English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

@dr65 That day on the vernacular question, that guy said "you are all nuts" and I said "I am a nutcase btw". Little did he know that I was deadly serious!

drɱ65 δ

@JasperLoy That guy had a good thought, but he was rather too feisty in meting it out :/

Kitḫ

Oh right. On my info page, under my rep.

@drɱ65δ Yes, I did. 5 or 6 downvotes pulls it off the front page.

drɱ65 δ

@Kitḫ Check english.stackexchange.com/reputation

That shows you your real rep.

Kitḫ

1:40 AM

Yeah, I know.

I'll do a recalc after another 300 rep or so.

user19161

@drɱ65δ What is real? That is a philosophical question!

Kitḫ

It doesn't have to be.

user19161

@Kitḫ That's jumping the gun.

Kitḫ

Why?

user19161

@Kitḫ OK 300 is not too much.

drɱ65 δ

1:42 AM

Now I wonder what makes it so hard to put the real rep on the main site.

Why can the reputation page update in realtime, but the main site can't?

user19161

@drɱ65δ simchona has 658 flag weight!

drɱ65 δ

@JasperLoy Yes; that's the highest on the site, I think.

user19161

@drɱ65δ Ya she can get a badge for flagging as well as initiating closes like I said before.

drɱ65 δ

@JasperLoy What? I don't get your meaning.

user19161

And they should give me one for teaching people about @ and the left and right arrows.

user19161

1:45 AM

@drɱ65δ What's so unclear about my sentence? Initiating closes means the first person to cast a close vote.

drɱ65 δ

@JasperLoy But there isn't a badge for that.

user19161

@drɱ65δ Exactly, so it's only a joke.

drɱ65 δ

o

user19161

Well, very few people in the world can tell if I am joking or being serious, or both at the same time...

user19161

@drɱ65δ That is a new word.

drɱ65 δ

1:49 AM

@JasperLoy Not really.

user19161

Bogdan has flag weight 621. Well at least mine did not drop!

drɱ65 δ

@JasperLoy Simchona would make a good mod, IMHO.

0

Q: What is the etymology of the adjective "bumper"?

Looking at Etymonline and Dictionary.com only reveals that it was slang from 1759. Why did bumper come to mean unusually abundant, and why is it always paired up with the word crop?

etymology adjectives

user19161

@drɱ65δ Then tell her to run for it next election.

user19161

@drɱ65δ Plus one for you!

drɱ65 δ

@JasperLoy She said she'd like to remain a power user.

@JasperLoy Thanks!

Cerberus

1:54 AM

Hey people.

What do you think of my answer here:

user19161

@Cerberus Boo!

Cerberus

2

Q: Is there any case of a "convergent language family"?

As far as I know, language families originate from a process of divergent, tree-like evolution. All the languages within a family or subfamily can be traced back to the same proto-language, which was spoken several centuries ago. At some point, the various regions in which that proto-language was...

language-families evolution language-contact

drɱ65 δ

@JasperLoy BTW, I'm #3 in flag weight

With kiamlaluno and simchona in front of me.

@Cerberus Thanks for sharing!

user19161

@drɱ65δ Oh so you also do crazy things like note all these statistics!

drɱ65 δ

@JasperLoy Yes. I just passed F'x by .1 flag weight, so an hour ago, I was #4.

user19161

1:56 AM

@Cerberus I am not competent to judge a linguistics issue.

Cerberus

@drɱ65δ It was only in my own interest!

@JasperLoy Oh, OK.

drɱ65 δ

@Cerberus I can't help upvoting :)

user19161

@Cerberus But I am not going to join the site so cannot give you plus one!

Cerberus

@drɱ65δ Oh, thanks!

user19161

@drɱ65δ Yeah, we are all cheating openly now.

Cerberus

1:57 AM

@JasperLoy Oh, don't worry.

drɱ65 δ

@JasperLoy No way. It's not cheating - we are experts :P

Cerberus

I didn't post it here for the votes; just to see whether people had some arguments I hadn't thought of.

drɱ65 δ

@Cerberus I already upvoted Otavio about an hour ago

user19161

I usually post my question or answer here when it has gotten zero votes for long. Once I deleted all my answers with zero votes, about 10 of them I think.

drɱ65 δ

@JasperLoy Same here - probably 20.

I am fastidious

g2g - sorry - thanks!

user19161

2:00 AM

@drɱ65δ See you soon!

Cerberus

@drɱ65δ Yeah he is pretty great. I didn't know you could vote on people's profiles!

Hehe.

Bye!

