English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Daniel δ

01:02

@JasperLoy 15% of all ELU questions are closed.

That's not too bad, is it?

user19161

@Danielδ Yeah.That's because the rest have been deleted, lol.

Daniel δ

But then 33% of the last 50 questions were closed.

user19161

So how is chess SE?

Daniel δ

S.

L.

O.

W.

I'm just hoping we won't be closed.

user19161

Wrong. You should do it this way.
S
L
O
W

Daniel δ

01:05

@JasperLoy S

user19161

Use shift+enter instead of enter.

Daniel δ

@JasperLoy Cool.

user19161

@Danielδ How did you know I am an ass?

Daniel δ

@JasperLoy How did you know I was saying ass?

@JasperLoy L

@JasperLoy RU?

@JasperLoy Hm

@JasperLoy O

user19161

@Danielδ Oh I get it now. I am so SLOW.

Daniel δ

01:07

I love the wall of @Jasper Loy's

You just interrupted it

Now I can do a wall of pencils. Edit.

user19161

What is your chess ranking if you have one?

Journeyman Geek

morning

Daniel δ

@JasperLoy Only very informal. On Chess.com I've been able to hold 1300 for blitz games.

I only play blitz online

@JasperLoy You?

@JourneymanGeek Evenin'

user19161

@Danielδ None that I know of. I vaguely remembered that the GMs all had more than 2k.

Daniel δ

@JasperLoy Yup. Best in the world are 2800 or so. I believe 2 or 3 players are >2800 currently

Normal club-level players are ~1500

I am better OTB than online

BTW, OTB = over the board

user19161

01:12

@Danielδ My chess idol was Gary Kasparov. Note the similarity in our names, hehe.

user19161

I liked the matches between him and Anatoly Karpov.

user19161

@Danielδ Oh I had thought it meant on the board.

Daniel δ

@JasperLoy Yep. Many consider him the best player of all time.

@JasperLoy I don't really have a chess idol

@JasperLoy But I really like Capablanca.

@JasperLoy In his time period, he was a pioneer.

user19161

@Danielδ I don't know what's so great about Bobby Fischer. I don't find his moves particularly interesting.

Daniel δ

@JasperLoy No, though he'd beat us up the chimney.

user19161

01:16

@Danielδ Hey, you have not played with me. How do you know? Maybe I am better than Kasparov? :-)

Daniel δ

@JasperLoy Someone would know.

@JasperLoy Hence, everyone would know.

@JasperLoy Hence, I would know.

</logic>

user19161

@Danielδ LOL. You are getting more funny these days. :-)

Daniel δ

@JasperLoy ME?

Who knew?

@JasperLoy How was your day?

user19161

@Danielδ Someone would know, hence everyone would know, hence I would know. QED.

Daniel δ

@JasperLoy Only works for record-breaking ability.

user19161

01:21

@Danielδ Still the same. Continue to pray for me.

Daniel δ

@JasperLoy No better? No worse?

user19161

@Danielδ I see you have not been infected with the QED virus yet.

user19161

@Danielδ Sort of, kind of. I am giving myself more time to recover. Now I am targeting end of next year instead of this.

Daniel δ

@JasperLoy shrugs I guess not. [whatever it is] Oh, I know it means quod erat demonstrandum, but that's the sort of thing you'd expect a homeschooler to remember :)

user19161

@Danielδ Oh it just means to end a sentence with QED to mean "case closed". I started using it and I have infected some others in this room as well.

Daniel δ

01:28

That which was to have been demonstrated, in Latin.

@JasperLoy It seems odd for you, who don't believe in God, to ask for prayer.

user19161

@Danielδ I confess I once used "reductio ad absurdum" pretentiously in some answer in some school thing.

user19161

And yes I was trying to be pretentious then.

Daniel δ

@JasperLoy It's not necessarily pretentious.

user19161

@Danielδ Well, I think I am conflicted. We all are.

Daniel δ

It's a technical term.

Mahnax

01:31

Good day, everyone.

user19161

@Danielδ I could simply have said proof by contradiction instead.

user19161

@Mahnax Hello.

Mahnax

@JasperLoy How are you today, Jasper?

Daniel δ

@JasperLoy But to hope in what you don't believe in? That's more conflicted than you need to be.

user19161

@Mahnax Same. Thanks for asking, and also pray for me.

Daniel δ

01:32

@JasperLoy It's definitely more conflicted than I am.

Mahnax

@JasperLoy Of course.

user19161

@Danielδ Yeah, I guess I'm very conflicted then. :-)

Daniel δ

@JasperLoy You're right, though — we all are, to some extent.

Mahnax

@Danielδ May I recommend an em-dash (—)?

user19161

@Mahnax Haha, you seem to be a typography expert now.

