Sunday, September 26, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

On the use of commas before prepositions

Posted: 26 Sep 2021 09:50 AM PDT

I'm having some difficulties understanding why the comma is used in certain contexts. For example, why is a comma used in the below sentence, even though 'except' is a preposition (and commas are ungrammatical before prepositions in sentences such as 'I live in London', 'I went to London yesterday', etc.)?

They seldom met, except at meetings.

Similarly, the comma often precedes prepositions such as 'owing to', 'due to', 'according to', 'because of', 'when', 'including', and others. But it does not precede others such as 'in', 'on', 'of', etc. (unless in certain contexts where the absence of a comma creates ambiguity). Why is this the case?

Using abbreviations in 15th Century English

Posted: 26 Sep 2021 09:30 AM PDT

I am writing a story set in the 15th Century. I appreciate that most stories etc were written at the time in either Latin or French but, for obvious reasons, I have to write it in English. It is written in the 1st person and, to make it more personal and immediate, I am considering using abbreviations such as 'I've' and 'I'm'. Would such abbreviations have been used in 15th century English?

Word or phrase for "unsophisticated affectation" evoking lower-status associations

Posted: 26 Sep 2021 08:20 AM PDT

Affectation refers to a pretense intended to evoke higher-status associations. It apparently can't be used with lower-status associations. Google returns exactly one hit for "unsophisticated affectations", and it's a rather poor one found in a literary criticism. (And a rare Googlewhack)

Nakamura Mitsuo would observe after her death that Hayashi's garish tastes and unsophisticated affectations were themselves of the people (1957:24).
The Columbia Companion to Modern East Asian Literature, Joshua S. Mostow · 2003

Now this is exactly the sense I am looking for. It is something a local politician or county fair huckster could deploy to good effect.

Is there a word or phrase for affecting a lower social association, and perhaps not very convincingly?

It might be done to entertain as Roy Rogers, Mark Twain, and Dan Whitney did, or to lure, gull, or dupe people.

Disaffectation has already been claimed and means something altogether different. Code shifting lacks the motives and directional specificity.

What's the difference between "synonym for" and "synonym of"?

Posted: 26 Sep 2021 07:59 AM PDT

For instance, if I need to assert that "a is a synonym for|of b", which preposition may be relevant here - 'of' or 'for'? Also, which usage is grammatically correct?

Verbs to describe someone's eye movement when they suddenly notice something

Posted: 26 Sep 2021 09:10 AM PDT

I'm trying to describe a situation arising when two people are having a conversation. Suddenly one of them notices a phrase said by the other, and he keeps it in mind without making any remark about it. In such a situation, he would normally turn his eyes aside and a little bit downward as he registers the phrase and starts thinking about it. I wonder if there are any verbs or phrases that describe such kind of eye movement in particular, or any other changes in people's behaviour when they suddenly notice something in the dialogue.

P.S. I'm actually writing a screenplay and this is one of my Action lines, so I have to avoid using general description like "the phrase gets A's attention" and find the accurate verb or phrase. Many thanks.

What is the word if someone starts his argument with a conclusion?

Posted: 26 Sep 2021 09:23 AM PDT

Say, I'm arguing with a believer about Noahs flood. According to their scripture and other sources it is described as global. But there is no evidence for a global flood, hence why the believer says it was local, because else it would mean their scripture is wrong.

They start with the assumption that their scripture can't be wrong and interpret it in line with evidence. What is the word for something like that?

Differences between these three?

Posted: 26 Sep 2021 06:35 AM PDT

  1. It was the best thing that could have happened.
  2. It could have been the best thing that happened.
  3. It could have been the best thing that could have happened.

What are the differences between these three sentences if there is any?

A single word for "table of contents" and "table of figures"

Posted: 26 Sep 2021 09:54 AM PDT

Is there a word (including compound nouns, of course) to describe table of contents, table of figures, and table of objects? (Table of objects is very similar to table of figures, but they are not the same.)

Which one is correct "throw backwards" or "throw back" when talking about an object?

