English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Robusto

13:01

I sorted contacts into circles only to realize that this wasn't a grouping utility for me but an intrusive mechanism that sent out invites to all my contacts to join my circles. It's Google's stealth bid to become Facebook.

Matt Эллен

Apart from the time I added Anna Lear, thinking she was already signed up, I've only added people who are signed up.

but not to the above account, obv. but to my real account I don't access from work

KitFox

debates adding Google+ to false identity

Matt Эллен

I knew it! you're not a vulpid at all!

KitFox

scowls

Robusto

fails to find anagram for vulpid

KitFox

13:05

goes to get coffee and flirt with girl

Robusto

fails to find anagram for girl

Matt Эллен

fails to find girl to anagram with

Robusto

realizes Matt's anagram anagrams to "a gran'ma"

Matt Эллен

Angmar a

Robusto

A rag man

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

13:10

@Mitch Haha, it's a running joke that Cerb can't stand to see it written "the hoi polloi", and insists that because "hoi" means "the" in Greek it should also mean "the" in English, despite the fact that nobody uses it that way, not even the very first person who used "hoi polloi" in English.

Robusto

We could torment him further by referring to the "the hoi polloi" ...

Cerberus

@MattЭллен What the heck is that?

Oh, Google+. Yuck.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Robusto That's the point. That's what I write when I want to torment Cerb.

Cerberus

Google wants me to sign up in order to post Android reviews. Fuck them.

Robusto

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 You didn't notice my extra the?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

13:14

@Robusto haha no :)

my brain must have erased it as a typo

Cerberus

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Uhh I'm not the only one who dislikes "the hoi". You're just a silly anti-aesthete.

Robusto

New laugh for use at chat doggies: hoihoihoihoi

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus Not the only one, no. But the world is full of crazy people with weird ideas.

Cerberus

@Robusto Laugh all you like, but I don't see you seriously using "the hoi polloi".

Robusto

Do you see me seriously doing anything at all?

Cerberus

13:15

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 You think language is not about aesthetics and style...fine. shrugs

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus yep.

Cerberus

@Robusto I think there was that one time in 2010 when you said "yawn" in a half-serious manner.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus I wouldn't seriously use "the hoi polloi" either, because I wouldn't seriously use "hoi polloi" because I see no need for it. But if I did use it, I'd use a "the", because "hoi" is not an article in English.

Robusto

Half-serious is not serious.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus And you think language should never change and we should still be speaking ancient Greek or Latin.

Cerberus

13:16

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 It's funny how you make up your own argumentation. W'evs!!

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Cerberus ?

Cerberus

@Robusto There must be something...perhaps @Reg has a tab open?

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 !

Matt Эллен

our glorious leader is in France

KitFox

I'm right here.

Geezis.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Anyway, as to your so-called sense of aesthetics, all I have to say is that I find it jarring and ugly if "hoi polloi" is used without a "the" when any other English word in that position would have a "the".

Matt Эллен

13:19

@KitFox oh, er... I mean ... Our recently deposed leader

KitFox

That's not what I meant.

Matt Эллен

oh

You're Reg?

KitFox

I mean, you're lamenting his absence right in front of his fledgling second.

Robusto

@JohanLarsson OK, so the earliest I can trace the quote is to Will Rogers, American humorist of the 1920s and '30s. Not surprising at all. And of course not Tolstoi.

KitFox

Well, fifth would be more accurate.

It makes me feel rather inadequate.

Johan Larsson

13:22

@Robusto lol, ty sir.

Robusto

Can you drink a fifth in a second? That would be a first!

Matt Эллен

@KitFox but you accept you're his fifth! how can you feel inadequate?

KitFox

Er.

Want to talk about the cute girl some more?

Matt Эллен

OK :D

does she have dimples?

KitFox

No, just what I assume are acne scars.

Cerberus

13:23

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 I know I can't convince you of aesthetic principles, so let's change the subject, hmm?

@MattЭллен Huh, which deposed leader?

