English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

9:09 AM

@tchrist it was actually Inquisitive. I switched it to Illuminator because I am not asking any questions. And I didn't realize this thing was public and anyone would care.

Robusto

@JohanLarsson In our web version of the git repository

Robusto

11:22 AM

So I'm formulating a hypothesis: that the quality of QA personnel is inversely proportional to the tenure of the employees they're assigned to work with. In other words, if you're new at a company, you tend to work with the worst, and only through seniority do you get to work with the good ones.

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector ] Offensive body detected: Word for wasteful death? by silenceislife on english.stackexchange.com

Andrew Leach

Sure-fire way to make sure a question does not meet quality standards.

Robusto

Yep.

@AndrewLeach Can that kind of behavior get a user banned?

Andrew Leach

Yes, but not usually for a first offence. The flagged post is removed and there's an associated rep loss.

A second would get a mod message (and possibly a suspension); a third would result in a suspension.

Each circumstance is judged on its merits, though.

Robusto

I would rate "you nazi fucks" pretty high on the "ban me" meter.

In that it is a deliberate, offensive provocation.

Mitch

12:07 PM

@Robusto I don't know...I thought 'you nazi fucks' was pretty sincere.

Robusto

Heh.

Mitch

just in time

spelling is only a suggestion

like with words. people understand what they want to understand anyway, not necessarily what was intended.

For example I intended to mean that I'd like a toasted ham and cheese, and a pumpkin spice latte with that.

But 'you nazi fucks' probably didn't take it that way. And by using quotes, I mean that literally. Wait... I meant ' 'you nazi fucks' '.

tchrist

No, cheese goes on apple pie not pumpkin pie.

Mitch

De gustibus non disputhatsgross.

tchrist

epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/…

Ever had a cherry danish? It has cheese in it.

Robusto

12:15 PM

I thought all Danish were cheesy.

tchrist

Same with apple.

Mitch

Don't use logic with me, man!

Robusto

I like cheese so much, I have it with cheesecake as well.

Mitch

That's so cheesy.

tchrist

Sharp Cheddar cheesecake.

Swiss cheesecake fondue.

Limburger cheesecake.

Mitch

12:17 PM

or schmalzy

@tchrist OK, now that's wrong.

tchrist

cheflippe.wordpress.com/2014/12/11/…

Rule 34.

Robusto

@tchrist Said the man from the state of "Honk if you love cheeses" bumper stickers.

tchrist

Cheese is just milk that’s gone off.

Mitch

@tchrist Anything you can imagine, there's a community on the internet for eating it?

tchrist

With a prokaryote.

Mitch

12:19 PM

It loved the milk so much it did marry it!

Robusto

So it's official: same-sex marriage has become a boring topic.

tchrist

I turned it off before they hit Dakota.

terdon

@Robusto When was it not?

Robusto

Oh, ten years ago, I guess. But now when I hear yet another story of someone's noble struggle to fight prejudice I just switch stations.

tchrist

@terdon Under Alexander? :)

Robusto

12:24 PM

Maybe I'm just cynical, but you can see the fingerprints of the editorial team trying to wedge all of experience into a few narrow channels they think will gain them the most traction among the reader-/viewer-/listenership.

terdon

@tchrist I assume they were a non-issue then. Come to think of it, I have no idea what the marriage customs in Ancient Greek or Hellenistic times were.

Robusto

@terdon They had female wives and male lovers.

The men, that is.

terdon

@Robusto Yes, but was there any official status given to the lovers? How were marriages defined? Religious ceremony presumably but which/how? Were same-sex marriages actually forbidden?

tchrist

History of same-sex unions

Although state-recognized same-sex unions are becoming more accepted, there is some history of same-sex unions around the world. Various types of same-sex unions have existed, ranging from informal, unsanctioned, and temporary relationships to highly ritualized unions that have included marriage. == Old World == === Classical Europe, Middle East and China === While it is a relatively new practice that same-sex couples are being granted the same form of legal marital recognition as commonly used by mixed-sexed couples, there is some history of recorded same-sex unions around the world. ...

Robusto

@terdon No official status in the legal, property-conferring sense.

terdon

12:27 PM

> A same-sex union was known in Ancient Greece and Rome

tchrist

A jealous mistress is the law.

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector ] Nested quote blocks in body: Are the cats and dogs of the idiom "it's raining cats and dogs" plural in usage? by Alexander K. on english.stackexchange.com

tchrist

@SmokeDetector fp

Oh right, he won’t listen except in MSE chat.

