

@MattЭллен Ö*

Matt Эллен

Yeah. We'll be a willing audience

@Gigili :D

Gigili

Oh I see you've issued a fatwa even thought you're in no place to do it.

Matt Эллен

15:43

I'm right here. It's very much a place

Gigili

Are all atheists ignorant like that?

Matt Эллен

Atheists are ignorant in many ways. Some may overlap

JSBձոգչ

@MattЭллен s/atheists/humans/g

Mitch

but mostly about cheese.

Matt Эллен

:D

Gigili

15:44

@MattЭллен You're too small to be considered in a place.

Mahnax

@Cerberus The people in my class say hello to you.

Matt Эллен

Bonjour, non?

Cerberus

@Mahnax Bonjour aussi à eux!

As your teacher whether that is correct.

Mahnax

@Cerberus He doesn't think so.

His French isn't perfect, though.

Cerberus

Bummer.

Oh.

Mahnax

15:49

Yeah.

Cerberus

But he is your French teacher?

Mahnax

Yeah.

This is his first time teaching French in years, apparently.

He usually teaches Social Studies.

Cerberus

Ah OK.

> ... de Malte à Marseille (un grand bonjour à eux d'ailleurs, si certains sont sur le forum) puis dans l'Aube, j'ai été à la Protection Civile (bonjour aussi à eux).

sos112.fr/…

Mahnax

Hm.

Cerberus

Perhaps it is informal or slangy.

Mahnax

15:52

Peut-être.

Cerberus

En tous cas, c'est une belle langue.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Cerberus

Haha.

Mahnax

@Cerberus Oui.

Cerberus

That's religion for you.

Matt Эллен

15:55

@Cerberus such a beautiful tongue

Mahnax

Well, I've got to run.

Bye!

Matt Эллен

bye!

Cerberus

Bye!

@MattЭллен Oui, vraiment.

Matt Эллен

toodle pip

KitFox

16:15

What ho, Horatio?

jcolebrand

11

Q: Meaning of “give a pony”

I came across this phrase while reading an article by Paul Krugman on the New York Times website. Here's the quotation (boldface added): . . . non-GIPSI [the group of Eurozone nations—Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Ireland—that are grappling with the debt crisis, my note] European leaders sh...

phrases expressions

Am I just terribly out of line on the comments on this question?

KitFox

Um, really? Is everyone so very clueless about the desire to have a pony?

jcolebrand

Originally the well-upvoted Urban Dictionary non-answer had the checkmark, and told nothing of the story.

Apparently a lot of (in my reading) non-native English Speakers are answering and upvoting something that actually requires full idiomatic understanding.

KitFox

Well, I guess that shouldn't surprise me.

jcolebrand

Nor me.

But so many people get so touchy when you try to explain to them that quoting other headlines/articles does not explain a meme ... apparently.

KitFox

16:22

Well, sure it does. I have a link here that explains that...hang on, let me find it...

:P

So @jcolebrand, what can I do to fix my users?

jcolebrand

lol, hell if I know

Like the cat with 30+ upvotes. Wherein did he explain what it means to "give us a pony"?

I may be missing it, but nothing there says "this is what it means to be given a pony"

But like I told him, he's trusting the mob that provides upvotes by fickle decision to prove that he's correct.

KitFox

I think it's a her, innit?

But I understand. I had a similar go-around with a user once.

jcolebrand

We seriously need a third person neutral pronoun for him/her that does not devolve to it and still maintains that we realize the humanity of the person, without choosing a gender.

KitFox

I was trying to help, suggesting that the answer could be improved with some specific references to something or other. And he edited with something else, and I said "that's nice but..." and all hell broke loose.

jcolebrand

until then, as with most languages, the masculine wins out.

KitFox

16:27

Haha. I was just thinking that the picture looks like a woman to me.

Gah. I can't stand my users today.

They keep putting all this data in my nice data structures, but the trouble is, I don't believe them. They are lying to me with their data. Bad users! Naughty users!

jcolebrand

lol

JSBձոգչ

@KitFox never trust a user.

KitFox

Seriously, these users expect me to believe that there was no school 74 days this year. Really? Do I look dumb?

JSBձոգչ

the only good user is a dead user.

how can you tell that a user is lying? their lips are moving.

KitFox

what do you call 2,000 users at the bottom of the ocean? a good start.

4

etc etc.

They just don't realize what they are doing to me.

I am going to give this data to my project lead and he is going to doubt it.

Then he will want me to redesign the system to prevent users from spuriously using "No school" as a miss reason.

Cerberus

16:32

@KitFox Hahaha.

@JSBձոգչ Oh those are good too.

spanks users at bottom of sea

jcolebrand

Just in case you're curious:

Discussion between Lunivore and jcole…

Imported from a comment discussion on english.stackexchange.co...

KitFox

@Jed Hi! What brings you over here?

Hahaha. Sometimes I really amuse myself.

I just spent ten minutes trying to figure out why my subquery wasn't joining properly.

I had a parenthesis reversed. I can honestly say I've never made that mistake before.

Cerberus

17:06

You mean )like this(?

KitFox

Yep.

Jed Oliver

@KitFox Oh, nothing really. Answered a question. Thought I'd pop in while I was here

KitFox

Well. I see.

