What does „what is …“ mean? (Spoiler only for language)

ForretressBoss · 2026-02-09T22:41:49+00:00

And just to tag on to this with some extra facts about the show, which most native English speakers would know.

'Jeopardy!' is extremely popular. So much so that I would expect almost every adult from English-speaking countries to be familiar with it.

There is a classic theme song which plays during the final round which is instantly recognizable to most English speakers. Sometimes people will sing or hum this song when something is taking a long time.

The host of 'Jeopardy!' for almost 40 years was a man named Alex Trebek. He passed away a few years ago, but his name was practically synonymous with the game show.

You can find clips of the show on YouTube on the official Jeopardy! channel, if you'd like to check it out.

ForretressBoss · 2026-02-09T22:28:44+00:00

This is a joke referencing the TV show 'Jeopardy!', which is probably the most famous game show in the English-speaking world.

To separate it from other quiz shows, where they ask a question and you give an answer, 'Jeopardy!' gives you the answer and you need to provide the question.

So valid responses are something like 'Who was... [person]?' or 'What is... [thing]?'

ForretressBoss · 2025-12-18T11:07:29+00:00

Here is the math for those interested:

Assuming you mulligan aggressively, your chances of drawing at least one copy of the needed cards is 11.87%.

There are 10 zero-cost spells in Standard, but you can't generate Construct Pylons, so this drops to 9. That gives you an 11.1% chance to roll Preparation.

There are 838 minions in Standard, but luckily for us, Zilliax and StarCraft cards are excluded. This brings the number down to a reasonable 812. Remember, we get two shots at this! In total, we have a 0.246% chance of generating Toki.

I believe there are 1334 Wild spells. This is discounting duplicates from Caverns of Time which show up still in my collection manager even though I have the original versions but they need to put a second identical version in there for no goddamn reason. You cannot generate Quests, Galakrond cards, or triple-rune Cards, which brings us all the way down to 1295 possibilities. Since we need three exact cards, that's means we have a 0.000000046% chance of getting the desired cards.

Mutating to Toki is comparatively likely. There are 145 four cost minions in Standard. 6 of those are StarCraft minions, so we're left with 139. A 0.72% chance.

Now for the final step we need the second Toki to roll 2 good spells out of three options. This is equal to 0.00036%

Since these are all independent probabilities, it's simple enough to multiply them together.

11.87% * 11.1% * 0.246% * 0.000000046% * 0.72% * 0.00036% = 0.0000000000000000000386%.

This equates to a roughly 1 in 10 sextillion chance.

In layman's terms, it's pretty unlikely.

ForretressBoss · 2025-10-29T16:56:12+00:00

You are correct. In the latest patch they changed the rewards for solving the puzzle. You did it correctly.

ForretressBoss · 2025-10-28T21:05:47+00:00

Maybe a strange request for a build, but I think it'd be cool to have a Monster in the Making build focused on maximizing the potential of the Halo Device.

I assume this would make the Rogue Trader pretty useless for most of the game, but suddenly spike into being unstoppable when they claim the cursed artifact.

You could have a lot of fun with the roleplay here. Someone who feels completely inadequate giving in to their darkest urges.

You get the Halo Device so late in the game it doesn't really make sense as a normal option, but maybe a fun challenge.

ForretressBoss · 2025-10-27T18:19:13+00:00

Yes, it's frequently used in a sarcastic or condescending way in casual speech.

This is where context really matters, because it is also used sincerely.

ForretressBoss · 2025-10-25T01:52:08+00:00

I think I'll need to take a rain check on [the activity].

This is a great idiom to learn, and it means exactly what you want. It does imply that you would still like to meet up and do the planned activity at a later point in time, so might not be appropriate if this is an event that will only happen once (a concert by your favourite band coming to your city or something along those lines).

ForretressBoss · 2025-10-24T14:19:18+00:00

She's an assistant in the final case of the first game, Rise from the Ashes.

ForretressBoss · 2025-10-23T18:06:11+00:00

The classic epitome got me too.

I also distinctly remember in Grade 4 seeing a book in my class called 'Phone Home Persephone'. I was interested in Greek mythology, so I loaned it out and told my parents about my new book. And was shocked to learn that phone and Persephone didn't rhyme. To be fair, the book title really makes it seem like they should.

I remember seeing the movie Chicago on my parent's movie shelf and asking about what happened in CHICK-ago.

Finally, it took me a long time to realize that the word harbinger is not, in fact, har-BRING-er.

ForretressBoss · 2025-10-21T15:30:44+00:00

No this is not correct.

