Language Overflow

AIQ

01:38

0

I think that use is an error. It should have said "on the grounds", with an "s". That would mean the same as "on the premises". In this example, that would mean there were insurgents within the hospital or on the land where the hospital is situated. The phrase "on the ground" is used also, bu...

This answer seems wrong. The plural "grounds" isn't used like that - "insurgents on the ground" is fine. I don't understand it ... Every time I have heard this usage, it has been "ground" and not "grounds".

ColleenV

02:03

@AIQ on the ground is an idiom

on the ground In or at a location where the real work or action is happening, as opposed to observing or directing something from a distance. — ColleenV 39 secs ago

AIQ

I know that ...

ColleenV

On the grounds would be for a campus

AIQ

yes, the plural does not fit the context

ColleenV

No smoking allowed on school grounds

AIQ

exactly

anything military is almost always "troops/yadayada on the ground"

ColleenV

02:07

But I felt the need to link the idiom definition because “they came in from the air” is a terrible take

AIQ

I did not want to leave a comment and stir things up seeing how they did not agree with the other comment

yes I have no idea where that came from either

ColleenV

They could mean grounds based on further context

> and the attack lasted no longer than 10 minutes, with a total of nine shells hitting the hospital and its grounds.

AIQ

seems like the author really likes to use the word "ground/s"

ColleenV

I think it was a translation

arcy

Does anyone else find it frustrating when their answer is downvoted but no comment is left to indicate what's wrong with it?

AIQ

02:15

I do sometimes

but not much

arcy

(sigh) Just seems a bit like wring-and-run. The anonymity of the net striking again.

AIQ

that anonymity is good though

arcy

Oh? what'd you have in mind?

AIQ

what do you mean?

arcy

In what sense were you referring to anonymity as good?

AIQ

02:18

In the sense that voting should be anonymous - otherwise there would be a number of problems ... for one, there would be retaliation; second, some people would be discouraged from voting at all in fear of retaliation

when I got downvotes on some of my answers, my first reaction is to ask where did I go wrong ...

I have realized that most of my downvoted answers were justified. No comments were left, and so I asked here in chat what was wrong with my answer, I also asked in meta what was wrong with them ...

arcy

Well, making voting anonymous just moves the retaliation to the voting. I'm wondering if they shouldn't BE discouraged from voting if they're not willing to say why.

Perhaps you'd be willing to look at my answer and tell me if you see something wrong wtih it?

AIQ

I will give it a try, link em here

arcy

-1

A: Which of these three sentences is correct?

All three are correct. In "B", there is a small redundancy, in that "or not" is already implied by "whether". It is in wide use, however, and not regarded afaik as a grammatical mistake. Small spelling correction: the word is spelled "whether", though "wether" is a good representation of how it...

AIQ

btw, there are drive-by downvotes too - someone just having a bad day

arcy

Another argument for removing the anonymity, as far as I'm concerned...

But it isn't a big deal, just an annoyance.

AIQ

02:25

and then there is the "punishment" downvote (that is my term) - for answering a low quality question that is probably off-topic - it is an indirect way of the community telling to not to answer low quality questions

arcy

I have had a fairly solid case that someone disagreeing with me on something went and looked for an answer I had given for the express purpose of downvoting it.

Yeah -- I don't think that last one is a legit reason to downvote anyone.

And yet another reason to remove the anonymity.

AIQ

well, that happens, and you are not alone in this ...

hmm ... I don't think these reasons outweigh the advantages of having anonymity

arcy

On one of the programming stack exchange sites I go to frequently, there's a seeming animosity to questions from people new to the language.

Well, I can see both sides of it. I'd still come down on my current side.

Any observations about this answer of mine?

I'm fairly new to ELL as a community

AIQ

I am having a look, but if you feel that your answer was unjustly downvoted, you can always ask in meta - but phrase it nicely

arcy

You mean, I can't cuss?

"Some stupid unwashed misanthropic hunk of garbage downvoted my perfectly acceptable answer -- can any of you yokels tell me WHY?"

There -- no cussing.

AIQ

02:30

you can but then your post may not receive positive feedback from the community

arcy

Oh, well...

The view of your icon in your profile looks cool; I wish I could see a larger version of it.

AIQ

I don't see anything particularly wrong with your answer - but I am not a grammar expert or enthusiast

thanks ...

