English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

RegDwight

16:00

May 6 at 23:54, by kiamlaluno

The diagram is not complete; we say è cinese and è marziano too.

Vitaly

Huh. That image looked a lot like automatic hierarchic routing in yEd.

RegDwight

aiSee.

Automatic, yes. Hierarchic, yes. Routing, yes. yEd, no.)))

Anyhow, I gotta go in a minute.

TTYL.

Vitaly

CU.

Martha

16:53

Woo-hoo, I've finally managed to get the Electorate badge! Me shiny!

Vitaly

Congratulations.

0

Q: Catenatives followed by infinitives and gerunds

Hi, I was wondering if anyone could please help me with this. What is the difference in meaning when the catenative verb “like” is followed by an infinitive, or by a gerund? For example: Do you like ski jumping? vs. Do you like to ski jump? Also, what is the difference between: My brother taugh...

Does this look like an exact duplicate? I am not sure because she mentions another verb at the end.

Martha

I don't think it's a duplicate: the other questions/answers mention that there may be a difference in meaning, but don't say anything about the actual meanings.

Vitaly

7

A: “I like to do (be) something” vs “I like doing (being) something”

OK, first let's take a look at what some grammar books say, then try to make it comprehensible with some examples: CGEL says: The infinitival is more associated with change, the gerund-participle with actuality. Thus someone who has recently turned forty or got married might say "I like bein...

Martha

Oh. I guess I skipped that and read the answers the real original question.

8

Q: Gerund or infinitive: When to use which?

Some verbs are followed by ing, e.g. I enjoy swimming. We can't say I enjoy to swim. Likewise, some verbs are followed by to, e.g. I decided to make a plan. Which particular verbs are followed by ing and to? Can you please provide a list for that? Moreover, which verbs can be followed by both ...

grammar list-request gerund infinitive

Anyway. I think, like @Colin Fine says, that you can't generalize between verbs. Thus, the part about taught is not a duplicate.

Or something.

But then again, I don't necessarily want to see a question about every single verb which can take either the infinitive or the gerund.

Vitaly

17:09

Ohh, I do. ^^

Martha

Silly boy.

Vitaly

I also want to see a question about every single English word that has synonyms, in the form, What is the difference between … ?

Rhodri

Aiiiiiii!

Careful, soon she'll start thwapping you.

Vitaly

Why? Because it would be the ultimate vocabulary knowledge source for non-native speakers. Here is a short excerpt from Use the Right Word:

Alenanno

thwapping?

Vitaly

17:11

> These words relate to ways people move on foot. All are of moderate informality. Walk is the most general and neutral of these, encompassing all manner of moving on foot short of running or leaping. Stride refers to a swift, purposeful way of walking; it suggests long steps and an energetic rhythm: striding through the station a few minutes before the trains departure. Amble, stroll and saunter, in sharp contrast with stride, suggest a slow, wandering movement without a clear-cut goal…

There is a whole page dedicated to the differences between amble, saunter, stride, stroll, strut, swagger, and waddle.

The only problem with Use the Right Word is that it contains too few entries.

Rhodri

@Alenanno Thwack, I should have said. Sorry.

Mar 24 at 0:40, by Martha

THWACK!!!! THWACK THWACK THWACK THWACK THWACK!!!!!

Alenanno

Ah lol

Martha

17:29

Hey, stop misusing my thwacks!

Mr. Disappointment

Good evening (time zone permitting.)

zizi

Good morning

not the room you are looking for?

Vitaly

0

Q: "Word" and "word up" What is the meaning and possibly origin?

Several times, I have had conversations, all over instant messenger, finish with "word" or "Word up G". As it ends a conversation, I am guessing it is like "goodbye". My question is what is the meaning of "word" and "word up g"? Also, what is the origin?

meaning etymology slang

YO DAWG

How is it even possible to have a conversation end like that several times?

zizi

not that hard, let's make a conversation like that

Vitaly

Word.

zizi

17:44

ok word up

&*$&#*$&#(*(*@! ?

you blockhead

word

Mitch

18:02

@RegDwight: Thanks of the grats re magnet. weird, but there it is.

zizi

18:22

@RegDwight I wonder how a user with 4k reputation can be a new user

Robusto

18:37

@Martha — Those thwacks are now in the public domain. They are beyond your control.

