Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange |
- What scholarly term is used in archaeology to describe "assumptions" made about discoveries?
- A number of people wanted to, but the investigation failed to reveal they
- Usage of 'run something down south'
- Relationship by position or relationship ex officio?
- Failing to determine common ground due to excessive insight into some field/topic
- Why is this use of "therefore" considered a restrictive adverb?
- Is it possible to put an intransitive verb in passive voice? [closed]
- prepositions problem about OF and FROM when put in the front of the sentence [closed]
- Is it correct to pronounce the letter N as "ain" when spelling out words letter by letter?
- Inverse of the African proverb "The axe forgets; the tree remembers"
- What is the antonym for the word 'Realpolitik'? [closed]
- Could vs can which one is correct [closed]
- Is it incorrect to use "I'm" to replace "I am." when that is the whole sentence? [migrated]
- Is take care proper for this picture? [closed]
- Is there a word that means an action that is the death of an idea?
- Differences in antonyms of "balance" with negative prefixes
- What part of speech is the word "entire" in "over the little garden field entire"?
- Is 'hypothecate' anything to do (in origin or meaning) with 'hypothetical'?
- Is it polite to use "delinquent" for a colleague at work?
- Are "subject" and "object" syntactic classifications?
- Does putting an "and" between two verbs alter qualifying clauses?
- If a person is stubborn in his statement? [duplicate]
- Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture?
- onomatopoeia for taking a deep breath before speaking
- Is it acceptable to modify "bonus" with "positive"
- What's the opposite of "pro bono"?
- What is the clearest way to describe two "kitty-corner" buildings?
- Precise names for parts of a day
| What scholarly term is used in archaeology to describe "assumptions" made about discoveries? Posted: 10 Jul 2021 09:36 AM PDT Archaeologists often come to conclusions without having a great deal of evidence, e.g.:
My question is, what jargon do scholars use to refer to these "assumptions"? Are they just that "assumptions"? "Guesses"? Sample sentence: And are there terms for assumptions when they are weak (lack many evidence) and strong (much evidence supports it), or in-between?  |
| A number of people wanted to, but the investigation failed to reveal they Posted: 10 Jul 2021 09:42 AM PDT
Why exactly can't whom be used here, similarly to any personal pronoun, as in ...reveal them / him or her (or them) ? Secondly, could a nominative personal pronoun be used with a similar elliptical reasoning? E.g., ...reveal they [who might have wanted to kill Robert]  |
| Usage of 'run something down south' Posted: 10 Jul 2021 08:16 AM PDT I have the following sentence which describes a person putting a finger on someone's chest and trailing it downwards:
In this context, would it be correct to use run something down south or should it be replaced with trailed it downwards?
If south can mean lower part of the body then I can definitely see the first example working too. I haven't found any examples of this occurring so probably such definition of the word south does not exist.  |
| Relationship by position or relationship ex officio? Posted: 10 Jul 2021 06:37 AM PDT Relationship by position or relationship ex officio? What do I call work relationships between people that have different positions at the company?  |
| Failing to determine common ground due to excessive insight into some field/topic Posted: 10 Jul 2021 06:36 AM PDT Is there a term for the situation where a person knows so much about a topic or field, that she has a hard time talking about the topic with laymen because she fails to comprehend the limits of the layman's understanding of the topic? In other words, she fails to distinguish between what is common knowledge and what isn't, thereby failing to explain the non-obvious, which in turn leads to a complete lack of understanding from the layman.  |
| Why is this use of "therefore" considered a restrictive adverb? Posted: 10 Jul 2021 03:49 AM PDT So, I found this explanation of when and when not to set off adverbs with commas. Here is an example in which 'therefore' serves as more of an aside or a pause:
In this case, 'therefore' is bounded by commas to separate it from the rest of the sentence and to provide a pause for the reader. In this example, if 'therefore' were moved and placed within the verb 'were re-examined', it would be treated as an essential (restrictive) adverb and would not require commas:
But, I'm confused as to why 'therefore' suddenly becomes restrictive when inserted into the verb, 'were re-examined'. It's still the same sentence in meaning, right? My guess as to the reason why was that we don't want to use a comma or commas to divide the words that comprise a compound verb. But, then I thought of an example where it would be fine to divide the words of a compound verb! Here it is:
So, my question is why does 'therefore' suddenly become restrictive when placed between 'were' and 're-examined"?  |
| Is it possible to put an intransitive verb in passive voice? [closed] Posted: 09 Jul 2021 11:09 PM PDT My teacher told me that we can't convert intransitive verbs like 'walk' into passive voice when there is no object present. For example:
But I think we can convert this by saying:
Does this still count as passive voice? Also, is the second sentence grammatically correct?  |
| prepositions problem about OF and FROM when put in the front of the sentence [closed] Posted: 09 Jul 2021 11:25 PM PDT What's the difference between " from all the students " and " of all the students "? EX: From all of the students, Mary is the smartest.  |
| Is it correct to pronounce the letter N as "ain" when spelling out words letter by letter? Posted: 10 Jul 2021 09:51 AM PDT I live in a non-English-speaking country. A lot of people around me pronounce the letter N as "ain" (/eɪn/ in IPA). I am very confused because in dictionaries the letter N can be only pronounced as /en/. Is this a mistake? Do any native speakers also pronounce the letter N as "ain"?  |
| Inverse of the African proverb "The axe forgets; the tree remembers" Posted: 09 Jul 2021 09:01 PM PDT There is an african proverb that says "The axe forgets; the tree remembers", meaning the person who hurt another forgets but the person who gets hurt remembers. Is there an inverse to this? As in, the person who helps another forgets but the person who is helped remembers.  |
| What is the antonym for the word 'Realpolitik'? [closed] Posted: 09 Jul 2021 08:31 PM PDT
What would be the opposite of 'Realpolitik'?  |
| Could vs can which one is correct [closed] Posted: 09 Jul 2021 07:53 PM PDT I have doubt on below mentioned sentences Please correct me can you reschedule it? Vs Could you reschedule it? Which one is correct and why ?  |
| Is it incorrect to use "I'm" to replace "I am." when that is the whole sentence? [migrated] Posted: 09 Jul 2021 07:21 PM PDT Ex: "Are you going to the beach?" "I'm" I haven't ever seen or heard I'm used this way, but is it technically incorrect?  |
| Is take care proper for this picture? [closed] Posted: 09 Jul 2021 09:30 PM PDT I want to know the difference between look out, take care, and watch out.
