Monday, April 5, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Why isn't the word "white" capitalized when referring to the race?

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 10:53 AM PDT

I was surprised to find that there's a growing convention of capitalizing the word "black" when referring to the race, i.e.:

A Black person.

I thought this was wrong, because I thought it was only proper nouns, like cultures, nationalities and ethnicities, that were to be capitalized. Black denotes a race, and nothing more, as there are many nationalities, cultures and ethnicities that fall within the black race. Calling black a culture or ethnicity would be reductive.

However, this capitalization rule apparently applies to race as well; see the 10th item here.

If this rule is in fact true, then that means black is to be capitalized when denoting a person of the black race. It also means that white is to be capitalized when denoting a person of the white race. Caucasian, which is a word denoting a race, is capitalized. It is a synonym to white.

So, if Caucasian is capitalized, and if people want black to be capitalized when referring to race, why isn't white supposed to be capitalized? Is white not a race? I'm no biologist, nor anthropologist, but if white is too genetically broad to be considered a race, then I'm pretty sure black would be too.

Meaning of the word "any" in this sentence

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 10:46 AM PDT

An important legal result hinges on the meaning of the word "any" in this sentence:

If the debtor is ineligible for any exemption, the [result occurs].

One party argues that this sentence means: As long as the debtor is eligible for at least one exemption, the [result occurs].

The other party argues that this sentence means: If the debtor is ineligible for at least one exemption, the [result occurs].

Which is correct, and why?

Is there a difference between "seeks" and "tries"?

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 10:25 AM PDT

I am seeking guidance on using seek vs try when speaking.

This sentence is talking about what a research study is attempting to discover:

A flu challenge study tries to understand what happens when a person is infected with flu virus and how the body controls the infection.

or

A flu challenge study seeks to understand what happens when a person is infected with flu virus and how the body controls the infection.

Is there a difference?

Using "rehabilitaiton" and "physical therapy" as synonyms?

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 09:57 AM PDT

May I use rehabilitation and physical therapy interchangeably, as synonyms? Repeating "physical therapy" multiple times in a sentence decreases readability. The context is physical rehabilitation after a traumatic injury. Patients rehabilitative care is described by their physical therapy use (this includes relatively similar terms like occupational therapy and exercise therapy).

Could you please give me some hints on how to proceed with this question?

Is there a single word or expression for the 'wtf face'?

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 08:30 AM PDT

I am trying to incorporate the "wtf face" as a reaction to some dialogue but other than stating this as is, I am not sure how to describe this expression without getting unnecessarily convoluted and ruining the pace of the dialogue.

To keep this clear, there are two main variations of the wtf face I am focusing on here:

  1. The first one is the frown wtf face: https://youtu.be/9n46CtDmKOg?t=3
  2. The second is the smile wtf face: https://youtu.be/s3hKrpKRjsY?t=15

Of course as any expression, every person will have a slight variation of this, but just as when saying "smile" or "cringe" gives a fairly concrete idea of the expression, I am looking for something similar, since in most cases it is the reaction that matters not whether the character is smiling or just frowning since their personality should suggest this to the reader anyway eg. are they a smug smiler or a genuine smiler? Has anyone previously used this expression before or have suggestions how to use it?

A question about figures of speech

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 07:58 AM PDT

Is any inversion of the usual syntactic word order considered anastrophe/hyperbaton?

Sometimes we come across inversions in ordinary writing that need not be necessarily literary in tone— can we apply these labels to writings in such cases too?

Meaning of "sick-fit"

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 07:56 AM PDT

I recently came across with a religious text of the english Puritan theologian Edward Polhill (1622-1694). Here is a passage from it:

"Satan may hold up his pardoned sins, as it were in their old guilt; the arrows of God may stick fast in him, and bring qualms and sick-fits upon his conscience: but at that day his comforts shall be unvariable; a nightless day, and a cloudless horizon;"

I would like to know the meaning of the word "sick-fits". I am not a native english speaker and could not find that idiom in any dictionary.

Is the article an correctly used here

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 06:52 AM PDT

Here is the first sentence from an economic article:

"According to STATS's preliminary estimates, broadly in line with expectations, GDP has fallen by 12.1% YoY in February 2021, following an 11% YoY drop in January 2021."

