Saturday, June 19, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Is there a good English word to translate from German the word 'Verschlimmbesserung'?

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 03:39 PM PDT

The question requires no further explaining, but just to be clear: the word encapsulates an intention to better the state of affairs, and a negative evaluation of such an attempt.

Are pronouns gender or sex-based? [closed]

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 02:48 PM PDT

In the advent of, what I refer to as, the radical political manipulation of the English language, regardless of the debate about whether gender actually means something other than sex, where is the evidence that pronouns are based on someone's gender as opposed to their sex?

Let's entertain the idea that gender is something other than sex. Where in the "rules" of the English language do we find this concept of the pronouns referring to the subject's gender as opposed to their sex?

She went to the party

In today's day and age, "she" in the above sentence would refer to the person's gender as opposed to the person's sex

Some individuals have therefore created their own custom pronouns, such as "xe" and "xer". If English pronouns were indeed sex-based, these custom pronouns would be a clear violation of how the English language works.

What does history say about this?

Is it correct to say "...which of the following do you like or not like?"

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 02:32 PM PDT

Is it correct to say

"...which of the following do you like or not like?"

In specific, I'm interested in the "...do you like or not like?" part. I would rather say "which do you like and which don't", or would paraphrase it another way, but maybe it's OK to say it as it's stated in the question?

What does "dematriculate" mean outside of an academic context?

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 02:04 PM PDT

In Tintin and the Secret of Literature by Tom McCarthy (Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint, 2008), McCarthy writes:

The books are full of erasure: dematriculated planes; wiped runways; wiped memories; a ship whose name (Karaboudjan) has been removed and replaced; a city whose name (Los Dopicos) is removed, replaced, removed and replaced again. [p.30]

I think "planes" here means "aeroplanes" (there's precedence for this usage earlier in the book) rather than geometric planes (although I'm not sure about this). But what does "dematriculated" mean? I am familiar with "matriculation" in an academic context—meaning something like enrollment as a student in a university. Dematriculation looks like it's the inverse of this process. But I can't see how that makes sense as applied to either geometric planes or to aircraft.

Wiktionary1 suggests that etymologically matriculate derives from "matriculare" ("to register") itself ultimately from "matrix" ("list"). This makes me think that "dematriculated" might mean something like "unregistered", although this might be a bit of a stretch.

Is it okay to say ‘adjust the light’? [closed]

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 01:56 PM PDT

Adjust the Screen Light on Your Kindle E-Reader.

I know 'adjust the brightness' is more idiomatic, but I want to know 'adjust the light' is semantically okay.

How does "that" work in this sentence by Ken Follett?

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 02:22 PM PDT

At the beginning of Ken Follett's book The Pillars of the Earth, he wrote:

"It is in this rich tapestry, where kings and queens are corrupt, that the common man shows eternal promise -- and one majestic creation will bond them forever..."

It looks like "that" means "when" or "while", but I found nothing in dictionaries.

I did find an explanation in Merriam-Webster saying "used as a function word to introduce a subordinate clause modifying an adverb or adverbial expression <will go anywhere that he is invited>", but in the sentence "that" is not modifying an adverb but "tapestry".

What dialogue tag can be used to describe being confused?

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 02:14 PM PDT

For example; My brother was standing in front of my room. "Are you ok with this?" He huffs. "What do you mean?" [A term that would describe that she is confused]

Mid westers leave the article out of their sentences!

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 03:52 PM PDT

For instance: Q: what do you do for a living?,
A: I drive truck.(Not I drive a truck.)

I mowed lawn this weekend.
I drive bus.
I tend bar.
Etc.

This sounds incorrect to my Michigan native ears, is it correct English nevertheless?

What parts of speech is "Like" in this Sentence

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 01:17 PM PDT

This is a line from Ruskin Bond's short story, "Eyes Have It." —"What is it like outside?"I asked.

I am more inclined to call 'like' an adverb in this sentence but cannot figure out what should be its literal meaning. But at the very next moment discard the idea of branding it as adverb as it is used with a linking verb which always presupposes a complement in the form of adjective or noun. Any help?

Is there a verb or term for the 'ow-ow!' cheer people sometimes make at someone they find attractive?

