English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

5:34 AM

@Robusto (Robusto: "From your interest I'd guess it was you or your sister who downvoted me.") Nope, wasn't me. I only wrote a comment.

RegDwight

11:58 AM

Hm, so now vgv8 is referring to himself as "bot".

2

A: Is "33" used in English sayings?

Thirty-three doesn't hold any particular significance in English that I can think of. It isn't a number that's widely used -- which makes it curious that there is also a question about Catch-33 on EL&U at the moment.

"It seems to me that another question was put by the same bot – vgv8 6 hours ago"

Robusto

12:35 PM

@RegDwight — A slip-up by a Cylon agent, or a carefully planted red herring? You be the judge.

Robusto

12:45 PM

1

Q: What is another name for Dick?

Coming from "Changes in English names of people" telling: Richard → Dick Can I substitute Dick by Richard? I need it to know because my Emails with the use of name Dick are being returned by Email filtering as obscene Or what is substitute for name Dick? I already asked it befo...

It can't be coincidence that so many of this user's questions involve numerology and occulted (or not) sexual references.

RegDwight

1:22 PM

@Robusto Planted, that's for sure. You be the judge whether carefully or not.

4

Q: What's the difference between "client" and "customer"?

I already asked a similar question (customer vs. client vs. user vs. consumer of on-line service) but, I believe, there may be some differences between technical and legal jargon and general usage of English. I'd like to find the distinct most appropriate and unambiguous terms to distinguish t...

word-choice meaning differences technical programming

"That's the point of difficulty. A legitimate entity (not obvious that a human) buys for legitimate use by or through another entity which is can be bot, animal or whatever – vgv8 yesterday"

That is probably the most relevant bit that explains everything. I don't know, I have no idea what it says.

Or perhaps this:
"'bot' need not necessarily be malicious. The usage of 'bot' in the programming world to denote non-malicious entities is common too. Specifically for search engines, 'spider' or 'crawler' are used too. – Ankur Banerjee yesterday"
"Ankur Banerjee, whom do you comment? Neither answerer nor questioner implied this. I myself interact with bots more than with humans. As a matter of fact I myself call me a bot too – vgv8"

RegDwight

1:36 PM

@Robusto But re: numerology and occulted (or not) sexual references, perhaps he's writing the next The Ninth Gate?

The Club Dumas

The Club Dumas is a 1993 novel by Arturo Pérez-Reverte. The book is set in a world of antiquarian booksellers echoing his previous work, The Flanders Panel. The story follows the adventures of a book dealer, Lucas Corso, who is hired to authenticate a rare manuscript by Alexandre Dumas, père. Corso's investigation leads him to seek out two copies of a rare book known as De Umbrarum Regni Novem Portis (The Book of the Nine Doors of the Kingdom of Shadows). Corso encounters a host of intriguing characters on his journey of investigation, including devil worshippers, obsessed bibliophiles ...

Robusto

I can't see him played by Johnny Depp, though.

RegDwight

@Robusto Then again, who would be a better fit than Johnny Depp for such a quirky role?

Robusto

Well, I suppose.

RegDwight

Just picture Johnny Depp with a think Russian accent, speaking lines such as "Уот из зе диференс бетвин 'фак' и 'сак'?"

Robusto

Hahaha.

What is the difference, btw? Maybe I should ask vgv8...

RegDwight

1:46 PM

Well, obviously, the difference between ф and с is a | and a ɔ. Or þ for short.

Robusto

Yes, I know that. Was making joke. Like Russian person.

RegDwight

In Soviet Russia,.. ah, screw that.

Robusto

I knew you were transliterating English sentence into Cyrillic alphabet.

BTW, that was another Roman Polanski movie.

I almost hate that I like his movies, considering what a scumbag he is in real life.

Chinatown is one of my favorite movies of all time, and it kind of kills me that he was raping an underage girl during the making of it.

RegDwight

@Robusto I was actually making a joke myself. Obviously, the difference between an F and an S is not a Þ.

Robusto

Getting back to He Who Must Not Be Named ... I guess there's not a lot to do in Novosibirsk.

RegDwight

1:53 PM

@Robusto Yeah, and I was surprised how good it was (I had read the book already).

Robusto

Especially in winter.

Frank Langella is awesome in it as well.

And that supernatural chick that saves Corso's bacon is actually Polanski's wife.

RegDwight

This is one of those very rare cases where the book and the movie are extremely different, but each of them excellent in their own right.

Robusto

That doesn't happen often.

RegDwight

Have you read any of Perez-Reverte's other stuff?

Robusto

No, I haven't.

Worth a look?

RegDwight

1:57 PM

Yes.

