English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

kiamlaluno

12:01 AM

I paint walls; doesn't that count?

RegDwight

Heh.

My Calabrian friend is all into graffiti.

kiamlaluno

That is a covering activity.

RegDwight

He painted lots of walls as a teen.

Anyhow, what ever happened to my plan to take a few minutes off?

Have some LEGO to sort, too...

kiamlaluno

An airplane never takes off in time.

RegDwight

I won't be logging off, but don't expect much.

kiamlaluno

12:03 AM

Do you mean you put the green LEGO with the red ones, the blue with the yellow, the yellow with the greeen, etc?

I guess not.

RegDwight

1:00 AM

And now I'm out! Night all.

kiamlaluno

1:11 AM

@RegDwight Good night.

HaL

Slow night tonight.

F'x

7:04 AM

@MrHen Real Programmers use Fortran

Robusto

11:46 AM

@Fx — Real programmers use Lisp.

@RegDwight — Was ist denn das?

RegDwight

12:23 PM

@Robusto Das habe ich doch schon mal gezeigt.

In English, you have "it's Greek to me" or "it's double Dutch". In German, you have "this looks like Spanish to me". In Italian, you have "this is Arabic to me", etc.

This graph combines all that data.

To easily see where the buck stops.

Robusto

@RegDwight — You expect me to read through all that crap? Put a title on your graphs, man!

RegDwight

@Robusto Haha.

"I have showed that before."

Ah.

Well, it was clear from context.

Robusto

I know what it means.

RegDwight

I don't expect you to look at the graph.

Selbst schuld.

Don't blame me.

When I look at stuff, and am too dumb or too drunk to understand it, I don't blame other people, either. I mean. Wait.

Anyhow.

Robusto

The "all that crap" was the colloquy that led up to the graph, not your rather obvious exculpation in German.

RegDwight

12:29 PM

Would you please have a look at my comment here:

2

A: A single word for a secluded garden surounded by a wall.

Pleasance seems to fit the bill quite nicely.

Robusto

Is it possible he just doesn't get it? I mean, can someone be that blithely ignorant?

RegDwight

I don't think so.

He obviously is after all that rep.

He's not here just for fun.

Besides, even if you are just posting stuff for the sake of posting, without giving it any thought (and that's how every second answer of his reads), even so: how often do you have to be warned?

Robusto

Why would he +1 something without upvoting? Does he want to appear to be a good guy to garner support?

RegDwight

@Robusto That's what I'm afraid he might be after.

Other people pointed out that he's not unsimilar to vgv8.

Robusto

Very odd indeed.

I just bumped your Janus pic, but I'll be damned if I'm going to +1 you. People might think we weren't sworn enemies.

RegDwight

12:34 PM

Hahahaha.

I mean, YOU CAPITALIZATIONIST!

Robusto

Look who's TALKING!!!

RegDwight

I will rather take a -1 from Stalin than a +1 from Dubya!

Robusto

BTW, I'm getting a little tired of all this argumentum ad verecundiam concerning Google NGrams. If you compare apples and oranges, you can make anything look compelling.

RegDwight

Lies, damn lies, statistics, and people who use them. And then me.

Robusto

RegDwight

12:38 PM

But yeah, you have a point.

Robusto

Feb 10 at 19:21, by Robusto

Who was it said "If you torture numbers long enough they'll confess to anything?"

RegDwight

We had at least two incidents just yesterday.

Let me look

One here: english.stackexchange.com/questions/24133/bw-or-b-w/24136#24136

(Deleted, but you can see it.)

And another one I can't find right now...

Wait, of course I can!

3

A: What is the meaning of "personnel"? What is its plural form?

I would have said that personnel is plural, and has no singular form. Some of the dictionaries disagree with me (although from Robusto's answer, NOAD agrees with me), but consider the google Ngram: It looks like personnel used to be singular in the 1920's, but is now trending towards being onl...

