Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange |
- the only way is if~
- How did "combo" arise as an abbreviation for "combination"?
- Idiom meaning "One should not despair ..."
- Is there a list anywhere which shows all of the links between sounds chosen in words and their effect when spoken / read? [closed]
- Question number 3 it is Space or Big [closed]
- Wreathe snatch-hand briars where owls know my name [closed]
- Why can some verbs be both active and passive, like "play music"
- A term for where exposure to proponents of a viewpoint or interest group rapidly turns you against that group [closed]
- The antonym of going blind? [closed]
- Please help me understand this article. Thanks in advance [closed]
- Why is it not "I also read the sequoias..."? [closed]
- Concise way of saying "harder than we were thinking" [migrated]
- What does it mean to "follow every cue"? [closed]
- How do you pronounce GIF? [duplicate]
- Modal verb in past tense [migrated]
- Is it painting or paintings when we refer to it as a form of art?
- Are phrases of the form "A <possession> of <name>'s" grammatically correct?
- Can one use the expression "[feel/experience/...] dissonance [... with]" to express antipathy?
- parallelism in a sentence
- Can "other story" work without a definite article (for a title)?
- A single word for emotional connection
- correct verb to be used with "aim"
- Mixing simple present and a present participle in the same phrase?
- Why is "extremely longer" not correct (according to the ACT)?
- What is the origin of the quote, “You can satisfy some of the people all the time..."?
- What does the slang "in my arrogant opinion" convey?
- What is the best Bible translation by which I can speak proper English if I read it enough times? [closed]
- "Quite a combo" - meaning
- Why are I and O always capitalized, but a is not?
| Posted: 04 Aug 2021 08:54 AM PDT
The only way I was gonna get a chance to listen to Rodrick's CD was if I snuck it out of the house. The use of "if" above is grammatical and correct? As far as I know, "If" has two uses.
I am confused about which category the "if" above falls under. 1) or 2) or nothing? The "if" clause above is a nominal clause, but at the same time, has a conditional meaning. Also, it is in a subject complement position. Is this use of "if" grammatical? correct? idiomatic? or just colloquial and informal?  |
| How did "combo" arise as an abbreviation for "combination"? Posted: 04 Aug 2021 08:01 AM PDT I am interested in the shortening of "combination" to "combo." I understand the etymology of "combination," and it's clear to me how "comb-" would be used taken for the shorthand. I see several sources indicate that it was first used with jazz/musical groups in the 1920s (Wiktionary, Etymonline). Where does the "-o" ending come from? Is there a common convention or parallel word that the -o ending could have arisen from? Or is it something arbitrary that caught on?  |
| Idiom meaning "One should not despair ..." Posted: 04 Aug 2021 09:48 AM PDT I wonder whether there are any idiom(s) meaning "While you know that your ultimate goal is impossible to achieve completely, you should try your best to at least get a glimpse of it because it's enormously valuable". The nearest things I can imagine are "Getting a glimpse of your goal is better than nothing" and "Half a loaf is better than None".  |
| Posted: 04 Aug 2021 07:00 AM PDT I am completing an English assignment where we have to analyse the effect that a text makes on the reader, but only referencing instances where certain phrases impress the reader because of choices in the sound of the word. Does anyone know of a good reference list which comprehensively covers links between the sound of the word / sounds used and the effect that is created? [I know it's unlikely that such a list exists - I'm just holding out hope] Thanks  |
| Question number 3 it is Space or Big [closed] Posted: 04 Aug 2021 05:04 AM PDT
It is A space difference or A big difference  |
| Wreathe snatch-hand briars where owls know my name [closed] Posted: 04 Aug 2021 06:16 AM PDT I'm confused about this sentence "Wreathe snatch-hand briars where owls know my name".
