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00:00 - 08:0010:00 - 00:00

10:55 AM
@Robusto well thank you. What a delightful way to begin a day.
Also, I never realized he put the stress in "devotchka" on the wrong syllable.
I learn so many things here.
Need coffee.
 
 
2 hours later…
12:59 PM
If I say "Bob the great", is great a noun or an adjective?
 
 
1 hour later…
2:22 PM
@RegDwigнt What's the right syllable?
@barlop It's still an adjective.
@RegDwigнt Me too. I overslept.
 
2:46 PM
@Robusto thanks
 
3:32 PM
@Robusto the first one. Dévochka.
 
4:25 PM
@RegDwigнt That's insane. Russians are doing it wrong. You probably put accent on the second syllables of Vladimir and Nabakov.
Get it right
Nobody said it outright, but the thesis of the paper translates directly to 'Northern Europeans are better' (because most of the obligatory subject pronoun langs are northern European, French or Germanic)
 
4:41 PM
@Robusto How operatic!
I didn't remember that lovely scene.
 
and if you look at the supplemental data sheet pro-keep is pretty rare, except northern Europe and some of west Africa.
 
Don't let the PC people discover that that the film they pretend to like so much because it's Culture, but haven't watched, contains such scenes.
 
red is obligatory pro (pro-keep), the rest is pro-drop (not obligatory) (dark blue is verb affix, pink is no affix but you can still have the pronoun or not, as you please).
 
5:39 PM
@Mitch who the fuck is Nabakov.
Yes you put the accent on the second syllable. And that's precisely you don't turn the O into an A.
Like WTF.
1 hour ago, by Mitch
Get it right
 
@RegDwigнt haha it sounds funny to Americans. vluh DEE mir. weird.
 
6:05 PM
"They hadn't stopped until they ran a kilometre" Is it correct?
 
6:20 PM
More like the other way round. They didn't stop until they had run the kilometre.
But really people would just go with simple past for both.
 
Mmmm
In fact I've never seen people using it (in online writing I mean)
Everything was white because it had snowed / had been snowing
Why is it the second?!
 
7:08 PM
That's a good question, but I don't have a good answer. The latter is just more idiomatic. The former is certainly possible theoretically, but that's not what people usually say.
And that makes that a poorly designed test, BTW. It is testing something else entirely, but now it throws this unrelated problem into the mix for no good reason. Causing needless additional confusion.
 
7:42 PM
-2
Q: What does the word "accommodation" mean

Garrett MoonI know i could look this up, but i dont have the time to do it. SO i would like to know what this word means please. This is in the sentence "are you able to perform the job duties of this position with or without an "accommodation"

This is amazing. @Rob.
0
Q: When don't we use "a" or "an"?

Danielhow are you doing? I have a question: usually, we use "a" "an" before every adjective/noun/adverb, but sometimes, we do not use "a" or "an" before. For example: "I like chocolate cake" Vs "I have a yellow car" My question is why and when do we omit "an" "a" ?

This is even better.
-2
A: When don't we use "a" or "an"?

Garrett MoonYou use "an" when there is a verb

What the fuck is happening.
Please send help.
 
8:17 PM
@RegDwigнt So isn't there a grammatical explanation?
 
@RegDwigнt This answer makes perfect sense.
He had no time to spare because of his project, so obviously he provided a brief answer.
 
@Curio well. This is entering the realm of philosophy now. Because grammatical is really just a different word for "what people actually say". So my explanation very much is grammatical really.
 
XD
Thanks
 
People don't acquire their first language by learning rules. So I'm not quite sure why we decided it's a good idea to acquire a second language by learning rules.
It's really quite funny.
 
@RegDwigнt I could help, but I don't have time to do it.
 
8:32 PM
@Robusto you should post that as your entry in the time contest.
I'm not even joking.
That would be an awesome entry.
And satisfy all the criteria.
 
I'll get back to you on this. — Robusto Mar 1 '12 at 18:29
 
Get back to me on this before December 27th. You could win an ugly watch you don't need. No such luck thereafter.
 
I already have an ugly watch that I do need.
 
Also you're making me think of Bruce Willis in the Fifth Element.
 
8:34 PM
When the President of the Universe calls him up and says help that giant thingie will obliterate the Earth in only 9 minutes and 30 seconds. And Bruce Willis says, I'll call you back in ten and hangs up.
@Robusto congratulations, that is a hideous watch.
 
Thank you. That's all I ask.
 
I can't post mine because there's no pics of it anywhere. It's some Russian-military limited-edition thingie my dad got me for my 25th birthday.
But surprisingly enough, as you would never guess from that description, it is not hideous at all.
It's also metal and not plastic.
And why am I using the word thingie all the time now.
what is a single word for "thingie".
 