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| Is there a word that means an action that is the death of an idea? Posted: 10 Jul 2021 09:03 AM PDT Something like the word 'antithesis', however instead of just meaning 'this is the opposite of that' I thought there was a word that meant 'doing this signals the death of this'. I thought there was a word to describe this, but nothing comes to mind. The meaning behind the phrase I'm thinking of is roughly 'if I accept to do this, it is the death of the purpose of my job'.  |
| Differences in antonyms of "balance" with negative prefixes Posted: 10 Jul 2021 08:58 AM PDT Most words only have one correct negative prefix out of "in-", "im-", and "un-". Why are both "imbalance" and "unbalance" both grammatically correct (but "inbalance" is not")? What are differences in meaning and usage of these two opposites of "balance"? Can they be regarded as synonyms of each other? Are there any other examples of such co-existing variants with different uses?  |
| What part of speech is the word "entire" in "over the little garden field entire"? Posted: 09 Jul 2021 08:37 PM PDT The sentence is: "After a while she got up from where she was and went over the little garden field entire." A quote from Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. I want to know if the word "entire" is a flat adverb, a postpositive adjective, a noun alternative for entirety, or some other part of speech in the bolded sentence above. Thank you for reading. I hope you will respond and share your thoughts with me.  |
| Is 'hypothecate' anything to do (in origin or meaning) with 'hypothetical'? Posted: 09 Jul 2021 09:21 PM PDT I had never come across the word before but apparently a hypothecated tax is one in which ring-fenced funds are collected by taxation to pay for a specific government expenditure. This kind of tax is being suggested in the UK in order to fund the National Health Service in the future. The OED appears to be defining the verb 'hypothecate' in a way that is definitely different in meaning to 'hypothetical' :
'Hypothetical' is from 'hypothesis' which the OED tells me comes from Greek : ὑπό under + θέσις placing. So a hypothesis is an argument 'placed under' a statement. The OED gives the etymology of 'hypothecate' as :
But this all seems a bit muddled to me both in the origin (would not 'hypothecate' have a Greek etymology, intially ?) and in the present English meaning (is not the ring-fenced tax an opposite of a hypothetical tax ?). It is especially odd when the OED then offers a second meaning for 'hypothecate' as :
thus implying either the same origin or the same meaning for the word as 'hypothetical'. Any help would be appreciated.  |
| Is it polite to use "delinquent" for a colleague at work? Posted: 10 Jul 2021 02:04 AM PDT I received a mail from a colleague saying that he had noticed that I am a delinquent for not filing something in time. I found it offensive. Is it alright to use the delinquent for someone who has missed doing a particular task? Is it polite and professional to do so in formal communication?  |
| Are "subject" and "object" syntactic classifications? Posted: 09 Jul 2021 11:04 PM PDT I would like to know where the classification of Arguments such as subject, object... comes from. I know that the roles classifications come from Thematic roles; however, how about those mentioned above? I looked into both terms but couldn't find any reference pointing where they derive from.  |
| Does putting an "and" between two verbs alter qualifying clauses? Posted: 10 Jul 2021 09:05 AM PDT In the following .. does the 'date clause' apply to one, the other, or both imperatives. "To confirm your miles balance, just purchase and fly with "airline" or the Partner Airlines to any destination and for any fare, between 25 May and 24 June 2017." And what is the grammatical reason for which it is..? I believe it was translated from Italian (we would say May 24th in USA) as this is an Italian airline (name of airline intentionally omitted). Below is the entire context:
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| If a person is stubborn in his statement? [duplicate] Posted: 10 Jul 2021 04:01 AM PDT When we ask a person (X) to change a method that he doing something regularly. He is not ready to accept our request and he says "I will do in the same way as I did previously" whether the method he doing is right or wrong. I need some sentences How to we explain this situation to someone else "I explained him, but he(X) is rigid in his statement (or) He (X) he is strong in his statement (or) He is constantly holding his statement..... He is not ready to accept our request. I'm not fluent in English now only learning to speak. So kindly you yourself understand try to my question and give some proper sentences examples. Thanks in advance.  |
| Which word begins with "y" and looks like an axe in this picture? Posted: 09 Jul 2021 10:54 PM PDT My 1-year kid has a plastic ball that is decorated with all 26 letters from the English alphabet and besides each letter is an image. I suppose the images are of words in English that begin with each of the letters. That works for all of them, except for the Y, which image looks like an axe to me. I searched for synonyms for axe (hatchet, tomahawk) but could not find one that starts with Y. Following is a picture I took from the ball where the Y and it's image can be seen. Y is surrounded by Queen, Nail, Worm, Elephant and Kangaroo, I suppose. Can someone help me identify which English word is depicted in Y?
