English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Cerberus

07:35

Ugh.

I have the most horrible stench of burned plastic in my house.

Mainly in the bathroom.

The lamp was smoking.

No idea why, it has never done that.

Perhaps I had never left it on for so long. I left it on for maybe an hour or two.

The strange thing is that the smoke detector didn't go off!

Only when I turned on the shower to drive away the stench did it beep.

The smoke was not exactly visible, except as a few threads emanating from the lamp.

But it smells horrible.

So that was my fun night, trying to combat a smoking lamp.

David Wallace

Oh, man, that's horrible, @Cerberus.

And really dangerous.

Cerberus

@DavidWallace Hmm yeah, I don't know about dangerous, as long as nothing really catches fire.

It was the lamp attached to the ceiling.

But it is true that the smoke detector didn't warn me.

What if the smoke would not wake me up (I was still up in the other room)?

I think it would, because it smells nasty.

David Wallace

07:50

I'm worried about you inhaling poisonous gases.

Cerberus

I didn't inhale a great deal, I think.

People on the internet say you will be fine, as long as you don't inhale them for a long time.

And you will notice if the smoke affects you badly.

David Wallace

Well, I'm glad that you seem to be OK.

Cerberus

At most my throat might be a bit sore, but then I have a cold.

@DavidWallace Thanks!

I was a bit shocked, though.

David Wallace

You should spend several hours outside of your home, then go back later.

Cerberus

Ever since my house burned down two years ago, I just don't like smoke and fire.

David Wallace

07:53

Wow! How did that happen?

Cerberus

I opened all the windows immediately, and now I can't really smell it any more outside the (closed) bathroom.

Deep-frying.

Well, the house didn't really collapse or anything, but none of us could live there any more.

David Wallace

well, once bitten twice shy I guess.

Cerberus

The firemen said deep-frying is the no. 1 cause of ruinous house fires.

If you deep-fry, make sure you're not doing it in a regular pan.

Use a special deep-fryer with a thermostat/timer.

David Wallace

That makes sense. I don't think I've ever deep fried anything. I don't like fatty food.

Cerberus

Great.

I wish I didn't.

I should get a fire extinguisher btw.

I do have an escape ladder.

David Wallace

07:58

Yes, definitely a fire extinguisher. Good that you have a smoke alarm though.

Cerberus

I presume you have all of these things?

David Wallace

Umm, no.

Cerberus

...

What do you have?

David Wallace

And I must rectify this as soon as possible.

Cerberus

Yes.

David Wallace

08:02

I don't need an escape ladder, on account of living in a single storey house.

Cerberus

Is it easy to escape from the house in the dark, with smoke everywhere, and a child to take care of?

OK.

David Wallace

But I do NOT own a fire extinguisher.

Cerberus

Then buy one.

David Wallace

I could easily escape. I could break windows in Emerik's room if I had to.

And my house has three exits, not counting windows; I'm sure I could find one of them.

Cerberus

Tip: if you ever have to use it on a serious fire, squeeze it all the way until it's empty. There's usually only a very limited amount of stuff in it, like for 20 seconds; and, if you pause too soon, a serious fire will regain its strength, and then you're empty.

David Wallace

08:05

OK, good to know. Thanks.

Cerberus

@DavidWallace Okay, all that sounds safe enough, especially on the ground floor.

Do you have smoke detectors?

And a CO detector?

David Wallace

I don't have a CO detector. I have smoke detectors, although i haven't tested them for a while.

Cerberus

They usually start beeping when they are nearly empty.

Well in advance.

A CO detector is a good idea.

David Wallace

I've never heard of one.

Cerberus

I had a 2-in-1.

Smoke and CO.

David Wallace

08:08

I think in NZ, we can only get smoke detectors.

Cerberus

My father bought it.

Most people don't have CO detectors here either.

I'm sure you can get them.

dinodirect.com/…

NZ$ 40.

Gigili

@Cerberus Haha, I imagined a lamp with a cigarette in its mouth.

Cerberus

If only it had been cigarette smoke.

David Wallace

@Gigili You really need to do something about that imagination of yours.

Gigili

I imagined it anyway.

