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39,100 | 164,677 | 76823_0 | Sorry, if this is a trivial question. But I feel really confused when I ask people, their answers are different to my answer. So I want to ascertain what exactly is answered to this question. For example: We have some kind of call (bank customer's call, mobile customer's call, Data base calls) which we have to make. When I ask a question to one guy > What calls you are making? Should the answer be _in number of call_ or _which call_? |
39,101 | 188,927 | 76823_0 | Throughout _Practical English Usage 3rd Edition_ (Swan, 2005), the author writes _etc_ in a manner I can't help but wonder if it's a typo. > * Much/far/a lot **etc** more money > * Many/far/a lot **etc** more opportunities > Throughout the book, he does not put a period (full stop) after "etc" and he never uses commas in combination with "etc". I'm taking notes by writing the book verbatim on to notebooks, and I've been finding other grammatical mistakes. It's a little disconcerting when trying to use the book as a reference source. I'm hoping you guys can help me figure out if this is just another. What punctuation should be used with this abbreviation? |
39,102 | 77,317 | 76823_0 | what is the correct usage of word affirmative? What does it mean if someone says 'that is affirmative' when listening to a person explaining about a modification in a project. |
39,103 | 134,659 | 76823_0 | Why is "pineapple" in English but "ananas" in all other languages?  |
39,104 | 67,981 | 76823_0 | Somewhat related: "A/An" preceding a parenthetical statement When writing mathematics, one sometimes wants to write things like > x is not contained in (the closure of) the space Y. The typical interpretation of this is that the statement holds whether or not the parenthetical statement is read. In this case, x would be contained neither in the space Y nor in the closure of the space Y. One could also shift the parentheses: > x is not contained in the (closure of the) space Y. Is there any convention as to which is better writing? I suspect that the first is preferred. It has the advantage that reading the parenthetical phrase does not change the referencing of articles to nouns. Of course, this implies that if the articles were different the second construction would not be an option. The second construction seems quite a bit stranger, but I have seen both in writing and occasionally the second one really did seem better in context. Is there any strict convention on which should be used, or is it acceptable to choose based on stylistic concerns? Admittedly I don't know of any context outside of mathematics where one would write a phrase like the ones I have quoted. It may be that this is entirely inappropriate use of parentheses in standard English; if this is the case feel free to close the question. |
39,105 | 67,984 | 76823_0 | I want to know if there are any rules regarding using said before or after a name. For example, > "I am going to the bank," said John. or > "I am going to the bank," John said. Which is correct? |
39,106 | 192,809 | 76823_0 | I hear _eww_ (sometimes spelt as _ew_ ) fairly regularly on American sitcoms, usually uttered by a scatterbrained beautiful blonde girl when she sees or hears something disgusting. I don't recall it ever being said when I was a child living in London, in the 70s it was common to utter _yuck_ or _ugh_ , the word _gross_ was virtually unknown. Moreover, on my frequent visits to the UK I don't seem to hear _eww_ ever being used but I tend to mix with people closer to my age. The dictionary, Online Etymology offers no guidance, and Oxford Dictionaries limits itself by saying > ## ew > > /ˈɪəuː/, /ˈiːuː/ > > **EXCLAMATION** > > INFORMAL > Used to express disgust or distaste: _ew, I’d hate to think what has been > trampled into that carpet_ > _eww, how can you eat that?_ > > * * * > > **Origin** > > 1970s: imitative. Has _ew/eww_ crossed the Atlantic and become common parlance in old Blighty i.e. the UK? If it has, when did it more or less occur? And are the expressions _ugh_ and _yuck_ still popular with the young in both the US and the UK? If not, which exclamation of disgust is gaining territory? If anyone is still confused about which sound I'm referring to, click on the youtube link to hear a perfect example. The young _American_ child (who coincidently happens to be blonde) is called Georgie and she is tasting a variety of foods while blindfolded, the resulting _"eww!"_ is spontaneous and unaffected and happens at 56 seconds. EWW! THAT'S GROSS! |
39,107 | 192,802 | 76823_0 | Now this is confusing.. I wanna know the difference between the following sentences: -If you were there, I would see you. -If you had been there, I would have seen you. What's the difference between 'Was' and 'Had been'? And could we use 'Was' instead of 'Had been' in the 2nd sentence? Thanks in advance! |
39,108 | 192,806 | 76823_0 | Is it "driving across state" like "driving across town", or "driving across THE state", like "driving across the country"? |
39,109 | 192,807 | 76823_0 | Or maybe there is a third categorization I should use, such as "linguistic inclusivist"? I believe that hypercorrections like "This is a secret between you and I" and "Whom is he?" are incorrect insofar as the speaker considers himself to be speaking in a formal, non-slang context. However, I do believe that African American Vernacular English is a culturally legitimate form of English, so I disagree with extreme prescriptivists who want to quash out the dialect. Does this make me a moderate prescriptivist? Or a hard descriptivist? Or something else? |
39,110 | 192,804 | 76823_0 | Our numbers have a specific two-letter ~~onomatopoeia~~ combination that tells us how the number sounds. For example * 9th * 3rd * 301st What do we call these special sounds? **\--EDIT--** As mentioned in the comments, _onomatopoeia_ is not the correct word to use here. |
