Sunday, August 15, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

How would you use 'beside' as an adverb?

Posted: 15 Aug 2021 10:08 AM PDT

So in my Collins grammar book, it says that 'beside' is a preposition that can also be used as an adverb, but I can't find any examples of it being used as an adverb.

Was it perhaps a typo? Was it meant to be 'besides'?

Thanks!

English words dictionary where some letters are silent while speaking [closed]

Posted: 15 Aug 2021 10:25 AM PDT

I would like to know whether there is a dictionary available for words that have silent letters?

Please correct me whether my interpretation is right where the word has a silent letter when spoken.

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Cut (verb) - to reduce or to remove/stop

Posted: 15 Aug 2021 09:54 AM PDT

Context: Doctor asks me to cut smoking.

Dictionary says that cut when being used by itself means to reduce (in size/amount). However, it could also mean to remove (parts from a film, book, speech).

I also did a quick google search on "cut smoking" and "cut the habit". I found that cut is being taken to mean either reduce smoking/habit or to kick a habit (as in totally drop it)

So my question is can the word cut be taken to mean either reducing kicking? or does it strictly only mean reducing and kicking is a wrong usage?

Thanks.

Is there a word for a person who refuses to take a payment for a job? [closed]

Posted: 15 Aug 2021 07:38 AM PDT

Assume that the person doesn't accept payment either because they don't need the money or they don't think their work warranted a monetary compensation.

I don't think "generous" applies, because it refers to giving away money, and in this instance, the person outrights refuses to accept a payment.

It fits under "modest" but I'm looking for something more specific.

‎What is the difference between arcane and recondite? [closed]

Posted: 15 Aug 2021 05:24 AM PDT

Feel free to just provide example sentences.

Why the first 'O' in ozone layer is not capitalized? [closed]

Posted: 15 Aug 2021 09:43 AM PDT

I know that the first letter of a common noun should not be capitalized (unless the noun is at the start of a sentence), while the first letter of a proper noun is always capitalized. I feel the 'ozone layer' is a proper noun, just like the 'Sun' or the 'Moon' is a proper noun (I know that when 'moon' means any natural satellite of any planet, then it is treated as a common noun), and hence the first 'o' should be capitalized. But I checked a couple of reputable sources (Britannica & Oxford dictionaries) and realised that is not the case.

Is there any sound reason for treating 'ozone layer' as a common noun? Or is it just a convention?

"to create" vs "to creating" [closed]

Posted: 15 Aug 2021 12:18 AM PDT

Guided by our 2025 Sustainability and Social Impact Goals, as well as the UN Sustainable Development Goals, we commit to creating positive and sustainable impact wherever we do business.

from https://serve360.marriott.com/

I would like to know why this sentence does not use to create but using to creating. I though we don't use tense after to.

Thank you

Kind regards

Is it correct to use where in a sentence like this? [duplicate]

Posted: 15 Aug 2021 12:11 AM PDT

I don't want you to do things where you put your hand on the back of my head.

I saw this use of where and wondering is it right use or "when" should use in stead of where.

what is the meaning of "like a stick of rock" here?

Posted: 15 Aug 2021 03:51 AM PDT

Mum had been on the phone, wanting to know when we would be back from holiday, so that the children would do her online order for a new senior railcard, and I would be able to referee her current dispute with the Royal Albert Hall, and my husband would design and build a reflective panel to sit behind one of her radiators, the better to direct more heat into her already sweltering kitchen. I explained this to Maureen, who rubbed a glass with a cloth and said comfortably, 'Well, my children say to me, "Mother, we will not hear you say a bad word about Nanna, because, sure, she's the way you are going." '

Steady on, Maureen! You haven't met my mum! But her words – or rather her children's words – stayed with me. I have to think about my mum and the things she does that I love, and the things she does that I really don't love. I recognize patterns that run through us both like a stick of rock, and it's not a comfortable process.

I found "a stick of rock" is a kind of candy. But it doesn't help me to understand the last sentence of this text. Is there any other meaning?

How to use the word adjustable here

Posted: 14 Aug 2021 11:23 PM PDT

How can I say this: These are adjustable (in/for/as far as/through) their angle and height

Which alternative in parenthesis is correct? Or you have other better suggestion to say this?

What is the word for words that are 'two sides of the same coin'?

Posted: 15 Aug 2021 09:13 AM PDT

What is the word for words that are 'two sides of the same coin' as they are not always opposites... such as heads and tails.

