English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

KitFox

1:00 PM

@RegDwighт So I should what? Overthrow my government?

JSBձոգչ

can we talk about something other than elections?

tchrist

The floor is open to suggestions.

KitFox

Sure!

RegDwighт

@KitFox you should vote for the best candidate out of thousands, not for the one out of two who has the prettiest wife.

KitFox

You ready for Nanowrimo?

JSBձոգչ

1:01 PM

i hope so. i have a plan, and i have cleared my schedule

so i should be good to go

KitFox

@RegDwighт Most people are incapable of deciding between even three alternatives. More than that is impossible. Thousands is inconceivable and a logistical clusterfuck.

RegDwighт

Of course.

KitFox

@JSBձոգչ I do kind of wish I could really do it this year, but I figure I'll at least do some writing every day and see what happens.

RegDwighт

Still, there are many countries with parliaments of more than two parties.

tchrist

@RegDwighт A bunch of Californians are really pissed about being able to do just that. They didn’t have closed primaries, so whoever the top two candidates were, irrespective of party, advance to the runoffs. So in districts with two of one party, those from “the other” party cry foul claiming that because of this they have no one to vote for, since they would never vote for an <insert evil party name> even under gunpoint.

RegDwighт

1:03 PM

Dumbing it down to two is always just that, dumbing it down.

Us vs them.

tchrist

Us-vs-them may be mammalian biology.

KitFox

Well, I think a representative democracy is a pretty stupid form of government anyway.

Ruling by consensus is a terrible idea.

Matt Эллен

yeah. nation states are inefficient. city states are where it's at!

JSBձոգչ

@KitFox yes! i agree! up with elitism!

tchrist

@KitFox Where does it go wrong though? The self-determination? Or the let’s-vote-for-free-beer thing?

RegDwighт

1:05 PM

The German parliament.

KitFox

@tchrist Most people are stupid, almost too stupid to breathe.

Matt Эллен

it's a rainbow!

JSBձոգչ

the constitution basically guarantees that we get two parties, though

if you want a partiament, you have to amend so that you can get a parliament

RegDwighт

@JSBձոգչ the Constitution is part of the problem. Too many people uphold it like the Bible.

Matt Эллен

brown and green and red and yellow, black and black and blue. I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow. You can sing a rainbow too

JSBձոգչ

1:06 PM

@RegDwighт oh, don't get me started on that.

tchrist

@KitFox Let us for the sake of the non-argument, assume you are correct. How then does a wise nation effectively govern itself in the face of that axiom?

monarchy!

anarchy!

anarcho-monarchy!

oligarchy.

1:08 PM

@JSBձոգչ yeah!

RegDwighт

Endless war.

tchrist

@RegDwighт Why doesn’t the German flag regularly change its colors to reflect the rainbow allegiances of its rulers? I think they should.

JSBձոգչ

actually, we're getting pretty close to oligarchy

RegDwighт

Sorry, endless armed conflicts.

tchrist

@JSBձոգչ Aye.

RegDwighт

1:08 PM

People don't like to actually declare wars anymore.

KitFox

@JSBձոգչ But not plutocracy. It should be based on my ideals of what makes good rulers.

JSBձոգչ

why don't we just make @Kit ruler for life?

Matt Эллен

"We're not at war with you, we're just fighting your troops on your home soil"

tchrist

Vietnam. Not a war. Right.

War on Drugs. Yes a war. Right.

KitFox

@JSBձոգչ I don't want that job. But I will take the option to choose who should be in charge.

RegDwighт

1:09 PM

@JSBձոգչ because she will make Michelle Obama ruler for life.

Jinx.

Matt Эллен

It's not an invasion, it's a Military holiday

tchrist

There is only one fair and unbiased way to select one’s rulers, and that is sortition.

KitFox

The selection process should be biased.

People who can't think should not be allowed to make decisions for the rest of us.

Robusto

c'm't'

tchrist

The jury is out on that one, having been elected by sortition.

