Recent questions tagged language

Description : What current linguistic oddities will baffle future archaeologists when they stumble upon them?

Last Answer : Greatest Of All Time G O A T

Description : Is German a difficult language to learn?

Last Answer : Depends on one's mother tongue, one's ability to learn languages in general (some have it easy, others less so),and possibly also one's age. For me, being Dutch (neighbor of Germany, and speaking a ... with Spanish, but French have less difficulty with Spanish). I'll have a look if I can find it.

Description : Do you think Joe Rogan should be "canceled" for his use of the N word?

Last Answer : No. Let him suffer the slings and arrow of his choice of words. People are, generally speaking, stupid. And some prove it all the time.

Description : When do you use "molten" vs "melted"?

Last Answer : “molten” historically was simply the past participle of “melt” and thus synonymous with “melted” but now is used as an adjective to refer to things that have been melted by very high heat and are hot in their liquid form like metal or rock or wax. “Melted” would be used otherwise.

Description : Does anyone still use the word "cyberspace"?

Last Answer : Yes, it's just been more normalized and less sensationalized. It's used by the (US and British, anyway) military, some academics, and businesses which still use it to sound like they know about ... a TV-like remote control and TV in the living room rather than a physical keyboard at a desk.

Description : What writing of Joan Didion, who died today, did you enjoy?

Last Answer : I believe I’ve only read The Year of Magical Thinking which was great. I also saw Vanessa Redgrave perform in a one woman play based on that book.

Description : If you "give your word", how can you be expected to "keep it", if you no longer have it?

Last Answer : This is what pockets are for.

Description : Can you explain to me, in plain language, when to use plural and singular after "any"?

Last Answer : Here is a nice lesson on using any. In essence, Any is normally used with plural and uncountable nouns in questions, negative and conditional sentences.

Description : What do I message to a person whom I like..... to start a meaningful conversation (without showing that I'm interested in him)

Last Answer : The funny part is that you ARE interested in hm, but you don't want to show it. Maybe when you turn 16, you will understand that coyness doesn't get you very far, but that honesty does. Did you ever ... . If he's as smart as you say, he will either know, or he'll engage in conversation with you.

Description : Why is a recorder called a "recorder", when said recorder does not record anything?

Last Answer : Since the instrument is first noted during the middle ages, why is a tape machine called a recorder ?

Description : "The Okay-ish Barrier Reef". Can you change the adjective great in famous sayings/names to another one?

Last Answer : Alexander the Meh. Ivan the meanie.

Description : Is there a term for the act of changing the spelling of a word, to force it to rhyme with another?

Last Answer : Oh loli! It’s prolly…Neoligism.

Description : Did you ever experience this strange memory failure?

Last Answer : I had an excellent command of words and could normally find the word that fits a situation or sentence. Unfortunately I, like you, now suffer the same affliction. In my case it is probably the fact ... sure it is likely to be something that may improve or is easily rectified with the correct help.

Description : Since air essentially behaves like a fluid, would it not be accurate to say, that aeroplanes swim through the air?

Last Answer : Fluid ≠ liquid. Gases and liquids are both fluids, as are plasmas. But swimming and drowning are ways of interacting with liquids specifically, not fluids generally.

Description : Should a patient be relieved about the medical term ''grossly unremarkable''? See detail.

Last Answer : Yes, particularly when we’re older. I got a summary of “regular guy” from my MD once. I was mostly relieved, but slightly disappointed. I don’t think I’ll ever live up to my pediatrician’s comment to my mom once that he didn’t think he’d seen such a healthy child before.

Description : Is the term "half-assed", the term to describe something done without the appropriate care, just a malapropism of "haphazard"?

Last Answer : No – I don’t think so. I think it evolved separately. Although I don’t really know why we would say something was done in a “full-assed” way.

Description : When something "puts you off", it is "off-putting". Is it then not logical to say, that when something "pisses you off", it is "off-pissing"?

Last Answer : Only in pun logic. Put off is an expression meaning to delay. Off-putting is an expression meaning unlikable. Are there truly any actual, always applicant rules in language? - Not many. Is ... get passing grades. Would it not be better to just teach them all Plankalkül? - It would not.

Description : Since Meowth was able to teach himself human speech, why are other Pokémon not taught to speak as well?

Last Answer : Most pokemon are wild, or bred in captivity, but Meowth is the only truly domesticated breed. It's a Pokemon that has a natural attraction to money, and even evolves with a coin ... those strange human languages, which are word based, rather than purely inflection based like Pokemon languages.

Description : In a real estate context, what is "like-minded" code language for?

Last Answer : Since he doesn’t know you, I’m assuming he knows how much you are willing to spend so I would think he’s referring to your socioeconomic status, or what he perceives it to be based on your income.

Description : How do you eliminate any possible ambiguity from the following sentence?

Last Answer : Within each group, everybody spoke the same language.

Description : Have you noticed more and more people using the Briticism "jab" for shot or inoculation lately?

Last Answer : Easier to say: jab - 3 letters, one syllable shot - 4 letters one syllable inoculation - 11 letters - 4 syllables vaccine - 7 letters - 2 syllables People go for the simplest. It's human ... Star Wars people. They could build small buildings for nurses and doctors, and advertise: Jabber in the Hut

Description : Is the word "shrooms" exclusive to fungi containing psychoactive compoinds, or can you use it for normal mushrooms, too?

Last Answer : I, and people I know, have also used it as shorthand for mushrooms being prepared and then eaten for a meal. “You want shrooms in your omelet?” “Ordering pizza? Get one with shrooms.” That is different from “shrooming”, which has to do with being under the influence of magic psilocybin mushrooms.

