English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

aedia λ

8:00 PM

itching to dig in attic for boxes now that I'm one step closer to having a place to put them

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@aedia surely you've seen the new LotR sets? they are pretty damn awesome.

Robusto

Uh-huh. Ten days. No problem.

aedia λ

I'm more worried about their sneaky linguistic secrets.

cornbread ninja

aedia λ

@MrShinyandNew安宇 I probably have, but... oh gosh maybe I'll just put one or two castles on my wish list in case...

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

8:07 PM

@aediaλ shop.lego.com/en-US/The-Lord-of-the-Rings-ByTheme

aedia λ

@MrShinyandNew安宇 drools

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@aediaλ I know, eh?

and they cleverly made it so that you have to spend about $200 USD to get the whole fellowship

Mitch

@aediaλ No...well...(thinking)...no. Actually, my friends had so much I don't think I ever considered wanting them myself.

I do have opinoions about them...like I think all the specialized pieces are totally wrong (and I don't mean just the star wars special creation packs) I think the only special thing that I think is OK are the wheels.

Gigili

@MrShinyandNew安宇 Woah, this new MF thingy is pretty awesome. I wonder how you built it.

Mitch

@Robusto oh...the fine print..a new language.

@aediaλ you gain a lot of weight.

Cerberus

8:15 PM

@Reg: Why is everyone suddenly cheering all over town? I can hear it.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Gigili I can't take much credit for building anything these days. I mainly buy kits and follow the instructions. making my own creations requires more time than I have.

but I must be off! duty calls. In this case, the duty is picking up children from daycare. tootles!

aedia λ

Bye, shiny one!

Mitch

@aediaλ like smoking in reverse.

aedia λ

tries to imagine smoking in reverse and only can picture smoker coughing on me, eww

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus live blog of the game

aedia λ

8:19 PM

@Mitch They're buttering you up for the other 'one neat trick' or whatever it is?

Cerberus

@MattЭллен Sorry, but I couldn't possibly click on that.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus you're such a lazy dog

aedia λ

I was so confused and then I realized the times are my time

Matt Эллен

Holland are only 2-1 down now

Cerberus

Fastidious, rather.

Ah.

Matt Эллен

8:21 PM

@Cerberus too lazy to click on a link is not fastidious

Cerberus

But it is not laziness.

Matt Эллен

orly?

if it's too lazy to walk like a duck, etc.

aedia λ

I'm sure it would only be your 16284th tab, it's not like it would dirty the browser thaaat much

@cornbreadninja I really want to color him in and give him a face

Cerberus

Walk like a duck?

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus yeah, you know the saying?

Cerberus

8:23 PM

@aediaλ But the neighbours might see!

@MattЭллен I don't think I do?

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus if it walks like a duck, talks like a duck, looks like a duck, it's probably a duck

2

something like that, I'm paraphrasing

aedia λ

"If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck" something like that

Cerberus

Ohh, that. I know that formula, just not with ducks.

Matt Эллен

ah :D

aedia λ

What do you use in your expression?

Cerberus

8:26 PM

I...have no idea: I would always fill in the noun in question.

Like "laziness".

aedia λ

It's not like ducks make any sense, but I can't think of anything else that would make more sense

Oh.

Cerberus

Perhaps I never realized the duck was the original noun.

Matt Эллен

@Cerberus yeah, it does get tuned to the context by people

aedia λ

You don't have a Dutch version like about dikes or wooden shoes or something? grins

Cerberus

Hehe.

Let me see.

I don't think we have that expression.

We might use a variant in Dutch that was based on the English.

Matt Эллен

8:29 PM

if it walks like ananas, quacks like ananas, it's probably ananas.

Cerberus

I think we would say "if it looks like x, and feels like x, it is x".

Mahnax

Russian Language and Usage has entered the private Beta phase!

Matt Эллен

:O

aedia λ

Time-wasting is a thing in football?

Matt Эллен

yeah. the whole match is a waste of time ;)

But, yeah, I guess if someone is rolling on the floor in feigned agony, they're time wasting. Probably means a free kick to the opposition

Wikipedia agrees with me! I'm surprised. Either a lucky guess, or I've learned via osmosis.

Mahnax

8:40 PM

I just cast the very first upvote on the site.

Cerberus

@aediaλ Yes, I think so.

There's also throwing a ball slowly, and passing it around without doing anything of consequence during the last 5 minutes or so of the match when you're ahead.

Mitch

@aediaλ The sneaky trick is: repeat.

send checks directly me.

er...credit card #(s)

and PIN

0

Q: Is "See less events" or "See fewer events" correct?

