Tuesday, July 27, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Using Present Tense immediately after Past Tense

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 09:28 AM PDT

"It's not my place to proffer unsolicited advice, but you can't go on like this. We need you at your best. Your children need you. If you carry on like this, you might even lose them to Sergey," he said, appealing to her maternal instincts.

"Appealing" is present tense but used immediately after the past tense "said".

Is the whole sentence consistent in terms of tenses? I am not attempting to use the "historic present" style of writing. My novel uses past tense. But is such usage of present tense grammatically correct or not?

The idiom: “leave [something] to be desired”

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 09:17 AM PDT

My friend and I are Russians and our skills in English are pretty low. My friend showed me the idiom: "Leave to be desired". I told him that the clause is wrong because it does not contain the object. In my opinion it must have form: "leave [something] to be desired". Something - much/a lot/a great deal, etc. I think "leave" in this clause is a transitive verb and it have to has an object. So, my only question is: does the form "Leave to be desired" look correct for native speakers or not?

Pre-construction and post construction [duplicate]

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 08:16 AM PDT

I have been struggling for a definitive answer about the use of a hyphen specifically in pre-construction and post construction. We sometimes write preconstruction and sometimes pre-construction. From the posts I see on here it looks like we could choose to do either. What about post construction though? Should that be post construction or post-construction?

I have seen similar posts, but an answer regarding these particular words is ambiguous.

'look for fame' or 'look forward to fame' [closed]

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 06:47 AM PDT

This sentence appeared as a translation from Arabic into English in the GSEC examination in Egypt. The students were asked to choose the correct one. Which of these sentences is grammatically correct:

a) Some people make a big mistake by looking for fame because they think that it is the cause of happiness.
b) Some people commit big mistakes by looking forward to fame because they think that it is the cause of happiness.

Thanks in advance. Looking forward to your reply.

Is there a term or expression for elements that are aligned like a watch face?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 07:52 AM PDT

When you arrange elements in a circle, you can either keep the initial orientation of each element, or align them similarly to a watch face.

enter image description here

Is there a term for elements that are aligned like a watch face (right)? I tried to go with "Elements are aligned outward" or "Elements are facing outwards", but it doesn't sound right and is very vague.

take advice vs follow advice

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 05:25 AM PDT

To take advice is usually defined as:

obtain information and guidance, typically from an expert.

google dictionary

By this definition there is no implication that the advice is actually followed. But can take advice also imply that the advice is actually followed, i.e. put into practice? Are there better expressions to differentiate the obtaining of information vs the putting into practice of it?

How to specify uniqueness within a group? [migrated]

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 05:33 AM PDT

The names in a group of names must be distinct. Can the phrase 'over the names' be used to describe this restriction?

My sentence currently is "The name should be unique over all the names in the group". I'm not sure if this is correct usage.

What is the etymology of the term “creamy layer” in Indian English?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 07:32 AM PDT

According to Wikipedia, "creamy layer is a term used in Indian politics to refer to members of a backward class who are highly advanced socially as well as economically and educationally, and not eligible for government-sponsored educational and professional benefit programs."

What is the etymology of this term? Not being a speaker of Indian English, the words "creamy" and "layer" both strike me as unusual descriptors for classes of people. Is there a connection to the idiom "cream of the crop"?

Should it be Cousins' or Cousin's? [closed]

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 03:34 AM PDT

Which one is correct?

My cousins' names are Rita and Rudi.
or
My cousins's names are Rita and Rudi

The counterpart to Challenger (name for person who accepts someone's challenge, e.g. for a duel) [duplicate]

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 03:28 AM PDT

When person A challenges person B (say, to a duel), how would you call person B, accepting the challenge (and specifically in dueling, setting the terms like choice of time, place and weapon.)

I tried to look for antonyms to Challenger, but I only found words describing people refusing challenges, shying from it, avoiding, or at best generic 'opponent' 'competitor'. Maybe there is no such word, although I'd think with language of country with a long-tradition of dueling, I'd believe this position should have a name.

Athletics singular or plural?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 04:55 AM PDT

The following sentence appears in the book 'Improve Your Grammar', Harper Collins Publishers, p.118:

  • Athletics give many deprived kids a great chance in life.

There is a comment on this, '... as athletics is usually regarded as a plural noun it requires the plural give'.

But according to Longman Dictionary, 'athletics is followed by a singular verb'. There is also an example of this usage:

  • Athletics is a largely individual sport.

...............

However, according to Learners Dictionary.com, the situation is as follows 'athletics is plural form but is used with both plural and singular'. And an example of the plural verb usage :

  • College athletics attract students from a variety of backgrounds.

What is your assessment here?

"fool" or "dumb" to describe an easy tool? [duplicate]

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 08:36 AM PDT

I would recommend an easy tool. Everybody can use it without a learning curve. What words are proper to emphasize its simplicity and usability? "A dumb tool", is it good?

Tooling a person for amusement as opposed to practical gain

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 07:07 AM PDT

Suppose the following scenario. Alice asks Bob a question which seems to be reasonable and for which she expects Bob to give an answer which is superficially a good answer, but which will expose Bob's innocence or naivety in a way that he himself will not understand but which will be amusing to those in a less innocent in-group to which Alice belongs.

