Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

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• Plurality and "there happens to be" vs "there happen to be" [duplicate]
• Pronunciation of an acronym as a word - C as a stop or a fricative [closed]
• Rebuttal to the solution of "An Idiom to describe the action of botching a job when it is almost complete" [duplicate]
• Building design and construction [closed]
• What is the grammatical rule behind this? [closed]
• What are the most salient connotations of derivatives of the Greek word ‘telos’? [closed]
• with maximum velocity or with the maximum velocity? [duplicate]
• Does 'were just opening' mean 'had just opened' or 'were about to open'？ Thanks [closed]
• What is the technical term for “green” in “green forest”? [closed]
• What is the meaning of "outsider-cum-insider"? [closed]
• The usage of "with" and "as“ in a sentence
• How to professionally reply “Can I share your pictures on our Instagram?” [closed]
• do I need to put and after semicolon? [closed]
• Equivalent of thermal insulation for odor/smell?
• Putting out fires means to put out the fires. But what if it's a just a spark or at the kindling stage, and you put it out, is there a word for that?
• What does "prepare To exams" mean, should it be I am preparing for my exam? [closed]
• What does worldly experience mean? [closed]
• during the week(s) vs on the weekend(s)
• Which/ That/ Present Participle
• What's the syntactic explanation in "Mistakes are likely to happen":
• Is it appropriate to write mixed capped abbreviations and acronyms in all caps for headers, etc?
• Subordinate clause types/functions
• Adjective placed before a noun but adjectival complement after it
• Can "comply with" here be replaced by "abide by"?
• Which sentence is better, if I change "in a way that" to "how", should I leave "in"?
• Others ways to say "I wish you the best in your decision" [duplicate]
• Bad things combining to make something good
• Single word for floating dust visible in sunlight
• Does the term "garbledy gook" have racist origins?

Plurality and "there happens to be" vs "there happen to be" [duplicate] Posted: 21 Jul 2021 09:02 AM PDT Imagine we have the sentence I am hungry, and luckily there happens to be a lot of apple trees nearby. Should it be "happen to be" or "happens to be" in this instance? I believe the correct form is "happen to be" and that is because "a lot of apple trees" is plural. If the sentence was I am hungry, and luckily there happens to be a big apple tree nearby. I believe it would be correct, but I can't find any resources on the internet to check whether this assumption is true. Can anyone shed a bit of light on this? Thanks a lot!

Pronunciation of an acronym as a word - C as a stop or a fricative [closed] Posted: 21 Jul 2021 08:45 AM PDT At my place of work in the US at an agency, there is an acronym that is fairly well known: FOCI I've noticed some pronounce it "FOSI" (with a sibilant(?) C) and some "FOKI" (with a hard C) with a long O and a long I. (I don't know the proper way to describe these things, sorry) If it matters, the acronym will expand as: Foreign Ownership, Control or Influence. Which pronunciation would be more accurate, or better, if either? How would this be determined?

Rebuttal to the solution of "An Idiom to describe the action of botching a job when it is almost complete" [duplicate] Posted: 21 Jul 2021 08:09 AM PDT I asked this question a few days back and found that my question has been closed. I am reposting it as I think there are some subtle differences between the idiom/phrase I am looking for and the solutions suggested. Any critique of my argument is most welcome. Here is my original question: "I am looking for an idiom/phrase which is used to describe the action of botching up a job when it is almost complete. A similar idiom in another foreign language is "to drown/wreck a boat when it is almost about to dock". It will be great to get some ideas". The solutions proposed are: //////////////////// "To stick the landing": The original meaning of this idiom is to land firmly after an aerobatic move. Hence "landing" is an essential step without which the whole move will fail. So I will prefer to use it where I am asking someone to be very careful about the finishing steps. But in my question, even if we do not do anything the boat will dock. We use this idiom when we are asking someone not to do anything stupid which can jeopardize a nearly completed job./////////// " They danced but forgot to take a bow": This also has the same issue. Taking a bow is an integral step of the dance. So again I will use it when I am asking someone not to be over complacent when a job is near completion. But I think none of these convey the meaning that tells "do not do anything stupid to mess up a job that is almost complete".

Building design and construction [closed] Posted: 21 Jul 2021 07:33 AM PDT What is the difference between 3B+G+2 and 2G+B+3 in house construction, civil engineering?

What is the grammatical rule behind this? [closed] Posted: 21 Jul 2021 07:27 AM PDT "The people need to evacuate before the storm is coming." It should be "before the storm comes." What rule do we have to explain the structure after "before"? If I got it all wrong, please correct it.

What are the most salient connotations of derivatives of the Greek word ‘telos’? [closed] Posted: 21 Jul 2021 07:30 AM PDT Purpose and being purpose-driven are high on my list of life values, so much so that I've named a business "Telos Coffee Roasters". However, as we expand and are considering doing more with the concept, e.g. Teleological Enterprises, I want to make sure there are no prominent negative theological, literary, philosophical, etc. connotations associated (is it redundant to include associated here?) with the idea of telos, and I'm concerned mostly with contemporary connotations but it would be interesting to me to get the full gamut also. It's an old word, after all, and I know it's the fourth of Aristotle's four causes, and that it's used by some of the NT authors.

with maximum velocity or with the maximum velocity? [duplicate] Posted: 21 Jul 2021 07:37 AM PDT The Sentence (online oxford dictionary): Having started his corporate career with maximum velocity, Yang now runs another company called Yahoo! Why not add "the" before "maximum velocity"—..with the maximum velocity..? Having started his corporate career with the maximum velocity, Yang now runs another company called Yahoo! Edit The issue here not get an sufficiant answer in that question.

