English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Darn, this Kaz guy won't come to chat. I wanted to establish that even though there are minors on this site, it doesn't mean we're incompetent or "moronic", as he put it.

skullpatrol

@Mahnax ding ... they are both travelling in opposite directions :D

You can have my half of the cookie.

Mahnax

@skullpatrol Yay!

@skullpatrol That's OK, you have it.

You earned it.

skullpatrol

I cheated by zooming into the title.

Mahnax

That's not cheatin'.

skullpatrol

What would you call it?

Mahnax

6:15 AM

Being resourceful.

skullpatrol

Thanks :D

Mahnax

Hmm, I wonder where Cerb went.

skullpatrol

Me too ...

Mahnax

You can edit it, you know.

Haha.

skullpatrol

:D

@Cerberus How did you like your chat with robjohn ?

Cerberus

6:27 AM

@Mahnax bakes you and Skull a white-chocolate-macademia cookie

Mahnax

@Cerberus Thanks!

Cerberus

@skullpatrol It was fine: why do you ask?

skullpatrol

@Cerberus I think he's kinda cool.

Cerberus

Agreed.

skullpatrol

Hmm.. this cookie is good thanks

:D

Mahnax

6:29 AM

Wow, that was an amazing cookie.

Cerberus

Thanks! The recipe was yours.

Mahnax

Oh, that's why it tasted familiar!

Cerberus

nods

skullpatrol

Did you use the white chocolate from the Easter bunnies?

Cerberus

Hey, what kind of phone do you guys have?

@skullpatrol Yes, I butchered a few.

skullpatrol

6:32 AM

no phone

Mahnax

@Cerberus I have a crappy little Nokia.

Cerberus

They suffered a lot.

@skullpatrol Oh, that's cool!

@Mahnax Ah OK.

Why not phone?

Mahnax

@Cerberus Ayup.

Cerberus

Gigi and I want new phones.

But we're trying to hold out.

Mahnax

Hold out until…?

Cerberus

6:34 AM

We don't know.

Perhaps until prices drop to a certain unspecified amount.

Mahnax

Hmm, OK.

What sort of phone do you want?

points at pretty iPhone That one?

Cerberus

What do you think!

Mahnax

Uh, yes?

Cerberus

I'm not paying a 100 % premium.

Mahnax

Haha.

Cerberus

6:35 AM

I can get an Android phone with the same specs for half the price.

It's outdated anyway: I don't want a tiny resolution.

Mahnax

Pshaw.

Cerberus

Am I lying?

Mahnax

Anyways, not the time for an Apple vs. Android thing.

Cerberus

Hehe.

Too bad.

Mahnax

@Cerberus I don't know, too tired to care.

I might sleep, but I'm too angry at humanity for that.

Cerberus

6:36 AM

In any case, it's going to have to be an Android. So we'll see. I think I want the Galaxy Nexus.

@Mahnax Y?

Mahnax

@Cerberus Oh, just work. Customers.

Cerberus

I mean, I'm not always in the mood for humans either, but...

Ah, that species.

Or subspecies.

Or Unterspecies.

Mahnax

Yeah.

That's enough, by the way.

Cerberus

Is it?

Mahnax

Yeah.

I think so, at least.

Aww, now I'm hungry.

Cerberus

6:38 AM

Oh, dear.

But you're thin anyway.

So eat whatever you like?

Mahnax

It's 00:38 and if I go upstairs I won't return with all of my limbs intact.

@Cerberus I'm not super thin, but yeah, I'd say so.

Cerberus

@Mahnax Ah, the Monsters.

Mahnax

@Cerberus My parents aren't that bad.

Cerberus

Good.

Mahnax

Well, maybe they are, who knows?

Cerberus

6:41 AM

It's funny how even the hint of a negative epithet turns people around from complaining to protecting their parents. It's sweet.

Mahnax

@Cerberus See above message.

Cerberus

Yes. Noted.

Mahnax

I made a nice smoothie today though.

Not sure why that's relevant, but I feel that it is.

I'm going to bed.

