Tuesday, June 1, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

The phrase "do the lions"

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 09:58 AM PDT

I was recently reading an account of Zola's exile in England after the Dreyfus affair and I came across a phrase I couldn't quite parse:

That gentleman, as I had surmised, was a trifle astonished at our appearance. But I told him that my friends were a couple of French artists, who had been spending a few weeks in London 'doing the lions' there, and who had heard of the charming scenery around Oatlands, and wished to view it, and possibly make a few sketches.

I can tell from the context that it's roughly equivalent to "seeing the sights", but I'm at a total loss as to how the phrase came to be (shortened form of "lions' share"? Lions of Trafalgar?) or what it means more specifically.

I've found it in this sense in several books of the late 19th century: https://www.google.com/search?q=%22doing+the+lions%22&lr=lang_en&tbs=lr:lang_1en,cdr:1,cd_min:1800,cd_max:1899&tbm=bks&ei=QGK2YLPlMMS2gweW_7nwCw&start=0&sa=N&ved=2ahUKEwizheWl7_bwAhVE2-AKHZZ_Dr44ChDy0wN6BAgBEEE&biw=1920&bih=947&dpr=1 It's not exactly common, but the way it's used suggests that a turn-of-the-century reader would have been expected to understand it without further explanation.

My other thought is that it might be a recurring OCR error, but I can't guess how it read originally if that's the case.

Is anyone familiar with the phrase or able to explain its origins to me?

Thanks very much.

When it comes to pre-ŋ raising of /ɪ/ to /i/ in California English, does this raising universally affect all the words containing -ing?

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 09:44 AM PDT

Like how king becomes /kiŋ/ and singing becomes /siŋiŋ/. But does this affect all words containing the -ing suffix? On top of my head, I can think of a word like building where I think this raising doesn't happen but I am not sure about that. It'd be good to have a set of rules that dictate how this works.

What is the idiom for such a type of situation? [closed]

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 09:06 AM PDT

I'm looking for an idiom that is said when reminding someone to be contended with what they have. The person who's so reminded acts jealous or shows discontent at someone else's good fortune. The other person then cools this person down by uttering this idiom/proverb. The tone of the idiom is sobering, and has a ring of resignation to it— kind of like "Well, you can't do anything about it."

Should I use singular or plural? [closed]

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 09:42 AM PDT

One of Shaw's greatest [work / works], Pygmalion, was the story that formed the basis for the musical play My Fair Lady.

I don't know whether to use plural or singular form of "work"

Are both of the following sentences correct? [closed]

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 06:28 AM PDT

Are both of the following sentences correct?

  1. She wishes she could go to London.
  2. She wished she could go to London.

Using "the" before a non countable nouns

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 07:21 AM PDT

The decomposition of microscopic animals at the bottom of the see results in an accumulation of.... in porous rocks. The oil/oil

Which one is correct and why? I know when we are talking about a general abstract, we shouldn't use the before a non countable noun

How to introduce an abbreviation

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 05:44 AM PDT

I want to write the follwoing:

Because of the complexity of bioreactor systems, advanced process control (APC) techniques are needed to achieve stability and performance.

I think the way the acronym is introduced now is a bit unfortunate because it splits up "advance process control" and "techniques" which belong together. I guess I could add another sentence with the sole purpose of introducing this acronym, but this is going in an introduction which I want to keep short.

Any ideas on how to improve this?

Conditionals and past perfect continuous

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 06:08 AM PDT

I have a question about the third conditional and past perfect continuous.

The form of the third conditional is:

If+past perfect,...... would+have+past participle

Is it possible to use past perfect continuous instead of past perfect?

For example:

  • If I had been working for this company since 1996, I would have got a high salary.

Is this sentence right?

Is the English word 'But' originated from Malayalam (Language) word 'Pakṣē'? or otherwise? [closed]

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 01:59 AM PDT

I found the meaning for English word 'But' is similar to Malayalam Language 'Pakṣē',

Is this is Originated from Malayalam or other way around?

