English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Mitch

13:00

that's so wasteful. cheese..

and crackers is the way to go.

David Wallace

It was David Tua, the boxer. When it was his turn, he asked for "an O for awesome". The host told him that he could only play a consonant unless he wished to buy a vowel. On his next turn, he said he wanted to buy a vowel. When the host asked him which vowel, he said "P".

Mitch

Is that a bad thing to say?

KitFox

@Mitch peanut butter.

Matt Эллен

@DavidWallace LOL

Mitch

that seems like a weird way to get them to pop themselves into your mouth.

KitFox

13:01

@DavidWallace A few too many blows to the head.

user19161

So chrome does not have it in its settings where I can specify how much to store in its cache. That might have something to do with the chat not loading.

KitFox

@Mitch Are you kidding, or you just don't like peanut butter?

Mitch

@DavidWallace hilarious.

user19161

Usually I set Firefox to store nothing in its cache.

simchona

0

A: Why have questions been removed from my account?

Two of your questions, http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/71686/difference-in-english and http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/71137/difference-in-starting-pronunciations-of-station-and-sun were deleted after having been closed. The first case was a question which was very broad, an...

I knew someone was going to ask eventually

Mitch

13:03

@KitFox As a true blooded american, I grew up with peanut butter.

user19161

@simchona Oh I cast many delete votes recently, but I only follow others' lead in this.

KitFox

> Deletion is a standard process which happens to questions which have been closed

We don't very frequently delete closed questions, though.

simchona

@KitFox Should I change that?

KitFox

Unless they are very poor.

David Wallace

Good night everyone.

Mitch

13:03

not with that nasty vegemite or marmite or mint jelly or aspic

yuck

simchona

Changed it to mention voting process

Mitch

@KitFox we don't?

KitFox

@simchona Well, you could put it more nicely than I just did, but otherwise he might be confused.

Mitch

@DavidWallace night

Matt Эллен

CU @DavidWallace

simchona

13:04

@KitFox I won't mention quality. Just voting process

KitFox

@Mitch I don't think so. Lots of them we leave up.

user19161

@KitFox I don't think it is standard.

KitFox

@simchona That sounds more accurate. Thanks.

user19161

For one, we should not delete duplicates if they are signposts that help in the search.

Mitch

0

Q: Is it "template" male or female?

I have a doubt: I'm writing some technical documentation in Italian and I'm wondering what's the gender of "template"...

Please vote to delete. It's about Italian.

simchona

13:06

@JasperLoy I mentioned dupes in the answer

Matt Эллен

you, sir, are not a serious enthusiast.

Mitch

anyway, it is annoying for the user not to see the questions of his that are deleted.

simchona

@Mitch Voted

user19161

@Mitch He should ask on ILU.

simchona

I think users should be able to see their deleted questions

Mitch

13:06

@MattЭллен Yes, not serious enough.

@simchona that I agree with.

Gigili

@Mitch Voted.

Matt Эллен

I'm not allowed to vote to delete until two days after the question is posted

Gigili

Wait, I cannot vote to delete.

Silly system.

KitFox

@simchona You can, if you have a link for it.

Mitch

One person recently asked a question, it was downvoted quickly and deleted within 4 hours, not enough time for him to come back and edit.

KitFox

13:08

I'm pretty sure anyway.

user19161

@MattЭллен You will have stronger deletion votes when you hit 20k.

Gigili

What was that?

Matt Эллен

wrong window'd @kit

KitFox

Oops.

user19161

@Mitch I remember that case.

Mitch

13:08

hm...yeah I don't have a delete button. anyway, if anything should be deleted it should be something like that.

(but the OP should be able to see it)

Matt Эллен

@KitFox I don't normally get to enter when I'm typing in the wrong window. I get frustrated that my text isn't appearing, then wait for the the hamster wheel to catch up

KitFox

Oh, speaking of, I had a compilation error the other day. My code couldn't identify the variable @Matt.

