Generate the answer for a given question. The question requires common knowledge of English. Make sure that the answer is in detail, long, consistent with the context, and requires general knowledge of English. To be less repetitive, please vary your language for each question. Give a proper explanation to answer, and if necessary, provide the definition of various terms. And conclude your answer if it's long. If you have used other resources (e.g., Merriam Webster's.) to answer the question, include citations in your answer. You don't need to paraphrase the context of your resources, but make sure that your answer is consistent and complete.

Input: Consider Input: I'm having a serious argument with a friend on the status of the word 'suck' when I used it about him by saying 'You suck!' because he missed a train. We are both non-native English speakers. He claimed that I used it as a foul or slang term. I vehemently disagreed with him about it. I told him that the word 'suck' can be used to describe something inefficient or not good enough as well like it is used in the example 'Samsung mobile sucks'. Am I right to describe the use of the word 'suck' in such context?.

Output: Yes, you can use the word in the way that you have described, but it's considered more harsh than polite, and it has somewhat vulgar overtones. How it's regarded or received might be generational. I typed is suck vulgar? on Google, and found mixed responses. Feel free to do the same if you want diverse opinions on the matter. I thought this excerpt from a blog post, though, was worth pasting into an answer here: Some may not believe this, but suck as in 'Man, this class sucks' was also in the raw obscenity category when I was a teenager. It was used plenty in the school hallways but not in front of your teacher and never in front of your mother. I remember some agitation by certain culturally-advanced youngsters who tried to railroad their elders into accepting sucks as a safe and harmless substitute for stinks. The elders weren't having any of it, last I checked, but the liberalizing linguists seem to have carried the day. I have always assumedrightly or wrongly, I do not know that the word was originally intended to carry sexual overtones, which was the reason for its suppression. Today, the sexual overtones are either forgotten or are now acceptable in mixed company. I'm not sure which explanation disturbs me more. I think you and your friend are unlikely to come up with an agreed-upon viewpoint, because you're both right in a way. Feel free to use it on message boards and the like when you want to express a negative opinion, but realize you'll risk sounding a bit uncouth to some when you do. Then again, maybe I'm just showing my age here. As a footnote, you might want to check out our sister site, English Language Learners.


Input: Consider Input: These two seem very similar. What are the major differences between the two? For example, in the following sentence, Substitute the lesser punishment for the greater one. Can one use 'less' instead of 'lesser' here?.

Output: Less refers to quantity, lesser refers to quality. Your sentence could be rephrased as 'substitute less punishment for more punishment.' Here we are saying that the amount of punishment is smaller. But if you say 'substitute the lesser punishment' you are saying the type of punishment is not as severe. Forty lashes is less punishment than 100 lashes. Being pelted with rotten tomatoes is a lesser punishment than being pelted with rocks.


Input: Consider Input: I sometimes see the term 'critical but stable' in the news. It is often used to describe someone who has been very seriously injured. For example (15 December 2019): '[A police officer] said the man who had been shot was in a 'critical but stable ' condition in hospital.' I understand that 'critically ill' means that life is in danger. Similarly 'stable' is the opposite. Quotes from www.lexico.com critically To an extreme degree with a risk of death. 'two critically wounded people died in hospital'. 'critically ill patients who were awaiting surgery' stable (of a patient or their medical condition) not deteriorating in health after an injury or operation. 'he is now in a stable condition in hospital' What does 'critical but stable' really mean?.


Output: You specify British English but the only other answer with a quote is from a US source. I was curious if it was materially different in the UK. The UK newspaper article critical and serious condition: what hospitals mean when they report a patient's state indicates it means much the same here. (the bolded part is the direct answer to your question) Sometimes, people will include a suggestion of whether someone's condition is stable, improving or getting worse. A 'Critical but stable' condition, for instance, indicates that someone is in a bad state but not likely to get worse in the short-term. Others recommend against using that phrasing, however, since being in a critical condition implies that a patient vital signs are not stable.