Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

What does create outside of them means [closed]

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 11:38 AM PDT

I have heard people use or read this sentence : I tend to create outside of them.
I checked online that it's a grammatically perfect sentence. But I couldn't find
what does it mean

Alternative ways of saying "white-labeled"?

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 12:27 PM PDT

In software engineering, there has been a movement towards ensuring that language is more inclusive and culturally sensitive.

For example, I've been in companies that now use the word "main" instead of "master" branch, and allow-list/block-list instead of "white-list"/"black-list".

Are there synonyms for the concept of "white-labeling"?

A compound word or phrase would be acceptable. What's important to me is that people will understand what I mean. I'd like to be able to omit the explanatory line below in parentheses.

Example sentence:

"If I could go back and engineer that project again, I'd consider building it in a white-labeled way. (Instead of everything being designed just for myself, the system would also support additional customers.)"

My understanding of "private label" is more like when a grocery store wants to profit from branding a certain product but would prefer to buy and re-label and existing product. With "private label", it seems like there is a 1-to-1 relationship between product and new label. This doesn't quite fit my feeling of how I've heard "white-labeled", which implies more like "the core product is already built, and it can serve unlimited companies who each can pay to attach their logo to it."

Why do OED and ODO differ on the plural of “zero”? [closed]

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 10:51 AM PDT

Continuing What is the plural form of "zero"? , OED says

Plural zeroes

and examples of both endings follow.

Lexico (formerly Oxford Dictionaries Online) has

Cardinal number (zeros).

My question is not about what the correct™ plural is. My question is why the Oxfordians themselves could not agree on the plural.

Does "anything" typically include people? [closed]

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 10:30 AM PDT

I'm stuck trying to figure out if my usage of "anything" is consistent/common/correct. There are three related words to consider:

  1. Thing - (Almost?) Never refers to a person (rarely refers to anything that's alive, but as this parenthetical demonstrates before the first comma, it does happen)
  2. Everything - Used in an unrestricted sense (e.g. life, the universe, and everything), includes both people, all living things, along with all other things in the universe
  3. Anything - I think uses without clarifying context can include people, but I'm not sure.

For example, I'll tell my children "I love you more than anything (else) in the whole wide world." I don't say "anyone" because I want the statement to include both people and stuff (what if they think I love pizza more than them?), and to me, "anything" fits the bill (without requiring the tedious "anyone and anything"), and unless context specifically limits it.

So my question is: Does "anything", when not limited by context clues, cover people the way "everything" does? Or does it exclude people, the way "thing" does? Online dictionaries are being frustratingly vague on this specific topic.

My idea is ignored when I say it, but listened to when someone repeats it

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 10:36 AM PDT

Is there a word or phrase to describe the situation when one person makes a comment or suggestion in a meeting and is ignored, but a few minutes later someone else makes essentially the same comment or suggestion and is listened to?

What does "which" refer to if there are two subjects? [duplicate]

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 06:35 AM PDT

  1. Alaska is one of the states of America which is located on the border side.
  1. Alaska is one of the states of America which is a superpower country.

In the first sentence "which" refers to Alaska.

In the second sentence "which" refers to America.

Which sentence is wrong?

What is another word for "historical figure"? [closed]

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 05:56 AM PDT

What is another word for "historical figure"? I'm looking for a word for someone from history that was significant? (e.g. Abraham Lincoln)

What's the difference between envy and resent? [closed]

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 03:55 AM PDT

What's the difference between envy and resent?

envy

painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to possess the same advantage

Envy is the feeling you have when you wish you could have the same thing or quality that someone else has.

If you envy someone, you wish that you had the same things or qualities that they have.

resent

If you resent someone or something, you feel bitter and angry about them. [source]

to feel bitter or angry about something, especially because you feel it is unfair [source]

However the word resent is used as a comparative emotion as this article says. It is often used interchangeably with the word envy, so maybe there is a modern meaning in our current lexicon that the dictionary fails to explain, where they can both used in the same place.

