English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

tchrist

12:22 AM

Luna the panther is a little helper 😻

►

It's snowing in Siberia. Would could have imagined it?

user 85795

12:43 AM

We also accept donations in crypto

CowperKettle

2:10 AM

Word of the morn: mirror image twins -- Mirror image twins result when a fertilized egg splits later in the embryonic stage than normal timing, around day 9–12. This type of twinning could exhibit characteristics with reversed asymmetry, such as opposite dominant handedness, dental structure, or even organs (situs inversus).

Mitch

@CowperKettle like Vulcans,

Heart on the right, liver on the left

CowperKettle

3:00 AM

An 8 yo boy was bitten by a Lyme-infected tick in 2004; had his Lyme treated, but neurological symptoms lingered. By mid 2010s he had psychiatric symptoms in addition to his neurological symptoms. Additional anti-Lyme treatments did not rid him of residual antibodies. In 2018 was hospitalized for "schizophreniform" and "somatoform" disorders. At the end of 2019 committed suicide at age 23.

mdpi.com/1422-0067/24/23/16906

He left a will asking to investigate his brain for signs of Lyme, and sure enough, his brain was infected by two species of Lyme simultaneously.

MPDI is a predatory publisher, but would really a team of scientists concoct such a case out of thin air, putting their reputation at stake?

alphabet

@CowperKettle Yes. There's a whole "chronic Lyme" community of people who are...questionable. And lots of grifters make money off them.

CowperKettle

@alphabet I know that "chronic Lyme" is a pseudo-disease. But there might be some true cases like this. Term it "insufficiently-treated Lyme", or "ectopic evasion of Lyme" etc.

Cerberus

Is it always pseudo?

Lyme cannot sometimes persist despite antibiotics?

CowperKettle

I dunno; I haven't researched this in any depth.

I only used to carry along some antibiotics on hiking trips.

alphabet

@CowperKettle Some people have persistent symptoms after Lyme disease. But there's no evidence that actual Lyme bacteria persist. And many of these "chronic Lyme" patients seem to be delusional.

CowperKettle

3:06 AM

To swallow them just in case if bitten by a tick.

Cerberus

@alphabet Hmm are you sure no bacteria ever persist?

I know many people are delusional.

Shocking.

CowperKettle

In the 1980s there was an amazing case of a guy who died in a city from tick-borne encephalitis, while his previous trip to the woods (and a bite by the tick) happened 10 years prior to that.

The case was investigated by Russian and British geneticists, and they discovered that a virus had mutated inside the man's brain, over 10 years.

The virus developed a mutation that triggered a runaway infection completely resistant to drugs.

The virus just lived inside the brain, keeping a very low profile.

Until the mutation occurred.

The Lyme case was reported on the website of the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation: canlyme.com/2023/12/…

Cerberus

Not good.

CowperKettle

3:41 AM

The forecast for dates starting with Dec 6

Quite untypical for December.

Too cold.

Cerberus

Oh, only -30.

It is colder than average here as well.

I think we had -10 one night at ground level.

tchrist

3:54 AM

No cause for complaint. But I still miss summer.

I guess it's a little shaky. The winds have been grumbling to howling at 30 to 60.

Cerberus

I hope the winter will become warmer in Ukraine after this awful autumn.

tchrist

Has Ukraine had a brutal autumn?

Cerberus

Some heavy snow storms and low temperatures, I believe.

At least they seem better prepared now than last winter.

Far better.

On the other hand, Russia seems to have been stockpiling rockets.

tchrist

Injuries that linger for generations.

alphabet

4:30 AM

I kind of like the winter. Sadly climate change may get rid of it.

Kids these days are going to grow up too soft. When I was a kid, we had days when it was 20 degrees (-7 Celsius) and it made us tough.

We don't get as many of those days now.

