Sunday, April 4, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

What does the writer mean by "ocean foam" in this context and is it a common phrase and meaning?

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 09:46 AM PDT

I've never heard the phrase "ocean foam" used in this manner, so I'm not sure of it's meaning. I think I can gather a little from the context, but I'd like to know for sure. I can only find the literal meaning from online searches.

(An Observatory Telephotographer (Beenay 25) is talking to a newspaper columnist (Theremon 762) at a scientific observatory during a possibly catastrophic eclipse when stars may be seen for the first time)

But Beenay had drawn his chair closer, and there was an expression of sudden enthusiasm on his face. 'Say, I'm glad you two got onto this subject.' His eyes narrowed and he lifted one finger. 'I've been thinking about these Stars and I've got a really cute notion. Of course it's strictly ocean foam, and I'm not trying to advance it seriously, but I think it's interesting. Do you want to hear it?

From the short story "Nightfall" written in the US in 1940 by a 20-year-old Isaac Asimov. Probably in Brooklyn, New York.
(I'm reading a 1974 "Best of" publication)

From there, the character talks about his scientific speculation, which is seemingly wondrous, maybe even far-fetched from his point of view but to the reader, It's familiar and factual (i.e. The idea of a planet orbiting a single sun, thus having a period of night).

As well as the meaning, I'd also like to know...

  • Was it a well-used phrase and meaning at the time of writing?
  • Is this phrase and meaning still in use today?

Due to or Because of

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 07:59 AM PDT

As I know Because of is an adverb which describes the verb and Due to is an adjective that describes the noun.

Could you please notify the noun and verb that each of them modifying in the following sentences?

  1. This in turn will stimulate further investment due to the multiplier effect

  2. and it is because of these health hazards that stays on the International Space Station are restricted to six months.

  3. Bamboo is a favored plant among architects and designers because of its incredible strength and durability.

Is "would love to" too colloquial for a formal email?

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 06:24 AM PDT

In a formal mail, is it too colloquial to say:

"I would love to join your group as a postdoc..."?

For me, 'like' instead of love sounds less friendly. Is this necessarily the case?

"depends upon developing" vs "depends upon development"

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 05:55 AM PDT

This is an English test item:

The human eye is nature's most fantastic organ, and the high degree of development of human society probably depends upon ......... .

a) developing of this organ

b) the development of this organ

Which choice is correct? And why is the other one not correct? Thanks

How Spanish could affect American English? [closed]

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 06:35 AM PDT

In U.S. there were large groups of different diasporas like Italians and Poles, but they all assimilated in the society. It seems that Spanish has a different story. For example, I think that Trump speaks simpler than many U.S. presidents. I think that he deliberately speaks in this way. He just wants to attract non-English speakers.So how this large minority of Spanish speakers could affect American English in the long term?

Need help with the sentence [closed]

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 05:31 AM PDT

I would like to ask which one of the following sentences are grammatically correct? And any suggestions for similar context would be greatly appreciated.

Without WikiLeaks or Julian Assange, the crimes of the empire would have been called just another 'Conspiracy theories'.

OR

Had there been no WikiLeaks or Julian Assange, the crimes of the empire would have been called just another 'Conspiracy theories'.

Best Regards, John

What "a document in madness' exactly means?

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 05:14 AM PDT

"A document in madness"

A line of Laertes in Hamlet. And in my language, the word 'document' is translated like a lesson or message...

I wonder if it is a liberal translation or 'document' actually has meaning of lesson or massage. I want to know the literal word-for-word meaning of that line.

Does it mean some kind of proof in a state of madness??

Waiting for your answers. Thanks in advance.

Word for something being calm and weird at the same time

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 06:47 AM PDT

I'm looking for a word that describes a scenario that feels both calm and odd at the same time. Like it's weird that it's so calm right now, but it is. Sort of like calm before the storm, but there may or may not be a storm. I thought it was eerie but eerie includes fear or frightening.

What's the difference between fight and battle when they are used as a verb?

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 05:42 AM PDT

I just cannot understand these two words. I have googled differences of these two words in italky, etc. And many people said "A fight is usually used for small scale things.""A battle is a large scale fight that's part of a war." But my teacher taught me the following ones are correct:

My grandfather fought in world war II.

Doctors are still battling to save the child's life.

I think war is very big scale thing.

Synonym of "formal"

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 05:04 AM PDT

As casual conversation simply means an idle chatter, I wanted to know of a word which means a "formal talk". Not completely formal, but rather a word for a conversation where people talk only for a purpose; a word which would mean "not casual, but less formal." This didn't help.

Think of a person who doesn't like making friends but can talk with others only if the conversation holds some purpose. What would be the word used to describe such a conversation?

Which type of noun is 'murder'?

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 01:17 AM PDT

I want to ask what type of noun is 'murder'. Countable-abstract, countable concrete, uncountable-abstract, or uncountable concrete.