Is your phone white or silver @Cerb?

Cerberus

08:23

Titanium silver, so dark grey with black.

Yours?

White is girly.

Gigili

Haha, mine is white.

Cerberus

Heh.

I knew it.

David Wallace

@Gigili is girly.

Cerberus

Have you used it on Wifi yet?

Or don't you have Wifi?

Gigili

Yes, a bit.

Cerberus

08:24

But...?

Gigili

@Cerberus Bah.

Cerberus

One never knows.

If I were you, I would be playing with it 24/7!

Gigili

There's no but, my sentence ends there.

Cerberus

Download applications, put some nice widgets on the home screen...

Meysam

@Cerberus for free

Cerberus

08:26

Yes?

Gigili

It has some nice widgets downloaded on it.

Cerberus

Excellent.

You can gets tons of great applications for free.

And Google is having a sale right now btw.

Gigili

Umm, I don't play with it because it reminds me of someone umm I dislike.

Cerberus

That's not a healthy attitude.

Meysam

@Cerberus And there is no remedy for that

Cerberus

08:28

No?

Meysam

Bah

Gigili

A lot of women have serious attitude problems like that which men consider unhealthy. As if we care.

Cerberus

I see.

Well, it's bed time for me.

Bye.

David Wallace

Good night, @Cerberus.

Cerberus

Thanks! You too!

Gigili

08:32

I'll leave you alone with Meysam, @DavidWallace. I have to study. Bite.

David Wallace

@Gigili You're biting me?

Meysam

@DavidWallace It's a blessing to be bitten by her. So do not be ignorant and say thank you

David Wallace

OK. Thank you @Gigili!

Meysam

08:49

@DavidWallace Are you on any new project?

David Wallace

I am unemployed if that's what you mean.

Meysam

So you are resting

David Wallace

Umm, yes, that's what I'll call it.

Meysam

Why don't you go on vacation?

David Wallace

Oh, I have other things to do.

Meysam

08:54

If I were you, I wouldn't miss the chance of visiting new places

David Wallace

I need to go to Australia in about 6 months. Until then, I want to save money.

Carlo_R.

@David do you have a job?

How do you save money whitout a job?

David Wallace

I do not have a job. And I save money by not spending it needlessly.

Carlo_R.

Will you go in Australia to search for a job?

David Wallace

09:09

No, I am going to Australia for my niece's wedding.

Meysam

@DavidWallace Do you go to Australia by bus?

David Wallace

But my wife and son want to turn it into a major holiday while we're there.

@Meysam Have you looked closely at a map of New Zealand and Australia?

Carlo_R.

Ah, I see. Good look, anyway!

David Wallace

Thank you.

Meysam

@DavidWallace Yes, they seemed two completely separate islands to me

David Wallace

09:12

I shall be going there by plane.

It takes about 4 hours to fly from Wellington (close to where I live) to Melbourne (where my niece lives).

Meysam

I will go to Australia some day. Not to find a job, but in pursuit of happiness.

David Wallace

There is a lot to see and do in Australia. I can't guarantee happiness, of course.

Meysam

@DavidWallace I expected a "Yes" from you. We could leave others confused. Sometimes it feels good to build & live in our own imaginary world.

David Wallace

I am sorry to disappoint you. I was not completely certain that your question was not serious.

Meysam

That's one of the side effects of living in your own world. People don't take you serious and learn to ignore you most of the time.

David Wallace

09:23

Last time I was in Europe, I met many people who thought that New Zealand was one of the states of the USA.

Meysam

@DavidWallace Heh! funny

Noah

Howdy

@DavidWallace Nice new profile pic

Meysam

Howdy @Noah. What brings you here today?

David Wallace

I get the - "I heard you speaking English, are you American? No. So you're British? No, I'm from New Zealand. I thought you said you weren't American!"

2

Noah

@Meysam I should have asked you the same thing

David Wallace

09:25

@Noah Thank you; you are very kind.

Noah

@DavidWallace Kiwis are not American

@DavidWallace you are welcome

David Wallace

@Noah Very true. At least, I'm not.

Meysam

@Noah Why don't you use a real pic of you, so that we can know you better?