The Flanders Panel

The Flanders Panel (original Spanish title La tabla de Flandes) is a novel written by Spanish author Arturo Pérez-Reverte in 1990, telling of a mystery hidden in an art masterpiece spanning from the 15th century to the present day. Plot summary Julia, an art restorer and evaluator living in Madrid, discovers a painted-over message on a 1471 Flemish masterpiece — appearing as the cover of the book —called La partida de ajedrez (The Chess Game) reading "Qvis Necavit Eqvitem", written in Latin (English: "Who killed the knight?"). With the help of her old friend and father-figure, the fla...

The Fencing Master

The Fencing Master (1988) is a historical novel by Arturo Pérez-Reverte set in Spain at the middle of the 19th century. Amid the political turmoil of the Glorious Revolution where conspiracy and intrigue are commonplace, fencing master Don Jaime Astarloa tries to live as he always has. Subsisting on meagre funds gained through teaching fencing to the sons of the nobility, the anachronistic Don Jaime lives by one universal code: "to be honest, or at least honorable--anything, indeed, that has its roots in the word honor." The Fencing Master is presented in the third person with the focus o...

Robusto

Interesting. I wonder if there are good English translations available.

Even better, Kindle versions ...

RegDwight

No idea...

I read both in German. My father was rather disappointed with the Russian translation of The Fencing Master.

Robusto

amazon.com/s/…

No "Club Dumas" however ...

Do you own a Kindle?

RegDwight

Nope. And don't plan on getting one any time soon.

The Nautical Chart has been on my reading list for quite a while. Never heard of The Yellow Doublet or the others.

I'll be semi-afk in the next few hours or so, sporadically coming back and disappearing again without notice.

Robusto

@RegDwight — So what else is new?

RegDwight

2:07 PM

Zealand, for starters.

Robusto

Sibirsk, for another.

RegDwight

@Robusto OMG, OMG, OMG. Everything makes sense now!

Feb 21 at 16:21, by RegDwight

@FX_ I like how he replied to my comment on meta by saying that Novosibirsk is in the same time zone as New Zealand.

Do click through to that discussion. Illuminating.

Robusto

Do you think when spring comes to Novosibirsk our little problem may solve itself?

@RegDwight — Interesting.

BTW, @RegDwight, in the first Amazon review of The Club Dumas the writer adverts to one of my favorite puzzle-history-mystery novels: 'The plot of "Club Dumas" also reminds me of another, not-very-known book, "The Eight" by Catherine Neville, because of the protagonist's entanglement with juicy puzzles and references to historical figures.'

I think we may have discussed this before, but I'm not sure.

Ah, here:

Feb 3 at 3:17, by Robusto

The Eight: A Novel

Katherine Neville

Ballantine Books

Computer expert Cat Velis is heading for a job to Algeria. Before she goes, a mysterious fortune teller warns her of danger, and an antique dealer asks her to search for pieces to a valuable chess set that has been missing for years...In the South of France in 1790 two convent girls hide valuable pieces of a chess set all over the world, because the game that can be played with them is too powerful....

Well, I discussed this with Vitaly, who seems to have disappeared from our chat lately.

RegDwight

2:33 PM

Ah yes, I remember that discussion. I'll put it on my list, though I have no idea when I will have enough time to read 600+ pages in one run. (The Flanders Panel and The Fencing Master are much shorter BTW, some 160-200 pages each IIRC. The Discovery of Heaven which I recommended earlier is around 850 pages.)

And yeah, what ever happened to Vitaly? We could use more Russians like him.

Kosmonaut

@Robusto I am so bored of this junk.

Robusto

@Kosmonaut — Word.

Kosmonaut

There should be some kind of warning or penalty when your closed/total questions ratio is too high.

Like, you can't post as often until your ratio improves, or something like that.

Robusto

Yeah ... that's a hard heuristic to hash out, I would think.

I think it's like the Supreme Court's definition of pornography: "I can't define it, but I know it when I see it."

And, taken as a whole, his output definitely hangs on the dark side of our moral pendulum here.

Kosmonaut

2:51 PM

He has had 40% of his questions closed.

Out of 67 questions.

That's a lot of crap.

Robusto

Well, to quote W. S. Gilbert: "I'm sure he'd not be missed."

RegDwight

@Kosmonaut Well, there are some restrictions. But I'm afraid his rep is simply too high. Lemme go to MSO hunting.

Robusto

@RegDwight — Too high for what?

Kosmonaut

I assume too high to hit some blocks that limit his activity.

RegDwight

@Robusto The restrictions as I remember them would only apply to low-rep users.

Robusto

2:54 PM

But not too high to be banned for a goodly length of time?

RegDwight

@Robusto Well, you could ban me if you chose so.

Robusto

And I will say this: if he is a bot he wasn't programmed by the same people that did Watson.

Children of a Lesser Dev Team.

With Fewer Resources.

Kosmonaut

I don't see how he could be a bot.

That bot comment is so bizarre

RegDwight

26

A: Can we prevent some of the low-quality questions from entering our system?

