English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

RegDwight

6:01 PM

Wow, you'll barely ever find it in German, and they say that it has somehow managed to cross the English Channel?

Vitaly

I dunno. That's why I am asking.

RegDwight

You always read some ~~fascinating~~ weirdo stuff.

Sometimes you even link to weirdo stuff.

And then we have to read it.

Vitaly

I am here to etc, etc.

RegDwight

Yeah, yeah. You'll get your Weirdo-of-the-Month badge pretty soon.

Kosmonaut

6:21 PM

@RegDwight The agent might be considered the Balken itself in that first example. But I think probably people studying that could have different analyses actually. I think the Stimme bricht one is a different meaning of bricht. Anyway, you are coming up with complications that go beyond my knowledge of how this stuff works, so I might not be a good representative anymore of the argument a pro-"middle" person might make.

RegDwight

It's okay, it's just that I couldn't help but think about it on the bus, so this was more like sharing the examples I came up with rather than arguing for the argument's sake.

@JSBangs:

0

Q: Which languages are on-topic?

There is a recent question asking when the grammar of some language ancestral to English branched a certain feature. Since it garnered many votes, I suppose it was on-topic. Which languages are on-topic? Can I ask about Proto-Germanic morphology?

There, explain yourself, young man!

Kosmonaut

@RegDwight They are good examples.

@RegDwight I have thought about this myself and it is hard to say where to draw the line

It is a continuum.

RegDwight

Yeah, we did have some discussion about this previously. I think it was with you and Martha.

Robusto

0

Q: list of important words for advanced learners?

Does anyone know of any list of important words for advanced learners? Things like "Oxford 3000 key words for learners of English" does exist, but they are for beginners. I am looking for a list of words for people who intend to read and comprehend literature of complex nature (including classics...

vocabulary

Kosmonaut

Clearly, though, it has to be able to at least be traced directly to English

RegDwight

6:29 PM

Mar 16 at 14:29, by Martha

Non sequitur-du-jour: can we please change the old-english tag to something else? (1) I'm not even sure if Old English is on-topic for this site; and (2) it's being used to label questions about early English, not old English. Well, with one exception. For which see point (1). And yes, I know I've answered that question and favorited it and everything.

Kosmonaut

@RegDwight Oh yeah, now I remember.

RegDwight

Mar 16 at 14:43, by Robusto

I think Old English is proper for a site that purports to be about English.

Robusto

Voted to close "list of important words ..."

@RegDwight — Well said!

RegDwight

Thank you, sensei.

Mar 16 at 14:45, by RegDwight

@Kosmonaut Well, there are dialects of Modern English that are mutually unintelligible, too, aren't there?

kiamlaluno

Isn't the closing reason "off-topic" being used even when the question is not off-topic?

Kosmonaut

6:30 PM

@RegDwight Yeah, it's just that if "Germanic" happened to be called "Anglic"....

We'd probably let it go even further

RegDwight

@kiamlaluno we should be careful with "off-topic" anyway, now that it results in an automatic downvote by the Community user.

Kosmonaut

It does?

RegDwight

Yes, and it sticks.

kiamlaluno

@RegDwight I agree, but I would call it off-topic if it is not off-topic.

RegDwight

As in, there was a question only recently that got closed as off-topic, but then got improved and reopened. It stood at -1 even though it was okay now.

kiamlaluno

6:32 PM

@Kosmonaut Yep; that is a new feature.

Kosmonaut

@kiamlaluno So how does it work?

If you vote once off-topic, it gets a downvote?

RegDwight

No, only once it's closed, either by the community or by a mod.

62

Q: Should questions closed as "not a real question" and "off topic" get an automatic downvote?

We currently have five standard close reasons network wide: exact duplicate This question covers exactly the same ground as earlier questions on this topic; its answers may be merged with another identical question. off topic Questions on Stack Overflow are expected to generally rela...

discussion status-completed down-votes close-reasons

MrHen

@RegDwight That sucks. The people voting to reopen should get to undo the initial downvote their close vote caused

kiamlaluno

@Kosmonaut If the question is closed as off-topic, then the OP gets a down vote.

