Saturday, July 24, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Why do we say "Biden administration" rather than "Biden's administration"? [duplicate]

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 10:51 AM PDT

I've seen so many examples like :

Biden administration

or

GOP backlash

Why don't we bring "s" as the administration belongs to Biden, and say "Biden's administration" or "GOP's backlash"?

End a letter with "Distressed homeowners", is that OK?

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 10:29 AM PDT

I am writing a complaint letter about a construction job. I want to end the letter with:

Sincerely,  Distressed homeowners, Tom & Jerry

Is this the right format?

Sentence formation [duplicate]

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 10:46 AM PDT

Why in many sentences do we use verbs before pronouns such as we write in a question?

For example:

Neither did I try nor did I want to.
She told me that I can improve my grades, and boy was she right.

Can you explain to me the logic/rules behind using "did" before I in the first and "was" before she in the second sentence?

Word for a place filled with unpleasant people

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 10:16 AM PDT

I'm looking for a word that can be used in the following sentence:

"Many say that the industry is a ______ for/of narcissists.

Pronunciation of numbers in address [closed]

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 10:04 AM PDT

When I say the name of a street with "at", like "at 12 Oxford St", should I pronounce the number as cardinal or ordinal? And if it is ordinal, do I get it right that it still must always be written without the article, but pronounced with it?

comma after which

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 09:58 AM PDT

I searched for my question, but could not find relevant content. Is there any case in which comma is used after "which"? For example, is the sentence below correct or not?

"The sensitivity to material AAA, which, in fact, is sensitivity to molecular forces, decreases at lower temperatures."

Thanks for your time.

What is the best noun to describe people who are influenced by something in both good and bad ways unwillingly?

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 10:33 AM PDT

What do you call someone who is influenced by some external factors unwillingly?

Sample sentence:

Technologies have become ubiquitous—affecting every perspective of our daily lives.

How would you call the people who are affected by technologies without voluntarily choosing so?

Here are some related questions:

Some recommended words are "follower", "acolyte", "credulous". These words refer to people who are either willingly choose to be influenced, or easy to accept influences. I am looking for words that describe people who are affected without making a choice and not necessarily "gullible" (i.e., students who are affected by college admission algorithms).

Edit

Some other related questions:

Here, the recommended words "beguiled" and "tricked" imply a strong negative sentiment to the "influencer". I am looking for a more neutral word. For example, technologies have both good and bad influences on people. People are not necessarily tricked by technologies, but just being affected.

Is "lie" a kind of metaphor or formal usage here? [closed]

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 09:15 AM PDT

Sentence :

The strength of the book lies in the fact that the material is from the classroom experience.

I searched in Oxford and there was no meaning that makes sense here but in Longman, there was written that "lie" can be used as "be" or "exist", my question is "lie" is being used as a metaphor or the formal usage of the verb "lie"?

What is the best antonym for "influencer"? [duplicate]

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 09:41 AM PDT

Which word is the best antonym for "influencer"? For "influencer", I am referring to its general meaning:

:one who exerts influence : a person who inspires or guides the actions of others

Sample sentence:

In the era of digital campaign, social media influencers have shown their great power in affecting the decisions of many young voters.

If influencer means someone who has the power to affect decisions of others, how do we call the people who are being influenced?

I have tried to use thesaurus.com, but couldn't find any good words. "Influencee"? Recipient? They don't really sound right to me.

How did having too much on one's plate become an idiom for burdens?

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 09:51 AM PDT

To have too much on one's plate and to have a lot on one's plate are well established idioms for having too many things to do, i.e. for something burdensome. But what one normally has on one's plate, in the literal sense, is food, and normally having a lot of food available to oneself is a good thing, not a burden. So, how did something that would stand for something desirable if it were used literally, end up as an idiom standing for something undesirable?

It is, of course, true that having too much food in front of oneself may be an unwelcome temptation to somebody who is dieting (or trying to), but I suspect that the origins of the idiom are in the times when such concerns were uncommon.

Given that the idiom is widely used in British English, it is safe to assume that it is unrelated to to step up to the plate, which is based on the baseball-related meaning of plate.

This question is not seeking an elaborate account of the history of this idiom, except in so far as that history illuminates the connection between the literal meaning of the words involved (having an abundance of food) and their meaning as an idiom (having onerous tasks to deal with).