39,111 | 164,472 | 76823_0 | > Joy wants some candy. > That can be acquiesced. I have two main questions here: 1) Am I correct in thinking that "That" represents a noun such as "the request", making the second sentence equivalent to "Joy's request can be acquiesced"? 2) Assuming the answer to 1) is yes, and the sentence is essentially "Joy's request can be acquiesced", is the sentence correct? I wouldn't think so, as the person is the one acquiescing, not the request. |
39,112 | 62,009 | 76823_0 | What is the difference between the following two sentences? > She goes to the forest three times **per** week. > > She goes to the forest three times **a** week. |
39,113 | 106,859 | 76823_0 | How a sentence sounds when read aloud or in your head can often "sound" different for each individual doing so; however, I was reading details regarding the usage of _"data"_ and _"datum"_ and was intrigued by the alleged usage of it and how said usage flowed within a sentence/phrase. It is explained here that the word _data_ should not be used as, > ...the _data_ tells us... _**but rather,_** > ...the **_data tell_** us... Reading the first seems natural, I've heard it quite often; however, the second seems very hard to read or say - simply unnatural in my mouth. A similar situation is found with _Hoi Polloi_ where it is incorrect to say, > ...gone to meet with _the_ hoi polloi... _**but often corrected to,_** > ...gone to meet with hoi polloi... due to the redundancy of the term _"the"_ (where _Hoi Polloi_ meaning _"The Many"_ ). While my specific usage of these two situations may not be finely crafted, I believe the concept/question to be evident: Is it better to appease my audience by using a commonly used phrasing, or is it better to adhere to the _correct_ implementation of the words/phrases? Another consideration is my credibility. Will the readers perhaps discredit my writings due to the unfamiliar conventions utilized? |
39,114 | 115,135 | 76823_0 | Can the expresssion _rest in peace_ be used in a humourous and friendly way to say, _stop worrying_? |
39,115 | 34,446 | 76823_0 | What rule of grammar does this sentence break? (I mean the "does" part of the following sentence) > What does the status indicators mean? Also, why does english.stackexchange.com have a code option for formatting... Maybe BASIC or Apple script qualifies as English. |
39,116 | 34,447 | 76823_0 | > **Possible Duplicate:** > When to use a hyphen in writing a compound word **Which is correct?** 1. _front-end_ engineering 2. _frontend_ engineering 3. _front end_ engineering I looked over http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/hyphens.asp, referenced in this answer, and I'm still not sure which to use. **Rule 1** under _Hyphens Between Words_ says: > To check whether a compound noun is two words, one word, or hyphenated, you > may need to look it up in the dictionary. If you can't find the word in the > dictionary, treat the noun as separate words. "Frontend" is not found at reference.com. "Front-end" and "front end" are both found, which "front end" as two words representing the software term, so I think this must be right. However... **Rule 1** under _Hyphens With Prefixes_ says: > The current trend is to do away with unnecessary hyphens. Therefore, attach > most prefixes and suffixes onto root words without a hyphen. I think that "frontend" qualifies under this rule. Compare that with "backend" and it sounds to me that "front" and "back" are prefixes to "end". Also, the most common usage I've noticed is "frontend" as a single word when talking about software. Common usage has to count for something, right? _**What's considered the final say here?_** |
39,117 | 115,130 | 76823_0 | It sounds right to me, but is it correct? Thanks. |
39,118 | 34,449 | 76823_0 | I find it interesting that they decided to call a spelling competition a 'spelling bee'. How did the word 'bee' become known to also mean a competition? |
39,119 | 106,854 | 76823_0 | Are the uses of the phrase 'refer to' as follows correct? * The methodology in this research referred to UNESCO. * The methodology in this research was referred to UNESCO. I believe what the writer wants to say is 'the methodology used in this research is the same methodology that UNESCO uses.' Thanks so much. |
39,120 | 106,855 | 76823_0 | I thought that oneday is used for representing past tense and someday for future. but I saw oneday is used for representing future in the context yestreday. Can "oneday" represent future as in "Oneday, I will be a doctor."? |
39,121 | 115,139 | 76823_0 | What's an idiom for the action of going for the most likely / most appropriate option? I had been saying "placing my bets with ___ " but it turns out that doesn't exist :D Must have got it from "hedge your bets" which I don't think means the same thing - also, what does this mean? |
39,122 | 91,714 | 76823_0 | I'm intrigued by a local sign-holder who was improperly labeled "atheist" for carrying a sign that asserted that there was no after-life for a person's consciousness. The person expressed a belief in God, but not belief in the immortality of the soul. Is there a short, crisp way of saying: "You are incorrectly characterizing disparate ideas as monolithic"? |
