English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

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SmokeDetector

01:46

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Blacklisted user (71): What is it called when you "buy" something for free?‭ by Thomas Henry Buxton‭ on english.SE

alphabet

02:16

@SmokeDetector That answer's totally irrelevant to the question; flagged.

CowperKettle

03:08

Word of the day: fribble

2 hours later…

CowperKettle

05:30

> "А 2D animation of a folk music band composed of anthropomorphic autumn leaves, each playing traditional bluegrass instruments, amidst a rustic forest setting dappled with the soft light of a harvest moon."

DALL-E 3 announced, a new iteration of the AI painting engine

CowperKettle

05:53

I googled "Do squirrels eat apples?" and got this: "Yep. Squirrels eat apples. More specifically, they rip them off your tree, roll them around for a while, scratch them up a bit, take a half hearted bite and then scamper off to dig up your geraniums."

1 hour later…

Xanne

06:53

Daily Octordle #604
5️⃣4️⃣
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8️⃣🕚
🔟9️⃣
Score: 60

Wordle 824 3/6

⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩⬜⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

CowperKettle

07:30

Борьба бронтозавра с цератозаврами

«Борьба бронтозавра с цератозаврами» (в просторечии «Бронтя» или «Бронтик») — скульптурная композиция 1932 года в городе Саки, Крым. В качестве одного из символов города изображена на гербе Сак. == Описание == Памятник изображает растительноядного бронтозавра, борющегося с хищными цератозаврами. Скульптура выполнена из ксилолита (смеси древесных опилок и магнезиального цемента), который выпускал Сакский химический завод. == История == Автором скульптурной композиции является Сергей Александрович Лихошерстов (1893—1940). Различные источники называют местом его рождения Севастополь или Евпаторию...

A monument to dinosaurs in Crimea, built in 1932

Why is it called a "marriage proposal"…
…and not "ringing your belle"?

@Mitch Volunteer-created books usually are read aloud by different volunteers. One volunteers reads one chapter, then some other guy takes over. And some of them have poor reading skills. They would decrease their tone as if the sentence or paragraph is ending, and then stumble upon the next part of the sentence, as if by chance.

It's as if they don't pre-read the chapter, or don't scan the whole paragraph or at least the whole sentence in advance, to read it properly, without stops and starts. It makes it impossible to listen.

This computerized reading is worse than a consciencious volunteer, but way better than an average volunteer.

6 hours later…

Robusto

13:19

#Worldle #608 1/6 (100%)
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🎉
⭐⭐⭐🪙
https://worldle.teuteuf.fr

🌎 Sep 21, 2023 🌍
🔥 37 | Avg. Guesses: 4.31
🟥🟥🟩 = 3

globle-game.com
#globle

Wordle 824 4/6

⬛⬛⬛🟨⬛
🟩🟩🟩⬛⬛
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Had to burn one to avoid the sequential guessing game.

Daily Quordle 605
4️⃣5️⃣
3️⃣7️⃣
m-w.com/games/quordle/

Vikas

14:21

#Worldle #608 1/6 (100%)
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🎉
⭐⭐🏙️
https://worldle.teuteuf.fr

CowperKettle

14:32

@Mitch I first tried out text-to-voice readers in about 1998, after my first corneal transplant. I was afraid that I would be unable to read someday. It was quite bad. This one is miles ahead.

I mean they were okay maybe for some phrases but not for actual listening to books.

Mitch

@CowperKettle There's been a lot of progress over 25 years. LIttle by little.

@CowperKettle got it.

@alphabet Hokkien is Sinitic (near relative of Mandarin and Cantonese), not Korean

But then you'd have to consider sound changes in -those- languages to in the past 2 centuries.

Also the GOAT vowel has a thousand different versions in BrE (and AmE), sometimes in the same person!

International Phonetic Alphabet chart for English dialects

This chart shows the most common applications of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to represent English language pronunciations. See Pronunciation respelling for English for phonetic transcriptions used in different dictionaries. AmE, American English AuE, Australian English BahE, Bahamian English BarE, Barbadian English CaE, Canadian English CIE, Channel Island English EnE, English English FiE, Fiji English InE, Indian English IrE, Irish English JSE, Jamaican English NZE, New Zealand English PaE, Palauan English ScE, Scottish English SIE, Solomon Islands English SAE, South African English...

