Sunday, November 28, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

What's the meaning of genre conventions?

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 11:24 AM PST

Could you please tell me the meaning of "genre conventions" in the following sentence?

As this brief overview has shown, from the level of terms, to phraseology, register, genre conventions and communicate functions, the translators who work with specialized texts...

Is "to calm down someone" acceptable?

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 09:41 AM PST

I just came across an ESL student writing "to calm down your followers". I much prefer "to calm your followers down". Does anyone agree? If so, why? "Calm down" is generally considered a phrasal verb, but if my reaction is shared by others, then here "calm", in its transitive sense, is behaving more like a simple verb plus locational adverb, in which case the object "followers" naturally comes before the adverb--*"I sent to New York the package." Compare "I sent home X", which sounds a bit better with some direct objects than others; "I sent home the students" will pass, in my book, though most other objects don't. I don't like "I sent home Jerome" as much as "I sent Jerome home", though this may be more a matter of good style than grammar. Note finally that the best opposite to "calm down" I can think of is "stir up", but this seems to behave like a conventional phrasal verb; for my part I have no objection to "to stir up your followers." Again, does anyone agree? Why or why not?

Plural when referring to an attribute shared by members of a group

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 09:08 AM PST

Assume that you own a collection of chairs. Each chair is made by a different maker and bears the mark of its maker. Moreover, each chair has only one maker and thus only one mark.

Now consider the following sentence:

  • All the chairs had their makers' marks.

My question is: does the above sentence accurately describe the situation? Specifically, I am unsure whether the use of the plural in "marks" is correct. Does it entail that the chairs had more than one mark, or not?

I am aware that there might be clearer ways to describe the situation above (namely: "each chair had the mark of its maker," or similar forms). Still, I am concerned with the above sentence specifically.

Many thanks in advance for the help.

Somehow a synonym for competition

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 09:27 AM PST

I'm writing an English essay about our favourite singer or band.

I want to write something like

They have won many awards at different competitions.

but I know competition is not the right word. What should I use? I don't think "place" or "shows" is right either.

"All green apples but 1" or "All but 1 green apples"

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 08:49 AM PST

I would like to use phrase "all but one" in the sentence like "Except for the one green apple, all the other green apples are bad."

Which expression is not ambiguous? "All but one green apples are bad." or "All green apples but one are bad."

Does "All but one green apples are bad." means "All apples but one green apple are bad." or "All green apples but one green apple are bad"?

Variant of English pronunciation in the UK

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 11:31 AM PST

On YouTube, I noticed a channel "RateMyTakeaway" with a man with interesting pronunciation

here is an example: youtube video

on 1:26 he says (as I can understand):

"no thank, you love, I'm sweet enough" or "no thank a lot, I'm sweet enough"

he pronounces "love" or "lot" as /lov/ and "enough" as /ɪˈnof/

and basically whole his speech is a little bit weird and in some way musical.

Can some tell me how today linguists describe it? Or it's just normal English and I do not have enough experience of real English in the UK?

Phrases or idioms which mean "I did not do my homework"

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 07:36 AM PST

İs there any idom or phrase to say you did not prepare your homework?

For example, my teacher gives me homework. Let's assume that I did not do my homework, what should I say?

"Flows through" vs "Flows in"

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 06:48 AM PST

I got this question:

River Mahanadi flows _______ Odisha.

Will it be "in or "through"? Had it been a smaller place, like a forest, or a city, I would've chosen "through"; but since the place is Odisha, which is an entire state in India, can "in" be suitable too? Implying that the river exists in the state Odisha.

when using expressions like "right wing populism", can we use the preposition 'in' before it? [duplicate]

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 04:23 AM PST

The 21st century saw the steady rise of right-wing populism, anti-elitism, and neo-nationalism and social conservatism.

What I wish to say is that these trends emerged much earlier, but have intensified in the last few decades. Should I use rise in right-wing populism or rise of in this case? regards.

I pronounce initial R's with my upper teeth on the very bottom of my inside lower lip. Not rhotic. What's the IPA for this?

