Wednesday, July 6, 2022

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Recent Questions - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange

Is there a more succinct term for "possibly changed"?

Posted: 06 Jul 2022 01:47 PM PDT

I have a process which is dealing with data. It performs certain operations on data which have definitely not changed. This is easy to say - the data is "unchanged".

However, it performs different operations on data which do not clearly fall into the first camp. It feels like there should be a clear term for this but I can't think of it.

Terms like "changed", "altered", "modified" or even "not unchanged" all imply a difference that doesn't necessarily exist and are therefore inaccurate.

Phrases like "may or may not have changed", "possibly changed", "possibly altered", "could have changed but might not have" are all verbose and generally sound wrong.

Terms like "Changeable" or "alterable" are wrong because they imply an unknown future state and we're talking here about an unknown past state.

Also, if there is a change at all, it may be that the magnitude of the change is tiny or hugely significant - hence terms like "altered" or "changed" also imply a magnitude that is in this case unknowable.

Is there an obvious (preferably one-word) phrase for this that I'm overlooking?

I believe a sentence is vague/confusing and I've been told it's perfectly clear and I disagree. Why am I technically right/wrong/neither?

Posted: 06 Jul 2022 01:20 PM PDT

I claimed the sentence was confusing and unclear and was told "No. Read it again, there's no vagueness".

I feel like there is an explanation for why this is actually technically confusing/vague.

Way back in the day Company A threatened to sue Company B for libel over claiming (rightfully) that their product was vaporware.

To me it reads, Company A rightfully claimed they planned to sue Company B for libel because Company B claimed that Company A's product was vaporware.

In reality, Company A threatened to sue Company B for libel because Company B rightfully claimed that Company A's product was vaporware.

Can I use ''see'' in present continous form?

Posted: 06 Jul 2022 12:50 PM PDT

Can you say "Sorry, I'm not seeing her." As an answer to "My sister is wearing a blue scarf, she's dancing over there."?

Is there a name for (the shape of) linking two hands by gripping wrists?

Posted: 06 Jul 2022 12:19 PM PDT

Is there a term for this form of holding hands in which each person grips the other's wrist, as might be used to form a strong link in a kid's game like Red Rover or in an action movie after catching a falling person by the arm?

How would you describe the 3D shape made by the the forearms and hands in this position?

Where do I put commas or eliminate commas in this sentence?

Posted: 06 Jul 2022 12:09 PM PDT

Random school, a high-needs urban school, and other-random School, a high-achieving rural school, both provided opportunities to practice with an array of students found at every school.

Random-high school, a high-needs urban school, and other-random School, a high-achieving rural school both provided opportunities to practice with an array of students found at every school.

Are either correct?

Isn't "tapping" what you say when you fill up a bath tub with water?

Posted: 06 Jul 2022 12:57 PM PDT

I'm going to tap the tub.

This apparently makes no sense, according to a native English girl.

I was baffled, and made many searches online for "tapping a bath" and "tap a bath", etc. Found nothing.

I looked up "tap" and "tapping" but no meaning was related to "tapping a bath".

Have I just got this into my head for some random reason? I always thought that in English, you "tap a bath" by making the water come out from the tap at the bath tub in order to fill it up; you "tap the bath".

Is this not how you say it? If so, what is the correct term for "tapping" a bath?

Is there a literal (non-figurative) meaning of "to turn the corner"?

Posted: 06 Jul 2022 12:07 PM PDT

I'm editing a book, and the author wrote the following sentence (emphasis added):

If she walked straight past the next six stands, then turned the corner at her right, then turned again, and then passed a couple of houses (made of carved‐out rock), she'd reach her destination.

The writer intends to refer to literal movement, but I'm not sure if turned the corner is a valid way to reference physical movement. According to Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, turn the corner means "to get past the most difficult area or period in something and begin to improve." I've looked in other dictionaries as well, including Dictionary.com, Collins Dictionary, and even Wiktionary, but none of them list the literal meaning.

Is there a definition of turn the corner that involves literal, physical movement as used when giving/receiving directions? If so, what does it mean?

Meaning of "Get a purge for your brain. It will do better than for your stomach."

Posted: 06 Jul 2022 03:50 PM PDT

I read the following quote today from a book about productivity:

Get a purge for your brain. It will do better than for your stomach.

I know that the first sentence talks about noting down all the pending items we have to do in some sort of physical physical (such as on paper or digitally). This is the "purge" part. It purges all these nagging concerns about things to be done from the brain to a physical medium.

But I do not understand what the second sentence means. Does it only mean that the way we purge our brain is going to be better than how we purge our stomach (by defecation)? Or does it mean that purging our brains will be good for our stomach and thus for our overall health?

Does the spelling of suffixes change in some cases like prefixes?

Posted: 06 Jul 2022 03:00 PM PDT

I know that prefixes never change the spelling of the stem. However, their spelling changes in some cases. For example:

  • well+come = welcome (not wellcome)
  • all+ways = always (not allways)
  • in+regular = irregular (not inregular)

According to some websites I've reviewed, suffixes sometimes change the spelling of the stem. Does it mean their own spelling never changes or sometimes it is possible?

Is it a valid deduction to say: Suffixes sometimes change the spelling of the stem, but their own spelling never changes. However, prefixes never change the spelling of the stem, but their own spelling sometimes changes.

Nonstandard agreement in relative clauses (usage)

Posted: 06 Jul 2022 12:01 PM PDT

Kimball and Aissen (1971) describe a dialect of English in which the matrix verb may agree with the embedded subject when it is relativized. That is, this dialect admits both (1a), with thinks agreeing with John, and (1b), with think agreeing with The girls. The matrix subject has to be lexical, though: no dialect admits (1c), with think agreeing with The girls across a pronoun.

(1a) The girls who John thinks are in the garden

(1b) The girls who John think are in the garden

(1c) The girls who he think are in the garden ✘

This nonstandard agreement seems to be able to cross indefinitely many subjects if lexical:

(2) The girls who John think Bill expect to be late

My question is this: for those of you who think (1b) sounds "better" than (1c), possibly even as good as (1a), do you feel there is any noticeable contrast between (3a) and (3b)? Is one better than the other?

(3a) The girls who he thinks John expect to be late

(2b) The girls who John think he expects to be late

Antonyms and opposites

Posted: 06 Jul 2022 03:33 PM PDT

Is there an antonym for the verb besiege? asked for an "opposite" for the word besiege, with answers like occupy, barricade, where the person doing the barricading is inside the barrier, defending his position from outsiders. In a siege, the person doing the barricading is outside, cutting off those inside.

The antonym of besiege is relieve: a siege is lifted.

Barricade is not an antonym of besiege, even though the sense is "opposite"; it could be a synonym of besiege if the siege is realised by a barricade. However occupy isn't a synonym of besiege as the meanings are very different. It's also not the antonym of besiege.

So the relationship between besiege and barricade/occupy is not one of synonyms or antonyms. Is there a -nym word — or indeed any other word — which describes this opposite direction of action (for want of a better term)?

Since I've used the SWR tag, an example sentence would be "Occupy is an _____________ of besiege."

Note: the concept of siege can "work both ways", with a siege mentality applying to those barricade themselves in. I mention that here only to show that occupy only "works one way", in a different "direction" to besiege.

Is there a verb-form of "affirmative action"

Posted: 06 Jul 2022 02:00 PM PDT

"Affirmative Action" is a noun sometimes used to describe legislation and government-programs which given women, and people of color, higher-priority in college admission decisions, than persons of white skin and males.

Is there a verb for "Affirmative Action?"
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