Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange |
- Mainstay example sentences
- The meaning of "citizen households" and "citizen estate"? [closed]
- Can "yellow September sunlight" be considered an Epithet?
- Comma before “but not vice versa”?
- Use of "literally" in "literally ever done"
- What to change Caucasian to on forms?
- Is there any particular word or expression to describe the following situation? [closed]
- Is the preposition "with" correct in "...empty with the absence..."?
- Cut something/Cut at something
- Whether to use "the" before abbreviations such as HTTP
- "Two cars are luxury" or "Two cars is luxury"
- Why is "I too" so rare? [duplicate]
- Are there English language books that show the difference between words with similar meanings? [migrated]
- What are the participants of a dalliance called?
- “Green” has been associated with envy (green-eyed monster), as well as with a novice. How did these associations arise?
- A word or expression to introduce one of different example cases
- 'It is I who is' or 'It is I who am'?
- What is a term for art, or other works, made of or about a particular person?
- Is it correct to say 'a four doored car'?
- Has been taking place vs has taken place
- Word for the sadness you feel when something so wholesome it makes you want to cry
- "Together with" : including vs. in addition
- "Lost challenge" clearly showing a reversal of expectations
- Can "wildlife" be a collective noun?
- A single word for turning something Italian?
- What's the etymology of "limerence"?
- What does "there and back again" mean?
- Where did 'cahoot" come from, when did it first appear, and how did it acquire its pejorative sense?
- "Contribute for" or "Contribute to" or "Contribute on" or "Contribute in"
- Distinction between pagan and heathen?
| Posted: 17 Oct 2021 08:45 AM PDT Recently I came across a useful word which definition is "the most important part of something which supports the others or enables the others to work". The word is mainstay. Normally, when learning a new word, I tend to write example sentences to bolster my understanding of the word. Here are some examples of the word mainstay in sentences I created :
The structure I usually see on other example sentences such as the ones from lexico are always sth is/are the mainstay of sth else. Please verify whether this is always the case and correct my sentences if they do not make sense.  |
| The meaning of "citizen households" and "citizen estate"? [closed] Posted: 17 Oct 2021 07:51 AM PDT Can you elaborate on the meaning of these two phrases?
 |
| Can "yellow September sunlight" be considered an Epithet? Posted: 17 Oct 2021 07:41 AM PDT
In this stanza from the poem 'The Laburnum Top' by Ted Hughes, can "afternoon yellow September sunlight" be considered an epithet?  |
| Comma before “but not vice versa”? Posted: 17 Oct 2021 07:09 AM PDT In the sentence
is the comma before "but"
? Why?  |
| Use of "literally" in "literally ever done" Posted: 17 Oct 2021 07:15 AM PDT I came across an use of word "literally" that sounded odd to me. And I am wondering if there's a gap in my knowledge or is the sentence structurally incorrect. The sentence: "He speaks as if he has literally ever won a contest". The person who said it was adamant this is a valid use, and said "literally" emphasizes the word "ever". The way I read the sentence makes me think "literally" emphasizes "won".  |
| What to change Caucasian to on forms? Posted: 17 Oct 2021 07:30 AM PDT I recently was called for jury duty in Wisconsin and was surprised to see Caucasian as a race choice. I called the clerk and she said most people check other and write white. What other designation should this be on the form? European American?  |
| Is there any particular word or expression to describe the following situation? [closed] Posted: 17 Oct 2021 07:38 AM PDT In the first week of the academic year in my country, students are not usually in the mood of going to school or college. They actually don't take it seriously and refuse to attend class for a week or so. It's been established here for a long time and no one calls students to account for their absence. This situation is repeated in the days before the New Year. Now I wonder if there is a particular word or expression to describe classes in this situation. Actually, I've been suggested words and expressions like "loose," "slack," and "up in the air". But I don't think they apply to the situation I described.  |
| Is the preposition "with" correct in "...empty with the absence..."? Posted: 17 Oct 2021 07:35 AM PDT I would like to ask if the preposition "with" is OK in this sentence:
If it is not OK, what is the proper preposition? Or does the sentence need revision?  |
| Cut something/Cut at something Posted: 17 Oct 2021 05:03 AM PDT It was as though freezing water was rising in his chest, cutting at his insides. What is the difference between "cut one's insides" and "cut at one's insides"?  |
| Whether to use "the" before abbreviations such as HTTP Posted: 17 Oct 2021 06:21 AM PDT
HTTP stands for hypertext transfer protocol, and FTP stands for file transfer protocol. Whether we should use the definite article before HTTP and FTP in this sentence? Or maybe HTTP and FTP, when they are used as abbreviations, are treated more like proper names, such as NATO, without the article?
