English Language Learners - 2014-11-04 (page 1 of 2)

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user116848

2:43 AM

When we have to refer to a set of words what do we call that?

user116848

I am not talking about a portmanteau word or a blend.

user116848

For example here,

user116848

11 hours ago, by Arrowfar

Yeah, 'pulling resistance' almost look like the words that would be used in the heavy warfare.

user116848

I wrote 'words' which makes the whole sentence a little odd. What word could I have used there instead?

user116848

Or is it okay as it is?

user116848

2:46 AM

> Yeah, 'pulling resistance' almost look like the set of words that would be used in the heavy warfare.

user116848

Well this looks odd too ^

user116848

Ping me if you guys have any answers.

user116848

Thanks in advance!

user116848

Because these words aren't a 'phrasal verb' or an 'idiom' too.

user116848

And I wouldn't call it a 'sentence' either.

user116848

3:12 AM

As a second example,

user116848

If I say 'Finishing work'. It is a nice choice of ?

user116848

Words? idiom?

user116848

Here you could use any context. I just want to know about what such words are called if we take it out of a particular sentence.

user116848

3:28 AM

Don't forget to ping me

Anonymous

@Arrowfar How about just a "phrase"?

user116848

0

A: Daddy is home? Is this sound correctly?

Yeah "Daddy is home" is perfectly natural. You may have heard about sentences like "Daddy misses you so much" "Daddy likes you so much" when talking to the kids, It looks lovely.

user116848

@snailboat Do you think that would be okay?

user116848

hi again snail!

user116848

So I didn't ping anyone because I read this: chat.stackexchange.com/transcript/95?m=18452479#18452479

user116848

3:36 AM

In everyday speech an expression, or phrase, may refer to any group of words, or one word. In linguistics analysis, a phrase is a group of words or a single word that forms a constituent—and by which it functions as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence. In grammatical hierarchy the phrase is lower than the clause. == Heads and dependents == Most phrases present a key word that identifies the type and linguistic features of the phrase; it is known as the head-word, or the head, and it gives its syntactic name as the category of the phrase. The head of a phrase is distinguished from it...

user116848

Thanks 'phrase' makes sense in such situations. @snailboat

5:09 AM

Word of the day: hangry

Anonymous

Hungry and angry, presumably?

Yup! I heard it on WPVI! (It's Good Morning America.)

Anonymous

It probably currently has the status of a nonce-word, but it's understandable at least :-)

This reminds me of how is heck not banned in most cases when it's the combination of hell and fuck?

I haven't thought of heck as a combo!

Anonymous

5:11 AM

It's probably a minced alteration of hell rather than a combination

Anonymous

The combination hypothesis gets the timeline wrong

Anonymous

The alteration softens it so it's less taboo than hell itself

I had heard it was a combination of those two.

Anonymous

That's implausible

How so?

Anonymous

5:13 AM

When heck was coined, fuck wasn't yet a general-purpose swear

Anonymous

Heck has it beat by at least half a century

Anonymous

The timeline doesn't match up.

Anonymous

Much more likely is what was the more productive process of altering existing taboo vocabulary to make it less offensive

Anonymous

And that's consistent with its status as not particularly taboo itself

It doesn't necessarily imply that it couldn't be a combination of those two. The emergence of the word couldn't have been just because the other two could be considered as offensive.

It's like hangry.

5:15 AM

I think heck is a little less offensive than hell. If it were the combo, I would think of it as a real offensive word.

Anonymous

I think the portmanteau origin is more or less off the table

I still don't see how hell can be so offensive to be considered taboo.

Anonymous

Probably someone made it up and posted it to the internet.

Anonymous

Well, this was 150 years ago, when the landscape of taboo vocabulary in English was radically different

And just like words from 150 years ago have become obsolete, so could have been the taboo of the word hell...

user116848

5:17 AM

@DamkerngT. What do you think of my question above? Was my sentence okay with 'words'?

Anonymous

@Arrowfar "a nice choice of words" is a good phrase

user116848

okay.

It's also funny how people tend to give two words which basically are meant to be the same such different treatment.

I could totally understand the God—Gosh.

