Tagged Questions
0
votes
1answer
42 views
What does this sentence mean: “Cologne, with its seven and seventy evil savors, was a posy-bed to it.”?
This is a sentence from a book I'm translating, the one before that is "The first thing I met was a regiment of the vilest odors that ever assaulted the human nose, and took it by storm." So, what is ...
1
vote
2answers
64 views
What does this sentence mean: “Troubles are poor things to hug. They've got too many prickers.” [closed]
This is a sentence from a book for children. I'm trying to translate it into Chinese. Not sure what this means. DO we want to hug troubles or not?
0
votes
2answers
109 views
A water circle of few radius is around the park
Look at the below image. Do you see the water in few feet radius around a land? How do you describe this? Let's assume that the land is a park and there is no fountain. Can I express it as "A water ...
1
vote
0answers
121 views
What does the expression 'justified for him his own idea' mean?
I am reading a novel, and I did not understand one of the sentences in it. Following are two lines from the novel. The author is talking about a guy called Paul and her father.
They were once ...
-1
votes
1answer
47 views
“for which” usage
I am writing comments to my algorithm and I used this sentence to describe one variable. But I am not entirely sure if it makes sense and if I used commas right.
id of node, for which, program is ...
1
vote
3answers
82 views
What’s the meaning of the line “The conclusions of the Second Vatican Council of 1962 -65 were given too liberal a reading by many Catholics?”
Though it must be a plain statement for native English speakers, the captioned line in the Time magazine’s (February 25 – though a pretty belated subject) article titled “The Second Act” - ...
-6
votes
1answer
105 views
How will a native speaker interpret “I like in the rain”? [closed]
When I say "I like in the rain," will a native speaker understand it like "I like to be in the rain (or being in the rain)? Does a native speaker consider "in the rain" the object in the sentence?
0
votes
2answers
72 views
Pre-clause, Post-clause
I have two possible sentences of the some situation and I am confused:
Realizing he did not belong there, he left the meeting early.
He left the meeting early, realizing he did not belong ...
0
votes
3answers
299 views
General rules for identifying conditional sentences?
I am trying to identify the subject and object in the following sentence:
Come to me, and I'll give you a fight you'll never forget
At first, it appeared as if whenever a conjunction appears ...
0
votes
3answers
101 views
Will be waiting - verb?
I have been trying to understand how to detect subject and predicate in a sentence. So, I stumbled on this page http://www.dailygrammar.com/Lesson-113-Review.htm
The ff. example was given:
Jim ...
-1
votes
1answer
119 views
“1st Prize” or “1st Rank”? [closed]
I was just updating my CV when I noticed the following lines in the 'Interests and activities' section:
● 1st Prize for ‘Best Performance’ in State Drama Competition.
● 1st Rank in ...
0
votes
4answers
270 views
The difference between using a comma or a full stop
What's the difference between "I see, I see" and "I see. I see"? Can one use a comma in between?
The first sentence could be used in formal writing, right?
What about this one: "My house, my rules" ...
1
vote
2answers
55 views
Can 'it' be used plurally?
Can 'it' as a pronoun refer to many different imperative verbs? For instance, in the sentence:
Abide by thy customs, thou excellent one: grind thy corn, drink thy water, praise thy cooking,-- if ...
4
votes
1answer
147 views
Please help explain this long sentence
It bore an engraved escutcheon, a herald's wording of which may serve for a motto
and brief description of our now concluded legend; so sombre is it,
and relieved only by one ever-glowing point ...
0
votes
0answers
78 views
Using “either” to say both the elements are needed [closed]
I want to say using spatial or temporal properties of data individually (separately) cannot help and they should be applied together.
Does the following say this?
While the reliable detection of ...
3
votes
2answers
399 views
What is the meaning of this sentence - “Were it not for the bodies there on the ground, it would have appeared to be a normal day at the oasis.”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Conditional sentences not starting with “if”
What is the meaning of this sentence - "Were it not for the bodies there on the ground, it would have appeared to be a ...
