Saturday, December 4, 2021

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Drifting dust, and ice near the ground

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 11:15 AM PST

Sometimes, when there is moderately strong gusting wind, one can see the wind raising a little dust just a little above the ground, from the ankle height, up to a few meters. When the wind gust is gone, the dust goes back on the ground. Sometimes a small vortex of dust is formed, sometimes, they are just blankets of dust.

What are these kind of dust clouds called? Is there a different name when dust is mixed with ice, or frozen snow, or when it's just frozen snow?

Pertaining to dogs

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 09:49 AM PST

My character is trying to convince his girlfriend to let him keep his new puppy in their apartment. She opposes fiercely, because she doesn't like dogs and feels her space would be invaded. They have an argument, which ends with her saying: "There will be no further [word pertaining to dogs] in this house."

My question is what word would mean anything/everything dog related? It would be nice if there was a word ending in "ry". I could invent one, like "mongrelry", but I wonder if there aren't better alternatives.

What is the correct grammar for this? [closed]

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 08:00 AM PST

I saw this comment on a tik tok video and wanted to correct the grammar, without any compromises! I have been speaking the English language for more than 3/4ths of my life and can't seem to figure this out!

From time when cars made with love and passion

This wants to obviously say,

From a time period when cars were made with love and passion.

Is there a way to say this without it being long? This was intended to be a quote.

question regarding back there [closed]

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 07:39 AM PST

Simple question... In the upcoming week I'm going to the mountains, I was there a few months ago. While talking to my friend I said: "7 days and we're back there!"

Is it correct in grammatical terms? Thank you in advance for your answer:)

Wizerd or Wizard? [closed]

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 07:10 AM PST

Please help me with these words. Which one is correct? Google Translate gives me same meaning for both.

Wizerd gives me an error in a dictionary.

If both are correct, which one is used where?

Can anyone tell the function of "that" in the following sentence?

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 11:21 AM PST

The Mona Lisa is a beautiful painting. However, it was the mystery behind the painting that intrigued people.

In this sentence, can you identify what that is? Is that a relative pronoun or is the sentence a cleft sentence?

A or an? Which article must be used here? [duplicate]

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 05:43 AM PST

I am not sure which article I should use before the abbreviation NLSM, which stands for Non-Linear Sigma Model.

Example:

It has a NLSM description.

or

It has an NLSM description.

Is there a word for a system which it's elements feed/support each other? [closed]

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 05:15 AM PST

I don't ask for a word group which contains "mutual".

What is the meaning of elliptical in this context? [closed]

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 04:47 AM PST

...and it is this possibility, which is clearly provided for in language, that has encouraged a rival idea (8), namely that needing is always by its nature needing for a purpose - any purpose at all that may be specified - and that statements of need which do not mention relevant purposes are somehow elliptical (according to some, dishonestly elliptical) for sentences that do not mention them(9). One thing seems right with the elliptical view and another seems wrong. Let's take the right thing first.

Any search of elliptical means 'having been omitted', I fail to see how this applies here.

What is the subject in this sentence, should I use "is" or "are"?

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 04:40 AM PST

I'm writing a tweet and I'm not sure what's the correct verb form to use in this sentence, 'is' or 'are':

Closely related to documentation ____ code linting and formatting.

On the one hand, "are" sounds good to me, because the sentence places the subject at the end. And the subject is plural.

On the other hand, "is" might work too, since there may be an implied subject at the start of the sentence, i.e. "Something closely related to ...".

What do you recommend?

Why is the pronoun 'we' not changed to 'they' in this reported speech? [migrated]

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 01:32 AM PST

"Are we late?"

Anna ______ late.

A. asked we are
B. said we were
C. asked if we were

The answer should be C. To my understanding, the pronoun we should be changed to they in reported speech, but why not in this sentence?

Does this mean we includes Anna? Or are there any exceptions?

How to improve my vocabulary to be a writer [closed]

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 11:11 PM PST

My vocabulary size right now is ~10000 words and I want my vocabulary to be as big as a professional writer, I want to have the ability to manipulate words. I mean SUPERIOR vocabulary.

What was to have been done

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 09:46 AM PST

When do I use "was/were to have been done" and what's the difference between it and "should/would have been done"？

Q.E.F. stands for quod erat faciendum, that which was to have been done, translating the Greek phrase όπερ έδει ποιησαι. Again, the translation is not quite accurate: "precisely what was required to be done" is closer to the Greek. (my emphasis)

Image of text

present perfect in the since-clause [closed]

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 05:53 AM PST

The following sentences are judged unacceptable by many people, but some people, especially Brits, find b and c okay.

If they are okay, what does b mean exactly? Is c ambiguous?

a. It is over 20 years since John has died for his country.

b. It is over 20 years since John has lived in this country.

c. I've known her since I've lived in this street.

Alternatives to calling behavior "expected" or "unexpected" [closed]

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 10:03 PM PST

Sometimes, I would like to describe behavior as being "expected" or "unexpected". However, these phrases, in such contexts, carry the strong connotations of the "Social Thinking (R)" methodology created by Michelle Garcia Winner, and I want to avoid those connotations if I'm not talking about or using her methodology.

For example, I would want to talk about a kid randomly starting to dance in class; I don't want to use "inappropriate", due to its extreme connotations, and other phrases seem to have the same issues or seem out of place. Expected/unexpected would be my choice, if it didn't have such strong connotations.

