Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

would sooner have

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 09:51 AM PDT

I'm a native speaker from the UK, but after living for more than 10 years in a foreign country, I'm beginning to notice how my English is getting much worse. The other day, I came across a phrase that I hadn't used in a long time - would sooner have. And I began to think about its past tense. I asked a neighbour who is an English teacher (it is however her second language) and she told me that have should go after sooner e.g I would sooner have done something. I then thought, why wouldn't it be also correct to say I would have sooner done something (well she told me this one was wrong). So what's the reason behind this word order?

Thanks in advance,

What does "It's later than you think" mean

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 09:26 AM PDT

I have just recently listened to a song Enjoy Yourself (It's Later Than You Think).

Here is a snippet of the lyrics

Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think Enjoy yourself, while you're still in the pink The years go by, as quickly as a wink Enjoy yourself, enjoy yourself, it's later than you think

What does its later than you think mean in this context

It seems as though it is referring to your life and you need to start enjoying it now. But the line would make more sense if it was "its sooner than you think" referring to your death being closer than you had expected, so start living now.

How does its later than you think convey the message I believe the song is trying to convey. The statement its later than you think would refer to an event being farther in the future than one had perceived, so you dont have to worry about that event now you can continue what your doing.

What Do We Call: Having Been + Present Participle?

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 09:27 AM PDT

I am inquiring in terms of classic prescriptive grammar. As a preface, please consider the following usage of the perfect participle.

  • I, [having played] well, am proud of my game.

The participial phrase, having played well, is an adjectival modifying the subject, I.

My question concerns constructions of "having been" + the present participle, like:

  • I, [having been playing] well, expect to win.

To my eye, having been playing is a participle, and the participial phrase, having been playing well is an adjectival modifying the subject, I.

Is having been playing a form of participle? If so, what do we call that form?

Can I omit "should" at this time? [migrated]

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 07:18 AM PDT

By the end of the week, all applicants (should) have a preliminary interview.

So, is the right sentence...?

By the end of the week, all applicants have a preliminary interview.
or
By the end of the week, she have a preliminary interview.

Management wants us to make mud pies not mud cakes [closed]

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 04:28 AM PDT

I'm looking for an expression to replace the one I'm using.

I've been using my coined expression to my co workers "management wants us to make mud pies not mud cakes". Both are inedible and one is faster and simpler to make? (Pie) but recently I've gotten some confused looks.

Is there a difference between a roof and a ceiling when we talk about the inner surface?

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 03:31 AM PDT

It seems that we use the words "ceiling" and "roof" for an upper surface of a building. However, we say "a roof" when we look from the outside, and "a ceiling" if we look from the inside.

However, H. G. Wells uses the word "roof" to describe the room's interior:

The big doorway opened into a proportionately great hall hung with brown. The roof was in shadow, and the windows, partially glazed with coloured glass and partially unglazed, admitted a tempered light. The floor was made up of huge blocks of some very hard white metal, not plates nor slabs—blocks, and it was so much worn, as I judged by the going to and fro of past generations, as to be deeply channelled along the more frequented ways.

[H. G. Wells, The Time Machine]

The Oxford English Dictionary does give sub-definition of "a roof" as an inner surface:

roof
...
1 The structure forming the upper covering of a building or vehicle.
'the rain woke him, hammering on the roof'

1.1 The top inner surface of a covered area or space; the ceiling.
'the roof of the cave fell in'
'These are special liners on the sides and sometimes the roof and back of an oven, which are treated with a material that absorbs those greasy splashes.'

[Oxford English Dictionary]

But what is the reason to call an inner surface a roof? What is the difference in this case between the words "ceiling" and "roof"?

Maybe this applies to rooms where a ceiling is also a roof, such as a room in a single-floor building or a cave?

Can H. G. Wells, calling the hall's ceiling a roof, mean that there are no more floors above the hall?

Or maybe he calls the hall's ceiling a roof because the ceiling is very large and high? Maybe a large size and height are also the reason for calling a cave's ceiling a roof?