Edit: I mean the "bold" the:
 |
| "Two cars are luxury" or "Two cars is luxury" Posted: 17 Oct 2021 07:26 AM PDT Here is the sentence,
I think the latter is correct, because two cars together constitutes to luxury. In case of,
Here even having one car constitutes to luxury. Please tell me if I'm right or wrong here.  |
| Why is "I too" so rare? [duplicate] Posted: 17 Oct 2021 01:32 AM PDT It would be interesting to hear the reasons why "I too" is so rare. It is usually replaced by "me too", although this is techically wrong when it denotes the subject. Perhaps it is because "I too" sounds too similar to "I do"?  |
| Posted: 17 Oct 2021 07:49 AM PDT I'm going to learn use words with meaning near each other in correct way. Are there any books/type of books which shows how to use them in correct way (for me who wants to learn English as 2nd language)?  |
| What are the participants of a dalliance called? Posted: 16 Oct 2021 06:09 PM PDT "Dalliance" usually means some spontaneous or quick romantic relationship. What do we call the participants of this relationship? "Lover" feels a bit too generic since it applies to any romantic relationship. "Friends with benefits" seems like it takes the romance out of the relationship, and in any case is a bit too casual to feel the romantic when reading the phrase. Is there a word that avoids those problems?  |
| Posted: 17 Oct 2021 02:02 AM PDT The color green is associated with lack of experience (i.e. novices are called "green"), as well as with envy ("green with envy", "green-eyed monster"). Does anyone know how, when and why these associations arose?  |
| A word or expression to introduce one of different example cases Posted: 17 Oct 2021 03:48 AM PDT
The text above is from a software manual I'm working on. The list is essentially an example, but I'm not sure the word "example" is really appropriate there. What is called "paths" can be used not only for images, but also for text files, audio/video, document fragments, and so on. And my list illustrates only a single case: images. How to properly introduce it for the reader?  |
| 'It is I who is' or 'It is I who am'? Posted: 17 Oct 2021 07:28 AM PDT Which of these two sentences is correct?
(Incidentally, I am fully aware that the use of 'I' after 'is' is rather stilted, and that all but the most pedantic of grammarians would opt to use 'me' instead.)  |
| What is a term for art, or other works, made of or about a particular person? Posted: 16 Oct 2021 11:05 PM PDT In creating an outline for characters, I want to include a section for notable works (statues, songs, paintings, literature, etc.) made of or about that person. I'm not sure what to title this section. A search of this site came up with this question relating to honourary gifts, but that's not exactly what I'm looking for. I did consider the term honoraria from one of the answers though this doesn't seem to quite fit, either, as it refers to payment made. The term honorific is used for titles, and doesn't apply either. It also doesn't necessarily need to include only works in honour of, as works of parody/satire or critique/derision would also be included. Ideally, it should look something like this:
Bonus points if the term could also include works such as biographies and is not strictly limited to art. Some possible example sentences:
 |
| Is it correct to say 'a four doored car'? Posted: 16 Oct 2021 06:36 PM PDT If I describe a motor car as a 'four door car' I am making 'door' an adjective. It forms a compound adjective with the word 'four' and it adjectivally describes an attribute of the car, and is therefore singular as we do not inflect or pluralise adjectives in English. Some people would hyphenate the compound adjective 'four-door'. But I have overheard the expression 'four doored car' where the noun 'door' is (I assume) being made into a verb as we would make 'floor' into a verb ('the room was floored with linoleum' becomes 'a linoleum floored room'). Is this correct English ? (I am referring to British English for context.)  |
| Has been taking place vs has taken place Posted: 17 Oct 2021 12:14 AM PDT Yesterday I heard this:
I was wondering why "has been taking"? Was the funeral finished (it seems so), or was it still on?  |
| Word for the sadness you feel when something so wholesome it makes you want to cry Posted: 17 Oct 2021 09:50 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?  |
| "Together with" : including vs. in addition Posted: 17 Oct 2021 08:03 AM PDT
Are both sentences ambiguous with the meaning "a total number of 13 people"?  |
| "Lost challenge" clearly showing a reversal of expectations Posted: 17 Oct 2021 06:00 AM PDT In a scenario where the conventional thinking that when A competes with B, A would win / get the upper hand, but where last findings in date show that B has the upper hand, I'm trying to phrase this idea in a concise way that highlights the logic:
While this is probably acceptable, I don't feel the reversal of expectations has been conveyed clearly.  |