What terms/phrases could I use instead?

"prepare" vs "do" vs "make": how to know when to use which in the "get something ready" sense

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 10:04 AM PST

This is probably a rather abstruse question about the usage of "prepare"; I haven't been able to find any resources that clearly demonstrate or explain the difference in distributions of the verbs involved. I can only explain the problem through example sentences.

A lot of my students in SEA are using "prepare" ALL the time when they could (should?) have used another verb. For example:

  • I have prepared two tips for you. (in a PPT on teaching tips)
  • I have prepared some coffee for us. (as in, they bought coffee and brought it with them)
  • I will prepare the copies for you. (when you need to get copies made)

These are just a few examples and as you can see, they are not always completely illogical choices of verb, but they just sound weird. The coffee example is perhaps the easiest to explain, but I often get stuck explaining the usage. As "prepare" means to do something beforehand, then students think they can use it for any activity they did before whatever event they're talking about now ... yet this isn't the case. (Or there are at least more natural-sounding ways of expressing the situation.). So when _is_the transitive verb "prepare" meaning 'get [something] ready' idiomatic?

More of ...than

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 11:04 PM PST

In the early 1950's, historians who studied preindustrial Europe (which we may define here as Europe in the period from roughly 1300 to 1800) began, for the first time in large numbers, to investigate more of the preindustrial European population than the 2 or 3 percent who comprised the political and social elite：the kings，generals, judges, nobles, bishops, and local magnates who had hitherto usually filled history books.

In the sentence above, what I do not understand is the part "to investigate more of the preindustrial European population than the 2 or 3 percent who comprised the political and social elite"; specifically, how to comprehend the "more of... than"?

what you call a person living in a safe house

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 07:07 AM PST

What would you call the person that lives in a safe house, to save them from a much worse situation, say a person seeking freedom, escaping violence. The text I am translating refers to the African Americans who were offered a place in Underground Railroad safe houses during the period of slavery in the US.

I'm looking for a generic word (not the official "freedom seekers" or similar) - something that has to do with them being "protected" (a synonym for "protectee") The sample sentence is:

The comforter on the bed has star and moon patterns... Mother didn't make it herself... it was a gift from one of her poor protectees when we arrived here. It was a gift from Mrs Dillard, as thanks for the help she'd received.

Is there something wrong with using "said (that)" in this sentence?

Posted: 03 Dec 2021 09:02 PM PST

Quick context, work as a translator.

I had a short blurb I had to translate where I basically rendered it as:

"Bob spoke about how Countryland was one of the countries that suffered greatly from the Big Bad Thing, and that he wanted to hold a photograph exhibition in Hereland."

(Names and places changed for privacy/company policy reasons)

Is there anything wrong with making it "said that Countryland..." Is it ungrammatical? If so, what would be the correct word(s) to use?

My proof reader initially changed "spoke about how" to "told that" which was ungrammatical, so I told her that, to which she responded "change it to 'said or said that' then," which I felt was wrong but could not explain why.

All the stuff I came across online explained that:

-Say is when you pronounce words, express a thought/opinion, for stating a fact, affirming something, declaring something, etc. and is also a one-way sort of action, i.e. doesn't necessarily imply there's more than one person in the situation at hand. It is also doesn't take a person as its object, not without some modifying/adding extra words.

-Tell is for giving information to somebody through speaking or writing and needs a person after it as the object. Unlike Say, it is a "two-way" sort of action, where it implies the existence of two parties conversing with each other.

-Speak is for languages and for general conversation, no specific details usually expressed.

-Talk is more or less the same as speak, but more informal.

(in)direct question after the copula

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 04:03 AM PST

I'm wondering which of the following options is correct in writing:

  1. The question is how do we improve our French.
  2. The question is, how do we improve our French?
  3. The question is: How do we improve our French?
  4. The question is how we can improve our French.

Capitalization of App

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 06:46 AM PST

I'm trying to write a promotional piece on our new app. I can't figure out how to capitalize in these two instances (not in a title). My gut tells me lowercase but other team members have been using capital A. What's the reasoning behind the correct answer?

Welcome to the new XYZ App/app. Our App/app has many new features.

"I will call you once I get free" is it correct to use?

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 03:03 AM PST

I will call you once I get free from office

Is the usage of "get" correct in this in a sentence? How to use get properly in a sentence especially with free time?

Like onomatopoeia, but visual

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 10:21 AM PST

Onomatopoeia is defined as:

The formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named (e.g. cuckoo, sizzle).

Is there a term for describing the formation of a word from a shape/image associated with what is named; and/or a word so formed?

The oldest word like that I can think of would be

delta

A triangular tract of sediment deposited at the mouth of a river, typically where it diverges into several outlets:

Origin: Mid 16th century: originally specifically as the Delta (of the River Nile), from the shape of the Greek letter

The newest I can think of would be XOXO (O and X are crude visual representations of a hug and a kiss respectively). I know it's arguably not a word, still...

Then we have words like U-turn, T-bone and V-neck, which are named after the shape of the letter (as against words like X-rays, A-team and B-boying)

Is there any term that describes words like this?

PS - If there isn't, neologisms are welcome in comments.

Tense usage with dead writers' work

Posted: 04 Dec 2021 03:07 AM PST

My friend and I discussed some books and their authors the other day. And the question arose. Is it possible to say

Do you like what he writes about?

using Present Simple, although writer did that in the past and he is already dead?
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