Username
Dyske
Member Since
November 6, 2002
Total number of comments
116
Total number of votes received
563
Bio
I’m the administrator of this site.
Latest Comments
and so...
- April 12, 2011, 4:35am
It is certainly not a grammatical issue; it's a stylistic issue, SO, it's not wrong. It just does not sound good when you repeat any word over and over.
and so...
- April 11, 2011, 3:16pm
I have the same exact problem! If I write without paying conscious attention to using "so", I end up with a whole bunch of them. So, I have to always read through my text specifically to revise my usage of "so". I think I naturally think this way. That is, my mind always structures thoughts into "if - then - so", or that I only have that type of thoughts. Even when I replace "so" with "therefore", "thus", etc., they get quite repetitive also. I think this is just how some people's brains are.
Over exaggeration
- March 22, 2011, 2:29am
@Jesse the blob of Bromine
I feel your response is beyond exaggerating with all the capital letters and exclamation marks, as well as your desire to harm someone physically. The word "exaggerating" isn't enough to express how I feel about your response, but I cannot think of a better word at the moment. I need something stronger than "exaggerating". I'm not sure if there is such a word in English. Any suggestion?
Accepted spellings, punctuation, and capitalization of email
- March 18, 2011, 2:10pm
See below for the new development on this topic:
Past Perfect vs. Past Tense
- March 9, 2011, 3:27pm
Yeah, I agree with you. I don't see anything that would justify the use of past perfect tense. It appears that keeping it simply in past tense would make more sense.
Past Perfect vs. Past Tense
- March 9, 2011, 9:49am
I'm not sure if it's possible to evaluate this sentence alone. I think it would depend on the tense of the sentences that came before it.
cannot vs. can not
- February 10, 2011, 2:10am
Well, my dictionary says both are fine. And, a lot of grammarians on the Web seem to agree. But what I'm curious about is how "cannot" became acceptable and then a preferred form. I would guess that at first "can not" was the only acceptable form. We don't use "maynot", "couldnot" or "shouldnot", so why "cannot"?
Is there a gustative equivalent to the olfactory “malodour”?
- February 1, 2011, 3:39pm
I have to say, I love the way you phrased the question. You are really just asking for a word that means bad taste, right?
"Malodor", according to my dictionary, is not a thing that smells bad; it means bad smell. So, are you asking for a word equivalent of bad taste, or a thing that tastes bad?
Does “Who knows” need a question mark?
- November 15, 2010, 5:23pm
Speaking of the tone, let me provide another example that might be more relevant. How would you read this sentence? Do you really read it like a question if you were to actually say it?
"Let's not add this feature for now. Who knows if we would ever come across a situation where this feature is necessary."
Does a lie have to have intent to deceive?
I would say intent is irrelevant for the definition of "lie". Think of so-called "white lie". Suppose your boss gives you a present for your birthday, and he asks, "Do you like it?" If you are polite, you would say "Yes" even if you didn't like it. The "intent" in this case is to be polite or to express your appreciation for the gift.
Many restaurants claim things like "World's best pizza". It's a lie because they have done nothing to prove that they do indeed serve the best pizza in the whole world. Is there an intent to deceive? No, because we all know that claiming something to be "world's best" is a common expression; it is not interpreted literally.
Say, you come home really tired and you are not in a mood to talk to your spouse, so when your spouse asks, "What did you do today?", you reply, "I went to the moon." It's a lie but you have no intent to deceive because it is obvious that you didn't actually go to the moon. The intent is to say, "I don't feel like talking right now," or "Don't ask me boring questions."