Based on the feedback from this post, we have now implemented a form of screening during the question ask period. Questions from IP addresses or accounts with a history of extremely poor questions will no longer be accepted. This is intended to weed out the worst quality questions. (hint hint, ...

Kosmonaut

Besides, I would think that line 1 of your bot code would be "don't mention anything about bots"

Robusto

2:57 PM

Hahaha. Tru dat.

The Prime Directive.

RegDwight

I look around, I look around, I see a lot of new faces. (crowd laughing) Shut up. which means a lot of you have been breaking the first two rules of fight club.

Kosmonaut

Haha.

Robusto

Whoa, hold on: new information ...

Three Laws of Robotics

The Three Laws of Robotics, often shortened to The Three Laws or Three Laws, are a set of three rules written by science fiction author Isaac Asimov and later expanded upon. The rules are introduced in his 1942 short story "Runaround" although they were foreshadowed in a few earlier stories. The Laws are: # A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. # A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. # A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection do...

Hmm ...

RegDwight

My mind is in the state of contemplating whether it should consider itself blown.

Robusto

So the "You do not talk about Bot Club" comment thing must be further down the list.

Kosmonaut

3:01 PM

This guy's location is SO close to Kazakhstan, I wonder if we are getting the Borat treatment.

RegDwight

@Robusto Depends on whether we're talking Moscow ML...

Moscow ML

Moscow ML is an implementation of Standard ML. The codebase is derived from Caml Light. The latest release is 2.01. Supported platforms include Unix, Windows, Mac OS and .NET. External links * [http://www.itu.dk/people/sestoft/mosml.html Moscow ML home page]

Robusto

@Kosmonaut — That crossed my mind. I would expect a certain level of archness to show through if he were channeling Sasha Baron Cohen, though.

RegDwight

@Robusto I think he spells himself Sacha.

Robusto

W/E.

RegDwight

Sacha Baron Cohen

Sacha Noam Baron Cohen (* 13. Oktober 1971 in Hammersmith, London) ist ein britischer Komiker und Schauspieler, der besonders für die durch ihn verkörperten Figuren Ali G, Borat und Brüno bekannt ist. Leben Kindheit und Jugend Sacha Baron Cohen wuchs, als zweiter von drei Söhnen, mit seinen Brüdern Amnon und Erran in einer jüdischen mittelständischen Familie auf. Sein Vater, Gerald Baron Cohen, stammt aus Wales und führte einen Kleiderladen am Piccadilly Circus. Der Namensteil „Baron“ ist nicht als Adelstitel zu verstehen, sondern ist Teil des zusammengesetzten Nachnamens Baron Coh...

Robusto

3:02 PM

I think there's a hyphen in there as well.

Kosmonaut

@Robusto I think the guy really is located where he says, though, in seriousness.

Robusto

@RegDwight Once again you're drawn attention away from my main point with your schoolmarmish Wikipedia references.

RegDwight

Whoa, his brothers are Amnon and Erran.

Feb 16 at 11:04, by RegDwight

I am here to help.

Robusto

The character of Borat is distinguishable from an ordinary Kazakh immigrant, I should think.

RegDwight

Kazakhstan greatest country in the world.
All other countries are run by little girls.
Kazakhstan number one exporter of potassium.
Other countries have inferior potassium.

Kazakhstan home of Tinshein swimming pool.
It’s length thirty meter and width six meter.
Filtration system a marvel to behold.
It remove 80 percent of human solid waste.

Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan you very nice place.
From Plains of Tarashek to Northern fence of Jewtown.
Kazakhstan friend of all except Uzbekistan.
They very nosey people with bone in their brain.

Kazakhstan industry best in world.
We invented toffee and trouser belt.
Kazakhstan’s prostitutes cleanest in the region.
Except of course for Turkmenistan’s.

Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan you very nice place.
From Plains of Tarashek to Norther fence of Jewtown.

Come grasp the mighty penis of our leader.
From junction with the testes to tip of its face!

Robusto

3:06 PM

It's not like Andrew Dice Clay's characters, which are indistinguishable from what they seek to mock, and therefore do not come off as satire but just weirdness.

Kosmonaut

Yes, actually Borat isn't even similar to people from Kazakhstan

Robusto

Uh, @RegDwight, grown-ups are trying to have a conversation.

Kosmonaut

For one thing, they look Asian.

RegDwight

@Robusto Haha. Okay, I shut up.

Kosmonaut

Kazakhstan shouldn't take anything he does personally, because Kazakhstan was chosen for no other reason than the fact that Westerners have NO CLUE about anything regarding Kazakhstan.

Robusto

3:08 PM

@Kosmonaut — Agreed.

In fact, Americans in general have no clue about anything foreign.

Europe is a country, right?

Kosmonaut

I've never heard about people from any other countries knowing more than the US.

