DECEARING EGG!

Comments

1. David Eddyshaw says

   April 16, 2017 at 10:15 am

   えぐx16: Delicaceness of deep-sea squeeze trees.

   I presume this is an Easter えぐ.
   Super cow!
2. Bathrobe says

   April 16, 2017 at 11:05 am

   You can do that with just about any repetition. Take a word, copy it ad infinitum, and you get various levels of nonsense. Not as funny, but just as mystifying.

   Try やる:
   do
   Tutelage
   I will do my best
   Turn-off call-off
   Do whatever you want to do
   Turn-off calls for vicissitudes
   Do whatever you want to do
   Turn-off calls for vicissitudes and vicissitudes
   Do whatever you want to do
   Turn-offs vigiliously obedience and viciously obedience
   Do whatever you want to do
   Turn-offs vigils vigorous vigils vigorous vigorous obedience
   Do whatever you want to do and do it.
   Turn-offs vigils vigorous vigorous vigorous vigorous obedience viciously quitting
   Turn-offs, vigils, voyages, violence, violence, violence and violence
   Turn-offs, vigils, vigilance, violence and violence
   Tickle asurgey as obsessed as obsessive as obsessive as obsessive as obsessive as obedience
   Turn-offs, vigilance, vicissitudes, voyages, violence, violence, violence and violence
   Turn-offs vigorous vigorous vigorous vigorous vigorous obedience vigorous vigilance vigorous obedience spiritual

   (After which it starts to get repetitive…)
3. languagehat says

   April 16, 2017 at 11:37 am

   Turn-offs, vigils, vigilance, violence and violence

   Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!
4. David Eddyshaw says

   April 16, 2017 at 12:08 pm

   The やる story is quite edifying, really. An academically promising youngster goes through a period of adolescent rebellion, falls into a violent gang culture but rebels against the gang leaders and is ultimately redeemed through austere religious discipline, though not before a traumatic showdown with former criminal associates.
5. Y says

   April 16, 2017 at 5:08 pm

   Hebrew to English, repetitions of י (without spaces):

   J
   Y.
   Hey
   Hey
   …

   Repetitions of ל:
   To
   L
   Lell
   To mingle
   To mourn
   Lalalal
   I will praise you
   To mourn
   To praise and praise
   Lollie loller
   I wish you all the best
   Laila Lalallel
   I wish you all the best
   Laila Lalalallel
   LollipopLetter
   Llllllllllllllllllllll
   Lalal Lalalalalallel
   Lalal LalalLalal Lalal
   ללללללללללללללללללל
   …
6. Y says

   April 16, 2017 at 5:10 pm

   And “י יי י יי” yields “FREDDY FREDDY”.
7. Piotr Gąsiorowski says

   April 16, 2017 at 7:43 pm

   No fancy script needed. Polish to English, starting with kot:

   cat
   Kitten
   Kittencat
   Catcotchotot
   Catscotchopotaxis
   Catscotchopotecototote
   Catscotchototote
   Crocodile crocodile
   Crocodile cottercototote
   Crocodile crocodile cottercote
   Catscotokotcotcotototecotcotecotcat
   Catscotokotcotcotototecotcotcotototecotcotototecot
   Crocodile Crocodile Crocodile Crocodile Crocopotote
   Catscottotokotcotokotcotcotototecotcotecotcat
   Kitten Cactus Cactus Cactus Cactus
8. languagehat says

   April 16, 2017 at 7:55 pm

   That’s amazing. Catscotchopotaxis and Catscotchopotecototote are particularly wonderful.
9. Y says

   April 16, 2017 at 9:00 pm

   Catscottotokotcotokotcotcotototecotcotecotcat is the worst tongue twister I will ever see in my lifetime. And how do you hyphenate it?
10. Y says

    April 16, 2017 at 9:02 pm

    Albanian pë is translated to English ot.
11. D.O. says

    April 16, 2017 at 10:19 pm

    Another argument that the singularity already came. AI system is more inventive then people, errrr meat computers.
12. languagehat says

    April 17, 2017 at 8:25 am

    That’s true. “Catscottotokotcotokotcotcotototecotcotecotcat” may be the AI equivalent of “The murmuring of the immemorial elms”; our computers may be shedding virtual tears of ecstasy at it.
13. John Cowan says

    April 17, 2017 at 2:40 pm

    You’ve conflated two lines: it’s

    The moan of doves in immemorial elms,
    And murmuring of innumerable bees.

