Discussion Forum
This is a forum to discuss the gray areas of the English language for which you would not find answers easily in dictionaries or other reference books.
Do You Have a Question?
Latest Posts : Style
There is a town called “Two Egg” in Florida USA. My question is; why the egg is not plural there. Also there is something like “Two egg cake”.
Can someone explain it? Actually i am planning to establish a shop. Which one would suit better “two egg” or “two eggs”
Thank you?
I’ve developed a “tic” for adding - I believe the expression is “postpositively” “is what I’m saying” at the end of a sentence. In usage, it is an intensifier. So I might say “I’ve been noticing that I use this expression a lot, is what I’m saying!” Typically after some prior exposition on the topic - this becomes the concluding thought.
Two questions - has anyone else heard anyone else say this? Where does it come from? Where did I pick it up? I’m in the Northeastern US. Is the expression or any variant from this region?
It’s awfully similar to “I’m just saying” but my understanding of “I’m just saying” is that it’s somewhat negative - connoting an undercurrent of a wink and a nod. “...is what I’m saying” doesn’t have that connotation, is what I’m saying. LOL!
Some authorities (such as IBM and Wikipedia) say that “big data” should not be capitalised, while others say it should be capitalised as “Big Data”.
Logically, it would be capitalised only if it were a proper noun, that is, if it identified a unique individual. For example, “the Internet” refers to the global internet, of which there is only one, so it is capitalised. Big data does not really seem to be like that. In any technical usage, it refers to the use of very large databases, and should therefore be a common noun.
In the popular imagination, however, all instances of big data coalesce into a monstrous global conspiratorial network of databases, called Big Data. It is akin to Deep State.
So, it seems to me that “big data” should be used in any sober context, and “Big Data” reserved for conspiracy theories untethered from objective reality.
But ... in a proofreading context I would have to correct “a Big Data-driven project” to “a big data-driven project”, which is ambiguous as it could mean either “a big project that is driven by data” or “a project that is driven by big data”.
Any suggestions?
I need to give a range of percentages. Do I say “somewhere between 40 and 50%?” or “somewhere between 40% and 50%”? Does the percentage sign get assigned to the first value, even though it’s not verbally articulated?
Is it alright to omit the word “I” in some cases. If I have already been writing about myself and I slip in a sentence that says for example, “Will be in town next week.” Is this acceptable or should I write “I” at the beginning of each sentence?
A) Must we have fish for dinner again?
B) Shall we have to have fish for dinner again?
C) Will we have to have fish for dinner again?
D) Do we have to have fish for dinner again?
Accepting that (D) is by far the commonest utterance and would express annoyance or lament. roughly the same as “I wish we weren’t having fish again”, my concern is with the other options, particularly (B) which looks “grammatical” but just sounds odd to me. (A) is less common today but seems to go back a long way whereas “have to” is relatively modern, so which sound “normal” to you?
How do you handle a quote within a quote within a quote in an MLA citation?
“She said she...” or “She said that she...”
All my life I have received great feedback about my grammar, but these past few years I find myself over thinking it—all the time. It actually causes me to create mistakes where there previously weren’t any. Bizarre?
One such thing that I have thought too much about is the necessity of “that” in phrases like the above. When would you say it’s necessary? Always? Never? Sometimes? Explain! Thanks!
Are adverbs something to be avoided like the plague or an inevitable mutation of the English language that we just have to deal with? I’ve heard it said that they’re the mark of a writer who lacks the vocabulary to use powerful words (for example, “He walked slowly” does not carry the weight of “He plodded” or “He trudged”) and the skill to vary their sentence structure. I’ve seen them used in published in professional work, from George R. R. Martin to J.K. Rowling, so it’s not something authors shy away from and, for the most part, the public accepts it without question.
Latest Comments
“Big of a”
- user110930
- July 28, 2021, 9:22am
I don't mind Americanisms if they make sense, but this one doesn't. 'Big is an adjective'; 'much' is a determiner (or pronoun or adverb). Therefore: "Would you like some of the cake?" and "How much of the cake would you like?" Whereas: "Would you like a big piece of the cake?" and "How big a piece of the cake would you like?"
Texted
- user110929
- July 27, 2021, 7:57pm
I feel that "text ed" sounds redundant I feel that texted sounds redundant if if you pronounce text fully you don't need to enunciate the Ed just my opinion
“graduated high school” or “graduated from high school”?
- Jeff Litwin
- July 26, 2021, 8:12am
If you refer to this source to the experts from this service https://paperell.com/write-my-thesis , who have been writing thesis for many years, then it would be correct to say “graduated from high school”. The current standard usage is to say someone graduated FROM high school. By 1963, the fourth edition of H. L. Mencken's book "The American Language" said that the active form had triumphed over the passive form because of the American drive to simplify the language. https://www.grammarly.com/
Upon/on
- Jeff Litwin
- July 26, 2021, 8:06am
Sells or sold?
- Jeff Litwin
- July 26, 2021, 8:03am
Yeah, i agree with Rik853,
"Sold only if they used to sell them but they do not sell them anymore."
Fetch Referring to People?
- Boopy
- July 24, 2021, 1:09pm
A friend of mine was banned from Barnes and noble when he went in on crutches and asked an employee to fetch some books for him as it would be impossible for him to do so. He’s from North Carolina. He has very good manners.
LEGOs — Is the Plural form of LEGO incorrect?
- Ramart
- July 23, 2021, 8:10pm
Regarding the many commenters who've made the "You wouldn't say sheeps..." argument:
Isn't that a classic case of begging the question (in the actual meaning of that oft-misused phrase, i.e., to assume the truth of the premise of one's argument)?
Who decreed that "Lego" is equivalent to "sheep" and "deer," for example, with regard to the toy name supposedly also being a plural forms not needing to end with "s"? And why does the "LEGO/Lego/Legos" debate attract more fervor than does the constant and potentially dangerous misuse of "media" as a monolithic singular entity?
If Ford declares that, henceforth, its name is also a plural, would I then be wrong to say, "I own two Fords"?
If I had told my grammatically precocious child, "Pick up your Lego," he would have scoffed, "Which one?"
There is no such a thing as...
- gulyásleves
- July 18, 2021, 10:43am
Hi, I’ve read your article happily. I am also Hungarian like your father. Do you speak Hungarian?
LEGOs — Is the Plural form of LEGO incorrect?
- Timmber
- July 16, 2021, 4:10pm
There are LEGO tiles, LEGO bricks, LEGO plates, LEGO minifigs, LEGO wheels, LEGO sets, LEGO books etc etc etc. you want to pluralize something, pluralize the item, not the brand.
Mileage for kilometers
Hi,
I work in the healthcare industry in Canada and have heard and used the term "kilometration". Although, I must admit I have never found such a term validated anywhere on the internet. I am afraid this might be a made-up word, but sounds great for the purpose, doesn't it?.
Cheers!
Orlando