I'm placing a button on a website and need to know which is the proper way to write this out. I'm leaning toward fewer, but would like confirmation.

grammar

I'd like to 'see less' of this.

cornbread ninja

@aediaλ oh, please do and show it to us!

aedia λ

@MattЭллен The way I first read that I was wondering why the guy whining in fake agony would get to kick the other team... heh

cornbread ninja

I forget; do I need a certain amount of rep to have an expand-on-mouseover username block?

aedia λ

8:53 PM

I know you need to have things in your profile description bit, probably more than a small number of characters

Matt Эллен

@cornbreadninja 1000 reps

@aediaλ hehehe :D

cornbread ninja

@MattЭллен it might be a mallard, but yeah :P

@aediaλ oh yeah; that's the ticket

Mitch

@cornbreadninja I think you just need to fill out enough in your profile (maybe all or maybe just one or two, can't remember)

cornbread ninja

@Mitch I've been meaning to fill out that box!

Matt Эллен

44

Q: How does the User Card popup work?

We are experimenting with enhanced user card mouseover popups and have enabled them network wide. You can tell which users will trigger the popup because they have a 3-D drop shadowy look to their gravatar: Hover your mouse over the gravatar and wait. Note that the user card mouseover popup wi...

discussion user-card

that's more useful

cornbread ninja

8:57 PM

@MattЭллен mad props to you

Matt Эллен

ta

good night EL&Uers

Gigili

Good night.

cornbread ninja

@MattЭллен so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, good ni-hight

KitFox

9:21 PM

Oh my everloving Christ.

z7sg Ѫ

bonne nuit, spokoynoy nochi

here are some narwhals to speed you to rest: a.yfrog.com/img736/6163/vs9rya.jpg

Cerberus

Ohh look how the cute narwhal transfixes the evil baby seal!

z7sg Ѫ

awwwwww :)

Vitaly

@Reg You there? The private beta's on.

z7sg Ѫ

woohoo and you said it wouldn't happen!!

Cerberus

9:31 PM

I didn't say anyway!!!

How dare you hold me responsible?

Defamation!

z7sg Ѫ

i mean of course Vitaly, who said the Russian SE wouldn't gain enough support

::)

Vitaly

I'm not seeing any questions I would want to answer yet, though...

Mitch

1

A: Why is "taking a biscuit" a bad thing in the UK?

I'm afraid I may know where the negative meaning comes from. People of weak stomach are recommended not to read... The name probably comes from adolescent boys' game of "limp biscuit" (which is, by the way, the origin of the name of the famous band, Limp Bizkit). The gist of the game is to gathe...

accepted as correct. see the comment. wrong in so many ways.

cornbread ninja

a-hahahahaha

-2

A: Is "See less events" or "See fewer events" correct?

Fewer is appropriate because event is a countable noun.

Gigili

I just installed this stupid sw to watch matches online, but pah.

Mitch

9:48 PM

@cornbreadninja you mean the comment about 'you're wrong'?

@Gigili so you don't have to watch them yourself?

Gigili

@Mitch Exactly.

Mitch

Don't you think software is overboard? Go lo tech, I'm sure there's something at the pharmacy for that.

RegDwight ΒВB

@Vitaly I won't be online for the next eight days. Good luck.

And have fun @everyone.

aedia λ

@cornbreadninja ^

Mitch

@Gigili and more importantly...does the 3rd person singular nominative pronoun in Farsi have a default assumed gender? That is when you say (whatever it is you say) and there's only one way to say it, one for male and female, does it have the default connotation of being male? Cerberus wants to know.

Vitaly

9:53 PM

Oh...

Have fun in Turkey!

RegDwight ΒВB

@aediaλ That's an awful misspelling of "PINK CONFIGURATION".

aedia λ

He's just a quick 'un though, I've been kind of busy. Hope you don't mind I gave him a cutie mark like a My Little Pony :)

RegDwight ΒВB

@Vitaly yeah thanks. Have to disband Phantom Commando before I can go to bed.

aedia λ

@RegDwightΒВB But I was told to sound it out!

Gigili

@Mitch Cerberus wants to know? Is that a Please contact my secretary kind of message or what?

Umm, I think I've forgotten my mother tongue.

I only remember my father tongue.

Vitaly

9:58 PM

@RegDwightΒВB sad face

Cerberus

@RegDwightΒВB Oh dearie, where are you off to?

Oh, Turkey?

@Mitch Do I?

@RegDwightΒВB Why disband??

Nooo!

Mitch

@Gigili No, I was hoping you would direct the answer toward him, and then he would be really surprised because it was me who wanted to know. And there's money riding on it (his money).