| Can "wildlife" be a collective noun? Posted: 17 Oct 2021 09:17 AM PDT All dictionaries I have checked list the term wildlife as an uncountable noun. But there are plenty of examples that treat wildlife as a plural. Indeed, Google returns around one million search results for the phrase "wildlife that is," much fewer than the over 2.7 million for "wildlife that are." I've found it difficult to wrap my head around this word: Is this an uncountable noun as the dictionaries say or can this be sometimes treated as a collective noun that can represent a plural? Why do the mainstream dictionaries all proclaim wildlife as an uncountable noun while people frequently treat it as a plural?  |
| A single word for turning something Italian? Posted: 17 Oct 2021 07:22 AM PDT I'm looking for an equivalent to "Anglicize", essentially, but "Italicize" has an existing definition that seems to refer exclusively to typefaces, which complicates things. For instance, it sounds fine to say that the name Joseph is an Anglicized version of the Hebrew name Yosef, but it sounds weird to say that Giuseppe is an Italicized version of Joseph, because your brain just reads that as "it became cursive...?" But it also sounds unwieldy to say "A version of the word made to sound Italian". Is there a more-or-less commonly accepted single word or succinct phrase for this?  |
| What's the etymology of "limerence"? Posted: 17 Oct 2021 06:58 AM PDT Limerence is basically a word coined in 1979 by American psychologist Dorothy Tennov. It's a very obscure term, even among psychologists. In fact Tennov's followers in 2010 remarked how few professional clinical psychologists even were aware of the concept. Nevertheless the Wikipedia article on it is about 3300 words long. The word basically means a crush/infatuation with someone that is often unrequited and obsessive. Whenever I look up the word, its etymology is usually given as:
This doesn't help that much. Wiktionary gives the etymology of:
This makes no sense to me. The website Wordnik gives an etymology, which purportedly is sourced from Wiktionary, and says:
This has me confused, as I don't understand what these mean.  |
| What does "there and back again" mean? Posted: 16 Oct 2021 10:46 PM PDT Some may have heard (or read) of the alternative title of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien, which is There And Back Again. I figured it might literally mean something like I went there and came back here again, and figuratively referring to some trip that is significant in some way, where I refers to the protagonist of the story. I am not too sure if my interpretation is correct, so I hope I can get some confirmation here. Also, I have one side question: I know it's probably not an idiom, but is it alright to use it as if it were an idiom? I think its meaning is pretty apparent, and it's probably just my lack of confidence that's making me ask this question. For example, if I went to stay in Australia for at least a few years, but then circumstances forced me to go back to my country after a month, so the time I spent there felt almost like an adventure, can I say there and back again? Note that I am trying to emphasize the "adventure" part of the round-trip.  |
| Where did 'cahoot" come from, when did it first appear, and how did it acquire its pejorative sense? Posted: 17 Oct 2021 02:07 AM PDT According to Merriam-Webster's Eleventh Collegiate Dictionary (2003), cahoot, meaning a partnership or league, and usually expressed in the plural form "in cahoots," has a first known publication date of 1829, and a possible French derivation:
But an early reference work that listed the word—John Bartlett, Dictionary of Americanisms (1848)—lists a different etymology:
A Google Books search reveals that John Jamieson, An Etymological Dictionary of the Scottish Language (1808) lists cahute as a Scottish word (drawn from French) with two meanings:
This would tend to strengthen Merriam-Webster's theory that cahoot originated with the French cahute, since Scottish immigrants to the United States might have brought Scottish cahute with them. On the other hand, the 1829 instance of cahoot cited by Merriam-Webster is probably the following one (cited in J.E. Lighter, Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang [1993] as being from 1829), from Samuel Kirkham, English Grammar in Familiar Lectures (1831), in a chapter on "Provincialisms" and a subsection on instances from Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, or Mississippi:
which is corrected by Kirkham to
The 1833 edition of Kirkham has cohoot for cahoot, and J.L. Lighter indicates that the 1829 edition did as well, which suggests that the word may first have appeared in U.S. English with the spelling cohoot—which certainly has more in common with cohort than with cahute. For its part, Lighter approaches the etymology question with caution:
So I have three questions:
 |
| "Contribute for" or "Contribute to" or "Contribute on" or "Contribute in" Posted: 17 Oct 2021 12:50 AM PDT We said :
or
or
or
 |
| Distinction between pagan and heathen? Posted: 16 Oct 2021 09:14 PM PDT I'm trying to understand the precise distinction between pagan and heathen. My immediate motivation is that I'm reading Sir Frank Stenton's Anglo-Saxon England. Online dictionaries have been imprecise, often offering the words as mutual synonyms. Some issues: are pagans/heathens necessarily polytheists? Did the Romans refer to pagans (as 'others') while having a multitude of gods themselves? Is either word derogatory? Does heathen imply a lower level of civilisation?  |
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