KitFox

She's got a terrifically wide mouth, like her head could unhinge and swallow me whole.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus oh, none of them. Reg hasn't been deposed. Reg is in France (hence not here)

Cerberus

Ohhh.

I was wondering where he was!

Matt Эллен

@KitFox golly! That's some gob.

Cerberus

Is he holidaying?

Matt Эллен

13:25

I think so. hang on, it's in the transcript somewhere

KitFox

So when she smiles, it's just a little intimidating.

And she laughs like a midwesterner.

Which she is.

I guess.

Cerberus

@MattЭллен OK.

Matt Эллен

Jan 25 at 11:33, by RegDwighт

I guess I will pick up some Dijon in France tomorrow.

Cerberus

Ah!

Robusto

I'm a midwesterner. I don't notice any difference in laughter between there and here.

KitFox

13:26

I thought he lives right next to France?

Matt Эллен

yes

Robusto

Except that people from Maine tend more often to piss themselves when drunk and laughing.

Matt Эллен

maybe he's not on holiday then

KitFox

Oi!

Cerberus

Well, Next to...it's probably a two-hour drive or so?

And Dijon is even farther.

KitFox

13:27

I like the way midwesterners laugh. It's nicer than the tinny New England laugh.

Matt Эллен

Jan 25 at 11:34, by RegDwighт

France is closer to my home than my work is.

KitFox

And I have never pissed myself when drunk and laughing.

Robusto

0

Q: restricted vs limited quality

I want to express that an entity has different levels of quality concerning some criterion and these levels are ordered. For an example, I have five different levels: Entity X is of high quality medium quality limited quality restricted quality no quality I am unsure about the ordering of li...

This question is so stupid and shitty it is already drawing flies.

Cerberus

@MattЭллен Right. But Dijon is quite far from the border.

Another hour or two?

Robusto

@Cerberus I have Dijon in my refrigerator.

Matt Эллен

13:29

@Cerberus probably.

Cerberus

If only we hadn't ordered cheap Italian trains, I could have been in Paris in 3 hours!

@Robusto That's far.

Robusto

We have big refrigerators in America.

user19161

There are big fridges everywhere.

Cerberus

It's so funny how all of Europe is one big cliché. Dutch railways order cheap trains from Italian company, and the Italian trains break down.

@Robusto The 52th state, huh?

user19161

Trains break down everywhere.

Cerberus

13:31

No, we also have French and German trains, which don't break down.

Robusto

@Cerberus There are only four states of matter. Even for refrigerators.

Matt Эллен

6

Cerberus

And only we ordered the cheap Italian trains; the Dutch are cheap.

KitFox

Hmm. Are the timeline and history links new?

Cerberus

@Robusto Four? Not three?

Robusto

13:32

Plasma.

KitFox

I had those as part of a script before, but they were gone for awhile.

Cerberus

Plasma is a separate state?

Matt Эллен

@KitFox I don't think they're new. they only appear at random for me

Robusto

Apparently.

KitFox

Plasma. Electrons are free.

Cerberus

13:32

I see.

user19161

So guys, I tried Opera for the first time just now, it was too complicated.

KitFox

Plasma. A fourth state of matter, not gas, not liquid, not solid!

Cerberus

Complicated?

It works just like Firefox etc.

Robusto

@KitFox The first few are free. Then they start charging you!

user19161

@Cerberus Too many settings.

Cerberus

13:33

Just leave them as they are?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Wikipedia lists over 20 states of matter

KitFox

The sun is a miasma of incandescent plasma...

Robusto

Wikipedia ... sigh

KitFox

hums

Robusto

Let's all agree I'm right and drop the subject, OK?

user19161

13:34

Matters of state or states of matter?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Bose–Einstein condensate
Fermionic condensate
Degenerate matter
Quantum Hall
Rydberg matter
Strange matter
Superfluid
Supersolid

Cerberus

drops solid object, lands on your toe

KitFox

►

Robusto

Matt Эллен

a matter of matter

user19161

13:34

Perhaps states of matter are a spectrum just like the rainbow.

Cerberus

Could be...

KitFox

Naturally that's true.