Robusto

@terdon Yes, but "known" doesn't mean accepted or, still less, unremarkable.

terdon

What's wrong with nested quotes anyway? Why does smokey pick up on them?

Robusto

12:29 PM

smokey is just fussy that way. Don't judge.

terdon

@Robusto Yes, so I saw. I took that phrase as meaning that they were accepted but further reading shows they were not.

Andrew Leach

@tchrist Actually, that wasn't a false positive. There really were nested quotes.

Robusto

Yeah. I just fixed them.

But there is a certain decorum that smokey attempts to address.

tchrist

@AndrewLeach Well, yes. But it wasn’t spam or offensive that I could see.

Andrew Leach

@terdon There's no point in nesting quotes with no other content. It's different if there is other text (like a dictionary entry, with a quoted citation).

Robusto

12:32 PM

Nested quotes may be a proven signifier of spam. That's all I can suppose about that.

terdon

@Robusto Yes, that's what I was told in the tavern just now.

@AndrewLeach No, but they're not actively detrimental either. I had not realized that they were often indicative of spam, so couldn't understand why smokey bothered with them.

Robusto

@terdon smokey is our watchdog. He barks at burglars and mailmen alike.

-1

Q: What does it mean when a girl says "noted" to you?

So I was talking to my friend about something I find disgusting and she replied, "Noted." I replied back, "Noted what?" and she said, "All dat." So I am a little confused on what she was trying to say?

british-english

This is not a bad question. I hope it doesn't get closed.

terdon

12:56 PM

@Robusto Sorry to disappoint.

Huh, you were serious? How is that a good question?

Robusto

@terdon Is disapoint the opposite of datapoint? Discuss.

@terdon It is illuminating an interesting corner of English, IMO.

I voted to reopen.

terdon

@Robusto Why? It's a perfectly normal use of the verb. Seems classic GR to me.

@Robusto And I have no idea what you're talking about. whistles

Robusto

@terdon It is the connotation that is important here, not the denotation.

@terdon There is no badge for editing your typos in chat. Just so you know.

terdon

@Robusto I know, else Cerb would have had the gold one by now.

@Robusto Hmm. OK, why not edit it then and remove the reference to girl and make it a bit more generic and about the idiom?

Robusto

@terdon He would have a gold one for leaving them alone as well.

@terdon There's a thought.

terdon

1:00 PM

I can't leave typos alone. One of the best things about being a mod is being able to correct typos in old comments.

Mine, I mean. I'll leave others' alone. Usually.

Robusto

I edited the post and even made up a new tag: social-interaction. I think we need that. Surprised it wasn't there already.

terdon

@Robusto Better, voted to reopen.

RegDwigнt

1:23 PM

@Robusto that's not a bad question for ELL. On ELU, it's sorta way too basic.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt Sez you.

It's at least better than all the "grammatical" and "which is best" questions we get.

RegDwigнt

Well no, sez you in your answer.

Robusto

Better meaning more interesting.

I'm clutching at straws here.

RegDwigнt

Your answer is not something a normal person doesn't know.

Robusto

The ELU diet has not enough fat and carbs.

Mitch

1:24 PM

s/normal/native English speaker/

RegDwigнt

Besides, the question suffers from the "I can't ask this person I'm talking to, must ask random strangers off the internet instead" issue.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt So we only deal with questions from "normal" people?

Mitch

We're pretty random, so It's a good source

RegDwigнt

Jul 4 '14 at 12:10, by RegDwigнt

When people are talking to someone, in person, and that someone produces something they don't understand, but then rather than asking right then and there what the heck they mean, people wait patiently till the person is no longer available, then ask a bunch of strangers off the Internet instead, who don't have any context whatsoever.

Robusto

The answers to most of the questions we get would be readily understandable by "normal" people.

RegDwigнt

1:25 PM

@Robusto you misread what I said.

Robusto

Either that or you missaid what I read.

Mitch

I think the part about the question that is annoying is the 'what does it mean when a girl says this'.

Which you conveniently removed

RegDwigнt

@Robusto understandable != known.

This is not meant to be a site for answers any random person on the street can provide.

Mitch

WHen a girl says it means one thing and when a dude says it, it means, well, obviously he doesn't want to go there.

The answer to the fifth why that the guy is seeking, well, we could answer it but it'd take a few more why's after that.

