English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

1:26 AM

@Cerberus — You gonna bark all day, little doggy, or are you gonna bite?

1:43 AM

@RegDwight — I left my own comment there: "And as an added benefit, once you've successfully disassociated one of your accounts, writing that next Linux kernel ought to be child's play."

RegDwight

10:36 AM

Seriously, people, I'm growing tired:

3

Q: Why do we write 'He has an MA' and not ' a MA' even though MA does not begin with a vowel? Can anybody give me anymore examples like it?

Possible Duplicate: Do you use “a” or “an” before acronyms? Why do we write 'He has an MA' and not ' a MA' even though MA does not begin with a vowel? Can anybody give me anymore examples like it?

grammar

z7sg

hy do people vote Qs like that up?W

uggh

RegDwight

Seriously, I'm considering merging them all.

Otherwise it's just a rep farm.

z7sg

That dude has a lot of closed Qs as well.

Robusto

@RegDwight — I was going to look for the dupe, but I needed coffee first. Job well done, I say. Job well done.

The skeptics mod advised me to disassociate all my accounts. Yeah, like I'm going to trust that.

RegDwight

@Robusto The thing is, we have like twenty questions of that kind, and I am not exaggerating. Soon enough, you won't even have to search for them. In Soviet ELU, dupes find you.

Robusto

10:45 AM

Isn't it RL&U in Soviet-land?

RegDwight

Everything is everything in Soviet-land. It's just that some people don't realize it.

Robusto

Silence! Soviet ELU will ask the questions!

RegDwight

Yeah.

Ватсон.

Robusto

Watson? Is that you?

RegDwight

Or Уотсон.

@Robusto Да, Шерлок. Это я.

Robusto

10:49 AM

Я фывапролджэ

Sorry. I tried to type Russian on my keyboard but I have no idea where the characters are.

Was looking to say Ya Moriarty.

RegDwight

Apr 21 at 23:51, by RegDwight

Авпваойцехрварждоы.

Ты — Мориарти? ОМГ.

Robusto

Да, Я Мориарти.

RegDwight

Unlike in stoopid English, we don't capitalize ourselves in Russian.

Robusto

I wouldn't have, but that was a C&P.

RegDwight

Hm, too bad I can't see deleted stuff on Skeptics.

Haha, you got two upvotes for that non-answer about 2012.

I think I'll just steal it and re-post it on every question ever.

Instant 20k.

Robusto

10:55 AM

Well, not instant. It hasn't got me 20K there yet.

But on the other hand, I didn't cite any sources and it hasn't been deleted.

RegDwight

@Robusto That's because you haven't posted it on every question ever.

Do you even read the shit I type?

Robusto

Like I said, it hasn't got me 20K there yet.

RegDwight

I hear voices.

I think I will add that rainbow to my answer about Hitler.

Robusto

You should get that checked out. It's probably a faulty tie rod or U-joint.

RegDwight

After slapping a "Copyright JPL" on it.

Robusto

10:58 AM

Tells you something about Skeptics that I gave them a pretty rainbow and they deleted it.

They ought to rename Skeptics.SE to Curmudgeons.SE.

RegDwight

Apr 29 at 18:28, by MrHen

@RegDwight Needs more unicorn.

You just can't have rainbows without unicorns. People are extremely skeptical about un-unicornified rainbows.

Apr 1 at 12:25, by RegDwight

Robusto

That's a little on the nose, don't you think?

RegDwight

But only a little.

Robusto

0

Q: When is it appropriate to refer to someone as Dr. [Surname]?

I know that the title Dr. is often used to refer to those who practice medicine. For example, today I am going to see Dr. [Surname]. But are we in general expected to use the title when we refer to the following other professions too? Psycoanalist Veterinary Lawyer Any other?

vocabulary title

How about when his name is Surname and he has earned a medical degree?

RegDwight

But what's with the brackets? Them's confusing.

Robusto

11:01 AM

You don't pronounce the brackets in English, so I left them out.

