« first day (104 days earlier)      last day (3138 days later) » 

7:44 AM
Word of the Day: Frush
> The running Frush is a Sorrance called by some Country Smiths the Frog; because it breedeth in that spongy part of the Heel, which they call the Frog.
1
A: "High-hanging sign" or "High-hung" sign?

Maulik VBoth are possible, but, here, I'd lean for 'high hanging'; because the past verb is already applied in 'found'. Now when you describe the position of the billboard, it's 'hanging'. This works especially when you are talking about just past and not distant past. As I said, high-hung is also poss...

> Both are possible, but, here, I'd lean for 'high hanging'; because the past verb is already applied in 'found'. Now when you describe the position of the billboard, it's 'hanging'. This works especially when you are talking about just past and not distant past.
That's a very odd line of reasoning!
@DamkerngT. - I see. Probably it was impossible to change the wording post-submission. I don't understand what do the letters P+R mean. "Public Relations"? (0: — CopperKettle 26 mins ago
@CopperKettle I don't know either, though I guessed R = Russia. :-)
 
8:18 AM
@DamkerngT. Then maybe P is the Russian letter sounding like R
But not a very self-explanatory combination, IMHO
 
I guess the designer might've pitched the concept to the referees.
 
 
1 hour later…
9:46 AM
0
Q: Can I put verb and past participle as adjective?

user22519Is it correct to say: a first surface is extending bent from a second surface This sentence is from patent context and I think the sentence means a first surface is extending from a second surface while being bent (the shape of the first surface is bent)

An adjunct. It must be an adjunct!
(It makes me think of "What is the last thing you ordered takeout?", an old ELL question.)
> Surface A is extending (bent) from surface B.
 
 
3 hours later…
12:46 PM
0
A: The young lady, a young man - why different articles?

CopperKettle He was getting to be quite a handsome young man. There are a lot of handsome young men around, they number in millions, and they are all different. Some are of the nerdy kind, others are athletic. Some wear formal suits, others wear casual clothes. Some behave rudely, others act in a shy ma...

 
I wonder that too.
 
I wrote an answer, but it could be off the mark, judging by a native person's answer.
(0:
 
I think we may have to consider the whole phrase "quite the young lady".
 
nods
 
Ah, I didn't see your answer!
I think your answer is sound, though I don't really know whether it's correct or not.
0
Q: Which sentence(s) uses the word "passing" incorrectly?

PhoenixWhich of the following sentence(s) use the word PASSING incorrectly or inappropriately? (a) She did not have passing marks in mathematics. (b) The mad woman was cursing everybody passing her on the road. (c) At the birthday party, all the children enjoyed a game of passing the parce...

I think all are fine!
It's "pass marks" in BrE, and "passing marks" in AmE, I think.
People seem to use both "game of pass the parcel" and "game of passing the parcel".
 
12:52 PM
Sorry, I'm mentally busy with the young-lady problem.
(0:
"You're growing into the young lady"
this would sound outlandish
"You're getting to be a handsome young man" - now that's okay.
(without the quite part)
 
@CopperKettle Jane Austen!
 
@DamkerngT. Jane Austen wrote the Alien horror novel?
 
Oh, there was no quite in your sentence, sorry!
 
(0:
I mean, without quite it looks like a sentence from a horror movie. "Something is growing into this young lady!"
 
Yes!
Or she is growing into that young lady (that we the Martians had planned before she was born. Mwahaha! :P)
 
12:56 PM
(0:
"He had been with us for 9 1/2 years now and he was growing into quite a young man." (google books)
 
nods -- I somehow vague remember something similar (perhaps this exact phrase), but I can't recall it precisely.
 
There are too many shades of meaning to be discussed here.. a great question.
BBL
 
See you later!
 
Anonymous
@CopperKettle Usually native speaker. It's probably best to avoid using native as an adjective by itself meaning 'native speaker'.
 
Anonymous
@CopperKettle I haven't read your answer yet, but it's a great question! :-)
 
1:08 PM
I scrapped my question since it does not explain the existence of "
He had been with us for 9 1/2 years now and he was growing into quite a young man." in litereature.
And rewriting would take time, and I need to do something..
Great to see you, Snails!
Bye!
 