Are mid-sentence exclamations archaic? [duplicate]

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 03:30 AM PDT

I've found when reading older literature written by Poe, Tolkien or Dickens that quite often in dialogue and description there will be an exclamation mid-sentence with the sentence continuing afterwards. For example:

Light grew, and lo! the Company passed through another gateway (...) (Lord of the Rings: RotK)

Also common in these books is alas! being mid sentence, with Dickens I recall there being a thank God! as well. Are these kinds of exclamations still used in modern writing or would they be considered archaic?

Is 'dummy object' allowed for English? [closed]

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 03:29 AM PDT

The sentence I have hard time to write is following.

Why should I use 'Move' feature of 'Settings-App' to move program rather than just cut and paste folder for program?

I thought

'Move' feature of 'Settings-App'

This is too verbose and what come to my mind was the notion of 'dummy subject'.

So, I try to write it as following way.

Why should I use it to move program that 'Move' feature of 'Settings-App' rather than just cut and paste program folder?

However, I have not idea about this is the proper or allowed way to use dummy 'it'. I've searched for 'dummy subject' and 'dummy pronoun', but still have any confidence about it.

Is it proper way to use 'it' as dummy like this? If not, what is the best practice for placing verbose object at the back of sentence?

Term/phrase to describe a word that develops divergent (often context-specific) meanings [duplicate]

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 05:24 AM PDT

There are certain cases where a single word takes on more than one meaning. This is ostensibly the same word and, superficially, it often seems to have a single definition (it certainly started with only one). However, for some reason or another, these words evolved to mean somewhat different things in different contexts (such as in different fields and/or communities).

Basically, these words exhibit

  • A single original meaning that (over time) diverges into several
  • A relatively clear meaning within a specific context
  • Different meanings in different contexts, which may be obscured by superficial similarity

A common example of this is "data scientist". If you ask people in different in different, you will get surprisingly different expectations of what a data scientist is. Some define them as experts in machine learning. Others consider them to be closer to data analysts or statisticians. Still others focus on domain knowledge and insights/storytelling through data. Often these communities aren't really aware that the others mean something similar but rather different.

You might say that "data science is an ambiguous word". While this description isn't wrong, it doesn't really capture the first two points very well. These kinds of words began as a single concept and evolved to express separate but clear (at least in isolation) to different groups of people.

You could arguably call it "jargon", since it tends to be associated with a field or professional group. The key difference is that jargon tends to have a single specific definition. I'd imagine these words are often "buzzwords", since that would encourage wide and inconsistent use, but I wouldn't say that is an essential component.

I hope I was able to convey the idea clearly. Honestly, I found it surprisingly hard to describe given the slippery nature of these words.

While/When + past continuous [closed]

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 02:08 AM PDT

I am curious about what you think about these sentences. Are they both acceptable? I mean using 'while or when' has a slightly different meaning, doesn't it? 1 I liked English when I was studying at school 2 I liked English while I was studying at school. My comment on them is that the other one suggests more strongly that I no longer like English; it expresses more clearly the concept of the duration of two things happening at the same time.

When searching for the origin of "bootlegger" has anyone considered foreign origin? Namely the low German/Saxon/Norwegian "utlegger"

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 01:34 AM PDT

As boots are hardly satisfactory to transport alcohol, the explanations based around boots or legs seem doubtful. Immigrants from northern European coastal areas would be familiar with both smuggling and alcohol so applying the word for outrigger (used colloquially for smugglers in their common unwritten language) doesn´t seem far fetched. When spoken only the "b" is missing which might have been added by nonspeakers of low German/Saxon/Norse.

I´m not a native speaker of english, please excuse my mistakes.

Why isn't "compulse" a word?

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 02:15 AM PDT

Given the words impel, impulsive, impulse, compel, and compulsive, why isn't compulse a word?

You could argue compulsion is the noun form of compel and thus is analogous to impulse, but impel already has the noun form of impulsion (though it may not be widely used).

Looking for a word that means to open an opportunity for something bad to happen

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 12:16 AM PDT

For example: "Doing many things at the same time oggies an oggy for hazards"

What's oggy?