(See the graph and Bogdan's comment about it.)

Robusto

Tell me what you think of this:

1

Q: The word 'getting'

My parents are getting a divorce Is the 'getting' just a auxiliary verb or have some real meaning? why not: My parents is going to divorce?

words

RegDwight

I saw that question.

I dunno.

Not the highest-quality wording, that's for sure.

Ah, now I see your answer.

Lemme read.

Cerberus

Greetings.

Robusto

12:43 PM

Hiya @Cerb

Cerberus

That getting question kinda sucks, but still acceptable, right?

@Rob: Hi! You may call me @Hangover today.

RegDwight

Yeah well, we're still waiting for someone to get a Reversal badge.

ShreevatsaR is the prime candidate.

Cerberus

Oh what does that button do?

RegDwight

@Robusto There, have your stupid +1 back.

Reversal: "Provided answer of +20 score to a question of -5 score. This badge can be awarded multiple times."

Robusto

What, I thought we had one of those.

RegDwight

12:45 PM

No.

This answer is the closest anybody has got to it so far:

8

A: Axiom: Literary usage and Mathematical rule - other examples?

It is impossible to properly answer this question. A complete set of words "that have meanings in both literature and math" would be immensely large, since almost every word used in mathematics tends to come from general language. Off the top of my head: group, set, field, ring, rational, real,...

Which is to say, not close at all.

-3/+8

Cerberus

Interesting.

Let me see.

Robusto

Well, I did my bit. Upvoted Shree and downvoted the question: perfectly fairly, by the way. I had never seen that question before. So all it needs is one more of each.

RegDwight

"answer of +20 score"

By the time the answer is at +20, enough bozos will have upvoted the question, too.)))

But thanks for doing your bit nonetheless.

Cerberus

I have done my bit too.

Robusto

Well, me and my doggy tried to help.

Cerberus

12:51 PM

Yes, we did, didn't we.

Robusto

[Throws three Milk-Bone dog treats at Cerberus]

Cerberus

Milk-Bone?

Ah.

Thank you.

It is not raw meat, but it will do.

Robusto

Milk-Bone

Milk-Bone is a brand of dog biscuit. It was created in 1908 by the F. H. Bennett Biscuit Company, which operated a bakery on the Lower East Side of New York City. Originally named Maltoid, the biscuit was a bone-shaped treat made from minerals, meat products, and milk. Sometime between 1915 and 1926 the biscuit was simply named "Milk-Bone", owing to the high composition of cow's milk. In 1931 the bakery was acquired by the National Biscuit Company (now Nabisco). The biscuit was the only Bennett product carried over after the acquisition. Over the next few decades, the Milk-Bone was e...

RegDwight

Ah, that milk bone.

Cerberus

Do you have a milk bone?

Robusto

12:53 PM

I don't keep raw meat at my desk. I would have to go down to the fridge, and I'm too lazy. If only I had a dog who could fetch it ...

Cerberus

Let's not get into that.

RegDwight

I can't keep up with the double-entendres. Halp!

Cerberus

You started it.

RegDwight

I never invaded Poland. Except a little in my previous life.

Robusto

Lies!

Cerberus

12:54 PM

Hah. I thought you were a Russo-German...

Robusto

Everybody has invaded Poland at one time or another.

Cerberus

Now all you need is some Austrian thing and you'll be the perfect invader.

RegDwight

Mar 30 at 15:11, by Robusto

@RegDwight — Uh-huh. I suppose Poland invaded itself, from both sides, by both countries of whose language you are a native speaker?

This stupid Uncle Sam propaganda has to stop.

Cerberus

Are you a native speaker of German?

Robusto

Er ist nur Schauspieler.

Cerberus

12:56 PM

Wirklich?

RegDwight

@Cerberus Start reading here:

23 hours ago, by brilliant

@RegDwight RegDwight, are you also Russian?

