Wednesday, August 18, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Are a and ʌ pronounced the same? [closed]

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 09:51 AM PDT

As in write vs up or must vs nice. I don't seem to find any difference. Could anyone tell me if there is one please?

Adjective for something using plug-ins

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 10:27 AM PDT

I'm looking for an adjective (preferably) that describes a software component as being capable of using plug-ins, or better yet, as only performing its function if it has been loaded with plugins. So, for instance, if you had a logging module that only outputs anything if you load at least one appropriate output plugin for it, you could call it an "[adjective] logger".

For the longest time, I thought "pluggable" was the right word for this, but as I've just found out, it usually means that something can be plugged into something else (secondary question: Is this correct?). So a "pluggable logger" would, if anything, be a plugin for the logging system as described above, when I'm looking for an adjective to describe that system itself.

I'm also open to alternative ways of formulating it that don't reduce it to a single adjective. E.g. in music production software, I've seen people refer to "plugin hosts" that can load plugins supporting specific APIs (example). That might work, e.g. in the logging example above, the term could be "logger plugin host". But it's quite clunky, I've never seen this term used outside of music production software and find "host" a bit confusing as it already means something very specific in networking. So I'm wondering if there are any other terms for this I should be aware of.

What does this quote by Elizabeth Gaskell mean? [closed]

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 09:44 AM PDT

"People may flatter themselves just as much by thinking that their faults are always present to other people's minds , as if they believe that the world is always contemplating their individual charms and virtues." -- Elizabeth Gaskell | what does that mean?

Which one is the correct syllable pronunciation of the word ‘speaking’? [closed]

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 07:41 AM PDT

In the Oxford Advanced Learner dictionary, I wonder why there is no syllable break symbol (.) and show speaking /ˈspiːkɪŋ/ but I imagine the speaking /ˈspiː.kɪŋ/ /ˈspiːk.ɪŋ/ or use /k/ as ambisyllabic. https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/speak_1?q=speaking

Is it acceptable to use all of what I imagine or is it regional (some dialect)? I am very confused.

Is there a word meaning the day after tommorow? [duplicate]

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 06:59 AM PDT

My question comes from this picture :Dpicture

For example in my native language, russian, there is a word.

Завтра - tomorrow

Послезавтра - "after-tomorrow"

So my question, is that correct to say "aftertomorrow" to point at the day after tomorrow?

What's the meaning of "caps"? [duplicate]

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 06:51 AM PDT

I came out, Ma'am, prepared to submit to everything—to be put upon in every way—but there are some things, Ma'am, one can't submit to. There is caps, Ma'am, that suits one face and some that suits another's, and if I'd known, Ma'am, about the caps, great as was my desire to come out to nurse at Scutari, I wouldn't have come, Ma'am.

I found this from Florence Nightingale's letter.

At first, I thought "caps" mean hats here but then I found "caps" is used with "is" and now I can't be sure what does it meam.

Please tell me what does "caps" mean here.

Name of this grammatical construction [duplicate]

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 07:59 AM PDT

for quite some time now, I've been wondering whether there is a proper name for the following grammatical construction expressing obligation:

Is/are to be + [participle]

For example, ''This paper is to be handed in before Monday''

The closest I've come to finding what this is, is a ''deontic periphrastic construction'', but that is not quite it either... I'm sorry if this is not the appropriate site to post this question, but I figured that it might be so obscure that less in-depth forums will not do.

Thank you in advance!

Negation of probabilistic constructions

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 11:11 AM PDT

I came across the following sentence in an old Language Log post

"A recent New York Times article described the Japanese profession of hostessing, which involves entertaining men at establishments where customers pay a lot to flirt and drink with young women (services that do not, as a rule, involve prostitution)."

The question being asked there is whether "as a rule" here means that there is a rule that such services can not involve prostitution or rather that ther is no rule that says it must involve prostitution.

Mark Lieberman preforms a fairly extensive dive in how "as a rule" is used currently and how it used to be used and comes to the conclusion that "as a rule" doesn't imply there exists any rules, regulation or mandates. Instead just saying how things "generally are, not how they should be or must be."

This makes sense to me in that I also see "as a rule" meaning usually or in most cases. But to me that doesn't really answer the question, which seems to be more about how one should read the negation.

Parsing the sentence best I know how, I would have a slight tendency to favor the reading, that the provision of the services does not imply that prostitution is involved, although it could be. As opposed to parsing it as though provision of the services in most cases does not involve prostitution.

