Language Overflow - 2016-10-19 (page 1 of 2)

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12:01 AM

A funny sounding phrase I just read: one hand on the butt of the gun on her hip

the butt of the gun! -- It's quite obvious which part of the gun it is, and I probably can't come up with a really better word choice, but it somehow made me giggle. :-)

@yubrajsharma I don't understand why you ask similar questions again and again?

0

Q: Meaning of after being taken in these sentence

What's the meaning and use of "after being taken" in the following sentence: A young girl was left terrified after being taken on a rollercoaster by her mother - and asked to be taken off half way through the ride. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3843126/Torturing-child-like-one-real-jo...

meaning sentence-construction usage

0

Q: Use and meaning of "being surrounded"

What's the Meaning and use of "Being surrounded" in the following sentences: I love trees. Like many of us, being surrounded by trees makes me happy. Source: https://www.quora.com/Why-does-being-surrounded-by-green-trees-make-me-so-happy Rachel Boston Quotes "Being surrounded by love and pe...

meaning sentence-meaning usage

0

Q: Meaning of being unable and replacing being unable with to be unable

Use of "being unable" and can I replace it with "To be unable" in the following sentence: Depression and Your Ability to Perform Physical Work The Social Security Administration’s standard regarding Social Security Disability benefits is that you must be unable to perform any kind of work that ...

meaning sentence-construction usage

....

and several other questions with the same root!

It's unclear what he doesn't know (and knows!).

It's also unclear what exactly he wants to know, and I wonder if he knows what exactly he wants to know.

That makes it difficult to address the problem, and why our answers don't seem to be able to help much.

This way, it's more like taxonomy than learning a language.

(E.g., how many meanings can get have? -- I'm sure nobody knows.)

(But it could be fun to collect data, classify it, and so on, if you were a taxonomist.)

12:26 AM

@snailplane I request you ....my questions should not be removed because I'm going to edit all of them to include what I know and what I don't know.please

Good morning @yubrajsharma

I posted them at the Same time because my mobile data is going to finish

@Man_From_India Good morning

Before asking any more question, it's better to review what you have learned so far regarding this. What data you have collected and things like that.

@yubrajsharma Do you use (or have you used) High School English Grammar & Composition by Wren and Martin?

Good morning @DamkerngT. Have a good day :-)

12:31 AM

Morning!

DT, isn't it time to move past Wren and Martin? I myself used it, it seems like a book of definition of grammar terms :-)

@Man_From_India I think it's perfect for @yubrajsharma. :-)

And really, it's rare that an ELL grammar question will be beyond the scope of Wren and Martin's.

For starters I would like to recommend straight PEU and one very old book, a pattern of verbs or something like that. I can't remember its name, it was written by Hornby.

Hmm... I'm not sure if PEU is the right book.

It looks like lots of exercises would be helpful.

Then if they like ASIEG and OMEG :-)

12:36 AM

Hmm... I don't know. I don't think they're really great choices.

@DamkerngT. in that respect, hmmm Wren and Martin is good.

1 hour ago, by yubraj sharma

@snailplane what I asked was my questions were high or low quality?

And what he really needs, I feel, is to read English novels and newspapers/magazines etc.

Basically, I think he needs a book that helps him turn that sentence into I'd like to know whether my questions are of low or high quality or something like that.

@Man_From_India I think I've told him that more than a couple times, but perhaps I was too indirect.

@DamkerngT. nods

12:40 AM

But this is only my opinion. In the end, it's up to him.

Some English novels are easy to read like Mark Twein's The adventure of Tom Shawer, short stories of Oscar Wilde, Ruskin Bond, R.K Narayanan etc.

English never lacks good stories, at any level of difficulty!

Personally, I'd say children stories and young adult novels are pretty good for beginners and intermediate learners.

nods

My first English story that I read was Rapunzel when I was at class 3 :-) I borrowed it from my school library.

:D

Then Tom Shawer and then many more :-)

12:47 AM

IIRC, Harry Potter is not that easy for learners, even though its target group is children.

That time I was completely amazed by the writing style of Oscar Wilde. I read his short stories, his long stories was hard for me. But I was so fascinated by his writing that I had to read hos longer stories. Though I stumbled, it helped me a lot in learning.

@DamkerngT. I never read Harry Potter, I would read Lowis Carol or Daniel Deffoe, instead. (I know I'm making spelling mistakes while writing their name, but I think you know who I'm referring to) :-)

Oh, Lewis Carroll is one of my favorite typos!

