Friday, April 16, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Looking for synonyms for fitness enthusiast

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 10:22 AM PDT

In my native language, there's a term for a person who works out and enjoys it, but does not incline towards extremes. Works out regularly, but in moderation, to stay healthy and also because they enjoy the process. No dictionary can help me with this. Fitness enthusiast is the best fit I could find so far by googling around this term, but doesn't it carry a slightly negative connotation, like a "fitness freak"? Do you have a positive word for this kind of a person in English?

Why is "soccer" pronounced with a hard "c"?

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 09:44 AM PDT

I have seen that in "soccer", the 'c' is pronounced as 'k', though it is followed by 'e'. The word "soccer" comes from "(As)soc(iation football) + -er". But even in "Association", the 'c' is followed by 'i' and is pronounced as 's'. The what is the reason for the 'k' pronunciation in "soccer"?

SMS or Text Message or Text

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 09:07 AM PDT

Which of the these terms is more common/natural to use? Are there differences in terms of formality or meaning to consider?

A question about "than"

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 08:58 AM PDT

I want to say

  • We identified a protein molecule ABC, the expression level of which was significantly lower in cell X than (the expression level) in cell Y.

Is this the correct to omit "the expression level" in ()?

Thanks!

Tenses: Choose the correct option to compete the sentence [closed]

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 08:46 AM PDT

  • How long ... in this city?
  • For two years already.

a) do you live

b) have you lived

c) did you live

d) are you living

Choose the correct option to complete the sentence: [closed]

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 07:54 AM PDT

They bought an old ... factory and turned it into a really trendy space popular with local hipsters.

a) worn

b) ruined

c) rusty

d) run-down

Is there an idiom/phrase that describes the act of trying to fix something unfixable?

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 06:39 AM PDT

Most of you probably heard the phrase "gild the lily", which describes the act of trying to improve something that is already perfect.

What I'm looking for is the opposite of that, is there a phrase/idiom that describes the act of trying to repair something that is ruined beyond repair?

The phrase "beat a dead horse" comes to mind, but to me, it feels like it describes the act of carrying on trying to fix something when it's too late to do so.

Could the “days” be remove in this sentence？

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 04:47 AM PDT

"The announcement late on Monday came just days after Ma's online shopping giant Alibaba was hit with a record $2.8 billion antitrust fine." In the above sentence, the "days after" could be replaced with "after". If it couldn't be replaced, I want to know the "day" is whatcomponent in the sentence.

why doesn‘’t the word "but" mean the oppositional relationship in this sentence?

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 08:41 AM PDT

I've read a sentence from the economist,as follows:

THE LATEST monthly employment report, published on April 2nd, painted an impressive picture: over the previous month America created more than 900,000 jobs. That figure, the strongest since August, reflects the state of the economy in the first half of March, when the surveys took place. But a look at "high-frequency" economic data for more recent weeks, on everything from daily restaurant diners to Google-search behaviour, suggests that, since then, the recovery has if anything accelerated further. America's post-lockdown boom has begun.

I couldn't see the negation meaning in the word "But".Because I think the two sentences which is before and after "But" both mean that the economy was developing very well, and the word "but" seems not to mean oppositional relationship . I wonder whether it should be replaced by the word "and"?

I'd appreciate it if you could help me out with this question.Thank you!

Help understand the structure of the sentence

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 02:35 AM PDT

Please help analyze the 2nd sentence from The seven habits of Highly effective people by Stephen R. Covey. ISBN 978-1-7608-5682-3.

Habit 1: Be proactive

The reflection of the current social paradigm tells us we are largely determined by conditioning and conditions.

While we have acknowledged the tremendous power of conditioning in our lives, to say that we are determined by it, that we have no control over that influence, creates quite a different map.

Question

  1. What are the subject, verb, and object in the second sentence?
    The verb is creates so the subject must be a singular noun or a clause. Which one is the subject?

  2. What are the functions of those "that we are" and "that we have"? Are they relative pronouns or a clause?

  3. What are conditioning and conditions? The words pop out out of the blue, so I suppose those are well-known words with definite meanings for native speakers but no idea what they are.

Is an indefinite article necessary in this context: "A group of [...] (a) group which [...]"?