RegDwight ΒВB

@Cerberus Well I've only mentioned it eight hundred times, perhaps even just seven, in the last eight days, perhaps even seven.

Mitch

Where are you going, Reg?

RegDwight ΒВB

@Cerberus That, too, I mentioned like seven gibazookillion times. :P

Cerberus

10:00 PM

@RegDwightΒВB Never to me. Only Vitaly told me you were planning to do so. Why?

RegDwight ΒВB

@Mitch I am going? That's news to me.

@Cerberus you above all have to ask?

Cerberus

@RegDwightΒВB Not to me either, but have fun.

@RegDwightΒВB Did I ask or did I not ask?

Mitch

Tell it to the flight attendant.

Gigili

@Mitch Oh, dear. Can we pretend that I directed the answer toward him?

Mitch

Totally.

Gigili

10:01 PM

Where is Reg going, BTW?

Cerberus

Turkey.

Gigili

Ohturkey?

Mitch

8.

@Cerberus argh...reg was supposed to say that.

Cerberus

@RegDwightΒВB So you're disbanding PhC for no reason?

Gigili

I'm so confused.

RegDwight ΒВB

10:02 PM

Well keep this conversation up for the next eight days, then I can chime right in as soon as I'm back.

Cerberus

@Mitch impersonates Reg

@RegDwightΒВB No answer?

I am sad.

Mitch

8 or 9. There.

Gigili

@RegDwightΒВB Won't you come to see me? It's just an hour from Turkey.

Cerberus

We had a good time in PhC, and I don't understand why you should want to disband it.

Did we not?

aedia λ

All good things must come to an ananas?

Mitch

10:05 PM

'to an anas'?

Gigili

Whatanas?

Cerberus

sad

Mitch

see it looks like a duck.

RegDwight ΒВB

@Cerberus when was the last time you fired up the game? Six weeks ago? Six months? For all you know and care, we disbanded that very day. :P (And these questions of yours right now only undermine that impression.)

Cerberus

@RegDwightΒВB Can't you just answer me? I'm not accusing you of anything, I just want to know.

RegDwight ΒВB

10:08 PM

Well, answer what?

I don't understand what the question is.

Cerberus

Why?

Is that not clear?

RegDwight ΒВB

I don't understand.

Cerberus

I ask "why are you going to disband PhC?". Then you could answer with "I am disbanding it because....".

RegDwight ΒВB

You haven't been playing for like half a year. I myself haven't played for a week or so. Rob has quit. Vitaly's been in another faction for ages. Kit is stuck at level something.

Cerberus

You are disbanding it because....?

The fact that we don't play any more? Is that all?

I request that you not disband it.

RegDwight ΒВB

10:11 PM

Well that's too little and definitely too late.

Vitaly

Uh, not ages. Just 5 days since we decided to disband.

Cerberus

?

Vitaly

@Cerberus It's already gone.

Cerberus

Seriously?

I still don't understand why, and I am sad.

RegDwight ΒВB

Look I have to go on vacation in a couple hours. Even if I did see a point to this conversation, which I do not, I kind of have to go to bed.

Vitaly

10:13 PM

Good night.

Cerberus

It was a nice thing to have as a souvenir. Unless there was a good reason, I don't understand why this has been taken away. But never mind. I will cry alone.

Gigili

I don't get it, won't he come to see me?

RegDwight ΒВB

in War Metal Tyrant, Sep 9 '11 at 21:30, by Cerberus

@Robusto It's too boring. It's like doing laundry. Sure, the order of clothes is never the same, but...

Gigili

Now we can cry together, @Cerb.

RegDwight ΒВB

That's almost a year ago. And I'm sure there are older occurrences.

Cerberus

10:16 PM

Still no answer.

@Gigili Let's do that. It will at least be more fun than this.

RegDwight ΒВB

What would constitute an answer to you? Tell me and I will repeat it letter-for-letter.

Cerberus

And let's get Nexuses to get over the pain!

@RegDwightΒВB It should start with "I decided that it was bad to keep the faction, because...".

RegDwight ΒВB

I have answered that several times over already.

And I warned you months in advance.

Cerberus

I see no such sentence starting with "because".

Warned me?

I don't remember that.

But never mind, just go.

RegDwight ΒВB

What a surprise.

Cerberus

10:19 PM

It is a done deed, I don't want to think about this any more.

RegDwight ΒВB

I don't understand your definition of souvenir.

A souvenir is there to remind you. That's what the word literally means. It can't remind you if you don't so much as give it a chance to. If you don't look at a souvenir, it's no longer one.

