English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

4:03 PM

Who is that?

‘Cascadia’, the rainforest in Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, the Alaska Panhandle. I forget how far north the totem poles go.

Cerberus

Aren't they all in musea?

tchrist

Golly gosh, no! They’re all over the place.

> Poles used for public ridicule are usually called "shame poles", and were created to shame individuals or groups for unpaid debts. They are often placed in prominent locations. Shame poles are rarely discussed today, and their meanings have been forgotten in many places. They formed an important subset of poles carved throughout the 19th century.

Huh, I never knew that.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

4:21 PM

Bong Pong!

Cerberus

4:48 PM

> Basically, because law enforcement believes it needs to build a much bigger haystack as it searches for needles, we're handing other countries a key selling point in setting up services to compete with US services: "you can't trust any service based in the US, because it's subject to government surveillance." ... I've seen a number of companies lately who advertise the fact that they're not based in the US to suggest that they're more secure and can keep your data private.

This is true. There was this small scandal recently when the Dutch Government was going to buy some database software for medical information from an American company, but it was all over the news that American companies cannot be trusted, because of the Patriot Act and other laws.

TRiG

5:01 PM

@Cerberus I'm currently looking for a good EU-based e-mail provider with similar storage capacity to Gmail.

Cerberus

@TRiG Good for you. As an alternative, you could use encrypted e-mail through Gmail.

You and the other person would need a browser plug-in, I think.

To be honest, I never bothered to look around for other e-mail providers.

tchrist

5:19 PM

1

Q: Detect similarity of two sentence

I want to compute similarity of sentence 1 and 2. Two sentence are: 1- "A mathematician found a solution to the problem." 2- "The problem was solved by a young mathematician." I can use tagger,stemmer,parser but I don't know how detect these sentences are similar. please help me.

Cerberus

Ugh.

I hate those questions.

Computer people are usually very naïve about natural language.

tchrist

Yeah.

And just because they have learned to use a few NLP tools, they think they can do anything.

Cerberus

nods

I suppose they cannot be blamed.

Matt Эллен

5:34 PM

natural language... I'm sure there's a regex for English

Cerberus

I try not to come off as irritated.

Sure there is.

RegDwighт

@MattЭллен there is. On this very site.

Matt Эллен

o_o

Cerberus

It's .* => An utterance.

RegDwighт

You don't remember that one guy?

He caused quite an uproar.

Matt Эллен

5:36 PM

Ron Maimon?

RegDwighт

He would post funny stuff for several days on end.

Cerberus

Who? Ron?

He was equally crazy on Ling.

RegDwighт

@MattЭллен yeah perhaps. Don't remember the name. But it had an M in it.

Matt Эллен

or someone else? I don't remember anyone else

RegDwighт

@Cerberus okay then that's the one.

Matt Эллен

5:36 PM

He was good entertainment

Cerberus

It must have been Ron.

He's not all bad, but he lacked certain redeeming qualities.

Such as moderation.

Matt Эллен

a better physicist than any physicist

Cerberus

...

And humility.

Matt Эллен

that's what he said!

Cerberus

I know.

RegDwighт

5:37 PM

1

A: Is there an EBNF that covers all of English

The answer is best approximated as "yes", although there are some strictly non-context free components of English. The approximation of saying "English grammar is context free" is more true than false, in that the vast majority of the sentences you will encounter will be parsable by a simple EBNF...

Cerberus

Why didn't I downvote that?

RegDwighт

Translating the EBNF grammar into a regex I will gladly leave as an excercise to the reader.

Matt Эллен

kthx

tchrist

@RegDwighт Depends what one means by “regex”. You can do recursive-descent parsing with modern patterns, because the AⁿBⁿ restriction does not apply here as it does to the original regular expression definition related to regular formal languages. However, that doesn’t mean you should do so, and in fact, you really should not.

Saladin

hi

i'm allowed to discuss something off topic

but something that is worth getting a second opinion from some of sites senior memebers

i have some interesting thing to talk / share
its regarding to what i call the most prolific pedophilic image of united states president
its DICK Cheney.
here is the picture

i won't go on disclosing any links between this pics, and cathy o brien CIA torture and mind control program mk ultra survivor
but this pictures speak for itself ; just have a look at the young child sitting on earth
and to its NE DIRECTION 20 degree to N; you see the reason why his first name is dick
but there are some bizarre controversies and relationships associated with this picture
the correlation is mind blogging

Yannis Rizos

5:44 PM

@Saladin How many chat rooms do you intend to visit and post that?