I could say opens an opportunity for... But open an opportunity is usually used in a positive context. Also "opens the door for...", usually for good things. What's similar but has a negative connotation, meaning when used it implies something bad would happen.

in what kind of everyday situation should i use huff, puff, gasp and pant? [closed]

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 08:24 AM PDT

The Cambridge dictionary defines the words huff, puff, gasp and pant respectively as following:

  • to breathe loudly, esp. after physical exercise.
  • to breathe fast and with difficulty, usually because you have been exercising.
  • to breathe loudly and with difficulty, trying to get more air.
  • to breathe quickly and loudly through your mouth, usually because you have been doing something very energetic.

and the idioms "huff and puff" and "puff and pant" respectively as following:

  • to breathe loudly, usually after physical exercise.
  • to breathe fast and with difficulty, usually because you have been exercising.

There's a clear difference between these 4 words, but... IMHO it's a bit unnecessary to have 4 words with such a close meaning, so I want to know whether or not native speakers use these 4 words interchangeably, and if not, in what kind of everyday situation should I use each one of them?

I also want to know the difference (if any) between:

  • "huff and puff" and huff.
  • "puff and pant" and puff.

With whom in a sentence [closed]

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 11:52 AM PDT

"Can you print out a newer version of my certificate and hand it over to someone with whom I'm acquainted?"

Better expression than chauvinist for male dominant attitude

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 04:29 AM PDT

I'm getting a hard time to find an appropriate word on English with similar meaning to the portuguese word "machismo".

In portuguese this word means a conservative pro-male attitude, like an attitude that reinforces patriarchy and male dominance.

Example: a man that sees woman as inferior to man and should only be an house keeper and don't get a job. Or a man that uses and objectifies women.

Now every translation I've seen uses either chauvinism or sexism for this. I don't see neither as appropriate because chauvinism is more related with fanatic nationalism and sexism AFAIU can be from both sexes.

Can anyone think of a better way to express this idea of male dominant attitude?

Adjective capitalization of fictional species and nationalities

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 06:41 AM PDT

There exist a fictional nation called Elf Nation. (not a creative name but this is for a grammar experiment)

The species which inhabit this nation are called elf(singular) and elves (plural).

Would the nationality of this nation be capitalized?

For example, in the real world, we would refer to a citizen of a nation as: American citizen or British citizen or Russian citizen and so on. We would capitalize the nationality and not the profession. More examples: Japanese writer, Chinese professor.

What if the adjective of our nation's citizens is the same as the species name. Would we capitalize the adjective then? Example from the real world: human astronaut, not Human astronaut

So, would we refer to a general of this fictional nation Elf Nation as: elf general or Elf general?

Also, would it be elf culture or Elf culture, seeing that we use human culture and not Human culture?

I know you could just make up a separate adjective in this case and a separate adjective already exists for this species. My question is mostly about if and when can you mix nationality and species if they are fundamentally the same.

Using the indefinite article before "rain"

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 07:18 AM PDT

I have recently learned the use of the indefinite article before uncountable nouns to talk about an unspecific instance. Can I use "a heavy rain" in the following sentence to communicate that I am talking about an instance of heavy rain (a heavy downpour)?

The water level in the lake is much higher after a heavy rain.

Why did the writer use "him", instead of "himself"? [closed]

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 09:55 AM PDT

On a visit one evening to Nathaniel Hawthorne and his wife, Herman Melville, MobyDick author, told them a story of a fight he had witnessed on an island in the South Seas, in which one of the Polynesian warriors had wreaked havoc among his foes with a heavy club. Striding about the room, Melville demonstrated the feats of bravery and the desperate drama of the battle. After he had gone, Mrs. Hawthorne thought she remembered that he had left empty-handed, and wondered, "Where is that club with which Mr. Melville was laying about him so?" Mr. Hawthorne maintained that he must have taken it with him, and indeed a search of the room revealed nothing. The next time they saw him, they asked him what had happened to the club. It turned out that there was no club; it had simply been a figment of their imagination, conjured up by the vividness of Melville's narrative.

Question: Why did the writer use "him", instead of "himself"?

What's it called when a company owns products or services that strictly limit consumers to that company's products or services?

