Wednesday, September 15, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Based off of vs. Based off

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 10:48 AM PDT

Yes, I have seen the amazing thread here, which discusses mainly "based on" vs. "based off of", and it also (vaguely) touches on the fact that "based off" can actually be equivalent to "based off of"

I just wanted to get a clear answer: is it enough to say "based off", instead of "based off of"?

I.e. can I just say:

  • the chart I am working off for my decision-making"

instead of

  • the chart I am working off of for my decision making?

Whenever I hear "off of", my ears explode and I just don't understand why people go through the pain of pronouncing such an awkward expression, when logically, "based off" should be enough?

I am basically looking here on this forum for a permission to say "based off" instead of "based off of" going forward: which will actually significantly contribute to my mental well being :).

Is "based off" grammatically correct?

Function of 'all' [closed]

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 10:39 AM PDT

In the below sentence, what is the grammatical function of 'all'? Is it a noun, or a pronoun, or something else? The reason I ask is that, if I am not mistaken, some pronouns can be modified by relative pronouns (as in 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear' [a rather archaic construction, but still grammatical]), so that it could be the case that 'all' is a pronoun capable of being modified by a relative clause.

He learnt all that there was to know about the matter.

Also, on an unrelated sidenote (that will probably result in this answer's being closed), is the infinitival phrase 'to know about the matter' an infinitival relative clause?

“Make sure to” vs. “Make sure you”

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 11:23 AM PDT

I am a middle-aged native British English speaker. Throughout most of my life, in the UK the phrase "Make sure you..." has been used universally. For example: "Make sure you collect your belongings before you leave the train."

However, in the last couple of years I've noticed what I'm guessing is an American usage creeping into the UK, even in corporate communications and announcements. For example "Make sure to collect your belongings before you leave the train."

Hearing "make sure to..." really grates on me: to my ears, "be sure to.." is fine, but not "make sure to...". Has "make sure to..." always been correct, but has just become more common recently, or am I right in thinking that it's wrong, at least in the UK?

Edit

I am aware that there is a similar question regarding "make sure to" vs. "be sure to". Thanks to DjinTonic for providing the Ngram showing that "make sure to collect" is not used at all in British English, which isn't explained by the other question.

On the other hand, the Ngram also shows that "make sure you collect" wasn't used much before 1960, so perhaps they are both incorrect!

Which one will be the correct sentence? [closed]

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 07:51 AM PDT

Given the disastrous/devastating impacts of environmental pollution in the country, It is high time to ponder upon the solutions of its mitigation.

Given the disastrous/devastating impacts of environmental pollution in the country, It is high time to ponder upon the solutions for its mitigation.

Given the disastrous/devastating impacts of environmental pollution in the country, It is high time to ponder upon the solutions to mitigate it.

Meaning of "get a word in edgeways" [closed]

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 08:26 AM PDT

This is Wikipedia text about the Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun:

"Hamsun was eventually invited to meet with Hitler; during the meeting, he complained about the German civilian administrator in Norway, Josef Terboven, and asked that imprisoned Norwegian citizens be released, enraging Hitler.[31] Otto Dietrich describes the meeting in his memoirs as the only time that another person was able to get a word in edgeways with Hitler. He attributes the cause to Hamsun's deafness."

Since I'm not a native English speaker, I got somewhat confused by the expression "to get a word in edgeways". I did some search online, but nowadays the searches of that kind result in inconclusive add-based/click-bait/SEO-optimized results.

My understanding was that Hamsun (who, besides being almost deaf, were a 80+ elder at the time of the meeting) spoke all the time, barely listening to anything that Hitler said; but I'm afraid that I could be mistaken and what happened was just the contrary (Hitler was the one who talked to much).

Of course my question is only about the "idiomatic expression"; does "Hamsun got a word in edgeways with Adolf" really means "Adolf could not speak to Hamsun"?

What can I say as a response to a rescheduled meeting? [closed]

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 06:56 AM PDT

I requested a customer to reschedule a meeting via email, I apologized for the inconvenience as well and they sent me this:

No inconvenience at all. We will reschedule for tomorrow. Take care

What can I send as a response to this? I thought just saying thank you is too short.

P.S. I am not a native English speaker.

What's the difference between "the currency of the future" and "the future of currency?" [closed]

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 02:55 AM PDT

It's been a good month for Bitcoin believers. The currency of the future — or is it the future of currency? — became legal tender in El Salvador.

I have bumped into the sentences above when reading a New York Times article.

I am curious to know what is the semantic difference between "the currency of the future" and "the future of currency," or more generally "something of the future" and "the future of something?"