RegDwighт

1:11 PM

Greetings from Idiot America

JSBձոգչ

@KitFox which is what you have... sort of

KitFox

@JSBձոգչ No, I mean just me. And I'd like to review applications and question potential rulers. Also, there would naturally be more than one.

JSBձոգչ

i don't entirely agree that most people are stupid. most people are perfectly competent to run their own lives... but extremely bad at running other people's lives.

so i'd like to maximize the former and minimize the latter

tchrist

@RegDwighт I had far less heebie-jeebies when touring WWII museums in Germany and in Japan than in finding myself in such environs from time to time.

I do not know that it can be said that the permanent underclass is perfectly competent at running their own lives. That’s why they’re stuck there, after all.

KitFox

@JSBձոգչ I'd like a candidate whose core value was "an' ye harm none."

RegDwighт

1:15 PM

@JSBձոգչ well Adam Smith kind of argued the latter follows from the former.

JSBձոգչ

@RegDwighт did he really?

RegDwighт

As far as economics goes, that is the theory of his.

Everyone do what's best for himself, then the society as a whole will thrive.

KitFox

And I'd really like a candidate who had the cojones to look Congress in the eye and tell them "Stop wasting time meddling with other people's shit."

tchrist

@KitFox We call those people “cranks”.

JSBձոգչ

@tchrist speaking of sortition, has anyone else here read GK Chesterton's The Napoleon of Notting Hill?

RegDwighт

1:18 PM

The Wealth of Nations

An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, generally referred to by its shortened title The Wealth of Nations, is the magnum opus of the Scottish economist and moral philosopher Adam Smith. First published in 1776, the book offers one of the world's first collected descriptions of what builds nations' wealth and is today a fundamental work in classical economics. Through reflection over the economics at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution the book touches upon broad topics as Division of labour, productivity and free markets. History The Wealth of Nations ...

tchrist

@KitFox As soon as they get themselves elected, the shadowy éminences grises take them into the dark room in the back of the White House and enlighten them as to How Things Really Are, and that’s that.

KitFox

> As the figure depicts a prelapsarian Adam, he is completely naked. He also has no penis.

RegDwighт

Invisible hand

In economics, the invisible hand of the market is a metaphor conceived by Adam Smith to describe the self-regulating behavior of the marketplace. The exact phrase is used just three times in Smith's writings, but has come to capture his important claim that individuals' efforts to maximize their own gains in a free market benefits society, even if the ambitious have no benevolent intentions. Smith came up with the two meanings of the phrase from Richard Cantillon who developed both economic applications in his model of the isolated estate. He first introduced the concept in The Theory...

> individuals' efforts to maximize their own gains in a free market benefits society, even if the ambitious have no benevolent intentions

tchrist

Wow, I suddenly feel like I’m reading Steven Brust’s blog.

JSBձոգչ

@RegDwighт i'm familiar with all that. the part that i don't normally associate with Smith is the "but extremely bad at running other people's lives"

RegDwighт

1:19 PM

@JSBձոգչ that was the point of my juxtapposition.

You'd think what works (supposedly!) for economics, would work in other sectors.

Except, of course, the real lesson is that it doesn't work anywhere, economics included.

JSBձոգչ

yes... maybe

i sort of despair if i think about this too much, because i don't think that there is a good solution

total individualism fails because people must live in communities. but total communitarianism also fails

RegDwighт

Madoffs and Cheneys do not benefit the society in any way, shape, form, or manner.

JSBձոգչ

the "best" solution appears to be to bounce randomly and haphazardly between the poles

Matt Эллен

@RegDwighт well, we have people we can make fun of, which relieves stress

RegDwighт

@MattЭллен for just a couple thousand billion pounds per laugh, yes.

KitFox

1:22 PM

@JSBձոգչ You need people who can lead, you need people who can follow. The problem is only that we ask the followers who should lead, so we get narcissists and people who think they can lead instead of real leaders.