Robusto

Maybe we just meet the educated ones.

Kosmonaut

(That was a lame attempt at a joke)

RegDwight

Feb 2 at 14:40, by RegDwight

►

Yeah, I know you've seen it fifteen times already.

Robusto

OK, it's clear we need to work on our emoticon semiotics for joke-telling.

Kosmonaut

3:11 PM

I was going for deadpan. I overdid it

It needs to be funnier for that level of deadpan.

Robusto

Yeah. And everything in UTF-8 looks deadpan anyway.

Kosmonaut

"Let's talk about your options"

Oh wait... then he gets sexist.

This is the first time I have ever seen a portion of this show.

Robusto

To be fair, however, it's not her job to be smart. Her job is to be blonde, and sexy to people who don't need to see a lot of intelligence to get turned on.

And she did wind up winning the $25,000.

Even if she did have to crib from a 5th grader to do it.

Kosmonaut

I wouldn't have made it on that show because I wouldn't have been dumb enough.

Robusto

True. You probably aren't a perky blonde, either.

Kosmonaut

3:17 PM

Not on Sundays.

Robusto

BTW, I bet if you went into Whitechapel or the working-class sections of Munich or Moscow you could put together a clip reel with people demonstrating massive ignorance about a lot of things.

Kosmonaut

Certainly.

Robusto

But it really is depressing that we do have so many people who don't know anything and don't really want to learn anything, who are intellectually incurious on practically every important topic.

A sizable portion of the American public thinks Obama is a Muslim.

And who think that schoolteachers are overpaid, but that CEOs and Wall Street rip-off artists aren't.

Kosmonaut

Well, that misbelief about Obama is disturbing on many levels.

Robusto

Seriously, they are prey to the same kind of demagoguery that brought down Athens in the late 5th century BC.

Kosmonaut

3:24 PM

A large segment of people will seriously believe anything if it is delivered from certain people of authority in the right tone.

Robusto

Topic for discussion: Does Freedom of Speech Imply Freedom to Lie and Misrepresent the Truth?

Apparently it does.

And people would rather do almost anything than think.

My wife is poking me so I must bestir myself and go rum some errands. Back later.

Martha

Rum some errands? Freudian slip?

Kosmonaut

haha

RegDwight

@Robusto Absolutely. I can put up a collection of videos of idiot Germans or Russians anytime. Most people are not bright. Anywhere. Just think YouTube comments. And then think how these are comments by people who can figure out how to switch on a PC, start a browser, navigate to YouTube, and post a comment. Them are not the least educated folks on the planet.

Martha

The niece is getting her butt washed in the sink because she got poop everywhere.

She liked the water part. The getting removed and toweled off part, not so much.

Kosmonaut

3:40 PM

[ shudder ]

RegDwight

@Robusto That topic comes up on Reddit like fifty times a day, every single day. I'm so tired of people arguing that Germany sucks at freedom of speech because they have that one single restriction that Holocaust denial is a criminal offense.

Kosmonaut

It shouldn't give news agencies the freedom to intentionally lie and misrepresent the truth.

RegDwight

4:08 PM

Hey @Martha, that other Martha has renamed herself.

Martha F., New Jersey

284 3

word-choice usage translation punctuation writing-style comma terminology

You're now officially more unique than ever!

Martha

Yeah, she did that a while ago. On Cooking, I renamed myself (to Marti) just to keep myself from getting confused.

RegDwight

Congrats!

Note our third user whose handle matches "martha":

aravindakumarThangaraju, chennai

1

Martha

4:24 PM

Took me a while to find it in there. Amusing, though. :)

RegDwight

@Martha Yup, took me a while as well. To my defense, it's Sunday and I'm wasted.

Martha

Good wasted or bad wasted?

RegDwight

There is no such thing as "bad wasted" in Russia. Only in Holland, I guess.

yesterday, by Cerberus

In addition to being drunk, I also failed in a major objective of mine. That is why I present to you, ladies and gentlemen, extreme vulnerability. I'd like to say that this website is pretty awesome. And I hope you will forgive me if I say silly things at this moment. If you can't tell that I am Dutch now, then you, eh, wait, etiquette matters at any time of day or night. Suffice it to say that you should. See you tomorrow all!

Martha

Bad wasted = too tired to drink.

RegDwight

There is no such thing as "too tired to drink" in Russia.

Martha

4:30 PM

Ok, so "no such thing as 'bad wasted' in Russia" is just a logical restatement of "no such thing as 'too tired to drink' in Russia".

RegDwight

Link clearance!

data.stackexchange.com/english/q/93756/…

16

A: Are rumors of a film true? I hope so by golly!

Gary Busey as the Evil Unicorn Overlord. (Credits: image 1, image 2.)

132

Q: About your f***ing website.