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 12:03 PM PDT

Just what it says: I've been racking my brains about this for a while. The closest I've gotten to an answer is "wolf-whistle," but the cheer I'm thinking of isn't a whistle.

It's hard to describe exactly what I'm talking about beyond "ow-oww!" You'd hear it at e.g. a club or drag show -- an approving cheer from someone in the audience.

Anyone know if there's a verb or term close to this?

Sentences regarding Would Rather [migrated]

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 11:27 AM PDT

I have difficulty understanding the following sentence:

I'd prefer to come out on top in the end, though!

Which has to be paraphrased using 'would rather' and the word 'laugh'. The answers are two that are possible:

  1. I'd rather have had the last laugh in the end, though!
  2. I'd rather I had the last laugh in the end, though!

I don't understand the following: regarding 1) why do we use the perfect infinitive when clearly we do not refer to the past in this case? Why is it not "I'd rather have the last laugh"? And 2) why do we use Past Simple when we do not have two different subjects?

I would be really grateful if someone would help me with this!

Is the given sentence a critique? [closed]

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 11:14 AM PDT

In their study, they conducted a comparison with different varieties of animals.

Is the above sentence a critique. If not, then what should it be called? Is it just a statement ?

How do I parse "but that shall be accounted the promised share of this traitor"

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 02:38 PM PDT

This comes from Tolkien's "The Hobbit", towards the end, where Thorin talks about giving part of the treasure hoard to the elves and to the people of Lake-town, in order to redeem the Arkenstone, which Bilbo had secretly given to Bard.

Here's a more complete passage:

It was rightly guessed that I could not forbear to redeem the Arkenstone, the treasure of my house. For it I will give one fourteenth share of the hoard in silver and gold, setting aside the gems; but that shall be accounted the promised share of this traitor, and with that reward he shall depart, and you can divide it as you will.

(emphasis mine)

I can understand the meaning of the passage. I just can't figure out how to parse the bold part, in terms of grammar:

  • "shall be accounted" is in the passive voice, to "the promised share" can't be a direct object;
  • Is "the promised share" the subject? But then what's the "that" doing before the "shall be accounted"?

I'm starting to suspect that this is a case of mandative subjunctive, where the "that" is the opening conjunction and the subject ("the promised share") is put after the verb ("shall be accounted").

Can somebody confirm or correct me?

If she beats him he'll claim she <cheated/has cheated>

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 09:09 AM PDT

The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language by H&P (Page 126) has this example of non-deictic past:

If she beats him he'll claim she cheated.

CaGEL explains this sentence as follows:

The time of the (possible) cheating is not anterior to the time of my uttering [the sentence], but to the time of his (possibly) making a claim of cheating.

What if we change cheated to present perfect has cheated?

If she beats him he'll claim she has cheated.

Does this mean the same thing as the original? Is there's any difference in meaning?

Why using 'They' instead of 'You' in this sentence? [migrated]

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 08:35 AM PDT

I have a question about this sentence I have found during my daily study rutine of English learning:

Anyone have anything they'd like to add to the agenda?

I don't understand why is used 'they' pronoun instead of 'you' . I suppose the person is speaking to the audience, for that reason I think 'You' is the way correct.

Anyone have anything you'd like to add to the agenda?

Can you explain to me?

'smile at somebody' or 'smile up at somebody'? [migrated]

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 08:24 AM PDT

What's the difference between 'smile at somebody' and 'smile up at somebody'?

I found them as examples in the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, the one as 'She smiled at him' and the other one as 'Her eyes smiled up at him'. However, the difference is not explained in the dictionary.

I also found the phrase 'smile at' is more commonly used than the 'smile up at' according to the linggle. However, I believe the phrase 'smile up at' is correct because it is an example given in such an authoritative dictionary.

Then could anyone explain the usage of 'smile up at'? When should I use the 'smile up at' and when the 'smile at'? Are they synonyms?

A word for "engraving a pattern onto wood or metal using a redhot instrument"

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 03:45 PM PDT

I have this image in my head of someone engraving letters or patterns onto a piece of wood (flat or not) or on metal (but it doesn't have to be both, either wood or metal is fine) with an instrument that is made of metal (iron?) and it is red-hot, which is how the work is done. I am sure there must be a word and it is used in art, but not only.

