Thursday, May 19, 2022

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Word for amount of undesirable things

Posted: 19 May 2022 04:00 AM PDT

I'm trying to find a short word for the amount (actually, a count) of undesirable things, up to some limit if we get into detail, and usable to name a function (in the sense that has in math). A definition will be given, thus the word does not need to convey detail beyond undesirable. So far my best candidate is slack. Usage could be

  • this method leaves more slack than this other one.
  • the slack up to 1000 for this device is 42
  • the slack of a device is defined as the function that given X, returns it's slack up to X.

The word should be recognizable by an educated international audience with English as a second language. It's OK if the word is familiar, as long as it's universally safe for work.

What about slack versus leeway or hickup ? Anything better?

Is there any difference between "nexus" and "locus"?

Posted: 19 May 2022 03:34 AM PDT

As the question implies, I'm interested in only the semantical aspects of the two words I've listed. I've looked up these two words on some online dictionaries. After some searching, I've noticed that the third definition of nexus and the first/second definition of locus are nearly identical in meaning.

Cambridge Dictionary lists the definition of nexus as "an important connection between the parts of a system or a group of things" Whereas locus is defined by the same online dictionary as "the place where something happens or the central area of interest in something being discussed:" Here are some examples to expound my point:

Example 1: For us, the island had become the locus of the struggle.

Times Square is the nexus of the New York subway.

Example 2: The real nexus of the money culture was Wall Street.

The community is a locus of healing, not the hospital or the clinic.

In the two previous examples, my brain's understanding of these two words has led me to perceive them as sharing the definition of "a place or locality as the cause or source of great activity".

"offline"meeting? [closed]

Posted: 19 May 2022 12:10 AM PDT

I am writing an email to a potential PhD supervisor and want to ask if he can meet with me to discuss details. I will be in the city where he works and want if he wants, we can meet "offline"

Do you have any time to Skype so we can talk about your work? I will be in the city, and we can meet offline as well.

I am sure there is another word "offline meeting". Meet in person?

What is the subtle difference between the words "hallmark" and "trappings"?

Posted: 19 May 2022 01:28 AM PDT

I've scoured nearly every dictionary website to try and extrapolate the linguistical difference between the two aforementioned words listed in the question. However, with each and every search, I've noticed that these words have a similar quality to them, which makes it nearly inscrutable for me to make the distinction. I've been racking my brains for weeks trying to understand the demarcation that separates "hallmark" from "trappings".

According to Cambridge Dictionary, trappings is defined as "all the things that are part of or typical of a particular job, situation, or event:", whereas hallmark is defined as "a typical characteristic or feature of a person or thing" Here are some examples to elucidate my point:

Example 1: She enjoyed all the trappings of success/wealth.
The murder bore all the hallmarks of a serial killer's work.
Example 2: He had all the hallmarks of a great baseball player.
The president's trip had all the trappings of a state visit.

In the two foregoing examples, my brain thinks the terms hallmark and trappings are similar in the sense that "someone or something has certain characteristics or features that cause people to perceive them as being part of a certain class or status."

What does this "be failing" mean? [migrated]

Posted: 18 May 2022 08:42 PM PDT

This is from TOEFL speaking TPO3:

In my first year in high school, I was addicted to video games. I played them all the time, and I wasn't studying enough. I was failing chemistry. That was my hardest class.

It doesn't make sense to me why it is "was failing." I mean if I took the exam and failed it, it should just be "I failed chemistry." Or does it mean I wasn't doing well in chemistry and probably going to fail it in the exam that hadn't come yet?

What does the phrase "Shop the edit" mean?

Posted: 18 May 2022 06:24 PM PDT

I have seen this phrase used in several fashion ads and on clothing sites (mostly women's). I am assuming it is AME, but I do not know. Here are some sites that I see the phrase being used:

Perhaps "edit" means "edition"? I have no idea. Fashionistas, answer my call! :)

Idiom for gift or gesture that isn't good enough

Posted: 19 May 2022 02:21 AM PDT

I'm looking for a term used when a gift/gesture/allowance of some sort isn't anywhere near good enough, and was done largely for the sake of appearance. Often used in a political context.

For example, a group is saying that the education system is in desperate need of more funding. The political party budgets several million dollars for school so that they can look good on paper, but anyone who actually does the math can see that once you divide the money up between all the schools, it's barely enough to buy one new library book per school.

It's something in roughly the same vein as "a band-aid solution", but it carries with it the implication that the giver is only doing it for the sake of appearances, and the receiver is offended by such a paltry offering.