@Arrowfar "Yeah, 'pulling resistance' almost look like the words that would be used in the heavy warfare." is understandable. I think we aren't always that accurate in real speech.

But the others? Kinda funny.

Anonymous

5:20 AM

Did I misunderstand your question, @Arrowfar?

Anonymous

Your question didn't address Damkerng at first, so I went and looked for "words"

@JersonZuleta I think it's natural that people mutate the sound of a word sometimes when they don't want to say that word directly. (Shoot! came to mind.)

Anonymous

Yes, that's very productive

user116848

@snailboat No. Thanks snail. I was asking him whether my construction of the sentence looks okay to him :-)

Anonymous

A minced oath is a euphemistic expression formed by misspelling, mispronouncing, or replacing a part of a profane, blasphemous, or taboo term to reduce the original term's objectionable characteristics. Some examples include gosh instead of god, darn or dang for damn, and heck for hell. Many languages have such expressions. In the English language, nearly all profanities have minced variants. == Formation == Common methods of forming a minced oath are rhyme and alliteration. Thus the word bloody (which itself may be an elision of "By Our Lady"—referring to the Virgin Mary) can become blooming,...

5:21 AM

@snailboat It took me a bit while. I was lucky that I didn't have to scroll back too far. :-)

Anonymous

@Arrowfar Okay, sorry to intrude

user116848

@snailboat I always appreciate your help :)

@DamkerngT. Yet, the meaning doesn't change at all, nor does the intention. It doesn't really matter if I call someone a prostitute or a harlot with the purpose of insulting them, just because a word sounds 'less offensive´.

Anonymous

Taboo language has power because of the taboo

But the taboo is fed by the usage of the euphemisms.

5:25 AM

@JersonZuleta I would say it makes some difference.

Otherwise it wouldn't be taboo.

@DamkerngT. Well, if like my teacher said, you wish to insult someone not just by saying something awful but also by pointing out ignorance, then use fancy insults that sound pretty but are still offensive.

@JersonZuleta True. Polite words can be rude, and rude words can be nice.

@DamkerngT. Or simply use nonsenses. She used to tell me if you call someone, say zeugma, and the average person doesn't know what it means but you still mean it as offensive, even if they don't know its concrete meaning, they'll still feel as though they've been insulted.

That's why I believe more in the intention in which a word is used rather than how it looks/sounds like. That's why context is always so important.

2 hours later…

7:16 AM

npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=357153450

We can speak in numbers, if we want to!

What are your thoughts?

0

A: Decomposing "fingerprint"

It looks like the OED agrees with you. fingerprint (n.) Look up fingerprint at Dictionary.com 1834, from finger (n.) + print (n.). Proposed as a means of identification from c.1892. Admissibility as evidence as valid proof of guilt in murder trials in U.S. upheld in 1912. From 1905 as a ver...

7:32 AM

If you asked me, I would say I wouldn't decompose it.

I was merely answering what the OP said. The word itself is a noun-noun word compound.

And it's quite funny since there was another question on ELU that categorized such words depending on what words formed them, regardless of their 'new function' in the new word.

It's quite safe to say that it was formed from finger (n.) and print (n.), but it's not as safe to say if finger is still a noun, or an adjective, in fingerprint.

"An adjective modifies a noun, adjective, pronoun, etc. But it itself is a thing (a noun). That was added for the sake of complicating things."

From an answer on ELU on another related question.

I think it will end up in more questions "What is noun?" "What is adjective?" "What is noun-noun compound?" "Who uses these terms? And in what meanings?" and so on.

7:51 AM

Well, this is the reason I was so afraid of when giving an answer.

I must go to sleep now, just finished watching The Purge: Anarchy.

G'night!

@JersonZuleta I find that not so few of the questions on ELL and ELU do not interest me. Most nitpicking questions do not.

@JersonZuleta Don't worry too much, and good night!

@DamkerngT. Well, that's true. I'll just sleep on it & if I find this bad experience too bad for me I'll simply delete the answer and move on.

