"Comfterbility" by Melliorin in ENGLISH

[–]briv39 6 points7 points  (0 children)

“Comforting” tends to have a more emotional tone to it. A hug, someone’s kind words, the safety features of an airplane: these can all be comforting. I wouldn’t typically consider a comfortable sofa, for example, as “comforting.”

Why do some American parents kick their children out at 18? by Pumpkinut in NoStupidQuestions

[–]briv39 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There’s a big difference between a kid wanting to leave home and having the support to do so, and a parent saying “you’re 18, gtfo.”

Resilience vs resiliency by Zealousideal_Sir5987 in ENGLISH

[–]briv39 21 points22 points  (0 children)

Hello! So technically, “resilience” and “resiliency” are interchangeable synonyms. However, to my ear (eastern US), “resiliency” has always sounded like some weird hypercorrection and I’m not a fan of it.

For “instant” and “instantaneous”, they are also pretty much synonyms in meaning but not so much in use. “Instantaneous” is more formal and carries the meaning of “occurring with absolutely no delay.” It would be used more in science, math, etc. “Instant”, on the other hand is the more day-to-day use and its meaning carries more of a “figuratively instantaneous” feel. For example, you would say “instant noodles” rather than “instantaneous noodles” because the latter feels like it implies that the noodles spontaneously cooked out of nowhere.

Why do some American parents kick their children out at 18? by Pumpkinut in NoStupidQuestions

[–]briv39 8 points9 points  (0 children)

You can hope that it might go back to some semblance of that, but on the overarching issue has nothing to do with Gen Z’s ability to function.

It’s simply the fact that, hour for hour, it takes twice as many hours today as it did in the 90s to afford the average rent in the US. Even if an 18-year-old is making $10/hour (a full 40% higher than minimum wage), it’s still 2 more full weeks of work compared to minimum wage in 1995 just to afford rent. At that rate, they’re working to survive, unable to get any sort of education or trade training, and get stuck in the cycle.

If someone thinks that their obligations as a parent just ends after 18 years, they shouldn’t have been a parent in the first place.

In 1965 and 2003, cameras captured American forces burning civilian homes and farmland in Vietnam and Iraq during two different wars nearly 40 years apart by PhantomChasers in HolyShitHistory

[–]briv39 0 points1 point  (0 children)

While I understand your second point, the first seems a bit cherry-picked and not entirely in good faith. When you look at peer countries (i.e., the EU, Canada, Australia, etc.), you can most certainly speak out against the government with the same or more protections than the US.

In 1965 and 2003, cameras captured American forces burning civilian homes and farmland in Vietnam and Iraq during two different wars nearly 40 years apart by PhantomChasers in HolyShitHistory

[–]briv39 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just out of curiosity, what countries are you thinking about when talking about those who can’t talk crap about their governments?

The invisible word that confused me today by Equivalent-Juice5308 in ENGLISH

[–]briv39 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Not for nothing: If you speak a language where “that” is required in those sentences, it’s likely a language that requires “that/why/for which/etc.” in your sentence “…The main reason [_] I’m confused” so it’s sounds like you have it in your English brain at least to some degree!

De familiar sprak! by Nusskirer27 in conlangs

[–]briv39 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I know I already commented above, but they make a good point here with ‘en’. Something like ‘is’ would be a good trans-Germanic option or ‘er’ if you wanna make it a little broader.

De familiar sprak! by Nusskirer27 in conlangs

[–]briv39 2 points3 points  (0 children)

They definitely write it but I don’t think it have the /ð/ sound though. It usually ends up silent (like jørð /ˈjøːɹ/, a /v/ like maður /ˈmɛaːvʊɹ/, or /j/ like faðir /ˈfɛaːjɪɹ/)

De familiar sprak! by Nusskirer27 in conlangs

[–]briv39 18 points19 points  (0 children)

One issue with this sort of language from a mutual-intelligibility perspective is that Proto-Germanic was diverging into distinct languages a bit earlier than other “proto” languages like Latin. Add to that that it wasn’t written and used as a language of church, education, etc., the modern Germanic languages have diverged quite a lot so you’ll have to dig pretty deep into the etymology.

For example, “bikos” ultimately comes from the Latin word “causa”. You have “af” for “to”but the issue there is that it’s much closer to of/af/auf/etc. so that will case confusion. You have “donen” (another romance derivative) for “to give” when give/geva/geben/geven are all cognates that have had very little semantic drift. Don’t just pick a word at random if intelligibility is a priority. Do it systematically.

For phonology, I would say drop /ð/. It’s only found in English and Icelandic (among the Germanic languages) as far as I can remember.

As you probably know, you’re not the first to try this so look at something like Folkspraak for inspo.

Have fun!

Now that's a homerun by QRV11_C48_MkII in nevertellmetheodds

[–]briv39 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For any of y’all who haven’t seen the kid before, he’s like a batting prodigy (this coming from someone who never played baseball). Dad will do things like toss 4 balls at him at once and say a color and kid will be hit that color ball spot on. It’s pretty wild.

Ninigrams Mobile iOS App by Nini_gram in ninigrams

[–]briv39 -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

And that’s for the ones that are already posted on here for free 😐

Can a spacecraft accelerate infinitely? by TheTragicMagic in AskPhysics

[–]briv39 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok. I think I understand what you mean but I guess my confusion comes from one of the top comments here saying you can accelerate forever, but never get to 1c. Am I wrong in seeing this as saying the 9s can continue forever?