Haha

> Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.
http://harrypotter.scholastic.com/excerpts/HP_Book1_Chapter_Excerpt.pdf

Harry Potter, first book, first chapter, first paragraph. :-)

Oh are you fan of Harry Potter? :)

12:55 AM

Not really. Reading book excerpts is one of my hobbies. :-)

Here I see children read it a hundred times :)

:D

I guess it must be popular among younger generations.

Yup

> He didn’t seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground.

> One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few
hours’ time by Mrs. Dursley’s scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley.

> Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball wearing diff erent-colored bonnets — but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby, and now the photographs showed a large blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a carousel at the fair, playing a computer game with his father, being hugged and kissed by his mother. The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too.

> Harry heard her walking toward the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the stove.

> On the other hand, he’d gotten into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens.

> He couldn’t remember being in the car when his parents had died.

All sentences with being in the first chapter. :-)

Hehe.

1:01 AM

(excluding those with being after be)

Somehow this guy seems to me like Nima :-)

Speaking of nima, I guess I haven't seen him for many moons!

@DamkerngT. nods he just vanished.

1:19 AM

@yubrajsharma

> Being arrested, he was taken to the police station.

being arrested here doesn't mean a continuous action, it indicates a states. Most people will interpret it this way. However, it's better to write it this way -

> Having been arrested, he was taken to the police station.

This sentence explicitly says about the sequence of the two actions. First, arrested then, *taken to the police station *.

With the use of after before being and having in those sentences, it explicitly adds the meaning that he was arrested first then taken to the police station.

after being arrested is better than after having been arrested because the latter seems to content redundancy.

Anonymous

The latter doesn't seem quite felicitous.

Anonymous

You could use the latter if you wanted an experiential perfect, maybe: After having been arrested, I had a lot of trouble finding a job.

Anonymous

1:34 AM

Although I doubt many people would phrase it that way.

Nice :-)

Word of the Day: vade mecum

(Hmm... it's spelled both ways.)

1 hour later…

2:51 AM

Sawasdee khrap

user image

(0:

3:04 AM

> Decree of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia No. 916 dated 14-Jun-2013 (revised 18-Dec-2015)

Which is better: revised or updated?

Revised.imho.

Did you sleep?

@Cardinal some questions are eternal (Is there life on Mars?Or to be or not to be?)Take it easy.

3:19 AM

Thanks!

3:30 AM

books.google.com/ngrams/…

2 hours later…

5:08 AM

> Points to Consider Document on the Characterization of Cell Lines Used to Produce Biologicals

An odd name for a document

6:06 AM

> The PPCB contains cells at the limit of in vitro cell age.

anarthrous "age" is odd

6:33 AM

@CowperKettle revised is more conventional

@CowperKettle An ungrammatical one, certainly

6:54 AM

From *The Cat in the Hat,* "I saw there with Sally. We sat there, we two. And I said, 'How I wish we had something to do!'"

I'm wondering how linguists, eg *CGEL* types, would characterize how *We sat there, we two* differs from the more basic or standard *We sat there* or *We two sat there* or *The two of us sat there.* I know why, primarily the choice was made by the good doctor. But it's an example of what? Are there common reasons to choose it aside from creating rhyme or emphasizing/stressing the subject? I can think of simple similar constructions such as *We lived in our own world, …

--In all advancementality for the enhancingness of lexematic dexterity,
Your Brother, Your Bother,
I

Oops. Correction: I sat there with Sally. We sat there, we two. #Whentoolatetoeditistooearly

7:25 AM

@JimReynolds thank you!

Suppose I have a cell bank. An MCB (Master Cell Bank). It is "loaded" with cryovials only once. There should be at least 36 cryovials when we do this. How to define this? "Storage placement volume"?

The chapter in the document is called "Создание, объем закладок и пополнение банков клеточных линий-продуцентов" (Creation, storage placement volumes (?) and replenishment of host cell line banks)

7:40 AM

The chapter is essential a "how to" text? Detailing protocols or procedures?

Bob Dylan - The Cat In The Hat - With Lyrics

Do you know the book?

@JimReynolds Yes, it is a Regulations document

@JimReynolds Cat in the Hat? I heard about it

Well, I'd be inclined to identify it as such in the title, unless that's obvious from context, or you want to remain faithful to that extent to a literal translation.

Oh. "Points to Consider" is strange.

nods

7:44 AM

Is everything in the chapter a "regulation"?

Procedures for Characterizing ...