If humanity comes looking for me, tell them I ran away to the mountains.

runs away

Cerberus

@Mahnax throws few macadamia nuts at you in your flight

skullpatrol

runs over and picks them up :D

munch, munch ...

Nice kid.

Cerberus

6:55 AM

Ah, nice catch.

skullpatrol

Thanks.

@Cerberus So robjohn has put the drop down "New feed items" bar in the math chat room now too.

Cerberus

7:40 AM

@skullpatrol Hmm yeah, it is quite handy.

Matt Эллен

8:09 AM

good morning

It's duplicate time!

1

Q: how can I ask the question?

Assume that there are 5 apples must be eaten by Jack. When you want to know about how many of the apples are eaten, you may ask Jack, 'how many apples have you eaten?'; But how can I ask the question to make Jack answers, 'I'm eating the forth apple'?

grammar

18

Q: How should I phrase a question that must be answered with an ordinal number (e.g., the third prime)?

I want to make a question having an answer as follows: 5 is the third prime number. The bold part is the answer. How to phrase the question?

grammar questions ordinals

@Cerberus Ace. I'm sure your sobriety doesn't come into it. I laughed when I was sober!

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

9:04 AM

I see this general problem on stackexchange sites whereby clueless morons vote down or close stuff they have no clue about. — Kaz 4 hours ago

Gah.

Matt Эллен

What is he talking about?

skullpatrol

" clueless morons"?

Matt Эллен

Well, that's up for debate ;) The question itself doesn't make a lot of sense

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

The question does not make any sense at all.

skullpatrol

Anyone up for a debate?

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

9:07 AM

Kaz is cherry-picking one out of three cases which happens to make some sense if you interpret a whole lot of stuff into it.

But if you don't, that case actually makes the least sense.

Because both "can you" and "you can" are perfectly grammatical.

Just in different situations.

Matt Эллен

indeed

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

Also I'm not sure what being allowed to drive has to do with being able to recognize a poorly asked question.

I am well OVER 16 and I don't have a licence.

This site is not for drivers.

Matt Эллен

This is why I have to cycle to work now

It was giving up driving, or giving up EL&U

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

On the plus side (or is it minus?) people would call you a clueless moron regardless, on the Internet and on the streets alike.

Matt Эллен

you know me so well

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

9:12 AM

You are my sock, and my puppet.

But yeah, drive safely, sock.

Matt Эллен

Some might question why your sock puppet has a drivers licence and you don't

but clearly they are clueless morons

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

To cover the train tracks.

And to muddy the Walters.

Matt Эллен

They hate that. It takes them ages to get clean again. I guess that's why they play the blues.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

9:33 AM

@Kaz: if you want to turn this into a good question about inversion, by all means do. (This is usually done by clicking the "edit" link, rather than by calling people "clueless morons".) Then it will get reopened in no time. Right now, however, this is not a good question about inversion, but a subpar question about — well, what? "Credit card" is not inversion. "Can you" is, but the question actually reads "why can't we say 'you can'", which is nonsense, because you can say "you can". And so on. The question is really poor, and got closed as such. Vile ad hominem attacks won't get it reopened. — RegDwight ΒВBẞ8 9 secs ago

Matt Эллен

bravo

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

Now on to milk and cookies.

Off to the Milkookie-mobile!

Matt Эллен

YummmmmmmmMMMMMMMmmmmmmm

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

No cookies, but cake.

Milkake-mobile.

From Milwaukee to bukake in just five minutes.

Matt Эллен

Is that fast? I suppose if you take all the preproduction time into consideration.

Vitaly

9:45 AM

Hi @Matt, isn't tyrosine hydroxylase already saturated by baseline tyrosine levels in the brain, and thus TH is the rate-limiting factor in catecholamine synthesis? I'd think one would need to somehow activate (nor)adrenaline-containing cells, by coffee, maybe?

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

@MattЭллен You know, it's only 34km from Petting to Fucking, but a whopping 656km from Fucking to Wedding.

2

Matt Эллен

@Vitaly If I'm honest, I just copied stuff from the wiki articles, with regards to dopamine, etc. I don't know how reuptake inhibition works with dietary supplements

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 sounds about right. Although sometime you never get from Fucking to Wedding.