RegDwight

It just occurred to me that this question ain't really on-topic.

Though not really off-topic, either.

So I'm pulling a nohat on this one for the time being.

Robusto

I voted to close, so you've got some cover.

2 days ago, by Robusto

F'x

@Robusto I'd keep open, it's not so bad

@RegDwight that would make sense. really.

Robusto

I'm out. Gotta brave the commute. TTYL.

RegDwight

@Fx Yeah, I've been looking at the answers to those SQL and SQA questions, they are specific to the abbreviation so cannot be merged.

F'x

11:08 AM

in the news today, in France: Stasi is dead

RegDwight

Um. 1990 called...

F'x

but it's not like we are 20 years late, there just happened to be a French politician named Bernard Stasi

RegDwight

At least his first name wasn't Adolf.

F'x

must have been hard to maintain a political career throughout the second half of the last century

RegDwight

Adolf Vissarionovich Stasi-Genghiskhan

F'x

11:11 AM

@RegDwight at least if you ask random French people who is Vissarionovich, they won't know

or they might say "the name of the Estonian boyband that won the last Eurovision"

nothing related to the original Georgian one-man boyband, anyway

RegDwight

@Fx Yeah, from my personal experience, French are more obsessed with Adolf. A surprising amount think that Germany is still run by that guy.

F'x

to be honest, it's close

RegDwight

Heh.

Sarkozy is more of a nazi than Merkel could ever be even if she tried real hard.

F'x

anyway, having already satisfied Godwin's law but not my stomach, I will go get something for lunch

see you later

RegDwight

Have fun.

Mr. Disappointment

11:24 AM

Hey..

RegDwight

You're a hey.

Sup?

Mr. Disappointment

Should probably pollute the room with nonsense just to get that moustached woman off of my work screen.

Or leave and do some work. Meh.

RegDwight

Lulz.

Mr. Disappointment

Not a lot, waiting for lunch time to come around. How's things with you?

RegDwight

Yeah, pretty much the same.

In fact, I think I will start with a breakfast.

There's plenty of time for lunch afterwards.

Mr. Disappointment

11:29 AM

Well, so you'd expect.

RegDwight

Dammit, now I'm really hungry.

Brb.

Mr. Disappointment

I just received the Peer Pressure badge for my extremely brief answer - woot.

RegDwight

Haha.

Mr. Disappointment

At least by way of deleting it. I knew there was a reason for posting.

music.SE doesn't seem to be thriving as much as one thought it would.

It's only been a week, though, not being around a new SE site before I'm unsure how the momentum would usually pick up (or not).

RegDwight

@MrDisappointment Well, Guitars is about to be merged into it.

Mr. Disappointment

11:36 AM

I Completely failed to meet private beta targets.

Yeah, I've been aware of that, how soon is 'about'? Any idea?

RegDwight

I think they are waiting to see if Music works.

I mean, it makes no sense to merge a more-or-less functioning site into a total failure.

Anyhows, here are some stats on our momentum during the beta days:

6

A: Congratulations - 1000 questions in 74 days

First of all, before anybody panics, we don't really need 1500 questions to pass the beta. All site-health figures are just rough estimates, and the powers that be are constantly tweaking them. In fact, just ten days ago, that box read "1,000 questions is a healthy beta, 500 questions is worrying...

Once a site gets our of private beta, you can expect all stats to go through the roof for a day or two.

Mr. Disappointment

I guess, but I read a notification that stated guitars.SE is being shut down regardless, and that they're 'lucky' music is now around - if music fails then both would disappear, I think.

RegDwight

Yeah.

Mr. Disappointment

Thanks for the link.

RegDwight

All I'm saying is they don't seem to be in a rush to merge, and I can see their reasons.

@MrDisappointment Actually, there's a Data Explorer query somewhere, lemme dig...

Mr. Disappointment

11:41 AM

Yeah I can understand why they would hold out on a merge, if for nothing else but to save staff from doing the work for nothing.