Matt Эллен

8:35 AM

@aediaλ You can get it back on windows by pressing alt

Matt Эллен

8:59 AM

@Cerberus I think I don't understand the question. Isn't (old) English an example of such a language that Octavio is looking for? It started out Angle and then trading with invaders who became settlers changed not just its vocabulary but also its structure.

Matt Эллен

11:41 AM

is anyone else having a problem reaching imgur or gravatar?

it could be work's firewall I suppose

Matt Эллен

12:19 PM

no probs. connectivity has been resumed!

Kitḫ

12:39 PM

Morning!

user19161

@MattЭллен There was a problem just now but it's fine now.

user19161

@Kitḫ Evening! It's 8.42 pm here!

Matt Эллен

1:00 PM

Hullo @Kit, @JasperLoy :)

Matt Эллен

1:14 PM

My EL&U rep is 4142 :D how consecutive

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Kitḫ

@MattЭллен w00t!

Ergh. Refactor? Maybe...

Matt Эллен

@MrShinyandNew安宇 where are the tauntauns?

Kitḫ

Cranky pants? Definitely.

Matt Эллен

sweet kit, though :)

Kitḫ

1:28 PM

Oh thanks.

Matt Эллен

@Kitḫ oh noes!

:D

Kitḫ

I dunno...I like the pirates better.

Matt Эллен

Also, @MrShinyandNew, the Lego Star Wars kit looks nice

Kitḫ

poke I was just teasing.

Matt Эллен

I know :)

I thought I'd let the compliment stand

@Kitḫ refactoring is good for the soul

or your soles

sending javascript arrays to cherrypy is somewhat vexing

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

1:33 PM

@MattЭллен It's some guy's creation, at micro-scale. I just thought those tiny AT-ATs were so cute.

Matt Эллен

@MrShinyandNew安宇 oh! nice.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

The rest of his work is here secure.flickr.com/photos/24681250@N07

He's really quite clever.

Matt Эллен

indeed! those are very creative

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Here is one that is pirate-themed

Matt Эллен

those misshapen windows are clever. I like timmy being stuck down the well. how will we rescue him?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

1:46 PM

I think those misshapen windows are holes that have been knocked into the walls, but I'm not sure.

Matt Эллен

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Oh, yeah, I see red bricks behind the holes. Even cleverer!

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

1:59 PM

woo, firefox 8... time to restart my browser

welp, that was easy

Matt Эллен

I held off upgrading for some reason. I guess I probably should, for "security" reasons. I'm sure it's just so they can monitor my browsing from their ivory towers and use the data to send out telepathic mind control

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@MattЭллен Come on, that's ridiculous! Everyone knows ivory blocks telepathy! That's why you can't import it anymore.

Matt Эллен

@MrShinyandNew安宇 that's what they want you to think! I see the upgrade is already working...

You can't import ivory because all the ivory in existence makes their towers!

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

2:17 PM

@MattЭллен You've got it all wrong! They have to hide from their own telepathic control, and they do that in the ivory towers. The telepathy is actually transmitted by subliminal messages in web ads, and by toxins sprayed on the public from airplane engines

JSBᾶngs

2:56 PM

i need a nap

and it's only 9 am

Matt Эллен

3:26 PM

+1 to stack overflow for answering my cherrypy problem :)

Jez

3:47 PM

thefreedictionary.com/ma%27am

lolol, "maa-single-quote-ay-em"

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

4:01 PM

@Jez ?

oh, just found it

the computer-generated "british" pronunciation

yeah basically no human being would every say "single quote" unless dictating code.

btw, is LOLOL "LOL out loud", that is, when a person says "lawl" instead of actually laughing?

Jez

4:35 PM

nah it's just a funny rendition of lol

like lolololol

JSBᾶngs

fact: Push is the best song The Cure ever wrote

Jez

hmm did Grammar Girl ever do the thing on ELU?

JSBᾶngs

►

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Jez That's where you say "lawlawlawl"

Matt Эллен

@Jez There is a blog article about the grammar girl interview

Stack Exchange English Language & Usage Blog: Grammar Girl Interview

Mr. Shiny & New on October 19, 2011

As someone who is interested in the English language and word history, I don’t just participate in English Language & Usage, I also read other blogs. Grammar Girl, from Quick and Dirty Tips, is a good blog to read for English advice. She recently agreed to do an interview for us. I polled the community and we sent her these questions. Here are her responses.

How did you choose the name Grammar Girl? It just popped into my head, and I liked the alliteration. In retrospect, I think it works especially well because “girl” is a very nonthreatening word, and a lot of people are anxious abo …

is that what you mean?

