The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 09

[NotWise]

Nothing more relaxing than Pachelbel's Canon:

Pachelbel might be rolling in his grave. But who played cello?

We used Pachelbel's Canon as the processional music for our wedding. I have strong associations there.

 

[NuclearFairy]

So, I tried making a sugar free syrup out of coffee, cocoa powder, and creamer. It worked pretty good, only down side is it gave my drink a bigger head than expected. XD I had a wee bit of a mess to clean up, but it's a yummy drink.

 

[Statius]

So, I tried making a sugar free syrup out of coffee, cocoa powder, and creamer. It worked pretty good, only down side is it gave my drink a bigger head than expected. XD I had a wee bit of a mess to clean up, but it's a yummy drink.

That's what....

 

[TheRedLantern]

I used the white noise of the bagpiping to get a lot of writing done. I pushed to finish up the second draft of my Winter Holidays story because I'm super stoked to work on my Jasmine Tea story for next year. I've been swimming in 15th and 16th century Korean history since Chloe announced the theme of that event. I wasn't expecting the historical angle, but as soon as I read that this is what she wanted to do with the event, I know right away what my topic was going to be.

 

[NuclearFairy]

My brain keep ping ponging. Every time I try to focus on the one thing, it immediately focus the other.

 

[TheRedLantern]

My brain keep ping ponging. Every time I try to focus on the one thing, it immediately focus the other.

I have trouble working on two things at a time, too. Some people like to ping pong and can juggle several projects, and I envy them.

 

[NuclearFairy]

I have trouble working on two things at a time, too. Some people like to ping pong and can juggle several projects, and I envy them.

It's technically ping ponging on the same project. Like I'll try to write out the scene that comes next, and my brain will start bringing up everything that I know is going to happen and I can't focus on this scene. So I'll decide to try bullet pointing those into an outline. Only to have it all scatter into the winds and my brain to go back to laser focusing on the next scene I actually need to write.

Also, why is laser spelled with an s? Why not a z?

 

[iwatchus]

Also, why is laser spelled with an s? Why not a z?

laser is actually an acronym, with the s standing for stimulation, only not the kind that happens in our stories here.

 

[NuclearFairy]

laser is actually an acronym, with the s standing for stimulation, only not the kind that happens in our stories here.

Why does everyone pronounce it as a z then?Or is that just our American accents?

 

[MrPixel]

Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.

Why does everyone pronounce it as a z then?

Pronunciation with a soft 'S' would mean somebody who ties your shoes for you. Or maybe a corset.

 

[TheLobster]

Why does everyone pronounce it as a z then?Or is that just our American accents?

Because [leiser] would normally be spelled “lacer”, and this has nothing to do with Victoria’s Secret underwear.

 

[NuclearFairy]

Ah, I forget sometimes that most people are not trained as small children to tell the difference between a soft c and an s. The difference being, without my hearing aids, I can hear one and not the other.

Still funny that the word is pronounced lazor though.

 

[iwatchus]

My favorite mis-pronounced is a computer standard from about 40 years ago. Small computer system interconnect (SCSI) was a standard that was briefly notable. Its developers intended it to br pronounced as sexy. Th popular pronunciation was as scuzzy and its fate was doomed.

 

[iwatchus]

Still funny that the word is pronounced lazor though.

It sounded cooler.

 

[TheLobster]

Okay, this makes me curious. What y’all English blabbers mean by “soft” s and c? Surely it’s not those hissing, palatal sounds that you can hear in German, French, or the Slavics, since as far as I know English doesn’t have them (barring maybe a messy pronunciation of “Tuesday”).

So, what strange noises are we talking about here?

 

[NuclearFairy]

Okay, so a c can make a sound similar to a k, which is a hard c sound, or it can make a sound similar to an s, which is a soft c sound. It's hard to describe... Although I know how to pronounce the difference, it was part of my speech therapy as a kid. But, a soft c is easier for me to hear than an s, so I think the soft c must be a lower pitched or louder sound than the s.

 

[iwatchus]

I'm not sure I know the difference between them. But c vs s is my most common spelling mistake, so I probably don't hear the difference.

 

[NuclearFairy]

You should see me arguing with the kids homework sometime, about how ir is a totally different sound than er. ir is sharper btw.

 

[TheLobster]

Okay, so a c can make a sound similar to a k, which is a hard c sound, or it can make a sound similar to an s, which is a soft c sound. It's hard to describe...

So basically, this is a coping mechanism to deal with the inconsistent English spelling, where the letter c can stand for completely different sounds. Got it

But, a soft c is easier for me to hear than an s, so I think the soft c must be a lower pitched or louder sound than the s.

I don’t perceive any difference between them, at least not in any systematic way. To me, “grace” and “grass” have the same sound at the end.

 

[NuclearFairy]

I don’t perceive any difference between them, at least not in any systematic way. “Grace” and “grass” have the same sound at the end.

Grace has a louder more clipped ending sound than grass which has a longer softer ending sound.

I have a seventy percent hearing loss on the high end of things though. Sooo, most people will hear these differently than me. Like without my hearing aids, I can't hear the y in yeah.

 

[iwatchus]

@NuclearFairy Do Scent sent and cent all have the same sound to you?

I know different people can hear different letter sounds, usually based on what you heard in your first year or two. There is a neurologist at U of Washington who studies acquisition of letter sounds, focused on multi-lingual families. She actually got a grant to get a special FMri set up size for kids under three. It was good work, but I don't remember her name.

 

[MrPixel]

Do Scent sent and cent all have the same sound to you?

I mailed a bottle of perfume to her for only a penny. Or...

I sent her a scent for a cent.

Works for me.

 

[TheLobster]

Like without my hearing aids, I can't hear the y in yeah.

The vowel in “grace” is a diphthong /ei/, and /i/ is similar to the y in “yeah”. If you can’t hear it, then it might explain why the /s/ in “grace” sounds clipped to you, since it would normally blend into that lingering /i/.

“Grass” has a pure vowel, so it doesn’t have that issue.

 

[NuclearFairy]

@NuclearFairy Do Scent sent and cent all have the same sound to you?

I know different people can hear different letter sounds, usually based on what you heard in your first year or two. There is a neurologist at U of Washington who studies acquisition of letter sounds, focused on multi-lingual families. She actually got a grant to get a special FMri set up size for kids under three. It was good work, but I don't remember her name.

Sent, sounds like ent, only not quite, because the e is modified by the s, even though I can't hear that s. Likewise, the SC modify each other and so I can tell what is being said with that word even though I can't hear the whole thing. But yes, with my hearing aids in they do sound like three completely different words.

As my speech therapist used to explain to me whenever I was getting super frustrated, I don't technically have a first language. I didn't get my hearing aids and say my first word until I was four

The vowel in “grace” is a diphthong /ei/, and /i/ is similar to the y in “yeah”. If you can’t hear it, then it might explain why the /s/ in “grace” sounds clipped to you, since it would normally blend into that lingering /i/.

“Grass” has a pure vowel, so it doesn’t have that issue.

Maybe, but I'm pretty sure it's the ce sound that is more clipped, because it's the ending sound that is louder and more clipped to me.

 

[iwatchus]

That's really amazing. You have almost a super power in my book.