English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

KitFox

13:07

Damn it! Flurry-crushed x2. Augh!

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Hah. Mawcor is as treacherous as ever.

KitFox

0

Q: Is it proper to ask to belay a request to a superior?

The term belay is often used to cancel an order in military settings. The definition indicates it just means to cancel. However, would asking a superior (in a civilian private sector employment situation) add an improper tone to the request?

word-usage

What do you think of this?

We have entertained plenty of "customary appropriateness" questions before.

Except I think the answer depends on the OP's relationship with his superior.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Ghostbusters podracer

KitFox

13:23

@Matt Hey! Why aren't you in chat, Mr. McCommenter?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Wait, is the McCommenter? Or Mayor McComment?

KitFox

lol

I am so hungry right now.

And I left all my monies at home.

And all my IDs as well.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

hm

KitFox

I have a candy cane from two Christmases ago in my desk.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

that reminds me, time to get oatmeal. I'll make some for you too.

brb

KitFox

13:27

thx

yay! my husband will rescue me later.

Matt Эллен

@KitFox Oh just trying to maintain the facade that I'm working

Gigili

Is there a single word for "to listen to people’s conversations and control their families’ movements unnoticeably"?

Other than "topeople’sconversationsandcontroltheirfamiliesmovementsunnoticeably".

Matt Эллен

these are our greatest hits. How can we make it so the top 5 are interesting English questions? we have 2 about jokes, one about signing off email and, well the other 2 are sort of ok, but not great.

@Gigili Machiavellian springs to mind

although I don't think it's appropriate

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

> The current algorithm divides the number of page views with the total amount of question and answer feedback received (adding a bonus for high view counts), excluding questions with less views than the median

Maybe we can start by changing "less views" to "fewer views"

I know it's not a real rule but it still rankles

Robusto

@MrShinyandNew安宇 I'm for less rules overall.

Matt Эллен

13:41

hmmm, so unless we implement a system of voter fraud, and go around saying the questions are unhelpful, we're stuck with them

@Robusto you can fit more of them in your pockets that way

Robusto

Les rules!

Matt Эллен

:D

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Fewer doesn't.

Robusto

Phew.

Matt Эллен

but if your rules are less then you have to have more to measure the same distance as longer rules

RegDwight Ѭſ道

13:44

That's loser talk.

Robusto

I'm coming to the point where I will have to restart my computer. Windows Update says I have to.

@RegDwightѬſ道 Also, looser talk.

Matt Эллен

damnit, i've been found out again

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Robusto and cue three-headed dog comment in 3, ... 2, .... 1!

Gigili

@MattЭллен Does it make sense to you" Is it lawful to listen to people’s phone conversations and chase after their families just because of accusation?" Or should I use "stalk" instead?

Robusto

I don't see no 3-headed doggy.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

13:45

Bah. Capitalist Americans let their lives be dictated to them by Microsoft. USSR! USSR!

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Gigili Where are you thinking of using "stalk" in this sentence?

and I don't understand "because of accusation"

Matt Эллен

@Gigili stalk is a stronger word, but it is redundant to ask if it is legal, since it is not. You should use it if you're being rhetorical.

Robusto

@RegDwightѬſ道 Remember glory days of vacuum tubes and workers' paradise. Work to defeat capitalist semiconductors. Socialist conductors complete circuits!

RegDwight Ѭſ道

in War Metal Tyrant, Sep 26 '11 at 17:06, by Vitaly

@Robusto Here's your doggy.

Matt Эллен

awesome

Robusto

13:47

Yo mama.

Gigili

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Because they think they might do a crime but they are not sure.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Why does Rob call Matt's mother awesome?

Gigili

@MattЭллен Yes, that's the case.

Matt Эллен

@RegDwightѬſ道 maybe he means the Nintendo DS game

Gigili

"Stalk" instead of "chase after"

RegDwight Ѭſ道

13:48

@MattЭллен Yo cooking mama?

Matt Эллен

possibly

Gigili

@RegDwightѬſ道 "Bah" is under MY copyright.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Show me the copyright.

So I can ignore it.

USSR! USSR!

Matt Эллен

One doesn't need to be in the USSR to ignore copyright, just to get away with it

Gigili

@MrShinyandNew: What do you suggest to write instead of "just because of accusation"?

Robusto

13:53

Yo mama so fat she got her own area code.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Gigili Essentially, you are asking if it is legal to eavesdrop on someone's conversation because you believe they might have committed a crime?

Robusto

1

Q: Is it proper to ask to belay a request to a superior?

