Sunday, July 17, 2022

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

What's the meaning of this phrase in the chapter "The Last Lesson" written by Alphonse Daudet

Posted: 17 Jul 2022 03:37 AM PDT

I was reading "The Last Lesson" written by Alphonse Daudet.

In the following para:

Once some beetles flew in; but nobody paid any attention to them, not even the littlest ones who worked right on tracing their fish-hooks as if that was French, too.

Here I didn't understood the meaning of the line "who worked right on tracing their fish-hooks as if that was French, too".

Can anyone explain this to me? English is not my native language.

Possible missed verb in the sentence

Posted: 16 Jul 2022 09:52 PM PDT

I wonder if the word "credibility" highlighted in bold below should follow a verb like "lended" or "gave".

My understanding of the sentence as it is is that researchers should "attend to credibility to experienced clinicians", which doesn't make a lot of sense.

Here is the original text extracted from The Art and Science of Psychotherapy.

It suggests that RCTs could be used in far more effective ways if researchers attended to aspects of experimental design and credibility to experienced clinicians such as using scientifically appropriate control conditions (most importantly, clinicians in the community attempting to do their best work) and patient samples resembling those seen in the community seeking treatment for the kinds of problems that lead most patients to present for treatment.

Compares and contrasts data [closed]

Posted: 16 Jul 2022 10:29 PM PDT

This a question about the IELTS Writing task 1 where candidates have to write a short description based on information presented in a chart, diagram or histogram.

Can I write " The diagram compares and contrasts data on the proportion of....."? For example:

"The bar chart compares and contrasts data on the proportion of males and females working in agricultural sector over a three-year period from 2004 to 2006"

Thank you for your help!

Is the letter u silent in draught?

Posted: 17 Jul 2022 02:08 AM PDT

I know that this word is pronounced as /dra:ft/ but do we consider the u to be silent? I have heard of 2 rules for silent u

1-when u comes after g

2-when u comes before a vowel

but none of them apply to this word, can someone clarify it for me?

Grammar and use of 'as we know it'

Posted: 16 Jul 2022 07:51 PM PDT

In my understanding, 'as we know it' usually follows a noun phrase and means like

  • The building as we know it = the version/condition of the building we know now.

First, I'm not sure about its grammar.

  • Is the 'as' a conjunction?
  • Is it correct to think that 'it' changes to 'them'? E.g., the buildings as we know them

Second, a question about its use.

  • Is it possible to use when the preceding noun is a pronoun? If yes, what should the 'it' be changed to?

I feel Tom as I knew him ten years ago will be understood. I'm not sure about He as I knew him, and even less sure about the case of second person pronoun. For example, if I want to say 'You have change a lot', is it possible to say like You are so different from you as I knew you?

I guess a more usual way to express the last sentence above would be You are so different from the person I knew you were. If this works, what happens if I'm talking to plural you? Making person plural (...from the people I knew you were) looks a bit strange to me.

What does it mean for something to be "evil intreated"? [closed]

Posted: 17 Jul 2022 01:40 AM PDT

The following line from an old translation of John Chrysostom's Homily 14 on Romans is rather perplexing:

It [creation] was evil intreated for your sake, and became corruptible; yet it has had no wrong done it.

What is meant by "was evil intreated"? I can't find any definitions of "intreat" or "entreat" that would fit here.

What is the use of using "-" between two words? [migrated]

Posted: 16 Jul 2022 01:50 PM PDT

If there are two words, is it possible to just use "-" between them? Or Is there a strict rule?


"I am trying to make use of the English - language."
"He has that small-town vibe."
"I am self-motivated."

Where can I find a good source regarding my question?

how can I call roads that go up or down in an inclined shape?(I'm not asking wavey roads I'm asking directly rising or falling roads) [duplicate]

Posted: 16 Jul 2022 02:01 PM PDT

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In my language we have a word to describe that kind of roads. How can I do this in English? is there a specific word for that or I can say just 'a road that goes up'?Also in my language we can use same word to describe roads that goes down. Is this true for English? Briefly I was wondering in US, how people describe roads that go up or down like in pictures?

Are there any 3 letter combinations in the English alphabet that are not an acronym? [closed]

Posted: 16 Jul 2022 02:02 PM PDT

I was wondering whether there is a combination of 3 letters in the English alphabet (for example abf, tyr etc...), such that the 3 letters do not stand for anything? (companies, acronyms, file extensions, just regular words, etc..) I am aware of the fact that "do not stand for anything" is not well defined; There is no way to actually know if a specific 3 letter combination is used in case it used by a very niche community of people. However, I am talking about meanings that are at least somewhat publicly recognized.

