Friday, November 12, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Is there a word for a person or group advocating a belief that has been disproven?

Posted: 12 Nov 2021 10:51 AM PST

What can I use in this sentence:

People who hold on to a belief despite evidence that disproves the belief are called ______.

For example:

"Freddy and his friends were ______, they were advocates for the Flat Earth Society, preaching that the Earth is flat like a mat in the hope of new proselytes."

Like dogmatists but specifically about a prior belief since disproven. I could use zealots or fanatics, but again they do not seem to cover the exact meaning I'm after, i.e., the active advocation of a disproven idea. I came across the term non-evidentialist but would prefer something without the negative prefix (if possible), and it is probably too wide a term. The word fundamentalists tend to have religious connotations, though it may fit as some beliefs can be advocated in a similar manner to religious fervour (hence the use of proselytes above). I quite like the word sheeple? Though again, not the right context. I'm wondering if the word I am after does not exist.

What feelings are expressed by the verb "to miss (someone)"?

Posted: 12 Nov 2021 10:42 AM PST

This might sound like a silly question, but what feelings does the verb "to miss (someone)" exactly expresses?

I know in which context the verb is used, but not the exact feelings behind it, if that makes sense, particularly because the verb is used in different contexts.

The dictionaries I have consulted (Oxford Learner's & Cambridge Dictionary) both define the verb as feeling sad about the fact that a person/thing is not present. They also both give these entries as an example:

  • "Anne, who died on 22 July, will be sadly missed by all who knew her"
  • "She will be sadly missed by all who knew her."

How do "sadly" & "missed" go together if "missed" includes "sad" in its definition? This leads me to think that "to miss" has a somewhat different meaning than sad. Am I correct in this?

What is the part of speech/ function of "John asked him?"

Posted: 12 Nov 2021 09:16 AM PST

What is the part of speech/ function of "John asked him" below?

Bob revealed the deep question John asked him.

What verb to use before "blood test"?

Posted: 12 Nov 2021 11:01 AM PST

I am struggling to find a good verb to fill the blank below:

This year I got into the habit of ___ blood tests regularly.

I thought about "doing", though I don't like how it sounds. Rewriting the expression to "getting blood tested" also crossed my mind, but I would prefer not to use "get" twice.

A compound phrase would be acceptable.

Is it possible to pay TOEFL exam cost in instalments for poor countries? [closed]

Posted: 12 Nov 2021 08:59 AM PST

Minimum salary in Iran is 26,554,950 rials and cost of TOEFL exam is 71,280,000 rials. Is there any programs for discounting this cost for poor countries in general or at least according to paycheck?

Is it possible to start a sentence with "worse than"? [closed]

Posted: 12 Nov 2021 08:53 AM PST

In English, is it possible a sentence like this?

Worse than those who do something are those who do something else.

I think this would be the standard sentence:

Those who do something else are worse than those who do something.

But I was wondering if such syntax is possible to emphasize what it's worse in the sentence.

How can I build impersonal sentences like this one from Spanish

Posted: 12 Nov 2021 08:30 AM PST

I don't know how to build in English impersonal sentences like this one from Spanish:

Es feliz quien quiere serlo.

I've thought of this one:

He's happy who wants to be it.

But I don't like it because it has gender. Is there any other way to construct this sentence?

I am sure Ray knows the answer . (Rewrite using "must be or could (may, might)be or can't be")

Posted: 12 Nov 2021 06:16 AM PST

I learnt in this English lesson that this sentence shows certainty so we should use "must be" but I can not find the rule where we use "must be" + verb . How should the sentence be like?

Doubt in a certain grammatical concept [closed]

Posted: 12 Nov 2021 04:56 AM PST

I find a couple of words specifically used as sentence connectors or conjunctions. Which of the words out of 'nonetheless','nevertheless', 'nothwithstanding','furthermore' can be used to begin a sentence? Also how do I understand exactly where to use the comma? A detailed insight into this will be most welcome.