To me, "the currency of the future" sounds like a futuristic currency that almost belongs to the future, while "the future of currency" seems to mean it (bitcoin) is the future of all currencies in general. But I am not quite sure about the meaning of either phrase.

Please provide an explanation telling the difference.

English Grammar book on 'Voice Change' and 'Narration Change' [migrated]

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 01:12 AM PDT

I want to know the name of some English Grammar books, in which :

(1) The Voice Change (Active to Passive and vice-versa)

(2) The Narration Change

have been discussed in details with examples.

Help with correct usage of "who/whom" in a sentence [migrated]

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 01:09 AM PDT

in spoken language, which sentence is correct:

  1. we shall celebrate the birthday of who, Mary's?
  2. we shall celebrate the birthday of whom, Mary's?

This will be my last email to or for you? [duplicate]

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 01:17 AM PDT

I'm wondering which of the following is correct?

This will be my last email for you.

or

This will be my last email to you.

Use of avail in a sentence [closed]

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 12:50 AM PDT

Someone provided me with a free course and I was planning to respond as below...

"We will enroll and avail the benefits"

My default email check prompted me to add of after avail making the sentence ...

"We will enroll and avail of the benefits"

Trying to find out the difference between avail of the & avail the and the correct usage.

The usage of the Present Perfect and the Past Perfect tenses together [closed]

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 04:53 AM PDT

An excerpt from an article on Yahoo: "The disappearances of two top Taliban figures from public view have prompted a spokesperson to deny that one of them had died, multiple outlets reported".

The underlying problem is posed by the Present Perfect's ability to denote recurrent actions in a past time lapse. That is why the construction in the pattern can be often taken in by non-native learners in the following way: as if the spokesperson had been prompted not once or twice (for ten times in an hour for the whole day, for example) [and here only native speakers can say for sure what it really implies].

My question is: does Present Perfect denote recurrent actions in this exact pattern?

Etymology of "brave", meaning insane

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 09:08 AM PDT

I was reviewing the hilarious and terrifying British English to other translation guide

and I would be fascinated to know something.

How has the use of brave in "That's a very brave proposal" come about, seemingly corrupted from "That's an insane proposal".

enter image description here

Should the "R" in "Respected Principal" be capitalized? If yes, they why?

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 03:36 AM PDT

I'm doing speech writing and have a question about the first line.

An excerpt from the line is "Good morning respected/Respected Principal..." So, should the "R" in "respected" be capitalized with "Principal" or not?

If you know the reason to it, please mention it :)

Thank you :)

Up the creek without a paddle?

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 03:47 AM PDT

I'm pondering the expression, "Up the creek without a paddle". It's supposed to be expressing an awkward situation with no easy way out. But as a very literal person who has paddled on a creek, when you're upstream you can just sit and let the current take you back to where you were. However, if you are downstream without a paddle, then you're in serious trouble, because if you can't paddle back up the creek, it's going to keep taking you further downstream.

So why in the English language to we say "up the creek" instead of "down the creek"? Does it have something to do with where the expression originates? When people said up the creek what exactly were they referring to? Did they mean literally upstream, or was "up" a cardinal direction like "uptown" and "downtown"?

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

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 02:33 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."

Are magnets sticky?

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 11:02 AM PDT

A common definition of sticky is

Having the property of adhering or sticking to a surface; adhesive.

Is there any reason its not correct to call magnets sticky, even though they can be described as sticking to things?

The only counter point I can find is sticky is sometimes described as

coated with a adhesive substance

but this definition would also exclude things like sap and glue.

Does the idiom/phrase "place is your swamp" exist or is it worded differently?

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 04:07 AM PDT

So I was talking a bit with a person and a joke came up about collecting treasure in the desert and how there's only sand, and so I stated "I mean, if your into collecting sand then the desert is your swamp."

If I were to say what this phrase means, then I'd define it as "a place where you belong due to its affinity to your liking and your requirements" or more specifically "a place where you would like to be because it has what you need.")

And he was so confused by this, so I looked it up and could not find anything. Is this an actual phrase people use or is there a different phrase that basically has the same meaning in a sentence but is worded differently?

That aside, any other information regarding this phrase/idiom, any tips regarding the way I wrote or anything I did wrong are much appreciated, thank you for your help.

it's high time you {past perfect} something

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 01:43 AM PDT

I know that usually it should be "It's high time someone did something."

However, what about "the past perfect"? Is it possible to use? If yes, when should it be done and for what effect?

"It's high time someone had done something."

Here are examples from literature:

It was high time he had written, Dick thought; it was high time he had come.

