Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

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• How should I distinguish groups of commas in this sentence?
• What does pronoun "it" and "them" indicate?
• What does this phrase signify 'Better a Live Ass Than a Dead Lion'?
• passive voice plural subject [migrated]
• Why did the author use "the area of where", instead of "the area where"?
• What's the word for confusing *two* things for one another?
• Why is the plural form of caput "capita," but not "caputs?"
• Meaning of “almost too photogenic” [closed]
• Expression for "returning to seriousness" [closed]
• Is this a correct sentence? I think it would rain today [closed]
• Idiom for someone who intentionally changes your words in the way he wants?
• Name for the piece of material located, usually, inside the collar of a jacket or coat which allows garment to be hung from a hook
• Name for the "space between the sky and the earth" [closed]
• Why are "mobile" and "automobile" pronounced differently?
• Purvey or Provide?
• Should I use a comma with a phrase and clause modifying the same noun?
• definition and usage for whipsaw?
• Why is stigmata a plural of stigma?
• During with Present Perfect?
• No meetings scheduled today vs No meetings scheduled for today. What is the difference?
• Is it correct to say "files from 3 days ago" or "files of 3 days ago"?
• This market was finished rebuilding - correct grammar?
• What are some formal alternatives to Mr./Ms., particularly in the context of job-hunting?
• Is there a specific way to describe over-grown, old, tough vegetables?
• How to determine Weak and Strong verbs in Old English (Anglo-Saxon)
• Use of "Some" when referring to quantities
• Usage of the term 'tyre kickers'
• "Never saw" versus "didn't ever see"
• What's the term for the inner perimeter of something?

How should I distinguish groups of commas in this sentence? Posted: 12 Jun 2021 03:48 AM PDT "Designing, developing, and maintaining features, performing code review and refactoring, contributing to debugging in a Linux environment using Angular, TypeScript, JavaScript, C/C++, HTML, CSS." This sentence includes multiple groups of commas. How do I distinguish these groups, should I use a comma or a semicolon?

What does pronoun "it" and "them" indicate? Posted: 12 Jun 2021 03:43 AM PDT Project Management for Business, Engineering, and Technology: Principles and practice By John M. Nicholas, Herman Steyn Risk often arises from uncertainty about how to approach a problem or situation. One way to avoid such risk is to contract with a party who is experienced and knows how to do it. For example, to minimize the financial risk associated with the capital cost of tooling and equipment for production of a large, complex system, a manufacturer might subcontract the production of the system's major components to suppliers familiar with those components. This relieves the manufacturer of the financial risk associated with the tooling and equipment to produce these components. However, transfer of one kind of risk often means inheriting another kind. For example, subcontracting work for the components puts the manufacturer in the position of relying on outsiders, which increases the risks associated with quality control, scheduling, and the performance of the end‑item system. But these risks often can be reduced through careful management of the suppliers. If the manufacturer feels capable of handling those management risks, it will happily accept them to forego the financial risks. Q 1. What does pronoun "it" indicate? I guess that it indicates manufacturer or previous situation... but I can't be certain. Q 2. What does pronoun "them" indicate? I think "them" indicates suppliers. Is it right? Q 3. What does the phrase "to forego financial risks" mean? I think to go without the financial risks (with the capital cost) or solve the financial risks (with the capital cost).

What does this phrase signify 'Better a Live Ass Than a Dead Lion'? Posted: 12 Jun 2021 03:22 AM PDT What does this phrase signify 'Better a Live Ass Than a Dead Lion'? What is the moral of this phrase? What does the writer want to convey through this statement? Please explain and also make a sentence on it for better understanding. I read this statement here at 'Art Practical'.

passive voice plural subject [migrated] Posted: 12 Jun 2021 02:39 AM PDT I have studied passive voice in high school and as I know we should use the verb according to the object, but I come by this example¨ I just wanted to start my question off by assuring you of just how revered and appreciated you and your work is in the UK. I can't understand why he used is and not are as he meant two subjects (you and your work). Any help will be appreciated.

