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You keep using that word... I do not think it means what you think it means.
Really - look it up

The dictionary.com definition http://www.dictionary.com/browse/portentous lists:

adjective
1. of the nature of a portent; momentous.
2. ominously significant or indicative: a portentous defeat.
3. marvelous; amazing; prodigious.

While #2 seems fitting, I do see what you are saying.

However "portentous future" I've heard as a phrase before, usually talking about something negative.

The only source I found was a couple results lower in google at wordreference.com http://www.wordreference.com/definition/portentous

Here the #2 adjective is:
indicating something bad for the future: a portentous defeat.

I don't know how much wordreference.com is considered authoritative, if at all, but I'm pretty sure that's the definition Musk was going with.
It is certainly the meaning I read before you mentioned the word.

http://www.wordreference.com/e...

Well, in Spanish, "putin" means: little "puto".
"putito" is the most common form, but "putin" and "putico" are also valid. Here you got the definition of "puto": http://www.wordreference.com/e...

"Affluent and accomplished" is not the criterion. It's rich people. Let's just put that down in here in black and white.

Yeah, that's what affluent means. Had to look it up myself.

All I can find as a definition is http://www.wordreference.com/d...

Stop being an ass, especially when you've got the definitions backwards. Birthday is the day of the year. Birthdate (or DOB=date of birth ) is the actual date in history you were born.
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2597655

http://www.wordreference.com/ proposes "make up" (vtr) => "assemble, put together"

I wouldn't have seen any problem in saying "please, put an elemental analysis together", thinking: the article lacks an analysis for completeness, a simple one should be included.

Makes me remember of red side notes from my teachers in my homework, long ago: "Results are ok, but where's the analysis?!"...

I only see conscienciousness by a (non-english) reviewer, in this instruction.

Doing a bit of research, it appears my usage was (or at least could be) correct. Google "indefinite article with proper noun". It appears that when you have an adjective before a proper noun, you can use the indefinite article "A" or "an". Examples:
Mr Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie for work and Mrs Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his highchair. (Appears to be from harry potter, but was pulled from a forum example)
Alfie then shut the gate and ambled off to the house, shaking his head in perplexity, to complain to a sympathetic Dora in the kitchen.

In this case, since "Sharp" is modified by the adjective "cash-poor", the indefinite article is allowable. But as I said, headlines tend to drop all articles, which makes "cash-poor Sharp mortgages" rather ambiguous.
Further reference (though there are zillions)
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2204216

A writer can sometimes use a comma in place of "and", even if not enumerating a series with more than two items. Newspapers do it all the time on their headlines, even though it's not a very common construct otherwise.

Some links for reference:
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1295845
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asyndeton

I have asked like four times already to quote the text I wrote where I deny the existence of those working conditions

Sorry I missed that among the insults, bullshit and the self-aggrandisement if it was there at all, besides, you can't honestly deny your words above. Your original post stands with lines such as "I've never seen a requirement of working 80 hour weeks"

No. There is not a single post I made in this thread that says that. That is a line you made. I ask you again, to post the exact text I typed that says or implies such a thing.

and "If you have to put up with 80 hour work weeks, it means that you have few career choices, and thus have no option but being someone's bitch.".

But it is true. If you are willing or are forced to work so many hours a week for months (we are not talking about a week here and there, but as a norm), "you are being someone's bitch", an expression that expresses several meanings in the vernacular.

When you work that many hours, weeks, months on end, your health, physical and emotional, deteriorates, your family life (if you have any) deteriorates, your career deteriorates because now you are preoccupied with the constant deliverables to be completed with insane schedule demands (leaving no time or energy to cultivate your skills outside of work, which is a must for cultivating one's career.)

Moreover, and which makes "being someone's bitch" a very apt expression, the number of excess hours that you are asked/forced to work on a regular basis is inversely proportional to the quality of work and management that you are subjected to. Bad management (systemic and systematic) and abuse go in tandem with excessive over time mandated on a regular basis.

So if we are clear that, in general, this is a dysfunctional and unhealthy software-related work behavior, why would one put up with it? Mostly a person would do so because he/she has no that many alternatives (for whatever reasons.) If a person had alternatives, would he/she made the switch, no? Or would that person still stay at such noxious environment on his/her own free will despite having better alternatives?

And if such a person does not have that many alternatives, doesn't that mean then that the control he/she has in his/her career is limited (for internal or external factors or whatever the case may be)? Or are you disagreeing that there is no relation between these two?

The reality is that few get to choose their own destiny, some people get stuck doing long hours, and some (such as in the mining industry) choose it deliberately in exchange for other benefits.

