David Schwartz

5,193 reputation

11018

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	location	Murphys, CA
	age	43
visits	member for	1 year, 9 months
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I am OpenCoin's Chief Cryptographer and one of the architects of the Ripple payment system.

I live in California's Gold Country, east of Sacramento.

Bitcoin: 1Gonhezk1ScHaFqUSYH9VQThaDS4PJSq1o

	5,193 reputation	bio	website		visits	member for	1 year, 9 months
11018 badges		location	Murphys, CA		seen	2 days ago

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May 6	comment	Is “you’re the door on the right.” grammatically correct? I would say "that's your room" does mean that it's the room assigned to you, just as "you're that door" means that that's the door that is assigned to your or associated with you. I also agree that it's an idiom -- an idiom that omits having to state precisely what the relationship is.
May 6	comment	Is “you’re the door on the right.” grammatically correct? @JohnM.Landsberg Then what is it claiming is the relationship between the person spoken to and the door on the right? With no omitted work, the claimed relationship is equivalence, which doesn't really make any sense.
Apr 16	comment	What does the phrase “never the mane shall tweet” mean? @Jim: What's the difference between a rooster and a shyster? A rooster clucks defiance.
Mar 14	comment	What does the phrase “never the mane shall tweet” mean? There used to be a large number of stories published in monthly magazines that were actually just elaborate setups for groan-inducing punchlines like "Sloan's teddy wins the race" or "What was that laser I sawed you with last night? ... That was no laser, that was my knife" and so on.
Mar 13	comment	Is “We wish to confirm that this amount has been processed and enclosed is a cheque totalling $15,000.00” grammatically correct @Kris: Are you contending it should be read, "We wish to confirm that (this amount has been processed) and (enclosed is a cheque totalling $15,000.00)." That is, they are confirming those two things? That's about the only way I can see it as grammatical. But why would they send me a letter to confirm that this very letter includes a check? I mean, it's possible. If you contend it's grammatical, please tell me how you think it should be parsed. If you attach "confirm" only to "processed", the only form that makes logical sense, it become ungrammatical.
Mar 13	comment	Is “We wish to confirm that this amount has been processed and enclosed is a cheque totalling $15,000.00” grammatically correct @Kris: I see a lot of assertions but frankly, I can't tell why you are asserting any of those things. And I definitely disagree with your claim that my changes don't improve readability. I'm a native speaker and former CTO of a tech company and I had to guess what the original sentence meant. I presented a detailed walkthrough of what actually happened when I tried to understand it and precisely how it was confusing.
Mar 12	comment	More than one adjective modifying more than one noun "In each room, there are two cabinets. The nurses keep clean sheets and blankets in them." This obviously means the nurses keep clean sheets and dirty blankets inside themselves. This isn't a matter of grammar, it's a matter of logic.
Mar 12	comment	Which one is more correct to say? “Sit” or “Sitting”? I can't say many native speakers saying either of these things.
Mar 1	comment	Can “kitchen” be used as an adjective? eg: Mother painted the kitchen wall So because I can say, "The Vietnam war started during the Eisenhower presidency", it follows that "Vietnam" and "Eisenhower" are also adjectives? That's nuts. In fact, "Vietnam" and "Eisenhower" name very specific things, in this case one specific war and one specific presidency, just as nouns typically do. They aren't adding attributes or properties as adjectives do. The fill a slot an adjective can fill in the sentence, but they do something very different from what an adjective would do in that same slot.
Feb 27	comment	Can “kitchen” be used as an adjective? eg: Mother painted the kitchen wall A "kitchen wall" is not a wall that has the property of being "kitchen" as a "big wall" is a wall with an additional property or modification.Nouns in compound nouns don't modify the way adjectives do. You can't say "a very kitchen wall" like you can "a very big wall". Used this way, nouns actually identify things, as nouns do, rather than modify things, as adjectives do. The noun is not being used as an adjective here, it's being used in a way that is unique to nouns.
Feb 27	comment	“for someone to do something” in the beginning of a sentence I like the first one, but without the word "first". It's clear that "in order to" means that something has to happen first. IMO, assuming it has already happened, "In order for people their minds, the Church needed to .." reads the most naturally. If it hasn't happened yet, the second reads better (or use the first but change "needed" to "needs"). Also, "For people to change their minds, the church (would have to) / (had to) ..."
Feb 25	comment	Which is correct: “on two weeks” or “in two weeks”? It's hard to be sure without more context, but "two weeks in the sun" most likely means a two-week vacation spent outdoors such as on beaches.
Feb 18	comment	People referring to themselves with verbs with “-s” They are mocking the typical speech and grammar impediments that cats suffer from. (Punch can has into your favorite image search engine.)
Feb 11	comment	Is “have been being investigated” in the following sentence grammatically correct? I think it's poor in any context, but especially awful when following a similar construction, "have been / has been".
Feb 11	comment	Is “have been being investigated” in the following sentence grammatically correct? I think "it has been realized that" is awful.
Feb 10	comment	a cold vs flu / the flu So why is it "the bends" but just "chills"? I'm sorry, I just don't believe this.
Feb 10	comment	Too many “and”s? Is it grammatically correct? I would suggest using "care-giver" instead of "carer". Also, I'd say "schools and other organizations" since schools are organizations. Lastly, I'd say "provide" rather than "to provide".
Feb 5	comment	Receivables/lend The paid amount. The repaid amount. The returned amount.
Feb 5	comment	Returning for the nth time I see nothing wrong with saying: "I went to the store twice already, why should I have to return for a third time?" Nor do I see any problem with saying "return for a second time" in the same way. It's ambiguous.
Jan 29	comment	What is the best answer to the question “How are you” in business meetings? You can even just answer "Nice to see you" or the like. We understand that it's basically just a longer form of "hello" and they're not actually inquiring as to your condition.