Due to the dynamic of Bob's unwittingness and the somewhat covert nature of the maliciousness, I am tempted (as a native speaker) to say here:

Alice is tooling Bob.

Or:

... Before he learned the very counter-intuitive social dynamics of this environment, it was common for Bob to be tooled in such manners by Alice and her kind, who found him to be an amusing novelty.

However, "tooling" also strongly suggests that Alice is making some use of Bob to her own ends. From this perspective, it doesn't seem like the most appropriate word, because she isn't really making any practical use of Bob, she's just doing it for amusement. I suppose that amusement could be viewed as a use, but I'm concerned it could be amiss of the usual connotation.

dictionary.com has no mention of the "using/messing with a person" sense of this word at all, and its sister site thesaurus.com only covers the related noun, "person who allows himself to be used." The latter does seem to suggest the need for an objective, though.

wiktionary.org does mention it, but the definition again seems to suggest there needs to be some objective. Emphasis mine:

To put down another person (possibly in a subtle, hidden way), and in that way to use him or her to meet a goal.

One might consider instead saying that "Alice is teasing Bob," but in teasing, the cruelty is usually overt -- i.e., Bob would know Alice was being mean. I'm trying instead to suggest that Bob has no idea that Alice's question is insincere or that she regards his answer as foolish.

It would also be more or less correct to say that "Alice is making fun of Bob," but this likewise doesn't seem to express Bob's obliviousness, which is quite central to what I'm trying to express.

This is for literary use but in a somewhat informal style. As the writer I am trying to criticize and pity Bob for his inability to see past the social norms that made his naive answer seem good. Though Alice was slightly malicious, I'm not trying to be critical of her, instead taking the position of, "he was asking for it."

My question, then, is (i) whether this is a fitting use of "tooling," and (ii) whether there is a better transitive verb that expresses the particular dynamic described. If it is a fitting use, showing existing examples of it being used in this way "in the wild" isn't essential but would make for the best answer. Though I've tagged this as a single word request, it's possible that some brief, punchy expression might also work.

What's another word for "disingenuous interpretation" that also insinuates a malicious interpretation (not merely inaccurate)?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 10:28 AM PDT

Here is a quote from Winston Churchill:

"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something in your life." - Winston Churchill

A disingenuous interpretation of this quote could be that if you have enemies, it must be because you've heroically stood up for something.

A malicious interpretation of this quote could be that Winston Churchill loved to, and would go out of his way to, create enemies.

The malicious interpretation is also a disingenuous interpretation. But not all disingenuous interpretations are also malicious (which, hopefully my rudimentary example above exemplifies).

What is another word/phrase for the phrase disingenuous interpretation that also insinuates an unnecessarily malicious interpretation of an event, quote, or situation?

"Malicious Interpretation" I hope was enough to communicate the question, but doesn't quite fit within the context I am looking for. I'll explain the context using Alice and Bob:

  • An event occurred involving Alice
  • The event is interpreted by Bob to have occurred due to Alice's malice
  • Alice is confronting Bob about the unnecessarily negative interpretation of the event

If in the example above, Alice confronts Bob and says "That was a maliciously disingenuous interpretation", it could communicate that that Bob was being malicious with their inaccurate interpretation. What I'm hoping for is a word/phrase that communicates The interpretation of the event was (unnecessarily) malicious.

Asked another way...

  • A genuine interpretation is an accurate interpretation of the events
  • A disingenuous is an inaccurate interpretation
  • A generous interpretation assumes good faith
  • A ________ interpretation assumes bad faith

Is there a term for when people group 2 unrelated things they dislike into one entity?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 06:24 AM PDT

I have seen this fallacy a lot of times when I'm having conversations with people.

For example - when someone assumes a person who leans towards the right on the political scale will definitely be misogynistic as well.

Conflation is somewhat correct, but it doesn't really include the 'dislike' aspect of it.

Is there a term for this phenomenon?

Where to put a hyphen when there's an abbreviation in the middle?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 05:03 AM PDT

Ethiopia wants African Union (AU) mediated negotiations on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

Using AP style. You want a hyphen in front of mediated. What is the correct way?

What does "lover of ladies" mean?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 07:03 AM PDT

What does it mean? A playboy? Like a womanizer?

I was watching a video on YouTube where a British man said "he's a lover of ladies" but then goes on to say "he's a very nice guy" and now I'm confused.

He's not a teenager. He's almost 30.

Is it a player, cheater, womanizer, etc.? If not, then what is it?

If "lover of ladies" means a cheater then he won't be calling him a "very nice guy" but I've searched everywhere and didn't find anything to suggest what the meaning is.

This is an old reading but the question still stands. Even if not in a palm reading but if someone uses this phrase, am I supposed to use the pejorative sense?

The link for reference: https://youtu.be/aXjPUqsmSrs

Can I "denote X by Y" in a mathematics paper?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 10:02 AM PDT

It comes as no surprise that the word "denote" appears quite frequently in mathematics, mostly in the context where succinct notation is being introduced for some object.