    I forget which linguist pointed out that the sound symbolism is utterly lost with two phoneme-level changes to the second line, making it “And murdering of innumerable beeves“.
14. languagehat says

    April 17, 2017 at 3:12 pm

    Well, I was simply reproducing a similar conflation in “Catscottotokotcotokotcotcotototecotcotecotcat,” but this comment box is too small to contain the full context that would make it intelligible.
15. j. says

    April 19, 2017 at 6:42 pm

    Catscottotokotcotokotcotcotototecotcotecotcat

    Katsokaa kotokotkat, toka takakatukatekatkokatoko?

    (‘Look, o homely eagles, is that the second disappearence of breaks in backstreet paving?)
16. languagehat says

    April 19, 2017 at 8:17 pm

    That’s the one!
17. January First-of-May says

    April 19, 2017 at 9:57 pm

    Tried to do this with Russian, using the syllable ко (inspired by the similar Polish example).

    Nothing particularly interesting for the first 40 or so repeats (assorted variations on “cococococo”) – then it starts getting crazy.

    Best so far…
    At 61 repeats: “Of the global warming community have been found to be endemic in the life cycle of an epidemic.”
    At 94 repeats: “Of cocaine in the United States and the United States and / or the United States have been found to be completely insulting.”
    At 98 repeats: “Of-the-art, cocaine-free, anti-cancer”.
    At 101 repeats: “Cocochemicals and other inhalecrops in the form of cocoa”.
    At 114 repeats: “Of of these products shall not be considered official. In future you will not be able to vote crib.”
    At 118 repeats: “Has been a-twelve-twelve-twelve-twelve-twelve years or so from the beginning of the current year. To me, in accordance with the current legislation of the Russian Federation,”

    …and this cannot possibly be beaten – at 124 repeats: “In my opinion, there are no translations available.”

    (I stopped not long after, but it didn’t appear to run any short of variety.)
18. Keith Ivey says

    April 19, 2017 at 10:32 pm

    If I translate “thethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethethe” from English to German I get “Wörterbuch Wörterbuch Wörterbuch”.
19. Lars says

    April 20, 2017 at 1:46 am

    From Danish to English doesn’t seem to break into the found phrases phase, but ko x 100 gives me

    Cocococcoco, coccoco, cocococcoco, octoco, octoco, octoco, octoco, octoco, octoco, octoco, octopuscookokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokokoko

    I like the effect like ‘I know what you’re trying to do, but I’m never going to say octopus. LALALALALA I CAN’T HEAR YOU’
20. David Marjanović says

    April 20, 2017 at 5:09 am

    We’re standing at a shore and looking at a digital ocean.
21. Alon says

    April 20, 2017 at 10:57 am

    @Y: the ligature ﭏ yields rather lyrical results before descending into pure noise:

    to
    Alal
    Alalal
    Alalalal
    Al-Allalal
    Al-Allalalal
    But not for all
    But I do not know what to say (×6)
    I have not been to Allah except for Allah
    All except for all
    All except for all of them
    It is not a great place to be (×3)
    It is not a great place to stay (×2)
    They are not all the same except for all of them
    They were not all the same except for all of them
    All of them have been immaculate
    All of them were not to be taken for granted
    All the rooms have been immaculately clean and immaculate
    All of them were not to be taken for granted
    All the rooms have been very clean and very clean (×3)
    All-in-one
22. David Marjanović says

    April 20, 2017 at 1:20 pm

    Al-Allalalal

    Shī Shì shí shī shǐ…
23. Y says

    April 20, 2017 at 2:15 pm

    ﷲ is recognized as Sindhi ‘allh’.

    Forcing it to Arabic we get:
    God
    God is God
    God is God
    God is the God of God
    God is God, God is God
    God is allah, allah is allah

    No great theological insights past that.
24. Alasdair Smith says

    May 30, 2017 at 4:32 am

    ッツ 103 times is:
    The following is a description of the operation of the second embodiment of the present invention with reference to the following description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of the present invention; A stick
25. G says

    June 23, 2017 at 7:39 pm

    ‘Je’ from French to English looks like Google Translate freaking out, especially when typing in fast:

    I have
    I will
    I do not know
    I do not know
    Je je je je je je
    I do not know
    I do not know
    I do not know
    I do not know
    | | | | | | | | | | | |
    I do not know
    I do not know I do not know
    I do not know I do not know
    I do not know I do not know
    I do not know I do not know
    I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
    I do not know I do not know
    I do not know I do not know
    I do not know what to say I do not know
    I do not know what to say I do not know
    I do not know I do not know I do not know
26. Miguel Prates says

