English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Mitch

00:07

@CowperKettle I don't know...sounds cool to me... If you're driving a Tesla Cybertruck, might as well be mainlining food colorings

Cerberus

00:58

@alphabet I suppose so, we just call it a bank card or similar.

@MetaEd Yeah but you can just glue it back together, can't you? Unless you used a chisel to remove the glass screen. Then maybe you can replace the screen with a piece of paper and draw whatever needs to be displayed.

tchrist

02:37

@HippoSawrUs Nickels cost thirteen cents to make. Unless they're wooden.

alphabet

04:05

@tchrist Still cheaper than the chocolate kind.

Vikas

04:48

If I post: All <country name> are dogs" on social media, would that be considered as hate speech?

alphabet

05:07

@Vikas Assuming you're describing the country's residents, you shouldn't say that because it's rude and obnoxious, regardless of whether it technically counts as hate speech.

Laurel

05:26

@Vikas Is there more context to this? On some sites it would be fine, on others it wouldn't

In general, I'd say it's undirected vitriol. Maybe you have a legit reason to be mad at someone, but surely it's not every single adult and child in a region

@alphabet If we're going to start speculating, eliminating coins means we're forced to use financial systems which generate debt for a lot of people, like credit cards. It's the companies behind those who could stand to profit a lot

Laurel

06:02

I wasn't looking for it, but I found "financial systems which generate debt" in the US government in record time: apnews.com/article/…

It would be pretty awesome if someone could convince me these two facts aren't related...

Lucky Chouhan

Hi @Laurel, I've just discovered this room. I've read many of your answers in the past and saw you're here. So, just wanted to say "Hi". Are you a professor or teacher of linguistic?

alphabet

@Laurel Good, so it is a conspiracy!

Incidentally, I found this interesting chart:

Laurel

@LuckyChouhan I'm actually a software developer in an unrelated field 😅 I am a native speaker of American English tho

Lucky Chouhan

@Laurel that's pretty interesting, I'm math undergraduate student. Do you like programming puzzles/problems such as on Project Euler, Advent of Code, Leetcode?

alphabet

@Laurel From the Department Of Graft Enablers.

Another day, another piece of evidence that us raccoons would run this country far better than you humans.

SmokeDetector

06:35

[ SmokeDetector | MS ] Blacklisted website in answer, pattern-matching website in answer, potentially bad ns for domain in answer (173): Origin of "my dog ate my homework"?‭ by Emily‭ on english.SE

Vikas

06:50

@Laurel @alphabet a guy on Reddit posted in a gaming subreddit about bad experience with playing Russian players. He said he wants to avoid them. Then added, "I know Russians are scared dogs who hide in their homes to play games instead of going to real war".

To me, it implies he claimed "all Russians are dogs".

I reported the post as Hate speech and positing politics in gaming subreddit, to which Reddit replied that the user didn't violate any rule. Although the post was removed by the moderators.

M.A.R.

08:12

@Laurel it's too early for cyberpunk dystopia and God Emperor Elon

@Vikas they enforce their rules however they want. There's no guarantee they would be consistent or fair. In this case though, removing the post mitigates most of the harm

Xanne

Strands #345
“"Attention all shoppers"”
🟡🔵🔵🔵
🔵🔵🔵🔵

Vikas

09:23

Mustard and wheat.

tchrist

12:13

You didn't ask about this, but there's something missing which may suggest where your confusion may lie. You'll always need a definite determiner here because such constructions cannot be used without that. That's why it's always the brothers Grimm, those Wright brothers, three Marx brothers, both Brontë sisters, or these Kennedy children. This demonstrates that the grammar is different from the grammar used in per-se personal names such as Abraham Lincoln, where determiners are not normally allowed. So these are not the same kind of constituent sensu stricto. — tchrist ♦ 13 mins ago

I'm afraid that our asker thinks that brothers is some sort of "suffix" (since that's the term he used) that works like junior or senior works, like in Sammy Davis Jr. But of course, it does not.

> The Brothers Karamazov

MetaEd

13:21

Wordle 1,333 4/6

⬛🟨🟩🟨🟩
🟩⬛🟩🟩🟩
🟩⬛🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Xanne

Wordle 1,333 4/6

⬜⬜🟩⬜🟩
⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
🟨⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

MetaEd

Strands #345
“"Attention all shoppers"”
🔵🔵🔵🟡
🔵🔵🔵🔵

Laurel

13:39

@LuckyChouhan I was doing those in Java when I was job searching. They can be fun. (They're not fun in the language I actually use for work, PHP.)

Laurel

14:25

@Vikas I don't know enough about Reddit to answer this, but apparently there are different people (or AI?) handling things like this, and some of them aren't very competent: reddit.com/r/ModSupport/comments/w4imoo/…

Robusto

@tchrist There were three Bronte sisters: Anne, Emily, and Charlotte.

They all died quite young, btw.