Does 'were just opening' mean 'had just opened' or 'were about to open'？ Thanks [closed] Posted: 21 Jul 2021 01:36 AM PDT The shops were just opening. Does the sentence mean 'they had just opened' or 'they were about to open'？ Thanks.

What is the technical term for “green” in “green forest”? [closed] Posted: 21 Jul 2021 01:23 AM PDT What is the technical term for "green" in "green forest" meaning "forest filled with green trees and flowers"? I thought "green forest" is a figurative phrase for "forest filled with green trees and flowers."

What is the meaning of "outsider-cum-insider"? [closed] Posted: 21 Jul 2021 12:28 AM PDT What is the meaning of "outsider-cum-insider"? For instance, I functioned as an outsider-cum-insider at the company.

The usage of "with" and "as“ in a sentence Posted: 21 Jul 2021 08:49 AM PDT Can the preposition with be used in this way with as? Under the guidance of our leaders, we participated in the show both physically and virtually, with online mode as the main mode and physical mode as the auxiliary mode. The context is that the company has just attended a show in-person and virtually.

How to professionally reply “Can I share your pictures on our Instagram?” [closed] Posted: 20 Jul 2021 11:03 PM PDT I have a business Instagram account for my work and received an email saying "Can I share your pictures on our Instagram page?". I'm happy to have my pictures shared. Could you tell me some polite way to respond? Is " I'm happy to have you share my pictures?" weird? Thanks

do I need to put and after semicolon? [closed] Posted: 21 Jul 2021 09:16 AM PDT Do I need to put "and" after a semicolon? like for example --- The following are: Prescribe standards acceptable to target markets; Give technical advice; and Monitor local standards. Is the above writing correct?

Equivalent of thermal insulation for odor/smell? Posted: 21 Jul 2021 10:00 AM PDT Thermal insulation expresses the capacity of a material or structure to prevent heat from being transferred from one location in space to another (other definitions exist). Thermal is an adjective. The equivalent for sound is simply sound insulation, though I didn't find sound (as a vibration of the air) as being defined (in a dictionary) as an adjective, but it is here, isn't it? What is the equivalent of thermal insulation for odor? Simply odor insulation, or maybe smell insulation? As for sound, I didn't find odor defined as an adjective. So should one maybe say odoriferous insulation? odoriferous is an adjective but it usually refers to something with a bad smell which isn't particularly what I want to express: odor transferred can be neutral, pleasant or not. Usage examples: Thermal insulation of this hotel room is good. Sound insulation of this house is poor. Odor insulation of that room is surprisingly poor (?)

Putting out fires means to put out the fires. But what if it's a just a spark or at the kindling stage, and you put it out, is there a word for that? Posted: 21 Jul 2021 05:43 AM PDT What is the word that is about stifling a spark, not yet a fire. Is there a word for that?

What does "prepare To exams" mean, should it be I am preparing for my exam? [closed] Posted: 20 Jul 2021 09:57 PM PDT During the live chat someone asked me "what are you doing?" And I said I am preparing for my exams. Later he said "that's prepare To exams, mate?" and I got confused. Please help me solve this doubt.

What does worldly experience mean? [closed] Posted: 20 Jul 2021 11:30 PM PDT I was reading an article about growing of age and I just read this sentence, This creates a very scary letting go for parents, who must accept that they cannot keep their teenager free of more worldly dangers that are associated with the worldly experience he or she is wanting. —Parenting Adolescents and the Problems of Letting Go, Psychology Today, April 23, 2012 And I can't really understand the meaning of worldly experience/(dangers). Can someone explain this to me? Presumably any experience that one could have has something to do with the world, but here it is obvious that the authors have in mind some specific kind of experiences. Why would the authors choose to call these specific experiences worldly, in contrast to some other experiences, which are also worldly in the literal sense?

during the week(s) vs on the weekend(s) Posted: 20 Jul 2021 10:31 PM PDT During the week, Nate Brakeley works as a data analyst. But on the weekends, he competes with Rugby United New York, the city's first professional major league rugby franchise, now in its fourth season. (Source: New York Times article: How a Professional Rugby Player Spends Sundays) This is the first paragraph of the article. Here, the week and the weekends refer to weekdays and weekends in general, respectively. Note that the week is singular while the weekends is plural. And I agree with these choices of singular/plural forms. Although I could possibly use singular the weekend instead of plural the weekends, I wouldn't use plural the weeks instead of singular the week. So I'd like to know two things: a. Do you agree with me on the choice of singular/plural forms? b. If so, how would you explain that you can allow the weekends to mean "weekends" in general but not the weeks to mean "weeks" in general?