Double comparatives: "more preferable"

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 08:10 AM PDT

Fowler reads

Sometimes the double comparative form more preferable is used. The word more is of course unnecessary, since preferable by itself means 'more desirable (than)'. Like other comparatives, it is therefore intensified by far, much, infinitely, etc.

Garner adds that this "inherently a comparative adjective takes to, not than".

What other adjectives/adverbs follow this pattern?

Can you help me finding those words [closed]

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 07:58 AM PDT

I have to find the right words for descriptions but I am not able to find them as a non native so I thought maybe you guys could help me A remote place where people are exiled to keep them at a distance is a p.. c… The person in charge of a meeting is the c… If you give as good as you get, you are acting t..f…t A person who is fanatically devoted to a cause can be m… To react in a similar way is to respond in k.. A person who works ardently towards a goal or a Position is a c..

Should something be divided to be called “parts”? [migrated]

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 07:54 AM PDT

I wonder why a brain is described as "having several parts" even though a brain is not really divided into several parts although their functions are different.

Is a brain just considered to be divided? I mean, are there imaginary outlines or something?

According to the dictionary, "part" means "division." That is, it should be divided to be called "parts"

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Primary-brain-regions-Motor-cortex-is-the-region-in-charge-of-planning-control-and_fig2_331905251

I wrote this because it's said to be not about biology.

enter image description here

What does "i have gained myself" mean in this context?

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 08:44 AM PDT

It's one of the scenes from the movie "The Elephant Man" by David Lynch(warning spoilers ahead)

John Merrick (The Elephant Man) in one of the scenes, after being kidnapped by a previous abusive owner, returns to the hospital which was his home for a couple of months. The doctor that brought Merrick to the hospital and provided shelter for the disfigured and degraded man, feels bad about the fact that he didn't prevent the incident (of him being kidnapped). He expresses his regret by saying to him that "he is really sorry about what happened". Merrick replies that "he ought not to be sorry because he feels happy every day". And then comes the line I've got a problem with: "My life is full because I know that I am loved. I have gained myself." What does it mean?

iambic pentameter and monosyllables

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 09:35 AM PDT

I am studying poetry structure and I am focusing on iambic pentameter at the moment.

From what I have read, there are 10 syllables per line and 5 stressed and 5 unstressed syllables. It goes unstressed, stressed, unstressed etc.

For words that have more than one syllable, it seems that the stressed and unstressed pattern is set already. e.g. if you go to dictionary.com:

after [af-ter] the first syllable is always stressed.   before [bih-fawr, -fohr] the second syllable is always stressed.

However, with monosyllables, it's not clear.

Example Sonnet 18: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Shall I/ compare/ thee to/ a sum/mers day?/

I, be, to, a, thee, not, day etc. are not stressed on their own.

Is it that they are stressed following an unstressed word?

e.g. to be/ I am/ they are/

Possessive apostrophes with names in speech marks [duplicate]

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 03:33 AM PDT

I'm translating a text that refers to a person who goes by a nickname, so in the text this nickname is always shown in speech marks - "El Cuco". How do I use a possessive apostrophe correctly with a name in speech marks? For example, at one point they're talking about this person's version of events about a murder, would I say: "El Cuco's" version of events, placing the apostrophe within the speech marks?

What is phoneme of hello? [closed]

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 03:02 AM PDT

I wanted to know the phoneme of the word "Hello".

Etymology of the term "back-biting"

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 09:29 AM PDT

Where is it from and how did the phrase originate? Etymonline only lists that it dates back to the thirteenth century and that The notion is of injury in a manner comparable to biting from behind. and that old English had bæcslitol as an adjective meaning a similar thing. What I am wondering is whether it has connection to or is from Arabic, as the act is compared to "eating of the flesh of your brother" in Arabic as well, dating back to the seventh century. Or is it possible that it is just a common metaphor that developed independently in different languages and cultures?

Is there such a phrase as "show them to the house"? [closed]

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 09:02 AM PDT

I was asked a question in my Language exam: Alex was asked to show the guests_________the house.

What could be the possible answer to this and is "to the house" correct?

Thank you in advance.

during the week(s) vs on the weekend(s)

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 03:15 AM 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?

Is there an English transitive verb meaning "to make someone/something valuable"?

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 05:38 AM PDT

I'm thinking something along the lines of "imbue" or "instill", but neither of those words work perfectly unless you append "with value".