> "We've been attacked," he says, "by the intelligent, educated segment of the culture."

Because the dumb people feel entitled to have a say.

Matt Эллен

and they are, but they should understand we're entitled to ignore them

JSBձոգչ

@KitFox what you point out is the theory behind the best sort of monarchy. being prince is an accident of birth, but at least you get educated in statecraft from a young age. in theory.

KitFox

@MattЭллен Except that they have equal say.

Which is madness.

Matt Эллен

Yes

tchrist

Brust on the Wealth of Nations, with per-chapter installments, like Chapter 1 through Chapter 9 and beyond. By 10, he starts subdividing chapters.

KitFox

1:26 PM

Imagine a parent standing up in a PTA meeting and insisting that all children be taught that 2 + 2 could also equal 5, because that's what the parent was taught and that's what the parent believes and if you don't allow it then you are some sort of crazy bigot.

tchrist

He’s a great writer. His politics are so far left of most Americans’ that he’s almost a bugbear.

JSBձոգչ

@KitFox that kind of stuff happens all the time, on the left and the right

which is what's maddening

KitFox

@JSBձոգչ I know! It's crazy!

tchrist

> There's been some speculation on the Internet about my politics.Without going into great detail, I'll say that I am a Trotskyist sympathizer, and for more information check out TheWorld Socialist Web Site. Enough said.

Not bad for a Minnesota boy. And not usual, either.

KitFox

If you want to teach your kids something that isn't mainstream, go ahead, but don't start messing with my kids' head.

JSBձոգչ

1:28 PM

@tchrist okay, now you have me interested. the average libertarian going through Smith is just a fanboi, so yawn. but a trotskyite?

KitFox

I can show you on my own fingers how 2 + 2 = 4.

Let's stop celebrating ignorance.

It's all Bush Jr's fault.

JSBձոգչ

@KitFox but to circle back to the paradox above, if we have to live in a community together, what you teach your kid has an impact on me and my kid.

@KitFox naw, it's all Abraham Lincoln's fault

tchrist

@JSBձոգչ Remember, even social security pensions are considered “socialist” by the rapid repubbikers. So Brust’s Trostkyite orientation is worse than a child molester to them.

KitFox

@JSBձոգչ If your kid can't do math, then he's going to end up in a lower social stratum than my kid. I don't have a problem with that.

RegDwighт

@KitFox That's another peculiarity about the interpretation of neutrality, fairness and balance in the US (every nutjob with a theory gets a say, and not just on Jerry Springer, but in prime-time news) vs. pretty much everywhere else (nutjobs are free to say whatever they want, but that alone does not justify putting them on TV; in fact putting them there is the opposite of neutrality, because their views then get propagated out of all proportion).

One result of that are the media statutes you have since the fifties IIRC.

KitFox

1:31 PM

I think I should stop talking about it. It doesn't do any good to get my blood pressure up.

I just wish that my dreams to raise intelligent thoughtful children weren't so hopeless.

It won't do them any good, and it will probably do them harm.

RegDwighт

According to which neutral reporting does not equal to simply presenting a view without siding with it, and investigating other possibilities yourself; but rather by presenting the views of the two ruling parties.

So when the two parties say the same bullshit, which is surprisingly often, that's what you get; there is nobody to question that and present a different view.

KitFox

I just want a world where people think and like to think and do it well and try to do it better.

tchrist

@JSBձոգչ Brust was originally involved with the initial Arneson D&D group in the Twin Cities, and was a computer programmer. He is now a full-time writer, although he is not particularly well remunerated. His musings on the righteousnesses of most Americans’ bête noire-ish side of the underbelly of socialism on his blog are occasionally amusing. His fiction is quite fine; his politics, well, I’m not qualified to judge — although I suspect Reg would be.

JSBձոգչ

@KitFox right, but you're gonna pay taxes to support him on welfare, and deal with the high crime resulting from the unemployment because so many kids in the anti-mathematics movement can't get jobs. so my choice to not teach my kid math affects you one way or another.