RegDwight

Ah, it's not quite as fine-grained as I remembered, but still:

data.stackexchange.com/english/q/93756/…

Click on the icons to see the stats for other sites of the network.

Mr. Disappointment

Ouch. I killed it.

RegDwight

Mad skillz.

Mr. Disappointment

data.stackexchange.com/music/q/93756/…

Maybe they need a real/informative/waffles error page here.

RegDwight

Well, yeah, you're not supposed to go around hacking their URLs, dude.

There is no data dump for Music yet.

Mr. Disappointment

11:47 AM

I guessed as much, but I just couldn't resist.

RegDwight

Fair enough. After all, you have to put some leg work into staying disappointed.

Nobody wants you to become Mr. Appointment!

Mr. Disappointment

Pure gospel, Reg, pure gospel.

brilliant

@RegDwight What is "Soviet ELU"?

RegDwight

ELU = English Language and Usage. Soviet = Soviet.

brilliant

Oops, i am sorry, I mean hello

RegDwight

11:50 AM

In Soviet Russia, hello means you!

brilliant

Yeah I know those two apart, but have no idea what they together?

RegDwight

Joke.

Me's trying to be funny.

brilliant

Got it. Not a bad joke. Now, what does "hello means you" mean?

RegDwight

Apr 29 at 23:00, by RegDwight

This is clearly the wrong site. You must ask over -----> there

Mr. Disappointment

LOL

Cerberus

11:58 AM

Woof.

RegDwight

15

Q: Is there a correlation between penis size and race?

I recently saw this video, where among other things they claimed that there is no correlation between penis size and race. Is this true? I don't remember everything about the video. It was animated, gave a lot of statistics about sex, and was titled something like "All you wanted to know about s...

race anatomy

Mr. Disappointment

Not enough statistical data? Divinity seems to help, just see Priapus...

Cerberus

That is a strap-on.

A very charming pose nonetheless.

RegDwight

Um, sorry, is he about to bang some fruit?

I still wonder if this is a dupe:

0

Q: Should I write "any question" or "any questions"?

Are they both correct? Should there be singular or plural that right after "any"? If they are both correct, what's the difference? Here, I quote some sentences from the Internet and I wonder if the word "problem" can be changed into "problems" or vise versa. I don't think there was any qu...

word-choice grammaticality

I mean, the part about any is clearly a dupe, and the part about question vs questions boils down to "use plural when you mean many, singular when you mean one".

Mr. Disappointment

12:14 PM

I think it is too similar, TBH.

@RegDwight I'm unsure of the intentions of Priapus as he stood there, but between his face, the fruit and perversely lifting a sheet, I'd conclude that he was definitely up to no good. Hmph. ...And in constant danger, considering the issues of blood clotting, among other things.

Robusto

So ... it's gay porn day on ELU Chat?

Mr. Disappointment

Well, we tend not to brag.

Cerberus

12:31 PM

We?

Mr. Disappointment

OK OK, thought I was being polite: Well, @Cerberus and @RegDwight tend not to brag. ...I was jus' passin'.

RegDwight

@Robusto It's only gay if the balls touch.

Cerberus

Thank you! I think you distributed your exclusions correctly.

Robusto

@RegDwight — So ... pool and billiards are gay sports?

Cerberus

Hey I thought we had this thing going on about geeks' not being interested in sex talk...

Mr. Disappointment

12:35 PM

Hah, speaking of distribution.

RegDwight

@Robusto No, as long as the balls don't touch, they aren't.

Look, it's really easy.

Robusto

@RegDwight — So you have to suck at billiards not to suck ... well, you get the idea.

Mr. Disappointment

OOooook, planted the seed, now time to leave...

RegDwight

Hello @JSBangs. You've come to the right place.

Mr. Disappointment

Going to grab some lunch guys, catch up with you soon enough.

RegDwight

12:37 PM

Is that a threat?

Robusto

@RegDwight — I think, considering the context, you should have used the preposition "at" instead of "to".

