English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

2:01 PM

Looking at the list, I think the algorithm might be taking simple cross links into account as well.

My seafood-collaboration question is rather high on the list, and I don't think we have ever closed anything as a dupe of it, but it is linked from a number of places.

JSBangs

0

Q: Usage of [usage]

Our top-rated tag is usage. However this tag is nearly useless: the word usage is right there in the site title, and almost every question on the site could be construed to be about "usage" in some sense. I manually retagged every question that had only the usage tag, but this spammed the Active ...

Robusto

By the way, if a computer is programmed to compose music, does it have to use algorhythms?

RegDwight

Apr 1 at 14:53, by RegDwight

Lazy thwack.

Robusto

Lazy pun.

RegDwight

@JSBangs Interesting proposal.

Though for all I know, we can't strip tags like that behind the scenes.

Mods can only merge/rename tags.

I can't specify any constraints.

JSBangs

2:10 PM

@RegDwight this probably requires dev implementation

i'm hoping that one of TPTB notices

RegDwight

I would actually volunteer to retag by hand. On a Sunday morning or some such.

JSBangs

@RegDwight heathen

RegDwight

@JSBangs If Jeff notices, he'll just kill it with fire.)))

JSBangs

@RegDwight when i retagged the ones that had only usage, there were a handful on which the tag seemed to be appropriate

RegDwight

My point exactly.

That's why it was good that you actually retagged all those words questions, rather than simply making that tag a synonym of vocabulary or something.

RegDwight

2:44 PM

Hey @kiamlaluno, change the "an unique" into an "a unique" here please:

1

Q: How do I append a unique menu ID to the menu?

I'm using Drupal 7 and I want to append an unique ID to specific menus. My search result gives me the way to change the item of the menu, but I want to change the menu itself. Is there a way to do that?

drupal-7 menu

JSBangs

that's not el&u

kiamlaluno

Isn't what I have already done?

RegDwight

@kiamlaluno There are two instances. You fixed the title. Now check the body. Thanks.

@JSBangs Hence "hey kiamlaluno, make that go away" and not "hey JSBangs, make it go away" :P

kiamlaluno

@RegDwight I noticed that. Thank you for letting me notice.

RegDwight

@kiamlaluno Well I would have done that myself, but 6 characters etc. etc.

kiamlaluno

2:48 PM

(This should be noticed from who says I don't use articles.)

@RegDwight If you would have proposed an edit, I would have surely accepted it.

RegDwight

@kiamlaluno Yes, but there's a limit of six characters. I can't propose single-letter edits.

kiamlaluno

That would have given you 2 points more.

@RegDwight Just add a HTML comment.

RegDwight

But you would have to remove it again. I don't want to generate additional work.

kiamlaluno

@RegDwight That would be a better work than hunting for duplicates. Then, we would both gain something.

You would get two points, and the number of edits I do would increase. ;-)

RegDwight

@kiamlaluno Well, fair enough. Check out the two minor edits I proposed.

kiamlaluno

2:53 PM

I could also improve your edit by removing the HTML comment, and this would give you the points the same.

RegDwight

(I'm not sure if Panels should be capitalized.)

kiamlaluno

It should, as it is the name of a module.

RegDwight

Whoa! That was fast! Thanks, now it's me who's approaching 400!

kiamlaluno

;-)

Kosmonaut

Are you guys still talking about Drupal.SE?

RegDwight

2:56 PM

We can quit any time. Seriously. We can. Doch, doch.

kiamlaluno

@RegDwight When you said I was approaching 400, I said I was not approaching 400 because I didn't believe my answers were going to be voted.

Kosmonaut

I might be using that heavily this summer, because I need to upgrade a site from Drupal 5 to 6

There are a couple of modules that don't seem to work right in 6.

So we'll see!