Daniel δ

01:34

@Mahnax No such thing on my keyboard :(

39

Q: When should I use an em-dash, an en-dash, and a hyphen?

I generally know how to use a hyphen, but when should I use an en-dash instead of an em-dash, or when should I use a hyphen instead of an em-dash? hyphen - en-dash – – em-dash — —

Mahnax

@Danielδ Well, there's always the alt codes. Unless you're using a laptop, then they might not work.

Daniel δ

@Mahnax Laptop it is.

@Mahnax I think they work anyway.

Mahnax

@Danielδ Darn.

Daniel δ

@Mahnax What's the code?

Mahnax

@Danielδ alt+0151.

@Danielδ I had heard that they only work on the number pad, but I suppose that if your laptop is large enough, it might even have one of those.

Daniel δ

01:36

—

Mahnax

Hey, look at that.

Daniel δ

@Mahnax Yeah, I have a numpad

Mahnax

@Danielδ Well, there you go.

Daniel δ

———

I forgot about that.

Very handy for impossible passwords.

Mahnax

Indeed.

user19161

01:38

It's quite rare that three of us are here at the same time. It happened only twice so far IIRC.

Mahnax

Very handy in general.

@JasperLoy Nah, more often than that.

Just not for very long.

user19161

Of course, that's because Daniel does not come to chat anymore.

Daniel δ

@JasperLoy Don't diss my decision :)

user19161

How is your Russian @mah?

Mahnax

@JasperLoy Oh, I haven't been studying it as much as I should be.

I work a ton now that it's the summertime, and I never seem to have much motivation.

user19161

01:41

@Danielδ In LaTeX, the hyphen, n dash and m dash are done using -, -- and --- respectively IIRC.

Daniel δ

@JasperLoy Reminds me of Word AutoCorrect

Mahnax

@Danielδ hides

MS Word on Windows is OK, but for Mac, it's awful.

user19161

@Mahnax You don't like Word?

Mahnax

35 secs ago, by Mahnax

MS Word on Windows is OK, but for Mac, it's awful.

Daniel δ

@Mahnax I don't have a Mac

Mitch

01:44

@JasperLoy maybe lots of questions are being closed/deleted because people are asking too many closable questions? Or maybe people were always asking closable questions and closers or the mods are just more efficient at finding them. And then there's the question of wether it's true or not in comparison to other sites.

Daniel δ

@Mahnax Well you knew. Alt+0151 and all that.

Mahnax

@Danielδ I do, though.

Daniel δ

@Mitch Wether? The male goat variety of question?

Mahnax

Anyhow, it doesn't matter.

Daniel δ

@Mahnax I would like to try one.

I've seen enough to be interested.

Mahnax

01:46

@Danielδ They're nice, but they're expensive.

user19161

@Danielδ You should go to McDonald's and get a Big Mac then!

Mahnax

Unfortunately, Apple has been making some really stupid decisions lately.

Daniel δ

@JasperLoy McDonalds is not a place I frequent

Mitch

@Danielδ no need to sweat it. pretty much any design decision that could be made, Mac made the right one and Windows the wrong on, but because of the popularity of Windows, and the start of many apps on Windows, Mac had to accommodate. Also, those decisions were not that important and they're mostly the same platform anyway.

Mahnax

@Danielδ That's a healthy life decision.

user19161

01:47

@Mahnax Now you sound like a nutrition expert, hehe.

Mahnax

@JasperLoy Recommending that one avoids McDonald's does not a nutrition expert make.

Daniel δ

@JasperLoy You sound like a expert-seeking expert.

Mahnax

@Danielδ expert-finding*

Well, either way.

Daniel δ

@Mahnax Expert-discovering

@Mahnax Expertology

Journeyman Geek

@Mitch Thats seriously subjective

user19161

01:48

@Mahnax Maybe you will recommend him KFC instead?

Mahnax

@JasperLoy Nope.

Journeyman Geek

I have problems using macs, i can quite comfortably use any other common OS

Daniel δ

@JasperLoy Well, I confess BK is on my list. Still not frequently.

Mahnax

@JourneymanGeek Oh, what are your problems with them?

Mitch

@Danielδ no, not really. the distinction in meaning between what happens in the sky and an opposition of choices is minimal so I'm reflecting that in my spelling. Google for it and you'll see that I'm not a trendsetter or early adopter but rather mainstream in my use of this soon to be mainstream choice of spelling.

Daniel δ

01:49

2

Q: "Object of" vs. "subject of" -- which one is correct? Does it depend on context?

(Tried to search to see if this question had already been asked, but could not find it amongst the many questions concerning pronoun declension and objects and subjects as parts of speech.) What, exactly, is the difference between the following two sentences? Are they both correct -- or is one c...

meaning word-choice grammar differences

This one is interesting.