"They told each other they had better leave" [reciprocity and distributivity]

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 04:19 AM PDT

Following the lead of Higginbotham (1985), Andrew Barss (1986) notes that examples like (1) are ambiguous.

(1a) They told each other they had better leave

(1b) John and Bill told each other they had better leave

Let's focus on (1b) for simplicity. Specifically, what is being claimed is that (1b) may convey both the distributive reading in (2a) and the collective reading in (2b).

(2a) [J told B that B should leave] & [B told J that J should leave]

(2b) [J told B that J&B should leave] & [B told J that J&B should leave]

I am not a native English speaker, but I wonder whether the availability of the distributive reading hinges on the fact that the embedded clause subject they is number-neutral, i.e. it may denote both an individual and a plurality of individuals. (Note also that each other is formally singular.)

My impression is that (3) lends itself less to such construal.

(3) We told each other we had better leave

What do you guys think?

'For' is a coordinating conjunction, but 'because' is a subordinating conjunction. Is that right? Can someone explain why?

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 09:54 AM PDT

He went to bed, for he was tired. (For = coordinating conjunction)

He went to bed, because he was tired. (Because = subordinating conjunction)

Is this correct? If so, I'm confused.

In all the examples and explanations I've found online it says 'for' is a preposition unless used in that particular way above, in which case it becomes a coordinating conjunction (FANBOYS). But to me it seems like 'for' has the exact same function and meaning as 'because' in the above example. Both could be replaced with 'due to the fact that...'

Why is 'because' subordinating but 'for' coordinating?

FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so

Grammar

Word for a day that starts out really good or bad and then something happens that makes it the opposite

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 06:26 AM PDT

Someone is having a bad (or good) day, and from the events that happened to him/her, this person thinks that the universe is against (or very good with) him/her. Then, an event happens that is so good (or bad) that it seems to make this day suddenly seem to become the opposite of what it was. It could be anything like winning the lottery, his/her crush deciding to date him/her, this same crush rejecting him/her when it seemed that such a thing wouldn't ever happen, or a relative dying. What word defines this event that seems contrary to how the day initially seemed to be? I'd like the word to be an adjective but if it can't be an adjective then I guess I'll need to accept another type of word besides adjectives. Thank you in advance.

When was the first time the word “extinction” was used in the environmental sense?

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 06:34 AM PDT

The word 'extinction' has a general meaning (= vanishing, death) and a particular one related to biology and environmental crises (the extinction of species).

According to Merriam-Webster, the first known use of the word in the general sense is the 15th century. When was the first time it was used in the environmental sense? Or is there any way to find that out?

Word for someone who is constantly yet excessively stressed

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 04:38 AM PDT

What is a noun for someone who unduly stresses? For example, a worrywart is someone who constantly yet excessively worries. However, there is a vast difference between "stressing" and "worrying," so "bundle of nerves" does not count. Therefore, a _______ is someone who constantly yet excessively stresses.

Any help is appreciated!

Need to know the difference between these questions [closed]

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 01:32 AM PDT

1 a. Do you trust them? b. Don't you trust them?

2 a. Has anyone told you what to say? b. Has someone told you what to say?

3 a. She is quite clever. b. She is quite clever, isn't she?

I need to know the difference in meaning of each one, thanks in advance

Etymology of "get off your duff"

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 07:03 AM PDT

The phrase "get off your duff" is a call to action. The recipient of this exhortation is (literally or figuratively) sitting, unmoving, and is being asked to get off of his buttocks, as seen in Entry 2.

Definition of duff

(Entry 1 of 3) 1: a boiled or steamed pudding often containing dried fruit

2: the partly decayed organic matter on the forest floor

3: fine coal : SLACK duff

(Entry 2 of 3) : BUTTOCKS get off your duff

(Entry 3 of 3) British : INFERIOR, WORTHLESS

(Source: Merriam-Webster) The same site lists the etymology:

History and Etymology for duff

Noun (1) English dialect, alteration of dough

Noun (2) origin unknown

Adjective duff, noun, something worthless, from DUFF entry 1

The Online Etymology Dictionary agrees:

"buttocks, rump," 1830s, of unknown origin. The word had a variety of colloquial, slang, or provincial senses late 18c.-early 19c., some of them at least probably related: "dough," also "stiff flour pudding" (nautical, 1840); something worthless or spurious (1781).

(Source)

This site has a discussion of the BE phrase up the duff. The accepted answer says that the OED says it is of Australian origin, and is a slang phrase for being pregnant. (BE speakers may recognize the pudding club and AE speakers would recognize a bun in the oven as euphemisms for pregnancy; this would fit well with Entry 1.)

A folk etymology could stab at dough or pudding referring to buttocks. Perhaps:

  • The resting person is torpid from eating sweet pudding.
  • The buttocks are associated with dough, either through shape or over-consumption.
  • The buttocks are associated with inferiority or worthlessness.

And a folk etymology for the association with pregnancy:

  • She is avoiding strenuous labor because of her bun in the oven by resting on her backside.

But these seem forced.

