Saturday, November 13, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Is "scrolling" inherently a 2D thing, or does it also apply to 3D?

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 11:46 AM PST

In the 1990s video game magazines I'm currently re-reading, they constantly make references to "smooth scrolling" and whatnot for polygon-based 3D games for PlayStation and Saturn in their reviews.

To me, scrolling is all about moving images/sprites around in 2D, but they seem to be talking about something else.

Was this just incompetent misuse of the term "scrolling", perhaps lacking a better word, or does it also apply to polygonal 3D graphics?

I guess I would call it "animation smoothness" or "frame rate" or something.

pronunciation of the 'ous' in dangerous

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 10:52 AM PST

When I look up the word dangerous, the IPA spellings almost always show up as /ˈdānj(ə)rəs/

Maybe it's regional (Southern Ontario), but I don't encounter that pronunciation lot. And I probably use it myself less than 5% of the time.

I'd say, and maybe my IPA is off, 80% of the time I say /ˈdānj(ə)rɪs/. The 'ous' uses the ɪ sound, the same as in the word 'in'. And it's not subtle either. It's really really noticeable.

If I search 'dangerous definition' in Google, I get the above IPA, and a sound file. But the sound file pronounces the 'ous' closer to how I pronounce it, using ɪ as in 'in'.

In WordReference, it has the /ˈdānj(ə)rəs/ IPA spelling and a sound file that I think matches it. That sound file, of the word's US pronunciation, produces a pronunciation that is not one I hear often, as I said, maybe 5% of the time.

Both /ˈdānj(ə)rɪs/ and /ˈdānj(ə)rəs/ sound natural to me, but I only ever find the latter written, tho I mostly hear the former.

Also, I'm only focusing on the 'ous' part of the word, not the rest, because I there are several other pronunciations which of the first part of the word which sound natural to me also, so let us ignore them here.

Question :

Is it a sensible observation that the 'ous' in words like 'dangerous' are commonly pronounced as /ɪs/ and not /əs/ ? Or perhaps, the former is gaining favor ? I'm not sure if I can attach a sound file here, tho maybe I will upload my pronunciations to youtube, if there is no alternative.

What should I use for formal writing in this situation, a dash or something else?

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 10:14 AM PST

Is the use of a dash appropriate here?

"This causes everyone to lose the ability to dream -- everyone except for IP."

Can we stack quantifiers?

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 10:31 AM PST

After another two seasons, the show was cancelled.

In this sentence, it looks as though we have two quantifiers: 'another' and 'two'. Is this correct? I know that we can have pre-determiners and normal determiners (e.g. 'all the people'), but I haven't seen anything implying that they can fall into the same category.

What do British/American ... pupils write as a heading of the correction of an exam? 'Correction'?

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 09:12 AM PST

I am a German teacher of ESL. My pupils have to correct the mistakes they made in an exam and hand that corrected version back in. I guess teachers in English-speaking countries do the same. What do you write as a title?

Thank you! KS

A question about occasionalisms [closed]

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 09:01 AM PST

I need some help with commentig on the meanings of the following words:

  • lord-and-masterdom
  • nostalgia-monger
  • womanthrope
  • word-waster
  • to-pretend-read
  • Harvardism
  • monomania
  • not-my-cup-of-teaness
  • library-grinding
  • waspitality

I would be really glad if you could help me!

What are the differences? [closed]

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 08:52 AM PST

There are these two sentences:

  1. The dominant gender is men.
  2. Men are the dominant gender.

Away from tenses, what grammar role did we use in 1st sentence? Is it passive and active, or what ?

Does the expression "find it never enough to..." exist?

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 07:58 AM PST

I was writing this sentence in an essay:

They find it never enough to emphasise the importance of unity in their communal life.

Then I realised that I was not sure of this phrase and I looked it up on Google, but the hits I have found mostly read: find it's never enough to ....

Does the expression I used sound awkward? Should I consider another way of saying this?

Apposition: two actions at the same time

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 07:07 AM PST

If I was moving quickly and I was moving in the park at the same time, is 'moving quickly is moving in the park' a true sentence? I'm confused because I've only dealt with object (tangible) apposition.

a will that harvest

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 07:01 AM PST

"We pulled with a will that harvest, Topthorn and I, hauling in the heavy hay wagons to the barns where Emilie and her grandfather would unload. "

i am confused on the first half. Does "a will that harvest" mean "a strong will"? If yes then what does "harvest" function in this phrase?

Breaking down an excerpt from the Economist

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 07:00 AM PST

Just come across the following excerpt from the Economist magazine published back in 2015 about a topic of the anniversary of the end of the Vietnam war and the challenges of the rise of China back in time.

