Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange |
- Does the word "pirate" use the /aɪɚ/ phoneme, or the /aɪɹ/ phoneme?
- What's the meaning of "steal" in There Is A Pleasure In The Pathless Woods?
- Singular or plural verb form with 'What Ø the cause, progress and result of your actions?'
- Can a piece of dialogue be treated as a noun and be made plural?
- You have the watches, but we have the time
- the difference between "must have + (past participle)" and "should have + (past participle)"
- Use of an affirmative question tag
- Does ‘dark blueness’ make sense like ‘dark blue’? [closed]
- "Burning the candle at both ends" to mean being unfaithful in a relationship
- "Book something on a date" or "book for a date"
- GUarrantee vs Warranty, GUillaume vs William [closed]
- What's the Scottish equivalent of the prefix "Anglo-"?
- The semantics of "who" and "what"
- What makes be intransitive? How to tell one meaning from the other?
- Whomever vs Whoever (possessive)
- Is this use apostrophe correct? [closed]
- Using "issue" (verb) to describe fluid flow in the academic context
- "In the first instance" ... active in contemporary populations?
- Adjective describing multiple nouns
- 'Without so much as a call or a letter – he showed up.' Is this grammatically correct?
- Parallelism in clauses?
- Active to Personal Passive - what do we do with "may be"?
- Origins of "You Got This" and "Wait For It"
- Usage of "to" and "in"
- Is the “as if” in this sentence correct? I don’t think the right terms were used, it doesn’t sound right to me
- Word to describe sci-fi vibe
- Term to express a range of fluctuation
- Does an adjective apply to both nouns when they are joined with 'and' [or 'or']?
| Does the word "pirate" use the /aɪɚ/ phoneme, or the /aɪɹ/ phoneme? Posted: 02 May 2021 08:26 AM PDT I'm making a list of all of the graphemes can be used to make the phoneme /aɪɚ/ in General American.
I have questions about a grapheme that is close, but I think doesn't quite map onto the /aɪɚ/ phoneme:
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| What's the meaning of "steal" in There Is A Pleasure In The Pathless Woods? Posted: 02 May 2021 07:57 AM PDT
I don't understand the line "From these our interviews, in which I steal."  |
| Singular or plural verb form with 'What Ø the cause, progress and result of your actions?' Posted: 02 May 2021 07:42 AM PDT
Which verb should be used here, is or are?  |
| Can a piece of dialogue be treated as a noun and be made plural? Posted: 02 May 2021 06:30 AM PDT
Is this allowed, with or without the speech marks? If not is there any way to convey a similar meaning, of certain phrases being used many times?  |
| You have the watches, but we have the time Posted: 02 May 2021 09:53 AM PDT This quote is associated with the Taliban in reference to the US occupation of Afghanistan. I understand the metaphorical meaning of the quote — i.e. the point that it makes. But I am intrigued by the literal meaning. In particular, I can't work out what it means to "have the watch", nor what the "watch" refers to metaphorically. Anybody know? For the record, I've done some searches, but have only turned up explanations of the metaphoric meaning, nothing about analysis of the literal meaning.  |
| the difference between "must have + (past participle)" and "should have + (past participle)" Posted: 02 May 2021 05:48 AM PDT The following is a question from the university entrance examination held in 2013 using the DNC Japan Test. My brother ( ) have been very popular when he was a high school student. He still gets lots of New Year's cards from his former classmates. (1) must, (2) ought to, (3)should, (4) would The correct answer is (1). I wonder why (3)should can't be a correct answer. If must is an answer, should must be another answer, because both must and should have the meaning of necessity.  |
| Use of an affirmative question tag Posted: 02 May 2021 09:23 AM PDT
Is using an affirmative question tag after that sentence a sound structure or not?  |
| Does ‘dark blueness’ make sense like ‘dark blue’? [closed] Posted: 02 May 2021 05:08 AM PDT Maybe it's just a simple question. Does 'dark blueness' make sense like 'dark blue'?  |
| "Burning the candle at both ends" to mean being unfaithful in a relationship Posted: 02 May 2021 08:43 AM PDT I'm familiar with the idiom "burning the candle at both ends" to mean "to have expended oneself, in particular by staying up very very late". With this idiom I usually think of someone who has either been up all night finishing some important work, or conversely enjoying a social life that keeps them awake until the early hours. However, the other day my Gran used the expression to mean being unfaithful in a relationship, as in:
I thought it quite a funny way to describe someone cheating, but mainly wrote it off as one of those odd things my Gran says. However, Googling the idiom and the word "unfaithful" I actually found a connection. I found a paper about extramarital sex and marriage disruption with the idiom in its title, as well what looks like an advice blog which warns "Burning the candle at both ends is dangerous." with reference to the act of cheating. I dug a bit further into the origin and usage of the phrase, but I couldn't find anything which gives a definition including infidelity. The original definition seems to have been more about wasting money, candles being expensive and burning them at both ends being a way to use them faster and waste them. Over time this then morphed into the current well-known meaning, that by "burning the candle at both ends" you were rapidly spending yourself rather than rapidly spending money, and consequently you're now exhausted. Does anyone know when the idiom "burning the candle at both ends" came to include a meaning of being unfaithful in a relationship? Or is this a natural expansion of the primary meaning of the idiom and isn't a special case? I have found further uses of the phrase specifically relating to having and affair/cheating here, here, and here. I admit it's not a very common phrase for this sort of behaviour, but it does seem to be in use.  |
| "Book something on a date" or "book for a date" Posted: 02 May 2021 04:08 AM PDT Do I use on or for with a single date?