The whole document is called Regulations (concerning the use of cell banks)

@JimReynolds No, that is not my document

Or simply "Characterizing Cell Lines Used to Produce Biologicals"

It is mentioned in my document. It is actually a USA document published in 1993

So it was written by a native speaker

My document only mentions it

I've downloaded the pdf even

US Dept of Health

Uh, what's the draft sentence you have so far that needs wording for storage placement volume or an improvement on that term?

Yes. Maybe it is just "storage volume". It looks like it is.

It is "placement volume" in Russian but stripped down to its core it is just the amount of cryovials the cell bank has when it is created.

7:50 AM

Number of vials might more likely be described using "quantity" rather than "volume". I dunno.

Yes, I remember that comment you made, and I try to use quantity wherever possible (0:

Number is even more specific than quantity, I think we can say.

> Creation, storage placement quantity and replenishment of host cell line banks

Sounds reasonable to me

Thank you! I might change it later. Maybe this "storage placement quantity" is basically "the size of the cell bank" (measured in cryovials)

7:54 AM

There remain several possible meanings. Minimum numbers that should be placed, exact number that must be placed, etc.

Yes, and I made a comment in the document, to be answered by the authors (0:

I mark each document with comments, and get explanations

goo.gl/ktCAFA

@JimReynolds Thank you!

> "This is not a good game", said our fish as he lit.

"as he ran away"?

> One of the key advantages afforded by the use of serially subcultured cells for the manufacture of biotechnological (biological) drug products is the possibility to have a characterized common source for each production batch, that is, to have a bank of cells used to ensure the stability and reproducibility of the key characteristics of the product.

Now I can breathe out

Or breathe in

8:23 AM

For heaven sakes, do one or the other

to light (lighted or lit) dictionary.com/browse/light-on sense 2.

user image

> System administrators walk into the accounting office to fix a printer

8:46 AM

0

Q: Linguistic term for repeating a subject as in "We sat there, we two."

From The Cat in the Hat, I sat there with Sally. We sat there, we two. And I said, "How I wish we had something to do!" How do modern linguists, eg CGEL authors or readers, characterize how We sat there, we two differs from the more basic or standard We sat there or We two sat there or The...

grammar sentence-patterns descriptive-grammar

1 hour later…

9:59 AM

to come to rest, as on a spot or thing; fall or settle upon; land:
The bird lighted on the branch. My eye lighted on some friends in the crowd.

Wow

This did not occur to me

I wonder if kids would be able to understand this "lit"

Because it is usually used to describe birds, and with "on"

10:19 AM

Can I refer to cryovials as "pcs"? Meaning "pieces"? It's in a table that describes how many cryovials should this or that cell bank contain.

@DamkerngT. To tell you frankly, it reminds me of meconium, so that I'd not use it (0:

Hmm

"At least 120 vials" or "Not less than 120 vials"?

(A record in a table)

(describing how many vials there should be)

11:17 AM

@JimReynolds And I just ran into the sisters three last night. :-)

@CowperKettle They mean more or less the same to me. (But some people may prefer "No(t) fewer than".)

lighted?

Hmm... it's in use!

11:41 AM

> block noun
uk /blɒk/ us /blɑːk/

> dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/block

I understand that one is rounded and the other is unrounded, but /ː/, really?

REALLY

Huh? A new avatar!

New name.

And this one won't ever change.

Nice :-)

11:54 AM

0

Q: How can you learn to read, especially in English?

Do you need to be exposed to different kinds of writings (e.g. magazine, newspaper, etc)? What is phonics? Do you need to master things like phonics, grammar, etc? In my case, I can speak English fine but seem to have difficulty when it comes to reading. I've read a good quantity of books but I...

reading-aloud reading

Now that's really interesting!

Especially this part: "I've read a good quantity of books but I'm still struggling, and compared to videos I don't believe I grasp information 100% like I do with videos."

I wonder how accurate their 100% is, but assuming it's sufficiently accurate, it'd mean that they can't map their listening skills back to reading skills.

And I thought reading is easier, because it's slower, and non-linear.

Which reminds me, what kinds of videos are they used to?

Quora is more suitable for this kind of question ;) — user178049 6 hours ago

It's a bit sad that Quora is a better platform for this kind of question in some users' opinions.

@CowperKettle Meconium! How did you come to know that term?

Oops. To @DamkerngT.

Mine was vade mecum; meconium was his. :-)

12:26 PM

@JimReynolds I thought it was part of general knowledge

I was reading a lot about physiology and biology some years ago

12:50 PM

> Table 12 lists the tests performed by the Company during the qualification of cell line banks.

Is it a (the?) conventional practice to capitalize "Company"?