2
votes
2answers
206 views
A long sentence from “The Apple Tree” [closed]
If she had long lost the blue-eyed, flower-like charm, the cool slim purity of face and form, the apple-blossom colouring, which had so swiftly and so oddly affected Ashurst twenty-six years ago, ...
2
votes
0answers
97 views
Asking for a duel from someone avid in the other direction [closed]
Anyway, I'm not gonna get too detailed here since I can easily go on
forever about Anime. However, bashing (or liking) the wrong Anime is
like asking for a duel from someone avid in the other ...
3
votes
2answers
85 views
“stopping to refill his cup when she did”
Consider the following sentence:
She got up to get some of the coffee he had made, stopping to refill his cup when she did.
What does the subordinate clause in this sentence mean? Does it mean ...
4
votes
3answers
305 views
Meaning of “Schemas are changed infrequently, if at all”
As the question title implies, the following is a simple sentence written in plain English.
Schemas are changed infrequently, if at all.
Where schema is a special term used in Database ...
4
votes
2answers
424 views
“If you think it's hard to meet new people, try picking up the wrong golf ball.”
What does the following Jack Lemmon quote mean:
If you think it's hard to meet new people, try picking up the wrong golf ball.
I guess picking up the wrong golf ball must be an idiom but I ...
0
votes
3answers
163 views
How do you distinguish “have got” from “got” as the past tense of “get” in “I got my car back”?
When someone says "I got my car back" in an informal setting, does it mean (1) or (2)?
I have got my car back. (Where "have" can be dropped in spoken English.)
I got my car back. (As the past tense ...
-2
votes
1answer
647 views
What does “This change has been a long time coming” mean? [closed]
This change has been a long time coming.
So what does this sentence really mean — the change has taken a long period of time to finally occur? Or something different?
4
votes
3answers
182 views
The meaning of “People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading.”
I am having a hard time understanding the following Logan Pearsall Smith quote:
People say that life is the thing, but I prefer reading.
Googling didn't help much other than whose quote it is. ...
0
votes
1answer
325 views
Can't understand the meaning of “facile” in these example [closed]
I found the meaning of facile is easy, getting something without effort.
http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/facile
I have read those sentences. But can't understand it clearly.
I'm trying to ...
1
vote
2answers
412 views
Can't understand the meaning of “flogged” in this sentence
There are products to be flogged and, Ms. Barberich added, “stars to be made.”
What does it mean by flogged here?
I got these synonym:
struck, propelled, electrical, beaten, flogged, chastised
...
0
votes
3answers
328 views
How does “panegyric” work in “Tom is very panegyric while talking to his co-workers”?
Tom is very panegyric while talking to his co-workers.
From What is a sentence for panegyric?
What's the meaning of this sentence?
I have search the meaning of panegyric, but can't understand ...
-1
votes
2answers
226 views
Meaning of the word 'orthodox' in sentence? [closed]
"If I can not succeed in an orthodox way, at least I can succeed in a
criminal world."
What does the word orthodox mean in this case ?
0
votes
2answers
625 views
Is this sentence correct in grammar and does it even make sense [closed]
This sentence:
You have the right to ask for someone in the United States of America.
Does it have any grammatical errors?
Does it even make sense? I think it is usually ...to ask for ...
0
votes
3answers
282 views
what does “the powers that be have to really mean it for the work to matter” mean? [closed]
The following is from Jeff Atwood's blog:
When given the freedom to "work on whatever you want", the powers that
be have to really mean it for the work to matter. Mostly that means
providing ...
5
votes
2answers
184 views
Is this a valid sentence using “approbation” [closed]
I believe the word means to approve or praise. So can I use it as
Are you looking for an approbation from your boss ?
or
Why are you still standing here ? Do you want me to approbate you ?
...
0
votes
3answers
323 views
Does the sentence “His confident visage hid insecurity” make sense?
I was wondering if this sentence makes sense, and if it does, is the meaning of visage in this sentence metaphoric?
His confident visage hid insecurity.
0
votes
0answers
60 views
Is a match for any Englishman in Polynesia, let alone foreigners"--with a sour glance at the German [closed]
I am reading this story here :-
http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/22488/
Not getting the meaning of the following sentence, if anyone could please help.
