Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Where is the verb in this sentence? [migrated]

Posted: 19 Apr 2022 10:04 AM PDT

while the more inefficient the DC system is, so the larger the scope for interest coordination that will be available.

Thanks for all the comments! I am a new English learner. I saw this subordinate clause from a paper, I want to know if this subordinate clause is correct, because I think the subordinate clause missing a verb. any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Split long sentence in to two [closed]

Posted: 19 Apr 2022 08:22 AM PDT

Original:

I started working on a challenging classical piece that my beloved high school piano teacher selected, having competed in the Miss America system herself.


Suggested:

I started working on a challenging classical piece that my beloved high school piano teacher selected. She had competed in the Miss America system herself.

Question: Is the second one correctly substitutable to the first? If so, which is the preferred one?

Schwa in Webster dictionary

Posted: 19 Apr 2022 08:47 AM PDT

Why there are too many sounds marked by schwa in Webster's dictionary and how to recognize the correct pronunciation? E.g.:
Cup /kʌp/ in Oxford and \ˈkəp\ in Webster
Notice /ˈnəʊtɪs/ in Oxford and \ˈnō-təs\ in Webster

and there are even more examples currently I don't remember!

Is there such a thing as a website which shows a table of all English variants for an input word? [closed]

Posted: 19 Apr 2022 07:17 AM PDT

There are obviously countless different dictionaries and related kinds of websites. I know of way too many of them. But none like this:

I'm looking for something where I can link to a word, such as "flavour", or "flavor", and get a result page consisting of a table which compares this word to other English variants.

For example (and this is partially made up just to illustrate a point):

British     American    Australian  Canadian    New Zealandian  flavour     flavor      flaywah     flavóur     flavour

Is there such a thing? As a non-native English speaker, I'm constantly battling with myself as to which version of English I'm supposed to use, because none of them is "native" to me. I may be closer to England than the USA, but on the other hand, American is extremely spread world-wide, etc. I'm also generally interested in variants in the "lesser known" ones (from a global perspective).

To be clear, I don't want to have to specify the "source variant", but simply get such a table where it can be either one. This would be highly useful for me.

Is a option and a choice the same thing [closed]

Posted: 19 Apr 2022 06:48 AM PDT

Me and my coworkers have been trying to figure this out.

Does anyone know what this means? "cooking at fire of something" [closed]

Posted: 19 Apr 2022 06:20 AM PDT

So, not only snobbishness but reaction too manages to cook its broth at the fire of existentialism. This is one more reason for us to point out that the acquisition of existentialism is no Promethean deed, no theft of celestial fire, but rather the commonplace action of using the lighted cigarette of a chance passer-by to light one's own.

From Existentialism by Georg Lukács 1949

Function of preposition "of" in beginning of a clause [closed]

Posted: 19 Apr 2022 06:29 AM PDT

I came across a tweet that says...

"A moving vacuum from explosion causing implosion to separate, of dark matter traveling through and by, light faster than the speed of light. The black hole needs a metric of speed… because its volatility is consistent and measurable. All this is is an explosion in space.

Question 1: What is the function of the preposition "of" at the beginning of the clause that is highlighted above and what is it referring to?

Question 2: Is through and by a phrase in the above example?

what option is correct or better [closed]

Posted: 19 Apr 2022 05:07 AM PDT

Which structure is better:

Example 1:

Two algorithms to solve the X problem are used.  or  Two algorithms are used to solve the X problem.

I am struggling with the position of "are used". Is there any specific rule or set of rules? Any reference for me to understand better this will be very appreciated.

What does disposition mean in the given sentence?

Posted: 19 Apr 2022 04:09 AM PDT

The working papers document
The auditor's conclusions and the reasons as to why those conclusions were reached. The disposition of each audit finding identified during the audit and its related corrective action should be documented. Working papers should be completed throughout the audit.

What is the meaning of disposition of each audit finding?

These or they? What should have been used?