Matt Эллен

lol

KitFox

For short, rote things, I often hit enter before I look up.

I watch my fingers when I type.

Most of the time.

I think I need a snack. What should I have?

user19161

@KitFox I don't watch whether I'm watching or not, so I don't know.

Mitch

13:11

because of the editing capability here, in other messaging systems I post too early and can't fix my cupertinos.

user19161

@KitFox Have a Kit Kat.

user19161

@Mitch Use cappucinos intead then.

KitFox

@JasperLoy Good idea.

I'll see if there are any.

Matt Эллен

@KitFox salty lady fingers?

KitFox

@Mitch What about your peccadillos?

user19161

13:12

Just stay away from armadillos.

KitFox

Did I tell you that?

I'm always warning people away from armadillos.

user19161

Once a cat jumped at me.

user19161

Another time a dog ran after me.

Mitch

@KitFox which is to say I like peanut butter just fine, and I expect (and have heard) that mice like peanut butter the world over. But that it would be a strange trick to put peanut butter on your tongue to encourage them to walk into your mouth.

user19161

Once a cockroach flew onto my nose.

Mitch

13:14

@KitFox no rectangles there.

user19161

Another time a bee flew into my mouth.

Gigili

I'm infected.

Mitch

@JasperLoy and? how was it?

user19161

@Mitch Peanut butter is too thick and sweet for me.

Matt Эллен

@Gigili infected with what? are you a zombie?

Mitch

13:15

@Gigili you -are- awesome like that.

Gigili

I want to put dollar signs when I see a number.

user19161

@Mitch It was a little sweet, probably from the honey.

Gigili

Not sure what the virus is called.

Mitch

@Gigili like for example?

user19161

@Mitch Your -XXX- is awesome.

user19161

13:16

@Gigili The LaTeX virus.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@JasperLoy his porn?

Mitch

awesome.

user19161

@Mitch Also, your rolling up sleeves.

KitFox

@Mitch Would it? Oh.

Gigili

@MrShinyandNew安宇 His porn what? Tell me.

KitFox

13:18

His porn is awesome.

user19161

@Gigili Whoosh!

KitFox

Awesome like Gigili.

Matt Эллен

swoosh like Tarzan

Mitch

@Gigili what about a telephone number?

KitFox

cheesy 70s funk

user19161

13:18

Who do I whoosh? Everyone of course. Is that even a question?

Gigili

@KitFox I've never seen two things as incomparable as that.

Mitch

@Gigili or a year?

Gigili

@Mitch Number, as in everything which looks like 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13 ...

14

KitFox

@Gigili It is true, you leave awesome far behind you, but it is the only word I have that begins to describe how amazing you are.

Gigili

16

15

Mitch

13:20

stick with 16. it's better

user19161

@KitFox No flirting in this chat.

Mitch

you're better off skipping 15

KitFox

Haha. You sound like my youngest "1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 11, 8, 9, 3!"

Mitch

Yes, that's a strange infection.

I'm almost beginning to believe that it's viral though.

Gigili

sticks with 16

user19161

13:22

It is certainly the LaTeX virus like I said.

user19161

Sometimes you don't need the $ but you are not sure when so you just use it all the time.

KitFox

It does sound like the LaTeX virus...

Mitch

@KitFox it's funny how anybody ever learns the right way. It's just like a song, one word after the other.

@KitFox I hesitate to ask..what's the LaTeX virus?

KitFox

@Gigili do you find yourself enclosing words in curly braces?

user19161

And hey, there's a whole question there on the pros and cons of using $ vs ( and $$ vs [.

Mitch

13:23

about 3 pounds?

Gigili

@KitFox Eh yes, sometimes.

Will I die?

user19161

@Gigili Yes, but not so soon.

Matt Эллен

everyone who chats at EL&U will die

unless you're one of the people who will live forever

KitFox

@Gigili Not from this.

user19161

@MattЭллен QED Matt, QED.