Presented for your enjoyment-slash-amusement. Email received by team@stackoverflow.com from Name Jesus Christ Almighty, what a f***ing mess of a website. I'm trying to post a question. Just the one, you know, f***ing question. So I sign up for an ID and I'm sent an email that doesn't real...

discussion fun email

I'm out. Still some vodka left. That is inexcusable!

No wait, that last one should be @JPmiaou.

Feb 28 at 15:56, by JPmiaou

This site is absolutely chock-full of mystery meat navigation and display. How am I supposed to find out about entering a blank search for help? Do it by accident, in frustration?

Robusto

5:05 PM

@Martha — Hey, you try typing when you're getting poked. It definitely affects performance.

@Martha — If you can be "wicked tired" (Boston-area intensifier) then I suppose you could be bad wasted (in the sense of bad meaning very).

Wow, this is uncanny. I used exactly the same photo Pekka used in a presentation I did for a class in grad school:

17

A: Are rumors of a film true? I hope so by golly!

An Oktoberfest "Maß" as Darin Dimitrov.

Those are the demitasse mugs favored by die Damen in Deutschland. The men, of course, wouldn't be caught dead drinking from something so petite.

@RegDwight: /poke /nudge

I see how it works. No one respects me now because I went to "rum errands" with my wife. Not even Martha. /sob

RegDwight

5:27 PM

@Robusto Oh come on, you little sobber, I will respect you for the rest of the day, Rum hin oder her.

@Robusto Not uncanny in the least. Das Photo ist all over the Internet.

Robusto

But seriously, if I remember correctly those are the ladies' portions, correct?

They're so cute!

Tiny little mugs like that!

Kleine Kruge? Wie sagt man das auf Deutsch?

RegDwight

@Robusto Umm. Eine Maß ist eine Maß, wenn Du mich fragst.

Maßkrug

Ein Maßkrug ist eine bestimmte Art eines Bierkruges. Er fasst das Volumen einer Maß (auf Bairisch die Mass, mit kurzem a; auf Schwäbisch und in Österreich die Maß). Damit waren früher 1,069 Liter gemeint, heute ist es jedoch genau 1 Liter. Üblicherweise wird der Maßkrug insbesondere in Bayern und Österreich für Bier und Biermischgetränke wie Radler oder Schneemaß verwendet. Geschichte Die früher üblichen tönernen Maßkrüge (auch als „Keferloher“ bekannt) wurden Ende des 19. und Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts zunehmend gegen gläserne ausgetauscht. In Franken und unter Kennern wird jedoch m...

Robusto

So ... like I said, a ladies' portion.

RegDwight

@Robusto Jaja, ist schon gut.

Robusto

C'mon, goddammit, I'm trying to make a freakin' joke and you're takin' all the freakin' fun out of it!

Danke schön.

RegDwight

5:31 PM

Feb 16 at 11:04, by RegDwight

I am here to help.

Robusto

Endlich.

Martha

@Robusto Sorry. Was trying to convince the niece that napping is a good thing.

Robusto

You know, if you don't laugh at my jokes I'm going to get tired in two or three hours and just go away.

RegDwight

@Robusto This is related to your interests:

►

I hope you can understand his Bavarian.

And can you tell me what they say in Japanese?

Robusto

I heard "takusan" (greatly, a lot) and "chuumon shite" (order). The damn music keeps stepping on their lines. Let me listen with the headphones.

Konnichi wa, nanika Bieru no takusan [inaudible] ga iru mo chuumon shitai n-desu ga.

Literally: Hello, something beer of a lot [inaudible] also order would like because is but ...

Hi, I'd greatly like to order some kind of beer. ??

RegDwight

5:39 PM

From the German perspective:
Geschichten aus dem Paulaner-Garten.
Japanese, Japanese, Japanese.
Was?
Japanese, Japanese, Japanese.
Er sagt, er hätte gern drei frische Paulaner-Weißbier.
Wieso jetzt drei?
Ja, so gut ist mein Japanisch jetzt auch wieder nicht.

Robusto

I got the German.

The Japanese guy just races really fast over one little part of his request.

RegDwight

Excellent. I will be adding two hours worth of respect on top of the rest of the day.

Robusto

Even when he slows down and repeats it.

But note the "desu ga" construction.

It's the Japanese way of being polite. "It's like that, but ..." softens the request.

RegDwight

You'll have to educate me on the ga, I keep forgetting that one.

Ah.

Thanks.

Robusto

Ga means "but"

Offering you the alternative of rejecting the request before the fact.

RegDwight

5:42 PM

Hai.

Robusto

The n-desu or no-desu ending is a way of referring to the entire statement that came before it.

"It is a matter of I would greatly like to order beer, but ..."

Them silly Japanese. Why can't they just speak English like everybody else?

