Tuesday, October 19, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

How would I describe the theme “hardships only make you stronger” in one or two words?

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 10:19 AM PDT

For example, the theme "never give up, no matter how hard things get" could be condensed to "perseverance". How could I do that with the theme above?

In a sentence it would be "This book's theme explores ___".

What better to use here? got damaged or have been damaged?

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 08:32 AM PDT

Which one better to use in these sentences, got damaged or have been damaged?

How many buildings got damaged by the tornado?
or
How many buildings have been damaged by the tornado?

And in another similiar sentence, same question.

Have many buildings got damaged by the tornado?
or
Have many buildings been damaged by the tornado?

I was wondering if this sentence is true or not?

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 08:17 AM PDT

I was wondering if this sentence is true or not?

The better I studied, the higher grades I got.

And if it is wrong, why?

Wheel turning but vehicle not moving

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 08:07 AM PDT

What is this action called in English? "Wheel turning but car not moving forward, like when there is sand under the wheel and it is difficult for the vehicle to move forward".

Also, what do you call this action in English when we change the gear to a lower gear in manual-gear vehicles so that the vehicle moves with more power and less speed, like when you're traveling an uphill road and the vehicle is losing its speed. Then you change the gear from gear 4 to 3.

What does “white spade” mean in this context?

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 08:06 AM PDT

This is a lyric in the Tom Waits song Heart Attack and Vine - "white spades hanging on a telephone wire". Does anyone know what this means? I found online that "white spade" refers to an old type of smoking pipe (by the brand Dr. Grabow). I also know that "spade" has been used as an offensive term for Black people in the United States, and found a source that said that Rod Stewart has specifically called himself a "white spade" because of his use of Black American music styles.* Do you think this line has race-related undertones / explicit meaning, or that it is referring to smoking pipes, or something else? The song contains multiple references to drugs and alcohol and although it contains multiple references to sociological phenomena with socioeconomic class-related themes, there would be nothing else explicitly about race, as far as I can tell. Thank you!

*source: https://books.google.com/books?id=LoV6DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT662&lpg=PT662&dq=%22white+spade#v=onepage&q=%22white%20spade&f=false

Where should "on [date]" be put in a sentence?

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 09:36 AM PDT

Which order is best, A, B, or C? I'm not sure if the date can be used in this manner.

A. John was admitted into the University on 5 August 2013.

B. On 5 August 2013, John was admitted into the University.

C. John was on 5 August 2013 admitted into the University.

A. John graduated from the University on 12 December 2018.

B. On 12 December 2018, John graduated from the University.

C. John graduated on 12 December 2018 from the University.

What's wrong with this paragraph? [closed]

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 07:39 AM PDT

Can you help me spot the errors, from this list, in the main box?

Errors :

enter image description here

Main box:

enter image description here

Act accordingly [closed]

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 07:23 AM PDT

Many social norms that were formed in the previous age can be false and not appropriate in modern life. For example, women used to be considered inferior to men and were mistreated in past society. If young people constantly encounter these detrimental influences, they are likely to act accordingly.

Can I ask that if the clause "they are likely to act accordingly" means that young people's actions will be affected by detrimental influences? Does that clause sound natural? I think it is a bit uncanny.

Verb for thing bouncing in your hand before falling

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 08:09 AM PDT

Looking for a verb that describes the action that sometimes precedes a thing falling from your hands. It looks like juggling or bouncing, but I'm not sure if those words fit in the following context:

"The phone _____ in her hand, before falling to the ground."

Word referring to unwritten implicit assumptions in communication

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 09:19 AM PDT

When we write to communicate something, often we miss out on certain details because we implicitly assume it to be obvious and that the reader would comprehend it without seeing it in words. Is there a word to refer to this human tendency?

Example:

  • A common problem with communication is unwritten assumptions. Naturally, not everything in our mind gets translated to text. This leads to a sort of void in the reader's mind, which -- given the propensity of the human mind -- leads to "filling in" with assumptions of their own. We call this behaviour in human communication ____. The problem of ____ in communication can be mitigated by a number of ways: a) be explicit in communicating one's thoughts and ideas, leaving nothing 'assumed', albeit at the expense of being verbose b) grounding

Perhaps there is a term in psycholinguistics (specifically language production) to refer to this phenomenon?

EDIT: Argument analysis is another field that could potentially help?

when people present arguments, they do not always mention all of the beliefs which they hold which are pertinent unstated claims, the truth of which is a necessary condition of the argument's working the way it should. People could not state everything pertinent to the argument in this way. They necessarily leave much unstated. Often unstated assumptions would be accepted by virtually everyone, and it would be a great bore for the arguer and the audience to spell them out. Sometimes arguers are not aware of their unstated assumptions; sometimes these assumptions are highly questionable, and neglecting to spell them out lulls the unwary audience into accepting things it would not have granted on critical scrutiny. It is often said that such unstated assumptions are the missing premises of the stated argument. https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/wsia062018/chapter/5/

This is the key part from the quote above:

Sometimes arguers are not aware of their unstated assumptions; [..] and neglecting to spell them out lulls the unwary audience into accepting things it would not have granted on critical scrutiny

This makes sense from logic/argumentation point of view, but applied to the more general communication (not argumentation) context, it would instead look like this:

Sometimes writers are not aware of their unstated assumptions; [..] and neglecting to spell them out lulls the readers into assuming different things than the writer intended (and assumed)

And this is precisely what the word being requested here would refer to.

