English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

2:11 AM

That's nice.

Except we in Boulder paid a lot of taxes for it under the promise that the light rail line would come here, and they reneged.

We aren’t happy.

They used our money for themselves in Denver, but taxed us to do so.

Not really fair.

They’re looking at it.

> Residents in the northwest corridor have for some time cried foul as they've watched commuter rail between Denver and Boulder stall as FasTracks light rail lines in other parts of the metro area fall into place and even reach completion.

Looks like another billion bucks to get here.

Good luck coming up with it.

Finished in 2042.

Long after I’m dead.

So fuck them all. Thieves and Indian-givers.

We voted for the tax because we were going to get it within our lifetimes, like within the twenty-teens.

Now we aren’t.

Just evil.

And we don’t get the money back of course.

I want a train to Denver, and a train from there to the airport.

It won’t happen in my lifetime.

2:36 AM

Ow, that sucks.

Can't Boulder sue Denver?

Or the company that promised to do it?

Surely the is a contract?

No there is not a contract.

The elected RTD Board of Directors decided to add more busses for us instead.

That isn’t why we voted for the tax. We wanted light rail like the rest of the district got.

Instead we get shitty busses.

And a 30-year plan for proper rail.

Then there was when the City of Broomfield voted for us in Boulder to pay a stupid stadium tax in the same election as they voted themselves out of the county and taxing district.

We voted against it.

They voted for it.

There were more of them than us.

So they won, twice.

That's awful.

And we paid for something we didn’t want, and they didn’t pay for something they did.

And you wonder why I’m so sour about the world?

Live a little longer. You’ll see.

So why was there no contract where the constructor promised to build a lightrail to Boulder?

You don’t tie contracts to votes.

2:45 AM

?

Someone hired the company.

We were sold a pig-in-a-poke.

We have a new metro line that is now, oh, a decade over due.

And costing several billion more than promised.

Yes, the RTD Board hired them.

Then directed them not to worry about Boulder.

And the whole city is one big construction yard, has been for a decade.

@Cerberus Sounds similar.

2:47 AM

But I think the contractor went bankrupt at some point.

But I do think there was a contract.

@tchrist But why?

Nos han dado gato por liebre as the Spanish would say: they’ve given us a cat for a hare: hoodwinked us with trick and song.

A cat in the sack.

Een kat in de zak.

Yes, that.

Why not worry about us? Because they spent so much on their own light rail there was no money left for us.

So it wasn't specified in the contract what it would cost and what the company would have to do?

It is, alas, well known that large infrastructural projects always go way over budget and time. All around the world.

The equivalent English idiom is to buy a pig in a poke.

Whatever a poke is.

These are old.

2:50 AM

You should really tie down the contractor with a contract. Unless the company says "we can't do it for that money" and the councillor that really wants the project on her name agrees to give them money without a proper contract...

At least the Spanish one I understand.

Right, a pig in a poke.

I guess a poke must be a sack.

Could be.

A...pack?

> 1 a A bag; a small sack: applied to a bag of any material or description, but usually smaller than a sack. Now dial. exc. in to buy a pig in a poke (pig sb.[entry#1]), in Sc. a cat in a poke, F. chat en poche. In Sc. applied to the bags or wallets in which a gaberlunzie or beggar carried provisions and portable property.

Shows what I don’t know. Oh, it says it’s now dialectic except for that idiom.

gaberlunzie?

Now they’re just foolin’ with me.

2:53 AM

Ah, pocket! Of course.

But you had to read the French to figure that out. :)

Or is that pouch not pocket?

Yes.

Both, I should think?

I think so, actually.

I seem to remember pochet = pocket.

I don’t know a separate word for one that isn’t the other.

Spanish has lots of words, like saco, bolsa, bolsillo — and only the last one is a pocket.

Bolsa is usually purse.

2:55 AM

> [ME. poket, a. Anglo-Norman pokete (13th c. Godef.), mod.Norman dial. pouquette, dim. of ONF. poke, poque, pouque = F. poche, whence dim. pochette: see poke n.1, pouch n. OF. had also a masc. form pochet, pouchet (1396 in Godef.), still dial., also in mod.Norman dial. pouquet.]

