Friday, September 10, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

What is the meaning of the phrase/term "literary aim"?

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 09:01 AM PDT

Kingdom Come is a sort of fairytale in which "a more primitive world" is "biding its time". The blades of knives on display in the mall's hardware store menacingly form "a silver forest in the darkness". Ballard explores the nationalism that replaces politics, the mass spectacle of St George's flags waved at endless parades and sports matches. He often said that his literary aim was to find the hidden wiring in the fuse box of modernity. In the case of Kingdom Come, consumerism slips into "soft" fascism. As a former advertising man, Pearson knows that "all he is good at is warming the slippers of late capitalism" – and the future is "a cable TV programme going on forever", a barcode, CCTV camera and a parking space.

I came across this phrase while reading a book review in The Guardian. What does literary aim mean in general?

Which is correct with S or without S [closed]

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 08:28 AM PDT

GROUP BIKERS LEGENDS or GROUP BIKERS LEGEND

Should the word LEGEND with S or without S

I found physics quite interesting <to study>

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 05:54 AM PDT

I am wondering if I omit "to study" from the following sentence, will it harm the sentence structure or will it make the sentence incorrect:

" I found physics interesting to study " to " I found physics interesting "

my context is, I have written a short paragraph on my college education then I am thinking of putting this line that I found physics interesting or very interesting. So, can I omit "to study" in this context???

any suggestions please.....

What punctuation to use after an incomplete sentence to introduce a list of items? [duplicate]

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 07:29 AM PDT

I want to use an incomplete sentence to introduce a list of items but I could not find any punctuation guide on this. If I remember correctly, I have seen people using hyphens for it.

Example: If you would like proceed, please indicate-

  1. whether you are 18 or above;
  2. whether you have enough deposit in your account; and
  3. the effective date for the changes.

I would like to know if the hyphen after "indicate" is used correctly. And should I capitalize the first word of each item. Thanks a lot.

Edit: Thank you for your help. However, my confusion here is that, in my example, "please indicate" can be paired up the any of the three items in list to form a complete and independent sentence, e.g. "please indicate whether you are 18 or above."

The example of the usage of colon I saw in the related posts is not quite the same:

There are two types of insects:

(a) white

(b) black

"There are two types of insects white" is not a correct sentence.

How to find keywords in GRE text completion question? [closed]

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 05:19 AM PDT

I was practicing this question:

Question:

An argument currently propounded by historian X threatens to unsettle the widely held view of the platonic king as a reckless philanderer. According to X, the traditional view, while sound, as far as it goes, is ________ in that it ignores insights into the king's character that are offered in recently discovered text from that era.

Explanation:

Here they are saying that the keyword is "sound" and the pivot(structure word) is "while". The pivot while indicates contrast and we know that "fill in = keyword + pivot", so the correct answer is opposite to sound means unsound or unreasonable.

But my question is how to determine the keywords in this type of question since there is a lot of words that can be considered as keywords, then how does anyone discern the correct keyword for the blank? Is there any kind of tricks to find those keywords?

When talking about a historical civilization/event that continues today, how do you write the "end" dates? [duplicate]

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 03:49 AM PDT

Let's say I'm talking about the duration of Hinduism - I've taken the "beginning" date as the 19th century BC, so I've currently written:

(19th century BC - )

I don't know if there is a precedent for how I'm meant to write that the event is ongoing. Perhaps:

(19th century BC - now) or (19th century BC - today)

Many thanks in advance

Is this an example of gerund or something else? [closed]

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 05:17 AM PDT

"A sentence also needs a subject, the thing doing the action."

What is the definition of doing in the sentence above? Is it called gerunds or something else?

two objects are/are of/have the same length [duplicate]

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 02:55 AM PDT

Is one form of this sense more correct than another?

Two objects are the same length. Two objects are of the same length. Two objects have the same length.

Plural "-i" vs. "-uses" [duplicate]

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 02:45 AM PDT

Similarly to Latin words with no plurals in English I still have trouble with some plurals when the word ends in -us.