RegDwight

@Kosmonaut Whoa, I always thought it would be Linguistics.SE that would kill us, now it turns out it will be Drupal!

kiamlaluno

I would have never imaged @Kosmonaut playing with Drupal. ;-)

Kosmonaut

Why not?

RegDwight

2:58 PM

@kiamlaluno Pssst, he doesn't like it when you call it "playing".

Kosmonaut is working. Hard. Always.

kiamlaluno

@Kosmonaut I dunno. I guess it was a clichè. :-)

Kosmonaut

What kind of cliche? Because I'm blond?

RegDwight

You are blond? OMG now everyhing makes sense.

And everyThing, too.

Kosmonaut

Everyhinge makes sense

kiamlaluno

@Kosmonaut No; I was thinking more to the "professor" cliche.

RegDwight

3:01 PM

@Kosmonaut That one rhymes with orange.

kiamlaluno

Dorange?

RegDwight

Door hinge.

Kosmonaut

@RegDwight Depends on your dialect.

RegDwight

@Kosmonaut I can switch dialects as I see fit.

Kosmonaut

And your criteria for a true rhyme

RegDwight

3:02 PM

My criteria are unclear and flexible.

kiamlaluno

Is it like with "Mary" and "rosemary"?

I wonder who would call his daughter Rosemary.

Kosmonaut

"Mary" and "Rosemary" don't rhyme in the strict sense because the stress doesn't align.

Robusto

@kiamlaluno — Rosemary Clooney's dad, for one.

JSBangs

@kiamlaluno it's not an uncommon name in the English world.

kiamlaluno

I guess she would scream all the times they say "let's add rosemary in the roast."

Kosmonaut

3:05 PM

But, since "Rosemary" has secondary stress on "ma", it is pretty darn close.

RegDwight

You know your accent is way off when "Rosemary" rhymes with "Rosebud".

Kosmonaut

Rows, bud.

kiamlaluno

What happens if it rhymes with Budweiser?

RegDwight

Somehow that reminds me of Americans visiting Germany and getting all excited about shop signs saying "Bad Design".

Kosmonaut

They do?

Robusto

3:09 PM

@RegDwight — So Citizen Kane was all about searching for the meaning of "Rosemary"? Interesting.

RegDwight

@Kosmonaut I read it on spiegel.de. It must be true.

Robusto

@RegDwight — Yeah, there's just not a lot to do in Germany. Looking at dumb signs is one of the high points of your trip.

Kosmonaut

@Robusto Yes, if you play that Simon and Garfunkel over top of the movie, I heard it's trippy.

RegDwight

@Robusto Well, you know that fookin village in Bavaria...

Robusto

@Kosmonaut — You have to synch it up right.

@RegDwight: Did you watch the Simon Pegg video yet?

RegDwight

3:11 PM

Not at home, No sound.

Robusto

Well, the others might have a laugh.

5 hours ago, by Robusto

►

RegDwight

We have a new record, ladies and gentlemen. Never before have been more answers posted on a single day.

JSBangs

wooo us

Kosmonaut

Really?

Cool

Wow, I see

RegDwight

Check the stats in the mod tools. It's especially impressive if you change the first date to September 1st or something.

Kosmonaut

3:20 PM

It is a substantial spike.

Robusto

I really don't see how this answers the OP's question:

44

A: Believe you me, I have a question.

The phrase "Believe you me" copies the archaic word order one finds in early modern english for a marked imperative. Typical examples are from King James version of the Bible (both testaments). See e.g. Book of Matthew 14:16 They need not depart; give ye them to eat. and in a few common p...

But he's happy, so what the hey.

RegDwight

Well, I had to fix "early modern english".

Kosmonaut

@Robusto I agree... but I suppose, in theory, it could be right.

To me it doesn't have the "feel" of being archaic, but I can't really say much beyond that.

Robusto

His point is it's SOV instead of SVO. So ...?

Wait, that's wrong.

Kosmonaut

VSO?

Robusto

3:31 PM

It's VSO.