Posted: 26 Sep 2021 04:25 AM PDT

I'm trying to understand if this sentence is grammatically correct, and if it makes sense? I'm not sure how I'm supposed to use "backwards" or "back" and if it's correct to say it while referring to an object? Also, is to "sink below" too literal?

Mary manages to reach the edge of the swimming pool, only for her boyfriend to catch a side of her inflated chair, which he throws backwards, letting its caught off guard occupant sink below the surface.

What is a 'Jack' (as in Jack, Queen, King') ? When was it so designated?

Posted: 26 Sep 2021 03:36 AM PDT

In Charles Dicken's Great Expectations, published in 1861, when Pip, the hero, plays cards with his friend Estella, the narrative states :

"He calls the knaves Jacks, this boy!" said Estella with disdain, before our first game was out. "And what coarse hands he has! And what thick boots!"

So what does a 'Jack' represent and was this the first time that it had been so described in English literature ?

Is sycophant an acceptable term for taking advantage of someone? [closed]

Posted: 26 Sep 2021 02:42 AM PDT

I believe the term "sycophant" is for a person who acts friendly in order to take advantage of a friend or anyone else, and, get benefits from that friend, or, anyone else. I'm curious to see if others agree.

What's the meaning of "narrow" in "a narrow pretty greyhound of a woman"? [closed]

Posted: 26 Sep 2021 02:08 AM PDT

The following is an sentence from The Tunnel, or The News from Spain by Joan Wickersham.

Rebecca sees the wife around Cambridge, a narrow pretty greyhound of a woman, with a face that is at once anxious and arrogant.

I understand it means the woman is pretty but like a greyhound. But, what does "narrow" mean? Is she slim? Is her face thin? Or, is she narrow-minded?

What does ” You got the shoes that I like” implies? [closed]

Posted: 25 Sep 2021 11:06 PM PDT

Recently, there's a video quite popular. A boy called Megatron in a movie town "Daddy" jokingly. So Megatron said" You got the shoes that I like" Does it really mean that Megatron likes the shoes or just imply that Megatron liked the " role" which the boy gave him?

Can I use the sentence "I had not walked yesterday" to indicate that "Yesterday, I didn't walk at all"? [closed]

Posted: 25 Sep 2021 10:43 PM PDT

I have some questions about using past perfect.

Can I use the sentence "I had not walked yesterday./Yesterday, I had not walked." to indicate that "Yesterday, I didn't walk at all" or "Yesterday, I didn't walk all day"?

I am not sure if the sentence "I had not walked yesterday" is grammatically correct in this case. Or if it is incorrect, is it used in real life and understandable?

Can we use past perfect to indicate action that occurred in the past that have both beginning and end points of time? e.g.

Yesterday, I had not walked since the morning until the evening.

Is "during the period of..." acceptable?

Posted: 26 Sep 2021 03:39 AM PDT

I am not a native speaker and am looking for an accurate wording:

During the period of 09/10/2021 - 09/20/2021, our department has run an assessment test of graduate students.

I am concerned if the "during the period of ..." is used correctly as well as the "assessment test of" utilizes a right preposition. Comments on commas are also appreciated.

Proper term for "righter digit"? [closed]

Posted: 26 Sep 2021 04:35 AM PDT

Given a decimal integer e.g. 12,345

The 1 is what we call the leftmost, or the most significant digit, while the 5 is what we call the rightmost, or least significant digit.

Therefore, the 5 is a "righter" digit than the 1. I want to say a sentence like this: "the righter digits have a higher threshold than the lefter digits", but that doesn't sound right.

I've seen on Wikipedia that there is a "weight" associated with each position. So in the example above, the 1 would have a weight of 10,000 whereas the 5 would have a weight of 1. So can we then talk about "heavier" and "lighter" digits? So I would say "the lighter digits have a higher threshold than the heavier digits". Does that sound right?

More details to clarify: I am implementing a random number generator based on rejection sampling by pulling decimal digits out of an integer (modulo and division by ten). The rejection threshold for the rejection sampling differs based on the digit position. The threshold increases as we go from left to right, so the leftmost digit has the lowest threshold and the rightmost digit has the highest threshold.

