English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

M.A.R.

12:06 AM

@Cerberus oh, I'm referring to the pandemic

Mitch

12:18 AM

@Robusto wow

I mean .. is there an answer in there?

Robusto

Dunno. I wondered if he was drunk and trolling us.

Mitch

It's too serious

Robusto

So this is how Lawler writes after the first couple of drinks?

Mitch

Maybe if we drink we'll get it

Robusto

Somehow I think I was never that drunk.

Conrado

2:00 AM

If he is trolling, you have to admit that it's a cool troll.

> The kr- assonance is also dimensional, and refers to 1-dimensional split or bent things, many of which are compressed or shrunken.

"crack", "crisp", "crinkle"?

> while -ump means a 3-dimensional solid, roughly the same in all dimensions. So what's a clump of something? It's a group of trees shaped like an -ump

Heffalump? Chump? Rump? Dump? Bump?

You-know-who?

Hump?

Stump? Plump?

I will never look at these words the same way again.

Cerberus

2:19 AM

+1 Some of the terminology seems off (assonance for acconsonance), some of the spelling confusing (we already use the spelling rime for an entirely different word), some of the characterisations like reading into an oracle what one wants to find (cripples are solid but bidimensional because they may crawl on a surface?), some groupings speculative; and, on the whole, it does not answer the question; nevertheless, I think this is a great answer, with excellent information on hidden semantic patterns in consonantal clusters and syllables. — Cerberus_Reinstate_Monica 3 mins ago

Conrado

The only odd-ball above is "crisp". All the rest have Norse/Scandinavian/Germanic roots.

Cerberus

@Conrado The semantics may have been present in Proto-Indo-European.

Latin also has various cr- words related to Germanic.

Like crepo "crawl".

English crisp is probably from Latin crispus "curled".

Dutch krul "curl".

Conrado

@Cerberus Which also fits the pattern mentioned by JL for kr- words.

I meant to point to crispus. It's these small touchscreens...

Cerberus

Break the evil touch screens!

CowperKettle

3:23 AM

@Robusto Yes, vezde means everywhere, and khod means walk ))

RegDwigнt

4:21 AM

@Robusto well yes. And now imagine listening to three hours of that when the subject is 9/11.

I didn't link to them because you'd like them. I didn't even link to them because I liked them.

I merely linked to a specific video, in the context of a specific conversation, because from that specific video I learned a great deal that I never learned elsewhere, and wouldn't know where to begin if I wanted to.

I would not recommend watching their episode on the Kursk, because it was rubbish. And I wouldn't recommend watching their episode on 9/11, because you can get that information on Wikipedia.

But this particular episode, there is just nothing else I could link to for you to get that information.

So shrug.

@Robusto I am not knowledgeable about Greek music. Sirtaki obviously comes to mind, but it is not a folk dance and was only written in 64.

With Russian music, it's kinda even murkier. It sure feels like it's a very common feature of folk music. But I would struggle to so much as name one other example of an actual song.

BTW, that girl is rubbish. Let me grab something of a higher quality. Sec.

Смуглянка.(песня из фильма "В бой идут одни "старики".

►

Here's the original movie version. Except it's not the original, which was black and white. Ten years ago or so they colorized the whole thing for no reason and now you can't find the original anywhere anymore. I'm not sure how much they meddled with the sound while they were at it, but this sounds fine to me.

Ансамбль Александрова - Смуглянка

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And here's the Alexandrov Ensemble. Where the quality of the recording is shit, but the performance is so good that you could record it ten times worse and I would still get goosebumps.

That's the whole thing with this song. That by the last accelerando at the latest, you should have a cold shower running down your spine.

This song holds a very special place in my heart for that reason alone.

On that note, I only came in here just now because on one of my own scores someone commented "Extradentary".

And now I must be off to transcribe some Poulenc.

You know this thingie?

Francis Poulenc - Sonata for Horn, Trumpet and Trombone | WDR Sinfonieorchester

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It's a spectacular thingie.

Færd

6:23 AM

- Can February March?
- No! But April May.

Matt E. Эллен

9:12 AM

December? I barely know her!

CowperKettle

December? I know ember.

A disabled man reposted a Change.org petition in a Russian social network VK, and was fined 30 thousand rubles for this. theins.ru/news/240248

The petition stated that Russian citizens do not receive enough healthcare in the midst of the epidemic. The court considered this "fake news" and under Putin's newly-minted law fined the man.