Why did the author use "the area of where", instead of "the area where"? Posted: 12 Jun 2021 01:12 AM PDT The impact of climate change on animals and plants interacts with habitat loss and fragmentation. This is because the main effect of climate change is to shift the area of where any one species can live successfully. In a warming world, this habitable space moves either polewards across the landscape, to the North or South, or up in elevation, with species living higher up mountains than ever before. This happens because the area where the mean temperature is 15°C, for example, shifts in these directions under global warming. Survival then depends on whether a particular species can move, and if so, whether there is a suitable pathway for the movements to happen. Neither of these things can be assumed, and where habitats become too fragmented, a suitable pathway for organisms to move to other areas becomes less of a realistic possibility. — Conservation: a People Centred Approach, Francis Gilbert/Hilary Gilbert, OUP 2019 Q 1. Why did the author use the area of where, instead of the area where? I can't tell the difference between them. Can adding of deliver a formal nuance? Q 2. Is "where clause" used as noun clause or relative clause (the place where)? From Cambridge Where as a relative pronoun The hotel where we spent our honeymoon has been demolished. We can use where in indirect questions: I asked him where I could buy an umbrella.

What's the word for confusing *two* things for one another? Posted: 11 Jun 2021 11:04 PM PDT Is there a word (verb) or short phrase to express the fact that given two things A and B, someone has confused A for B, and B for A. In other words, the person got the two items exactly wrong? I thought of the words "confuse" and "mistake". But they do not seem to be strong enough as they do not express the idea that exactly the opposite is true or that there are only two objects/items in the domain.

Why is the plural form of caput "capita," but not "caputs?" Posted: 12 Jun 2021 12:36 AM PDT Capita looks like a tricky and unorthodox plural. It does not fall under the -(e)s pluralization pattern usually used in the English language.

Meaning of “almost too photogenic” [closed] Posted: 11 Jun 2021 11:29 PM PDT I'm reading The Sellout by Paul Beatty. It says: "Pop" being Hollywood slang for having a dynamic camera presence, for being almost too photogenic. What does "almost too photogenic" mean here?

Expression for "returning to seriousness" [closed] Posted: 11 Jun 2021 05:35 PM PDT Is there some kind of expression used to say "returning to seriousness"?

Is this a correct sentence? I think it would rain today [closed] Posted: 11 Jun 2021 09:47 PM PDT Is this a correct sentence? "I think it would rain today." If I mean I am not certain that it will rain today.

Idiom for someone who intentionally changes your words in the way he wants? Posted: 11 Jun 2021 07:47 PM PDT I am looking for an idiom for someone who intentionally changes my words in the the way he wants, however, the point he intentionally says is not what I meant. Somehow, he is changing my words in a bad way to use them against me. Do you know any idiom for this thing that he is doing? Thank you.

Name for the piece of material located, usually, inside the collar of a jacket or coat which allows garment to be hung from a hook Posted: 11 Jun 2021 10:12 PM PDT Most coats and jackets and many lighter shirts have a piece of material stitched to the inside of the collar which is designed to take the weight of the garment and make it possible to hang it on a hook without damaging the garment. I heard myself recently, and have heard others in the past, refer to this piece of material as the 'thingummy'. There must be an actual word for this everyday, useful part of so many items of clothing. But nothing comes to mind...?

