Wednesday, July 28, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

"Thank God" in past tense narrative [closed]

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 08:44 AM PDT

I want to use the exclamation "thank God" in a narrative written in past tense, like this:

She heard a voice that, [thank God], she recognized.

Should it be "thanked God" or just "thank God"?

Expresses feeling of security or safety with positive inflections

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 08:41 AM PDT

First of all thanks to that great community here!

We are trying to find a word or phrase to represent 'strong secure feelings' in a 'content & elated' way - (network security and safety / open source / protection).

We want to convey a message like "We protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information in the system."

The words/names should have a 'strong emotional appeal' therefore. Words with Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-Norman roots are very welcome.

Us too vs We too [duplicate]

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 06:20 AM PDT

If a sentence is simply "Us too!" or "We too!" — Which one is correct?

I understand that if I add a verb, it should be "we" such as "we too are going to the beach". However, on its own without a verb is "us" or "we" correct?

Is "Cold water becomes hot water." logically correct? [migrated]

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 06:22 AM PDT

Is "Cold water becomes hot water." logically correct?

I know it's a redundant version of "Water becomes hot."

I think it's logically wrong because it's the same as "Water becomes water." because modifiers just restrict the meaning, they don't change the meaning.

I thought modifiers are just optional.

Placing the proper pronoun at the end of a sentence [duplicate]

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 04:42 AM PDT

I was reading the Grammar for Dummies book by Geraldine Woods, and in page 24, under the Placing the Proper Pronoun in the Proper Place section, the author stated the following:

"The pronoun you put after a linking verb should be the same kind of pronoun that you put before a linking verb." She gave a few examples:

  • The winner of the election is him!
  • Him is the winner of the election!

"Uh oh. Something's wrong. You don't say him is, unless you're in an old Tarzan movie. You say he is. Because you have a linking verb (is), you must put the same word after the linking verb that you would put before the linking verb. Try it again:"

  • The winner of the election is he!
  • He is the winner of the election!

"Now you've got the correct ending for your sentence."

The third example, "The winner of the election is he!", sounds a bit weird to me. Shouldn't you use him instead? Or.. I just misinterpreted it?

Can the second "he spent" in this sentence be omitted?

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 06:02 AM PDT

I am certain that the time he spent in studying English is significantly more than that he spent in studying Japanese.

Is "not've" a valid contraction either in written or spoken Br/Am English? [closed]

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 03:21 AM PDT

My English teacher has recently explained to me that this is an accepted way to write not have and gave an example:

Why that machine is not working? Oh, you may not've turned it on.

It seems awkward and I cannot really find the expression anywhere on the internet, but he claims you can actually hear it around England.

Is this sentence grammatically correct? She will be leaving 30 minutes before the meeting is scheduled to end [closed]

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 02:12 AM PDT

Is the following English sentence grammatically correct?

This is a sentence made by a very famous Japanese English educator.

She will be leaving 30 minutes before the meeting is scheduled to end.

I think the clause following the word "before" needs to indicate "when"．However, the clause "meeting is scheduled to end," does not include "when".

I can express the same thing in English as follows...

She will be leaving 30 minutes before the scheduled end of the meeting.

Is it rude to say "damn it"? [closed]

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 02:35 AM PDT

The context: Not connected with anything. Just sharing a feeling when nobody asked, like:

"Damn it, I love ice cream."

Is it rude to write or say it in UK? Australia and New Zeland? USA?

PS: I would like to express what I would say in Brazilian Portuguese:

"Caramba/que droga/que coisa, eu gosto de ..." and by that maybe start a conversation.

What is the name of the accent of the girl? [closed]

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 02:07 AM PDT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgOcy0jr4wQ&ab_channel=JackStauber I found her accent to be somewhat unique, can't really put my finger on what it could be though.

"Author of a book" = "book's author"? [duplicate]

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 01:48 AM PDT

Is the latter form correct? I used to think so because it is literal translation from my native language and sounded naturally but then I discovered that I had probably never heard it anywhere except for my own statements, tried to google it and found nothing.

What is the adjective equivalent of the verb "cozen"? [closed]

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 12:12 AM PDT

Good day! I've just recently found out about the word cozen and I was wondering if it has an equivalent. If you think there is none, could you kindly refer me to another adjective which might be of the same essence as the said word? Thanks and have a great day!

Collective equivalent of 'albeit'?

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 01:39 AM PDT

I was after the collective equivalent of albeit, if such a word exists?

Here's what I used:

There are some packages and tools available (albe them nowhere near as mature as those found in other frameworks and ecosystems).

