Monday, October 11, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

"Many more glitches" or "much more glitches?" [duplicate]

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 10:11 AM PDT

So I was thinking a few days ago about a conversation I had with a few people on Discord where I mentioned that, as someone who uses both Windows and Mac, I felt like macOS is much more stable than Windows. I said something along the lines of:

Yeah, I've experienced much more glitches on Windows than on Mac.

Thinking back on it, I realized that sentence didn't sound quite right. Would it be many more glitches instead?

I've experienced many more glitches on Windows than on Mac.

That sounds kind of weird as well, though.

Which one would it be?

Word for the urge to speak?

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 09:43 AM PDT

If "hunger" is the urge to eat and "thirst" is the urge to drink, is there a word for the urge to speak? (Or, perhaps, the desire to be heard?)

There seem to be a lot of nouns describing people who talk too much and adjectives for "talkative" (positive and negative), but I can't seem to find a word for the motive for speech.

I'm striking out in the thesaurus, can't even seem to find an entry point.

It's OK if the word is technical (for example, if it is psychology jargon). Ideally, it would be neutral in connotation. A single word would be best, but a compound word or phrase would be helpful.

What does "being silly with someone“ mean? [closed]

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 09:36 AM PDT

I understand that silly means stupid, but what does this phrase mean?

A word or idiom to describe an attempt to win an argument

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 10:29 AM PDT

Is there a word or idiom to describe an attempt to win/uphold one side of a discussion (or somehow lessen the other's argument) by introducing some minute factual point?

The best example is when engineering discusses the best way to design something, and then someone offers "your idea is slower or inefficient" even though efficiency is kind of irrelevant in a lot of cases.

For instance an argument about the best design for a doorknob - a lever handle is a better design all around but one could say that it's less efficient or slower to open a lever door handle, than with a door knob. That ignores all the handicapped or elderly, children, etc anyone who might have a problem grasping and turning a round doorknob. Unfortunately in engineering, quite often performance is given more validity than it deserves and is mentioned in discussions way too often when it's not even relevant. You can't say that their point is not valid or should be ignored, but it's also at the very bottom of the list of things to be considered. At which point they will try to subjectively raise it up and remind you it holds validity in some way and shouldn't be disregarded.

I usually say it's splitting hairs or nitpicking but I wonder if there is a better idiom.

Can I say "Thanks to this answer."?

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 09:23 AM PDT

At the end of some of my posts (like this) I want to say thank you to another answer that helped me.
I just end my post with the sentence 'Thanks to this answer.' (adding a link to this answer part).

Is that correct?
If not, how should I say thank you to that post.

Lexical item-grammatical association database [closed]

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 07:48 AM PDT

Is there an online database/dictionary that allows to search for a lexical item and get a list of linguistic/grammatical associations?

Are there any words/phrases/idioms like "regret," but more specific?

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 07:56 AM PDT

The other day I struck up a conversation, about economics of all thing, with a stranger whose political beliefs were quite different from my own. It was a little bit of a teaching opportunity as I introduced him to some new concepts. And while the conversation was respectful and engaging, I kept going over it in my head afterwards, wishing I had phrased certain things in a different way, wishing I had mentioned certain ideas and excluded others, and generally feeling like I did a really poor job of presenting my arguments. Now, I certainly feel better prepared if a similar situation were to arise again. But I had trouble shaking the feelings of "I wish I would have said that..."

Certainly I can refer to these feelings as regret. But I'm wondering if there's a word or idiom in usage that's more specific to this type of scenario?

Does "to help" only have indirect object without having a direct object?

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 07:36 AM PDT

there. I stumbled upon this sentence: The charity gave them money to help them purchase a house. While trying to analyse it, I met some problems related to the verb "to help". My first thought when looking at this sentence is that "them" must function as indirect object, since they are the ones benefitting from the action/fulfilling the roles as recipients. But as far as I know, a transitive verb must have a direct object in order to have an indirect object. I tried checking it up, but the only thing i find, is that "to help" requires a structure verb + (someone) + to-infinitive/in + present participle/with + something. Does anyone have a good answer to this???

What does it mean by "we should focus on ‘common features’ to different methodologies." [closed]

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 05:50 AM PDT

I understand that "we should focus on 'common features'".

However, what is meant by "we should focus on 'common features' to different methodologies"?

I do not get the exact meaning of "to different methodologies".

Can I not use the article 'the' before the word 'selective note-taking'?

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 05:11 AM PDT

I used the grammar check website, and I got this result.

Selective note-taking is more efficient. *Selective note-taking technique is more efficient. (error) The selective note-taking is more efficient. The selective note-taking technique is more efficient.

Why is it ungrammatical to say 'selective note-taking technique' with out the article 'the', while it is grammatical to say 'selective note-taking' without the article 'the'?

Thanks for your attention, have a great day!

Difference between make 'an' effort and make 'the' effort

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 05:18 AM PDT

Consider the following sentence.

Yet I still enjoy making ____ (an/the) effort to bake at home from time to time.

Here, what is the difference between an and the? Is effort here a specific or common noun?

Moved or had moved [closed]

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 02:42 AM PDT

When I woke up, the moon _________________ (move) behind a cloud.

Is the answer had moved or moved?

Do I use the singular or the plural? [closed]

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 01:27 AM PDT

Are both of the following sentences grammatically correct?

I am going to experience a lot of failure.
I am going to experience a lot of failures.