Mitch

13:25

@MattЭллен Now it's all your fault.

Matt Эллен

scientists suggest someone who will live forever has already been born

user19161

@MattЭллен Where?

Gigili

@JasperLoy That was so Reg-ish.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Sorry, I've been distracted watching funny clips of gameshows where people gave incredibly dumb answers

KitFox

scientists also suggest that I am the hottest lover who has ever lived.

Matt Эллен

13:25

@JasperLoy on Earth

@KitFox so I've heard

Gigili

@MrShinyandNew安宇 You're forgiven.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox Hey! I'm a scientist and I don't make that claim. Insufficient data.

Mitch

@MattЭллен at the same place?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I was hoping to find the clip David mentioned about O for awesome.

Matt Эллен

@MrShinyandNew安宇 you've not read all the interesting factoids?

KitFox

13:27

Besides, just because I am promiscuous doesn't mean I am any good at it.

Matt Эллен

@Mitch yes for certain values of yes

user19161

0

Q: Single word for "time spent"

Is there a single word for an amount of time spent on a task for example? More specific than duration?

time

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@MattЭллен Well, that's true. I have read those. But I think a double-blinded experiment is needed.

user19161

NR

KitFox

Stupid scientists.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

13:27

Aug 2 '11 at 18:19, by Kit

@JSBangs I am not promiscuous.

Matt Эллен

proof by contradiction

KitFox

Damn it.

user19161

@MrShinyandNew安宇 And I am still a virgin.

Matt Эллен

there for you are good at it

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@MattЭллен er, QED I guess, eh?

KitFox

13:28

OK, well, I was promiscuous.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@JasperLoy why doesn't that surprise me

KitFox

@MrShinyandNew安宇 He's mentioned it a few times before.

Now I'm not. It's just me and my husband and an occasional side dish.

Strictly vegetarian.

user19161

@KitFox Very deep.

KitFox

Innit tho?

Journeyman Geek

@KitFox: meh. I think at some age people should be free to do as they like without society tut tuting

Matt Эллен

13:30

@JourneymanGeek tut tut tut

KitFox

I never really cared about society tut tutting.

user19161

@JourneymanGeek What is tut tut?

KitFox

I'm sure that comes as a shock.

Matt Эллен

feigns shock

in Mathematics, 3 mins ago, by robjohn

@MattЭллен My son sent me this:

English doesn't borrow from other languages. English follows other languages down dark alleys, knocks them over and goes through their pockets for loose grammar.

Journeyman Geek

@JasperLoy: Onomatopoeia ;p

KitFox

13:32

@MattЭллен Hahaha!

user19161

@MattЭллен Let me join that room now.

KitFox

Matt Эллен

awwww

KitFox

Baby ambush!

Journeyman Geek

BATBABY

KitFox

13:33

Well, kid ambush!

Mitch

@KitFox that explains the missing numbers.

Journeyman Geek

Batkid?

KitFox

Batboy!

Journeyman Geek

hmm, double meaning

i approve ;p

Mitch

@MattЭллен shocking...if I haven't misunderstood, how old is your son?

KitFox

13:35

We gave this pic to my husband for Father's Day. I also have one on my desk.

user19161

@KitFox Their hairs are of different colours.

KitFox

Indeed.

So are their eyes.

Matt Эллен

@Mitch you have indeed misunderstood. It's robjohn's son

KitFox

Well, the pairs are the same.

But they are different between them.

Mitch

@KitFox also, it's obviously a setup picture because the shirts are clean. no self respecting child of that age would allow themselves to be changed into clean clothes. Where were they during the Kennedy assassination?

Matt Эллен

13:37

@KitFox they're adorable

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I concur

Mitch

@MattЭллен Oh. hm...reading comprehension.I'll have to work on that.

KitFox

Thank you. I made them myself.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox You should go into business

KitFox

Well, I had a little help.