8:09 AM

@Arrowfar I read your sentence again, and the the tripped me this time. I think saying "'...' looks like a phrase that [...]", or "'...' looks like a nice choice of words that [...]" are good. Saying "'...' looks like words that [...]" is acceptable, but saying "Yeah, 'pulling resistance' almost look like the words that [...]" sounds a little off.

> The day finally came where you take over the throne.
http://ell.stackexchange.com/q/38434/3281

I think it requires reading take over as something yet to happen. It sounds unusual to me. Maybe it works in the game.

> 1. The day finally comes where you take over the throne.
2. The day finally comes where you will take over the throne.
3. *The day finally comes where you took the throne.
4. ?The day finally came where you take over the throne.
5. The day finally came where you will take over the throne.
6. The day finally came where you took over the throne.

(6 could sound odd if someone said that to mean now is the time.)

1 hour later…

9:47 AM

@DamkerngT. I think the names of the days (at least their etymologies) may have predated (at least in part) the discovery of the planets - or at least their actual classification as planets. I think the days and the planets where both named after the gods, not the days after the planets or vice versa. As for non-Indo-European languages that use Roman gods fro the weekdays, I figure they may simply have borrowed the names (and sometimes the whole calendar). — oerkelens 29 mins ago

@oerkelens This makes me curious about who borrowed who. I'm quite certain that most cultures around Southeast Asia borrowed the system from India. Though it's not worth pursuing.

10:13 AM

@DamkerngT. The system may be borrowed, but I sincerely doubt that the Romans borrowed the names of their gods from India or other places in S/E Asia. They more or less copied the Greek Pantheon, who took a lot of theirs from Egypt and probably Mesopotamia, but the Latin names seems to have been largely local/original, and in use before there was any extensive contact between the Romans and India.

As far as borrowing the system is concerned, any culture that claims we live in the year 2014 has certainly borrowed from the West, not the other way around :)

10:26 AM

@oerkelens Speaking of which, I have to convert the year back and forth between CE (Common Era) and BE (Buddhist Era) regularly. (For example, this year is 2557 BE.)

I think Indian system has existed more than two thousand years. Probably much older.

This gives me an itch!

> SMTuWThFSa

> SuMoTuWeThFrSa

> SunMonTueWedThuFriSat

Hmm...

> Sun-Moon To Wed This Fri-Sat?

> Sumo To Wield That Frozen Satay?

> Sunny Montgomery To Win That Free Sample?

> Sunny Montgomery To Win That Free Satellite!

10:53 AM

I hope we will have Twitter with us for long.

1 hour later…

12:14 PM

@DamkerngT. I'm pretty sure that as reliable calendar systems go, India had them before the West. However, when borrowing words, age is not always the important factor. (Economic) power at the time two civilizations meet is often a much more decisive factor.

(Although I always remember Gandhi's famous answer when he was asked what he thought of Western civilization: I think that's a great idea.

2

5 hours later…

user116848

5:04 PM

Hi all!

hi @Arrowfar :)

user116848

@oerkelens How is it going? :-)

Anonymous

> Many readers expressed disappointment about the long-awaited sequel to Spin. Looking back now, it’s understandable that people felt let down. Expecting a better novel than Spin was probably unrealistic.

Anonymous

> Even expecting something just as good was, in retrospect, on the hopeful side, given how high Robert Charles Wilson set the bar with the first novel. Regardless, I feel that Axis is a good—if not great—novel that adds a new dimension to the Spin universe and builds a solid bridge to the third volume, Vortex.

Anonymous

Another ambiguous if not!

user116848

5:13 PM

@snailboat Did you read the novel?

Anonymous

I read the first two. I've only started the third

Anonymous

Spin is a great book. One of the best of 2005

user116848

googles

user116848

Spin is a science fiction novel by author Robert Charles Wilson. It was published in 2005 and won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2006. It is the first book in the Spin trilogy, with Axis (the second) published in 2007 and Vortex published in July 2011. == Plot == The story opens when Tyler Dupree is twelve years old. Tyler and his mother live in a guest house on the property of aerospace millionaire E.D. Lawton and his alcoholic wife Carol. Tyler is friends with the couple's fourteen year old twins Jason, a brilliant student who is being groomed to take over the family business, and Diane, with...