Saladin

well only stack exchange

one was politics

but the room is dead

i don't need to visit the room as such i mean its all over GOOGLE

but usually the old forums has it not new

since we can talk about every nic n corner of whatever living and non living exists in this world but sometimes i feel the big , real and important stuff gets left out

i don't want to troll on this

i just need your opinion

Cerberus

Is there a specific statement you wish to make? Could you do it in a single line, please?

Saladin

well its hard @Cerberus it really is

Cerberus

Because I was just about to post a very important cat video.

3

Saladin

first is this picture then its cathy o brien

hahaha

wait

Matt Эллен

5:47 PM

@Cerberus sounds more important than incoherent Cheney rant

Cerberus

@Saladin Remember how we agreed on your doing it in a single line? If you have more text, put it on an external page, then link to it from the single line granted to you.

@MattЭллен I should think so.

Saladin

well i don't want to link it

its like racy and controversial stuff

i don't want this

Cerberus

So we have seen.

Saladin

i just want users to google cathy o brien dick chenny

its all there

Matt Эллен

pastebin.com

Cerberus

5:49 PM

This is hardly a single line. I'm trying to be flexible here, but...

Saladin

how did she narrated and found out this intimate part of him is really bizarre and shocking

ok wait

Cerberus

I understand the title of this chat room may be perplexing, but it should not be confused with the Elderly Porn Room.

Saladin

bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/esp_sociopol_mindcon08.htm

its not porn when its done by united state government

i mean right by the president

@Cerberus bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/esp_sociopol_mindcon08.htm

@MattЭллен bibliotecapleyades.net/sociopolitica/esp_sociopol_mindcon08.htm

just search dick chenny

in this article

my single line question now is? Does democracy actually exists?

Yannis Rizos

@Saladin No.

Cerberus

You could have posted all that in a single line. Now I can't look at it any more, it's too late.

How about a funny photocopier scene, then? It's only 20 seconds anyway.

►

RegDwighт

5:53 PM

@Cerberus Oh I have just the right video for you.

Saladin

or its just a book of lines coz if 1 single bit of it has ever existed i expect a high national level inquiry which includes members of media, public servants top lawyers to investigate this claims

RegDwighт

►

Cerberus

Do you, now?

Ohh!

RegDwighт

The title really says it all.

Saladin

i mean people / senate guys are busy approving bills for sodomy and animal sex for army units

but NOT this; this allegations is not important

Cerberus

5:55 PM

@RegDwighт Haha perfect! That poor dog is trapped in a cat's body.

Saladin

i think if we don't respond to this ; this i think the guys at white house have achieved their purpose which is MIND CONTROL; feeding too much noise so the reality get blurred

or not significant to talk about

Cerberus

We already know American politics are crewed up. But you should have presented your stuff differently.

Saladin

like differently

truth is truth it cannot be expressed diferently

it should be seeked

and seeked...

and yeah english is not my first language

with*

Cerberus

You're posting too many lines.

Saladin

so i got probs wiht that

lol

ok

Joseph Weissman

6:31 PM

wat

er

hmm

Jo.

i'm just thinking of valis now :)

cerbie!

RegDwighт

Poor man, he's about to be killed by a giant purple unicorn!

Joseph Weissman

6:35 PM

poor horselover fat...

Cerberus

@JosephWeissman Is this what philosophy teaches one?

@RegDwighт Naaah Aedia wouldn't do that.

Joseph Weissman

well, valis is semi-autobiographical, right? horselover fat IS phillip k dick (phillip ~ horses; dick is fat in german i think)...

Cerberus

And she's hardly giant!

Joseph Weissman

VALIS

VALIS is a 1981 science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick. The title is an acronym for Vast Active Living Intelligence System, Dick's gnostic vision of one aspect of God. It is the first book in the VALIS trilogy of novels including The Divine Invasion (1981), and the unfinished The Owl in Daylight. Together with Dick's last book, The Transmigration of Timothy Archer (1982) (thematically related to the unfinished trilogy and included in several omnibus editions of the trilogy as a stand-in for the unwritten final volume), VALIS represents Dick's last major work before he died. Radio Free ...