Single word for "stop loving/restrain from loving" someone [closed]

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 12:35 AM PDT

Is there a single verb meaning "to stop loving" someone, as to let go of/to give up some unrequited love/inapproachable expectations, to part from the obsession of loving, or to accept the decease of someone, without disillusion/disenchantment of that person.

Is there a word for when bizarre, incredible things become so common that you aren't fazed by them anymore?

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 10:43 AM PDT

I'm trying to think of a phenomenon for my story where if you live in a sci-fi universe, the denizens don't really see new, amazing things like teleportation out of the ordinary because they already have FTL and robots. I need a word that describes amazing things being the norm so you aren't even fazed, if there even is such a word.

How would lower, middle class people greet each other in the 1770's? Would friends use "Mister" or "Madam?" How about same class acquaintances? [closed]

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 08:06 AM PDT

Since class structure was important in the 18th century, I presume that people of different classes would greet and speak to each other differently. But how would people of the same class, especially of the most numerous class, greet each other when meeting on the street or in a shop? Would tenant farmers or agricultural workers use a suffix? Are there conventional phrases or words used?

A particular types of sadness

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 04:56 AM PDT

Is there a word for the kind of heartbreak/ache you feel when something is so wholesome or kind it makes you want to cry?

Using 'Signed' as a Closing

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 03:18 AM PDT

When writing letters, there are closings that people usually use like "sincerely" or "best" or "thanks", etc. I have sometimes heard people (when reading letters) say "signed, John Smith". Can you use the word "signed" as a closing before a name like that?

Should I use "will have" here or "would have"?

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 01:04 AM PDT

In response to "Michael said in a meeting last week that this is an easy task", my gut feeling is to respond like this:

"That sounds like something Michael would have said. But I don't agree with that"

But looking at this, this is "looking back from the present", so it should be:

"That sounds like something Michael will have said. But I don't agree with that".

The latter sounds weird and unidiomatic to my ears. I find that I often use "would have" to imply uncertainty even when looking back from the present like this example. Am I wrong?

How to refer to a noun that has been introduced using "another"?

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 04:01 AM PDT

For example: "A and B constitute a C. A and B1 constitute another C." If I want to refer to the second C, what article should I use? For some reason, I cannot use "the first C... the second C". Should I just say "the C"?

Is there a word that could mean both serious and humorous?

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 09:02 AM PDT

I'm creating a project on character traits, and the person that I'm writing about is funny yet serious. I didn't know if there was a word for that, so I'm asking for help.

What is a word or phrase that describes an object whose importance depends on its recentness?

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 08:18 AM PDT

For example, a newspaper. In general, last week's newspaper is much less relevant than today's. I want to use it in a sentence like: "Since newspapers are ____ in nature, it's important to be notified the moment a new issue comes out." Temporal is the only thing I can think of, but not really since I don't want to emphasize the object's impermanence.

Difference between "to remember" vs "for remembering"

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 07:02 AM PDT

I am struggling to choose the correct / more idiomatic one between:

  • A description may be added for remembering the context better.
  • A description may be added to remember the context better.

What's the main difference between the two?

I mean, is using "for" kind of stronger and show the intention and speaks from point of a mentor (who knows the reason), while using "to" is more neutral and plain and speaks from point of a narrator?

Can I use one word to mean "what is even worse"?

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 05:02 AM PDT

I'm describing the harm that a thing causes.

First, it creates more losses. What is even worse is that it creates instability issues.

Is there one word that I can use to represent "what is even worse"?

"I didn't realize it was him." [duplicate]

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 08:07 AM PDT

Overheard on an elevator today,

I didn't realize it was him.

Corrected by the know-it-all,

He. "I didn't realize it was he."

The know-it-all then went on a rant about how everybody is a dolt for not knowing that.

I swear I have never heard this before in my life. Is the know-it-all correct?

If so, why is "I didn't realize it was he," grammatically correct? What rule makes "him" incorrect here?

Why does a silent "-e" at the end of a word lengthen vowels?

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 05:40 AM PDT

There's a common pattern in English spelling where "short" vowels are pronounced as "long" vowels with the addition of a silent "e" at the end of the word.

E.g.

  • bit → bite
  • mat → mate
  • pet → pete

Is there a historical reason for this? Does it relate to The Great Vowel Shift?

Reference: Wikipedia — Vowel Length#Traditional Long and Short Vowels in English Orthography

How to use "you" word in a way that suggests it's singular/plural form?

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 04:30 AM PDT

In my mother's language there are two words for "you" - for singular form and for plural one. I want to translate a joke which happen to rely on this particular characteristic of my language.

What words should I use to say e.g. "How can I serve you?"

Is "Ye/Thou" still recognizable or is it too archaic?

Edit: An example: Let's suppose I am a fan of FC Barcelona, the soccer club. Me and my friends are in England to see the Champions League finals. There is a pub with "Manchester United fans only" sign on it and we hear some loud yells coming from inside. I ask my friends if they are willing to go in with me and they say "Yes, sure, we are just behind you. Go!" So I grab my FC Barcelona scarf, go inside and see many MU fans in the middle of the party. Suddenly place goes silent and all the gazes point at me.

That is the point when bartender should say "How can I serve YOU?" in a way that makes me realize my friends are not with me. So, what says bartender?

Suffixing by "-rama", "-orama" or "-arama" — how did this begin?

Posted: 11 Oct 2021 07:12 AM PDT

Suffixing by -rama, -orama or -arama — how did this begin? I mean words like futurama, foodarama, etc.
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