English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Cerberus

22:00

Oh is it l'on, really?

I always thought it was on.

F'x

♫ Śmiało podnieśmy sztandar nasz w górę ♫

RegDwight

@Cerberus Bien sûr !

Cerberus

Interessant.

RegDwight

No singing Polish Internationale here!

Cerberus

How is the l' supposed to be parsed?

Does it refer to a dance?

"one dances it there"?

F'x

22:02

marxists.org/history/ussr/sounds/mp3/proletariat-01/…

so, no inline player for MP3 files? that is so sad…

Cerberus

Then why not "on l'y danse"?

F'x

@Cerberus it refers to the bridge

Cerberus

Oh...

RegDwight

@Fx I have that MP3 already.

Cerberus

So you can dance a bridge in French?

F'x

22:03

J'ai visité Strasbourg. L'on y mange de la choucroute.

Cerberus

Oh I had no idea they used that construction. So both y and l' refer to the same?

And, yuck.

RegDwight

@Fx If you're looking for a decent Soviet music archive, have a look at sovmusic.ru/english

F'x

@Cerberus yes, they do

@Cerberus it's an euphonious L, let's say

Cerberus

Crazy Frencies! But OK, what can I do!

RegDwight

I'll be visiting Strasbourg shortly, I will check if FX is factually correct!

Cerberus

22:05

Really?

It is supposed to be a decent place?

F'x

I have all the Russian music I want with my Shostakovitch, Mussorgsky and friends

@Cerberus it's a fine city

RegDwight

@Cerberus Are you like joking or what? Strasbourg rocks.

Cerberus

I've been to Ricquewir, that was nice.

Never to Strasbourg.

F'x

Strasbourg is both a great historic city and a nice place to live in

Cerberus

Streetviewing it now...

F'x

22:07

(which I never did, but it's one of the few places I'd like to live in)

RegDwight

And that's one of the more hideous parts.

F'x

cuisine there is generous, and generally good, but there is no single outstanding specialty

@RegDwight is it la petite France?

RegDwight

@Fx Yup.

You have any tips for Nancy? My wife and I will be visiting this Saturday.

F'x

@RegDwight I have only one thing to say about Nancy

do you really have to go there?

RegDwight

Hehe. Well, my wife insists.

I mean, it can't be worse than Paris, can it?

Cerberus

22:10

Wowie I've strolled around town a bit; no idea S. was so gorgeous.

F'x

it's a smaller town, and though it has some nice 19th century buildings all over the place, it is too bourgeois

Cerberus

Bourgeois? Is that bad too?

RegDwight

Not if you're a gentilhomme.

F'x

well, maybe not

Cerberus

Well I thought everyone had bourgeoisissé already...

F'x

22:12

Nancy is a very ordered city

very traditional, not so eventful

Cerberus

Oh, does it have Napoleontic names for the different quarters?

F'x

it has a few great parks, if you bring kids

Cerberus

We still have "Neigbourhood C" in Utrecht, so named by the Emperor.

@F'x: Hey, is the Guide Vert by Michelin still popular in France?

F'x

so, Nancy is boring; they're proud of their "place Stanislas", which sure is a beautiful alignment of cobble stones, but not much more

Cerberus

Haha.

F'x

22:14

sorry :)

Cerberus

Sounds exciting.

I am assuming the Guide Rouge is...

F'x

@Cerberus still beloved by older people, but not so used anymore

Cerberus

Oh I see.

F'x

there is just too much competition

Cerberus

I love their star system.

F'x

22:15

and Guide rouge certainly is a reference (though almost no one owns it), though it's simply known as the Guide Michelin

Cerberus

It is so great to look at a map and see what's worth visiting in one look.

F'x

(in fact, I was going to look it up when you said, before I realized I could only be that one)

Cerberus

Right, we call it Guide Michelin too.

I felt forced to add Rouge after mentioning Vert.

The problem is that it only has a fraction of all hotels and restaurants that exist.

It is sure to have the best ones, but if all hotels are full...

F'x

and most of them are outpriced, especially because they're in The Guide

Cerberus

True.

F'x

22:18

Guides du Routard (Hitch-hiker's guide) are the most used by the younger generations

Cerberus

It is so great to be walking around a church and saying "hey, I think we need to look behind that pillar: there's a three-star fresco there!".

Does the Routard have stars or something similar?

When in Vienna, it was quite satisfying to know that we'd seen the only four-star object in town (the Imperial Crown from the 10th century).

F'x

@Cerberus the Routard has price categories, and they give special mention to a few in each category

Cerberus

But for sight-seeing?

F'x

they do it for: buildings, museums, hotels, restaurants, bars, night clubs, and internet shops in some countries

and for sight-seeing, no price categories

each city/region/district begins with a small text explaining what choices you have to make depending on how much time you have

Cerberus

But is their system as easy to browse quickly as that of the Guide Vert?

F'x

22:22

@Cerberus it requires a bit more reading, but they allow for alternatives ("we didn't like because of X, but sure go if you're into it!")

Cerberus

Suppose you don't want to read stuff, but just want to view a map of, say, the Alsace, and see what's to see there and how good it is.

F'x

that's what EL&U chat is for!

Cerberus

Hehe.

I don't see no map.

RegDwight

Okay party people, I'm going to bed, so have fun. Thanks for the info, @F'x. At least now I know that it's not sightseeing that awaits me, but shopping. <Shakes fist in wife's general direction.>

Cerberus

Well you haven't won me over for the Routard yet.