    June 23, 2017 at 7:43 pm

    Guys, I’ve tried translating ひろ (hiro) multiple times into English and it eventually it just starts saying names of random places. Here’s a list:

    1x: Fathom
    2x: Hirohiro
    3x: Hirohiro Hiro
    4x: Hirohiro Hirohiro
    5x: Hirohiro Hirohiro
    6x: Hirohiro Hirohiro
    7x: Hirohiro Hirohiro
    8x: Hello, Japan
    9x: Hello, Japan
    10x: Hello, Japan
    11x: Hilton Hotel Los Angeles
    12x: Hilton Hawaiian Village in New York City
    13x: Hilton Birmingham, United Kingdom
    14x: Sightseeing
    15x: Explore the world hotels
    16x: Sightseeing
    17x: Sightseeing in Mumbai (Bombay)
    18x: Sightseeing in Bangkok
    19x: The Crowne Plaza New York – a Renaissance
    20x: Sightseeing in Bangkok

    You guys can continue for yourselves.
27. languagehat says

    June 23, 2017 at 8:20 pm

    It’s the gift that keeps on giving!
28. John Cowan says

    June 23, 2017 at 8:35 pm

    I decided to try Curly’s laugh. After the first “nyuk” the text was identified as Malay, and after 1000 repetitions (the most GT will handle), I got this (paragraphing added):

    If a person has a disability, he or she shall have the right to have a disability if he / she has the right to have his / her consent of his / her consent to his / her dismissal or disqualification. (16x)

    The person who has the right to vote shall have the right to vote on the following terms and conditions as if the person had been convicted of his or her inclusion in the following circumstances shall be deemed to have been dismissed. (4x)
29. David Eddyshaw says

    June 23, 2017 at 8:54 pm

    I don’t think any reasonable person could argue with that. It’s right there in the European Convention on Human Rights. And the Constitution. I knew Google wasn’t really evil.
30. Marcus says

    June 23, 2017 at 10:15 pm

    Translate From Urdu to English, and repeat دہشت گردی.

    Yikes.
31. D.O. says

    June 23, 2017 at 11:28 pm

    Once upon a time I was in college and took a programming class. One of the tasks was to write a program that should react adequately to any input provided by the user. The goal was put by the instructor thusly: “Even if the user is banging his head on keyboard, the program shouldn’t crash”. One of my fellow students (an unusually smart fellow) has written a program that checked the user input for a correct type and if it was not correct asked for another input. But only 3 times. After that, the computer calmly displayed “Please, stop banging your head on the keyboard”.
32. David Marjanović says

    June 25, 2017 at 9:53 am

    An unusually smart fellow indeed.
33. TheWhisper says

    September 17, 2017 at 5:48 pm

    If you translate “Ooga Booga” from Somali:

    1: to the wound
    2: keep the book in mind
    3: Play Button
    4: and be careful about your page
    5: who is the owner of the car
    6: who is the owner of the carpet
    7: who is the author of the book by w
    8:who has been in charge of the search engine by the owner of the carrier
    9: who has been in charge of the search engine for the purpose of obtaining a license.
    10: who has been in charge of the search for a copy of the document,
    11: who has been in charge of the search engine for the purpose of filing a complaint.
    12: who is the author of this book, which is the author of this book and is often used as a witch
    13: who is the author of the book, which was the author of the book of the writings of the writer,
    14: who is the author of this book, which is the author of this book, which was translated by wma w
    15: who has been in charge of the carcass by the owner of the carpentry who has been in charge of the carcass by carpenters
    17: who has been in charge of the search for a copy of his / her own record, and has been banned from doing so by the person in charge of the search
34. TheWhisper says

    September 17, 2017 at 5:58 pm

    Google yields drastically different results if you only translate ooga from Somali
    Ooga:
    2: keep it up
    4: keep in mind
    5: and keep watch
    6: and He is the Wise
    7: He is the Most High, the Wise
    8: and He is the Wise, the Aware
    9: He is the All-Knower, the All-Knowing
    It continues on with similar things until 14
    14: He is Allah, the Exalted in Might, the Wise.
    15: He is the Most Merciful, so He is the All-Knowing, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
    Now at 43: He is Allah, the One and the Last, so He is All-Knowing, He is He and He is He and He is He, and He is He, and He is the Wise, the Overseer of His Messengers.
35. F says

