English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Cerberus

01:00

Hmm you can't order all Lego sets from everywhere?

RegDwighт

@Robusto you should always end questions with a question mark.

Robusto

@tchrist Black holes release hawking radiation.

@RegDwighт Sez you.

Cerberus

@KitFox Haha oh, dear. Little Miss Cuckold.

RegDwighт

@Robusto Well yes. There's no adding to that.

KitFox

@Cerberus Pardon?

Robusto

01:00

Sven Yargs agrees with me.

Cerberus

@KitFox Wait, did I misunderstand? I thought you meant she was stealing her colleague's research and presenting it as her own.

RegDwighт

Cerberusski agrees with me.

Cerberus

Do I?

RegDwighт

See.

He ended it in a question mark.

QED.

Robusto

@Cerberus No. She was "presenting" to her colleagues. It's a sexual come-on among female primates.

KitFox

01:01

@Cerberus I didn't understand how "cuckold" fit in that context. And she's not stealing it.

Cerberus

Oh, that.

Yes, I do agree.

Robusto

@RegDwighт Did he now.

tchrist

@KitFox They’re tenderer when they’re younger.

KitFox

Why are you arguing about it!

RegDwighт

What is this grammar.

Cerberus

01:02

@KitFox Oh, don't make me explain it if it's nonsense! My apologies.

RegDwighт

I am really asombrate.

Robusto

What are you hollering.

RegDwighт

Frau Holle und der Schnee.

KitFox

@Cerberus The only definition I know of cuckold is a man whose wife is cheating on him.

RegDwighт

Sub umbra alarum tuarum Iehova.

Robusto

01:03

Go see if you can get Grammar Girl to polish your johnson.

KitFox

And given the personal attacks of yesterday, I was a little put off.

tchrist

Ok, since when does Reg spew Latin at us?

Robusto

@KitFox Don't sell yourself short. You look more like a big put off.

Cerberus

@Robusto I hear females tend to look at each other as much as males look at females, and they certainly notice new clothes and hair-do's sooner...

Robusto

@Cerberus It's still the same old story. A fight for love and glory. A case of dew or dye.

tchrist

01:04

@Cerberus People look at people.

Robusto

Hey, leave him alone. Cerberus putts from the rough.

KitFox

@Robusto Are you saying my ass looks fat in this gravatar?

tchrist

There’s a QI clip I’m sure I’ll never find that is hilarious about the difference between what men look at and what women look at.

Robusto

@KitFox Well ...

Cerberus

@KitFox Oh, I was rather thinking of infiltration followed by exploitation.

Robusto

01:05

Men look at crotches and boobs. Oh, asses too. Women look at faces.

KitFox

Men look at crotches? Really?

tchrist

Yes, apparently.

Robusto

Yup. Shocking, I know.

KitFox

What for?

Camel toes?

tchrist

All crotches. On anything. Women. Men. Dogs. Cows. Always crotches. It is very odd.

Cerberus

01:06

@Robusto Now, now. Women look elsewhere too.

Robusto

The shocking thing is that they look at both female and male crotches. Science says so.

KitFox

Oh. Weird.

tchrist

Yep.

He’s right.

KitFox

Just doesn't seem to have much point.

RegDwighт

@Robusto killed the chat with his johnson for me.

tchrist

01:07

It isn’t even about sexual orientation. Men look at crotches. I do not grok.

RegDwighт

In fact he killed my entire Internet connection.

KitFox

I mean, I can understand boobs and asses.

Cerberus

Oh, dear.

RegDwighт

Luckily we all know what happened next. He fixed the cable.

tchrist

It is as automatic as pupil dilation.

Frightening.

Cerberus

01:07

Pervs.

tchrist

Not even restricted to humans.

RegDwighт

And by we all I mean everyone but Cerberus, of course.

tchrist

Aren’t you a man, puppy?

Cerberus

But, I hope?

KitFox

"Hey, there cable guy. Oops, I'm not wearing any pants! Well, that's OK. Come on in anyway."

Cerberus

01:08

Ah thanks.

@KitFox Haha have you ever done that?

KitFox

You mean in real life?

tchrist

Women, in contrast, apparently tend to look at faces.

Robusto

@RegDwighт I have to speak the truth, however it comes out.

