Questions tagged [informal-language]
is for questions about whether a word or phrase is appropriate in an informal context or that are requesting a word or phrase for use in an informal context.
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Meaning of . . . "fill up on a clean break"
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XIII, Published 1892)
Passage 210
Thence we turned our attention to the table, which stood spread, as if for a meal, with stout ...
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Meaning of . . . painted white, with tropical economy
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XIII, Published 1892)
Passage 208
I could not hold still whether in hand or foot; the slowness of the men, tired as dogs after ...
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. . . we'll make that island to-morrow afternoon, and have the lee of it to lie under, if we can't make out to run in
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XII, published 1892)
From these signs, I gathered that all was not exactly for the best; and I would have given a good handful ...
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I made one shoot of it off the house
(From 'The Wrecker' by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XII, published 1892)
. . . And with that he smiled like a man recalling something. “Look here, that brings a yarn in my head,”...
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Meaning of "I don't deny but what some of them are soft"
(From The Wrecker by Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyd Osbourne, Chapter XII, published 1892)
You don't know; you haven't a guess. How would you like to go on deck for your middle watch, fourteen ...
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34
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omitting 'a' in any phrase or sentence?
“It’s not a big part, but it’s a nice little part,” he said. “I got
involved in the Mayberry thing over 20 years ago. I met the Howell
brothers about three years ago at Mayberry Days in Mt. Airy, N.C.,...
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"Who you don't know their name" vs "Whose name you don't know"
From urbandictionary.com:
(1) G - word used to call someone who you don't know their name
my variant:
(2) G - word used to call someone whose name you don't know
As far as I understand, entry (1) is ...
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must vs have to vs have got to: How about "Gotta catch'em all?
I learnt that you use "must" when the speaker is the one who decided the choice.
On the other hand, "have to" is used in case the choice was made by someone else.
I also learnt ...
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If I use "all the same" will the sentence be grammatically correct
None of his requests were granted, he kept on asking all the same.
If I use "all the same" in this sentence will it be grammatically correct? Thank you.
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How to express "stupid/fool/dumb brother" in a friendly way? [closed]
I vaguely remember in the past I heard a father said with a smile, "My stupid boy/son, it is a cat, not a dog." In this context, the father was not scolding his son. It's spoken in a ...
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Is the suffix "-wise" in the sense 'relating to' really informal?
According to Cambridge Dictionary, the suffix "-wise" used in the sense 'relating to' is informal in BrE. The examples they list are as follows:
What shall we do food-wise - do you fancy ...
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them can be used in a informal way?
Them are two good ones, he said.
James Joyce writes this sentence. is that used in an informal way?
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The meaning of “grab a bite”
I have the following sentence in my textbook:
Let’s grab a bite before we get down to work.
(English Collocations in Use, Advanced, Exercise 1.4)
At first, I thought that the meaning of “grab a bite”...
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Is "I got thinking" correct?
Is it correct to say
"I got thinking about all my mistakes"
instead of "I started thinking about all my mistakes"?
I've heard "It got me thinking about...", which ...
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Is there and what is the official name for omitting words from phrases?
When somebody says "Be all right" with the implied meaning of "It will be all right" or, similarly, saying "Hope for us yet" with the implied meaning of "There is ...
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have got / have gotten
I barely say "got" or "gotten" and thus I'm trying to add it to my vocabulary. I live in the United States and fully understand they are best used in informal context.
I see a load ...
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Is this paragraph informal conversation or in writing and formal format?
I just started learning English and I listen to podcasts like this. My question is that the following paragraph is an informal conversation or in writing and formal format:
In 1436 in Germany, ...
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Is the adjective "crucial" really informal?
I was looking for synonyms for "necessary" in Collins dictionary, and to my surprise, I saw that they mark the adjective "crucial" as informal. Is this really accurate? It's not ...
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The word "InnerTube" in a different context
I´m translating a subtitle of a movie but I have not understood this sentence:
" The things these kids post out on them InnerTube, ohhh boy I do not get that"
What is the meaning of "...
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Is 'legitimately' informal when it means really?
In many videos, the streamers there use the word 'legitly' or 'legitimately' to mean very or really. For examples, the Anime Man says,
I legitimately thought, the first time i saw this article, I ...
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Can we use "Jill has got hers" here?
Hey have you got an eraser?
No I don't. But Jill has got hers. Ask her.
I know that we can use one instead of hers, but can we use hers as well?
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meaning of "gets a shot" and "get it on target" [closed]
I don't understand what "get" means in this sentence because it has a lot of meanings. Could you explain?
68' Chance for Leeds!
Gelhardt gets a shot away from the edge of the box but he can'...
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Can I replace 'have not' or 'haven't' with 'ain't' in oral English?
In an English lesson, the teacher said,
I ain't been to Jamaica.