    September 18, 2017 at 1:15 pm

    DECEARING EGG
36. Traapz says

    November 15, 2017 at 6:41 pm

    駄目

    lolol try it
37. Valerie says

    January 22, 2019 at 10:23 am

    I translated റ്ദ്ജ്. Won’t go too far with that.
38. Anonymous says

    November 19, 2019 at 2:40 pm

    I just typed “shi” over and over again, into chinese (based on the lion-eating poet poem) I used spaces, and this is what I got:

    Yes
    Fact
    Shishi
    Everything
    Stone chamber poetry
    shishi shishi shishi
    wet, wet, wet, wet
    Chron time
    wet, wet, wet, wet, wet
    Chron time
    wet, wet, wet, wet, wet, wet
    Chron time
    wet, wet, wet, wet, wet, wet, wet
    Time and time
    wet, wet, wet, wet, wet, wet, wet, wet
    Time and time
    wet, wet, wet, wet, wet, wet, wet, wet, wet
    Time, hour, hour, hour, hour, hour, hour
    wet, wet, wet, wet, wet, wet, wet, wet, wet, wet
    time, hour hour, hour, hour, hour, hour, hour

    That pattern keeps going for a while, just alternating between “wet” and “time, hour”.
    Eventually, the word “when” repeated replaces time-hour
    After 34 “shi”s you get:
    TIME TIME TIME TIME TIME TIME TIME TIME TIME SHI SHI
    After that, it pretty much just falls apart to shi repeated.
39. Jib Jib says

    November 30, 2020 at 11:53 am

    (I’ve discovered something while I was bored. I decided to mess around with Arabic, and the results aren’t completely insane, but interesting. I used “jib” from Arabic to English with a space after each “jib” and this is the result:)

    pocket

    pocket pocket

    pocket pocket pocket

    pocket pocket pocket pocket

    (After seventeen jibs, and pockets, things changed)

    A pocket pocket a pocket a pocket a pocket a pocket a pocket a pocket a pocket a pocket (18 jibs)

    (Before 28 jibs, it would repeat “a pocket” over and over. At 28, however, it got confusing)

    Pocket pocket pocket (28 jibs)

    (Just three?)

    A pocket a pocket a pocket a pocket a pocket a pocket a pocket a pocket a pocket a pocket a pocket a pocket a pocket (29 jibs)

    (Ah, there we go)

    Pocket pocket pocket pocket (30 jibs)

    (…WHAT?)

    Pocket pocket pocket (31 jibs)

    (Did it just give up? What the-)

    Pocket pocket pocket pocket (32 jibs)

    (So, there’s a pattern up until 41 jibs. It will repeat “Pocket pocket pocket” “Pocket pocket pocket pocket”)

    jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib (33 jibs)

    (Hmm, the trail must’ve gone cold)

    jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib jib

    (Yep. Well, thanks for reading. There hasn’t been one of these since 2019, so that’s cool.)
40. Jib Jib says

    November 30, 2020 at 12:39 pm

    Oops, on my last post, I meant to put 43 at the end, not 33. S o r r y .
41. John Cowan says

    November 30, 2020 at 11:45 pm

    Ta pocketa pocketa pocketa pocketa. –Walter Mitty’s imagination
42. Stove Jeebs says