"She was diagnosed with" or "Her condition was diagnosed as" [closed]

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 12:43 AM PDT

While editing manuscripts, I commonly encounter phrases such as "She was diagnosed with.."

Is this the correct for of usage? Do you think "Her condition was diagnosed as..." to be more appropriate?

Is there a word, other than "event," for a due date you put in your calendar?

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 08:55 AM PDT

It's common for folks to add an "event" to one's calendar saying that something is due at a particular date and time.

Calendar apps call everything they store an "event."

But it feels there should be a difference between a "due date" and an event that is "something that happens" or "an activity you want to attend."

One could argue that the due date (or due datetime) is "the instant in time in which something becomes past due" so the transition from not-due-yet to past-due is a kind of event (happening in time) but this feels like a stretch.

Or is it not? Is it just me? Is a due-date in a calendar really an "event"? Or is there a word in English that exactly describes the pseudo-event of the form "I just put this due date in my calendar so I get a reminder"?

An example of a "due date" added to a calendar might be a bill that needs to be paid or an assignment to turn in. No one to meet, no one to call, no place to be, just a task to complete. So when asking "what is on your calendar?" the response of "I have three events, an appointment, a meeting, and my application is due." Here "event," I think, is better replaced with "calendar item" or just elided. An alternative is "I have two events and a target date" but I was wondering if there was an effective synonym for "target date."

meaning of "giddy-up"

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 05:58 AM PDT

I'm reading The Sellout by Paul Beatty. It says:

"All I know is that I'm pre-black. Dickens born and raised. Homo sapiens OG Crip from the goddamn primordial giddy-up, nigger."

What does "giddy-up" mean here? I know it means "go faster", but it doesn't make sense here.

'I am an M.A in History from XYZ university' - Is it correct way to refer myself?

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 01:11 AM PDT

I was writing my cover letter for applying some where.

I have done my Master's in History from XYZ university. How can I refer my self ?

My Attempt : I was thinking to refer my self as a Postgraduate in History. Then I thought it will sound like I am currently doing my Master's. Then I thought I will write that I am an M.A in History from XYZ university.

Have I gone wrong anywhere?

What's it called when you can decipher someone's nationality by their writing?

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 05:01 AM PDT

Sometimes when I'm reading an article or a review online, I can tell where the writer is from (or not from), from their writing. It's not necessarily only from the vocabulary they use, or word choice (lift/elevator). I'm not sure what I'm picking up, but I'm accurately (most times) very quickly able to tell, if not where the author is from, than definitely that they are not from a certain country (or typical to how someone from that country writes). What do you call that?

For example,

"Based on his _________, I'm pretty sure he's from [insert country]"

Or...

"Judging from his _________ I don't this he's from [insert country]."

What parts of speech and sentence constituents are “yes” and “no” words in answers?

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 02:36 AM PDT

Let's look at some examples:

— Would you like some ice cream?
— No.

— Are you happy?
— Yes.

According to Wiktionary "yes" is a particle:

Particle
yes
Used to show agreement or acceptance...

"No" and "Yes" are sentences, they start with a capital letter and end with a period.

However, a particle cannot be either a subject or a predicate. Thus, we have the sentences without a subject and a predicate. What is weird.

So, I want to understand, what parts of speech and sentence constituents are "yes" and "no" in such cases.

According to etymonline.com:

Old English gise, gese "so be it!," probably from gea, ge "so" (see yea) + si "be it!," from Proto-Germanic *sijai-, from PIE *si-, optative stem of root *es- "to be."...

It turns out, that "yes" etymologically means "so to be".

Could it be that "yes" and "no" are not particles, but something like verbs which express being or nonbeing of agreement? Could it be that in this way they are actually predicates, and subjects are the essences of questions, which are not repeated in the answers but are implied?