Anonymous

Oh, no

Anonymous

5:15 PM

Don't do that

Anonymous

If you're going to read it, don't read about it

user116848

Oh, okay :-)

Anonymous

That'll ruin all the surprises

user116848

You mean it will take the fun away!

Anonymous

Yeah.

Anonymous

5:16 PM

The sensawunda.

user116848

Nice word!

user116848

Sense of wonder

user116848

Sense of wonder

A sense of wonder is an intellectual and emotional state frequently invoked in discussions of science fiction. It is an emotional reaction to the reader suddenly confronting, understanding, or seeing a concept anew in the context of new information. == Definitions and origins == In Brave New Words: The Oxford Dictionary of Science Fiction the term sense of wonder is defined as follows: SENSE OF WONDER n. a feeling of awakening or awe triggered by an expansion of one’s awareness of what is possible or by confrontation with the vastness of space and time, as brought on by reading science fiction...

user116848

5:38 PM

So, the article says that 'Sense of wonder' is a 'term'.

user116848

Good thing I noticed that.

user116848

'Term' is the word I was looking for this morning I guess.

Anonymous

I don't think pulling resistance is a term

user116848

I see your point..

user116848

Because maybe it is not some fixed term.

Anonymous

5:48 PM

Yeah, if people used it in a military context, it could be a military term

user116848

Okay. So, I'll stick to the 'phrase'.

user116848

Good thing you corrected me just now! :-)

Anonymous

Term isn't really well defined, but I think maybe you could gloss it as "(a single) vocabulary item"

Anonymous

oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/term#term

Strongly related to term is terminology.

Anonymous

5:50 PM

Yes, I avoided writing "piece of terminology" since I thought it would be a circular definition

Anonymous

But I think term 〜 piece of terminology

It was and still is raining rather heavily here today. (Probably the third time today.)

Anonymous

I don't know how to type the "about equals" symbol

Anonymous

In Japanese, ≒ is used with that meaning

Anonymous

But in English we don't usually use that symbol

Anonymous

5:51 PM

I should add ≈ to my input method

Anonymous

π ≈ 3.14

Oh, ≈ looks neat!

Anonymous

There we go

Anonymous

I added it under =

My font makes π look really like an n.

Anonymous

5:53 PM

Yeah, that's the font used in chat, I guess

Anonymous

π and Π

hi

is there anybody here?

Hi!

A few of us!

user116848

hi

I am almost a newer in chatt

5:54 PM

Welcome to the chat room!

Would anyone possibly tell me where I could post my question about GRE?

Thanks all

I am not a native

Im learning English

I am wondering what is the topic sentence in a paragraph

GRE is basically language + math + reasoning, iirc.

user116848

You could ask it in the chat.

Do you know

user116848

Graduate Record Examinations

The Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) is a standardised test that is an admissions requirement for most graduate schools in the United States. Created and administered by Educational Testing Service (ETS) in 1949, the exam aims to measure verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, analytical writing, and critical thinking skills that have been acquired over a long period of time and that are not related to any specific field of study. The GRE General Test is offered as a computer-based exam administered at Prometric testing centers. In the graduate school admissions process, the level of emphasis...

5:56 PM

it is about 4paragraphs long

> The topic sentence is a prescriptive grammatical term to describe the sentence in an expository paragraph which summarizes the main idea of that paragraph.
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topic_sentence

user116848

I haven't taken the test though.

I know

but when I psot my specific question then you would get it

GRE AWA Analytical Writing ISSUE Essay Sample Solution - 1
This is a proven fact that truth is the initial stage of progress. However, it is also believed that truth always starts away from the traditions and conventions. Therefore, people consider truths as attacks upon their beliefs, which people are following from ages. Truth also means some new facts that are unknown to us. People do not want to deviate from the facts, which they have learnt from their ancestors, and it is true to say that shedding ones dogmas is often difficult. They feel that it is an attack on their wisdom.