    December 1, 2020 at 11:08 am

    Y̷̧̢̡̛̖̭̞͎͍͇̳͉͓̝̠͖͍̜̙̞͎͊̋͗̔̓́̅̅́̃͂̽͗̓̐̎̍͒̌̐̀̾̅̑̍̑̓̔͒̐̾̍͒̊̌͘̚͜͝͝͠Ơ̸͇̰̽͒̉̌̊̄̌͌͆̍̒̽̔̀̿̈́͊͆͌͂̀̔̓̕̕͝͝͝͝Ū̵̧͔̰̜͉͙ ̸̨̡͓̹̦̱͔͈̰̺̪͙̤̠̜̫̟͇̖̳̲̬͙̞͕̠̼̾̄̊͛̄̾̊̃̅̚͘͝W̶̡̨̧̢̛̦͉̲͚̫̲͓̜̹͕̫̟̳̠̳͕̱͚̉̈́̄̀̀̍̊̿͛̇̈͆͊̆̎̉͑͒̓̄̾̀͋͐̎͒͊͒́̈́̎̏͂͌̓̎̂̕̚̕Î̶̧̢̢̦̻̫̫͕̩̬̙͉͈͎͈̣͓̻͂́͊̈́̽̀̃̅̎̇̂̅͐̓̾̚͝ͅĻ̶̢̰̲̺͚̟̥̲͖̳̲͍͇̽̆̒͋̌̈̊̄̈̾͑̇̾̈́́̚̕͜͝͠L̸̢̨̢̫͓̝͙̲̻̞̱͙̤͎̩̰̱͔̼͈̩̥͇̬̘̰̱̫̜̘͈̄̔͛̒̈́̆̏̂̇ ̵̨̨̫̺̞̮̣̯͉̮̭͈̜̱̟̳̜̯̬̹̤̼̹͇̥̩̍͛̋͛̅̔͜͝͠ͅͅB̸̡̧̨̛̮̙̠̺͚̱̟̙̘̪̹̯̩̤̠̬̻̖̗͙̘̜̔̈́͗̑̀̀͑̀̉̐̾͊̅͋͒̚͘͝͝Ę̸̧̛̛̠̥͔̬̙͖̥̠̦͖̫͚̬̙̜̙̤͎̮͒̓̈́̎̓́̓̈́͑́̆͐́͆̀̊̑̀͆͊͛̌͂̀͒̀̾̃̈́̄̀̉̈́͘͘͜͠ ̶̡̢̨̛͕̥̹̖͚̺̙̗̟͉̦̮͓̥̣̣̦̠̲͕͉̫̲̬̦̣̊̆͆̃͆̽̍̂̐̅̂͑̚̕͜͠͠ͅG̸̺͓͙̬͍͎̩͕͉̬̥͇̳̜̩̲̝̦̟̝͔͔̦̀̈́̑̌͒̄̄̓͝ͅͅǪ̵̨̨̝͍͉͕͉̮͔̭͉͖̼̣̠͖̱̺͈̮͇͖̦̝̬͓̖͎̭͖̙̿̈́̅̋͜͜͠N̶̨̢̢̛̪̳̰̰̫̟̣̠͉̣̭̰̻̑̽̆̈́͊͒̀̓̈́͌̾̓̔́̎̊͑̀̊̅̋̈͆̈́͑́̌͘̕͘̚͠͠͝ͅͅȨ̴̢̧̨̨̮̱̦̜̪̰̺͇͕̩͖͙̺͍̝̰̦̘̟̯̬̣̫̼͕̳̯̰̙̩̰̺́͗̽́̄̋͂̅͆̃̽͒̄̂͑̃̽͜͜͝ ̷̨̡̛̠̭̬̭̣͍͈̞͔̖̝̝̝̪̮̺͓̻̼͕̦̓̂̈́̈́̊̆̆͋̈́̄̈́͌̇̑̄͂́̈́̈́̽̏̔͌̄̀̓̅͊̒̀̒͋̍͜͜͝I̷̡̢̧̢̡̤̤̦͔̠͎̟̭̲͉͎̬̠̣̫̼̬͆͐͛͌̽̈́̌́͘͝͠͝͝ͅN̶̞̹̠͎̺͇̙͚̟̟̖͙͔̎̇͐̿̎̏̋̈́̓̂̂͌̀̑́͌̒̊̈́͝͝ ̴͍̹̹̮̘̮͖̻̘͖͔̘͓̩̋͗̋̄́͑̈̍͒̊̈́̈́̓͆͒̽̄̿̇͋͗̇͒͑̔̈́͋̂͐̎̈̄͐͗͂̚͜͝͝͠͝ͅM̴̨͉̪̙̩̮̱̠̯̘̟̭̥̺͓̯̠̤̟̮̟̥͊̎͆̾̓̿̇̔̈́̆̈́̅̾̇̀̾̉̉̋́̔̕͘Ē̷̢̨̛̠̜̦͓͈̼̦̮̰̪̟̺̭̱̰̓̅̈́̄͗̈́͂̑̍̊̓̐̈́̊̌̐͐̋͊̍̂͊͂̈̇̿͑͘͘̚͜͝ͅͅŖ̷̨̧̨̡̛̘͕̤͈̼̜̤̞̜̪̳̺̭͇͇̲̻̜̪̘͕̼̝͇̲̹̼͍͙̣̏̍͌͋̄͑̄̍͑̋̈́́͛̂̎̈̈́̓̃̾̏̈͛͒͋̑͆̕͜͜͝E̶̡̡̨̧̧̢̛̛̞̘̪͍̝̻̳̗̻̞̗̝̦̟̯͇̺̯̥̠̻̫̘̣͔̯̥̦͙͚̍͛̐̽̔̈́̊̈́́͐͂͗̉̀̆͌̍̐͐̉̃̽̒̌̍̀̿̄̋̃̂̽̚͘̚͝ͅ ̶̧̨̧̡͇̮̥̹̱̤̙̭͈͚̹̫̠̻͈̦̙̻̪̻̭͉͓͚͓̺̪̀͗͌̈̽͌̽̋̑̐́͐̋͗̂̊̐͐͐͊̓͆̄̏̽̒̓̊̓̈́̀̐͆͝͠͝ͅͅM̸̨̛̰͇̤̥̭̝̫͙̰̲͉̦̜̤̭̺̪̗̗̜̬̞̞͙̳͇̟̗͋̔̆̌͂̈́̈́̓͑̍͌̌͆͌̾͌̈́̾̅̀͆̃̀͗̋̃I̵̡̢̢̨̛͔̞̱̣̼͍̝̥͕͚̩̙͍͕̭̤̬̳̣͕̙̳̻̜̬̥̝̬̓͊̐́̏̍̌̐͆̀̐͛̓̈́͂́̍̓͘͜͜ͅŅ̷̧̧̡̨̦̗͇͚̟͙̤̯̳͓̣͈̯̤̱̪̮̘̗̝̱̰̟͓͕͈̪͇̙͎̅̈́̽̉̀̓͊͑̊̅̈́̄͌̿͋̐́̈͐̈́̍͐̽̀̅̌͆̅̔̊͆͋͋͘̚͜͠͠ͅU̶̧̫̭̲̝̘͓̼̲̪̻̦̬͔̬̠͕̎̆̉T̵̨̛̟̬͓̘̜̝̘̎͒̀̊̏̓̓̇̄̏̂́͋̈͛̅͑̉͛́̎̒̈́̇́͗̾͊̚̚̚͘͠͠͝͝͠É̴̢̞̙͇͈͉̤͉̖̝̑̈́́̔̓̑̑͂͒͝͝S̷̢̛̯͇͔͔̤̙͖̲̖̭̗̗͙͚̤͙̫̼̗̪̠̱͕̩̫͇͓̯͇͓̳̤͕̺̗̩̹͌̔̾́͌̆̈́̓̃̃̌͌͗̿̒̀̈̓̓̀͜͠͠͝͠ͅ ̴̦̬͉̤̉̾̏̈́̋̈́̀͒̀͐́̏̍̔̔̏́͗̓̊̅͊̑̒̎̐̕̚̕͝͠͝͝ͅ
43. languagehat says