Posted: 19 Apr 2022 02:36 AM PDT

Working papers are the connecting link between the client's records and the audited accounts. These provide permanent historical record. These also serve as a great guide to the staff to whom the work of audit has been assigned after the previous year audit. These would come to the help of the auditor in future in case the client files a suit against the auditor's negligence.

Is these used in the above paragraph correct or should it have used they instead of these?

What is a word like 'roadmap', but without the implied order? [duplicate]

Posted: 19 Apr 2022 03:04 AM PDT

I'm looking for a word for something that is like a 'roadmap' (like you might have for a product or for a project you are delivering), but without the implied order.

We are currently organising how we think about a set of products, and we would like each product to have a 'roadmap'. However I have found that the word 'roadmap' is a bit of a loaded term, because it implies to the reader that there is a defined order to what is on the 'roadmap'. We might get to having an order to our outcomes eventually. But what do you call it when you simply have a list of outcomes you might like to achieve, but without any commitment to delivering them in a particular order, or even an indicative importance of these outcomes to inform an order?

So I'm looking for a word that is either 'roadmap' without the implied order, or just a word for a list of potential 'outcomes', which again doesn't imply any order.

What does this sentence mean - Chop chop man bun

Posted: 18 Apr 2022 11:46 PM PDT

I was watching Haikyuu dub episodes and in one episode, The coach tells Asahi (One of the player) : "Chop Chop Man bun" what does this sentence mean? I understand the Man bun part because Asahi has a Man bun. But What is Chop chop man bun?

Here is a short video for full context.

The word "new" may be an Adverb or an Adjective

Posted: 18 Apr 2022 11:07 PM PDT

I am trying to understand this sentence where the word 'new' can both be an adverb and also an adjective. Can someone please help me explain the ambiguous structure and the meaning conveyed in the below sonnet? Understandably, poets like to introduce ambiguity intentionally to convey simultaneous meanings....

So shall I live, supposing thou art true,
Like a deceived husband – so love's face
May still seem love to me, though altered new:
Thy looks with me, thy heart in other place.
(Shakespeare, W. (1977). Sonnet 93)

A good term for "Dead" God

Posted: 19 Apr 2022 08:10 AM PDT

I am doing some world building for my game, but it's not really a world building question. I wouldn't have the problem with this term in my native language, it's strictly about the limits of my English.

In my world the people worship a deity that they believe was killed in ancient times, but should be resurrected again. I am trying to coin a good term how their worship would call it. The "Dead God" doesn't have a reverent sound to it. I was thinking perhaps Deceased (seems formal, rather than religious) or Departed (not necessarily dead) God, or Slain (puts too much emphasis on the nature of killing) God.

I looked for synonyms, but couldn't find anything really fitting well. Maybe there are some archaic terms that would work well? Or maybe I am looking for some other term that would have the right tone and meaning?

Looking for a "thing" word

Posted: 18 Apr 2022 09:08 PM PDT

Looking for an all purpose word that can replace "thing" referring to a device or artifact.

"I had a USB stick, a cable and other things in my bag."

"choose anywhere to go" or "choose to go anywere" Are both phrases grammatically correct?

Posted: 19 Apr 2022 12:42 AM PDT

May I know if the following sentences are grammatically correct?

  1. Mother told me I can choose to go anywhere this holiday.

  2. Mother told me I can choose anywhere to go this holiday.

Are there any rules to where indefinite pronouns be placed in a sentence?

Thank you!

Know any Other words for stoic? [closed]

Posted: 18 Apr 2022 07:18 PM PDT

What are some word for when a person deserves more love than they revive?

Is it grammatically correct [nowadays] not to invert the NP and copula in an indirect question? [duplicate]

Posted: 19 Apr 2022 05:17 AM PDT

I don't know if this is a recent phenomenon, but for the last decade, I've noticed when English speakers make statements denoting there are/were unknowns, they usually phrase them with a question within them, but it always sounds off to me, so I'm wondering if this way of making statements is grammatically correct.

  • People say "We don't know what are the limitations of technology.", but I expect

"We don't know what the limitations of technology are."

