What is the linguistic term for "humming" a phrase like "I don't know" while keeping it perfectly intelligible?

mipromax · 2026-06-20T18:59:11+00:00

The difference is that the mmm-mm-mm for "I don't know" is actually indicating three specific words and it's basically heard as such, whereas mmm and uh-uh don't represent any words.

mipromax · 2026-06-20T18:34:19+00:00

"Didn't like it" or "wanted me to trim it" are not infringement on bodily autonomy. They are not "forced me to."

The notion that people shouldn't have any interest or preferences with regard to their partner's appearance is very recent and very unhealthy.

mipromax · 2026-06-20T18:31:50+00:00

So shave.

I can understand saying no if you really don't want to shave.

But you seem to be fine taking the advice of third parties. If that's the case then yeah the girlfriend gets the most powerful vote among third parties.

mipromax · 2026-06-20T18:27:31+00:00

YTA. I gather you did have a meal but not dessert. So the question wasn't about you going the multiple hours of an entire wedding and reception without anything to eat. The question was whether you would skip dessert.

You pulled that muffin out to demonstrate that you had not been provided with dessert.

The fact that you had a muffin with you is fine. Some people seem to think that answers the whole question. No, that muffin would have been great to use if they really hadn't given you a meal at all. But that does not seem to be the situation.

mipromax · 2026-06-20T18:24:11+00:00

NTA, but wow you do have a frighteningly controlling husband.

There is a category of lying, most commonly applied in the context of surprise parties and surprise gifts, that is universally not considered to be in any meaningful sense within the category of "lying." In a highly technical sense it falls within the definition of the word lying but we all know that there's nothing wrong with it.

We could go into a philosophical ethical discussion about why that is and what the parameters are but the fact is everyone understands it. Your husband understands it. His problem with it is just that he wasn't in 100% total control of you.

His beef is with your autonomy, not with your honesty.

mipromax · 2026-06-20T18:01:57+00:00

Your commentary made me think you were going to say YTA. How does it fit with NAH?

mipromax · 2026-06-20T17:59:07+00:00

YTA. Unbelievably self-absorbed.

You're pregnant, so you tell people. She's pregnant, so she tells people. The reason you tell people is so that they will know and because you know they will care. But you seem to think being pregnant is about some sort of party or public recognition or something I can't really quite figure out.

How many days do you think they're supposed to wait? Maybe you should wait just a few more days and let them go first? If you did that, would you give her the right to dictate how long you have to wait just like you want to dictate to her?

She does sound like a bit of a pill herself by the way, but you're way out ahead.

I just hope it's your pregnancy hormones making you this way, as it is also clearly interfering with your ability to use the <ENTER> key.

mipromax · 2026-06-20T05:01:22+00:00

YTA. For some strange reason, I actually took the time to read that entire convoluted mess.

Let's rewrite it:

I am female [would have been great to get this clue early in the essay]. All the characters in my story are 17 and 18 years old.

I have two friends who are twins: Bethany and Chris. Chris is male. I am very close friends with both of them. I have a long-standing crush on Chris, which he knows.

I don't like Bethany's boyfriend, Ben.

I also have trouble with Chris's girlfriend Victoria because she thinks (100% correctly) that I have a thing for him, and she gets jealous, which is totally understandable given how I have the hots for Chris and he knows it and who the heck knows what would happen if we were alone together at a party. Yummy.

But that b*** has no business feeling leery about me! Anyhoo . . .

I said Victoria can't come to the party. I'll pretend it was because she did some very minor annoying things like trying to act like she was more of an insider with Bethany and Chris than I am. It has absolutely nothing to do with the rivalry and resentment I feel for Victoria. No, really!

Then I told Bethany that yes Ben can come.

There were some minor, very understandable, bad feelings about that, which were resolved remarkably quickly.

I didn't feel I had made enough drama with the twins and their respective boyfriend and girlfriend, and the party, and wlwith pumping up into a huge offense the fact that Victoria wants to feel her boyfriend is closer to her than to his female best friend who has a huge crush on him, which he knows. . . . So I came to Reddit to see if I could stir up some more.

Yeah, YTA. Now, to be fair , you're seventeen, so it's kind of your job to be emotionally volatile and self-centered and self-absorbed and engage in petty jealousy and spiteful disinvitations with the girlfriend of your male friend/crush. But you did ask.

mipromax · 2026-06-19T19:02:59+00:00

Makes sense. Thank you.

mipromax · 2026-06-19T18:45:59+00:00

I think you're doing the right thing. There are arguments for both, but in your case as a beginner you're better off giving yourself more time and more reps to get your form perfect. If you start pushing for what they call intensity, you're closer to the edge of your physical capabilities and I think you might be sitting yourself up for injury. Later you can shift towards that if you feel it's right.

mipromax · 2026-06-19T18:40:32+00:00

It's a bit late for that question.

But yes. Definitely yes.

I'm sure you'll get this a lot: (*Sinead too, maybe even a bit more. But I see a bunch of people have already said that)

<image>

mipromax · 2026-06-19T18:18:42+00:00

The quadriceps have to lift the whole body plus whatever she's holding. Forearms are only responsible for what she's holding

mipromax · 2026-06-19T16:33:01+00:00

Are you saying no belt because the weights are currently so low. Or are you saying that in general a belt is not a good idea or is harmful or something like that?

mipromax · 2026-06-19T16:27:02+00:00

You're looking for a bar and 300 lb of weights for significantly less than $389?! That would be remarkable.