I still remember the good old days, the early 2000s.

tchrist

@alphabet You're already soft. Your 20 degrees are positive; Rob's and mine were negative.

alphabet

The time before Britney Spears's conservatorship, when all was right in the world.

2

Cerberus

Conservatorship?

Autocorrect?

alphabet

Britney Spears conservatorship case

On February 1, 2008, American singer Britney Spears was involuntarily placed under a conservatorship by Judge Reva Goetz, with her father, James "Jamie" Spears, and attorney Andrew M. Wallet, as conservators. The conservatorship lasted until November 2021. The management of the conservatorship by Jamie, Wallet, and Spears's former business manager Lou M. Taylor, among other parties, generated controversy almost immediately. While Spears was held on an involuntary psychiatric hold in early 2008 for alleged mental health concerns, there was initially a temporary conservatorship intended to last only...

Cerberus

Ah.

alphabet

4:44 AM

The "Free Britney" saga was, one assumes, mostly an American thing.

Cerberus

Or mostly a vapid Internet thing for teenage girls?

alphabet

Actually a fairly major news story over the past couple of years. The subject of a podcast, a major documentary, breathless coverage by major newspapers, etc.

Cerberus

Nobody cares about gossip.

Nobody with a gram of self-respect would read that stuff!

alphabet

This wasn't really a celebrity gossip case, more a case of a former celebrity getting trapped in a legal arrangement that prevented them from making ordinary life decisions and left them unable to speak out about their situation.

Cerberus

Who cares?

Sounds like random gossip.

tchrist

4:49 AM

@alphabet Never shall you be at risk of drowning in the depths of millennia of accumulated Western culture, nay, not even were you to fall face first upon it, for nought of it remains to you but a thin and dirty puddle of dwindling dew drops drying.

Cerberus

Nah.

alphabet

@Cerberus At least 70% of the population

Cerberus

Most people are stupid.

They follow gossip.

Their English is ugly.

They are to be discounted.

tchrist

Ignore the trash.

Cerberus

I do.

I even have a userscript that filters out most of the non-subjects from my newspaper's online front page.

@alphabet Don't tell me you're interested in celebrities.

tchrist

4:51 AM

@alphabet Go read Narcissus and Goldmund. There are English translations.

Cerberus

'Celebrities' are the lowest of the low, hypercommercialism combined with petty gossip and the veneration of people who don't contribute much to culture or society or anything.

tchrist

He's just trying to get himself picked on.

alphabet

@Cerberus I'm not at all interested in ordinary celebrity gossip. But this story wasn't ordinary celebrity gossip.

Cerberus

Anything about commercial celebrities is uninteresting.

It is beneath you, dear Alphabet.

alphabet

@tchrist What would Western culture be without Oops I Did It Again? Nothing.

Cerberus

4:53 AM

You shouldn't be behaving like a sheep following the marketing money of big companies. That is what interest in celebrities is.

tchrist

He's obviously become addicted to fairy floss. There are treatments for that now.

Cerberus

I think he is just trying to poke me.

tchrist

Of course.

Cerberus

Well, I bite!

alphabet

@Cerberus I am very sorry. I acknowledge your superior intellect, highly refined tastes, and excellent discernment. I will try to imitate you by ignoring anything that sounds interesting and condemning others as beneath me.

Cerberus

4:56 AM

@alphabet Just ignore gossip about people (exploited by / who are) big companies.

alphabet

@Cerberus If you knew more about the case, you'd understand why this was in the Times and not (just) the gossip magazines.

Cerberus

I do not care.

As I said, my newspaper, which is a decent one, also has a ton of stupid stuff on its front page, all for the clicks.

alphabet

Regardless, I don't think of people who read celebrity gossip as somehow inferior to me.

That attitude seems mean-spirited and entirely unjustified.

Cerberus

They are behaving in an inferior way, or at the very least wasting their time.

alphabet

People find different things entertaining; their tastes aren't any more arbitrary than mine.

Cerberus

4:59 AM

They are reading about commercial hype.

