Tuesday, August 24, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

What's the word for "outside oneself", as in "a cause or belief outside oneself"?

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 11:11 AM PDT

I am trying to figure out a synonym (particularly one word) for "outside oneself", as in "a cause or belief outside oneself". I've tried Thesaurus.com, and other internet resources, but it's difficult to find an apt synonym for such an odd phrase

"Enough" can't appear in the subject of a negative sentence

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 10:43 AM PDT

Don't use enough (with or without a noun) as the subject of a negative sentence, ✳'Enough people didn't come', but 'Not enough did'.

https://www.wordreference.com/EnglishUsage/enough

Why is it so?

What other pronuns/determiners are restricted in the same way?

English equivalent of מסגרת

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 10:12 AM PDT

My native tongue is Hebrew, and we have a word that I just don't know how to effectively translate to English. My American-Israeli friends tell me that they just say it in Hebrew because they can't find a good substitute in English.

That word is מסגרת. Literally, it means "frame", which could be a picture frame, or framework.

It also has a figurative meaning, which is the one I'm interested in. I'll try to describe it. It means things like school, work, military. Any kind of environment you're in that has a routine, responsibilities, people you work with, and usually a boss or some kind of authority figure.

I wanted to say "I'm not a מסגרת person", meaning I'm not the kind of person who gets along in a routine with a rigid routine, responsibilities, etc. Whether it's school, work, etc. Can you figure out how to say it succinctly in English?

Which of the following sentences are correct grammatically? [migrated]

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 08:09 AM PDT

Which of the following sentences are correct?

And please explain to me the meaning of each sentence. Why correct? Or Why wrong?

  1. I give you money.
  2. I give money you.
  3. I give money to you.

List of quotes with ellipsis. Separate by commas?

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 07:53 AM PDT

I have this text:

She is known for using phrases like. "Here will be…" "This place will be called…" "This wall will have this color…" She never starts her sentences with "I wish." She says, "That's how it will be," and so, it happens.

Is it correct, or there should be commans after each quote, for example like this?

"Here will be…", "This place will be called…", "This wall will have this color…". She never starts her sentences with "I wish." She says, "That's how it will be," and so, it happens.

Also, before "She never starts", should there be a full stop?

"judges", "juries" or "examiners"?

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 09:01 AM PDT

I am writing an introduction for my company internal contest. There is a group of people selected to choose the winner. I am not sure which word to use when mentioning them. I see people use "judge panel" for model contests, "juries" for film festivals and "examiners" for some other contests. I am not a native English speaker and I don't know if I should use one of these words or another one that I didn't know.

What are the differences of these words and when to use each one? I've tried to search on Google but all results I found were about law and courts.

Thank you so much.

Is there a general rule for word order in Geographical Places? [duplicate]

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 07:24 AM PDT

Just wondering, is there a rule that dictates when you put the name before/after the place? For example, is it Garda Lake or Lake Garda?

Collective Noun for Religious Implements

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 08:17 AM PDT

Is there a general term to describe the instruments used in Christian rituals like the mass? I am referring to cruets to hold the bread and wine, the paten, ciborium, chalice and the like.

"That which" or "What" for academic writing [migrated]

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 06:37 AM PDT

That which and what have equivalent meanings. Which is better to use in an academic context? Does it depend on the context, e.g. scientific report vs essay?

For example:

  1. That which comes from the above the area is green.

  2. What comes from the above the area is green.

Please correct my sentence? [closed]

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 05:59 AM PDT

I intern at a hospice agency assisting patients and families in navigating the issues that develop during the end-of-life period.

Is this sentence grammatically correct?

Word Order with Geographical Places [duplicate]

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 05:49 AM PDT

I can't find a general textbook or a thread on internet with grammar rules for word order regarding the names of Geographical places, for example:

  • Mount Everest vs Rocky Mount
  • River Nile vs Colorado river
  • Lake Garda vs Garda Lake

When is the name put before? When after? Are there general rules or do they have to be memorized? If there aren't any rules - why not? How do you decide when to put the name in front of the place or viceversa?

Does this sentence sound weird and unnatural? If so, what do you think is a better/correct sentence structure?

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 05:38 AM PDT

It seems this would be the last time we will talk about this.

I don't get the auxiliary verbs (would, will) used in the sentence above. Isn't it better to say, "It seems this would be the last time we talk about this." ?