Ideally this would be a word that's used in a subject/object context, i.e. [subject] ____ [object to be made valuable], so something like "appreciate" doesn't quite work.

"Enrich" is the best I've come up with, but I'm curious if there's anything more interesting.

breakage vs breaking in "X denotes the spontaneous breakage/breaking of rotational symmetry"

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 08:06 AM PDT

In the sentence " X denotes the spontaneous breakage/breaking of rotational symmetry.", which is the best word to use in its context?

Appropriate Use of Being [closed]

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 06:05 AM PDT

Please have a look on this paragraph

"There were some residential quarters in the elevated land area being occupied by government employee. The surrounding was bushy having some trees and commonly inaccessible to the area. One day, a person could notice some skeletal remains lying on the ground under a tree and reported to the police. On having the information, the police and forensic team visited the spot. The spot was almost undisturbed and as per statement of the informer, skull and some bones were found lying under the tree at one place on the ground. On further search, a pair of plastic slipper was kept near the foot of the tree, apparently kept before climbing in bare foot. On further search, a long bone, a torn pant (wearing apparel) and a portion of rope being tied with one of its end in a branch of the tree were also noticed. All the items were brought down for further examination to derive the information contained in them. In course of examination, one cell phone was also found kept inside the pocket of the damaged pant. All the physical evidence was collected for further investigation in this case."

This paragraph is describing a past event. Then why BEING OCCUPIRD and BEING TIED is used in this context?enter image description here

Which noun was referred to after comma?

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 07:07 AM PDT

I am reading a paragraph in English. English is obviously not my first language. I like to confirm my understanding of a sentence.

This is the sentence.

Copernicus had offered his replacement for the old Ptolemaic astronomy, moving the sun to the center of the solar system and letting the Earth, now just one of a number of similar planets, circle round it.

In the sentence, "moving the sun to the center of the solar system and ....." refers to "replacement" not "the old Ptolemaic astronomy".

Am I right? Could you tell me which one it is referring to?

relative pronoun at the beginning of the sentence

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 10:44 AM PDT

"To you (Right Honorable my very good Lord) of right do they belong: for to whom shall I rather present the first fruits of my learning than to your Lordship: who nourished then both me and them, when there was scarce any being to me or them? And whose just and upright carriage of causes, whose zeal to justice and honorable courtesy to all men, have purchased you a reverend and worthy respect of all men in all parts of this kingdom, where you are known. And to your good Ladyship they do of great right belong likewise; whose religion, justice, and honorable admittance of my unworthy service to your Ladyship do challenge at my hands the uttermost of what ever I may be able to perform."

This is from a 1612 text and I'm having a hard time understanding it. I think first and second bolded 'whose' represent the addressed lord and lady respectively, but then is it grammatically possible to put a relative pronoun at the beginning of the sentence in modern English?

has been noun/adjective

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 04:04 AM PDT

What is actual time frame of below sentence , started in past and end in past or Started in past and still continue? I am really confused.

I have been a single after a really long time.

She has been a role model.

he has been a boxer. ( I know he became old now )

My whole life has been a waste – I've been a failure.

Does an etymological thesaurus exist? [closed]

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 10:13 AM PDT

I need to invent a new word familiar to English speakers, and think it would be beneficial to have a thesaurus based on the etymology of words (ideally with some ngram usage sorting).

Does such a thing exist?

If not, where can I derive the information needed to perform said research?

In addition to word building, such a tool would be helpful in the ever popular single word requests.

What is the meaning of "mortal enemies"? [closed]

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 06:41 AM PDT

Can you please help me to grasp the meaning of "mortal enemies"? Does it mean "earthling, human"?

The full quote is as follows:

Guard me from the wicked who attack me,
From my mortal enemies who surround me.

Modern use of "I should think" vs. "I would think" in speech

Posted: 24 Jul 2021 05:00 AM PDT

When I listen to old Tom Lehrer recordings he says,

  • I should like to introduce...

and it sounds a bit strange. However, yesterday I was building a shed with my wife and I said, much to my surprise,

  • I should think you would have to attach this first.

I'm aware of the slight difference in meaning from "I would think..." but had no idea that I myself would actually naturally use it. Is this an atavism or do other young people actually still use it, say in the US? (Young e.g. 30s and younger).
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