English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

Mitch

4:00 AM

Oh I asked this before...and I forgot...what does English sound like to you?

tchrist

ramada

canopy

marquee?

Mitch

canopy

marquee is what you put the name of the movie on in front of the theater.

tchrist

caparison

Mitch

and ramada is the thing you sit under for a siesta while your sheep are in the arroyo

Cerberus

@Mitch A bit...distorted. The vowels are all wrong, and the r is odd. Beyond that, the various accents have little in common for me. British sounds very different from American, for instance.

A canopy is more like something you sit under.

Larger.

Mitch

4:02 AM

@Cerberus all non-American accents sound English. Even Cockney sounds hoity-toity to Americans.

tchrist

trousseau?

Cerberus

Like a baldachino.

@Mitch Hoity-toity? That's odd.

It sounds a bit vulgar to me.

Urban-vulgar.

Mitch

I'll have a baldachino with extra skim milk and some cinnamon sprinkles.

Cerberus

American sounds more rural.

tchrist

@Cerberus Spell it with a v: valdechinois

Mitch

4:04 AM

@Cerberus !! hot patootie is vulgar in a lame way. hoity-toity is more like a tea cozy

Cerberus

Huh, I didn't know there was a French spelling?

tchrist

There wasn’t.

Mitch

Ohhh...-american- sounds vulgar?

tchrist

Some sounds rustic.

I know no country lacking its rustics.

Cerberus

@Mitch I mean that Cockney doesn't sount hoity-toity to me at all. On the contrary.

tchrist

4:05 AM

Hm, that’s almost punny.

Mitch

yeah I understand that. It sounds perfectly normal to me, but when hearing an american speaking say...really any other language, it is always cringeworthy

Cerberus

@Mitch No, rustic. Cockney sounds vulgar.

Mitch

Oh

tchrist

@Mitch Speak for yourself. Not all Americans are Texan-bred.

Cerberus

@Mitch The same applies 100 % to an Englishman.

Mitch

4:06 AM

@tchrist so you saw my comparison of Nigerian and Texan English?

Cerberus

I think most Oxford dons still have a horrible accent in French.

A Dutch accent sounds less...pronounced, but possibly even worse.

A German accent sounds icky in most languages.

A Romance accent sounds stupid.

So they all have different...characters.

Mitch

@tchrist Naw, for example when I hear some (welleducated nonaccented) American diplomat (on TV/radio) speaking some other language, cringeworthy

@Cerberus Exactly. Yuck.

tchrist

awning, bark, binding, camouflage, canopy, canvas, cap, caparison case, ceiling, cloak, clothing, coating, covering, coverlet, disguise, dome, dress, drop, envelope, façade, false front, fig leaf, front, guise, hood, integument, jacket, lid,
marquee, mask, masquerade, overlay, paint, parasol, polish, pretense, put-on, roof, screen, seal, semblance, sheath, sheet, shroud, smoke screen, spread, stopper, tarp, tarpaulin, tegument, tent, top, umbrella, varnish, veil, veneer, window-dressing, wrapper, wraps

Cerberus

Icky can be funny; stupid can be friendly; and the typical Dutch "wooden" accent can be down to earth.

Mitch

@Cerberus not icky for me, just ... arrogant?

tchrist

4:08 AM

@Cerberus Tony Blaire has a nice French accent. So does Madeleine Albright.

Cerberus

A German accent, arrogant? Really?

It makes me think of paedophiles and Nazis.

No idea why.

Mitch

Yeah, like they're pronouncing it correctly and the other (native speaker) person is not.

Cerberus

Hmm yes, I see what you mean.

They pronounce their consonants in a stuck-up way.

@tchrist Sure, there are exceptions.

tchrist

@Cerberus Do you know who Herman Koch is? His English is that sort of Dutchilly accented stuff without a th. I heard him on the radio today.

Mitch

@tchrist tarp?

Cerberus

4:10 AM

We have had three PMs in a row that had horrible English accents.

Mitch

What did they want with the awning word?

tchrist

I don’t know, but there they go.

Cerberus

@tchrist Oh, yes, I have read Het Diner.

tchrist

What did you think of the book?

Mitch

Books- shnooks...who reads books nowadays. All those words. just too much.

Today I learned that '...' is condescending.

tchrist

4:11 AM

too many notes

Mitch

genau!

(and he was kind of right)

Cerberus

@tchrist Ah, yes. He says dis and wit.

Mitch

bunch of scales repeated over and over

tchrist

Try baroque polyphony if you want too many notes. Classical is too stately.

Cerberus

@tchrist Enjoyable, but not exactly literary. I read it before bedtime when we were staying in Vienna, finished it in a weekend.

