Questions tagged [discussion]
The question you're asking is designed to solicit opinions or best-practices on a particular topic, with the goal of reaching community consensus.
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Is posting a word game accepted?
Can I post word games (as community wiki) on this site? It will improve vocabulary. I would like an answer from a moderator.
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May I speculate in comments?
The question What does "make the Iacke go" mean? has received four answers, all of which propose theories as to what the phrase means. Under it are also some comments that, to me, raise an ...
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Are we being encouraged to answer very old questions, or are they just being made more visually pleasing?
Some time ago, perhaps still, new answers to old questions were put under review (in a review queue), as if to imply: 'This question has been addressed, at length; what could possibly be the value-add ...
LaurelMod
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Collection of English sentence-level grammar rules as semi-structured "data"?
I am looking for structured data of English grammar, however much might have been done. Specifically sentence-level grammar (as opposed to word morphology rules, though finding structured data for ...
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What is the [reason-why] tag used for?
A recent question used the reason-why tag for what was really an etymology question, so I retagged it appropriately. (Or at least I think it was appropriate.) Now I'm wondering what the tag is even ...
CommunityBot
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What resources to use for understanding archaic English usage?
I am reading the book "The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood" by James Gleick. Every now and then an old/archaic English sentence, from some reference, is quoted in this text.
How ...
LaurelMod
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Recommend the best book for articles [duplicate]
Can you recommend the best book on English grammar articles?
The indefinite and definite articles a, an, and the?
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Should "Is a comma splice always a mistake?" be reopened as the face of two merged questions (both of which are now closed)?
The question "Is a comma splice always a mistake?" on the main site was merged (on July 3, 2023) with the question "Why is the comma splice an error?" also on the main site, as ...
LaurelMod
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Can we reopen the question "Which format is most common for representing a number range in U.S. punctuation style and in British punctuation style?"
I have edited the question Which format is most common for representing a number range in U.S. punctuation style and in British punctuation style? so that it now asks a factual question about whether ...
LaurelMod
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What is a good source on the use of the definite article for non-native speakers?
Here's my situation: I'm currently proof-reading something a colleague of mine has written. The content is all okay, but his use (or non-use) of "the" is all over the place, because I assume his ...
LaurelMod
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Is there a reference/archive of English verbs and their argument structure (± their theta roles)?
Is there a reference/archive of English verbs and their argument structure? That is to say, how many and what categories of arguments they require. And maybe even their theta roles? I don't expect ...
CommunityBot
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Problem with the "Closed" message?
Part of the "Closed" message is shown below, followed by a current example.
Change the sentence "I don't know you" into a compound sentence
In my opinion "... and clarify ...
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How can it be true that this site works by popular vote when no one can vote until they get to a certain reputation?
How can it be true that this site works by popular vote when no one can vote until they get to a certain reputation?
The statement is not accurate. I saw a very inaccurate meaning of a gesture that ...
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When are commas optional?
In revising a 1953 manuscript in which the author (a non-native speaker, a professor, quite proficient in English yet with a few lingering idiosyncrasies) and the original editor (OUP, New York branch,...
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Is Tom Dalzell's book "The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American Slang and Unconventional English" authoritative?
I was surfing the internet and chanced upon "The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American Slang and Unconventional English" edited by one Tom Dalzell. Notwithstanding the praise for the book ...
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Why do my questions on the etymology of idioms get closed, yet this one was accepted?: What is the origin of "out of sight" or "outa sight" i?
Every question I have asked about the etymology of an idiom gets pulled. Yet I found this one that stayed up. It's espcially irritating because sometimes before my question gets closed, I have ...
tchristMod
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Replacing our "research" close reason
Background
We have a massive problem with close votes. There's no sense in placing blame — we've been on this path since before even I joined the site, and we all thought what we were doing was best ...
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Where can I locate dictionaries or resources that provide explicit markings for silent letters in words?
As someone who speaks English as a non-native language, one thing that often perplexes me is determining when to disregard silent letters in pronunciation. Although it doesn't completely hinder me, it ...
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Why was my question locked after edition?
Recently, I asked a question. Another user edited it a little. But now I see it's locked for about one hour. Why did it happen? Did I do a bad thing to deserve it?
tchristMod
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Is SE enforcing "no answers in comments"?
The practice of commenting with answers is ubiquitous practice on ELU, and the merits/flaws have been discussed at length. However, is it the case that the greater SE is trying to put a stop to this ...
tchristMod
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Should there be an increasing number of close votes required to re-close a question that has been reopened?
This question was closed with three votes for "insufficient research" - although I'm unclear why, because even after doing all the "research" suggested in the answers, the correct ...
CommunityBot
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Is there already a NL model, like Chat GPT or something, that is reliable to use for verb tense structure?
I'm trying to build a schematic table/diagram with all the possible combinations of:
verb tenses (Past Simple to Conditional 3)
form (Affirmative to Interrogative Negative)
auxiliary verb conjugation ...
CommunityBot
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Is there an online etymology dictionary more comprehensive/detailed than Etymonline?
Douglas Harper, creator of Etymonline, considers himself an amateur linguist and warns
... if you're a professional linguist or a serious student of linguistics,
you shouldn't be doing your homework ...
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What research is required over common knowledge words?
For this question, it was closed due to a lack of research. Seems like an arbitrary reason to close, especially when no comment is given for what type of research is lacking. I think most word usage ...
CommunityBot
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List of phrasal verbs by approximate usage frequency?
I have found two sources of lists of phrasal verbs in English: Textbooks for people learning English as a second language introduce a few of them every now and then, and dictionaries of phrasal verbs ...
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Why is my question about the etymology of "foundation" off-topic?
This question of mine got closed as off-topic, in spite of receiving way more upvotes than downvotes and also receiving a detailed answer. Why did it get closed?
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Announcement: AI generated answers are officially banned here
It's really quite unbelievable, but artificial intelligence has recently gotten to the point where, given a question, it can give a stunningly coherent answer almost indistinguishable from a real ...
LaurelMod
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Which books should I refer to in my master's thesis about parallelism? [closed]
What books should I read for my thesis about parallelism in rhetorical devices?
LaurelMod
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Is the "second" ("secondary") definition any less the definition than the first one? What do you call this?
I submitted a research paper where I defined a word according to the definition provided by Oxford English Dictionary. The word has multiple definitions; this one actually has "1," "2....
LaurelMod
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Question was closed as duplicate but is a different question
The question Why did English take the "mix pronunciations and spellings" route instead of one rule route like French, or separate languages/dialects like Spanish? was closed as a duplicate ...
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Request to reopen a closed-as-duplicate question: Can you write "... me's" (the possessive)?
Note: The question has now been reopened. I have added further examples of the group genitive to my answer to the question. This should help to distinguish it further from the hyphenated compound ...
LaurelMod
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Is Python a snake or a programming language? If the latter, why is it choking my dog?
We've been getting a rash of questions asking, essentially, what a programmer should name methods or properties. One such was a request for a word that meant both "add" and "remove" because the ...
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Are Oxford Dictionaries available online now that Lexico is dead?
There was once a website oxforddictionaries.com that provided merged contents of ODE (Oxford Dictionary of English) and NOAD (New Oxford American Dictionary), along with some grammar tips etc.
Then it ...
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What differences are between the American Heritage Dictionary and the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language? [closed]
What differences are between these two books:
The American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
?
Are they both for etymology, similarly to Oxford English ...
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Kludge to trick SE to allow edits smaller than six characters by injecting invisible characters
It's impossible to fix small (but not insignificant) typos on SE without making other edits adding up to six characters. For example, think should be thick in a quoted line of a poem that makes no ...
LaurelMod
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What differences are between general-purpose and Learner's dictionaries?
https://english.meta.stackexchange.com/a/2574/ says
General-purpose dictionaries
The online dictionaries listed here are broadly suitable for native
speakers, providing major definitions and examples,...
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Recommandation for a reliable and comprehensive source on word stress rules in English
I am looking for a reliable and comprehensive enough book or source on word stress rules in English.
I have searched the internet and found various interesting web pages, some not comprehensive enough,...
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What books about English grammar are the standard for linguists and what for non-linguists? [duplicate]
I was wondering what books about English grammar are:
the standard ones written for linguists or linguistics students, and
the standard ones written for people who are neither linguists nor ...
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Is law language or not language [closed]
I was advised by an experienced club member that law is not language. Therefore, it can't be discussed on this website.
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Why don't I get good hits when searching "Poor man's" with quotes?
If I wanted to search about the phrase "Poor man's X",
The question When did the expression "Poor man's <noun>" originate? appears when I search for
Poor man's
But if I use ...
LaurelMod
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Platform for online group classes
I'd like to attend some group classes online to improve my speaking. My goal is to take a test like IELTS or TOEFL. Do you guys know any platform that offers online group classes with a well ...
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What is EL&U's policy about attributing links?
Today an editor added the source of every link I included in an answer of mine. They are a total of six links, only one contains a quote– fairly extensive–which was clearly attributed.
In the ...
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What should be done with the questions that ask about the reason behind adjective order?
There are a bunch of questions that ask about adjective order, and most of them are closed as dupes of the original What is the rule for adjective order? asked 12+ years ago.
There are three questions ...
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Can anyone recommend a book which covers syntax overall?
Just as I said in the title, I'm wondering if there is a good book which covers basic syntax overall. I've been learning English for fairly a long time, so I don't have a lot of problems holding daily ...
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"New attribution rules"
User oerkelens edited one of my answers, with the comment "Saved good answer from potential deletion on sight under the new attribution rules".
I had not heard of any new attribution rules, and went ...
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Good free dialect quizzes?
I like the NY Times dialect quiz from 2014 and I'm thinking it would be fun to do as a group at work.
But the NY Times one isn't free; are there any good free ones out there?
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The singular of "the peoples" is "the people". Like in "the essence of a people". Was the question closed after a misunderstanding?
This is about German Singular "Volk" in English: "Das Volk ist mir zum Kotzen" = "The people make me sick" or "The people makes me sick"?.
It was closed, and ...
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What is the Journalism tag used for?
What is the journalism tag for?
I have a piece of journalism I want to write, and want advice, but I don't know where to do it.
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Recognizing generic ChatGPT posts
For future reference, how was this determined to be ChatGPT?
Example:
I think only 10K users can see:
Can one say "take an integral" instead of "calculate an integral"? What other ...
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Should we allow Google NGrams to be presented as statistical evidence without qualification? Should we define a set of standards for their usage?
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." — Benjamin Disraeli, attr. by Mark Twain
"If you torture the data long enough, it will confess to anything." — ...
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