    December 1, 2020 at 11:32 am

    Ż̵̨͓̪̯̯̼͈͇̆̆̐͌̿̈́͝A̷̝̞̹͇̅̈̈́̊̂͂̉̕͘Ḷ̸͗̌̑́̂͗̈͠G̸̢͉͚̫̺̰̤͖͍̜͚̍͑̀̈́̔̋͛͘͠Ọ̷̧̮͇̼̲̘͓͇͚̻͓͂̈́̈̈́͝?̴̨̝̼̺͖̤̫͙͋̈́̒̏̋̆̏̐̿͊ ̴̗͙̹̠͓͍͋͂̓̀̕͜͠ͅI̵̛̩̟͚̬̙̣̜̰͚͗̔̔͌͒͝ŝ̶̡̳͙͇͓̈̅͐̽̇ ̶̛̙͓̘͖̖̒̓̏̎̓͂̄̆̐͒͠͠ṱ̷̢̛̤̪͍̟̯͓̗̬̽̌͆̏̀̑̀̿͘͜͝͠ḣ̷̢̡͓̺̲̯͖̹͙͍͔͈͓̃̿̆͌͊̽͗̋͆̂͐̕á̴̘́̐̊̓̎̓͂̾̍t̵͈̫͓̞̖̣̼͙̫̦͙̳̱͌͊͐́͐̑͌̏͆̀̉́ ̸̛̹͙̭̪͙͕̩̜̬̯̺͑̓̀̄̔͑͌̏͘͠ẏ̶̲̜̠̙̳͚̏̎̌̈͊́̽̏̏͠ͅő̸̢̱̥̙̫̖̤͂̽͑̒͑̄͂͊͛̌̋̓̚ų̶̭͓̱̗̳̪͙̜͉̿͑̒͌̌̕͘?̴̰̠̔?̵̩̊̌̆̆̏͆̌͆́̈́̾͑̊͛
44. Jib Jib says