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 11:13 AM PST

The Wikipedia page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronunciation_of_English_/r/) doesn't mention an option for pronouncing R where the upper teeth are really, really at the bottom of the inside lower lip, practically touching the gums by moving the lower lip up over the upper teeth. Not rhotic.

The rear part of a church [closed]

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 03:13 AM PST

What is the difference between sanctuary, chancel and presbytery?

Water froze: The water or the frozen water? [closed]

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 03:11 AM PST

I said, "Water froze." Then, what did I refer to? I have to add 'the.'

  1. The water
  2. The frozen water
  3. The water & The frozen water

Why is it not an English question? In my native language, there's not only no article, but also the concept of referring back to something is vague.

Difference among sound, music and audio

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 03:20 AM PST

From Differences between "audio" and "sound"?, I learned that sound is a generic term and can be caused by any source.

Audio refers to sound coming from a recording, transmission or electronic device.

However, what's the difference between audio and music? I googled this and found answers all over the place.

I'd appreciate any guidance.

What can I call 2nd and 3rd place finishes in a competition?

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 04:57 AM PST

There are many awards I received from the sport I did. I thought to compress everything and write as 'Inter university and All island winner' but I have placed only 2nd and 3rd places. What is the best way to correct this?

What is the origin of the British phrase "Rough as houses"?

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 12:53 PM PST

I'm preempting the usual comments by saying: If you're not British, you probably won't have heard it before.

But it is a fairly well known phrase in BrE.

For instance, in this book:

Unfortunately, it meant that we were without Yos and Ga for the game and myself, Jer, Jumpy, Sherry, Reg, Pob, were all feeling distinctly rough as houses.

Pretty much the last thing you want to do with a stinking hangover is go out on a Sunday morning, put shorts on and attempt to run around in the pouring and freezing rain.

emphasis added

Which matches my understanding of it meaning "feeling very unwell".

Even though nGrams finds nothing, I'm confident it's not a new phrase.

The answer bank has some speculative guesses (derived from "roughhousing" or "rough as a bag/arsehole"), but I'm looking for an actual etymology and/or origin.

What is the origin of the British phrase "Rough as houses" ?

English words ending with -enk/-eng

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 07:09 AM PST

Why aren't words ending with -enk/-eng more common in modern English?

How to say "you added a clause in end of statment"? [closed]

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 06:11 AM PST

How do you call the act of adding a clasue to the end of a statment, which weakens it and makes it sort-of conditional?

Examples: "Nice to see you, this time!"

"I love it, in a way,

"It's not the case, yet" ("There are no zombies in the world, yet")

"There are no zombies in the world, for now"

"I really enjoyed it, this time."

"It costs only two dollars, more or less"

"She is cute, when she's well fed"

"It is funny, if it's true"

The clasue makes the above statements read somewhat ironically. The clasue somehow takes the statement back a bit, instead of making it conclusive. To refer to this act, I want to say: "You phrased your statement with a (?????) in the end." Any idea?

Is it called a "qualifier"? Or otherwise, what?

Correct grammatical number of items belonging to a group, e.g.. ‘Every person has a nose.’

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 07:09 AM PST

In the sentence 'Every person has a nose.' there are many persons, but the plural of nose is not used.

I'm really curious that 'a nose' itself refers to all noses or itself just refers to a nose?

Another example: "Every dog has a tail, it/they is/are long" which is correct?

"the ride never ends"

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 05:09 AM PST

Having a hard time understanding an idiom a person used on an anonymous bbs.

Remember, the ride never ends.

What could he have meant by this? I'm aware that it's a reference to an old video game meme or something, but it's still very confusing.

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why motor uses more amps

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 12:37 PM PST

Why does a motor utilize more amps when encountering resistance?

"the difficulty is we need..." or "the difficulty is that we need..."

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 01:06 PM PST

Is there a right or wrong answer in the following construction? Am I missing a more elegant way to say this?

"The main difficulty in the hiring process is we need a fluent French speaker that also knows Mandarin"

or

"The main difficulty in the hiring process is that we need a fluent French speaker that also knows Mandarin"

I can see how the "is that" seems more fluid at first, but I don't like slinging so much "is that" stuff around in my writing; and if you speak this with the right cadence, "is" works just fine.