Jinx.

Kosmonaut

But it's just imperative

Robusto

Yep.

But his point is about word order.

Kosmonaut

Usually SVO/VSO/etc. are reserved for generalizations about the default order for the language as a whole

Robusto

He calls it "archaic" but I agree, that doesn't feel right to me either.

If I said "Believest thou me" then that would sound archaic.

Kosmonaut

In any case, the only thing different from the normal imperative is the overt subject.

I would expect a dialect where this is done, or where speakers have the option to do this.

I dunno. If I had a real answer, I would have answered it.

RegDwight

3:37 PM

@Kosmonaut Speaking of which, don't you have anything to say about jive vs jibe?

I was totally expecting you to answer that one.

Kosmonaut

I actually pretty much agree with MrHen.

RegDwight

Okay.

I thought there was more to it. A general phenomenon.

Kind of how "Barbara" is "Varvara" in Russian, or how there's no distinction between v and b in Spanish at all.

Kosmonaut

Well, yes. The /b/ and /v/ are similar, which MrHen says.

But this is not a case of a more general loss of b-v distinction in English, or anything like that.

RegDwight

The thing is, this particular pair would not work in Russian or German, where the v in jive and the b in jibe would get reduced to f and p.

Kosmonaut

I really think it comes down to "jive" being a reasonably common word, and "jibe" being extremely rare.

Robusto

3:44 PM

@RegDwight — I think there is a difference between /b/ and /v/ in Spanish. My Chilean colleague pronounces them differently anyway, very slightly.

Kosmonaut

@Robusto I think it probably depends on your Spanish dialect.

Robusto

@Kosmonaut — "Extremely" rare? Hmm ...

RegDwight

@Robusto Yeah, obviously I am exaggerating somewhat. Russian doesn't replace all B's with V's, either.

Kosmonaut

@Robusto In comparison to common words, yes.

Robusto

I think "rare" would suffice.

RegDwight

3:45 PM

Let's not get hung up on semantics.

Kosmonaut

How about "medium rare".

Robusto

@Kosmonaut — Hahaha ... OK, it's settled.

RegDwight

@Kosmonaut But rare is not neither rare nor well done!

In fact, rare is always rare!

Robusto

Or it could be bloody rare.

RegDwight

Not it starts getting confusing.

Robusto

3:47 PM

@RegDwight — And if we don't get hung up on semantics, what the hell are we here for anyway? If not us, then who? If not now, when?

RegDwight

I want my steak bloody medium rare.

@Robusto Zet voz ze schoke, d'oh.

Kosmonaut

I had a filet mignon last week. It was great.

Robusto

@Kosmonaut — Flatiron steak is the new filet mignon. Seriously.

Kosmonaut

I'm sure I would thoroughly enjoy that too.

kiamlaluno

(That reminds me of Omaha Steaks.)

RegDwight

3:58 PM

Oh, BTW before I go, what's your take on the answers to this, @Kosmonaut:

4

Q: What words have different meanings in US and British English?

Similar to this question, but not quite the same. There are, I think, quite a few words which have totally different meanings in English and American and which are likely to cause confusion when heard by non-local speakers. What are they? Note: not looking for words which are different between...

vocabulary american-english british-english dialects list-request

Kosmonaut

"buns" is wrong.

RegDwight

There's a lot of confusion about whether or not it answers the question, but I would like to voice a different concern: it's a giant quote. We might be pushing the envelope a bit too far with that one.

Kosmonaut

That's a quote??

Holy crap

RegDwight

Um, it is not?

Kosmonaut

I just didn't realize it!

kiamlaluno

4:01 PM

It seems a quote, to me.

Kosmonaut

This might have copyright concerns, no?

RegDwight

humournet.com/misc.humour/english.txt

@Kosmonaut My point exactly.

Kosmonaut

I think it maybe should be deleted on those grounds

RegDwight

I obsess about trimming two-paragraph passages from Wikipedia, and here we have a document split into three answers.