CowperKettle

10:04 AM

Kingfisher

Matt E. Эллен

Very nice

CowperKettle

11:04 AM

> As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame;
As tumbled over rim in roundy wells
Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell's
Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;

> Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:
Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;
Selves — goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,
Crying Whát I dó is me: for that I came.

CowperKettle

11:38 AM

> - So you know Vladimir Putin. You think he's a killer?
- Mmm hmm, I do.

At last, the US have a sane ruler.

Sadly, he is old. But at least sane.

Conrado

12:05 PM

@CowperKettle You post good poetry. I am ashamed to say that I do not know one single verse of poetry in any Eastern European language! Writes down new goal for the month.

Conrado

12:19 PM

In other news--perhaps you all saw this already, and I'm late:

If the question was "is it possible" I would agree with this answer. But the question was "Is there a non-zero probability" which doesn't mean the same. As a matter of fact, the word "possible" doesn't exist anywhere in the question or any of the edits. Making this an answer to a question never asked, and thus irrelevant. — Polygorial yesterday

25

Q: Can a broken egg spontaneously reassemble itself (as in the video)?

According to the fluctuation theorem the second law of thermodynamics is a statistical law. Violations at the micro scale, therefore, certainly have a non-zero probability. However, the application of the theory, in particular the Jarzynski inequality indeed, in principle, extends to systems of p...

This is even better than the re-assembled teacup, I think.

Matt E. Эллен

> Everyone on Earth is killed over the next year by independent, freak lightning strikes, even though there were no more lightning storms than usual.

ok, but what if someone is in control of the weather?

Conrado

12:35 PM

That would show either a nasty streak or some sort of mass vengeance on the part of the weather controller, I think.

But physics can't really tell us much about "someone in control of the weather".

Such a person upsets too many variables at once to be properly observed in a laboratory controlled by someone else.

But so, perhaps, does a re-assembling egg.

Matt E. Эллен

If physics can't tell me if there's someone controlling the weather, what good is it? I saw an episode of Mutant X yesterday, where they seeded clouds to generate a lightning storm. I believe that's illegal in the USA (without a permit, and they surely didn't have time to get one). We need to be able to detect when mutants are controlling the weather!

Conrado

Anyhow, if you ever see an egg in the first stages of re-assembly close to a mouse trap, please let me know because I want to be there when it jumps off of the bait plate.

And I would also try to hire an orchestra to play "Sunrise" from Also sprach Zarathustra as we watched the last flakes of shell join the ovoid.

M.A.R.

12:57 PM

@RegDwigнt is that like a condition where someone's teeth protrude outwards?

@CowperKettle I think you'll like Isle of Dogs very much

2

Matt E. Эллен

@Conrado noted

CowperKettle

1:24 PM

Spring is in the air

A mere minus 2°C

@M.A.R. It was made by Wes Anderson, I guess I will like it.

His movies are sometimes great

M.A.R.

1:50 PM

Most of the times

The Japan he portrays is closer to the normal Japan than most western productions make of it

(Right down to the part where the sushi is made from animals still alive)

I mean, except the very American love for dogs

Robusto

2:27 PM

@RegDwigнt In other words, it was "toothsome" ...

@M.A.R. Uh-oh, jinx.

@M.A.R. Isle of Dogs was excellent. My favorite Wes Anderson film was Moonrise Kingdom, however. After that, Fantastic Mr. Fox. But I never saw one of his films that I didn't enjoy.

Dec 3 '19 at 1:55, by Robusto

It's official: Japan is the weirdest place on the planet.

Cerberus

I suppose, if the women can choose to wear this badge, without any pressure, and they are shown extra consideration on those days, it is well intended.

But still weird.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt I like Poulenc. I think I heard that one at the conservatory, some chamber recital. Not sure.

Conrado

2:42 PM

> 'One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results' attr Milton Friedman

Robusto

@CowperKettle See? I told you (and everyone else in chat).

Having a competent president who is smart and compassionate? Priceless.

@CowperKettle Hopkins?

Donovan - Three King Fishers

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Just to round out the discussion.

Cerberus

3:06 PM

@Conrado Well, it depends. Intentions can be important.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt Wow, they really have the flute miked way up. Either that or the flutist is playing a truck horn.

Cerberus

And it's not only about intentions in this case, but also about the specifics of the policy. If there is no pressure at all on women, that makes it different.