For example, I have often been told that the plural for cactus is cacti, but then some argue it is cactuses.

Merriam Webster states that it could be either octopuses or octopi, but then someone a while back said it is actually octopodes. Huh?

When talking about the plural for hippopotamus, is it hippopotamuses or hippopotami?

How do I tell when to use -uses rather than -i?

till the time usage [migrated]

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 02:07 AM PDT

"we would be using xyz till the time abc is being setup."

is this correct usage? how can i draft it more formally? please suggest.

scenario : abc is currently unavailable and during the time its being set up we would like to request xyz for our use.

here xyz,abc are just for representation purpose.

Thanks

What is the correct choice Computer (make a computer-do computer)? [migrated]

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 12:51 AM PDT

If the company had to manufacture a new computer ,what is the correct do computers or make computers , I think it is make computers ,because do refers to a physical action while make referred to a new creation ,but I'm not sure what is correct ?

What's the meaning of "my thigh clung to his with dampness, and i watched the sun rising up through the tamaracks and willows"? [closed]

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 12:39 AM PDT

Anyone understand about this sentence?

my thigh clung to his with dampness, and i watched the sun rising up through the tamaracks and willows

Any differences between 'For many years afterwards,...' and 'Many years afterwards,...'? [closed]

Posted: 09 Sep 2021 11:54 PM PDT

May I ask of there are any nuanced differences between the following two sentences? To native speakers, would adding 'For' at the beginning sounds more literary? Thanks!

  1. For many years afterwards, until the late-1990s when his career succeeded, Peter mustered enough courage to continue his artistic pursuit.

  2. Many years afterwards, until the late-1990s when his career succeeded, Peter mustered enough courage to continue his artistic pursuit.

Accent marks on names [closed]

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 12:08 AM PDT

English does not use accent marks basically. However, some foreign names(like Dalí, Gaudí) contain accents symbols.

Then, the question is "is it ok to write without accents marks?".

Examples 1. I like Dalí and Gaudí.
Example 2. I like Dali and Gaudi.
Example 3. I like Dalí and Gaudi.

Is not using accent symbols rude to the person? Let's suppose you have a friend named Dalí. Then you write Dalí as Dali. Will Dalí be angry?

countable nouns and uncoutable nouns: water and an (the) apple(s) [duplicate]

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 08:50 AM PDT

"Bread and butter" can be plural and singular and it denpends on the context but how about some combinations like countable and uncountable words? For example, "(a) water and an (the) apple(s)" ?

Water and apples are (is) served.

If we take them as one thing, it can be singular? or it's just plural whatever the context would be ?

A word that means "based on sound and not-arbitrary principles"

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 09:36 AM PDT

I am describing a new experimental method in a research paper, which has the benefit that all of the input parameters are not arbitrary and are instead determined using basic principles from the available data. As in my subject heading, is there a good word for this? A sample sentence would be "We propose a new ________ method that does not suffer from the arbitrariness of parameter selection that is common in existing approaches."

Can't figure out whether I can go for a certain usage which appears to be correct

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 03:00 AM PDT

Can this be considered correct if I go for

Extract data from a site requiring a login.

Instead of using

Extract data from a site that requires a login.

I came across a correct sentence

They did all the hard jobs requiring unskilled labor.

Very similar to my former expression?

Is there a word for "insults that you take as a compliment"?

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 08:02 AM PDT

For example a person insults someone, the victim of the insult understands that they have just been insulted but instead takes it as a badge of honor and turns into a compliment for themselves

B vs P pronunciation?

Posted: 09 Sep 2021 11:02 PM PDT

I'm a native Arabic speaker -Egyptian- we don't have the V & P sounds natively, I'm fully capable of pronouncing the V sound & telling the difference between it & the F sound perfectly, but I struggle with P, I don't know if I'm pronouncing it as B or not & I struggle with telling the difference between the two even though I know it, both are a bobbing sound caused by the release of air build up, with the difference being that the B one is voiced, this is the exact difference between F & V with the V being voiced, but they both feel so short and exactly the same, for example Pat vs Bat, isn't the a kind of voiced, all I hear is the bob sound followed by a voiced a then the T sound, I feel that the bob is stronger in P, is this the only difference or am I missing something?