How do you remember the British spelling of "Licence"? [closed]

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 06:24 AM PDT

As someone with Dyslexia, I always struggle with the US and UK variants of words. This one seems to be particularly difficult for me, so do you have any suggestions on how to remember the difference?

Why "I already said" is correct? I am confused with using past perfect and already

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 07:01 AM PDT

I have to improve my English, and I live in the USA.
I am confused with using past perfect and past simple after "already".
Is past simple correct after "already"?
I know, some people say it, but is this correct to say and write at work or university?

Is this a correct construction?

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 05:24 AM PDT

is "Some people theorized online that it could have been because of a difference in the type of shoes worn by the players on the field, I personally prefer divine intervention." a correct construction? When compared with for example "Some people theorized online that it could have been because of a difference in the type of shoes worn by the players on the field, I personally prefer divine intervention as an explanation." The question is not which sounds best, rather if they are correct construction or not?

Is there a word for when someone refers to something but only with context that they have?

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 06:53 AM PDT

If someone says one of the following. Is there a word to describe this where the person asking doesn't provide context in to something they are referring to?

  1. I need help with my website, the images don't load - (What website are they talking about?)
  2. I need a new fan belt for my car - (What make/model of car?)
  3. I need a new screen for my phone - (What make/model of phone?)

I was thinking that 'contextual' may fit, but I am unsure if this is correct.

What is the most natural way to say that somebody's mouth is working silently? [closed]

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 03:25 AM PDT

I need help with the translation. What is the most natural way to say that someone's mouth works silently with surprise because they can't find the words to ask something?

Hyphenation points for the word "embedded" [closed]

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 05:32 AM PDT

As the title says: I am looking for the correct way to split the word embedded for hyphenation. I believe it should be em-bedd-ed, but I am not sure. Are there any rules?

Suffixes that are words: why aren't they considered compounds?

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 04:39 AM PDT

There are some common suffixes, -less, -able, -full, and -wise, that are also full words on their own.

Why isn't adding these words on considered compound words instead of suffixes? Or to say it differently, what is the reason or evidence that if they combine with another word we don't call them compound words?

How is the expression "doing something casually" used? [closed]

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 03:05 AM PDT

Is the following sentence correct?:

When I come home from school I usually do my homework first, but casually ... I will be watching videos or playing video games at the same time.

What does this name "X Perry Ment" mean? [closed]

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 12:38 AM PDT

0

I read this sentence in a book named Eyewitness testimony：

It gradually becomes evident that the article is satirical when the reader learns that the trial took place on April Fool's Day, that the suit had been entered in the Supreme Court of Wundt County (Wilhelm Wundt is widely acknowledged as the father of experimental psychology) and that a Mr. X Perry Ment assisted with the defense.

I'm really confused with the name Mr. X Perry Ment , although I can figure out it must be something satirical, but I still don't understand.

Thank you for answering my question.

Meaning of "hard to overstate"? [closed]

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 02:19 AM PDT

Does the last sentence (the consequences are hard to overstate) of the following paragraph mean it is difficult to overstate the consequences? If not, could you tell me the meaning of that sentence?

There have been half-hearted but well-publicized efforts by some food companies to reduce calories in their processed foods, but the Standard American Diet is still the polar opposite of the healthy, mostly plant-based diet that just about every expert says we should be eating. Considering that the government's standards are not nearly ambitious enough, the picture is clear: by not cooking at home, we're not eating the right things, and the consequences are hard to overstate.

Having doubt in understanding a couple of sentences from The Hindu newspaper

Posted: 18 Oct 2021 11:31 PM PDT

  1. "Kerala, which hosts a vast stretch of the Western Ghats, is having to contend with these changes with almost no respite between severe spells. The recurrent bursts show that anomalies in precipitation over the State, spectacularly demonstrated by the inundation of idyllic towns in 2018 and by mudslides that killed many a year later, require a comprehensive adaptation plan."

What has Western Ghats to do with this? Also what is meant by recent bursts in anomalies?

  1. "The ecological imperative should be clear to Kerala with successive years of devastation, echoing the warnings in Madhav Gadgil committee reports in the Western Ghats."

  2. "Land may be an extremely scarce resource, but expanding extractive economic activity to montane forests is certain to cause incalculable losses".

  3. "A more benign development policy should treat nature as an asset, and not an impediment."

I know that I have posted four sentences but they form a part of a single paragraph. I am unable to understand what the sentences mean in the context. These sentences are taken from a widely read Indian newspaper called "The Hindu".

Want +gerund or participle?

Posted: 18 Oct 2021 11:23 PM PDT

you don't want me thinking about us as a couple?

Is thinking the sentences gerund or participle?
Instead, can we use the following?

You don't want me to think about us as a couple?