Martha

17 hours ago, by MrHen

Mar 23 at 22:18, by Martha

@MrHen pbbbbblll!

Also,

17 hours ago, by Martha

@MrHen blblblrrb :p

(Obviously, s/MrHen/Robusto.)

Robusto

You are acquiring all of @RegDwight's bad habits.

Next you'll become a Communist.

Martha

Not bloody likely.

Now see what you did? You invoked the Dark Lord's name.

Robusto

You invoked his spirit first.

RegDwight

@zizi And I wonder if you have ever heard of such things as sarcasm, humor, or joke.

@Martha No, in @Robusto's defense it was zizi who summoned me.

Martha

18:45

@Robusto As any Harry Potter fan will tell you, that doesn't count.

Robusto

Voldemort!

Martha

@RegDwight /lalala I'm not listening/

RegDwight

Apr 30 at 14:13, by RegDwight

@Martha But all of those pings were of the most extremeliestest importance! Especially Kosmo's "Hey @Martha, do you see this @Martha mention? @Martha, @Martha, @Martha. Also, @Martha!"

@Martha BTW, the above is @Martha.

Robusto

@RegDwight — "No, to [sic] @Robusto's defense it was zizi who summoned me." A native speaker would have used "in" instead of "to" there.

RegDwight

So would I.

Sorry that typos exist. This is so my fault. Jeez.

I only came here to reprimand zizi. Don't mess with me.

Die Werbepause is fast vorbei. Ich habe keine Zeit.

Over and out.

Robusto

18:49

Typos are just nature's way of giving us native speakers something to laugh about when non-native speakers make them.

Martha

@RegDwight It must be a y-chromosome thing. My boss has the hardest time learning two simple facts: (1) I am always right, and (2) Everything is his fault.

Robusto

Hey, you're all over my German. I can't say a phrase without you getting all over me like bum on a baloney sandwich.

@Martha — Yeah, that extra chromosomal arm is packed with so many things: inability to drive, love of shopping, certainty that intuition trumps fact, and on and on.

Martha

I don't know where love of shopping resides, but it's certainly not on my X chromosome.

JSBangs

@Martha, simple logic, please. The fact that the shopping gene resides on the X chromosome doesn't imply that it resides on every X chromosome.

Robusto

@JSBangs — Uh, inability to understand simple logic is on that chromosomal arm as well. Sorry.

Martha

18:56

@JSBangs This is no way contradicts my statement.

@Robusto I saw that!

Robusto

Can't sneak anything past you, can I?

That's another thing on the chromosomal arm. Suspicion and incessant monitoring of everything men wish women would just let slide, but don't.

zizi

Fame is any kind of fame?

is it meaningless?

and also this one : " Well known for some bad quality or deed."

WELL known for BAD quality

JSBangs

@Martha true! so we all win at simple logic, and none of us has to go shopping.

Martha

Good. I hate shopping.

F'x

19:12

@RegDwight: regarding downvotes, I suppose the change isn't propagated yet to all sites

downvotes still cost 1 rep, as far as I can tell

zizi

@RegDwight But i don't care

Vitaly

@Fx Question downvotes or answer downvotes?

F'x

@Vitaly question downvote; but I now realize it was early this morning, maybe it was simply before the change kicked in

Alenanno

I'm just sneaking in, but are you saying question downvotes are going to be "free" in the future?

Vitaly

They already are for me @Alenanno and I suppose for everyone else

F'x

19:16

@Alenanno yes, and apparently in the present too

Alenanno

Ah I am not downvoting a lot so I never noticed... Why this discrimination between questions and answers downvoting?

F'x

@Alenanno because the powers that be think questions are noted voted upon enough

Alenanno

Sorry, I couldn't get what you said :D

zizi

@Fx Could you please do me a favour and explain what's wrong with "Everyone knows a famous person but no one forgets an infamous person."?

Vitaly

The sky is blue but crocodiles eat meat.

F'x

19:23

@zizi I don't play riddles with you, I already told you

zizi

and there is a probability that crocodiles stop eating meat when sky turns to black

@Fx I understand how hard you try

F'x

@zizi try to do what?

zizi

OMG why down-vote??