What does “exist at our edges” mean? [closed]

Posted: 12 Nov 2021 06:09 AM PST

I do not understand the phrase exist in our edges as it is used in this sentence:

They are the vulnerabilities that exist at our edges with a realness and a rawness that can feel overwhelming at times.

I believe I may have the overall gist of the sentence because I understand what our edges means. Nonetheless, the specific sense that derives from using it in this larger context in the prepositional phrase following the verb exist still escapes me.

Can you please explain this entire phrase to me?

Why people usually talk "on" New year but not In the New year or At New year? [closed]

Posted: 12 Nov 2021 01:54 AM PST

When I am doing the preview for my Grammar, I found that Preposition "on New Year". So, I issue a question. Thanks.

How to use "make" and "form" with "impression"? [migrated]

Posted: 12 Nov 2021 01:40 AM PST

What's the difference between these sentences?

Make a good first impression on X.

Form a good first impression on X.

How does the meaning change if we use of instead of on?

"Given are ..." or " ... are given" - what is the difference between these two?

Posted: 12 Nov 2021 04:21 AM PST

Also I want to know what voice was used in "Given are ...". Was it passive voice?

Example:

  • Given are two tables referring to criminality in Britain.

&

  • Two tables referring to criminality in Britain are given.

Re: "a premise which maintains that…" Can a premise maintain?

Posted: 12 Nov 2021 04:19 AM PST

I was trying to define false balance [Wikipedia] in my own words.

False balance (aka bothsidesism): a media bias which perpetuates misinformation; a premise [which maintains] that two sides of an argument are somewhat balanced when, in fact, one side significantly outweighs the other.

I added "which maintains" (in brackets above) because it seemed to lack something, at the time, but I'm not sure that a premise can maintain anything, based on its definition (both Lexico), or that it can be anything except a basis, a base from which something follows (or is concluded), in which case, maintain(s) seems almost redundant…

It's just a mess, very confusing; this is why people plagiarize.

I have found "premise maintains" online, but ironically, you can find anything there to weigh down your side. About 2,980 results were returned (but in legalese, premise is the singular form of premises, evidently; i.e., a building with land).

Question: Is a "premise which maintains" (esp. in the given context) a correct usage, semantically?

Other search results:

"based on the premise that"—about 25,500,000 results. (Very popular, as suspected, but a false balance is a premise, right?)

"false premise in which"—about 13,200 results. (Not a fan; now it's in a premise? Should it be of one instead?)

Maybe I just hate this word; that could be it.

Having doubt with sentence framing with conjunctions in the beginning [closed]

Posted: 11 Nov 2021 10:38 PM PST

Whenever I begin with conjunctions I find it very confusing when the order of the sentence gets reversed. I really do not understand why this happens while we use a comma in the middle. Some step by step guidance about the same process will be most certainly welcome.

Meaning of foothills [closed]

Posted: 12 Nov 2021 08:28 AM PST

I ran into a sentence in 'Where the crawdads sing'and it says

Tate noticed that while her face and body showed early inklings and foothills of womanhood, her mannerisms and turns of phrase were somewhat childlike'.

What does foothills mean?

"thrust": parts of speech [migrated]

Posted: 11 Nov 2021 08:06 PM PST

Quote:

Over the rocks, in the crevice of which the candle burned, there was thrust out an evil yellow face, a terrible animal face, all seamed and scored with vile passions.

My questions are:

  1. The subject of the sentence is "an evil yellow face....vile passion", then what is the real predicate of the whole sentence? If "was" is the predicate, does "thrust" function as a noun?

  2. According to the context, "over the rocks", does "over" mean "In the rocks"? or "On top of the rocks"?

  3. Do "seamed" and "scored" mean the same thing as "wrinkled"?

thanks!

What is a good word for a person selling to a merchant/shop? [closed]

Posted: 12 Nov 2021 03:13 AM PST

I'm making a website which is a marketplace for in-game items with in-game currency.

