English thread. Why not?

[Gez]

Could you help me on another one? Lets assume that, because of some silly plot's sake, Doomguy just meet himself. The other Doomguy would say "I am you" ou "I am yourself"?

"I am you" (and the other way around, "you are me") probably makes more sense if we're in a situation where the two Doomguys are physically separate (clones? parallel dimensions? time travel?) ; the "self" form would make more sense if we're in a non-physical situation (dream? soul incarnation? psychic manifestation?). That's just my take, anyway.

[Reactor]

This one isn't a question, but an example of playing around with words which have multiple meanings and usages.
You see, I was teaching my life-long good accomplice Zsole to English for a long time. English was paramount for him to advance his position as a chief technician, and secure a higher position at the company he's workin' at, and since we're very good friends, I taught him for free. After 2 years, he managed to pass the language exam. During one of the lessons - which was about weapons - the following dialogue took place:

Zsole: Railgun? What is that supposed to be? What a gun has to do with rails?
Me: Well, it works like this: if you shoot someone with a railgun, a pair of train tracks appear under him, with a signal and everything, and suddenly, an inter-city train comes and smashes him to bits!
Zsole: ...you must be pulling my leg...

[Gez]

Sounds like a weapon from Armed and Dangerous.

You know, the game that had a shark gun. That shoots sharks. That swim through solid ground to chomp at your enemies.

[Ravick]

Could you help me on another one? Lets assume that, because of some silly plot's sake, Doomguy just meet himself. The other Doomguy would say "I am you" ou "I am yourself"?

"I am you" (and the other way around, "you are me") probably makes more sense if we're in a situation where the two Doomguys are physically separate (clones? parallel dimensions? time travel?) ; the "self" form would make more sense if we're in a non-physical situation (dream? soul incarnation? psychic manifestation?). That's just my take, anyway.

Thanks!

[Kzer-Za]

Eldritch vs Eerie, which is more sinister-sounding? (Or for some other considerations a better fit for the intended use described below.) Can a native speaker give an answer please?

I am making a character that would have an Evil Eye ability which would deal a constant but small amount of damage to the enemy in the center of the screen independently of the currently selected weapon. Later he would get an upgrade to this ability, with higher DPS. I can't decide which name to choose for this upgrade: Eldritch Eye of Eerie Eye.

[Gez]

Though that's apparently not the actual etymology, I always associate eldritch with spooky things that are very old (elderitch if you will). It's a favorite adjective of Lovecraftian-style literature, and we know how it's all about the Great Old Ones and other things from before the age of man. (The actual etymology seems to be more like "strange realm".)

Eerie, on the other hand, I see it as more generic. Anything that's weird and spooky. Etymology says it basically means "fearful"; and in Scottish dialect it has kept this meaning of "afraid" rather than "frightening".

Based on that, I'd personally tend to think that "eldritch" is the more sinister of the two.

[Enjay]

Agreed. To add to that, eldritch seems more "serious" while eerie seems a bit less so; hinting, perhaps, even towards childish in feel. To me, scary and spooky feel like close synonyms of eerie and they can have a slightly childish quality to them as well.

I don't think I have ever heard anyone use eerie to mean afraid rather than scary. However, I don't hear people say eerie that much anyway. So perhaps I have just not noticed it. I can imagine it being said by people who generally speak in an older Scots dialect though. There are still plenty of people around who do.

[Ravick]

Hi there.

It may be a silly question, but... why "vanilla"? I mean, why is this orchid flavor's name used to describe a 'purist' way of playing Doom? o.Õ

Is it a common English expression or is it a Doom community slang?

[Enjay]

Vanilla means ordinary, not special, no additional features, nothing weird or unusual.

Why? Probably because things that are vanilla flavoured tend to be pale and uninteresting to look at, or perhaps because it is the "default"/most common flavour for ice cream (as opposed to chocolate - like chocolate Doom).

[Kzer-Za]

Gez, Enjay — thanks for the advice! I'm gonna go with "eldritch" then.

[Gez]

Is it a common English expression

Yes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plain_vanilla

Plain vanilla is an adjective describing the simplest version of something, without any optional extras, basic or ordinary.[1] In analogy with the common ice cream flavour vanilla, which became widely and cheaply available with the development of artificial vanillin flavour.[2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanilla_software

In computer science, vanilla is the term used to refer when computer software and sometimes also other computing-related systems like computer hardware or algorithms are not customized from their original form, i.e., they are used without any customizations or updates applied to them.[1] Vanilla software has become a widespread de facto industry standard, widely used by businesses and individuals. The term comes from the traditional standard flavor of ice cream, vanilla.[2] According to Eric S. Raymond's The New Hacker's Dictionary, "vanilla" means more "default" than "ordinary".[3]

[Enjay]

According to Eric S. Raymond's The New Hacker's Dictionary, "vanilla" means more "default" than "ordinary".[3]

Perhaps worth pointing out that using vanilla to mean "default" might be the norm in computing, it might not be elsewhere. For example, some people use it in a derogatory way to refer to people who are not as... "adventurous" as themselves in certain ways (often sexual activities, but also musical tastes, counter-cultures etc).

"The S&M club spent half the evening deriding "normies" for their boring vanilla sex, before having a nice cup of tea and going home for the night."

[Ravick]

Thank you, pals.

We don't have an equivalent of this expression in Portuguese. (And, if we had, I guess we'd use the "creme" (cream) basic ice cream flavor - which is very close to vanilla, anyway. )

[yum13241]

Well...Arabic is no simpler either So many glyphs to understand, dag-nabbit. But hell, humanity messed up its ways at Tower of Babel back then, unjamming it is extremely hard for common people. Sometimes I think about God gave only 70-80 years of lifetime for people because otherwise we would learn and know everything, thus, become gods ourselves.

100% agree.

[wildweasel]

Well...Arabic is no simpler either So many glyphs to understand, dag-nabbit. But hell, humanity messed up its ways at Tower of Babel back then, unjamming it is extremely hard for common people. Sometimes I think about God gave only 70-80 years of lifetime for people because otherwise we would learn and know everything, thus, become gods ourselves.

100% agree.

What are you replying to? I can't find that in the last page of posts.