"every" + possessive + noun

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 04:36 AM PDT

I naively asked a question about the use of "every" with possessives on the ELL thinking there will be a very simple answer. I was pretty sure that saying either

Every your thought is important to me.

or

Every thought of yours is important to me.

was just a matter of language register. Well, it seems to be a matter of the age you live in! Thanks to some helpful comments I was amazed to discover that "every" + possessive + noun was grammatical in Early Modern English, apparently present in Shakespeare. I must say I couldn't find examples of it in Shakespeare, neither in the KJV Bible, but in other old books that don't exist on the net. However, I did find it on the internet in a text from Medieval times (1480 approx.):

A century and a half later, the Northumberland Household Book prescribes: "Whensoever any of his Lordeship Servauntes be comaunded to ride on message in Winter...that every of theym be allowed for the tyme for his being furth in his jomay... for every meall and for every his baiting; and for his Hors every day and night of his saide jornay, ..." (Medieval Panorama, G. G. Coulton)

So this use must have been grammatical in Old English.

My question is: Does anyone know how "every" + possessive + noun shifted from being grammatical in Old English to not grammatical in Modern English? Is there any information on the evolution of this use of "every"?

Help me understand this part from the book "Long Way Down" [closed]

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 05:05 AM PDT

DANI WAS KILLED    before she ever learned  The Rules.    So I explained them to  her so she wouldn't think  less of me for following  them    like I was just another  block boy on one  looking to off one.    So that she knew I had  purpose    and that this was about  family    and had I known  The Rules when we  were kids I would've  done the same thing    for her.

-from Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, pub Simon & Schuster 2017

What does "So I explained them to her so she wouldn't think less of me for following them like was just another block boy on one looking to off one." mean? Help me understand the aforementioned part. Kindly elaborate as much as possible.

And if anyone answering has already read the book or knows about it, I want you to answer a question: Why wasn't Will frightened by knowing that he was seeing ghosts and was able to talk to them?

What is a phrase for being stuck at a job because of unwillingness to take a risk? [duplicate]

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 03:25 AM PDT

As a sample sentence

I realize that I have <insert phrase> for too long. I need to quit this job and take my chances.

Can a phrase begin with adjective followed by a preposition?

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 04:04 AM PDT

I read the following sentence recently.

To his right the valley continued in its sleepy beauty, mute and understated, its wildest autumn colors blunted by the distance, placid as water color by an artist who mixed all his colors with brown. (Joyce Carol Oates, "The Secret Marriage"). https://www.thoughtco.com/absolute-phrase-grammar-1689049

I'm wondering whether the bolded part is a phrase that began with an adjective followed by a preposition; however, it seems that none of the types of phrase (Gerund Phrases, Noun Phrases, Verb Phrases, etc) describes that usage.

Reminding a favour in English [duplicate]

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 05:59 AM PDT

What do you call this action in English, when, let's say, somebody has found you a job in somewhere and done you a favour. But he always reminds you that favour in a dishonest way. For example, he says "If I didn't help you, you wouldn't find a job", "You must be grateful because of the job I've found you", and such things.

What did Adam Smith mean by "wretched natives of singular colour"?

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 11:00 AM PDT

In Book IV, Chapter 7 of The Wealth of Nations, when Adam Smith discusses the return of Columbus, he makes this statement:

... all of which [some objects] were preceded by six or seven of the wretched natives, whose singular colour and appearance added greatly to the novelty of the show.

I understand that by "wretched", Smith meant "distressed, in poor condition". But what did he mean by referring to a person as being of a "singular colour"?

Practice and Practise

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 11:05 AM PDT

I recall that at school (in the late 1960s/early 1970s) in England I was taught how and when to use Practice and Practise. What I was taught was this:

  1. Practice, when used a a verb, means to do something repetitively in order to become better at it - e.g. "I am practicing on the piano".

  2. Practise, when used a s a verb means to work in a profession or vocation - e.g. "I am practising as a dentist".

  3. The noun form is always "practice" - e.g. "I have to do my piano practice". "my dental practice is in the middle of town".

But what I was taught does not seem to be reflected in modern reference works which simply give Practise and Practice as alternatives each one capable of bearing either of the two alternative meanings. See, for example

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/practise

https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/practise

Am I misremembering what I was taught? Was I wrongly taught? Or was anyone else taught the same?

I am aware that there are "c" and "s" variations between British English and American English, and between nouns and verbs, but what I am interested in is not that but where different spelling indicates different meaning.

What is the meaning of "initiations" in this context?

