Questions tagged [context]
A context describes the surroundings for a sentence.
122
questions
1
vote
1
answer
47
views
What exactly are "beasts that perish"?
Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly ...
2
votes
1
answer
101
views
What's the meaning of 'couldn't make your car'? [duplicate]
It was a situation that the police were trying to stop a driver who ran two stop signs. The driver finally got out of the car and said "I couldn't make your car".
From a publication article ...
- 29
0
votes
0
answers
10
views
Can I use "customer service" in a Public Sector context?
Dears,
I'm translating a cover letter from Portuguese to English. In it, my client states she's worked in government agencies answering phone calls, giving information etc.
If it were in a Private ...
0
votes
1
answer
34
views
Can I say "Since we met, I had been meaning to say that I like everything you do"? [closed]
Hypothetically, I said "I like everything you do" in the past.
So now can I say "Since we met, I had been meaning to say that I like everything you do." ?
Is it okay to use past ...
- 13
0
votes
0
answers
23
views
Present Perfect in the past time context
I have come across this paragraph in an English textbook:
Does this ring a bell? I'm sure it does. We've all experienced annoying tricks when we were young – the brother who stole your toys and then ...
3
votes
6
answers
4k
views
Why would anybody use "bloody" to describe how would they take their burgers or any other food?
I think it doesn't make sense to go over to the bar and ask for a burger, and then when the bartender replies "How would you like your burger", to answer "bloody" (I saw this in a ...
- 413
0
votes
4
answers
81
views
Out of one’s hands / Beyond one’s control: synonyms?
I am writing something about legal defences available to a defendant.
I would like to know if these two expressions (title) can in this case be synonyms and if one is more used than the other.
Context:...
1
vote
0
answers
42
views
Whereby / By which
I have a doubt about the use of “whereby”. I know it can be a synonym of “by which”, but I am not sure if it can always substitute “by which”.
I am doing an essay and I wrote this:
Will, gift, lease ...
0
votes
1
answer
36
views
Generalized Terms for Categorizing an Occupation Label
This feels like a longshot, so pardon me if it’s an ill-formed question for this forum…
I’m trying to define a two-phrase structure that describes any person’s role or occupation. Here are several ...
- 103
1
vote
1
answer
64
views
Do you contract a disease or a virus? Or either?
You are infected by a virus, not a disease. You can develop a disease, but not a virus (unless you are a virus-developing scientist, I guess -- but you know that's not what I mean).
I guess what I'm ...
- 113
0
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Meaning of "...on the week of ..."
I got an email to confirm my availability:
We would like to know your availability on the week of May 10th from 10:00 - 14:00.
Does it mean they are asking my availability for the whole week for the ...
- 41
16
votes
2
answers
2k
views
What is "a gallops"? [closed]
I've found this phrase here on a recent BBC report:
"...the mare in the video died after suffering a cardiac arrest on a gallops in April 2016."
The same article has:
"A video on ...
- 7,116
0
votes
0
answers
379
views
At its highest or in its highest
So, I have been writing this text about agriculture and farming and I got stuck with this sentence.
When the population is in its highest...
Should I say "in its highest" or "at its ...
-1
votes
3
answers
126
views
“I suppose so,” said Mrs. Dursley stiffly - (Harry Potter) [closed]
I read this in a Harry Potter novel:
"I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly
I looked up the word "stiffy" in Cambridge dictionary, and saw this definition:
an erection (= ...
- 143
-1
votes
1
answer
164
views
Should I Capitalize the Word "mom" in This Specific Context [duplicate]
In the book Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing is says the word "mom" is a proper noun in the following context and should be capitalized:
"How's Mom these days"...
- 101
0
votes
2
answers
66
views
Is this an example of a mixed metaphor?
Is the writer employing a mixed metaphor here?
A part of her was sinking languidly down into the passive pleasure of having returned to the familiar—like a pebble, she had been picked up and hurled ...
- 6,545
0
votes
2
answers
44
views
How do you describe a word that has two, conflicting meanings depending on the context? [duplicate]
There is a single word that can be used to describe these, and I'm having trouble remembering it. I think it might be a '-nym' word or a '-phone', but I can't remember.