To put it more concisely: "the righter the digit, the higher its threshold".

This use of "that" in British English

Posted: 26 Sep 2021 06:26 AM PDT

Probably informal if not exclusively colloquial. The pattern is as follows

<adjective>, that

Some that I've seen:

Awful, that.

Wonderful, that.

Suspicious, that.

I understand the meaning and the nuance it has, but I'm wondering if there's any documentation on this use? What part of speech would it be?

Can appositives rename a verb?

Posted: 26 Sep 2021 08:53 AM PDT

While researching, I discovered the existence of 'summative' and 'resumptive' modifiers, which are both types of appositive.

For context, here is an example of a summative modifier:

He saw the building, a desolate structure made of brick and cement.

And a resumptive modifier:

He saw the house, the house at the end of the street.

Traditionally, appositives are said to rename a noun or noun phrase. However, some examples seem to contradict this:

He whispered to her, an action that received an unwanted response.

He whispered to her, whispered soothingly.

Here, the summative modifier summarises a verb, and the resumptive modifier restates the verb. This doesn't fall into the same category as standard apposition.

"Fairly" can't be used with comparatives or negatives

Posted: 25 Sep 2021 10:03 PM PDT

Don't use 'fairly' in front of a comparative form, *the train is fairly quicker than the bus; in more formal writing, you use rather or somewhat.

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

FAIRLY: (not used with a negative) 1. moderately 3. absolutely https://www.wordreference.com/definition/fairly

We don't use pretty in negative sentences: ✳The restaurant wasn't very/so/pretty good, really. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/grammar/british-grammar/pretty

What is the reason for this?

"A" or "the" merger of two companies

Posted: 26 Sep 2021 06:02 AM PDT

In January, he was convicted of bribing South Korea's former president Park Geun-hye to obtain government support for a merger of two Samsung subsidiaries in 2015. The merger was meant to tighten his control over Samsung.

I am curious and wonder about the way a definite or indefinite article is used in cases such as "a merger of two Samsung subsidiaries" in the first sentence above, from a New York Times article. I am very much interested in the logic behind the use of the or a.

Numerous pairs of two could be randomly picked from group firms, but when combining a pair of two subsidiaries--let's call them X and Y--this merger is one unique combination involving X and Y; indeed any randomly selected two could together be considered a unique pair; therefore "the merger of two subsidiaries," X and Y, is more logically natural to me than "a merger."

Could you please point out any fallacy in my logic or explain the reasoning behind the use of the indefinite article a before merger in the quoted sentence?

I guess that this case is similar to "father of two" in terms of whether the or a is used in front of the noun, an article usage question I still could not wrap my head around.

What could be one word for time off for family/personal work?

Posted: 26 Sep 2021 02:06 AM PDT

What could be a word/one word and slang for a time-off period, that someone took for his personal/family work?

i.e. I took time-off from office to do some personal work, household chores.

The word should convey the meaning that I took the off from office, but I could not relax during the time off, rather I was very busy.

Something like "work + vacation = worcation", I know it's not a word :D

Hoping to learn the distinctions between aggress and assert

Posted: 26 Sep 2021 12:05 AM PDT

Based on all of the definitions I can find:

I understand aggressing is always offensive, whereas asserting can be offensive and defensive. I understand aggressing attempts to take or overtake something, while asserting only offers something. I understand aggressing can be physical or communicative, while asserting is only communicative.

Do you concur? Do you recognize a significant distinction I've missed? It seems to me that someone can be physically assertive, someone can aggressively defend themselves, and aggression can be done the beginning, middle and end, unlike all of the definitions that claim it only happens at the beginning. it's pretty muddy for me...hoping you can make it much cleaner.

Usage of Distribution and alternatives/synonyms

Posted: 25 Sep 2021 09:02 PM PDT

I want to use the word Distribution as it is used normally in the English language in a text where Distribution refers (also?) to the technical (Statistical) term. How can I do so while also marking the different use of the word, what is (functionally/semantically) the best alternative/synonym?