1 hour later…

CowperKettle

16:05

> Rural population (% of total population) in Pakistan was reported at 62.27 % in 2022, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators

Russia had the same share of rural population back in 1950.

And today it's just 25%.

When my dad was born in 1946, rural population was predominant.

alphabet

16:32

Odd to use red for higher literacy rates, as if it's dangerous.

Cerberus

Hah!

It can be for some.

alphabet

It can make you question the authorities

Literacy is a gateway to becoming a furry

Laurel

16:52

@alphabet These are female literacy rates

Mitch

17:11

@Cerberus reading gives me eyestrain

I hate that

Or like when you stub your toe in the middle of the night on a book that some sullen teenager left in the middle of the floor

1 hour later…

Robusto

18:19

@Laurel Burkas probably make shoplifting easier, too.

"Stop her! She's the one in the burka!"

CCTV won't help at all, either.

"She was in a black burka, officer. About yay high ..."

user 726941

What's CCTV?

Robusto

I see you don't watch a lot of British crime dramas.

In a nutshell, it's video surveillance.

user 726941

thnx

Robusto

Kinda like 1984, since it's all over Britain.

user 726941

Closed Circuit Television

Robusto

18:23

Yup.

Daily Octordle #605
🕚4️⃣
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Score: 57

Laurel

By the way, she really does use a burqa as a disguise in her quest to defeat female illiteracy in Pakistan

Burka Avenger

Burka Avenger (Urdu: برقعہ ایوینجر) is a Pakistani animated television series created, directed and produced by Haroon.Unicorn Black founder and international pop star Haroon (AKA Aaron Haroon Rashid) created the series as a way to emphasise the importance of girls’ education in Pakistan and abroad, as well as issues such as equality and discrimination. Burka Avenger originally premiered on Geo Tez, but moved to Nick Pakistan from season 2. Four seasons, containing a total of 52 episodes were directed and produced by Haroon at Unicorn Black, have been launched to great success in Pakistan. It...

Robusto

@Laurel Ha, I thought that was a meme or something. Yeah, right on, sister. Preach the word!

@Laurel Just now I linked this to a woman friend who says she's surprised Pakistan hasn't banned that series.

Certainly it would never see the light of day under the Taliban in Afghanistan.

@Mitch: NYT doesn't accept vitiation now. What a lot of bush leaguers they are.

Laurel

18:44

@Robusto I mean, it does feel like a meme, just one that was professionally animated. (However, lots of kids shows are like that)

Also, I hope it's self evident that I do support female literacy…

Robusto

@Laurel I made that assumption. ^_^

Me too, by the way.

alphabet

19:16

@Laurel Religionwise, can you wear a fursuit instead of a burqa, or do you need a separate burqa under it?

Neither, according to the Salafists: islamqa.info/en/answers/121231/…

Womp, womp

Laurel

@alphabet I don't know, but considering that "Is it haram to drive an Alfa Romeo?" and "Is it haram to use a wallet which has a design like a horse and a deer?" are on topic on Islam SE, I'm sure your question would be too :p (and that's not even the worst example; a lotta NSFW questions there lol)

alphabet

> But resembling animals is not something appropriate for the Muslim to do, because it is humiliating a soul that Allah has honoured with reason

> because of the hadeeth of Abu Talhah who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) say: “The angels do not enter a house in which there is an image or a dog.” (Agreed upon)

Laurel

There might be some other schools of thought, however. There are some answers I've seen on Islam SE (not about furries) that I've been surprised by considering what I know about traditional Muslim values

alphabet

Indeed. The IslamQA authors are very extreme and hardly represent your typical Muslim, especially in the West.

Laurel

19:32

I think the one answer author there (on Islam SE) who sticks out in my mind lives in China actually

Tho I am friends with a "western Muslim" who I would describe as progressive even by western standards too

lol that's such a great phrase because it's ambiguous whether it's about society or cowboy movies

alphabet

See: Ilhan Omar