RegDwight

@Robusto Yeah. I like that a lot. Kind of like in Chinese, you keep talking for hours, and then you just add a ma or whatever, and that means "the opposite of what I've been telling you the whole time".

Robusto

Hahaha.

RegDwight

We went to cinema yesterday, we saw True Grit, it was truly excellent, the music, the actors, and everything. NOT.

Robusto

BTW, the "ga iru" I quoted above should probably be "ga aru" ... and it is in the impolite form because it is not part of the question to the waitress but part of his reference to his own request.

@RegDwight — Yeah, the Coen Bros. can't be geniuses every time out.

RegDwight

5:47 PM

@Robusto I get sad every time I realize I will die without ever getting such finesses of certain languages. Most languages, in fact.

Robusto

Well, you're way ahead of me.

RegDwight

How so?

Robusto

You speak English just about as well as I do, and I can only assume your Russian and German are even better. I can't speak any language as well as I speak English.

RegDwight

Well, from my perspective, your Japanese is way better than my French.

But thanks a bunch. It's not like I earned it or even worked towards it. Life happens.

Robusto

It's way better than my French too. Probably better than my German at this point, although at one point I did speak pretty decent German.

German is the only other language I've been able to think in besides English. And that was only while I was over there.

RegDwight

5:51 PM

Yeah. It's amazing how I can become fluent in certain languages within weeks, and then forget everything within days.

Robusto

I liken it to sight-reading. You have to give another part of your brain control.

RegDwight

Feb 9 at 16:44, by RegDwight

Ask me how to order a baguette right now, I wouldn't know.

Feb 9 at 16:45, by RegDwight

Ask me when I'm in Paris, no prob.

Robusto

Je voudrai une baguette, s'il vous plait?

RegDwight

Well, yes, but then the cashier will keep talking at you, and you'll have to respond.

Robusto

Oh. That.

RegDwight

5:52 PM

Feb 9 at 16:46, by RegDwight

(By fluent I don't mean I could write a dissertation, only that I am not constantly mistaken for a Russian.)

Robusto

It's kind of scary to think in another language at first, but it's necessary if you're really going to communicate in that language. Also necessary for real progress.

RegDwight

I just don't push it. It comes (and goes) naturally.

Lock me up on St. Helena, I wouldn't be able to participate in this site in a few months time.

Robusto

No, it's not about pushing. It's about letting go.

Just like sight-reading.

Sight-reading (and music in general) are right-hemisphere activities. But our rational part is in the left hemisphere. So the left hemisphere always wants to control things. It's like the blind man saying, "Shove over, I'll drive." And it can't. It just can't.

RegDwight

"I have never had any formal guitar training, so it's only the most basic stuff that I can play a prima vista."

RegDwight, Europe, GMT+1

118 1 5

strings acoustic

Robusto

I play plectrum-style guitar, but not well.

My fingers aren't cut out for it.

RegDwight

5:58 PM

I can't play with a plectrum, like, at all. And it's not like I haven't tried. A zillion times I have!

Robusto

And if I could have reached tenths I would have been quite a piano player. But the best I can do is a ninth.

RegDwight

Terzdezima here.

Robusto

No freakin' way.

RegDwight

I swear.

I have huge hands.

Robusto

Wow, you must.

RegDwight

5:59 PM

Well, it's all in the training. I can pull off all kinds of tricks with my fingers.

Some scare people away.

Robusto

I went through months of stretching exercises, and I can reach some tenths some of the time, but not reliably.

Christ, Rachmaninoff could only reach 12ths, couldn't he?

RegDwight

Not sure. I only know about Skryabin, who invented his own piano with like 23 notes per octave.

But that's a whole 'nother story.

Robusto

Yeah, I totally don't get microtones.

Chromatic is as far as I will go.

RegDwight

105

Q: Mathematical difference between white and black notes in a piano?

The division of the chromatic scale in 7 natural notes (white keys in a piano) and 5 accidental ones (black) seems a bit arbitrary to me. Apparently, adjacent notes in a piano (including white or black) are always separated by a semitone. Why the distinction, then? Why not just have scales with ...

music-theory

I like how that's the most popular question ever on Math.

Robusto

Someone should teach him about the circle of fifths.

RegDwight

6:03 PM

I will be switching to the AFK mode shortly. It's a pity, but I must.

Robusto

Well, good talkin' to ya.

RegDwight

I haven't upvoted the top answer there. Still something missing.

If you ask me.

Robusto

Well, it's like A Voyage to Laputa.

He's talking all around the point, but never quite hitting on it.

RegDwight

Gotta take a picture of my hands performing sick tricks some time.

Robusto

And speaking about this mathematically is not really ever going to answer the question. IMO.

RegDwight

6:05 PM

TTYL. Thanks for the Japanese translation. Now I can totally rule.

Robusto

@RegDwight — Wait one second, and I will pull a clip that expresses my feelings towards you at just this moment.