RegDwighт

@Cerberus:

►

Cerberus

@KitFox If you saw a cable guy approaching your house who looked really good...

RegDwighт

01:09

In fact you know what. Go watch the fucking movie already.

Cerberus

When you weren't married yet.

@RegDwighт Again, now it all makes sense!

RegDwighт

@Robusto just make sure not to use a nagelbett.

And with that I'm calling it a day.

Cerberus

Spijkerbed?

Happy flying!

Don't stay out all night.

RegDwighт

Sep 26 '12 at 21:15, by RegDwighт

Cerberus

Yes, a spijkerbed.

RegDwighт

01:11

Sep 26 '12 at 21:10, by RegDwighт

To this day, everybody I know keeps wondering if they misspelled Nagelbrett, or punned on purpose.

Cerberus

But I'm afraid they didn't get it.

RegDwighт

Ouvert et haut.

tchrist

night

Cerberus

The spikes are supposed to be closer together.

Hoot!

Robusto

Let's split the difference: hawt.

Cerberus

01:17

Let's divide the difference: 1 or 9.

Robusto

►

Cerberus

That is sort of funny.

MετάEd

I speak very little German; what's the pun?

Cerberus

The pun is that it is English.

Funny, huh?

Robusto

@MετάEd Nagelbett means "nail bed" (bed of nails, in the English idiom) but it also means something like cuticle in German.

Cerberus

01:23

Oh, that.

Robusto

Reg keeps wondering why they didn't say Nagelbrett (nail board), and I keep wondering what he's bothered about.

Cerberus

Yeah, in Dutch cuticle = nagelbed; bed of nails = spijkerbed ("spike bed").

Robusto

Idioms don't translate.

MετάEd

Sure, in English it's the nail bed and the bed of nails.

Cerberus

What is a nail board?

MετάEd

01:24

So you could get away with nail bed in English. But "nagelbrett"?

Robusto

Maybe an emory board?

Cerberus

Emory?

MετάEd

Emery.

Robusto

For filing nails. An emory board.

Cerberus

Ah.

MετάEd

01:25

In German that's a Nagelbrett?

Cerberus

I'd call that a file (vijl).

Robusto

I dunno, ask Reg.

Cerberus

Or is it veil?

Stupid Dutch spelling.

I think veil is vile.

MετάEd

Nail files are generally made of metal; nail boards are made of fiber.

Cerberus

Are there any common English words that you sometimes forget how to spell?

Even after some thinking?

tchrist

01:27

comparative

KitFox

Is there the connotation of "a bed for nailing" as in sexual relations?

Cerberus

Really?

KitFox

Not connotation. What's the word?

Cerberus

Haha, probably not in Nagelbrett...

TRiG

@Cerberus Many.

tchrist

01:28

Because comparative is unlike comparison.

TRiG

Specially bizarre.

KitFox

Broccoli.

tchrist

That darned a in one place but i in the other.

KitFox

Necessary. Occasionally.

TRiG

Why does one speak a speach?

Cerberus

01:28

@TRiG Hmm yes...I would have to trust my spelling checker on that.

KitFox

@TRiG We have that question.

tchrist

I can’t work it out the way I can occurrence and separate, the two most commonly misspelled words in English.

Cerberus

@KitFox But you can figure those out if you stop and think for a moment right?

KitFox

1

Q: Why is it 'speaking'/'speech' instead of 'speeking'/'speech' or 'speaking'/'speach'?

Why is it speaking/speech instead of speeking/speech or speaking/speach?

MετάEd

Google Translate offers Nagelfeile for both "nail file" and "emery board".

TRiG

01:29

Actually, any ee or ea combination with an eee sound will trip me up.

tchrist

A file is metal.

MετάEd

3 mins ago, by MετάEd

Nail files are generally made of metal; nail boards are made of fiber.

KitFox

@Cerberus Yeah.

Cerberus

@tchrist Yeah because comparison is from French, comparaison. But surely you will remember when you give it some thought?

@MετάEd See?

KitFox

Suppress is hard for me too. Ironically.

Cerberus

01:30

@KitFox Right.

tchrist

I don’t get it wrong, so much as I want to. My fingers do the wrong thing.