39,123 | 50,492 | 76823_0 | This question is related to two others referring to "how to speak out loud 24-hour clock times". It has been asked how do English-speaking countries that officially use the 24-hour clock system refer to times greater than noon, like for instance 13:00hs (1 PM), when in fact, in the very same UK, such situations happen daily, at Post Offices and Railway Stations. So, since this situation actually happens daily in the UK, I was wondering how do Brits deal with it? Please bear in mind that there are many different possibilities, situations or cases of speech, that will not necessarily turn out in the same fashion. I will mention a few that come to my mind. **a) When telling someone that his train departs at 13:00.** I would guess: "Your train leaves at one." (it may be obvious that its one p.m.) **b) When quoting or going through a timetable for someone else (for any reason)** I would guess: "That train leaves at, let me see, fourteen, sixteen, twenty and twenty-two hours". **c) When the station speaker goes off announcing departure times.** I would guess: "The train departing at twenty-three twenty-two is delayed and will be departing at twenty-three thirty (hours?)". I think that there are two basic ways of treating the information or the time- table, as raw data, or in a processed form. When you process it, I think you are in position of adapting and telling it the way you would find best, but when you read it "raw", like in cases where you have to read out many different times, or a full timetable, I guess that there is no point in going through all the burden of "converting" every single time to a 12-hour clock time, even when in UK, which officially uses a 12-hour clock. I'm tempted to call to a UK Train Station to actually check on this, but maybe you can shed me some light into this matter? I think the same happens in US, with Railway Stations too and other public transportation systems as well? |
39,124 | 126,626 | 76823_0 | _Afforestation_ is defined as 'the conversion of open land into forest by planting trees.' What would be a synonym for _afforestation_ if there is no human intervention involved? Is there a one-word term for succession into forest? |
39,125 | 50,496 | 76823_0 | Ok.. I broke some toes in my foot and I want to tell a friend about it on Facebook. Now, here's the problem. Every foot has 5 toes. Only 3 toes have a name: * big toe * middle toe * small toe What's the name of the others? |
39,126 | 50,494 | 76823_0 | The following sentence is from a mathematical lecture note here: > It takes a little bit of getting used to the idea of a function that cannot > actually be evaluated at any specific point, but with some practice you will > find that it will not cause any significant conceptual difficulty. Is there anything wrong with this sentence? I guess it is supposed to be "It takes a little bit of **time for** getting used to the idea...". Any idea for understanding the sentence? |
39,127 | 188,523 | 76823_0 | How do you pronounce Trapezoid? Phonetic Alphabet answer preferred. |
39,128 | 23,587 | 76823_0 | Am I saying this well? I just want to say: > regularly updated about ~2x-3x-4x 12 minutes. I have a script that updates a website between ~0-40 minutes time interval. I just want to write it on the website at what time intervals it's regularly updated. I don't want to be exact, that's why I don't want to write ~0-40 minutes. |
39,129 | 93,710 | 76823_0 | Which is correct to say? > On Valentines Day 2013 the iPhone will have been for sale exactly half as > long as the iPod has been for sale. or > On Valentines Day 2013 the iPhone will have been for sale exactly half as > long as the iPod will have been for sale. I initially wrote the first one as a tweet, but I reread it and thought it might imply that I'm comparing it to how long the iPod has been for sale from the present date. However, the phrasing of the first seems more natural to me. Was my change correct, incorrect, or are they interchangeable? |
39,130 | 23,585 | 76823_0 | Can anybody tell me how the Australian accent came about? It seems strange to me that it is not more like an English accent taking into account that the first and the majority of settlers were English. Also, I am under the impression that those settlers were not really influenced linguistically by the native Aboriginal people much. Please correct me if I am wrong. |
39,131 | 23,583 | 76823_0 | What is the word to describe a person who popularized a sport? The person does not need to be one of the original players nor even currently active. An example is Arnold Schwarzenegger popularizing competitive bodybuilding. There were many superstar bodybuilders before him, like Eugen Sandow, and he has been inactive for a decade. Arnold is, no doubt, the reason why many people started bodybuilding. |
39,132 | 66,589 | 76823_0 | A line from Jane Austen's _Pride and Prejudice_ confuses me: > Mr. Bennet was so odd a mixture of quick parts, sarcastic humour, reserve, > and caprice, that the experience of three and twenty years had been > insufficient to make his wife understand his character. **Her mind was less > difficult to develop.** She was a woman of mean understanding, little > information, and uncertain temper. I'm aware that Mrs Bennet is less intelligent than her husband (this line is talking about her) — however surely if her mind was _less difficult_ to develop, then it would mean she was _more_ intelligent. Surely the _more_ difficult it is to develop a mind, the _stupider_ a person is? I feel as if I'm being stupid and missing something — but I really don't understand it. |
39,133 | 93,719 | 76823_0 | I'm not a native English speaker and I have trouble understanding this sentence from The Daily Telegraph. Does _mounting interest_ mean paying the interest and then the actual loan? > The burden of **mounting interest** and starting to repay loans can be a > daunting prospect once your degree is awarded. |
39,134 | 93,718 | 76823_0 | Which preposition is correct? > This video shows the effect of freezing **on** water. > This video shows the effect of freezing **of** water. |
39,135 | 188,235 | 76823_0 | > Question: "Why is a mouse when it spins?" > > Answer: "Because the higher the fewer." There are some great responses regarding the provenance of this seemingly- nonsensical riddle at this Guardian page (the steam engine story there seems plausible to me). Anyone knows when it was first recorded (probably in a variant different from the above) and what it was supposed to refer to? Edit: Searching a little on Google Books, the earliest reference I've found is a variant from a 1893 book: > When is a mouse if it spins? Because the higher it gets the fewer. |
