Questions tagged [cultural-correctness]
The cultural-correctness tag has no usage guidance.
27
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Does English prefer abbreviated names more than other IE languages?
Background
I have a name that English L1 speakers find hard to pronounce.* One of the first questions I get whenever introducing myself to one, is ‘Can I call you […]?’ After years in the university ...
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2
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What would be the proper adjective to describe an 'open' padlock?
I'm trying to describe an 'open' padlock hanging from a latch.
['open', so a character can lock someone else in the following paragraph]
Is 'open' the right term?
I've also seen 'unsecured', 'unlocked'...
- 186
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3
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112
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Better expression than chauvinist for male dominant attitude [duplicate]
I'm getting a hard time to find an appropriate word on English with similar meaning to the portuguese word "machismo".
In portuguese this word means a conservative pro-male attitude, like an ...
- 133
1
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1
answer
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Looking for an appropriate English name to replace my Chinese name [closed]
Background:
I am Chinese, and after living abroad from China for several years, I realize that I need an English name anyway. I’ve seen too many confused faces looking at my Chinese name.
My Chinese ...
1
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0
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When is afternoon? When is evening? When is night? Is there another meal after dinner? [duplicate]
I'm a beginner here, and I have a question about the evening/night meal, and this is my first question.
It's evening. The family is eating dinner.
From when until when is it considered to be "...
- 119
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1
answer
321
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What is the proper way to spell and pronounce the name Yoanna or some certain names?
My name is "Yoanna" but I am not sure of how to pronounce or spell it properly in English. It is derived from "Joanna". Should I write it "Joanna" and pronounce it "Yoanna" or do I stick with "Yoanna" ...
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3
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What are some alternative phrases for "using the whole buffalo"?
I'm concerned that this phrase may be insensitive to Native American culture, and I'm looking for alternative, culturally sensitive ways to make a point about not wasting resources.
- 151
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Multiday or Multi-day [closed]
What is correct, Multi-day or Multiday?
I have checked the collins dictionary and it does not have an entry for Multi-day but does for Multiday (link)
Despite that, almost every browser or device I ...
- 111
4
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1
answer
752
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Direction of apostrophe in Hawai'i
My students are writing a case study about Hawai'i and we'd like to use the diacritical mark, correctly. My searches so far are turning up both
Hawai’i
and
Hawai‘i
Can anyone tell me a ...
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How to write how much a subject is in compliance with a guideline?
I need to name a calculator service that should score how much a subject is in compliance with a guideline.
Some of my alternatives are
Guideline adherence score < Most used in my native ...
3
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2
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1k
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Why do Americans prefer to use the term grade instead of class?
I have noticed that Americans ask kids, Which grade are you in?, while Indians ask, Which class are you studying in?
The typical Indian reply would be, say, for example, I am a twelfth class student, ...
- 41
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758
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When a word is both a common and proper noun, how do you use it as a cultural modifier?
I am writing a piece on Kandi Kids, the name for a specific rave culture.
"The Kandi Kid community..." (Proper noun.)
"She gave him a piece of kandi." (Common noun.)
"They saw two young ...
1
vote
2
answers
114
views
Using titles in an American workplace
This is perhaps more of a culture question than a language question, but since it is about English usage, I hope it is OK to ask it here.
I'm not American, but I've visited a few American companies ...
- 517
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1
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388
views
How rude is it to ask someone if they are a nerd or not? [closed]
I asked one of my new friends(a week), "On a scale of 1-10 how nerdy are you? Where do you fall?" She is from Chile and she said the question was very rude there. But I don't understand why. I only ...
- 121
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914
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Thematic comparison of 'collaborative' vs 'collective' in literature or culture
I'm trying to brand a product with either the word 'collaborative' or 'collective', but I am having trouble imagining what the well known thematic usage is with either word. I've always seen them ...
- 1,849
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1
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342
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IBM used the words "Toxic combinations of duties" in an advert. Does that dilute the current/popular meaning?
This IBM advertisement uses the phrase "toxic combinations" of duties to sell a security product. As someone who has 20 years of experience in social services and IT Security, this usage is off-...
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2
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647
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How would one precisely use ‘Chinese’ without qualifiers and where ‘Sino’, ‘Cantonese’, ‘Mandarin’, etc. is not applicable?
I'm likely missing something, but I think whenever people say 'Chinese' without qualifiers, a more precise term is applicable such as 'Cantonese', 'Mandarin', 'Sino', 'Hong Kong Chinese', 'Mainland ...
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Is there a simple word for a person born of immigrants?
My friend's parents are both from Colombia, but he was born here in the U.S., and I was wondering if there was a non-offensive term for somebody born of immigrants who is a native citizen.
- 55
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282
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Minimum wage vs. minimum salary and “three minimum salaries”
Here in Brazil people don’t usually talk about wages (how much you make per hour), but about salaries (how much one makes in a month).
Does it make sense to talk about minimum salary, or even in this ...
- 1,528
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2
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When is the correct time/day to wish someone a happy "day'? [closed]
When is the correct time/day to wish someone a happy day (birthday, holiday etc)? On the day, before the day, after part of the day is gone? I am always thinking you have to wish someone in ...
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3
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91
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Should I avoid using a phrase that is commonly misused? [duplicate]
The phrase "Doesn't do nothing" is often used when a person actually means, "Doesn't do anything."
Should I avoid using this phrase? Generally, I would, but in my context, I want to negate what I ...
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"Actions taken on [Noun]" vs "Actions taken against [Noun]"
I am an Australian working in the US.
During the workday I often find myself either reading documents or being corrected in how I write them myself when it concerns this grammatical usage.
Which is ...
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1
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69
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Why are curses not offensive if you mask all but the first letter with symbols? [closed]
Nudity and foul language is often blurred in the media. I can understand the need to blur nudity, but when it comes to blurring F-words I don't see the sense of it. When you write F- off, you simply ...
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3k
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What should I write under "signed" tag? [closed]
Signing english documents (UK, if that changes anything) I am wondering what should I write under "Signed" tag? I wouldn't have doubts if the blank would be described as "Signature", but "Signed"? And ...
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1
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What should we call our elder cousin's wife? [closed]
We don’t call our cousins cousin Somebody the way we do with uncles and aunts; we just refer to them by their given name directly.
But sometimes we cannot use their name to address them, such as if ...
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What is the ᴄᴏʀʀᴇᴄᴛ English pronunciation of a character pointer in C-like programming languages? [duplicate]
In programming languages like C, Go, and C++, the character pointer data
type
is denoted using:
char *
What is the correct English pronunciation for this data type?
Is it /kɑr stɑr/, so with the ‹...
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How to pronounce the programmer's abbreviation "char"
In many programming languages, char is a type name for character values. The word character is pronounced with a [k] sound, but what about char?
While trying to find the answer elsewhere, I learnt ...
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