Friday, October 22, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

What does "saw the horse flinch" mean?

Posted: 22 Oct 2021 09:41 AM PDT

One of my coworkers (from the American midwest) said, "Hold up a minute, I saw the horse flinch." We weren't talking about horses or anything nearly related, but he then proceeded to ask a question that might have been skeptical or expressing disagreement. So I suspect this is an idiom, but I've never heard of it, and Google fails me.

What does "I saw the horse flinch" mean?

Is it correct to say: He is my superior? (for a manager or leader at work) [closed]

Posted: 22 Oct 2021 09:17 AM PDT

Common to refer to my manager or leader at work using the term: Superior? Like, he is my superior? Very odd, right?

Not with neither usage [migrated]

Posted: 22 Oct 2021 06:10 AM PDT

Which of the following sentences:

I am able to attend neither of those meetings

I am not able to attend neither of those meetings

is grammatically correct?

What I'm trying to say is basically "I won't be able to attend those two meetings".

Help me write a very short academic autobiography [closed]

Posted: 22 Oct 2021 05:50 AM PDT

I want to write a very short autobiography for a university, which includes:

  1. My name
  2. My age
  3. My degree which is Mechanical Engineering M.Sc (M.Sc or M.eng?!) and my field of study which is applied design.
  4. The name of the university I graduated from.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Ledger vs Registry

Posted: 22 Oct 2021 09:25 AM PDT

A quick background and analogy. In developing some software we are naming various components. One component is effectively a log of completed and pending transactions. The nature of these transactions is a little complicated, so I'll use an analogy.

Think of them as recording yearly event awards from various award ceremonies, in that each transaction involves taking a completely unique item (e.g. best dressed 2020 by 'People Magazine') and assigning it out to an entity (like person x, or business y). These awards are non-transferable and as each is unique, it will never be re-assigned (instead you get best dressed 2021 next year). An award can later be revoked, but it can still never be reassigned. There are a few more nuances, but that's the gist.

Is this log of completed and pending transactions more accurately a ledger, a registry, or is there an even better word? EDIT: To clarify, this system is not recording financial transactions.

One more thing if it makes a difference. In keeping with the analogy, an entity who was successfully assigned an award, does not need to "accept it". If the person decides to publish their own awards, they can list just the ones they care about, and this "recording" would support their validity.

Which one is correct: All paid amount except me, All paid amount except I or All paid amount except I am? [closed]

Posted: 22 Oct 2021 04:40 AM PDT

Please tell me which one is correct: me or I or I am

All paid amount except me

All paid amount except I

All paid amount except I am

Understanding Punctuations in a NYT article [closed]

Posted: 22 Oct 2021 04:21 AM PDT

Source: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/q-and-a/a-philosophers-defense-of-anger

  1. What is the meaning and rule for using the symbol --? Example below

we must first acknowledge the anger that racism gives rise to —whether we are experiencing it personally or simply witnessing its effect on others—and then harness that anger as a tool.

  1. Isn't it more appropriate to use 'a' instead of 'the' here?

In June, 1981, the Black poet and activist Audre Lorde delivered the keynote address at...

  1. Why use ; instead of .? When to use ; instead of .? Does it help improve a sentence?

Anger transformed into action "is a liberating and strengthening act of clarification," she said; white women, unsure how to express their anger at racism, too often transmute the emotion into useless guilt.

What do you call this device that floats in the water at ports?

Posted: 22 Oct 2021 08:19 AM PDT

I've seen lots of these, at ports, floating on the water:

I don't have a clue about what they are called.

Why passive voice is not used here? [closed]

Posted: 22 Oct 2021 02:36 AM PDT

Basketball has not only become a popular sport to play , but it has also become a popular sport to watch.

I found the sentence above in a textbook. I'm wondering why passive voice is not used here? Is it acceptable if I say:

Basketball has not only become a popular sport to be played , but it has also become a popular sport to be watched.

Usage of "I'd be", "I'm" and "I'll" [closed]

Posted: 22 Oct 2021 04:13 AM PDT

May I ask what the difference is between the following?

A. I'd be grateful for some help.
B. I'm grateful for some help.
C. I'll be grateful for some help.

What is the meaning and usage of the word 'metanarrative'? [closed]

Posted: 22 Oct 2021 12:35 AM PDT

Could anyone clarify the origin, meaning and usage of the term metanarrative? How it is different from the word 'narrative'?