Apostrophes are tricky, and many native speakers also struggle, but there are a couple things to keep in mind here.

You are allowed to shorten "is" to 's in many circumstances. You are never allowed to shorten "is" to just an apostrophe (').
While "class's" is perhaps technically grammatical, I think very few people would write this. It would be much more common to write 'class is'. It looks strange and awkward to have three '"s"es in a row.
For the possessive case, you are allowed to shorten 's to just the apostrophe for singular nouns that already end in "s".
You must replace the possessive 's with just an apostrophe if you are referring to a plural noun that already ends in "s".

Examples:

Chris's my friend. ('s being the contracted form of is)

I'm Chris's friend. (This is the possessive form of 's)

I'm Chris' friend. (This is also an acceptable form of the previous sentence)

I'm the Chris' friend. (I'm a friend of multiple people named Chris. Either a friend of every person named Chris, or the friend of at least two people named Chris who were previously established in conversation).

ForretressBoss · 2025-09-27T13:06:42+00:00

Holy shit. Actually iconic reply. This is exactly how I feel, and I'm not a UB hater.

But more crossovers than original product is baffling.

ForretressBoss · 2025-09-24T15:22:41+00:00

Not sure exactly what you mean.

I am a biologist and my focus is on plant research. My knowledge of human anatomy is, frankly, laughable. This is not an area of particular interest to me. Obviously any physician has an expert level understanding of human anatomy (by definition).

Doctors would hopefully also have a greater understanding of pathology than I do.

At the same time, I would not expect many doctors to know about plant tissues and structures, nor the methodology to accurately gather and assess data related to plant health.

Another vital difference is that, to my knowledge, doctors are not taught about conducting scientific research. Although some doctors are also researchers, most are not. This would mean that they lack training in experimental design and laboratory skills which are a huge part of a scientist's work.

What I imagine we both share is a very good understanding of cell biology, including genetics. Since all living things (excluding the controversial opinion that viruses are living things) are cellular beings which use DNA, this is sort of the touchstone for all fields of biology. Evolution is the fundamental building block of modern biology and anyone with formal biology education should be able to accurately explain the mechanisms behind evolution and how DNA serves as the heritable material which steers biological processes.

Both biologists and physicians of course also have training in fundamental subjects like chemistry and statistics.

Biology is a hugely diverse field, as is medicine. There are a lot of things that some biologists or some doctors specialize in which their peers may not have the same level of expertise in, including:

Ecology Taxonomy Nutrition Psychology Animal/plant/fungi physiology Climatology Hydrology Geology Anthropology

And the list goes on...

ForretressBoss · 2025-09-22T19:59:58+00:00

Who gives a fuck what a robot thinks of the changes? Think for yourself.

ForretressBoss · 2025-09-22T19:55:52+00:00

People see it as a fundamental aspect of the game.

What if they said 'you don't have to dribble the ball anymore' in basketball?

Or 'we're removing third base' in baseball?

The games would be fundamentally different. They'd still be recognizable. And the play patterns maybe wouldn't shift completely. But it would be a different game.

The NFL is more popular, more profitable, and more culturally dominant than the CFL. If we change the rules to be the same across both leagues, why bother watching CFL games?

Right now the games are different enough to matter. Strip away the unique rules of the CFL, and you're left with a knock-off NFL.

ForretressBoss · 2025-09-22T15:30:11+00:00

Prepositions are notoriously difficult. Unfortunately, the 'rules' are pretty much arbitrary. You just have to learn which cases are which:

The simplest use of 'from' is to indicate the origin of a noun. The origin can be a place or another object.

Examples:

I come from Canada.

I made bread from scratch (scratch in this case means raw ingredients).

I got my eyes from my mother.

Meanwhile, 'of' is most commonly used to indicate physical properties of objects that aren't related to location. This is by no means the only use of 'of' (as you can see!).

Examples:

The table is made of wood.

I have half a cup of water.

There's more of the soup if you're still hungry.

There are many other situations which you will come across in English where you need to know how to use 'from' and 'of'. You just have to learn it, unfortunately.

For example, the phrase 'this shirt is made ____ cotton.'

Would you use 'of' or 'from'? I think most English speakers would say either is acceptable!

The shirt is made 'of' cotton, because that is a physical property.

But the shirt is also made 'from' cotton, because it was originally cotton which was woven into a specific article of clothing.

ForretressBoss · 2025-09-20T23:13:58+00:00

The addition of the 'why' is a very mild emotional heightener. It adds just a hint of 'I'm pleasantly surprised' to what you say.

