Sunday, January 16, 2022

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Does 10+ include 10?

Posted: 16 Jan 2022 06:44 AM PST

If you look on the internet it says 10+ does not include 10 but if you look at Wikipedia it says it does include 10? Which one is correct?

What does "I was the queen of almost" mean?

Posted: 16 Jan 2022 06:21 AM PST

I was reading something and I came across "I was the queen of almost" and I really don't know what that means. I search the entire Google but still couldn't find anything. If you know something, please let me know!

Terry/Gina "testes" double entendree

Posted: 16 Jan 2022 06:07 AM PST

On a series (Brooklyn 99 S2E2 beginning), one character announces their decision to get a vasectomy, and lets the others have fun at him. One such response is "No need to be so testes". I understand the connection to the issue at hand (testicles), but I don't understand the other part of the double entendree, can you explain it for me?

meaning of "tapped on the shoulder"

Posted: 16 Jan 2022 05:06 AM PST

I am new on this page, so I will firstly introduce myself: I am a native French and I do work as a translator in the Legal field, and Literature (mainly fantasy)

I need an explanation for 'tapped on the shoulder'; here is the context: 'As for full-time appointments, the frank stories indicated how small the old-boy network had been. All but one of the senior judges and some veteran district and circuit judges had been "tapped on the shoulder" for their full-time job.'

From my point of view, it means that they have been recommended by some people, like when you apply for a job along with several others, but it's already attributed to someone else (like the son of a director, etc.).

I might be wrong. Would you mind explaining this idiom?

What type of speech is "In person"? [migrated]

Posted: 16 Jan 2022 04:22 AM PST

What type of speech would the phrase: "In person" be part of the English Language?

Fondness and Caring, what is the difference? [closed]

Posted: 16 Jan 2022 03:52 AM PST

As nouns these words have a similar meaning. However, to my mind "fondness" is a bit milder than "caring", the latter I think is more affectionate/intense.

Is there a clear nuance between these two for native speakers?

Using present/present perfect tense in a sentence

Posted: 16 Jan 2022 02:59 AM PST

In the below sentence

Madam Lina visits her son, who is studying in Turkey, every year. However, this year she misses her chance to visit as she has been hospitalized.

In the above sentence, should the word "misses" be replaced with "has missed" because the sentence is in present perfect? Thank you.

Uncountable noun becoming countable

Posted: 16 Jan 2022 04:24 AM PST

Can a word like violence, which is an uncountable noun, be made countable? For example, there are different types of violence such as physical violence, emotional violence, etc. In this instance, would violence be countable?

The phrase "deja vu" [closed]

Posted: 16 Jan 2022 01:17 AM PST

Recently I've heard a phrase "deja vu", and it seems to be a loanword.

What language does it come from? What does it mean? Can anyone give me an example?

What's the longest word in English? [duplicate]

Posted: 16 Jan 2022 12:29 AM PST

Can anyone tell me what's the longest word in English? How many characters does the word have? What does it mean?

We Asian vs We Asians vs We the Asians [closed]

Posted: 16 Jan 2022 01:16 AM PST

Should we say "We Asian", "We Asians", or "We the Asians"? How do they sound to English speaking people? And which one is correct? I want to create a Youtube channel and need to decide its name. We want to upload videos of Asian related topics, but at the same time we don't want to give bad expression to non-Asian people.

so vs and so difference

Posted: 16 Jan 2022 12:00 AM PST

He was ill and so he was rejected.
He was ill so he was rejected.
Which of the above sentence is correct?

So and And so mean the same. kindly clarify.

Greek and Latin roots in English [closed]

Posted: 15 Jan 2022 10:47 PM PST

There are many Greek and Latin roots in English, such as geo, micro, or auto. Can anyone give me the list of Greek and Latin roots? And why are they important?

Why use the definite article before the nouns that are mentioned for the first time?

Posted: 16 Jan 2022 12:20 AM PST

In the Wikipedia article on Cloakroom there is the following paragraph:

Attended cloakrooms, or coat checks, are staffed rooms where coats and bags can be stored securely. Typically, a ticket or receipt is given to the customer, with a corresponding ticket attached to the garment or item.

I am trying to figure out why it uses "the customer" and "the garment or item", instead of "a customer" and "a garment or item". These nouns were not introduced before so we don't actually know them to use the definite article.

Could anyone explain that, please?

Thanks!

A most or The most empty of affairs? [closed]

Posted: 15 Jan 2022 07:15 PM PST

When talking about a boring funeral, for example, can I say it was "a most empty of affairs", or "the most empty of affairs"?

'The punch of keys' or 'the punches of keys'?