Cerberus

Haha.

In Dutch, there is ei and ij, which are pronounced the same.

Robusto

@Cerberus Usually when I can't remember it's because there are variant spellings.

KitFox

I want suppress to be like surprise.

MετάEd

So still wondering if Nagelbrett is even a word.

Cerberus

01:30

And there are many minimal pairs.

@Robusto Ah OK, so then either option is OK.

Robusto

You mean: "Ah, OK, so then either optioin is okay."

MετάEd

@KitFox No, no, not surprise. You're thinking of that medicating lozenge.

Robusto

A suppository is always kind of surprising.

tchrist

> Emery boards are pieces of cardboard which have emery or emery paper glued to them, making them both abrasive and flexible, used for fingernail and toenail care.

Cerberus

I'm trying to think of a class of common English words that are hard to spell. -ity/-ety/-able/-ible/etc. comes up, but you will remember after a moment or two.

KitFox

01:32

I don't know if you were around earlier when I learned that I had the wrong idea about principle and principal. Totally wrong, never knew it.

Robusto

@KitFox That's not a variant spelling. Those are different words.

KitFox

@MετάEd No no, not Sucrets. You're thinking of something awful.

Cerberus

How totally?

tchrist

resistant

KitFox

@Robusto I know.

tchrist

01:32

dependable

See? :)

Cerberus

It is a commonly known error...I would have expected somebody to point it out to you?

KitFox

@Cerberus I had them all mixed up.

MετάEd

“*Nagelbrett*: Es existiert keine Seite mit diesem Namen!”

Robusto

I mean like extol and extoll. Not that I ever forget those.

MετάEd

I'll take it from Wiktionary that it's a "no".

KitFox

01:33

@Cerberus Not until today.

Cerberus

You might have said the principle's office?

KitFox

@MετάEd Hahaha.

Robusto

@MετάEd Welche Seite? A oder B?

KitFox

@Cerberus No.

Cerberus

OK so not totally!

MετάEd

01:33

@KitFox No, no, not secrets. You're thinking of that other medicating lozenge.

KitFox

But the principle point in the story was...

Cerberus

Ahh.

OK.

That's funny.

tchrist

Morality plays.

Cerberus

It's such a silly mistake that it is below shame.

MετάEd

@Robusto Gibt es keine andere Seiten?

Cerberus

01:34

I try to think of my ij/ei errors the same way.

KitFox

@MετάEd No, no, secrets aren't awful. And not Ricola. You're thinking of those other throat singers.

MετάEd

And yes, I know I don't know my genders.

tchrist

"Ricola"?

@MετάEd Look down.

Cerberus

Rucola?

Robusto

@MετάEd Du musst den Vorhang zur Seite ziehen, um die zu sehen.

MετάEd

01:35

@tchrist Hello, Winkie.

KitFox

►

tchrist

And now you know.

KitFox

Are you kidding?

Cerberus

@Robusto Die zu sehen?

Um die zu sehen?

Robusto

To see them.

Cerberus

01:36

Ah OK.

You need something there.

KitFox

And this was linked as related to Ricola:

youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwp&NR=1&v=bMecj-TvDBc

Robusto

FTFM

Cerberus

Besser.

MετάEd

No, no, not Rekuhkara. You're thinking of that dance where you try to step on the insect.

Cerberus

Well, well. Was that Romney I saw there?

Robusto

01:37

No, not tarantella. You're not thinking of an arachnid.

Cerberus

►

MετάEd

LSdvH.

@Robusto No, no, not a tarantula. You're thinking of that wanderer guy in the book.

KitFox

@Cerberus Not many actually hot chicks there.

Cerberus

Not even the stewardesses?

KitFox

Meh.

Cerberus

01:41

So was that Romney or not?

KitFox

@MετάEd No no, not Taran. You're thinking of that bastard half-elf.

With the orange beard.

MετάEd

@KitFox No, no, not Elrond (that bastard). You're thinking of the guy, what's his name that started his own religion.

KitFox

Who is maybe from Qualinesti.

Elrond is not a half-elf.

Dude.

Seriously.

And not L. Ron Hubbard either. You're thinking of the woman who had no bone for her dog.

Robusto

No, not Elrond Hubbard. You're thinking of a Virginia Woolf character who turned into a flower.

