Language Overflow

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G Warner

01:45

From the "Guiness Book of World Records", 1973:

Certain passages in several laws have always defied interpretation and the
most inexplicable must be a matter of opinion. A judge of the Court of
Session of Scotland has sent the editors of this book his candidate which
reads, "In the Nuts (unground), (other than ground nuts) Order, the
expression nuts shall have reference to such nuts, other than ground nuts,
as would but for this amending Order not qualify as nuts (unground)(other
than ground nuts) by reason of their being nuts (unground)."

CowperKettle

Isn't estimated patient exposure a bit ambiguous? In a document I'm proofreading, it stands to mean "the estimated number of patients exposed to the drug". But I think the reader may assume it's an estimated exposure of a single (typical) patient to the drug.

G Warner

@CowperKettle thats the way I first read it.. a single patient..

CowperKettle

Yet I found it on Google Books

Must be a standard phrase

G Warner

patient as can be one, or a group of like individuals.. dpends on the context. which i read the article. and i had no problem with it

in this case it isnt pluralized patients likely because the exposure is singular. i single event

i found this.. wordhippo.com/what-is/the-plural-of/patient.html

it didnt sound right to use patients in place of patient in your context

A possible rewording in order?

3 hours later…

CowperKettle

04:29

> Measures to mitigate the negative effects of the drug:
- special informing of healthcare professionals.

What is meant is that healthcare professionals are to recieve an additional warning (?) on specific side effects that were recently revealed in a study.

The special informing of formulation looks weird though, it's a direct calque from Russian.

@M.A.R. I used elapsed

My craftivist skills only go so far

4 hours later…

CowperKettle

08:56

Which is the better title for a section: "Used literature sources" or "Literature sources used"?

1 hour later…

M.A.R.

09:58

@CowperKettle That . . . is actually probably the best option

@CowperKettle The latter

Shouldn't it be called Bibliography though?

2 hours later…

CowperKettle

11:52

> For risks that are classified as “other risks” and not considered “important” risks, and upon which new information has been obtained during the reporting period, the thoroughness of description should correspond to the available evidence base for the particular risk and the significance of its impact on public health.

Is this okay? The translator wrote detalization but this is a Russian word that means "level of detail" (how thoroughly something is described - in more or less detail) so I changed it to thoroughness of description.

Too bad there's no English word detalization.

Is there an alternative English phrase to this one?

The depth of description?

Hm.

The length of description?

Ah, "level of detail" can be used

Kettle logic

Kettle logic (la logique du chaudron in the original French) is a rhetorical device wherein one uses multiple arguments to defend a point, but the arguments are inconsistent with each other. Jacques Derrida uses this expression in reference to the humorous "kettle-story", that Sigmund Freud relates in The Interpretation of Dreams (1900) and Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious (1905). == Philosophy and psychoanalysis == The name "logique du chaudron" derives in Jacques Derrida from an example used by Sigmund Freud for the analysis of "Irma's dream" in The Interpretation of Dreams and in...

1 hour later…

CowperKettle

13:09

> Subsection “Evaluation of procedure for analysis of risk-benefit ratio”.

Prior to my edit, it was

> Subsection “Risk-benefit ratio analysis procedure evaluation”.

2 hours later…

ColleenV parted ways

15:04

@CowperKettle I probably would have written that as "raising awareness among healthcare professionals"

G Warner

Oh good, a moderator..

ColleenV parted ways

@GWarner I am not a moderator any longer

I resigned back in November

G Warner

Ah.. wel I would trust your advice..

ColleenV parted ways

@CowperKettle If there's only one procedure, you may want to add the definite article... "Evaluation of the procedure for risk-benefit analysis"

G Warner

I received a comment to a poor answer, I don't recall why I answered rather added a comment. but the OP accepted, so I didn't fix it. Can you tell me if I shud edit anything since an answer had been accepted?

-1

Q: Does the phrase "no sh*t" imply the same meaning as "no kidding"?

Used sarcastically, does "No sh*t, Sherlock." imply the same meaning as "no kidding"?

ColleenV parted ways

15:09

@GWarner Why wouldn't you write an answer instead of comment? That's the preferred way to do it, so that people can help you make it better.

@GWarner This guidance may help: meta.stackexchange.com/questions/225370/…

G Warner

I dunno, I have since learned to not answer questions that didn't show they tried on their own.

ColleenV parted ways

Don't just link to other information, include it in your answer in case the link breaks

@GWarner Well that's also a good policy (ell.meta.stackexchange.com/questions/1236/do-not-feed-the-bears)

This guidance may help also : Submitting Answers that merely answer the question

We've tried to collect a lot of the advice for participating on ELL here: ell.meta.stackexchange.com/q/4783/9161 (it is still a work in progress)

G Warner

It's been accepted. Will an edit to my answer nullify that? I have a peeve against accepted answers that the OP hadn't marked as accepted. Tired of chasing questions that had been answered and accepted but not identified by the OP.

ColleenV parted ways

@GWarner You can't deleted the answer but you can improve it

G Warner

Was my response to sarcastic to CJ then?

@ColleenVpartedways Okay then I will do that.

ColleenV parted ways

15:16

I would consider your response rude out of context and probably would encourage you to delete it

"No shit sherlock" is very condescending

You're basically calling someone stupid and rejecting their input

And while I think CJ could have been less critical and more helpful, two wrongs don't make a right :)

@GWarner Also, I don't think it means the same as "no kidding" - it's much meaner than that. See onlineslangdictionary.com/meaning-definition-of/…

G Warner

Okay..

ColleenV parted ways

I went ahead and edited your answer, roll it back if you don't like it

I pulled the relevant information from the link into the answer, and took out the bits that could seem unfriendly, even though I don't think you meant them that way

We always have to keep in mind that there are a lot of people who don't know us reading what we post, and sometimes things we mean as a joke or to be helpful can seem unfriendly.

G Warner

OOps

I was trying to add your link as well just now

ColleenV parted ways

That dictionary is interesting even though all the examples are redacted because it lists similar slang for many phrases : onlineslangdictionary.com/thesaurus/…

G Warner

Thanks I was rushing to make changes.

ColleenV parted ways

15:30

@GWarner Yeah, my edit wasn't meant to be the final form, just an illustration of how to pull information from a link into your answer...

G Warner

Okay.

CowperKettle

@ColleenVpartedways Thank you!

2 hours later…

userr2684291

17:56

@GWarner Thanks for clarifying.

ColleenV parted ways

What happens when an amphibious car breaks down?
It gets toad.

userr2684291

Haha. (:

ColleenV parted ways

I was trying to come up with a follow-on joke about broken lines getting toed but couldn't think of anything

userr2684291

@ColleenVpartedways Me too, about jokes about amphibians being newt to me.

ColleenV parted ways

(referring to the idiom to toe the line/toe the mark )

@userr2684291 (: good one

1 hour later…

G Warner

19:06

here's a puzzle - take a dreaded word from current events scramble it into two other words and use all three to describe the current event

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