I mean the fourth paragraph

I am wondering what is the topic sentennce of the fourth paragraph

I'm more interested in how you could paste such a long message in one blow. :-)

> However, there might be different reasons for this kind of uncomfortable reactions against truth. The first and the most responsible reason is the human nature. Most people will not prefer to change their ways of life and thinking, as it is accepted and prevalent from time unknown. They believe in what they are doing and experiencing for their whole life.

> The second factor is that truths often challenge the other persons authority. In order to save their status and honor, authoritarians oppose new ideas and truths. In getting their own way, they provoke the public. Sometimes these reactions go violent also.

Anonymous

Multi-line messages have a significantly higher character limit

6:01 PM

Ahh

Anonymous

When a paragraph has a topic sentence, it is most often the first one.

Anonymous

So identify the first sentence of the paragraph, then ask yourself this question: "Is the paragraph about what this sentence expresses?"

user116848

@nima_persian How about "Truth and belief"?

Thanks but I am still confused

user116848

About the topic sentence?

user116848

6:04 PM

There could be many you know.

Hey!

user116848

@JersonZuleta Hey!

I am wondering just about my question

Would any one please throw a light on it?

Anonymous

No.

Anonymous

First, you should make your own attempt.

Anonymous

6:05 PM

"I am still confused" isn't a question.

ok

wait please

I think it is the topic sentence which belongs to fourth paragraph.However, there might be different reasons for this kind of uncomfortable reactions against truth.

Am I right

Looks good to me.

wooow

many thanks all

I am pleased with that

Oh, we can read Encyclopædia Britannica 1911 Edition on Project Gutenburg!

user116848

@DamkerngT. haha But all the information in it would be dated!

Anonymous

6:12 PM

I have Britannica Concise and the full Japanese Britannica on my denshi jisho

Anonymous

I don't use them very often though

@Arrowfar I wonder about this sentence: "By the grammar of a language is meant either the relations born by the words of a sentence and by sentences themselves one to another, or the systematized exposition of these."

user116848

@snailboat Yes, we have internet now, of course.

user116848

I had Britannica installed on my computer too.

(Wikipedia says it was taken from "Topic sentence of the Grammar article, Encyclopædia Britannica 1911 Edition".) -- Also, note the spelling!

user116848

6:14 PM

@DamkerngT. It looks complex enough.

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. books.google.com/…

@DamkerngT. Systematize/Systematise?

@snailboat I can't look inside! -- sobbing...

@JersonZuleta Whichever you prefer!

@DamkerngT. It's not available for a full preview of the book.

user116848

@DamkerngT. Parse this sentence. Then it is very easy.

6:16 PM

@Arrowfar That's not what interested me.

user116848

@DamkerngT. Oh, you mean the definition itself?

Anonymous

user image

I want to see the original, before anything else.

@snailboat Thanks!

Anonymous

≈ "What is meant by 'the grammar of a language' is either ..."

Anonymous

Pretty hokey. It wouldn't be written that way today.

6:18 PM

@snailboat Did they change the spelling from edition to edition?

@snailboat nods

@snailboat Funny, that's how most definitions in Spanish are written today.

Anonymous

Do you mean born versus borne?

user116848

@snailboat I clicked this link and all my browsing is in kanji now lol

I think Britannica is BrE.

Anonymous

Oh. Well, have you looked it up?

6:20 PM

@Arrowfar Google translate?

Anonymous

In 1911, Britannica was already American.

Oh!

That explains it! Thanks a lot!

Anonymous

Wikipedia claims, though: "Although publication has been based in the United States since 1901, the Britannica has largely maintained British spelling."

"The expressions "horseflesh" and "flesh of a horse"..." got me thinking. "Light bulb" & "Bulb of a light"? xD

Anonymous

Britannica Concise has a completely different definition. It begins: "Rules of a language governing its phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics; also a written summary of such rules."

6:22 PM

@JersonZuleta Maybe "bulb of light"!

user116848

@DamkerngT. theodora.com/encyclopedia/g2/grammar.html

@Arrowfar Ah, thanks!

@DamkerngT. Gosh, I did not see that one coming.

Anonymous

In the UK, Oxford spelling uses -ize rather than -ise

Anonymous

Although -ise is what is generally used in the UK

6:24 PM

@snailboat Oh, that's new to me!

