Saturday, June 26, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

"we had gone past" something good

Posted: 26 Jun 2021 09:14 AM PDT

Situation: When trying to order food you realized due to something that had just happened (an argument) the server wasn't going to let you order.

Can I say (after narrating how she refused my order) "we had gone past that and she was not even going to let me order"? Here, "go past" is used figuratively and refers to something good, I guess, not bad.

I haven't been able to find a similar usage when searching "we had gone past that". Since in the figurative context "gone past" is usually used to refer to something bad or unpleasant.

It came naturally to me (a native speaker) and I think it's probably okay but upon further research I'm not sure why that's okay.

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/go+past#:~:text=go%20past%20%2D%20be%20superior%20or,%D9%8A%D9%8E%D8%AA%D9%8E%D8%AC%D9%8E%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%8E%D8%B2%D9%8F

https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/go+past+something

The validity of the phrase "merciless summer acid rain" [closed]

Posted: 26 Jun 2021 09:08 AM PDT

This is the entire sentence:

A humid gust of air swept the meandering fields west of the Mississippi, forcing the culms of the big bluestem to bend westward, looking for comfort in the merciless summer acid rain.

I was wondering if the phrase "merciless summer acid rain" makes sense? I know it grammatically makes sense, but was wondering if the phrase flows and if it sounds organic.

What is best way of saying it? "Older than 17 years old" or "More than 17 years old"?

Posted: 26 Jun 2021 08:59 AM PDT

I don't know which one is correct or incorrect.

  1. People who are older than 17 years old.
  2. People who are more than 17 years old.

The first one has the word "old" twice, which is why I'm confused. Anyway, what the best way to say it? Any other suggestion would be good. Thank you.

One first vs one of the first

Posted: 26 Jun 2021 07:43 AM PDT

Consider the sentence:

One first problem has to do with the definition of motion itself.

Does 'one first' mean one of the first problems?

"lift/raise all up to" or "lift/raise up all to"

Posted: 26 Jun 2021 07:44 AM PDT

I know the rule with phrasal verbs and pronouns is that

If the object is a personal pronoun (me, you, him, us, etc.), we always put the pronoun before the particle:

  • Oh, I can't lift you up any more. You're too big now!

Not: I can't lift up you any more.

But I couldn't find such a rule with all.

So I am wondering if there is any difference between

He lifted/raised all up to a better understanding.

AND

He lifted/raised up all to a better understanding.

Does all follow the same pattern? Why do both sentences sound right to me?

I tried NGram but it didn't really address my question. Probably lifted/raised up all to is less common, but is it totally incorrect?

Edit: If to raise someone up to a better understanding is not idiomatic enough, NGram suggests to raise someone up to heaven.

Omitting 'Being' in a participle clause while subject is present [closed]

Posted: 26 Jun 2021 05:48 AM PDT

We imagine a solid housewife, left at home in charge of the farm while her husband and sons go out on raiding and trading expeditions, her reward a pretty trinket from England or Ireland when they return.

In the last clause starting with 'her reward' and ending with 'when they return', it seems that 'being' is omitted in between 'her reward' and 'a pretty trinket'. This intuitively sounds grammatically correct, if perhaps a little literary or formal. However, it is not clear to me on what grounds this omission of 'being' can be justified upon. I understand the clause to be a participle clause with 'being' omitted, but what are the rules or patterns for omitting 'being'?

Why does there not seem to be a single word for "protest sign"?

Posted: 26 Jun 2021 05:34 AM PDT

Assuming I have not done a sufficiently thorough search for a one-word substitute for the two words, protest sign, perhaps there is a one-word substitute "out there." If so, what would it be? The only possibility I've found is placard, but that does not quite fit, because we do not normally see placards attached to a stick of wood and raised above the protestor's head. (I realize that not all protest signs are displayed that way, since banners, for example, serve the same function.)

Single word request: cancer patients' prognosis is bad (serious)

Posted: 26 Jun 2021 05:47 AM PDT

I, a non-native English speaker, am writing an academic summary in medicine and I am trying to find a word for describing that cancer patients prognosis is bad. However, "bad" isn't an appropriate word for an academic context. The best I can think about is the first example below but is "serious" a suitable word in this case?

Cancer prognosis is serious.

Cancer prognosis is not always good.

Cancer prognosis is ________

Could you please help me with a suitable word?