MετάEd

No, no, not old Mother Hubbard. You're thinking of your alma mater, oh, I can't remember the name of the university, you know.

KitFox

01:45

I never went to Goddard. You must be thinking of my most favorite math professor.

Robusto

Me go to bed now, watch Archer.

tchrist

@KitFox AHEM!

KitFox

Good night!

tchrist

Silly fox.

Of course Elrond was a half-elf: both his parents were.

KitFox

Fine. He doesn't have a beard and he's not anywhere near from Qualinesti.

And what's he got to do with Taran?

Hmm?

tchrist

01:47

Peredhil have beards? Really?

Lúthien was a half-elf, and I’m certain she had no beard.

KitFox

The bastard red-headed half-elf I'm thinking of most certainly has a beard.

He was returning to Solace after some soul searching when the troubles began.

tchrist

Heretickle

thinks

KitFox

@tchrist Only in Tolkein's world.

tchrist

Anywhere in Eä, yes.

MετάEd

@KitFox You can't be thinking of Tom Lehrer.

ponders

No, no, not Gödel. You're thinking of how to call the goats home from the mountains.

tchrist

01:51

KitFox

@MετάEd No, but I think we talked about him once. Even though he's not famous or anything and you can't be expected to remember.

tchrist

Maedhros had red hair.

KitFox

@MετάEd No, no, not yodel. You're thinking of that stuff you eat.

@tchrist Why are you still in Tolkien's universe?

tchrist

I live there.

MετάEd

No, no, not strudel. You're thinking of when you daydream with a pen.

KitFox

01:53

You said yourself that beards were heretical.

Cerberus

It's the only place that will take him.

tchrist

No, I didn’t.

KitFox

@MετάEd No, no, not doodle. You're think of the all the things you carry around.

tchrist

I said that beards as a distinguishing feature of half-elves seemed heretical.

Plus I was surreptickling you.

KitFox

Why would you do such a thing?

tchrist

01:55

Perk you up.

Ruin my rep.

KitFox

What, are we friends or something?

tchrist

I was teasing with words, silly.

Sneaking tickles into other words.

Bed time, eh?

KitFox

At least you appreciate my lack of warmth.

MετάEd

@KitFox No, no, not booty.

You're thinking of that David guy who juggles his glass balls.

KitFox

giggles Whut?

I was actually thinking of kit and caboodle.

MετάEd

02:03

David Bowie. But you'd have to have seen the right movie.

No, no, not kit and caboodle. You're thinking of that old piano piece.

KitFox

Labyrinth?

I must to bed.

I'll think about the piano piece.

Good night!

MετάEd

@KitFox Night!

Cerberus

Night!

MετάEd

02:21

@Cerberus No, no, not night. You're thinking of that movie director.

Cerberus

Who?

You know we don't have movies down here.

MετάEd

Down where? I didn't figure you for an antipodean.

Cerberus

I am a hypopodean.

What do you think infernus meant?

archimedes.fas.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/…

The Hydra mentioned is the same as my mother.

MετάEd

@Cerberus Kadath.

Cerberus

Who?

MετάEd

02:34

Underworld (Dreamlands)

The underworld is a fictional location in the Dream Cycle of H. P. Lovecraft. It is described in detail in Lovecraft's novella The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (1926). The underworld lies beneath the whole of the Dreamlands and has a few entrances to it in various places. It is dimly lit by a mysterious phosphorescence known as the "death-fire". The underworld is inhabited by a variety of horrors, the most common being the ghouls. Inhabitants Ghasts After a moment something about the size of a small horse hopped out into the grey twilight, and Carter turned sick at the aspect of that...

Cerberus

Ah!

I haven't read Lovecraft.

MετάEd

03:28

Wow. I just upvoted a question.

What wows me is how many questions I had to go through to get to that one ...

And ... 2.

Cerberus

Scary.

MετάEd

03:47

How excruciatingly horrible to read and what is "every very" — mplungjan 15 hours ago

What the OP did in response to this comment is truly jaw dropping.

Cerberus

04:20

He replaced the wrong word?

MετάEd

@Cerberus Yes.

Cerberus

Silly.

Should we edit it?

MετάEd