Submitted by sigurd • April 24, 2011
Is “nevermore” a real word? Can it be used in “ordinary” writing? I’m wondering because it seems to be the only word that means ‘never again’, and it would be nice to have a concise word.
7 comments
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Posted in Usage
Submitted by BobH • April 18, 2011
Has anybody else noticed a trend in the over-use of periods? I’ve seen it a lot in advertizing and the like. I’m not talking about an elipsys (...), I’m referring to when periods are over used, so as to fragment a sentence, or used where perhaps bulleted words/sentances should be used.
Periods are also over-used in the likes of phone numbers now where hyphens were once used, thus making it look something like a computer network IP address. (Dot Com revolution maybe? ...Don’t know.)
Anyway, it just looks like pop cuture gimmicks--it just looks rediculous.
14 comments
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Posted in Opinion / Criticism
Submitted by sigurd • April 14, 2011
Is there an English word that means ‘to fall asleep’?
Since there’s a word, ‘awaken’, that denotes ‘to wake up’, I’m wondering if ‘awaken’’s antonym exists.
30 comments
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Posted in Misc
Submitted by lef • April 11, 2011
I seem to have developed a writing tick of using “and so” rather than “therefore” or “accordingly.” I like the flow of “and so,” but I have been discouraged from using it. I’m curious about what others think of “and so.”
8 comments
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Posted in Usage
Submitted by Thảo • April 10, 2011
I need you help explain this structure to me: “prefer/want it that way”. I have heard it the first time in the song “I want it that way” of Backstreet Boys. But I think the complete sentence could be: “I want it in that way”, is it right? Is “in” left out in this sentence?
Thank you in advance.
10 comments
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Posted in Expression
Submitted by michael owan • April 8, 2011
What is the meaning of “I dove my hat”?
7 comments
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Posted in Expression
Submitted by Hairy Scot • March 22, 2011
Is there not a redundancy in the use of “got” with “have”?
Why say “I have got” or “I’ve got” when “I have” conveys the exact meaning?
The same would be true of its use in the second or third person.
51 comments
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Posted in Expression
Submitted by Steph • March 20, 2011
In the sentence “Karen is the taller of her and Lin”, why is the pronoun ‘her’ used (as opposed to ‘she’)? I would have thought that, since Karen is the subject of the sentence, the appropriate pronoun would be ‘she’? This sentence comes out of the Institute of Professional Editors Accreditation Exam, so I can only assume that it is correct. Thanks to anyone who can help!
11 comments
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Posted in Grammar
Submitted by Dyske • March 18, 2011
The AP Stylebook today announced that electronic mail is now spelled without a hyphen: email. Finally. I personally haven’t used “e-mail” in about a decade. We have a thread here on this topic of how to properly spell email.
http://painintheenglish.com/case/4463
At the time, I commented that it may take another 10 years for this to settle, but it took less than a year!
9 comments
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Posted in Coinage
Submitted by pebbles • March 9, 2011
The following sentence is taken from Advanced English CAE:
Within seconds Barry, who was wearing enormous rubber boots, had tied a rope to the front bumper of the car and was pulling it out with the tractor.
I’d say:
Within seconds Barry, who was wearing enormous rubber boots, tied a rope to the front bumper of the car and pulled it out with the tractor.
Any opinions?
20 comments
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Posted in Grammar
Submitted by joham • March 9, 2011
I recommend that you do not take this pill.
I recommend that your wife does not take this pill.
I recommend that you not take this pill.
I recommend that your wife not take this pill.
Are all four sentences correct English? Do many native American/British English speakers use verb forms like in the first two sentences?
7 comments
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Posted in Grammar
Submitted by sigurd • March 7, 2011
How does one know exactly when a word is supposed to end with -“ise” vs -“ize” in Oxford spelling?
19 comments
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Posted in Coinage
Submitted by pje • February 19, 2011
I have seen to-day and to-night used in literature up to the 1920′s. When and why did this become obsolete?
4 comments
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Posted in Etymology / History
Submitted by sigurd • February 15, 2011
I’ve dotted the i’s and crossed the t’s.
I’ve dotted the “i”s and crossed the “t”s.
Which of the foregoing examples is correct?
12 comments
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Posted in Punctuation and Mechanics
Submitted by alysondraper • February 10, 2011
When did we stop “giving” presents, and instead started to “gift” presents? I was taught that “gift” was a noun and not a verb, but it appears it is now used as the preferred verb to indicate the giving of a gift.
31 comments
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Posted in Usage
Submitted by alysondraper • February 10, 2011
Is it really proper to say “I graduated high school,” or should it not be, “I graduated from high school?” Previously, I thought only rednecks were able to “graduate high school.”
12 comments
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Posted in Usage
Submitted by dbfreak • February 9, 2011
The first spelling/grammatical mistake I always see, even in journals is the spelling for cannot. Cannot must be one word, just like today and tomorrow!
But, I see so many can nots!!
You can still grammatically use can not in some contexts, like Can you not shake your leg when I’m in the room?
You can just not shake, ok? -> You can not shake it.
As in, you can choose to not shake it rather than you being unable, incapable of shaking! But that’s not the context they use in those darn journals!
16 comments
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Posted in Opinion / Criticism
Submitted by cancuckft • February 9, 2011
Am I the only person in the world who finds the ubiquitous misuse of the verb “reference” to be incredibly annoying? Where did the use of “reference” rather than “refer to” start? I realise that the definition can skirt close to this usage, but I maintain that it is a misuse.
6 comments
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Posted in Usage
Submitted by Hairy Scot • February 8, 2011
The word signage seems to keep popping up more and more and it would seem that in the majority of cases it is being used as the plural of sign and increasingly is perceived as a “clever” alternative to that plural. The OED states:
Chiefly N. Amer.
Signs collectively, esp. public signs on facia boards, signposts, etc.; the design and arrangement of these.
14 comments
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Posted in Usage
Submitted by sigurd • February 1, 2011
Is there a gustative equivalent to the olfactory word “malodour”?
Is there a lexical, not imaginary, word that means anything that tastes bad just like “malodour” means anything that smells bad?
12 comments
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Posted in Usage