"It holds+statement"

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 08:13 AM PDT

In some of the mathematical papers I've encountered sentences like "It holds A>B.". I have a feeling that this is far from being grammatically correct, but I would appreciate a confirmation (or negation) by native English speakers, in order to have a reference.

This is similar, but in my opinion a bit more striking than "It holds that A>B.", cf.
ELU: Is "it holds that" correct?
Mathematics: Is there a better alternative to the phrase 'it holds that'?

Multiple errors found VS multiple errors were found [duplicate]

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 02:03 AM PDT

I'm writing a website where people can enter data and I want to show an error message if the data is incorrect.

I am debating whether the error should be "multiple errors found" or "multiple errors were found". The first sounds better to me even though the second seems more proper.

What's the way to go here?

How to report when having a Future Perfect introductory clause? [closed]

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 07:13 AM PDT

How to change this into reported speech?

He will have said, "John is so bad!"

Would it be:

  1. He will have said that John was so bad (Past tense), or

  2. He will have said that John is so bad (no change).

Hand him (odd phrase)

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 05:16 AM PDT

... telling Voldemort you could hand him the Potters.

My research: I scoured online dictionaries only to find it always means "give something by hand". So please consider citing a dictionary if you get the correct definition. I'd be grateful.

Glamourisation/Glamorisation/Glamorization?

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 12:46 AM PDT

I ran into a problem whilst writing the word 'glamourisation'. I want to adhere to the British spelling, which I think would be with and but the Oxford English Dictionary has no entry for 'glamourisation' but does has one for 'glamorization' and it's super confusing.

Is the just me hypercorrecting? What would be considered correct in British English?

A fill in the blank: it _____ raining since morning when you rang me up [closed]

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 12:41 AM PDT

It _____ raining since morning when you rang me up

What to fill the blank with options?

  1. had been
  2. has been
  3. have been
  4. was

I need to know if I'm being called a b-word [closed]

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 05:25 AM PDT

If I say to someone "please stop your bitching." Or "ugh all she does is bitch" does that imply that the person described is a bitch?

Word(s) for the act of expecting others to believe the same things one does [closed]

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 01:11 AM PDT

To elucidate a bit: I'm trying to find a word that means believing strongly in something and expecting others to believe in it as well. I've found words like "domineer" and "proselytize", but the difference there, as I understood it, is that those rather focus on the action itself of asserting one's will; what I'm looking for is more something like having a belief, not consciously enforcing it, but judging and criticising others for not thinking the same way. Is there such a word?

Does the word "concurrent" imply only two conditions?

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 06:32 AM PDT

If I wanted to imply that at any given time I'm managing many projects of different durations that overlap, is it redundant to say "I manage multiple concurrent projects"? Does "numerous concurrent" sound less ridiculous?

Is the movie title "love and other drugs" a play on some phrase?

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 01:30 AM PDT

Does anyone know if the movie title "love and other drugs" is a play on some other phrase of the form X and other Y?

Where did the word red-tapism come from?

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 05:47 AM PDT

What is the origin of the word red-tapism?

And what does it actually mean?

Lexico says it appeared in the mid-19th century, in the Cobbett's Weekly Political Register, a London paper. Searching deeper, I discovered that the owner, William Cobbett, supported expanding suffrage, raising the minimum pay for agricultural workers, and giving the poor food and employment. His newspaper was in print from 1802 until his death in 1836. But in which year did red-tapism first appear, and did he coin it?

Can anyone provide more details on its origins?

Is there a term describing a saying or idiom where you can swap one word and it means the same thing?

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 09:47 AM PDT

I think I've seen this before.. often there are sayings where people substitute one word for another one that sounds similar, however, this doesn't end up changing the overall meaning of the idiom.

Something like "coming down the pike" vs "coming down the pipe".. one is correct but they really mean almost the same thing. "Peaked my interest" vs "Piqued my interest", "deep-seeded" vs "deep-seated"

Is "-eth" (as in the verb "buildeth") always the singular? Is this inscription at Hoover Dam a mistake?