@Kosmonaut Well, he does attribute it.

Without attribution I would have deleted it in no time, as per the network-wide policy.

Kosmonaut

But you can't quote that much of a document, I would think.

Even with attribution.

RegDwight

4:04 PM

I'm just explaining why I haven't long deleted it wholesale without further notice.

Kosmonaut

Right.

RegDwight

Aaaaand I gotta go. TTYL.

Kosmonaut

Plus a lot of these aren't even true because they are supposed to be funny.

OK.

kiamlaluno

@Kosmonaut That is true, even if I don't find anything funny in what said about cars.

I know an American who prefers cars with a gearshift.

Kosmonaut

My wife does.

I can't believe how long these copied answers are!

There is more than one!

Rhodri

4:42 PM

@Kosmonaut Um. Yes. That would be pushing the spirit of Fair Use rather a lot.

Mitja

Hi!

Is defuel a word?

Rhodri

@Mitja Not in normal usage.

Mitja

Is it a perversion of the language?

taserian

4:59 PM

If it's meant exactly as it appears, I'd say no. When you remove the fuel from a vehicle, "defuel" sounds perfectly alright.

Rhodri

Depends on what you mean by "perversion". I'd say it was a perfectly obvious word to put together from the bits of English left lying about in a dictionary ("de" + "fuel" = "remove the fuel from something"), we just happen not to say that.

Muhammad Yasir

Hi...

Rhodri

Mostly I think because it's not normal in everyday life to remove the fuel from something.

Hi @Muhammad

Muhammad Yasir

How is everyone? A new user here...

Mitja

I was watching some George Carlin videos where he mentioned some words and said they were a perversion of the language. Thanks.

taserian

5:01 PM

Doing good at being bad. How about you, Muhammad?

Rhodri

@MuhammadYasir I think most of the people chatting are newcomers at the moment.

Excuse me if I'm a bit distracted, I'm trying to document stuff at work.

Ah. Here's @Kosmonaut to entertain you all.

::cues up song and dance routine::

Muhammad Yasir

Looks like that's encouraging!

I needed to understand one thing if someone has got some time...

taserian

Lob your question, Muhammad; we'll do our best.

Muhammad Yasir

Actually, I am working on a chatbot. During its programming, I need to add 'short words' of English

@taserian I have asked the question, no response yet however. I thought I might get it faster from here provided it is not against rules

JSBangs

@MuhammadYasir, I edited your question, since "short words" is not the standard way we refer to what you're looking for in English

Muhammad Yasir

5:07 PM

Great.

I've got it. Thanks

Rhodri

@MuhammadYasir Short answer: I don't know of a list of contractions on the net, but that doesn't mean there isn't one.

There was a question active yesterday about how contractions occur that may be of some help to you. I'll hunt it out in a few minutes.

JSBangs

now that you know the word "contractions", you may be able to google for a list yourself

and i see that you've found it (commented on original question)

RegDwight

Hm. I wonder if this is a homework question:

0

Q: correct punctuation

Which of these sentences is written correctly? Angela has three brothers, Mark, Adam, and Ryan. Angela has three brothers: Mark, Adam, and Ryan. Angela has three brothers Mark, Adam, and Ryan

punctuation comma colon

The original formatting made me skeptical.

Also, did the OP of this one just say that he found an answer but doesn't want to share it?

0

Q: A list of contractions in English.

Hi, Is there any list of contractions of English available on the net? Please note that I am not looking for internet slangs like lol, brb etc. Instead I am looking for standard and legal pairs of words like: you've I'm ne'er and so on...

contractions resource

"@JSBang Ah! That's what I was looking for. Searching for "english contractions words" gave me what I was after. Thanks. – Muhammad Yasir 8 mins ago"

JSBangs

@RegDwight i don't know if he realizes he can answer his own question

RegDwight

I think I'll comment.

kiamlaluno

5:26 PM

Aren't questions about Internet resources off-topic, on EL&U?