RegDwight

Now about "in"?

Robusto

Could be. If by "now" you mean "how" ...

RegDwight

Sorry, in my capacity as an ananas I like to misspell Н as N, and N as И.

Robusto

Ananas

The genus Ananas belongs to the Bromeliad family (Bromeliaceae). It is best known for the species Ananas comosus, the pineapple. This genus originated in Mesoamerica and was brought to the Caribbean Islands by the Carib natives. The oldest register with the representation of the fruit seems to be included in the Cascajal Block, attributed to the Olmec civilization. In 1493, Christopher Columbus first saw plants of this genus in Guadeloupe. It was brought to Europe, and from there was distributed to the Pacific Islands by the Spanish and the English. Commercial pineapple plantations w...

So we have a new term for non-native speaker: pineapple.

RegDwight

12:44 PM

Speaking of misspellings, it should be "The genius Ananas". Brb fixing Wikipedia.

Robusto

In your case, the species is "Ananas comatosus"

Fix that one while you're at it.

RegDwight

More like Ananas comme-il-fausus.

Robusto

More like NNS Commie Faustus.

RegDwight

I will ping @MichaelMyers to piss him off.

Robusto

You always change the subject when you lose an argument.

RegDwight

12:46 PM

Not at all. I just want him to "enjoy" the argument.

Anyhow, it's NSS Commie Faustus, you ferengi traitor.

1701, to be precise.

You always shut up when you look up in dictionaries what "precise" means.

Robusto

Nah. I'm looking in framework docs atm. Dictionaries are more fun.

RegDwight

Haha, another day that sucks for you.

I wonder which site you'll disassociate yourself from this evening.

Lemme guess, will it be Physics?

Robusto

You'd like it to be Physics, wouldn't you?

RegDwight

Nah, I just don't see yourself fleeing from Apple.

Though you certainly can be found fleeing from *Pine*apples occasionally.

Robusto

Nah, the fact is it's too much trouble to disassociate oneself from a site. So, in the case of Skeptics I will stand back and let it die like Atheists.

RegDwight

12:53 PM

Frankly, I'm not holding my breath.

Robusto

@RegDwight — Head-fake at a thwack.

RegDwight

There should be Pineapples.SE, for people who don't want to be associated with any SE site in any way, manner, shape, form or fashion.

Robusto

Skeptics is like MythBusters except without the explosions and shitty writing. Well, without the explosions, anyway.

3

brilliant

@RegDwight Please, explain to me the meaning of this sentence: "In Soviet Russia, hello means you!"

RegDwight

@Robusto Thankfully, now that you're no longer an active contributor, the quality of writing will improve dramatically.

@brilliant Er... um...

Mar 22 at 19:15, by RegDwight

Joke

A joke is a question, short story, or depiction of a situation made with the intent of being humorous. To achieve this end, jokes may employ irony, sarcasm, word play and other devices. Jokes may have a punchline that will end the sentence to make it humorous. A practical joke or prank differs from a spoken one in that the major component of the humour is physical rather than verbal (for example placing salt in the sugar bowl). Purpose Jokes are typically for the entertainment of friends and onlookers. The desired response is generally laughter; when this does not happen the joke is...

brilliant

1:01 PM

So there was no other meaning besides that, right? I thought it was some kind of special meaning of the verb "mean", which I didn't know.

RegDwight

If that doesn't quite cut it, try this one:

2

Q: What does "piracy pirates" mean?

What doe the phrase In Soviet Russia, piracy pirates YOU. mean? What is implied by "piracy pirates YOU" and what - by "IN Soviet Russia"? Update: My difficulty was because The term "pirate" and "piracy" are senseless to apply to Soviet Russia because there was no, strictly speakin...

meaning phrases metaphor word-games

@brilliant Well, "mean" does have quite a few meanings. Just not in that sentence.

en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mean

JSBangs

oh, wait, this reminds me of a great joke i thought of on Monday re: Osama bin Laden. In Soviet Russia, terrorists kill you!