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 09:45 AM PDT

I was kind of surprised to find that one of the inscriptions on one of the towers at the Hoover Dam has what I thought was a typo, but I want to know if I'm in the wrong because I can't find anything online about this being a typo.

Image of inscription

The tower says:

"Since primordial times, American Indian tribes and Nations lifted their hands to the Great Spirit from these ranges and plains. We now with them in peace buildeth again a Nation." (https://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/history/essays/artwork.html)

In the second sentence it seems that "buildeth" should read "build". Am I missing something? or is this a typo that has survived without comment for some 80 years on a very famous monument?

Non-ableist alternative to "blind spot"

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 09:45 AM PDT

The phrase "blind spot" has been called ableist. For someone looking to avoid it, what are some good alternatives?

Sample sentences:

  • We need to be aware of our blind spots to make sure a competitor doesn't surprise us in the market.
  • Employee morale has been a blind spot for us in the past, but Sarah is doing a great job of tracking it now.
  • Quentin has good ideas when it comes to pricing strategy, but she has a blind spot when it comes to the best way to present a proposal.

English equivalent of "to not scratch one's ear on something"

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 03:57 AM PDT

We have an idiom in Urdu language which translates to:

Translation into English: I don't/won't scratch/rub my ear on that.

Meaning: We use it to mean "I will just ignore this because it does not interest me or it is dull or I do not take it seriously".

Example sentence: My friend A told me something that was annoying and another friend (B) heard it. Then after some time, B privately told me not to get angry or upset about what A said, I said "I do not scratch my ear on that" (I don't take it seriously and will ignore it).

I know it is confusing but if there is any English idiom with any of its meaning, please let me know.

Apostrophe use in a title

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 06:36 AM PDT

I have seen titles, such as books or business names, that omit the apostrophe. Is this proper? Can a title be apostrophe free if the author chooses? EX: Tom and Sallies Big Adventure. Should Sallies properly be Sallie's? Or Sallies'?

Idiom: Bear with me

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 08:45 AM PDT

The sense of this formula is clear. It means be patient with me, be tolerant/lenient. Don't be too harsh on me.

But how can a verb as "to bear" develop the meaning of to be tolerant?

"To bear" is an old verb with connection to Latin ferre and Greek pherein. "To bear" has split up into several meanings such as "to carry", "to give birth to a child", "to endure", "to be directed towards" and similar things which can semantically be understood from the basic meaning to carry or from Latin ferre and Greek pherein, but no meaning shows a semantic path to "Bear with me".

Word similar to "distraction" but with jokey connotation

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 02:01 AM PDT

I was wondering if there is a word that carries the same meaning as "distraction" but can be used for a comedy effect too.

As an example, imagine a situation where my parents are away and I've been eating take-aways, but also created a mess in the kitchen just to give the impression that I was cooking. I'm looking for a light-hearted word to describe this action and "distraction" doesn't sound that great to me.

I'm a native Greek speaker and this word exists in Greek. I'm trying to approximate the word "xekarfoma" (ξεκάρφωμα). It's the opposite of the word "karfoma" (κάρφωμα) which in slang means give someone away. So I'm looking for the word to describe the actions one is taking in order not to give oneself away.

Words or expressions for Scribbles and Erasure

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 07:11 AM PDT

I've been curious about a word to express those 'marks' that we have, mostly, on pen written texts, usually when you write and make a mistake and you can't erase you have to cross out the word, then you have that "dirty mark". In my native language we have a specific word for that. I looked for the translation of the words we have and found scribbles and erasure.

So here is my question: Are the words from the title correct to refer to that? Can I get some examples? Is there any other word or expression to express this?

To see what I mean see this image:

picture of scribbling out words on a page

"There already is" or "There is already"

Posted: 06 Oct 2021 05:39 AM PDT

What is the correct word order of the verb to be and already?

There is already a price tag.

Or:

There already is a price tag.
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