39,136 | 66,583 | 76823_0 | > In geology, subduction is the process that takes place at convergent > boundaries by which one tectonic plate moves under another tectonic plate... > (Wikipedia) Now I understand that quite literally, subduction is a process whereby one thing goes underneath another; and while figuratively an emotional state being subdued by another state or a more pressing need as enforced by the superego might be considered a careful use of literary license, I would like to know if there is a less grandiose word for this state. How can I describe the mind state of when one emotion is subdued, perhaps subverted, by another? In particular, this is in reference to the state where one wants to become aggressive, but ends up despondent because the vulnerability of aggression subverts its exercise. |
39,137 | 32,849 | 76823_0 | > Bagman suddenly spotted Harry, got up quickly, and bounded forward. > > “Ah, here he is! Champion number four! **In you come** , Harry, **in you > come** … nothing to worry about, it's just the wand weighing ceremony, the > rest of the judges will be here in a moment –“ (p303, Harry Potter 4, US > edition) I’d like to know the meaning of ' **in you come** ' by comparing and contrasting it with two other expressions ' **come on in** ' and ' **do come in** '. These three expressions are vaguely mixed in my mind. I know they are emphasizing 'come in', but are they equal in every way? If there's any difference, when should they be used? I’d be happy if you could help me. |
39,138 | 27,690 | 76823_0 | I am curious if it is correct to say "one out of _a_ possible four". This is what I found in a publication: > Discrete level (one out of a possible four), corresponding to a range of > safety integrity values, where safety integrity level 4 has the highest > level of safety integrity and safety integrity level 1 has the lowest. |
39,139 | 181,517 | 76823_0 | I brook the etymology for 'transfix' = 'to pierce', thanks to http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=transfix&allowed_in_frame=0. Yet how does this imply or induce the figurative meaning of "make motionless or helpless, as with amazement, terror, or grief"? My guess is that if someone is pierced, then she becomes wounded and bleeds, so she is 'motionless or helpless.' Yet this doesn't explain the 'wonder, or astonishment' in this definition ? |
39,140 | 51,542 | 76823_0 | Which of the following expressions is correct? > -Explain me. > -Explain _to_ me. I know "Explain _it_ to me" is correct, but I want to know which one of _the above_ is valid. |
39,141 | 51,543 | 76823_0 | I have a twitter account and I see some people having in their profiles mention: > Company Director **at** ABC and others > Company Director **of** ABC Also, I come across: > Founder **of** ABC and > Founder **at** ABC As English is not my mother tongue, my question is: what is the correct usage of _at_ and _of_ in the following examples? > * Company Director ___ _ ABC > * Founder ___ _ ABC > |
39,142 | 181,512 | 76823_0 | Would someone please explain and elucidate these two meanings? Why do they diverge and mismatch? A decree sounds much more prescriptive and resolute than an _arbitrary_ order. > 1. A formal authorization or proposition; a decree: > 1.1. An arbitrary order. > I've heard of 'fiat currency' and apprehend this, but in the main, how would I determine from the context which of these diverging definitions applies? |
39,143 | 55,040 | 76823_0 | What's the difference between _at hand_ , _on hand_ and _in hand_? _At hand_ seems to me as if you have something in reach. _On hand_ is if you have something in stock. And _in hand_ can be used as if you have more time at your disposal. |
39,144 | 152,294 | 76823_0 | I have the following sentence that I don't know which preposition is the correct one. > Diversification implies a trade-off between selecting data of relevance to > user intent and diversifying data with/of similar characteristics. A quick search on Google for "data with similar characteristics" returns 417,000 results while "data of similar characteristics" returns 265,000 results. However, I think "of" is the correct one in this case since it can emphasize the "similar characteristics" part. |
39,145 | 61,677 | 76823_0 | I am finding that people use the word "serviced" in place of other verbs such as _served, repaired, helped_ , etc. Has the use of the word service always been acceptable as a verb? Or is that a more recent phenomenon? |
39,146 | 130,340 | 76823_0 | The term "in good nick" meaning "in a good condition" came up in conversation and I realised I had no idea where it came from. Searching online seems surprisingly fruitless- there are several roots for _nick_ as it is used in different contexts but none of them to explain why it came to mean "condition." The closest thing I can see is "in the nick of time" where _nick_ derives from the same root as "notch" or "niche", but that doesn't seem to connect directly to a mark of quality or condition unless it comes from marking notches to measure time (which the "nick of time" seems to derive from) and means "in good condition for its age" which is an interesting conjecture with, so far as I can tell, no substantiating evidence. Does anyone have any clear origin for the term? |
39,147 | 130,343 | 76823_0 | I came across the following sentence: "Kiran is Kishore's uncle, whose paternal grandfather has only two children." I am not clear which person is 'whose' referring to - Kiran or Kishore and why? |
39,148 | 130,345 | 76823_0 | Which degree of 'less' is correct in the following sentence - "Seats in this room are much _less/lesser_ in comparison to the adjacent one." Also please state any general rule of English if it is being applied here. Thanks. |
39,149 | 130,349 | 76823_0 | I have a person who regularly makes mistakes in spelling or the data he writes are wrong, so I want to tell someone that (Please check and confirm the data or spellings before you send email or letter). Is there any phrase for it? |