Players can list items they are selling with a description and price. There's also a possibility to list items you are looking to buy the same way.

I thought a good word for the listing owner would be "Merchant" (is this right?). But what would a good word be for the person that buys or sells to the listing owner? Is client or customer a good word or can those only be used if you buy an item?

Sample:

Blackmarket advertises their item in a "listing". Gamerboy69 buys an item from blackmarket. Gamerboy69 is the customer/client. Blackmarket is the merchant.

Can i use the words in the same way if Gamerboy69 would sell an item to the owner of the listing, or is there another word i can use which will work?

How to slip "let me call it" into a sentence?

Posted: 12 Nov 2021 07:14 AM PST

I want to slip the phrase "let me call it" into a sentence like in this example from a movie review.

I got tired of the, let me call it monster.

I wonder where or if to put commas. The above feels most natural to me but LanguageTool complains, so I decided to ask here.

Thanks!

Why 'd' in 'Aeneid'?

Posted: 12 Nov 2021 06:24 AM PST

The Latin poem Aeneis is Aeneid in English. How did the last d come about?

A few suspects by quick search:

  • /ð/ → /d/ shift in English, but there must be a shift /s/ → /ð/.
  • It seems romance languages write it with d, possibly it came from French? (German does not have d).

Why is "second to last" not documented with the meaning of "third to last"?

Posted: 12 Nov 2021 10:01 AM PST

All dictionaries I have looked at give the sole meaning of second to last as next to last (or penultimate and, in BrE, also second last). However, second to last is also used to mean what most folks call the third to last item in a series, especially in technical/scientific usage (see examples below). Can anyone provide documentation of this meaning in a reference work or do dictionaries omit this usage because they judge it to be incorrect (and if so, why not include it with a usage note)? I do not think previous related questions document this meaning adequately.

Related ELU/ELL questions:

"Usage of "second/third/fourth ... last"

Are there any differences between "penultimate", "the last but one" and "second to last"?

"Second-to-last vs second-to-previous"

Dictionaries with second to/from last meaning only next to last or penultmate:

m-w and m-w

Wiktionary

vocabulary.com

Macmillan

last

With the or possessive and an ordinal number. The one(s) the specified number of places from the end of a series. With of.

The year 1624, the second last of his life, was thus spent by Kin James, in [etc.]
She was the third-last of thirteen children. OED

Examples from Google Books where second to last and next to last are not the same i.e., second to last = third to last (in the usual meaning, or antepenultimate.

Modified Lag Task (Nback)
The task used in the present study was developed by Shelton et al. (2007). In this task, participants saw lists of 4 or 6 words and were asked to recall either the last, next to last (1-back), second to last (2-back), or third to last word (3-back) presented in the list J. T. Shelton, et al.; "A Comparison of Laboratory and Clinical Working Memory Tests and Their Prediction of Fluid Intelligence"; Intelligence, May 1, 2009

When the exact number of an instar is not known, it is often convenient to refer to these with terms such as middle, antepenultimate (second to last), penultimate (next to last), and/or ultimate instars. David L. Wagner; Catepillars of Eastern North America p.13 (2010)

Accent. For most scientific words, the accent is either on the next to last syllable or on the second to last syllable:

a. The accent is on the next to last syllable:
(1) When the word contains only two syllables; algae (AL·gae).
...
b. In all other cases, the accent is place on the "second" to last syllable (ar·TI·cul·lus)...