Complement?

An example would be ball and strike in baseball. They are the only two possibilities for a pitch not hit. Are the contexts?

Tragedy and comedy but not positive and negative. Reading and writing and Peace and justice but not winning and losing.

Is there a word to describe something new, but completely unnecesary?

Posted: 14 Aug 2021 08:08 PM PDT

Is there a word to describe making a new thing (instead of old one), which should be way better, more innovative, but in the end remains same or even worse.

Example - car manufacturers are putting displays in place of dashboards, but those displays still show same two round dials for speedometer and tachometer (only difference - they are shown in screen instead physically with dials and needles).

Semantic sense of word ‘with’ in sentence [duplicate]

Posted: 15 Aug 2021 04:06 AM PDT

The sentence: "The midwife took 40 roubles for two months' board and attendance, 25 went to get the baby into the foundlings' hospital, and 40 the midwife borrowed to buy a cow with"

What sense does the word "with"(the last word in the sentence) have?

May I use a singular form or a plural form before a clause starting with "for each"?

Posted: 14 Aug 2021 08:02 PM PDT

In this sentence, may I use the singular "due date" or the plural "due dates"?

Please let us know your earliest possible due dates for each product.

Each product should have only one due date. But as a whole, there should be multiple due dates as we have multiple products.

Biding their time to reveal their hidden depths

Posted: 14 Aug 2021 02:50 PM PDT

Is there a phrase for what a person is or is doing who is underrated by people but then shows themselves to contain hidden depths? Not quite a diamond in the rough. Sort of like dark horse. Hmm? Not sinister hidden depths. Like when my intellectually disabled daughter surprises all who underestimate her by blurting out an insightful comment or clever joke.

Is there a word to describe the feeling of heated argument?

Posted: 14 Aug 2021 04:06 PM PDT

When you have the feeling where you know that you must step in and start saying something or even defend about something when people points it out.

For instance, when a couple had a healthy heated discussion.

I want to find an alternative sentence/word for heated discussion, but with the fact when you feel the need to argue or disagree or defend with another person to prove them wrong or show them the knowledge that you have. So, it is more on how to describe this feeling?

Word with a similar meaning to "piled together"

Posted: 14 Aug 2021 08:49 PM PDT

I was recently writing some internal dialogue for a character in a story. The character speaks about his past experiences and wants to describe that since he has had many negative experiences with people in his past, he now has a fear of social interaction.

I wanted to express this as:

"All of my negative experiences have ??? and now manifest themselves as this inescapable fear of social interaction."

There is a word I'm looking for to go in this space, but I can't seem to find it. I have searched through many entries in the thesaurus, but nothing expresses quite my desired meaning. The words or phrases closest to what I want are "pile together", "coalesced", "combined together", "merged together", "clumped together"

I'm almost positive there is a specific word I'm looking for. The word I'm looking for is more literary than "piled together" or "clumped together", but indicates that the resulting thing is negative or unpleasant (which is why "coalesce" doesn't seem quite right)

Any ideas?

"...the person or body who..." vs. "...the person or body which..."

Posted: 15 Aug 2021 02:00 AM PDT

When referring to both natural and non-natural persons (i.e. organisations) at the same time, is it appropriate to use 'which' or 'who'?

For example:

1.

  • '... request the person or body who has the responsibility for this task..' or
  • '... request the person or body which has the responsibility for this task..'

2.

  • '...the person or body to whom the application was directed' or
  • '...the person or body to which the application was directed'

(There is a reason that 'person' precedes 'the body')

"It was the kind of story that / where you had to be there." -- Are the relative words 'where' and 'that' interchangeable? What does 'where' mean?

Posted: 15 Aug 2021 02:55 AM PDT

Consider this exchange:

A: Your story wasn't funny at all.
B: Maybe it was the kind of story where you had to be there.

I encountered something like that a few days ago, and wondered if the relative word where could be replaced with that:

?Maybe it was the kind of story that you had to be there.

It sounded strange a bit, but I was reluctant to say it's wrong, because there are analogous examples where a that relative or bare relative could be used instead of a where relative clause:

  • The place I went running was a few blocks away
  • This is not the place I will die.
  • It's pathetic to live in the place you grew up.
  • If you would have told me a year ago that I'd be in the place that I am now, I would have been like, good joke.
  • Why does poetry become the place that you can say it?

examples from COCA

So, when is it possible to use the relative words that and where interchangeably?