Cerberus

Just go to Turkey and have a good time.

RegDwight ΒВB

We'd have countless faceless basement nerds feast on our corpse just so you can have a souvenir you don't even look at?

Gigili

@Cerberus OK, send me one with that CD-set.

Cerberus

@Gigili If you send me one first!

I actually think I'm going to cave in sooner rather than later.

I might order one this week.

Even though I have no money to speak of.

Gigili

10:23 PM

@Cerberus What would be the point then?

Cerberus

I don't know, you started it.

RegDwight ΒВB

@Cerberus Well now I'm pissed off, I can tell you. This is a major disappointment and a letdown. I wouldn't have expected that from you. I have spent countless hours on this game while you didn't so much as log in. You kept telling us how boring the game was, back when the war room still existed. Fast forward almost a year, everyone grows as bored as you are, Rob resigns, Vitaly leaves, I stop playing, all announced well in advance in this very room, with no reaction from you whatsoever.

And now you demand a souvenir?

Well you have the transcript. Which you should have read in the first place, I might add.

In fact, arguably it's only now that you have a souvenir you will actually remember.

Cerberus

@RegDwightΒВB I have never demanded anything. If you had just told me why you wanted to disband the faction, I imagined that we could have had a polite discussion, and you might have convinced me with a strong reason; and, if not, and you had gone on to disband it anyway, I would have been content with having expressed my opinion, and that would have been that.

RegDwight ΒВB

@Cerberus you weren't content with my answers at all.

For some strange form reason. Just because they didn't start with "because". Well feel free to prepend it.

23 mins ago, by RegDwight ΒВB

You haven't been playing for like half a year. I myself haven't played for a week or so. Rob has quit. Vitaly's been in another faction for ages. Kit is stuck at level something.

Cerberus

Because I never felt that you answered me. And I was presented with a fait accompli.

@RegDwightΒВB I do not understand why this is a reason.

I asked several times, "why not just keep the faction up?". No answer.

RegDwight ΒВB

10:35 PM

@Cerberus I understand that, but you should really take that one up with yourself.

Cerberus

What do you mean?

It is like burning drawings we made together as children.

RegDwight ΒВB

If you lose interest in the faction to the extent that you don't even notice Rob, Vitaly, and myself leaving, I don't really understand what the fuss is all about all of a sudden.

Cerberus

You are telling me that I should not care, instead of giving me a reason why you disbanded it. That is an ad-hominem—it's not even an argument, it is just unrelated.

Look, this is going nowhere.

RegDwight ΒВB

I disbanded it because you no longer contributed to it.

Cerberus

Were you mad about that?

RegDwight ΒВB

10:37 PM

I disbanded it because Rob no longer contributed to it.

I disbanded it because Vitaly no longer contributed to it.

I disbanded it because I myself no longer contributed to it.

Cerberus

I don't see the connection from not playing to disbanding, instead of keeping it up.

RegDwight ΒВB

That is four reasons. And rather strong ones.

Cerberus

Why not leave it up?

Why not?

What bad thing will happen?

RegDwight ΒВB

Leave what up? An empty faction? Well it is up.

Cerberus

It is up?

Then what does disbanding mean?

It has not been deleted?

RegDwight ΒВB

10:40 PM

in War Metal Tyrant, Nov 10 '11 at 15:34, by Cerberus

Maybe you should kick me.

in War Metal Tyrant, Sep 28 '11 at 22:52, by Cerberus

If you want to kick me out of the faction, I fully understand.

Cerberus

2 mins ago, by Cerberus

It has not been deleted?

RegDwight ΒВB

Well I have no idea. But it sure as hell has zero members now.

Cerberus

Look, I don't want to have this conversation. I want us to be friends. I don't care what happened. I don't want to think about this one more second.

RegDwight ΒВB

Well guess how I feel then.

This is coming out of nowhere for me.

Cerberus

I was frustrated because I felt that you didn't answer my honest question. That was all. Let's drop it, OK?

RegDwight ΒВB

10:44 PM

Well I honestly felt that I had answered it. And I still do. That is all. Glad to drop it.

Cerberus

OK. This never happened.

So narwhals.

Aren't they something?

RegDwight ΒВB

I'm just wondering what I might do next that disappoints you like that.

I can't be pinging you in every line I say.

Cerberus

I like people to be very direct sometimes.

RegDwight ΒВB

I thought I was.

Cerberus

Do you really want to continue talking about this? I am prepared to, if you want to, but...

RegDwight ΒВB

10:47 PM

It's not continuing. That subject is closed. It's a new subject that's open now, and only for me in my head.

Cerberus

So the new subject is the old?