Which is pretty bad for many reasons.

alphabet

Ah, yes, I'm sure you only seek out sources of entertainment that aren't a waste of time. Or that you conveniently decide everything you do for fun isn't a waste of time. Because you do it.

Cerberus

When I waste my time, I will admit it...

Like eating crisps.

alphabet

I don't think people who read celebrity gossip are, in total, wasting more of their time than you. Or at least I have no evidence of that. Presumably it just replaces other forms of entertainment that are equally time-wasting.

Cerberus

I don't need to read about it in the papers, though.

@alphabet Perhaps, but does that matter?

alphabet

Ok. You also don't need to criticize other people who do read that stuff.

Cerberus

5:01 AM

I think some people who fall for the tricks of big money may benefit from a bit of a wake-up.

alphabet

@Cerberus Your claim that they're "behaving in an inferior way" is, to be honest, arrogant and completely unjustified.

Cerberus

If it were gossip about their neighbours, that would be a different case.

alphabet

All forms of entertainment can be described as "falling for the tricks" of the entertainers (in this case, the tabloid marketers).

Cerberus

I said of big money.

And I also mentioned other reasons why it was bad.

But I think we have exhausted the subject.

You are a free man; you can do whatever you like.

alphabet

I'm, frankly, fed up with the arrogant and elitist attitude I hear from some of my peers who come up with reasons to look down on the unwashed masses. An attitude lacking in wisdom and deeply harmful to society.

tchrist

5:05 AM

> “Men of dreams, the lovers and the poets, are better in most things than
the men of my sort; the men of intellect. You take your being from your
mothers. You live to the full: it is given you to love with your whole
strength, to know and taste the whole of life. We thinkers, though often
we seem to rule you, cannot live with half your joy and full reality.
Ours is a thin and arid life, but the fullness of being is yours; yours
the sap of the fruit, the garden of lovers, the joyous pleasaunces of

alphabet

But I too will drop this and find something else to complain about.

tchrist

You're overpaying your therapist.

Cerberus

I think society would be a lot better if we got rid of the whole celebrity thing.

Most especially the unwashed masses.

tchrist

OF course. And many more besides.

Cerberus

Everyone.

tchrist

5:09 AM

It's a trailer trash thing.

Not a city on a hill.

Cerberus

I think copyright is perhaps to blame for much of the issue.

Without it, there wouldn't be this pressure from big money.

tchrist

Unfortunately I find that unlikely. The nature of man is constant.

alphabet

Classism does far more harm to society than celebrity culture ever will.

@tchrist Yours still listens to you? /s

Cerberus

@tchrist But it usen't to be this bad. What changed if not that?

tchrist

@alphabet Whatever that means, bolshie.

alphabet

5:12 AM

@tchrist The proper term is "democratic socialist," but sure.

@Cerberus How old are you? I don't remember a time when it was any better.

Cerberus

I think it has got worse, at least in the papers.

tchrist

@alphabet How could you remember anything? You haven't lived long enough to compare with any other time.

And you won't read to learn.

Cerberus

But it probably truly began in the sixties or something?

alphabet

@tchrist Probably you remember a time when it was better. My point is that I don't.

I don't think it does much more harm than any other form of ultimately pointless entertainment; at least I don't have any concrete evidence of that.

At least you actually learn something, even if it's worthless (and not always reliable). Better than, say, going to the symphony.

@tchrist I will have you know I've read a great deal about #FreeBritney and learned quite a bit about it.

tchrist

Obsessing over socialites was originally a sickness only of high society, a sickness which was now long ago spread to the lower classes thanks to media. I blame Hearst and his.

@Cerberus Yes, the 60s was when the first boy band had girls screaming for them.

Cerberus

5:22 AM

Then why interact.

@tchrist Right.

Of course there were silly people pining for famous singers before that.

tchrist

But not quite so en masse.

