English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room - 2012-08-10 (page 5 of 6)

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3:01 PM

@Robusto In't ai.

RegDwight АΑA

@Robusto be my guest.

1

Q: Aren't "senseless" and "irrelevant" synonyms of "unreasonable"?

This question is related to: What does it mean when someone calls himself “non sequitur”? comments to to my answer to Is there a better noun form of “unreasonable” than “unreasonableness?” Is not "unreasonable" synonym to "senseless" and "irrelevant" ? Update: Thanks for answers. I sti...

meaning synonyms

Note how it is open. It will survive us all.

@RegDwightАΑA Wow, that's a gem. How did it survive for over a year?

RegDwight АΑA

Easily, that's how.

Which is why I propose it as canon.

I second the nomination.

RegDwight АΑA

@Robusto haha, that won't sit well with TPTB.

It's a meta tag.

Plus certain OP's names speak louder than tags.

3:08 PM

@RegDwightАΑA Quit that.

@RegDwightАΑA I already created it for the main site. It's a handy way to sort out all the nonsense questions that come our way.

RegDwight АΑA

@ΜετάEd You're Μετά, not Meta. Learn to spell yourself.

@Robusto and the haha was a response to that.

I saw your edit.

@RegDwightАΑA ... every sparrow that falls.

RegDwight АΑA

Well what did you expect, it falled right onto the very top of the front page.

I read from the back page forward. An old habit from reading Manga.

3:10 PM

@Robusto You're not supposed to read it, you're supposed to eat it.

@ΜετάEd In Italian, maybe. In Japanese, you read them.

RegDwight АΑA

I thought in Japanese you lead them?

@Robusto You're not supposed to eat it, you're supposed to attract it.

RegDwight АΑA

Lip my stockings.

@RegDwightАΑA You're thinking of Chinese. Japanese transliteration caricatures sub r for l.

RegDwight АΑA

3:12 PM

@Robusto oh why so serious.

But first check the menu. That's the heavy piece of paper that says manga carta

@RegDwightАΑA That was serious?

RegDwight АΑA

Well too serious for me to handle.

@RegDwightАΑA That's because I don't want you handling me, tyvm.

RegDwight АΑA

Certainly I can always demand fewer serious.

@Robusto then what's with the shaft talk as of late.

0

Q: What's the sphere means here?

During reading of an journal article, I encounter those terms: customer sphere of privacy customer sphere of security privacy sphere of implementation security sphere of implementation I know the rough meaning is: privacy connected with customer, and so on. But what's the exact meaning of sph...

vocabulary structure

This, too, is ELL, BTW, IMHO.

3:15 PM

Already voted. This is not a Habermasian public sphere, after all.

RegDwight АΑA

Apr 18 '11 at 10:21, by RegDwight

Please no Habermas early in the morning.

Jun 20 '11 at 12:14, by RegDwight

And I dunno about you, but whenever I turn on my TV set, I see Habermas. Like all over the place.

@RegDwightАΑA I keep feeding you these easy ones.

RegDwight АΑA

It's Habermoist annoying.

@RegDwightАΑA for a second there i thought you meant Hauerwas

RegDwight АΑA

@JSBձոգչ why would you think that about my line but not Rob's?

3:21 PM

@RegDwightАΑA Because I turned Habermas into an Armenian.

i thought that about both

RegDwight АΑA

Habermas papam.

but i was confusing Habermas with a different academic with a germanic name

RegDwight АΑA

There's more than one?

What a waste.

@JSBձոգչ Totally understandable. Them German academics all look and sound alike.

3:23 PM

we should put them in a cage match together, to determine who is the Ultimate German Academic Champion

RegDwight АΑA

@Robusto Armenia! Armenia! God shed his grace on thee.

@RegDwightАΑA That sounds like an extended com(plex )plain.

RegDwight АΑA

Com(mie )mute time!