In particular, I don't understand what does "snatch-hand" mean. Any idea is appreciated. I guess it probably means the circle shapes briars form are the eyes of me (an island), and owls know they are my eyes.  |
| Why can some verbs be both active and passive, like "play music" Posted: 04 Aug 2021 03:32 AM PDT It seems odd that "play music" can mean both performing on an instrument and pushing a button on a playback device (listening to music). This is quite striking, and I can't think of other verbs that work this way. The closest I know of is: "My favorite thing to make for dinner is reservations." But 'make' is not very specific. Is there a name for the dual use of the verb 'play' like this? Other examples would interest.  |
| Posted: 04 Aug 2021 03:25 AM PDT Lots of people online argue to change each others' viewpoints. However I now find (online at least) that the surest way to sour me against a position is to see people advocating for that position. If X-ists argue for X one might begin to think of X as deluded. When Y-ists argue for Y you may begin to wonder if X is the answer. What expression, word or phrase describes this effect? Perhaps the phrase/expression/term I'm looking for might be considered an obverse/complement to "echo chamber". "False flag" events is another, although in this case it's a "true flag". Likewise 'sock puppet accounts' describes the effect, but doesn't acknowledge that some people are themselves socks.  |
| The antonym of going blind? [closed] Posted: 04 Aug 2021 05:52 AM PDT After some research, I did not manage to find the antonym/ opposite word for "going blind". My search is not limited to words as phrases would also suit. The meaning is supposed to be figurative. For additional context: it is about gaining sight for the first time. The sentence and its missing part: "... with sophisticated insights delivered by supplier X."  |
| Please help me understand this article. Thanks in advance [closed] Posted: 04 Aug 2021 01:50 AM PDT https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/31/shame-anti-vaxxers-dumb-sick In 6th the bold part: "The fact remains, however, that liberal disparagement of the vaccine-hesitant rests on a double standard. If we think of vaccine holdouts as taking their cues not from neutral information but from pre-existing narratives (democrats are bad; government is bad; it's all a hoax) this is a dynamic we're not entirely free from ourselves. The enjoyment one gets, when confronted with an anti-vaxxer from saying "these people are nuts", and fitting them instantly into the category of dumb asshole, clearly delivers an emotional dividend as strong as the ones being indulged on the other side." What actually is the double standard here ? In 7th: "Why did parents not think twice about MMR vaccine and now why are they anxious about the Covid vac ?" 9th: "It didn't last. Neither, perhaps, will the tendency among those who are vaccinated to disparage those who remain hesitant, for the simple reason that it will backfire and end up hurting us more. During the first flush of the vaccine rollout in the US, there was a collective sense among the vaccinated population of: big deal, if they're dumb enough not to get the vaccine, let them get sick. Now, thanks to the latest advances in armchair epidemiology, we understand that if large portions of the population remain unvaccinated, not only will society's reopening be compromised but it will provide a petri dish for possible vaccine-resistant strains of the virus to develop in." What does it refer to at the start ? What would be the backfire ? How does unvac population provide petri dish for vac resistant strains to grow ? 13th: "Meanwhile, I'm trying to push back against the temptation to ask my cousin what's wrong with her husband, and in the process be less shut down myself. "Why does he think that?" I said. What does this ending mean ?  |
| Why is it not "I also read the sequoias..."? [closed] Posted: 04 Aug 2021 12:56 AM PDT Why is "the" not used in the second sentence before sequoias?
source - https://www.englishpage.com/articles/articles_13.htm  |
| Concise way of saying "harder than we were thinking" [migrated] Posted: 03 Aug 2021 11:37 PM PDT I am writing the following sentence in a research article:
I am hesitated to use the phase "much harder than we thought". It seems wordy; what could be a proper and more concise replacement in this sentence?  |
| What does it mean to "follow every cue"? [closed] Posted: 03 Aug 2021 09:13 PM PDT A song has such lines: What does "I follow every cue" in this context mean? I tried googling for it but without any luck. Thanks!  |
| How do you pronounce GIF? [duplicate] Posted: 03 Aug 2021 08:06 PM PDT How do you pronounce GIF the acronym for "graphical interchange format"?  |
| Modal verb in past tense [migrated] Posted: 03 Aug 2021 07:14 PM PDT She could have passed the test if she had studied harder. In this sentence could is modal verb. then what is have. main verb,or helping verb?  |
| Is it painting or paintings when we refer to it as a form of art? Posted: 03 Aug 2021 09:00 PM PDT Cinematography is a form of visual arts with motion pictures. Photography is a form of visual arts with static pictures. But how does one refer to a form of visual arts that consists of paintings created by famous artists? As in Is it painting or paintings? To expand on this, in Russian language a word "painting" means both  |
| Are phrases of the form "A <possession> of <name>'s" grammatically correct? Posted: 03 Aug 2021 08:02 PM PDT I recently found myself about to write "David, using a metaphor of Saul's, said...", with the intended meaning that Saul had coined the metaphor (rather than it being a metaphor involving Saul in some way). As a native speaker of English (though not necessarily the Queen's) this came naturally to me, but then I had my doubts as to whether it is regarded as grammatically correct, and even if so, whether it would seem awkward to most readers. In looking for examples and discussion of the issue, I found this:
