Wednesday, May 26, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Is it a pun to use an idiomatic expression where it is also literally true?

Posted: 26 May 2021 09:15 AM PDT

A friend is going to work for an environmental department focussed on green energy. I said she was leaving us for "greener pastures".

Is this a pun? It is a play on different senses of the same word.

(I am not ashamed to admit that I was very pleased with my word play, perhaps a little too pleased.)

What does 'that' refer to in this context? [closed]

Posted: 26 May 2021 08:09 AM PDT

The context for this question is:

The team determined that all the planets in the system are similar in size to earth and venus.

I don't believe that refers to anything in this context? One of the teachers I asked said that I'm correct and the other one was angry and said I'm wrong

The Use of the Perfect Infinitive in reporting sentences [closed]

Posted: 26 May 2021 07:44 AM PDT

When I was studying reporting sentences, I have noticed a rule which says that "if the thought refers to a previous action, then the verb is put in the perfect infinitive"

What I do not understand is that I was previously given an example, "They say that she was furious against her neighbor" becomes, "She is said to be furious against her neighbor"

Can't we say, according to the rule, "She is said to have been furious against her neighbor"?

A word that means someone is losing attention to the conversation due to being too far from the speaker

Posted: 26 May 2021 08:35 AM PDT

I find that I often lose attention in lectures as I'm too far away from the speaker, however in closer conversations, I can always be attentive.

For example:

He couldn't understand the presentation because he was affected by insert word.

I think this question is way too specific for a single word, so maybe a phrase is fine as well. I have searched for potential words and phrases, but I can't find a single thing.

Is there a term for when people group 2 unrelated things they dislike into one entity?

Posted: 26 May 2021 06:44 AM PDT

I have seen this fallacy a lot of times when I'm having conversations with people.

For example - when someone assumes a person who leans towards the right on the political scale will definitely be misogynistic as well.

Conflation is somewhat correct, but it doesn't really include the 'dislike' aspect of it.

Is there a term for this phenomenon?

Backshift in 2nd conditional sentence or not [closed]

Posted: 26 May 2021 05:46 AM PDT

Normally we backshift "are" into "were" for now and past as in "If I knew where you were, I would bring my car.

As "knew" was already in past so we used "were". I know "were" here refers to both past and present.

But should we also backshift "are" into "were" for now and present (as "heard" is already a past) in sentences like "If I heard you were doctor, I would be pleased".

Does "were" here refers to only past or both present and past?

Is there any American English - British English difference?

Single word request: of/at that phase/time/period/care/management [duplicate]

Posted: 26 May 2021 04:08 AM PDT

I am writing a study aim and needs to be really concise. For background, "post-acute care" is the next/second step care in these patients' management. In other words, their care/management has two phases, post-acute is the second phase.

The aim should carry the two meanings: (1) to evaluate post-acute management of these patients and (2) to evaluate these patients' physical therapy use during post-acute management/in the post-acute phase. However, repeating post-acute makes the aim wordy.

What words would be suitable for replacing the question marks?

To evaluate post-acute management of brain trauma patients and assess their ??? physical therapy use.

My own not so good ideas:

  • of that time
  • of that phase
  • of that place

What do you call it when people say 'like' a lot? [duplicate]

Posted: 26 May 2021 02:50 AM PDT

So like, I like, have like, a like, question, like, you know!

Like, is there a, like, term, for, like, when someone, like, talks, like, like this, you know?

PS: I'm also curious to know what other words and phrases are often used in conjunction with this style of speaking, e.g. "you know".

Use of tense of relative clause in a second conditional sentence? [closed]

Posted: 26 May 2021 03:26 AM PDT

What should be the correct tense for the relative clause in a second conditional sentence?

  1. If I saw an accident, I would help the person who was knocked down by the car.

  2. If I saw an accident, I would help the person who had been knocked down by the car.

  3. If I saw an accident, I would help the person who were knocked down by the car.

Word choice and usage: adherence/compliance with the international guidelines [closed]

Posted: 26 May 2021 08:10 AM PDT

I have a question about word choice and usage. There is a subtle difference between adherence and compliance. My work is about analysing brain trauma management in a country, trying to answer the question of whether the medical practice is according to the recommendations of international guidelines and standards. However, it is hard to choose between the two words.