Mitch

4:12 AM

better than zis and wiss like the French

tchrist

Ok, thanks.

Mitch

@tchrist all those chords...too many notes at once.

Cerberus

The language is unremarkable at best.

It does not exude erudition.

It doesn't chafe either.

Mitch

erudition is overrated...did you see the ELU question a few days ago that linked to a GQ article about...

well I'm sure it was about sex...

tchrist

@Cerberus Damning with faint praise.

Mitch

4:14 AM

but it was written in the most purpley prose ever.

Cerberus

The story is exciting, like a thriller, but not super super interesting. It is certainly enjoyable.

@tchrist Heh, was that praise?

@Mitch GQ?

tchrist

Gay Quaintness.

Mitch

sorry..Gentleman's Quarterly...an american magazine

tchrist

Same diff.

Cerberus

@Mitch Facetious "erudition" is...not it.

Mitch

4:15 AM

yeah probably.

Cerberus

Oh, I think I remember.

He was looking for texts to improve his vocabulary?

A Dutchman?

Mitch

yes.

Cerberus

OK.

Mitch

I don't know about dutch though.

Cerberus

I think he was, Gerrit or something?

Mitch

4:17 AM

I mean commendable. and really if the subject is lowbrow enough, maybe that is exactly the best vocab learning medium...you know what to expect, you know how to extract the expected meaning of a word you've never seen before...

I conjecture.

tchrist

@Cerberus Sounds a diminutive for Gary.

Robusto

@MετάEd It's called Asparagus Syndrome. It makes your pee smell funny.

Mitch

Already a diminutive...for Gar.

@Robusto don't we all have asperger's now?

Cerberus

@tchrist Hmm where does Gary come from?

Gerrit =~ Gerhard.

Mitch

etymology?

tchrist

4:19 AM

@Robusto You just have to let it come to a nice chambré first.

Cerberus

Actually, Gerrit is probably a "diminutive" of Gerard, which is the Dutch equivalent to German Gerhart/d.

Hart = heart.

Robusto

Ah well, Dutch is the diminutive of Deutsch.

Cerberus

Ger =... I don't know?

Mitch

"short for Gerald or Gareth"

Robusto

You have to be low to speak like the Nederlanders. It's one of the Low Countries.

Cerberus

4:20 AM

@Robusto Of Großdeutsch!

tchrist

@Mitch Only if you disguise it with egg yolk and butter and lemon juice and salt and white pepper.

Cerberus

@Mitch Ahh...

And Gerald, is that related to Gerard?

Robusto

I'd be low too if my whole country was surrounded by dykes. Wait ... it is! Fuck it, I'm going to bed.

Mitch

@tchrist puts down hamburger

tchrist

@Robusto The Nederlanders of my acquaintance usually sound high, not low. They tower above me.

Mitch

4:21 AM

@Cerberus everything can be questioned.

Cerberus

@Robusto Is your country surrounded by dykes?

Interesting.

Sleep tight!

@Mitch Yes.

tchrist

Nederland, Colorado

{{Infobox settlement |official_name = Town of Nederland, Colorado |other_name = |native_name = |settlement_type = Town |motto = "Life Is Better Up Here" |image_skyline = Nederland_colorado2.jpg |image_skyline = Nederland, co.jpg |imagesize = |image_caption = |image_flag = |flag_size = |image_seal = |seal_size = |image_shield = |shield_size = |image_blank_emblem = |blank_emblem_type ...

Cerberus

@tchrist Are you a dwarf too?

tchrist

They live at 8228’ of altitude, and smoke a lot of pot, and have weird frozen-dead-guy fêtes.

Mitch

"What does Gary mean?

Gary is a pet form (English) of the name Gareth (English and Welsh).

Gary is also a pet form of the name Garret (English and Irish).

Gary is also a variant of the name Garrison (English).

Gary is also a pet form (English) of the name Gerald (English and German).
"

Cerberus

4:23 AM

Oh, those guys.

tchrist

It used to be called Middle Boulder.

> In the Dutch language, Nederland (Netherlands in English) means low land, and based on casual usage by the Dutch miners, Middle Boulder came to be known as Nederland. (Apart from being a way to reminisce about their homeland, calling the town "Nederland" may have been intentionally ironic,[citation needed] considering that the town is still at an elevation of more than 8,000 feet and most locations in the Netherlands are near or even below sea level.)

@Mitch Hokay.

Mitch

all (?) from 'gar' for 'spear', so Gerhard = spear heart

Cerberus

You would not normally call low land nederland.

Even though it does mean low land.

tchrist

I shouldn’t think so.