Is bolsa from beurs/bourse/purse?

hm

No, that’s bursa.

But hm.

Are bolsa and bursa related?

Probably.

Could be.

And then there is the archaic English term of the “purser”.

Still used by United Airlines for the head steward/ess on a flight.

> 2 a An officer charged with managing money matters and keeping accounts; a purse-bearer, treasurer. Obs. in general sense.

Don’t tell the OED.

Oh wait.

It’s ok on a ship.

> b The officer on board a ship who keeps the accounts, and usually has charge of the provisions.

That one isn’t obsolete, apparently.

That’s how UA uses it.

> c In Cornwall, The treasurer or cashier of a mine, esp. one worked on the cost-book principle.

I believe purser is used internationally. At least we use it.

That is, KLM uses it. I would not.

Right.

It’s a naval term I guess, and airships count.

3:01 AM

Good.

Mitch

3:21 AM

@tchrist a poke is a bag.

I learned that the other day.

here I think.

buying a pig in a poke is buying a pig in a bag, so you can't really tell if there really is a pig in the bag, so it is a bad deal.

obviously.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

3:33 AM

@Mitch is a pig in the poke worth two in the bag?

EnglishMaster

7:02 AM

Guys, I have a question

they call towels to clean tables that look exactly like Shamwow as "Three M".

Is that even a existing word or name of a brand? Can you help me to figure out what this is?

7:18 AM

Hi

Everyone

After a long time.

No see.

And no news.

Whatever the hell. In any event, I just learned that Amazon is working on an aieral based delivery system that will enable its users to receive packages in a matter of minutes.

10:27 AM

Hi

Anyone there?

Hi Noah

10:43 AM

Hi Matt

How are you

Is it operations department or operation department

Or department of operations/ department of operation

X dept. vs dept. of X is up to you

I would say it's the operations department

beause there is usually more than one operation

this ngram shows that people favour operations

11:01 AM

Thanks

What does Operations do in this example?

Like what role does it play?

11:17 AM

it's an adjective

But it is a plural noun?

by itself it is

11:44 AM

I wish we had some more downvotes for people misusing us for proofreading their hotel advertisements.

3

These days the pendulum seems to be in the "upvote all things immediately" position. Time to swing back.

I want to explain to them that they need to make their questions better in a non-condescending manner. I may end up failing.

I don't quite get people who pay a certified translator, then take his translation and ask random blokes off the Internet if it's any good. (That no context or source-language material is provided is just icing on the cake.)

Not saying that certified translators are any good, but rather that why not just ask random blokes off the Internet right away and save your money.

:D

JSBձոգչ

@MattЭллен this is misleading. it's a noun used as a modifier, which doesn't make it an adjective

11:59 AM

@JSBձոգչ what's the difference?

JSBձոգչ

@MattЭллен nominal modifiers cannot be modified with very or another adverb, have no comparative or superlative grades,

there are some other differences which don't come to mind at the moment

Q: What does it mean "I am not around"?

OK. Thanks :)

@Noah see above conversation for corrections

0

When I asked my friend, "would you like to come to the party tomorrow?" he answered, "thanks, but I am not around" does it mean he is not in the NYC or just not around the hood??

no no no, you misunderstood. your friend thinks the party is for "rounds". he is not a round, so does not think he can come.

maybe he is a square

12:15 PM

"Not around" means "dead". His friend plans to kill himself, and in fact I am leaving a comment to that extent.

We desperately need the close reason "I don't want to ask the only person who actually knows, gimme unqualified opinions of random people off the Internet instead".

yes we do

we can create them, can't we? if enough questions get closed with the same custom reason, doesn't the reason become part of the default list?

That's news to me.

Good news, but news nonetheless.

Enlightened badge #92. In your face, bitches!

hmmm.

@Robusto congrats!

And I suppose the close reason would have to be identical word-for-word, so it's infeasible after all.

12:20 PM

bows

@RegDwigнt I'll have to look through the "new close reasons" stuff to find out

I have 93 Endarkened badges. Eat that.

You don't know whether I mean bows as in bending from the waist or bows as in things tied with ribbon. Neither do I.

You could ask on ELU.

@RegDwigнt Get thee behind me, Commie.