Commies should be mute.

can "does nothing for him" be used to express that something has no effect (leaves no impression) on a person?

and how would you look for the answer for such a question on the internet? is there a good english idiom/phrase dictionary online?

*answer to

3:39 PM

@Julius It can mean that literally, but usually it's used to mean someone doesn't like something. "That painting does nothing for me" means I don't particularly care for it, not that it refuses to do my laundry.

Bad painting.

@Cerberus No donut?

Good morning.

Unfortunately, one of my SWR answers seems to have been autocollidered.

3:57 PM

@Mahnax Saved While Rogering?

@ΜετάEd Donot?

@Mahnax Poor, poor you.

4:18 PM

I'm suffering from semantic satiety. Is it "breathing in between each something" or "breathing inbetween each something"? My head doesn't seem to recognize either one right now.

the first one. with the space.

though they're both pretty weird fragments

i assume they make more sense in context

Yeah, I think so. I paraphrased. Maybe I shouldn't write when I am sick.

@KitFox The former means in-breaths are alternated with something. The latter means breaths are alternated with something.

4:35 PM

I think I will just remove that pesky in.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

good morning-holy-crap-it's-past-noon-already people!

Sure, just keep bragging.

;-)

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

bragging?

Oh, I was hoping you slept late.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

oh... Well, I did... but not THIS late :)

4:44 PM

shakes fist

@KitFox "I'm suffering from semantic satiety." Is that a symptom of romantic copulatives?

I wish.

@ΜετάEd Just about.

5:03 PM

@ΜετάEd I thought it was a movie directed by Francis Ford Copula.

@Robusto Maybe you're thinking of The Girl at the Copula (1912).

@KitFox Regarding your earlier shyness about closing posts:

Denzel would close the shit out of those posts. And then he'd have a beer.

up

@Robusto OK, but this is what I think of when I think of "The Closer."

@KitFox And here's what I think of:

ABC: Always Be Closing.

Of course, we could call you AIDA if you prefer.

5:22 PM

2

Lunch.

5:46 PM

"Tom Lehrer was one of comedy's great paradoxes -- a respected Harvard mathematics professor by day, he also ranked among the foremost song satirists of the postwar era, recording vicious, twisted parodies of popular musical trends which proved highly influential on the "sick comedy" revolution of the '60s."

Where's the paradox?

Even a minor paradox?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

5:59 PM

The paradox is here: respected Harvard mathematics professor

Nobody respects Harvard math profs.

RegDwight АΑA

6:17 PM

Shakiba r.abadi

20 4

meaning meaning-in-context multiple-meanings idioms quotations word-meaning

So many gen-ref "what does X mean" questions... Seems to ignore downvotes and pledges to support ELL, too...

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Got it.

@RegDwightАΑA Nuke! Nuke!

@RegDwightАΑA Why did nobody spell out for him that questions need to show research.

@KitFox Who's got her finger on the button?

How did you know—oh, you mean something else.

@KitFox Opens the sinuses.

RegDwight АΑA

6:29 PM

@ΜετάEd I think people did. JR in particular, who also pointed him to ELL.

I've answered your question, but, seeing how the answer came straight from the dictionary, you might want to check out the proposed sister site for English language learners. Any support there would be appreciated –thanks! — J.R. yesterday

Shakiba, this is your sixth general-reference "what does X mean" question in just a few days. Please do consult a dictionary before asking. We would really like to help you out, but this just isn't the right venue for such basic questions. Other users already pointed you to our proposed sister site specifically for English language learners. Please do support it. Then (at least some of) your questions will have a home. Thank you. — RegDwight АΑA 3 mins ago

Somehow it doesn't feel right to have to beg people to help us help them. It's in their own best interest, man.

what's this mean: "people will just chalk that up as me being a softy."

RegDwight АΑA

To chalk something up as X is to attribute it to X.

Think blackboard and actual chalk.

@Meysam "People will think I am easy on punishment (or whatever)."