Which/ That/ Present Participle Posted: 21 Jul 2021 10:02 AM PDT I'm working on the translation of a product packaging. Uses: Boosting liver function which helps cleanse blood plasma, the liquid portion of blood which/that accounts for 55% of its volume. Would it be better to use "benefits" in place of "uses"? Is it true that when saying the uses of a product, infinitives are preferred to gerunds (in this context, using "boost" instead of "boosting")? Could you please tell me if this sentence sounds fine with two which in a sentence or should I substitute the latter one with that or the Present Participle "accounting"? Is the use of "boosting" grammatically and medically correct as I've found out that "improving liver function" is more commonly used? The original version literally says "cleanse blood plasma", I've googled this phrase and the result is replaced with "cleanse your blood". Are they the same thing?

What's the syntactic explanation in "Mistakes are likely to happen": Posted: 21 Jul 2021 06:42 AM PDT I'm con­fused about this sen­tence con­struc­tion: Mis­takes are likely to hap­pen. I've thought of three pos­si­ble ex­pla­na­tions; are any of them cor­rect? Where likely is an ad­jec­tive act­ing as a sub­ject com­ple­ment, then to hap­pen acts as some type of ad­verb mod­i­fy­ing likely? (But I don't know what that type would be if so.) To hap­pen acts as a sub­ject com­ple­ment, and likely as an ad­verb of the fi­nite verb (are) or the non-fi­nite verb (to hap­pen). There is an el­lip­sis of out­comes be­tween them: mis­takes are likely (out­comes) to hap­pen where likely and to hap­pen both are ad­jec­tives mod­i­fy­ing el­lip­sis (out­comes), and to hap­pen is a re­duced rel­a­tive clause of that might/could hap­pen.

Is it appropriate to write mixed capped abbreviations and acronyms in all caps for headers, etc? Posted: 21 Jul 2021 07:05 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?

Subordinate clause types/functions Posted: 21 Jul 2021 06:42 AM PDT In the sentences: She begged him [not to leave her]. The colonel commanded his men [to charge]. How can we encourage a baby [to use that toy properly]? Are the to-clauses subordinate – and if so, are they thereby regarded as objects?

Adjective placed before a noun but adjectival complement after it Posted: 21 Jul 2021 02:09 AM PDT Page 14 of Practical English Usage reads In some cases an adjective can be put before a noun and its complement after it. This happens with different, similar, the same, next, last, first, second etc; comparatives and superlatives; and a few other adjectives like difficult and easy The best mother in the world Why are difficult/easy dealt with as being different form different/similar? Secondly, what other arrangement of words would be grammatical for superlatives, as in The best mother in the world ?

Can "comply with" here be replaced by "abide by"? Posted: 21 Jul 2021 09:04 AM PDT The key explains that when using the phrase "abide by" you must ensure that "a person" serves as the subject of the sentence. Is that true? 6 All the activities of a joint venture shall ____ the provision of laws, decrees and pertinent regulations of the People's Republic of China. a obey ... b abide by ... c comply with ... d observe [istack:imgur]

Which sentence is better, if I change "in a way that" to "how", should I leave "in"? Posted: 21 Jul 2021 08:01 AM PDT As I am learning English, the more I study, the more I am confused... Termite mounds are built in a way that hot air rises out and cool air comes in. in that sentence, if I want to change "a way that" to "how", should I still use "in" or removing "'in" is better?

Others ways to say "I wish you the best in your decision" [duplicate] Posted: 21 Jul 2021 04:00 AM PDT I'm writing a business letter. Wondering if there are other ways to say "I wish you the best in your decision" (already used it in a recent letter to the same person). Found "I wish you well in your decision." Also found the following somewhat related topics. Interesting, but no cigar: "Best of luck" or "Best luck"? Wishing someone that something goes easily for them What is the neutral way of telling someone to "do whatever you want"? Grateful for your help.

Bad things combining to make something good Posted: 20 Jul 2021 10:07 PM PDT I'm looking for a single word (or two words) that means something along the lines, "Two bad things coming together to make something good." When I say things it could mean events or objects or people or anything, that part is quite flexible. But it has to be a combination of two. Alternatively I wouldn't mind a word that would mean something like, "two bad things combining to make something far far worse" either. Thanks! EDIT: It needs to be obvious that two bad things are combining. Also I can't use a phrase. I'm hoping to convert the word/2 words into a name, so that should help understand what I'm looking for.

Single word for floating dust visible in sunlight Posted: 21 Jul 2021 06:26 AM PDT Is there a single word used in English for the visibility of dust particles floating in a stream of sunlight? shutterstock.com

Does the term "garbledy gook" have racist origins? Posted: 21 Jul 2021 09:19 AM PDT For me, the term garbledy gook simply means garbage; unintelligible text or speech. An example usage would be: If you open that binary file in notepad, you'll just see a load of garbledy gook However, I just used this on the phone to a customer and, as I said it, I wondered about the origins. The word gook by itself is a racist or derogatory term for people of south east Asian origins (source) and the last thing I want to do at work (or anywhere, to be honest!) is use that kind of language. Where did this phrase come from? Does it have origins in racism?

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