I would say wait for a bit before the some of the other regular folks here come online in the chat

or you can @ a mod here too

arcy

Wait for a bit before what?

Are you saying there will be more folks here later on?

And thanks for looking. If it is still on my mind tomorrow I may try Meta, as you suggested.

Is that photo of a particular city, that you know of?

AIQ

just in general ... wait as in wait to hear from experts, I am not one ... yeah there are usually a few more people here who have a better understanding of grammar

nope I just googled it

arcy

Hmm

AIQ

02:34

thanks for asking here ...

arcy

So where (in general) are you?

AIQ

NA

arcy

I mean city, I'm not trying to locate you individually...

Northern ... Alberta?

(just kidding)

AIQ

Some place nice in north america

arcy

I'm glad it's nice. Not everywhere is.

AIQ

02:35

I know

arcy

Although I guess most places are...

Depending on what you want.

I'm in NC -- 4 seasons, beaches and mountains (of a sort) within easy reach

AIQ

good for you!

arcy

Everything from hog farms to Universities.

An occasional hurricane, but no earthquakes!

At least, not within memory...

AIQ

yeh well one of the best cities in the world

arcy

Yours, you mean?

AIQ

02:38

nope yours ...

arcy

Oh.

AIQ

btw, the question you answered is off-topic, and had I come across this question on my own I would have downvoted and closevoted it

arcy

The word choice question?

AIQ

the one where you got the downvote

the one you linked here

arcy

Sorry -- word choice was a different one. What makes it off-topic?

AIQ

02:42

the OP is basically giving us a multiple choice question, and asking us which is correct - without any "research effort" ... that is one of the reasons for a close vote .. It's like asking a question without telling us what they have done to try and find the answer to their question

arcy

Hmmm

On the programming site where I spend most of my time, I'm familiar with that 'rule' and agree with it. For people trying to learn a language, it would be harder for people to trot out their guesses and (lack of) reasoning because it is more personal. I guess there are ways around that.

AIQ

yeah ... but all of that is in the help center ... anyways, it was nice talking to you and knowing that you are in a beautiful city

arcy

Thanks. And thanks for the info, about time for me to turn in.

AIQ

I gotta go now, ... hope you come here from time to time

arcy

and thanks for that too. I may do that.

CowperKettle

04:07

Word of the day: pleading the belly

AIQ

08:09

Jesus

> Nobody is here to answer my question??? – Rony Mar 1 at 12:05

> No. Nobody here is being paid. You have already answered your question. "No error". Great. Just posting a homework question and complaining when other people don't do your homework for you isn't respectful. – James K Mar 1 at 13:32

haha

AIQ

08:31

@EddieKal @ColleenV I am considering asking a Q in meta about users persisting in answering low quality questions. I want to do this without really pointing at anyone or calling anyone out. I feel I should do this because it encourages bad behavior. I know this is already there (Do not feed the bears) but I want to know what our actions should be -> do we downvote the answers? leave comments for the answerers that they stop doing this? add the link to the "bear" meta post in the answers?

I see both new users (who just joined ELL and started rapidly answering every question that came their way) and old, established users who keep answering these low quality questions ... Honestly, I don't think downvoting their answers will do much in keeping them from continuing this behavior ... And so the low quality questions will persist unabated ...

To be honest, I think people will be pissed if I alone comment on their post all the time ... but if at least a few other people take on this role (after seeing the new meta post) then I think we can reduce the number of people answering these low quality questions ...

I understand you two might not think this is a good idea ... in which case I will stop and go get a coffee

M.A.R.

09:19

@AIQ why don't you copy the comment's link?

AIQ

how?

M.A.R.

@AIQ I dunno how to go about stopping people from doing that, but I'm not optimistic about that meta post achieving it.

You can't be specific because it'd be impolite, and you can't be vague because it wouldn't work

@AIQ The timestamp of the comment is a link that you can copy

It would automatically onebox in chat

AIQ

@M.A.R. I agree with you ... I really don't know what to do or how to help ... I wouldn't bother but recently there seems to be more users rushing to answer these LQQ questions ...

Featured Questions

09:49

0

Q: Either our or their

Either our or their which one of the two is correct in the following sentence? Our people must work hard with a view to improving our/their national economy. Is anyone of them wrong?

pronouns

CowperKettle