The term belay is often used to cancel an order in military settings. The definition indicates it just means to cancel. However, would asking a superior (in a civilian private sector employment situation) add an improper tone to the request?

word-choice verbs

I think this guy means "relay" and not "belay" ... beally, I do.

Gigili

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Exactly, eavesdropping on their conversations and stalking their families just because they might have committed a crime. I mean this being done by the government.

Matt Эллен

Oh! Hark @Kit, answering that question I said couldn't be answered.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Aug 23 '11 at 22:48, by RegDwight Ѭſ道

@ChaosGamerΕΛΥēelū Yo mama so fat, she sat on a binary tree and flattened it into a linked list in O(1) time.

Anonymous

13:57

Hello

Matt Эллен

Hello

Anonymous

I have question about job in English language. If I write some articles in English and want to hire someone to correct and re-write my articles - make it better English. What is the job's name of people I want to hire?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Hello

Robusto

Restarting my computer.

►

Matt Эллен

Restating "My computer"

KitFox

13:59

@Anonymous A copyeditor.

Matt Эллен

@Anonymous copyeditor or proofreader

Anonymous

What's the difference between copyeditor and proofreader?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Gigili In that context, "stalking" would be an appropriate word. However, "just because of accusations" sounds unidiomatic. Have the people been accused? or just suspected? Either way I think you need "just because of suspicion of criminal activity" or "just because they are suspected of a crime" or something. "accusation" or "suspicion" should be left hanging like that.

(Unless you've already talked about the accusation or suspicion before... then it might be ok.)

Gigili

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Right, thank you.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

actually, hm. I still think you'd need to say something like "just because of these accusations", or "these suspicions". An unqualified "accusation" or "suspicion" sounds wrong to me.

Gigili

14:03

I didn't talk about it before, is it correct if I go for "just because of suspicion of criminal activity"?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Gigili I guess if there was more context we could discuss how much freedom you have in that sentence. But standing alone, you must say accusation of what.

@Gigili That sounds fine. It's a little long. But it's hard to say how to reword it without more context.

Gigili

The original text says only "because of such assusations" or something. Doens't say anything about accusation of what.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Ah, well, in that case, "such" refers you back to previously mentioned accusations. That's good enough.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

0

Q: "Thank you all" Wrong or Right?

In many occasions, we often considering thanking our audience. In this scenario, I an not sure if "Thank you all" is a right English? Should it be used as "Thanking you all" instead to make it sound correct?

grammaticality correction

ELU Lite.

Gigili

@MrShinyandNew安宇 This is the context. paste.ubuntu.com/880383

Robusto

14:11

@Anonymous A proofreader checks one manuscript against another manuscript to make sure the one is a perfect copy of the other; a copy editor makes grammar and style changes in a single manuscript.

Anonymous

Thank you @Robusto

RegDwight Ѭſ道

One would think the copy editor were the one to work with copies.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

> Is it lawful to eavesdrop on people’s phone conversations and stalking their families just because of suspicion of criminal activity?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Stupid illogical English.

KitFox

@RegDwightѬſ道 No, they work with "copy" not copies.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

14:13

Exactly. The edit a copy of something.

Robusto

@RegDwightѬſ道 More better logical Russian.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Robusto That's not a valid argument.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Gigili In that sentence I'd say it should be "to stalk", not "stalking"

Robusto

@RegDwightѬſ道 Is walid argument.

KitFox

@RegDwightѬſ道 No, copy in the sense of "written matter intended to be reproduced in printed form" and "the text of a news story, advertisement, television commercial, etc., as distinguished from related visual material."

RegDwight Ѭſ道

14:14

@KitFox Why so serious?

Gigili

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Thank you so much.

KitFox

Oh. I have a bad toothache and I just want me teeth extracted.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Can do.

KitFox

At least two of them anyway.

Please do.

These two right here. points

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

1. tie one end of a piece of string to tooth. 2. tie the other end of the string to a doorknob. 3. slam door.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

14:15

@KitFox Tie your Internet cable to them, I'll pull at my end.

KitFox

They are my back molars. I don't think that will work.

@RegDwightѬſ道 Brilliant.

Robusto

@MrShinyandNew安宇 That's your answer for everything.

KitFox

I can't find my internet cable...

ties wireless signal around back teeth

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Well I'm pulling.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Robusto When the only tool you have is a string tied to a doorknob, every problem starts to look like a tooth in need of a yankin'.

Robusto

14:17

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Works great on linked lists, too.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Unless yo mama sits on them.

Robusto

Or unless Yo Yo Ma sits on them.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

He must suffer from the yoyo effect.

