Questions tagged [expression-choice]
Choosing the best phrase FROM A GIVEN SELECTION for a particular context or meaning.
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Ungrammatical or Grammatically Incorrect
Which of "ungrammatical" or "grammatically incorrect" is prefered and why?
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A word or phrase to refer to restaurant sector?
It's my first time here. In Spanish, we have the word "restauración" to refer to the restoration of paintings, for example, and to places where food is served.
For the first meaning, I ...
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"call out" vs "call in"
When I am ill and cannot go into the office to work I say "I called out sick". I now live in Texas and people like to correct me and say that it's "call in sick".This doesn't make ...
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Alternative expression for "bang for your buck"
I have been hearing the expression "bang for you buck" many times a day and I find myself distracted when I or others use it. In an effort to be an attentive listener, what is a good alternative ...
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Historical and contemporary usage of "don't" for the third singular person
The following extract from M-W Learner's Dictionary comments on the usage of "don't":
Don't is occasionally used in American English speech and in historical writing as a contraction of does ...
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How is "but of course" different to just "of course"?
I've seen in writing and on screen the phrase "but of course" used as a stand alone sentence. If one were to substitute just "of course" would the meaning change?
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Is there a word for something loved by the masses but whose true value is lacking?
Is there a general word for someone or something popular or loved by the masses but that has not been proven to be effectual (like how some would use the term "pop psychology" pejoratively)? Examples ...
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Specific verb or phrase for holding or transporting something in this particular way
Is there a specific verb or phrase for holding or carrying something in this particular way:
Is it just "to hold or carry [something] under one's arm" (as translated literally from my mother ...
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Is there a term I can use for a boss's favorite employee?
Over dinner tonight, one of the guests was describing herself as her boss's favorite employee, and asked for a term to describe this. As the only guest who spoke English as a first language, the ...
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Can "as matter of fact" be used to express a contradictory opinion?
I'm aware you can do that with actually:
actually
...used when expressing a contradictory or unexpected opinion or
correcting someone. "‘Tom's happy anyway.’ ‘He isn't, actually, not
any ...
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When to use "the" in front of plural demonyms? "Americans" vs "the Americans" vs "the American people"?
When do you use the before plural demonymic expressions like "Americans", "British people" or "Chinese people"?
Chinese people celebrate Lunar New Year on the first days ...
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"one/two/three-car households" vs "single/dual/triple-car households" (attributive forms)
Which way is more natural when it comes to numbers of things that people have or own? For example, the numbers of cars owned by households:
The rate of single/dual/triple-car households is increasing....
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Your comments are welcome or welcomed? [duplicate]
I am sending one of my papers to someone by email. I like to know what he think about my paper. So I write
Your comments are welcome.
Or should I write
Your comments are welcomed.
?
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One word to say to someone who's being in a state they're usually not (or doing something they never did)?
In my native language, there is a singe word to say to someone who apparently are doing something they never did before, or being in state they never were before. Like:
Mr. X had always been late. ...
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What is an expression for a priest not wearing official attire?
Is there an English expression for a priest or monk not wearing his religious attire? (any Christian doctrine, or even more general).
Clarification: I'm trying to say that someone looks like an ...
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Expression for distance relationship between observer and object?
I am looking for a word or expression, that describes the specific distance in the space that lets the observer appreciate and completely understand the object of observation.
For example, when one ...
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Should I use "I'm noting down ..." or "I'm taking ... to note."?
In this example, I am writing down in my notebook some high-level terms that were used in other people's conversation. I want to tell my friend that I am doing so. In the following two sentences, ...
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"centers around the concept" vs is "based on the concept"? [closed]
I've met a sentence like this in a technical book.
It centers around the concept of [some concept].
I would simply use:
It is based on the concept of [some concept].
I would like to understand the ...
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1
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Can "hold on" be used to mean pausing the work being performed?
http://www.differencebetween.net/language/difference-between-hold-on-or-hold-off/ says:
“hold on” is to wait, or grip while “hold off” is to postpone, cancel or stop an action.
So does "hold on&...
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Non-religious equivalent expression for "Pray for [Country X]" after a disaster
When a big disaster occurs in a country, you can often see messages saying:
Pray for [Country X]
Are people really writing this to incite people to ask their God for anything?
For instance ...
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Is ‘fancy dress’ just a dress? [closed]
When people talk about a ‘fancy dress’ in life, does it just refer to a fancy dress costume in a fancy dress party or we could also mean a beautiful dress? Thanks!
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another phrase to express dwelled on
After the incident he dwelled on the issues surrounding the incident.
What would be other substitutes to express the idea conveyed by "dwell on?"
I considered "mull over", "ruminate", "moped about", ...
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He wears blue jeans vs. He has blue jeans on
Hello dear English friends,
I just wondered whether the expressions "He wears blue jeans." vs "He has blue jeans on." differ in meaning. To my mind the second sentence sounds kind of wrong.
I mean ...
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What do you call "testing if a probability will trigger or not"
Apologies if this is a bit technical. I'm writing a paper describing a simulation. Inside the simulation, at each time step, some event has a certain probability of happening. Essentially, the ...
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in fact, in point of fact, as a matter of fact
Today I was tempted to write "in point of fact" and immediately wondered if this expression differed at all from "in fact" or "as a matter of fact." Dictionaries define one with the others. Ultimately,...