Noah

@Meysam The one there is real

David Wallace

@Meysam And you, Meysam, are setting a shining example in this regard.

Noah

09:29

@Meysam Plus, I dont really think that old fella is you...

Meysam

@Noah I am sorry I thought it was a drawing.

Noah

@Meysam No need to be sorry my friend... You will have time for that

Meysam

I am not using a real picture, and I have an excuse for that.

@Noah Time for what? compensating for my mistake?

Noah

@Meysam Yea, after you get married...

@Meysam Just kidding....

David Wallace

Good night, folks.

Noah

09:33

Good night...

Carlo_R.

09:57

@David Good night! See you in your dreams.

tchrist

15:42

nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/09/27/…

Mahnax

@tchrist Interesting.

tchrist

I fear I have trouble warming to Garner, or his arguments. He’s in bed with Scalia.

Which explains a lot.

Mahnax

Sorry, who's Scalia?

tchrist

Rabid reactionary justice of the American Supreme Court, and a crank.

Antonin Scalia

Antonin Gregory Scalia (; born March 11, 1936) is an American jurist who serves as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. As the longest-serving justice currently on the Court, Scalia is the Senior Associate Justice. Appointed to the Court by President Ronald Reagan in 1986, Scalia has been described as the intellectual anchor of the Court's conservative wing. Scalia was born in Trenton, New Jersey, and attended public grade school and Catholic high school in New York City, where his family had moved. He attended Georgetown University as an undergraduate and obt...

Mahnax

I see.

tchrist

15:51

The Wiki article won’t tell you what an asshole he is. But that he most definitely is.

Mahnax

Oh, any particular reason why?

Examples, I mean.

tchrist

It’s the accumulation of years of outrageous statement and behaviours.

Mahnax

Ah, that sort of thing. And what's his relation to Garner?

Oh, co-author.

It's right there.

tchrist

Most lately, he was talking dirt on the Chief Justice siding with the progressives on the court to uphold the "recent" Health Care bill.

That is out of line.

Mahnax

I'm not very well-versed in politics, American or Canadian.

tchrist

15:56

This is hardly a flaw.

It really isn’t something one should let dominate one’s life.

There are a huge whole lot of better things to fill one’s mind, and time, with.

Mahnax

Like school…

Oh, I actually exercised this morning.

Huh. I've had two upvotes on one of my older answers in the past few days.

tchrist

Was there activity on them lately that popped them up to the front page again?

Mahnax

Mm, lemme see.

Ah, MetaEd posted a comment on the question on September 26.

tchrist

Then it may have been him, since comments don’t actually pop the active stat.

Mahnax

Hmm.

On September 26 it might have been, but there was another one today.

shrugs

tchrist

16:11

Maybe you have a secret admirer. :)

Mahnax

Oooh.

tchrist

Oh gosh, it happened again. Some non-English foreign press have misread a satirical story from The Onion as legitimate.

An Iranian news agency picked up — as fact — a story from the paper about a supposed survey showing an overwhelming majority of rural white Americans would rather vote for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad than President Barack Obama. But it was made up, like everything in the just-for-laughs newspaper, which is headquartered in Chicago.

The English-language service of Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency republished the story Friday, several days after it appeared in The Onion.

The Iranian version copied the original word-for-word, even including a made-up quote from a fictional West…

From here.

I think last time it was China.

Mahnax

I saw that last night.

They deleted the story, and I think the error given by the link was "Error for your page . This story not exist."

tchrist

That trick never works.

I like how it reports that 'Ahmadinejad famously said during a 2007 appearance at Columbia University that "in Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country."'. Since when is Ahmadinejad an expert on his country’s bedroom sports, let alone on another’s? :)

Surveillance cameras. :)

Mahnax

Haha.

tchrist

16:18

Put a black sticky on your computer’s little webcam if you are in Iran.

Pardon me, Mrs Freud, but your slip is showing.

I was once in some sort of online meeting at work-from-home, and they told me that my camera was on. I had done no such thing, at least, not consciously. Made me paranoid.

Mahnax

Oh dear.

Were you decent, at least?

tchrist

Of course.