RegDwight

Which one do you mean?

kiamlaluno

I am referring to the question about the list of contractions, but I am also referring to such questions.

RegDwight

Ain't there even a special tag to accomodate them, list-request?

kiamlaluno

It is like asking for an application that translates into English.

@RegDwight There was also a cv but that doesn't mean that questions about CV are really on-topic.

RegDwight

I catch your drift. Well, the idea is certainly not to have a simple link to elsewhere as an answer.

If the contractions can be listed right here, they should be.

Robusto

5:32 PM

@RegDwight — If someone is going into contractions, you should get her to a hospital, never mind listing them here.

RegDwight

A summary always helps. Link rot happens. I always comment to that extent on naked-link answers, as do other mods.

Kosmonaut

@Robusto Ha

kiamlaluno

Well, the question asks if there are any list of contractions, on Internet.

Kosmonaut

Still, the "contractions" question could have been: "what are the English contractions?"

I think it might actually be possible to list all of the standard English contractions in an answer.

RegDwight

@Kosmonaut The thing is, those questions don't sit well with the community, either.

kiamlaluno

5:34 PM

@Kosmonaut Probably the OP wanted to know the word used for "contractions."

Kosmonaut

@RegDwight True

RegDwight

I once asked for a list of auto-autonyms, people complained. Massively. Starting with Shinto Sherlock and ending with @kiamlaluno himself.

kiamlaluno

Did I?

RegDwight

I think there was even a question on meta.

Robusto

@RegDwight — You can't let that go, even now.

Kosmonaut

5:35 PM

Wow.

I sense much hatred in you.

RegDwight

@Robusto I have no idea what you're talking about, but you weren't around anyway.

kiamlaluno

@RegDwight Now you should say "the artist once known as Shinto Sherlock."

RegDwight

-2

Q: Tag for requests for lists

I've created a tag for requests for lists, http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/list-request The function of the tag is to be able to isolate these questions for future reference or maintenance. E.g. someone might want to ignore any list requests and might add that to the "list of ...

discussion tags

kiamlaluno

I don't find any comment from my side; I even up voted that question (on EL&U).

Robusto

@RegDwight — Oh, I was around. Just not here.

RegDwight

5:42 PM

@kiamlaluno Nah, you complained about a different one.))) Not as strongly as Shinto, mind you. No hard feelings.

0

Q: Which of the following is correct & should the position of full stop be - before the close quote or after?

"All I can say is you are beautiful". "All I can say is that you are beautiful". "All that I can say is you are beautiful".

prepositions

kiamlaluno

Then, if Shinto Sherlock complained, it is rather impossible I complained too.

RegDwight

Now this officially looks like someone asking us to do their homework for them.

@kiamlaluno Haha. True.

As I said, separate occasions.

kiamlaluno

@RegDwight In that case, it can be.

JSBangs

voting to reopen:

0

Q: Which of the following is correct & should the position of full stop be - before the close quote or after?

Possible Duplicates: Is it correct to use “punctuation outside of the quotations”, or “inside?” Is it ever acceptable for a period to come after a quote at the end of a sentence? "All I can say is you are beautiful". "All I can say is that you are beautiful"....

punctuation conjunctions quotes

RegDwight

Whoa, @MrHen's dupe-hunting skillz are maddingly impressive.

JSBangs

5:45 PM

the quotes question is dup, but there's another question in there about the use of quotes (or lack thereof) after that

RegDwight

@JSBangs wait, what?

Kosmonaut

@RegDwight Didn't Maddingly play for the NY Yankees?

RegDwight

@JSBangs You see another question in there? I barely see just one.

