IpseDixit - English

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby linguoboy » 2017-11-30, 15:48

IpseDixit wrote:
Osias wrote:"misspelling"?

Nope. That's more akin to "typo".

"Typo" in the strict sense is the first kind of error, when you mean to strike a particular key and accidentally hit one nearby. Many people use it for both types of error, since there is no generally-accepted term for the second type. Informally, I have heard the term "thinko" for when your brain shortcircuits and confuses two distinct forms.

(Of course, some errors could be either, e.g. "types" for "typed". <s> and <d> are right next to each other on the keyboard, but I frequently catching myself making a verb past tense when I don't need to.)
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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby linguoboy » 2017-11-30, 15:54

Osias wrote:"misspelling"?

I think most people would consider a "misspelling" to be a kind of "typo", unless they're using the strict definition of "accidentally hitting the wrong key". For instance, "teh" is a common misspelling of "the" which originated as a typo. But typing "their" for "there" or "bizzare" for "bizarre" isn't the same sort of accident. These[*] common misspellings seem to happen further upstream; "bizzare" simply "looks right" at the moment of typing because of an error in memory, perception, or both.

[*] I originally typed "This" instead of "These". It's an error I frequently make and I couldn't tell you why.
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby IpseDixit » 2018-01-05, 14:52

In Italian we divide food into two categories: il dolce ("sweet") that's to say everything which is sweet (e.g: cakes, candies, chocolate etc) and il salato ("salty") that's to say everything which is not sweet (e.g: pasta, pizza, cheese, meat, fish, vegs), even if it's literally called "salty", food in this category doesn't necessarily have to have salt in it, it just doesn't have to be sweet.

Are there similar umbrella terms in English?

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby linguoboy » 2018-01-05, 18:21

IpseDixit wrote:In Italian we divide food into two categories: il dolce ("sweet") that's to say everything which is sweet (e.g: cakes, candies, chocolate etc) and il salato ("salty") that's to say everything which is not sweet (e.g: pasta, pizza, cheese, meat, fish, vegs), even if it's literally called "salty", food in this category doesn't necessarily have to have salt in it, it just doesn't have to be sweet.

Are there similar umbrella terms in English?

"sweet" vs "savoury"
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

IpseDixit

Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby IpseDixit » 2018-01-05, 18:22

linguoboy wrote:
IpseDixit wrote:In Italian we divide food into two categories: il dolce ("sweet") that's to say everything which is sweet (e.g: cakes, candies, chocolate etc) and il salato ("salty") that's to say everything which is not sweet (e.g: pasta, pizza, cheese, meat, fish, vegs), even if it's literally called "salty", food in this category doesn't necessarily have to have salt in it, it just doesn't have to be sweet.

Are there similar umbrella terms in English?

"sweet" vs "savoury"


Can they be used as nouns or only as adjectives?

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby linguoboy » 2018-01-05, 19:30

IpseDixit wrote:Can they be used as nouns or only as adjectives?

Do you even dictionary, bro?
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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby Dormouse559 » 2018-01-05, 22:00

IpseDixit wrote:it just doesn't have to be sweet.
A quick thing on negation. What you wrote means that foods in the salato category aren't required to be sweet but can be. What I think you meant is that they can't be sweet, which can be expressed like this: "it just has to not be sweet".
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IpseDixit

Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby IpseDixit » 2018-01-19, 15:55

In American English, do you use of + XY's?

In a website I've found this example:

-a student of Einstein's --> one of Einstein's students

-a student of Einstein --> someone who studies Einstein's work

However, that's a very convenient example, but what's the difference between, say, a friend of Mark and a friend of Mark's?

And how much practical validity all this has? Is it something really used IRL or is it just something made up by grammarians? As I said, I'm interested in American English.

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby linguoboy » 2018-01-19, 16:04

IpseDixit wrote:In American English, do you use of + XY's?

In a website I've found this example:

-a student of Einstein's --> one of Einstein's students

-a student of Einstein --> someone who studies Einstein's work

However, that's a very convenient example, but what's the difference between, say, a friend of Mark and a friend of Mark's?

I wouldn't typically say "a friend of Mark"?

IpseDixit wrote:And how much practical validity all this has? Is it something really used IRL or is it just something made up by grammarians? As I said, I'm interested in American English.

Maybe what we have here is an interaction of semantics and register? That is, "an X of Y's" is more colloquial. You typically use a colloquial register when talking about friends. But calling someone "a student of Y" is a more formal expression.

