Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange |
- Gerund or Participle? Which one is correct? [duplicate]
- Is there an idiom for "something that occurs for zero or infinite times"?
- Do you use an apostrophe for a group or institution name?
- The value of variables "is" or "are"
- I need a word to describe the personality of a quiet person that is very violent, but rarely talks. Kind of like a ghost or a shadow
- Can "drunk" be used as a noun? [closed]
- What's the word for sentences like - "There are two kind of people in this world - those who like ice-cream and those who don't" [duplicate]
- What is the word for the wrongdoing that one committed to do another person great harm thus it caused grudge? [closed]
- Wedding ring engraver issue [closed]
- Comma use: Two variables, A and B, were examined in separate models [duplicate]
- Does the verb 'deliver' make sense in this sentence?
- How to understand abstract sentences in essays
- When has “hanky-panky” come to mean ’sexual dalliance’?
- What are some alternative words/phrases for Wargame/Wargaming?
- Is 'per abuis' a full-fledge English term? [closed]
- Comma use with nonessential appositives [closed]
- Is this correct: "The sun glared into his eyes"? [closed]
- Why Long Slow Distance (LSD) instead of Slow Long Distance?
- A word for first name and middle name/s, but not last name
- If she beats him he'll claim she <cheated/has cheated>
- A better word than 'cathouse' for an outside shelter for 1 cat
- Sentence adverbs and the user's attitude
- Is "arts" (a subject in schools) a singular noun?
- Is it appropriate to write mixed capped abbreviations and acronyms in all caps for headers, etc?
- "[Singular noun], and in particular [plural noun], is/are"
- Use of ... all are?
- Is there a word for the narrative technique of a last-second change in mood?
- “Get something to work” vs ”Get something working”
| Gerund or Participle? Which one is correct? [duplicate] Posted: 21 Jun 2021 10:10 AM PDT What do you think of these sentences? I found them on the Net. I mean, should they function here as a gerund or a participle? Are both of them possible? 1 Smoking cigarettes are dangerous 2 Smoking cigarettes is dangerous  |
| Is there an idiom for "something that occurs for zero or infinite times"? Posted: 21 Jun 2021 11:18 AM PDT I'm looking for a word or phrase for the warning "If you do it for once, you will do it next time, and until infinity", usually with a negative connotation (like warning someone against taking drugs or other harmful and addictive things). The Chinese phrase that conveys the meaning perfectly is 有了第一次就会有第二次, which literally translates to "If there's the first time, there will be a second time". The phrase should probably fit as a noun in terms of "part of speech".  |
| Do you use an apostrophe for a group or institution name? Posted: 21 Jun 2021 09:26 AM PDT Say, if you're going to create a writers' group called The Writers Land (just made it up), will you add an apostrophe like this, "The Writers' Land"? It looks odd to me, but perhaps that's just me? Same with other things like an institution name: Would you say Writers Association or Writers' Association (when you're creating it)? Do readers prefer one or the other?  |
| The value of variables "is" or "are" Posted: 21 Jun 2021 10:09 AM PDT We have system x=12 and y=x. How should we write (are or is?):
or
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| Posted: 21 Jun 2021 09:28 AM PDT "He was always quiet when people were around. He seemed like a ________ person."  |
| Can "drunk" be used as a noun? [closed] Posted: 21 Jun 2021 08:53 AM PDT I was reading Post Office and the very first sentence looked a little off to me "It was Christmas season and I learned from the drunk up the hill, who did the trick every Christmas, that they would hire damned near anybody, and so I went and the next thing I knew I had this leather sack on my back and was hiking around at my leisure." What I did understand from the sentence is that he got to know about the job from a drunkard. Am I correct? If anyone has read read the novel or the author before. I wanted to ask this regarding the novel: The tone in general of the novel is very informal and conversational. I wanted to know how popular is this way of speaking. Is it specific to certain states in US or it is more of a nationwide phenomenon? The author seems to be brought up near Ohio and California.  |
| Posted: 21 Jun 2021 09:19 AM PDT I know there's a word for it and it probably is similar to oxymoron, but I can't put my finger on it. Edit - The sentences is generally characterised by having binary choices with no added information. i.e Things are either "A" or "not A"  |
| Posted: 21 Jun 2021 07:48 AM PDT I've been searching for a word (noun) that describes the wrongdoing that one was aware to commit consequentially causing great damage to someone who developed a sense of grudge, likely leading to the victim's vengeance. The emphasis is on the heinous misdeed conducted by someone against who the victim holds strong resentment and eagerness to revenge. Like the reason for Hamlet to kill his uncle. Or the past event that caused generations of mutual enmity between two clans of Romeo and Juliet. I have looked up a few words, including crime, misconduct, iniquity. But none of them could describe the combined meaning of "immoral conduct out of one's ill-intention that severely harmed another, possibly resulting in a vengeance by the victim." Can you help me with this single word question?  |
| Wedding ring engraver issue [closed] Posted: 21 Jun 2021 06:47 AM PDT I wanted to paraphrase Tolkien "One ring to rule them all (...) and in the darkness bind them" on my wedding ring, so I came up with "One ring to rule the other and with the soul link bind them", but I'm not sure whether the second part is correct gramatically. I was also considering "...and through the vows bind them", but its somehow less attractive. Anyway the soul link phrase raises my concerns. Maybe you can suggest something better. Any suggestions will be appreciated.  |
| Comma use: Two variables, A and B, were examined in separate models [duplicate] Posted: 21 Jun 2021 06:37 AM PDT Grammarly recommends removing the second comma but for me it seems that this is needed. What would be the correct comma use in such a sentence?