RegDwigнt

@Robusto I said "not ... doesn't". You missed the second negation. You also somehow read "answer" as "question".

Mitch

1:28 PM

OK, the girl doesn't like you.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt You're so picky.

Apr 30 '14 at 22:53, by Robusto

In any case, let's just agree I'm right and drop it.

RegDwigнt

@Robusto I don't have to agree to your being right in order for you to be right. Or do I?

Since when do Americans require agreement?

Robusto

@RegDwigнt It would be better for all involved if you did.

RegDwigнt

Is this Obamacare?

@Robusto which is the very reason I won't.

Robusto

You are a contrarian.

RegDwigнt

1:31 PM

No, I'm merely not Father Theresa.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt See? Contrarian.

RegDwigнt

I don't see shit and I'm not from Mexico.

Or was it Venusuela.

Doesn't matter I'm not from wherever.

Mildly uninterestingly, a Google Image Search for "contrarian" produces images of Katie Holmes, more anorexic and annoying than usual.

Robusto

@RegDwigнt Wherever ain't no country I ever heard of. Do they speak English in wherever?

RegDwigнt

@Robusto What?

Robusto

Hehe.

Say what again. I dare you.

RegDwigнt

1:46 PM

What again.

Robusto

gunplay ensues

RegDwigнt

You look like dorks.

Robusto

They're your clothes, motherfucker.

-1

Q: Listening is the most Neglated skill Srilankan language discuss?

listening is the most Neglated skill our srilankan language discuss?

listening

Really?

Mitch

Great question, but we don't do discussion.

Oops, I just neglated my pants.

terdon

@Mitch They need attention too you know.

RegDwigнt

2:04 PM

> an infinitive number of combinations

TIL @ ELU

Mitch

3:01 PM

@RegDwigнt I can do that with a split infinity

SmokeDetector

[ SmokeDetector ] Blacklisted user: How many words can you fill in the blank with? by silenceislife on english.stackexchange.com

Robusto

@Mitch You can't split infinity. It all just fills in, like a hole in the ocean.

Mitch

3:42 PM

22 hours ago, by Mitch

What's worse than finding a wormhole in your hotpocket? Finding half a wormhole in your hotpocket.

@MattE.Эллен Have you ever visited Bourton-on-the-water? Or maybe we all live in the model of Bourton-on-the-water and don't know it?

Robusto

@Mitch Wormholes are not infinity.

Mitch

@Robusto You and your 'words' and 'thinking' and slavish dedication to 'logic'.

Robusto

What's worse than finding a wordhole in your logic?

terdon

@Robusto Finding half a wordhole in your logic?

Robusto

Exactamente.

Matt E. Эллен

4:24 PM

@Mitch yes. they have a great model railway museum.

or they did 20 years ago

Mitch

4:42 PM

@MattE.Эллен well, it seems there is at least a model railway toy store

Matt E. Эллен

yeah, probably the same thing :D

Robusto

It should be renamed to "Bourton-not-really-on-the-water" . . .

Or "Bourton-not-really-on-the-water-unless-bathtubs-count" . . .

Mitch

I saw some water. Wait... it was rain. So England-on-the-water

Robusto

You mean Water-on-the-England.

Johan Larsson

5:27 PM

They should rename 'Check in' to 'Wrestle in' in TFS.

Cerberus

@Mitch A wormhole in your troposphere?

I suppose it is better than a black hole, but...

Johan Larsson

@AndrewLeach Why?

crl

6:21 PM

Mitch

6:38 PM

@Cerberus That's the sun. That's why they tell you not to look at it directly because it'll suck your eyes out of your skull after you see into the secrets of the other universe. Really.

Cerberus

I didn't know the sun was in our troposphaere.

In yours, perhaps.

Andrew Leach

@JohanLarsson Because there were rather a large number of spam posts with Korean characters in them.

english.stackexchange.com/questions/239525/…

(Deleted: 10k only)

Johan Larsson

ok

Mitch

@Cerberus Look man, I'm using science. The troposphere is a fancy word for 'the sky', and the sun is up in the sky. Ergo, you need brain glasses, glasses that make you think better. Wait ... _scribbles down patent idea... sends to patent office... checks bank account for deposit... hmm... _

Cerberus

6:55 PM

@Mitch You'll make a fine patent troll.

You have the greenness.

Mitch

I'm sincere.

I learned how to fake that a long time ago.

Cerberus

Excellent.

crl

greenness

crl