RegDwight ΒВB

No. The new subject is that I'm going through stuff I said in this room and trying to sort out how much of it you are actually aware of, and how much of it will catch you by surprise once I act on it.

Cerberus

You know I don't read transcripts?

RegDwight ΒВB

Of course.

And I do not expect you to.

But that's the whole point.

Cerberus

I may not read every line said by someone I am not in a conversation with, if it is not directed at me and I am either AFK for a moment or talking to someone else.

If that's what you mean.

RegDwight ΒВB

10:52 PM

Well I just mean that if stuff gets mentioned once, nobody expects you to know. But if stuff keeps falling apart for months, or has fallen apart months ago, that's a whole nother story.

I mean, imagine nohat coming in right now and saying, holy shit, Kosmo is no longer a mod???

0

Q: Do anybody remember ME? :)

In last November a terrible fire happened in my (wooden) house. haha I lost almost everithing For 2(!) months I lived without electricity - it was phobos & deimos But firemen brigade saved the house itself

history

Oh crap. I only got it after reading @Jasper's comment.

Jez

lol

user19161

@RegDwightΒВB You beat me to it.

KitFox

Oh. My.

RegDwight ΒВB

Well I guess my very personal answer is no, then.)))

user19161

I thought he died of tuberculosis. I am glad he is alive.

Vitaly

10:57 PM

@Reg If it's any consolation, I don't find that other faction satisfying at all. In fact, it is slowly dying and everyone there refuses to acknowledge it.

And yeah, the faceless basement nerds...

RegDwight ΒВB

@Vitaly sounds familiar.

Cerberus

@RegDwightΒВB What does falling apart mean, and what is its relation to disbanding?

RegDwight ΒВB

@Cerberus I thought we closed the subject. I for one am no longer talking about the faction.

Cerberus

All right, then.

RegDwight ΒВB

And in fact I won't be talking at all in a couple minutes! Really gotta go to bed now.

Don't want to miss the train early in the morning.

Vitaly

10:59 PM

Good night, again!

RegDwight ΒВB

Yeah.

KitFox

blows kisses to @RegDwightB

user19161

@RegDwightΒВB Good night.

RegDwight ΒВB

Yeah I guess I better go now. Thanks all, good night. Over and out.

KitFox

@Vitaly I'm sorry the other faction is unsatisfying.

user19161

11:00 PM

The grass is always greener on the other side until you get there.

KitFox

I will play a different game with you if you like.

Vitaly

@KitFox Well, I only left ours when the disbanding has already been decided.

So there.

user19161

@jez So you decided to leave that place now?

KitFox

@Vitaly So there? Are there hard feelings?

Vitaly

@KitFox It's an expression of finality, as per a dictionary.

KitFox

11:03 PM

Ah.

user19161

@Vitaly Thanks for the definition.

user19161

And also the use of as per, something I almost never use.

user19161

Chat is still loading slowly for me, so I will say stupid things now and then that are several messages outdated.

simchona

If that guy tells me I belong in a kitchen again...

Cerberus

Night Reg!

user19161

11:08 PM

@Cerberus That is a bit outdated. He is probably sleeping already.

Cerberus

So be it.

KitFox

pouts

tries to think up ways for impressing @Vitaly

sighs

Vitaly

@KitFox ... uh, was that supposed to be impressive?

simchona

She sighs most inpressively

2

KitFox

@Vitaly ... um, only if it worked?

The little boy isn't sleeping and it is very distracting.

user19161

11:13 PM

@RegDwightΒВB A marvellous display of anaphora and epiphora.

KitFox

Bloody hell. What a lot of hullabaloo.

I feel all awkward now, since I was left off the list of people who were not contributing to the faction.

But just for the record, I heard nothing about disbanding until just now.

Of course, had I been paying attention, I'm sure I would have.

But then again, Kosmo was here and I had to figure that out for myself.

I guess I can go back to be a girl full time though.

user19161

@KitFox For a moment I thought ELU is disbanding.

Cerberus

@KitFox I still don't know whether we were expected to.

But it doesn't matter any more.

KitFox

shrugs It doesn't matter to me.

If it did, I would have been in the loop.

Cerberus

Good.

KitFox

11:23 PM

Do we have any graphic designers here presently?

Cerberus

Not I.

What do you need?

KitFox

A typical activity that a graphic designer might be engaged in just prior to going to a meeting.

z7sg Ѫ

riding a toy tricycle

Cerberus

Very likely.

Robusto

11:55 PM

"Launching Blizzard Launcher" ... so I guess there must be a Blizzard Launcher Launcher?

Transcript for

English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…