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 01:50 AM PDT

Exact context is: "... a number of people had been demanding [...], (a) group which became more vocal as [...]" Alternatively: "... a group of people had been demanding [...], (a) group which became more vocal as [...]"

Personally I believe omitting the indefinite article makes the sentence flow better, but a friend has suggested it is incorrect. Are there any rules on the inclusion of articles in this context?

Thank you.

What is the meaning of 'as with that' in the following sentence?

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 04:44 AM PDT

'As with the stripping down of the former high building of the Hotel Ukrainia, Kiev was the testing bed for a new pared-down form of Metro decoration and, as with that, the first examples just look like Stalinist stations that have been denuded of some of their fancy dress, rather than any kind of distinctive new style.'

Could the phrase refer to the example given at the beginning of the sentence, ie. as was the case with the stripping down of the former high building of the Hotel Ukrainia?

Thank you.

Question on use of the 'first' conditional in the past (no modal involved)

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 02:27 AM PDT

Which conditional is this?

If John did not come to work yesterday, he was probably ill.

I would hazard a guess that it is a first conditional as there is a fair probability that John being ill was actually the reason for not coming to work, however all the references I have indicate that the first conditional is for the future only.

Thanks for any comments / explanations!

Edit - a context for clarity: I had imagined a conversation between two work colleagues for example:

Bob: I couldn't get the numbers I needed from John yesterday as he was out of the office. Bill: Hmm. If John was out of the office, he was probably ill. I'll check whether he is back today and if he is not, I'll find some numbers for you

Noun meaning "something that stays the same"

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 05:22 AM PDT

What is a word for "something that stays the same"?

Like an antonym for "a change".

Similarity? Continuity? Sounds off.

Ex:

While ABC was a change, XYZ was a __.

This quarter, while ABC changed, XYZ was a __.

(To mean that XYZ stayed the same)

Is "Drawn" adjective or verb in "Beth felt strangely drawn to this gentle stranger"

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 05:44 AM PDT

To feel drawn. Is "Drawn" used as an adjective or a verb in this sentence "Beth felt strangely drawn to this gentle stranger".

The trick here is to identify whether "draw" can be used as a verb after feel. It is usually the case that an adjective is used after "feel", for example: "I feel good", "Mike feels bored". Looks like even in your example you are using "attracted" as an adjective: Beth felt strangely attracted to this gentle stranger. So is it legitimate to use a verb after "feel"?

Did Charles Dickens make a mistake at the beginning of Ch 3 of 'A Tale of Two Cities

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 02:33 AM PDT

I am coming back to Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities after many years and noticing things I had not noticed before. At the beginning of Chapter 3 he writes:-

A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret mystery to every other. A solemn consideration, when I enter the city by night, that every one of those darkly clustered houses encloses its own secret; that every beating heart in the hundreds of thousands of breasts there, is, in some of its imaginings, a secret to the heart nearest it.

What does the mysterious message of this paragraph mean? Who is thinker that is thinking these thoughts, if not the messenger, Jerry Cruncher, taking his message "recalled to life" back to its designated recipient? But can he possibly be first person author of "the dear book I loved"?.

None of these is the question I have. Mine is about grammar or punctuation. Are these two sentences sentences at all, when each lacks a main verb? (this does not appear to be a printer's error).

I could try to think of it as an exclamation (as in "what a wonderful fact to reflect upon, with "that..." as explanatory of the "fact"). Or perhaps I should assume an ellipse and understand

wonderful fact to reflect on, that ... etcetera.

But that does not not seem right either. It is deliberately a mere sentence fragment to reflect the process of thought - as opposed to communication with others? Is it, even, supposed to be that the writer of this great story is Sidney Carton himself? That seems a long stretch.

Or should we just think of it as one of those places where one of two principles can apply:

  1. Homer nutat (Homer nods )?
  2. The privilege of genius ?

I have looked up the sentence online. 'e-notes' cites the sentence but seems as unaware of a question like this, so far as I can tell. It seems to take the line that these must be what is going through the mind of Jerry Cruncher.

Cliff Notes Takes the whole chapter to relate to Jerry Cruncher, without referring to the question of grammar. The trouble is that these look far more like the thoughts Mr Charles Dickens writing about his Night Walks in the city of London. I should be happy to be told that I am straining at a gnat over the grammar.