Robusto

Or the boomerang effect. I don't remember which.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Like a bang, a boome boomerang, dum dee dum dum dee dum dee dum dum.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

14:20

Is the yoyo effect where you throw the yoyo down and it just hangs there, refusing to come back up?

Robusto

@MrShinyandNew安宇 No. That is "Walk the Dog."

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@MrShinyandNew安宇 No, the yoyo effect is when it refuses to go down in the first place.

It's very technical. Get an expert to help.

Robusto

@RegDwightѬſ道 Unlike Yo Mama. Or Yo Yo Ma.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Yo Mama is so unlike Yo Yo Ma.

Robusto

If there were a God, I would thank him for that.

Gigili

14:23

@Anonymous: Why you want to hire someone? There's a site for that.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Robusto eltonography.com/songs/…

Anonymous

What's the website's name?

Robusto

@RegDwightѬſ道 And it seems to me, you lived your life like a candle in the mind.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

You misspelled mint.

A cattle in the mint.

Mitch

@Anonymous oDesk

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

14:26

Hey, so can I brag about my daughter again?

KitFox

Yes, please!

Gigili

@Anonymous onehourtranslation.com

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

On saturday she decided to make something for her grandparents. So she got out a piece of paper, drew on it, then wrote a message, without consulting anyone. She wanted to write "From <her name> to Grand-maman and Grand-papa", so she "sounded out" the letters and wrote "farm<hername>togramamaandgrapapa"

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Gigili Careful, that psycho Robin Williams works at that place.

Robusto

Ha, my son just texted me: "A system having two items is binary, and one having three is called ternary. What would you call a system having one item." I texted back "Unary. But in bio [his major] it might be called monadic."

RegDwight Ѭſ道

14:28

Okay, ladies and gents, that is bragging.

KitFox

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Wow! Great job!

Gigili

@RegDwightѬſ道 That what? Who is he?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Facepalm.

KitFox

Mork!

Robusto

@RegDwightѬſ道 You knew I was vain. Don't act so shocked.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

14:29

I don't act shocked.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox I was super-pleased.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Am I such a bad actor you can't tell my shocked from my awed?

KitFox

@MrShinyandNew安宇 As well you should be. Very advanced, just as I have been saying all along.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Game Boy Very Advanced.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox Meanwhile my son has been learning how to be more manipulative. When he wants some attention, he says to us "M- hurt me" (where M- is his sister's name). Even if she wasn't there.

Robusto

14:31

@RegDwightѬſ道 It just doesn't come across. Sorry.

KitFox

So remind me of the dangers of making a property public in a custom control?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox "anyone" can change it.

KitFox

@MrShinyandNew安宇 And you spank him for that right? And yell "Lying boys get spanks!"

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Right, that's what I was thinking. So not really a big risk if it is just a boolean toggle?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox Oh, we don't spank our kids. I just dial my cattle-prod down to "23 lbs" and zap him once or thrice.

KitFox

makes notes

I'll try that. Maybe it will make my children advanced.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

14:33

@KitFox The risk is that someone maintaining the code later on will change it when they're not supposed to.

KitFox

grumbles

I guess I can do it in the code behind instead...

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Just write unmaintainable code. Problem solved.

KitFox

muses That's not a bad idea...

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox I'm not sure it's a big deal. But that's the reason why you have public and private data, so that you can control who changes it in the future. It's easy to get it right at first, because you're introducing the code at the same time as you're introducing its usage.

Robusto

@KitFox Your code behind looks fat. Sorry to have to be the one to tell youl.

KitFox

14:35

It is fat.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@RegDwightѬſ道 she IS using ASP.net, after all.

KitFox

I would much rather write VB than markup.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Geez, you're still using FAT? the world moved onto NTFS while you were napping

KitFox

My head is killing me.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Just wait till someone invents Visual Markup. Flat.

KitFox

14:36

Hahaha.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox Step one. tie a string to your head. Step 2. tie the string to the door. Step 3. Slam the door.

3

KitFox

ROFL...and still in pain.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

"Hello World" in VM♭

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@RegDwightѬſ道 That's in F♭ if I'm not mistaken.

Battle Ends And Down Goes Charlie's Father

KitFox

So project management: useful skill or expected? In other words, will it help sell me later, or will it be expected that I should know this stuff?

Gigili

14:38

Could someone please proofread it? =\

It's very short!

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Well VM is the successor to F.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox both, I guess?

KitFox

@MrShinyandNew安宇 grumbles more OK, then.