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 08:48 AM PDT

My own fears are the blackest, and at the prospect of losing my wonderful beloved brother out of the world in which, from as far back as in dimmest childhood, I have so yearningly always counted on him, I feel nothing but the abject weakness of grief and even terror; but I forgive myself "weakness"—my emergence from the long and grim ordeal of my own peculiarly dismal and trying illness isn't yet absolutely complete enough to make me wholly firm on my feet. But my slowly recuperative process goes on despite all shakes and shocks, while dear William's, in the full climax of his intrinsic powers and intellectual ambitions, meets this tragic, cruel arrest. However, dear Grace, I won't further wail to you in my nervous soreness and sorrow—still, in spite of so much revival, more or less under the shadow as I am of the miserable, damnable year that began for me last Christmas-time and for which I had been spoiling for two years before. I will only wait to see you—with all the tenderness of our long, unbroken friendship and all the host of our common initiations.

I wonder what does the bolded initiation mean in this context. Could it be a kind of ordeal?

This is from Henry James's letter and I put the link to the whole letter here.

"It cannot be too firmly realised"?

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 06:25 AM PDT

I am trying to translate a book into Portuguese and came across this sentence whose meaning I cannot really grasp. Maybe someone could help me understand the meaning of:

It cannot be too firmly realised that every soul in incarnation is down here for the specific purpose of gaining experience and understanding.

From what I know from the author (Edward Bach) he intends to emphasise the fact that 'every soul in incarnation is down here for the specific purpose of gaining experience and understanding', so the first bit of the sentence It cannot be too firmly realised that is probably one of emphasis.

I am struggling however to write this first bit in Portuguese, so maybe could you write it using different words and maybe then I'll get some ideas?

What does "open recs" means?

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 10:36 AM PDT

This is entire message:

As time goes to infinity we plan on having Stripes building products very close to as many of our customers as possible, which is (much) more widely distributed than the status quo, which is (much) more widely distributed than open recs on any given Monday. There will be more on this subject coming later.

And this is the context: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19425274

When I googled I found "open recommendations" but it doesn't seem to fit the context. Maybe there is a typo but I think it's unlikely given the author.

Thanks.

Should I use "they" to refer to "the audience" in this context? [closed]

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 04:00 AM PDT

The audience has already recognized the existence of water pollution—they just refuse to admit it. In order to keep this audience reading, the author has to reveal the truth subtly rather than pointing it out bluntly.

Should I use it to refer to the audience, as in it just refuses to admit the truth?

What is the standard tag question after a statement containing "I should have ..."?

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 02:34 AM PDT

Whenever I use "I should've done _____", I like to add an extra part to the sentence looking for confirmation as in "I know, right?", where "right?" is the part asking for confirmation.

My question here is: What is the most natural way to ask for confirmation after "I should have ..."?

I should've gone to the store sooner, shouldn't've I?

I've been using "shouldn't've I?" but my girlfriend argues that that sounds weird, which it probably does. She argues that it should be "shouldn't I have?"

What tag question should I use?

When do you leave a space in a paragraph and when do you not?

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 06:09 AM PDT

I am not fully sure if this is the right place for this question but I am guessing has something to do with structure and usage so hopefully it is alright here. Apologies if not.

I am getting confused when I write long reports and essays about when I should be writing paragraphs with a space separating and when I should have them following one another without a space.

I have been putting a space when it looks like too much of a wall of text but I am finding that paragraphs without spaces between them, look a bit weird.

Is it just when you start talking about something completely different that you should put a space, or should they follow on, too? Should the space even be there or is it just something people do?

Single word for "the one being stolen from"?

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 09:30 AM PDT

By forming a noun from a verb, the person that steals is called a stealer. What do you call a person that is being stolen from?

Is there a corresponding noun that denotes the object of this action, as there is for verbs like employ (employer, employee), call (caller, callee), etc.?

What is the difference between “group” and “band”?

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 04:21 AM PDT

What is the difference between group and band when applied to assemblages of musicians who play music together?

According to Wikipedia,

A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name.

For example, ABBA is described as being a pop group by the Daily Telegraph but as a pop band elsewhere on the Internet.

Why's 'Cellar door' the most beautiful English word/ phrase?

Posted: 24 Aug 2021 10:13 AM PDT

Recently I've had a few people mention that the phrase Cellar door is beautiful. I don't see what makes this so - it's not anything ironic like "driveway" or "parkway" so what makes this so beautiful?
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