RegDwight

@MrHen Yes, I had actually to pity-upvote that question because the -1 didn't seem right anymore.

Then again, in a way you could argue that the -1 is justified.

kiamlaluno

6:34 PM

It is also true if the question is closed for another reason; I should find the post that reports the new features.

RegDwight

As in, write on-topic questions right away, don't wait for the community to force you to improve it.

MrHen

@RegDwight Yeah. I don't mind the auto-downvote but it seems harsh that it cannot be undone

JSBangs

@RegDwight, i'm a-spainin right now

MrHen

Is it one down per close or one down per vote?

RegDwight

Per close.

MrHen

6:36 PM

Oh, okay

That isn't so bad

RegDwight

The Community user casts the vote.

MrHen

Ah

RegDwight

It only has one vote per Q, just like everybody else.

MrHen

Well, then I think that is fair

Harsh, but fair

JSBangs

actually, i'm not a-spainin any more

@kiamlaluno has answered everything for me

RegDwight

6:37 PM

@JSBangs This is not your FB status field, this is ELU chat. :P

kiamlaluno

Who, when, why?

OK; the "who" part was clear.

RegDwight

2

A: Which languages are on-topic?

That question is on-topic because it is asking about English; the fact it compares English with Dutch and German doesn't make the question off-topic because the OP is interested to know if a similar construct was present in English. Dutch and German have not been chosen as random examples: Englis...

You. One hour ago. I dunno why.

JSBangs

@RegDwight so because this isn't FB i can't a-splain? who makes up these fascist rules?

RegDwight

Feb 18 at 19:10, by Michael Myers

Aaaaand the answer is: English.StackExchange.com!

kiamlaluno

@RegDwight That is the most important part; the reason counts more than other things.

JSBangs

6:41 PM

@RegDwight you should be able to use your mod powers to understand @kiamlaluno's secret motivations

kiamlaluno

@JSBangs With those, he can only say if I am self-vandalising my own answers/questions.

RegDwight

@JSBangs Oh, I understand them. I just don't want to share them. In my capacity as the Commie Mutant Traitor I have to be evil and secretive.

kiamlaluno

Could I self-vandalising questions that are not mine?

RegDwight

@kiamlaluno put away whatever you're smoking.

kiamlaluno

Does that mean that also the "Mutant Ninja Turtles" are Commies?

RegDwight

6:44 PM

1 min ago, by RegDwight

@kiamlaluno put away whatever you're smoking.

kiamlaluno

I am smelling a pizza cooking in the oven. Does that count as smoking?

JSBangs

depends on what kind of pizza

RegDwight

Them Ninja Turtles is distinguished members of the GOP.

kiamlaluno

Calzone.

It must be GOP5.

RegDwight

I put my calzone on just like the rest of you, one leg at a time. Except, when my calzone are on, I make gold records.

kiamlaluno

6:47 PM

Imagine if the calzone is not on.

RegDwight

Then I make platin records.

kiamlaluno

Add a short dance to that.

RegDwight

Because the calzone are no longer hiding the cowbell.

kiamlaluno

(I don't want to split hairs, but that would be calzoni.)

JSBangs

this conversation is making me very uncomfortable

RegDwight

6:49 PM

en.wiktionary.org/wiki/calzone

kiamlaluno

@JSBangs Don't you like pizzas?

RegDwight

One leg at a time, kiamlaluno. One leg at a time.

kiamlaluno

@RegDwight Yes, but you have two legs; therefore, it is calzoni.

I should have said "you should have two legs."

JSBangs

@RegDwight i'm not clicking on that link

RegDwight

Mar 22 at 19:15, by RegDwight

Joke

A joke is a question, short story, or depiction of a situation made with the intent of being humorous. To achieve this end, jokes may employ irony, sarcasm, word play and other devices. Jokes may have a punchline that will end the sentence to make it humorous. A practical joke or prank differs from a spoken one in that the major component of the humour is physical rather than verbal (for example placing salt in the sugar bowl). Purpose Jokes are typically for the entertainment of friends and onlookers. The desired response is generally laughter; when this does not happen the joke is...