RegDwight АΑA

Oh man, there goes my plan to explain it all in vigorous detail.

and what would be the opposite of "softy" in this context?

6:36 PM

A softy is someone who is a pushover. Well, it has a nicer meaning than that, but someone who could be easily persuaded with tears for instance.

RegDwight АΑA

@Meysam a tough guy. A man. A survivor. A bully.

Depends.

Opposite of softy? Yeah, I'd need more context.

@RegDwightАΑA in terms of relationship between parents and kids

Strict.

Disciplinarian.

Thank you guys! you are always helpful

RegDwight АΑA

6:38 PM

Oh wait, the softy is a parent, right?

right

RegDwight АΑA

I thought this was like a teenager complaining.

Well yeah, if this is a parent complaining, then the opposite of softy would be what Kit said.

Not pampering. Strict.

The father has bought a car for his son, the mom is complaining about that, and dad says: "people will just chalk that up as me being a softy."

@RegDwightАΑA Gotta practice that tough love, dude.

RegDwight АΑA

Yes. There should be an Army of Tough Lovers.

7:02 PM

@RegDwightАΑA There already is. It's called the Russian Army.

Thanks for your reply. I am a bit lost as I am new to the file contents. Can you post a working example if you have a moment? — Papa De Beau 1 min ago

"Would you please do my work for me?" sigh Why do I even bother answering questions on SO?

@Reg Would you come to the Overlook for a moment?

@Robusto he sure put a lot of effort into his picture, though

Working on the wrong skillz.

And he doesn't even give me an up-vote as encouragement. What a loser. He may twist slowly in the wind.

From his profile: "I am so grateful for the generous souls on here who help others with code. How amazing is that!"

cornbread ninja

7:18 PM

@JSBձոգչ I'm willing to bet that came with his wallet or a new picture frame.

hai, bai @Luke

Freya. Anybody happen to know the code for formatting a number so that it is always 9-digits?

What language?

.net

Noop.

cornbread ninja

anybody here see the fuzzy-wuzzy lovin' cup explosion?

7:22 PM

D9. Why decimal? I don't know.

cornbread ninja

I think we missed it

user19161

@corn You going to remove your braces soon?

cornbread ninja

@JasperLoy yes, you want to help?

user19161

@cornbreadninja You can get Tim to help.

cornbread ninja

Perhaps I will cease to receive radio broadcasts from the 1970s.

They come off on August 27th at 9AM CDT (supposedly).

msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dwhawy9k%28v=vs.71%29.aspx

7:26 PM

Yeah, I know, but tell me how "decimal" makes sense there.

what context are you talking about?

I guess because it's not "float."

an argument to String.Format?

@JSBձոգչ Yeah.

msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dwhawy9k.aspx

and yes, it's D because you're asking for decimal, not hexadecimal or currency or...

cornbread ninja

7:37 PM

@JasperLoy he's a bit squeamish about things like that.

@KitFox: "moist"

slaps @Mitch

you really should never be so open about things that bug you.

cornbread ninja

@Mitch ha.

@cornbreadninja: what was your peeve again?

cornbread ninja

7:38 PM

@Mitch ._.

@Mitch nosh

spoke too soon.

"nosh".

Really?

-food- is involved.

in a good way.

@Mitch You should continue to be deceived about how open I am.

maybe you just don't like herring?

cornbread ninja

@Mitch yes. I just picture a toddler ham-fisting cake into its mouth.

@KitFox that's how to play it.

user19161

7:39 PM

@cornbreadninja OIC, when are you getting married?

@cornbreadninja And what's wrong with that?

@cornbreadninja OK...you got me with my pet peeve. disturbnig images.

cornbread ninja

@Mitch also it makes me think of gnash, as in gnashing of teeth

oh.. sorry I read that as cake fisting -ham-

yes that is gross.

Hahahahaha

cornbread ninja

7:40 PM

@KitFox children are frightfully messy!