For the reading where in most cases prostitution is not involved I would expect a word order of "(services that, as a rule, do not include prostitution)."

I'm not really sure if this reading is correct in general and if it's really determined in how tight the negation is bound to the action.

Can anyone explain please?

Past simple or past continuous for process in the past?

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 06:43 AM PDT

Let's say that I have a computer program that had been doing one thing, but later that program was changed. Which statement would be more correct?

It was sorting by errors, but now it's sorting by warnings.

or

It sorted by errors, but now it sorts by warnings.

And what if didn't have that second part?

It sorted by errors.

This sounds like it was just one time action and not the way that program worked.

One of the at least one - followed by singular or plural noun? [closed]

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 06:18 AM PDT

Which of the following is correct:

    (a) One of the at least one fruit; or
    (b) One of the at least one fruits

The technical name of the opening theme that played at the start of a film [migrated]

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 07:56 AM PDT

What is the technical term of the opening theme that played before the part in a film in which the name of actors and actresses are displaying?

Is there a certain rule for dividing syllable in a word?

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 08:00 AM PDT

I am new in linguistics and I am an ESL student. When I check dictionaries such as Merriam-Webster, Random House Webster, Webster's New world college, American Heritage, Cambridge dictionary etc and listen to the pronunciation, there are different division of syllable in a word. For example: Other /ʌ ðər/ /ʌð ər/ /ʌð ðər/ , cabin /kæ bɪn/ /kæb ɪn/ /kæb bɪn/. I have known the Maximal Onset Principle and Sonority Scale, but I am not sure about that. Is there a certain rule for dividing syllable in a word.

Top down or bottom up for reducing a sentence to all its parts?

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 04:14 AM PDT

I'm still learning grammar. I'm trying to figure out the steps to break down a sentence. My process now is to look at the sentence as a whole first. Then I classify it as either simple, compound, complex, etc. Then I classify it again as either declarative, imperative, etc. Then I work out the subject and predicate and label them by clause type; main, subordinate, adjectival, noun. Then I break the clauses into structures like subject+verb, subject+transverb+direct, etc etc.

Now I'm trying to identify all the phrases and I'm getting stuck ... so I'm moving to a bottom-up approach by looking at words on their own to see if they are nouns, verbs. phrases, whatever ... so that I might make phrases out of them. But I'm getting stuck at this point.

Anyway, my question is what is the best way to break down a sentence into all its levels, from the words/parts of speech all the way up to the clauses and sentence?

Should you start with the sentence and begin chopping it into smaller and smaller chunks (clauses, phrases, etc), as I've been trying to do, or should you identify the word types first and then build them up (bottom-up approach)? Is there a formula I can follow like a recipe to accomplish this?

Strict with/about/in/on? [closed]

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 03:29 AM PDT

Which preposition should we use with "strict"? and when do we use each of the prepositions? For example:

My teacher is strict about my homework.

My teacher is strict with my homework.

My teacher is strict in homework.

My teacher is strict on homework.

Is there a word for insulting yourself before someone else gets a chance to?

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 08:17 AM PDT

Some of you may have seen the Eminem film 8-mile, where he's in a rap battle, and at some point in the film he wins the rap battle by exhausting all the ammo about himself that his opponent was going to use so the opponent had nothing left to say.

I've seen this happen in real life a handful of times too, where a person who knows he's going to be insulted beats the other person to the punch and takes the wind out of their sails by doing so.

Is there any terms for this?

Can participial phrases describe the actions of a subject other than the first one mentioned?

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 04:49 AM PDT

I'm still very confused about the correct placement of participial phrases when they describe the action of a noun that isn't the main subject.

"I eventually saw the film that had everyone talking, creating shock and surprise among the community."

Does the participial phrase modify the object (meaning the film created shock and surprise) or the whole of the preceding clause (as in, the act of the narrator seeing the film created shock and surprise)? If it's the latter, then that means I shouldn't use constructions like this, because that is not the intended meaning.

"Lost challenge" clearly showing a reversal of expectations

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 04:12 AM PDT

In a scenario where the conventional thinking that when A competes with B, A would win / get the upper hand, but where last findings in date show that B has the upper hand, I'm trying to phrase this idea in a concise way that highlights the logic:

The challenge was lost by A.

While this is probably acceptable, I don't feel the reversal of expectations has been conveyed clearly.

Do "elision" and "ratatouille" have unmarked plural forms?