@MrShinyandNew安宇 LOL! LOL! LOL! Merry LOLmas, cats and burgers

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

4:50 PM

Or maybe "lololololol" is a new way of writing "hahahahaha"

Matt Эллен

au revoir, mes amis

Kitḫ

5:18 PM

Oh, delicious salad, soon you will be joined by this yummy raspberry yogurt.

Jez

salad is so unfilling.

no way can i tolerate it as a meal

JSBᾶngs

5:39 PM

you obviously haven't been having the right salads

Jez

yeah i have, even with crutons

they just leave me starving an hour or two later, which one would expect considering they're mostly water

Kitḫ

You are mostly water too, you know.

JSBᾶngs

a good cobb salad is mostly cheese and chicken by weight

it's mostly lettuce by volume, but who cares? the lettuce is there for texture

(chicken and bacon and other goodies)

Kitḫ

I prefer spinach over lettuce.

To lettuce.

Whatever. That question has got me all muddled now.

JSBᾶngs

i like spring greens, but whatever

Kitḫ

5:54 PM

Yes, spring greens are also nice.

JSBᾶngs

the point is: in a good salad the greens are there for texture and volume, but the majority of the mass and flavor is provided by the other stuff

Kitḫ

Like balsamic vinegar and garlic and oregano.

And hummus and feta.

JSBᾶngs

you can make a salad with as much protein as a hamburger if you want

mmmmm feta

Kitḫ

mmmmmm steak salad

Oh! My yogurt! I forgot!

Jez

I wonder why we like quite a few salad things, but not grass?

Kitḫ

5:56 PM

I like grass.

Not fescue so much, but wheat is quite tasty.

Corn too.

JSBᾶngs

typical lawn grass doesn't taste very good

@Kitḫ oooh, young corn shoots are delicious. very sweet

Jez

Yeah but we don't digest lawn grass well or something?

So why can we digest lettuce

JSBᾶngs

@Jez we don't digest the cellulose in lettuce any better than the cellulose in grass. that's why lettuce is nearly calorie-free for us

see above re: greens are for texture and flavor

also celery

Kitḫ

And roughage is necessary for cleaning your pipes.

Precisely because we don't digest it.

Cerberus

@Jez: It depends on how many calories your salad contains. If too few, it'll leave you starving.

Jez

6:09 PM

it's never the salady bits in salad that really have calories.

it's the bread/meat/etc.

ie. NOT salad

so if you have a 'salad' which is filling, i say you're not having a 'salad', you're having a salad along with filling food

aedia λ

There are vitamins in some of the salady things.

I really want a salad now.

Kitḫ

Well, sure, if you define "salad" as things that don't fill you up, then naturally, salad is not filling.

aedia λ

With like, a mountain of cheese.

drools

Cerberus

@Jez D'oh!

Jez

cheese = not salad

JSBᾶngs

6:12 PM

@Jez, i'd argue that a "salad" is when you take delicious filling things and arrange them in a bowl with greens, in the same way that a sandwich is taking delicious filling things and arranging them between slices of bread.

Cerberus

I'd argue it is more like a broccoli quiche.

Jez

@JSBᾶngs Nah

I mean people have a "salad bowl" at a buffet and it only has the non-filling stuff in

Kitḫ

Jez just wants to complain and be right. I say we let him.

Cerberus

We both know it is the cheese that makes your clock tick; but it is called a broccoli quiche.

Jez

becasue it contains... salad

Kitḫ

6:14 PM

Quiche. Yuck.

Cerberus

@Jez If that is all they eat, they will eat maybe 100 calories, aka a crash diet that will be their doom.

@Kitḫ Hey!!

What's wrong with quiche?

Jez

not mine because my body will make me feel like crap until i eat something filling

Cerberus

Not yours what?

Kitḫ

@Cerberus Yuck is what's wrong with quiche.

Jez

my doom

Cerberus

6:15 PM

@Kitḫ But but... how!

@Jez And feeling like crap is pretty damn bad, isn't it?

Kitḫ

@Cerberus I don't know. It has something to do with the consistency of the eggs. It makes no sense because I like omelets.

Cerberus

@Kitḫ Maybe you are thinking of those gummy supermarket quiches with bacon that hasn't been properly fried.

A quiche is basically in between an omelet and fondue!

Kitḫ

Fondue. Yuck.

Cerberus

Well, basically just lots of cheese, then.

Not the gluey kind.

Kitḫ

Cheese is good.

Cerberus

6:17 PM

See?

A quiche is all about the cheese.

Kitḫ

Gluey I don't mind. Gritty is gross.