An example being the "Distribution of wealth" in a text discussing said distribution but employing the word Distribution as a tecnical term distinct from the way Distribution is usually used. Like Probability Distribution (also simply Distribution).

Distribution: The result of distributing; the allocation/the division of something with exactitude and methodicity.

Allocation: The result of allocating; the segregation of a set of things and their placement or establishment in a defined space.

The meanings of Distribution and Allocation seem to be different even if thesauri list them as synonyms and the defintion of Distribution employees Allocation. I am really straining at a gnat but I would like the nuances and the feelings evoked by a synonym to be as close as possible to Distribution.

Expend vs. Spend: is my understanding of the semantic difference between "Expend" and "Spend" correct?

Posted: 26 Sep 2021 09:07 AM PDT

I, sort of, tried to handpick the best resources and dictionaries for the semantic comparison/distinction of these two words. From those, I will share the definitions by the dictionaries I mainly tend to use.

Cambridge Dictionary

defines Expend, as:

Verb [T]: to use or spend time, effort, or money.

defines Spend, as:

Verb [I or T]: to give money as a payment for something:

Collins Dictionary

defines Expend as:

Verb: To expend something, especially energy, time, or money, means to use it or spend it.

defines Spend as:

Verb: When you spend money, you pay money for things that you want.

Is my understand correct, that:

Expend serves a bit more generic purpose in the cases, where we want to apply semantics of the Consuming some finite resource, be it a money, energy, fuel, or etc.

whilst

Spend defines exclusively the meaning of Spending money for something?

"detect opportunely" vs "opportunely detect"?

Posted: 26 Sep 2021 08:06 AM PDT

In the next phrase:

Only a few doctors assess their patients about the type and frequency of the tests they should be doing to detect opportunely and prevent such diseases, but we will help you solve this problem.

What makes more sense "detect opportunely" or "opportunely detect" and why? Is there a rule?

"Olórin I was in my youth in the West that is forgotten": what is forgotten?

Posted: 26 Sep 2021 03:43 AM PDT

Inspired by this question (which in turn was inspired by that one), to what name does "that is forgotten" apply to?

Many are my names in many countries: Mithrandir among the Elves, Tharkûn to the Dwarves; Olórin I was in my youth in the West that is forgotten, in the South Incánus, in the North Gandalf; to the East I go not.

J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers

There are currently two competing top answers: the first one says that his "youth in the West" is now forgotten, because it was so long ago and in a different place, or "the West", because it is unreachable and mythical to humans.

How should this sentence be parsed?

For people unfamiliar with the Lord of the Rings, the person speaking in the quote is Gandalf. Gandalf is a lesser God (an angel, or Maia) who might have been born "outside" the world. He spent his "youth" (Maiar do not age, but they can grow in experience and wisdom) in "the West". In a sense, his youth happened either before Earth was created, or in its infancy.

The West is the name given to a continent (Aman, The Undying Lands) that was once west of Middle-Earth, on the other side of the sea. This is where the Gods live. By the time the story takes place in the Lord of the Rings, this continent has been removed from the world, so that

those that sailed far came only to the new lands, and found them like to the old lands, and subject to death. And those that sailed furthest set but a girdle about the Earth and returned weary at last to the place of their beginning; and they said:

'All roads are now bent.'

The Silmarillion

In this sense, both can be considered "forgotten", either from a time, space or knowledge point of view.

Although it might be a mistake from the translator, the French translation applies "forgotten" to "youth", not West:

Mes noms sont nombreux dans de nombreux pays, disait-il. Mithrandir chez les Elfes, Tharkûn pour les Nains ; j'étais Olorin dans ma jeunesse dans l'Ouest, qui est oubliée, Incanus dans le Sud, dans le Nord Gandalf ; dans l'Est, je n'y vais pas.

I know Tolkien was very protective of his texts and would actively verify translations. He also knew French.

Posting a letter and sending it via e-mail

Posted: 26 Sep 2021 02:20 AM PDT

I am sending a formal letter to a recipient by registered post and e-mail.

Is it convention to include within the e-mail/PDF such text like: "As sent via post on " or something similar to inform the recipient to also expect the letter via the postal system?
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