Is article "an" in bold face in the above sentence correct? Should not it be "the" instead? since the 11% is specific not general. It is that 11% of january which we know.

If "an" is correct then what is the rational for it?

How should I use possessive chain

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 05:08 AM PDT

I am not sure if the following uses are correct. I just want to lay emphasis on 'there are many concepts and this is only one of them'. Should/Can I use "of" phrase twice?

  1. "This concept is just tiny one of many basis of the modern programming languages, although the answer is very simple"

  2. " This concept is just the modern programming languages' tiny one of many basis, although the answer is very simple"

I prefer the first usage for now but how should the correct usage be?

Is there a sense of "caravanserai" which includes an elaborate transportation - such as of a circus?

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 04:10 AM PDT

The OED lists only one non-metaphorical sense of the word caravanserai - (from caravan - etymology Persian).

A kind of inn in Eastern countries where caravans put up, being a large quadrangular building with a spacious court in the middle.

This is endorsed by Wikipedia which provides much the same meaning.

However I have most often heard caravanserai used to describe a motley transportantion on a number of vehicles - such as of a circus moving from one place to the next. Of course a caravan was originally: A company of merchants, pilgrims, or others, in the East or northern Africa, travelling together for the sake of security, esp. through the desert. So the notion of transportation was inherent to the word's beginnings. Hence I am puzzled by the idea of caravanserai being a fixed building or settlement.

Consider the following use - which accords entirely with the way I have most often heard the word used in Britain- from Six Wives: the Queens of Henry VIII by David Starkey (London 2003) p.230.

It was in any case a day of upheaval at Court as it was the beginning of the Progress. The whole courtly apparatus of 'portable magnificence' - the tapestries and cushions, jewels and plate, household utensils and the King's own clothes, bedding and travelling library, medicine chest and personal petty-cash - had been packed into their special bags, boxes and chests and loaded on to carts. The carts had been covered with bear hides to protect them against the elements and the great caravanserai of the Court stood ready to depart from Greenwich to the first port of call of the Progress: Waltham Abbey in Essex.

This seems to refer, as I would have expected, to the travelling body rather than to anything fixed.

Why are there so many restrictions on /ŋ/ in English?

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 03:49 AM PDT

In (GA, SSBE) English, the phoneme /ŋ/ (in ring) seems to have so many restrictions:

  • it rarely occurs after /u:/, if at all: the only word that I have been able to find in which /ŋ/ occurs after /u:/ is mung/moong
  • rarely occurs after /ʊ/: as in loong, boong and occurs instead of /ʌ/ in dialects where /ʌ/ is pronounced /ʊ/ (mainly Northern British)
  • /ŋ/ never occurs in the start of a syllable in English
  • rarely (or never?) occurs after /aɪ/
  • rarely (or never?) occurs after /aʊ/
  • rarely occurs after /eɪ/
  • rarely (or never?) occurs after /ɔɪ/
  • almost never occurs after /əʊ/

Another phoneme that has many restrictions is /ʒ/ but I assume it can be attributed to the fact that /ʒ/ is not a native phoneme and I am not interested in that phoneme. (There is also /h/ with many restrictions, but I am not interested in that either.)

Is there any reason why /ŋ/ has so many restrictions?

Problem with prepositions Up down? below under? [migrated]

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 02:10 AM PDT

enter image description here

I dont know what to call them, Up counter, down counter, undercounter, top counter? I dont know which preposition to use. What do natives call them?

I hope you understand my question,

Feel free to correct mistakes

What's this usage of comma, separating of a list of independent clauses?

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 04:40 AM PDT

This is a sentence from the book "The Brothers Karamazov" (page 8):

He spent a disorderly adolescence and youth: he never finished high school; later he landed in some military school, then turned up in the Caucasus, was promoted, fought a duel, was broken to the ranks, promoted again, led a wild life, and spent, comparatively, a great deal of money.

I am totally lost in these commas living in the middle because from my analysis, things are like this: all the separations are a list of something for the giveaway of the last ", and", but I don't understand what are these separations exactly are. Are they independent clauses delibarately missing the subject "he" or something else?