Anonymous
Later! :-)
 
1:43 PM
0
Q: Use of 'dress' as verb

Barid Baran AcharyaMy nephew was given to transform a sentence using verb form of 'dress'. The sentence was: Her dress was poor. I suggested him the following sentence. "She was dressed poorly." But it occurred to me that here "dressed" is a participle. I desisted from from using a sentence like this: She dre...

Hmm... the answer says "She was dressed poorly" is perfect.
Shouldn't it be "She was poorly dressed"?
 
Anonymous
1:56 PM
"Transform"?
 
Anonymous
Meaning what, exactly?
 
Anonymous
Anyway, "Her dress was poor" contains only one verb, and it's was, not dress.
 
Anonymous
I have no idea what they're supposed to do.
 
Anonymous
That said, ignoring the question itself, "She was dressed poorly" is an okay sentence. It's grammatical. I like "She was poorly dressed" just a little bit better.
 
Anonymous
But both are possible.
 
Anonymous
2:00 PM
I think we can say the latter is the unmarked order.
 
Anonymous
I re-read the question, and I still have no idea what sentence they're supposed to come up with.
 
@snailboat I think it's another kind of those popular sentence transformation exercises. (Passive voice is one of them.)
@snailboat Thanks for the feedback!
 
Anonymous
2:15 PM
There is no passive version of the OP's sentence. Since it just says "transform", I had to wonder what sort of transformation they had in mind.
 
"transform a sentence using verb form of 'dress'."
I think that's the transformation instruction.
(i.e., write an equivalent sentence, but with "dress" as a verb)
 
Anonymous
So, rewrite the sentence so dress is a verb form rather than a noun form?
 
Yes, I think so.
 
Anonymous
Um, She dressed poorly?
 
I think that's exactly what the exercise wants!
 
Anonymous
2:17 PM
The verb dress doesn't correspond terribly well to the noun dress.
 
nods
 
Anonymous
Her dress was poor is a little weird to begin with.
 
Anonymous
Just a little.
 
It sounds--archaic, perhaps?
Or outdated.
 
3:03 PM
@snailboat - I wonder if "Russia: Where Your Soul Is" be an okay sentence
2
Q: "Russia. Where is your soul" - shouldn't it be "Russia. Where your soul is"?

CopperKettleFrom a news report: Russia's Federal Tourism Agency (Rosturizm) held a contest for the development of Russia's tourism logo, and this design took second place: Is the wording here felicitous? It seems to me that it might imply that Russia lacks a soul, if read as a rhetorical question. Say, "...

@snailboat - or is "Russia: Your Soul is Here" is a better-sounding sentence. I'm curious as to what a native speaker's perception might be.
 
3:56 PM
2
Q: When not to use "not yet"

MatthiasI understand, e.g. from this answer, that the phrase "not yet" is used to talk about an event that has not happened so far, but that we clearly expect to happen somewhere in the future. I want to know if "not yet" always bears this meaning and what consequences there are for understanding if we ...

It looks like German noch nicht is similar to Thai ยังไม่, which covers both temporal and non-temporal uses.
 
Anonymous
4:08 PM
@CopperKettle It's not a sentence. It sounds fine though :-)
 
Anonymous
@CopperKettle I think the "Russia" in large type and "where your soul is" underneath is nice sounding. I think that if you replace it with "your soul is here" it doesn't sound quite as nice. That's just my personal impression―I don't speak for all native speakers, of course :-)
 
Anonymous
@DamkerngT. Can you give an example of a non-temporal use of ยังไม่?
 
ฝีมือเขายังไม่ถึงขั้น -- Approx. lit. trans: His skill is not yet there.
(which I'd rephrase too "not quite there")
 
4:24 PM
Another example: คนไข้ยังไม่พ้นขีดอันตราย -- The patient isn't out of danger (yet?).
 
 
2 hours later…
6:06 PM
1
Q: "governement has felt it necessary" - why not "government has felt it IS necessary"?

bart-leby The military government is committed to a very different policy – postponing for many years a return to democratic rule, giving first priority to economic recovery and the elimination of Marxist influence, and relying ideologically on a combination of Catholic integralism and free-enterpise ec...

Could it by chance be a secondary predicate, I wonder.
 