Posted: 15 Jan 2022 10:35 PM PST

No need to delay
The punch of keys
That crunch of ease
As if the screen didn't freeze

This is a poem I'm writing. I need punch to go with crunch. The problem is, it probably has to be 'the punches of keys' (meaning, the keys when you type on a keyboard)

Can the punch of keys be considered grammatically correct? As in, the concept of punching in keys can be known as 'the punch' of keys.

How do you describe the person an adulterer had his/her affair with?

Posted: 16 Jan 2022 06:51 AM PST

I'm wondering if there's a proper term to describe the partner with whom someone cheats.

I am not married. I had an affair with Caitlin who is married (it was one time and it didn't mean anything). Caitlin is an adulterer/adulteress but what would that make me?

"I don't think it's fair for me to be forever branded a ____."

At a good price or for a good price [migrated]

Posted: 16 Jan 2022 01:16 AM PST

I have a doubt about whether you should say

  • "I will sell you these goods for a great price" or
  • " I will sell you these goods at a great price"

When do you use at and when do you use for?

Is it possible to use "offside" or "the offside" in a general sense, outside of the common sporting context? [closed]

Posted: 16 Jan 2022 12:20 AM PST

Can offside be used in a more generic way, outside of the common sporting context, e.g. as a synonym for aside ? according to colllinsdictionary, it is only used in the specific contexts of sport and traffic. According to LEO, however, it can be used in a much more generic way.

sustaining narrative

Posted: 16 Jan 2022 12:54 AM PST

What is the meaning of 'sustaining narrative' in this text? Does it mean 'the narrative that we have had for a long time', 'the narrative that is entrenched for us'? I know the meaning of narrative and sustaining, but it seems this is a jargon in humanities and social sciences, if I am not wrong. Also, I have seen 'suitability narrative' which I think is something else.

"Every culture, every society, clings to a myth by which it lives. Ours is the myth of growth. For as long as the economy continues to expand, we feel assured that life is getting better. We believe that we are progressing – not just as individuals but as a society. We convince ourselves that the world tomorrow will be a brighter, shinier place for our children and for their children. When the opposite happens, disillusionment beckons. Collapse threatens our stability. Darkness looms on the horizon. And these demons – real as they may be in an economy dependent so entirely on growth – are rendered even more powerful by the loss of faith in our core sustaining narrative. The myth of growth." (Excerpt From Post Growth Jackson, Tim)

What does having a hat "on three hairs" mean, and where does that expression come from?

Posted: 16 Jan 2022 12:21 AM PST

In my reading I came across this description:

His old red coat was sponged and pressed, his whiskers shone with pomade, his cap was on three hairs, his cane under his arm, and his monocle in his eye. [emphasis my own]
(Fraser, George Macdonald. Flashman on the March (pp. 261-262). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.)

The fictional character was intended to be from 1868.

I went looking, and while I was able to find other instances I was unable to find an explanation of its meaning or any notion of how that supposedly arose.

My first thought was that it might be exclusively an English idiom, Fraser having been an Anglo-Scottish writer, but then I came across this description in an article titled "That Eccentric Englishman" in The American Magazine, vol. 25, c. 1888:

text of "on three hairs" from The American Magazine

That this is "The American Magazine" lampooning an Englishman, it would seem that the idiom was current in American English of the time, at least among some literate Americans. (WikiSource has excerpts from English as we speak it in Ireland from the period, which include "A great dandy wears his hat on three hairs of his head", further muddying the waters.)

Illustration from the same magazine

The illustration that accompanies the article shows a man with a hat firmly planted on his head, and while illustrations don't always conform to the text, either way it does not suggest anything about the "three hairs" trope.

So ... does anybody have a clue as to what having one's hat "on three hairs" might have meant, or how that expression came to be?

Why is semibreve commonly pronounced as ˈsɛm iˌbriv?

Posted: 16 Jan 2022 12:32 AM PST

I am seeing this on some dictionary sites: / ˈsɛm iˌbriv, -ˌbrɛv /

But, I've only heard it (in Anglophone musical contexts) as ˈsɛm iˌbriv.

I wasn't aware about a cafe breve until yesterday. This appears to be a US invention, given an Italian name, which got me to wondering about why we pronounce semibreve as we do.

Given that the semibreve came earlier, from semibrevis, I'd expect that to have been preserved closer to the original pronunciation.

Is this an expected change in pronunciation coming from Latin to British English?

“Only use” vs “use only”

Posted: 16 Jan 2022 06:07 AM PST

Would one say they "typically only use public transportation" or "typically use only public transportation" inverting the order ?

This is to settle an argument between my friends.

Dialectal variation in subtleties of usage of the word "sore"

Posted: 16 Jan 2022 06:01 AM PST

I grew up in southern England, and now live in Scotland. There are many interesting and well-known quirks of usage that differ between Southern English English and the various Scottish dialects and Scots, but one that I've never heard discussed, and one that is so subtle that I can't quite put my finger on it, is usage of the adjective sore.