Robusto

Holy cow, a bass balalaika? Never seen one of those.

Cerberus

I'm not a cow, I'm a dog.

Mitch is not here.

Robusto

@Cerberus Wait, your name isn't Clarus?

Dogcow

The dogcow, named Clarus, is a bitmapped image designed by Apple for the demonstration of page layout in Mac OS. The sound she makes is "Moof!". Clarus became the archetype of surrealistic humor in the corporate culture of the original Macintosh group, particularly as the mascot of Apple’s Developer Technical Support as officially documented in Technote #31. == History == In 1983, the dog icon had been created by Susan Kare as the glyph for "z", as part of the Cairo font. Later, when designing the classic Mac OS "Page Setup" print dialog box, an example image was required to demonstrate t...

Cerberus

3:10 PM

Apple??

Mitch

3:25 PM

@Cerberus I'm not a holy cow neither

Robusto

@Cerberus Haha, I thought that would get a reaction from you.

Mitch

I mean I'm not some kinda saint.

But I try not to trample people who don't deserve it.

Robusto

Well, duh. There is no Saint Mitch.

Mitch

Exactly.

Wait

Re trampling - I even hold back some.

There are -a lot- of people who deserve a trampling.

A satisfying 'snap'

Only for the most deserving

Now goring... that is uncool man

that is really uncool

unless it's a guy with a sword

That guy can totally go to hell

with a head twist to the groin

a groin goring, if you will

Cerberus

@Mitch You stray from your pasture sometimes?

Mitch

3:32 PM

@Cerberus Stray? Pfft. I -like- it here.

Just watch where you step

Cerberus

Please do.

Mitch

Have you ever read (or seen) 'All things wild and wonderful' stories about the vet in Yorkshire and dealing with cows and dogs and such?

Sorry. It's 'All Things Great and Small'.

That's kind of a pretentious title.

It's not War and Peace, if you know what I mean.

It's not Paradise Lost.

It's no 'Gone With the Wind'

OMG that's pretty pretentious too.

Cerberus

I have not; do you recommend it?

CowperKettle

3:49 PM

@Robusto Yes, he has his own style which is hard to confuse with any other poet's ))

Robusto

Indeed.

Mitch

@Cerberus It's good at what it does which is light description of working country life interspersed with gut-wrenching (-very- literally) instances of live animal injury pain and surgery and more pain.

It feels like every story has an incident of some large animal (cow horse etc) giving birth/breaking a leg/having inoperable cancer/bowel obstruction and then all the instruments of surgery/torture/questionable pharmaceuticals being used resulting in surviving with no problems/being shot in the head/being sent off to the glue factory/knackers/filet mignon.

Also usually in each story, the vet has to put his arm in up to the shoulder of the inside of some large animal, gastrointestinally or genitourinarilly.

So if you are into putting your hand up a cow's butt or vagina, and maybe the cow dies or not, it's a really great show.

Also some people drink tea. And fail to write their mothers other intrafamily indelicacies.

Matt E. Эллен

4:05 PM

@Mitch it's a line from the hymn "All things bright and beautiful"

Mitch

It's OK.

Matt E. Эллен

All creatures great and small

Mitch

@MattE.Эллен I mean animals are great and all but do I need to see them literally from the inside out?

Matt E. Эллен

@Mitch it's the only way to really get to know them

can't trust a cow until you've been all the way up in there

Mitch

@MattE.Эллен I'm kinda OK with not totally trusting them

Matt E. Эллен

4:08 PM

probably for the best. sleep with one eye open and all that

Mitch

Cow-proof locks on the door

pretty easily taken care of

Matt E. Эллен

it's a continuous game of oneupmanship or oneupcowship

Mitch

That's how this all started. I don't particularly care for putting one up a cow

Matt E. Эллен

:D

Robusto

@Mitch A door satisfies that requirement with or without a lock. Cows are not great at lockpicking.

Mitch

4:14 PM

There's gonna be that one cow

Robusto

I'll wait till I see one before I invest in cow locks.

And I like animals as much as the next fellow, but I don't fancy being arm-deep in one, no matter the orifice.

Just wanted to state that for the record.

Mitch

4:38 PM

@Robusto You can't let people assume.

Robusto

Exactly.

> PERSON: Hey, we have this cow that has a cucumber up her ass. Can you get it out?
ME: Sorry, I'm on record as opposing this kind of intervention to be handled by me.

And I would link to the appropriate chat message.