"Declaration" and "Manifesto", what's the difference? [closed]

Posted: 21 Oct 2021 06:41 PM PDT

We just started my humanities section in English and we are analyzing the different declarations throughout history (Hattian, American and so on). I was wondering if their is a big difference between a Declaration versus a Manifesto. What does each genre refer to and how are they different?

Is there a word for when you use an abstract noun in a concrete sense? [closed]

Posted: 22 Oct 2021 02:44 AM PDT

In The Crucible, Reverend Hale says that his books are "weighted with authority". Here authority is used as if it's a concrete noun so I was wondering if there is a technical term for when you use an abstract noun as if it's a concrete noun.

Adjective for something that inspires or originally motivates something else

Posted: 22 Oct 2021 04:14 AM PDT

I am preparing a slide show and would like to title one slide as follows:

[technology1]'s [adjective] idea

which should mean something like

The idea behind [technology1]

or

The idea that originally inspired [technology1]

What could I use for [adjective]?

What does “I said wrongly that he ate my pizza” mean?

Posted: 21 Oct 2021 05:58 PM PDT

What does "I said wrongly that he ate my pizza" mean?

Does it mean I should have said that he ate my pizza, or I shouldn't have said that he ate my pizza?

Is there really a tense-concord in English?

Posted: 22 Oct 2021 08:22 AM PDT

For those who don't know what tense-concord is, it is the concord between the conditional part and the resultant part in a conditional sentence. For e.g.

(1) If he comes, the party will be lit. (Real conditional)

(2) If he came here, the party would be lit. (Hypothetical, probably he is not gonna come)

My problem is that if I wanted to merge these two grammar rules, would it be ok or would it be too ungrammatical?

(3) If he comes, the party would be lit. ( Here the speaker believes his coming as a real thing but the party turning to be lit is not as strong as it is in (1).

Can I use this type of sentence or would it be ungrammatical?

What would you call someone who hates trouble? [closed]

Posted: 21 Oct 2021 03:23 PM PDT

Would you call someone who hates trouble/avoids trouble a goody two shoes?

What is the cold version of spicy?

Posted: 22 Oct 2021 09:08 AM PDT

My boyfriend recently told me that my new mouthwash was "spicy". Is that the right word to describe a strong minty flavour?

Example sentence:

Hot sauce is to "spicy" as mint is to...

Where does the term 'circuit breaker' come from?

Posted: 21 Oct 2021 07:01 PM PDT

Per the BBC, the United Kingdom discussed implementing a 'circuit breaker' in October. Israel, New Zealand, and Singapore have used 'circuit breakers', and it seems that Singapore was the first to use the term. Are there any earlier instances of 'circuit breaker' used in an epidemiological context?

What is/are the word(s) for the overwhelming feeling of relief?

Posted: 22 Oct 2021 04:19 AM PDT

I am describing in a college app essay the feeling I felt when I finally did not experience overwhelming anxiety when presenting in front of the class. I have only felt this way when presenting topics surrounding math and science.

I need a word that encapsulates the feeling of utter relief. One example of this could be when someone finds out their loved one is not going to die. The cold, unrelenting grip of worry is released from the shoulders and lungs and that overwhelming sense of relief is felt. The lightness of the shoulders. The newfound ease of breath. What is a good word that encapsulates this?

Word describing the feeling of being there to experience something first hand

Posted: 21 Oct 2021 08:04 PM PDT

There's a word I learned in a philosophy lecture and a YouTube video a long time ago regarding the feeling of being there to experience a thing first-hand. For example, being at the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa with your own eyes in contrast to looking at a really detailed image from a computer screen. While the latter lets you zoom in every nook and cranny of the painting, there's a "feeling" on just being there physically in the presence of the Da Vinci painting.

Noun phrases + Colons + SemiColons

Posted: 21 Oct 2021 06:04 PM PDT

Given:

John was causing obstruction: the act of preventing passage or progress.

or

The doctor said: "you need medical attention".

What do the constituents of these phrases look like?

Given that the clause after the colon is elaborating on the head noun 'obstruction', does this mean that the entire sentence is a noun phrase? or is it the case that there are two separate noun phrases, one before ':' and one after?