Vitaly

Okay... I guess I'll have to wait, then. Neither of the two answers seems satisfactory (the first one ignores tyrosine hydroxylase, and the second one ignores the "widely-available" part of the question). Thanks for your efforts, though.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

@MattЭллен Not necessarily a bad thing, if you've seen Wedding.

Robusto

10:34 AM

I tried against Atlantis. They were falling like a meteor.

Vitaly

Yeah, well, stuff happens. If we had been a little bit more active, we would have won the MH war as well. The mercs are waaaaay too unpredictable.

Robusto

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 Also to McKinley the Morganfields.

Vitaly

You were half-right though!

Robusto

@Vitaly Indeed.

@MattЭллен Most of the time the former will suffice. That is, you don't need to go all the way to Wedding.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

@Robusto Yes. Muddy waters or no waters at all. Wimps and posers, leave the hall.

Robusto

10:44 AM

You could also Chester the Burnetts, or just howl like a wolf.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

I only ever Carter the Burwells.

Robusto

I'm considering going to a Shpongle concert tonight with some friends. The drawback? It's on Lansdowne Street, right by Fenway Park, and the Red Sox are in town. So getting there will be ugly.

user19161

@MattЭллен sometimes

Matt Эллен

sometime you win, sometime you lose

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

sometime I win, sometime you lose

user19161

10:53 AM

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 Geezis.

Matt Эллен

heads I win, tails you lose

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

That's from Friends.

user19161

"Geezis" is the new "QED".

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

We need a new QED? I am still waiting for the old one to become necessary.

user19161

Are we having a mod election soon? Some other sites are.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

10:55 AM

Aucune idée.

user19161

Mod elections are interesting because some people you never knew existed suddenly nominate themselves.

Matt Эллен

but we know Carlo exists

unless he's Kris's sock puppet

user19161

No, Carlo is Carlo. Kris has something to do with Thursagen somehow.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

@MattЭллен are you saying sock puppets don't exist? What are you, killing yourself now?

user19161

I feel the same vibrations when I read Kris or when I read Thursagen.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

10:58 AM

Change batteries.

Matt Эллен

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 do I exist? If I had free will, maybe.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

I have some free grace on offer.

Matt Эллен

but if your hand is in my opening, that's not living.

user19161

To all Debian fans, the Debian Administrators Handbook by Raphael Hertzog will be out in a couple of weeks, in English and with a free licence. He finally collected 25,000 euros in donation to liberate the book!

Matt Эллен

The real question is: should I upvote the "Agony Aunt" question, to make it more likely to reach the multicollider?

user19161

11:02 AM

Actually Ubuntu 12.04 with GNOME shell is very good.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

Feb 23 '11 at 14:35, by RegDwight

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.

Matt Эллен

(o_o)

Then I wilted

user19161

All things are permissible, but not all things are edifying.

user19161

I think I have given enough presents on this site, I will switch to another to give presents.

Matt Эллен

Where will your claus dig in next?

user19161

11:06 AM

@MattЭллен A secret!

user19161

@MattЭллен I was about to say claws, then I realized you were just trolling me.

Matt Эллен

@JasperLoy it's a pun!

user19161

@MattЭллен Yes, I know. I know more jokes than you think!

Matt Эллен

So it's not trolling!

user19161

Well, yes. I say random things from time to time.

Matt Эллен

11:09 AM

Oh, OK then :D

user19161

In Soviet Russia, joke knows you!

Matt Эллен

In UK I tell jokes, I Soviet Russia joke tells me.

And I must obey

user19161

I think I will stop earning rep on this site. It is enough.

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

Enough for what?

user19161

@MattЭллен In

Matt Эллен

11:14 AM

damnit

user19161

@RegDwightΒВBẞ8 Enough for fun.

user19161

@MattЭллен Also dammit.

Matt Эллен

no, damnit

damn + it

damnit

user19161

My also means listing a variation.

Matt Эллен

it's how I've always spelt it

use of damnit in EL&U chat

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

11:15 AM

Whoever spelt it, dealt it.

user19161

@MattЭллен Also spelled. Again also means a variation.