Cerberus

Probably not.

alphabet

@tchrist Someday people of both genders will scream for boy bands, and true equality will be achieved.

tchrist

@alphabet Most people are stupid.

alphabet

@tchrist It saddens me that some people think that way.

Genuinely. It's bad for them, it's bad for society, it helps nobody, and it achieves nothing.

tchrist

5:29 AM

@alphabet You need to spend more time studying the Gaussian distribution.

Half the population is below average, and average is a pretty dim bulb.

So most people are stupid. QED.

alphabet

@tchrist My issue is with your claim that "average is a pretty dim bulb." Again, I'm just disappointed that we live in a society where people have that sort of dislike for the majority of the population.

tchrist

Oh interesting. You equate low intelligence with someone worthy of scorn.

Please talk about anything else. This has gone too far.

Cerberus

People already gossiped about and pined for famous actresses in Antiquity. But there weren't big money and mass media behind those actresses.

tchrist

Did Antiquity have the Opera? :)

Farinelli

Farinelli (Italian pronunciation: [fariˈnɛlli]; 24 January 1705 – 16 September 1782) was the stage name of Carlo Maria Michelangelo Nicola Broschi (pronounced [ˈkarlo ˈbrɔski]), a celebrated Italian castrato singer of the 18th century and one of the greatest singers in the history of opera. Farinelli has been described as having had soprano vocal range and as having sung the highest note customary at the time, C6. == Early years == Broschi was born in Andria (in what is now Apulia, Italy) into a family of musicians. As recorded in the baptismal register of the church of S. Nicola in Andria, his...

Cerberus

It had tragedies and comedies, from which opera is probably descended?

There was a story, song, and speech.

CowperKettle

5:44 AM

> While vitamin B6 is water-soluble, it has a half-life of 25–33 days and accumulates in the body, where it is stored in muscle, plasma, the liver, red blood cells and bound to proteins in tissues.[40][39][41]

Curious. I thought that all water-solubles are washed out quickly.

tchrist

Oct 16, 2020 at 16:39, by tchrist

Aug 1 '13 at 16:41, by tchrist

> What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us.

Oct 16, 2020 at 16:39, by tchrist

Aug 1 '13 at 16:41, by tchrist

> Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture, preoccupied with some equivalent of the feelies, the orgy porgy, and the centrifugal bumblepuppy. As Huxley remarked in Brave New World Revisited, the civil libertarians and rationalists who are ever on the alert to oppose tyranny "failed to take into account man's almost infinite appetite for distractions".

Oct 16, 2020 at 16:39, by tchrist

Aug 1 '13 at 16:42, by tchrist

> In 1984, Huxley added, people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us. This book is about the possibility that Huxley, not Orwell, was right.” ― Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business

Media.

Circus maximus, indeed.

Cerberus

Yeah, very much Brave New World.

I mean, the fact that it distracts people from real issues is one of its problems.

tchrist

Jul 7 at 4:53, by tchrist

Apr 8, 2022 at 0:15, by tchrist

Dec 25, 2012 at 15:32, by tchrist

@RegDwighт “Non est enim consilium in volgo, non ratio, non discrimen, non diligentia, semperque sapientes ea quae populus fecisset ferenda, non semper laudanda dixerunt.” —Gaius Tullius Cicero, Pro Plancio IV.

Every now and then something new arises, but less often than many imagine.

Cerberus

And that is mild!

tchrist

Cicero, you mean? :)

Cerberus

5:56 AM

Yes.

Or his sapientes.

tchrist

At least I'm not quoting Cato the Younger.

I don't feel very recovered from my illness, or at least, not as much as I had hoped I would feel by now. They did a bunch of new bloodwork on me today, and there are lots of indicators than I either still am, or just recently did, wrestle with something pretty nasty. But whether viral illness or intestinal parasite, you can't tell from those particular tea leaves.

Indicators that were not present on Monday when they ran the last set of tests.