"America, having fought in Vietnam to stop China building a sphere of influence that excluded it, was driven by the war into opening to China and has since facilitated China's rise—and that rise has been so successful that China now threatens to build a sphere of influence that excludes America."

My question is that when I analyze this sentence, what I cannot get my head around is whether it talks about the same sphere of influence that excludes America in the two aforementioned points.

Another point I have realized, when I put this sentence under the microscope is as follows : (Please correct me if I am wrong)

"America, having fought in Vietnam to stop China which was building a sphere of influence that excluded it(America), was driven by the war into opening to China and has since facilitated China's rise — and that rise has been so successful that China now threatens to build a sphere of influence that excludes America.

Kindly ask you to share your valuable insights as to how to break down this sentence and help me understand it in a better fashion.

Thanks in advance,

Regards,

Sercan.

Word for being unable to see clearly (metaphorically) suffering from illusion

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 10:38 AM PST

What's the adjective that means one is suffering from illusion, they can't see the truth for what it is.

If someone believes in the American dream and ignores how infeasible it is and unrealistic it is today yet they still have it as their goal (the American dream may very well still exist just take this as an example) you could say

He is ____

Might have some connotations with naïveté.

I'm pretty sure there's at least one word that means what I want that sounds like "disillusioned". It also means disillusioned, except the person themselves hasn't realised yet that the thing is less good than they believe it to be, so they haven't experienced the disappointment that disillusionment has to have.

Questions from Chapter 13 of The Hound of the Baskervilles

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 05:38 AM PST

Quote:

To all the world he was the man of violence, half animal and half demon; but to her he always remained the little wilful boy of her own girlhood, the child who had clung to her hand. Evil indeed is the man who has not one woman to mourn him.

Does "Evil indeed is the man who has not one woman to mourn him." suggest that this man cannot be taken as evil since at least he had one woman to mourn him?

Prefix in word 'elongation'

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 02:12 AM PST

I just wondered if there is a e- prefix.

For example to form the word elongation having as root the word long .

Is "data, in its broader typological sense" correct to use in a sentence? [closed]

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 10:16 AM PST

Through the following sentence :

...data, in its broader typological sense,...

I want to mean data with its different types (text, image...)

Is that correct to say? Otherwise what would be an alternative?

“Who are you known to”

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 12:03 PM PST

My English teacher asked me to construct the passive voice of the sentence "Who knows you?". Then, I could immediately make up the sentence "To whom are you known?". My English teacher said that it was absolutely correct.

But she constructed another sentence: "Who are you known to?". I could understand that the sentence is grammatically correct as the preposition "to" is at the end now, and the interrogative pronoun "who" is not a prepositional object. But still I could not appreciate that the meaning of the second sentence should be as clear as the first one. How should I understand "1. Who, are you know to?" and "2. Who are you, known to?"? I could not make out the meaning of the sentence "Who are you known to?".

Please explain the reasoning leading to the right interpretation.

Varying modal verbs in counterfactual ("subjunctive") conditionals

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 04:04 AM PST

There are some situations in which one would like to vary the modal verb in counterfactual conditionals, but it seems to be incorrect.

  1. "If things were otherwise, she would keep her promise." This seems like perfectly ordinary usage.

  2. "If things were otherwise, she might keep her promise." This also sounds fine.

  3. "If things were otherwise, she must keep her promise." This sounds wrong. But there is an obvious alternative: "If things were otherwise, she would have to keep her promise."

  4. "If things were otherwise, she should keep her promise." This also sounds kind of bad. But I can't think of an alternative way to convey this thought without bending over backwards. (Maybe "If things were otherwise, she ought to keep her promise," sounds better, but the issue seems to be the same. And "ought" often sounds too formal to my ear.)

My specific question is: Is sentence 4 necessarily incorrect? And if so, is there a better way to convey its thought?

More generally: is it ok to vary the modal verbs in counterfactual conditionals, as in examples 3 and 4?

Why past tense and not past perfect

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 11:02 AM PST

I came across a passage. Passage happens in the past ,and one of two characters is telling a story that happened before that day. That's why I thought the story part of the passage should have been in past perfect ,but it's in past tense. What could be the reason for that? This is the introduction of the passage:

  • As my sister began telling me about the scorpion in her bed that stung her as she slumbered, I could feel my eyes popping out of my head.

I thought it should have been

  • 'As my sister began telling me about the scorpion that had stung her as she had slumbered ...'

Why does "public" refer to the government?

