English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Mitch

3:00 PM

or rather, yay, no need for shopping!

RegDwighт

You can shop for coffins if it strikes your fancy.

Mitch

@RegDwighт mmmm mas.

@RegDwighт no pressure

@MattЭллен 18 -miles-? I get tired -reading- that.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@RegDwighт why pre-buy coffins? let someone else take care of that, at least!

Matt Эллен

@Mitch read it every weekday for a year and your eyes will be as strong as my thighs!

Mitch

@MattЭллен eye exercises. like push ups.

Matt Эллен

3:05 PM

0

A: How to send messages between users

Private messaging is not available on the Stack Exchange network. To contact a particular user, you can (since you have the prerequisite reputation amount) Find the user in a chat room and talk to them there. To find out if a user is in a chat room, search for them. Create a chat room and then,...

Noah

Is there any way to add ♦ to my profile?

RegDwighт

Haha.

Wait for ten months, run for mod.

JSBձոգչ

@Noah 'twould be funny

RegDwighт

No it wouldn't, because it would be on everyone's name.

JSBձոգչ

why couldn't you just change your name to Noah ♦?

it would fool the unwary

Noah

3:12 PM

@JSBձոգչ Lol, Yeah.

Mitch

and change the color to blue?

RegDwighт

@JSBձոգչ again, how would it fool anyone if it's after everyone's name?

JSBձոգչ

@Mitch now you can't do that. but still, the unwary know not colors

RegDwighт

It would be meaningless. Like those people adding emphasis to EVERY word.

JSBձոգչ

> Oops! There was a problem updating your profile:
> Display Name can only contain letters, digits, spaces, apostrophes or hyphens and must start with a letter or digit

no dice

RegDwighт

3:13 PM

Tried a lozenge? Close enough.

JSBձոգչ

it was a lozenge

a plain 'ol unicode character

RegDwighт

The black diamond is not the same as the lozenge.

I am sure @tchrist will post a three-page chart in a minute.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

There are several unicode characters that aren't allowed in usernames

or weren't, when this room went crazy with name changes

I tried adding a snowman but it didn't work

Matt Эллен

none of the Sinhalese characters are allowed.

Noah

What about this "Noah Diamond"?

JSBձոգչ

3:15 PM

same problem

KitFox

Neil's cousin?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Noah <>

RegDwighт

That one is taken by Neil already.

Jinx!

Gimme teh cok.

Robusto

@RegDwighт is flirting with 40k. Maybe the multicollider will get him there.

KitFox

@RegDwighт That's no jinx.

RegDwighт

3:15 PM

@Robusto nonsense. I've been maxed out for all of the day.

JSBձոգչ

yeah, they apparently have some check to make sure that you don't put pictures in your username

RegDwighт

@KitFox it is.

JSBձոգչ

booo

KitFox

Why is my treeview not sitting at the top of the sidebar?

RegDwighт

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 but did you try the Unicode character for snowman with a penis?

KitFox

3:16 PM

Stupid treeview.

@RegDwighт Is that some kind of Easter egg?

RegDwighт

Trees don't grow on bars.

KitFox

Oh hey, funny story...

RegDwighт

@KitFox Easter is not in winter, silly.

Robusto

@RegDwighт I said "flirting" — not sexually assaulting.

2

JSBձոգչ

but surely there's an alphabetic character somewhere that looks like a diamond

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

3:16 PM

@RegDwighт No. Character map didn't show that one to me when I typed in "snowman" in its search box.

JSBձոգչ

quick, somebody invent an alphabet!

RegDwighт

Done.

What's next?

Robusto

2

Q: What is the correct latinate prefix for honey-eaters?

In English, a vegetarian who eats eggs and dairy products can be referred to as an ovo-lacto vegetarian. By the same token, may a person who eats honey but is otherwise vegan be meaningfully called a mell-vegan?

That's next.

Noah

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 I thought about that. But they look ugly

RegDwighт

@Robusto Let me make some room in the top five first. I'm occupying two seats.

KitFox

3:19 PM

Whoa. Ease up on the doughnuts.

RegDwighт

2l8

0

Q: "stars on heaven" vs "stars in heaven"

Which expression is correct? stars in heaven or stars on heaven I want to express that something comes in really, really large numbers. For instance: "There are more Blabla than stars on/in heaven".

word-choice prepositions expressions

Clearly it's "stairs in heaven". DUH.