CowperKettle

:)

tchrist

That's cute.

alphabet

@tchrist Fine, fine, before someone flags and suspends me again. Cancel culture! But my apologies for going too far.

tchrist

May 30, 2022 at 20:53, by tchrist

Oct 19, 2016 at 14:46, by tchrist

        Men are four:
He who knows not and knows not he knows not, he is a fool—shun him;
He who knows not and knows he knows not, he is simple—teach him;
He who knows and knows not he knows, he is asleep—wake him;
He who knows and knows he knows, he is wise—follow him!

        Lady Burton—Life of Sir Richard Burton. Given as an Arabian Proverb. Another rendering in the Spectator, Aug. 11, 1894. P. 176. In Hesiod—Works and Days. 293. 7. Quoted by Aristotle—Nic. Eth. I. 4. Cicero—Pro Cluent. 31. Livy—Works. XXII. 29.

@CowperKettle I love how the red nose makes him look white!

Cerberus

6:12 AM

@tchrist Huh, they were present today but not Monday, what does that mean?

tchrist

I don't know. They're metabolites from fending off some sort of attack.

Cerberus

When did your illness begin again?

tchrist

I won't know what my doctor says till Monday.

Cerberus

OK.

tchrist

Thanksgiving night.

Cerberus

6:13 AM

When was that?

Before Monday?

tchrist

Like 9 days ago.

Came on very suddenly.

So a week ago Thursday.

alphabet

In other news, I am continuing to plug this random raccoon fundraiser

I have given a generous donation in my full name

Thanks to privacy.com for letting me also use that as the name on my credit card

tchrist

contributes to Daniel Boone's hat fund

alphabet

@tchrist Interesting fact: he actually didn't wear those.

He was one of the good humans.

Cerberus

@tchrist Then I'm surprised they have found something today that wasn't there on Monday?

tchrist

6:23 AM

@Cerberus I rather am as well. But I don't know medicine. This is one of those ones, well a set of them, that shows up under varying circumstances.

Cerberus

Hmm.

I do not know it either.

tchrist

For all I know it may just be a normal thing that shows up after a bad viral infection. Or giardia. Or amoebae.

alphabet

I hope you feel better.

Insufficient milk consumption, I assume?

tchrist

It's rendered me temporarily lactose intolerant. Something about damage to the vili.

alphabet

How can one survive under such conditions?

tchrist

6:27 AM

Drinking vegetable bouillon.

Cerberus

Hmm.

tchrist

Also can't tolerate coffee. It's really frustrating.

alphabet

I suggest Monster Energy.

Cerberus

It may take a while. But I hope you will feel much better yet in a week's time.

tchrist

Thanks.

alphabet

6:28 AM

I hope so too.

tchrist

@alphabet That stuff makes you throw up. Me.

alphabet

Try one of those Panera lemonades they're getting sued over.

tchrist

I don't drink weird stuff with piles of chemical ingredients. I drink water, milk, coffee, or tea. I don't drink pop.

And right now, both milk and coffee give me trouble.

alphabet

I don't drink pop, only soda.

tchrist

I don't know what that is.

But bicarbonate would help.

alphabet

6:32 AM

I hear the caustic kind is the best.

Some day I should stop consuming absurd amounts of caffeine.

TikTok Warned You About Panera Charged Lemonade. Then Someone Died

The dangers of not using TikTok.

tchrist

Children of a Lesser God.

CowperKettle

6:49 AM

@tchrist I'm very sorry!

I hope they are good doctors. Here in Russia, you can never be sure.

@alphabet I also want to try to stop drinking coffee. I'm shaking now from too much coffee.

Because I wake up tired and I use a lot of coffee to be able to at least try to read something, instead of just lying in bed and listening to audiobooks.

Sometimes I have a dream in which I'm very tired, and then wake up tired.

This night, I slept from 20:30 yesterday till 07:00 today.. so it's 10 hours 30 minutes of sleep.