Cerberus

It means first and foremost the Low Countries or the country The Netherlands.

tchrist

4:25 AM

It was a Dutch mining company, too.

Mitch

ok. it's late. later.

Cerberus

So they named it after the Netherlands and "low land" at the same time, but primarily the former.

Bye!

tchrist

The nadirlands, from from the seanitt.

Nadir. Nether. Hm.

Cerberus

Hmm related?

Nadir sounds exotic.

tchrist

nadir came from Arabic, apparently.

Cerberus

4:27 AM

Ah yes.

So not related.

tchrist

By way of al-Andaluz, of course.

Well, you never know.

Consider an alcázar.

Cerberus

Hardly "of course"...

tchrist

A moorish castle.

Arabic word.

But derived from Latin.

Cerberus

Is it?

Castellum?

tchrist

Yes.

Cerberus

4:28 AM

Funny.

tchrist

Hm, casta something, but yes. I could trace it.

Cerberus

Castra.

Castellum means "little castra", at least originally.

tchrist

That’s what I meant by you never know. Sometimes these things come at you from a strange round-trip via another land altogether.

Castra sounds righter.

Cerberus

And I think castrum originally meant "enclosure".

Because there is some verb ca- having to do with enclosing, I think...

But what was it...

Caespitum?

tchrist

> An alcázar (Spanish: [alˈkaθar], Galician: [alˈkaθaɾ]), alcácer (Portuguese: [ɐɫˈkasɛɾ]) or alcàsser (Catalan: [əɫˈkasər]) is a type of castle in Spain and Portugal built by kings to live in. The term derives from the Arabic word القصر (trans. al-qasr) meaning "fort, castle or palace" while the Arabic word is possibly in turn derived from the Latin word 'castrum', meaning an army camp or fort.

Cerberus

4:31 AM

Possibly.

Castra is a plurale tantum btw.

Mahnax

Evening.

tchrist

Hi, Max.

Cerberus

Bob!!

I was thinking of you yesterday.

Mahnax

How very sweet of you!

Cerberus

You announced your departure, but not the time of your inevitable return.

tchrist

4:32 AM

I’d say “get a room”, but it appears you have. :)

Cerberus

Indeed.

Mahnax

@Cerberus I decided to drop by tonight, but I don't know if I'll be coming by often again.

tchrist

@Cerberus I was always told that it was; I didn’t know it was merely “possibly”.

Cerberus

@Mahnax Is there a specific reason for your absence?

Of course you are entitled to your secret reasons...

@tchrist Yeah that happens a lot both ways.

Mahnax

@Cerberus No one specific thing, no.

How've you all been?

Cerberus

4:35 AM

Anything changed?

Mahnax

So much must have changed in… two weeks?

tchrist

The face on Max’s icon reminds me of dear departed Reggie.

Cerberus

Some things have changed...

Mahnax

Dear departed? Has he gone?

Why on earth?

tchrist

Unclear.

Mahnax

4:35 AM

@Cerberus Oh?

Cerberus

Reg has not exactly departed, but his status is unclear.

Mahnax

I see.

Cerberus

TPTB misbehaved towards him, but he is also up to his ears in work now.

He does visit from time to time, but a lot less.

I don't know his reasons either.

Mahnax

That's a shame, it is.

Cerberus

Yeah.

Lose two of our favourite mascottes all at once?

tchrist

4:37 AM

I always felt this was “his” room.

Even its title has been deflated into mundanity by his absence.

Cerberus

And Kit is away a lot too, but she does talk from time to time.

Yeah, it has seen better days, the subtitle.

Mahnax

@tchrist He is technically the room owner, so there's that.

tchrist

@Mahnax Yeah. But you know what I mean.

Mahnax

@tchrist I do, yes.

tchrist

He was usually here mostly only during workdays, so it is also perfectly feasible that work has intruded on play.

Mahnax

4:40 AM

Work is wont to do that, yes.

Cerberus

@tchrist Yeah I don't know.

tchrist

One could ask, but one wishes not to intrude. Nor to ask a question whose answer one dreads to hear.

Cerberus

Yeah.

I sort of asked, but he didn't answer.

tchrist

Where? Here? This doesn’t count.

Except insofar as that being its own datapoint.

Let’s discuss something meaningful instead, like why the new user “norixxx” has such a wants-to-be-autocorrected name.

I’ve never heard of using nori for xxx purposes.

Or maybe it’s Norton’s xxix-th incarnation, and he got the math wrong.

Or maybe there is a problem with the 23rd chromosome.

Cerberus

Heh.

The Japanese seaweed?

tchrist

4:49 AM

Right.

Cerberus

The kind you roll suhi in?

tchrist

You’re on a roll tonight.

Cerberus

Am I?

How so?

tchrist

Right right and right.

Hence, on a roll.

A winning streak.

Or maybe it is his shirt-size.

Cerberus

Am I ever not right?

I am Mr Right, after all.

tchrist

4:51 AM

I always took you for left.

Please don’t spoil my delusions.

Cerberus

No, I'm right-handed.

simchona

@FumbleFingers There is no "asking for advices" in the topic. about your advice it was mine to you guys. Please don't catch it. :) — user37324 44 mins ago

Wtf does that even mean

Cerberus

Some unkind people call me Mr Always Right.

@simchona No idea.

tchrist

@simchona I’m sorry you’re having friction with that user, but I don’t blame you: anybody would.

Cerberus

He is incomprehensible, alas.

tchrist

4:53 AM

And prickly, too.

simchona

@tchrist just wait until they start accusing everyone of hating feminists. I think it's a she.

Mahnax

OK, buh-bye again! Nice to see you all.

cloud of dust

tchrist

Oh, good night!

@simchona Do you have a good feel for that, predicting gender based on umbrages?

The other one you were right on.

Although of course she outed herself.

simchona

I have a good feel for users who cause issues, leave, and come right back

A thorn by any other name...

Cerberus

@Mahnax Bye! shines lasers on dust

tchrist

4:57 AM

Like with fresh-(re)made accounts, no less. Getting a bit . . . weird at that point.

But I’m somebody who thinks sockpuppetry is usually a symptom of one or another personality disorder, too.

simchona

Is it still a sock if the user deletes their own account?

tchrist

No . . . that’s, I dunno; something odd.

Somebody who can’t make up their mind. Or stick with a decision. Or makes decisions rashly and recants/repents/reneges.

Unreliable.

This is (probably) not not an answer, but is sure isn’t a good one, either:

0

A: On the use of "both"

both- is a word that we use to refire to things. Eg. Both of them are friends. Eg. Both of car are the same.

Maybe it is answering a different question than the one asked, though.

Or trying.

MετάEd

Anybody here play "No, No, Not"?

tchrist

I don’t know.

Cerberus

Quoi?

MετάEd

5:04 AM

@simchona Multiple accounts aren't a problem. Sock is as sock does.

simchona

Also: I hate stupid comment flags. Someone saying an answer doesn't answer a question has plenty relevance to the topic.

Cerberus

Yeah.

tchrist

@simchona You mean stupid flags on comments, or stupid comments on flags on answers?

simchona

Stupid flags on comments.

tchrist

I almost never flag comments.

simchona

5:12 AM

These don't really answer the question at large: what's the word for a word that suddenly becomes famous — simchona 2 hours ago

tchrist

Somebody flagged that?

Really?

simchona

Several times.

user37324

Little backbiters!

he he

tchrist

Dumb.

user37324

I hate it too

tchrist

5:13 AM

And annoying, too.

user37324

stupid comments!

tchrist

/kicks are for trids

simchona

@user no, valid comment

You need to learn which to actually flag

user37324

I have no idea what you mean !

MετάEd

Okay, so it's a word game. The conceit is a bit twisted. The game is a comedy of bad memory and helpful suggestions. It begins with any word, and every turn consists of saying, "No, no, not (some word): you're thinking of (a description of some similar word that the next play must use)." For example, "No, no, not comments: you're thinking of those ceramic things you sit on." "No, no, not commodes: you're thinking of that thing that happens when you leave the batteries in too long."

simchona

5:14 AM

@user don't play dumb

tchrist

suggests autoflagellation

user37324

You didn't learned to remove which comment and read a sentence complete after some years and expect me to...?

Funny people!

tchrist

Although strictly speaking, the auto- part need not apply here.

simchona

You need to sit down and learn how to use the site.

user37324

I do not used to play with dumbs! :))

Sim and you need to chill out

simchona

5:16 AM

I removed the comments that needed to be removed.

MετάEd

The purpose of comments is explained here: privileges/comment.

user37324

everybody thinks hi/she is right. it is your problem

You removed my answers to stupid comments

after repeating you removed some others

tchrist

I saw no deleted answers.

simchona

Comments are ephemeral. They are often deleted.

user37324

Hmmm so I have no complain! what is your problem now ? :)

Feminists?

Women?

womyn?

tchrist

5:19 AM

What, beyond orthographic crapology?

user37324

:))

simchona

I'm female too, thanks

tchrist

The pidgin gallery is in the next room.

Plenty of popcorn available.