Robusto

15:09

#travle #790 +0 (Perfect)
✅✅✅✅
https://travle.earth

#WhenTaken #350 (11.02.2025)

I scored 940/1000👑

1️⃣📍40.3 m - 🗓️1 yrs - 🥇199/200
2️⃣📍171 km - 🗓️3 yrs - 🥇190/200
3️⃣📍394 km - 🗓️13 yrs - 🥈164/200
4️⃣📍7.5 km - 🗓️0 yrs - 🥇200/200
5️⃣📍219 km - 🗓️5 yrs - 🥇187/200

https://whentaken.com

Wordle 1,333 3/6

🟨⬛🟨🟨⬛
⬛🟩🟨⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Mitch

@Robusto There were two of them after the first one died.

Just sayin

I did the math

Robusto

@Mitch What, now you're telling me that 1 + 1 = 3?

Mitch

Of course, maybe there was some horrible stage coach accident, in which two of the sisters died nearly at the same time.

@Robusto For sufficiently large values of one, yes.

Robusto

Brat.

Mitch

But also timing.

Robusto

15:19

We are indifferent to the ages of the Brontes. We only care that there were three, all authors, except one of them kinda sucked and also died way too early.

Mitch

You'd have to allow for the unspoken 'living as of a certain date, which is an allowance I'm certain is allowed by the mores of a certain age.

@Robusto Only one kinda sucked?

Robusto

@Mitch Let's just say one was less famous than her sisters.

Mitch

If Mick Jagger is to be believed and also accepted as relevant, what makes a good song is 1) repetition and 2) that's it, there's only one reason.

Robusto

I wonder if they had their own action hero toys.

Mitch

What I'm saying is there were all dogs.

@Robusto prepares see-through brainstorming whiteboard with occult equations and diagrams

Robusto

15:22

@Mitch We can do this.

Mitch

@Robusto Let's roll.

What's the latest Nike slogan?

something like... "You can't win"

Robusto

@Mitch Let's make some money?

Mitch

That's a zen koan if I've never heard one.

Robusto

That works for us.

Mitch

Just add a random qualifier

Maybe we shall overcome

Might makes right I suppose

We will rock you... to sleep.

Robusto

15:24

And they all have secret identities! Anne Bronte -> Acton Bell, Charlotte Bronte -> Currer Bell, Emily Bronte -> Ellis Bell. Or something like that.

Mitch

What is all this dog animosity?

Oh duh, it's -that- guy.

@Robusto And their dumb brother, Ding Dong Bell.

And their American Cousin who tries to act all Mexican... Taco Bell.

Robusto

@Mitch I think Larry Bronte was called Liberty Bell.

Mitch

And their R&B friends... Bell Biv Deveaux

Robusto

Are we not men? We are Deveaux!

Mitch

And their overeating uncle... Bellimic.

@Robusto Kids these days just don't get it.

Robusto

15:28

Nope.

Mitch

I'm sorta disappointed in Lady Gaga, she's no longer weird.

Robusto

@Mitch It happened to Madonna as well.

Mitch

@Robusto I remember when a hundred years ago the 'Buena Vista Social Club' came out with an album, a bunch of super old guys who had been I don't know super hot and famous Cuban salsa rumba players in the 40's but had disappeared from the scene and by the nineties they were super old and had no health insurance and needed an income boost and were exotic to modern ears and started a revival of their music?

But anyway, when is that going to happen to Madonna?

Robusto

@Mitch I guess it's already happening to Britney. Madonna is just late to the party.

tchrist

@Robusto Alas that no trinary equivalent of the both determiner exists! We only do halves and doubles: the "dual" has a special place in our minds that nothing else can match.

Robusto

15:43

@tchrist I always kinda liked "the three" for that. The Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs, The Three Persons of The Trinity. That sort of thing.

The Three Amigos.

Cerberus

Or the three heads, maybe.

Mitch

@tchrist There's the 'paucal' number, which while not representing 3 and only 3, it does not represent 2 or 4 either and like the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch, will go off a at the right time.

Oh.

There -is- a 'trial' number...

Grammatical number

In linguistics, grammatical number is a feature of nouns, pronouns, adjectives and verb agreement that expresses count distinctions (such as "one", "two" or "three or more"). English and many other languages present number categories of singular or plural. Some languages also have a dual, trial and paucal number or other arrangements. The word "number" is also used in linguistics to describe the distinction between certain grammatical aspects that indicate the number of times an event occurs, such as the semelfactive aspect, the iterative aspect, etc. For that use of the term, see "Grammatical...

Robusto

16:28

@Cerberus I always kind of presumed that's covered under The Trinity: three dogs in one body. It's a divine mystery.

Xanne

God only knows.

Cerberus

@Robusto I can live with that.