RegDwight

Okay, still here.

Robusto

Ah, it's going to take longer than I thought. Check back later.

RegDwight

Sure. Seeya!

I'm out!

Robusto

OK, here's the rivalry and the "tricks" I was talking about.

►

The encounter I'm referring to starts at about 0:43" in this clip.

@RegDwight: Oh, and despite what Val Kilmer says to Michael Biehn, I don't hate you. Ours isn't that kind of rivalry. But I dunno ... if you really can do 13ths, maybe I do hate you, you spawn of the devil.

Robusto

6:49 PM

@RegDwight: Oh, and I fogot to mention: the Japanese guy says kanpai! at the end, which is Japanese for Prost! or "Cheers!"

RegDwight

@Robusto Well, yeah, that was the most obvious thing for anyone.

@Robusto Whoa, WTH is that movie, how come I've never seen it?

Anyhow, the key to making a language one's own is, and I'm quoting you, is getting cultural references. You can have the greatest dictionaries and textbooks in the world, they won't help you jack.

But if you get to read the worst Korean translation of The Raven; if you get to watch the Super Bowl with Mongolian commentary; if you get to discuss Wal Mart on the French subreddit; if you take your time to watch a few Naughty America videos; if you pay any attention at all to your local news about Katrina; if you ever happen across Seinfeld re-runs on German television; if you ever just click on english.stackexchange.com — you get exposed to that elusive culture thing. And that's the key.

That bottle looks suspiciously as if it still weren't empty. Ashes on my head, I'm out again.

Cerberus

8:41 PM

I just noticed that Reg and Rob are both at 31.1k. Could be an evil pact. How do they do it? Does it have something to do with sinister cultural references to The Simpsons?

RegDwight

@Cerberus What I'm seeing is Reg at 31.1, Rob at 30.9.

So Rob is actually leading, as a huge chunk of Reg's 31.1 is coming from association bonuses, while Rob's 30.9 are hard earned.

In fact, if you look at this week's stats, Reg is way behind vgv8. While Rob is ahead of you. Yes, you.

RegDwight

9:10 PM

BTW, @Rob:

2 days ago, by Robusto

So put that in your pipe and smoke it.

I see your 45 and raise you a, um, 45:

45

A: Isn't the word "uninstall" wrong?

Insane is the opposite of sane, from Latin in- “not” and sanus. Inaccessible is the opposite of accessible, from Latin in- “not” and accessibilis. Inadequate is the opposite of adequate, from in- and adequate. Install is not the opposite of stall. It comes from Latin installare, from in- in the ...

I know Texas is not supposed to work like that but maybe Omaha does.

Robusto

@RegDwight The movie is Tombstone and, except for much of Kurt Russell's performance, it's an utter gem.

RegDwight

@Robusto Yup, it's right there in the video title. Never heard of it. Gotta check it out.

Robusto

Oh, and another thing you can impress your friends with about the Paulaner spot. The Japanese guy is comically trying to phonetically pronounce bier instead of using the Japanese word borrowed from English (biiru) which is how he would normally pronounce it.

RegDwight

@Robusto Really? Never noticed that.

@Robusto Holy smokes, 7.7 on IMDB.

Robusto

Bye-air-u he says.

RegDwight

9:16 PM

Biiru will always remind me of Lost in Translation. Believe it or not, they dropped it in the German version. Bill Murray just says Bier.

Robusto

Awww...

Anyway, Doc Holliday is Val Kilmer's best role outside of his uncanny performance as Jim Morrison, IMO.

RegDwight

Yeah, and Germans usually go out of their way to make the most excellent lip-sync dubbing.

I am not aware of any other country that goes to such great lengths.

Robusto

Japan certainly doesn't.

RegDwight

They even somehow managed to bring it across that the two guys in the sauna are actually talking German. Without turning them into Danes.

Robusto

I can't believe you haven't seen that movie.

RegDwight

9:20 PM

Never even heard of it. Seriously.

Robusto

The movie is so famous that when my wife and I went to a dude ranch in Arizona, we stopped at the real Tombstone, where they did reenactments of the Gunfight at the OK Corral, and the actors were dressed just like the actors in the movie. The history in the movie is echt as well.

RegDwight

Cuil. And kewl.

Robusto

Previous attempts to portray the Wyatt Earp story were outrageous hagiographies, but Tombstone shows a pretty accurate portrayal of what went down.

RegDwight

I only know that cough Kevin Costner movie cough.

Robusto

Holy sheeeeeit!