There's also the fact that "Einstein" in the second example is really metonymic for "Einstein's work". When you say you are "studying Einstein", you probably don't mean that you're examining the minutiae of how he lived his life. You certainly don't mean it in the same way that you can be "studying Mark" where Mark's an ordinary person in the same room with you. I wouldn't say I'm a *"student of the Bible's" and "Einstein" here is semantically much closer to "Bible" than to "Mark".
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby IpseDixit » 2018-01-19, 16:30

So to recap, the form with 's is used with proper names (when they're not a metonymy for something else) and in colloquial circumstances?

Also what's the difference between a friend of Mark's and Mark's friend?

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby linguoboy » 2018-01-19, 17:21

IpseDixit wrote:Also what's the difference between a friend of Mark's and Mark's friend?

Definiteness? Possessed nouns are inherently definite.

Except it is possible to say "the friend of Mark's", e.g. I can imagine at a party someone saying "Where's the friend of Mark's who was here?" They have a specific known individual in mind. What's the difference is between this and "Mark's friend"? A certain emphasis. I feel that if the response to that question was "Who?" the person would start grasping at other distinctive characteristics, e.g. "You know, the guy in the plaid the shirt. The one who said he worked at Target? He brought the 24-pack." But "Mark's friend" is almost like a name. You can even use it in direct address, e.g. "So, Mark's friend, where did you say you work?" It feels like a definite individual whereas "a friend of Mark's" is just one among many.
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby IpseDixit » 2018-01-30, 19:20

What's the best adjective to use to compliment a guy on his beauty without sounding creepy, weird or too sexual?

Attractive, good-looking, handsome, beautiful, cute, nice, hot or something else?

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby linguoboy » 2018-01-30, 20:11

IpseDixit wrote:What's the best adjective to use to compliment a guy on his beauty without sounding creepy, weird or too sexual?

Attractive, good-looking, handsome, beautiful, cute, nice, hot or something else?

"Beautiful" is rarely used with men and then generally to describe a particular kind of attractiveness. "Hot" specifically means "sexually attractive".

I'm assuming you're looking for a word that could be used in a face-to-face situation with someone you don't know particularly well. In that situation, I think "good-looking" might be the most neutral choice. But it really is mostly in how the compliment is delivered. (I've heard "Hey good-looking!" used as piropo.)
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby IpseDixit » 2018-01-30, 22:00

linguoboy wrote:I'm assuming you're looking for a word that could be used in a face-to-face situation with someone you don't know particularly well.


Yeah but also when I'm on apps like grindr and the like.

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby linguoboy » 2018-01-30, 22:41

IpseDixit wrote:
linguoboy wrote:I'm assuming you're looking for a word that could be used in a face-to-face situation with someone you don't know particularly well.

Yeah but also when I'm on apps like grindr and the like.

In that case, I would still avoid "beautiful" (since the masc4masc crowd might react badly because #boysarefragile), but "hot" is back on the table (since you are taking sex appeal into account). Some people like being called "cute" and some people are like, "What, like a puppy?" "Nice" is damning with faint praise; avoid it.
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby IpseDixit » 2018-02-01, 21:10

When should I use "speak about something" and when "talk about something"? Do they have a different meaning/use?

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby linguoboy » 2018-02-01, 21:29

IpseDixit wrote:When should I use "speak about something" and when "talk about something"? Do they have a different meaning/use?

"Speak" sounds more formal. You would use it when talking about a formal address (e.g. "They asked me to speak about how the appointment of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court will affect Roe v. Wade") but not a more informal discussion ("We were talking about Roe v. Wade in my Constitutional Law class and there was only one woman who spoke"). Similarly:

"What are you speaking about?" What is your lecture on?
"What are you talking about?" What are you saying? What do you mean? etc.
"Richmond is a real scholar; Owen just learns languages because he can't bear not to know what other people are saying."--Margaret Lattimore on her two sons

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby IpseDixit » 2018-02-01, 21:33

Oh I see. Thanks!

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Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby vijayjohn » 2018-02-02, 6:06

linguoboy wrote:
IpseDixit wrote:
linguoboy wrote:I'm assuming you're looking for a word that could be used in a face-to-face situation with someone you don't know particularly well.

Yeah but also when I'm on apps like grindr and the like.

In that case, I would still avoid "beautiful" (since the masc4masc crowd might react badly because #boysarefragile), but "hot" is back on the table (since you are taking sex appeal into account). Some people like being called "cute" and some people are like, "What, like a puppy?" "Nice" is damning with faint praise; avoid it.

On Grindr, I would expect "hot" to be by far the most common option, at least here in the US since as I understand it, it's basically a hookup app here. :hmm: (I have no idea whether Grindr works differently in Europe).

IpseDixit

Re: IpseDixit - English

Postby IpseDixit » 2018-02-02, 12:25

Can I consistently use 'em in place of them when speaking or is that too informal or denoting low education or something? And are there instances where switching the two of them would be outright ungrammatical?


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