FOOTNOTE:16/04/2021 For the first time I have just read Dickens' Preface to this novel. It seems to me to account for some of the difficulty I have had. It is worth quoting the first two paragraphs:

When I was acting, with my children and friends, in Mr Wilkie Collin's The Frozen Deep, I first conceived the main idea of this story. A strong desire was upon me then, to embody it in my own person; and I traced out in my fancy, the state of mind of which it would necessitate the presentation to an observant spectator, with particular care and interest.

As the idea became familiar to me, it gradually shaped itself into its present form. Throughout its execution, it has had complete possession of me; I have so far verified what is done and suffered in these pages, as that I have certainly done and suffered it myself.

So there is indeed a ghostly observer in Chapter 3: Charles Dickens, the author himself. Also, it shows that he does see what he is writing and how he is writing it. He is aware of doing something new: making himself a presence in the book he is writing in a way that is more subtle but nonetheless akin to the more open (and some say dull) authorial commentaries to be found in the novels of Victor Hugo. So those of you who have pointed to a sort of ius genii of a James Joyce have a point. It was exactly right. The ghostly author is present and musing in the way that we see in the sentence that puzzled me. He is present in the story itself and not, like Hugo, peering in at the window and telling us what to think.

So thank you all. I think the ghostly Dickens, and your comments, have answered my question. What the bounty, which threatens to come into play less than an hour from now, will do about this, I do not know.

Use of past tense when describing upcoming event

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 09:07 AM PDT

Barbara Kelley, executive director of the Hearing Loss Association of America, an advocacy organization, told me that she can't wait for more affordable and accessible hearing help. "I'm really excited for the market to open up to see what we got and see how people are reacting," she said.

I have encountered the sentences above in a news article featuring a regulatory change that will allow Americans to buy hearing aids without a prescription.

I can't wrap my head around why the past tense form got is used instead of are getting or will get in the last sentence.

The opening-up of the market is a future event. Indeed, that's why the "be plus -ing" form is used in the following section see how people are reacting to describe an upcoming event.

Could you provide an explanation about the use of the past tense?

P.S. The news article is not only about existing hearing aids becoming available for purchase over the counter, but also technology companies such as Apple and Bose aiming to enter the market with new types of product. So, the expression what we got appears, to me, to be referring to completely new products yet to be offered.

In order to give more context to the sentence in question, I will quote a longer version from the New York Times article.

Experts told me that when the F.D.A. moves ahead, it's likely to lead to new products and ideas to change hearing aids as we know them.

Imagine Apple, Bose or other consumer electronics companies making hearing aids more stylish and relatively affordable — with people having confidence that the devices had been vetted by the F.D.A. Bose told me that it's working on over-the-counter hearing aid technology.

Barbara Kelley, executive director of the Hearing Loss Association of America, an advocacy organization, told me that she can't wait for more affordable and accessible hearing help. "I'm really excited for the market to open up to see what we got and see how people are reacting," she said.

A word for something you give and the receiver knows you will come back to get it?

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 06:19 AM PDT

What's the word for something you give someone to ensure that you will come back to get it? For example, if you get a loan, you have to list your valuable assets so they can take those if you don't pay them back.

English Idiom equivalent of the Tamil proverb "every house has doorsteps", meaning that everyone has problems

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 04:02 AM PDT

Is there an idiom/proverb in English which is equivalent to the Tamil proverb "every house has doorsteps" (veetuku veedu vasapadi)? The meaning of it is that everyone faces problems in life that they have to deal with; no one is totally free of problems.

Let me give an example: suppose I whine "My son is doing badly in school. He is rude and impertinent. I am really concerned about his future." My friend consoles me by saying he too is dealing with his own set of problems with his children. He says "veetuku veedu vasapadi - every house has doorsteps."

Single-word/Expression/Phrase for a name which pretends to be represent a thing that it is not. Example: PATRIOT Act

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 09:02 AM PDT

"The Patriot Act is anything but patriotic, it's a _____________."

Not the greatest example depending on your political view (sorry AuthRight), but I'm going off of the interpretation that the legislation named the USA PATRIOT Act purports itself to be something you would of course support if you were a patriotic person. Despite this, many believe the PATRIOT Act to be something entirely the opposite of patriotic.