RegDwighт

@KitFox you're fighting an uphill battle against evolution.

Matt Эллен

1:35 PM

@KitFox me too, but it don't get you laid or rich being that way

tchrist

@RegDwighт Both parties say the same thing because they are both in Power, and wish to stay that way.

Matt Эллен

jinx!

KitFox

@RegDwighт That's not true! We keep getting smarter.

tchrist

@KitFox That shall always be a rarefied world, and dare I say Platonian Utopia which can can only exist U-topically.

KitFox

Well, that's what I am going to write about this month.

RegDwighт

1:37 PM

@tchrist and that is to be expected; that's what they do in all countries all over the world. What is not to be expected is that not questioning that is officially regarded, and protected, as neutrality.

Kit's Utopia.

Kyutopia

Qtopia

You say y and u like they are different things.

RegDwighт

Here's what a Democrat had to say about X, and here's a comment by a Republican. Nevermind they both talk shit. Case closed. We're neutral reporters!

KitFox

1:39 PM

Kitopia.

Brought to you by the Nightshades.

Matt Эллен

All decisions must go via Vulpine high command

KitFox

rubs hands together Delicious.

If I can just combine it with Lovecraftian erotica and horror comedy, I think it could work.

Matt Эллен

the head of the high command has an interesting factoid about Cthulu

2

KitFox

Hahahaha.

Nathan had a good name for me. Let me see if I can find it.

JSBձոգչ

@MattЭллен i starred this, and i appreciate the fact that it requires a deep knowledge of ELU inside jokes to even know what you're talking about

Matt Эллен

1:44 PM

thanks :D

KitFox

Soror Minervatia Vulparcanum.

I came up with "Vulparcanum." I felt it was very clever.

RegDwighт

Someone write up a meme thread on meta already.

JSBձոգչ

no! no memes!

RegDwighт

No memes in this chat.

Matt Эллен

lol

JSBձոգչ

1:46 PM

OMG IT'S SO META

RegDwighт

It's so meta JSBangs has discovered the shift key.

Matt Эллен

oddly I pronounce meta like better and beta like metre

JSBձոգչ

caps lock. totally different.

> But if you think the farce of national democratic elections has reached an almost irretrievable state of disrepair, corrupted by big money on both sides and fundamentally manipulative and insincere in its presentation of candidates, then to vote could only end in one outcome no matter who is elected–the further entrenchment of the brokenness we decry.

which is why i don't vote!

Matt Эллен

people should vote with money. Companies cannot contribute and the maximum contribution is $20. The team with the most money wins.

MετάEd

I'm sorry, did somebody ask for me?

KitFox

1:54 PM

@MattЭллен Companies count as people, silly.

MετάEd

@MattЭллен We've got the first part covered.

Matt Эллен

@KitFox nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

JSBձոգչ

@MattЭллен there needs to be a minimum contribution. just set the "price" of a vote at $20. that's high enough to keep the disinterested away

MετάEd

@JSBձոգչ "One note, one vote".

@JSBձոգչ That's called a "poll tax" and we kind of did away with those a while ago.

Something about it being totally unfair to poor people.

JSBձոգչ

@MετάEd bring it back!

maybe we can set a special poor-person price of $5

KitFox

1:57 PM

"Screw the meek," says pope.

MετάEd

@JSBձոգչ Or maybe not.

Matt Эллен

"Eat the meek" sing NoFX

MετάEd

theonion.com/articles/…

@KitFox Good memory.

KitFox

Thank you.

JSBձոգչ

3

Q: Apostrophe and plurals of abbreviations

I was in Middlesbrough yesterday and spotted: CJ’s Cafe So far, so good, I thought. A selection of the delights within were listed: Pizzas Parmo’s Breakfasts The second, on the face of it, looks like a standard greengrocer’s apostrophe, surprising in a sign where everything else...

dupe

Matt Эллен

2:00 PM

Also, no more campaigning. Only one manifesto leaflet and web page per candidate.