Robusto

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 We're not talking about theoretical states (like Puerto Rico or Guam).

Russia is receding from us. We can tell from the Red Shift.

KitFox

Oh God, and the gays are taking over!

Matt Эллен

boom boom!

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

13:36

@Robusto Yeah let's stay away from the territories of matter

user19161

They have the Red Square.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox WTF? They wrote a sequel to their original song?

Cerberus

Red squared must be...ultrared?

Matt Эллен

Red Square makes me think of vodka

Cerberus

Then again, what doesn't?

KitFox

13:37

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Forget that song, we got it wrong, that thesis has been rendered invalid!

Matt Эллен

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox haha. But the old song is more singable.

KitFox

wants vodka

Robusto

I'll take "Rhymes with gremlin" for 500, Alex. Answer. What is kremlin?

KitFox

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 It's differently singable.

user19161

13:38

Vodka bucketwise is not wise.

Matt Эллен

@KitFox if only you had wonka vision!

Mitch

@KitFox how does one laugh like a midwesterner?

user19161

I forgot I am a dead man who isn't meant to talk in this chat.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Mitch Like this: ha ha ha (with a midwestern accent)

Robusto

Question for ELU: Does word order matter in vodka names? Could we say Square Red Vodka instead of Red Square Vodka?

Matt Эллен

13:38

@Mitch with a really wide mouth

@Robusto yes

user19161

Question for meta: Do you think ELU should be changed to EL? Why add the U?

KitFox

@Mitch It's like a laughing kind of sound.

Robusto

Don't forget the pissing part.

KitFox

Only with kind of a Scandinavian twang.

@Robusto No, that's Mainers you said.

Robusto

Sorry.

KitFox

13:41

I'm sorry, what was that?

Robusto

Yes.

user19161

Wow, Robusto says sorry. Never heard of.

KitFox

What have you done with the real Robusto?

Robusto

Jul 14 '11 at 13:29, by Robusto

@Kit — Yes, I'm sorry ... sorry you're such a jerk! [kidding]

KitFox

Oh, so you do like me.

That's reassuring.

user19161

13:42

No flirting in this chat.

Mitch

@KitFox oh some off hand comment I made. But I wanted to remember it but I couldn't find it. So I'm blaming you for my poor search skills.

Robusto

Treat yourself to five pages of sorries from Robusto.

KitFox

@Mitch I can copy it for you if you know what it was attached to.

Robusto

Sep 20 '12 at 12:19, by Robusto

@MattЭллен You'll have to handle your own gay porn, sorry.

Nov 7 '12 at 21:45, by Robusto

@WillHunting Sorry, I'm fresh out of Sousa marches.

KitFox

But those were all insincere sorries.

Oh.

Robusto

13:43

Aug 17 '12 at 14:34, by Robusto

Sorry, I misspelled gay.

KitFox

Oh. I see now.

Robusto

Feb 12 '12 at 3:07, by Robusto

I just needed to obliterate Miley Cyrus. Sorry.

Mitch

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Ha ha ha! Oh shit, I'm doing it now too!

KitFox

I'm thinking I should store all my text differences in the database and write code to retrieve the proper things.

Robusto

Jul 1 '11 at 18:45, by Robusto

IS there a polite alternative to "Sorry, my pants are full"?

Mitch

13:44

Racist pigs.

Matt Эллен

Pacists rig

KitFox

Fascist figs.

Robusto

Feb 23 '11 at 16:27, by Robusto

Sorry. I don't make the rules.

KitFox

Facetious wigs.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

> I've never seen the Icarus story as a lesson about the limitations of humans. I see it as a lesson about the limitations of wax as an adhesive.

KitFox

13:46

snerkle

Mitch

@KitFox Mmm.... figs.

KitFox

Poor engineering is all that was.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

I'm not the only one who thought "meh, he just had the wrong wings"

Robusto

Aug 6 '12 at 14:29, by Robusto

@tchrist We will always be enslaved by evil. Sorry to spoil your day.

KitFox

And here I thought Icarus was about hubris.