An example would be handicap, ...
- 101
-1
votes
2
answers
654
views
What does “otherwise than” mean in this context
“The library, which I had never seen otherwise than wide open, was tight shut.”
- 7
0
votes
2
answers
76
views
What does "Tree someone's or their game" means?
As contextually hinted here in the sentence "1838 – "Instead of having treed their game....", the meaning of possibly rarely-known phrase "tree his/her/someone's/their game" ...
- 413
0
votes
2
answers
172
views
Can unilateral mean unanimous? [closed]
When deciding among colleagues between two options, everyone present agreed on the same solution. When reporting the result to a member that hadn't taken part, I reported it as "unilateral ...
- 3
0
votes
0
answers
19
views
Is there ambiguity in "by each" in this context?
The sentence:
"Find all malls that have been visited by each student attending Wolf
Secondary School"
I've recently encountered a question like this on a Computer Science test and ...
0
votes
1
answer
29
views
Partly out vs Partly
"In August of 1930, a Norwegian sloop, the Bratvaag, sailing in the
Arctic Ocean, stopped at a remote island called White Island.The Bratvaag was partly on a scientiɹc mission, led by a geologist ...
- 105
0
votes
2
answers
152
views
Is my usage of "any different" correct in this context?
I'm reading a Webnovel and in this particular chapter, there is this guy who is on a high position and everyone around him(not including those who have a higher authority and status) is bending over ...
- 1
0
votes
2
answers
286
views
What does the term 'labels' imply in this context?
"Labels are a necessity in the organization of knowledge, but they
also constrain our understanding."
I'm interested in what the word labels implies.
According to the definition in the ...
- 101
-1
votes
1
answer
35
views
Why some words that are extensions of words, are not explained with those original words mentioned/referenced in meaning description?
I recently had an encounter with word "iffy", which if explained with reference to word "if", its meaning that "something/some-concept cannot be considered fully and ...
- 1
0
votes
1
answer
210
views
“Being with” definition
If I said, “I get happier when I am with her.” Is it clear that “when I am with her” means when I am physically with her? “With someone” can mean a lot of things in English such as being in a romantic ...
- 53
0
votes
1
answer
148
views
What does " pulp" mean in this context? [closed]
the pulp for the marriage made by the empress dowager has made me a fool to the whole world
- 11
0
votes
2
answers
545
views
Meaning of radical punchline [closed]
The text:
Rudman looks at how a poor understanding of maths has led historians
to false conclusions about the mathematical sophistication of early
societies. Rudman's final observation-that ancient ...
- 103
0
votes
1
answer
78
views
grammatically, rotate + er is it correct?
I try to name something as its usage is rotate+er.
The main usage is doing a rotation on a reliable circle, so I pick rotation as the verb.
My main lang is Indonesian, but I always try to give my best ...
- 111
0
votes
1
answer
33
views
What does "tweak business establishment" mean here?
everyone, I have difficulities in understanding the following sentence.
All the while, the flamboyant and irreverent Mr. Branson has tweaked the business establishment, particularly in Britain, ...
- 27
1
vote
1
answer
80
views
What possible word that begins with D and ends with Y is used in racial context?
I recently came across an article about the history of chicken thieves, and in two instances, it made a reference to d---y. I'm curious to know what this means.
The first one is where they are ...
- 223
1
vote
1
answer
34
views
Pararphrasing question
I have come across the following the sentence : (I ripped my shirt on a nail )
Can I just say " The nail ripped my shirt " instead .
- 37
-1
votes
2
answers
5k
views
What does it mean when Anne Frank was described as "a symbol for the lost promise of the children who died in the Holocaust"? [closed]
I'm doing an English lesson on the Holocaust, and on one of the questions, I had to answer what the phrase meant. I've tried looking up what "lost promise" means, but none of the answers I've found ...
- 1
0
votes
1
answer
67
views
"It is that ..." sentences in a non-linguistic context
I sometimes see or hear "It is that ..." sentences as the following:
(1) "It's not that I don't want to support you. It's just that I don't know how."