How did duff come to mean buttocks?

did onomatopoeia create verbs?

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 08:29 AM PDT

I have a brother who says that the onomatopoeia has created verbs, like, for example, the verb knock was invented because the onomatopoeia did say so. but I think it is the other way around, that first was the verb and then the onomatopoeia. Who has the reason?

Is it CoViD? Or COVID? Covid? How should the word be spelled?

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 06:34 AM PDT

I have seen it spelled COVID-19, but I have also seen Covid-19. In addition, I believe I have seen CoViD-19, capitalising only the first letter of each word from which it was abbreviated (for it isn't an initialism). Which type of capitalisation is to be preferred, and which is acceptable?

There is also DDoS, Distributed Denial of Service, which also keeps the case of each letter in the original (thought it is somewhat different from our abbreviation).

British equivalent of "taking a rain check"

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 01:19 AM PDT

Is there a British equivalent of "taking a rain check"?

It would be very useful to have a phrase that I can say to British people which means "I need to cancel and I'd like to reschedule but I can't give a specific time right now."

Is there one?

Edit: This phrase is widely recognised in the UK but very rarely used. It is usually misunderstood as meaning "I'd like to reschedule (to a specific time)".

Every day vs everyday?

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 06:24 AM PDT

So, in the next phrase:

«I miss you. That's the hardest thing I've got to deal with everyday»

  1. According to that phrase, should it be every day or everyday?
  2. Also, what's the difference between these two, could you please give me many examples?

Thank you! ❤️

electrical equipment vs electric car

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 09:59 AM PDT

Both of these things run on electricity. I can't figure out why electrical equipment can't be electric equipment? Even after some research, I can't give the proper answer.

From the movie Coriolanus, what does this sentence mean?

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 09:02 AM PDT

From the movie remake of Shakespeare's Coriolanus, during a battle scene, he said to his soldiers before leading them into a frontal assault:

  • Make you a sword of me

How to interpret this sentence?

  • I (Coriolanus) make you (his soldiers) a sword of his?
  • I (Coriolanus) make myself into a sword of yours (his soldiers')?

Thanks

I'm British, so should I take a rain cheque?

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 01:19 AM PDT

I want to write the phrase "take a rain cheque" and am British.

Should I therefore use the British spelling of the word cheque, or respect the baseball origin of the phrase "rain check" and use the American spelling?

Hip Hip Hooray!

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 07:36 AM PDT

I am looking for the etymology and history of the cheer "Hip Hip Hooray". I'm curious due to its interesting entry in Wikipedia, which reads thusly:

The call was recorded in England in the beginning of the 19th century in connection with making a toast. It has been suggested that the word "hip" stems from a medieval Latin acronym, "Hierosolyma Est Perdita", meaning "Jerusalem is lost", a term that gained notoriety in the German Hep hep riots. Another claim is that the Europeans picked up the Mongol exclamation "hooray" as an enthusiastic cry of bravado and mutual encouragement, according to Jack Weatherford's book Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World.

It's all rather intriguing! It is all the more so since the Hep-Hep anti-Semitic riots took place in 1819. Unfortunately, none of the sources cited on the Wikipedia page appear to be all that etymologically useful.

There are a couple of loosely related questions on this site; one for hip and the other for hooray. The latter carries no mention of the exotic Mongol touch.

So, in many ways, this question requests the etymology of the three different pieces of the puzzle: hip, hooray and hip hip hooray itself.

Update (for the bounty): If the anti-Semitic (and Latin) connection is/isn't a load of horse manure, then I'd appreciate (dis)confirmation as well as information (if possible) on the source of said manure. Some sites cite Gabay's Copywriter's Compendium (2006) as the point of origin of the Hep-Hep connection.

A similar request applies for hooray's Mongolian connection—Jack Weatherford's book, Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World.

Origin of the word "shill" ("shillaber")

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 09:24 AM PDT

I was recently looking up word origins for various types of tricksters, in honor of April Fool's Day. Interestingly, I couldn't find much about the word "shill" other than that its origin was around 1916 and it came from "shillaber" or "shilliber."

Wikipedia notes that "Shillaber as a surname was known in the US during the 19th Century." But then this blog says "not one of the etymological sources I've looked at considers the two connected" and offers that it might instead be a Yiddish word.

I am intrigued. Does anyone have more information about the origin of this word?

Full Steam Ahead ... malappropriated when applied to Trains?

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 09:14 AM PDT

Would the phrase "Full Steam Ahead" be appropriate to use in reference to trains? I know there where plenty of steam powered trains, but I thought it was a nautical term. Would it have been used by the Engineer (Assuming that is the name for the chief train operator.)?

"Hirable" or "hireable"

Posted: 04 Apr 2021 10:08 AM PDT

What is the correct adjective form of the word hire? I have seen references to both hireable and hirable.

I checked using Google's Ngram viewer book search and it appears that both have been in use since the 1800s with hirable becoming a bit more popular in the past decade or so:

Google ngram hirable vs hireable
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