@Xanne I'm sure Hades knows.

tchrist

16:45

@Cerberus Surely so, given how the Zeus/Poseidon/Hades trinity is as divinely knowledgeable as their Manwë/Ulmo/Mandos manifestation is.

tchrist

17:04

Help/Guidance   Developmental Stage

Constantly      Newborn (Larval Person, Post-Natal, Fourth-Trimester)
Very often      Baby (Infant)
Usually         Toddler
Often           Child (Prefertile Person)
Sometimes       Youth (Adolescent, Young Adult, Just-Fertile Person)
Seldom          Adult (Full Adult, Mature Adult)
Sometimes       Senior (Older Adult)
Often           Elder
Very often      Eldest (Frailest Elder)
Constantly      Moribund (Dying, Deathbed Vigilant)

I wish I had an odd number of stages, not an even number. Then I could have a symmetric mountain with Adult at the apex where external/family/community help and guidance are least often needed. Then the stages at each slope would need the same amount or frequency of help at the same level straight across both sides.

Robusto

@tchrist There should be another column for responsibilities.

tchrist

Same symmetric slope on those.

Again with the Full Adult at the apex.

Robusto

@tchrist My point exactly.

Robusto

17:25

Except in reverse.

Connections
Puzzle #611
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟦🟦🟦🟦

I had no idea about blue. I must travel in different circles than the lady who makes these puzzles.

tchrist

17:49

@Robusto Yes: you need the most help when you have the fewest responsibilities, and the other way around. At least in theory. I'd really rather it were not that way because I'm tired of having so many responsibilities.

Robusto

Daily Octordle #1114
4️⃣🔟
5️⃣9️⃣
8️⃣🕚
7️⃣6️⃣
Score: 60

Daily Sequence Octordle #1114
6️⃣7️⃣
8️⃣9️⃣
🔟🕚
🕛🕐
Score: 76

Daily Extreme Octordle #1114
🕛🕚
7️⃣8️⃣
3️⃣6️⃣
5️⃣9️⃣
Score: 61

@tchrist But imagine if you had the most responsibilities when you needed the most help?

Strands #345
“"Attention all shoppers"”
🔵🔵🔵🔵
🔵🟡🔵🔵

MetaEd

19:54

Connections
Puzzle #611
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟦🟦🟦🟦

Cerberus

Connections
Puzzle #611
🟨🟩🟨🟨
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟪🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟪🟪🟦🟪
🟪🟪🟦🟪

I didn't like this one.

I was admittedly too quick and impatient.

But I didn't know one of purple.

And blue is stupid.

GratefulDisciple

20:15

@Cerberus I didn't know one of purple either. Yes, blue is stupid and I don't care for that activity either. Even green is too slangy for this kind of game.

@tchrist The sad cycle of life. Especially for those caring for their dementia family members who cannot even swallow (need a G tube). "To die well" is a blessing.

jlliagre

#WhenTaken #350 (11.02.2025)

I scored 865/1000🏆

1️⃣📍914 m - 🗓️2 yrs - 🥇198/200
2️⃣📍366 km - 🗓️6 yrs - 🥇181/200
3️⃣📍813 km - 🗓️17 yrs - 🥈140/200
4️⃣📍108 m - 🗓️0 yrs - 🥇200/200
5️⃣📍119 km - 🗓️21 yrs - 🥈146/200

https://whentaken.com

GratefulDisciple

@tchrist At least we have the word thrice?

Cerberus

@GratefulDisciple Yay!

jlliagre

Wordle 1 333 6/6

⬛🟨⬛⬛⬛
⬛🟨🟨⬛⬛
⬛⬛🟨⬛⬛
🟨🟨⬛🟨🟨
🟨🟩⬛🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Cerberus

I think I could have got the whole puzzle with 1 error if I had really concentrates and taken my time.

GratefulDisciple

20:27

@tchrist I would be interested to learn more about non-Christian divine trinities. In the Christian tradition, for centuries (until today), the three in the One God has been understood by analogy with human relations to self: we have a relationship with our image (asking "what am I thinking", analogous to Jesus as the image of God, the 2nd "person") and we have a love relationship with ourselves (cf "love others the way we love ourselves", analogous to the 3rd "person" God loving himself).

jlliagre

Daily Octordle #1114
5️⃣3️⃣
6️⃣7️⃣
8️⃣🔟
🕚9️⃣
Score: 59

Daily Sequence Octordle #1114
5️⃣6️⃣
7️⃣8️⃣
9️⃣🔟
🕚🕛
Score: 68

Daily Extreme Octordle #1114
🟥🕛
9️⃣🔟
5️⃣7️⃣
6️⃣🕚
Score: 73

CowperKettle

22:09

Wikipedia Prepares for 'Increase in Threats' to US Editors From Musk and His Allies

Robusto

22:49

@GratefulDisciple You should read Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari (author of Sapiens) I'm reading it right now and it is quite good.

GratefulDisciple

23:41

@Robusto Will do, I just read the NYTimes review of the book.

alphabet

23:54

How you can help the T this Valentine’s Day

> Do you want a fully funded highway system? Adequate resources for the T? Well, here’s what you can do to help, according to the Trump administration: Get married and have lots of children.

> And certainly the T-riding public will want to have more babies now. As women were supposedly told in Victorian Britain, just close your eyes and think of JFK/UMass.

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…