"Some day/time" if "some" modifies and specifies a more particular day/time

Posted: 26 Jun 2021 07:36 AM PDT

The adverbs someday and sometime express future time indefinitely: Let's meet sometime when your schedule permits. The two-word forms are always used when some is an adjective modifying and specifying a more particular day or time: Come some day soon. Choose some day that is not so busy.

https://www.ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?id=S5608500

Sometime https://oed.com/oed2/00230637

Why is some day that is not so busy a more particular day but sometime when your schedule permits is not a more particular time, both including relative clauses?

Can a souvenir be a non-physical thing?

Posted: 26 Jun 2021 07:53 AM PDT

From what I see in major dictionaries, the word "souvenir" is used only for physical objects. For example, a small Eiffel tower bought on a trip to Paris.

Can "souvenir" be used in the sense of "memory"? Like in this song. "Souvenirs" in it were clearly supposed to mean "memories". However, the author was Greek and it's a song, which often have loose grammar, so I'm not sure.

Any help would be highly appreciated.

less scientific or clinical sounding yet reassuring term for a gas that's okay to breathe than "breathable gas"?

Posted: 26 Jun 2021 02:35 AM PDT

In the first sentence of the SE question In simple terms, how does the way space suits manage breathable gas differ from how scuba gear does it? I explain:

I say "breathable gas" because what's in the tank can be a variety of mixtures and I don't know a single word for gas mixture you can safely breathe.

In the interest of biological and medical research and in deep sea diving and space exploration people have been give all kinds of gas mixtures with witch breathe to stay alive and conscious1. Sometimes pure oxygen, sometimes an oxygen-helium mix, etc.

The unifying feature would be to allow a proper amount of oxygen to the person's blood through the lungs, and otherwise "do no harm".

For water we have potable water. For air, we obviously have breathable gas.

But someone giving you a canister and saying "Here, inhale some of this. Trust me, it's breathable gas" doesn't sound reassuring.

Question: Is there a less scientific or clinical sounding yet reassuring term for a gas that's okay to breathe?

The phrase "fit to breathe air" (perhaps with some hyphenation) is not scientific or clinical and apparently means the same as breathable. But is there a less awkward construction for that or something different and yet obvious?

1here I'm excluding anesthetic mixutres or things that have other adverse or impairing effects (e.g. tear gas and worse).

Data analysis in/on model outputs?

Posted: 26 Jun 2021 01:11 AM PDT

If I have a model and there are some model outputs (data set) and I am about to conduct some analyses using the model outputs.

Should I say data analysis in/on model outputs?

For example:

  • Conduct data analysis in/on transactional data provided by other department.
  • Conduct data analysis in/on sales records.

Three is/are enough?

Posted: 26 Jun 2021 07:36 AM PDT

Should I use a singular or plural verb?

I got another dog because apparently three IS not enough.

Or

I got another dog because apparently three ARE not enough.

subordinate clause [duplicate]

Posted: 26 Jun 2021 08:04 AM PDT

I'm looking for a grammatical explanation for this clause

Men tend to talk about fewer subjects, the most popular being work, and sport.

In other words, we could say "..., among which, work and sport are the most popular". But I can't find a grammatical explanation for the first one ".. being work and sport."

Adverbial clause or adjectival clause? [closed]

Posted: 26 Jun 2021 02:06 AM PDT

(When they are used properly), pyrethroids have been found to pose very little risk on human. What is the grammatical name and function of the expression in the bracket?

How to understand "and" here [duplicate]

Posted: 26 Jun 2021 06:30 AM PDT

I come across following statement:

Enabling this behaviour may reduce performance and increase stream state requirements in streaming mode.

I am confused with "reduce performance" is in parallel with "increase stream state requirements in streaming mode", or "increase stream state requirements".

If "reduce performance" is in parallel with "increase stream state requirements in streaming mode", it means "reduce performance" can occur in any mode, not only streaming mode.

If "reduce performance" is in parallel with "increase stream state requirements", it means "reduce performance" only occur in streaming mode.

Which one is correct?

"such ... as" in an attributive clause [closed]

Posted: 25 Jun 2021 11:09 PM PDT

Please help me understand the following sentence structure:

More than half the roster, including such popular characters as Black Panther, Scarlett Witch, Star Lord, Spider-Man, and Doctor Strange weren't merely killed, they were wiped out of existence with the snap of a finger.

In this sentence, I notice there seem to be two predicate verbs, "such popular characters as ...weren't killed" and "they were wiped out of existence...". Is that correct? Or here "such as" is used as an attributive clause?