RegDwighт

I only just realized that the Esquire article mentioned Santorum.

KitFox

spits

MετάEd

suppresses the urge to swallow

KitFox

Oh that's really gross.

MετάEd

I know, right?

That's what we love about Santorum.

KitFox

2:11 PM

Santorum Fills Auditorium.

JSBձոգչ

please, no

KitFox

I haven't read Savage Love in over a month. Bad me.

RegDwighт

+1 I would rather agree - I sometimes use space even in the middle of the word in order to avoid confusion of "rn"("RN") with "m"("M") which are pretty indistinguishable with some fonts — Gennady Vanin--Геннадий Ванин Mar 8 '11 at 14:50

Welcome to Idiot Russia.

MετάEd

"Auditorium fills to capacity and many are left outside."

KitFox

> it turns out that making birth control available to women at no cost, which is what the president is trying to do, reduced the teen birth rate by more than 80 percent (from 34.3 births per 1,000 teens on average to 6.3 births per 1,000 for teens enrolled in the study), and it reduced the number of abortions by 62-78 percent (from 19.6 abortions per 1,000 women on average to 4.4 to 7.5 abortions per 1,000 women enrolled in the study).

Yay for contraception!

JSBձոգչ

2:19 PM

@KitFox cite?

user19161

Well done! Having no sex education or contraception is just stupid.

Matt Эллен

but "Having no sex" education probably helps

KitFox

@JSBձոգչ choiceproject.wustl.edu

user19161

@MattЭллен Depends on how it is carried out. If it says "sex is wrong" then it is wrong.

KitFox

@MattЭллен Abstinence-only education has been demonstrated to be a complete failure.

user19161

2:21 PM

But there are many people who want to be failures in this world.

Matt Эллен

I never said only! And I said probably.

JSBձոգչ

@KitFox we've discussed this before. contraceptive-based education has also been demonstrated to be a failure. there is in fact no statistical difference in the impact between most abstinence-based and most contraceptive-based approaches

user19161

They want to uphold some kind of personalised morality, not thinking that they are causing others suffering without presenting the complete picture. I call that utter immorality.

KitFox

@JSBձոգչ Apparently the provision of free contraception works.

Matt Эллен

The best way is to kill any man who you catch having sex, unless his mating has been sanctified by the Vulpine High Command.

KitFox

2:24 PM

Nonsense. My people are educated.

MετάEd

"Santorum has been surging in the polls lately."

KitFox

Ick. Ick. Ick.

JSBձոգչ

@KitFox right, but that's not an education program

can i make a request to block all messages containing the word "santorum"?

KitFox

@JSBձոգչ Tru dat.

JSBձոգչ

i think we can generalize the conclusion to "sex education is a failure", probably because teens are just too damn horny to listen to anything that we say

Matt Эллен

2:26 PM

yeS ANd Then OtheR Unpleasant Messages

Santorum was oozing out of my message there

MετάEd

"Santorum On Big Bird"

JSBձոգչ

no santorum in this chat

MετάEd

You can't make this stuff up.

KitFox

@JSBձոգչ Right. Let's just give them contraception and be done with it.

They'll figure out the rest on their own.

user19161

@JSBձոգչ I am not a teen and I am damn horny too, yay!

JSBձոգչ

2:30 PM

that deserves a star

user19161

Yes, I was waiting for the innocent JSBangs to give me a star!

KitFox

Yay for Make Love Not Porn!

user19161

Haha, how interesting a title.

user19161

How about making prawn?

Matt Эллен

prawn what?

user19161

2:40 PM

Prawn dumpling, prawn soup?

JSBձոգչ

um, what is that exactly?

im at work. not about to click through.

user19161

@JSBձոգչ It compares the porn world to the real world, better not click.