@RegDwigнt Lemme guess ... it has a polonium watch face.
 
I wouldn't know if it did.
But when push comes to shove I guess I could kick some teeth in with it.
 
Oct 19 at 0:47, by Robusto
I have a possible solution to one of our biggest nagging problems on ELU. We should henceforth answer all questions with thing. In breathless prose: "I know that. It's a ... thing!" Five, six, seven ... hell, 15, 20 people all answering with thing ... it's a thing!!!
It's a .... a thing!!!
 
8:39 PM
Thank you. That is genuinely helpful.
I'm tearing up.
What is a single word for "tearing up".
 
Tearing up is not the same as tearing down. Nor is it the opposite.
 
Mr Gorbatchov! Tear up this wall!
In Soviet Russia, wall tears down you.
 
Wall downtears?
 
Fears for tears.
 
That's what I was afraid of.
 
8:41 PM
Right said a Fraid.
I'm too sexy for my watch, too sexy for my watch so sexy it, um.
Why doesn't orange rhyme with watch.
What is this language.
 
All Unix systems were built with Lego in the '90s.
 
Today I heard "Cheetahs never prosper". Kept me thinking for a while, until I concluded the guy must have been British.
 
@Færd But Cheetos do prosper. Especially if they sell out their country to do so. Look at Trump. (Also known as "Cheeto Corleone" ...)
 
@Robusto that reminds me of that other scene with Sandra Bullock, what was the movie called, "The net" or something. It was in the 90s like. So she was hacking into some LAN somewhere in a high-adrenaline action scene where she sat at some desk in some cubicle. As you would in the 90s action movies. And she was commenting on what she was doing, for the audience, as you would.
And so she sees some nonsense text in a shell whizz by and stuff and all that.
And then there's IP addresses in there and she hacks into them.
But this was in the 90s, nobody knew what the fuck an IP address was.
 
@Robusto The epithet fits his coloring.
 
8:46 PM
So she explained it to the audience by murmuring, "Oh, ein Zahlencode".
 
@RegDwigнt raises hand I knew about IP addresses in the '90s.
 
Forgot to mention I was watching that shit in German, too.
 
@RegDwigнt A number code?
 
Yeah.
 
Wow.
 
8:46 PM
IKR
It's a series of tubes, with number codes in it.
 
I heard about that.
 
Probably from a movie.
 
In Russia, the internet is vacuum tubes, right?
 
They have no tubes in Russia. Permafrost, remember.
You have to make solid rods instead.
Lest they collapse into themselves.
 
@RegDwigнt Then how come Russia is going down the tubes?
 
8:47 PM
Basically is I'm saying, Russians invented wires.
 
Wires invented Russia.
 
That came after.
 
Nov 23 at 20:09, by Robusto
How come the smart thing to do is always "non-standard" ... ?
 
@Robusto I'd blame Putin but I'm kinda worried about my watch. It might be watching me.
 
Who will watch the watches?
 
8:49 PM
@Robusto because Sturgeon's law.
Standard is shit by definition.
Just imagine a world where 90% of everyone is Einstein and Hawking. That would be fucking horrible. You'd wish for some Ariana Grande. It'd be the smart thing to do.
 
Ariana Grande, all right, but I draw the line at Kanye West.
There's stupid, really stupid, dangerously stupid, and Kanye West.
 
Kanye really blame him?
 
I can. And do.
He tweeted that we should abolish the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. The one that outlawed slavery.
 
@Robusto Got it. Just checking.
But if you're appalled by Kanye West, just imagine what they must have in Russia. Kanye East.
Hence the Village People's call to action.
 
I thought they stayed at the YMCA.
 
8:55 PM
You can get a good meal.
And just generally do whatever you feel.
@Robusto my stance on that, as on all things of that nature, is, sure, let them have it for a day but be the first ones for it to be applied to.
Then you can go back to normal and you got rid of the idiots.
 
You can never get rid of all the idiots. Others will rise up and take their place.
 
Enslave Kanye, burn the nazis. Problem solved.
@Robusto you can't do it all, but you can start. And if you gonna start somewhere, here's a sensible proposition.
Like, it's the best of both worlds. It implements for Kanye what he wants, and for everyone else what everyone else wants.
If that's not Solomonian then Solomonian has no meaning.
 
Stop being so Solomonious.
 
Can't find the exact spot, but yeah this is like what all of the movie is like.
Linking to the most representative time stamp.
And look ma, it's got Mozart.
I forgot all about that.
The audio is really low tho, for some reason.
 
Because Sandra Bullock is on the DL.
 
9:08 PM
Never heard Jesse James complain about that.
 
You mean Jesse Jackson.
 
Don't know that she was married to that one.
 
White owl on fire?
I disapprove of that.
 