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| Does the verb 'deliver' make sense in this sentence? Posted: 21 Jun 2021 08:24 AM PDT We are going to deliver this meeting. Not sure if the verb 'deliver' is used correctly in this sentence. If not what alternative words can I use?  |
| How to understand abstract sentences in essays Posted: 21 Jun 2021 05:24 AM PDT I have been reading the Great American Essays 2015 to improve my comprehension skills. The essays I have come across use lines that are too abstract in nature and are hard to understand. For example, there's an essay named This Old Man,second one in the list. It has set of lines which say: "My conversation may be full of holes and pauses, but I've learned to dispatch a private Apache scout ahead into the next sentence, the one coming up, to see if there are any vacant names or verbs in the landscape up there. If he sends back a warning, I'll pause meaningfully, duh, until something else comes to mind"
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| When has “hanky-panky” come to mean ’sexual dalliance’? Posted: 21 Jun 2021 04:55 AM PDT I looked up etymonline, and it traces it back to 1841, but in the sense 'trickery' only. It says it is "possibly a variant of hoky-poky 'deception, fraud,' altered from hocus-pocus." Kipling Society, commenting on the use of the term in Kipling's "Haunted Subalterns" (1887), concurs as to the origin: "hanky-panky is the patter of a conjuror, trickery". So when was it that people started using hanky-panky for 'sexual dalliance' (M-W)? Or, more precisely, what's the first known use of hanky-panky in this sense?  |
| What are some alternative words/phrases for Wargame/Wargaming? Posted: 21 Jun 2021 03:48 AM PDT I am pursuing a doctoral research and because of lack of data in my specific domain, I want to use war-gaming as a methodology. However my advisor won't be very comfortable with the military connotations of the word "Wargame". "Simulation" is too computer-ish and doesn't wholly capture what I want to do. What are my other options?  |
| Is 'per abuis' a full-fledge English term? [closed] Posted: 21 Jun 2021 02:52 AM PDT In Afrikaans we have the term 'per abuis' which mean 'per ongeluk' or by accident. I was wondering if this term is present in the English language as well? As I understand it is a loan-word from Latin. Is it one that we inherited from the Dutch or is it in English as well? If it is acceptable English are you being whimsically archaic when using it or is it still just good English?  |
| Comma use with nonessential appositives [closed] Posted: 21 Jun 2021 06:44 AM PDT Sorry, I do not know the language terminology. Is this a case of nonessential appositive? https://www.grammarly.com/blog/comma/ Which of the following sentence has a correct comma use? Comma before "should"
No comma before "should"
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| Is this correct: "The sun glared into his eyes"? [closed] Posted: 21 Jun 2021 01:16 AM PDT The full sentence is:
I would like to know whether 'into' is the right preposition to use with 'glare' in this particular sentence, or if another preposition would be better? Also, does the whole sentence sound alright to you? (Or maybe there is a better way to express it?)  |
| Why Long Slow Distance (LSD) instead of Slow Long Distance? Posted: 21 Jun 2021 05:33 AM PDT In running sports, LSD is short for Long Slow Distance (see wiki), and I am wondering why not saying Slow Long Distance instead of LSD. I am not a native speaker, but I feel Slow Long Distance more natural and fluent. For instance, I have a slow long-distance running this morning.  |
| A word for first name and middle name/s, but not last name Posted: 21 Jun 2021 06:48 AM PDT Is there a single word to denote both first name and middle name/s, but not the last name? That is, when we speak about J.R.R. Tolkien, we may say that Tolkien is a surname, and John Ronald Reuel is [the requested word] (John is a first name; Ronald and Reuel are middle names).  |
| If she beats him he'll claim she <cheated/has cheated> Posted: 21 Jun 2021 09:34 AM PDT The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language by H&P (Page 126) has this example of non-deictic past:
CaGEL explains this sentence as follows:
What if we change cheated to present perfect has cheated?
