English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

1:54 PM

@Cerberus Yes. Despite the fact that Trump pretends to do things for the working class, under his regime they are the most expendable commodity for his true constituents, the so-called billionaire "job creators."

2:27 PM

@Cerberus Werkloosheid?

@M.A.R. Unemployment.

3 hours later…

tchrist

5:29 PM

@M.A.R. work-less-hood

5:49 PM

Hello.

Is there a specific name for word pairs like sense-nonsense, science-conscience etc?

sign-signature

The latter ones have the former ones in their spelling.

Please let me know if anyone knows.

(They're inflected words..?? but I wonder if there's a more specific name.)

I think you're referring to a broad category of words that might or might not have anything in common

To make up a name for it would be easy enough, but is it any useful?

Yes.

Cognates share the same roots

Nonsense is, well, non + sense

I have to answer a question and I need a word only for words like that.

I don't see any use to categorizing them if it's done better already by other terms

@DecapitatedSoul OK, carry on

5:53 PM

I'm searching ...

I'm just saying there isn't much use to a funword, even if it exists

Can I call it conjugation?

Conjugated words..

1 min ago, by M.A.R.

Cognates share the same roots

@M.A.R. You will see after I answer the question :)

'Cognate'

I'm going to call them 'prefixed' (in my case). Thanks for you time @M.A.R. :)

Q: Term for a word that is unintentionally made up of two or more other words?

6:24 PM

@DecapitatedSoul Possibly related:

For example, therapist may be split into the + rapist, neither of which (arguably) has anything to do with the original words. Another example would be conflagration: con + flag + ration. Or weather: we + at + her. Note that words like threesome and purebred would not qualify, because the parts...

I called that "accidental lexical componentry."

Cerberus

@tchrist Ding!

@Cerberus My translation was more idiomatic.

tchrist

@DecapitatedSoul No. To conjugate is to inflect a verb in its various forms of voice, mood, tense, number, and person.

There are no conjugal rights for non-verbs.

6:44 PM

@Robusto, That's a great question.
@tchrist, Thanks. :)

I'm going to refute one of your answers. @tchrist (Sorry for that. :P)

Not 'refute' actually

But...

I will let you know when I do.

Captain Bohemian

2:53 AM now

going to sleep

the second night on a hill where bird sound can be heard even at this time

Goodnight. @CaptainBohemian

2 hours later…

8:30 PM

@tchrist Why was my question english.stackexchange.com/questions/534561/… locked to comments?

@RichardKayser, I assume it's because people were posting 'answers' in 'comments'.

Lots of other questions have been locked recently, so it's normal. :D

Q: Idiom for the phrase "getting a good result from a bad situation or with a bad condition"?

@RichardKayser It's a dupe.

Is there an idiom which expresses the idea of "getting a good result from a bad situation or with a bad condition"? Thanks!

idioms

9:00 PM

@Robusto Hmmm. I didn't consider it a dupe. I was interested in coping strategies.

@DecapitatedSoul Thanks. I never had it happen before. Wasn't sure what was going on.

:))

9:18 PM

@RichardKayser If you're looking for coping strategies, maybe a single word isn't going to do the trick. Have you considered asking on Psychology or one of those sites?

We provided him with the best alternatives.

@tchrist, If you have a moment, have a look english.stackexchange.com/questions/457805/…

It's what I was talking about. :)

9:41 PM

@Robusto I used the following tags: single-word request, phrase-request, idiom-request, and I expressed a preference for idioms. I'm looking for ordinary EL, not a technical term. My question was not a dupe and doesn't belong on another site.

@Jasper Still German, trying to reach level c1. Hi, how are you?

@RichardKayser Sure looks like a dupe to me. Even down to the fact that the first answer in both is essentially the same.

10:05 PM

@Robusto You know that means nothing. I flat out disagree with you. Let's just move on.

@RichardKayser Well, if you're going to be unpleasant, maybe you should.

@Robusto, In my answer, I used the words I was talking about... I needed a name for that. But it looks OK without a specific name. :) And thanks for your +1 (can't receive more points :D I hit rep cap for the 7 time consecutively.)

And I don't know that "that means nothing." I'm pretty sure I thought it meant something when I said it. In fact, I am sure.

@DecapitatedSoul Only 143 more to go till you are Legendary. ^_^

@RichardKayser, I hate to disagree but I do. We provided the best possible alternatives for your phrase. I also have a few words in comments that you could use (alleviate, ameliorate, optimise etc.)

@Robusto Sure I will. (After I study linguistics in college, I'll be able to answer more questions.)

Jul 15 '11 at 22:20, by Robusto

Off to dinner momentarily, but just popped in to say ...
I
AM
LEGEND

10:09 PM

😁

@tchrist is a baby Legendary. The only other one is Barrie England.

There was a fourth, but he deleted his account, apparently because of voting irregularities.

And you?

That's what I AM LEGEND was all about.

Yes

Play on the movie title.

10:11 PM

Didn't realise

Zero to Legendary in about eight months. Not a bad record.

Noice

I think it was probably easier to do that in the early days of the site.

Does my answer sound credible?

I wouldn't have +1'ed you if I didn't think so.

10:13 PM

I honestly don't +1 many answers. Still fewer do I -1.

People don't upvote much these days.

But I got 40+ on 3 of my answers in 3 days.

Good going.

Thanks :)

It's a fun game for a while, but eventually you tire of it.

10:19 PM

Like those who have hit 100k.

I hit 50K in about 9 months and got really bored with it. You keep seeing the same questions over and over.

Nowadays I'll answer a question if it's interesting and not too much trouble.

The Tumbleweeds cartoon was a nice touch, btw.

Nowadays I search for old questions that are interesting (like this paradigm one) and search for answers.

That was from Google Books.

@DecapitatedSoul Yeah, all the interesting ones seem to have been answered already. I suppose I'm jaded.

You're going to study linguistics?

Apr 8 at 20:56, by Robusto

Those were the good old days, yeah?

Yes

I have yet to decide my future

And I love linguistics

10:25 PM

@Gigili The problem is, nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

How do you mean?

Have a look at this: english.stackexchange.com/questions/56431/… — Edwin Ashworth had to find an exception to that 'guideline' anyway but I handled it successfully. (Read comments.)

@Gigili I mean that ironically.

@DecapitatedSoul He has to pontificate on everything. I never read his shit because I've already had the 8th-grade-English-teacher experience.

Lol

He did give me a nice comment. Once.

Let's see if I can find it.

10:30 PM

😆

'It's more a constellation than a continuum'. Stellar. — Edwin Ashworth Dec 15 '14 at 3:43

@Robusto Literally ironically?

@Gigili I am literally speaking figuratively. Yes.

'Nice comment from Edwin Ashworth'

I doubt it

Ah. I've got to go.

Will talk to you later.

Later.

@Gigili: It's a joke. Nostalgia is the feeling that the best things in life are in the past. So saying "Nostalgia isn't what it used to be" is a way of putting that notion up to a mirror and watching what happens.

10:34 PM

Did you watch what happened?

Seriously, it's been 11 years since I started using this chatroom.

Or more

The good old days

cries while singing circle of life

1 hour later…