I woke up 4:50 hours ago and I'm still tired.

I've drank 4 cups of coffee.

One cup per hour.

tchrist

Hemoglobin? Red blood cells?

CowperKettle

Maybe one more cup, and I will go for a jog.

@tchrist They were okay the last time, in July

They must be okay.

tchrist

Mine were okay on Monday.

alphabet

I'm addicted to energy drinks.

tchrist

Less so today.

CowperKettle

6:54 AM

I cannot translate for money so I pick some medical article on PubMed and translate it very slowly, sometimes over a couple of months. Because I cannot tell whether I would be able to translate half a page in a whole day, or maybe a whole page or even two.

tchrist

Probably not a leak, though. I've been borderline anaemic for decades.

Xanne

8:07 AM

Wordle 897 4/6

🟩⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
⬜⬜🟩⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

jlliagre

9:50 AM

Random fact: Britney Spears turned 42 yesterday! ;-)

CowperKettle

11:03 AM

@tchrist Have you found a cause of this?

@jlliagre I wish her all the best.

> (from r/AIart)

Robusto

1:27 PM

@jlliagre Perfect.

jlliagre

2:16 PM

C(h)atatouille

Robusto

2:30 PM

@jlliagre No c(h)at in chat.

Wordle 897 3/6

🟩🟩⬛⬛⬛
⬛🟨⬛⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

CowperKettle

3:22 PM

@jlliagre Great cats!

Cats are OK I guess

3:38 PM

@CowperKettle nope

Snailplane has haemochromatosis, the so-called Celtic Curse, since she is half-Irish.

Snailplane was a moderator oven on ELL SE

Her hemoglobin was elevated for years.

It took doctors years to find out that she has that disease.

Looks like in healthcare, any diagnosis more complicated than the run-of-the-mill combo takes years to get discovered, if ever.

tchrist

4:05 PM

@AmericanMoon Behave. Move on.

alphabet

4:29 PM

@AmericanMoon You are, of course, obviously correct, but I don't think we're going to convince him on this point, so there's no reason to prolong this argument.

Michael Rybkin

4:48 PM

Hi guys. Is this at least grammatically correct:

Who is it who is talking right now?

tchrist

5:09 PM

@MichaelRybkin That's just fine.

MetaEd

Wordle 897 5/6

⬛⬛🟩⬛🟩
⬛⬛🟩⬛🟩
⬛⬛🟩⬛🟩
⬛⬛🟩⬛🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

alphabet

@CowperKettle After we get rid of school libraries, I propose we move art museums into the metaverse, with all the art auto-generated by AI based on users' preferences.

@tchrist Hope you're feeling better, btw

Laurel

5:37 PM

@alphabet Next thing you'll be suggesting that we put milk dispensaries into the spaces formerly used by school libraries :p

Mitch

5:57 PM

@Laurel I feel like you're goading him to do so

And we're all thinking it now

So it is as though you yourself are making the suggestion

I am at this very moment writing a strongly worded letter

I'll sign it with your name

Laurel

@Mitch Which one? There are only 26 in the alphabet

M.A.R.

@tchrist what are your hemoglobin levels?

@CowperKettle omg :( do you know how she is doing now?

@tchrist that doesn't look too unusual, otherwise anemia in men should always have an explanation

tchrist

6:13 PM

Yeah, it's just a tiny bit under.

Michael Rybkin

@tchrist Thank you very much.

tchrist

@M.A.R. Those figures weren't what caught my eye so much as it was the eosinophils, which shot up tenfold since Monday. I don't know what that means, if anything, but they flagged it. I'll find out from my doctor tomorrow.

Michael Rybkin

Are these both fine?

Who is it that you are looking at?
Who is it who you are looking at?

tchrist

@Laurel It's Sunday: doubtless he's busy rubricating his ☧.

@MichaelRybkin Sure.

M.A.R.

@tchrist AEC? Any allergies?