39,150 | 60,983 | 76823_0 | For verb conjugations, I know that in English we have certain verbs which ~~umlaut~~ ablaut in their principle parts: > sing-sang-sung We have verbs that add an -ed to the end: > laugh-laughed and then there are verbs which just don't change at all: > cut, put etc. So which of these verbs are strong, or weak, or have a different category altogether? |
39,151 | 134,044 | 76823_0 | Put another way, would using "supposedly" in the following sentence upset a neutral tone? > A variant of qi gong is external qi gong, wherein a qi gong master > _supposedly_ directs the flow of qi through other people's bodies through > his or her own energies. In the example above, I am not sure if the word is necessary. This example is a part of a larger description of indigenous alternative medical practices. I would think that people reading this description would understand that the things stated are not intended to be read as fact. |
39,152 | 110,411 | 76823_0 | Which is the correct form of an attribute related to multiple entities? For example, which is the correct form of _position_? > The position of the circle and of the square is wrong. > > The positions of the circle and of the square are wrong. I could interpret it in the following ways: * each shape has only one position, so use the singular * each shape has only one position, but since we have multiple shapes use the plural * multiple shapes of a collective entity (circle + square), use the plural **edit** : assuming the shapes don't share the same position. |
39,153 | 74,668 | 76823_0 | Consider the following usage of the word _trouble_ : > 1. I have trouble. > > 2. I have a trouble. > > 3. I have troubles. > > 4. I have the trouble. > > 5. I have the troubles. > > Which is grammatical? And what is the preferred usage? |
39,154 | 74,669 | 76823_0 | Theoretical case: client suggests some non-optimal solution. How to offer another, better solution politely with indirect question? Is it ok to say "Don't you think doing it this way would be more efficient?" or using "Don't you think" implies that client might be incompetent in a way that he might have forgotten to consider the solution I offer? P.S. I forgot to add - it's a written dialog, via Skype or email. |
39,155 | 65,800 | 76823_0 | Is there a word to describe the competitive advantage gained from sabotaging a competitor, or more generally the advantage gained from dishonesty? **An example** : Your office receives pamphlets advertising an office cleaning service. Your current office cleaning service steals and hides that pamphlet before an employee at the office can see it. What words can one use to concisely describe the advantage that your current cleaning service has gained? |
39,156 | 65,801 | 76823_0 | What is a powerful phrase to describe the failure of a person or organization to react to a large change in the environment? Three examples: * Mapquest continued to use static pages even after the bandwidth and browsers were available to allow interactive mapping. This failure allowed Google maps to overtake Mapquest. * Mr. Incredible continued performing hero-work in secret even when the world demanded that he stop, almost resulting in Buddy/Syndrome killing Mr. Incredible. * The Human Genome Project failed to adopt the shotgun sequencing approach immediately when it was demonstrated to be superior. Instead, Celera genomics, a much smaller and less well-funded effort used shotgun sequencing and produced the first human genome. "No adjustment" is has the right basic meaning, but doesn't fully capture the severity of these examples. |
39,157 | 65,806 | 76823_0 | Is there a word, or phrase, to express when someone makes a bet with the intent to lose? I’m looking for one of two things (or both). Either a verb to express the action of making such a bet, or a word that is defined by this specific type of bet. An example would be in Seinfeld: Elaine makes a bet with a guy, and if the guy “loses” he must buy her dinner (with the assumption being he made a bet knowing he would lose). I realize this is basically just a swindle, but I’m hoping there is something more specific. |
39,158 | 65,808 | 76823_0 | In both _The Iliad_ and _The Odyssey_ , Homer uses the phrase "words had wings" all over the place. Here's one quote of many: > Then the shadow of the swift-footed son of Aeacus knew who I was, and with a > cry of grief, he spoke to me — **his words had wings** : "Resourceful > Odysseus, Laertes' son and Zeus' child, what a bold man you are!" (Emphasis mine.) I assume this is a Greek idiom, but I don't really get it. What does this phrase mean, and how did it come to mean that? |
39,159 | 73,123 | 76823_0 | What is the most common phrase with the meaning of _intermediate/interim goal/target/result_? For example, * setting up interim goal in a project/agenda * calculating a intermediate result in a bigger mathematical task Linguee shows more possible contexts I'm looking for, the german common words are _Zwischenziel_ (-target) and _Zwischenergebnis_ (-result) |
39,160 | 22,182 | 76823_0 | Brunch has become quite a common word in the English language. Is there a similar word for a meal in place of dinner and lunch? (A phrase will also do). |
39,161 | 165,693 | 76823_0 | Michael Swan in his "Practical English Usage" says that present passive forms can have similar meanings to present perfect passives. > The vegetables _are_ all _cut up_ \- what shall I do? = The vegetables _have > been_ cut up > I got caught in the rain and my suit' _s ruined_. = ... _has been ruined_ > I think your ankle _is broken_. = ... _has been broken_ > My suitcase _is packed_. = ... _has been packed_. He states that it happens due to that fact that some verbs refer to _actions that produce a finished result_ (to cut, to build, to pack, to close), while others do not (to push, to live, to speak, to hit, to carry). He goes on: the past participles of finished-result verbs, and some of their passive tenses, can have two meanings. They can _refer to the action_ , or they can _describe the result_ (rather like adjectives). > The theatre was closed by the police on the orders of the mayor. (refers to > the _action of closing_ ). > When I got there I found that the theatre was closed. (refers to the state > of being shut - the result of the action). I'm not sure I get the difference between the two groups of words mentioned above. Could anyone, please, go into more detail and explain it to me? I need more examples _to feel_ what it really means. |
