Tagged Questions
3
votes
2answers
72 views
usage of “Made for”
eg. I would've made for a bad lawyer.
conveying the meaning that if I had been a lawyed, I would have been a bad one.
is it correct usage?
3
votes
3answers
85 views
Parallelism with “in order to”
Which of the following is grammatically correct, or are they both gramatically correct?
We use this product in order to increase work efficiency and to streamline testing.
We use this product in ...
0
votes
1answer
58 views
On His Post, At His Post
I have this:
link
On 21-22 April 1914, while leading three picket launches admist heavy enemy fire, McCloy was wounded but remained on his post, enabling cruisers to save American lives. For ...
-2
votes
1answer
94 views
usage of “lead to”
If I want to use lead to, does it always need to use being as shown below.
less number of points lead to missing edges being occurred, are
recognized using proximity analysis.
0
votes
2answers
341 views
“Used to” or “used for”? [closed]
To me, "used to" and "used for" are incompatible, as shown in the examples below. However, I am unable to substantiate this. MS Word doesn't "see" the differences, so I turned to "Essential grammar in ...
4
votes
1answer
710 views
Is “make due” now considered acceptable?
Whilst plodding through Patrick Rothfuss' "The Name of the Wind", I came across:
Our dinner was nowhere near as grand as last night's. We made due with the last of my now-stale flatbread, dried ...
0
votes
2answers
155 views
'Consists of a lot of' or 'consists lot of' [closed]
Which is correct grammar,
Farming consists a lot of manual work.
Farming consists of a lot of manual work.
Also, is is ok to write 'a lot of' instead of 'lot of'?
2
votes
4answers
472 views
Be careful for what you eat or Be careful what you eat
I usually hear "Be careful what you eat" and also Google is telling me that but it seems "Be careful for what you eat" to me right.
Could you please explain which one is right and why please?
5
votes
3answers
232 views
“Went” vs. “went along”
At work, he made up lies as he went along.
At work, he made up lies as he went.
Is one of the above wrong?
1
vote
1answer
1k views
“If not for you” meaning
Today I have encountered a phrase:
If not for you, I would be poor.
I would think it is like "if there were not you", is it like that?
On the other hand, how would I say the following as the ...
4
votes
2answers
161 views
Correct use of “rid of”
From what I understood, "rid of" is used when I want to express that particular object will be disposed of something. "Get rid of something," on the other hand, does not specify the object.
According ...
1
vote
4answers
336 views
Is “go on +verb root” grammatically right?
I came across the line, "he went on explain (a metaphor) in the clip," at the end of the following sentence of the article, "How to insult your political opponents" appearing in New Yorker magazine ...
4
votes
5answers
902 views
Why do we say “to be a laughing stock”?
I've come through the expression "to be a laughing stock" to talk about a person who has done something stupid and who people laugh at because of that, and I've started to wonder about it.
First of ...
1
vote
2answers
131 views
“Summoning something into life” vs. “summoning something to life”
What is the difference between the following?
Summoning ... into life
Summoning ... to life
If it helps, I want to use the word idea in the place of dots so it's like:
Summoning ...
1
vote
4answers
487 views
Is this saying grammatically correct? [closed]
Is the phrase seat well and hold steadily grammatically correct? If it is, why does it use seat instead of sit?
PS:the instruction will be used on the bus.
2
votes
4answers
16k views
“Take a rest” or “have some rest”?
Which one of the above is the correct, or can I use both? Or is there any better way to say that?
4
votes
3answers
4k views
Is “a ways to go” grammatically correct?
In English we often say, for example, "he still has a ways to go before he's done." Is this grammatically correct?
0
votes
3answers
551 views
How to understand “It takes a little bit of getting used to the idea…”?
The following sentence is from a mathematical lecture note here:
It takes a little bit of getting used to the idea of a function that cannot actually be evaluated at any specific point, but with ...
8
votes
5answers
445 views
Do idioms pose an exception to normal definite and indefinite article usage?
I found this phrase in my biology textbook (emphasis added):
...in relation to Earth's history, 100,000 years or even a million years is the blink of an eye.
The part of the phrase in question ...
7
votes
3answers
2k views
Analysis of “It is like a dream come true”
I've been unable to grammatically analyse the sentence
It is like a dream come true.
To me, it should either be
It is like a dream that has come true
or
It is like a dream comes true.