Anyhow, to answer your question,

13 hours ago, by RegDwight

Proper German or no German at all. Vrow Antje, leave the hall!

Cerberus

Okay I read some stuff... but I must have overlooked your line saying you were a native speaker of German...?

I say Dutch is the real German.

RegDwight

You also must have overlooked my line saying I were a native speaker of Russian.

Probably because that line doesn't exist.

Cerberus

I knew that.

But I thought perhaps you were both.

These things exist.

RegDwight

Don't call be a thing, honey.

Robusto

12:59 PM

@Cerberus — Dutch is nothing but Plattdeutsch. Or its retarded cousin.

Cerberus

You call it Platt, I call it not-dominated-by-stupid-catholic-dialects.

RegDwight

No wonder there's a language continuum between German and Dutch. That proves that Dutch ain't a language, it's just crappy German.

Cerberus

Quite the opposite.

RegDwight

Also, French.

Apr 28 at 20:19, by RegDwight

Sarkozy admits French language a hoax after Wikileaks exposé

@Cerberus Opposite, schmopposite. One of them ain't a language. And it sure as hell ain't German.

You can't even tell boys from girls in Dutch.

Cerberus

Haha poor Sarkozy.

Well neither can English.

RegDwight

1:03 PM

Genau!

Deutsch ist die einzig wahre Sprache.

Cerberus

Uh...

RegDwight

Lulz.

Robusto

@RegDwight — Falsch! For example, how much time do you spend on Deutsch.SE? Zero time, that's how much. Yet here you are on EL&U.SE, day in, day out. even sacrificing precious LEGO time to be here.

Cerberus

I actually still think German and Dutch are the least aesthetically pleasing languages on the continent.

RegDwight

@Robusto Wie jetzt?

@Cerberus Well, what about Danish?

Cerberus

1:04 PM

Okay, Danish too.

And of course the Slavic languages.

RegDwight

Can't leave out those!

And Greek. FFS, it's all Greek to everyone!

Cerberus

But the other Germanic languages, okay excluding Frisian as well and the Romance languages, are all better sounding.

Robusto

In fact, every language but English sounds, well, foreign. I'm surprised foreigners don't realize that.

Cerberus

Yes modern Greek sucks too. So ugly.

RegDwight

23 hours ago, by Kosmonaut

I am going to have to create Frisian Language and Usage.

Cerberus

1:05 PM

@Rob: Read Reg's article on Sarkozy.

RegDwight

@Robusto Mind = blown.

I have a video?

Even I don't want to watch it.

Cerberus

Sorry, my head is a mess. All of them.

RegDwight

Ah yes.

That I support.

Cerberus

The worst hangover in months.

You are too kind.

RegDwight

Huh, where did JSBangs materialize from?

Cerberus

1:07 PM

He drank a potion.

RegDwight

More like he triggered the time.

Cerberus

Don't you see the bulge of the bottle under his cape?

RegDwight

Oh my.

Robusto

The real question is, does the "Bangs" part of his name refer to a haircut? If so, he is trying to steal @Cerberus's fashion mistake.

Mar 31 at 0:02, by Robusto

JSBangs

i'm here

RegDwight

1:09 PM

JS bangs 7-gram rocks.

Cerberus

Hah. Is that a bang?

JSBangs

dunno how long i'm gonna stick around

wait, it gets better: i was raised in a town called Loveland

Cerberus

Welcome!

Robusto

Yeah, now that you've been outed as a Dutch-boy wannabe, it's gonna be hard to stay here.

JSBangs

so in college i introduced myself as "Jesse BANGS, from Looooooove land"

RegDwight

1:09 PM

Hahaha.

Cerberus

What is he going on about.

Am I dreaming this?

RegDwight

Then I would go see a doctor.

Cerberus

dreams of a doctor

RegDwight

Halp! There's Americans from Loooooove land in my dreams.