Keep your mind on the music.
 
9:16 PM
I am.
I thought that was the name of the musician at first.
I was going to ask for music anyway.
 
Will check in 1:49
On a side note, why does everyone on YouTube use "underrated" to mean "unpopular".
It's not underrated when every single person who is aware of it rates it rather highly.
 
Because YouTube comments.
BTW, the whole album is worth a listen. Ten years old now, wow.
 
I'm liking the two tracks I've heard so far.
 
Then take it from the top and let it ride.
 
9:22 PM
I might know someone who might know of these guys but never told me.
In which case I'll be preparing some stern talking.
 
That's why we go over this stuff.
 
I could practice on you because you're a guy who knew the guys but never told me.
But the music doesn't put me in the mood for quarrelling.
 
Exactly. You just wanna mellow out.
Or rather it does that to you.
A blunt doesn't hurt either, in that process.
"The Other Side" will test the bass response in your speakers.
 
Everyday Life Everyday People is on Spotify.
As well as three other albums, but all from the last five years like.
 
They have a bunch of live albums too.
 
9:31 PM
None of the songs I've heard on this YouTube list.
@Robusto Roberto's Tri Studios is the only one on here.
 
Then there's "Slightly Not Stoned Enough To Eat Breakfast Yet Stoopid" ...
Everything You Need and Chronchitis (which this is) are their peak popular albums.
 
Yeah I'll ask that one guy about those. Don't have either on Spotify.
 
Why Spotify sucks. I need to unsubscribe soon.
It always comes up with whitebread shit, no matter the artist. No deep tracks, no interesting takes.
 
Sometimes I wish for a special close reason for all the people that ask "I thought there was the rule that you cannot say orange cat. But here is a sentence that says orange cat. Why?"
Because what you thought was wrong, that's why.
And you yourself have supplied proof to the contrary.
So just change your wrong assumption which you yourself have proved to be wrong.
And then all will be good.
A very special sub-category of that is all the pineapples asking how come native speakers have the chutzpah to say this or that when they as pineapples would never say that.
Well that right there is why you're the pineapple and they aren't.
You can't learn Japanese by teaching the Japanese how you think Japanese must be spoken.
 
You haven't smoked enough marijuana today.
Just let it go, Dude.
 
9:38 PM
I honestly have not.
But that one guy will be able to help with that as well.
 
Adulthood is never having anyone worry whether you got enough sleep.
So you gotta take care of that shit on your own.
 
The only reason I ever get not enough sleep is because I go to bed but then realize, wait, if I stay up for just another hour, maybe something might happen that I would miss if I were asleep.
So basically I'd rather never sleep, ever.
Other than that, I get all the sleep in the world.
0
Q: Can I say eight-gon, nine-gon and ten-gon instead of octa-, nona-, and deca-gon?

HappyAs a non-native English speaker I struggle with Greek prefixes. Am I allowed to use just normal English numbers in place of them? Is it natural? Or do I have to learn how those Greek prefixes work at the end of the day?

I. Uh.
I give up.
Pass on the marijuana, will ya.
Sharing is caring.
 
holds breath Here ya go.
 
Perfect.
These guys are actually singing, right now, and I'm not lying "legalize it, don't criticize it".
Coincidence? I think not.
 
9:57 PM
Of course not.
@RegDwigнt: Looks like there was a shooting near you.
 
Sigh. Is why I don't watch the news.
This is what my screen is showing me instead.
 
Shiny Happy People.
 
YouTube "reviews" their year by making a video with their most popular shit like PewDiePie. And then their most popular shit like PewDiePie "reviews" that "review" right back.
That is how you make 17 million views in 4 days.
Echo chamber to the max.
 
Where is the Osip Mandelstam echo chamber?
 
I've been looking for that actually.
A couple months ago.
 
10:04 PM
It's gotta be out there, ya just gotta connect with it.
 
Did find some people doing some stuff with guitar and female voice. You know, the traditional way.
Sounded very good, too.
Which is why I sort of tuned out immediately.
So they don't influence my writing.
Though nobody seems to have done any of the poems I've done, but you never know.
@Robusto shiny happy copypasta of the same happy person over everyone else's faces, mind you. That's really these folks in a nutshell. Can't just slap their face on there with everyone else in the background. Not enough. Gotta replace all the faces in the background with your own, too.
 
Not to be funny, but the galling irony would be if PewDePie does a tune with Mandelstam lyrics and gets a hundred million likes.
 
Here's one that I listened to back then.
Dug it up for reference.
This is how it's done traditionally.
 
What is this Cyrillic.
And you clearly need to work on your pastels.
 
I need to work on my soprano, too.
I need to work on a great many things, actually. Just FYI.
Instead I'm on here telling people what "spouse" means or why you can say "orange cat".
 