CommunityBot
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Which usage of ‘let alone’ is correct?
Most people in this country do not yet tolerate cultural freedom,
let alone to demand it.
Most people in this country are not yet in a position to tolerate
cultural freedom, let alone to demand it.
...
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Does “a book launch” mean “a book launch event”?
A book launch event announced to be held in Berlin last summer was
canceled.
A book launch announced to be held in Berlin last summer was canceled.
Does ‘a book launch’ in 2 clearly mean ‘a book ...
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Is the phrase ‘Berlin book launch event’ correct? [closed]
Last August a Berlin book launch event was cancelled unexpectedly.
By ‘a Berlin book launch event’ I mean ‘a book launch event that was going to be held in Berlin’. I say it like that just to be ...
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Is ‘in/of the world’ required after ‘many/several/a lot of/some countries’?
It is very common in English to use ‘in/of the world’ after expressions such as many/some/several/a lot of countries.
Is that necessary?
Because to my ear the word ‘country’ by itself mean a part of ...
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Can you make the difference between 'Here you go' and 'There you go' explicit?
I think most native speakers have an implicit understanding of the difference between 'Here you go' and 'There you go', although the difference in use between these expressions is small. I'm not a ...
CommunityBot
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Word or phrase describing on/off state
English is not my primary language so I have hard time with this problem. I am currently writing comments to computer code. There is setting that enable/disable some functionality. What would be ...
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Is it correct to use the verb ‘feel’ with stuff? [closed]
I felt that my conversations with him was unfulfilling.
I had the feeling that my conversations with him were unfulfilling.
Can I correctly change either of the above into:
My conversations with ...
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Which one is correct/idiomatic? [closed]
Which one of the following is the best choice?
The fact that only now I can see clearly was that …
The fact that I can only now see clearly was that …
The fact that I can see clearly only now was ...
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Are both of these equally correct? [closed]
An event, announced to be held on January 12th this year, was canceled
due to public objections.
An event, announced to be held on last January 12th, was canceled due
to public objections.
Are both ...
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Natural tendency that adults have to take care of their small ones
I'm looking for a word or expression, either everyday or scientific, for the natural tendency that adults (people or animals) have to take care of their small ones.
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Author - Title vs Title - Author when referring to a work [closed]
Is there a convention on whether to place the title of a work or the author of a work first when referring to the work? I'm thinking mostly for titling notes/files on the work, or for categorizing ...
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Is the expression "to get understood" correct?
Can I say
Get yourself understood.
with the sense of "make yourself understood"?
Are both correct? Is there a difference in meaning between the two?
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Playing from sheet music
What is the correct phrase for using sheet music while playing?
Example: I've never been good at...
1) playing by the sheets.
2) reading sheet music.
It should mean that I am able to read sheet ...
CommunityBot
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"So I have learned."
Earlier today I found myself with the desire to use the expression: "So I have learned" in response to someone as a confirmation of recently gained knowledge. My question for you all is ...
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Choosing between several phrases that seek to highlight a positive aspect [closed]
I would like to know the common usage/difference/when is it appropriate to use these phrases:
I have been exposed to the [some positive aspect of a thing]
I have first hand experience with [some ...
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2
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How can we depict a person who is keen to live in the countryside, keeping chicken, ducks & growing their own vegetables, etc? [closed]
A person with ‘gardening feelings’? Definitely not, but I don't know how exactly to say it.
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Is there a better expression to 'turning point' in the paragraph below?
Considering the efforts undertaken so far in sampling traditional molecular markers for the family Cactaceae, and that new sequencing technologies have become increasingly accessible, and are now ...
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Which expression is correct? “in development” or “under development”?
When talking about a product or project that is still being developed (so it's in an unfinished state at the moment), which expression is the correct one? “in development” or “under development”?
For ...
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When to use either the word "by" or "depending on" to classify something?
I was writing some English sentences and I found that the following sentences both seem good to me.
The students are sorted by their scores.
The students are sorted depending on their scores.
The ...
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Phrase choice for "one of x preferred colours" when two colour choices are equivalent
Let us say that Eve has 3 preferred colours:
Red
Green
Blue
Of those 3 colours, Eve prefers red the most, but her preference for green and blue are identical.
In English, would it be preferred for ...
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Why is "I too" so rare? [duplicate]
It would be interesting to hear the reasons why "I too" is so rare. It is usually replaced by "me too", although this is techically wrong when it denotes the subject. Perhaps it is ...
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Most suitable term to describe a sequence of values and their timestamp
In my robotics project, a sensor produces values of voltage at irregular points in time. For instance
measurement1 = (3[s], 35[V])
measurement2 = (6[s], 32[V])
measurement3 = (7[s], 33[V])
....
What ...
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Is there a difference between "way of doing something" and "way to do something"?
Is there a difference between "way of doing something" and "way to do something"?
It is on purpose that I did not write "a way of doing something" or "the way of doing something" and "a way to do ...
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Correct way to say apply powder on skin of child
What is the proper way to say I’m applying talcum powder on my child’s body? I always wonder whether 'applying powder' is correct in this sense.
CommunityBot
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What do you call a position where one succeeds automatically
Is there a word for a position that one succeeds in as a result of occupying a lower position? E.g., say, a committee has elected a Chair and Vice-Chair for a term of 3 years. The Vice-Chair will ...
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