I would like to capitalize it, because I've seen it in some documents.

In those I've seen, if they capitalize it, they'll capitalize it in the whole document. Most of these are legalese, though.

1:19 PM

nods

Acronyms of the evening: MAP, RAP and HAP

> Mouse, rat and hamster antibody production (MAP, RAP and HAP) testing.

I wonder about word order here:

> In vivo animal tests for the presence of specific viruses (antibody production tests)

"In vivo animal tests" or "Animal in-vivo tests" or "In vivo tests in animals" or "Animal-based in vivo tests" or..

> Tests for non-specific viruses/retroviruses by transmission electronic microscopy (TEM)

Hmm

> Transmission electronic microscopy (TEM)-based tests for the presence of non-specific viruses (?)

this pre-"based" part is too big

1:51 PM

Hi All!

Hi

Hi

Hi

Hi!

Hi

@CowperKettle It's not in my familiar contexts, but I guess in vivo, being Latin, wouldn't usually be written as in-vivo.

2:23 PM

Stumbled upon: Four Perfects in One

@DamkerngT. thanks!

It was just my opinion, BTW. :D

(0:

Ugh! I guess I had too much soup!

(It was too delicious!)

> PCR-based test for detection of functional genes of the MoMuLV and VSV retroviruses that are responsible for the assembly of viral particles. -->> PCR-based test for detection of MoMuLV and VSV retroviral genes responsible for the assembly of viral particles.

2:27 PM

Nice!

Be careful with soup! Buddha called for moderate soup consumption.

LOL -- True!

> Fat paunches have lean pates, and dainty bits
Make rich the ribs, but bankrupt quite the wits

Haha!

This is the famous Soup Sutra, translated by Shakespeare.

2:30 PM

LOL!

(0:

Word of the Day: bellyache

2

(Well, it has 'belly' in it!)

11

Q: Specific word to describe someone who is so good that isn't even considered in say a classification

When someone says "He's the best", or "he is definitely first". But there is someone else who is better and when some other subject considers him/her and asks "what about -name-?", is replied with something like "Yeah dude he/she is a god, it doesn't even count.". I mean when people start countin...

It's SWR's invasion!

Anonymous

3:06 PM

I think we may have lost that battle at some point.

Anonymous

But this isn't actually as bad. It's not a single word request.

Anonymous

People are answering with expressions, and it's okay :-)

Anonymous

The old man the boats is my new favorite garden path sentence.

The young man the floats

Anonymous

(:

3:13 PM

(0:

:D

Looks like a good start for a poem

But one should come up with a third garden path line

> The old man the boats
The young man the floats
And middle-aged women
Man stylish trench coats

But here the last two lines are not garden path

0

Q: Is "could not be able to" correct?

Please let me know whether the following sentence is correct. I could not be able to show a progress in last month. Is it valid to use 'could not be able to' in above sentence. If it is incorrect, let me know why please?

Some people think I could not be able to show is grammatical.

I wonder what they will think when they see I could not be able to be able to be able to show. :P

@DamkerngT. Perfectly grammatical

Haha!

3:28 PM

@DamkerngT. Dam you can pin one word of the day. You're a room owner.

@DamkerngT. I SAID ONE PER DAY

I post, you pin. I pin when you post. How 'bout that? :-)

(/¯◡ ‿ ◡)/¯ ~ ┻━┻ I usually never post.

:D

Mamad is MAR again.

Yay

And he shall remain so forever

3:36 PM

Don't say "hop!" before you jumped

I never say "hop!"

Okay

Except when I say I never say "hop!".

Anonymous

I think we can have as many words of the day as we want :-)

@snailplane (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ I'm trying to bureaucratize this thing.

3:38 PM

starred that in agreement!

It's supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

@DamkerngT. Double (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

@CowperKettle Quad-(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

LOL

Anonymous

@M.A.R. Well, that's a laudable goal, but

Anonymous

Word of the day: nary

3

3:39 PM

:-)

Strange, why some of the stars I made are in black!

@DamkerngT. Reload the page

@DamkerngT. You mean, Michael Jackson?

Hehe!

You were his manager? (0:

I guess his manager could say the same!

3:41 PM

(0:

Anonymous

I had a pet frog once. My frog hopped. Hop, hop, hop!

The toads in my shoes, too! Hop, hop, hop!

@snailplane in bengali nari means woman :-)

I had a pet hope once. My hope hoped. Hope, hope, hope!

Anonymous

Oh really? Is it pronounced like English nary? :-)

3:43 PM

@Man_From_India nice!