We are not talking mining industry, or anything other than software for that matter. My comment is specific for software development. Of course there are other lines of jobs in which you have no choice (I used to flip burgers at McDonalds once when I first came to this country, so I know.) And in mining, the rewards are sufficient to compensate for the hard labor (which does not include working excessive O/T on a regular basis.

But I repeat, this discussion is not about work in general, but about software development (and the work conditions related to that) specifically. And you have your choices, your options, all of them depending on how you develop your career.

Simply put, work conditions in general (as in outside of software-related industries) are not a topic that I ever discussed here. Bringing it up is a nice straw man, though.

Postgraduate students do it, Medical registrars do it, other doctors new to a practice do it,

True dat. Those fields, however, are not what is being discussed here.

some software developers do it.

This is a fact I'm not denying (despite you

Additionally, GMO toxins have been detected in the blood of fetuses, potentially effecting development.

Surely you mean " Affecting ".

Yes, I'm a grammar talib. Problem?

Additionally, GMO toxins have been detected in the blood of fetuses, potentially effecting development.

Surely you mean " Affecting ".

Yes, I'm a grammar talib. Problem?

Language changes over time. In fact, the OED agrees with the more modern definiton. Dictionaries cannot agree if it can mean to injure even.

Since the OED is a paid site, here is another one referencing the OED defintion.

http://www.wordreference.com/definition/electrocute

That's potentially a point. I was going off of this dictionary entry that says "Percent can take a singular or plural verb, depending on how the quantity being described is viewed. Very often what determines the form of the verb is the noun nearest to it. Thus one might say Eighty percent of the legislators are going to vote against the bill or Eighty percent of the legislature is set to vote the bill down. In the second sentence the group of legislators is considered as a body, not as individuals. When percent is used without a following prepositional phrase, either a singular or plural verb is acceptable." (answers.com)

I started looking at this thread and gave up based on boredom... :-)

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=30630

http://www.wordreference.com/fren/manger

Yeah, I hate it when they try and appease me with those propitiatory batteries. They could at least send flowers as well.

but though much a grin

I read that about 20 times trying to figure out what it said... finally, I decided that I think you meant "to my chagrin".

GreenwichMeanTime.com and this thread from WordReference.com

Then there is this page from the National Institute for Standards and Technology. To quote the first line from the question about what is 12 A.M. and 12 P.M.:

The answer is that the terms 12 a.m. and 12 p.m. are wrong and should not be used.

Satisfied?

1. To give a name or title to.
2. To furnish with a right or claim to something: The coupon entitles the bearer to a 25 percent savings. Every citizen is entitled to equal protection under the law.

1. give a title to
2. give a title to someone; make someone a member of the nobility
3. give the right to

1. To give a title to; to dignify by an honorary designation.
2. To bestow the right to do (to own, to demand, or to receive) something, to someone.
3. To give a title to a book, film, play, etc.

In the second sentence of my first post on this tangent I said "A renewable resource is one that we humans can currently cause to be renewed through our own actions" so your assertion that I didn't make it clear is without merit. Also here's a common definition of renewable for you "capable of being renewed; replaceable." that appears at both http://dictionary.die.net/renewable and http://www.wordreference.com/definition/renewable

You're thinking of "Pray Tell", I believe.

Maybe they felt that having name that sounds like mucus in Spanish wasn't for them (Yes, I know this has been mentioned before, but I still can't get over it. The US has a large Latin population, and I think they're shooting themselves in the foot with that name).

Please see this thread (if you can read French) for more info

I'll be damned, you aren't even making that up...

http://www.wordreference.com/fren/teton

Moko has an unfortunate homonym “moco”; if it manages to live that one down, however, here's hoping it has ssh.

We don't have a separate word in English derived from liberty to refer to an object's status, but the French do

We don't have (as many) gendered nouns either. I suspect that the use of the French libre in this context may be not much less ambiguous than our usage. Aha, so in France, Free Software is "unattached". Who knows, maybe it's even "unmarried". Not being a native French speaker, I have no idea what the non-geek Francophone would think upon hearing the phrase "logiciel libre". Maybe they think of Lady Liberty, or maybe they think it was stolen, as in "we liberated supplies".

No. I must maintain, It's just a huge pile of PC BS. The most common definition in English is the same as gratis, and this pisses off the politicos in the movement. They want you to think that their techno-socialism has something to do with liberty, when plainly it's quite the opposite.

Sorry for the late reply.

Sometimes shit happens, and that is called an unavoidable accident. How often do the events you mention actually occur?

Now that I'm typing this, I realize that you're right. It's pointless to advocate or force better driver training since it'll never happen as long as technology provides a promised, no-effort solution.

It's kind of like using unpatched Windows as an operating system: "Sure, my machine got pwned, but it's not my fault, it's Microsoft's!"