Kosmonaut

Don Mattingly

Donald Arthur "Don" Mattingly (born April 20, 1961), nicknamed "Donnie Baseball" and "The Hit Man", is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and current manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He played his entire 14-year baseball career for the New York Yankees (1982–1995). After his playing career, he also served as a hitting coach for the Yankees and Dodgers prior to taking on his current position as manager of the Dodgers. Career High school A graduate of Memorial High School in Evansville, Indiana in 1979, he led the Tigers to a state record 59 straight victories through the 1978-...

RegDwight

@Kosmonaut Udder nonsense.

JSBangs

5:47 PM

@RegDwight the OP asked which sentence was correct. as written, none of them are correct, because of the way the quotes are placed. there's an interesting answer to be given there regarding the use of quotation marks for direct/indirect speech, and the use of that for marking indirect speech

RegDwight

@JSBangs Then the question should be improved. Greatly. Then it can be reopened.

JSBangs

@RegDwight that i can agree with

Kosmonaut

One problem is that it is two questions in one.

JSBangs

the question is, should i edit the question myself in order to make it reopenable?

RegDwight

But I totally see your point now, @JSBangs.

Kosmonaut

5:48 PM

And the two questions are unrelated.

RegDwight

@JSBangs If you can remove the dupe part and focus on the new part, then yes, please.

JSBangs

actually, i'm going to refrain, because the edits necessary to bring out the interesting question might go completely contrary to the OPs intent

i'll wait for someone else to ask a good question about this topic

RegDwight

Fair enough. (You can always ask it yourself.)

Martha

@JSBangs Why don't you ask it? Because I sure as hell can't tell what interesting question you see in that...

RegDwight

Jinx.

Martha

5:51 PM

:/ Here's your coke.

JSBangs

asking questions for the benefit of onlookers is frowned upon

i know how to use quotes for indirect speech just fine

Martha

@JSBangs Says who?

RegDwight

Now I feel bad about taking @Martha's last coke before she heads off to Hungry.

Martha

THWACK!!!

RegDwight

Yeah, yeah.

Martha

5:52 PM

THWACK THWACK THWACK!

RegDwight

Whatever.

Martha

and just for good measure, THWACK!!!!

RegDwight

See, @Robusto, this is how you get some damn good thwacking: by ignoring it rather than begging for it.

Martha

Sniffle. He's ignoring me.

RegDwight

Nononono. NO!

JSBangs

5:53 PM

@Martha maybe he's gotten over his sick thwacking fetish

RegDwight

I'm ignoring thwacking. You, @Martha, you I like.

Martha

Aw.

RegDwight

What kind of bastard would I be saying anything else while sipping your beverage?

Martha

The kind of bastard who makes egregious puns while sipping said beverage?

RegDwight

Ah. Yes. Right. You're spot on as usual.

Martha

5:56 PM

Right. That's settled, where were we before this unfortunate interruption?

RegDwight

Hey @Kosmonaut, if you feel like converting mickeyf's answer into a comment, you have to do it yourself, as I am biased.

0

A: Is this a "cheesy" question?

"They smell." That's the short answer.

Okay people, I gotta go in a minute. Now that I've managed to reach the point where tomorrow's sockpuppet recalc won't hurt my preciousss reps...

kiamlaluno

The "lawyer" answer is rather terrible.

RegDwight

@kiamlaluno Heh. It's funny because it's as non sequitur as it gets.

kiamlaluno

I am not sure to which head he pointed his finger, though.

What he said is also valid for answers? "Don't give an answer nobody asked for."

RegDwight

That will remain his secret.

kiamlaluno

6:08 PM

Sigh!

Oh well, I will wait he goes on Drupal Answers, and ask him there.

MrHen

So I find it odd when examples from an answer end up being discussed in other answers

4

Q: When should you use a semicolon *with* a conjunction?

I know the basics of a semicolon—at least I think I do. Aside from delimiting verbose lists, it separates independent clauses of a sentence. So, if you have two independent clauses in a sentence, you can either separate them with a semicolon, or a comma along with a conjunction—like "but". How...

punctuation comma conjunctions semicolon

Not bad, just odd.

kiamlaluno

If he does that, I just hope he doesn't start with "the stuff I have in here."