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 09:07 AM PST

I'm a non-English native and was quite surprised with the meaning of "public" refering to "belonging to government" or "provided by government", etc. In my past experience "public" was sort of an alias for "what you show to everyone / post on your SNS page" - or otherwise isn't kept in secret (which could be described as "private" things).
So previously I faced both "public" and "private" in a context related to one single person in question: to describe things they display to everyone (public appearance) or keep in secret (private life).

Most of all I was confused by using "public" term referring to governmental companies that do not provide any services to people and just produce some stuff, like smelting factories or other heavy industry - I mean, no way people from outside could use it in their daily life directly. Still, it belongs to the government and thus is being referred to as "public company". This blew my mind completely and that's why I'm here.

I tried to do some research to figure out the origins of this new meaning, but it seems like it is too basic and fundamental in English, so I managed to find only discussions of various "public affairs" or services and how they work.

So I would appreciate it if somebody could provide links or a detailed explanation of the origin of this meaning for the "public" adjective. Or maybe a historical background? Since I'm not sure which term comes first: 'government' or 'public'.

I would appreciate it as well if you provide additional explanation of possible differences between "belonging to the government" and "public", since I'm still not sure if they're 100% synonymous.

What does 'straggling' mean in "(...)you found yourself in a wide, low, straggling entry with old-fashioned wainscots,(...)"?

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 05:02 AM PST

What does straggling entry mean in the following passage from Moby-Dick?

Entering that gable-ended Spouter-Inn, you found yourself in a wide, low, straggling entry with old-fashioned wainscots, reminding one of the bulwarks of some condemned old craft. On one side hung a very large oilpainting so thoroughly besmoked, and every way defaced, that in the unequal crosslights by which you viewed it, it was only by diligent study and a series of systematic visits to it, and careful inquiry of the neighbors, that you could any way arrive at an understanding of its purpose.

From the research I did, I would think that straggling in this sentence is an adjective that derives its meaning from the verb straggle: to escape or stretch beyond proper limits, as the branches of a plant; to spread widely apart; to shoot too far or widely in growth. Is it so?

‘Twas good until ‘twasn’t

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 07:07 AM PST

Since society generally seems to want 2 condense & abbreviate the English language, why don't we use the words "'twas" "'twasn't" (Which is not even a recognized word, btw!!) more often than we do?

A word to describe the desire to climb a mountain

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 11:24 AM PST

I'm looking to find a way to describe the feeling of seeing a mountain and thinking, I want to climb to the very top of that in one word. I know it is a common feeling but there does not appear to be a succinct way to describe that emotion/sensation. I've looked in websters, OED, online and have found nothing.

Meaning? "One of a kind. Top of the line. A real doggone keeper"

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 02:23 AM PST

One of a kind. Top of the line. A real doggone keeper

This a phrase spoken by Walter to Chris in the movie "Get Out". YouTube link

I think I can understand the first two phrases...

"One of a kind, top of the line" means the best female among all other females.

Okay, but what does "A real doggone keeper" mean?

A girl can keep a boy? Control a boy? Attracting the mind of a boy? so that the boy will never betray her?

Is that what it means?

Why is it "astrologer" and "geologist", but not "astrologist" or "geologer"?

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 05:28 AM PST

(There may be other examples in this vein, but these two stuck out to me recently.)

We call someone who practices astrology an astrologer. We call someone who practices geology a geologist. It seems odd that the subjects they practice (astrology, geology) are both created from Latin roots in the same way, but the titles take different forms.

There are some results searching for "astrologist" and "geologer", but they are far less prevalent or noted to be dated usages. (ngram viewer: Astrologer vs. Astrologist, Geologist vs. Geologer)

Why the different endings?

In the tube or on the tube?

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 02:45 AM PST

If I would like to ask, if someone reads the news on / in the tube?

(btw Tube being the underground in London)

Which one is correct?

Thanks,

I have forgotten what you look/looked like

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 06:27 AM PST

Which one is correct?

  1. I have forgotten what you look like.
  2. I have forgotten what you looked like.

I guess

  1. I have forgotten what you looked like.

because logically I saw the person in the past, so I saw them the way they looked like in the past.

Is the usage "one of the better" correct and grammatical?

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 06:26 AM PST

A colleague of mine stated that he often hears "one of the better X" from native speakers. I haven't heard this phrase often, and I would use "one of the best X" myself, unless I want to contrast something, like:

Solution A is good, but Solution B is one of the better [ones]

Can "one of the better" be used (or is it used even if it happens to be non-grammatical) in non-contrasting cases like:

This apple is one of the better I've tasted

Why is "idea" sometimes pronounced as "idear"?

Posted: 13 Nov 2021 10:13 AM PST

I know that idea is pronounced as /aɪˈdiə/, but I've meet several people in real life who put an 'r' at the end of the word. How come?
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)