You will to access to - grammar [closed]

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 05:45 AM PDT

The question is - "Please include information on course specific facilities that you will have access to"

I would like to know how to use "Will have to" grammar to answer this? Do I need to use "Will have to" grammar to answer this question? Can I answer - I will have to access to dedicated computers for practice

Thanks Ah

Word for one too many items

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 06:41 AM PDT

Perhaps this word doesn't exist. I'm looking for the word to describe the last final thing you want to put in a container but it won't fit. There is always one of those. You have ten items but always only nine will fit into the container you have. Often occurs with a toolbox which has one too many tools to go into it.

How does the original meaning of "but" ("outside") relate to its current 2021 meanings?

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 01:47 AM PDT

How do the principal 2021 meanings of "but" relate, if any, to its original meaning of "outside"? E.g. how does "no more than; only" appertain to "outside"?

CONJUNCTION

  1. Used to introduce a phrase or clause contrasting with what has already been mentioned.
  1. [with negative or in questions] Used to indicate the impossibility of anything other than what is being stated.
  1. [archaic with negative] Without it being the case that.

ADVERB

  1. No more than; only.

but [OE]

But originally meant 'outside'. It was a compound word formed in prehistoric West Germanic from *be (source of English by) and *ūtana (related to English out). This gave Old English būtan, which quickly developed in meaning from 'outside' to 'without, except', as in 'all but me' (the sense 'outside' survived longer in Scotland than elsewhere). The modern conjunctive use of but did not develop until the late 13th century.

Word Origins (2005 2e) by John Ayto. p 84 Left column.

Participle Phrases as Adverbs

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 02:03 AM PDT

I'm teaching my daughter some grammar lessons and ended up a bit confused about how to analyze participle phrases such as "removing his coat" in the following sentence:

Removing his coat, Jack rushed to the river.

When I was in grammar school, I was taught that participle phrases act exclusively as adjectives. Thus, my first instinct was to say that "removing his coat" is a participle phrase modifying Jack. But upon reflection, this seems a bit odd. "Removing his coat" seems to tell us less about a property of Jack and more about the way he rushed. Thus, it would seem that the participle phrase is adverbial. Moreover, it is possible to move this participle phrase around in the sentence (for example, to the end) without affecting the meaning, which seems like further support for treating it as adverbial.

I did some research about the issue and ended up finding a lot of seemingly contradictory information. Many reputable sources seem to support what I was taught in school. For example, one college writing program describes a participle as "a verbal that is used as an adjective" and analyzes "removing his coat" as an adjective.

Yet other sources state that participle phrases can be either adverbial or adjectival and suggest that the participle phrase in my example sentence is an adverb. (See, for example here and here.)

Here's my question: are there two schools of thought on analyzing participle phrases? Is this one of those cases where prescriptive grammarians think about an issue differently than descriptive linguists?

Or is there a nuance I'm missing?

Active to Personal Passive - what do we do with "may be"?

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 08:41 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 end?

He is believed to ... 1) be likely fired; 2) may be fired;

or 3) Should 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: 01 Jun 2021 03:03 AM PDT

What are the earliest reference quotes, using the cool modern senses below, for each phrase?

"You got this":
Motivational encouragement to instill confidence to overcome some problem/foe. (quoting "You've got this" or "I got this" or "I've got this" also counts)

"Wait for it":
Command to create suspense in anticipation of some beneficial/exciting occurrence which the speaker is sure will occur within the next few seconds.

Describing actions in a documentation: 3rd person ending or infinitive form?

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 06:54 AM PDT

I am documenting a REST API and I was wondering whether I should use the third-person ending when the rule is supposedly pretty simple: http://learnersdictionary.com/qa/third-person-singular-s-simple-present-tense

The short answer is that, except for modal verbs, the third person singular in the simple present tense always ends in –s: she climbs, he runs, it rains, etc.

Now for a more detailed answer: For the vast majority of verbs, the third person singular in the simple present is formed by adding –s to the main form. However there are a few spelling rules and irregular verbs to be aware of.