Hullo.

Jed Oliver

Hi.

KitFox

shifts awkwardly

Stupid shift key.

WHAT IS THIS?!? KOSMO WAS HERE AND NOBODY TOLD ME!?

AND REG TOLD HIM MY STUPID TRILINGUAL JOKE!? I CAN'T MAKE MY CAPS BIG ENOUGH!

6

mortified

Matt Эллен

17:18

lol

Vitaly

@Reg @Cerb 3 days in and… i.imgur.com/2RPwD.png

KitFox

@Vitaly I am so hot for you, sneakypants.

Cerberus

@KitFox Oh! You missed him? I starred his semi-funny line for all to see his resurrection.

@Vitaly You are Warmaster? What is that? I suppose I should congratulate you!

KitFox

Jun 7 at 1:46, by Kosmonaut

Hey-o

You ought to have starred this one!

Vitaly

@Cerberus It's the rank below Officer and above Member. There are only 2 Officers out of 50 highly active players, and ~35 members.

Cerberus

17:25

@KitFox I tried to wait for line that was actually funny.

@Vitaly OK, cool. So what does it entail?

KitFox

You can start wars.

Wreak havoc.

Etc.

Vitaly

more than anything it entails that I managed to advance faster than the guy right below me who was with them for a year :P

KitFox

I expect no less.

Mostly because I anticipate that you do not breathe through your mouth unless you have a cold.

Cerberus

Nor I.

KitFox

Interestingly, I just shifted once again into assuming that Vitaly is organic.

Cerberus

17:27

Starting wars is quite a privilege.

KitFox

ponders this

Cerberus

A dangerous mistake.

KitFox

Is it?

It seems to be helping my libido.

I find that advantageous.

user19161

@JSBձոգչ The last time you told me never trust a hat.

KitFox

Is that awkward?

I'd say that I dislike being socially awkward, but I haven't the couth for that.

user19161

17:35

I have no idea what you are saying, but I guess that's the point.

Matt Эллен

KitFox

lulz

user19161

@MattЭллен Is that just a random funny pic?

Matt Эллен

yup

saw it on facebook, thought I'd share

although, it might go well in that other chat room...

user19161

Maybe the guy above is Robusto.

user19161

17:43

@MattЭллен The penthouse?

Matt Эллен

no, the one about wanting a pony

user19161

800 more rep to become trusted user.

user19161

@KitFox I once got into an argument on main with a Horatio.

user19161

Hello @jed!

Cerberus

Aww that's sweet.

Robusto

18:05

@MattЭллен Aren't these people a little old for pony play?

KitFox

18:16

Hi @Robusto!

How are you feeling today?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

he's feeling robust, as always

KitFox

I started a new short story, but can't decide if I want it to be funny or not.

What do you guys think?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox how about writing it and leaving it up to the reader to decide if it's funny?

KitFox

No, I mean I can't decide if I want to write something funny or not.

Cerberus

If it is funny, it should be really funny.

KitFox

18:18

I don't care if the reader thinks it is funny.

Cerberus

If it is only mildly amusing, there should also be a serious part to it to carry the story.

KitFox

Hmm. Maybe I should write about something else then.

Why don't you choose a topic for me to tell you a story about?

Cerberus

How about office supplies?

KitFox

looks @Cerberus archly

Cerberus

Sand?

KitFox

18:20

@MrShiny? Do you want to hear a story about office supplies and sand?

Cerberus

I mean, if Dostoevsky could write interesting stories about the daily lives of civil servants...

KitFox

It's just another writing exercise.

It doesn't have to be a work of art.

Cerberus

Oh, then a boring topic can actually be a nice challenge.

But I have to go now.

KitFox

OK, bye.

Cerberus

Good luck!

Mahnax

18:36

Hello!

KitFox

Hi!

Hot water fixed?

Mahnax

Not that I know of.

Still at school.

KitFox

You didn't patch into the repair company's database and see if the tech reported completion status yet?

tch

Mahnax

Nah.

KitFox

Kids these days.

:-P

Mahnax

18:39

I don't even know what company it is.

I'm sorry that I disappoint you.

KitFox

Heaven forfend.

You are the least of my disappointments today.

Oh. Wait. That didn't come out right.

Mahnax

Eh, whatever.

How's your day been?

KitFox

Disappointing.

I have naughty users and I am tired and making stupid mistakes.

It is also nice outside and I don't want to be here today.

How about you? School must almost be done for the summer, eh?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox sorry, I was on the phone. That could be a funny story though.

KitFox

sighs

Fine.

I will write a funny story about office supplies and sand.

Mahnax

18:46

@KitFox Aww.

@KitFox Just a week left.

KitFox

Do you have finals? Or do you spend the time staring out the window and fidgeting?

Mahnax

I do have finals, but they are next week.

I have some this week too, but none today.

user19161

@Mahnax Good luck!

Mahnax

@JasperLoy Thank you!

Robusto

@KitFox Good. I may be over the hump on this thing.

KitFox

18:58

Oh, that's great!

That's a pretty quick recovery. Are you feeling mobile?

Robusto

I already have done a little driving on back roads. So far no problem.

KitFox

impressed

Well, don't push yourself too hard, eh?

Discussion between Lunivore and jcole…

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…