The aim is to evaluate compliance with the international brain trauma guidelines.

The aim is to evaluate adherence with the international brain trauma guidelines.

Punctuation 'but'

Posted: 26 May 2021 01:41 AM PDT

Is there too much punctuation in this sentence? Which is more acceptable?

Often, I think they still should, but, still, the premium's given to these bigger sales.
Often, I think they still should, but, still the premium's given to these bigger sales.
Often, I think they still should but, still, the premium's given to these bigger sales.

The first sentence seems like too much punctuation, but is probably 'technically correct'. I'd plump for the third one if I had to, but I want it to be as accurate as possible.

Dissertation: correct writing of a numbered list [closed]

Posted: 26 May 2021 08:12 AM PDT

Are there any grammatical rules for numbered lists (my university does not have a guideline for this)?

Which format would be correct for the given example of numbered objectives? Two things that I prefer: I would like to use numbered list with points (not brackets) and I would like to use an introductory/leading sentence above.

The first sentence should end with a "dash"? Each of the objectives ends with a full stop?

Specific objectives of the study are listed as below -

1. To assess ... .

2. To evaluate ... .

3. To examine ... .

Not Synch, Unsychronized or Out of Synch? [closed]

Posted: 26 May 2021 02:02 AM PDT

Which form sounds better/is more correct ?

  1. Not synchronized
  2. Unsynchronized
  3. Out of synch

The context, if relevant, is a digital certificate, which must be validated by its issuing entity.

I want to phrase the certificate quality of being not in synch/unsynch/out of synch with its issuer.

Abbreviations vs. contractions. Do they differ in pronunciation or only in spelling?

Posted: 26 May 2021 03:05 AM PDT

Lexico and Imperial College London says that the difference between abbreviations and contractions is that contractions omit letters in the middle and not in the end, hence Dr, for example, is a contraction and not an abbreviation.

https://www.lexico.com/grammar/contractions:

Contractions are a type of abbreviation in which letters from the middle of the word are omitted. Examples include: Dr (Doctor), St (Saint), Ltd (Limited), Revd (Reverend).

https://www.imperial.ac.uk/brand-style-guide/writing/grammar/abbreviations/:

An abbreviation omits letters from the end of a word and a contraction omits letters from the middle of a word. <...> Contracted titles such as Dr, Mr and Mrs should not be followed by a full stop.

Larry Trask in his article on the webiste of University of Sussex, on the other hand, have another view, and considers Dr to be an abbreviation and not a contraction:

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/informatics/punctuation/capsandabbr/abbr:

Abbreviations must be clearly distinguished from contractions. The key difference is that an abbreviation does not normally have a distinctive pronunciation of its own. So, for example, the abbreviation Dr is pronounced just like Doctor, the abbreviation oz is pronounced just like ounce(s) and the abbreviation e.g. is pronounced just like for example. (True, there are a few people who actually say "ee-jee" for the last one, but this practice is decidedly unusual.) A contraction, in contrast, does have its own distinctive pronunciation: for example, the contraction can't is pronounced differently from cannot, and the contraction she's is pronounced differently from she is or she has.

Everyone's + singular or plural noun? [migrated]

Posted: 26 May 2021 03:03 AM PDT

There are 10 students. Each did 1 assessment. Which is right: The teacher must mark everyone's assessment/everyone's assessments?

Definite article use when writing about global population?

Posted: 26 May 2021 12:43 AM PDT

This is the first sentence in my work.

Steadily ageing global population is leading to a crisis of noncommunicable diseases.

In most cases, the first mentioning is not preceded by a definite article. However, is this case an exception as there is only known "global population" for us? Therefore, the sentence should start with a definite article?

The steadily ageing global population is leading to a crisis of noncommunicable diseases.

A good single word or shorter phrase for "ascending numbers with no gaps" [closed]

Posted: 26 May 2021 04:17 AM PDT

What's a good word/phrase for that concept? By ascending with no gaps, I mean something like:

3, 4, 5, 6, 7

In other words, every number after the first, n0, can be defined as nx = nx-1 + 1, x > 0.

Obviously there are gaps before the first and after the last but I don't care about those.