RegDwight

@MrHen Heh, thanks for sharing, that's amusing.

As long as we don't turn the site into a forum.

kiamlaluno

0

Q: A list of contractions in English

Is there any list of contractions of English available on the net? Please note that I am not looking for Internet slangs like lol, brb, etc. Instead I am looking for standard and legal pairs of words like you've, I'm, ne'er, and so on.

contractions list-request resource

The OP asks the question, then he finds out what he was looking for, and he doesn't write that as an answer.

RegDwight

Well he commented that he can't. Don't be too harsh)))

MrHen

6:19 PM

@kiamlaluno If I thought the question was worth answering I would have just copied a list from somewhere.

RegDwight

Let's pester him again in 20-odd hours!

kiamlaluno

Let's close the question.

RegDwight

Well, we are very close to closing.)))

MrHen

I already voted.

kiamlaluno

I voted too.

@RegDwight cannot say he voted too. ;-)

RegDwight

6:21 PM

No. We now have 40+ 3k users.

And we'll have 50+ soon.

Do some leg work, peoples.

MrHen

@RegDwight How many are active?

RegDwight

Well, certainly more than 5.

kiamlaluno

I find such questions very boring. They ask a question, and find out the answer after minutes. Didn't they learn to count until 10, before to ask a question?

RegDwight

/users?tab=reputation&filter=all

JSBangs

@MrHen you yourself appear to be our newest in the 3k club

RegDwight

6:24 PM

I had to force him.

Now I let him enjoy the fruits of his labor.

Where's the fun in coming to a site and seeing that all the good stuff has been closed by RegDwight already?

Robusto

@RegDwight — I don't see what's so thwackable, teacher's pet.

RegDwight

@Robusto Lemme find that "I knew you would say that" macro.

kiamlaluno

/ikywst

Robusto

@RegDwight — I thought that was one of the perks of EL&U.SE, coming to the site and finding that all the work had been done by Eastern European menials.

kiamlaluno

It doesn't work, here.

RegDwight

6:27 PM

Perks-shmerks. Russian-Texan. Same difference.

Robusto

@RegDwight — Russia is so not Texas.

RegDwight

Hence "same difference" rather than "same sameness".

Reading. Comprehension. Class. You. Yada.

Robusto

@RegDwight — You freakin' NNS, you don't even know that "same difference" means "same sameness" in English. Sheesh.

RegDwight

FFFFFUUUUUUUU... Did I blow my cover?

Robusto

Totally.

RegDwight

6:30 PM

O.M.&c.

Robusto

Well, it's all out in the open now. No going back.

RegDwight

Okay, disregard everything. Back to square one. Hi me's John. Sup? ASL?

Robusto

@RegDwight — Hi John. Welcome to the 12-step program. Did you pay the entry fee, by the way?

RegDwight

I'm at step 9 already. Sorry!

Robusto

Hmm ... I haven't heard any apologies.

RegDwight

6:31 PM

22 secs ago, by RegDwight

I'm at step 9 already. Sorry!

Since when is sorry not an apology? You NNS.

God I try my best to make the sophisticatedstendest jokes evar, but that nurse just won't stop dragging me down.

Robusto

@RegDwight — Life's a bitch, and then you die.

RegDwight

Zuerst hatten wir kein Glück, und dann kam auch noch Pech dazu.

Robusto

Genau.

RegDwight

37 mins ago, by RegDwight

Okay people, I gotta go in a minute. Now that I've managed to reach the point where tomorrow's sockpuppet recalc won't hurt my preciousss reps...

Okay, now the minute is officially up.

Robusto

@RegDwight — That 22K of yours is so cute, btw.

RegDwight

6:38 PM

See you tomorrow. Night all.

@Robusto 22k?