As far as I understand, it's uncontroversial to say "Let N denote the set of positive integers".

However, that does not quite convey the intended meaning (at least for me): It's the speaker(s) who assign the meaning "the set of positive integers" to the symbol "N". This tempts many (myself included) to instead say:

"We denote the set of positive integers by/with N".

This is often criticised as incorrect, but I've also heard it being defended. So, is the latter usage correct?

Can present tense be used without an adverb like "usually" or "always" when describing a habit?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 09:29 AM PDT

I understand we use the present tense when we describe habits.

"My dog always sleeps under the bed."
"It usually sits on the sofa."

Does it make sense if I leave 'always' and 'usually' out? as in the sentences below, without any background information?

"My dog sleeps under the bed."
"It sits on the sofa."

Are they complete sentences? or grammatically correct?

What is the difference between "Hydrophobia" and "Aquaphobia"?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 09:57 AM PDT

Both seem to represent an irrational fear of water. My own research suggests that hydrophobia is often used as a medical term to describe a mental state-change (warning, not a pleasant video) associated with rabies, but it certainly doesn't seem to be used exclusively for that purpose.

What is the fundamental difference between "hydrophobia" and "aquaphobia"? Can they be used interchangeably?

Does this sentence exemplify an adverbial clause?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 06:06 AM PDT

On the Wikipedia page for 'Dependent clause,' on the subject of 'Dependent words,' there is provided an example which supposedly presents an adverbial clause, viz., "Wherever she goes, she leaves an item of luggage behind." In this case, "wherever she goes" is said to be the adverbial clause, "wherever" acting as the adverb. It is said that "wherever" is somehow an adverb which modifies "leaves." I don't understand how this is possibly the case. "Wherever," surely, is a noun.

The sentence can be altered in many different ways and maintain the same propositions. E.g., "In going wherever, she leaves an item of luggage behind." "Wherever" is the place that she is "going," and this first clause is certainly dependent, but I don't think that it is adverbial whatsoever; no adverbs exist in the entire sentence. "Wherever (noun) she (pronoun) goes (verb), she (pronoun) leaves (verb) an (determiner) item (noun) of (preposition) luggage (noun) behind (preposition).

Can someone explain how this is possibly an adverbial clause? It is mentioned that "wherever" modifies "leaves," but this is still a place that she is leaving a thing, not that she is leaving her luggage "wherever-ly."

Comma after an object [closed]

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 04:04 AM PDT

Can you, please, consult me. Do we need a comma before a verb in sentences like this?

On the left menu item, select the needed device group.

Number: at the end(s) of words

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 03:03 AM PDT

Which form is correct in the following sentence?

  • Greek sigmas have a different form at the end of words?

  • Greek sigmas have a different form at the ends of words?

Origin of the term 'Pom'

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 09:17 AM PDT

I am fishing for an explanation. The term 'Pom' for an Englishman is used in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The common explanation is that it is derived from 'pomegranate' - saying the British have red cheeks or 'Prisoner of Her Majesty'. Neither of these are satisfactory as 'Pom' only applies to the English, not the British in general or other red-faced immigrants who turn up. The 'prisoners theory falls flat because the term only came into use long after the transportation to Oz period. Every Englishman who turned up at the end of the 19th century, when the term came into use, had with him a dog of small breed called a Pomeranian, pom-pom or toy-pom. I can find no reference to this as being the origin of the term 'Pom'. Has anybody read of a theory like this?

Title or word to describe the first, original member of a family tree

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 06:10 AM PDT

I'm looking for a word to signify the ancestor from which a family tree is derived. They would be the first, from whom all other family members are descended. Does such a word exist? I imagine, given the long history of creating family trees, that someone at some point decided on a word other than 'the first guy'.

What is the name of a "role" in a family tree? / What is the name of the initial person in a family tree?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 08:57 AM PDT

I have two questions concerning family trees:

  1. What is the name of the initial person in a family tree? For example, if you want to know the family tree of a certain person, you have that person in the center and then draw lines from that person referring to all of that person's relatives, ancenstors, descendants, partner and siblings. Is it called individual?
  2. What is the name of the role a certain person has in a family tree? For example a sister, mother, father, aunt, etc?

'for Verb-ing' followed by a preposition

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 08:01 AM PDT

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary gives the definition of sink as follows:

a large open container [...] that you use for washing dishes in

My question is whether the preposition 'in' is necessary.

What about the following? Are the prepositions necessary?

I bought a pair of chopsticks for eating rice with.
I bought a pair of chopsticks to eat rice with.
I bought a house to live in.

Difference between "have had" and "having"

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 04:04 AM PDT

What is the difference between the following two sentences?

  • I have had a headache since this morning.
  • I am having a headache since this morning.

Is there a word or phrase for the feeling you get after looking at a word for too long?

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 07:52 AM PDT

Sometimes after looking at a word for a while, I become convinced that it can't possibly be spelled correctly. Even after looking it up, sounding it out, and realizing that there's simply no other way to spell the word, it still looks wrong.

Is there a shorthand way to describe this feeling so that people will know what I mean without the long explanation?
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