Robusto

13:47

hubris => I brush => bi rush => rub his

KitFox

We all brush for hubris.

Matt Эллен

I shrub

Robusto

hub, sir

Matt Эллен

whose bris?

KitFox

Right. So. Is that a common thing, to store the differently-assigned text portions of the websites to a table, and then write code to retrieve them?

Matt Эллен

13:49

I think SE do that, or atleast used to

Robusto

If it is, it's not my job.

Mitch

@KitFox I'll look again. Right now I'm wasting, and I don't screwing around to get in the way of that.

KitFox

Fair enough.

Mitch

Also it's hard to type when standing on one leg.

Robusto

"Democrats never agree on anything, that's why they're Democrats. If they agreed with each other, they'd be Republicans." — Will Rogers

KitFox

13:51

Well, legs aren't good objects to stand on.

Matt Эллен

@Mitch try standing on your hands

KitFox

Try standing on the floor instead.

Robusto

“There are three kinds of men. The ones that learn by readin’. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.” — Will Rogers

Here's a Will Rogers quote for @Cerberus: “Diplomacy is the art of saying ‘nice doggie’ until you can find a rock.”

“If pro is the opposite of con, what is the opposite of Congress?” —Will Rogers

Cerberus

@Robusto Correct.

Robusto

“The trouble with practical jokes is that very often they get elected.” —Will Rogers

Mitch

13:55

That's all crazy talk. I'm trying not to let this guy get away. You know that movie wher that guy...you know...os on that room... And they're both trying to get the gun...but he uses that thing and then they fall and then the baby carriage down the steps.. And then the tea kettle... And then...well it's kinda like that.

Matt Эллен

@Mitch that's crazy talk

KitFox

@Mitch You get the ankles and I'll get the wrists.

Mitch

See what I mean?

KitFox

►

Mitch

@KitFox Um..that won't work any more.

KitFox

13:58

It's come down to this, ah.

Mitch

shrugs

deploys parachute

jumps

KitFox

catches

Mitch

realizes too late that that is the wrong order

parachute catches on ledge

strangles self quietly, gurgles softly, like a midwesterner

You know how they are.

So earnestly polite.

Jez

hello

Cerberus

14:15

Haha, this funny.

KitFox

I'm trying to write a nice email that says "Hey, sorry I erased your data. You should check and re-enter it if it's missing."

Cerberus

The new MS Office will cost € 100 yearly.

Robusto

Time to break out the OpenOffice.

Cerberus

Yeah.

KitFox

I thought OpenOffice was dead.

Cerberus

14:16

I stick with Office 2003.

KitFox

I thought it was LibreOffice or something now.

Matt Эллен

@KitFox revived since Oracle sold it

Cerberus

Libre Office it is called now.

Jinx.

Matt Эллен

Libre and Open office merged

or are merging

back together

Robusto

@Cerberus I got Office 2010 for $10 through my company. I'm not likely to upgrade anytime soon, if ever.

Cerberus

14:17

It's pretty good; the only thing is it kind of screwed up the formatting in my footnotes the last time I tried it, and it wouldn't allow me to hide deleted words in "view changes" mode.

@Robusto Don't let @Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 hear it!

Robusto

Too late.

Cerberus

Oops I did it again.

Matt Эллен

"Hi,
You're so good looking and smart.
I accidentally all your data between 4 and 5 pm on Friday.
Aren't cats cute and funny!
You should enter any missing data again.
I love your new hair cut.

Cerberus

Haha.

Don't forget "do you want sex? This one time, you may have it for free."

KitFox

"Redeem this voucher for one free sex act at your next visit."

Cerberus

14:20

Or offer the phone number of a friend if the target is not into you.

@KitFox Very attractive.

Robusto

Cerberus

Your wording is so...sensual.

Robusto

Installed last November.

Jez

Apache? ugh.

anything they take over turns to crap

Matt Эллен

Better than Oracle

Jez

14:21

SpamAssassin is Apache-led and has virtually no development

Robusto

Better crap than poisonous crap.