I checked a REST API documentation available online and it seems that it's rather irregular https://petstore.swagger.io and does not look like it follows any logic at all. I am wondering whether it has been written by a native English speaker.

pet Everything about your Pets  POST  ​/pet  Add a new pet to the store  PUT  ​/pet  Update an existing pet  GET  ​/pet​/findByStatus  Finds Pets by status  GET  ​/pet​/findByTags  Finds Pets by tags  GET  ​/pet​/{petId}  Find pet by ID  POST  ​/pet​/{petId}  Updates a pet in the store with form data  DELETE  ​/pet​/{petId}  Deletes a pet  POST  ​/pet​/{petId}​/uploadImage  uploads an image  store    Access to Petstore orders  GET  ​/store​/inventory  Returns pet inventories by status  POST  ​/store​/order  Place an order for a pet  GET  ​/store​/order​/{orderId}  Find purchase order by ID  DELETE  ​/store​/order​/{orderId}  Delete purchase order by ID  user    Operations about user  Find out more about our store: http://swagger.io  POST  ​/user  Create user  POST  ​/user​/createWithArray  Creates list of users with given input array  POST  ​/user​/createWithList  Creates list of users with given input array  GET  ​/user​/login  Logs user into the system  GET  ​/user​/logout  Logs out current logged in user session  GET  ​/user​/{username}  Get user by user name  PUT  ​/user​/{username}  Updated user  DELETE  ​/user​/{username}  Delete user

A REST API is often kinda imperative or directive (can't find the proper term to describe that) and not sure this would allow to use an infinitive form instead of a third-person-like conjugated verb.

Any idea about which form should be use? Infinitive or 3rd person ending?

Is this a complex sentence or a compound sentence?

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 05:07 AM PDT

Below is the original sentence from a book:

Such birds do us good, though we no longer take omens from their flight on this side and that; and even the most superstitious villagers no longer take off their hats to the magpie and wish it good-morning.

From the meanings of the content, It seems logical to me to interpret it as a complex sentence with a type of concession adverbial clause:

Such birds do us good, (though we no longer take omens from their flight on this side and that; and even the most superstitious villagers no longer take off their hats to the magpie and wish it good-morning).

However, from the perspective of punctuation marks, it appears that a compound sentence structure is more reasonable.

(Such birds do us good, though we no longer take omens from their flight on this side and that) ; and (even the most superstitious villagers no longer take off their hats to the magpie and wish it good-morning).

Your feedback is highly appreciated.

Is there a tool to find words that are related to multiple input words? [closed]

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 06:35 AM PDT

I'm looking for a similar tool to thesaurus.com, but one where you can enter multiple words. For example, I'm looking for a word that describes something between match and race. Or one that captures (or relates most to) family, company and sports club.

"Sport" vs "Sports" Origin

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 08:49 AM PDT

I was recently reading this article on the use of "math" vs. "maths" as a collective noun (Americans use the former, Brits the latter). However, the trend seen in "math/maths" is reversed in "sport/sports", with Brits using the version without an "s" as a collective noun, and Americans using the one with the "s". What is the origin of this?

Which one is correct: "was/were dead" or "is/are dead" years ago? [closed]

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 01:02 AM PDT

What are the differences between "was/were dead" and "is/are dead"?

For example,

Osama is/was dead years ago.

Are they interchangeable?

What is the origin and earliest recorded usage of 'cock-up'

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 01:21 AM PDT

In informal British English, the expression 'cock-up' (c.f. the US English 'fuck-up') is used to indicate an error or problem in a situation.

What is the origin of this expression and its etymology? Does anyone know of its use prior to the 1960s?

Should I write "PhD" or "Ph.D."?

Posted: 01 Jun 2021 01:23 AM PDT

Question pretty self-explanatory. Should the abbreviation of the Latin term philosophiae doctor be written as PhD (no periods) or Ph.D. (with periods)?
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