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. It's used in the OED and occasionally elsewhere.

Anonymous

My Britannica Concise uses -ize, it appears.

Anonymous

0

Q: "I don't think I'll succeed but I ........... as well try."

Could you possibly help me on what is the right answer for this question please? can may should must I went for 3 but my book says it is wrong. Actually for me all options fit the question. Is this a special (like maybe other options could be right but you can not change any word like maxim) ...

Anonymous

I would have said might instead of may, personally

One is far more common that the other, indeed.

Anonymous

6:27 PM

corpus.byu.edu/coca/?c=coca&q=34360906

Anonymous

Seven times more common in COCA

Arguably, I think all choices are possible.

Anonymous

Five times more in BNC

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. Can, should, and must are all ungrammatical

Even in BrE?

Anonymous

6:28 PM

I would be quite surprised if a BrE speaker accepted any of them.

(It sounds very BrE to me.)

Anonymous

In any case, all three are flatly ungrammatical in my dialect.

nods

Anonymous

I'm not a BrE speaker.

I'm not sure why, but I guess that AmE would use I might as well try, while BrE would use I may as well try.

6:30 PM

Is one really more polite than the other, though?

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. I already checked. Might is more common in both COCA and BNC.

I was taught may sounds more polite than might.

I can't see the difference in politeness.

Anonymous

@JersonZuleta More polite in what contexts?

@snailboat That really surprises me, but I believe that.

Anonymous

6:32 PM

It doesn't look like any of the other modal auxiliaries are commonly used in place of may or might

Anonymous

However, there are a few examples

Anonymous

corpus.byu.edu/coca/?c=coca&q=34360977

Anonymous

The examples with would here are elliptical for "I would [do that] as well", so they're grammatical

Oh nevermind.

My bad. It was may vs can

As in "Can I go to the bathroom vs May I go to the bathroom"

Anonymous

Same for will

Anonymous

6:34 PM

Yes, none of these corpus examples look like the same construction to me

Anonymous

And the situation looks much the same in BNC

Anonymous

So I'll stick to my earlier judgment and say none of the alternatives are grammatical in this construction

Anonymous

@JersonZuleta Yes, that sounds like a definite difference in politeness to me

Anonymous

Can and could can be contrasted in the same way

Indeed.

The OP from the question asked a question related in the comments, am I allowed to reply there or should I tell them to post another question?

Anonymous

6:37 PM

You can use comments for whatever you like, but ideally we would encourage people to ask new questions

@snailboat I'm a bit confused. How can I change the search from COCA to GLOWBE and have the frequencies of different dialects listed side by side?

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. I don't know of a way to view COCA and GloWbE results side-by-side

Anonymous

At least, the way you suggest, I mean

@snailboat With simply "give it a try" the other options become grammatically correct, am I right?

@snailboat I mean, I want to see the frequencies in all dialects at once.

user116848

6:39 PM

@DamkerngT. you can bookmark it and then try each in new page.

Anonymous

@JersonZuleta Can you put that into a complete sentence?

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. Yeah, that's what I don't know how to do.

"I don't think I'll succeed but I can/should/must give it a try."

Of course, not all of them have the same meaning.

Anonymous

@JersonZuleta Yes, those all seem okay.

user116848

@DamkerngT. Is it still raining there? There was a storm prediction for here too. But it passed without doing anything here.

6:41 PM

Thank you.

user116848

I usually like it when the raining doesn't stop.

It just stopped a few minutes ago. It probably will rain again soon.

Anonymous

I like rain a lot.

user116848

But then it chokes the roads etc. too sometimes.

Anonymous

I'm afraid of tornadoes and such, though.

6:42 PM

Raining is the best on lazy Sundays.

I've never seen one in my life.

user116848

Rain elevates my mood.

Anonymous

I have.

Then again, I haven't seen snow so... not experiencing seasons is sort of a disappointment.

Anonymous

I grew up in the Midwestern United States, where we had lots of tornadoes. Snow, too.

user116848

I haven't seen snow either.

Anonymous

6:43 PM

Here in California, we have a short rainy season and a long dry season. No snow, no tornadoes.