Could "Rather = Little bit" be true? [closed]

Posted: 26 May 2021 01:42 AM PDT

After reading usage-and-meaning-of-the-word-rather, I had a thought if I could replace rather with "little bit" (it's still in doubt by the way).

What I've known so far (correct me if I'm wrong), rather is used to compare different things like:

it's rather blue than green

or in other words

it's more blue than green.

That's what I know. I tried to find some sentences using "rather" and replaced it with "little bit". Let's see these examples:

It was a rather difficult question. -> It was a little bit difficult question.

I've always rather liked Charlie. -> I've always little bit liked Charlie.

The rules are rather complicated. -> The rules are little bit complicated.

Does it make sense?

Should I use hyphenation on compounds consisting of three nouns?

Posted: 25 May 2021 11:38 PM PDT

In our software, we extract/detect information from/on images, e.g., face features and hand gestures.

When referring to these processes, should it be...?

  • "face features extraction" and "hand gesture detection"
    or
  • "face-features extraction" and "hand-gesture detection"

Which sentence sounds better? Grammatical question about sentences

Posted: 25 May 2021 11:05 PM PDT

I seriously can't tell which sounds natural in English. Need some help.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

a) From tomorrow on, she'll be coming to our place to work with us.

b) She'll be coming to our place to work with us, from tomorrow on.

If there are better answers, suggestions, anything is welcome.

Not a must but preferable:

  1. I'd like to use them in casual conversations between friends.
  2. Shorter sentences will help. Long lines won't fit.

What is it called when you "expose" someone for being irritating or infuriating?

Posted: 26 May 2021 06:06 AM PDT

Every day and everywhere with my brother, it's always me who gets irritated by his attitude but nobody else who encounters him is saying anything about that (literally nobody it's unbelievable) and yet his behavior is obviously maddening and I'm surprised no one is telling him to shut up or pointing out his cringeworthy and exasperating actions (maybe for not being rude (other people) but my family lives with him and they never say anything about his pesky attitude).

Of course, I never stay silent, I always "expose" him every time he makes my blood boil (I'm always the only one who does that) and all his comebacks are the same as always like "shut up who talked to you" or "what" or even just saying nothing because he knows that I'm always right.

So what's the word for pointing out every trait from someone who makes you enraged when nobody is doing it?

"followed by" definition

Posted: 26 May 2021 04:05 AM PDT

Does "followed by" mean "next" the order of events or a series?

For example, in the alphabet song, the letter followed by C is B. Technically C also occurs after A, however, B (and not A) is followed by C. Is my interpretation correct?

Notepad++ insists "dependancy" is the correct spelling, while Google Chrome insists it's "dependency". Who's right?

Posted: 25 May 2021 11:57 PM PDT

So I started off using dependency in a text file I was making in Notepad++, and then corrected to dependancy when the red underlining appeared.

However, going to Google Chrome, the red underlining reappeared for dependancy, and it wants me to use dependency.

I decided I'd Google it. Although the top two sites say dependancy, the next one is a question on this same site and shows dependency in the title.

The rest of the results are quite inconclusive. Wiktionary says that dependancy is archaic, citing Merriam Webster, which also agrees. While many of the other dictionary websites seem to show dependancy.

And then there's this site that's obviously put together by a robot which has both.

I was able to find that dependent and dependant are both in common usage and some articles there. Dependant is more commonly a noun and dependent an adjective. However, even this isn't followed consistently.

Independent and independence seem to always be consistent.

So are both correct? Is one more modern than the other? Is it regional? Is there a slight difference in meaning? Should I use one? Or the other?

Good synonyms for the words 'smarthead' and 'smartass', for use in a translation

Posted: 26 May 2021 01:39 AM PDT

I am translating a book from Portuguese into English, as an experiment. It used to be popular on the now extinct Orkut social network and is still somewhat discussed in some blogs around the internet.

It was published under the pseudonym, no much is known about the author.

I've been trying get a single word, and if there's a more proper way to translate it into English, I'll adopt it. I'm not having problems with anything else when translating its text, but with this word I do.

Among a few other things, the text addresses a supposed profane and perfidious characteristics of women who manipulate, lie or are insincere; in contrast to the supposedly rare sincere and morally elevated women that can still be found – those who are suitable for a good spouse.