  • People say "They want to figure out what are the variables.", but I expect

"They want to figure out what the variables are."

  • People say "The first step is knowing where is the house.", but I expect

"The first step is to know where the house is."

Is “I'm working totes” new slang?

Posted: 19 Apr 2022 10:05 AM PDT

I was reading a New York Times article about a Dollar General employee who was fired from her job in Tampa, Florida, when her TikTok videos went viral. In these videos, the retail store manager described the working conditions that she and her overworked staff had to put up with on a daily basis. Delivery trucks that would arrive, often unannounced, abandoning their huge supplies in the store's hallway, blocking aisles and shelves.

Company policy forbids employees to unpack the merchandise until Thursdays and Fridays, which means customers do not have enough room to push their carts. The store manager uses the word "totes" twice in the TikTok video.

And guess what I get to do? I'm working totes. So that way my totes are actually not sitting here on the floor in my hallway because they're supposed to be done in two days.

enter image description here

I'm pretty sure it's "totes", which Lexico says is short for "totally" as in "Do you like my new sneakers?" "Totes!" and "'this is pretty embarrassing but I was totes asleep'" Merriam-Webster says it is slang for totally, completely, and absolutely, definitely. My search also revealed that it can also be the plural form of tote bag, a type of shopping bag with long handles.

I searched Google using the string "I'm working totes" and I got three results: one from FaceBook posted 31 December, 2019, Tega Cay, SC, USA (South Carolina).

Amanda Elisabeth I'm working totes today and reminded me of old times!! Miss you both!!

and one from a subreddit called r/DollarGeneral, the following account which was posted two years ago, provides no location.

This was a couple of days ago. And it has caused me to have a bit of a mental breakdown. I find myself still needing to rant, so here's how my Saturday went. […]
11-1 [p.m.] : It's so busy. Neither one of us can work the overstock totes I pulled out. But maybe I can when the new manger i have to train comes in.
3:15~ [p.m.]: Phone call at register. I'm working totes. Cashier has it. The other one is on break. A long line happens, sure I'll help by taking cards only. Cashier randomly says they gotta call the boss. I ask why. "Oh 'night manager' called. They're quitting."

I know that totes is American English, slang, possibly from Southern United States, but what exactly does it mean? Refilling shelves? Stacking? Unpacking boxes?

Moreover, I can't grasp the origins. How is totes derived?

What does "it" in this sentence refer to?

Posted: 18 Apr 2022 11:10 PM PDT

Here's a sentence from the Hobbit by JRRT.

The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill - The Hill, as all the people for many miles around called it - and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another.

To me, it reads like it refers to the "tunnel". Also later in the same paragraph, it's obvious that the tunnel had doors on both sides.

The best rooms were all on the left-hand side (going in), for these were the only ones to have windows.

But the translations do not agree.

The Japanese translation says it's the hill.

... この山のここかしこにたくさん小さな丸いドアがあいています

The German translation says the Tunnel.

... runde Türen öffneten sich zu diesem Tunnel, zunächst auf der enen Seite und auch auf der anderen.

Some keep the pronoun, so are not helping.

(I'm no expert on any of these languages, so possibly misinterpreting).

Which is right? The doors opened out of the hill, or the tunnel?

Is "cold minded" grammatically and syntactically correct?

Posted: 19 Apr 2022 12:11 AM PDT

Will it be correct to say "a cold minded person" when describing someone who acts out of pure logic and critical analysis? How would you interpret the meaning of such a description? Is it at all correct i.e. in terms of grammar and syntax?

When did "vegetable" become "vetchtable"?

Posted: 18 Apr 2022 04:10 PM PDT

I was watching a video that referenced the "Major General Song" from The Pirates of Penzance in 1879, and I noticed that the writers clearly use vegetable as a 4-syllable word. The Wiki entry also notes that they used "gineral" to make it rhyme with "mineral," which is odd because nowadays general always rhymes with mineral (at least in my area of the U.S.), so at least one word has definitely shifted in pronunciation.