Anthony M. Belmont; Acquiring a Scientific Vocabulary p.23 (2019)

S          second to last hour
T S      next to last hour
U T S  last hour

Gregg DeYoung in Helaine Selin, ed.; Astronomy Across Cultures p. 484 (2021)

Rule C ('two bounce' rule). Have at least 3 searches; stop if both the last quote and the next to the last are larger than the second to the last. Peter E. Earl; Behavioural Economics, Vol. 1, p.168

... the local collections are formed using first, second, and third window, and second to last, next to last, and last window, respectively... Genome Research Vol. 14, p.706 (2004)

The cautionary instruction failed to cover the next to last and second to last prior questions to which responses indeed had been given and which contained the prosecutor's accusatory statements. Reports of Cases Decided in the Supreme Court of the State of Oregon, p.25 (1996)

Missing values are more common for the next-to-last births and especially the second-to-last births before... An Assessment of the Quality of Health Data in DHS-I Surveys, p.85 (1994)

The first digit gives the number of electrons in the last (outermost) shell..., the next two digits give the number of electrons in the next to last shell.., and the final two decimal digits give the number of electrons in the second to last shells... K. B. Lipkowitz et al. Reviews in Computational Chemistry, Vol. 20, p.293

(a) Last
(b) Next to last
(c) Second to last
Guide to Port Entry, Vol. 2, p.48 (2001)

As the last stage of this chain of full buffers completes its send command it waits a time BL before receiving its next token and unblocking the next to last stage of the chain. This stage then waits an additional time BL before the next token arrives, and the receipt of this token unblocks the second to last stage. This continues until the end of the chain... P. A. Beerel et al. A Designer's Guide to Asynchronous VLSI, p.71 (2010)

...the most weight was placed upon the last stage, followed by next to last, second to last, etc. The staging algorithm that we propose... The application of decomposition to transportation network (snippet)

"It doesn't matter anyway. You called second to last; I called next to last. That means I go after you."
"You're crazy! Next to last and second to last are the same thing," Ronny countered fervently.
You're the crazy one!" Billy shouted, his steel-blue eyes radiating fire. "It goes last, first to last—that's the same as next to last— and then comes second to last."
"You always have to have things your own way!" Ronny proclaimed without exaggeration. Bill Sullivan; Eleven Miles South of Half Moon Bay, p.33

enter image description here These results are read from the frame F by starting with the last row of two boxes indicating a 2-cycle, the next to last row of two boxes indicating a second 2-cycle, the second from last row of three boxes indicating a 3-cycle, and finally the first row of four boxes indicating a 4-cycle. S. Keown; An Intoduction to Group Representation Theory (1975)

Photo 3 is the last mold; photo 2 next to last; and photo 1 second to last Transactions of the American Society for Steel Treating, p.390 (1924)

Rotation periods
Last ending in 1927 / Next to last / Second to last / Third to last / Fourth to last
B. Koehler et al.; Effect of Sec, Length of Feeding period..., p. 474 and repeated on p. 475 (1930)

Third from last row added ...
Second from last row added ...
Next to last row added ...
Last row added ...
Edward L. Thorndike, "The Curve of Work" in Psychological Review Vol. 19 (1912)

WORK EXPERIENCE [Form]
Job 1—Last or present position
Job 2—Next to last position
Job 3—Second to last position
N.Y. State Restaurant Association and E. Curtis; How to Cut Labor Costs, p.21 (1949)

(I've also found examples in U.S. and Canadian patents; however, the url links to the Google Book snippets aren't stable, so I've omitted them.)

A fair number of dictionaries don't have an entry for "second to last," which may foster to-each-their-own usage. The above examples essentially self-define how the authors are using the expression, even if incorrectly. My own hunch is that some may assume that because there are two well-known expressions, next to last and second to last, they must mean different things. The logic seems to be:

Next to last is considered to be the first from the last (although we don't usually say this) or penultimate

Second to/from last (Wikitionary has both) is therefore the next item, or the antepenultimate.

------------ EDIT 19/13/21 ---------------

This reasoning is explicitly stated in the first example's "NBack" Task" added today: next to last (1-back), second to last (2-back), or third to last word (3-back)

How to colloquially express indifference other than "I could take it or leave it?"

Posted: 12 Nov 2021 12:57 AM PST

I've recently seen "I could take it or leave it" as a way of saying "it's not that important to me." For example,

Q: "I love the taste of pumpkin pie. How do you feel about it?"
A: "I could take it or leave it."