@JSBangs That's a wiktionary link.

kiamlaluno

6:52 PM

I got it: you have pants with just a leg; that is why you keep saying the singular.

I am not sure about which armpit of mine should I scratch.

RegDwight

Excellent. Now we only have to find out why you keep not to say "keep saying".

kiamlaluno

@RegDwight Because I want to be funny.

RegDwight

Ach so.

kiamlaluno

@RegDwight God bless you.

May I pass you a tissue?

RegDwight

You know what the standard response to that is.

Mar 8 at 23:06, by RegDwight

Hm. Come to think of it, "damn you" makes an interesting response to "bless you".

kiamlaluno

6:55 PM

It's not a t-issue, though.

I could say salute, but that is not standard for English speaking people.

What is the English translation for "etchiuuuuu"?

JSBangs

achoo

RegDwight

Hatschi!

Апчхи!

F'x

I don't understand the “closed as off-topic gets a community downvote” thing

take this question:

-1

Q: Learning English

I am Urdu speaker and want to learn English. Problem is that I got confuse when I Express my words in English. Please suggest me any book so that I'll be able to ask the questions and answers on different communities. I hope you understand what I want to say.

learning

it was closed as off-topic, and it has –1 from me, no –1 from community

what happened there?

RegDwight

I see +1 -2.

The timeline agrees: english.stackexchange.com/posts/22676/timeline

kiamlaluno

english.stackexchange.com/users/5624/siddiqui?tab=reputation

RegDwight

7:00 PM

Oh yeah, and that one.

F'x

oh, I see, sorry

kiamlaluno

There are two down votes, but only one is shown in the question page.

F'x

weird that someone upvoted, though

RegDwight

Well, there's also an answer with +3 -1.

kiamlaluno

Never mind; both the down votes are visible in the question page.

What a silence.

I can even hear flies.

RegDwight

7:10 PM

Like a banana?

kiamlaluno

I should ask to the fly, but I am not sure about what the polite way to ask to a fly if it is a banana is.

F'x

@RegDwight: work for you, please merge the tags "resource" and "resources"

Un ange passe

RegDwight

@kiamlaluno Zzzzz Zzzzz SSsss Zzzzzz.

kiamlaluno

@RegDwight That is for a mosquito.

RegDwight

@Fx Hm, I wonder which way.

kiamlaluno

7:12 PM

You don't want the fly spits on my eyeglasses, do you?

RegDwight

We usually prefer the plural, bur resources has 3 questions while resource has 8.

On the other hand, 4 out of the 8 are closed.

kiamlaluno

I would use "resources."

That is just my two flies; I mean, cents.

Are there fly-cents?

RegDwight

30 mins ago, by RegDwight

@kiamlaluno put away whatever you're smoking.

kiamlaluno

126

Q: Recent feature changes to Stack Exchange

This is the official list of new features and various changes to Stack Overflow and the Stack Exchange network. It is jointly maintained by the community and Rebecca Chernoff♦ (a Stack Exchange, Inc team member). RSS feed for this question

support faq featured new-features

F'x

RegDwight

7:15 PM

@kiamlaluno Um, yes?

kiamlaluno

A silent fly was never written.

@RegDwight Between a fly, and the other, I found the link I was looking for.

RegDwight

@Fx That thing is supermegagigantic.

I can barely see myself in that picture.

kiamlaluno

@RegDwight You are looking in the wrong direction.

You should look where the handle ends.

RegDwight

@kiamlaluno I was looking in the wrong direction, obviously, otherwise I wouldn't have found myself under that thing.

kiamlaluno

@RegDwight Fly happens.

Really, I am used to say "bee happens."

RegDwight

7:18 PM

What the heck is this?

0

Q: List of important words for advanced learners?

Does anyone know of any list of important words for advanced learners? Things like Oxford 3000 key words for learners of English does exist, but they are for beginners. I am looking for a list of words for people who intend to read and comprehend literature of complex nature (including classic li...

vocabulary list-request resources

kiamlaluno

It's not a fly; I am sure of that.