I do seem to be quite good at bearing children.

user19161

13:38

@KitFox I am guessing the younger one resembles you more and the older one the father.

KitFox

It's a shame we won't have any more.

@JasperLoy Why is that?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@JasperLoy I would have guessed the opposite

KitFox

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Why is that?

user19161

0

Q: How to pronounce Schedule

How is the word schedule pronounced in British English? My dictionary (which has pronunciation function) shows that it sounds like "shed duel" in British English, and "s-get jewel" in American English. They sound so different. Could it be a mistake?

pronunciation

user19161

NC

simchona

13:39

@JasperLoy Was just about to post that

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox Because babies tend to look more like the father when they are younger. Evolutionarily this helps the father recognize his own offspring to care for.

simchona

"The dictionary lied. It's really shed-jewel and blarglesnarf "

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@simchona blarglesnarf is fine, but I think you should use sked-jewel.

KitFox

"Brits favor the hs over the cs. It's like how they pronounce 'school' as 'shool' while Americans properly say 'skool'."

Matt Эллен

lolwhut

KitFox

13:42

Germanic influence, you see.

We did have to rescue them, after all.

Matt Эллен

the Germanics?

KitFox

Yes. Them.

Teutons.

Matt Эллен

Ah

KitFox

Tauntauns?

Damn it. My sense of history is being drowned out by this lovely smelling sandalwood potpourri.

user19161

How do you people pronounce "often", with or without t?

KitFox

13:44

It's just I'm sure that I have some reason to feel superior to Brits.

Matt Эллен

@JasperLoy depends on how I'm saying it

KitFox

Depends on how often I say it.

No, it depends on how often I want to feel pretentious.

user19161

I usually omit the t. Most people here do too.

Matt Эллен

I guess most people here do too

KitFox

Shit. I just spit coffee all over my desk.

That's annoying and funny at the same time.

Matt Эллен

13:49

oh noes!

you should consider yourself lucky. I'd have to get someone else to spill coffee on my desk

3

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

some of these game-show answers are pretty awful

"Gentlemen: what is your favourite pasta?" "Um, flat on my stomach, looking at the TV screen-" "uh, no no no"

user19161

@KitFox How did that happen?

KitFox

I coughed while drinking.

user19161

Sometimes one chokes on saliva, resulting in the worst kind of coughing.

Gigili

How did you do that?

I usually drink while coughing.

KitFox

13:54

{@Gigili}

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox Ugh, that happened to me once. I spent two hours painstakingly cleaning my computer keyboard, then sat down at the computer to enjoy a cup of tea while surfing the web, choked on the tea and spit tea (with sugar, I might add) all over the keyboard, wall, screen, etc. I was a smidge annoyed.

KitFox

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Yipes.

user19161

I have choked on salive several times, I am awful like that.

Gigili

I once put glue on my keyboard. Guess what happened.

Matt Эллен

You got a promotion?

You were heralded as the saviour of your company and given a raise?

You became a robot?

Gigili

13:58

Very close.

Matt Эллен

A chicken pecked at your ankle?

Gigili

I picked it up and put it elsewhere.

Matt Эллен

good thinking

Gigili

Yeye.

I am awesome like that.

Matt Эллен

quite

user19161

14:03

There seem to be a sudden influx of questions this week.

Matt Эллен

@JasperLoy I was thinking something similar

KitFox

Must be because Reg is out of town.

Matt Эллен

a lot of elu-lite too

@KitFox maybe so. He occasionally mentions that there is a whole lot we don't see because he kills it on sight

user19161

@MattЭллен Indeed. Fools seldom differ!

user19161

@KitFox He is just in another town, duh.

KitFox

14:05

What the—? Didn't we kill the grammar tag?

Oh, I'm thinking of word.

Apparently grammar is a frequented tag of mine now.

Matt Эллен

Me too!

I find that most annoying

Mitch

@MrShinyandNew安宇 really? that sounds like ... speculation.