Michael Rybkin

6:23 PM

@tchrist Thank you

tchrist

The point is that Monday's figures were roughly a tenth of those.

M.A.R.

@tchrist and this followed an episode of abdominal discomfort, right?

tchrist

As a programmer, things that jump an order of magnitude over a short time period always trigger a raised eyebrow. I have no idea what it means.

@M.A.R. Correct.

Four days of vomiting and "true" diarrhea.

But no fever or blood, so they're not too worried.

Apparently the ER has been packed with such people the past two weeks.

M.A.R.

Fingers crossed it's an uncomplicated infection.

CowperKettle

@M.A.R. She started feeling better years ago, after they discovered it and started treatment, so I'm sure she is even better now. She wrote in chat that she has "blood-letting" procedures, back then

M.A.R.

6:28 PM

Salmonella, Shigella, the like.

alphabet

@Laurel No, no, those will just replace the cafeterias. My proposal is that, as we phase out natural gas, we start using those pipes for milk delivery instead.

tchrist

Thanks. I guess a lot of people have it now. Might be salmonella, might be norovirus, might be who knows what.

M.A.R.

@CowperKettle yeah those are routine for iron overload

tchrist

We've had several people across the country die from, I think it was salmonella, that got into this or that food supply over the past two weeks. Pre-chopped cantaloupe and such; pre-made salads.

M.A.R.

Our sewage treatment is probably pretty outdated so every couple of weeks in summer we might have cute little outbreaks here and there.

alphabet

6:32 PM

@Laurel Former school libraries shall be repurposed as exhibits displaying the proud history of the #FreeBritney movement.

tchrist

@M.A.R. Sounds like a kids' summer camp horror story. :)

M.A.R.

@alphabet is there a premium version of Britney?

tchrist

@M.A.R. Great Britain.

Grande Bretonne.

Mitch

@Laurel that's a lot to choose from but I think 'K'. It's not so common and will give a little punch

alphabet

All history classes will be devoted to Critical Raccoon Theory.

M.A.R.

6:34 PM

An island in the middle of nowhere

Mitch

@M.A.R. explosive diarrhea was not at the top of my cute list

tchrist

@Mitch Outside the Kalends and the K. abbreviation for Caeso.

alphabet

@M.A.R. Does Lady Gaga count?

tchrist

And why didn't they use C., I hear you asking. That's easy, because C. was already taken for Gaius.

M.A.R.

@alphabet she is literate I think

Mitch

6:38 PM

@alphabet only if you pronounce it 'LAY-dee guh-GAH'

@tchrist makes sense

alphabet

@M.A.R. And Britney isn't? Surely we can acknowledge that Oops I Did It Again is among the finest works of poetry.

tchrist

You don't meet many guys named Kay or Guy these days, though.

> The following personal names are derived from Gaius:

Catalan: Gai
Croatian: Kajo
French: Caïus
German: Kaius
Greek: Γάιος (Gáios)
Italian: Gaio
Latin: Gaius
Portuguese: Caio
Romanian: Caius
Spanish: Cayo or Gayo

M.A.R.

Guy Ritchie

tchrist

Aye. Also, the Arthurian one.

Sir Kay

In Arthurian legend, Sir Kay (Welsh: Cai, Middle Welsh Kei or Cei; Latin: Caius; French: Keu; Old French: Kès or Kex) is King Arthur's foster brother and later seneschal, as well as one of the first Knights of the Round Table. In later literature he is known for his acid tongue and bullying, boorish behaviour, but in earlier accounts he was one of Arthur's premier warriors. Along with Bedivere, with whom he is frequently associated, Kay is one of the earliest characters associated with Arthur. Kay's father is called Ector in later literature, but the Welsh accounts name him as Cynyr Ceinfarfog...