10:11 PM
@RegDwigнt It's "cat orange" ... right? I'm asking for a friend.
 
@Robusto he could do three notes in a horrible accent. Accompanied with a Hitler salute. Probably has, actually. And did get a hundred million likes. Also dollars, mind.
It's okay. To each their own, the Bible teaches us.
0
Q: Letters as Words

Jack ScrugggsWhen two letters or glyphs are joined into one glyph as a ligature, is this glyph considered two letters or one, as letters on their own are considered words as D and S, when two letters are joined as one glyph, does this glyph have a name as dee and ess and is it considered a word?

Well here's one for @tchrist. If we take it seriously.
 
@RegDwigнt Well, that really doesn't look like an EL&U question.
 
Well you know me. It doesn't look like a question, period. So I'm leaving this one up for others.
A glyph is always a glyph. You can always call it that. But you can only call it a letter if it's a letter, and you can only call it a word if it's a word.
 
But many of these ligatures aren't even seen in English. If anything, this is about typography.
 
I know. But do we have a site for that.
Also, Russian has ten glyphs that are letters and words, but for some reason I can't think of the tenth.
а в ж и к о с у я
Is what I got.
Oh right. б
Well there's ten. Out of 33 in total. Quite efficient really.
 
10:21 PM
I really can't see how this is a question for English Language & Usage. Many or most of these ligatures aren't even seen in English. If there were a typography stack exchange you could ask there, but until then this question is so narrow in scope that it falls outside of our purview here. — Robusto 19 secs ago
 
Yeah thanks.
That'll do.
 
10:34 PM
I'll presently send the merry emigré off on his way to more grotesk pastures.
He keeps doing this. I think he's had triplets.
1
Q: Ligature glyphs vs. Words

Jack ScrugggsWhen two letters are joined as a ligature, I understand they are considered as one individual glyph, I also understand that letters on their own like D or S are considered nouns or words. When connecting two letters or graphemes with a ligature as one glyph, is the glyph considered one word as D ...

 
Oh. WTF.
 
Tell me about it.
 
Well I would. But you're telling me about it already.
 
My first instinct was to close it as WTF.
My second was to send him to GD.
But then I'd be migrating crap.
 
I see.
Well I dunno what kind of questions they take on Design.
Maybe nomenclature is okay.
 
10:37 PM
Somehow he has some really strange ideas that don't make sense.
 
Welcome to ELU.
 
16
A: When should someone use ligatures?

tchristNo One Rule Fits All Situations This is all somewhat complicated, because it ties in with kerning support and font selection, and there is no one-size-fits-all answer that will serve for all situations. In my experience, ligatures are more apt to be needed in a tightly set serif roman or italic...

They take mine, but I think those are migrants too.
 
Well. See.
That's a question they took.
 
We should be responsible and talk to their mods.
I'll do it.
 
I don't know any mods. I am constantly amazed at how you're blue and Cerberus.
I keep forgetting.
 
10:39 PM
Little love though I harbor for slumming in that saloon.
I am not @Cerberus, I promise.
 
I knew you would say that.
Which is why I left it that way.
 
Your choice: left or righted.
 
Naturally.
I don't know any mods either.
Or I will pretend not to.
 
The path of the leftious is beset on all sides by the equities of the selfish.
Who put that face on Ed.
I already don't recognize anyone as is.
 
@RegDwigнt I know one of them. He backed me up in the great font smashing contest.
 
10:45 PM
Right. I stay out of politics. I forgot you don't.
 
@RegDwigнt Whoa, I've had that up much too long.
 
First time I see it.
 
@RegDwigнt It was for November 22. So I probably put it up a few days before that.
 
Well. That sounds right about when I went hiding writing quintets, so.
The math checks out.
Fruit flies like a banana.
 
Anyway, Merry Christmas. You Will Be Upgraded.
 
10:55 PM
I've filed the paperwork. They're all playing hookie right now, even Wrszlstlkatoiuahgfktsfts.
 
Sounds Polish to me.
 
I love Pollack jokes.
w±w/o tartar sauce
 
@tchrist Closed for lack of research.
 
@MetaEd Après toi
There are four of them, mostly just jabbing at the same hallucinations.
 
11:03 PM
@tchrist Ack.
 
@MetaEd You're not done yet:
2
Q: Letters as Words

Jack ScrugggsWhen two letters or glyphs are joined into one glyph as a ligature, is this glyph considered two letters or one, as letters on their own are considered words as D and S, when two letters are joined as one glyph, does this glyph have a name as dee and ess and is it considered a word?

 
@Robusto Think I've got them all now.
 
Ça y est.
 
My work here is done. Laterz all.
 
That's a good call. I'll go watch me some YouTube.
Don't change your avatars again when I come back.
 
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