Robusto

No, it's Stairway to Heaven.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

◆《》 ❄

RegDwighт

That is one fat fatso.

@Robusto you had a joke explainer for breakfast today?

Robusto

@RegDwighт I thought it was a stool softener. Sorry.

Noah

3:22 PM

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 None of them worked.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@Noah shame. Guess they thought of this already. Maybe you need to try to draw a diamond using combining diacritics that overlap.

RegDwighт

@Robusto you always think that of all things.

Robusto

I don't think it about stool hardeners. Duh.

user19161

@Robusto It's Stare at Heaven.

RegDwighт

@Robusto Lies.

Robusto

3:25 PM

@WillHunting No, it's stare decisis.

@RegDwighт Ah, OK. Busted.

RegDwighт

@Robusto No, it's Deutschland sucht den Superstar.

Deutschland sucht den Superstar

Deutschland sucht den Superstar (translated: Germany is looking for the superstar) is a German reality talent show, also commonly known by its initials DSDS. Part of the Idol franchise, it was created by English media mogul Simon Fuller as a spin-off from the British show Pop Idol, of which two series were broadcast between the years of 2001 and 2003. Debuting to mediocre ratings in October 2002 on the RTL network, the show has since become one of the most successful shows on German television. The program aims to discover the best singer in the country through a series of nationwide au...

user19161

Nobody likes my star answer? This is a bad day!

Robusto

@RegDwighт They can't handle a superstar.

RegDwighт

@Robusto I honestly can't tell. So far they haven't found one.

Matt Эллен

> I think it is an excellent idea. Additionally, the more people we can help learn English, the less we will have to read poorly written text.

I'm not sure that's how it works...

Robusto

3:27 PM

@RegDwighт All their experiments with superstars have failed miserably.

user19161

A star is not an asterisk.

RegDwighт

That reminds me.

user19161

An asteroid is not a star.

RegDwighт

Robusto

A Star Is Borin'.

RegDwighт

3:28 PM

@Robusto you recognize anyone in the picture?

No Googling.

Matt Эллен

John Lenon?

user19161

@RegDwighт Robusto on the left and Reg on the right.

RegDwighт

My wife gave me the riddle yesterday. I failed.

Robusto

@RegDwighт Brian Cranston?

RegDwighт

Then I went all "of course".

@Robusto remarkably close. Closer than I was anyway.

Matt Эллен

3:29 PM

Groucho Marks?

RegDwighт

Left: Gagarin. Right: Leonov. First man in space, first man in open space.

Robusto

@RegDwighт I would be more impressed if he had sung opera in space.

Matt Эллен

In space no one can hear you sing

RegDwighт

@Robusto he probably did, but in space noöne can hear you, not even Peter.

Jinx! FFS

KitFox

@RegDwighт Are you kidding?

Robusto

3:30 PM

You can hear David Bowie even when he's in a vacuum, which is pretty much all the time.

RegDwighт

@KitFox no I am not.

Matt Эллен

RegDwighт

Gagarin's eyes are really easy to recognize.

KitFox

Yuri took me into the stratosphere one happy evening.

user19161

@RegDwighт That one must be tchrist.

user19161

3:32 PM

@RegDwighт That one is Matt.

RegDwighт

Leonov is trickier, but if you've seen images of him your entire childhood, it's rather obvious as well.

KitFox

He reminds me of Danny Kaye.

Robusto

We didn't get those channels in the USA.

RegDwighт

Once again communism prevails.

Robusto

KitFox

3:33 PM

Yuri Gagarin was really, really cute.

Robusto

Seriously? Danny Kaye?

KitFox

It's the eyes.

Robusto

Clearly Danny Kaye had one eye closed. QED.

Matt Эллен

Or did he have one eye open?

Robusto

Philosophers have pondered this question for millennia.

KitFox

3:35 PM

I am really looking forward to having a meatball sub for lunch.

user19161

The answer is that he had one eye closed and the other open, nothing to ponder.

Robusto

@KitFox Those are not as waterproof as you might think.

KitFox

Yay! Thank you jQuery!

@Robusto hahaha

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox yay!

Robusto

@WillHunting What is the sound of one hand slapping?

