This tag is for questions regarding formal, versus informal words and usage.
2
votes
2answers
57 views
How to reply to a status update for a job application?
I received an email today telling me that I will be notified about next steps for my job application by mid next week. I want to be polite and respond something brief, but since I'm not a native ...
2
votes
4answers
712 views
Alternative to “as-well-as” for an academic paper
Is there some better alternative to phrase as well as for an academic writing? It sounds to me too informal.
The whole sentence is:
Improvements of both parts are possible as well as joining ...
1
vote
2answers
57 views
Comma usage in a letter opening [duplicate]
My colleague and I disagree on how to open a letter; he believes you should separate the salutation from the name, like so:
"Hi, John"
I think this is nonsense and that the comma should go at the ...
2
votes
1answer
85 views
“To go so far as to” — suitable for academic writing?
Is using the phrase "to go so far as to" in an academic context (e.g. in an article in humanities journal) acceptable?
New Example:
I do not know why Mister X went so far as to assert that Mister ...
2
votes
2answers
150 views
Word or phrase for mere coincidence that brings happiness
I wish to state that my exposure to a certain area was a mere coincidence, and I am happy about the area. Moreover, I want to convey the idea that the incident was like a fairytale, something no one ...
0
votes
1answer
57 views
Differences with placement of 'please'
Please, can you give me a cup of water?
Can you give me a cup of water, please?
Can you please give me a cup of water?
What's the difference in the above? They seem similar to be, but subtle ...
1
vote
2answers
3k views
Filling out forms that ask for “relationship with”
When I fill any form for my son this question “relationship with child” confuses me. Should the answer be “son” or “father”? To me, the ideal answer is always “a father–son relationship”.
A little ...
5
votes
5answers
232 views
Is using the last name of a person without a title an accepted way of addressing?
I always heard people use Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms before people's names and that is how, I thought, it was done until I watched one of those Harry Potter films in which Malfoy (Sr) addresses Albus Dumbledore ...
25
votes
13answers
36k views
More formal way of saying: “Sorry to bug you again about this, but …”
I was wondering if there was a more formal and polite way of saying:
Sorry to bug you again about this, but we still have not received a response about X ....
(if we still have not received any ...
0
votes
2answers
81 views
Why are contractions considered unprofessional?
I've heard people specify not to use contractions in order to maintain a degree of professionalism. I've heard this mentioned by fellow students while in school as well.
I've never heard this with ...
-2
votes
0answers
83 views
“Fit one's needs” vs. “suit one's needs” vs. “meet one's needs”
In a formal letter, which verb should I choose?
The programme perfectly suits my needs.
The programme perfectly fits my needs.
The programme perfectly meets my needs.
0
votes
0answers
45 views
Which form of address in motivation letter? [duplicate]
I am writing a motivation letter for a university in London, and I wanted to know which form of address is common?
Dear Sir or Madam
To whom it may concern
Thanks in advance.
6
votes
7answers
2k views
How often do people say “gotta”, “wanna” or “gonna” in English speaking countries?
I learned these three words from Collins Cobuild Advanced Learner's English Dictionary.
got|ta /g'ɒtə/
Gotta is used in written English to represent the words 'got to' when they are ...
-1
votes
0answers
39 views
What kind of language should be used when writing a manual? [closed]
When writing a manual that customers who will be paying for, what kind of language is more acceptable?
Eg:
"You can click on this icon to create a file".
OR, the more indirect options,
"This icon may ...
-1
votes
1answer
87 views
In formal writing, is there any difference between “couple” and “some”?
For example in a résumé, are
Experience in a couple of rendering tools
and
Experience in some rendering tools
the same from the point of view of formality?
-1
votes
1answer
94 views
Usage of “by the way” in an essay [closed]
Can I use the phrase "by the way" in a formal essay? The essay is almost a tech paper (not an article — rather a university paper).
Is that literary language or slang?
2
votes
3answers
3k views
1st or 3rd person in CV/résumé? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is it normal in English to talk about oneself in the third person in these cases?