Journeyman Geek

@Mahnax: Let me put it this way, the first time i used a mac, I almost burst out crying. Then went to use a solaris CDE box cause it was easier.

Daniel δ

@JourneymanGeek That's seriously subjective

Mitch

@JourneymanGeek it's subjective only if it is wrong.

Journeyman Geek

Generally? The layout is wierd to me. I don't really see why the top bar needs to context change. I can't fullscreen on my hackintosh box...

Mahnax

@JourneymanGeek That seriously tells me nothing. Every time Windows task manager starts (Not Responding) I almost burst out crying.

Daniel δ

01:51

@Mitch Never ask the wrong questions.

Journeyman Geek

@Mahnax: point is though, its subjective

Mitch

exactly

user19161

@Danielδ Do you have Long Johns Silver's there?

Journeyman Geek

My ex uses it with no issues whatsoever ;p

Daniel δ

@Mahnax Wow, I didn't realize everyone was so emotional around here.

Journeyman Geek

01:51

And this was someone who used to run linux

Daniel δ

@JasperLoy One or two. Never went there, though.

Mahnax

@Danielδ I'm being exaggeratory for discussion's sake.

Daniel δ

@JourneymanGeek Some people are computer-minded.

Mitch

the mac and windows desktop GUIs are infinitesimally close to each other in comparison to the mobile GUIs which are worlds away.

Daniel δ

It's still subjective.

Mitch

01:52

subjectivity is a matter of scale.

Journeyman Geek

Thats what i've been saying all along

there is no perfect UI

Mitch

@Mahnax I call your exaggeration and raise you a hyperbolic.

Mahnax

Shh, discuss more quietly. If Cerb hears you…

Journeyman Geek

just different ways of skinning a hypothetical desktop cat.

Daniel δ

@Mitch I wasn't talking to you, I forgot to link to @JourneymanGeek

Mahnax

01:53

@JourneymanGeek Until we look in the box, we won't know if the cat is dead or alive, though.

Cerberus

Ahem.

What is all this?

Mitch

@Mahnax he can hear our thoughts. Type as loudly as ou want, just don't -think-.

Mahnax

Run!

Daniel δ

@Mahnax He heard you say Cerb

Journeyman Geek

@Mahnax: there's actually 3 states...

Mitch

01:54

@Cerb - nothing nevermind.

Cerberus

I did indeed.

Journeyman Geek

Dead, Asleep, and bloody furious.

Cerberus

@Mitch Suuuure....

Daniel δ

@JourneymanGeek dives under the coffee table

Cerberus

Wise.

Mahnax

01:54

pats doggie's head Go to sleep, little puppy.

Mitch

@Cerberus where's the history/clear button on this chatty thingy?

Mahnax

@JourneymanGeek I thought there were fifty or summin?!

Daniel δ

Pats second doggie head You too, baby.

Journeyman Geek

lol

naw, 3

Daniel δ

Who'll take the third?

Quick!

Mitch

01:55

yeah, which 3 states are you talking about?

Mahnax

@JourneymanGeek New York, Texas, and Los Angeles, right?

Daniel δ

@Mitch The 3 states of Cerberus

Journeyman Geek

Only if its a american cat

Mahnax

@JourneymanGeek cringes

Daniel δ

@Mitch On, off, and nineteen to the dozen.

Mitch

01:56

Ohhh... quickly pats third head ... away from teeth

Daniel δ

@Cerberus There, now. Go to sleep.

Cerberus

@Mitch It's next to the button that turns off Google's spying on you.

Mitch

@Danielδ that's like a really excellent baker's dozen.

Daniel δ

@Mitch Don't I wish.

Cerberus

@Danielδ Thank you, friendly humans.

Mahnax

01:57

Mitch

Is that near the light that's always on on my vide chat camera?

Mahnax

Learn more?

Cerberus

@Mitch Ooops I accidentally bit off the top of your finger.

Journeyman Geek

/me wonders why there's a dent worn into the floor

Cerberus

@Mahnax Yeah, and how well does that work, huh?

Mahnax

01:58

@Cerberus My web history is always off, but I just turned it on for a moment, for this.

Cerberus

Mine's off too.

But still.

Mitch

@Cerberus do you mean from the joint or from the axis? either way, that stings.

Cerberus

Google uses the contents of your e-mails for its wicked needs.

Daniel δ

@JourneymanGeek BTW, I don't think I know you.

Cerberus

@Mitch Just a few mm, nothing serious.

Mitch

01:59

@Cerberus OMG... they know ll about my ...

Daniel δ

@JourneymanGeek Not big on English, I take it.

Mitch

laundry.

Daniel δ

@Mitch laundry?

@Mitch Good grief.

Mitch

laundry...yes.

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…