Thursday, October 7, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Is the expression "taken out and shot" offensive?

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 10:40 AM PDT

I refer to the expression "taken out and shot", first said by Daryl Gates. I have seen this used on a couple of occasions in newspaper articles, and last year, such expression caused a lot of controversy after one of Trump's lawyers had used it.

What I'm after is whether or not this is a common expression and considered to be a hyperbole (or the equivalent of the phrase "to get shot of something" (get rid of someone), or else whether it is taken for its literal meaning (to kill someone).

Noun that refers to "amount of (psychological) stress a given thing causes"

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 10:32 AM PDT

Is there a noun that refers to "the amount of stress that a given thing causes" (i.e. "how stressful is this thing"), or, as a less ideal alternative, "the intensity of the emotional response that a given thing induces"?

The context is, I have a column in an organizational spreadsheet that is basically "how much is this bothering me?", in a very vague sense. I'm using this as the main criteria for prioritizing tasks. I need a good single-word heading for the column.

"Stressiness" is my current made-up word of choice, but I'd prefer a real word, or at least something with a more professional tone. AmE preferred but BrE / AuE also work.

To be clear, afaik I'm not looking for a synonym for "stress". I'm looking for a word that means "the amount of stress caused / induced by something". I think there's a difference between the two, but maybe I'm just splitting hairs? Or perhaps there is a difference but English does not have the words to represent it.

Should I use a semicolon or a comma after a semicolon-separated list?

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 09:22 AM PDT

I have a list of items separated by semicolons, because the items themselves contain commas. If this were a comma-separated list, I would offset it from the rest of the sentence with a comma, but I'm not sure what to do in the case of a semicolon-separated list:

While visiting Houston, TX; San Francisco, CA; and Atlanta, GA, I spoke to many different types of people.

Should there be a comma or a semicolon between "Atlanta, GA" and "I spoke"?

(I am hoping for answers that provide a grammar or style rule for what to do in this situation rather than a suggestion to restructure the sentence, unless the applicable grammar or style rule is "restructure sentences to avoid this situation".)

What is the difference between would and is?

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 09:15 AM PDT

I think you'll find that the definite article is dropped if the nickname is an extension of the town it relates to. Obviously Wolves is a shortened version of Wolverhampton, and you'd never refer to "The" Wolverhampton. Similarly, West Ham United are known as "The Irons", and you would refer to them as "The" Irons, but just "United", where United is an extension of the town name, West Ham. Referring to "The United" would be the equivalent of referring to "The West Ham" or "The Dallas".

Referring to "The United" would be the equivalent of referring to "The West Ham" or "The Dallas.

Referring to "The United" is the equivalent of referring to "The West Ham" or "The Dallas.

What does this phrase mean, before or after?

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 09:29 AM PDT

I am reading a document and came through this confusing phrase:

It is a possibility that numbers may change post customer committee pending review

FYI, I only replaced one word (commercials => numbers)

Does it mean that the numbers can be changed before sending it to the customers committee? Or it means that the customers committee can possibly change the numbers?

The next phrase is (it may provide context) :

Your relationship manager will confirm that you are happy with the commercials before your application arrives at customer committee.

Can you tell me if the "ask for myself should be ask for me

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 09:31 AM PDT

If you have questions, please feel free to ask for myself or Cory to answer any questions you may have.

Article for programming data types

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 08:10 AM PDT

I'm writing documentation for my data analysis framework, and there are classes Histogram and Graph. I document a function that transforms one Histogram to one Graph as

Transform a Histogram to Graph

and I'm not sure whether it is better to use "Graph" with or without an article here.

I searched for examples with 'int' and 'float', and get contradicting results:

To convert an integer to a float

how to convert int to float

I understand they might be non-native speakers.

When I Google, it suggests

People also ask How do you convert an int to a float?

I think that article usage may depend on the frequency of the word's usage (so for int and float it might be different than for my types; but if I assume that users are familiar with my framework?..).

I understand that my question of the programming types might be very narrow, but would be glad for a comprehensive general case it is probably part of. Are articles in programming a local jargon; should I use the "programming convention" (if that exists), or the "grammatically correct" variant (if that exists)?

P.S. Feel free to correct articles in my question, I'm not a native speaker :)

"As soon as" vs. "no sooner"

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 07:02 AM PDT

  1. As soon as they had arrived they were arguing.
  2. They had no sooner arrived than they were arguing.
  3. No sooner had they arrived than they were arguing.

Can all three sentences be used interchangeably? I believe the last one is especially used for emphasis, but I am not really sure about the first one though.

What is the meaning of the phrase 'charging' in this context?

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 08:59 AM PDT

34min - De Bruyne has to score. Another great opening for City and Kevin De Bruyne really should have put that away.

Yet another City attack down their left, getting beyond Milner, and it's a fine cross hung up by Foden with De Bruyne unmarked and charging in at the back post. He makes the ball but directs his header over the top.

“the only + noun + to do sth” vs. “the only + noun + doing sth”

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 07:05 AM PDT

I am a senior high school English teacher in China. Recently I have come across a really tricky question in test.

