Sunday, August 1, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Plus help me with this line from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Posted: 01 Aug 2021 10:12 AM PDT

From Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Gringotts, chapter twenty-six:

It was now packed inside the beaded bag, which, Harry was impressed to learn, Hermione had protected from the Snatchers by the simple expedient of stuffing it down her sock.

I am unable to understand the word expedient and its use in this context. And also, please explain the phrase stuffing it down her sock: how did she stuff a bag sewn into her sock?

Plus, try to elaborate as much as possible, as I am new to English it would help a lot.

partial global hegemony

Posted: 01 Aug 2021 10:21 AM PDT

"Global" and "partial" seem to be contradicting to one another. What does "partial" mean in this context?

China's international leadership would bear little resemblance to the forms exercised by previous global leaders; exercising a partial global hegemony centered principally on Eurasia, the Middle East, and Africa, Chinese international leadership would be characterized by a reliance on finance, diplomatic engagement, and security assistance to exercise influence while maintaining a modest overseas military presence.

Rand Corporation

Quantifiers realised by a noun?

Posted: 01 Aug 2021 09:48 AM PDT

Let's consider the following sentence:

He drank [a glass of hot milk].

Here the brackated element is a Noun Phrase (NP). The head noun is glass. My question is can it be classified as a quantifier?

How do you paraphrase this sentence? [closed]

Posted: 01 Aug 2021 06:57 AM PDT

I am trying to understand the following sentence:

These men are specifically listed in the history book not because of their messy family relationships but in spite of them.

How do you differentiate "not because" with "in spite of" in the sentence?

When to use "whom" and "who" when the direct object is also doing an action

Posted: 01 Aug 2021 08:39 AM PDT

"I just saw that guy throw a ball."

"[T]hat guy," the direct object, is now doing the action of "throw[ing]." So, could one ask, "Whom did you see throw the ball?" or should it be "Who did you see throw the ball?"

I would naturally replace "that guy" with "him" if I wished to say it that way, so--assuming that is correct--does that mean "that guy" is always treated as the object despite doing an action?

Sorry if my phrasing is confusing; thank you for any responses.

Edit: This has been marked as a duplicate, but the linked question does not answer mine.

foster the children to acquire excellent education [closed]

Posted: 01 Aug 2021 05:33 AM PDT

Is the use of "foster" correct in the following statement?

We guarantee an environment that fosters children to acquire excellent education"

Is it not better to use "encourages" instead?

The meaning of the sentence in Eudora Welty's story "A visit of charity"

Posted: 01 Aug 2021 05:31 AM PDT

I can't understand what the sentence "You never came and you never went" is related to. Does it clarify the previous utterance or is it a new thought which says that the person has never been anywhere? The source is Eudora Welty's story called "A visit of charity".

Here is the context:

"Hush!" said the sick woman. "You never went to school. You never came and you never went. You never were anything—only here. You never were born! You don't know anything. Your head is empty, your heart and hands and your old black purse are all empty—you showed it to me. And yet you talk, talk, talk, talk, talk all the time until I think I'm losing my mind! Who are you? You're a stranger—a perfect stranger! Don't you know you're a stranger? Is it possible that they have actually done a thing like this to anyone—sent them in a stranger to talk, and rock, and tell away her whole long rigmarole? Do they seriously suppose that I'll be able to keep it up, day in, day out, night in, night out, living in the same room with a terrible old woman forever?"

What does this headline from "The Hindu" newspaper mean? [closed]

Posted: 01 Aug 2021 05:33 AM PDT

"Women beat officers bring in sense of security, comfort"

  • The Hindu (1st August, 2021)

Q. What does 'beat' mean in this context?

Link: (https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/women-beat-officers-bring-in-sense-of-security-comfort/article35659750.ece)

What is the proper name to use in following case? [closed]

Posted: 01 Aug 2021 04:51 AM PDT

I'm writing a piece of software for an Egyptian company and that piece of software is going to be available in two languages: English and Arabic.

So, when I, for example, have a tab that displays the entire database of users, in Arabic, I would label it 'قاعدة بينانات المستخدمين' which literally translates to 'Database of the Users'.

Since English isn't my first language, I would like to know, what is the proper name to use, Users Database or User Database?