Matt Эллен

@JasperLoy I see. rather than listing another correction

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

@MattЭллен funny how most of those are yours.

Matt Эллен

indeed :D

user19161

@MattЭллен Yes, if you think I am right, you are right. If you think I am wrong, you have just misinterpreted me. QED.

Matt Эллен

11:17 AM

You are wrong! I am never wrong. QED

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

Proof by repeated assertion.

user19161

Geezis!

user19161

@MattЭллен Whoa, so many!

Matt Эллен

I have been known to say "damn it", too

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

Known to whom?

Matt Эллен

11:21 AM

Known to the cognoscenti

RegDwight ΒВBẞ8

Gotta go, see you laters.

Matt Эллен

see youse

user19161

@MattЭллен Not the illuminati? I think Angels and Demons was great.

Matt Эллен

I thought it was too much like the other one.

the Da Vinci Code

user19161

The ending was a surprise.

user19161

11:31 AM

Witness the greatest coverup in human history.

Matt Эллен

I've only read the books

I don't know what the films are like

The stories are fun, by themselves, but follow the same line - conspiracy, puzzles, murder, chase scenes, one-up-man-ship. Either way you read them, the second one you read is predictable from the first

KitFox

Hi hi

Matt Эллен

Hello!

KitFox

I didn't read The DaVinci Code but mostly because it was pop fiction and seemed to be a ripoff of Foucault's Pendulum.

Matt Эллен

I've not read (or heard of) Foucault's Pendulum. Is it good?

KitFox

11:44 AM

gasp

Everyone should read everything by Umberto Eco. They are all good.

Matt Эллен

I forgot to expect judgement

KitFox

Well, I assume. I haven't actually read all of them.

Matt Эллен

lol

KitFox

Ow ow ow ow!

I just bashed my kneecap on my desk.

Matt Эллен

makes notes Must read Umberto Eco

KitFox

11:45 AM

Especially that one, although Name of the Rose was pretty good, and more accessible to be honest.

Matt Эллен

@KitFox Oh no! that really hurts

@KitFox I saw the film! that's the one with Sean Connery, right?

KitFox

I often claim Eco as my favorite author, but mostly when I'm trying to be pretentious.

Matt Эллен

Hands Kit some ice for her knee

KitFox

@MattЭллен Yes. The book is loads better.

@MattЭллен Thank you. stops rubbing and applies ice

Really I think my favorite author is Neil Gaiman.

Hard to say though. I like so very many books.

And since I've had sexual relations with Eco and not Gaiman...well, you see my dilemma.

Matt Эллен

The author I've read most of is certainly Terry Pratchett, but I'd say Douglas Adams is my favourite.

@KitFox I see! I'm sure it's just a matter of time

KitFox

11:48 AM

Now see, I've just engaged in sexual relations last night and now I feel like it all over again.

Matt Эллен

Excellent!

KitFox

I like Adams, but he doesn't stand up to second and third readings for me. He pales a little more each time.

I read Good Omens, but I can't remember what other Pratchett work I've read, although I am sure that I have.

> His early interests included astronomy; he collected Brooke Bond tea cards about space, owned a telescope and wanted to be an astronomer, but lacked the necessary mathematical skills.

Sounds like me!

Except for the middle parts, and being a man.

OK, maybe not like me at all.

Matt Эллен

I really like Neverwhere and Good Omens, but I don't think I've read any other Gaiman, except for bits of the Sandman stuff

KitFox

gasp You haven't read all of Sandman?

Matt Эллен

I've not

KitFox

11:52 AM

I own it. I'll lend it to you.

Matt Эллен

ace!

KitFox

Oh, he has posterior cortical atrophy. That sucks.

Matt Эллен

I've been reading a few William Gibson books recently. They're good - an interesting take on the present - but not mind blowing.

@KitFox Is that Terry Pratchett's brain problem? He's still writing, so he's not gone yet!

KitFox

He wants to die. Poor guy.