If not, are there any circumstances where ':' forms a noun phrase?

Does the same reasoning apply to semicolons (';')?

Implicit "that/which is/are" in nonrestrictive relative clause

Posted: 22 Oct 2021 09:03 AM PDT

Is it grammatically correct to leave off "that is" or "which is" in a nonrestrictive relative clause? Is there a term for this? Is this actually a different phenomenon? It (sometimes?) seems to apply to the whole sentence, not any individual noun. For example:

Today I [verb], (which is) [comparative adjective] than [gerund].

I have [object], (which is) [comparative adjective] than [object].

I have [object], (which is) [comparative adjective] than [subject].

Is there any standard terminology to describe how advanced a topic is?

Posted: 22 Oct 2021 10:02 AM PDT

Background:
I have been searching for succinct language for referring to how "advanced" a topic or skill might be. I've found things like Integrative Complexity and the Model of Hierarchical Complexity, which seems to describe a school of thought, but falls short of providing consistent language for comparing examples within that school of thought. By "advanced", I am intending to communicate a greater amount of pre-requisite knowledge and/or a higher degree of complexity.

I toyed around with some terminology such as "Depth of Knowledge Required" at first, but it seemed lacking to me for some reason.

Question:
Is there a published set of language one could refer to in order to describe the concept of how advanced/complex a particular topic or skill is?

Edit:
An example application where this terminology would be helpful could be in determining what the appropriate course of action would be to introduce a concept/topic to another person. For clarification, how would I compare the following two examples:

Computational Genomics in general might require additional knowledge compared to biological taxonomy

Non-linear dynamics involves many more pre-requisites than does algebra.

It's not that either option can't be complex or involve high level work, but to engage with the topic for the first time one clearly would be more difficult to approach than the other.

The meaning and word origin of "Christian with four aces"

Posted: 21 Oct 2021 06:20 PM PDT

This is one paragraph from a news article:

Politics is for decision makers and risk takers, not scholars and wimps, and I don't think he has what it takes – the ethics of a hungry shark married to the confidence of Twain's "Christian with four aces."

I'm not sure what the Christian with four aces means. I read some English dictionaries but in vain.

I assume that 'four aces' refer to the aces of diamonds (♦), clubs (♣), hearts (♥) and spades (♠). But I'm not sure why this expression is related to confidence and why it has something to do with any religious faith.

Non-gendered collective title for a group of people in a business context

Posted: 22 Oct 2021 09:00 AM PDT

In a work context, what is a good word for addressing a mixed-gender group of people?

Currently, "guys" seems to be fairly popular, but does have male overtones." Is there a really nothing better?

A few examples where your suggestion should fit:

  1. "Guys, who's working on the .."
  2. "Which one of you guys broke the build"?
  3. "We should ask the IT guys"

I'm after a fairly informal, everyday, word, but "peeps" is probably too informal.

In + pres. participle constructions ("In performing," "in using")

Posted: 21 Oct 2021 04:03 PM PDT

I'm working on preparing some text for translation into Spanish and have come across this construction, which sounds perfectly fine to me, but I've been unable to find any definition or description for it in the OED. One of the sentences in question is the following:

In performing a book-to-tax reconciliation, you must identify those items of income and deduction which differ from book to tax.

I'm trying to figure out what the appropriate meaning of in would be here (my intuition says that it's roughly synonymous with when or while.) It is covered in Wiktionary (under "used to indicate limit, qualification, condition, or circumstance") but in their examples in seems to carry more of a sense of by, and I don't think that sense applies to the above.

Does anyone know what this is called and have a source where it's precisely defined?

"Going to go" vs "going to"

Posted: 22 Oct 2021 02:57 AM PDT

1) I am going to go watch a game.

2) I am going to a game.

3) I am going to golf.

4) I am going to go golfing.

What are the differences and similarities between and among sentences 1,2,3 and 4?

5) I am going to Canada.

6) I am going fishing.

It is easy to differentiate sentences 5 and 6 in that sentence 5 sees going to point to a place while sentence 6 sees going point to an action. But sentence 3 clearly shows that going can also show progression towards an action.

7) I am going to shopping.

Sentence 7 is a very common mistake by ESL students.
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