Robusto

Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus

Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus is an album released in 1970 by the psychedelic rock ensemble Spirit. Produced by David Briggs, who is best known for his work with Neil Young, and whom they chose on Young's recommendation. The original LP was released in 1970 by Epic shortly before the original group disbanded. This diverse yet cohesive effort is a sci-fi-based, loose concept album. The album's second song is the key track "Nature's Way", the most notable hit (along with "I've Got a Line on You" – #28 in Canada) the band would ever produce. "Mr. Skin" also became a hit single in the ...

JSBangs

1:11 PM

lol

Cerberus

Wow those rectangular blocks in American cities and villages keep surprising me.

RegDwight

You dreaming Tetris again?

Robusto

@Cerberus — Well, you ain't been to Boston then. There are approximately 6.75cm of straight road in all of Massachusetts.

Cerberus

I might as well be!

RegDwight

@Robusto What is a "cm"?

Cerberus

1:13 PM

@Rob: I was just looking at the map of Boston and going to comment on how Boston did look different enough!

Jinx.

Robusto

It's a poor second cousin to the noble inch. It's less than half an inch in stature.

Cerberus

But those few centimeters can do oh so many things...

RegDwight

Uh-oh, the dog is on your heels, Robusto.

Cerberus

Don't worry.

I'll sit.

RegDwight

Now I have to rush to get to your backyard first.

Robusto

1:15 PM

8

A: CSS "color" vs. "font-color"

The same way Boston came up with its street plan. They followed the cow paths already there, and built houses where the streets weren't, and after a while it was too much trouble to change.

RegDwight

Communism >> bad-hair cheese.

Cerberus

Huh?

RegDwight

Backyard, first, establish.

I think I don't have to rush, after all. I forgot how slow the dog is.

Robusto

See, centimeters were developed so that Europeans could find a way to measure their penises in such a way that they would sometimes reach 2-digit numbers.

Not often, but sometimes.

RegDwight

Then why don't they measure their penises in millimeters?

That way, everyone would be king.

Robusto

1:18 PM

That would be overreaching. Besides, the women don't even believe the centimeters.

RegDwight

The centimetre is a lie!

Cerberus

Wow Boston looks funny.

Robusto

@RegDwight — Hey, leave the kings out of this. Everyone knows a ruler isn't always 12 inches.

RegDwight

@Robusto Martha's is way longer.

Cerberus

I see a nice 18th-century building, and all ugly skyscrapers around it.

RegDwight

1:19 PM

Welcome to Berlin!

Robusto

Wow, what a great time for a 12-year-old girl to show up to chat. Sheesh.

RegDwight

Harharhar.

Cerberus

Yeah I know! That's why I'm not very eager to visit Berlin, though it must be very interesting in other respects.

Do you want to see my neigbourhood?

RegDwight

If Linda de Mol is out, then yes.

Cerberus

maps.google.com/maps?q=nieuwmarkt,%20amsterdam

Streetview it.

RegDwight

1:21 PM

@Cerberus Make no mistake, Berlin is awesome in a zillion ways, and certainly worth a two-day trip or something.

HAHAHAHAHA! Blöde Straße! HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Cerberus

No doubt! But there are so many other cities equally worth the trip, but with better architecture.

Blöde Straße?

RegDwight

Bloedstraat.

Cerberus

You mean the Bloedstraat?

Ah.

RegDwight

(Yes, I know what it means.)

Robusto

Cerberus

1:23 PM

I was almost going to type what it meant!

RegDwight

But it's funnier as Idiot Street.

Robusto

I mean, I ask you. Is this a way to design a city?

RegDwight

@Robusto It is a way, yes.

Cerberus

It would still be quite regular for a European city...

RegDwight

Absolutely.

Looks a lot like Moscow or every German city ever.

Cerberus

1:25 PM

Except that all the buildings are huge.

Robusto

Yeah, but we have much better cities. Chicago, for example. Sensibly laid out, and the best modern architecture of any city in North America, if not the world.