If "in the hiring process" is removed (or moved to the beginning of the sentence), "is" seems to be the clear winner to my ear.

(Don't ask why I want to know. Let's just say I now understand why many writers don't like editors.)

Popular phrases for upselling

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 09:03 AM PST

Is there any popular phrase (proverb/idiom/slang) describing someone ended up buying something much more expensive than what's originally needed? Somewhat like, need a bike, paid for a Mercedes. Ideally, whether the person succumbs to sales pitch or to his/her own greed isn't the point the phrase alludes to.

You have the watches, but we have the time

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 09:56 AM PST

This quote is associated with the Taliban in reference to the US occupation of Afghanistan.

I understand the metaphorical meaning of the quote — i.e. the point that it makes.

But I am intrigued by the literal meaning. In particular, I can't work out what it means to "have the watch", nor what the "watch" refers to metaphorically.

Anybody know?

For the record, I've done some searches, but have only turned up explanations of the metaphoric meaning, nothing about analysis of the literal meaning.

When is it necessary or preferable to use 'in the' before a time period?

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 01:07 PM PST

When is it necessary or preferable to use 'in the' before a time period? Is one sentence more formal? Does the length of time matter?

Example 1: He was born last century. Example 1a: He was born in the last century.

Example 2: He was born last week. Example 2b: He was born in the last week.

Example 3: His birth was last century. Example 3a: His birth was in the last century.

Example 4: He was born middle of the night. Example 4a: He was born in the middle of the night.

To me, examples 1 and 3 sound better with 'in the', but I don't know why.

"a past that we have forgotten about" and "a lot of pasts"

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 11:02 AM PST

I'd appreciate it if someone would answer my question. Thank you.

A: Everybody has a past and everybody has a future.

B: And the fallacy comes from idealizing a past that we have forgotten about. (from google)

C: The present moment is made of a lot of pasts. (from google)

I think "a past" in A is a personal past experience, and it's rightly used.

But how about "a past that we have forgotten about" in B and "a lot of pasts" in C?

I've heard such words as "a past that should never have existed" and "a past that has never been present".

Can you really use "a past" meaning a past time related to the whole universe, not an individual person?

Another verb for "speaks to"

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 07:28 AM PST

I often hear the phrase 'speak to' used as a verb. For example, "This event speaks to the need for good communication" or "Samantha, can you please speak to these dot points?"

It seems appropriate for a casual or colloquial scenario. The term 'address' can also be used but I feel this often implies the original material was a problem or issue. Whereas, 'Speaks to' can be used to offer a reflection or explanation of the original material.

Is there a more formal or professional verb that could also be used in this instance?

"A friend to all is a friend to none" - Aristotle. What does this exactly mean?

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 06:39 AM PST

Why shouldn't a person be friendly to everyone? Is "being friendly" and "being a friend" being differentiated here?

Also, I consider a person as one's friend only if that person doesn't betray his/her other friends. So going by my rule of friendship, there won't be any problem if my friend is a friend to every person, since he/she is not going to give up on me and neither he/she will give up on his/her other friends when he/she us spending his time with me.

What is the main context under which this proverb becomes true?

What is the difference between a Cathedral and a Minster? [closed]

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 04:56 AM PST

In the UK we have a lot of Cathedrals. We also have York Minster but I'm unsure what is special about York that makes it a Minster rather than another Cathedral.

The only other case I can think of is Westminster Abbey although I believe this is named after the City of Westminster.

What does a religious building require to be classed as a Minster rather than a Cathedral?

Punctuation around the word "namely"

Posted: 28 Nov 2021 10:06 AM PST

It seems somehow tricky to apply the right punctuation when it comes to the word namely. I got the following advice:

Search globally for "namely", and add a comma after it, as well as a comma, a semicolon, or a period before.

On the other hand, this link and this one suggest that there might be more to consider. So, what are the rules for punctuating around the word namely? Please try to prove your claims by including references.
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