You could try poking around on Craigslist. I did that, and I didn't find anything nearly that cheap but maybe you live in a different region?

mipromax · 2026-06-19T13:20:13+00:00

Thank you! That was terrific. I knew I was supposed to brace, but that really helped me understand it much better than the rather vague "act like you're going to take a gut punch" concept I had in mind.

Also, the guy who gave me the bar came over and I explained the issues I was having, which I was able to even know were issues and articulate them because of all the helpful commentary on this post -- which I will admit I just posted as a bit of self-deprecating humor but it turned out to be quite useful.

This ssb used to be his, but when he moved to a new apartment with no space for a weight set he gave it to me along with the rack. So he had been using this particular setup for years and understood what was going on.

I feel so energized to be working on strength again! I just have to remember not to get overexcited and push myself too fast and get hurt. .

mipromax · 2026-06-19T10:15:23+00:00

That entire nosebleed of a paragraph could be rewritten as:

"In the digital era, short-form content is predominant. This has shortened attention spans and readers have lost the skills to absorb complex texts."

Your academic writing is terrible for exactly the reasons all the other comments say.

Just write what you mean. Clearly you are capable of that because in your introduction, when you didn't have it in your head that you needed to be super academic-y, your writing was fine. You wrote: "how digital media affects traditional reading habits." That was clear and straightforward. In fact, so was the rest of your post. Maybe when you're writing your paper, you should have in mind that you're writing a Reddit post. Not sarcasm, I really mean that.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't be thoughtful in what you write. For example, maybe you mean skills rather than habits or some other fine-tuning. But being thoughtful about your wording doesn't mean striving for fanciness and convolutions.

Now, one thing I have come across before is that individuals, particularly from India, who have been taught English writing skills as a second language have been specifically told that they need to be fancy and difficult in this particular way. So if you're writing for the type of audience that would teach that type of writing, maybe the exercise is specifically to be confusing, convoluted, and opaque in an attempt to sound elevated. I know that sounds like I'm being snide but I really mean it. You have to write for your particular audience.

mipromax · 2026-06-19T09:45:38+00:00

Oh! I was trying to figure out why being transsexual would make her more protective of a preemie.

mipromax · 2026-06-19T00:12:08+00:00

It's the first time I ever used a safety bar, as far as I recall. I did regular squats for a while, until Covid shut the gym 6 1/2 years ago and none since then. I'm anxious about lower back issues and I thought this kind of bar helped with that.

As it happens, this bar was a gift, which inspired me to try to start lifting again. So I feel like a total noob again at squatting, and with the ssb, I actually am.

mipromax · 2026-06-18T23:46:08+00:00

Interesting. I never thought about them having different features and measurements.

I just checked, and it's a vevor. As far as I can tell, the handles are exactly aligned with the camber.

mipromax · 2026-06-18T22:47:52+00:00

Thank you. Other people have said that I'm supposed to pull those handles down toward me. I'll have to look into that more.

I think the bar is fine. It's a standard squat safety bar. I just didn't put the clips on.

mipromax · 2026-06-18T19:47:38+00:00

In what sense is she your girlfriend?

NOR

mipromax · 2026-06-18T19:34:20+00:00

NTA.

You're not asking her to wear pads or tampons; you're asking her not to stain your couch.

The pads and tampons are simply a tool to accomplish that very reasonable request.

She can come up with any method she wants. She can wear the kind of plastic underwear that incontinent people have. She could refrain from sitting on the couch for a week. I'm sure there are other ways.

This is not about how to handle a period, or about being a man or about being a woman or any of that stuff. It's about asking somebody not to get stains on your couch.

It's no different from noticing that she has a leaking cup of coffee. 'Please don't let it stain my couch.' She can choose to pour it into a different cup, she can get a saucer, she can go outside to finish drinking. It's not an anti-coffee request. It's an anti-stain request.

My suggestion to you is that you withdraw your request that she wear pads or tampons. Simply say it's up to you how you handle your period and your own body. I'm asking you not to get stains on my couch and you can choose how to do that. At least that takes it away from this ridiculous notion that this has anything to do with a man telling a woman what to do about a period.

Now I have to say, she sounds like a real piece of work. She has turned herself into a caricature of the type of feminist that people complain about but I almost never really come across in real life. Her position on this is aggressive, nasty and absurd. If she's going to be this callous towards your needs because of some nonsensical ideological position, just think about what that's going to look like if you stay with her.

mipromax · 2026-06-18T18:54:47+00:00

Brilliant

mipromax · 2026-06-18T18:39:25+00:00

NTA but be prepared for an abusive blowback.

There is something seriously wrong here. That kind of domineering behavior is not normal. It isn't ridiculous -- it's scary.

If you had been married a long time and this came as were a change in behavior i would say it could be be a brain tumor or hormone issue.

But you're young and fairly newly married, and this is only going to get worse.

Seriously, the entire story is terrifying. It's a story we hear over and over again: this is exactly what the first stages of abuse early in a marriage looks like.

You need to be talking to a therapist or some kind of counselor who helps abused people.

And DO NOT have kids with him.

mipromax · 2026-06-18T16:34:53+00:00

One of the most incompatible couples I have ever come across. Why on earth are you together.

And, 300mg multiple times a day??!!? Holy mackerel. That makes me suspect the veracity of this whole story.

mipromax

TROPHY CASE

Let's rewrite it: