Questions tagged [list-order]
For questions about the order of coordinated words in short lists.
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Multiple adjectives but following reference is singular
Everyone was mostly Muslim or atheist, like my family.
What is the rule here, is the family Muslim or atheist? I know it's poorly written, I didn't write it and I can't ask the author. My gut ...
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How to clarify whether an adverb at the end of serial list modifies each item vs just the last item?
In the recreational community where my family has property, the common understanding has always been that no rentals are allowed, period. Not everyone agrees. This is the policy as it was written in ...
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2
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Start sentence with "Second" and "importantly" [closed]
I am writing a thesis and want to emphasis the second point I make when presenting two arguments.
Second, importantly technology induced employment falls are not the result of an industry declining.
...
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5
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Good words for "before" and "after" that sort the same, both logically and alphabetically?
TL;DR - Silly question looking for better words.
I have a list of event labels in a computer program similar to:
renderer_before
renderer_after
before_notify
after_notify
This is all well and good......
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2
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Is 'and' essential in a colon list? [duplicate]
I would like to know if an 'and' is always necessary before the last item in a colon list.
Is the following correct, or should I place an 'and' before 'grapes'?
The basket contained a variety of ...
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enumeration with many items
How do you say the following correctly:
The athlete goes swimming, then cycling, running, taking a shower and relaxing, in that order.
So in a long sentence, if I do not want to state then after ...
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vote
1
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Does "chronological order" mean the most recent item comes first?
I want to say that a list is in chronological order. Does this implies that the most recent event comes first? Or do I have to mention that explicitly?
This the list of papers in chronological ...
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"we are going to x, y, z" implicit order
When someone says "I'm going to x,y,z" is there an implicit order to this? Such as going to x first then y followed by z. If so what is this called?
I assuming that interpreting this sentence as the ...
3
votes
1
answer
162
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Religious names in index. How do you order and present? [closed]
I have a book that discusses Catholicism. I would like to know if there are any established resources that advise on listing religious names in indexes, where the norm is reversal of surnames and ...
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which is a right way to write list Item
Below are the example to write a List, which is a right way to write list Item
Example 1 :
4).Upload with File Restrictions
Example 2 :
4) Upload with File Restrictions
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0
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Why "milk and sugar", but rarely "sugar and milk"? [duplicate]
For example
"Adam and Eve" is (almost) never said as "Eve and Adam".
Making tea: "milk or sugar", but rarely "sugar or milk".
Elevator: "up
or down" is more common than "down or up".
Some groupings ...
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vote
4
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What is the horizontal equivalent of "all of the above"?
All of the above tends to be used to refer to options that have been described in previous lines in a bulleted list, and I'm wondering how to do the same in a sentence. For example, would the ...
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2
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462
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Software version names [closed]
For different major releases of a software product it is nice to assign a name to them. Although I find this tough...
Properties of a good software version name:
relatively large group of nouns (so ...
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3
votes
2
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What is the best way to express relations between one party on one side, and two on the other
I recently read the following sentence:
He helped normalize relations between the US and Vietnam and Laos.
Assuming Vietnam and Laos already had normal relations with each other (which they might ...
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5
votes
2
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301
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Is there any rule which dictates the ordering of non-proper, non-pronoun nouns in a list?
For example,
Is "Design, Operation, and Management," as equally good of a list as "Management, Operation, and Design?"
My colleagues and I are having a tough time reasoning why one sounds better ...
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Is there a preferred order for niece and nephew?
Is "niece and nephew" preferred over "nephew and niece", or vice versa?
I tried using Google NGrams, but it gave inconclusive results: one was more common before 1980, then the other form became more ...
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2
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What is the name for words that are only used in a certain order even though switching them would be grammatically correct? [duplicate]
E.g. hammer and anvil, and part and parcel. Unlike a normal cliche all of these would make sense if you switched the word order, but no one ever does. I remember seeing a name for this, but can't ...
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3
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5k
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The ordering of word pairs: anyone for chips and fish?
When we list pairs of words, certain orders seem much more common and natural than others.
A few examples:
Fish and chips instead of chips and fish
Ladies and gentlemen instead of gentlemen and ...
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2
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0
answers
66
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Why does "north" come before "south", and "black" before "white"? [duplicate]
This website is common in both north and south America.
Or is this better?
This website is common in both south and north America.
Let's ask Google:
"in north and south": 26,800,00 hits
"in ...
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21
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3
answers
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Why is it "ladies and gentlemen" instead of "gentlemen and ladies"? [duplicate]
Is there a specific reason for this? After all, it is "boys and girls", rather than "girls and boys". If the boy (male) comes first here, why doesn't it come first in "ladies and gentlemen"?
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1
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Reversing Binomials
Siamese twins or binomials are pairs of expressions which are often conjoined. For example:
back and forth
ebb and flow
near and far
better or worse
do or die
Is there is a name for the rhetorical ...
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49
votes
7
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Why the phrase "thunder and lightning", and not "lightning and thunder"?
So there was just a thunderstorm, and my sister came with a question I couldn't answer:
Why is it "thunder and lightning", because the lightning comes before the thunder? Shouldn't it be "lightning ...
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Why do we say kith & kin and not kin & kith? [duplicate]
Why do we often say "kith and kin" and not "kin and kith"? I was taught to believe that family comes first and the other later, and I do still believe in what I was taught.
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"pros and cons", "black and white", "ups and downs". Always in a fixed sequence, is there a word or phrase for these?
Is there a word or phrase for two nouns or adjectives joined by a conjunction (usually "and") in a fixed sequence?
alive and well
fast and furious
hat and gloves
pen and pencil
...
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10
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6
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Does order matter when writing a sentence including aunt and uncle?
While I was translating the sentence "Mi tío y mi tía estaban caminando en esa calle cuando vieron tu coche," on DuoLingo, I got dinged for translating the sentence to "My aunt and uncle were walking ...
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1
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A suspended hyphen in a list with only one hyphenated word
Consider the list:
experimental economics, behavioral economics, cognitive economics, evolutionary economics, and neuroeconomics.
Well, I am editing a submission with the above list rendered by ...
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votes
1
answer
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Is there a difference between "Wrong or Right" and "Right or Wrong" [duplicate]
I was writing about the difference between morals and ethics when i wrote the following line
both these terms talk about the right and wrong conduct of people
both these terms talk about the ...
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7
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Why does left come before right?
For example in the idioms "left and right", "left, right and centre", and in many contexts where both left and right are mentioned, it seems that the left usually comes before the right. Why is this ...
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"Mom and Dad" vs "Dad and Mom" [duplicate]
I'm curious if the order implies anything here. I'm pretty sure "Mom and Dad" is standard in English. The issue was hard for me to google, so I'm asking it here:
Is using "Dad" before "Mom" incorrect,...
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Is "forth and back" more proper than "back and forth"?
I think the term "back and forth" gets thrown around a lot without much thought.
From Dictionary.com:
forth [fawrth, fohrth]
adverb
1. onward or outward in place or space; forward: to ...
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Preferred list ordering [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What are the principles that make certain lists sound euphonious?
Name for a type of idiom with two things joined (like “raining cats and dogs”, “bread and ...
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3
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Which comes first: cat or dog?
Which comes first in a sentence?
I know some word pairs such as bacon and eggs, where bacon always comes first. E.g:
Make me bacon and eggs for dinner, honey.
Cats and dogs are the two most ...
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What are the principles that make certain lists sound euphonious?
Has this ever happened to you: You write a question, include a list or two in the discussion, and then come back to edit that list because the order doesn't sound "right"? Off the top of my head, I ...
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Which is right, "bananas and apples" or "apples and bananas" or both?
My English teacher just asked us to write a random sentence in English.
Off the top of my head I wrote "I like to eat apples and bananas".
She highlighted "apples" and said: "man, this is blatantly ...
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