Matt Эллен

it's probably because I go to questions tagged grammar and remove the tag

KitFox

fidgets I want to write more.

But I have to wait.

My boss will be here any minute for a meeting.

Matt Эллен

patience, dear one

KitFox

14:10

No!

Impatiens

:"Balsamine" redirects here. For the French Revolutionary Calendar date, see September 27 Impatiens () is a genus of about 850–1,000 species of flowering plants, widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere and tropics. Together with the puzzling Hydrocera triflora, this genus makes up the family Balsaminaceae. Such a situation is highly unusual, and phylogenetic studies might reveal that Impatiens needs to be split up; some of its species might be closer to Hydrocera than to their presumed congeners. Common names include impatiens, jewelweeds, and, somewhat ambiguously, "...

Matt Эллен

:D

Gigili

> I one upped it.

Huh?

KitFox

Did better.

Gigili

Ah yes.

KitFox

"I was bragging about winning the national spelling bee when he one upped me by remarking that he had won the Pulitzer Prize."

Matt Эллен

14:12

@Gigili c.f. oneupmanship

KitFox

I thought "cf" meant "see for contrast"?

Approximately.

Matt Эллен

I use it for "compare with"

Gigili

You though? Really?

Matt Эллен

but that's just what I was taught at school, a long time ago. It could be a misapprehension

Gigili

It's said in the context of upvotes, as in I +1'ed you.

Mitch

14:14

@KitFox maybe that's 'viz.'

@Gigili i thougth that's pronounced 'I plus-oned you'

Gigili

@Mitch Me too.

We were wrong.

KitFox

@MattЭллен Oh, I bet that's why I was thinking contrast. They are similar enough that I would confuse it.

Mitch

@Gigili fools seldom suffer

It's a saying of @JasperLoy's

Matt Эллен

@KitFox indeed

Mitch

cuz he;s awesome like that.

Gigili

14:16

@Mitch Yes, how is it relevant to what I said?

Matt Эллен

@Mitch have you not heard the saying "great minds think alike and fools seldom differ"?

KitFox

Damn it, that's twice.

Mitch

@Gigili you were asking about 'one-upped' and then you said "as in I +1'ed you", and I thought that was weird because +1'd is not normally pronounced 'one-upped' but rather 'plus-oned', but if it were, that would be funny because there would be two different meanings for 'one-upped'

@MattЭллен just the first part...never the second.

Matt Эллен

ah

Mitch

until @JasperLoy started using it here.

@KitFox what chatroom was that supposed to go to?

KitFox

14:20

It's supposed to go out to the remote server.

Righthand monitor.

Mitch

oh

Gigili

@Mitch That's why I was asking what it means. Someone commented somewhere (something, somehow) that "I one upped you", I was wondering if it makes sense at all in that context.

Mitch

@Gigili I'd say no. You wouldn't say 'one-upped' for voted up. 'one-upped means what KitFox said, to do something better than the other person and tell them about it.

KitFox

I always begin "integer" as "inter..." Makes me feel like I have a weird accent.

Mitch

@MattЭллен Meticulous research ( a superficial google search) shows that "Great Minds think alike" alone was borrowed from the French (Voltaire) but didn't come over with the fool thing. I can't tell when the (much cleverer addition re fools was added.

Matt Эллен

14:29

The act that is known as plus oneing
Is markedly different to one upping
You plus one when you're pleased
If you're one upped you'll feel cheesed
Unless someone one ups your plus oneing

3

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Mitch Hm, a web search suggests that it is not the case, but there was a study in 1995 that suggested it was, however later studies seem to refute it. link

I will now delete that thought from my head, as it is false.

Matt Эллен

@Mitch I see. I've only known them together.