KitFox

3:38 PM

Eww, eww, eww.

RegDwighт

It's the same sound as that of one ear listening.

Robusto

Five golden rings! Four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and one ear listening.

user19161

@Robusto The sound might be a whoosh.

Robusto

@WillHunting Not if I were doing the slapping.

RegDwighт

@Robusto What did your true love give to you on the seventh day of Christmas?

Robusto

3:40 PM

@RegDwighт Uh, I don't like to talk about it in mixed company.

RegDwighт

I am not mixed. Or a company.

You don't talk in me, either.

Robusto

Clearly you are mixed up.

RegDwighт

Different verb is different.

KitFox

Twelve drummers drumming.

Robusto

Go verb yourself.

KitFox

3:42 PM

That would be @Matt, clearly.

Matt Эллен

I am cloned

RegDwighт

Multitudes marching to the big kettle drum.

Sorry, cattle.

KitFox

Seven swans a-swimming was it?

Six geese a-laying.

RegDwighт

Four riders a-twixing.

Robusto

@RegDwighт Pauken?

RegDwighт

3:42 PM

Oct 10 at 20:49, by RegDwighт

> Twix was called Raider in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey for many years before its name was changed in 1991 (2000 in Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Turkey) to match the international brand name.

KitFox

Eight maids a-milking.

RegDwighт

@Robusto would say so.

Robusto

Eight maids lactating? All at once?

user19161

Geezis.

RegDwighт

@Robusto Well what do you expect them, to take turns? When do women ever do that except in porn?

KitFox

3:43 PM

Nine ladies dancing. Ten lords a-leaping, eleven pipers piping.

Huh. I guess I remember them all.

Weird.

Robusto

@RegDwighт Yeah. It sucks that real life isn't more like porn.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox but can you name all the dwarves

user19161

@Robusto It can be if you imagine hard enough.

KitFox

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 From the Seven Dwaves or from The Hobbit?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox you pick

RegDwighт

3:44 PM

I don't have to name all seven dwarves. I can stop any time!

KitFox

Uh. Happy, Dopey, Sneezy, Sleepy, Doc.

Bashful.

Um.

user19161

I can't even name one.

RegDwighт

No, Um wasn't one of them.

user19161

But I can name the colours of the rainbow.

KitFox

Did I mention I've never watched the movie?

RegDwighт

3:45 PM

Why would you mention that?

Matt Эллен

@KitFox the angry one

KitFox

I don't know.

RegDwighт

Groupie.

KitFox

@MattЭллен Angry? Wrath? Khan?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Dwalin, Balin, Ori, Dori, Nori, Oin, Gloin, Fili, Kili, Bifur, Bofur, Bombur, Thorin

KitFox

3:46 PM

Stone-cold killah?

Robusto

One hen
Two ducks
Three squawking geese
Four Limerick oysters
Five corpulent porpoises
Six pairs of Don Alverzo's tweezers
Seven thousand Macedonian warriors in full battle array
Eight brass monkeys from the ancient, sacred crypts of Egypt
Nine apathetic, sympathetic, diabetic old men on roller skates with a marked propensity towards procrastination and sloth
Ten lyrical, spherical, diabolical denizens of the deep who haul stall around the corner of the quo of the quay of the quivery, all at the same time.

Which brings us back to Danny Kaye.

KitFox

Wow.

Robusto

Announcer's test

An announcer's test is a test sometimes given to those wanting to be a radio or television announcer. The tests usually involve retention, memory, repetition, enunciation, diction, and using every letter in the alphabet a variety of times. History Announcer's tests originated in the early days of radio broadcasting, circa 1920. The tests involve retention, memory, repetition, enunciation, diction, and using every letter in the alphabet a variety of times. An excerpt of one early test, forwarded from Phillips Carlin, who was known for co-announcing the 1926, 1927, and 1928 World Series with...

RegDwighт

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 the Shroud of Thorin?

Matt Эллен

@KitFox Grumpy

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

3:47 PM

@RegDwighт Nah, that's Turin, who was doomed to fall in love with his sister that he forgot because a dragon looked at him funny.

KitFox

@MattЭллен Oh right. Him.

Matt Эллен

I can never remember them all in one go

KitFox

I've got to rethink my navigation tree.