In the text, the author exaustively uses the word "espertinha", which literally translates to "smarthead" or "smartass", exclusively in reference to women who are insincere or manipulate men's emotions, and sometimes used to refer to women who cheat on them. Even though aforementioned translations seem to suffice in a single sentence translated, it happens to appear hundred of times in the text, what is irritating even when reading it in Portuguese. So, given situation I would like to gather a list of words to use as a substitution to those, or even better, one that properly means "insincere woman", since "smarthead" or "smartass" seems too inappropriate or "forced" into the text, for they do not address the issue very specifically. Just for you to have an idea, here are some quotes of the book.

Unfortunately, women are nowadays and in most part negatively polarized in the relationship with the men, not always giving space to the good and superior part that exists in them. The truly sincere ones, who actually exist, are lost amidst the crowds and can't be easily found, because the smartheads pretend to be honest women themselves.

or

A typical simulation of misunderstanding happens when, in faking innocence, the smartheads pretend they can't notice the explicit intentions of the males around them, thus refusing to acknowledge the implications of their improper and tolerant attitudes towards men who are courting them.

I even thought about replacing it for other words, according to my understanding, but in the specific case of this word, the author sometimes uses this word repeatedly to address an entire issue, sometimes in explorations that take many pages, and he insists in using only this word. Here is a case, for example, in which he specifically mentions the word.

May it be understood, that when I use the expressions "such women", "these women", "the women", "smartheads", "manipulators", etc, that I am referring exclusively to the insincere, the ones who cheat in the game of love, not to the others.

In conclusion, I don't now how to translate "espertinha" in this context.

[EDIT]

After almost 4 years since this question was posted, there's been one remarkable instance and several minor ones of people taking issue w/ what has been written here. I deleted half of it because of that.

Now, it baffles me that some people are just so unreasonable, not understanding the sole purpose of this question was to improve my English knowledge.

If you should take any problem with what's written above, know that's not a issue of mine. It's been 4 years and I'd be pleased to be left alone.

Also bear in mind that I'll reject any requests to edit this section out.

In the light of vs In light of

Posted: 26 May 2021 09:09 AM PDT

Which is correct? "In the light of current circumstances we are unable to assist you" or "In light of current circumstances we are unable to assist you". Are there differences in usage as far as AmE or BrE are concerned?

Single word, or good words/phrase for "confusingly asked question where meaning changes."

Posted: 26 May 2021 12:05 AM PDT

I'm gonna simplify and clarify this question, since it has proved popular:

Look at this SO QA ..
Where an ellipsis exists, is there a term for the missing text?

Observe that at first it appears AA was being asked. People answered this at length. Then after some clarification it would appear BB was being asked. Other people answered this at length. Finally it appeared CC was being asked.

The same sort of thing also happens particularly in business - it's thought that the client wants A but after some work on A everyone realises they really meant B .. and so on. (See my earlier over-long edit of this question for an example.)

What's the best term for this particular type of snafu?

There's kind of a taxonomy of fuck-ups in communications, in business, in rhetoric, in discussion: as DB mentions below, "spec creep" is an excellent example of something that would be in such a taxonomy!

What's the best phrase or perhaps single-word here?

What is the name of words or phrases people insert into sentences, seemingly unintentionally? And the practice?

Posted: 26 May 2021 07:17 AM PDT

For instance, I have a friend who just can't help himself constantly saying "ok". He'll say things like "ok, now we're going to [...]" or "now we've seen that, ok", and I'm just wondering what this practice is called.

I used to think this sort of thing was called a "verbal tic", but according to Wikipedia:

Phonic tics are involuntary sounds produced by moving air through the nose, mouth, or throat. They may be alternately referred to as verbal tics or vocal tics, but most diagnosticians prefer the term phonic tics to reflect the notion that the vocal cords are not involved in all tics that produce sound.

Why are we supposed to say the “a” as an “e” in “any” and “many”?

Posted: 26 May 2021 08:24 AM PDT

I speak Australian English, but I seem to pronounce the words many and anything differently from how the vast majority of people here do so.

I pronounce it using an a sound rather than an e sound like they do. Nobody has been able to tell me an existent rule that deems my pronunciation incorrect.

Why would I be pronouncing this differently and thinking meny and enything sounds wrong? Please help!
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