The recipient knew exactly what was meant. Just curious to know if this (or 'albethem') is 'correct' English and if not was was there a better alternative?

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

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 01:01 AM PDT

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

I have found one solution to be around from Merriam-Webster but could not find any reference to the usage of to.

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

Thank you in advance.

'Less good' vs 'worse'

Posted: 27 Jul 2021 11:01 PM PDT

Garner's fourth , page 263, reads

Depend typically takes on (or, less good, upon). When a clausal complement follows the verb, to omit the on is a casualism—

Is good here an adverb?

Why not use worse instead of less good?

Where to put commas in a long sentence with multiple ands

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 09:04 AM PDT

I am having a lot of trouble figuring out where to place commas in my long sentences and was hoping to get some guidance for this particular sentence so I can use it for reference.

  1. Specifically, our architecture takes as input the giver and receiver pose that we denote together as Pi, and the object label O in the form of a GloVe embedding, and forecasts both their poses Ph and the orientation of the object Or centered on the giver's grasping hand at handover

vs.

  1. Specifically, our architecture takes as input the giver and receiver pose that we denote together as Pi, and the object label O in the form of a GloVe embedding and, forecasts both their poses Ph and the orientation of the object Or centered on the giver's grasping hand at handover

A word or 5-6 word phrase for "an aliquot can only be a member of a batch one time"

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 04:01 AM PDT

I'm a software engineer trying to come up with a word or phrase to describe that relationship in a way that future software engineers can look at the code I've written and either understand what's going on quickly or be a Google search away.

Aliquot - a portion of a larger whole, especially a sample taken for chemical analysis or other treatment

Where I work, batches have many aliquots associated with them.

Another way would be to say "a marble can only be a member of a grouping one time".

Other ways to say 'more precisely' and 'more exactly'

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 09:31 AM PDT

I am writing an academic report, and I often need to provide more information about my previous sayings. I usually use the phrases 'more precisely' and 'more exactly' to do so. But you know, after some time, my text becomes really boring. I wonder if there are other scientific expressions to say 'more precisely' and 'more exactly.'

e.g., We use a refrigerator with the temperature set to -7C to freeze the solution. More precisely, we need to pour the solution into a special container to let its temperature become equal to our room's temperature before putting it into the refrigerator.

Would the following (it) be acceptable?

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 08:32 AM PDT

My tailor is rich. Why your tailor it is not yet?

This sounds grammatically incorrect to me, but putting it in context following the previous sentence, would it be correct to say this?

"This practice can disrupt the children´s privacy, even though parents are not enough aware of its danger."

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 12:03 AM PDT

My EFL C1 (CEFR) students are writing an essay on the dangers of parents posting their children's picture on social media. One student wrote this sentence, it doesn't sound quite right, but I can't pinpoint what is wrong:

This practice can disrupt the children´s privacy, even though parents are not enough aware of its danger.

Is it the placement of "enough" or "enough + aware"?

Phenomenon, when a phrase (lit. trans. into English from other regional language) has obvious mistake(s) and still uncorrectable due to popularity

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 06:00 AM PDT

Let me layout an example to make the situation, described in question more clear:

There is a popular road in a city of Gujarat, India whose name when literally translated into English means "Horse Racing" or for the sake of completeness, "Horse Racing Road". It's literal translation in Gujarati should be ""Ghoda Dod" Road" where "Ghoda" means Horses and "Dod" means running/racing.

But, the translation has become to "Ghod Dod" Road, maybe due to fast usage of words or maybe just laziness to complete the first(or one) word and then move on to next one during a continuous conversation, and then maybe no one cared to rectify it.

So, what is this type of phenomena or event called, are there more of these phenomenons in other regional/national languages too apart from english ?

Is there an adjective for "opportunistic" that lacks its connotation of amorality?

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 01:06 AM PDT

A real life example might be that when a flight attendant asks this type of person whether they want pretzels or crackers, they ask if they can have both. If they can't, it's no problem. They just like to probe and see what they can get if they want more than what seems to be available to them. There's an audaciousness about them in that many people wouldn't do that, but this person still has morals and doesn't necessarily lie or steal to get what they want.

These are my opinions, but opportunism ("opportunistic") implies a lack of morals and evokes thoughts of graft. Self-indulgence ("self-indulgent") implies excess, and maybe gluttony. Immoderation ("immoderate") has a similarly "sinful" tone.

Taking another path, the best antonymic phrase I can think of for this concept is abnegation, but it also seems to have a moral connotation (this time positive) of sacrifice and self-denial. An example sentence might say that "one who abnegates denies themselves of things they could otherwise possess, whereas a ____ person seeks to get things they may not have otherwise had if they didn't probe for them."