Mitch

@MattЭллен and the next clever thing to say is "Dieu l’a permis; cela doit suffire" = "God allowed it; that must suffice" (but I read it as "...so we must suffer")

KitFox

Great minds think alike but the best think for themselves.

bbl

Matt Эллен

CU

Mitch

14:33

@MrShinyandNew安宇 It's one of those evopsych things that sounds so plausible ('of course, how else would the dad know, and he must know') but sounds too good to be true (confirmation bias)

@MrShinyandNew安宇 ah... scientific american to the rescue

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Mitch Well, there was that '95 study that "confirmed" it :)

Matt Эллен

14:53

Is he talking about Leia?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@MattЭллен We can't really be sure, the movie's PG, but there aren't many female characters

Robusto

Wait a minute. In the context of evolution, how did the father know what he himself looked like, so as to be able to judge to a fine turn how much a boy baby looked like him?

Matt Эллен

good point!

Robusto

Sounds like bushwah to me.

Mitch

15:11

@Robusto you look deeply into each others' eyes to see your own reflection.

user19161

@Robusto They used swords for mirrors.

Mitch

Haven't you ever looked at a relative's ear and though' gosh, that looks just like my ear'? (when it is totally impossible to have ever know what your own ear looks like, unless you're Angelina Jolie)

whose ears look nothing like her kids'.

@JasperLoy exactly, the last one they'll ever use.

Matt Эллен

@Mitch I know perfectly well what my ears look like. I have them arranged in a trophy cabinet.

2

Mitch

with the mice you've caught with peanut butter on your tongue?

Matt Эллен

yes, and the bees I've tethered with string

Mitch

15:15

@MattЭллен for what nefarious purpose?

flying?

Matt Эллен

@Mitch a perpetual motion machine. bees don't die unless they sting someone.

user19161

The bible has several instances of "went into her". Does it mean sex or something else?

Mitch

@MattЭллен Hold on, checking with scientific american...

@JasperLoy No not at all. No bees were involved.

they elide 'tent'

'went into her tent'

(or whatever they lived in back then).

user19161

@Mitch That is a weird omission.

user19161

I wonder what would happen if I say "I would like to go into you" today.

Mitch

15:18

@JasperLoy ommission by translation. The original Hebrew is more explicit (about tents). And the KJV translators thought the word tent meant...something else. so they didn't write it.

@JasperLoy Not in church. Tent is metaphorical for Church, and as you well know Christ and the Church are a metaphor for marriage, so it's kinda weird. No one would appreciate the metaphor.

Another weird thing from Genesis was how when strangers in the Palestine area would meet (4 thousand years ago) they would, well Genesis says they 'took hold of the other's thigh' or 'under the thigh' or 'in the hollow of the thigh'. Just like song lyrics...if it doesn't seem to make sense, it's probably all about sex.

Matt Эллен

you mean you don't greet people like that?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Robusto Presumably he could infer it somewhat from looking at his own male relatives and from seeing his reflection in water, or on the under-side of ancient astronaut's UFOs.

Matt Эллен

or in his shiny metal asp

Off topic:

1

Q: Does the sentence "His confident visage hid insecurity" make sense?

His confident visage hid insecurity.

sentence

Robusto

15:40

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Well, why not just open the door to all kinds of speculation?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Robusto Well, that isn't the point. The point is that there was actual evidence that this happened. That evidence has been refuted, and I've moved on. Why are we still discussing it, again?

Robusto

@MrShinyandNew安宇 I must have missed the middle part.

KitFox

Hi.

Gigili

Hi.

KitFox

Evolutionarily speaking, children look like their fathers because they share half of their genes.

Scientists are stupid.

It's not an evolutionary "adaptation" for Christ's sake.

looks judgmental

Robusto

15:56

In my informal sampling, I see that girls commonly look like their mother's side and boys their father's. There are exceptions.

KitFox

I should think we would more readily identify similar traits in the same gender.

Hang on, I'm having a little difficulty getting up on my high horse.

drags over stepladder

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Robusto ah, ok

@KitFox yes, but the claim was specifically about babies as opposed to children/people in general.

KitFox

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Age doesn't change their genetic makeup.

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