Describing a photo [closed]

Posted: 01 Aug 2021 05:26 AM PDT

PLEASE CHECK THIS TEXT AND LET ME KNOW IF THERE IS NO GRAMMARTICAL MISTAKE.

It looks as if they are in a cinema. There are five people in the photo, three men and two women. In the foreground we see a woman sitting between two guys and looking at the screen of her mobile phone. She looks as though she's read or watched something ridiculous and she looks kind of bored. The two guys who sit around her are squinting at her mobile phone. The guy right to her has curly long black hair and he's eating pasta. The other guy has a black sweatshirt and a purple hat and he is smiling and he looks relaxed. In the background, we can see a man and a woman who may be husband and wife. They are sitting behind the people that were just described. Since the woman's face has been putted behind the woman's hair that has sited in front of her in the photo we are not able to see her face. The man who is sitting next to her is laughing, he looks as if he is watching something funny. This photo reminds me of the series of Friends, and it makes me think what every person is thinking about.

What does "must have got + verb 3" mean? [closed]

Posted: 01 Aug 2021 05:14 AM PDT

What does "must have got + verb 3" mean? For example, "He must have got it done by someone else."

"A few" + a number : unremarkable quantity

Posted: 01 Aug 2021 09:47 AM PDT

A few is usually more than two (two often being referred to as "a couple of"), and less than "several". Few emphasises smallness of number, while a few emphasises some:

He's a dull man with few ideas vs. He's a clever man with a few ideas.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/few#Usage_notes

However, the following excerpt is contradictory

A couple of is different from a few in that it does not imply that the relevant amount is relatively small. One might say admiringly of an exceptional center fielder that he can throw the ball a couple of hundred feet, but not, except ironically, a few hundred feet, which would suggest that such a throw was unremarkable.

http://odict.net/couple/

Similarly contradictory is the idiom not a few, which actually means "not few"

FEW (determiner) 8. not a few (informal) ⇒ quite a few, several.

https://www.wordreference.com/definition/few

I hope somebody can help me clarify this whole issue: why does he can throw the ball a few hundred feet suggest that such a throw was unremarkable?

I know "He can throw it few hundred feet" is not grammatical, unlike "He can throw it few feet (off/away/etc.)"

Also, you need a if it's preceded by only, as in I ate only a few apples and a little soup.

How to find subject of a sentence if it doesnt not have a verb? [closed]

Posted: 01 Aug 2021 03:10 AM PDT

The sentence:

Do you know the movie, pretty lady? It is my favorite!

There is no action that happened in the above sentence but what is the subject in that and how do we find those?

"House," as a verb to mean "steal" esp. when related to food?

Posted: 01 Aug 2021 02:33 AM PDT

In episode three of season two of I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson there is a skit where Tim Robinson's character has his burger taken from him at dinner.

The character that did it described his actions as:

enter image description here

In text form:

That I housed Dylan's burger.

He then goes on to threaten his dinner party that he won't do something bad

enter image description here

Text:

Unless I hear the story of me housing Dylan's burger

Where does this use of "house" come from?

What is the proper use of "lest" in past tense? [migrated]

Posted: 01 Aug 2021 02:14 AM PDT

  1. Take an umbrella lest it should rain. I know the above sentence is correct

but, 2. He took an umbrella lest it should rain. is this sentence grammatically correct? Can we use "should" after "lest" both in present tense and past tense?

Is it correct to say "a weapon with 1 meter of length"? [closed]

Posted: 01 Aug 2021 09:20 AM PDT

Is it correct to say "a weapon with 1 meter of length"?

I know there's an alternative way that I believe should be more common to say the same: "a 1 meter long weapon".

Are those sentences correct?

What term can describe a sensitive comic strip?

Posted: 01 Aug 2021 08:58 AM PDT

I work as a secondary History teacher. I often assign students to create a 1-page comic strip based on the history they learned.

Some of the content I teach is quite serious, and also personal to students attending the school (e.g. happened to their grandparents or great-grandparents), and was part of some dark times in our history. Long story short, an administrator warned it isn't politically correct to call these assignments "comic strip", no matter if I warn students to not add humor to the projects.

The only alternative term I know is "graphic novel", but that, I think, implies a longer work.

