Sunday, March 20, 2022

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

the meaning of "yet" in the quote

Posted: 20 Mar 2022 08:52 AM PDT

Could you please explain "yet" at the end of the following quote?

　"Perhaps the mystery is a little too plain," said Dupin.
"Oh, good heavens! who ever heard of such an idea?"
"A little too self-evident."
"Ha! ha! ha!--ha! ha! ha!--ho! ho! ho!" roared our visitor, profoundly amused, "Oh, Dupin, you will be the death of me yet!"
E. A. Poe, "The Purloined Letter"

Is there any difference between a simple "you will be the death of me" and "you will be the death of me yet"? I appreciate your help very much.

Colloquial name for the airport-like fences (pictures attached)

Posted: 20 Mar 2022 08:55 AM PDT

What is the colloquial name of this type fences? Tape fences?

Internet suggested "retractable belt stanchion set" and "airport fence", but they aren't used only in airports and "retractable belt stanchion set" sounds like a tongue twister, so what do you call them? I'm looking for something more specific than just "fence". Looking up "security fence", it shows solid fences, which is also not what I need.

Sentence example:

  • She jumped over the ______ and ran up to the celebrity.

  • She jumped over the tape fence and ran up to the celebrity.

Does this make sense? As in, would this make you think of the kind of fence shown in the pictures?

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What is the term for the 'bastardisation' of common phrases and idioms?

Posted: 20 Mar 2022 08:19 AM PDT

Recently, I have been analysing lyrics to songs. Frequently, the writer inverts and 'bastardises' common phrases and idioms to play off of the established meaning.

I have been using the term 'bastardise' as a stand-in, as well as 'mincing' as they come close to what I am looking for.

However, I am not really familiar with grammatical techniques and would much prefer to have the correct terminology.

Some examples of this are :

It takes a village to fake a whole culture

Which uses the proverb 'it takes a village (to raise a child)' and places culture in the place of a child, for negative effect.

A participation trophy wife

Which takes 'participation trophy' and 'trophy wife' together.

Like freaks of nurture

Which combines 'freaks of nature' with 'nature vs nurture'.

There are probably better examples but these are some I have seen recently, Will Wood, 'The Normal Album', (2020).

Additionally, if anyone knows the term for when a rhyming word is implied by the context of the sentence but omitted because the word is inappropriate, that would be helpful.

Some examples of this are :

Come on, Dad
Gimme the car
Come on, Dad
I ain't no runt
Come on girl
Gimme your, ....

Violent Femmes, 'Gimme the car' (1983), where the implied word is a slur for female genitalia.

As when you cut a worm in half
It still goes on without its head,
I still go on without my heart,
It's just I wish that we were,....

AlicebanD, 'Worms' (2011), where the implied word is 'Dead'.

What does honey hustler means?

Posted: 20 Mar 2022 07:56 AM PDT

Hi I am not native english speaker. I just wanna know what does mean when girl says about herself she is honey hustler. Especialy when she is like postitute or former prn actress. Thank you for your answers.

Is the verb "to see" a metaphor?

Posted: 20 Mar 2022 07:09 AM PDT

For example, when one thinks an argument is invalid, one can say "I see this argument as invalid". Nevertheless, I always thought a metaphor requires, at minimum, requires two object/ideas; that is, a transfer of qualities from one object/idea to another object/idea. As in the metaphor "John is my sunshine," the qualities of sunshine are transferred to the subject "John".
However the verb "to see", taken alone, does not appear to be a metaphor.

Type of Fallacy / Saying that describes a situation where a projects characteristics are presented as the best, while there are better alternatives

Posted: 20 Mar 2022 07:03 AM PDT

I'm writing a paper on the expansion of an airport vs the local well-being. I am looking for nice wording / a saying that describes this situation. An airport wants to expand really bad so it states that the expansion is a good job employement project. However, it is not the most efficient / best way to create jobs.

After all, the expansion of Schiphol is often presented as an employment project, but one could question if an expansion of an airport, with impact over such fast terrains of society, is the ideal way of creating jobs.

And after that I would like a nice english saying. Something like fitting the purpose to a jacket instead of the jacket to a purpose comes to mind, but I'm a native Dutch speaker so the thing that comes to mind could also be a dutch saying ;)

Thanks in advance!

Grammatical number, 4 channel sound system [closed]

Posted: 20 Mar 2022 01:38 AM PDT

Why do people say "four-star daydream" and not "four-stars daydream" or "quadraphonic four-channel system" and not "quadraphonic "four-channels system". And then, when it comes to money, why does it go to plural as in "I have a 100 "dollars" worth of food in my fridge" Also, can a sixteen wheeller be called a sixten wheeled motorvehicle?

Crenellated or Castellated

Posted: 20 Mar 2022 02:59 AM PDT

I read an article today. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-60767454 It used the word "crenellated". I thought I knew the word "castellated", but I'm getting more confused.

The best explanation I can muster with Google search, with minimal effort I must admit, is the follows. https://wikidiff.com/crenellated/castellated

Crenellated

Adjective Having turrets or battlements, like a castle.

  • 2004 , , Picador, paperback edition, page 2 Finally he walked slowly into a vast Italian space, with towers and castellated roofs, and a sky the colour of dark blue ink, smooth and consistent. (obsolete) Enclosed within a building. a fountain or cistern castellated (Johnson)

Derived terms

  • castellated nut

Related terms

  • castle * castellation

Castellated

Alternative forms

  • crenelated

Verb (crenellate)

Adjective (en adjective) Having crenellations or battlements Having a series of square indentations

Quotations

  • 2001 — , Artemis Fowl , p 52 *: She could see the town below her, nestled on top of a low hill, surrounded by a crenellated wall from the Middle Ages.