In Scotland, sore is pretty much synonymous, and interchangeable, with painful. The OED definition seems to agree, and I get the impression that American usage matches this.

But when I moved to Scotland, I found that some standard Scots usages of sore seemed slightly jarring to me. In my idiolect growing up, some things could be sore:

  • Grazes, cuts and burns are sore.

I'm sore all over from staying out too long in the sun. (This is an unlikely situation to occur in Scotland.)

  • Aching muscles are sore.

I'm still sore from yesterday's workout.

  • There are fixed expressions sore head, sore belly̧, sore loser which are always acceptable.

However, other usages, typical in Scotland, seem subtly off, or at least non-idiomatic, to me.

  • [on seeing someone being punched in the face, or falling over] That looks sore! where my idiolect would have had That looks painful
  • The bruise on my arm is sore where I'd have The bruise on my arm is tender

I can't quite put my finger on the rules for sore in my native idiolect. I thought maybe it was related to the location of the pain (on the skin rather than internal), but I wouldn't have described a bruise as sore. Maybe it's related to the origin or severity of the pain, but I'm really not sure.

I can't find any evidence online to support the restricted usage of sore in my native idiolect. Does anyone else recognise this or know anything about it?

Is there a single word for "Parts of Speech"?

Posted: 16 Jan 2022 01:03 AM PST

Is there a word that refers to the different forms of a word, or a word's following four parts of speech—verb, adverb, noun, adjective?

For example:

confuse verb
confusedly adverb
confusion noun
confused, confusing, & confusable adjective

What word should be inserted if I wanted to say:
"I'm looking for all the [forms/parts of speech] of confuse."
or
"I want to use a [form/part of speech] of startle that is not in the dictionary; bestartlement, for example."

I think the answer to my question might be here Word form dictionary/system/tool, but I couldn't understand the descriptions of Inflection and Conjugation well enough to be certain that either is the word I am looking for.

EDIT:
After reading through the links on declensions and derivational morphology provided by Benjamin Harman and John Lawler respectively, I agree with Lawler that declensions are not what I am talking about. I think I want to refer to the set of any given content word's semantically associated parts of speech, i.e. all the various derivational morpheme altered forms of a given content word (and sometimes to just one of a content word's corresponding forms in a different lexical category).
All these terms are new to me, so I apologize if I used any of them incorrectly.

If x....could happen

Posted: 16 Jan 2022 05:02 AM PST

I have a question regarding "if" conditionals with could.

  • If they see us, they could kill us.

  • If they see us, we could start something between us.

In these, "could" means "might", the person only stating that if the condition is fulfilled, there is a possibility but not a guarantee that the statement in the main clause will also be realised.

How about:

  • I might go to the party if my mom lets me.

  • I could go to the party if my mom lets me.

Do these also convey a possibility, and not a guarantee (if the conditional becomes true)?

Do readers pay attention to British vs. American pronunciation when enjoying poetry?

Posted: 15 Jan 2022 09:00 PM PST

Do native poetry enthusiast pay attention to British vs. American pronunciation when enjoying poetry?

As I understand, there could be differences in rhythm and rhyme depending on the given accent, which could affect the "exterior quality" of a piece of poetry. The question came to me in connection with poetry translation to English, but I would generally find it interesting to know whether native speakers actually consider the nationality of the poet before reading his/her works, or find it irrelevant.

(I mean, I'm not sure I would want to listen to a Robert Burns poem in an Australian accent :D )

Appositives in the sentence

Posted: 16 Jan 2022 02:08 AM PST

Where is the appositive in this sentence?

Each bottle had its own tight seal cork and wire.

Where did the term "Your Obedient Servant" originate?

Posted: 15 Jan 2022 08:39 PM PST

In political letters throughout history, the closing "Your Obedient Servant" appears many times (For example, president Lincoln uses it in all of his letters). Where and how did this phrase originate and how did its usage develop?

"Carbine" rifle | is there pronunciation demographic data?

Posted: 16 Jan 2022 05:14 AM PST

Let me count the ways:

  1. Car-bine (like: dine, refine, canine.)
  2. Car-bean (like: green bean, ravine, serpentine.)
  3. CAR-buhn (like: ..like the right and proper way to pronounce the scotch 'Oban'.)

As I understand it, the British all but universally use the first pronunciation.

The second is supported partially in the U.S. by not only countless old Western movies that 'document' our historic ways and dialects, but also the more astute fact that the word originated as the French "carabine" (pronounced: Cara-bean).

I'd love to see a graphic of North American pronunciation; as I suppose most everywhere else English speaking commonwealth people predominately inherit the Anglicized British form.
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