39,162 | 166,529 | 76823_0 | I have read an older thread, presenting the following sentences: > Having advised many of your colleagues (yet **having had no one stand up** > for me when the shit hit the fan)... and > Having advised many of your colleagues (yet having **had no one to support** > me when I faced adversity)... I do not get that - why there is TO missing in the first sentence? I know there is 'have sb do'something, is this the case? But how is that different from the other one then? I assume the sentence mean "yet I had nobody who stood up for me" - which would iMHO require 'to'? |
39,163 | 189,187 | 76823_0 | I would like to include a sentence in a response to a critical reader thanking him for his "fertile" comments, in the sense that they lead to improvements of the text he read. "Fertile" in a figurative sense would seem to me appropriate, however the dictionary entries for this word don't include a figurative meaning going that far (an investigation may be fertile, but not something that a comment or an idea it seems — and a google search seems to agree with that). What word would you use? 'Fruitful' does not sound appropriate either, because it is not the comment that actually "bears the fruit", but only the work initiated by these comments. I would like to avoid less focused qualificatives as 'intersting comments'. |
39,164 | 189,184 | 76823_0 | I am far from being a doctrinaire stickler opposing all neologisms; Twitter alerts one to the merit of abbreviations like "2" for "too", "4" for "for" etc. But many new usages fail to gain my assent. One of these is the abbreviation "to" for "too", as in: " _It is **to** bad she couldn't get to the party_". Can anyone trace the history of this usage? I have only noticed it quite recently. Is it a passing fad? |
39,165 | 166,522 | 76823_0 | Degenerate is used to indicate a change of state ( physical or mental) which has generally worsened from its previous one. Could this term be used just to indicate a change that does not necessarily imply a negative change from the preceding one. _A degenerate tradition or custom_ are an instance of deterioration of tradition or custom or can they just be a change from a previous state? |
39,166 | 196,000 | 76823_0 | > “Who was Miss Jennie?” > > “She was an angel straight out of Heaven,” breathed the man, fervently; “but > the old master and missus **knew** her as their oldest daughter. She was > twenty when she married and went away from here long years ago. Her babies > all died, I heard, except the last one; and that must be the one what’s > a-comin’.” It’s from the novel _Pollyanna_ by Eleanor Porter. The above ‘knew’ means the parents regarded the oldest daughter as a memory, not treadting her their real daughter because of the fact the daughter married to a poor minister? It seems a bit odd expression to use ‘knew’ in the context as above guess of mine, if I am correct. Is this a common English expression or an inventive meaning by Ms Porter? |
39,167 | 166,521 | 76823_0 | * _"If two Weeping Angels_ **_were to look_** _at each other at the same time, they would be trapped in stone form until an outside force moves them apart."_ My questions are about the phrase _"were to look"_ : 1. What's the meaning? 2. What's the differences between it and just one word "look" 3. In which section of my grammar book I can find this kind of usage? |
39,168 | 56,538 | 76823_0 | What is an appropriate antonym for _deficient_? > The dissertation is deficient of sources. It should be a bit more decorated than the phrasing _The dissertation contains enough sources_. |
39,169 | 107,818 | 76823_0 | The word _dick_ is generally considered offensive and is marked so in dictionaries. But there is also a meaning of _detective_ that it carries. I usually find no derog indication for this meaning. Is it offensive to call a detective friend of mine a _dick_? **EDIT** (thanks to Kristina): I want to know if the usage of this word to refer to detectives is offensive in practice, though the dictionaries may opine otherwise. The question is general and not about how I could call my friend :) |
39,170 | 56,533 | 76823_0 | I am helping a PhD student who makes constant reference to an Internet application he is studying by using a string of noun phrases, specifically > ...its ease of use, general applicability and _free of charge_ By _free of charge_ he obviously means it costs the user nothing, but it doesn't fit with the sentence grammar. My question is how do you turn _free of charge_ , which is adjectival, into a noun phrase? The _freedom of charge_ is just wrong, and though _free accessability_ works it also has another distracting meaning. Turning _free_ into a gerund doesn't help in this case either. In previous cases I've suggested to him a restucturing of the sentence grammar, but I'd be interested to hear some better suggestions. |
39,171 | 104,545 | 76823_0 | If one is typing the name of the chapter inside a story, do they put quotes around it? If not, how is one indicated? |
39,172 | 104,549 | 76823_0 | What's the meaning of "five past dreams" in the following lyrics: > **It's five past dreams** , I should be home asleep, > But I just want to keep this moment alive, it's just you and I, > ... > ... > **It's five past dreams** , the world is waking up, just like I should > Have done a long time ago, maybe I'm slow, I just didn't know, > That the saviour of my heart is right here |