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| GUarrantee vs Warranty, GUillaume vs William [closed] Posted: 02 May 2021 02:39 AM PDT Why do some French loans have duplets beginning with /gw/ and /w/. And why do some words have correspondance English /w/ - French /gw/. Did French /gw/ became /w/ in English?  |
| What's the Scottish equivalent of the prefix "Anglo-"? Posted: 02 May 2021 07:24 AM PDT Scotch gets misused and I don't want to join those ranks if it's incorrect. Celtic seems to cover a wider area. Pictish seems to be specific to the Northeast. Gaelic I always assume to be Irish. All of them seem to have pros and cons but I'm not sure any of them are correct. Thanks. Mike. Edit: This is for the next census form. Instead of the regular "British" under nationality, I want to put Scottish-European, or the equivelent.  |
| The semantics of "who" and "what" Posted: 02 May 2021 01:54 AM PDT I think you can see the difference between these:
The difference is pretty clear. But what happens when we use the word WHAT? Does the difference remain or not?
Again, the difference is clear. At least, I see it this way: 3 I have no idea what is the thing called a problem. 4 I have no idea which thing of these is a problem. But why do natives say that these mean the same?
Technically, they should mean different things: 5 I have no idea what is the thing called the matter. 6 I have no idea which thing of these is the matter. While 1,2,3 and 4 can be easily interpreted and show the difference in meaning easily, 5 and 6 are resisting to be interpreted with the difference I mention, though, technically possible. What's the matter with them? Where does the problem lie? In the semantics of WHO and WHAT or in the semantics of the article A and THE or the word MATTER? WHat do you think?  |
| What makes be intransitive? How to tell one meaning from the other? Posted: 02 May 2021 07:29 AM PDT The STATEMENT MADE BY NATIVES:
If it's true, why is this correct?
My first language is not English and the two makes perfect sense in my language and mean different things.
Do you confirm that 1 and 2 are wrong? If you do confirm that, then we are left with these:
Do you agree that the difference in meaning should be conveyed through the word order if the objective case of pronouns is not allowed to be used?  |
| Whomever vs Whoever (possessive) Posted: 02 May 2021 02:13 AM PDT Which of these is grammatically correct?? "Whomever's application is denied will wish to re-register next year." "Whoever's application is denied will wish to re-register next year." The first half of the sentence makes "whomever" appropriate, but then the second half leans toward use of "whoever". Your thoughts would be appreciated!  |
| Is this use apostrophe correct? [closed] Posted: 02 May 2021 01:10 AM PDT I have seen some signs for sale saying Johnny's gone fishing Surely it should be Johnnys gone fishing ??  |
| Using "issue" (verb) to describe fluid flow in the academic context Posted: 02 May 2021 04:17 AM PDT I know that "issue" as a verb can be used to describe a smell flowing out from a place. However, I noticed that the authors of a research paper used "issue" as an elegant synonym for "flow".