KitFox

@JSBձոգչ Oh, it's an educational site to help teenagers and virgins, I think.

user19161

I see the porn world as a subset of the real world.

JSBձոգչ

by telling them that sex is not like porn?

that's probably for the public good

user19161

2:43 PM

In the same way, online activities is a subset of real life.

KitFox

@JSBձոգչ So these things happen in porn world, but in real life it is different.

user19161

But the way it is written, it does not seem like a serious educational site.

KitFox

@JSBձոգչ That's why I yayed it.

@JasperLoy It makes the medicine go down easier.

JSBձոգչ

then i yay it in turn

but i'm still not clicking through

user19161

@JSBձոգչ Yes, better not at work.

KitFox

2:44 PM

Well. It has iconic diagrams and nothing explicit except body part language.

It also has an over 18 warning.

JSBձոգչ

we also need to point out that most of the things that happen in typical hollywood love scenes also don't happen in real life

user19161

When your colleagues see the warning they will report you to the boss already. At least that's what will happen in my sick part of the world.

KitFox

I believe the lead-in advice was "make sure your son understands that what happens in porn movies is about as real as what happens in action movies."

user19161

However, an experienced couple could enact a love scene in this manner.

user19161

Now I sound so experienced don't I? =)

Matt Эллен

2:46 PM

@JSBձոգչ and most romantic scenarios in Hollywood are nonsense.

JSBձոգչ

@MattЭллен yes indeed

this may be controversial, but i think that the avg person would do better having sex for the first time knowing nothing rather than having their head stuffed full of nonsense from movies

KitFox

The soft-core scenes make me giggle. Why is she excited that the guy is dry-humping her stomach?

@JSBձոգչ I agree. Porn should come after experience.

Otherwise, it is difficult to understand what's real and what's made up.

And you know that I'm pretty pro-porn.

user19161

@KitFox Unfortunately, I can no longer fall in that category, lol.

KitFox

Well, I watched porn when I was a virgin.

JSBձոգչ

did it help?

and what was/is your reaction to it as a woman?

i'm very curious

KitFox

2:51 PM

Let me think. It was a loooong time ago.

First it was looking at my dad's Penthouse collection.

RegDwighт

0

A: What is the *best* way to express that an email contains an attachment?

kindly find attached hereto document

He misspelled hetero.

KitFox

There was a lot of that. Mostly I wanted to know what naked adults looked like.

JSBձոգչ

ok, that's a reasonable ask

KitFox

Then I watched some of his movies, and lastly I read some of his books.

I didn't know what to expect with the movies, but it was a naughty thing to do, so it was pretty thrilling.

JSBձոգչ

i got a lot of education from a sex manual hidden in the bedroom of a couple i babysat for. (please don't tell them.)

user19161

2:53 PM

@JSBձոգչ HAHAHAHA.

KitFox

@JSBձոգչ Lucky. I should make sure we have some of those around for the boys to find when they are teenagers.

JSBձոգչ

yeah, it was actually a pretty positive approach. realistic and practical

KitFox

My mom had a copy of Our Bodies, Our Selves but I had no idea it had anything to do with sex, so I still haven't read it.

JSBձոգչ

how educational is that, though?

KitFox

I don't know. I haven't read it.

user19161

2:54 PM

What is the book in the first episode of The Wonder Years?

KitFox

The Joy of Sex.

I believe.

user19161

That first episode made me want to watch the whole series.

KitFox

I think that if I hadn't watched porn, or if that hadn't been my first and primary source for learning about the real mechanics of sexual relations, I would have had a better understanding of sex when it was my turn to give it up.

JSBձոգչ

that seems to undoubtedly be the case

^ total trainwreck of a sentence

user19161

@JSBձոգչ Sounds good.

KitFox

2:57 PM

There is so much more to sex than what a porn film conveys, even erotic novels, but it doesn't seem like anything is missing from it.

Plus, at the time, it was the only way I could see what adult male genitalia looked like.