39,173 | 100,352 | 76823_0 | The context: a warning to a user of a website that tells the user that patterns in an image should be avoided. One of the key characteristics of a pattern is that it _is_ repetitive. There is no such thing as a “non-repetitive pattern”. This makes it a pleonasm. Am I right about this? At the same time, I feel “repetitive pattern” sends a clearer message to the user than just “pattern”, _because_ it is a pleonasm. I was taught that I should avoid pleonasms. Is this a justified case to use a pleonasm? |
39,174 | 32,159 | 76823_0 | Looking at the official complete two-letter Scrabble word list, I cannot help but wonder whether they are even based on real English words. Are they? Note: I realize the answer to this question may start going into more of a Boardgames realm, so feel free to restrict your answer to a rigidly EL&U answer. I only need to know if the words are English, or if they are based on English. I am not asking here _how_ they were chosen. |
39,175 | 141,626 | 76823_0 | I am confused about how to address a family in which all the members have kept their original surname. What is the proper way to address such a family in a note to a family which consists of a single mother, her parents and children with 3 different surnames? For example, can one say, "Dear Smith family," even though that surname is not shared by the entire family? Are hyphenated names related to this or is that only the last name of children born to parents who both keep their surname? If blended families do use hyphenated names such as Smith-Martin, is it possible for a family when the collective members have more than 2 surnames, to use more hyphens (e.g., the Smith-Martin-Jones family)? I found this, which gives several options for writing an address from a blended family, but my question is about the interior of a card, not the mailing address, and the family is unknown to me except the names of the children. |
39,176 | 141,624 | 76823_0 | > * Skyscrapers are of various shapes. > * Skyscrapers are various shapes. > Why do we use _of_ in the sentence above? Is there any difference in meaning between the two sentences? |
39,177 | 141,629 | 76823_0 | **When I was taking a Biology class in 2005, we were assigned to do an animal experiment.** So what is wrong with that sentence? I am using a free grammar checker website and it says the tense is wrong. |
39,178 | 178,435 | 76823_0 | In the sentences > _"Did she even ask you what you **were** doing tomorrow night? If you > **were** busy?"_ occurring at about 0:42 - 0:43 in this clip, why was past tense used in "What you **were** doing tomorrow night", when he was speaking about the future? |
39,179 | 154,361 | 76823_0 | So do Smith St and Wesson St meet: * "at the corner of Smith & Wesson Streets"; or * "at the corner of Smith & Wesson streets"? |
39,180 | 186,980 | 76823_0 | I was watching the movie Man of Steel and in it is this passage: _"There's only one way this ends Cal; either you die, or I do."_ Now this sounds wrong to me. There's _two_ outcomes. _"There's only on way this ends Cal; one of us dies."_ This I've heard before and as the beginning of the sentence suggest, only has _one_ outcome. My question is, is it still proper to say the original passage? |
39,181 | 186,987 | 76823_0 | Idiom meaning of **"right hand of"** Example. Right hand of GOD. |
39,182 | 26,256 | 76823_0 | Every morning, I have to speak in English. Suppose that today is Monday. Do these two sentences convey the same meaning? > On Friday, I had finished the work. "Had" is used here because it is past perfect. > I have finished the work. I.e. the work has been finished without mentioning any timeline. |
39,183 | 186,989 | 76823_0 | e.g. Are you awake? (to somebody who appears to be asleep, but for which any given reply will confirm wakefulness) |
39,184 | 195,415 | 76823_0 | Someone asks me this question: 'How much work is it to fix issue? then I'm trying to determine potential **impact**.' My answer is that 'very little work should to be done to fix this issue. And there is no extra **effect** on the whole system.' Am I right to use the word 'effect' here or should I use other words to express myself more precisely? |
39,185 | 75,207 | 76823_0 | Consider the following two phrases > 1. Microsoft reports first quarterly loss _ever_ > 2. Microsoft reports first _ever_ quarterly loss > Which of the them is correct? |
39,186 | 75,206 | 76823_0 | I'm looking for a thesaurus (for a programming project) that only offers close synonyms. For instance, I'm not really interested in: Phone (verb) -> Give a Jingle But I am interested in: Phone (verb) -> Call Any suggestions? Preferably I'd like something in an easily readable electronic form. |
39,187 | 75,201 | 76823_0 | Having had my formative years in New Zealand, I was born in South Africa. I vaguely recall when I was VERY young having someone tell me when I said "hey" that "hay is what horses eat". I got that then it was more when people would yell "hey" across a room to attract attention, and that was considered a bit rude for that purpose. However in my adult years in NZ and the UK, a casual nod and a "hey", or "hey, what's up?" was a perfectly acceptable greeting. Having recently moved to Canada, I greeted someone casually with that yesterday to be told again "that's what horses eat". I felt a bit rebuffed, but decided to ignore it until I could research it - ie, ask on here!. Is this just a North American thing? Or just possibly this individual's view? Same age and gender as me. |
39,188 | 75,200 | 76823_0 | Can we use _especially_ after the special object we want to mention? In the following, does _especially_ apply just to Australia? > First, the reading proves the significance of a mandatory voting system by > giving us some cases from several countries such as Greece, Luxembourg, > Thailand and Australia, especially. |