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 12:01 AM PDT

What's it called when a company owns products or services that strictly limit consumers to that company's products or services? For example, a camera only saves images in a format readable by a product of the camera manufacturer.

The word or expression I'm looking for would be used like this:

The way this company imposes such a restriction on its customers is called __________.

Can a comma be used before 'and' here? [closed]

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 10:18 AM PDT

Is it appropriate to use a comma in these examples?

We, however, discussed ways of improving the school's standard so as to increase the admission rate of students this year, and scheduled the next meeting to be on Tuesday for proper arrangements.

He never looked for trouble (although he had a bag full of trouble for trouble-seekers), and had a high sense of humor, which made the few people who did not like him become his admirers.

I know that a comma can only be used before a coordinating conjunction if it connects two independent clauses. But this is not the case here. I thought of this question and wanted to know whether using a comma in these examples is correct.

Please note that example 2 is taken from a novel.

More of a/an/the something than something

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 01:09 AM PDT

I would like to know more about this expression: More of a/an something than something.

As far as I know, it's usually used when we refer to things that are preceded by articles such as a and an. For example, we can say "He's more of a singer than a dancer", which means that he's more like a singer than a dancer.

However, I would like to know if we can use it when the words we are describing are preceded by "the", which is also an article.

For example, can we use "The cause of the disaster was more of the operator than the machine itself"?

Any opinions are welcome.

Thanks in advance!

What is it called when two unrelated clauses are joined and make no sense

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 07:05 AM PDT

I'm find this very hard to describe, but as it's something that I find grating I'm trying to find a word to describe it so I can discuss it with people.

Here is a conversation that to me makes sense:

Me: Do you like butter?

Someone else: No I don't, but I can spread it

This is not jarring. Maybe they could have said 'but at least I can spread it', but that feels implied.

Here is an example where the two clauses feel jarring:

Me: Do you like butter?

Someone else: Yes I do, but I can spread it

Here, you expect but to be a counter to the first clause, but in this example it's not countering anything. It feel clear the speaker meant to say 'and', but regardless this formation feels jarring.

Here's another example:

This is not isolated to but, however I can't find good example.

What is this called?

Word describing an outdated and no longer updated software package

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 07:42 AM PDT

I am looking for a word describing a software package that has not been updated for a long time, and although it still works with new versions of the underlying software, bugs have not been fixed for years, and no new features have been added.

I found this similar question, however, none of the words from the answer really seem to match, because the software package still exists and works, but just has not been updated in a long time. So it was not retired, or replaced, or terminated, or deprecated, or sunsetted.

"Unsupported" would somewhat match, but this essentially applied to a huge number of similar packages which are typically not officially supported. "Abandoned" sounds a bit harsh to me, as I would use the word in a document that the original author of the package might get to see at some point.

I was thinking about something like "obsolete" or "outdated", but this sort of seems to imply that there exists something newer, or better replacing the old package, which is not the case.

Translation of German "Es wird nichts so heiß gegessen, wie es gekocht wird"

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 12:06 PM PDT

A German speaker wrote:

As the German saying goes: You never eat the food as hot as it is cooked.

This is a literal translation of the proverb, "Es wird nichts so heiß gegessen, wie es gekocht wird." I wasn't the only person who had never heard that proverb in English. To me it sounded like a great proverb, but I couldn't quite figure out what it should mean. When asked to clarify its application to the question at hand, the German explained:

We don't take the rules as literally as they are written.

"Wow!" I thought. "That is a great proverb! Why can't I think of an English equivalent?"

Out of curiosity I popped the whole saying into Google translate and it came back with, "Nothing is as bad as it looks." So that doesn't seem right.

Of course German is famous for having a word for everything. But without falling back on ethnic jokes I can't figure out why a simple proverb like this would not have been translated or have an English analog.

Is there something equivalent, or similar, in English? Or any great insights into why there wouldn't be?

Is there a word for occurring four times a week? [closed]

Posted: 30 Jun 2021 08:42 AM PDT

I am trying to use this word to say how often my basketball team meets to practice.
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