I’m currently preparing my CV in English. I’m not a native English speaker, and I ...
0
votes
0answers
147 views
Which is correct position to write subject in formal letter - before greeting or after greeting?
In most cases I see the heading is usually placed after the greeting (but before the body); but in some cases it is before the greeting. Which is the right way for formal letters?
5
votes
9answers
9k views
When ending an email, should I use “Yours faithfully” or “Best regards”?
I've been taught to end business letters with "Yours faithfully" but I can see from my daily correspondence that "Best regards" is more commonly used but seems more informal.
What term should be used ...
-2
votes
1answer
95 views
Height and weight written out
In formal writing I like to do this (in British style):
The infant weighed 10lb 5oz;
a 10lb 5oz infant
He was 6ft 3in tall;
a 6ft 3in man
My question is about the plural usage: do we ...
1
vote
1answer
14k views
Is the phrase “Please be informed that” grammatically correct?
I have seen this phrase in many articles. It sounds a little bit odd to me.
Also, what could be an alternative to this? Can I use "please be aware" or "For your information" instead of this phrase?
...
5
votes
5answers
2k views
Why is “ain't” not listed in dictionaries?
Google finds 52,000,000 matches for ain't but non-natives simply can't look up this word. Wiktionary isn't helpful.
Is it some kind of 'wildcard' for am/is/are not?
0
votes
1answer
94 views
Is it “falsy” or “falsey”?
I have seen both versions of the word, falsy and falsey.
It can mean "something that is equivalent to false" in computer science, such as "The only two falsy values in the Ruby Language are false and ...
3
votes
3answers
637 views
Is ‘Yes-ish’ a perfect alternative to Yes, or is it 'Yes ‘on condition’? Is it received English?
I found a word ‘Yes-ish’ in the answer (from PLL) to my question about the meaning of ‘Stuck to the script’ I posted today. As it is quite new to my ear, I consulted with Wikipedia before logging out ...
7
votes
3answers
1k views
Is “embiggen” considered a formal or slang word?
If my memory serves me correctly, I first encountered the word embiggen a year or so ago. I thought it seemed odd, but in context, the meaning was quite obvious.
Since that time I've seen this word ...
9
votes
3answers
11k views
Is “misconfigured” a word?
I use the word "misconfigured" all the time, but MS Word, Chrome, and the two dictionaries I checked don't list it as a word.
I'm going to keep using it instead of "configured incorrectly" because I ...
-1
votes
1answer
91 views
“At step” or “in step”
When I searched I found many usages of both "in step" and "at step". For example, Google returns:
"at each step" — about 55,000,000 results
"in each step" — about 45,000,000 results
But which one ...
0
votes
3answers
128 views
Is “setup” an acceptable noun in formal writing?
I'm editing a draft of a scientific paper which repeatedly uses the word "setup" to refer to the, well, experimental setup.
Example:
The dimensions of the setup are 250 mm × 250 mm × 50 mm.
...
2
votes
6answers
665 views
Usage of the phrase “you don't know what you don't know”
What is the correct usage of phrase "you don't know what you don't know"? Can it be used in formal conversation/writing?
0
votes
0answers
44 views
When to use “programming's” vs. “programming is” [duplicate]
My sentence can be said as:
Programming is fun.
and it can also be said as:
Programming's fun.
Both seem to be correct. When should I use one instead of the other?
-1
votes
1answer
69 views
What is the most appropriate for formal usage “a day/per day/daily”?
I was thinking which of these three possibilities is the most appropriate for a formal letter?
E.g. when an employer want to say to his employee:
1) "You need to respond to at least 100 messages a ...
38
votes
11answers
3k views
When to use “nude” and when “naked”
The question is quite clear.
Is there any difference (semantically or connotationally, if that's a word) between nude and naked? Nude seems more formal to me, but I'm not quite sure.
Interesting:
...