My first guess was incise, but it does not involve fire/heat:

to cut the surface of something carefully with a sharp tool (Cambridge)

Is there a verb that describes the same action but using fire or a red-hot metal instrument? (I wonder what the name of that would be also, but my main question is the verb).

The result looks something like that

enter image description here

I need it for a metaphor:

This experience was _______ in the depths of his being as with a red-hot iron (instrument - could it be chisel?)

Edit: I should have mentioned that the experience is not necessarily negative, though it may involve pain. In fact it is not. It has just been indelibly engraved in the soul.

How to quote material that ends sections with semicolons

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 07:06 AM PDT

I haven't found an answer to this specific scenario:

"This is an example of the quoted text from the report where this section ends with a semicolon;"

That is also the end of my sentence so I'm wondering if I need further punctuation such as:

"This is an example of the quoted text from the report where this section ends with a semicolon; ..."

or

"This is an example of the quoted text from the report where this section ends with a semicolon..."

It seems the report uses semicolons as final punctuation if the end of the sentence is the end of a section/chapter so I don't know which rules to apply.

Edited to add: I want to quote the end of a section of the report. The source material ends with a semicolon since this report ends sections/chapters with semicolons. I want to put the quote at the end of my sentence: Example sentence then "quoted material goes here;"

I'm new here so let me know if this is the wrong forum for this topic. Thanks for your help.

Can "wildlife" be a collective noun?

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 09:02 AM PDT

All dictionaries I have checked list the term wildlife as an uncountable noun. But there are plenty of examples that treat wildlife as a plural. Indeed, Google returns around one million search results for the phrase "wildlife that is," much fewer than the over 2.7 million for "wildlife that are."

I've found it difficult to wrap my head around this word: Is this an uncountable noun as the dictionaries say or can this be sometimes treated as a collective noun that can represent a plural?

Why do the mainstream dictionaries all proclaim wildlife as an uncountable noun while people frequently treat it as a plural?

What suffix rule applies to making rival into rivalrous (i.e., is this legitimate)

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 10:24 AM PDT

I was annoyed to find my neuroscience textbook transforming the noun "rival" into an adjective in

...IT changes systematically when people and animals report switches in rivalrous percepts.

I checked my 1913 Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary and it had no such suffix production on the noun rival. It suggested a verbal noun form that would apply, i.e., rivalling. One might say then "report switches in rivaling percepts" (looks more like an adjective in context). I could not find "rivalrous" in an online text version of the Oxford English Dictionary I have (but might not be the entire Oxford). Now that I think of it, saying simply "rival percepts" would be correct.

I checked with Google Ngram American English and rivalrous showed no usage really until a spike shortly after 1920, then declined to almost nil usage but began to increase after 1940, reaching a very small decimal value (1e-6 percent) by 2019. British Ngram no usage until began to climb after 1960, reaching a similar "peak" of 1e-5 percent or the like (have trouble counting the decimal places).

My Princeton WordNet resource has rivalrous:

Overview of adj rivalrous

The adj rivalrous has 1 sense (no senses from tagged texts)

  1. emulous, rivalrous -- (eager to surpass others)

But WordNet admits it is very rare:

wn rivalrous -famla

Familiarity of adj rivalrous

rivalrous used as an adjective is very rare (polysemy count = 1)

The usual production for noun to adjective is

The simplest way to turn a noun into an adjective is to add suffixes to the end of the root word. The most common suffixes used to create adjectives are -ly, -able, -al, -ous, -ary, -ful, -ic, -ish, -less, -like and -y. For example, turn the noun "danger" into the adjective "dangerous" by adding the suffix -ous.

"rivalrous" appears to me to be an erroneous production which is somehow creeping into usage. But how should one produce an adjective from rival?

Is "set some time on the side" a common phrase?

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 11:05 AM PDT

I was convinced set some time on the side was a correct, fairly common expression. However, I am now in doubt because I can't find it via Google phrase match search. Is it idiomatic English?

For example, one might say in a meeting invite,

I wanted to set some time on the side to discuss our Q2 plans.

Is there a more popular alternative to the term 'flexibilization'?

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 06:02 AM PDT

Flexibilization refers to the changing work practices by which firms no longer use internal labor markets or implicitly promise employees lifetime job security, but rather seek flexible employment relations that permit them to increase or diminish their workforce, and reassign and redeploy employees with ease.