I'm not sure how to mark the clause boundaries

Posted: 14 Aug 2021 08:57 PM PDT

I'm trying to mark clause boundaries (main, subordinate & embedded clause); I can't play my own devil's advocate anymore, would be so grateful if anyone could weigh in on this:

Sentence:

With more than 430,000 migrants having reached Europe by sea this year, the countries of Europe resurrecting borders they'd once removed, and thousands of people in Calais trying to reach Britain illegally, some people have argued that we're on the verge of a 'great age of migration', in which national governments are powerless to resist huge numbers of people, travelling the world in search of a better life.

Analysis:

  • Clause 1 (objects of the preposition 'with' ?):

    With (more than 430,000 migrants having reached Europe by sea this year), (the countries of Europe resurrecting borders [[(that) they'd once removed]]), and (thousands of people in Calais trying to reach Britain illegally), some people have argued...

  • Clause 2 (dependent clause because of verbal process 'argued'):

    (everything after 'in which' modifies 'great age') that we're on the verge of a 'great age of migration', [[in which national governments are powerless to resist huge numbers of people, [[travelling the world in search of a better life]].

    OR

    Going by the idea that every clause has a verbal group, which means I would split up Clause 1 as well.

  • Clause 3:

    in which national governments are powerless

  • Clause 4:

    to resist huge numbers of people, [[(who are) travelling the world in search of a better life]].

Is it ever acceptable to pluralize the word "encryption" to "encryptions"?

Posted: 15 Aug 2021 09:01 AM PDT

I am trying to revise the grammar of someone who insists that the following sentence is correct

In Cryptology, encryption is the process of encoding messages or information, and there are different methods, levels, and types of encryptions

His rationale is that it's a noun, and nouns can be pluralized. It feels wrong, and I want to modify that to say the following: (more edits are needed)

In cryptology, encryption is the process of encoding messages or information, and there are different methods, levels, and types of encryption formats

where the final word is formats, schemes, systems ..but then I realized that there probably several modifiers that I would use after the word encryption.

Question

  1. Is it ever acceptable to use the word "encryptions"
  2. When using a phrase such as "encryption ____", what are acceptable plural words and their meanings?

Verb meaning "to satisfy a definition in an unsatisfying way"

Posted: 15 Aug 2021 08:06 AM PDT

I'm sure I've heard a verb that means this, but it might be colloquial, and possibly quite specific to a certain group of people.

The context is that person 'A' has tried to give a precise definition of some grand concept. For example, 'A' says "life can be defined as any system that maintains a low entropy by degrading an energy source" Person 'B' then gives a counterargument along the lines of "ah, but under that definition, wouldn't a candle flame also be considered alive?" In other words, 'B' has satisfied 'A's definition, but not in a way that 'A' will like, thus forcing 'A' to change her definition. 'B' can then be said to have ____ed 'A's original definition.

As Brian Donovan points out in a comment, the classic example is that when Plato defined 'human being' as 'featherless biped', Diogenes produced a plucked chicken, causing Plato to amend his definition. (To 'featherless biped with fingernails'.)

The word might also refer more generally to giving someone what they've asked for, but according to the letter rather than the spirit of what they said, thus not actually being what they wanted at all.

Invalidating a definition in this way is a special case of reductio ad absurdum of course, but I'm looking for a word that specifically describes this case.

I'm also not looking for general words meaning to invalidate or disprove; the word I'm thinking of (if it exists) refers very specifically to the case of showing that a definition is more broadly applicable than was originally intended.

The word I'm looking for (still, nearly three years later) might be somewhat humorous in nature.

Why is putting some spin on a ball described in some circles as giving it some "English"?

Posted: 14 Aug 2021 07:36 PM PDT

Why is putting some spin on a ball often called "putting some English" on it? Does it have anything to do with the history of billiards, the sport I most often see this phrase used? What's special about English, exactly?

I tried doing some research on Google, but all I could find was an article on ESPN that was too jocular for my taste.

Origin of the "Rule of thumb" phrase

Posted: 14 Aug 2021 02:03 PM PDT

Where does the phrase rule of thumb originate from? Why the thumb, of all possible body parts?

When should the word "English" be capitalized?

Posted: 14 Aug 2021 08:11 PM PDT

I am often confused how the word "English" should be written in phrases such as "English language", because I have seen both variants: capitalized and starting with lowercase letter.

What is the most accepted usage: "English language" or "english language"? And what about other possible usage of the adjective "english"?
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