What I don't get...

[Buffalobiian]

I recently posted this sentence, and it's been bugging me:

"The dramatic outbursts and facial expressions are what make this show so awesome."

It sounds funny to me, because it sounds more right if it's written as

"The dramatic outbursts and facial expressions are what makes this show so awesome."

It "feels" right, but "dramatic outbursts and facial expressions" are two things, and so thinking-cap tells me the same rules as "They make this show so awesome" applies, and that it only sounded right because the part "What makes this show so awesome?" is the case in a standalone question.

So pretty much, what I can make of it is that "What" in a question is either singular, or a collective noun of all the possible answers, and hence the usage of "makes".

In my original sentence, the presence of "are" seems to suggest that "outbursts and expressions" are plural and require the plural form "make". However, the presence of "what" throws me off, thinking that they answer the "what" if the question was actually asked.

So dies the verb "make" follow "outbursts and expressions" or "what"?

[Uchiha Barles]

To me, your original sentence sounds right, and the one you think sounds right, sounds weird to me. The reason is, when you ask "What makes this show so awesome?", my answer is "A collection of things makes this show so awesome." and then I describe the items in the collection. At least, this is how I process it mentally before I change it into language. So the word "What" is always singular, within the context of this discussion. So to answer your question, "make" follows the enumeration of the items in the "collective". So it follows "outbursts and expressions" in this case. At least, in my mind it does.

[fahoumh]

Uchiha Barles is absolutely correct. The "make" follows the "outbursts and expressions" here. It's a common grammatical confusion, especially these days. Sometimes I catch myself using improper conjugations.

"...is what makes..."
"...are what make..."

[Uchiha Barles]

"Obvious troll is obvious" or "Bad poster is bad" or any statement of that format that you've undoubtedly run into on forums. Wtf are they about?

[XanBcoo]

"Obvious troll is obvious" or "Bad poster is bad" or any statement of that format that you've undoubtedly run into on forums. Wtf are they about?

It's an extension of the phrase "Longcat is long".

Longcat comes from an old picture that used to circulate 2chan and 4chan. Who knows why the tautological statement was used in the first place, but it stuck.

Since 4chan is basically a cesspool of recycled jokes, it comes as no surprise that its own little lingo is used outside of the site by kids who think they're part of some secret club.

[Dark Dragon]

I have this friend who has been like my best friend since childhood.

I occasionally see him when i get back home on break from college. I remember him being a pretty smart guy, not straight A's or anything but does decent in school.

It's been 3 years since we graduated high school and he's almost 22 now. He started his first semester of college at a local community college and barely passed with straight C's. He's been living in his parents house since he graduated and held no stable jobs during the period. When we talk, he simply said that he doesn't want to do anything and he's only going to school because he's being forced to. He doesn't do anything but stay home and watch TV shows all day, and he doesn't even want to go hang out even if i offered to pay.

He's always been a bit lazy but nothing this bad. I just don't understand how a person can have absolutely no motivation to do anything with their life.

[darkshadow]

Perhaps he doesn't have a goal in life yet, thus having no motivation to do anything?

[enkoujin]

Get him to volunteer or do activities with him that would stimulate some sort of a strong epiphany, he probably just needs some a catalyst (an awfully inspiring or traumatic one, at least) to get his gears running properly. If at all necessary, you might need to intervene radically by taking something precious from him to instigate some action inside of him (like confiscating his video games or something).

[Buffalobiian]

I have this friend who has been like my best friend since childhood.

I occasionally see him when i get back home on break from college. I remember him being a pretty smart guy, not straight A's or anything but does decent in school.

It's been 3 years since we graduated high school and he's almost 22 now. He started his first semester of college 6 at a local community college and barely passed with straight C's. He's been living in his parents house since he graduated and held no stable jobs during the period. When we talk, he simply said that he doesn't want to do anything and he's only going to school because he's being forced to. He doesn't do anything but stay home and watch TV shows all day, and he doesn't even want to go hang out even if i offered to pay.

He's always been a bit lazy but nothing this bad. I just don't understand how a person can have absolutely no motivation to do anything with their life.

I totally understand him. In fact, I can't say we're very different (but I'm probably not quite as worse as it's coming off as). I've got a job, I'm passing solidly (but I don't get my straight A's anymore), with the exception of one course this year.