The complete list of letter/symbol pairs, for those asking, is Apple, Bear, Cat, Dog, Elephant , Frog, Giraffe, House, Ice, Jet, Kangaroo, Lion, Mouse, Nail, Owl, Pig, Queen, Rainbow, Snail, Tiger, Uboat (submarine), Volcano, Worm, Xylophone, Y / axe, Zebra. And thanks to @jkej's Google sleuthing, another view of the ball may be seen at the site fishpond.com. I bought the ball in a store called Lojas França, located in a mall called Bourbon Shopping Wallig in Porto Alegre, in southern Brazil. Edit - I was looking for any sign that could help us identify the manufacturer of the ball and all I could find were the letters DNE near the air valve. Following is an image of that part of the ball, in case it helps:
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| onomatopoeia for taking a deep breath before speaking Posted: 10 Jul 2021 04:16 AM PDT I'm writing a comic, and a character is about to ask another character for help, but it's taken her a lot of effort to be able to ask for help. So, before she finally asks she takes a deep breath and inhales before speaking. And I cannot think of what kind of Onomatopoeia you would use for taking a deep breath other than just writing deep breath. And that seems so lame. Does anyone have any advice on how I could handle this problem?  |
| Is it acceptable to modify "bonus" with "positive" Posted: 10 Jul 2021 03:40 AM PDT Before I jump to my question, a short note about cloze tests from Wikipedia
Question: I was looking at my friend's English test paper that was prepared by some Chinese teachers. The text for the cloze section was adopted from an article published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Raising Great Kids: 101 Stories about Sharing. The article can be accessed via Google Books. On that page, the author modifies "bonus" with "positive". The usage doesn't seem right to me. The Chinese teachers treated that portion this way: So, when someone does reciprocate, it is an enormous and positive ______. A. effect B. bonus C. attitude D. contribution Of course, the suggested answer was in accordance with the original text, which is B. What do you think? Thanks!  |
| What's the opposite of "pro bono"? Posted: 09 Jul 2021 11:36 PM PDT The Latin pro bono is used to describe performance of (often professional or specialized) services for free or for reduced compensation. Is there a corresponding (hopefully Latin, perhaps pro-SOMETHING) phrase for performance of services for pay (i.e., normal/conventional compensation)? I perused Wikipedia's list of Latin "P" phrases and didn't find anything satisfactory. Pro rata is perhaps plausible (in the sense of pay-as-you-go), but I don't think I have seen it used in this sense. I suppose the phrase I seek describes the "normal" case, so it doesn't often need a clarifying phrase (in contrast to the "abnormal" case described by pro bono). I could certainly use a literal English phrase like "for money" or "for a fee" (e.g., as suggested here). However, that doesn't seem as elegant (as pro bono is somewhat more elegant and more specific than "for free"). I'm also interested in this as describing a situation: analogous to pro bono describing the arrangement of services being provided at reduced fee, this term explicitly identifies the arrangement as services being performed at the conventional rate. Such a phrase could also be used in a somewhat jocular or droll way; for example, a student asking for help with an implicit pro bono sense:
Perhaps that, itself, works in this usage... :)  |
| What is the clearest way to describe two "kitty-corner" buildings? Posted: 10 Jul 2021 07:06 AM PDT How can I explain the relationship of building A to building B where building A is, e.g., on the NW corner of an intersection, and building B is on the SE corner? Which of the following (if any) is the clearest? If none, is there a clearer way?
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| Precise names for parts of a day Posted: 10 Jul 2021 02:55 AM PDT I have learnt these words so far, please correct me if I'm wrong:
You see, I've missed some parts of a day, I may be not correct on the time boundaries of each part, though. I would like to complete the list, especially the part after the morning but before the afternoon. My teacher never told us to use the word noon, and good noon seems never used by anyone. I would like to know each part of a day, its corresponding food term (like lunch, supper, etc.), and its corresponding greeting words, thanks. Summary I'll update the table to reflect the answers:  |
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