Description : How would you respond to, or defend yourself from, this accusation?

Last Answer : I would have to admit that the Klingon made a viable statement and that I needed to correct what I said to be, We do believe all planets have a sovereign claim to the inalienable rights of ... Sometimes it is easy to overlook an innocent verbal oversight like Chekov's use of the word human.

Description : What is the figure of speech of "something being recorded on a potato", referring to video of low quality, derived from?

Last Answer : My first thought was that it must derive from the same source as small potatoes , i.e. referring to something of low value (because it is a cheap staple food). Wiktionary supports this theory (see ... from the fact that a toaster is an electronic device, but much lower tech than a phone or camera.

Description : Is someone who is for gun rights “pro-killing”?

Last Answer : I am a gun owner, and I pray I never need to use it.

Description : Why are dwarves almost always scottish?

Last Answer : That hasn’t been my experience particularly..

Description : How do you pronounce "LUT" (the acronym for "lookup table")?

Last Answer : “loot” (like a pile of money)

Description : What's the point of learning languages when you have all kinds of translation gadget?

Last Answer : Most of them don’t work worth a shit.

Description : What are current slang terms for smoking weed?

Last Answer : People still say smoking a joint , but only if you're actually smoking a joint. There are just a lot of other methods of smoking, like doing a dab, doing a bong rip, smoking a blunt, etc. I ... the youngest generation Juuling all the time. Don't know what they think of weed or what they call it.

Description : Do you see value in studying the humanities?

Last Answer : Yes.

Description : What is your opinion on infantilised animal names?

Last Answer : I am not at all sure what you’re talking about and I’m not sure I want to know!

Description : What is it about rats' asses that make them giveable?

Last Answer : It means you care so little, not only would you not pay for it, you wouldn’t even bother with trading something you’d sooner be rid of.

Description : Would a person forget how to speak their native language if they hadn't spoken it since their early teens?

Last Answer : My bet is that language acquired in childhood would be difficult to erase, particularly if everyday fluency were extended into the teen years.

Description : If someone, who is not grateful, is "ungrateful", why is he called an "ingrate", and not "ungrate"?

Last Answer : That’s English for you! (And also French and…...)

Description : How can you say something is applicable to daily life?

Last Answer : You can’t always. The only defense is that it never hurts to have extra knowledge.

Description : What words do people use interchangeably, but really mean two different things, but are very similar?

Last Answer : Then and than.

Description : What does it mean when people ask "what does it mean when" questions?

Last Answer : What does it mean when we question what it means? I guess it means what it means. I mean really, that’s all it means.

Description : What does concession mean in this context?

Last Answer : For example: the city may ask the company to hire x number of people from lower income neighborhoods.

Description : Did different groups of humans independently discover roughly the same things at about the same time?

Last Answer : To some extent, yes. Language of course exists wherever humans are-that's a natural capacity of the human mind. There's no human society that doesn't have language. And everyone seems to have discovered ... century, no one in the Americas had invented the wheel. One wonders if they ever would have.

Description : How do you pronounce the word entrepreneur?

Last Answer : You have me on the first two syllables, but then we diverge. Pre as in the first half of the first syllabel in pretzel, without the short e sound. Neur as in neurosis.

Description : Ever see a name with this many initial consonants?

Last Answer : Joseph Tymczyszyn my father knew when “Tym” was flying Boeing 707 test flights. —-Don’t know if you consider a “Y” a vowel.—

Description : Is there a branch of science that studies how the meaning of sentences can change depending on how they are spoken?

Last Answer : Would that be a science or an art? And, BTW “Dude” has many of the same attributes as your example “No”. It is extremely versatile and depending upon the inflection and tone can assume a wide variety of meanings.

Description : The CEO for Chick-fil-a forces employees to say “my pleasure” to thankful customers in order to sound friendlier, isnt that completely counter productive?

Last Answer : Any workplace has the option of setting workplace behavior service standards. I imagine, @rockfan , at your workplace (whatever your do) there are corporate rules for how to treat customers and ... that no problem is one of the stupidest, most inappropriate, and insincere responses possible.

Description : Are scams and shams the same?

Last Answer : A scam is a deliberate con. A sham is something that is fake or pretend but it does not have the connotation of necessarily being deliberate. Different. For example: “Trump’s pretense of empathy for the working class is a sham.” “The Nigerian prince’s e-mail about hidden riches was a scam.”

Description : Was Niki Lauda a racist?

Last Answer : rebbel Niki was a racing legend !

Description : What foreign language should I learn and how?

Last Answer : I don't know which language you should learn, but I thought I'd share a method: I recently found out that I have access to Rosetta Stone for free through my public library. I was just on the ... might just be the first level of their program, but that's still something, especially to get started!)

Description : What kind of name is Maïckã Lhã Bēnjé?

Last Answer : Google says it’s Romanian but won’t translate. So I don’t know.

Description : Why is the word "potent" pronounced differently when standing by itself, versus being in the compound word "omnipotent"?

Last Answer : There is no rule for this. to say it Omni-Potent is not incorrect, its just not the way most people pronounce the word Omnipotent, hence it is “incorrect” (not really, just not standard)

Description : Who is covered by the Q in LGBTQ?

Last Answer : Wasn't this question asked not that long ago? Maybe I'm thinking of another site. Queer is a reclaimed slur and is used by some LGBT people to label themselves, e.g. the term ... that isn't specifically LGBT but is still not straight/cis (things like intersex, asexual, questioning, etc.)

Description : What does "Tenebris Torquent" mean?

Last Answer : Tenebris means Mysterious or Dark Torquent means Wind or Twist So my guess is that this means a darkly mysterious wind or twist in the plot