In some textbooks in China, there is a fixed structure "the only + noun + to do sth".

E.g.

The only way to do great job is to love what you do.

Mr. William is the only foreign friend to be present at the meeting

Resolution is not the only way to consider when buying portable projectors.

I am just wondering whether this structure exists or not?

Recently I came across another sentence in a text completion task.

The question is "In fact, this isn't the only positive program _______(involve) the younger generation."

My answer is "to involve". However, the correct answer is "involving".

And I have attached the whole text completion task to this thread. Which I have question is NO.63.

All my Xs and Ys with Plural X & Singular Y

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 05:21 AM PDT

I am trying to make sentences start with "All", like the following:

All my Pots and Pans were broken, by accident.

But, what if I had only One Pan ?

Sounds ODD : All my Pots and Pan were broken, by accident.

Another Example:

All my Brothers and Sisters were highly educated, unlike me.

What if I have only One Sister ?

Sounds ODD : All my Brothers and Sister were highly educated, unlike me.

One way is to start with the Singular Item and then list the Plural Items:

My Pan and all my Pots were broken, by accident.
My Sister and all my Brothers were highly educated, unlike me.

One more way is to highlight and use "only":

All my Pots and my only Pan were broken, by accident.
All my Brothers and my only Sister were highly educated, unlike me.
But, Sentences are unnecessarily highlighting the Singular Items, which may divert the focus.

I am trying to find ways to start with "All" but remain grammatical and not sound ODD.
Suggestions ?

"Paint yourself blue”

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 08:44 AM PDT

User: It's a shame this answer was the accepted one, when it lacks detail, and doesn't address any of the ways that such a request from a recruiter could be cause for concern (or how to mitigate the associated risks).

Author: Brevity is the soul of wit. If you want the best way to mitigate the associated risks, paint yourself blue, face magnetic north, and waive [sic] a phillips head screwdriver your resume before sending it out. That will work just as well as any other method.

I silently chuckled at the imagery this ritual evoked. In particular, I was struck by the phrase paint yourself blue as it sounded weirdly familiar to my ears. However in my search, I didn't find anything that exactly matched, the closest were: paint yourself silly, which is the name of a popular store in Nebraska, and until blue in the face.

Is "paint yourself blue" meant to be read literally, i.e. physically paint your body and face in blue? Or does it mean "go wild/crazy", "do something foolish/childish" without suffering any negative consequences.

Is it an eggcorn? "a word or phrase that sounds like and is mistakenly used in a seemingly logical or plausible way for another word or phrase either on its own or as part of a set expression." as defined by Merriam-Webster. For example, sick sense instead of sixth sense and very close veins for varicose veins.

And if it's not an eggcorn, can someone explain why "blue" seems the best choice? The colour blue is usually associated with the sky, the sea, or with feelings of sadness.

Usage of "not [adjective] yet" inside a sentence

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 06:18 AM PDT

I have studied the usage of "(not) yet" in sentences, but I could not find this specific case:

In the sentence "The process is not ready yet for this user" is the usage for "not [adjective] yet" correct?

I understand that, if it's used at the end of a sentence ("The process is not ready yet"), then it is correct. But I'm wondering whether or not that holds true if the sentence continues after "yet". I know I could rewrite it like:

  • "The process is not yet ready for this user"
  • "The process is not ready for this user yet"

but I would also like to know if the first form is correct. Thank you!

What's the word for something that you don't want to do when you're doing it but you want to do it when you're not doing it?

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 04:17 AM PDT

What's the word for something that you don't want to do when you're doing it but you want to do it when you're not doing it?

To give a longer explanation, a word for an activity that you're like "I really do want to do this" when you're doing it, but when you're done with that activity, you reminisce about doing it, wanting to do it, and you go back to doing it.

For example, studying would be like that for me. When I'm studying, I'm like "man, I really do want to do this." However, after I'm done studying, I constantly reminisce about studying, not because I feel an obligation to do it but rather because I want to do it (no connotation of compulsoriness included).

Thank you so much!

Adjective to describe object that has connections between its elements

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 01:26 AM PDT

Example: a social network is [...] as users are connected by their friendships.

I could think of a social network is connected but it sounds like the social networks connect to each other.

DEFINING and NON-DEFINING RELATIVE CLAUSES?

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 04:15 AM PDT

Which of the following sentences below is/are grammatical?

SENTENCE 1: This is the bread that you gave me, that is sold at ABC bakery.

SENTENCE 2: This is the bread that you gave me that is sold at ABC bakery.

SENTENCE 3: This is the bread that you gave me, which is sold at ABC bakery.

Meaning of H. L. Mencken quote "One horse-laugh is worth ten thousand syllogisms" [closed]

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 02:00 AM PDT

H. L. Mencken quoted

"One horse-laugh is worth ten thousand syllogisms."

The other half of it is

It is not only more effective; it is also vastly more intelligent."

Is that an idiom? What does it imply?

