English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

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RegDwight Ѭſ道

23:08

Q: How to I ask someone if thier name represents a singular entity or a collective entity?

In a website I am programming I present the user with the option to name their website site, which can be a singular entity "Mel Tormé" which would present the menu options "About me", "Contact me" or a collective entity like "The Velvet Fog" which would logically change the menu to "About us", "...

grammar

user19161

Yes?

RegDwight Ѭſ道

grammar! Burn in hell! rips eyes out GAAAAAAHHHH

user19161

Feel free to delete my answer.

Vitaly

2 days ago, by RegDwight Ѭſ道

If you gonna upvote a question, at least fix the blatant misspellings.

user19161

I fix spellings but not tags. Tags are not in my domain.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

23:10

@Vitaly Yeah. Instead I am fixing the misspelling while ripping my eyes out. This world sucks or something.

user19161

I also fix awkward sentences. I can spend half an hour on one edit.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@WillHunting I can spend over 9000 half an hours on none.

user19161

@RegDwightѬſ道 You already have I think.

user19161

I wonder who actually uses tags for searching.

Vitaly

I do.

user19161

23:14

It's quite hard to decide what to tag something with.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

Step 1: don't tag it [grammar]
Step 2: profit!

Vitaly

Oh, and the OED does list an entry and a few examples for problematics. And so does the Chambers Dictionary. I'd be willing to wager that problematics is less common in English than проблематика in Russian though.

> 1977 R. H. Brown in Douglas & Johnson Existential Sociol. ii. 77 A humanistic sociology investigates the problematics of feeling and meaning.

> 1957 R. K. Merton Social Theory (rev. ed.) ii. 127 Working out its problematics, i.e., the principal problems (conceptual, substantive and procedural).

user19161

In fact if the question had not been asked I would assume that problem is only noun and problematic adjective.

user19161

That is why this site is messing up my English.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

@Vitaly you should be posting that on the question. Even if just as a comment.

Perhaps emphasize the plural.

Vitaly

23:17

May 14 '11 at 13:56, by RegDwight

You're so repophobe, Vitaly, that's really something.

RegDwight Ѭſ道

I promise not to give you any reps for your comment.

Vitaly

OH! And… Dig this:

user19161

@Vitaly Even the ODE lists problematic as noun.

user19161

And I mean ODE, not OED.

Vitaly

Problematique. Not problematic.

And if anyone is willing to actually post an explanatory answer, here's the entry from OED Online for problematic n. (my two earlier quotations were taken from the OED CD):