Cerberus

@JosephWeissman Dick is indeed fat in German!

Hmm I had never heard of VALIS.

Joseph Weissman

6:37 PM

it's pretty dark, even for PKD. but definitely recommended reading

RegDwighт

@Cerberus I did say a, not the.

Cerberus

Interesting.

@RegDwighт Then ask Lawler about articles!

I was just exchanging thoughts with him about them.

This time, I don't even disagree with his approach a lot.

RegDwighт

Oh.

You must be ill.

tchrist

@RegDwighт If you look closely at the magenta star pattern on his forehead, it seems clear that our resident magenta unicorn is responsible for that.

Cerberus

> ... but dies after a laser accident.

@RegDwighт I, or he, or one has infected the other.

Joseph Weissman

6:43 PM

alternate shots of the crime scene:

RegDwighт

Ouch.

That one went straight to the eye.

Quentin Tarantino must be responsible for this shot.

Johan Larsson

7:05 PM

in C# on Stack Overflow Chat, 40 secs ago, by Tom W

They also work on cats! http://i.imgur.com/27z5C49.gif

3

for you cat lovers^

RegDwighт

That is the first fascinating thing that's really fascinating.

Johan Larsson

Are you a cat-person?

RegDwighт

I am a Cat Stevens person.

Johan Larsson

noooooo... (endless scream)

RegDwighт

That was pretty short for something endless.

Johan Larsson

7:17 PM

it still hurts

RegDwighт

Man sent to jail for watching 'pixie sex'.

Johan Larsson

I think there was a Swedish guy who translated manga who went to trial for something similar, dunno if he was convicted.

tchrist

Chat is a French cat.

Johan Larsson

oui

renard is fox I think

tchrist

This is why there are so many cat pix in chat.

RegDwighт

7:29 PM

Oh mon dieu ! Cerveau = explosé !

Johan Larsson

Never thought of that

RegDwighт

Moi non plus.

Johan Larsson

What is owl in French?

tchrist

@RegDwighт Oh deer.

RegDwighт

@JohanLarsson la chouette.

@tchrist moi sais, droit ?

What is that free doc sharing site @Cerberus and others keep using?

Or perhaps I'll just use imgur...

Johan Larsson

7:38 PM

what are you sharing?

pastebin.com gist.github.com

RegDwighт

Right, pastebin was the name I think.

(for cat lovers)

(for lovers)

(for glovers)

8:02 PM

He's too old for this shit.

Matt Эллен

:D

Joseph Weissman

8:14 PM

(for cat puzzlers)

RegDwighт

Slow jinx.

Johan already posted that.

Sorry, what's the cool lingo? Oh yeah, retwitted.

I even went to that C++ room to star the original.

I mean, come on, C++! You know! Like, omg!

tchrist

Poor kitty.

Cerberus

8:47 PM

> ...humour is usually banned from this kind of discussions because the subject matter is too often deemed too serious. For Cleese this is a grave mistake, one that stems from conflating "serious" with "solemn". Serious matters, according to Cleese, can be handled with a lot of humour and laughter and yet not lose one bit of their importance, while solemnity on the other hand serves no purpose other than being pompous and serving the ego of the self-indulgent.

Take this, PC people!

RegDwighт

Take this, Mac people!

Oh and you Xbox blokes over there take it too.

Johan Larsson

but is Cleese humor? Is he fun?

Matt Эллен

I can rhyme cover and rougher, right?

RegDwighт

Cleese is funnier than some of the others.

@MattЭллен sure if you're from Edinbra.

Matt Эллен

well, I'm sure someone is, so that's good enough

RegDwighт

8:53 PM

British English has so many dialects that you can rhyme anything with anything, pretend that there is at least one dialect in which it's actually true, and be right.

Matt Эллен

good plan :D

tchrist

@MattЭллен Define rhyme.

Matt Эллен

@tchrist my gosh. I can't actually put the thought into words

tchrist

Those two vowels are the same in my dialect, but probably are not so in all of them.