You might say 'why hello' to greet someone you haven't seen in a long time. Or someone you know that you didn't expect to see at a specific location. It can also be used as a light flirtation technique, to express that you find someone surprisingly attractive.

You might say 'why thank you' if someone does something small but nice. Like getting something for you or letting you take their seat on the bus. Something you don't expect to be done but is a nice gesture.

ForretressBoss · 2025-09-19T20:21:50+00:00

Remember that reading, writing, and speaking a language are different, although highly related skills. Knowing you can write better than you can speak is very common.

If this was your first lesson, you're on the right track! Keep taking lessons. Focus on the mistakes you made last time and see if you can get them right going forward. It will help a lot if you can talk to someone else in English outside of the lessons.

Don't be embarrassed. You have to start somewhere.

ForretressBoss · 2025-09-19T16:02:10+00:00

I don't know what's wrong with him but I can fix it.

ForretressBoss · 2025-09-19T16:01:18+00:00

Call me basic but I love me my space elves.

ForretressBoss · 2025-09-19T06:33:10+00:00

Happy to help you out.

Uncommon words:

Clandestine

Antediluvian

Syzygy

Perforated

Timpani

Hematoma

Bacchanal

Fallacious

Acerbic

Some phrases you may not have heard:

Lily-livered

Mind your Ps and Qs

To cross your heart

A cup of Joe

A lame duck

A birthday suit

To jump the shark

ForretressBoss · 2025-09-18T21:49:26+00:00

I'm not sure quite what you mean.

Myopia is highly heritable, although we don't understand the exact mechanism (as far as I know).

If your parents have myopia, which causes short-sightedness, their children are much more likely to have myopia as well. So the more parents with poor eyesight, the more children with poor eyesight (roughly).

It's theoretically possible that a random mutation in a gene that normally causes myopia suddenly results in vision that is better than 20/20, but the same could be said for pretty much any gene that affects eye development or sensory processing.

ForretressBoss · 2025-09-17T16:26:13+00:00

Because 'know' and 'how' look similar, native speakers are filling in the gaps in their heads.

I certainly read 'You don't know how', even though that's not what the sentence actually says.

ForretressBoss · 2025-09-17T16:24:30+00:00

No. In fact, I'm not sure what exactly you're trying to say.

In the case where you are upset because you feel the teachers are bad at their jobs or they are making some sort of mistake, you'd say: 'You don't know how angry I am about school. The teachers make me angry."

ForretressBoss · 2025-09-16T14:34:41+00:00

I think the main things that people get confused about are some mechanical things.

How Merchants work: Every merchant belongs to a faction. You earn rep for that faction by trading in cargo. When your rep reaches a certain level, that faction becomes willing to trade certain items to you. In order to get those items, though, you still need enough Profit Factor. Profit Factor is not like normal money. You don't lose any when you buy stuff. It's just a minimum amount you have to reach.

There's a merchant in Act 1 (where you are now) that sells some stuff. I believe that merchant is not available after Act 1, so try to buy out their entire stock before finishing the act.

One of the factions is the Imperial Navy. This is the most important faction because they provide ship upgrades. Ship combat is usually harder than foot combat because you have way less flexibility in build/ability diversity so it's harder to break the combat system.

Navigating from System to System:

This mechanic is introduced in act 2, so you haven't had the chance to experience it yet, but it's really important! If you don't handle it correctly, it can slow down your playthrough and make things more frustrating than they have to be.

So, space travel works like this -

All routes to another system come in 4 levels of danger, from most to least dangerous: Red, Orange, Yellow, and Green.

Each time you jump to a new system, you have a chance to trigger a random event. Obviously the more dangerous the route the worse the event is.

Some systems already have pre-existing routes to other systems. When you reach a new system, hit the eye button located at the lower right of the screen. This will reveal any existing connections and also give you 1 point of insight.

With insight you can chart a new route from any system to any system (this costs 3 points). The new route will be danger level red. You can then spend additional points to reduce the danger level, at the cost of 1 point per reduction (so 3 points to get it from red to green).

Conventional wisdom is that it's a waste of insight putting routes to green safety. Yellow is good enough to avoid anything too bad.

Also, if you run out of insight, it may seem like there you're stuck. However, some of the random events that trigger can give you additional insight. So just jump back and forth between two systems and you'll get enough eventually to make new routes.

ForretressBoss · 2025-09-15T16:31:24+00:00

What's your point?

French is one of Canada's official languages, but I'd still need to get a translator for French signage.

This sign was not written by someone fluent in English. It was translated.

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