Around 1970 in Britain, was this use of 'shall', in 'You shall go (=I let you go)', already out-of-date in daily conversation?

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 10:26 AM PDT

A striking grammatical difference between BE and AE is the various uses of auxiliary verbs (now, modal verbs) of will and shall. When I was a high school boy studying English without any chance of speaking English, we were taught in the English grammar class a special use of shall, used particularly in the second and third persons 'to represent the will of the speaker' rather than that of the subject as in 'You shall have the money tomorrow' often paraphrased into 'I will give you the money.' Some more examples are found in Collins Grammar on the web:

  • The president shall hold office for five years.
  • Member states shall decide the conditions for granting access to the labour market for the applicant.

But I am not speaking about this use usually seen in regulations or legal documents, but sentences to imply a command, promise or threat made by the speaker. Some examples are cited in Wikipedia:

  • You shall regret it before long. (speaker's threat)
  • You shall not pass! (speaker's command)
  • You shall go to the ball. (speaker's promise)

And another is also given in Leech's Grammar (1987).

  • Good dog, you shall have a bone when we get home.

These four examples suggest that this is in actual use even today. But, from my own long experience of studying English, I have assumed that around 1970 in Great Britain, this special use of shall was already out-of-date or old-fashioned in daily conversation or informal writings. Can I have some guidance about my assumption, or some information or data on this special use of shall?

a person who is proud of being wrong

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 07:11 AM PDT

How do you describe a person who is proud of being wrong /someone who revels in not knowing the correct answer to a simple question? I think it might be 'inverted ....' but all suggestions welcome.

What are the compare and contrast between traditional parts of speech and word class in linguistic? [closed]

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 01:02 AM PDT

So, we all know "Part of speech" and "word class" mean the same thing, but the traditional term is "part of speech," while modern linguists often use the term "word class." But parts of speech is divided into eight parts. And in word class we found 4 that is Noun, verb, Adjective and Adverb. There must be some similarity and difference between traditional parts of speech and modern linguistic word class.

Can we use the definite article (the) with the word "reception" when it means an office or a desk?

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 09:39 AM PDT

Suppose in all the sentences below, by reception I mean the place or the office that visitors go to.

Take, for example, these sentences:

  1. Please get your keys from the reception.
  2. Please get your keys from reception.
  3. I asked the man at reception.
  4. I asked the man at the reception.

Which ones are correct?

Is it wrong to use the definite article here? Why?

What is it called when people, e.g. computer programmers, pronounce, say, 65,536 as 'sixty-five, five, thirty-six' i.e. omitting 'thousands' etc?

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 04:13 AM PDT

I heard on ELU that computer programmers often pronounce long numbers like that. What is that method of saying the numbers called? How common is it? What is the point of it? What are the pros and cons of it?

65,536 was pronounced 'sixty-five, five, thirty-six'.

Source: "In computing contexts, we frequently read out large numbers with the "units" omitted. For example, 65,536 is read as "sixty-five, five, thirty-six", which is an abbreviation of "sixty-five thousand" five hundred thirty-six". – Canadian Yankee Apr 1 at 18:19"

Here: How do I say whether or not a number was pronounced like a telephone number (or zip code). Are there words for this?

Here's corroboration: "I find it really hard to imagine anyone saying "two-five-six-K" to me in speech, and if anyone did, I'm sure I would give them a mildly alarmed look. "Two-fifty-six-K" is very different, because that's a common alternative to "two hundred and fifty-six" (and I should have noted that in my first comment!) – Yee-Lum Dec 14 '15 at 17:22"

Here:Saying a number digit by digit

Single word for "led my team to victory"

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 06:00 AM PDT

I need to submit my achievements for purpose of an interview. But the questionnaire format is such that I need to use as few words as possible.

I want to convey "led my team to victory in ABC XYZ competition".

Is there a way to write this as "<word> in ABC XYZ competition"?

Edit:

  1. yes, a shorter punchier phrase would work
  2. ABC XYZ is a fitness competition within the company i was working, where we had to log our daily activities, worth double when we did in group. We were organised into teams of 8 each. My role was to nudge people into doing more, and encouraging them to work out in groups.