Robusto

Or 23, w/e.

CYA

RegDwight

Ah yes.

K.

I'm out!

Robusto

I don't take note of the smaller stacks.

Martha

Whoops, just missed @RegDwight. Looks like a mod stepped on someone's toes:

0

Q: Messages to moderators required on moderated sites

Unlike the community moderated SO, the new sites have specific moderators. But there is no way to contact the moderator other than the "flag post" We don't want every moderator decision to turn into a flame war but it would be nice to ask why or to try and make a reasonable case in one's own de...

discussion feature-request

(I'm not sure what he thinks the difference is between SO-community-moderation and ELU-community-moderation...)

MrHen

Odd. Didn't have that user in my quick memory access. Now I do.

MrHen

7:02 PM

@Martha My hunch is that the closing in question is:

0

A: How can I grammatically ask a question having to do with birth order?

"So are you the oldest or youngest?" might be more normal

kiamlaluno

7:15 PM

I posted the link to the meta question on Teacher's Lounge.

I don't find any reason to privately contact a moderator, when the reasons of what the moderators do is already explained in the site.

If a moderator closes a question, the reason is already explained in the message left by the system.

MrHen

@kiamlaluno I agree on all points.

Martha

7:35 PM

I just posted an answer to that question. Also, it looks like mgb is getting confused by his different levels of privileges on SO vs. EL&U - he thinks there's a difference in the mechanics of the site, when the only difference is his lack of 3K rep here.

kiamlaluno

8:06 PM

As somebody on T'L said, the meta site is the place to talk of things like closed questions.

I better shut up, and stop posting anything in English.

JSBangs

8:35 PM

@kiamlaluno while doing my tag scrubs i came across a lot of high-quality questions from you

kiamlaluno

@JSBangs Really? I would bet somebody else would be ready to say that nothing of quality can possibly come from me.

JSBangs

@kiamlaluno bah! you've written lots of great questions. i say this specifically to counter this belief you seem to have that you're a cesspool of ignorance

kiamlaluno

@JSBangs Why thank you.

I mean, I am not saying that for the "cesspool of ignorance."

JSBangs

:)

kiamlaluno

@JSBangs That is what I will start to believe, if I keep to listen to Mr. BetweenTheQandTheS.

On the question about widow and widower, I would reply "a man is a widower because he hunts for widows." ;-)

JSBangs

8:46 PM

heh

kiamlaluno

Did I write windows?

JSBangs

not that i could see

psmears

@kiamlaluno You mean Microsoft Windows? If you did, (a) that's a rather impressive achievement, and (b) there are probably a lot of people that have some comments for you ;-)

kiamlaluno

That is good, or Gates should have came in an instant.

It's better I don't say "came" and "instant" in the same sentence.

MrHen

@kiamlaluno Who?

kiamlaluno

8:51 PM

@psmears Yeah, I agree that if I would say "a man hunts for Windows," many people would have something to say about that.

@MrHen BetweenTheQandTheS.

@MrHen I added Mister for respect, not as reference to you. :-)

MrHen

@kiamlaluno Okay. I still don't get the reference but that is probably fine. :)

@kiamlaluno I must admit I panicked a little and was worried that maybe I said something stupid :P

kiamlaluno

I am referring to whom keeps to tell me "you are an English expert," without to explain why he thinks I said I am an English expert. An English expert doesn't say he is an English expert; other people say that.

@MrHen It's easy; read the words separately: "between the Q and the S."

It's a letter.

A, B, C, D, ..., P, Q, ..., S.

@MrHen I have never thought you said anything stupid. :-)

MrHen

@kiamlaluno Mmk. I must have missed all other references to this subject because I am still drawing a blank. I get the letter bit; just not the end reference. But that's fine... no need to explain any more than you have :D

kiamlaluno

@MrHen All the references I made are after that sentence, but I am referring to whom said I should know all the English dog names because I am an English expert.

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…