Is this the wording that native speaker would use in an academic context?  |
| "In the first instance" ... active in contemporary populations? Posted: 02 May 2021 06:07 AM PDT On a site I happened to use the phrase "In the first instance" ... (Not that this is relevant, but notice the many upvotes suggesting that presumably it reaches baseline understandability in a typical mixed-language, mixed-age, mixed-continent SE audience.) I was utterly astounded that someone did not know the phrase, Astonishingly, more people had not heard the phrase; my total astonishment / disgust with the Youth Of Today etc. continued when an an otherwise highly literate user figured it may be "regional" or such ...! In particular: there was a (to me, completely bizarre) thought that it is more "descriptive than proscriptive" (or, something?) My questions (here on the "Excellent English SE site") are
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| Adjective describing multiple nouns Posted: 02 May 2021 08:23 AM PDT A term used in a contract stated this "Specialist oils or spark plugs may be required for your vehicle's service. Specialist oil is at a set cost of £24 whilst if recommended Spark Plugs will be quoted to you on the day of your service.", In the first sentence, does "Specialist" describe only "oils" or both "oils" and "spark plugs"? Does the second sentence clarify anything in the first?  |
| 'Without so much as a call or a letter – he showed up.' Is this grammatically correct? Posted: 02 May 2021 02:05 AM PDT Is the sentence below grammatically correct? Without so much as a call or a letter – he showed up. I know that dashes can be used to emphasize parenthetical information, but I feel as though the parenthetical element typically comes within a set of dashes or after a single dash, not before. After all, dashes typically draw attention to and emphasize what comes after (or within). Therefore, does placing a dash after a parenthetical element still draw attention to the parenthetical element, or does it draw attention to the independent clause? Is it even grammatically correct to use a dash in a sentence with a parenthetical element to emphasize the independent clause rather than the parenthetical? Here's an example of what I'm wondering: He showed up – without so much as a call or a letter. (The emphasis on "without so much..." in this sentence, yes?) Without so much as a call or a letter – he showed up. (The emphasis is on "...he showed up" in this sentence, yes? But is this grammatically appropriate? Stylistically?) Thank you!  |
| Posted: 02 May 2021 05:05 AM PDT Is it possible to have different tenses in the contrasting/comparative adverbial clauses and the main clause of the sentence OR do the verbs always have to be parallel according to parallelism? ex: While primary school students used to sit on bulky chairs two decades ago, today students enjoy orthopedic chairs. [contrasting past versus present] ex: Just like I am living with my parents now, I will be living with them 10 years from now. [comparing present with the future]  |
| Active to Personal Passive - what do we do with "may be"? Posted: 02 May 2021 04:41 AM PDT If I wanted to turn this sentence written in the active voice: "People believe he may be fired", to one with Personal passive structure, how should it sound like at the end? He is believed to ... 1) be likely fired; 2) may be fired; 3) The whole sentence should be "he is expected to be fired". Please advise which one is grammatically correct and natural, if none - I would appreciate suggestions. Thank you!  |
| Origins of "You Got This" and "Wait For It" Posted: 02 May 2021 01:56 AM PDT What are the earliest reference quotes, using the cool modern senses below, for each phrase?
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| Posted: 02 May 2021 08:08 AM PDT Consider following sentence
In the above sentence, whether it should be "to" or "in"?  |
| Posted: 02 May 2021 04:07 AM PDT Emotions stay locked away, as if an animal stuck in a barn.  |
| Posted: 02 May 2021 09:42 AM PDT I am looking for a word to describe a sci-fi, high tech vibe-- Imagine a server room with all the lights on and a dark atmosphere, or a glowing blue light on a glass floor. Example sentence: They stood on the ______ floor of the chamber, ready to travel to the West. Thank you  |
| Term to express a range of fluctuation Posted: 02 May 2021 03:01 AM PDT I am trying to make a term for a function equipped on an image sensor. The term is to express "the upper limit of fluctuation allowance in image size which is specified in %" The value of percentage does not express the ratio of the enlarged image size compared to the original image size, so for example, 150% does not mean that the sensor will only detect a 150% bigger image to the original image. Instead, it is to express the range of percentage of size fluctuation for sensor to accept to detect the shape (image) which makes 150% to mean that the sensor will detect an upscaled original image in all upscaling rate from 101% to 150%, such as a 102%, 117%, or 142% bigger image to the original image. Does any of the followings describe the concept well? If not, what is the problem?
Or,
Or, maybe "percentage" better be "rate"? Also, all of the candidates seem redundant. Any term to combine some words? Thank you in advance.  |
| Does an adjective apply to both nouns when they are joined with 'and' [or 'or']? Posted: 02 May 2021 08:24 AM PDT
Is the above sentence stating that both the shirts and the socks are blue? Or only the shirts? At this stage, I am leaning towards the earlier (only the shirts) — though writing "Can you grab the blue shirts and blue socks?" seems redundant.  |
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