12:21 PM

You are so gay today.

@RegDwigнt I tried that already. Didn't work.

@RegDwigнt You are so obsessed with gayness, I might almost suspect you to be a Republican.

Everyone is a Republican.

That is why the world is fucked.

In the cornhole.

Deep down inside we are all Sarah Palins.

Que Sarah Sarah.

12:22 PM

You're such a maverick.

@RegDwigнt yes. it seems I misunderstood. The custom reason will be available for other closers of the same question, not of other questions.

Nah, I'm the Iceman.

Iceman John?

Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop.

But! [The list of site specific close reasons] will be determined by the communities, and moderators will be able to update them, subject to review by each other, their community, and the SE team

@RegDwigнt Iceman as in Top Gun. Played by Val Kilmer.

12:24 PM

Then I vote for Rob's close reasons, for the sake of simplicity and saving time, daylight, and the children.

Hear, hear.

He really does look suspiciously like Rob.

Coincidence? I think not.

I don't know who that is, so it could be Rob

Nope, not Rob.

oh

12:26 PM

I don't have a hat like that.

maybe it's been photoshopped on

That's just covering your tracks, which is even less of a coincidence.

You never answered my question about why Russians stand so close.

Also, very few people see a hat in that image. Most say it's a kissing couple, or a vase.

Rorschach saw a hat.

12:28 PM

@Robusto I will continue to not answer that question. For free.

I've never even seen the question.

As long as you keep your distance it's OK.

I did answer you how many Russians it takes to drink a lightbulb.

3

See.

So "lightbulb" means "vodka" in Russian? Interesting.

12:29 PM

Nov 22 at 19:24, by RegDwigнt

Did you know that every second word in Russian is a euphemism for "drink all things now"? The rest being euphemisms for "your", "mother", or some combination thereof.

That's why we go over these things.

Plagiarista.

Top Gearista.

I hate Top Gear. Them's a smugly anti-American bunch of poof Brits.

I never watch Top Gear. Why would I watch Top Gear? I'm not an American and thus not their target (huhuh) audience.

I gave my notice gestern.

12:33 PM

Did gestern say thanks?

Yesterday is promised to no one.

Yet it's tomorrow that never dies.

Mitch

1:15 PM

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 Third times the charm

Q: indirect question: when + future tenses

1:31 PM

1

"Can you tell me when you have finished?" or "Can you tell me when you will have finished?" Which is correct? Both are! But they mean different things: the first means something like "Make sure you tell me as soon as you have finished.", whereas the second means "Can you tell me what time you ex...

clauses when indirect-speech

Ceci n’est pas une question.

oui oui

ni une demande.

I want my NARQ button back again.

@MattЭллен I think you misapproved that one.

english.stackexchange.com/review/suggested-edits/46359

misapproved? I can't tell what they're asking, so I voted to close as such.

I think it is the same guy trying to get us to proof his ads.

No, no.

OIC

1:39 PM

The other link.

Well, yeah, he wants to edit his own quetion but is failing, so I allowed him

What do you mean, is failing to edit his own question?

Lost authentication, maybe?

yeah

Oh.

it seems that way, at least by the anon's edit explanation

1:41 PM

I have two kittens in my lap.

sounds purrrfect

There is very little room.

in your lap?

I’m sitting cross-leggèd as is my wont. It provides a platform for them to watch me type.

awww

1:43 PM

But either they have to stop eating so much, or I need to start eating a great deal more, or the lapspace is going to come at a premium sooner than later, and then what shall I do?

have one on your shoulder

Yes, the one of them likes that.

I’ve taken to wearing a thick housecoat because bare-chested or just a t-shirt leaves marks.

Red weepy marks of claws.

One is in love with the cursor.

Rather, the mouse pointer.

It provides hours of chase.

:D

I fear my upper body looks like I’ve tried to push myself through a raspberry bramble head-first.

oh dear.

1:46 PM

I really must teach them that they are not to climb up on me when I’m not wearing heavy protective gear.

maybe instead of wearing clothes you should wear the thick carpeting they put on scratching posts.

That’s rather like this current bathrobe is.