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 09:58 AM PDT

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According to Microsoft® Encarta® 2009, the word elision has an unmarked plural elision (no -s suffix) as an alternative to elisions.

Can "elision" be used as a plural form? If so, is it due to its Latin origin?

A similar example I've found is ratatouille, but I am ignorant of the pronunciation of its plural in French.

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Specific word for the joy of being in like-minded company or those you feel connected to?

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 09:36 AM PDT

Is there a word that specifically describes the feeling of being in the company of others that for some reason you feel connected to? The idea of when someone shares that they 'found their people' or are 'amongst their people'?

For instance - I went off to college and for once in my life I felt a sense of ______. I had found my people.

The feeling of walking into a room and knowing that the people are going to 'get' you. Relief mixed with joy mixed with belonging.

A few things options I considered- Acceptance - I didn't care for this as it brings a sense of something being wrong, or unacceptable, in other situations. I don't want to convey the sentiment that someone was un-whole before.

Belonging - I think this is close, but doesn't elicit the sense of joy that someone feels when walking into a room and feeling the immediate sense of kinship.

Why are the "V-ing" structures in the sentences below correct? [closed]

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 02:33 AM PDT

What is the function of "meaning" in the first sentence and what does it modify?

Why is the second sentence correct without "by" followed by "comparing"?

  1. To qualify as trade secret, the information must be secret, meaning "not generally known to, and not readily ascertainable by other persons".

  2. The "reasonable efforts" prong is assessed through an economic cost-benefit analysis, comparing the cost of precautions to the value of the secret.

Are questions following the pattern "[noun] + how + [adjective] + ...?" correct? [closed]

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 08:02 AM PDT

Is the word order "[noun] + how + [adjective] + ...?" in a question acceptable? By that, I mean questions as:

  • An object how big could fit through that hole?
  • Questions how serious may be asked?

Such a pattern seems strangely familiar to a foreigner, but I could not pinpoint any reasonable examples from across the Internet at the moment.

If such an expression is obnoxiously incorrect to native English speakers, can you come up with any elegant periphrastic constructions? "How big of an object...?" and "How big is an object that...?" seem to be reasonable ones.

One subject, compound object phrases - comma or no comma?

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 06:10 AM PDT

My question is about how to punctuate sentences like the following:

The system allows searching for variables using their long name and cryptic variable names and filtering the data sets based on a given variable availability.

subject: the system

main verb: allows

object 1 (gerund+participial phrase?): searching for variables using their long name and cryptic variable names

object 2 (gerund+past-participle-phrase?): filtering the data sets based on a given variability

coordinating conjunction between object 1 and 2: the second of the two 'and' words

Because the second 'and' is not followed by a subject + verb, this sentence appears not to require a comma. However, the presence of the first 'and', plus the string of gerunds and nouns this sentence contains, might cause the reader to have difficulty identifying the second object phrase. I encounter many such sentences in the editing I do, but I'm loathe to rephrase too many of the ones that might cause confusion.

Hoping someone can help!

Word for moving quickly enough for things to seem blurry

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 08:01 AM PDT

I want to describe an anecdote, but want to use a word to describe the time period. So in physics when you move quickly enough to approach the speed of light, time breaks down and relativity kicks in. I want to describe a period in the past that I was moving so quickly at the time (such as through college) that the events seem to mesh together. Like a very, very fast moving object in relativity. Preferably a single word I can use such as

I was moving _____ so everything was unclear.

Or

I was moving like a ____ so everything seems to mesh together.

Or

I was so ____ that everything seems blurry now.

Naturally I can just give the long winded physics explanation, but that's extremely verbose, and distracts from the subject matter because the need to explain what the metaphor is directly.

A difference between two parts of sentences [closed]

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 04:06 AM PDT

What's a difference between these two parts of sentences:

Example: This software is ..., it doesn't catch (any) errors, it leaves everything to someone.

  1. it doesn't catch errors
  2. it doesn't catch any errors

Could I use contraction in annotation?

And should I use article the in this sentence?

  1. the correctness of (the) data

Connection between the words Apollo, Apollyon, and Apologise [closed]

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 03:36 AM PDT

I've tried researching this topic before, in re Apollo, the Greek god son of Leto and Zeus and twin brother of Artemis, and its possible connection with the "angel of the bottomless pit" as referenced in Revelation 9:11.

Some sources seem to agree that there is some connection with the god apollo, if nothing more than an orthographic one, (pardon my Greek but,) Apollyon apparently means "destruction, or destructor", if and to what extent, Apollo means the same thing, I still have not received a satisfactory answer. (The coincidence seems too strong to me to brush over completely).