It was the thought that bothered me.

Mahnax

I would be rather perturbed.

tchrist

When you are (say) eating a messy sandwich all alone at your house, you are not as fastidious about daintily wiping your mouth after every nibble. But in a public gathering, you might be. We do not act the same in private as in public.

People don’t usually pick their noses while at a public meeting.

One hopes. :)

Mahnax

Yes, one would hope so!

tchrist

16:28

Then again, I’ve seen (well, heard) people chattering away on their cell phones in public restrooms. This is somewhat odd.

Mahnax

@tchrist I would say so.

tchrist

Do you have wolves, or are you too far out in the prairie, so only have coyotes?

Mahnax

@tchrist Only coyotes, for the most part.

We had a deer come into town the other day. The poor thing was terrified.

tchrist

Same here, although we used to have wolves long ago. I thought of it because I am thinking of going up to Rocky Mountain National Park today, where elk have been a problem at grazing, and I just read this NY Times article.

We have deer in town daily.

They are everywhere.

But Estes Park, at the entrance to RMNP, has elk in town daily.

These are so much bigger it is crazy.

But it really takes a moose in town to make our papers.

Mahnax

Estes was the surname of many of my ancestors on my mother's side.

tchrist

16:31

Oh really? I know a Rose Estes from Wisconsin. She’s mostly known as a fantasy writer.

Mahnax

One of my relatives wrote up a big book full of family history back in the eighties. It's very interesting.

tchrist

I have one of those from both sides of my mom’s family, but nothing of my dad’s.

Mahnax

I think ours is my mother's mother's side.

One of my ancestors lived near Buffalo Bill, or so the story goes.

I should read through the book again.

tchrist

The surnames of the maternal line are quickly lost. Mine are Halsey -> Teal -> Storer, but that is as far back as I know. And of course, the paternal line has your own name, usually.

Mahnax

I'll be right back, I'm going to look for the book. I'm curious now.

tchrist

16:34

Halsey and Storer of course being English, but Teal originally being French.

K.

Mahnax

I couldn't find it.

My grandmother might have it at the moment, actually.

tchrist

Understandable.

Gigili

Is this website reliable? simplyelectronics.net

Hullio, BTW.

Mahnax

Hi @Gigili.

Aww, my grandfather is trying to write to me in English.

That's very nice of him.

Gigili

Umm? Isn't he Canadian? I mean, doesn't he speak English?

Mahnax

16:45

No, he lives in Finland.

> You are soon 16 yers and you shall get then ajokortti in finish.

He's trying.

Gigili

Aw, so sweet of him. How old is he?

If you don't mind my asking.

Hollo - lo - o? No one here to answer my question?

Mahnax

He's around 65 years old, but I can never remember the exact year he was born.

@Gigili I'm not sure, I've never used it.

Gigili

@Mahnax Yeah, I figured as much. Thank you anyway.

And @sim just fled. What a moderator!

Mahnax

Haha :-)

tchrist

Now, now: moderator ≠ answerer.

Gigili

16:57

Moderator = problem solver.

Or at least that's what I had in mind when I voted for them.

tchrist

Ah, ok.

@Gigili IIRC, you live abroad somewhere, right?

That is, not in a traditionally English-speaking country.

Have you ever heard of whooping cough, or whooping cranes?

Gigili

Umm, no. Warum fragst du?

tchrist

Because I wondered how you pronounced whooping.

I thought people with the wine–whine merger said it as hooping, but in the UK, I’ve heard wooping.

Usually rounded vowels have hw -> h, like who, whole.

In America, it is hooping for those it is not whooping. But in England, it appears to be hooping. I presume Scotland retains whooping.

Gigili

It actually sounds like both w and h are pronounced. A bit 'w', a bit 'h'. Or something.

tchrist

Then you don’t have the merger.

So I can’t ask you. :)

Are you in the UK?

Gigili

17:09

But I would write the word since I don't need to pronounce it.

tchrist

We get shots as children for whooping cough.

Gigili

Is that a built-in extension or what? I have everything, even more than that.

tchrist

And whooping cranes are the largest (tallest) bird in North America.