Which turned out not to be very helpful at all, because you don't ever see them without raging erections.

And it's not like someone is there to point out that you can't really tell the difference between uncircumcised and circumcised men when they are erect. And that some men have curvatures and that's normal. Etc.

All that stuff I had to figure out on my own.

JSBձոգչ

i think the single most important thing to know going into it is that It Will Not Be Good At First.

save yourself a lot of disappointment and confusion

Matt Эллен

So this is why teens need so much practice

user19161

@JSBձոգչ Thanks for the warning.

KitFox

I plan to make sure my boys understand that sex is like everything else they will ever attempt: "No one is good at it the first time. You won't improve if you don't practice."

I would have benefited from that advice.

user19161

But what if two virgins have watched so much porn that they are so good when they come together to do it with each other?

JSBձոգչ

3:04 PM

it's also why you really, really want to be in a stable and comfortable relationship for the first time. otherwise you're just adding a whole nother layer of awkwardness and confusion

KitFox

You can't possibly be good at sex from watching porn.

user19161

@JSBձոգչ Well said bro, well said.

KitFox

Lunch time. Later.

JSBձոգչ

have fun.

KitFox

Damn. I have to wait.

My lunch buddy is in a meeting.

Matt Эллен

3:15 PM

waiting for lunch is the worst. it's what I do every moment after breakfast

2

JSBձոգչ

and i have a great lunch today

KitFox

sighs plaintively

You suppose I could start writing 13 hours early?

I guess I could outline some more.

Since my notes consist of about five index cards.

JSBձոգչ

do it!

Robusto

@JasperLoy You are notoriously bad at predictions, so who cares?

Matt Эллен

I'm gonna have to wait 27 hours, until I get home from work tomorrow

Mitch

3:18 PM

@JSBձոգչ so with that it is very appropriate to say the following...

english.stackexchange.com/badges/16/beta

oh. that didn't say anything.

JSBձոգչ

oh, so it wasn't just me

Mitch

anyway, it shows that hardly nobody who ws in the ELU private beta is still around. except for ... tara tara... JSB! Yay!

JSBձոգչ

go me!

KitFox

I recognize a few of those names.

Mitch

yay for you , or, what the hell everybody else.

I recognize JSB and Mehper as active now. Actually nohat just visited the other day. but anybody else I don't recognize at all or if I recognize, they haven't bee here for ages.

JSBձոգչ

3:21 PM

nohat, for one. edward tanguay still shows up every now and then

Robusto

0

A: Is "any" correctly applied in the example?

Even though the implication may be as you stated, we cannot possibly use all or every, only any in the sentence, because there may be none. To provide for the possibility of there being none, we have to use any in the sentence.

Can he state it yet another way?

KitFox

ELL is growing steadily.

Robusto

The question itself is gen ref.

Matt Эллен

@Robusto He can state utter nonsense

Robusto

And frequently does.

Matt Эллен

3:25 PM

One shall remove every reference to any and all.

RegDwighт

0

A: Has "segway" become an acceptable substitute for "segue"?

We've had perfectly good words in the English language for years that allow us to say "lets move on/ lets' continue (sorry ... continway)/ let's proceed/ let's advance" why take a bastardised word from Italian and adopt it when we have more than adequate words to describe something ??? All of ...

The Queen's English

11

verbs word-choice

JSBձոգչ

@MattЭллен one shall, but it shan't be me

RegDwighт

With that name you'd expect him to at least spell let's consistently, if not correctly.

Matt Эллен

@RegDwighт I've a suspicion they have nothing to do with the British Royalty at all.

KitFox

0

Q: "Make me unsleep" - is this possible?

Is it possible to use the "make me unsleep" as the synonym for "wake me up"? If yes, why it is so rare? And if not, why it can't be used?

phrases generic

RegDwighт

3:28 PM

Muh.

Mitch

@RegDwighт but...

english.stackexchange.com/questions/22012/…

RegDwighт

generic

Robusto

I liked the King's English better. Women should not be allowed to own languages.

