English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

RegDwight

9:09 AM

This is blatantly off-topic as it stands:

1

Q: "Strength cannot beat MORE strength without ju jitsu"

Strength cannot beat MORE strength without ju jitsu. Is that correct?

FX_

@RegDwight: well, I thought I was quite the quick gun, but I don't think so

the guy might actually have a problem getting the grammatical construct itself

and both answers are actually fine

the comments are terrible, though

I've edited it, and removed the quotes tag

RegDwight

@FX_: sorry, but that doesn't help. "Are there any mistakes in this text?" questions are off-topic as per the FAQ.

6

A: Can I ask the community to help me find errors in a text/sentence?

Short answer: it depends. Long answer: you have to be as specific as possible. Broad questions along the lines of "please proofread this" are likely to get closed. However, if you have a specific problem with word order, capitalization, spelling etc., go ahead and ask. In other words: "Can y...

I am still not sure what the question is. Is is about the more?

FX_

@RegDwight: won't argue, too tired

I think the question is about the more, so it's a specific element that is asked about, so it's rather OK

but the question was badly asked, sure

oh man, once you've crossed the 3k rep limit, the next interesting superpowers are at 10k!

that'll take like, forever!

Benjol

9:26 AM

0

A: Why is this place becoming so mean (and how to fix it)?

@smithco, please see this question, and this one, and this one. Oh, and this one too. And this one. I think I'll stop there. (Just a thought: if you've really got time, just trawl your way through this list.) My point, exactly? What would you be rather spending your time on: questions/ans...

FWIW...

RegDwight

@FX_ Whaddaya mean, they added 5k powers just recently. Yousa not likes 'em?))

If the question is about the more, then it's okay. But I can't make head or tails of OP's comments, especially the "not really. please watch UFC1 and see what I mean. it was proven. your theory is not." on Stan Rogers' answer...

Feb 11 at 15:13, by Martha

Like Punic (as in the wars), but in Pennsylvania... hence, Pennsic.

FX_

9:46 AM

@RegDwight let's just say I'm not so psyched about those

RegDwight

10:57 AM

Hahaha, you-know-whose answer to the non-straight route question is actually hilarious. Too bad only an elite club can have a laugh...

18 hours ago, by FX_

@Kosmonaut: receiving an advance preview of every vgv8 post by SMS, quite the VIP service

Nyuszika7H

Hi!

double oy

RegDwight

Ahoi.

FX_

how can one write a community wiki question?

RegDwight

You can't.

You'll have to flag it for mod attention.

FX_

IIRC, there was a checkbox below the question

RegDwight

11:10 AM

Only mods can do that now.

50

A: Should the community wiki police be shut down?

Important change End users can not mark questions wiki anymore, so the only appropriate way to get action on a question you believe really should be wiki, is to flag it for moderator attention. A couple points.. Vote-to-wiki will not be implemented. When the answer to a problem is "let's ma...

FX_

@RegDwight: thanks for the info and the link

now, another (harder) question

what should we do with questions like that:

the “I can't be bothered to look it up in a dictionary” questions

0

Q: meaning of spouse

what you mean by the word SPOUSE

words

I'd be for closing (and deleting if it didn't get any answer)

but which of the reasons do I pick? too localized? not a real question?

Nyuszika7H

@FX_ I flagged it as not a real question.

RegDwight

Sec. I was afk. Looking for post to answer your question.

7

A: Should we require some reasonable research being done? (aka Questions that can be answered by opening an online dictionary)

see http://meta.scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/197/should-trivially-easy-to-find-be-a-benchmark-for-moderating-the-site specifically some new close reason proposals: not sufficiently interesting: this question is too basic; it can be definitively and permanently answered by a single link...

So the powers that be are thinking about a new close reason.

On the other hand, do note my comments there))

FX_

@RegDwight I know, that question was mine!

RegDwight

OH *&%$"§&

FX_

11:19 AM

but in the meantime, what ought to be done?

RegDwight

I quit.)))

FX_

@RegDwight my boy in on my lap, and seeing the screen; if you ever write such offensive language again, I will thwack you

RegDwight

Hahaha. Now I just need to edit my comment to make it look like it was offensive.