@jsb - I must disagree with your vote for closing my important question. Not only that it is a real question, we have a dilemma here how to phrase a very important issue. I wish you could avoid bigotry and take back your vote, so serious people may contribute a real and robust answer to this real and important question. — Different111222 30 mins ago

am i a bad person for reading this comment and just laughing?

@JSBձոգչ: bigot

no you are a bad person quite independently of that question.

cornbread ninja

@JSBձոգչ more like Carlo111222

he posted the same comment for every person that voted to close his question

cornbread ninja

@Mitch damn

7:41 PM

yeah...exactly.

user19161

@JSBձոգչ Geezis!

user19161

@JSBձոգչ OMG!

@JSBձոգչ I didn't read all the way to the end..that really is devoid of access to reality.

cornbread ninja

TL;DR

@JasperLoy shrug

@JSBձոգչ You are such a little bigot.

cornbread ninja

7:43 PM

JSBigot

Uh-huh.

@cornbreadninja ha ha ha ha ha

I wonder what constitutes a "real and robust" answer in his mind.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@JSBձոգչ Sounds like he wants Robusto to answer his question.

Ain't gonna happen. I'm second on the closer list.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

7:45 PM

@Robusto I mean, he says it right there

> a real and robusto answer

He left off the O. So he gets 0 points.

obviously he specifically wants robusto's input

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I could change my name to "Mr. Shiny and Real" and then we could collaborate on an answer.

I just gave him the finger. Does that help?

user19161

@Robusto Which finger?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

7:47 PM

was it a robust finger?

It was.

all of robusto's fingers are robust

Sometimes I am all thumbs.

@JasperLoy I didn't know you are @cornbread's aunt.

user19161

@Mitch Sorry, I am very interested in people's personal lives, but I try not to be too much of a busybody.

7:48 PM

Where the hell is @Matt? Trying to live up to his mutant name?

user19161

@robusto Non Sequitur is not a nice name for me. I think that should be changed to QED.

@JasperLoy Sorry. QED is already taken.

user19161

Hey @meysam, so you did not nominate yourself in the end.

See? Non Sequitur fits you much better.

@Robusto by who? i agree that QED is the best mutant name for Jasper

7:50 PM

@Robusto which leads directly to Non Sequitur being the only thing left that's available.

or is that Redundant?

Spoken by someone who is not a Super Friend.

his costume would be solid blue with three dots in a triangle on the chest

it would be great

@Mitch I think you got it right the first time.

user19161

Can I call JSB the Mushroom Man?

user19161

He loves to eat mushrooms.

7:51 PM

no, i'm the Tag Man

You can call him whatever you like. The randomer the better.

@JasperLoy Hey. No, I thought I would leave some room for younger kids this time.

user19161

@Meysam How thoughtful!

@Robusto I got a donut right the first time. All else is a foot in my mouth.

@JSBձոգչ Maybe you could be Rag-Tag because you're always ragging on tags.

7:52 PM

@JasperLoy Yea, maybe I get myself involved another time.

user19161

@Meysam Yes. So how is the penthouse search coming along?

@JasperLoy That sounds very NSFW.

cornbread ninja

@Mitch ha!

@JasperLoy He also didn't nominate himself in the middle. Extra points for that?

@JasperLoy Well, I haven't come up with a good one yet. You know, one that is spacious enough. I'm running out of time though. My son's birthday is in two weeks and I have to make my mind quicker.

7:56 PM

@cornbreadninja I think it is a cultural universal that that is what aunts are -for-.

cornbread ninja

@Mitch mine don't seem to care about that... yet.

@Robusto i kinda like that

OK...my peeving word...the word that for me has the worst mouth feel? thinking

@Mitch Who wouldn't want to be a thin king?

name another one and I'll say if I disagree or not.

@Robusto that'd be -terrible-...having to count calories all the time.

7:59 PM

@Mitch No! That's the beauty of it! You'd already be thin. And a king!