@CowperKettle Hehe!

Yup na-ri

Anonymous

Neat! :-)

Anonymous

TIL

rhymes with sari

3:43 PM

Yup

:-)

Nari wears sari. Traditional dress in India :P

(0:

Anonymous

Oh, I love those!

@snailplane Really?

@snailplane really?

@snailplane Do you have one?

3:45 PM

Chatri wears sarong. Nari wears sari? :P

Anonymous

Oh, I don't. But I see people wear them sometimes :-)

Women wear clothes.

@snailplane In California? Indian migrants?

Anonymous

A lot of people have moved here from India, either temporarily or permanently.

Frog, nari, sari, sarong - all are off topic :D

3:46 PM

I'm mistaking myself for Jasper Loy.

:D

@snailplane now I regret, why didn't I moved there :(

Californian nari surf in sari

While old man the boats

Anonymous

Whenever I see nari here, I think of the Japanese word nari. Sore nari ni umai

2

If it's from the same root, old would be "chara". :-)

3:49 PM

I never said any of that. i said "I would avoid using architect and use design. Architects design things". That is called high-level editing and, of course, a personal preference to stay away from architect as a verb. — Lambie 17 mins ago

@snailplane what does the sentence mean, I wonder

Noo ...

1

Q: "Solution Architect" Vs. "Solutions Architect"

Perhaps should be in an IT/Tech forum but interested in the correct way or saying. Also related - Plural for Solution Architecture, but not exact. I am a Solutions Architect, as I architect solutions. I see a lot of people titled "Solution Architect", and it does sound more 'structured'. Can bo...

singular-vs-plural technical

My evening entertainment

(0:

Mr. Hyde seems to be on duty tonight

Anonymous

@CowperKettle Sore nari ni is literally close to 'in its own way', but probably means 'somewhat' / 'decently'. So sore nari ni umai is sort of weak praise.

3:53 PM

"Many of the nouns which are used as adjectives are now taken for granted. Three of them are: product, project and business." -- My first reaction: that doesn't sound right!

But I'll be easy on Lambie.

@snailplane Nice!

@DamkerngT. I am praying to Jesus, Buddha, and @M.A.R., in that order, that just a little bit of Dam's compassion might rub off on me

:D

Anonymous

@DamkerngT. *That's very business of you. *That's extremely product! *Let's make this more project.

Some rust too ;)

3:55 PM

@JimReynolds Thou shalt not be meanth

@snailplane Exactly!

Is it that I have a deep-seated need to be abused? @snailplane, could you damn me with weak praise, (only as an exercise in wordsmithery).

Anonymous

@JimReynolds That's faint praise. But not a bad attempt at using a set phrase, I suppose.

Ouch!!!

@M.A.R. I'm afraid I would vanish entirely, if I really couldn'teth be.

@JimReynolds Vanish

Anonymous

3:59 PM

@JimReynolds I tried my best :-)

@snailplane It did just the trick!

I was raised by a one-eyed step-grandmother. The only form of affection I knew was her stabbing at my ears with knitting needles.

In the Genetic Tests table, one line is:
"Determining expression level of target gene (genes)"
I think that a better version is "Determination", not "Determining", but how to explain this?

@Jim that is not a close reason. If a question shows lacks of research, you can downvote it, but that in itself cannot be a close reason. — M.A.R. 7 mins ago

MAR, your culture prohibits you from questioning old people.

You mean the internet culture?

Oh. Anything goes in that culture.

hits MAR with a tennis racket

See?

I wish we had a "close because it's non-constructive" or not constructive reason, like ELU.

I once tried to argue with a close vote on ELU for which that reason was given. tchrist knocked me flat by saying, "It was closed because it's not constructive."

What can one say?

4:10 PM

@JimReynolds I've reincarnated, so I'm technically older than you.

O.O

In how many places do you hurt?

Oh. We do have a not constructive close reason.

Hmm... I think lack of research is one of our stock reasons.

Though it looks like the OP did their "homework".

4:32 PM

> Maintaining cell line banks (chapter title)
Maintenance of cell line banks (chapter title, my version)

I wonder how to explain why "maintenance" is better

Or maybe it is not?

The research logically answers its own question.

4:51 PM

Hi.....to All !!!!

@CowperKettle Hmm... for some reason, they sound different to me, but I'm not sure what cell link banks look like.

Hi!

@DamkerngT. oh, these are basically cell banks

cryovials with cells put into cryovessels and stored at low temp.

I think maintenance is used more often with machinery, judging from what I've read.

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Oct '1619

Language Overflow

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