    December 1, 2020 at 11:46 am

    Apparently it is
45. languagehat says

    December 1, 2020 at 11:57 am

    (Apologies to those who hate Zalgo, but I happen to be unreasonably fond of that annoying ornamentation.)
46. Stu Clayton says

    December 1, 2020 at 1:27 pm

    It’s odd that Stove Jeeb”s zalgo extends beyond the bottom of the “comment frame” lines, touching the top of Hat’s frame. Is this just the rendering on my small smartphone in Chrome ? Or is there a loophole in WordPress HTML ?

    If the latter, one comment could be used to deface an entire thread of comments.
47. languagehat says

    December 1, 2020 at 1:38 pm

    Actually, he set Zalgo to maximum, which did indeed deface lots of the thread; I’m afraid (sorry, SJ!) I replaced it with medium Zalgo, so it extended a ways up and down but didn’t create maximum disruption.
48. Stu Clayton says

    December 1, 2020 at 1:48 pm

    Young folks nowadays …
49. D.O. says

    December 1, 2020 at 3:15 pm

    This is better than Monty Python. They had a society for putting things on top of other things and here we have a society for putting thing above and below other things.
50. John Cowan says

    December 1, 2020 at 4:13 pm

    Which is also a society for setting things equal to other things. We are, as I have said before, the People of the Boas Totem.
51. Brett says

    December 1, 2020 at 10:57 pm

    “Well, Mr. Chairman, it’s just that most of the members in Staffordshire feel… the whole thing’s a bit silly.”
52. languagehat says

    December 2, 2020 at 8:57 am

    Transcript.
53. David Eddyshaw says

    December 2, 2020 at 9:22 am

    It is not as widely known as it might be that the term “Zalgo” in fact derives from the Mooré zolgo “idiot.” It is thought to reflect the response of a webmaster to an early manifestation of the phenomenon in Upper Volta.
54. Jib Jib says

    December 2, 2020 at 2:06 pm

    I’m glad that this discussion has been revived. Before I posted, the last post was from a year ago.
55. Jib Jib says

    December 2, 2020 at 2:31 pm

    How did I somehow post at 2:00? It was like 10:40 when I posted that, but then it time warped or something. That’s cool.

    (Edit: WHAT THE HELL? It’s 11:33 right now, but that works for me I guess.)
56. John Cowan says

    December 2, 2020 at 2:37 pm

    For whatever reason, the LH server is running on UTC-4 (Eastern Daylight Time in the U.S.)
57. Lars Mathiesen says

    December 3, 2020 at 4:21 am

    It is possible to do tricks with EcmaScript to show times in the reader’s local time zone, and so many sites are doing it now that you get surprised by the old-school ones that don’t.
58. Y says

    December 3, 2020 at 5:10 am

    Some browsers or extensions thereto won’t reveal what your local time zone is, so as to hamper fingerprinting, so you might get nonsensical local times.
59. David Eddyshaw says

    December 3, 2020 at 5:29 am

    Time travel paradoxes are already enough of a problem on this site that it would be irresponsible to complicate matters further. The whole of reality might unravel.
60. languagehat says

    December 3, 2020 at 8:10 am

    I think you will be meaning to have said that five days from now. Or is/was it five days ago? Damn it, it’s hard to keep the space-time continuum straight these days.
61. Lars Mathiesen says

    December 3, 2020 at 9:42 am

    Also since there is a minor habit of referring to specific comments by their time stamp, it is just as well that everybody sees the same. BUT, putting in the time zone would be helpful, I can never remember it offhand when I’m trying to figure out if the comment I’m replying to is one or seven hours old.

    I think that was five days non-chirally north-north-left of yesterday morning.

    Looking up chirality on WP, I see: This difference in symmetry becomes obvious if someone attempts to shake the right hand of a person using their left hand. I was going to ascribe the ambiguity (whose left hand?) to the use of their, but then I realized it would be no better with his or her, it’s simply because someone and a person select the same pronouns.
62. D.O. says

    December 3, 2020 at 12:36 pm

    Damn it, it’s hard to keep the space-time continuum straight these days.