Laurel

@Mitch U sure? K is a letter of passive aggressive agreement

Mitch

6:43 PM

@Laurel kk

tchrist

Kay Nielsen

Kay Rasmus Nielsen (March 12, 1886 – June 21, 1957) was a Danish illustrator who was popular in the early 20th century, the Golden Age of Illustration which lasted from when Daniel Vierge and other pioneers developed printing technology to the point that drawings and paintings could be reproduced with reasonable facility. Nielsen is also known for his collaborations with Disney for whom he contributed many story sketches and illustrations, not least for Fantasia. == Biography == === Early life === Kay Nielsen was born in Copenhagen into an artistic family; both of his parents were act...

alphabet

Someone ask ELL about the subtle differences between "k," "mmk," "kk," and "ok."

tchrist

Kay Christofferson

Kay J. Christofferson is an American politician and a Republican member of the Utah House of Representatives representing District 53. == Early life == Christofferson was born in Lehi, Utah. == Education == Christofferson earned his degree in civil engineering from Brigham Young University. He lists his occupation as a civil engineer with Horrocks Engineers. == Political career == 2012 - When District 56 incumbent Republican Representative Ken Sumsion ran for Governor of Utah, Christofferson ran in the June 26, 2012 Republican primary, winning with 2,261 votes (58.8%), and won the Nov...

Mitch

@alphabet Why not English Language & Usage

tchrist

But Danny Kaye doesn't count.

alphabet

6:45 PM

@tchrist I've met someone named Kai before. Unique, and not so creative as to be ridiculous.

Mitch

@tchrist sometgimg something flagon somethety dragon something

alphabet

@Mitch I fear it would trigger a close/reopen cycle.

tchrist

@alphabet Yes, that's right. However, the bulk of those are from an alternate derivation, sometimes Persian, sometimes Asian. A few are from Cajus.

alphabet

@tchrist Interesting; he was white but I don't know what inspired it.

tchrist

I think those from northern European are generally from Gaius, so English and Danish and Dutch and such. But there's also the possibility of an alternate Welsh infusion, at least in the Britons.

Mitch

6:49 PM

@alphabet yes, I find that not unlikely also.

But it's something that someone should address. And also the appropriateness should be meta asked

And decided -in- favor of such questions

Didn't we have a question about ',,,'?

Totally on topic

alphabet

What's the difference between "kk" and "kkk"? And why has the OK sign come to mean both?

Mitch

Kai sounds like some actors name... Maybe Dutch-like?

tchrist

Twofer:

Guy Gavriel Kay

Guy Gavriel Kay (born November 7, 1954) is a Canadian writer of fantasy fiction. The majority of his novels take place in fictional settings that resemble real places during real historical periods, such as Constantinople during the reign of Justinian I or Spain during the time of El Cid. Kay has expressed a preference to avoid genre categorization of these works as historical fantasy. As of 2022, Kay has published 15 novels and a book of poetry. As of 2018, his fiction has been translated into at least 22 languages. Kay is also a qualified lawyer in Canada. == Biography == Kay was born in Weyburn...

Wait, three?

Mitch

Not that actors have a distinct distribution of names

Yet maybe they do?

tchrist

There was also a gens Gavia, which lead to Gavius. Same derivation though.

Mitch

6:53 PM

Oops I was thinking of Jai Courtney

tchrist

Oh, Gavriel is just Gabriel.

Not Gharial.

Mitch

But that makes me think of Kourtney...what's-her-face

alphabet

Every kiss begins with Kay. As does every kill.

Mitch

Kourtney Kacs?

alphabet

Cardassian.

Mitch

6:55 PM

Haha that family is from another planet

alphabet

Someone should name their kid "Kourtneigh"

I think it'd catch on

Mitch

Like norovirus

tchrist

QZ          =   10
JX          =   8
K           =   5
BCFHMPVWY   =   4
DG          =   2
AEILNORSTU  =   1

Mitch

See? Kind of a median choice

If by median you stretch the definition quite a bit

It's the middle of something

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…