I find those questions about online lists quite too general.

RegDwight

I think it's off-topic, plain and simple.

F'x

@RegDwight two other voters thought it "not a question", not "off-topic"

JSBangs

yeah, i voted to kill it

F'x

I found it rather well asked, though not useful, so I didn't vote

Should be a community wiki if it stays open, though

RegDwight

7:23 PM

There, I spared him a -1 and went with "subjective and argumentative".

Mockingbird might be important to him, but I prefer Alice and Winnie-Pooh.

JSBangs

that's Winnie-ther-Pooh

F'x

the

kiamlaluno

I prefer Alice, when she doesn't come together Wonderland.

Robusto

Does anyone else see the chat link on the questions page anymore? I can only see it on the top-level page now.

F'x

@Robusto yes, I do

RegDwight

7:25 PM

@Fx lulz.

kiamlaluno

@Robusto I see the chat link in any pages.

Robusto

Weird.

RegDwight

@JSBangs It's not just Mockingbird or Alice, either.

Robusto

I'm talking about the one on the side, where it says "47 people chatting" etc.

JSBangs

When I first heard his name, I said, just as you are
going to say, "But I thought he was a boy?"
"So did I," said Christopher Robin.
"Then you can't call him Winnie?"
"I don't."
"But you said---"
"He's Winnie-ther-Pooh. Don't you know what 'ther' means?"
"Ah, yes, now I do," I said quickly; and I hope you do too, because it is all the explanation you are going to get.

kiamlaluno

7:26 PM

It must be a fly-trick.

RegDwight

@Robusto Yes, we can see it. You looking at a particular question?

Sometimes the sidebar takes a while.

Some caching going on.

I know the "Related" stuff ain't always displayed, perhaps the same is true of the Chat link.

Robusto

No. If I hit the "questions" link I don't see the chat link in the right-hand column.

RegDwight

Ah! That one. No, I don't see it there, either.

Has it ever been there?

kiamlaluno

I would say there is a lot of caching: that page says I said something 30 minutes ago. Maybe it means I said something interesting 30 minutes ago, last time; in that case, it should say "never."

RegDwight

@Robusto Same on SO.

I don't think it's on every page ever.

kiamlaluno

7:29 PM

It's not on that page.

Robusto

@RegDwight — It always used to be there.

It only disappeared today. I was asking about it earlier, remember?

RegDwight

Okay, if you insist. I never paid attention.

@Robusto Actually, I don't. I haven't read the transcript today.

I only remember Descartes disappearing.

Mitch

Wow, guys, please reopen the 'list of important words'

The answers that popped in were excellent

JSBangs

the answers are still there

Mitch

and it is not off-topic or argumentative or subjective at all.

JSBangs

7:32 PM

you just can't make more of them

Mitch

what's wrong with more answers?

RegDwight

@Mitch Improving one's English is off-topic, and questions about teaching have been closed in the past.

Mitch

hm...

RegDwight

I only closed it as subjective and argumentative so it doesn't get an automatic -1, because it wasn't that bad a question.

Mitch

there's no arguing with that other than ...'I disagree'?

Robusto

7:33 PM

@RegDwight — Descartes disappeared? What does he think about that?

Mitch

putting aside 'OT", it's certainly not subjective or argumentative.

as to OT...

RegDwight

10 mins ago, by RegDwight

Mockingbird might be important to him, but I prefer Alice and Winnie-Pooh.

kiamlaluno

@Mitch @RegDwight just closed the question as subjective to avoid the OP would get an automatic down vote.

Mitch

the community decides what is OT...

auto down vote?

RegDwight

@Mitch There were two votes as OT, and one as NARQ.

1 hour ago, by RegDwight

62

Q: Should questions closed as "not a real question" and "off topic" get an automatic downvote?