In this article https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1949/6/9/the-crimson-bookshelf-pa-mencken-chrestomathy/ I read this intepretation:

Mencken does not take himself seriously, and he is always dismayed when his readers overdo the business. "One horse laugh," he says, "is worth ten thousand syllogisms," and he proceeds to provide many move horse-laughs than examples of neat, careful, judicious, and thorough thinking. I repeat that this is a matter of doctrine, not of accident. Speaking of great critics, he says that "they could make the thing charming, and that is always a million times more important than making it true."

From this paragraph it seems its used as a sarcasm?

That is, is he using it in a mockery manner that "Instead of scratching your head trying and reasoning with people using tools like syllogism; just using horse-laugh (fallacy but impactful nevertheless) is more impactful"

Is there an alternative for the word "between" that implies "inclusive" without ambiguity?

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 02:15 AM PDT

I have read the existing questions around this matter:

It seems that whether "between" is inclusive or exclusive may depend on context and there is always some ambiguity about it unless this is specified explicitly.

I want to know if there is an alternative to the word "between" that can communicate without ambiguity that we mean "inclusive".

Example usages of this word (represented with blank below) could be:

  • Add numbers _____ 10 and 20.
  • Pick a number _____ 10 and 20.
  • Select all items _____ the 10th item and the 20th item.

If there is no such word, then "No" could be an answer to this question.

Using if-sentences for events that happened recently

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 02:07 AM PDT

I was surfing the web when I came across the first if-sentence structure being used to describe a recent event.

For example: 2 people are talking, person A says:

If you do that, of course he'll get mad.

The context given is that person B already did "that" recently, so to speak.

I found the structure to be a little bit odd, and wondered if this is a common use of the first type of the conditional sentence.

Thanks for the help!

I stand corrected vs I stand to be corrected

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 10:07 AM PDT

What's the difference between "I stand corrected." and "I stand to be corrected."?

Full-stack vs Full Stack, Back-end vs Back end, Front-end vs Front end

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 04:39 AM PDT

Software Developers use the dash interchangeably for these terms.

Front-end meaning one works on the "Front End" of an application (e.g. HTML), Back-end meaning one works on the "Back End" of an application (e.g. PHP), and Full-stack meaning all of the above.

Is there a proper spelling of these terms? Or does it matter?

Idiom similar to wolf in sheeps clothing?

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 09:32 AM PDT

I'm writing lyrics for a song about xenophobia and have a line that I like "Just because there has been one wolf in wool, doesn't mean we all have fangs" I'd like to follow that up with another deconstructed idiom like that but I hit a wall. Any ideas? Thanks!

Single word for (shrugging) hands action

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 04:44 AM PDT

If you want to convey "What now?" or "I don't know what to do", you might lift your hands up and outwards. Is there a word or phrase for this action and intent? Closest I can think of is 'She shrugged her hands' but OED only lists shrug (as a gesture) as applying to the shoulders.

I've tried a reverse dictionary search and searched on this SE but cannot find an answer to this exact question.

"a crossroad" vs. "a crossroads" vs. "crossroads"

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 01:26 AM PDT

When do we use crossroad (singular), when do we use crossroads (singular) and when do we use crossroads (plural)?

Or can we use each of them for the same thing?

1)

Two roads crossing obliquely

Is this a crossroad or a crossroads or are this crossroads?

2)

Two roads crossing at right angle

Is this a crossroad or a crossroads or are this crossroads?

3)

Multiple roads crossing in a mesh

Is this a crossroad or a crossroads or are these crossroads? (Edit)

4)

Three roads meeting at a point

Is this a crossroad or a crossroads or are these crossroads?

Would be very interested in an answer.

Grammaticality of "What is there there?"

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 06:54 AM PDT

If someone says

I am going to the market

I may ask

What is there at the market?

If someone says

I am going to the bookstore

I may ask

What is there at the bookstore?

If someone says

I am going there

is it then correct to say

What is there there?

It seems correct following the pattern, but it sounds weird.

Does "safety level" mean the same thing as "level of safety"?

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 05:32 AM PDT

Does "safety level" mean the same thing as "level of safety"?

I suspect that the former is used as a technical term, with exact definitions of different safety levels. This would be similar to biosafety level, which talks about biocontainment of hazards. In such a scenario, it's describing what (or how much) safety precautions are required.

By contrast, I think that "level of safety" is a vague term, which you would use to describe a "high level of safety", or a "low level of safety", such as in this news article College Prep School Demands High Level Of Safety. And that it means that something is either safe, or unsafe.

onelook.com doesn't have an exact match for "safety level", nor for "level of safety".

Is my suspicion that the phrases have different meanings correct?

"Show," "shown," and "showed"

Posted: 07 Oct 2021 10:04 AM PDT

I need advice on the best use of the verb show.

When do you use showed? I find myself substituting has shown, even when I meant to use the preterit in my sentence.

I prefer "she has shown" over "she has showed"; are there differences in phrasal verbs, such as "show up" or "show out"?

Do you ever use "shew" and its family?
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