Another way to say "The new standard"

Posted: 26 Jun 2021 03:02 AM PDT

What would be another way to say something is "The new standard"? For example "We used to use blank1 but now we use blank2 which has become [phrase here in place of the new standard]"

Definition of new standard of which I refer is:"first in importance, order, or position; leading."

When to capitalize a registered profession?

Posted: 26 Jun 2021 10:02 AM PDT

I understand the rule to capitalize a profession (i.e. job title) when it is precedes a name, as in President John Doe... but what if we are talking about titles in general. I am working on a document that discusses when to request a referral to Registered Dietitian, Occupational Therapist or Speech Language Pathologist. Should these all be lower case, or capitalized?

Example: Feeding therapists are often Speech Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists or Registered Dietitians and can be referred to using [blank] form.

a tense in a subordinate clause

Posted: 26 Jun 2021 05:05 AM PDT

I watched Ace Ventura - Pet Detective and didn't understand past continuous usage in the scene which can be watched here: ''https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuhPPOXnyKo'' (0:42).

''I wouldn't want somebody tracing my steps, pointing out all the mistakes I was making''

One thing I know this sentence is reduced ''I wouldn't want somebody tracing my steps, pointing out all the mistakes I was making (e.g., if I were you)''

But why ''was making''?

I believe it doesn't refer to the past since context refer to present.

Thank you for helping me out.

The difference between "pressured" and "pressurised"

Posted: 26 Jun 2021 09:43 AM PDT

I often hear people talk of being pressurised into doing something, but I'm almost certain this is incorrect. A can of deodorant is pressurised, or a tin of beer, since in both cases the release of pressure yields a delicious bubbly beverage (in the former) or a pleasant smelling, easily applied spray to eliminate underarm smells (in the latter).

If one feels a degree of pressure to do something, does that not mean that one feels pressured into doing it, as opposed to feeling pressurised?

The term pressurised seems to me to be of North American origin (I refuse to use a z instead of an s). This seems reason enough not to use it, given that American English is a different language to British English, however I see it time and again in British English language media.

There seems to be little in the way of consensus on other parts of the internet so I thought I might ask here.

I've just had a cup: is it correct? [closed]

Posted: 26 Jun 2021 04:20 AM PDT

Is it correct to say like this?

"Would you like some tea?"

"Thank you, but I've just had a cup"

Would it be more idiomatic to say had one? Or both options are wrong? If so, how would you answer in this case?

What is the meaning of "here" at the end of a sentence and how should it be used? [closed]

Posted: 26 Jun 2021 09:31 AM PDT

I have had a few international friends ask about "here" when used at the end of a sentence such as

  • "I could use a little help here!"

or

  • "Buy me some time here!"

I would like to better explain this to them, but my best explanation is that adding "here" gives a feeling of desperation to a sentence. Even if that is a perfect explanation of the role of "here" in such exclamatory sentences (which I doubt), it doesn't provide them with an explanation of when it should or should not be used.

Could you please explain the use of "here" in these sentences?

Does an adjective or longer modifier apply to both nouns when they are joined with 'and' [or 'or']?

Posted: 26 Jun 2021 06:29 AM PDT

Can you grab the blue shirts and socks?

Is the above sentence stating that both the shirts and the socks are blue? Or only the shirts?

At this stage, I am leaning towards the earlier (only the shirts) — though writing "Can you grab the blue shirts and blue socks?" seems redundant.

What is the history of the oh-so-common English phrase, "come on!"?

Posted: 26 Jun 2021 09:03 AM PDT

I haven't any idea of whence the phrase come on could have originated. There seems to be little purely denotative sense that can be made of the phrase. What were the circumstances under which it was first coined, and what is the back-story to this interesting phrase (which I'm sure has some involved history)?

Difference in usage between "ostensive" and "ostensible" [closed]

Posted: 25 Jun 2021 11:55 PM PDT

I know that ostensive and ostensible are both adjectives, but can someone give me proper usage of each in their adjective forms? In their adverb forms, they almost sound identical.

What is the difference between illegal and unlawful?

Posted: 26 Jun 2021 05:24 AM PDT

I often hear an unlawful act, so what is an illegal act?

Dictionary.com defines the words as:

illegal

  1. forbidden by law or statute.

  2. contrary to or forbidden by official rules, regulations, etc.

unlawful

  1. not lawful; contrary to law; illegal

so it appears they might be synonyms. Is there some nuance that I'm missing?
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