I'm not making this stuff up. It's right there in the two words.

@Robusto Oh...we're already in wish world?

@Mitch Is there any other world where you can be a king?

So I'd have a pony already (in addition to the king thing, and the physique)?

Hell, you'd have a unicorn. Whatever.

@Robusto holds plans closer to chest

@Robusto dude, I am there

cornbread ninja

8:01 PM

@Mitch cerebrates

See? Magical thinking is the bomb, no?

@cornbreadninja note to self: start reading what people say, not what you think they said

My reaction to that ws "Why would anybody celebrate that?"

@Robusto get's you places.

cornbread ninja

@Mitch cerebrate, cerebrate / dance to the music

@Mitch Maybe he was using a Japlish accent.

languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=4120. best garage sale find ever?

8:03 PM

@JSBձոգչ "Error establishing a database connection"? Really? I can find those all over our code.

@cornbreadninja no not 'cerebrate'. it is tolerable

in japlish that would be terrible, so maybe it's not so great.

@Robusto try refreshing. second time worked for me.

cornbread ninja

@JSBձոգչ 0_0

@JSBձոգչ If it worked, that would be refreshing.

@JSBձոգչ I think everybody clicked on the link at exactly the same time...overloading their server.

8:05 PM

@JSBձոգչ But, yes. That is amazing. I wonder if he's going to take it to Pawn Stars.

RegDwight АΑA

@JSBձոգչ only Robusto could possibly contribute a robust answer, but God knows if it would be real, too.

holy cow, five consecutive messages pinging me

@RegDwightАΑA You can't fake those. I've tried, trust me.

@Robusto Reg is good at faking it.

0

Q: Is it grammatically correct to use "that that" in a sentence, or should one use alternatives instead?

I've heard people use and seen people write sentences with "that" occurring twice consecutively. Is this grammatically correct, or is it a construct that should be avoided? I'm having trouble remembering examples of this idea that don't lend themselves to simple rephrasing. For example: I sa...

dup dup

I think that that is true.

Which that? That that? That that that I am using right now?

8:09 PM

Does anybody have any idea what percent of deaf people have been born deaf?

RegDwight АΑA

13

Q: How do you handle "that that"? The double "that" problem

Have you ever had a case where you felt compelled to include strange things like a double that in a sentence? If so, then what did you do to resolve this? For me, I never knew whether it was acceptable grammar. However, what I did learn was that it was a logic distractor, could lead to confusion...

adjectives pronouns sentence-patterns

3

Q: "I don't think that that can be done"

Possible Duplicate: How do you handle “that that”? The double “that” problem Is there something wrong with this sentence? "I don't think that that can be done." It sounds odd to me. Would it be better if I'd use just one "that" instead of two: "I don'...

adjectives pronouns

@RegDwightАΑA thanks. i was having a devil of a time with that

RegDwight АΑA

1

Q: Better use of "that that" - or not

Possible Duplicate: How do you handle “that that”? The double “that” problem I sometimes seem to write myself into using 2 thats in succession, as in: "Now that that issue has been resolved, we can move forward." I am pretty sure that this is correct but is ...

adjectives conjunctions sentence-patterns

ETCPP.

Gots to jet. Baies!

CU

8:11 PM

@JSBձոգչ what's th flag in the avatar of? some South American country?

cornbread ninja

jet carefully

@Mitch Nicaragua, I'd guess.

Nicaragua ( ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua ( ), is the largest country in the Central American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean lies to the west, and the Caribbean Sea to the east. The country's physical geography divides it into three major zones: Pacific lowlands; wet, cooler central highlands; and the Caribbean lowlands. On the Pacific side of the country are the two largest fres...

Yup.

user image

@Reg: To catch you upon the latest mutant-army drama, JSBangs is now Rag-Tag and Jasper is still Non Sequitur.