Does this mean the same thing as the original? Is there's any difference in meaning?  |
| A better word than 'cathouse' for an outside shelter for 1 cat Posted: 21 Jun 2021 11:14 AM PDT Most of us who have gardens* and are fond of nature and animals have outside shelters for them...
'Cathouse' seems off to many Americans because of the usage as a slang term for brothel, and will probably draw a snicker or two.. I participate on Pets.SE, and can find only 1 reference to 'cat-house' "Cattery" has been suggested on Wikipedia and Quora, but that sounds like a kennel for cats. In other words, similar to an 'aviary'. 'Shelter' sounds like a place for adoption of strays. Is there a less-suggestive word for the house of a single cat, that works like 'doghouse'? SWR:My cat lay comfortably dry inside her ______, watching the rain fall on the patio below her. *My usage of garden here is more the European or Latin-American idea. Garden for Americans often evokes the image of tidy rows of vegetables ripening on the vine and close to hand of the home cook, or a bed of seasonal flowers. By way of contrast, for the rest of the English-speaking world , it usually indicates trees, flowers, bushes, grassy patches, etc. The perfect environment for birds, rodents, and various creepy-crawlies... In other words, paradise for a cat.  |
| Sentence adverbs and the user's attitude Posted: 21 Jun 2021 09:03 AM PDT According to Disjunct_(linguistics)
Yet,
Both excerpts are contradictory, which one is correct?  |
| Is "arts" (a subject in schools) a singular noun? Posted: 21 Jun 2021 10:07 AM PDT When used as subject, is the word arts considered a singular noun or a plural one?
Why can't we just say we're taking or studying art in school? Why do we ever say arts as though it were plural but then use a singular verb anyway? Does the answer vary by locality, such as in the United Kindom or Ireland, Australia or New Zealand, the United States or Canada, India or Singapore, or South Africa?  |
| Is it appropriate to write mixed capped abbreviations and acronyms in all caps for headers, etc? Posted: 21 Jun 2021 06:08 AM PDT When using an abbreviation or acronym that has a mix of lowercase and capital letters, such as mmWave or dBm, in a heading or line that is formatted in all caps, is it appropriate to use all caps - or should you leave the mixed caps?  |
| "[Singular noun], and in particular [plural noun], is/are" Posted: 21 Jun 2021 05:02 AM PDT I have a sentence following the template above, and I am not sure what is the right verbal form to follow. A specific example could be:
I am using the verb to be in the example but it applies to any other verb (in my actual text it is a present perfect, so the question would be whether to use "have" or "has"). My impression is that, in the example above, "academia" is still the subject and "and in particular professors" just works as a complement for it, so it should be "is", but it sounds strange to follow "professors" with "is". EDIT: I am thinking that, in the example I used, maybe some could argue that "academia" might work as a plural term because it refers to a community of people (does not sound right to me but just in case), so I will add a less ambiguous example (more similar to my text) where the first noun cannot possibly be interpreted as plural:
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| Posted: 21 Jun 2021 03:07 AM PDT Is the all in "John, Bob, and Sue all are hungry" redundant? Does it mean anything beyond "John, Bob, and Sue are hungry"?  |
| Is there a word for the narrative technique of a last-second change in mood? Posted: 21 Jun 2021 08:23 AM PDT Sorry if this is off topic, but this seemed to be the best site to ask. I can think of several examples of the use of a narrative technique: a last-second change in mood, often occurring so close to the end of the work that the audience cannot respond to it, potentially forcing them to reinterpret what they've experienced up to that point. A plot twist that doesn't change the mood of the story (such as the reveal in The Usual Suspects or the "Wait, the monster isn't dead!" cliche in horror) is not an example of this, nor is a plot twist necessary for this to occur (The absolute best example of this I've been able to find is in this short animation) though one can be a catalyst (for example in the 'true' ending to the game The Witch's House). It is distinct from Bathos, though if applied properly Bathos could be an example of this. It is perhaps the same as or at least a narrative equivalent of a similar technique in music, for example in the opening theme for the game The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (which also uses it to a degree in the opening cinematic it plays over) or with the more commonly used Picardy Third. My apologies for the lack of links- my reputation doesn't allow posting more than two. I'll edit this once I can, until then it shouldn't be too hard to find what I'm talking about using google.  |
| “Get something to work” vs ”Get something working” Posted: 21 Jun 2021 09:51 AM PDT Having the following sentences:
Is there a difference in the meaning? What usage of "GET" is this (I would be happy for dictionary entry reference). IMHO the first one is "cause" (like I got him to do that). But I cannot find a reference to "get sth + ing".  |
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