Keep looping while + semantics and programming language

Posted: 18 Oct 2021 09:03 PM PDT

This question could be viewed as an ELL question. However, I am posting it here as I am looking for a two-fold confirmation: semantic/grammatical and programming language usage for purposes of confirming to skeptical French participants in the FLI forum what I have already said.

Python code snippet from Ben Stephenson's Python Manual

I was informed in the French forum that: "It's not clear to me whether the keep is very meaningful in English in such a context or just structural, but that's off topic. Consider continuer à boucler might create an ambiguity or some weirdness in this context that keep looping wouldn't introduce. This is no general context here, like keep applying pressure to the wound when someone is already doing so, surely you can see that. The 1:1 won't cut it imho" (λyoye d'oncques on French Language)

So, my question really is in English: Semantically (but not in the form used in an instruction), doesn't Keep looping while in English mean: Continue looping while? And would just using the idea of looping work? Isn't "keep" in "keep looping" meaningful? The text cited above is from an online Python course manual.

I was also informed by one poster that in English, when translating Keep verb+ing into French that: "maybe in English, you can say to someone who is thirsty, 'keep drinking until you are no longer thirsty' but in French, we'd say 'drink until you are no longer thirsty,' but not 'continue to drink until...'" ["Peut être qu'en anglais on peut dire à quelqu'un qui à soif keep drinking until you are no longer thirsty mais en français on dira bois jusqu'à ce que tu n'aie plus soif, pas continue à boire jusqu'à..."] (jlliagre on French language)

I find that rather gobsmacking. The basic idea of keep + verb+ing is simply continue to [do something]. Now, obviously, the thirst idea is really quite odd as a way to "prove" what is said in another language. However, let's play along. If someone is told me to drink water (a medical professional, for example), "Drink water until [whatever].", that is not the same thing as "Keep drinking until [whatever]".

It's rather hilarious in information theory terms that the imperative form in computer programming really means the programmer (sender) is sending a message to a language function that a machine (the recipient) will execute.

The code snippet from Python exhibits a typical instruction statement structure AKA imperative programming. Yep, instructions are written using the imperative form of verbs. Is "Loop while the user enters a non-zero number", the same as "Keep looping while the user enters a non-zero number"? If not (which I assume is correct), please state formal reasons why this is so. I assume some answers will mention iterations (repetitions) of an instruction until some "state" is reached.

Edit: Another snippet

#include<stdio.h>    int main()  {      int i = 1;        // **keep looping while i < 100**      while(i < 100)      {          // if i is even          if(i % 2 == 0)          {              printf("%d ", i);          }          i++; // increment i by 1      }        // signal to operating system everything works fine      return 0;  }

while loop in C

Just another example.

Can "the idea" ever idiomatically take an infinitive?

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 04:04 AM PDT

I just ran across this sentence in an Ars Technica article:

The idea to use a marble came from a scene in the pilot, in which Holmes uses a marble to determine a building's floor is slanted.

And it grates on my ear no end. It seemed apparent to me that the author should've written "the idea of using a marble", but, well, the line comes from a pretty well-established writer, Jennifer Ouellette. Can "the idea to do" ever be idiomatic? If so when can it take an infinitive complement?

Peculiarities of English as spoken/written by Norwegians [closed]

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 03:59 AM PDT

I'm writing a fiction book. Some of its characters are Norwegians who exchange emails in English. I'd like to lightly stylise their texts.

What mistakes / peculiarities / word choice / sentence building are common for Norwegians speaking or writing in English (especially if they're not very proficient in it)?

[I might use so-called Heavy Metal Umlauts of course... sø åll the wørds wøuld løøk like thæt, but that would hardly classify as "light stylisation" ;)]

"[Singular noun], and in particular [plural noun], is/are"

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 06:09 AM PDT

I have a sentence following the template above, and I am not sure what is the right verbal form to follow. A specific example could be:

Academia, and in particular professors, [is/are] more concerned with [sth] than [sth].

I am using the verb to be in the example but it applies to any other verb (in my actual text it is a present perfect, so the question would be whether to use "have" or "has").

My impression is that, in the example above, "academia" is still the subject and "and in particular professors" just works as a complement for it, so it should be "is", but it sounds strange to follow "professors" with "is".

EDIT:

I am thinking that, in the example I used, maybe some could argue that "academia" might work as a plural term because it refers to a community of people (does not sound right to me but just in case), so I will add a less ambiguous example (more similar to my text) where the first noun cannot possibly be interpreted as plural:

Psychology, and in particular research studies, [is/are] more concerned with [sth] than [sth].

What does the phrase 'ground and grist' mean?

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 06:56 AM PDT

If moral reflection is dialectical, it needs opinions and convictions, however partial and untutored, as ground and grist.

What does the phrase 'ground and grist' mean?

Source: Justice, Michael Sandel

Use of ... all are?

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 04:09 AM PDT

Is the all in "John, Bob, and Sue all are hungry" redundant? Does it mean anything beyond "John, Bob, and Sue are hungry"?

Thank thou or Thank thee

Posted: 19 Oct 2021 03:07 AM PDT

How would Shakespeare have said "Thank you"? Can't decide if it is thee or thou, since it isn't really a sentence.
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