Anonymous

@Arrowfar Too is a positive polarity item. "I haven't seen snow either."

user116848

I have seen hail though.

user116848

@snailboat Thanks :-)

@snailboat Same here. Though they're not short.

user116848

But in the northern area of our country there is so much snow etc.

6:44 PM

Climate change is worsening stuff.

user116848

The places that encompasses Himilayas and Karakoram ranges.

Ah, I clicked here and there and got it! corpus.byu.edu/glowbe/?c=glowbe&q=34361300

Anonymous

I've experienced blizzards.

(Not sure if I can do it again.)

user116848

@snailboat How are they like? Do you enjoy it?

Anonymous

6:45 PM

@DamkerngT. Yes, that's the standard view, right? I'm afraid I don't know how to put that side-by-side with COCA

Anonymous

@Arrowfar Blizzards aren't really enjoyable :-)

@snailboat Did you get snowed in?

Anonymous

But as long as you don't plan on going outside much and have good central heating, they're not such a big deal.

Anonymous

During the Blizzard of '99, I was supposed to attend school :-)

@snailboat I think you mean that saying the columns are shown side-by-side is incorrect?

Anonymous

6:46 PM

@DamkerngT. What I thought you wanted was that GloWbE display alongside COCA

user116848

@snailboat Oh, that must have been hard!

Anonymous

Of course you can see all the different regions in GloWbE if you just enter a query directly

No, I just wanted dialects to be listed side-by-side.

Anonymous

But if you click "side-by-side" and pick COCA, they vanish!

Oh, they have a choice for "SIDE BY SIDE"!

Anonymous

6:47 PM

Ah, well then, just enter your search directly into GloWbE :-)

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. Yes! I thought that was what you were talking about.

user116848

@JersonZuleta Is the climate of your country hot all the year?

Anonymous

0

Q: Another people!

A little while ago, I was listening to the radio show "A way with words" (episode: Upstairs basement 9 June 2014) when I heard the host Grant saying that phrase. I had to do a little research and confirmed that "another" can only be used with singular nouns and not with plural nouns. People is a...

@snailboat The UI confuses me often enough!

Anonymous

But people can also be a singular noun.

Anonymous

6:48 PM

@DamkerngT. It is tricky.

@snailboat Very!

Hooray for A way with words! It appears to be popular among learners!

user116848

@DamkerngT. Do you listen to it? I used to.

@Arrowfar Nope. Weather changes day by day, last month was rainy almost everyday. It seems to be neutral right now.

@Arrowfar Not very often.

user116848

@JersonZuleta I see :-)

user116848

6:52 PM

@DamkerngT. So, there is some Grant and Martha in the radio show. I wonder if they visit ELU or ELL :-)

user116848

I mean they have a good vocabulary.

user116848

It seems like it.

user116848

Also, it is kinda funny. They take phone calls and stuff.

user116848

Puzzles, riddles, questions etc.

Anonymous

By the way, the Britannica 1911 definition of grammar isn't very good

6:54 PM

Those riddles make the show kinda fun, right? :-)

user116848

Yeah :)

@snailboat The one you posted earlier?

Anonymous

No

Anonymous

The one I posted was from the 2011 Britannica Concise

Anonymous

Wait.

Anonymous

6:55 PM

I posted two of them :-)

Anonymous

I just remembered.

@JersonZuleta The one I posted earlier, I think.

Anonymous

The one that someone else posted, and I provided an image of was from 1911.

Anonymous

The one I quoted in text was from 2011.

Anonymous

I got confused.

6:57 PM

I got the quote from a Wikipedia page, and it's a bit different from what I can see in the image.

Anonymous

Ah, I see now

Anonymous

That's not a very good Wikipedia page, either :-)

"GRAMMAR (from Lat. grammatica, sc. ars; Gr. γράμμα, letter, from γράφειν, to write). By the grammar of a language is meant either the relations borne by the words of a sentence and by sentences themselves one to another, or the systematized exposition of these. The exposition may be..." ?

That one?

nods

Anonymous

"Topic sentence" isn't really a grammatical term, let alone a prescriptive one

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