Has this guy's parents pushed him a lot in his younger years to do well in school? I find that to be my own case. He (and I I suppose) probably set "do well in school" as his goal, a goal that was sort of forced onto him. Then when you finish high school, parents think "Oh good, he's graduated. I'm glad he did well. He can do whatever course he wants now. Go do it son. Since you're a university student now, I guess I should give you some freedom too."

Sudden increase in freedom, lack of any prior experiences (probably due to study and stricter parents), leaves him hanging. He doesn't have to do well in university anymore. He's not forced to do anything anymore. Since he doesn't know what he wants to do himself, life kind of just drifts by him.

[Animeniax]

I have this friend who has been like my best friend since childhood.

I occasionally see him when i get back home on break from college. I remember him being a pretty smart guy, not straight A's or anything but does decent in school.

It's been 3 years since we graduated high school and he's almost 22 now. He started his first semester of college 6 at a local community college and barely passed with straight C's. He's been living in his parents house since he graduated and held no stable jobs during the period. When we talk, he simply said that he doesn't want to do anything and he's only going to school because he's being forced to. He doesn't do anything but stay home and watch TV shows all day, and he doesn't even want to go hang out even if i offered to pay.

He's always been a bit lazy but nothing this bad. I just don't understand how a person can have absolutely no motivation to do anything with their life.

He needs a near-death or life-altering experience to change his outlook on life. Hire some thugs to kidnap him and hold him hostage for a few days. Or go for a drive with him and intentionally get in a severe wreck.

Best bet is to go pick a fight with some guys while hanging out with your friend. When your friend gets his ass kicked, it will motivate him to workout and do something with his life.

[Ryllharu]

Why there was a dead fox in my front yard when I came home.

(no apparent signs of injury)

[Kraco]

Could have died of malnutrition, poisoning, sickness, internal bleeding, or various other reasons that wouldn't be evident without an autopsy. And I suggest you don't try to perform one on a dubious dead fox. Lest we will a week from now wonder why there's a dead Ryllharu in Gotwoot's front yard.

[Ryllharu]

I'm guessing it was "softly" hit by a car and succumbed to injuries. No worries though, it was tossed into a ditch across the street using a shovel and assistance with another shovel-wielding resident.

I was very cautious. It wasn't too long ago that there was a news story about someone who went to investigate a fox struck by their car only to discover it wasn't quite dead when it latched onto their arm.

As such, this particular dead fox was poked several times with various objects to verify that it was dead.

[Buffalobiian]

Was it still warm?

[Ryllharu]

There was no way in hell I was touching it with gloved hands, much less bare hands.

[Buffalobiian]

If it's dead, why does it matter? Is there some dead-animal handling protip I'm missing?

Last time I encountered something like this was years ago when we found a non-moving possum in the middle of the road. Can't say for sure if we ran into it ourselves.

Mum ended up taking it to the ambulance station near our house because she didn't know what else to do with it (she wanted to do something about it).

We didn't hear back about it since. I'm pretty sure it died from internal bleeding.

[Ryllharu]

Is there some dead-animal handling protip I'm missing?

Your continent might be rabies free, but mine sure isn't. You just don't handle dead things here, especially when they are mysteriously dead.

Info on rabies (Australian Dept of Health)

[Buffalobiian]

Your continent might be rabies free, but mine sure isn't. You just don't handle dead things here, especially when they are mysteriously dead.

Info on rabies (Australian Dept of Health)

Yeah, it's good. Possibly the only good thing that comes out of being an isolated island/continent.

I had a hunch this was about rabies, but I ignored it when you said you all but certified it dead. Better safe than sorry huh?

[Kraco]

I don't even remember how young I was when my parents were already telling me to never touch dead animals (like birds killed by window collisions). Salmonella was mainly mentioned back then, but rabies is naturally such a horror story that it doesn't need a separate mentioning.

[Buffalobiian]

I don't even remember how young I was when my parents were already telling me to never touch dead animals (like birds killed by window collisions). Salmonella was mainly mentioned back then, but rabies is naturally such a horror story that it doesn't need a separate mentioning.

We scoop up dead birds in our yard whenever they happen to be there with pretty much zero awareness for safety. It's not like we lick them since they're dirty and all, but we don't particularly think about diseases when we're handling them.

It's usually some cat's handiwork.