Source: K. V. Stone, 'Flexibilization, Globalization, and Privatization: Three Challenges to Labor Rights in Our Time,' Osgoode Hall Law Journal 44, 77 (2006). (link)

The term is often used in other languages to characterize neoliberal changes in labor and labor policies, including the removal of social protection for workers (such as sick pay and dismissal protection). Importantly, the term flexibilization does not have the negative connotation of neoliberalism. Other than the latter, it is also used by business insiders who argue that companies need to be more flexible to be able to quickly adapt to new challenges.

Let me guys know

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 03:07 PM PDT

I'm a native English speaker and I recently caught myself saying 'let me guys know', then immediately realized that it makes no grammatical sense whatsoever. My question is whether this is actually an expression that people use that I picked up somewhere or if I just had a moment of word vomit. Because right now I can't figure it out.

Thanks!

to- infinitive as object complement

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 01:09 PM PDT

I permitted him to use my car./I forbade him to enter my building./I ordered him not to play the terrible song.

Why does the grammar see these to-infinitives as object complements when the verbs can take the structure, v+o?

Difference between "per month" and "monthly"

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 09:11 AM PDT

I've referred Is there any difference between "monthly average" and "average per month"?

But I want more clearer answer most difference of it.

  • Per Month - I've to pay $100 per month as wages.
  • Monthly - I've to pay $100 monthly as wages.

My understanding:
- Per Month - I've to pay on each month.
- Monthly - I've to pay once in a month.

Seems no much difference but which once is preferable in that context?

the usage of "such that"

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 10:05 AM PDT

I looked up the usage of "such that" in the dictionary, it says:

"such that, so that: used to express purpose or result: power such that it was effortless"

if the subordinate clause following "such that" is an adverbial clause, what is the role of "power" in the whole sentence? If "power" is the subject of the sentence, where is the predicate? Is something omitted before "such that"? I feel this setence is odd because there is only a noun before such that. I also find another sentence in the dictionary :

The damage was such that it would cost too much money to repair.

I guess the meaning of "such that" is same here. But why the second sentence has a "predicate"("was") while the first one does not? So can I also alter the second sentence to the form of "The damage such that...."? If I omit the predicate-"was" here , is this sentence still right?

Thanks!

What does "running numbers " mean?

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 10:19 AM PDT

I am not sure I understand the meaning of a sentence in The Given Day from Dennis Lehane

Luther would soon have ample time to consider how he'd fallen into running numbers for the Deacon, and it would take him a while to realize that it had nothing to do with money.

Hemingway's use of "benevolent" in "benevolent skin cancer" [closed]

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 11:50 AM PDT

In the following sentence, from Hemigway's The Old Man & the Sea, I believe the author used the word benevolent when he meant to use the word benign.

The brown blotches of the benevolent skin cancer the sun brings from its reflection on the tropic sea were on his cheeks.

Have you ever seen this discussed anywhere? It would be difficult by any stretch of the imagination or poetry to believe the author purposely used benevolent in that sentence. Maybe he was drunk. :)

But it's also a bit difficult to believe his editor missed it. Of course, maybe the editor thought Papa purposely used the word and he didn't want to raise Papa's ire.

Here are some definitions of benevolent from merriam-webster.com

1 a :marked by or disposed to doing good – a benevolent donor

b :organized for the purpose of doing good — a benevolent society

2 :marked by or suggestive of goodwill — benevolent smiles

Has benevolent changed meaning since the book was first published (1952)? Is it possible that benevolent was used, in 1952, in the same way that benign is used today?

"Trace" as a synonym for "trail" in AmEng

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 12:41 PM PDT

As far as AmEng is concerned, does "trace" mean just about the same as "trail" in "break/blaze a trace", and -- if indeed it does -- can "trace" be used pretty much interchangeably in every which literal sense of "trail"?

It takes about two people to break a trace through the brush ahead... source

Only tortuous paths and blazed traces led over the Appalachians... source

Does one hyphenate height when given in feet and inches?

Posted: 19 Jun 2021 01:29 PM PDT

In a work of fiction I'm writing, I'm using the colloquial phrase five-one to refer to someone's height. Should that be hyphenated as five-one, or should it just be written woth a space separating the two parts, so as five one?
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