Lieutenant Stewart replied, in substance, that the British officers had too long trampled on the rights and liberties of his countrymen, and it was high time they had learned to respect the rights and persons of an independent nation.

I told him, it was high time he had ended the course he was pursuing.

Confusion in understanding statements

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 01:04 AM PDT

Petya and Vasya are competing with each other in a new interesting game as they always do.

At the beginning of the game Petya has to come up with an array of N positive integers. Sum of all elements in his array should be equal to S. Then Petya has to select an integer K such that 0 ≤ K ≤ S.

In order to win, Vasya has to find a non-empty subarray in Petya's array such that the sum of all selected elements equals to either K or S−K. Otherwise Vasya loses.

This is a problem statement. Now, I am having trouble in understanding third paragraph. Who is In order to win statement referring to?

According to me it should be Vasya, beacuse the paragraph was changed so subject also changes from Petya to Vasya.

How we call someone who knows what he wants and he is focused in achieving it [closed]

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 09:51 AM PDT

I am trying to find a word which is used to describe someone, who really knows what he wants and how to achieve it, but more important - He has the idea in mind and its clearly visible that he is focused in achieving it. Purposeful is a good candidate, but maybe there is a better one?

The sentence in which this word will be used is: "You are so ..(here lays the word, which I'm looking for)..".
This should be a complement. There is a bulgarian word, which perfectly fits and it is exactly what I'm trying to say/translate and it is: "целеустремен".

Maybe the word Tenacious

Difference between screen, display, monitor, and display monitor

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 10:12 AM PDT

As I am not a native speaker of English, I am not sure about the actual meaning and differences between the following words and a phrase:

  • display
  • monitor
  • screen
  • display monitor

I want to know which word is suitable to specify physical display devices of a part of computers (to see pictures, movies or something results of computing by the light through my eyes).

I see amazon.com and the result of displays and monitor shows what I want to express. It seems that some manufactures name their goods as display monitor. I also want to know the difference of overtones.

Word to describe "quick-witted streetchild"

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 06:19 AM PDT

I'm talking of a certain wit that is characteristic of streetboys and streetchildren in general. I'm not sure if streetchildren is the best way to describe these kids. That might not be very common in developed countries, where few people are homeless or deprived of education and other basic rights like how it is the case in the Third world.

On a more general note, I'm referring to children that are not too pampered and have learned to get on by themselves. Clever, fast, handy, quick to learn, and with a sharp tongue. Think Dicken's Artful Dodger.

In contrast to a spoonfed crybaby who has their parents by their side at all times. Pardon the heavily stereotypical descriptions, but that was just to get my point across. And please do try coming up with something more sophisticated than "street-smart" or the like.

A sample to give you an idea of what I'm getting at:

It was amusing to see how he gave out instructions to the others his age labouring and taking orders. His words were slick, typical of a know-all streetsmarty. The big-eyed kid had been trudging past the shady-looking resturant when that boy with a shabby hat whistled at spotting him. "Ye, looking for work, huh?" He jumped down onto the road and made his way towards the trembling child of four.

Is "kindly reminder" a correct expression? [closed]

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 03:24 AM PDT

Can I use the phrase "kindly reminder" to remind of something? I saw people using it, but it doesn't seem to be grammatically correct.

word that means "assign/unassign" [closed]

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 07:17 AM PDT

I am looking for one word that would mean "assign" and "unassign" something to a user.

I have a software which has a page full of usernames. Next to each username we have a button which will take me to another page where I can "assign" an application to that particular user or "unassign" if it is already assigned.

So I want to know if there is a common word for "assign/unassign" which I can use for that button.

Does "unioned" exist in the context of math?

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 04:22 AM PDT

In mathematics, if you have the sets A and B, you can build a new set C which is the union of A and B. I would like to say, something like

Set C consists of the unioned sets A and B.

but the form "unioned" doesn't seem to exist. But what do I say then? united? Sounds so strange in that context...

A word for "always looking for self-improvement"?

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 01:54 AM PDT

Is there a word which describes a person that is always looking for self-improvement (i.e. is aiming for perfection, never satisfied and is always looking for areas of improvement)?

Thank you.

Is it appropriate to use the salutation "Dear All" in a work email?

Posted: 15 Sep 2021 12:39 AM PDT

I have observed that in my work place, whenever a mail is sent to more than one person( like an information, meeting request or a notice etc.), the mail starts with the salutation "Dear All". This, somehow, doesn't seem correct to me. For me, a salutation should address the reader individually, at least in its singular form, as in "Dear Colleagues".

Am I correct in thinking that?
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