(Which incidentally leads me back to the reason why MS is so popular for some businesses: If eff-ups happen, it's not our fault, the computer made me do it!. It's blame deflection/transferral.)

viable A adjective 1 viable capable of life or normal growth and development;

Ah, a spelling Nazi
.
Let's see how many sources cite my spelling:
Here's the first few
http://www.wordreference.com/definition/apposable/
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/apposable/
http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/APPOSABLE/
http://dictionary.laborlawtalk.com/apposable/
http://www.alphadictionary.com/wordnet/a/apposable .html/
http://www.webster-dictionary.net/definition/Appos able/
What did we learn in class today ?
There is more than one 'correct' way to spell many words

You are thinking of "infection" only in the biological meaning. Wrong. According to wordreference.com, infection can mean:

moral corruption or contamination;

So, depending on the point of view, DRM can be an infection.

LEGAL DISCLAIMER: English isn't my first language. Actually, it's my third language.

OK. Here's one for you.

http://www.wordreference.com/conj/ESverbs.asp?v=co njugar

Glad to help.

I don't get it. Technologist is a real, valid word: http://www.wordreference.com/definition/technologi st

Maybe big government would have taught you to spell hypocrite? And don't say it's because you're not a native speaker as it's the same in French.

Must not have been any Spaniards at that observatory... at least none with any clout.

Unless there are and they're planning to name it something else later.

Interestingly enough, abd is both the Arabic word for slave and for persons of Sub-sahara African descent i.e. "black people." Link. This is probably due to the slave trade historically practiced by Muslims (note: not on Muslims, but by Muslims). Link.

the world's longest (in length) flight

I'm wondering whether there can be other types of length where this flight cannot be the longest one.

http://www.wordreference.com/definition/leverage

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=leverage

http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Diction ary&va=leverage

Umm, comprehendible (yes, he should have spelled it with an i and not an a) is a perfectly valid word.

Funnily? I can not remember going over this word in English class.
So the only words that you think exist are the ones you were taught in class? Do you realise that there are a lot more words in English than can be taught in any class?
It's one thing to complain when people mangle existing words, and use them in contexts where they don't apply, or make up sentences with weird grammar or punctuation, because then it gets (slightly) confusing. It makes no sense to object to a perfectly constructed word that is consistent with the way English words are usually formed, and has no chance of misinterpretation whatsoever.
Oh, and FWIW, funnily is a word.

Quote: in both [English and Latin], the spoken words are emitted from the caudal orifices of the speakers

Have you stopped to think what a caudal orifice is, or where is it located?

Now I understand why I always have this funny accent when speaking English... in my mother language, the spoken words are just emitted from the mouth of the speakers. So many years attending language courses, and nobody ever told me!

Well, in French, "beta" (which is properly accentuated actually: béta), means "a little stupid" (the linked translation is a bit harsh compared to the actual usage).

So while it's not the meaning software development assigns to it, it's the meaning most people will get, which I think is probably quite adequate.

For other worldwide users, your point is unfortunately quite valid. The traditional milestones should be replaced as follows for the general public (of course more typing will be required but after all macros can be build in IDEs) :

alpha: testing-version
beta: testing-version
final: testing-version
2.0: buggy (might work in some cases)

(disclaimer: I run alpha and beta software in specific cases in production)

This statement does not gybe with your faith in the Nanny State.

Let's skip Rush Limbaugh / Ann Coulter / Sean Hannity terms like "Nanny State."

I have faith that people can get out of poverty if given some assistance. I don't believe that impoverished people with no assistance can often move up the socio-economic ladder. Where there is little spending on social programs, those born into poverty usually die impoverished and those born into affluence usually die affluent.

By the way, I believe that the verb is spelled "gibe" or "jibe" when referring to consistency. The spelling "gybe" refers to something shifting from one side of a ship to the other.

See: http://www.wordreference.com/definition/jibe

"Xerox is a trademark and as such only Xerox has the right to use or grant use of "Xerox"."

Sorry, Big X. The horse is already out of the barn on this one.

Like everyone else, I call kleenex kleenex, no matter what the brand. Even if it is Kleenex brand Kleenex, with the capital K. Like everyone else, I know Nintendo is a latecomer to the videogame industry, and it is just one "videogame" among many offerings from many companies.

Photocopying was commonly called xeroxing before the Xerox company started to throw fits about it. See this definition page.

Its a valid word in French...

http://fr.wordreference.com/fr/en/translation.asp? fren=touareg&v=b

"Calamar" is the Spanish word for squid, so it seems a mixture of both French and Spanish. Has Lucas been at the Pyrenees recently?

So DJB was talking about distributing, and not fishing?

Actually, there's nothing wrong with it. My guess is that the version omitting the z is the English version and the one with the z is the American, as in Britain we tend to use the s rather than the z in words similar to this, ie desensitise, moralise, formalise.