FX_

and I'm not even talking about using the region-specific dollar sign in your language, when you should use the all-inclusive universal currency sign, ¤ (U+00A4)

Benjol

Did you see this graphic from Borror0?

RegDwight

11:22 AM

@FX_ Hey cut me some slack, I'm the only person on this site, on Reddit, and on the entire Internet who uses the three-dot glyph for ellipsis. (…)

@Benjol Yes, been there, seen that.

@FX_ but back to that question, it's not like you're not free to downvote it.

FX_

@RegDwight ¡looɔ os sı ǝpoɔıun

RegDwight

Also, interrobang.

@Benjol lbrandy.com/blog/2008/10/my-first-and-last-webcomic

FX_

@RegDwight +1!

RegDwight

Yeah, wanted to post that inline, Konqueror won't let me upload images. And Firefox won't let me log in. Something's fishy today. Those communist communists!

FX_

ok, so I posted what I think is my first close-to-off-topic question

please let me know if it can be improved wrt the scope of the site

0

Q: What did Old English writing (letters and formatting) typically look like?

I am wondering if there is a specific kind of writing that people would typically associate with Old English language. Are there well-known manuscripts that typically represent the kind of writing (letters, formatting, etc.) that would be used at the time and in the regions where Old English spre...

writing style old-english typefaces

Benjol

11:33 AM

@RegDwight I love the alt text on that! :)

RegDwight

Heh. Yes, yes.

Robusto

@RegDwight — I'm being literal-minded. I just finished reading The Ghosts of Cannae and Punic referred to the Roman wars against Carthage. Carthage = "New City" in Phoenician, from which Punic derived.

amazon.com/Ghosts-Cannae-Hannibal-Darkest-Republic/dp/…

RegDwight

@FX_ I would agree that I have no idea how close to off-topic this is. But anyhow, aren't there a whole bunch of fonts called "Old English Blabla"? Must check.

... Hm. No handwriting fonts so far.

Robusto

I just answered the question for the guy.

Nyuszika7H

q:

double oy

Robusto

11:39 AM

I have an actual reproduction of The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle ...

Nyuszika7H

chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/297/337-53

FX_

@Robusto am I "the guy", or is it someone else?

RegDwight

masterworksbritlit.wordpress.com/2009/01/21/…

Robusto

@FX_: hahaha, yeah, you are. Didn't notice who asked.

RegDwight

@Robusto That spreads like a disease.

23 mins ago, by FX_

@RegDwight I know, that question was mine!

Robusto

11:43 AM

You know, people who only use two letters to write their names ought to expect people not to notice them once in a while.

God, it's early. I had to edit my answer already. I started to write cursive and realized I meant calligraphic, then completely forgot to delete cursive. Duh.

FX_

the reason I use two letters if because my first name is just too long for practical use

Robusto

So it came out cursive calligraphic, which is a new kind of writing, I guess.

@FX_ — To quote James Thurber, you may as well fall flat on your face as to lean over too far backwards.

RegDwight

At least there's not a single m in cursive calligraphic. Just imagine the frustration if it were murmive mammigramic.

Robusto

Well, you wouldn't be typing it anyway so you're safe.

RegDwight

I would probably be commenting on your typing it.

And it would be taking me two decades and a half.

Though not on this machine.

Robusto

11:47 AM

The whole "dot over the i thing" came about because all of the downstrokes looked the same. There was no way to detect the presence of the word "minimum* in a sentence, because it was made completely of the same strokes: left-serif to down-stroke to right-serif, one after another.

FX_

@Robusto vowels are overrated anyway

RegDwight

Take Sütterlin and try to write aluminium.

FX_

sorry, I meant to say: vwls r vrrtd nw

Robusto

@FX_ — Well, I don't know how to respond to that. If I disagree, I may be branded as anti-Semitic.

FX_

@Robusto shouldn't someone thwack you, right now?

RegDwight

11:49 AM

Oh yeah, thanks.

Sütterlin

Sütterlinschrift (Sütterlin script), or Sütterlin for short, is the last widely used form of the old German blackletter handwriting (Deutsche Kurrentschrift). In Germany, the old German cursive script developed in the 16th century replacing the Gothic handwriting at the same time that bookletters developed into the Fraktur typeface. Some people refer to all old German handwriting scripts as Sütterlin, although variants of the Kurrent script were in use centuries before graphic artist Ludwig Sütterlin (1865–1917) was born. Sütterlin was commissioned to create a modern handwriting script ...

Robusto

@FX_: No, they should poof me.

Poof being another way to say blow ...

RegDwight

But less onomatopoetic.

Robusto

... at me.

Maybe in English.

For all I know, poof may be onomatopoeic in some trashy foreign tongue. But wait, I'm being redundant ...

RegDwight

19 hours ago, by RegDwight

►

Robusto

Yeah, that represents the high-water mark of German music video.

It was all downhill after that.

RegDwight

11:56 AM

Well, it is better than any of DJ Bobo's stuff...

Robusto

Or, considering the topic, down grade.

From the nation that gave us Kraftwerk.

And Rammstein ...

And even the latter admit, somewhat boisterously, that "we are all Americans."

RegDwight

Oh well, don't tell me that Rammstein videos somehow don't satisfy you.

Robusto

They haven't replaced Sledgehammer in my MTV pantheon yet.

RegDwight

"The music video for "Pussy" (which is the first Rammstein song to be released in English with German) was released on September 16, 2009, at 20:30 GMT, released especially for the adult website Visit-x.[15] The video contains graphic scenes of male and female nudity as well as women engaging in sexual activity with the band members, although the actual sex scenes were performed by body doubles.[16] The women featured in the video are German porn stars."

Robusto

So ... they're masters of the single-entendre.

RegDwight

12:00 PM

Word.

Robusto

Hey, I have that macro copyrighted.

You owe me $0.25 per use.

RegDwight

Rubbish. You have Robusto copyrighted, and I'm ignoring that one already.

Robusto

Scofflaw!

RegDwight

You'll get your money when I'm in your backyard establishing communism.

Robusto

I'm still waiting for that. Does Communism cut the grass and rake the leaves?

RegDwight

12:02 PM

Wait and see.

As the Russian saying goes, "If you know much, you'll soon be old".

Robusto

If "the capitalists will sell us the rope we will use to hang them" is true, does that mean if I sell you rakes and lawnmowers you will do my landscaping?

RegDwight

1 min ago, by RegDwight

Wait and see.

Robusto

Isn't that supposed to be accompanied by some kind of ominous laugh or something?

"That's how your hard-core Commie works, Mandrake."

RegDwight

Mwuahahahaha.

Robusto

Thank you.

RegDwight

12:04 PM

Bitteschön.

In related news, nohat did get me intrigued.

Robusto

Well, we have to take the bitte with the schön, I guess.

RegDwight

I wonder if his whole department will nominate themselves in the very last second.

Robusto

cf. "We have to take the bitter with the sweet."

RegDwight

Yes, yes. Very funny.

Robusto

I think he wants to be the power behind the throne.

RegDwight

12:06 PM

220V?

FX_

@RegDwight in civilzed countries only

Robusto

Hatless, he can go around incognito. Or is it incognoscenti.

RegDwight

Oh noes, not that again, poor kiamlaluno.

Robusto

Speaking of incognoscenti, we should bastardize a bunch of Italian words and drive @kiamlaluno off the deep end.

Oh wait, we already have!

RegDwight

Spaghetti bologfreedom?

Robusto

12:08 PM

Doesn't have quite the same ring. Work on it.

RegDwight

Freeghetti!

Robusto

Getting warmer.

I was thinking along the lines of Freefale.

Combining farfale and freefall.

RegDwight

I wonder if the singular freeghetto would go down well.

Robusto

Hahah.

Ghettos are cheap, but they ain't free.

RegDwight

Freefale reminds me of Free Willy. Don't mess with the movie industry.

Robusto

12:11 PM

Free Willy got "standing" ovations in England, I hear.

Mainly from poofters, but let's not get off on that topic again.

By the way, I have a new Gravatar for you.

Photoshop has tools for removing the "Stock Photo" overlay, so you should be all set.

You are a lefty, right?

RegDwight

I'm still trying to upload something with this ***** Konqueror.

The "browse" button doesn't work.

Robusto

Get a Mac, cheapskate.

I was considering 乱 for my new Gravatar.

RegDwight

Robusto

I've been too much a dreamer here. Time for the gloves to come off and show my chaotic-evil side.

@RegDwight ...

►

RegDwight

In that still he looks like Zach Braff.

Robusto

12:18 PM

Yeah, if Zach Braff was a man.

I mean, there's a reason John C. McGinley always calls him by a girl's name on Scrubs, right?

[Sound of @RegDwight furiously Googling and YouTubing ...]

RegDwight

Why should I?

It's one of my favorite series. How else would I know Zach Braff at all.

Robusto

No, you misunderstand me.

RegDwight

I always do.

You mean I'm searching that musical scene?

Can't be bothered.

Robusto

Long pauses from you indicate one of two things: Furious Googling to supply more fodder for your ersatz repartee, or yet another fetishistic data dump orgy.

RegDwight

Oh man. I quit. Guess what I'm doing right now...

Robusto

12:25 PM

And I mean that in the nicest possible way. (^_^)

RegDwight

I'm going so fetishist on those numbers right now.

Robusto

I knew it.

Well, fetishize away ... I am going to get coffee and some breakfast. Talk atcha latah.

RegDwight

CU

FX_

@RegDwight cheers

Robusto

1:00 PM

e4

@RegDwight: Your clock is ticking ...

RegDwight

Oh man, that reminds me that I should check out GameKnot more often.

I used to be a paying member. Now I don't even log in anymore.

Robusto

Still waiting to see how you respond.

RegDwight

Checkmate.

Robusto

That's "check, mate" ... you're paying for the drinks this time.

I'd figure you for a Slav Defense, or maybe a Grünfeld. But you might surprise me with C5.

RegDwight

Heh, the graph tells me I'm stuck at 1726, but I doubt I would beat a 1200-er these days.

Robusto

1:16 PM

My high water mark was 1842, but I probably play at 1500 now. My son wiped the floor with me over Christmas. But he was over 2100 when he was still playing, so ...

Over the period of a single hear he went from where I could beat him handily to where I had to think about it to where I had to play my best just to have any hope at all and then, finally, to where I couldn't beat him to save my life.

RegDwight

I haven't played for three or four years. Well, I have played once during this time, against my grandpa, who's dead now. He hadn't played for like a zillion years, but I still had trouble. I lost one game and the second was remis. I still kick myself because I know he made a mistake and I could have won easily.

Robusto

Last one to make a mistake loses, as they say.

RegDwight

And that was when I was already forgetting how to play. Nowadays, I don't even know how to respond to an e4.

Robusto

My son can beat me with g4. :(

RegDwight

I guess I'll have to dust off that excellent chess book of which I don't even remember the title, ffs.

Robusto

1:23 PM

Sometimes he will play f4 just to try to mock me, but he hasn't beaten me with that yet.

RegDwight

Ah yes, here it is.

amazon.com/Amateurs-Mind-Turning-Misconceptions-Mastery/dp/…

kiamlaluno

@RegDwight "Kasparov in 101 days"

RegDwight

More like "No longer a total idiot in 101 weeks".

Robusto

amazon.com/Pawn-Structure-Chess-Andrew-Soltis/dp/0812925297/…

This is what grandmasters use to kick our asses.

I think I'm a victim of reverse snobbery now that I have high rep.

5

Q: What word(s) describe a woman's voice as "sexy"?

I am looking for a word (or two words) to describe a woman's voice that is "sexy" in a slightly deep, smooth, alluring way. The best I could come up with is mellifluous, but I'm looking for something simpler...

single-word-requests

I answered before the other guy, and all I got was this stupid T-shirt.

RegDwight

Hahaha.

Robusto

1:32 PM

Or reverse discrimination. Whatever.

kiamlaluno

Sometimes it's better to answer after other users.

RegDwight

Yes, happened to me too on a whole number of occasions.

But I don't even go around remembering them. Why bother. I just wait for the next half-assed quip that gets me 80 upvotes.

Robusto

Hahaha.

I don't remember them, I keep getting upvotes that show up weeks later and then I go check them out.

Anyway, a plague on both their houses.

15

A: Will high reputation in Stack Overflow help to get a good job?