Cerberus

Gritty cheese?

Kitḫ

I feel like throwing up a little just thinking about it.

Jez

what's wrong with fondue?

@Cerberus Parmesan?

Cerberus

How can you put gritty cheese in a quiche?

@Jez Yeah but in a quiche it has been heated so it won't be gritty.

Kitḫ

6:18 PM

No, no. I mean, when the cheese separates and it's got little curds all through it. Ick.

Cerberus

Hmm well I don't think that is supposed to happen in a quiche?

Do you like a fried egg with cheese?

gag no

Cheese omelet?

Yes.

What's the difference?

Jez

6:25 PM

cheese omelette, but it needs to be cooked the way i like it

loads of pepper in the mix, and cooked properly on both sides without any runny egg left

Kitḫ

@Cerberus Omelets taste good; fried eggs taste barfy.

Cerberus

Hmm... to me, an omelet is a fried egg. Or are you thinking about lots of butter/oil?

How much fat would you need to call an egg fried?

Well, whatever.

Jez

►

poached egg in soup?

Cerberus

What kind of a weird video is that!?

Jez

Garth Marenghi's Darkplace

bit of a British thing

a spoof of 80s sci fi with ludicrously bad acting and implausible storylines

Kitḫ

6:33 PM

Sounds like fun.

Cerberus

@Jez Haha OK, that's what it looked like.

The woman's face is slightly green.

Jez

yeah, she's turning into broccoli

Kitḫ

Oh dear.

Cerberus

Haha.

Kitḫ

I should very much like to eat her then.

Cerberus

6:35 PM

Even in a quiche?

A nice and mushy supermarket quiche?

Kitḫ

Jez

green peppers aren't great, but they're not the dealbreaker that onions are for me

Cerberus

Eww peppers.

Yuck.

Barf.

I am that cat.

aedia λ

What's wrong with peppers?

Cerberus

Oh wait I was a dog person.

I don't like them!

By the way, it's got mushrooms too! Ewww! Gross!

Kitḫ

6:40 PM

You still are a dog person, aren't you? I thought you had bad feelings about boxes.

Jez

> The misleading name "pepper" (pimiento in Spanish) was given by Christopher Columbus upon bringing the plant back to Europe. At that time peppercorns, the fruit of Piper nigrum, an unrelated plant originating from India, were a highly prized condiment; the name "pepper" was at that time applied in Europe to all known spices with a hot and pungent taste and so naturally extended to the newly discovered Capsicum genus.

Bloody Columbus. Is there anything he did right?

aedia λ

I just don't get all these food aversions.

Kitḫ

Interesting factoid about the Capsicum genus...

Cerberus

@Kitḫ Oh, well, I don't really dislike boxes. They can be comfortable.

Kitḫ

Now I am really confused.

aedia λ

6:42 PM

I basically eat anything that doesn't make me puke or have an anaphylactic reaction.

Cerberus

They can be cozy.

No nosy strangers.

@aediaλ I wish I were like that!

Kitḫ

But the invisible box with holes?

Cerberus

I like most things. Mushrooms and peppers are my nemeses.

aedia λ

@Kitḫ I think he just wishes he had one.

Kitḫ

*nemisinides

Cerberus

6:43 PM

@Kitḫ Well, somehow I feel a bit ambiguous about that.

Kitḫ

@aediaλ Oh! That makes sense. Who wouldn't want a box?

@Cerberus I don't understand that.

I love my box most of the time, but lately it has been getting me down.

Cerberus

@Kitḫ Actually it happens to be nemesis in Latin/Greek.

@Kitḫ Neither do I.

@Kitḫ It's still misbehaving?

Kitḫ

grumpy face

Cerberus

That sucks.

Kitḫ

@Cerberus psst It's a joke.

@Cerberus i no rite?

Cerberus

6:46 PM

@Kitḫ I knew that, but then I was curious about what the real plural was. So I reported my quick search.

Kitḫ

Oh. So it's not nemeses? It's just nemesis?

Cerberus

@Kitḫ Has the wrapping expert taken a look at it yet?

Kitḫ

That's not fun.

@Cerberus head slap BRB

Cerberus

@Kitḫ Oh, dammit! I even managed to typo that! No, it is nemeses, the plural.

Jez

52

Languages

Proposed Q&A site for anyone learning a new language or wanting to have a quick translation of a sentence/idea. This site is focused on people looking for resources to learn new languages, translating phrases or questions, as well as grammar related questions.

Currently in commitment.

this is getting ridiculous. we have a site for each language, a Linguistics, and also a Languages?

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…