Matt Эллен

that pleasant way words sound the same?

tchrist

8:55 PM

Plus the voicing differs.

RegDwighт

Eating an orange
while making love
makes for bizarre enj-
oyment thereof.

Now that's what I call an enj- / ambment! — RegDwighт Oct 8 '10 at 14:18

Matt Эллен

@tchrist yeah, the f/v is what makes it slightly off. but it'll do

tchrist

Shimmering and glimmering rhyme (femininely), but shimmering and glittering do not.

Do you own An Ode Less Travelled?

Matt Эллен

I don't

tchrist

amazon.com/Ode-Less-Travelled-Unlocking-Within/dp/1592403115

NYTimes review.

Matt Эллен

8:58 PM

oh! exciting

tchrist

Recommended (by me).

Johan Larsson

starred then

all useful links should be styarred imo

tchrist

@MattЭллен It’s imperfect due to the consonants, but likely good enough. You can’t always have perfect rhymes, and perhaps even should not—depending.

But I can see one or another UK accent that rounds one of those vowels and not the other. Nothing to be done with that, though.

Ken ye the rhyme to grasshopper?
Ken ye the rhyme to grasshopper?
A hempen rein, a horse o’ tree,
A psalm-book, and a Presbyter.

See? That one works just fine.

And it’s imperfect.

Arguably.

Cerberus

@MattЭллен Slightly...

Matt Эллен

aye

I think my tiredness stopped me from just going with it. But I've decided that I'll ignore my doubts

tchrist

9:05 PM

You know about rhymezone.com right?

Matt Эллен

oh yes

and plenty of others

I was there before I came here

tchrist

Indeed.

Just don’t rhyme cover with other, guvnor. :)

Unless you’re emulating how dose ovver people talk.

Matt Эллен

welll... :D it was an option I was considering

Cerberus

Chav.

Matt Эллен

Snob

tchrist

9:08 PM

Chaval.

Guilty.

Chevalier.

Chien.

Rien.

Bien.

9:08 PM

A hempen rein.

Matt Эллен

Well, on these note I shal be off to sleep. Thanks for your help

Good night, y'all

tchrist

> Porringer . . . and gave the Prince of Orange her.

Cerberus

Goodnight!

Hey, I know that line.

tchrist

Aye.

Here

Figures you would know Oranger stuff.

Andrew Lang reprinted the rhyme, and observation from Hogg, in one of his “The (color) Fairy”-tale books.

Full text of "The nursery rhymes of England". Full text of "Jacobite songs and ballads".

The latter is written in Scots, often enough, which is a barrier to understanding for many of us.

Ae stride or twa took the silly auld carle,
And a gude lang stride took he :
'I trow thou be a feck auld carle,
Will ye shaw the way to me ? '

Some of those are nice.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

9:25 PM

Hello!

@Mitch I think Community is FICA's brother.

Cerberus

9:39 PM

rpgcodex.net

Does the search on this site work for you?

RegDwighт

No, 404 Not Found.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

9:55 PM

@Cerberus no.

Mitch

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 haha!

Actually I don't get it.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

@Mitch that guy who gets a cut of your paycheck.

Mitch

What the... that's not right!

He shouldn't be hiding behind a bunch of letters.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

I agree.

A proper name would be a better PR move.

Mitch

Language is just a way of hiding your true feelings.

Like this FICA bastard.

cornbread ninja 麵包忍者

10:02 PM

Jerks.

RegDwighт

/'fika/ is German for "fucker".

RegDwighт

10:28 PM

Cerberus

@cornbreadninja麵包忍者 OK thanks.

@RegDwighт So many fours and twos...I would have expected more threes.

Three has become the de-facto standard here, although one and two are also used.

Never four or five.

Perhaps somewhere far away in the country.

tchrist

Do not come to America. All anyone will ever do is slap you.

3

Cerberus

That's nice for a change. If they don't shoot you.

Why slap?

What's the normal number of kisses between friends?

tchrist

Wouldn’t you slap somebody who grabbed your crotch?

Cerberus

?

tchrist

10:41 PM

It’s that kind of greeting to us.

Cerberus

That only ever happened to me in Turkey.

I was merely shocked. Why should I care.

tchrist

You just don’t go around kissing like that.