Has the pronunciation of vegetable shifted to the 3-syllable "vetchtable" after this was written, or has it always been contracted this way? Are there any sources that discuss this pronunciation?

Was "The 'F' Word" in common usage in the 1800s?

Posted: 19 Apr 2022 04:19 AM PDT

I started watching "Deadwood" a few days ago and only got a few minutes into it before I shut it off.

The reason I hit the "ejector seat" was that a character in the show used "The 'F' Word" several times within a very brief span of time.

This show is set in the 1800s. I don't know what offended me more: the use of the word, or the laziness or stupidity of the writers in putting that word in a character's mouth at that time. I believe it is somewhat of an anachronism, and that it was used by "precious few" people back then, if any.

But then I got to wondering if maybe I'm wrong. Do I think the word was scarcely if ever used just because it did not get into print (you'll never see the word used by Twain, Dickens, Howells, Harte, or any of the others from the 19th Century, AFAIK)?

Am I correct in thinking the dialogue was inaccurate/anachronistic, or am I wrong about the prevalence of that word in the 19th Century?

Omitting one of "the more"s in "the more... the more..." structure

Posted: 19 Apr 2022 10:09 AM PDT

I'd like to know if a sentence like this is grammatically correct:

The problem puzzled me the more I thought about it.

According to this answer The more...the more structure with normal clause?, there is an implied "the more":

The more I thought about it, [the more] the problem puzzled me.

But is the original sentence acceptable and grammatically correct? Thank you very much.

Present and past participles at the same time

Posted: 19 Apr 2022 01:06 AM PDT

As part of my efforts to improve my English, I'm trying to paraphrase the following statement by the founder of Wikitribune and it turns out to be such a challenging job for a non-native English speaker because it complicatedly has "present and past" participle phrases in the same sentence:

This will be the first time that professional journalists and citizen journalists will work side by side as equals writing stories as they happen, editing them as they develop and at all times backed by a community checking and rechecking all facts.

Would you find these two paraphrases I came up with grammatically correct? Could there be any better or more versions?:

  • (A) "This will be the first time that professional journalists and citizen journalists will write stories as they happen, edit them as they develop and at all times be backed by a community checking and rechecking all facts as they work side by side as equals."

  • (B) "This will be the first time that professional journalists and citizen journalists will work side by side as equals as they write stories as they happen, edit them as they develop and ARE at all times backed by a community checking and rechecking all facts."

I would really appreciate any advice, desperately seeking answers.

Impractical vs Impracticable

Posted: 19 Apr 2022 12:39 AM PDT

What is the difference between impractical and impracticable? The former is the word with which I am familiar.

The dictionary definition seems to indicate that impracticable relates to the inability to accomplish something rather than the merits of doing so. However, other grammatical references, such as Grammarist, indicate that "Impracticable is a synonym of impractical in the definition of being unfeasible or impossible to use."

Is this a matter of degrees, or is there a clear difference?

What is the origin of the expression "do me a solid"?

Posted: 19 Apr 2022 12:40 AM PDT

What is the origin of the phrase "do me a solid"?

The definition I am referring to:

do me a solid

do something for someone as an act of kindness; do someone a favor.

Example usage:

Hey Bob, can you do me a solid and help me move out of my apartment?

An attempt at googling this found really different answers ranging from Seinfeld to drug usage.

What is the origin of "daemon" with regards to computing?

Posted: 18 Apr 2022 07:52 PM PDT

Daemon has an interesting usage in computing. From my local dictionary:

a background process that handles requests for services such as print spooling and file transfers, and is dormant when not required

Does anyone know where this came from? I assume its relation to the word demon is notable. My dictionary also lists daemon as an archaic form of demon. Why did computing use daemon instead of demon?

Up or down a notch?

Posted: 19 Apr 2022 12:47 AM PDT

(I apologize for the silly question ahead)

I've lost some weight recently, and I was able, for the first time today, to close my belt buckle using a notch higher than usual...

For the life of me I can't figure out if I "went up a notch" or "down a notch"?

Is this phrase even applicable for an actual belt?
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