Is there any words in which the difference is more prominent, & is there a way to pronounce P correctly even if I can't tell the difference?

by the way I can in most cases guess correctly if a word -even if it's the first time hearing it- is written with P or B but I can't pinpoint the difference in hearing

Comparison (using Ellipsis)

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 01:00 AM PDT

I am trying to figure out when do we need to use an action verb explicitly and when can we omit it using the (ellipsis concept). For Example:

  • John is taller than Jim [is] (I understood that here is can be omitted)
  • John left earlier than Jim [did] - is it ok to omit the word 'did' - if not, why?
  • Maple trees shed their autumn leaves earlier than oak trees - Is this correct?

Thanks for your input

Would it be okay to use "would be" in if-clause?

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 05:01 AM PDT

Is it gramatically correct or not to include "would be" in the if-clause.

Your physician may recommend you to be evaluated if you would potentially be a candidate for this vaccine.

Any difference in nuance between “for easing restrictions” and “for easing of restrictions”?

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 09:03 AM PDT

These days, we often see news headlines like the below examples, and I wonder if there is any difference in nuance between "for easing restrictions" and "for easing of restrictions". Can anyone help me with this question, please.

Greek government unveils plan for easing restrictions. https://knews.kathimerini.com.cy/en/news/greek-government-unveils-plan-for-easing-restrictions

Koike unveils road map for easing of restrictions in Tokyo https://japantoday.com/category/national/Koike-unveils-road-map-for-easing-of-restrictions-in-Tokyo

Can I replace "is" with comma in a sentence?

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 06:08 AM PDT

I want to write a short sentence as a headline. The sentence is:

"JAVA developer with excellent analytical skills is available for new challenges."

Can I replace "is" with comma in the above sentence? For example:

"JAVA developer with excellent analytical skills, available for new challenges."

Or could you suggest me any other way to write this sentence?

What is the grammatical structure of "would that it were"?

Posted: 09 Sep 2021 10:50 PM PDT

It doesn't seem to fit the general templates of English sentences I know. Is this an incomplete sentence? Or is it a shortening of an older phrase now no longer used? What are the subject and the object here?

Why does the word "joed" mean weary, tired, exhausted, fatigued, etc.?

Posted: 09 Sep 2021 11:22 PM PDT

The word "joed" is a word I use frequently to describe my feeling tired or exhausted. As a child, I used to hear my grandfather say "I feel joed" before he would sit down for a respite or turn in; however, I'm not certain why the word joed means tired. Has anyone the least notion why "joed" means tired?

A letter to/for Jason?

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 05:04 AM PDT

Suppose Jason were at home and a mail carrier came to his front door with a letter addressed to Jason. Which of the following is correct?

  1. It was a letter for Jason.
  2. It was a letter to Jason.

"s" vs. "z" in BE vs. AE

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 02:12 AM PDT

I have trouble understanding why some words change "s"-es to "z"-s from BE to AE and some not. For example:

  • analyse -> analyze
  • characterise -> characterize
  • hypnotise -> hypnotize

But:

  • compromise -> compromise

Is there any rule to this?

Slightly related: Why isn't "citizen" spelled as "citisen" in British English?

Plurals of loanwords of obviously foreign form

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 09:50 AM PDT

What rules of thumb govern when to pluralise a foreign word as it should be in the original language and when it should be pluralised as an English word?

For example, you'd get some funny looks using "octopodes" or "lemmata" in normal conversation. (I don't know what contexts would allow mention of cephalopods and mathematics, but you know...)

What is the origin of the word "goodbye"?

Posted: 10 Sep 2021 09:41 AM PDT

I've heard that goodbye comes from God be with you. Is that true? If so how did it become good? Did goodbye always have the same meaning it has now?
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