Is there a more sensitive name for "comic strip", that can apply to something constructed from panels, dialogue boxes, etc. using all of the conventions found in comic strips and graphic novels, yet is short?

What's another way to say "bleeds into"?

Posted: 01 Aug 2021 06:59 AM PDT

I am thinking of another way to say "bleeds into", in a context similar to "permeate" or "fill up". An example:

  • my love for programming bleeds into my daily activities

I searched online for synonyms of bleeds into, but a lot of them were the literal meaning (like actual blood). I found some possible words, such as "flows", "reflects", "charges", or "imbues", but as far as I know, these don't really carry the meaning that I want (to bleed into). Perhaps, 'flows' or 'charges' could be used, but I'm not sure how they can be used with a sentence like the above example.

Can someone please help? Thanks.

Meaning of the word Agency in scientific papers [closed]

Posted: 01 Aug 2021 02:52 AM PDT

What is the definition of the word agency, used in this context:

A starship captain on the inside cannot steer the bubble or turn it on or off; some external agency must set it up ahead of time (https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/ciencia/negativeenergy/negativeenergy.htm)

I have seen this use of the word agency in several scientific papers. It has nothing to do with agencies, offices, organizations. But my dictionary does not provode the correct definition.

EDiT: thanks to the contributors that cared about the question.

What is or would be an appropriate word to describe people deriving purpose from conflict?

Posted: 01 Aug 2021 10:03 AM PDT

If you've seen Apocalypse Now, Restrepo or Hurt Locker, they're all to some degree about soldiers who found more meaning/purpose from being in a state of war/conflict than being at peace.

Is there an existing English language word that describes this state of being?

EDIT: In a sentence - The person experiencing ________ desires conflict more than peace, as the conflict is familiar and motivating for them.

"in exhibition"?

Posted: 01 Aug 2021 05:05 AM PDT

The Bosarges' $5 million mummy now is in exhibition at the Museum of Natural History in Houston. (source)

I am not familiar with "in exhibition". I would always use "on exhibition". My own research on Google Ngrams and Google Books is inconclusive, showing "in exhibition" being far less common. I am not sure "in exhibition" means exactly the same as "on exhibition".

Do people say "in exhibition"?

A word between facilitator and mentor

Posted: 01 Aug 2021 03:05 AM PDT

I'm looking for a word to describe the role of an adult between facilitator and mentor when it comes to working with kids: someone who keeps the group on task and goal oriented, but who also might support relationship development (short-term) and growth as well. These are good starts, but not quite descriptive of what I need: Goal Achievement Rubber Ducking Coaching-Mentoring

Difference between squabble and bicker

Posted: 01 Aug 2021 08:09 AM PDT

From the free dictionary.

squabble To engage in a disagreeable argument, usually over a trivial matter; wrangle. See Synonyms at argue.

bicker To engage in a petty, bad-tempered quarrel; squabble. See Synonyms at argue.

Does squabble stand for argue while bicker is for sass or do I get it wrong? Clarifying examples are highly appreciated!

Rules of thumb on using the correct tense forms and auxiliary verbs

Posted: 01 Aug 2021 02:17 AM PDT

For example, when using "since", you should use "present perfect":

Mr Smith _ _ _ the company since 1990.

  1. runs
  2. has run
  3. is running
  4. ran

Is there any reference on similar rules, guiding principles or hints? sometimes things get mixed up for me when choosing the correct form of verb tense (past/present continuous/perfect/simple...).

Also any other rules on similar cases (other than verb tenses) are also welcome : )

I tried doing some research, but haven't found much, probably I am not using the right search terms. Any hints on this are also welcome, I will do my research homework.

I have an English test tomorrow, English is not my mother tongue (you probably guessed).

Edit: What I am asking for can be abbreviated to this specific question:

Is there any reference that contains rules on when and where should one use a specific tense/aux. verb over another?

Dropping articles in the title (of an article or a section) or in the caption (of a figure or a table)? What's the general rule?

Posted: 01 Aug 2021 09:57 AM PDT

It is said that "To give added punch, articles are often dropped in the titles"

Source: http://www.davidappleyard.com/english/articles.htm

Is there any general rule or reference about dropping articles, especially in academic research papers?
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