If there are no such 3 letters, I will limit my questions to acronyms only; are there any 3 letters that are not acronyms?

Erstwhile, meanwhile, and _?

Posted: 16 Jul 2022 02:35 PM PDT

If past is to present as erstwhile is to meanwhile, then present is to future as meanwhile is to thingwhile.

What is the actual word that thing in the above statement refers to?

Sometimes you hear people say that such and such will happen in "the next [little] while", so I'm wondering if the possible neologism nextwhile would suit. Does a term like this exist?

Which grammatical categories erstwhile and meanwhile belong to is a related issue. It does not seem so much as an adverb as a noun, being typically prefixed with the.

Is the word "contumacious" used properly when describing someone's personality in official documents? [closed]

Posted: 16 Jul 2022 11:39 AM PDT

In an official reprimand and rejection letter, a full-bird colonel accused me of being contumacious because I had declined an Air Force Academy appointment, asking instead to enroll in OCS (Officer Candidate School).

I was attending the Air Force Academy Prep School, had recently lost my father, and Kennedy had just been shot.

Idiom for a Scrooge-like person that involved nickel?

Posted: 16 Jul 2022 07:34 PM PDT

I remember my friend used an idiom for a Scrooge-like person that involved the word "nickel" but I can neither recall it nor I can find it anywhere. My wild guess was "nickel picker". I liked the sound of it and it was an old English expression.

I found other like penny pincher which is pretty similar but am still failing to get the precise idiom with the nickel.

It is pity someone closed the similar question here Idioms for people who are tight with money which does not answer my need, so I opened this new question. I hope someone will recall what I am looking for and share it here.

Name for using foreign language (especially Latin) to convey a sense of dignity and wisdom

Posted: 16 Jul 2022 11:58 AM PDT

There is a common figure of speech in English where we would use an epigram in a foreign language, especially Latin or French, to convey a particular sense of dignity or wisdom to the phrase. Some examples that I have recently encountered:

  • C'est la meme chose Which is short for plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose, French for (roughly): "the more things change the more they stay the same."
  • in vino veritas: Latin for: "in wine there is truth"
  • annus horribilis: Latin for: a "horrible year"
  • sic transit gloria mundi: Latin for "so passes the glory of the world"

If we were to use the English translation of the phrase it would convey much less power, authority or putative wisdom than the foreign language phrases do. I was wondering if there is a name for this figure of speech, and what the origin of this strange phenomenon is? For you polyglots, is this common practice in other languages too, or a special feature of our mongrel English?

Does the book title "The Art of XYZ" imply doing XYZ is an art, requiring creative skill?

Posted: 16 Jul 2022 05:45 PM PDT

I am Chinese, when I read a book with the title "The Art of XYZ" I always assume doing XYZ is an art, requiring creative skills. A good example is The Art of War

But the more I read the books with that title format, the more I doubt about it. For example after I read a book called "The Art of Project Management" I think what the author talks about is not art at all, just common sense. It doesn't require highly skilled professional to do what the author talked.

Or this book "The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters" ? Why does gathering deserve a title called "The Art of Gathering" ?

So I was wondering does the title really imply an art, an creative skill, having such connotation or it is just a way to prompt the book

BTW I know this series "The Art of ..." but my question is not about them.

What accent can I put on "u" to make it sound like "you"? [closed]

Posted: 16 Jul 2022 11:55 AM PDT

I have a made up name, "Bunar," and I want the u to sound like you, rather than oo. Is there an accent I can put above u to tell readers to pronounce it this way?

edit: feel free to explain how this is opinion based in any way. or why you bothered to close a month old question that's already been answered and accepted

Is it appropriate to write mixed capped abbreviations and acronyms in all caps for headers, etc?

Posted: 16 Jul 2022 11:01 AM PDT

When using an abbreviation or acronym that has a mix of lowercase and capital letters, such as mmWave or dBm, in a heading or line that is formatted in all caps, is it appropriate to use all caps - or should you leave the mixed caps?

use of "undertake"

Posted: 16 Jul 2022 02:00 PM PDT

I am not sure if the word "undertake" makes sense in the below sentence. Could you also briefly show me some examples of when to use undertake more accurately? What is the difference between " be involved in" and "undertake"? Thank you

By giving credit, it means to always recognize the effort made by my colleagues, especially when they undertake a fair share of the project I am also working on

Meaning of "hats and cats"?