So the term should describe something intentionally deceptive (perhaps to gain psychological influence). Homonym doesn't convey this intent. Malaprop describes a mistaken intent to a similar sounding word, but not a deceptive one. Contradiction in terms or Oxymoron describe a phrase that self-contradicts, but only one between the words it uses, not its external interpretation.

Single-word, phrases, and expressions all acceptable.

As she gathered or as she was gathering

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 08:45 AM PDT

I was studying for the ACT ,and I encountered a question. There is a sentence:

  • Donna was surprised at my suggestion, but quickly began sharing my unbridled enthusiasm as she ___ the appropriate chemicals and concoctions that would soon transform me.

The question asks about what comes in place of the space (using the verb gather).

I Thought it should be are "... she was gathering...".

However, the answer given is "... she gathered..." Can someone please explain why it is past simple and not past continuous?

Are these three 'stormy' sentences synonyms?

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 09:56 AM PDT

Are "there's a storm coming" and "there's a storm approaching" a synonym of "there's a storm brewing"?

If they are, which one sounds more natural and you use frequently?

Is a constant lockdown a curfew?

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 03:49 AM PDT

I'm hearing the current measures taken during the current coronavirus pandemic referred to in the media as "curfews". To me the word "curfew" implies that people are required to behave a certain way during certain hours of the day. The definitions I've seen given tend to agree with my instinct. In other words, requiring people to be off the streets and in their homes after 6 pm or before 8 am sounds like a curfew to me, but a constant lockdown or what some are calling "shelter in place" doesn't.

n.
1. A regulation or rule requiring certain or all people to leave the streets or be at home at a prescribed hour.
2.
a. The time at which such a restriction begins or is in effect: a 10 pm curfew for all residents.
b. The signal, such as a bell, announcing the beginning of this restriction.
American Heritage Dictionary

n.
1. an order establishing a time in the evening after which certain regulations apply, esp. that no unauthorized persons may be outdoors or that places of public assembly must be closed.
2. a regulation requiring a person to be home at a stated time, as one imposed by a parent on a child.
3. the time at which a daily curfew starts.
Random House Kernerman Webster's Dicitonary

2a : a regulation enjoining the withdrawal of usually specified persons (such as juveniles or military personnel) from the streets or the closing of business establishments or places of assembly at a stated hour The city ordered a curfew to prevent further rioting.
b : a requirement that someone (typically a child) be home by a particular time Instead, [parents] should make a point of enforcing curfews and standards of behavior that reflect their family's values …— Pam Carroll
Merriam-Webster Dictionary

1A regulation requiring people to remain indoors between specified hours, typically at night. 'a dusk-to-dawn curfew'
Oxford dictionaries (at lexico.com

A curfew is an order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply.1 Typically it refers to the time when individuals are required to return to and stay in their homes.
Curfew (Wikipedia)

However it's possible that the Collins Dictionary definitions describes the current public health measures, as it doesn't seem to require a time component:

n
1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) an official regulation setting restrictions on movement, esp after a specific time at night
2. the time set as a deadline by such a regulation
Collins Dictionary

Edit: India has recently ordered people to stay off the streets between 7 am and 9 pm. Some people consider a curfew to specifically restrict movement after dark, but to me this sounds like a curfew. I guess you could describe it as a reverse curfew as people are only allowed out at night.

How can you determine whether a word with the pseudo- prefix should be hyphenated?

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 09:56 AM PDT

I am in a bit of a quandary over conflicting results in dictionary entries about the inclusion of a hyphen in some of the words containing the pseudo- prefix.

An example of one of these words is pseudoscience/pseudo-science.

The Oxford dictionary's entry omits the hyphen for the word (i.e. they spell it as 'pseudoscience').

Meanwhile, Cambridge's dictionary entry decides to place a hyphen between the prefix and 'science' (i.e. they spell it as 'pseudo-science').

Another example would be pseudo-intellectual/pseudointellectual. Oxford includes the hyphen; Dictionary.com does not.

I usually check more than one dictionary to see if a word with this prefix should be hyphenated or not. However, I am not sure which form to use in this case. Is there a way of determining which one?

Any help is much appreciated.