Sentences for jobs and industries

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 04:06 AM PDT

  1. Can I say "I'm in social services. I'm a clerk."? for "I work in the social service sector as a clerk."

  2. Can the former part of the above first quoted sentence be changed to "I am in social services." (no longer short form)?

  3. What does it mean by "in accounts" in this sentences "He's in accounts. He gets the money from customers and pays everyone that the company owes money to."?

  4. Is it correct to say that "I'm in (industry)" and "I'm a (job)?

What is a word for someone who is not the sole decision maker?

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 09:01 AM PDT

For example, a parent can be the decision maker over a child's actions if under the age of 16. They can be a sole decision maker, active in making decisions for the child.

But, what is someone who does not make all the decisions - kind of like a co-parent, but more general. Co-decision-maker. More passive, someone who consults another individual before making the decision or works in harmony with someone rather than taking control and making all the decisions.

"Such-and-such (a)" + singular noun

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 08:01 AM PDT

I've found both versions, She lives in such-and-such a street AND She lives in such-and-such street

Are both uses of the determiner? Which is the right one?

OED entry for such

An "increase of" vs. "increasing of"?

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 05:00 AM PDT

Before I always though that, because word "increase" is a noun, I should use it. But just recently I've seen someone using "increasing of" too. And at first, I thought that it isn't correct, but then I discovered that "increasing" is a gerund. So which way is right?

Which sentence is correct and why? with 'to' or without 'to'

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 03:01 AM PDT

  1. All I can do is to tell her not to go out during the weekend.

  2. All I can do is tell her not to go out during the weekend.

How does one properly hyphenate compound adjectives that are locations?

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 01:02 AM PDT

Compound adjectives preceding a noun are hyphenated, but how does one properly hyphenate locations? Please include sources.

E.g.

hyphenated, compound adjective: state-of-the-art technology

city, state compound adjective: Denver, Colorado-based company

location with multiple words: Mountain View, California-based company

example options:

  • Denver-Colorado-based

  • Denver, Colorado-based

  • Denver-, Colorado-, based

  • Denver-based, Colorado-based,

How to indicate that verification/correction is requested in the document

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 02:05 AM PDT

I've been tasked to write a document (like a wiki) about an application for work. I don't know much about the app, other than what I'm understanding by reading the source code and minimal business requirements. As such, there are some assumptions I'm making in the document that I want verified/clarified by anyone reading it who knows more about that particular feature. Is there some kind of "grammatical feedback" (kind of like when people use (sp?) to indicate that they are unsure of a word spelling) that I could use to annotate a particular phrase or word?

For instance:

This controller provides [access to the following CRUD operations ] (unsure of bracketed text)

Thanks.

Saying a number digit by digit

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 02:51 AM PDT

Is it okay in an informal conversation to say a number digit by digit?

For example, is it okay to say "two five six kilobytes" instead of "two hundred and fifty-six kilobytes"?

'confusion matrix' for English phonemes

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 10:11 AM PDT

Is there a measure of distance somewhere that tells me that certain phoneme A is more "distant" or "different" to phoneme B than it is to phoneme C in English?

For example, that the phoneme /k/ is more close to phoneme /t/ that it is to /a/. (random values to create an example)

Edit: As suggested by @Mitch, this is actually a 'confusion matrix' for English phonemes. Can anyone point to one of such tables?

Have you done your marketing today?

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 02:48 AM PDT

The first thing that comes to my mind when I hear the term marketing is a word that is related to advertising, business and commerce. A colleague once said to me that she went to do some marketing. I came to realise that she meant shopping for grocery in the supermarket, only after dwelling further onto the subject. But this is something that is rarely used in such context based on my own personal experience.

My question is: Is the usage of the term marketing in the literal sense still appropriate in the English speaking community?

What is meaning of "a long way from being"?

Posted: 05 Apr 2021 07:32 AM PDT

Question: Is it bad?
Answer: "I've suggestions but this is a long way from being bad"

What does this a long way from being mean? Does it mean "much more than just bad" or does it mean "not bad at all"?
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