F'x

@zizi because the question or answer is of poor quality, typically

zizi

@Fx You're snob

F'x

19:49

@zizi 5 people (including me) thought your answer deserved a downvote, no one upvoted it; can't we simply agree that this answer was not good?

@zizi in addition, a snob does not say "this is bad", but "even though people like this, it is clearly bad to my educated eye"

anyway, I have to resist the “duty calls” syndrom, so I'll be off

Robusto

20:05

@Fx Hey, stop stealing my compulsory XKCD quotes:

May 5 at 11:31, by Robusto

zizi

@Fx but I don't really care what you said or what you will say

I don't wanna care right now

try later

Alenanno

@F'x lol!

Vitaly

20:25

Is it useful having your question as the 16th in the multicollider?

F'x

@zizi I don't want to play riddles, nor do I want to guess when you're in the mood for caring about what others say; I've set the chat to ignore your messages

@Vitaly not it itself; it brings traffic if it stays high, and for long

Vitaly

what I actually mean, does being the 16th bring traffic?

F'x

@Vitaly not much

Vitaly

Ah. Thanks.

F'x

see what you're up against:

24

Q: Do bras prevent you from getting saggy boobs?

I've heard this one repeated by women I know a few times, but it sounds like a product of confirmation bias to me. Is there supporting evidence for the claim that if you don't wear a bra you should expect saggier boobs at old age?

physiology

Vitaly

20:28

meh

Vitaly

20:39

Is it only me or “What does constitute …?” sounds less natural than “What constitutes …?”?

Nyuszika7H

21:09

@Fx btw xkcd is oneboxed on chat, if you use the onebox it keeps its tooltip too

night all

Cerberus

21:21

Hi!

What is onebox?

Oh, I get it.

If you post the link, part of the page is immediately displayed in chat.

Cool that they have included xkcd.

RegDwight

21:44

God. I open up chat, I see XKCD. Why do you hate me?

@Martha:

2

Q: Is there any significance in little curls joining the st and ct in old books?

I've been reading a facsimile edition of Defoe's Captain Singleton and have noticed a little quirk of the text; where an st or a ct appear, they are joined with a little curl over the top, but nt, rt and pt aren't. This appears to be the case wherever these combinations appear in a word. Is ther...

orthography typesetting

Cerberus

@Reg: Because we love you.

RegDwight

Meh.

Vitaly

I have just learned that in some fonts the zero-width joiner may be used to produce the c‍t ligature.

RegDwight

I have to fight hard for non-questions not to get reopened. How is that love?

Cerberus

Hmm... such as?

RegDwight

21:49

2

Q: Does the incorrect pronunciation of a word make it incomprehensible?

Not being an English native speaker, I find there are many words I pronounce differently from how an anglophone would (and differently from the phonetics prescribed in typical dictionaries). However, what confuses me is that my anglophone friends cannot understand me at all, even when there is on...

pronunciation

Actually, I think the st/ct one should be closed, too.

But I'll leave it up to y'all for the time being.

Cause I gotta go again.

Night all, CU tomorrow.

Vitaly

CU.

Cerberus

22:28

Oops it seems I have answered the ct question.

Vitaly

Wow.

Cerberus

You started it...

Vitaly

ᴀh.

MikeVaughan

23:05

heyyy

Vitaly

23:45

@Cerberus: I am enjoying the comments here immensely.

Cerberus

@Vit: Aww... the atheists are going that guy a hard time!

Vitaly

@Cerberus: Particularly this one so far.

Cerberus

@Vit: Heh Clippy is fun!

I often find atheist–believer discussions a bit tiring, because there is no chance at all that one is going to convert the other...

MikeVaughan

@Cerebrus I agree.

Cerberus

@Mike: If you press "up", you can edit your last line!

And thanks.

Vitaly

23:57

@Cerberus There is no discussion as far as I can tell. The guy hasn't responded to any of the questions (yet?). I think for Clippy's comment that it's amazing because that comment would be enough for any rationally-thinking person to convince themselves there are no deities. Too bad there aren't many rationally-thinking people in general.

@Cerberus However, if he does respond, I'd love to see how the discussion goes. The guy claimed to be rational on a site dedicated to rationality. There is no way for him to keep claiming religiosity without losing his face altogether (which he understands perfectly, by virtue of having read major LW posts).

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…