Meaning of "to live one's own bit"

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 04:57 AM PDT

Speaking of Richard Henry Dana, at the end of his study, D. H. Lawrence states:

Dana lived his bit in two years, and drummed out the rest.

Could we say that "lived his bit" is akin to "sow (one's) wild oats"?

When do you use "this is because" in the present tense versus "this was because" in the past tense?

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 07:57 AM PDT

I found this from a blog where the writer used this is because:

Through the experience of the DSCE, I felt like my life goal had finally been achieved, but when I desperately pleaded with God to let me back into that state, I soon realized it was almost impossible to achieve on my own. This is because I had only become partially self-realized.

Shouldn't the author have used this was because because they were referring a past event? If not, can someone please explain the rule regarding when to use this is because versus when to use this was because?

Origin of "guy" as an interjection substituting for "gosh" or "golly"?

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 04:09 AM PDT

Is anyone familiar with, or know the origin of, the use of "guy" as an interjection at the beginning of a sentence, as a substitute for "gosh!" or "golly!" (or "God"?) ?

For example:

I had never encountered this usage before, so I consulted a half-dozen standard dictionaries of the English language; two slang dictionaries (including the most recent edition of Partridge); two books on word origins; and two books specifically on interjections.

  • These examples are from between 1965–1971; to me, this implies some sort of period slang, which may only have had a brief vogue.

  • The fact that major production companies were involved in making the material suggests that the writers employed language that they felt was common enough that it would be recognized by most of their intended audience — which in all cases consisted of native English-speaking Americans.

  • That neither I, nor several other Americans I've asked can remember ever encountering this particular usage before suggests that the popularity of this usage was short-lived, and possibly also regional.

Use of "meat" vs. "flesh" in compounds

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 09:03 AM PDT

Some animals have different words for the animal and for the meat - cow/beef, pig/pork. Some animals just use the same word without any compound - fish, quail.

But some animals use compounds of the form [animal] meat, while others use [animal] flesh. I looked at the Wiktionary entry on flesh, and it didn't really explain when to use flesh rather than meat, and why it is the case.

We talk about "human flesh" not "human meat", and can use either "horse flesh" or "horse meat", and we use meat not flesh for kangaroos, dogs, whales or dolphins, all of whom tend to be "friends not food" to most English-speakers.

Is the difference that flesh used to be more common than it is nowadays, and human flesh and horse flesh entered English earlier than the other phrases? Wiktionary mentioned some uses of flesh as archaic.

(I'm aware that meat used to be used for all food, and that flesh can be used for the body of living animals, but I assume neither fact is relevant here.)

(A similar question was asked at What is the difference between "meat" and "flesh"? , but it was closed as general reference)

Use of hyphens in acronyms

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 05:52 AM PDT

PTP-SD is a type of algorithm.

PTP stands for "probabilistic tree pruning" SD stands for "sphere decoding"

PTP-SD is a type of algorithm that uses PTP with SD.

My question is about the use of the hyphen here. In the paper I am currently editing, the author has written the following:

"Increasing radii algorithm (IRA) [10] and probabilistic tree pruning with sphere decoding (PTP-SD) [11] reduces the complexity by adopting the different radii in each layer instead of fixed radii used in the literature."

In such examples, the spelled out form contains no hyphen. Is this okay? Should there be one? If so, where should it go? Why should only the abbreviation contain a hyphen but not the spelled out form?

Can you replace the present perfect continuous with present continuous when a concrete time period is specified?

Posted: 16 Apr 2021 08:43 AM PDT

As I have learnt, present perfect continuous should be used when we want to describe some activity which lasted for concrete period of time and is not finished still.

For example, "I've been waiting for her for 2 hours already" or "How long have you been waiting for her?"

These constructions (especially the question form, where 'have' cannot be shortened) look and sound rather complicated. That's why I wonder whether it's acceptable to use present continuous (especially in speech).

Another logical argument to use present continuous in question form is the analogy with questions which doesn't touch time aspects like:

What are you waiting for?

Who are you waiting for?

Why are you waiting for her?

but

How long have you been waiting for her?

So, is it acceptable to ask

How long are you waiting for her?

One more thing: does present perfect continuous add some additional hidden value, like expectation for results or anything else?
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