Cerberus

?

tchrist

People would find you really offensive.

And you would likely get slapped by not a few of them.

Cerberus

I don't think you understand.

tchrist

10:42 PM

Maybe.

Cerberus

This is between friends of the other sex.

Or between girls.

Between men, it's complex.

Men. shrugs

tchrist

If I were a girl, and some guy tried to kiss me, I’d slap him.

It just Is Not Done.

Ask around — you’ll see.

RegDwighт

Some countries make war, not love.

Cerberus

@tchrist I have to say I don't believe that.

RegDwighт

I have to say I'm tired and must be off.

Cerberus

10:45 PM

It's not instead of handshaking.

Good night, owl!

tchrist

@Cerberus Hahahahhahah

RegDwighт

I kiss a couple of my male friends, but not most. With women it's the other way round.

Cerberus

Of course older people kiss less.

@RegDwighт Same here.

How many times?

Does the number depend on the sex at all?

RegDwighт

Ouvert et haut ! Bisou !

tchrist

“How many kisses do two Norwegians give each other?”

None, what are you some kinda perv!?

Cerberus

10:46 PM

@RegDwighт One last question!

How many times?

Oh.

RegDwighт

Twice.

tchrist

We do not do it. Honest.

Cerberus

@RegDwighт Haha thanks!

tchrist

And it is super weirdo to us.

Cerberus

Proof or it didn't happen.

tchrist

10:48 PM

> Social kisses that are cross-cultural can be even more complicated. Ef Rodriguez, a social media strategist in Boulder, Colo., recently moved to Amsterdam with his wife and went on an outing with his wife’s Dutch cousins.

From here

You guys are complete freaks to us.

Keep your tongues on the other side of the world where they belong.

Not all over our kissers.

I would be offended if somebody “offered me their cheek” demanding a kiss, and I would be even more offended if they swooped in for the smooch. Harsh words would be spoken. Or worse.

That would get you lynched in Iowa or Idaho.

Or Indiana.

Cerberus

@tchrist Haha I was just copying that.

Such a coincidence that both our cities should be confronted with one another in this anecdote.

tchrist

I absolutely do not kiss anyone, irrespective of gender or sexual orientation, when I greet them. Nor am I ever confronted with it. It simply Does Not Happen.

Mitch

@Cerberus one person says it and they're a weirdo.

two people say it and...

tchrist

Damned sybaritic ickiness.

What’s next? Isn’t it bonobos who greet each other with blow jobs?

Mitch

Americans don't do the 'bisou'. family members (of opposite or female) sex might hug (OK, probably just female). No one does the cheek kiss thing.

Cerberus

10:55 PM

@tchrist Not even your mother?

tchrist

Huh?

No, you do not kiss your mother. You hug her. What are you, some kind of perv?

Mitch

In the bible, strange men would greet each other by grasping each other's 'thigh'.

Cerberus

@Mitch A hug without a kiss?

Mitch

@Cerberus you definitely hug your mother.

Cerberus

@Mitch I believe this practice still exists in certain Spanish regions.

Mitch

10:56 PM

but cheek kissing isn't done. Maybe weirdo's in New York City.

Cerberus

A hug without a kiss?

tchrist

@Mitch It appears that they do that in Amsterdam, too.

Mitch

@Cerberus I wouldn't know about that.

Cerberus

I must say I hate all the kissing.

tchrist

Slippery slope.

Cerberus

10:56 PM

A hug without a kiss is weird.

tchrist

resolves to keep always at least one ocean between us

Cerberus

A kiss leaves more distance between you and her.

Straight men normally don't kiss here, unless they're very good friends.

Mitch

In the US guys will only shake hands first time if they are strangers. If friends no. If the men are friends but haven't seen each other in a long time, they will shake hands or maybe even a 'bro hug'.

Cerberus

Friends don't shake hands?

Mitch

@Cerberus lip kisses in the US are reserved only for intimates

tchrist

10:58 PM

@Cerberus A kiss leaves negative distance. You just do not do that kinda weirdo invasive icky crap here.

Cerberus

@Mitch Do you also live in the country?

Apparently it is more common in American cities.

tchrist

I DO NOT LIVE IN THE FRICKING COUNTRY YOU SYBARITE!!!