Matt Эллен

Indeed

KitFox

11:59 AM

Wow. None of these looks familiar. Could I really have never read any?

I feel like Discworld is so familiar though...

Matt Эллен

I can recommend any of them. They easy reads. Soul Music is my favourite, also Reaper Man.

Robusto

1

Q: Do people really think "muslin" has something to do with "Muslim"?

My boss just floored me with a doozy of an assertion: he had me change someone's password, which contained the word "muslin", because "you can't go calling people Muslims in this day and age". Yeah, jaw, meet floor; floor, meet jaw. Anyway, so I looked up the etymologies, and sure enough, while...

etymology differences connotation

Can Martha get one more reopen vote?

Matt Эллен

no

the question is no longer closed

ahahahaaa, I'm so funny

Robusto

NO U R

KitFox

TIL.

So I got 4 upvotes on one of my really old answers.

Matt Эллен

12:07 PM

good work! Or, good no work!

KitFox

...huh. It's May 2012, right?

Matt Эллен

yes.

KitFox

This says I answered May 2011, but my profile says I've...hmm. Oh. That's visited.

I was wondering when I was going to get my yearling badge.

Must be soon.

Matt Эллен

should be already if you joined in May. I got mine about a week early for some reason

I'd been a member for 360 days, I think

Robusto

@MattЭллен Time off for bad behavior?

KitFox

12:12 PM

Maybe they use DateDiff(week, joinDate, GetDate()) >= 52

Matt Эллен

that would make sense

Robusto

Well, they do round up when shortening rep scores, so ...

Matt Эллен

You can check back in history to see which days you visited!

KitFox

No thanks.

Matt Эллен

I am very surprised that I wasn't here on valentines day

KitFox

12:14 PM

It's enough to know I've spent about ten months out of twelve in here.

Matt Эллен

I've been trying to hard to get the fanatic badge

I missed it by one day

KitFox

You don't have it? That's my only gold.

Matt Эллен

what was I doing on valentines?

KitFox

Sexual relations?

Sleeping?

Matt Эллен

@KitFox I know! even Cerb has it

KitFox

12:14 PM

Really?

Matt Эллен

@KitFox It was a Tuesday, so I would have gone to work. I'm sure I'd remember a break in my dry spell, so it wasn't that

@KitFox he complained because he doesn't want any gold badges

KitFox

Oh right.

But we're so compelling, he had to come and see us every day.

Matt Эллен

:D exactly. He also has the single-word-request badge! he hates that one more

KitFox

Hey...how come I don't have the electorate badge?

Matt Эллен

you don't vote enough

KitFox

12:18 PM

Oh. I don't vote on enough questions.

Matt Эллен

vote on more question!

KitFox

Never mind.

0

Q: Scientific article style: present or future

This question often pops up when writing scientific articles. Which of the two is preferred? This issue is described in detail in Section 4. or This issue will be described in detail in Section 4. (Assuming, of course, that the current Section is 3.) Can anybody also give reasons? Pl...

writing-style future-tense

Haven't we sent this to Writers before?

@Neil are you about?

Matt Эллен

Sweet, my test passed. I'm bailing for the weekend! CU

KitFox

Bye!

0

Q: Scientific article style: present or future

This question often pops up when writing scientific articles. Which of the two is preferred? This issue is described in detail in Section 4. or This issue will be described in detail in Section 4. (Assuming, of course, that the current Section is 3.) Can anybody also give reasons? Pl...

writing-style future-tense

OK, well, dupe then.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Votes to close should count as votes on questions

Because I spend a lot of time voting on questions that way

KitFox

12:32 PM

Me too.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

but afaik there's no badge for that

and it earns no rep

but since every question this site is voted closed, I gain no new rep

and earn no badges

I'll be honest: my SE participation these days is limited to this chatroom, and finding stuff on Google.

KitFox

Me too!

It's like we're soul sisters!

1

Q: What is correct: "I am saying..." or "I am telling..."?

Are both of these sentences correct? If so, what is the difference between them? My friend told me that first one is not commonly used. I would be glad if someone can clarify this. I am saying this for the second time that I am not coming. or I am telling you this for the second time th...