What are some alternative words/phrases for Wargame/Wargaming?

Posted: 18 May 2022 08:16 PM PDT

I am pursuing a doctoral research and because of lack of data in my specific domain, I want to use war-gaming as a methodology. However my advisor won't be very comfortable with the military connotations of the word "Wargame". "Simulation" is too computer-ish and doesn't wholly capture what I want to do.

What are my other options?

Example sentence: Because of lack of data, the methodology used in this study was to wargame crises scenarios along with......

"Which" Relative Clause--"Which", "Of Which", or what?

Posted: 18 May 2022 10:06 PM PDT

I'm struggling with a relative 'which' clause right now; I'm hoping to structure it a certain way, but while I feel like I've read it that way before, I'm just not sure if it's correct and I can't find any examples of that construction. Here's the sentence in question (and the clause in bold):

I do not observe any supposed distinction between the soul and the mind, the latter which I consider little more than a reductive account of the former.

My goal is to communicate this without constructing an independent clause:

I do not observe any supposed distinction between the soul and the mind; I consider the latter little more than a reductive account of the former.

The real snag is that I would use something like,

I do not observe any supposed distinction between the soul and the mind, which I consider little more than a reductive account of the former.

but I'm not fond of using 'the former' without clarifying the subject of the relative clause with 'the latter' (the way I read it, 'which' could, in the above version, refer to 'any supposed distinction').

How, if at all, should I revise the first version of my sentence?

Would something like,

I do not observe any supposed distinction between the soul and the mind, the latter of which I consider little more than a reductive account of the former.

be correct?

What is the difference among expressions of "classify something as"

Posted: 19 May 2022 02:04 AM PDT

What is the difference among expressions of "classify something as"

  1. classify something as A or B
  2. classify something as A and B
  3. classify something as either A or B
  4. classify something into A and B

Capitalization of "Gothic" as a genre descriptor

Posted: 18 May 2022 10:09 PM PDT

In the context of genres such as Gothic literature and Gothic music should "Gothic" be capitalized? Although names of genres are generally not capitalized, these happen to share the name of a historic ethnic group. My confusion comes from the fact that these genres have essentially no connection to the Gothic people, so should they still retain the capitalization given to names of ethnic groups?

Phrase, idiom, expression suited for putting one's own requirement saying that it is instruction coming from someone else

Posted: 19 May 2022 01:00 AM PDT

Context

My boss one day called me in his office and said that now i have to include tasks 3,5,6 to complete the entire assignment. Traditionally, the usual sequence of task was from 1 through 10, but management had stopped 3,5 and 6 many years ago.

The boss said it is management that has instructed this, but he does not know that i am among the panel to make amendments to the procedure if anything is pushed for a change. Thus this is his own quirkiness that he wants to impose this additional requirement in the name of management (without their approval). So I want to know what is the phrase, idiom, expression suited for putting his own requirement in saying that it is management's instruction.

I feel this would count as duplicate, but I tried searching for this and really couldn't ascertain whether alternative word like name dropping completes my requirement particularly (it could but i have no way to ascertain). So it stands to verify with expert crowd's responses.

"Have you got familiar with new working environment?" Which tense should I use in this sentence?

Posted: 19 May 2022 03:35 AM PDT

I have been confused by the use of some tenses. Especially when I have to use a state verb.

In the sentence above, can I use the simple present or past tense? Like:

  • Do you get familiar with new working environment?
  • Did you get familiar with new working environment?

Does it have the same meaning?

"Calling a spade a spade": synonymous expressions?

Posted: 19 May 2022 01:33 AM PDT

I'm looking for expressions that are equivalent to

"calling a spade a spade."

In some environments and verbal contexts, this phrase needs to be avoided -- please take my word for it.

Thank you.

UPDATE

I shouldn't have used the gerund in my question. Where I need to use this sort of expression is in a discussion I'm losing patience with, and I want to say, effectively, let's not pussyfoot around with euphemisms. @Tushar Raj's I'm going to tell it like it is, and @undergroundmonorail's Let's not mince words here, both work quite well. Thank you all.

In response to @Pharap,

Do you have evidence that someone has taken offence at this before or is this merely preemptive?

I want to avoid problems. I live in a small town where everybody has their sensitivities. I was once in a hiring committee where a person objected to someone calling one of the candidates a "dark horse." I believe I read that some town in California decided not to use the term "manhole covers" any more because of the "man" syllable.

--

screenshot
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)