"built-in extension"?

Gigili

OK, you can ask me as you did but you won't get a good answer.

Anyway, did you find that website reliable?

tchrist

People without the merger have a phoneme there that those with the merger don’t have.

I don’t know the website.

Gigili

17:11

Bah, what kind of American are you.

tchrist

I don’t understand. :(

What kind of American aren’t you?

Gigili

Oh, dear. You'd been turned off.

tchrist

What in the world does that mean?

Gigili

off

Mahnax

I'm afraid I don't understand this either.

tchrist

17:38

> 1815 Scott Guy M. xlv, ― ‘Eh whow! Eh whow!’ ejaculated the honest farmer, as he looked round upon his friend’s miserable apartment.

Gosh, I could write a big article on wh- words.

Cameron

@tchrist Perhaps you could write one for the blog?

tchrist

And still another on all the onomatopoeic wh- words: whoa, wham, whiz, whoosh, whiff, whack, ?whirl, ?wheeze, whoop, whew, whirr, ?whisk, whump, whuffle, whush, whutter, whunk, whomp, whizz, ?whistle, whoompf.

And of course, whoops. :)

MετάEd

It seems we also need an article on ejaculation.

A sister article, so to speak.

tchrist

That was on last week’s QI.

MετάEd

QI?

tchrist

17:53

►

> quh-, an obs., chiefly Scottish, variant of the initial combination wh- (OE. hw-), as in quhan, quhat, quhele, quhete = when, what, wheel, wheat. (Also quhou, quhow, quhu = how.) The use of quh- for original qu- is much rarer, in most cases perhaps accidental. See the introductory note on the letter Q.

Quh? :)

Hm, the OED has quite a long exposition on wh's history.

MετάEd

@tchrist Well done.

tchrist

You don’t know QI? It can be really amusing, and even dare I say, interesting. Haven’t watched this week’s yet.

MετάEd

@tchrist It looks funny and interesting and terribly time consuming. :-)

tchrist

18:08

One thing I especially like about it is how broadly the accents of the panelists vary.

MετάEd

Not only that but some of the panelists have broad accents.

Some of the short comments I could not distinguish at all.

tchrist

I mean how they have people on the panel from week to week that have quite different accents from one another.

Oh really? That set is quite conservatively accented, all things considered.

Stephen of course is Oxbridge/RP. Alan is a bit less posh, just a regular guy. Bill’s is a bit more working class than Alan’s.

But all are basically SE of England in that set.

You should hear it when David Tennant is on -- very Scottish.

Or the Irish, when they are there.

Or the Welsh. But the northerners can be really hard to parse.

Here’s Tennant:

►

This is also a classic clash-of-accents:

►

Here both Graham and Dara are Irish, with Dara having the stronger accent:

►

This is better of Dara, with Stephen doing an amusing Irish cameo:

►

Here’s Rob Brydon doing an extra-Welsh gig:

►

tchrist

19:54

Ok, now slightly updated to cover @Robusto’s point:

8

A: Hwat, hwere, and hwy?

In which English accents do they put an h before every word that starts with wh? That isn’t what’s going on — you only think you hear an h, because your phoneme set doesn’t include this sound, but its use is pretty common in various accents. Which accents? Lots. Scottish. Irish. Several co...

Cerberus

22:14

Hello.

tchrist

22:25

Hi.

Ask @Carlo_R. about degli Medici vs dei Medici vs de' Medici.

MετάEd

@tchrist Let's not, and say we did.

I am unhappy with Carlo.

Oh, now you've punged him.

tchrist

Pungle in the Jungle.

Hm. Don’t I have your email address already somewhere?

MετάEd

Mine?

tchrist

Yours.

Have we exchanged mail?

MετάEd

Don't know. You are welcome to my address.

Cerberus

22:43

@tchrist What would he know about this?

tchrist

He is supposed to be Italian.

Cerberus

He probably doesn't know more than Wikipedia.

MετάEd

22:56

@tchrist He is.

tchrist

But Wikipedia appears to know nothing concrete.

MετάEd

In general? Or do you mean on a particular topic?

tchrist

On this one.

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…