Gaming the System? Someone should do a study of whether having high rep on SO begets higher rep on SO. That is, once someone reaches critical mass of, say, over 20K rep, do their answers tend to attract more upvotes than other equally valid answers? Anecdotally speaking, I have noticed that low-...

RegDwight

No matter how you twist and turn it, the world is freaking unfair.

It's that simple.

Robusto

True dat.

The thing is, I need it to be unfair in my favor once in a while.

RegDwight

1:35 PM

Lol.

But why? You are maxing out on rep anyway.

Robusto

But I want moar!!!

This was my first gold badge on SO, seriously:

stackoverflow.com/badges/226/unsung-hero?userid=271917

RegDwight

So you just post moar. I know you. Quantity over quality. You capitalist.

Robusto

I'm not the most frequent poster on this site, not by a long chalk.

RegDwight

Well, that other user is about to get banned, leaving just you.

Robusto

[Sound of @RegDwight's data crunching]

What, am I second?

RegDwight

1:38 PM

I would say with 380+ answers, or what have you, you're the absolute number one, no need to check.

OMG, it's 433.

Well then, show me any other user with 400+ posts.

Robusto

And counting ...

Nyuszika7H

Hi again! (:

Robusto

I think you could say I'm the hardest-working poster on English.SE.

And leave it at that. =P

RegDwight

Hi Nyuszika. Sometimes I wonder whether your keyboard only has 6 keys, R, C, H, E, N, and /. (^_^)

@Robusto I think I did say just that.

5 mins ago, by RegDwight

So you just post moar. I know you. Quantity over quality. You capitalist.

Nyuszika7H

@RegDwight I did that manually, not witth my /rchern command :P

Robusto

1:42 PM

Well, when you're No. 2, you have to try harder.

RegDwight

Why is there a needle in the lower right corner?

Robusto

That's a drug thing.

RegDwight

Ah.

Robusto

It's from an old Avis car rental advertisement.

RegDwight

Jan 29 at 19:51, by Kosmonaut

But it's die Bong!! :)

Robusto

1:44 PM

"Avis. We're No. 2, so we have to try harder."

RegDwight

By using drugs?

Robusto

@RegDwight: Not the kind of drugs I'm talking about.

You don't need a needle for bong hits.

RegDwight

Then again, drugs will help you imagine you're number one.

Robusto

So will my posting Anschluss.

RegDwight

Wut?

Robusto

1:47 PM

Sorry, brain cramp. Meant Angriff.

RegDwight

1 min ago, by RegDwight

Wut?

Robusto

My brain stores Anschluss near onslaught for some strange reason.

RegDwight

A common misspelling.

Robusto

I'd call it a brain cramp.

RegDwight

A common brampelling.

Robusto

1:50 PM

Duck, it's snowing here again.

kiamlaluno

A common "incognoscenza".

RegDwight

You won't believe it, so it is here.

I'm looking outside, the grass is white.

Und wo ist hier ?

Hier ist hier.

In welcher Gegend?

1:52 PM

In dieser hier, wo ich gerade bin.

Robusto

I'm not asking for your address, just curious about what area you're in. What, afraid I'll discover your Communist spy cell?

You probably live in a safe-house anyway, so don't worry about it.

RegDwight

When I'll be blowing my cover, it will be in your backyard.

Robusto

That won't be all you'll be blowing.

RegDwight

1 hour ago, by RegDwight

Wait and see.

Robusto

1 hour ago, by Robusto

I'm still waiting for that. Does Communism cut the grass and rake the leaves?

RegDwight

1:55 PM

You buy me a communism, I'll show ya.

Nyuszika7H

chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/297/337-53

Robusto

I already have a rake and a lawnmower, so you're all set.

RegDwight

What is this leet speak that keeps popping up every 2 hours?

Is this the Hungarian atomic clock?

Robusto

Looks like a macro.

Or, in this case, a micro.

RegDwight

OMG I clicked on that link. The fabric of the universe is c

Robusto

1:59 PM

@Nyuszika7H — Aren't you a little young for the whole 1337 meme? That's, like, so 1990s.

But if you're going retro with it, I guess it's just adorable.

Nyuszika7H

@Robusto (:

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…