Name for the "space between the sky and the earth" [closed] Posted: 11 Jun 2021 08:34 PM PDT What is the correct name for the space between heaven and earth? I thought of ether but it seems to have a prevailing chemistry meaning, whereas its second connotation is described by OxfordL as literary: LITERARY: the clear sky; the upper regions of air beyond the clouds. Plus, this doesn't seem to include the space below the clouds. Then I thought of atmosphere, but its main meaning seems to be the mixture of gases around the earth (Cambridge). When I googled it, I found the definition of horizon as the apparent boundary between the Earth and sky. However, I am looking for the word that denotes the space in between, not the boundary. I am making up this sentence: She lost sight of the swans that vanished into the _______ . or The boy measured the ________ and wished that one day he could traverse it with a spaceship. The examples I have given are rather orientative, not restrictive. If the word or phrase found doesn't go well in the senteces but means exactly this space between sky and earth, I'd be happy. The word or phrase can be figurative, but I could also use a "technical term" for it. Edit: My question is vague. Maybe it helps if I say just ignore the examples. Sky is too general a word, I would need something more specific, more synonymous of troposphere, without being necessarily a scientific word. If there are other scientific words, I do not reject them either.

Why are "mobile" and "automobile" pronounced differently? Posted: 12 Jun 2021 01:27 AM PDT I just came across the words and then I looked them both up in the dictionary app, which shows the word "mobile" pronounces as /'məʊbaɪl/, whereas the other word-"automobile", which ends with the same spelt "mobile" pronounces as /'ɔːtəməbiːl/? I'm not sure if this "mobile" word pronounces differently as shown in the app or they actually pronounce the same?

Purvey or Provide? Posted: 11 Jun 2021 07:05 PM PDT I've seen a new word to me in an interview. To purvey. Well I understand the meaning. But what's the distinction then between provide and purvey? This question seems to be not popular, as I haven't been able to find anything. The original sentence says, "What is the audience experiencing in purveying the work that actors present?" I hope someone will enlighten me about the difference of the meaning.

Should I use a comma with a phrase and clause modifying the same noun? Posted: 12 Jun 2021 01:04 AM PDT There were things strewn on the floor which the child could have put in his mouth. Should I use a comma here? Without one, it looks like it's saying the child could have put the floor in its mouth.

definition and usage for whipsaw? Posted: 11 Jun 2021 09:09 PM PDT My understanding of the whipsaw term is that can, according to Wiktionary, be used rhetorically as in these examples: verb (transitive) To defeat someone in two different ways at once. 2014 November 1, Peter Baker & Michael D. Shear, "Braced for a shift in Congress, Obama is setting a new agenda [print version: Obama plots a route for compromise after election, International New York Times, 3 November 2014, p. 1]", in The New York Times‎1: Whipsawed by events and facing another midterm electoral defeat, President Obama has directed his team to forge a policy agenda to regain momentum for his final two years in office even as some advisers urge that he rethink the way he governs. So that, informally, an argument might be classified as a "whipsaw" using the above definition. Is this correct understanding? As events can cause whipsaw action might not rhetoric similarly cause a whipsaw as defined above? (None of the linked articles are exactly on-point, those are just along the lines of the unusual usage.)

Why is stigmata a plural of stigma? Posted: 11 Jun 2021 07:10 PM PDT When I first looked this word up on Dictionary.com, I found entries not for it, but instead stigma. I was baffled. Words in the English language usually follow the -(e)s pluralization pattern, but why not stigmata? Why can't this word be its own or an alternative singular? I know there are other plurals in English that follow neither pattern which people tend to mistake for singulars, such as taxa (for taxon) and strata (for stratum).

During with Present Perfect? Posted: 11 Jun 2021 05:06 PM PDT Can anyone make this clear for me? Look at this sentence: -"I have been making this Tshirt during the confinement period" Let's imagine that the confinement period is not over, and that the job with the Tshirt is over. The question is: can you use "during" in this sentence: I feel you can't, but I can't work out how to express that. Can you help me? Thanks!

No meetings scheduled today vs No meetings scheduled for today. What is the difference? Posted: 11 Jun 2021 07:40 PM PDT No meetings scheduled today vs No meetings scheduled for today. When we want to specify that the statement which is talking meetings about to happen that day. Which one to use?