...
3
votes
3answers
768 views
Usage of “how come” while speaking
I had always heard people saying like (never seen written anywhere but just heard it):
How come you come to office on Sunday?
How come is this possible?
It doesn't seem right to me when ...
0
votes
1answer
688 views
How to interpret the phrase “no more” in “Don't love no more”(Craig David's song)?
How should I interpret the phrase "no more" in one of Craig David's songs?
or "no more" in the lyrics of the song shall not be deem as a phrase?
Lyrics -- Don't Love You No More:
I’m sick and ...
13
votes
7answers
966 views
Is the phrase “for free” correct?
A friend claims that the phrase for free is incorrect. Should we only say at no cost instead?
1
vote
3answers
133 views
Is “driving the reins” used as a deliberately erroneous phrase?
In her blog post introducing Blog Overflow, the estimable Rebecca Chernoff committed the following, uh, sentence:
Have someone driving the reigns.
After cringing (read: screaming in pain) and ...
6
votes
3answers
1k views
Is the expression 'half a percent' acceptable in formal English?
When central banks raise or lower interest rates the radio announcer will say for example:
an increase of one half of one percent
Informally people use half a percent instead, which is less ...
0
votes
2answers
3k views
“Too much time has passed.”
Too much time has passed.
Is this grammatically correct? Wouldn't it be better to say
Too much time has passed by.
or
Too much time has gone past.
1
vote
1answer
1k views
Is it “out of question” or “out of the question”?
Are they used in different contexts?
Those both of them use correct grammar?
Google fight shows that "out of the question" appear 10 times more often than the other.
5
votes
4answers
326 views
“In the nick of time” or “in a nick of time?”
They both sound right and I've found examples of both.
2
votes
3answers
6k views
Proper use of “out to lunch”, “out for lunch” and “out at lunch”
Recently a co-worker and I debated the proper use of "out to lunch". The argument stemmed from conversation over the appropriate preposition to use, and became particularly heated when we tried to ...
3
votes
3answers
378 views
Can “deprived of” be used in this way?
I looked up the synonym dictionary, and it told me that "deprived of" can be the alternative of "without". So I'm wondering if this usage is right:
Deprived of his partner, he couldn't win by ...
1
vote
1answer
122 views
Is it correct to use “giving rating”?
For example, is "they gave the same rating to the movie" a proper usage?
11
votes
6answers
12k views
Why is it “on *the* one hand”?
According to all dictionaries I can see and everyday use by native speakers, this is the correct way:
On the one hand, it's larger; on the other hand, it's more expensive.
What makes no sense to ...
13
votes
3answers
784 views
Definite article — “on television” vs. “on the radio”
Why are these different?
We heard the news on the radio.
We watched the news on television.
In this book, the author says we must use television without the. Why? It makes me crazy. Is ...
2
votes
3answers
311 views
Using 'to swallow' to indicate having an emotionally hard time accepting a truth
Can 'to swallow' be used to indicate that you have a hard time accepting a truth?
Neither a hard time in the sense of being able to understand it nor to accept that it is true, but rather in the ...
6
votes
3answers
1k views
When it came time to
When it came time to...
Is the phrase technically correct, or is it an exercise of artistic license?
2
votes
3answers
633 views
Is “if winning isn't everything then why do they keep score” a correct sentence?
We wanted to use this as a T-shirt quote, but I feel that "if winning isn't everything then why do they keep score" is wrong. The correct sentence should be "if winning isn't everything then why do ...
13
votes
6answers
5k views
Is “my bad” a correct English phrase?
I have seen many people use the phrase "my bad" in Internet forums. What does it exactly imply and is it a proper English phrase?
10
votes
3answers
2k views
Is “bad loser” a valid expression?
Is the expression "(someone is a) bad loser" valid?
If it is valid, is it equal to "sore loser", or does it have a different meaning and/or use?
2
votes
7answers
432 views
“Aaron is a genius boy”
I wonder whether can we call someone a genius boy? I've been using this term to describe my cousin until someone told me that the correct usage should be boy genius.
The question is: Can we say Aaron ...
5
votes
2answers
4k views
What alternative would you suggest to “in/with regard(s?) to”?
I see in many of the "corporate emails" I receive the expression: "in regard to".
Sometimes, it is also written "in regards to".
First, to be sure:
"in regards to" (with an extra 's') is ...