"Ay," said Robertson, the trading ...
2
votes
2answers
272 views
What is the meaning of “one of those shilling in the slot affairs”?
In A Taste Of Honey by Shelagh Delaney I found this:
(She wanders around the room searching for fire.) "Where!" she says. She can never see anything till she falls over it. Now where's it got to? ...
2
votes
2answers
144 views
Meaning of “stop for something”
Q. Did the customers stop for narrow selection of food?
A. The customers stopped for wider selection of food.
Does it mean the customers just ignored or didn't shop for food?
1
vote
1answer
77 views
Can or can’t the Three Mile Island meltdown be described as a farce in “tragedy / farce” rhetoric?
There was the following sentence in the Time Magazine article (Mar. 25, 2011) titled “The Real Cost of U.S. Nuclear Power.”:
“When Karl Marx wrote that history unfolds first as tragedy, then as ...
0
votes
1answer
194 views
Meaning of 'jumps across' in sentence [closed]
The sentence is,
The English teacher jumps across the room with a large stick.
Does it mean the English teacher really jumped from one position to another position?
2
votes
2answers
258 views
What does “The man that once did sell the lion’s skin While the beast liv’d was killed with hunting him” mean?
I came across the following sentence in the context of four professional men discussing a plot to retrieve their lost $1 million, swindled from them by a nouveau riche American banker in Jeffery ...
1
vote
1answer
211 views
How should I understand the word “bound” in this sentence? [closed]
The following is an excerpt from the book 100 Greatest Science Discoveries of All Time by Kendall Haven.
Charles Darwin entered Cambridge University in 1827 to become a
priest, but switched to ...
0
votes
2answers
191 views
Meaning of “sniped in” [closed]
What is the meaning of sniped in? Can I use it in the following sentence to replace bought?
John has bought/sniped in a new BMW.
0
votes
6answers
3k views
Replying to a favour done by someone
Some people did me a big favour. What should I ask them after their help?
I have tried to ask directly, using the following sentences:
What would you like me to do to pay back what I owe you?
...
7
votes
5answers
574 views
What does “I believe in making America safe for old-fashioned light bulbs and not those weird curly ones,” mean?
I saw the line, “That’s all I believe in. That and making America safe for old-fashioned light bulbs and not those weird curly ones,” in the speech of Michele Bachmann quoted in Maureen Dowd column in ...
1
vote
5answers
515 views
“Drinking water” or “drunk water”
Why do people use bottled drinking water instead of bottled drunk water?
I am puzzled by the two sentences.
I am drinking some water.
Some water is being drunk.
I know they are the same ...
1
vote
2answers
116 views
Use of “mental” and “spiritual” as adjectives
If I say something encouraging for someone, then I am mentally or spiritually supporting him.
I mean to input into his head as well as resurect ideas of possibility that has been far out of ...
10
votes
3answers
380 views
Do listeners understand different adjective orders?
I found Adjective order,
but I keep wondering if listeners actually understand what I mean when I don't follow that order. For example, if I say, "a lovely long white coat," I may change it to "a long ...
4
votes
2answers
551 views
Fish fish fish [closed]
I have seen that buffalo buffalo... has been posted here before. However some sites claim also that the sentence
Fish fish fish fish fish fish fish.
makes sense. Can someone confirm and ...
2
votes
3answers
334 views
How should I understand “archaeocyte” in this sentence?
Consider the following sentence:
The fossil consists of a complete skull of an archaeocyte, an extinct group of ancestors of modern cetaceans.
Does it mean "the fossil consists of a complete ...
0
votes
2answers
474 views
What is the meaning of this complex sentence?
The historical roots of democracy in India are well worth
considering, if only because the connection with public arguments is
often missed, through the temptation to attribute the Indian
...
26
votes
12answers
3k views
“Nothing to tell” versus “nothing to say”
There's nothing to tell.
There's nothing to say.
Can anyone explain the difference between those two statements and give some examples on how they should be used? I think I do have a basic ...
0
votes
2answers
1k views
Meaning of “you don't need no memory” and its grammar or rhetoric [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“We don't need no education”
You don't need no memory.
Just don't know what it means.