Jez

@KitFox please erase my data

KitFox

Last Friday (1/25/2013), the [data server] experienced an interruption in service that resulted in some data loss between 4pm and 6pm. Our records indicate that you may have entered data during this period, so you may wish to check and re-enter any missing data.
I apologize for the inconvenience.
Kit

How is that?

It sounds like crap.

Matt Эллен

sounds good to me

Cerberus

More apologies.

At least add "sincerely" or something.

KitFox

14:24

I like the "interruption in service" euphemism for "I fucking deleted that shit."

Cerberus

Maybe add an excuse "it happened due to x", and a reassurance "we are doing x to make sure it won't happen again".

I do like your "I". You're taking responsibility.

Matt Эллен

but any excuse would be lying, so that's not really a good idea

Cerberus

As long as an apology sounds sincere and you're taking the inconvenience caused seriously, almost noöne will be angry.

@MattЭллен I was hoping there was some kind of excuse.

Jez

@Cerberus the short hyphen was designed for that case

Matt Эллен

2 mins ago, by KitFox

I like the "interruption in service" euphemism for "I fucking deleted that shit."

Jez

14:26

we ditched diacritics

Cerberus

@Jez No, we use the trema/diaeresis in this room.

It's a social code.

Jez

you shouldn't

Cerberus

Has been in force since 2010ish.

Matt Эллен

we do and have done for years now

Cerberus

Now I have to go.

Matt Эллен

14:27

noöne will stop us

Cerberus

Later!

Matt Эллен

CU

Cerberus

noöne is here any more

Jez

no won here makes any sense

KitFox

Stupid excel.

Sudhir

14:35

Hi @MattЭллен

Matt Эллен

Hi

Sudhir

Is there any special chat every Tuesday?

KitFox

Wow. Looks like only nine users might have been affected by the outage.

Matt Эллен

That's good!

KitFox

@Sudhir There is a chat in the Writers.SE room every Tuesday.

Sudhir

14:36

I didn't get

you

KitFox

@MattЭллен Especially considering fifty-odd users were logged in that day.

Sudhir

SE?

KitFox

@Sudhir StackExchange.

Matt Эллен

SE = Stack Exchange

KitFox

Jinx

Sudhir

14:37

Oh!

Matt Эллен

@KitFox nice

Mitch

@Cerberus the hoi polloi have left...to go to The La Brea Tarpits

Matt Эллен

@KitFox so not much productivity loss then :)

KitFox

Seems so.

claps hands

Sudhir

@MattЭллен: Can you tell the explanation of my question that you closed

Matt Эллен

14:39

@Sudhir what question is that?

can you link me to it?

Sudhir

Infinitives Vs Gerund

Matt Эллен

oh, because it's a duplicate of the question Andrew Leach linked to

Sudhir

But what was the ans?

Matt Эллен

the answer is in the duplicate question, which is linked to at the top of your question

Sudhir

Ya, i know

but I need ans

Matt Эллен

14:41

and you have one

Sudhir

they are contradicting to each other

0

Q: "In accepting" vs. "to accept"

Possible Duplicate: When should a verb be followed by a gerund instead of an infinitive? Part of the reluctance in accepting/to accept social arguments about human nature lies in the fear that many scientist have, of falling into the Cartesian pit. I'm not able to differentiat...

word-choice word-usage

What you say

?

Matt Эллен

I say John Lawler should write an answer to the original quesiton.

Sudhir

@carlo_R's ans?

What's the ans according to you?

@MattЭллен: In right upper corner, there are icons of users. What's does a highlighted icon means?

Hi @Robusto

Matt Эллен

@Sudhir they're the people who have resently entered the room or have recently said something

Mitch

@Sudhir: quick tip: Carlo R is not a native speaker (and only learned English in the past year (according to himself)). John Lawler is a professor of linguistics (and native speaker of English). Given that, who do you think most likely has a better perspective.

Sudhir

14:52

ok

Oh that's great

How you guys know that he is not speaker of Eng?

@MattЭллен:Robusto has the highest reputation in SE. Am I right?

Transcript for

English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…