Is there an adjective for this type of person with a more neutral "feel" and definition? I have tried looking at definitions and synonyms of the words mentioned above (and others) in Merriam-Webster and through Google.

What sentence adverb to use to introduce a sentence expressing the reason for something?

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 03:00 AM PDT

I am trying to 'conjure up' a chart on result, reason, purpose, and contrast for my students, and I am really hard put to come up with a satisfying adverb to introduce the sentence mentioning the reason for something.

Result: I work hard. Therefore, I am successful. (adverb introducing the sentence mentioning the result)

Reason: I am successful. Naturally, I work hard. (adverb introducing the sentence mentioning the reason)

Is there an adverb other than 'Naturally' for reason, as obvious as 'As a result/Consequently/Therefore' for result?

I have thought of 'Obviously', 'Evidently', 'Of course', but they are hardly more satsifying than 'Naturally', aren't they?

Which verb is used to describe a person who is responsible and organising for doing something?

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 06:10 AM PDT

I want to use a verb to describe a person who is responsible for doing something, and the person is also the leader, organizer, or initiator of doing a project or something.

Checking the dictionary, it seems I can't say:

He leads to build this website.

So, my question is that is there any verb to describe the meaning as above? For example:

He [verb] (to) build/building this website.

Feel appreciated for your help.

Is “snitty” a popular American English term? What is its origin?

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 01:12 AM PDT

I came to know the word, "snitty" for the first time from the remark of Mr. William Barr during his testimony on his way of handling of Mueller Report in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Washington Post (May 2nd) reports under the headline, "Pelosi escalates attacks on Trump, compares him to Nixon, as Barr's defiance angers Democrats":

Barr dismissed Mueller's letter as a bit "snitty" and said he believed it had probably been written by a staff member."

Neither of online Oxford or Cambridge English Dictionary carries the word, "snitty." But Longman Dictionary explains its meaning as "annoyed or rude to somebody because you are annoyed, together with an example, "I get snitty about bad service in restaurants."

Google Ngram shows the word came into use around 1970, and that its currency made a rapid rise from zero up to 0.0000001853 level in 2000.

What is the exact meaning of the word, "snitty"? Is it just a slang, or "serviceable" English word as being publicly used by a man of dignity in an official situation? What is the origin of this word?

Comma Before Participal Phrase

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 05:04 AM PDT

I'm studying for the SAT and ran into this issue on a practice test. My prepbook says that commas shouldn't be used between an independent and dependent clause in that order. To me "creating..." constitutes a dependent clause. This is more apparent when the gerumd creating is replaced with to create. I'm not understanding why the correct answer choice (which I agree is the best answer) uses a comma before creating. This is not an official test from college board so a typo/error is possible in the answer choice. I simply want to know if this is the case. I'm also curious to whether the phrase "creating a landscape" would be a gerund or participle phrase in this sense.

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Can you "commemorate" something bad?

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 09:06 AM PDT

Strictly speaking, from an etymological standpoint, there is no reason to suppose "commemorate" should imply either a positive or negative connotation of what is being remembered. That said, it feels a bit weird to say, "We commemorate the Holocaust on Yom HaShoah," because it seems that "commemorate" is in fact slightly marked to imply memoration of a positive event.

(1) Is "commemorate" in fact value-neutral? In any case, is it best used in collocation with positive events?

(Ideally, please provide citations from high-quality writing to support a liberal position on this.)

(2) What would be a better word to use with a bad event?

What does it mean "to work out of our Atlanta headquarters"...?

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 12:23 AM PDT

English is not my first language, so I'm in a bit of trouble with the idiomatic meaning of this phrase: "All Web Developers must work out of our Atlanta Headquarters" .Does it mean that the developers must work at the Atlanta Headquarters, or very close to it, or very close to it but definitely outside, or outside and anywhere in the world (i.e., literal meaning)?

Thanks in advance.

Is "it is necessary be have" correct?

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 07:06 AM PDT

How do you use subjunctive in such situations? Have I correctly written the following?

It is necessary to have a farm of your own

Is this right? If not, why?

It is necessary be have a farm of your own.

Of course, I have asked this question, considering the following:

It was his order that all forests be protected.

His order was that all forests be protected.

A quick Google search for "it is necessary be have".

Is there a name for when the same word is used at the beginning and end of different phrases/sentences?

Posted: 28 Jul 2021 12:02 AM PDT

Is there a name for when one phrase ends with a word that starts the next phrase. For instance:

life is a peach and cream

Or

sunscreen in the eye for detail

Or (from Dave Eggers' Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius)

JFKFC
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