MετάEd

@user37324 The purpose of comments in a nutshell is to request clarification, make constructive suggestions, or post other constructive information which helps in updating and improving the question.

user37324

Sim there are many females who hate the other womyn

tchrist

5:21 AM

"the" other?

simchona

Ah yes. I must be one of them. How ever shall I live with myself.

tchrist

Without mirrors, no doubt.

user37324

Your sex cannot prove you are right

tchrist

Your what hurts?

user37324

T sorry I am not a chatter and cannot find your mean through these kinds of sentences

tchrist

5:22 AM

I have no mean.

simchona

Only median.

tchrist

I have a median and a mode though. Take your pick.

MετάEd

@user37324 Also, all comments should be made with the site etiquette in mind: civility is required at all times; rudeness will not be tolerated. Be nice. Treat others with the same respect you’d want them to treat you.

tchrist

Most people prefer my mode.

user37324

M I think it is a two-way relationship

simchona

5:23 AM

I think your median is lovely too

tchrist

I’m in the middle on that one.

user37324

You cannot expect respect from only one side

tchrist

Oh knock it off.

user37324

Most of the time there is a "groupthink"

tchrist

Time to die.

user37324

5:24 AM

Tchrist have a good die! :))

MετάEd

@user37324 We expect respect from all sides. Which means you, at all times, in all places, regardless of what other people say or do. This applies equally to everyone else also.

tchrist

@Sim I guess you were righter than I realized.

user37324

M agree

tchrist

What a drag.

simchona

@tchrist thanks. I'll send you a post to check out too

user37324

5:26 AM

Because of it I tried to make a balance in the page

tchrist

What is that in English?

user37324

At finally some of you will find there is no The Others except themselves

okkk

tchrist

Try again, this time in English.

simchona

Darn, can't find it. But the groupthink comment is...uncanny

user37324

I have to go to the airport! flyiiiiiiiiing faaaaaaar

tchrist

5:27 AM

@simchona That is not the word for it. I know exactly what you mean. And which.

user37324

A question!

simchona

@tchrist ah, good.

user37324

Hmmm

I will use of another PC 5 hours later. I am not sure I remember my password or not!

:))

you can take a deep breath for some hours

tchrist

You have to add deleted:1 to your search, and it has to be on meta.

simchona

I'm on my phone though, so I'll have to do it later.

tchrist

5:30 AM

Don’t worry about it; there is no doubt.

Or if there is, it is banishingly small.

Pardon my espanish.

simchona

Your espanish beats some English

tchrist

There’s a joke about that. ¿Cómo dominas al inglés? Pues, bastante bien si es pequeño y no lucha mucho.

How good’s your English / How well do you dominate the Englishman

Pretty well if he’s small and doesn’t fight much.

The bed beckons. Good night, all.

user37324

6:00 AM

My god! She even is not able to read a sentence accurately!

I have a question!

It is better to make another election and find better mods.

I have a question!

What can I call a woman who likes men who hate Feminists and supports them? :)

and another question!

How many IDs have you made to support yourself?

bye bye kindergarten!

user19161

6:55 AM

@user37324 What's wrong with a kindergarten? A kindergarten has some of the wisest people on earth. Indeed, many people grow more foolish as they age.

user19161

@user37324 You should stay on the site longer before you make such comments.

user19161

@user37324 Probably zero.

user19161

@user37324 My god! I can't even understand what you are writing.

user19161

7:14 AM

@user37324 You can call them anything, but nobody will listen to you.

MετάEd

7:55 AM

@user37324 This comment is disrespectful and has no place on this site.

RegDwighт

9:40 AM

Teehee.

0

A: Proper answer to "excuse me"

tchrist is a Smart Aleck, know-it-alls are the worst

Matt Эллен

11:02 AM

Stack Exchange English Language & Usage Blog: Closing questions: how do we compare?

Matt Ellen on February 19, 2013

Every so often on our meta site we’ll have a question come up saying that EL&U closes too many questions. Sometimes people even say that we close more questions than any other site on Stack Exchange. Most of the time I pay these haters no mind. They’re normally new and don’t understand the community (here and SE as a whole) and merely see a snap shot of the front page for a minute and blah blah blah, excuses. A few people have even proven that these snapshots of “the front page right now” can be taken to show that we’re average or even extra nice, so yeah, I normally ignore this rabble rousing. …

user19161

@MattЭллен Well done Mattie!

Matt Эллен

thanks :D

you're red @JacobBlack! that's new

user19161

@MattЭллен Technically, I am brown.

Matt Эллен

oh

not blue anymore, eh?

user19161

Well, I am on Ubuntu now, so I thought I would choose the brown to go with it.