6:30 PM
3
Q: The others / Others

jihoonHere's a situation. I brought some coats, but even if I wear all of them I'm still cold. I have others at home. I would have been much better off if I had brought 'the others'. Here, can I call 'coats' that are at home as 'the others' in this situation? I know I can use 'others' when I ne...

The choice of others (and the other the others) is interesting.
Somehow I think both of the others and the others in that sentence are less than ideal.
"I have more coats ..." "I have other coats at home."
"... if I had brought them."
 
7:01 PM
Something must be wrong on Amazon.com!
 
-4
Q: 1. A mixture of Barium fluoride and strontium chloride hexahydrate using heat (no water):

PaulQuestions: 40 % of grade (HUGE!) Based on the information on the previous page, and the techniques learned in this experiment, concisely and articulately, outline a simple experimental procedure, in the space provided, that could be used to separate the following mixtures. Be very specific when u...

 
Hardcover from $2,703.23!?
@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M Plagiarism?
 
@DamkerngT. Haha!
@DamkerngT. It has bigger problems than that.
Blatant. Homework. Dump.
 
@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M Ahh
 
 
2 hours later…
8:43 PM
> But I cannot find a dictionary definition that fits this usage.
@TCh @Snail @Stoney @Dam chase the troll away with some shovels:
-1
Q: Come On Intercom

meatieI have a question about the formalness of the verb "come" in this context: About halfway through the flight, the pilot came on the intercom and said that because of fierce sandstorms, the Cairo airport was advising all flights to land elsewhere. I don't question the correctness of the ve...

 
9:04 PM
@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M I voted to close as a dictionary question.
 
 
1 hour later…
10:17 PM
Preferably before it gets reöpened. :(
 
10:36 PM
@inɒzɘmɒЯ.A.M He posts crap daily. Nobody seems to mind.
 
10:49 PM
@tchrist Ayup. He gets a wild hair up every couple of months, and then fades away.
 
Apparently this is one of those times.
 
11:06 PM
Damn. I got distracted, and now I can't delete it.
 
@StoneyB I would be glad to help.
 
Oh, yah, you're a PTB now.
Please
 
Done.
 
It's magic!
 
POOF!
 
11:10 PM
How'd you guys block the original?
 
Eternal vigilance.
Just a lot of us who were sufficiently attuned to the pattern to notice the next sock.
Eventually people here will come to realize it’s a lost cause.
 
Alas, I don't think we have an adequate density of vigilantes.
 
Well, you never downvote anything.
So why would you start with him?
 
I suppose I'll have to. I usually closevote him.
 
If the Community closes his questions, eventually he’ll be question-blocked, at which point he will create forbidden socks to get around the ban, at which point worse things will happen.
At least, that's my guess.
 
11:21 PM
"Worse" as in more frequent or as in overtly challenging?
 
@tchrist I think it needs downvotes and closures.
And I think worse means more socks, and more offensive questions.
Maybe user impersonation :/
 
I believe there is nothing, or at least very little, I cannot talk about in public with respect to this matter.
And you are right, most of that happens.
When an antagonist is identified, sock accounts appear defaming that antagonist, and worse.
 
Basically, his closed questions should be deleted.
 
That would help.
He’s actually doing less damage now than if antagonized.
 
Kinda makes me wish we had stealth bans
 
11:25 PM
So long as he operates within the bounds he’s supposed to, things are functioning as well as they can.
After the worst rage attacks, he was destroyed on sight.
I still need to go back and purge things.
 
Hmm ... we had that guy during the election
 
Which one, Evan Carroll?
 
An impersonator, posting suggestive qq under MAR's name and Catija's
 
Oh right, that one.
Ugly.
 
Sez on the users tab that 'Evan Carroll' hasn't posted at all on ELL.
 
11:35 PM
And he hasn’t, either. Do you know how you can tell?
Because he would have had a badge if he had, and it would have survived question deletion.
 
He seems to enjoy TRUMPETING his presence -- I think we would have noticed that.
 
Yah.
 
I have to go make dinner now, but this is all meaty stuff and I look forward to hearing more about the SE fauna.
By the way, I haven't forgotten that OE/Latin thing -- my wife's gonna be back from grad school for fall break in three weeks, and I'll ask her.
 

« first day (104 days earlier)      last day (3138 days later) »