MετάEd

I love finding the sex in a question.

0

A: Present perfect continuous and "for"

“[Subject] has/have been [verb]ing” is a construction called the present perfect continuous.¹ It describes an ongoing or continuous action which began in the past and continued until now. As Barrie says (he calls it by another name, the progressive), this construction is typically used for action...

MετάEd

4:04 PM

Santorum on the Hill

KitFox

I thought you meant Fanny Hill there for a moment.

Robusto

0

Q: Where did the word "cocamame" come from?

Where did the word "cocamame" come from, and how did it get its connotation of meaning "idiotic"? Is "cocamame" considered to be more or less severe than "idiotic" on the scale of idiocy? Are there any words that would be even more idiotic than cocamame?

word-choice etymology

I'm amused that all Barrie found to change was an apostrophe.

BTW, has someone published an actual "idiocy scale" somewhere?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

4:20 PM

Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scales

The development of the Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scales initiated the modern field of intelligence testing and was one of the first examples of an adaptive test. The test originated in France, then was revised in the United States. The Stanford–Binet test started with the French psychologist Alfred Binet, whom the French government commissioned with developing a method of identifying intellectually deficient children for their placement in special education programs. As Binet indicated, case studies might be more detailed and helpful, but the time required to test many people would be ex...

KitFox

How do I target a specific ID with CSS? I keep forgetting.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@KitFox #your_id_here

KitFox

Thanks.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

you're welcome

KitFox

No. Really. Thanks.

Mitch

4:26 PM

Thank you both, for being so polite.

Robusto

@KitFox All IDs are specific.

user19161

I just realised that Robusto is not the only Legend now. Barrie is also a Legend.

Matt Эллен

4:45 PM

toodles

MετάEd

@Robusto I've had to do that sometimes. The review page has very limited features, so often I'll pop the page being reviewed to a new tab, and work there -- and then when I go back to the review page I find I can no longer vote because I forgot and voted on the new tab. So then I do a minor content edit to get credit for the review and make make it just a bit better.

KitFox

@Robusto Yeah. Point taken.

Robusto

Nov 24 '11 at 14:09, by Robusto

@Jasper: November 23 to July 15. If you can find someone else who goes from 0 to Legendary in < 8 months, then they can brag. Everyone else ... not so much.

We've been over this before.

A year ago, in fact.

Noah

Toodle-oo

KitFox

Weekly Writer's Chat going on now in The Overlook Hotel. Today we're talking about books we like, and the end run for NaNoWriMo. Come join us if you like/dare.

Robusto

5:06 PM

@KitFox Uh, we're here. You can stop selling now. Sorry .... never mind, I got mixed up between chats.

KitFox

Oh. phew

Cerberus

Hello again.

@Tchrist We looked at another open a today during our palaeographical session, and comes from the Merovingian a indeed.

Mitch

5:30 PM

1

Q: Usage of "of" in genitive

What is the correct way of these two sentences? The queen of England's crown The queen's of England crown Strictly linguistically, sentence 2 should be the correct one, since the crown belongs to the queen and not to England but it sounds really awkward to pronounce.

prepositions possessive

I expect this to be a dupe, but I can't find one.

Robusto

@Mitch Same here.

Cerberus

6:05 PM

I expect this to be a dupe but I can't be bothered.

Matt Эллен

I expect I can't be bothered

Cerberus

Right.

user19161

Ah, I am down to the last 200 points to retirement...

Mitch

Are you bothered...now?

user19161

@Mitch Are you really retiring at 20k?

Jez

6:14 PM

0

Q: What is the question for which the answer is "This is my third coffee today"?

Duplicate of: How should I phrase a question that must be answered with an ordinal number (e.g., the third prime)? How to phrase an asking sentence that must be answered with an ordinal number? Framing a question to which the answer is an ordinal number How manyth son to your father? ...

numbers ordinals question

bloody hell..... i've never seen so many dupes

Mitch

@WillHunting what? well, no. I am actively not caring about it one way or the other.

I'm not claiming that at some point I won't just give up. or will, or something.

Matt Эллен

@Mitch I don't expect so

user19161

@Jez Actually how can one search for the question? I think it shouldn't be downvoted.

Mitch

@MattЭллен nice.

user19161

@Mitch It seems that we are now officially colluding. =)

MετάEd

6:23 PM

@Mitch Found it.