We currently have five standard close reasons network wide: exact duplicate This question covers exactly the same ground as earlier questions on this topic; its answers may be merged with another identical question. off topic Questions on Stack Overflow are expected to generally rela...

discussion status-completed down-votes close-reasons

Mitch

7:35 PM

what's wrong with getting word lists? (that's a real question (or maybe good answers to some question))

kiamlaluno

126

Q: Recent feature changes to Stack Exchange

This is the official list of new features and various changes to Stack Overflow and the Stack Exchange network. It is jointly maintained by the community and Rebecca Chernoff♦ (a Stack Exchange, Inc team member). RSS feed for this question

support faq featured new-features

Mitch

wow, that's some fast clicking.

oh..and I don't see those NARQ/OT buttons.

anyway...wouldn't it be less extreme to allow down votes than to close entirely?

RegDwight

Make no mistake, it can be reopened anytime.

Mitch

well..that's why I came here, because the people who I would ask to reopen would have been, it turns out, those who closed it.

RegDwight

)))

Robusto

7:40 PM

I feel the irony of the situation.

Mitch

so English language learning is off topic...I feel like if 'learning' were removed from the question it would somehow magically become on topic.

RegDwight

Let me just reiterate, so we have everything in one place. Questions about teaching are traditionally getting closed. Questions about ways to improve one's English are expressly off-topic. Discussing literature is expressly off-topic. And which books are "important" and which are not is subjective IMHO.

Some of those closed questions about teaching and learning had excellent answers, too.

But that alone isn't enough.

Anyhow, I'll ping @Kosmonaut and @nohat.

And you are always welcome to post a question on meta, to get the community involved.

In the mean time, 3k users can cast re-open votes.

Mitch

OK, I get the 'learning' part (why it is offtopic/unwanted/better in another place)

I think really I liked seeing the Basic English word list and ignored the substance of the question (which was intended for learners.

Vitaly

Which important books about the English noun can you recommend?

Mitch

I feel a 'non-learny' question about word lists could be resurrected from this though.

Vitaly

7:50 PM

Is there a book about the verb ‘put’?

Mitch

@Vitaly well, the compact OED has about 5 miniaturized pages (viewable with large magnifying glass) on 'put'

Vitaly

@Mitch I knew someone was going to say that.

RegDwight

@Mitch That's the thing. It's not asking about, say, the 3000 most common words in American English. It is asking about the 3000 words that are "most important" to people learning English in order to understand somewhat vaguely specified works.

Mitch

@Vitaly :)

Vitaly, do you mean like the series of books on sqrt(2) and pi and such? but for just one word?

Vitaly

Yeah, why not? That would seem like a fruitful area of inquiry for book-writers.

Come to think of it, it could be implemented on Wiktionary.

Except that the policy for Wiktionary doesn't encourage something along those lines. Or so I think.

RegDwight

7:56 PM

You mean links to books about specific words?

I know that, for example, links to research about "надо" vs "нужно" are very much welcome on the Russian Wiktionary.

Vitaly

There is actually a shorter version of what I have in mind for particular words: e.g. worldwidewords.org/topicalwords/tw-bra2.htm worldwidewords.org/topicalwords/tw-las1.htm

I mean stories about specific words from a historical/etymological perspective with a bit of usage advice

RegDwight

I once posted something amounting to an essay on the history of the word "Kartoffel" in the etymology section of a Wiktionary article. It got heavily trimmed down, and in hindsight I would say, rightfully so.

Vitaly

>_<

Mitch

how about 'post'?

Vitaly

Oh about Wiktionary: any way to block that foreign balderdash and piffle from appearing in the English Wiktionary articles?

RegDwight

8:05 PM

Huh wha?

kiamlaluno

Wha, whe, who, why?

Vitaly

en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bread

in the case of bread, Old English and Spanish, I don't want to see them when browsing

RegDwight

Tough luck.

Vitaly

I see. Piffle!

RegDwight

But usually the "main" language of the Wiktionary in question comes first.

Even if it breaks the alphabetical order.

Not sure what the policy on en: is.

Never paid attention.

Vitaly

8:09 PM

interwiki isn't enough, eh?

RegDwight

On Wiktionary, interwiki leads to the same word, unlike on Wikipedia, where it leads to its translation.