Is it correct to say "files from 3 days ago" or "files of 3 days ago"? Posted: 12 Jun 2021 12:01 AM PDT The situation may be as follows: A computer crashed on 12 January 2020, but we need to get some files as the status on 9 January 2020. We need the files from 3 days ago. We need the files of 3 days ago. Are they both correct?

This market was finished rebuilding - correct grammar? Posted: 11 Jun 2021 10:07 PM PDT On one of the corners of Spitalfields market in London, there's a sign that reads: "This market was finished rebuilding by R. Homer 1893" Is this a clumsy sentence? Is it grammatically correct? Wouldn't "R. Homer finished rebuilding this market, 1893" be more correct? I'm confused by the 'rebuilding' - is it a noun here? Is there some intransitivity in the verb 'finished'?

What are some formal alternatives to Mr./Ms., particularly in the context of job-hunting? Posted: 12 Jun 2021 02:07 AM PDT I've always been told to refer to people by an honorific followed by their last names, especially when discussing job opportunities etc. However, I would rather not misgender anybody in doing so. I would appreciate if someone offered an alternative honorific or an alternative way to address people in emails, cover letters etc.

Is there a specific way to describe over-grown, old, tough vegetables? Posted: 11 Jun 2021 09:40 PM PDT One term that seems maybe suit­able is over­ripe, but this seems to be spe­cific to fruits which when over­ripe ex­hibit dif­fer­ent changes com­pared to those of veg­eta­bles: over­ripe fruit de­struc­ture and de­com­pose, but the veg­eta­bles that I'm look­ing for an ad­jec­tive for of­ten be­come tougher, woody per­haps, more dif­fi­cult to chew, etc. So it's not so much that they're over­ripe be­cause these qual­i­ties may es­sen­tially pre­vent it from even prop­erly ripen­ing. I also like over­grown, but that usu­ally de­scribes veg­e­ta­tion that has grown out of con­trol, so over­load­ing the mean­ing of this word seems prob­lem­atic due to the over­lap­ping con­text. An ad­jec­tive I usu­ally do see used for this is old, but that doesn't seem to re­ally cap­ture the con­cept specif­i­cally enough. Maybe late har­vest or past due? These com­pounds do the job to de­scribe it but seem not straight­for­ward to use in a sen­tence like ad­jec­tives are nor­mally used.

How to determine Weak and Strong verbs in Old English (Anglo-Saxon) Posted: 11 Jun 2021 06:49 PM PDT How to determine whether a verb is a weak verb or a strong verb in Old English ?

Use of "Some" when referring to quantities Posted: 11 Jun 2021 09:32 PM PDT In journalistic and quasi-academic writing, I've recently noticed an increasing tendency to use "some" as an adverb when referring to quantities. For example in the sentence: "In Indonesia, fish accounts for more than 50% of total protein intake and the fishing industry employs some 12 million people." Is this good style? To my ear it grates. Why can't the writer just say "...employs 12 million people"?

Usage of the term 'tyre kickers' Posted: 11 Jun 2021 11:52 PM PDT Why is the term 'tyre kickers' used to describe potential customers that want something for nothing or are likely to prove troublesome or waste your time? I believe it was likely something to do with car sales and the stero typical, kick the tyre when you go take a look at the car but I assume this is a term that can used in any other sales context?

"Never saw" versus "didn't ever see" Posted: 11 Jun 2021 06:12 PM PDT Do these sentences have different meanings? I never saw such a thing. I didn't ever see such a thing. I never saw him dancing. I didn't ever see him dancing. My questions: Are both usages correct? Is there a difference in meaning?

What's the term for the inner perimeter of something? Posted: 11 Jun 2021 07:45 PM PDT Say I have a building with a sidewalk on its outside. To walk it I might say something like: "I'm going to walk the perimeter of the building." Now say I want to walk around the perimeter of the building again, but this time I'll be inside the building. How would I express the notion of "inner perimeter" succinctly? Is there a single word to describe it?

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