Does anyone know what if anything, the Greek suffix (if it even is a suffix) -ion or -yon mean? My gut feeling is they are indeed related, but having nothing more than my "gut feeling" to go by, I have let this inquiry drop for now, up until a couple of days ago I came across this passage from Herodotus Book 1, chapter CXXXIX:

their names, which agree with the nature of their persons and their nobility, all end in the same letter, that which the Dorians call san, and the lonians sigma ; you shall find, if you search, that not some but all Persian names alike end in this letter.

and a little bit latter in chapter CXLI:

  1. As soon as the Lydians had been subdued by the Persians, the lonians and Aeolians sent messengers to Cyrus, offering to be his subjects on the same terms as those which they had under Croesus, Having heard what they proposed, Cyrus told them a story. Once, he said, there was a flute-player who saw fishes in the sea and played upon his flute, thinking that so they would come out on to the land. Being disappointed of his hope, he took a net and gathered in and drew out a great multitude of the fishes; and seeing them leaping, "You had best," said he, " cease from your dancing now ; you would not come out and dance then, when I played to you." The reason why Cyrus told the story to the lonians and Aeolians was that the lonians, who were ready to obey him when the victory was won, had before refused when he sent a message asking them to revolt from Croesus. So he answered them in his anger.

it should be noted, that in the translation I was reading it used the word apology instead of story

Does anyone know if the original greek uses apologia? or was that an interpolation of the translator?

It does seem to make sense, if you construe that an apology, if taken by its archaic meaning, "an argument in defence of a position", acts like a destroyer of sorts, destroying the possibility of future alliances, and may fit in to other possible themes of culture shock when comparing customs and habits of the various Greek and Persian city states, especially in a context of an ambassador's audience with a King and its expected protocols etc.

I am well aware that in many instances Greek mythology uses personifications (as well as their parthenon of gods), treated as gods, they are nevertheless called by a simple word like for example: the gods "Sleep", and "Dischord".

Please, Please, Please! Can someone (with a firm understanding of ancient Greek) tell me what exactly does the WORD Apollo actually mean?

What's the relationship of Ursa Minor/Little Dipper to dogs? [closed]

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 06:59 AM PDT

Recently happened again upon the word "cynosure" and noted it's Greek etymology, e.g. from Wordsmith.org:

Originally the term was applied to the constellation Ursa Minor or the North Star (Polaris) that was used in navigation. The term is derived from Latin Cynosura (Ursa Minor), from Greek kynosoura (dog's tail), ultimately from the Indo-European root kwon- (dog) that is also the source of canine, chenille (from French chenille: caterpillar, literally, little dog), cynic, kennel, canary, hound, dachshund, and corgi. And from the root ors- (buttocks) which also gave us ass, dodo, and squirrel.

I've seen several such references etymologically but have found nothing more fleshed out. Wikipedia maps out many historical associations of the constellation, none of which are related to dogs; in particular the Greek association seems to have been about Zeus/Hera/Callisto:

The classical mythographer identified the "Bear" as the nymph Callisto, changed into a she-bear by Hera, the jealous wife of Zeus.

Clearly a bear has a tail... what's the relationship to dogs?

Word with a similar meaning to "piled together"

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 09:47 AM 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?

Non-racial alternative for "Chinese fire drill"

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 04:46 AM PDT

A "Chinese fire drill" is an activity that involves a lot of bustle and chaos but achieves nothing. This term could be considered insulting due to its association of Chinese people with unproductive activity. Is there an alternative term without the racial connotations?

Edit: This was mistakenly flagged as a duplicate of this question, asking about a Japanese proverbial reference to one of Aesop's fables: "The mountains labored and brought forth a mouse". The expression refers to "speech acts which promise much but deliver little".(1) In this case the emphasis is on the chaotic execution of a pointless exercise, not on the difference between promises and results.

Idioms and bodyparts: punch your lights out and lights

Posted: 18 Aug 2021 09:39 AM PDT

There is an idiom "I'll punch your lights out" which means

punch someone's lights out

Sl. to knock someone out with a fist

There is also "lights" which, when used about a body, mean

Lights (Offal)

noun the lungs of sheep, pigs, or bullocks, used as food, especially for pets.

I was trying to find whether or not the two were related. The only thing I can think of, which is by no means supported is that if you are to be beaten up then perhaps all the air gets knocked from your lungs?
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