Posted: 16 Jul 2022 10:26 PM PDT

In the film High Society, Daxter-Haven has the following line when addressing a room full of people:

Dear gentle folk of Newport -- Or maybe I should say, "hats and cats"?

What is the meaning of "hats and cats" in this context?

Smart working, does this word even exist?

Posted: 17 Jul 2022 02:26 AM PDT

Lately I've been hearing and reading the term "smart working" a lot, every day, especially in the news, and now it seems everybody is using this word, including professionals and politicians. It's everywhere, like a new buzzword. English is not the first language in the country where this is happening. Now I'm wondering how this trend started, where that word comes from, if it was imported from some specific area or field, or if it was totally made up by a non-native speaker. Usually foreign words are borrowed from the English language and they kind of make sense, because they do exist. But in this case I'm not sure, I'm puzzled.

Example of how it's used: "Our business will be able to continue operating as usual during the coronavirus pandemic. Thanks to smart working, our employees will be able to work from home". Basically, "smart working" is used to refer to any practices that let people work from a remote location.

Meaning of "fresh drummer" 1890-1944

Posted: 17 Jul 2022 12:05 AM PDT

I've begun reading the introduction to Best of H.T. Webster on Archive.org and came across this paragraph on page 9:

Webby had not yet reached his teens when the family moved to a small Wisconsin town which rejoiced (and still does) in the name of Tomahawk. George Ade said it was once on the map in pencil, but "some fresh drummer rubbed it out."

The book, including the dedication from which the paragraph was taken, dates to 1953. I cannot find a source for the quote in question, but Wikipedia says Ade was a writer from 1890 possibly up to his death in 1944, although I haven't researched this in depth.

Several online dictionaries have a definition for 'drummer' as a traveling salesman, so I'm assuming a "fresh drummer" would be a traveling salesman who's new to the profession. But I feel like I'm missing some context: why would such a person erase a town name from a map? Am I completely up the wrong tree?

English equivalent of "carola"?

Posted: 16 Jul 2022 01:02 PM PDT

In Portuguese we call "carola" a (usually old) person who lives through the rules of church, and has no ears for any other reasonable argument. What is this called in English?

Some examples:

"Aquela velha é uma carola: não sai da igreja, tudo que faz é pra agradar o padre." (That old woman is a carola: doesn't leave the church, everything she does is to please the priest.)

"Aquele cara é muito carola, vive com a Bíblia debaixo do braço, e mesmo sendo um estudante de biologia não quer nem entender como a evolução funciona." (That guy is too carola, he lives with a Bible under his arm, and even being a biology student don't even want to understand how evolution works.)

If someone "has no ears for any other reasonable argument", how can this NOT be negative? Not be pejorative? In which world to be irrational, biased and prejudiced may be a good thing?

This site brings nine definitions, with the four most voted bringing only pejorative meanings. It also brings a synonyms list, which includes words like fofoqueiro (gossipy), fanático religioso (religious fanatic), santarrão (sanctimonious), energúmeno (idiot), hipócrita (hypocritical), barata-de-igreja (church-cockroach), chato (annoying) and fanático (fanatic), among others.

Antenor Nascentes dictionary (Bloch Editores, 1988) says: "Carolice = Qualidade de carola; ato próprio de carola, carolismo, beatice." Also "Beatice = Ato de fingida devoção; hipocrisia."

Electronic Houaiss 3.0 says: "Beato = [Uso: pejorativo] Que ou aquele que frequenta muito as igrejas ou que exagera nas demonstrações exteriores de sua fé e virtudes; carola."

Is 'liege' masculine?

Posted: 17 Jul 2022 03:23 AM PDT

'Liege' seems to most often refer to a man. Is that because most lords in history and fiction are men, or because 'liege' is a masculine noun? If the latter, is there a feminine counterpart?

Capitalize after slash at beginning (e.g. Risk/Issue management)

Posted: 16 Jul 2022 11:31 AM PDT

Should a word after a slash at the beginning of a sentence be capitalized?

E.g.

  1. Risk/Issue management
  2. Risk/issue management

I would guess the first one is correct because "Issue" would be an alternative beginning due to the slash.

Why is the sentence "Statistics 'is' often misleading" incorrect?

Posted: 16 Jul 2022 03:11 PM PDT

Why is the sentence "Statistics is often misleading" incorrect?

I know that statistics can be singular but also plural. Should I use singular in this case?

A word describing the substance in the human eye

Posted: 16 Jul 2022 09:00 PM PDT

How do they call in English that yellowish substance that is sometimes gathered in the corner of a human eye during the sleep?
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