But I'm much more accustomed to hearing "take it or leave it" used in the form of an ultimatum, especially in a negotiation setting -

Buyer: "How much for the shoes?"
Seller: "$100."
Buyer: "Will you take $50 for them?"
Seller: "I'd rather not go below $75."
Buyer: "I'll give you $60. Take it or leave it."

You know when you can't remember the name of that one guy in that movie, but you know that you know it? In the same way, I'm certain there's another (more correct) colloquial phrase to convey indifference without saying "I could take it or leave it" (and I've heard it before), but I can't remember what that is. Can anyone help me out?

It really just seems like "take it or leave it" has been improperly co-opted as a means to express indifference.

EDIT: After all of your inputs, I think I've remembered the statement I've been looking for.

"I could survive without it."

This may express more of a negative opinion of the thing in question than a neutral opinion, but it's definitely the phrase I have been seeking. Thanks all for your help.

Why there are three different sounds for -ed?

Posted: 12 Nov 2021 10:17 AM PST

Following this question on the pronunciation of the final -ed.

What is the reason why there are three different pronunciations (/ɪd/, /t/ and /d/)?

I'm well aware that phonetic shifts exist, I study linguistics. I just wanted to know how this particular shift happened.

Is "premises" referring to a single property considered a plural noun?

Posted: 12 Nov 2021 04:59 AM PST

Our church is installing a security system, and we are creating notification signs for the entrances. We want to use the word "premises" on the sign.

I realize that the etymology of this word shows that it is the plural of "premise." However, in practical use, is the word singular or plural?

Which wording should I use?

  • This premises is under video surveillance.
  • These premises are under video surveillance.

To me, the singular use makes more sense.

This question is not a duplicate of Is "premises" always plural? because that question is about the use of "premises" vs. "premise." My question deals with whether or not to treat the word "premises" as singular or plural.

What's a word to describe people who blindly follow their government without question?

Posted: 11 Nov 2021 07:47 PM PST

I want to describe someone who fanatically follows one of the following:

  • Governmental body
  • Political party
  • Country

Basically, someone who will agree with their government/party/country regardless of what actions/decisions they make.

I was thinking of words such as zealot, follower, etc..

The word most similar to what I want is slang: sheep.

example in a sentence:

Elise constantly agrees with anything the liberal party says and does without having any personal opinions; she is but a sheep.

/ð/ → /d/ shift in English

Posted: 12 Nov 2021 06:43 AM PST

As a result of a /d/ → /ð/ shift, fæder became father, hider became hither and togædere became together, giving us our modern English forms.

However, I know that murder and burden have archaic forms- murther and burthen. This means a shift from /ð/ → /d/ also happened, doesn't it?

The High German Consonant Shift turned /ð/ →/d/, a change that affects modern German and Dutch. The English that and Icelandic það versus the German das highlight this change, but it also went the other way- German tot versus English dead.

My questions:

1.) When did this consonant shift happen in English? Etymonline mentions 12c.

2.) What are some more examples of the /ð/ → /d/ in English words?

3.) How is the shift mirrored in other Germanic languages?

What's the double hyphen after greetings in emails?

Posted: 12 Nov 2021 10:20 AM PST

I usually see just format in the emails I receive daily:

Hello Dorian--

I'm calling you in regard with the something...

Thanks,

I see comma after the greetings too but I am not sure why double hyphen is being used there. Can someone explain it?

Why do I so often want to replace "happen" in sentences?

Posted: 12 Nov 2021 05:08 AM PST

Consider the following variant sentences:

Colloquia and seminars both happen in an academic setting.

and

Colloquia and seminars both occur in an academic setting.

Using happen to describe ongoing events often sounds very wrong to my ear -- I usually prefer occur or some such variant, but I have no idea why that preference should be justified. Is using occur (or something like that) actually better here, or am I being overly pedantic? I'd love an explanation.
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