RegDwight

Feb 23 at 13:32, by RegDwight

Robusto

@RegDwight — You could always go active and bring the quality back down.

JSBangs

* rimshot * thank you, everbody, i'll be here all week

RegDwight

1:04 PM

@Robusto I'm too busy bringing the quality down in this chat.

brilliant

@RegDwight - Ah, okay, having read your answer there, now I understand.

JSBangs

@Robusto actually i like Mythbusters quite a bit more than skeptics.se. it has Keri, for one

RegDwight

Meh.

Are you, like, twelve?

JSBangs

i'll let you decide that based on the quality of jokes i make

RegDwight

JoJo, United States

183 3

dentistry

brilliant

1:08 PM

@RegDwight - is it like you are at daggers with Robusto now? or that's how you usually joke with each other?

JSBangs

@RegDwight meh. not my type.

Robusto

@JSBangs — Not enough Keri, too much Jamie and the other idiot.

RegDwight

@brilliant No, usually we hit each other's heads with giant nukes. Today is our day off.

Kosmonaut

5

A: What is the correct sound of the letter H - is it 'aych' or 'Haych' ?

According to the OALD, the standard way to pronounce the H is this one, which is without the "H" sound in its pronunciation. Although on Wikipedia, it says there is also the other pronunciation (with the "H" sound at the beginning) which, anyway, is considered to be nonstandard.

brilliant

@RegDwight :) I see.

JSBangs

1:09 PM

@Robusto Jamie and the other idiot i like. Kyle is the one who irritates me. Grant is the best.

RegDwight

@Kosmonaut Geez.

Kosmonaut

Not sure what to do with it.

brilliant

@RegDwight I've noticed you like to use Russian letters from time to time when you chat with each other. Is it like you two hold some special attitude towards Russian?

RegDwight

Yes. We hate Russia in this chat. Fiercely.

We also hate Taiwan and gemstones.

brilliant

I see.

RegDwight

1:13 PM

Hey @Robusto, it's your turn to answer some of brilliant's questions. Now that you're no longer on Skeptics, you should have plenty of time.

Robusto

Hah. Plenty of time. That's a good one. I've been on a death march here. On Fridays we say, "Thank God it's Friday. Only two more working days until Monday!"

In case you haven't noticed, my production has slipped dramatically in the last couple of weeks.

mfg

quick question; do comments on questions bump them back to the front page

?

JSBangs

1:28 PM

@Robusto i don't think that i've answered anything in the last two days. there just... wasn't anything interesting that didn't already have a good answer.

2

RegDwight

1:40 PM

@mfg No, they don't.

Only edits to either the question or one of its answers do.

mfg

@reg ugh. good to know now. i edited based on a comment on an older question of mine thinking the comment already did the damage. thanks

Kosmonaut

@RegDwight: omg, are you flaming teylyn?

RegDwight

Yes. This aggression will not stand.

Seriously, who gives a flying freak about Duden?

Ever since they screwed up that Rechtschreibreform, everybody's just given up on spelling anyhow.

The German television probably has the highest typos-to-noise ratio in the world.

Kosmonaut

So you're arguing for or against the notion that "haitch" is wrong?

RegDwight

I am not arguing either way. I am an ananas who has never, ever heard haitch in his entire life. So I am not qualified.

JSBangs

1:51 PM

i've never heard haitch either, but i gather from circumstantial evidence that it's some british thing

mfg

some canadians too

JSBangs

canadians! ach y fi!

RegDwight

I learn new things on this site all the time. Which leads me to believe that absence of evidence is not necessarily evidence of absence. Even if Skeptics would have me believe the opposite.

3

A: Is Paul McCartney dead?

Absence of evidence is evidence of absence The claim is not supported and therefore the following image of Sir Paul McCartney shot in 2010 is enough to prove differently: . Image courtesy of Wikipedia You may not be convinced, in which case please take into account that you will need to prove...

Martha

Uh, yeah. There's a "not" missing from that answer.

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…