English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

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Mitch

5:19 PM

@user726941 which sites are -not- striking?

@tchrist what is your take on these things?

CowperKettle

5:46 PM

@Mitch Yes, it's often pronounced as пожалста, but I doubt that a Russian spelling bee will have a success. There are many quaint points in Russian, and there are dictants which are popular.

At the local market, where people from Central Asia sell fruit and vegetables, I saw a nice sign saying that the owner of the stall wishes to rent a flat in the Batonichesky district, instead of Botanichesky.

He probably derived the term from the word baton (baguette, long loaf)

Maybe in his native language, there is some other word for botany, not of a Latin/Greek root.

Such mistakes are so cute through the fact that only non-natives and children aged 3 to 5 might come up with them.

As a kid, I loved a book by Chukovsky I had, titled From 2 to 5, about the quaint ways kids reinvent words and make mistakes.

От двух до пяти

«От двух до пяти» — книга Корнея Чуковского, посвящённая детской речи. Впервые увидела свет (под заглавием «Маленькие дети») в 1928 году. Начиная с третьего издания выходила под названием «От двух до пяти». При жизни автора выдержала более двадцати изданий, каждое из которых существенно дополнялось и дорабатывалось. == Содержание == Книга открывается главой о детском языке, в которой автор не только приводит примеры «лепых нелепиц», но и рассуждает о неосознанном мастерстве каждого ребёнка, усваивающего огромное количество новых слов и их элементов. Слыша строчку «Царь дрожащего творенья...

> "Chukovsky considered language acquisition by a child a miracle. He called on for seeing in children's speech not only the result of imitation of adult language, but also the fruits of independent creativity."

Robusto

Wordle 716 5/6

⬛⬛🟨🟨🟨
⬛🟨🟨⬛🟨
⬛⬛🟨🟨⬛
🟨🟩🟨⬛🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Mitch

6:04 PM

@CowperKettle I had heard that Russian spelling isnt necessarily one-to-one onto to pronunciation. But my memory may be wrong.

CowperKettle

Yes, it's not one-to-one

But it's far from English

Mitch

I've heard that Tibetan is problematic in the way English is (lots of exceptions to rules and lots of just 'ya gotta just remember this word's

CowperKettle

My brother's school teacher of English loved to say: "Kids, remember, it's English. We write Manchester, but read it as Liverpool"

Mitch

@CowperKettle English is just awful. It's surprising that most people are actually able to keep it all straight

I wonder if the Chinese have character drawing 'bees'

Robusto

@CowperKettle Better not read it as Liverpool if you go to a Man United soccer match in Manchester.

CowperKettle

6:08 PM

Yes

Mitch

There are a lot of repeated patterns and memory tricks but it's now easy

CowperKettle

This was said in the physical education class.

Mitch

That's a strange thing to say in phys ed

CowperKettle

16 people died by drinking an alcoholic drink called Mister Cider in Ulyanovsk Oblast. It contained methyl alcohol meduza.io/feature/2023/06/05/…

Robusto

@Mitch 蜂

That's a bee.

Or a wasp or hornet. They're not fussy.

alphabet

6:13 PM

As you may know, it appears Ukraine is...doing something. Not clear what but we'll find out in a few days.

Mitch

@Robusto the Chinese or the hornets?

Robusto

Take your pick.

Mitch

@alphabet aw man -I- am doing something. You'll always read about it in the newspapers!

Robusto

Hornets are equal-opportunity stingers. They'll sting anybody.

Mitch

Little bastards

alphabet

6:17 PM

@CowperKettle The term for this is "orthographic depth"

Mitch

Sounds kinda fancy

jlliagre

6:29 PM

Daily Octordle #497
🕛🕐
🔟5️⃣
6️⃣7️⃣
8️⃣9️⃣
Score: 70

Daily Quordle 497
6️⃣7️⃣
9️⃣4️⃣
m-w.com/games/quordle

Wordle 716 5/6

⬜⬜🟨🟨⬜
⬜⬜🟨⬜⬜
🟨🟨⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟨⬜🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

CowperKettle

Three words of the eve: "The planh is similar to the sirventes in that both were typically contrafacta."

CowperKettle

7:27 PM

"La Taberna", 1887

I wonder why the woman at the table is so angry

2 hours later…

Robusto

9:08 PM

@CowperKettle You sure she's not just drunk?

She looks like she's at the unable-to-feel-her-face stage of intoxication.

Lambie

9:38 PM

@CowperKettle I just made the image larger. She is checking that the lady pouring the drink is pouring the right amount or whatever. Her eyes are in line with the pouring and she just looks like she is concentrating.

alphabet

Conclusion so far seems to be that Ukraine is making advances on Bakhmut (due to Wagner pulling out) and Vuhledar (which was less well-defended than elsewhere on the front). However, Ukraine still hasn't committed the vast majority of its newly constituted forces, suggesting that the main effort will be on some other axis, perhaps towards Melitopol.

jlliagre

@CowperKettle She doesn't look drunk to me, unlike the three men. She is about to eat a chicken nugget or something and gives the waitress a less-than-enthusiastic look, perhaps because she's still serving alcohol to her tablemates.

alphabet

9:54 PM

My predictions: this counteroffensive will move very slowly due to better-prepared Russian defenses. Ukraine is likely to reach Melitopol but only after a long period of attrition with very high casualties on both sides. The best outcome would be a ceasefire, but Ukraine is unlikely to accept such an agreement without security guarantees from the West to prevent future Russian offensives.