    You don’t want to keep it straight. We would all fly away. What you meant is the difficulty of keeping space-time continuous.

    whose left hand?

    In this particular case, it doesn’t matter. That’s the whole point. The hands are somewhat … detached.
63. languagehat says

    December 3, 2020 at 3:10 pm

    You don’t want to keep it straight. We would all fly away. What you meant is the difficulty of keeping space-time continuous.

    You’re quite right, of course. BRB, gotta check the chronosynclastic infundibulum…
64. SFReader says

    December 3, 2020 at 3:58 pm

    UTC-4?

    So LH is hosted on a server based in the Bermuda Triangle…

    That would explain a lot of things
65. Fancua says

    December 3, 2020 at 4:00 pm

    I think you will be meaning to have said that five days from now.

    Reminds me of Joel Stickley’s “Skip blithely between tenses”:

    I sit at my desk with my head in my hands and sighed. It is only three days until the deadline, I think, and I’m going to have had to finished everything before then. If only I have finish this now, I thought and lean back on my chair. Just then, the phone has rung. I am answering it.
    ‘Hello?’ I am going to have said. It is my boss; he was angry, but not as angry as I remember him being when I am handing in the work late, four days from now.
    ‘Is this work going to have been finished when it is currently the deadline which, at present, is in the future?’ he demanded. ‘I am planning to have been waiting for it, as I presently am.’
66. Brett says

    December 3, 2020 at 4:25 pm

    @SFReader: My blog also runs on UTC−4, because I set it up during the spring, and when I set the time zone, there did not appear to be any options that included Daylight Saving Time. And there are plenty of other blogs (and other sites) that have this feature, running on absolute time zones rather than the real zones used by real people. For my blog, it’s actually a bit annoying, since I have one Unrealistic Dialogue post every day at 15:00,* and depending on the season, that may actually be 3:00 or 2:00 p.m. my time.

    * The very first thing I posted happened to have a 15:00 timestamp, so I decided to make all further posts come out at that time as well.
67. languagehat says

    December 3, 2020 at 4:48 pm

    Does anybody really know what time it is (I don’t)?
    Does anybody really care (care about time)?
68. J.W. Brewer says

    December 3, 2020 at 6:15 pm

    We knew you were a Boomer, hat. But a Chicago Transit Authority Boomer rather than a Chambers Brothers Boomer?
69. languagehat says

    December 3, 2020 at 6:24 pm

    No, no, I care nothing about Chicago and I know nothing more of their work! But it was impossible to forget that particular earworm, any more than to dislodge the dreaded “Raindrops keep falling on my head” (at one point I think I would have poked my eardrums if it would have rid me of the plague).
70. D.O. says

    December 3, 2020 at 7:41 pm

    This is a good place to remind the audience about timeless:
    — What time?
    — Three hours.
    — Such much?
    — Whom how.
71. John Cowan says

    December 3, 2020 at 11:20 pm

    I realized it would be no better with his or her, it’s simply because someone and a person select the same pronouns.

    Hence John and Mary, or in the alternative Alice and Bob.
72. Brett says

    December 3, 2020 at 11:21 pm

    @D.O.: Google apparently knows nothing of that quote. Where is it from?

    I do, however, know that “Such much?” is famous for making a similar appearance in Casablanca.

    Mr. Leuchtag: Liebchen—sweetness heart, what watch?
    Mrs. Leuchtag: Ten watch.
    Mr. Leuchtag: Such much?
73. SFReader says

    December 4, 2020 at 12:15 am

    This is an old Soviet joke about English spoken by graduates of MGIMO (Moscow State Institute of International Relations).

    The whole dialogue reads as if it was translated from Russian by bad machine translation program.
74. languagehat says

    December 4, 2020 at 1:55 pm

    We knew you were a Boomer, hat. But a Chicago Transit Authority Boomer rather than a Chambers Brothers Boomer?

    To clarify my affiliations, here is the music dearest to my Boomer heart:
    UK – Beatles, Stones, Who, Kinks
    US – Motown, Dylan, Creedence, Sly

    The ’70s added all sorts of goodies, of course (I don’t think I really discovered James Brown until then), and I eventually glommed on to punk and early rap, but that’s the foundation.
75. David Marjanović says

    December 4, 2020 at 7:18 pm

    Check out this comment on the Zalgo website – ASCII art 2.0!

    That would explain a lot of things

    Wouldn’t it.