Vitaly

it would make more sense if it led to the Spanish and Old English words

RegDwight

Well, again, it does lead to es.wiktionary.org/wiki/bread

It's just that that page is in Spanish.

Vitaly

even if two languages have the same graphic representation of their two words, it is not a single word

RegDwight

Yes, that's why you have different sections.

Vitaly

8:12 PM

great, es: has Inglés

that's nonsense. IMHO

RegDwight

Well, take that up with es:.

If they don't list their own stuff, it's their problem.

More to the point, there are homographs within any given language, too.

Vitaly

that are different words, too

RegDwight

So in printed dictionaries you usually have cleave (1) and cleave (2).

On Wiktionary, it's two sections of the same page.

But they are still separate, each with its own etymology and translations and whatnot.

It's just a different approach. It's not inherently bad.

Vitaly

@RegDwight huh. that might be some sort of point, I suppose.

well yes it is inherently bad, as long as it creates a mess

RegDwight

I don't see how it creates a mess. Imagine that you encounter the word abfuwingd somewhere. You don't even have an idea which language it might be.

Vitaly

8:16 PM

am I the only user of Wiktionary who has a problem with mess?

in other words, am I in the minority?

abfuwingd site:wiktionary.org

RegDwight

I have not conducted a poll, but this structure is common to all Wiktionaries I am aware of, and has always been.

@Vitaly Yeah well, that I can tell you how many people know about. Zero. Zilch.

Vitaly

Meh.

RegDwight

And even those who know about the site: operator, why bother if you can just have an overview in one place?

Anyhow, I am not here to defend Wiktionary policies. They have a meta site of their own.)))

Though you still seem to be missing a crucial point.

Say, abfuwingd is a Spanish word. So that search gets you to a Spanish Wiktionary. You don't speak a single word of Spanish. What now?

The point is not to have an article about a Spanish word in Spanish, and an English word in English.

The point is to have an article for any word in every language.

kiamlaluno

You learn Spanish, and then you don't need to consult the page about abfuwingd.

Vitaly

Touché.

kiamlaluno

8:24 PM

Cover your ears.

Vitaly

I wonder why OED Online doesn't create that sense of disorder for me, though (in spite of hosting a lot more data than Wiktionary does). Is it something about their UI? ;)

RegDwight

Well, does OED cover Spanish, French, Russian, Chinese words?

Just imagine what mess it would be if it would have to cover all meanings of a in all languages.

Vitaly

No it doesn't. And yet Wiktionary articles that list only English words look messier than their OED counterparts.

RegDwight

Yeah well, that I can second.

It's the MediaWiki layout.

It works better for longish articles.

I mean, it was specifically created for Wikipedia.

Vitaly

@RegDwight Exactly. And sucks for Wiktionary.

RegDwight

8:29 PM

Giant header - one word - giant header - a phrase - giant header - a list of synonyms just looks crappy.

Some Wiktionaries try to work around that by inroducing background colors for headers, and even icons. Usually it ends up looking even worse.

fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/hard

Vitaly

lol

RegDwight

Once you have enough content, like on Wikipedia, it immediately starts looking much better.

ru.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D0%B2%D0%BE%D0%B4%D0%B0

Vitaly

why the interrobang, btw?

RegDwight

Um, where?

Vitaly

Статья нуждается в доработке.

RegDwight

8:35 PM

Ha. Never even noticed that.

Funny.

Lemme see...

It's been there right from the onset.

ru.wiktionary.org/w/…

but why?

Ask Al Silonov.)))

>_>

Usually, if you're not sure about something, it's safe to assume that it's a conspiracy.

The Secret International Conspiracy for Secretly Promoting Interrobangs.

Vitaly

Haha.

RegDwight

8:41 PM

Damn, I can't even spell usually. Time for me to go spell some LEGO instead.

Vitaly

LEGO Technic. My favourite game as a kid.

The Soviet конструктор still trumps any LEGOs though. You see, you could actually build useful stuff from it.

Have fun.

RegDwight

@Vitaly I loved that one as a child. I even built a functioning разменный автомат once. The kind they used to have in the metro.

Word.