But at least they’re momentarily peaceful. And of course, it’s time to go off for the regularly scheduled 7am call with the Other Side.

But for the prominent F, don’t those numbers look like they should be Celsius temperatures? :(

Morning!

The senate has voted to abolish the old law against blasphemy.

Dawn is breaking, it’s early morn.

The last time anyone was prosecuted for blasphemy was in 1968 (and he was acquitted).

1:51 PM

@Cerberus bloody hell!

How dare you!!

Arg, now I can't punish you, damn. I mean, darn.

it's not fun now that it's legal.

I know, it sucks.

@tchrist I dunno. it's -6°C here today, didn't seem so bad.

That's cold.

It's 7 degrees here.

1:53 PM

about the same here

@tchrist How can you go from 45 to 13 in one day? That's just weird.

@MattЭллен Long live sea climates!

indeed :D

@Cerberus it's not so weird. When I lived in Calgary it'd go from 25°C and sunny one day to 0°C and snowing the next.

I'm terribly sorry, but that is weird.

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Is that in Canada?

1:55 PM

@JasperLoy you should know that. It's not far from Mah's city

Who's Mah, and why does she have a city?

@Cerberus Yes, my point was that tchrist's temp drop isn't as weird as it gets

Mahnax.

I mean, whose Ma?

@Cerberus ...nax

1:55 PM

Ohhh.

That Mah.

aka Matthew XXX.

He keeps changing his XXX to avoid people knowing.

But he once told me his real XXX was XXX.

@JasperLoy but was he telling the truth?

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 I should think so. That is also the very first XXX I knew him by.

We also have Matthew Ellen here of course.

hello!

Chinook wind

Chinook winds , often called chinooks, commonly refers to foehn winds in the interior West of North America, where the Canadian Prairies and Great Plains meet various mountain ranges, although the original usage is in reference to wet, warm coastal winds in the Pacific Northwest of the United States of America. Chinook is claimed by popular folk-etymology to mean "eater", but it is really the name of the people in the region where the usage was first derived. The reference to a wind or weather system, simply "a Chinook", originally meant a warming wind from the ocean into the interior ...

That's one cause of weird temperatures on the east of the Rockies

> The greatest recorded temperature change in 24 hours was caused by Chinook winds on January 15, 1972, in Loma, Montana; the temperature rose from -48 to 9°C

1:58 PM

What are the major differences between US and Canada? Which is a nicer place to be?

@JasperLoy Canada is nicer.

Currently I have one high school classmate married to Germany and another married to UK. That's how they got their citizenships.

They married an entire country?

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 You have Just for Laughs which is often shown here.

@JasperLoy lol. Just for Laughs is mostly American comics

2:00 PM

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Some marry up, others marry...laterally.

@Matt did you know you had a wife? or maybe husband, Jasper didn't say

Geezis.

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 what? No! Not again! I've been slipped a roofie by a desparate spinster!

she's bribed some tramps and a pastor to marry us?

Is there gay marriage in Canada? I think there is.

Here we only have a pink dot day which raises awareness on LGBT issues, that is all.

Sanctioned by government?

2:04 PM

The govt usually does not allow such things, but this one they do.

Allow, or support?

Allow.

It will be many more years before they support such things. Maybe another million, lol

@JasperLoy Yes, we've had gay marriage for 10 years now.

> Nederlandse scholieren zijn de afgelopen drie jaar slechter gaan presteren op het gebied van wiskunde. Omdat de resultaten in andere landen harder achteruit gaan, stijgt Nederland op de ranglijst.

This is sad. "Dutch students are now worse at mathematics than three years ago. Because results are deteriorating faster in other countries, the Netherlands are now higher in international rankings."

@Cerberus Our school students are one of the best ranked in the world.

2:10 PM

I'm sure.

> Shanghai-China, and Singapore were top in maths, with students in Shanghai scoring the equivalent of nearly three years of schooling above most OECD countries. Hong Kong-China, Chinese Taipei, Korea, Macao-China, Japan, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and the Netherlands were also in the group of top-performing countries.

"Chinese Taipei"?

Is that because Taiwain considers itself the true China? Or because China considers the island part of China?

To consider the best countries in math, one should look at the list of Fields medallists instead, lol.