RegDwighт

I thought the language was all yours and you were in nurse drag.

I thought that was a nice compromise.

Robusto

Just because I was in nurse drag didn't make me a queen. That is a different animal altogether.

Mitch

3:29 PM

that answer, even though a rant as kitukwyfer notices, is almost appropriate given that the nominal question is "is it acceptable now?" A rant is surely an answer that it its not acceptable, right?

RegDwighт

@KitFox I don't even know what to do with that.

Robusto

0

Q: "Make me unsleep" - is this possible?

Is it possible to use the "make me unsleep" as the synonym for "wake me up"? If yes, why it is so rare? And if not, why it can't be used?

phrases generic

May 14 at 14:36, by Robusto

Mitch

@KitFox I will start using this every day. I don't know how to use it but I will.

Robusto

You will have to unwake up first. Or is it wake down?

Matt Эллен

but why unsleep and not desleep?

Mitch

3:35 PM

I'd rather not be made unsleepened. Sounds uncomfortable. I'd prefer just a clock-radio alarm or something.

RegDwighт

@Robusto yeah, I went with "TL;DR: WTF".

Mitch

@MattЭллен it's more delovely than a denap.

RegDwighт

The best of both worlds.

Also, very slow jinx.

Give @Kit a very slow coke.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

good morning all

checks clock, yup, still morning

RegDwighт

Stud of the LEGO to you!

Robusto

3:38 PM

@RegDwighт I have scheduled that for 2015.

RegDwighт

I'll get back to you on this. — Robusto Mar 1 at 18:29

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I'm a bit sad that I missed all the "idiot america" and sex talks.

Robusto

@RegDwighт Oh, there I go again, making frivolous comments on ELU.

RegDwighт

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 you can still read the article. That will easily provide entertainment for half an hour.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@RegDwighт yeah I'm reading it. Nothing new in it though. Just some good zingers.

It's just preaching to the choir though

RegDwighт

3:44 PM

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 I found it to get more and more entertaining, even lighthearted, towards the end.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Like that movie I watched where Bill Maher goes around interviewing religious people and asking them "Do you really believe X?" and they say "Yes" and then the audience shakes its heads.

RegDwighт

The beginning is rather grim, and that's how I remembered all of it. But I actually laughed at some bits near the end.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@RegDwighт yeah, some bits are funny. But overall it's very sad.

I am reminded of the Tim Minchin quote:

> it gives you hope, doesn't it, that - that maybe they feel the same way about the theory of gravity… and they might just float the fuck away.

RegDwighт

Hahaha.

See, that's the problem. Them believing it doesn't make it so. It should. But it does not.

Instead they sit firmly near you and tell you to float the fuck away, because after all it's entirely possible.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@RegDwighт haha so true

But the assault on education and expertise in the US is also happening in Canada. The Conservative party used to play ads denouncing the Liberal candidate because used to be a Harvard professor.

So he had two strikes against him: 1) he must be a closted American, disguised as a Canadian! (Nevermind that the Con. Prime Minister is practically infatuated with George W Bush, it'd seem), and 2) he's elitist! he's an ivory tower snob! Not a down-to-earth person!

ha ha, this made me LOL

> And the president went on television and said that nobody could have anticipated the collapse of the unfortunate city's levees. In God's sweet name, engineers anticipated it. Politicians anticipated it. The poor bastards in the Ninth Ward certainly anticipated it. Hell, four generations of folksingers anticipated it.

RegDwighт

3:54 PM

Drove the Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

And good ol' boys were drinking whisky and rye

RegDwighт

10

Q: As a beginner, which do I need to focus on more, camera body or lens?

I am planning to get a DSLR, but before I do, I would like to know which part I need to concentrate on more while buying a DSLR, body or lens? Lenses can be upgraded, but the body is not as like that. So what are the features I need to notice while getting a body.

lens equipment-recommendation dslr body

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