Cerberus

Which is usually not so in EU city centers.

RegDwight

Yeah, okay. Berlin and Moscow.

Cerberus

I care not for modern architecture.

RegDwight

Nancy was weird.

Cerberus

1:25 PM

I passed on a trip to Chicago last year, no offense.

Robusto

Apr 16 at 13:40, by Robusto

@kiamlaluno — Well, the one thing you do not want to do in Boston is drive. First: no parking. Second: the street plan was laid out by cows. Third: trying to go cross-town makes you feel like an ant trying to crawl through a box of elbow macaroni.

@Cerberus — Your loss.

Cerberus

In Holland, most cities are made impossible for cars on purpose.

RegDwight

What the...

0

Q: Why 'one-night stand' means sex?

What does the 'stand' mean in this phrase ?

meaning

I like the answer.

Cerberus

Haha.

RegDwight

It explains everything.

And then some.

Cerberus

1:27 PM

Absolutely.

Though I'm not sure whether that is actually why it's called a stand?

Is it?

RegDwight

My point precisely.

It's utterly useless.

Cerberus

Unless it is true.

Which I doubt.

RegDwight

Yeah, during a one-night stand you just stand around, all night long. Preferrably in a corner, so as not to fall over.

Besides, it's obviously copied from some dictionary, but doesn't mention from which one.

Ah yes, Cambridge Dictionaries Online.

dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/stand_1

Robusto

I just put in my $.02 on "one night stand"

Cerberus

Rob, are you quite sure it comes from the military sense?

Robusto

1:32 PM

I'm sure they are related.

Cerberus

Hmm...

I don't find it that obvious?

Isn't it just from standing on a stage?

Robusto

A military "stand" comes from the notion of "a determined effort to fight for something" — not unrelated to, but not necessarily "the place where someone typically stands or sits"

RegDwight

"One-night stand is 1880 in performance sense; 1963 in sexual sense." Etymonline.

Robusto

And isn't sex about conquest? I mean, if you're doing it right. :)

Cerberus

But is theatre about conquest?

RegDwight

1:35 PM

Ah, thanks for the edit.

Robusto

I keep forgetting we have small ears present. Damn.

RegDwight

Can't have no short people round here.

►

Robusto

I resisted the urge to post that.

This is better:

►

RegDwight

Sick.

Robusto

Kill the Moonlight is teh awesome.

RegDwight

1:44 PM

Lol, check out that edit by zizi.

english.stackexchange.com/questions/24240/…

Now it's a verbatim copy from Yahoo Answers.

answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110403121723AAtl4Pi

Robusto

Hahahaha.

I have never had a one-night stand where I actually stood.

RegDwight

I don't think she understands why the answer got deleted...

The thing is, I can't comment on deleted stuff, and if I comment on stuff before deleting it, she doesn't get notified automatically.

Well, let's wait and see if she complains.

Cerberus

A she, huh.

Robusto

The "vertical state" fol-de-rol is so precious.

Cerberus

Perhaps she is looking for one.

RegDwight

1:49 PM

@Cerberus Zizi is short for Zaynab in Arabic.

Zaynab (name)

Zaynab (also spelt Zaeneb, Zainab, Zainub, Zeineb, Zenab, Zeynab, Zeyneb, Zejneb, Zejneba or Zeynib; Arabic: زينب) is an Arabic female given name meaning "desert flower" or "ornamented tree". It is believed to be a modification of Zenobia, the name of a pre-Islam Syrian queen. "Zeineb", "Zejneb" and "Zejneba" are also Bosnian female given names, transliterated from the Arabic "Zainab". Famous people called Zaynab include: * Zaynab bint Ali, daughter of Ali ibn Abi Talib, the sister of Husayn ibn Ali. * Zaynab bint Khuzayma, a wife of Muhammad. * Zaynab bint Jahsh, a wife of Muhammad. * Z...

Desert flower.