Never mind how the cucumber got there.

Mitch

If you had kept quiet, you would have remained a philosopher.

Robusto

Tell that to Socrates. It would blow his mind.

And from all accounts, Socrates never shut up.

Mitch

haha that guy

he talked too much

Robusto

> Whoa, Chatty Cathy, clip your string.

CowperKettle

5:05 PM

The AI that argues back: A computer that can participate in live debates against human opponents (Nature Journal)

I wonder how many human jobs will get replaced by AI by the end of this decade.

I should argue about this with this AI.

Mitch

@CowperKettle Your job should be fine. As good as automated MT gets (and it is getting better all the time as you can well see), there will always be errors that need human oversight.

Mitch

5:23 PM

You should worry about: 1) low-AI or non-AI automation reducing jobs available, and 2) low-AI that already exists being deployed in real life that already oppresses people (loan approval, housing prices, whether you get sent to a work camp in Xinjiang)

CowperKettle

6:17 PM

Robusto

@CowperKettle That is very conscientious.

i before e,
Except after c,
Or when sounded as "a",
As in neighbour and weigh.

Conrado

And weird is just weird.

Robusto

It just shows what rubbish orthography English has that we even need mnemonics like that and said mnemonics are constantly in dispute.

@CowperKettle I think if the programmers add some ad hominem retorts that's all it will take to convince most people that they're talking to a human.

Conrado

English heterography

Or retrography.

Scoligraphy! Cacography!

Robusto

6:33 PM

@Conrado I like the retrographical features of it.

Now, Spanish ... could ever a language be simpler to spell?

Hmm, I like the dactylic resonance of that statement.

Conrado

@Robusto I don't know of any. I really can't tell.

CowperKettle

Gunman Who Killed 6 Asian Women Was ‘Having a Bad Day,’ Police Say

Bad Man's Blunder by the Kingston Trio 1960

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Robusto

Could ever a language be simpler to spell
Than Spanish, the tongue that's so simple and free?
Not English, of course, with its "i before e"
And its silents and whatnots that leave you in hell.

@CowperKettle They're claiming he's a "sex addict"—well, sonny, welcome to the human race. Most of the rest of us don't go around killing people because of that, though.

The Kingston Trio Tom Dooley Live 1958

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This one seems appropriate.

CowperKettle

@Robusto Yes, it's their best song ))

I totally stumbled on it by chance. Downloaded a lot of music and put it into player for jogging, ))

Okay, back to work

Robusto

^_^

Robusto

7:32 PM

Why Youtube Banned Agadmator's Hikaru Interview

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@Mitch: ^

Apparently AI ain't ready for prime time yet.

Řídící

8:07 PM

'He said that that would be nonsense' or 'He said that would be nonsense'?

M.A.R.

@Řídící Whichever floats your boat

Řídící

@M.A.R. Well, that would be 1. But I wonder whether 2 is acceptable. 'He said there would be war'.

M.A.R.

Yeah, it works just fine. "That" can be omitted

There are a few cases where it can't, but this isn't one of them

Řídící

Thanks

Mitch

@Robusto to be fair, a lot of humans have trouble judging language well.

@Řídící having both 'that's sounds more articulate than dropping one, but in speech it's more common to drop. I have a feeling that dropping it is more common even in formal writing, but I'm not sure.

Robusto

9:17 PM

@Mitch Yeah, but it would take a seriously defective human to confuse a chess match with a bunch of racial invective.

RegDwigнt

10:21 PM

@Robusto the flute is of strategic value for the piece. I didn't want to say. I knew you'd notice.

You can have three balalaikas or fifty, who the fuck even cares. But if your flute is not on point, get a flute that is.

@Robusto I know virtually nothing about him. But this piece is just pure magic.

Almost done with it now. Finishing up the last page.

Then after the full score I just need to manually tidy up the parts export, which is maybe another couple hours at most.

It's funny, sometimes it's only three minutes of music, and it takes you a month. Then other times it's ten minutes, and you're done in three days.

Impossible to gauge ahead of time, even with experience.

Like, this one has 173 bars, for three instruments. Every bar is like eight notes for each. Every single note has an articulation. And every other bar has expression instructions. In French.

So normally I'd say, ten days to two weeks. But nope. Just watch YouTube and eat cereal for three days, occasionally remembering to type in another note, and then after the three days it's finished.

Maybe it's to do with the pure magic.

Cerberus

11:19 PM