38

Q: "My wife and I's seafood collaboration dinner"

I just stumbled upon a Reddit post titled: My wife and I's seafood collaboration dinner. How does it look? Sure enough, the top comment immediately points out that it should be "my wife's and my". However, a cross-post to the Grammar subreddit produced the following comment: It's fine a...

possessive personal-pronouns apostrophe noun-phrases

user19161

Run out of votes for today.

Robusto

China's main newspaper falls for Onion joke.

user19161

1

Q: "I ordered us..." vs. "I ordered for us..." vs "I ordered ... for us"

I usually use a phrase such as: (1) I ordered us a box. Would it be more correct to say: (2) I ordered for us a box. Or, better still: (3) I ordered a box for us. Example 3 sounds the most correct, but are 1 and 2 improper English or are they perfectly valid in written form?

grammaticality word-order

Mitch

@WillHunting what? I'm not part of that. I haven't been doing anything with mayonnaise.

user19161

Is "I ordered for us a box" really wrong?

Mitch

6:28 PM

It sounds ...um...regional.

user19161

Or is there anastrophe at work here?

user19161

Have I been listening too much to Yoda?

Robusto

anastrophe => short paean

Matt Эллен

@WillHunting sounds archaic to me

user19161

@Robusto I would like your opinion on the above Robusto. What say you?

Mitch

6:31 PM

Don't ask Robusto. He doesn't know about English.

and I haven't finished my opinion yet either.

Robusto

@WillHunting What exactly is your question? Whether you've been listening to Yoda too much?

> A woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a Robusto.

user19161

Also, a good coffee is Robust.

Mitch

@WillHunting commented. Barrie is always right. But he doesn't always give the nuance.

user19161

@Mitch The conclusion then is that I have too much Yoda. QED.

Mitch

@WillHunting That ain't Yoda talking. It's the 'traveling' German couple at Rick's Cafe in Casablanca: "What watch?" "Eight watch." "Such much?"

KitFox

6:42 PM

Or the Germans in the Coventry Inn sketch. "We are a little hike making."

"I am in Newcastle being born."

user19161

Now that is certainly Yoda.

MετάEd

@KitFox I am in Newcastle born being.

Robusto

@KitFox "I am in Newcastle born being." Get it right.

MετάEd

jinx

user19161

Now Yoda has become Dayo.

MετάEd

6:45 PM

@WillHunting Daylight come and me home to go want.

user19161

@MετάEd I just happen to have heard this song.

KitFox

►

Somerset. I was close. "I in Somerset am being born."

MετάEd

I have this song too of-heard.

KitFox

I have this song too oft-heard.

user19161

Do any of you pronounce the t in often?

KitFox

6:52 PM

I don't.

Often I do.

Hello.

bark

baaaahhh

user19161

@Cerberus Yes, this is the Blue Residence!

Cerberus

6:55 PM

Oh! Hyacinth, your colour is not exactly hyacinth-blue.

Would you cycle 18 minutes to a friend's house to drop off an RSVP card, and 18 minutes back?

user19161

Well, at least I wrote residence, not domicile or abode.

Cerberus

The alternative is sending an e-mail and sending the card by mail, but then the card will be late.

user19161

@Cerberus Is it your wedding?

Cerberus

It's dark outside, and cold.

But then it is my own fault.

MετάEd

Are you inviting, or responding?

Cerberus

6:57 PM

@WillHunting Uhm one does not normally RSVP one's own wedding...

Responding.

user19161

@Cerberus I think email will do.

MετάEd

Then I should think the e-mail suffices. The point is to respond.

Cerberus

True...

Good.

MετάEd

The courtesy of providing a card to you was nice, but you are not obliged to use it.

Cerberus

Then I don't have to go.

Oh, no, no card was provided.

That is not done here.

I just feel that a physical card deserves a physical response, ideally.

user19161

6:58 PM

I think all wedding invitations should default to email from now.

Cerberus

But now I have this card sitting on my desk!

That's so much better than an e-mail buried somewhere in my inbox.

user19161

The next thing would be to conduct all weddings via web cam.

Cerberus

Or not at all.

MετάEd

@WillHunting Done. I'll alert Miss Manners and Emily Post.

Transcript for

English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…