-1
votes
2answers
89 views
“You gotta love xyz”: What is the formal version? [closed]
"You gotta love xyz" is an often a sarcastic (and colloquial) way of pointing out a preference/like for something. Is there a more formal way to express similar sarcasm when describing a ...
2
votes
1answer
523 views
“TV”: is it formal or informal?
I would definitely say that the term TV is informal (while television is formal), however I have found "TV" in some formal compositions.
1
vote
1answer
90 views
What do “truxtop” and “thumb tax” mean? [closed]
What do truxtop and thumb tax mean?
I found them mentioned in this quotation from English Words History and Structure, 2nd edition (p. 113):
The replacement of the sequence [ks] by x is a ...
1
vote
1answer
225 views
“so long as” vs. “as long as”
I just googled the difference between as long as and so long as. The difference has alredy been discussed here. There are, it seems, two contexts for these expressions:
lengths and physical ...
6
votes
3answers
1k views
“So long as” vs. “as long as”
Which phrase is more formal — "so long as" or "as long as"?
Example:
So long as Google Voice allows free long distance in North America, I will use it.
As long as Google Voice allows free ...
-2
votes
2answers
99 views
Is there a formal version of “he's the real thing”? [closed]
Is there a formal version of "he's the real thing"?
As in:
Man, she's really good at tennis!
She plays national. She's the real thing.
-1
votes
1answer
167 views
'Evening' and 'morning' in use as greetings [closed]
This is more a historical question than one on the usages themselves. I'm interested in the history of the truncated forms of "Good morning" and "Good evening..." specifically, when people started ...
8
votes
2answers
61k views
Formally introducing yourself in an email
I am composing an email to a work associate who I have never had any dealings with before. I'm struggling to think of a formal yet succinct way of introducing myself.
In person, I would probably say: ...
36
votes
5answers
2k views
Is “data” considered singular or plural?
Related to this question and this question.
My non-native English speaking friend just asked me:
Data is ...
or
Data are ...
I said both but that's because I've been desensitized from ...
1
vote
1answer
209 views
What is the correct way to construct a conditional sentence with “would”?
I was told several times that a conditional sentence with the following structure is incorrect:
If I would do this, then he would do that.
Rather it should be:
If I do this, then he will do ...
12
votes
6answers
2k views
Is there an informal way to describe a woman that can not have a baby?
"Infertile"; "fruitless"? How would you describe such a woman in an informal talk to your friend?
-1
votes
1answer
125 views
Is it ok to end a sentence with a preposition? [duplicate]
I have a sentence:
It can be derived from either A or B.
But I’m not sure how to ask the following question:
Which one of them can it be derived from?
Is that ok, or would it be better if ...
6
votes
3answers
387 views
Usage of “is when”
In grade school, when writing stories for English class I recall being gently corrected whenever I handed pieces in that contained sentences with a structure similar to this:
“A debate is ...
5
votes
2answers
272 views
What does this use of “carpeted” mean?
I partially understand based on the background and context, but I've never seen it used this way before.
Can someone provide the full meaning of carpeted in this context and also tell me if it is a ...
4
votes
2answers
228 views
“Not so much” at the end of a sentence
I've occasionally seen "not so much" used at the end of a sentence. For example, Jeff Atwood saying
Some community feedback is useful. Others, not so much.
Doing a symbolhound search for "not so ...
-5
votes
4answers
387 views
What does “ Rape someone's mind” mean? [closed]
Can we use of it to express violence by words and talks against another one or trying to impress him/her by advertisement against his/her own willing? Is it formal or informal?
For example:
Mona ...
3
votes
2answers
378 views
Is “catch up” used in formal language as in “We will catch up sometime”?
I wrote "we will catch up sometime" to one of my new friends. When I searched the Internet I found that people used it in informal situations. Is it okay to use this in formal writing as I did since ...
10
votes
3answers
170 views
How should a person holding a foreign military rank be addressed?
While researching how to call a person that holds a rank at a foreign (non English speaking) military, I came to very confusing results:
Wikipedia is not consistent on the issue:
it sometimes gives ...