I'd like to know if "It is that ..." ...
- 23
0
votes
0
answers
72
views
Curriculum framework and model
What is the difference between curriculum framework and curriculum model? What I understand is that a framework is a set of principles on which a model is built. Am I right? Please clarify.
-1
votes
1
answer
53
views
Meaning of draft
The following is an excerpt from a book:
The article “Poll Finds Most Oppose return to Draft,
wouldn’t encourage Children to enlist” (Associated Press,
December 18, 2005) reports that in a ...
- 121
0
votes
1
answer
326
views
"Like never before" or "Like you have never done before"
I am a not a native English speaker. But the term "Manage Teams like never before" which our company thinks about using for advertising our software sounds strange to me.
Wouldn't it be better to ...
- 103
1
vote
0
answers
64
views
Grammatical query (was vs is, etc) [closed]
I live and work in Taiwan but my son has a question regarding grammar in his test. I don't quite know how to answer this or to help him, so I would like some advice, if possible:
"Despite the fact ...
- 11
1
vote
1
answer
3k
views
Which preposition goes with the word 'solution'?
Though I've found one of the questions with the same topic as mine, I would desire the better elaborated explanation as it confuses me a lot.
According to that question, the answer was that when the ...
- 11
0
votes
1
answer
55
views
"Schematic Claim" [closed]
I would like to know what does "schematic claim" in the following encrypt mean which is from an entry of Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy:
To consider some of the different strategies for ...
3
votes
2
answers
105
views
Question about vinegar in expressions
What does "vinegar in her voice" mean? It was said by a girl in a story about her sister, she envies her and feels bad in some way. The story is from the Bible.
- 31
1
vote
3
answers
74
views
alternate word for "coupling"
I'm writing a scientific article.
In my study, the amount of food we eat affects the bodyweight for example. We call it "coupling of food and bodyweight" because bodyweight depends mainly on food ...
1
vote
1
answer
37
views
Meaning in context
Provine writes: “I forge recklessly into the paleohumorology fray, proposing my candidate for the most ancient joke—the feigned tickle. (Real tickling is disqualified because of its reflexive nature.) ...
1
vote
1
answer
164
views
Inquiries Concerning Context Clues, Syllables, and the Use of the Dictionary [closed]
The following are consists of three questions with the possible choices for each along with my reasoning for each question. I ask of you to provide me assistance in guiding me towards the answer for ...
- 11
0
votes
1
answer
18
views
Flexible change another prepositon [closed]
Here is the sentence:
" I argue with you"
Most of the time I have been taught that ARGUE + WITH is the function that I have to remember. But recently I have read some books about lexicon and they ...
- 11
0
votes
1
answer
239
views
Interpretation - "my younger brothers seem never to do anything else."
I couldn't accurately understand what is the meaning of the following sentence.
"Oh, brothers! I don't care for brothers. My elder brother won't die, and my younger brothers seem never to do anything ...
- 135
1
vote
0
answers
54
views
Can you brew wine, or is the word "brew" specific to Beer, coffee, and tea? [duplicate]
I would like to know whether or not wine can be brewed, and secondly if the wine-making process is considered brewing. It seems that some definitions are specific to beer, coffee, and tea, where ...
- 11
1
vote
2
answers
84
views
Can 'whom' be used in this context? [closed]
I would like to know if whom can be used in this sentence:
I commend the authors for discussing the discrepancy between minority
medical students and the disproportionate percentage of whom apply ...
- 11
1
vote
3
answers
88
views
Help me understand "mortal man never smoked their superior in quality."
I am a Korean reading The Lives of the Great Composers by Harold Schonberg.
There's part of an article quoted from the New York Times describing how Americans welcomed Offenbach in his visit to New ...
- 357
1
vote
2
answers
131
views
What is the definition of dig? If someone begins to cut into a surface is it considered that they have dug something? if not, why not?
According to the following extract:
Mrs. Baker wanted to go ice fishing. She read several books on the subject, and finally, after purchasing all the necessary equipment, she went onto the ice. ...