Should I expect to get a raise if I am made into a project manager?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Also, that's C♭ from where I look.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox It depends, I guess, on if you're applying for a job where they need, or only want, that skill. Either way, it's useful to have, but in some cases it'll be mandatory.

Gigili

14:40

paste.ubuntu.com/880425

Robusto

@RegDwightѬſ道 They did. They called it Front Page.

KitFox

@Gigili That's not short!

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@RegDwightѬſ道 Wow I've forgotten how to read music it seems.

Gigili

@KitFox =|

Robusto

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Nope. It's in ~~B-flat-flat~~ B#.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

14:42

Robusto

Enharmonically speaking, of course.

KitFox

@Gigili Line 12: What happens when...?

Robusto

@RegDwightѬſ道 Yeah, yeah. Your circle of fifths is all vodka.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Your enharmonics are all Liszt.

Robusto

@RegDwightѬſ道 No. Liszp.

KitFox

14:44

All your B♭s belong to us.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Yeah. You must have an awful Liszp to pronounce ♭♭ as #.

KitFox

@Gigili Line 15: Because of this we cannot...

Line 16: communities; if

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Line 17: GOTO LINE 1

Commit and run.

KitFox

Line 23: Islamic law is not observed...

Gigili

@KitFox Or maybe "that's why ..."?

KitFox

14:46

Line 24: considered Islamic.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Line 30: profit!

KitFox

@Gigili Maybe, but that sounds somewhat informal.

You could use "therefore" but you would need to rephrase the leading sentences.

Lines 26 and 27: Imam Ali said, “Do not appoint Abu Musa Ashari as the arbiter . ” Many people disagreed with Imam Ali; as a result, Muawiya took ~~the~~ power.

Robusto

►

Matt Эллен

@Robusto hey! you're not He-Man

KitFox

Line 34: "rather it should introduce legible, reputed persons" I don't think you mean people who are readable.

Robusto

14:50

@MattЭллен You don't know that for a fact.

On teh Internetz no one knows if you're He-Man.

Matt Эллен

@Robusto you don't know that for a fact

KitFox

►

3

Robusto

@MattЭллен You don't "know" that for a fact.

KitFox

5 hour version available.

Robusto

@KitFox OK, I guess we always knew he was gay. But thanks for rubbing our faces in it.

KitFox

14:52

Did you see the Robot Chicken sketch of She-Ra on the rag?

►

Robusto

0

Q: "Thank you all" Wrong or Right?

In many occasions after we complete our speech, we often considering thanking our audience. In this scenario, I am not sure if "Thank you all" is a right English? Should it be used as "Thanking you all" instead to make it sound correct?

grammaticality correction

Matt Эллен

@Robusto "You don't know that for a fact"

Robusto

Migrate to ELU lite.

Gigili

@KitFox Um, what should I say instead?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox awesome

Gigili

14:55

@MrShinyandNew安宇 She's awesome, yes.

Robusto

Is that a right English?

KitFox

@Gigili I am not sure.

"Legitimate"?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Robusto VERY slow jinx.

47 mins ago, by RegDwight Ѭſ道

0

Q: "Thank you all" Wrong or Right?

In many occasions, we often considering thanking our audience. In this scenario, I an not sure if "Thank you all" is a right English? Should it be used as "Thanking you all" instead to make it sound correct?

grammaticality correction

KitFox

Line 40: "they would not be stuck" You mean that they still are stuck, yes?

Robusto

@RegDwightѬſ道 I prefer to think of it as "long-lasting" ...

RegDwight Ѭſ道

14:56

46 mins ago, by RegDwight Ѭſ道

ELU Lite.

@Robusto Her mit der Cola!

KitFox

@Robusto Are you prolonging the pleasure with Reg?

Gigili

@KitFox Eligible and ones who has taken precedence over others, makes sense?

Robusto

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@KitFox That pleasure needs not prolonged.

Robusto

This will hold you for the next 5 jinxae's.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

14:58

So, in your case, that makes five hours.

Matt Эллен

What's a frog's favourite drink?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Vodka.

Robusto

@RegDwightѬſ道 I'm a 60-minute man, so yeah, I guess.

Gigili

@KitFox Yes

KitFox

@Gigili Oh, "eligible" yes. That makes sense. "Reputed" does not so much.

Matt Эллен

14:58

Croak a cola

RegDwight Ѭſ道

No, vodka.

Robusto

@Reg frantically tries to Google 60-minute man but still doesn't get it

KitFox

@Gigili eligible, well-respected Muslims, maybe?

Gigili

Great, yes.

Transcript for

English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…