RegDwight

9:23 PM

Haha, check this out:

Tombstone (1993)

Tombstone ist ein amerikanischer Westernfilm aus dem Jahr 1993, geschrieben von Kevin Jarre, unter der Regie von George Pan Cosmatos. Die Geschichte handelt von Wyatt Earp und seinen Brüdern, die nach Tombstone (Arizona) ziehen, wo sie und Doc Holliday auf eine Bande Krimineller, die 'Cowboys', treffen. Handlung Wyatt Earp, ein hoch angesehener Ordnungshüter im Ruhestand, kommt in Tucson (Arizona) wieder mit seinen Brüdern Virgil und Morgan zusammen, von wo aus sie nach Tombstone aufbrechen, einer kleinen wachsenden Minenstadt, um sich dort niederzulassen. Dort treffen sie auf Wyatts al...

"Originalsprache: Englisch, Latein".

Robusto

Hahaha.

Yeah, Johnny Ringo speaks a lot of languages.

RegDwight

I don't know jack shit about Latin. Ein Grund mehr to see that movie.

Robusto

He translates a priest's Latin before he kills him.

RegDwight

How noble of him.

Robusto

The opening scene definitely establishes Powers Boothe (Curly Bill Broscius) and Michael Biehn (Johnny RIngo) as evil bastards of the first stripe.

RegDwight

9:26 PM

All hail Joss Whedon!

The best dying scene so far is probably that from Serenity.

Robusto

Wie heißt ein Schurke auf Englisch?

F'x

hi

Robusto

Doc Holliday, der war Zahnarzt.

RegDwight

I mean that of Shepherd's. Though Alan Tudyk's wasn't bad, either.

Robusto

Hey F'x

RegDwight

9:29 PM

@Robusto Miscreant? Scoundrel? Rogue? Beggar? Desperado?

Robusto

Desperado.

RegDwight

K.

Believe it or not, I'm still kind of AFK, so don't expect much.

Except utter nonsense, of course!

Robusto

I never do.

RegDwight

Me. Your backyard. Nonsense. Soon. Be prepared.

Robusto

Ich verlange nur Unsinn von dir.

Oh, and the snow is melting!

RegDwight

9:32 PM

Oh noes, my preciousss!

Robusto

Spring is coming! You can feel it in the air!

RegDwight

Luv is in ze er!

Robusto

Yeah, you can take your preciousss ssssnow to Mt. Doom and dump the both of you into the molten lava.

RegDwight

I prefer molten boron.

►

Robusto

Which reminds me: is there any other kind of lava except molten lava?

RegDwight

9:34 PM

Ain't that a pleonasm or something?

Robusto

Yup.

I mean, "Affirmatively speaking, the answer is yes."

RegDwight

►

Anyhow, gotta get some ginger ale. TTYL.

Feb 15 at 14:33, by RegDwight

Need even more coke. And Coke. Brb.

Robusto

OK, did you get the cultural reference in "Nobody doesn't like Molten Boron"?

RegDwight

@Robusto There's a reference in there? Other than it being funny in and of itself?

Robusto

Yes there is.

Google away, me hearties.

RegDwight

9:37 PM

Come on, Robbie, spill the beans. Me too lazy.

Robusto

I'll save you the trouble. There is a brand of store-bought packaged cakes called Sara Lee. And their jingle (and tag line) is "Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee."

RegDwight

Ah. Old news. But I have never drawn the connection.

Feb 20 at 15:39, by Robusto

Wow, mind = blown.

Robusto

Sara Lee Corporation

Sara Lee Corporation () is a global consumer-goods company based in Downers Grove, Illinois, USA. It has operations in more than 40 countries and sells its products in over 180 nations worldwide. Its international operations are headquartered in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Sara Lee is also the brand name of a number of frozen and packaged foods, often known for the long-running slogan "Everybody doesn't like something, but nobody doesn't like Sara Lee," often incorrectly reported as "Nobody does it like Sara Lee." In 2006, Sara Lee announced a new company wide campaign: "the joy of eating...

RegDwight

2 days ago, by Kosmonaut

Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee™

Anyhow, coke. Mean, ale.

AAAAND we've come full circle.

2 days ago, by RegDwight

Fridge. Me. Bye!

Robusto

Later.

RegDwight

10:10 PM

Harr. Still no sportsmanship love for me. I feel like I should have two of those already.

F'x

10:34 PM

@RegDwight hey, I got that one!

RegDwight

Yeah well, I'm jealous, what should I say.

Feb 18 at 19:28, by Kosmonaut

That means FX_ is the nicest person here

Feb 18 at 19:29, by RegDwight

Yep, still struggling to get that one. I have too many questions where mine is the only answer.

Feb 18 at 19:29, by RegDwight

And then I have many questions where I posted an answer because I didn't like any of the others to begin with, so no point in upvoting them.

In my mod nomination, I boldly claimed: "just a dozen questions away from becoming, um, a Sportsmanship". I have upvoted six or seven competing answers since.

Close, but no cigar.

And I won't be caught dead upvoting stuff indiscriminately just to get a badge.

Or downvoting, for that matter.

Transcript for

English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…