Afk.

hello

8:47 PM

Or not afk.

@動靜能量 Hi there.

Vitaly

I used it mostly for my radio receivers, for frameworks etc.

動靜能量

what is the chat for in addition to the forum...

RegDwight

General discussion about English Language and Usage, plus some fooling around.

動靜能量

because the chat is limited to a short moment in time

RegDwight

The main site is for questions and answers.

Meta is for questions about the site itself.

Chat is just for hanging around and chatting.

動靜能量

8:48 PM

aha... coz I felt that the forum can be seen by lots of people and not limited to when they log in

RegDwight

@動靜能量 Everything you say here is saved.

動靜能量

they can log in 12 hours from now, at 10pm, and they can still see the question

RegDwight

You can check the transcript till the very beginning.

動靜能量

but the chat probably is limited to these couple of minutes

RegDwight

No.

Vitaly

8:49 PM

Nov 10 '10 at 15:27, by Feeds

Welcome to chat for: English Language and Usage

動靜能量

aha

RegDwight

Everything someone says here, anybody else can view ten years later.

動靜能量

i see

funny, i am part of history now

RegDwight

So if you ask a question here, or really just say hello while nobody is here, you can still expect a response once someone does show up.

But these days, usually there's always someone here.

動靜能量

but how do i find out where is answer is?

(where the response is)

RegDwight

8:51 PM

Usually people will at-mention you, like this: @動靜能量.

動靜能量

i see

Vitaly

Which is not as easy when the name is non-Latin

動靜能量

funny, about 21 years ago, my university project was to create a chat room program

RegDwight

If you are around, you will hear a beep. If you are not around, it will show up in your global inbox.

動靜能量

so that people can create rooms, and go into whichever they'd like

RegDwight

8:52 PM

@動靜能量 You can create rooms here, too.

Even private rooms, for just two people to talk.

動靜能量

oh wow... into my global inbox... that's a cool feature

right... our project had that too

RegDwight

There are quite a few rooms active right now: chat.stackexchange.com

You can login in any number of those at once.

nohat

2

Q: Please remove the giant quotation mark from the CSS for blockquotes

The blockquote HTML tag is often used for things that are not literally quotations—for example, in duplicate question notices—so the giant quotation mark is quite often incorrect or misleading. Since fixing duplicate question notices to not be (erroneously, imho) tagged as "blockquotes" is clear...

bug style css

RegDwight

Then you'll get a handy overview on the right side of the page, what is being said in the other rooms you're logged in.

nohat

Jeff's latest comment is getting me down

can y'all go upvote and plead for action?

RegDwight

8:55 PM

@nohat I must say I always loved the quotation mark. I would rather prefer they implement the original request.

I mean, I'm sure that would help other sites, too.

nohat

But but but

even in questions and answers blockquote styling is quite often NOT used for things that are actually quotations, and the giant quotation mark is wrong there, too

RegDwight

Um. You have an example?

Or you mean, like, when we provide lists of sample sentences that are not actually quotes?

nohat

yes, exactly

RegDwight

I see.

nohat

for example, here:

17

A: When should the word "God" be capitalized?

To summarize the proper noun/common noun usage, I think the easiest way to handle the situation is to capitalize the word god when it is used as a proper name as the name of the god of a monotheistic religion, such as the god of Christianity or Judaism, and not capitalize it when it is used as a ...

F'x

8:58 PM

0

Q: 10 most common English words.

i'm looking for the 10 most common words used in the enlish language of either the Greek or Latin origin. came across it on the net sometime back, but i can't find it again, and i need it real bad. need to complete my English coursework. please help!

etymology latin

RegDwight

@nohat Yeah well... I could live with that, though I'm not sure how much of it is just habit.

nohat

here's another example where I think the giant quotation marks are at best misleading

13

A: Ellipsis that results in one word serving as both subject and object

First of all, although sometimes ellipsis is used to describe “conjunction reduction” I don’t agree with the analysis that describes coordination of lower-level constituents as ellipsis. Consider these examples: 1 a. [I want a dog] but [I don’t want a cat] b. I [want a dog...

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…