Wow that's early, Reg!

F'x

22:23

Cerberus

Nighty-night then!

F'x

@RegDwight maybe I'm biased, let me know how it works out!

RegDwight

@Fx I sure will. (And it's not like I'm not biased, having been everywhere from Carcassonne to Paris to La Rochelle.)

F'x

then it's closer to La Rochelle :)

(which I also found boring, except for the harbour)

Cerberus

RegDwight

22:26

@Fx I figured as much. They have that one tower and then... um... some streets, I guess?

F'x

@Cerberus where is that Wunderland where every place has 2 or 3 stars?

Cerberus

This kind of map, but the starred destinations usually have different colours based on the number of stars.

Switzwerland.

By the way, the Guide Vert is extremely biased towards France: I think France has about 20 times as many stars.

F'x

@RegDwight cobble stones, I already said, don't make me stutter :)

RegDwight

@Cerberus I know, I know, aber ich muß morgen früh raus.

F'x

@Cerberus let's just consider for a minute that maybe that's not bias, but fact

Cerberus

22:27

@Reg: Du bist absolviert. Geh mit Gott.

RegDwight

@Fx Well, it did sound more exciting when I read Dumas as a child.

@Cerberus Haha. Geh mit Gott, aber geh!

Cerberus

@F'x: I think it is mostly that the guys from Michelin don't know Germany nearly as well as France.

RegDwight

I'm out!

F'x

@RegDwight then let me advise: if you've read Hugo, please really don't go to Dignes

Cerberus

Bye Reg! Good luck getting up!

F'x

22:28

@RegDwight bye

Cerberus

For example, I went to Wasserburg last summer, Bavaria. It wasn't even on the map, I believe.

If it had been in France, it'd have had two stars.

F'x

I don't know Germany much, all I've seen is Bochum and the area around the Bodensee

Cerberus

Hmm I've never been there.

F'x

@Cerberus this reminded me of there:

maps.google.com/…

small village in Lot (Southern France, Cahors area) with some of the most exquisite people I've met

Cerberus

Ah yes, a similarly nice location.

Oh, exquisite in what way?

F'x

22:33

I camped for a few weeks at the extremity of the river loop

Cerberus

Cool.

F'x

welcoming, even though not always very open-minded

Cerberus

Don't get me wrong, France is one of my favourite countries between Italy and Spain!

F'x

:)

never been to Spain much, and only to Sicily

and for work, both times :(

Cerberus

Oh I've only been to Granada. But Italy is great as well.

F'x

22:35

I'm not a great traveler, I love my living room's confort too much

Cerberus

Still I think I have to say that France is my favourite country for vacation.

Oh I generally hate travelling too!

I hate, hate waiting, heat, spending huge amounts of money...

MrHen

Is there a quick way to see which flags have resulted in an increase or decrease of flag weight?

Cerberus

I have no idea, sorry.

MrHen

I am finding the flag-weight page a little confusing

Ah well. Thanks :)

F'x

@MrHen sorry, but if you interrupt again with such an off-topic question, I will have to report you to the authorities

Cerberus

22:36

So did I. I never came back there after looking at it once.

F'x

@MrHen but no, there is none

Cerberus

Yeah! Next time he is going to ask about some language stuff.

MrHen

:(

Cerberus

I really wonder why most people find travelling so terribly important, to return to the topic of this chat.

MrHen

@Cerberus I find traveling a great way to get to know someone better. As in, people can be at their best/worst when exploring new territories.

Cerberus

22:39

@MrHen: You don't wan't to be anywhere near me when I'm travelling!

You can also get to know people by cooking together.

MrHen

@Cerberus Right. Good to know?

Cerberus

Hehe.

MrHen

@Cerberus Ugh. Yeah, probably. I am not remotely useful there.

Cerberus

With cooking?

MrHen

I don't like getting my hands dirty

Cerberus

22:40

Well, then you can travel for me, and I'll cook for you.

MrHen

A neurotic thing, certaintly

Cerberus

Understandable.

MrHen

@Cerberus Hey, that sounds like a deal.

Cerberus

I cook as cleanly as possible when I have the time.

MrHen

@Cerberus Yeah, some cooks are not very clean. I have problems with that.

But good for you for clean.

Cerberus

22:42

Hehe.

It is true though that cooking is faster if you can mess the whole kitchen up.

MrHen

Aw... I just rep capped. That should make me feel happy but I think most of the points came from a technically incorrect answer. :P

@Cerberus :(

Cerberus

Still, congrats!

MrHen

Thanks.

@Cerberus I don't mind cleaning, actually. I find it relatively relaxing.

Cerberus

Hah!

I hate it.

MrHen

So even dirty cooks get a pass if they leave when I start cleaning

Cerberus

22:44

I'll cook, you clean.

MrHen

@Cerberus Hmm... I travel, clean; you cook...

Cerberus

Yeah well... I won't be profiting from your travelling.

You may just as well not travel.

MrHen

@Cerberus Aw... traveling sounds more exciting than cleaning.

Cerberus

It's your time! I don't care how you divide it, as long as the cleaning gets done!

MrHen

@Cerberus Fair enough.

Okay, I'm out.

Cerberus

23:17

Adios!

kiamlaluno

Hasta la vista!

(I will never understand what hasta means. I hope it doesn't mean pole.)

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