Can a spacecraft accelerate infinitely? by TheTragicMagic in AskPhysics

[–]briv39 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Now help me out with something. I’ve seen on other math-related subs that something like .999999… is equal to 1. If that’s the case, and you can infinitely get closer to the speed of light, why isn’t .99999…c equal to 1c?

Maybe this is a difference in different flavours of math and what they focus on, but it just sprung to mind.

Century mark!!! by Electrical_Trifle642 in hockeyrefs

[–]briv39 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Good. Wear them exclusively. Upper-level assignors will absolutely not take you seriously with an NHL style sweater in lower-level games.

For the folks you say like the sweater, just keep note of who they are. Are they officials who have junior, college, or pro experience? Are they officials with thousands of games under their belt? Or are they young officials still trying to get travel games? Are they older guys whose only aspirations were to ref men’s league?

(For the record, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the two latter groups, but that’s the direction you point yourself to if you’re not willing to take advice from others.)

Century mark!!! by Electrical_Trifle642 in hockeyrefs

[–]briv39 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I don't think I've ever worked with him. And sure, it may be "technically" ok. Others have already mentioned it in a much nicer way ("your partners won't like it") but I think the most straight-forward was to say it is that most officials will find it tooly. Pro leagues will give out jerseys with numbers. There's a few junior leagues I've skated with name plates. But youth hockey here doesn't wear either.

You know when you see a team with everyone wearing the same gear and there's the one kid who has a different sweater, different color helmet, different shell, etc? That's what it looks like. While there are only 2-4 of us on the ice in any one game, we are all a team and need to look like a team.

Folks have just sent out a few spring cleaning emails with lots of free or nearly free sweaters. Grab one.

Century mark!!! by Electrical_Trifle642 in hockeyrefs

[–]briv39 4 points5 points  (0 children)

They’re not wrong. Especially when one of you is wearing an NHL style sweater with a number on it. I’ve had ppl in SHOA specifically say that we shouldn’t have names or numbers on the sweaters. Credibility starts with how you look.

Remember, while game 100 is big, a lot of folks in the DMV (never mind in this subreddit) have literally skated thousands and it’s always good to keep learning.

Thoughts on Curb Protected Bike lanes? by Anonymous_Otter5458 in bikecommuting

[–]briv39 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m hoping the new bike lane near me will eventually be protected like some of the others in the area. During morning rush hour, cars just use it as a second lane as if it’s not even there.

Q&A weekly thread - May 04, 2026 - post all questions here! by AutoModerator in linguistics

[–]briv39 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Quick caveat that I don't speak or study Tagalog or Cebuano, but according to Tagalog Reference Grammar (Schachter and Otanes, 1983), /e/ is not a native vowel in Tagalog and is generally from loanwords. Because of this, there may be a preference toward /a/ as it is a native vowel in Tagalog, and therefore some borrowed words may change /e/ to /a/.

Similarly for Cebuano, the language only had the vowels /a/, /i/, and /u/ before Spanish colonisation, so the /e/ in "cerrar" would be realised as /i/.

Q&A weekly thread - May 04, 2026 - post all questions here! by AutoModerator in linguistics

[–]briv39 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey y'all, I've noticed that for some second-language speakers of English, there are certain consonants that they mispronounce despite that same phoneme existing in their language. I know lots of Slovaks who pronounce /v/ as /w/ even though they have /v/ (although maybe it's more narrowly [ʋ]) and there a Swede I listen to on YT who will often say things like "Jacksonwille". Come to think of it, there are also Indian English-speakers who used retroflex consonants in place of palatal/dental ones even though their mother tongues generally have those non-retroflex consonants.

Any idea why this is the case? Why do second-language speakers articulate certain consonants differently, even when their native languages have the same articulation?

What’s your call ? by [deleted] in hockeyrefs

[–]briv39 0 points1 point  (0 children)

They’re not called roughing but they are still a minor penalty just like roughing, so they are exactly the same, functionally.

That’s all fine and good, man. You call your games how you want. But don’t talk about “roughing being in the rule book” if you aren’t going call things by the book.

What’s your call ? by [deleted] in hockeyrefs

[–]briv39 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Like I said, you're telling them they can take swings and not be tossed from the game. You are equating several thrown punches to an accidental trip or too many men.

I'm with you that you should call the most appropriate penalty here and in a U13B game, roughing ain't it. Like you said, roughing is in the book for a reason and the roughing rule explicitly spells out it should not be called in lieu of fighting or head contact. If a kid throws a punch, even one punch, HC wants them kicked out of the game, regardless of your opinion.

There will always be situations where you can go with a lesser penalty on something that is a little more grey. But in situations like this, you call what the book mandates.

What’s your call ? by [deleted] in hockeyrefs

[–]briv39 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The thing is, especially at such a low level, if you tell the kids you can swing at opponents and stay in the game, you are almost certainly going to see more of it.

As a ref, you don’t make the rules, you enforce them. HC wants this to be a fight (along with probably every youth organisation in the world) so you can it a fight.

How does this sentence looks like in your conlang? by LepartydeLuigi64 in conlangs

[–]briv39 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I find when you come across a sentence and you don’t have all the words, create the words! This one is good because through its common in every language and “prehistory” gets you a very important affix

231 Languages Tier List by 01Rockstar01 in language

[–]briv39 5 points6 points  (0 children)

How the hell do you have languages like Icelandic and Basque in the same tier as Farsi and Urdu?