We caught him trying to change his name to QED but that could not be allowed.

never looked close enough...there's a rainbow in there instead of the masonic eye. I don't know anything about Nicaragua but that's awesome.

RegDwight АΑA

@Robusto Thanks, I did see Rag-Tag thanks to your helpfully bolding it.

@Mitch Unicorns are just out of frame.

RegDwight АΑA

8:16 PM

1

A: What do you call a maker of wind instruments?

Good question. To be honest, I'm not sure if there is a specific word. Bagpipe players avail themselves of the services of a pipemaker; clarinet players go to a clarinet maker, trumpet players to a trumpet maker, and so on.

Man that's some idealism that probably didn't work out.

RegDwight АΑA

Well then I guess the hypernym is windmaker.

I think he's available for GameCube.

@RegDwightАΑA Answer: poor.

RegDwight АΑA

@Robusto no, that's what you call physicists.

@RegDwightАΑA I expected answers along the lines of 'bean eater'

8:18 PM

@RegDwightАΑA And musicians. Come on, admit it.

RegDwight АΑA

@Mitch wind maker, not wind breaker. Duh.

So does anyone know what the thing in the middle of the pyramid is called?

Wearing a wind breaker on a fresh spring day...never the same again.

a ham? an elf hat?

Ah, it is the Cap of Liberty! Of course, how could I not recognize that?

The Phrygian cap is a soft conical cap with the top pulled forward, associated in antiquity with the inhabitants of Phrygia, a region of central Anatolia. In the western provinces of the Roman Empire it came to signify freedom and the pursuit of liberty, perhaps through a confusion with the pileus, the felt cap of manumitted (emancipated) slaves of ancient Rome. Accordingly, the Phrygian cap is sometimes called a liberty cap; in artistic representations it signifies freedom and the pursuit of liberty. History Antiquity In Antiquity, the Phrygian cap had two connotations: for the Greeks...

jinx?

8:21 PM

But yours looks like a boat.

Liberty is pretty pissed then if she didn't get to be in the picture.

Well, she's always been a little phrygid.

that imgae did not come across as expected...trying again.

RegDwight АΑA

Hm. Why on Earth did I say physician? I meant physicist. Pineapple.

Wait, I did say physicist.

total confusion

What does that make me?

Anyhow.

Phrygian cap (anatomy)

In medicine, a Phrygian cap is the folded portion of some gallbladders that resembles the Phrygian cap (a soft conical cap with the top pulled forward, associated in antiquity with the inhabitants of Phrygia, a region of central Anatolia). It is a normal anatomical variant seen in 1-6% of patients. It is caused by a fold in the gallbladder where the gallbladder fundus joins the gallbladder body. Apart from the chance of being mistaken for stones on a sonogram, it has no other medical implications nor does it predispose one to other diseases. File:Phrygian-cap-CT-001 edited-copy.jpg|CT...

RegDwight АΑA

8:22 PM

@Robusto Achtung, German joke. "What does an unemployed physicist say to a physicist who's employed?" — "French fries and a coke, please."

There. that looks much better.

@RegDwightАΑA Bemerkt.

gah!

Mitch is striking out on the images.

user image

8:25 PM

And he caps it off with a win.

RegDwight АΑA

@Mitch looks like what the French make Laetitia Casta look like.

They took this:

user image

And tried to turn it into this:

user image

And out came this:

user image

I do not see the resemblance. At all. The phrygians come out in second place though.

RegDwight АΑA

@Mitch I meant the hat.

Which the French seem to have omitted, after all.

Is the hat in the delacroix painting (or whoever) supposed to be a Phrygian cap?

RegDwight АΑA

user image

Seriously, WTF.

@Mitch no, but they are supposed to remind me of one another.

YMMV

8:33 PM

Laters.

RegDwight АΑA

Auruguay.

user image

I think that's where you're going.

I mean it's all makeup, right?

RegDwight АΑA

I never realized Blackadder looked so hot in red.

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