I am still confused. Would you please help me to understand the similarities and the differences among "crenellated" and "castellated"? Many thanks.

Go doing or Go to do something [closed]

Posted: 20 Mar 2022 12:39 AM PDT

Is there a difference between

"I am going cycling."

and

"I am going to cycle."

Assuming that I'm at home right now and I'm informing everyone here that I'm leaving the house to do some cycling.

Further,

"I'm going playing" or "I'm going to play"

"I'm going bathing" or "I'm going to bathe"

This has been confusing me for quite a lot of time.

Is this different in British and American English?

Comma, new sentence or semi-colon? Linking a statement with its justification/reason

Posted: 20 Mar 2022 08:04 AM PDT

I need to edit this sentence of the form "[statement about an object], [explanation as to why the statement holds]", but there is no language that links the two clauses, like a "this is due to [...]". For example,

"There is dark cat hair all over my sofa, the cat is allowed on the sofa now."

To me, a comma seems inappropriate here. There should either be a full stop in place of the comma, or a semi-colon, or the addition of "because", "this is due to the fact that", etc.

Any thoughts?

Should I use a comma or semicolon to separate the items in this sentence

Posted: 20 Mar 2022 02:04 AM PDT

We have planned to modify the product mobile phone and address the following sustainable development goals: Responsible Consumption and Production, Good Health and Well Being.

or

We have planned to modify the product mobile phone and address the following sustainable development goals: Responsible Consumption and Production; Good Health and Well Being.

Which one of the above is correct?

Long Stem Roses or Long Stemmed Roses?

Posted: 20 Mar 2022 08:54 AM PDT

On gardeningknowhow.com I read:

What is a Long Stem Rose?

When we refer to long stemmed roses, we are typically speaking of Hybrid Tea roses...etc.

I'm not sure if this is a language question or a horticulture question, or maybe both. Are both terms, "Long Stem Rose" and "Long Stemmed Rose" correct, and if so, are they synonymous?

Is there a classification for adjectives that are hard to be used negatively?

Posted: 20 Mar 2022 09:15 AM PDT

I came across this interesting excerpt from the autobiography of the author of the Dynamic Programming method:

"[the word dynamic] has a very interesting property as an adjective, and that is it's impossible to use the word dynamic in a pejorative sense. [...] Thus, I thought dynamic programming was a good name. It was something not even a Congressman could object to." - Richard Bellman

And I wondered if there is a linguistic way to formalize such concept and if I could find a small list of such adjectives.

I don't believe it's really impossible to use it in a pejorative sense: "the legislation on this topic is too dynamic". But it's a scenario that I had to search a subject that is specifically meant to not be dynamic, so the "pejorativeness" comes from the antithesis. Adjectives like "fast" and "strong" can still be used pejoratively on objects that are meant to be somewhat fast or strong, like a car going too fast or a pepper that is too strong.

EDIT: I guess something that is normally dynamic can be too dynamic too. "The variables in this chaotic system are too dynamic" or something like it. So maybe only affordance adjectives are really in this category?

I believe "agile" is another of such adjectives, and to use it negatively hard because it's about the ability to be quick. I wonder if such affordance adjectives are consistently positive adjectives.

Does this make sense as a definition?

usage of the word "and"?

Posted: 19 Mar 2022 08:03 PM PDT

When one presents himself in a resume, should it be written:

"Conscientious, determined and passionate person."

or:

"Conscientious, determined, passionate person."

or are those interchangeable?

Specific word for social app user?

Posted: 20 Mar 2022 03:01 AM PDT

I am looking for a specific word to describe people who are active on social media apps: FB, Whatsapp, etc.

The nearest word that I found while searching online is netizen. Cambridge Dictionary describes it as:

a person who uses the internet

But, it does not fit the idea I want to represent:

______ are human beings without four limbs. They demand and demand, but can't act in real life.

Which adjective best describes a person who seeks complex ways of solving a simple problem?

Posted: 20 Mar 2022 09:04 AM PDT

What adjective would best describe someone who seeks complex solutions to simple problems? For example, one who would design the tree-swing in any other of the ways described below except the last one.

Tree-swing problem

What does "peak and pine" mean in this ballad?

Posted: 19 Mar 2022 09:11 PM PDT

From scoutsongs.com Oh, My Darling Clementine

In a cavern, In a canyon, Excavating for a mine,

Dwelt a miner, forty-niner, And his daughter Clementine.

[...]

Drove she ducklings to the water, Every morning just at nine;

Hit her foot against a splinter, Fell into the foaming brine.

[Clementine dies]

When the miner forty-niner, Soon began to peak and pine,

Thought he oughter "jine" his daughter, Now he's with his Clementine.

What is meant by "peak and pine"?

How did the word "copacetic" come into use?

Posted: 20 Mar 2022 05:48 AM PDT

I once heard the late John Ciardi (NPR's "A Word in Your Ear") try to explain that the 1920s idiom, "copacetic" (meaning completely satisfactory), entered into the African-American vocabulary in Harlem from the days when Jews and African Americans lived there together. He argued that copacetic has the same meaning as the Israeli idiom "kol b'seder" which literally means "all is in order." The problem with that, said my Harlem-raised father-in-law, is that the Jews in Harlem spoke Yiddish and kol b'seder was not used in Yiddish. The dictionary I've got is not helpful. Can someone come up with a better explanation?
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