This, however, is a direct quote of a spoken sentence, so I remain unsure as to whether this usage should be avoided other than in spoken English or in quoting someone's words. Note that here, I am primarily interested in the grammatical and style take on this form of construction, rather than looking for alternative ways of phrasing it - I can do that myself - and nor am I seeking advice, though doubtless well-meaning, amounting to "I'm not sure, so you should avoid it", but by all means offer alternatives if they help illustrate your answer.  |
| Can one use the expression "[feel/experience/...] dissonance [... with]" to express antipathy? Posted: 04 Aug 2021 07:17 AM PDT I'm unsure how to correctly use the word dissonance in relation to myself - do I feel dissonance, do I experience it, or something else? The sentence I have is:
Is it ok to use the word dissonance in this way?  |
| Posted: 04 Aug 2021 01:06 AM PDT A public authority was looking to improve productivity, transparency of information and better manage public funds What would be the correct way to write the above statement? A public authority was looking to improve productivity, offer more transparency in information and better manage public funds?  |
| Can "other story" work without a definite article (for a title)? Posted: 04 Aug 2021 04:05 AM PDT As far as I know, "Other story" is an expression often used in conjunction with the definite article "the," as in "the other story goes" or "the other story says". In some cases I've seen it used without "the", as in "it's a whole other story," but can it be used in a title without "the" before it, or as the name of a collective like "other story collective"?  |
| A single word for emotional connection Posted: 04 Aug 2021 09:32 AM PDT Is there a single word to explain how something happening to someone nearby can affect you? Usually happens with emotions. Similar to if someone is hit, you have sympathy pains, but not quite the same. For example, if someone is nervous you also become nervous for no reason.  |
| correct verb to be used with "aim" Posted: 04 Aug 2021 07:23 AM PDT is it correct to say to "meet aims"? I know we can say she fulfilled or achieved her aims , but can I also say " she met her aims"?  |
| Mixing simple present and a present participle in the same phrase? Posted: 04 Aug 2021 01:37 AM PDT I'm writing an explanation of my duties in a job that I currently have, and I came up with the bullet: Organize large groups of over 200 people, directing them to activities and allocating seating in theaters Is it wrong to put both the simple present and the present participle in one phrase like this? I'm trying to say that part of my duty in organizing large groups is to direct them to activities and to theater seats. Should I be mixing organize with directing / allocating? It doesn't quite seem right to use direct / allocate here though. Any suggestions would be appreciated. edit: I feel that I should be mixing simple present with present participles here because I'm not trying to say that I have 3 duties, but rather that one duty (organizing) includes 2 separate aspects (directing / allocating). I realized that I am trying to say "I organize large groups of over 200 people, which includes directing them to activities and allocating seating in theaters." However, is it okay to leave out the "which includes" part here because it is implied by the present participle?  |
| Why is "extremely longer" not correct (according to the ACT)? Posted: 04 Aug 2021 04:50 AM PDT The sentence that included the question was:
"Extremely" is an adverb (and not materially different in definition from the other answers available) and should be able to modify the adjective "longer", correct? I don't have an answer explanation, so it's unclear why they chose this. Can someone please explain why this is the answer? Thanks!  |
| What is the origin of the quote, “You can satisfy some of the people all the time..."? Posted: 04 Aug 2021 08:41 AM PDT "...and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot satisfy all of the people all the time"? I have seen it attributed to John Lydgate, Abe Lincoln and PT Barnum.  |
| What does the slang "in my arrogant opinion" convey? Posted: 04 Aug 2021 03:04 AM PDT I have seen it on the Internet as follows (abbreviated as IMAO):
I know it's contrasted with the common phrase "in my humble opinion," but I still don't know what impression it tries to convey, nor what is the appropriate situation for it to be used. Is it a somewhat unfriendly phrase? How do I use it right?  |
| Posted: 04 Aug 2021 06:35 AM PDT Since over one month I'm reading in over eight different Bible translations in order to find out whose English language is most adapted for today's English language, including grammar, idioms and syntax. I'm a non-native speaker and I've reached a language level between B2 and C1. I use my English for academic purpose, in science. I'd like to improve my English structure (in speaking and reading) while reading the Bible. I've invested many hours to better understand the different translation approaches from over 30 existing Bible translations. I prefer reading in Bible translations which uses a "moderate dynamic equivalence" (see: Wikipedia). I wondered if my order of Bible translations with nearly 100% standard English is more or less correct. My personal order of English grammar is listed here, decreasing from top to the bottom.