39,189 | 37,521 | 76823_0 | I seem to recall reading somewhere that using a _to_ -infinitive with the actual verb omitted (because it's clear from context) -- as in > He asked me to go, but I don't want to. (1) -- is fine in American but not in British English. Brits, or so the story went, append _do_ : > He asked me to go, but I don't want to do. (2) I know that the above is true about American English, my native dialect: we can use (1). My question concerns British English. Googling finds that the above (that (1) is wrong in British English) is not correct in such generality. For example, `"can't be arsed to if"` has fifteen- odd results, while `"can't be arsed to do if"` has but one, and it's not in the form of (2). So... Did I imagine the rule I stated above? Or is it restricted to particular sentences (or verbs or something)? Or is it correct as stated but outdated? Or what? |
39,190 | 37,523 | 76823_0 | On rare occasions, you are in a situation where a simple _Thank You_ seems like you're undermining the other person's help. You know, instances where you are too grateful to express your feelings of gratitude. When this happens face to face (or even over the phone) your body language/voice carry that feeling and the other person understands the full gravity of your expression. However, many a time, all you have is online/email interface for expression. And words are all you can use. So my question(s) is(are): 1. Is there a _superlative_ form of _Thank You_ which one can make use of in such cases? 2. Will you advice using the same during face-to-face(or voice)? 3. Which is the highest degree of gratitude you have seen/expressed? 4. Is there any chance that the other person might think you are exaggerating? (If you are wondering about the last question : see my comment (3rd one) below this SO answer. Its not that there are no good books/authoritative articles/sources on theory of Object Oriented Programming. I have read few, if not many, of them. And I _do_ feel strongly about the answer the user has given. But at the same time, I don't want to _overdo_ it) |
39,191 | 79,951 | 76823_0 | > **Identify the collective noun in the sentence:** _"Students have to take > their entire school books home on the last day of school."_ I couldn't find any credible sources stating that "school" is a collective noun or otherwise (although The Free Dictionary seems to say so). So, in the given sentence, is "school" a collective noun? If not, what is? **EDIT:** The sentence is from my grammar book, and not something I invented. Bad book I guess. |
39,192 | 138,232 | 76823_0 | > "It's all right with me," she announced, "so long as Goodbody's is hanging > the rap on me -- somebody I can sue for a million when it flops. I've got > nothing to say. **Take me for my ride**." It's a part of Dashiell Hammett's novel _The Assistant Murderer_. For the above case, the ride means to be in the car of police (to be arrested)? I'm not a native speaker of English, so this easy word is pretty difficult for me to translate. Please give me advice! |
39,193 | 19,684 | 76823_0 | It's pretty common, especially in video games' mission objectives, to state: > A person X must not die. Would this be rapidly different if constructed like this? > A person X cannot die. |
39,194 | 101,029 | 76823_0 | Wikipedia says: > A postscript may be a sentence, a paragraph, or occasionally many paragraphs > added to, often hastily and incidentally, after the signature of a letter or > (sometimes) the main body of an essay or book. When all letters were handwritten, and adding a new thought to the letter would have likely involved rewriting the entire letter, a postscript had obvious practicality. Now, however, one can just as easily add the thought to the main text. |
39,195 | 138,238 | 76823_0 | I was trying to explain to a friend that someone is no longer available on Spotify earlier today so I said the sentence: > The Avalanches are no longer available on Spotify. Immediately after saying that I realized it might be incorrect (English isn't my first language so this is a common occurrence) because if you take the name of the band out of the equation the sentence becomes of the form: > [Band name] are no longer available on Spotify. which shouldn't be using are but instead be using is. I asked around and some people responded saying it should always be _is_ which confused me even further. Is there any rule for referring to a proper noun as a plural or not in the case where the entity _sounds_ plural? |
39,196 | 121,591 | 76823_0 | I am writing an essay about my university experiences and a suggested correction from an English Ph.D. sounds wrong to me. The suggestion is > In our meeting to discuss ~~the~~ spring semester of my junior year, my > adviser set forth a challenge. She made a similar correction later, > One graduate course had been sufficient to consume my time ~~in the~~ fall > semester. As a native English speaker, both of these corrections sound like grammatical errors to me, but I do not have the linguistic knowledge to articulate exactly what, if anything, makes them incorrect. (I spend much more time on math.se than english.se!) Are her suggestions correct? |
39,197 | 195,445 | 76823_0 | Trying to find a similar phrase to this Chinese phrase: 嫁汉嫁汉，穿衣吃饭 which basically means if a woman marries a guy, then the guy will provide food and clothing. I can't think of anything off the top of my head, something like marry a guy and he'll provide marry for provision are there any set phrases/idioms in English? |
39,198 | 2,168 | 76823_0 | What is the differentiator between these two phrases? |
39,199 | 4,950 | 76823_0 | When you are in the pub, ordering a drink from a bartender, which of the following is the correct way to say it? > 1. When both of you're stand by the bar ordering a drink, and a bartender > asks to pay now or open a tab. > 2. When both of you're stand at the bar ordering a drink, and a bartender > asks to pay now or open a tab. > |
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