The Bible translation I'm looking for must be very close to today's English (rather a phrase-for-phrase translation as a word-for-word-translation). PLEASE avoid discussions about denonimation favoring Bible translations. My question is facing all different Bible translations but paraphrase translations (e.g. as "The Message") excluded. This question is not supposed to get opinion based answers. It exist a useful web page Christianity.Stackexchange which discussed as well questions about the accuracy of different Bible translations. Since several weeks I know the difference between a dynamic (phrase for phrase) and formal equivalence (word for word) translation. I want to read either a "Moderate use of dynamic equivalence" or a "Moderate use of dynamic equivalence". There is a helpful work which gives a more detailed classification in literal - idiomatic - dynamic - paraphrase - commentative as Wikipedia do in 1 or 2 I tried to search what are the differences between "church English" and "standard English". E.g. the Bible passage "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" (Mark 14:38b) is from a grammatical point of view perfect but the words "spirit" and "flesh" are not often used in "standard English". So the definition of "church English" is the English language whose grammar and syntax is perfect but uses a lot of old words and structures as e.g. the KJV (King James Version) does? I noticed in three Bible passages differences in the language but I was not able to figure out which sentence is not perfect english grammar. The structures which sounds a little strange to me are highlighted. Mark 10:21 A) Jesus looked closely at the man. He liked him and said, "There's one thing you still need to do. Go and sell everything you own. Give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven. Then come with me." Mark 10:21 CEVUK00 B) And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." Mark 10:21 ESV C) Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." Mark 10:21 NIV The collocation "give to the poor" sounds a little strange for me. May be give can be used without an object (give to... instead of give something to...). Mark 9:29 D) And he said to them, "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer." (Mark 9:29 ESV) E) He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer." (Mark 9:29 NIV) F) Jesus answered, "That kind of spirit can only be forced out by prayer." Mark 9:29 NCV G) Jesus answered, "Only prayer can force out that kind of demon." Mark 9:29 CEVUK00 I've checked the collocation "by anything but" in COCA. It is a useful tool to check how common an English structure is. In fact by anything but" is very rarely used. Mark 8:21 H) And he said to them, "Do you not yet understand?" (Mark 8:21 ESV) I) He said to them, "Do you still not understand?" (Mark 8:21 NIV) J) Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand yet?" (Mark 8:21 NCV) "Don't you understand yet" sounds for me better as "Do you not yet understand?" because in most cases the "yet" is placed at the end of the phrase in a question. What do you think about this structure? Are there some structures mentioned in this Bible passages (from A to J) which do not use appropiate english syntax? I invested many hours to search for a language research of different Bible translations but didn't find any helpful document. Is there a webpage or free document which lists many different Bible passages with a lot of different Bible translations and discusses the weakness of the used Bible translation language compared to today's standard British or American English? UPDATE 21.10.2014 - I found two pages which might be helpful (concerned my question above): - This page discusses differences in Grammar, Syntax, Idioms, Style: Dave Brunn - This page discusses prepositions, nouns, verbs, phrasing: Biblical-Traning May be other pages like these will help me to understand what is a correct English grammar in Bible translations. I guess my weak point is not to difference the meaning between different Bible translations, it's more the unsure feeling which English grammar structures are correct and which aren't.  |
| Posted: 04 Aug 2021 09:19 AM PDT I found this phrase in a comment on a song - "I really like this song, and I really like how diverse Shawn's family is, that's quite a combo." It seems, that it's a some kind of idiom. I really can't make sense of this expression. Could someone explain? Google and translators didn't help ))  |
| Why are I and O always capitalized, but a is not? Posted: 03 Aug 2021 07:01 PM PDT There are three single-letter words. They are the article a, the pronoun I, and the interjection O. The pronoun I and the interjection O are always capitalized, but the article a follows normal capitalization rules. Why is this the case? When and where did this originate? Edit: As described in the answers to Question 7988, the pronoun I was first used in the 13th century, to avoid confusion with the dotless j, and was retained as a typographic convention because i "gets lost" due to its small size. However, this does not explain why O is always capitalized, but a is not, since a and o are approximately the same size.  |
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