Obviously, she replaced 'haven't' by 'ain't'. If 'haven't' or 'have not' is used to form a perfect tense, can I always replace it ...
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Meaning of "because he took himself right out of the line-up. He quit cold."
Part of a movie script of King Creole. Can’t understand words in bold and a whole scene:
My mother was killed in an accident three years ago. It might as well have gotten the old man, too, because he ...
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'Mom to 2 Yorkies' is that sentence grammatically correct?
I have seen people writing on social media like 'Mom to 2 Yorkies' (mostly for pet animals). Is that usage grammatically correct?
My question is about 'to'. What is the difference between Mom of 2 ...
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What are more formal words/phrases for "pass sth on to sb" and "get back to someone"?
In the following sentence, I feel that the phrases "pass on to" and "get back to" are rather informal. Am I right about this, and, if so, what are more formal expressions I could ...
- 1,702
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Is "real talk, me?" grammatical?
Is "real talk, me?" grammatical? To me, it is grammatical and completely valid, and by "real talk, me?" I mean "You're expecting real talk from me (I am a clown)?". Is ...
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How to explain the different tenses here?
I'm doing TOEFL speaking practice, and today I met something I can't explain in TPO15: the girl is in the choir where everyone is asked to wear a white shirt and black pants. But she just spilled ...
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Is it okay to omit the first "as" in "as adj. as" in informal speech?
I think I sometimes hear sentences like "Much as I think ..." or "Soon as he ...". I'm not certain, but when the "as adj. as" form comes at the beginning of the sentence, ...
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Is there an omission of the word "why" in this sentence and if yes, what is the reason for it?
The following context is from the movie "Serpico"
"Person 1: We'll take it from here, kid.
You don't have to hang around.
Person 2:What are you talking about?
That's my collar.
Person 1:...
- 2,698
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A polite form of "bitching about something"
I'm looking for a phrase that would get along the full meaning (complaining about something, swearing at it, talking just out of the need to vent) but wouldn't sound as inappropriate.
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What does the ‘thank you very much’ mean in “they were perfectly normal, thank you very much”?
I have started reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. I was way too excited for my first English book reading. But after I started reading it, I got stuck and can’t go onward.
The question ...
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Is using the term "What can I do you for" workplace appropriate?
I've been watching Cheers, and in season 5, episode 1, Frasier says "Sure, Sam, what can I do you for?" I was taken aback, as I hadn't heard that phrase before. I did some research regarding ...
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meaning of "make an everlasting first impression"?
i have this sentence "The competitive world has forced everyone to make an everlasting first impression". what does everlasting first impression meaning?
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That box will never get opened vs will never be opened
What is the difference and which is more correct?
That box will never get opened vs will never be opened.
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Does saying "Keep it up" put me in an authoritative position?
As a way of congratulating someone on starting a new project, I recently said "Keep it up". The other person said that "keep it up" isn't a phrase one would use outside of work and ...
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Does including 'to be' after linking verbs sounds informal?
Here I provide the excerpt I took from Advanced Grammar In Use:
Before a noun we include to be when the noun tells us what the
subject is, but often leave it out when we give our opinion of the
...
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Is it okay to ommit personal pronouns in such situations?
I'm wondering if it's considered casual and natural to start sentences without the pronoun, or if a native English speaker would find that odd and feel that I'm either being way too casual or that I'm ...
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383
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Formal you vs. informal you
Since there just one form for both cases and context is one way to get the idea which one is used, is there a way to understand it out of context?
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Does it sound werid to native speakers if the learners use formal words in casual/everyday speech?
I'm always curious whether using formal words in a casual/everyday speech sounds weird to native speakers. Or maybe the native speakers can notice such uses but don't care at all?
For example, the ...
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Can use this form in the informal conversation? [closed]
Chatting with my club colleagues:
If I get my winch driver qualification this weekend I can do winch on Friday.
Can I say:
If I'm qualified this weekend, I can do Friday.
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Does Relative pronoun in relative clause always follows the noun it modifies/referes?
I have studied about relative clauses in many blogs and i noticed in every blog that, the relative pronoun was followed by the noun it modifies, is it thumb rule of relative clause? Or any situations ...
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Is there an expression or idiom to express that your brain has temporarily stopped working because you've been overwhelmed by something?
I am looking for an informal idiom or expression to imply that my brain has stopped working temporarily because say I have dealt with a heavy math question or I have gone through an overwhelming ...
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Is it okay to say "We are no more in the 20th century"? Using "no more" with periods of time
The most correct form is "We are no longer in the 20th century". But saying "We are no more in the 20th century" or "We are in the 20th century no more" is also correct? ...
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Other words in the construction "that's a me (problem/thing)"
Recently I have come across the construction "that's a me problem", which I found kind of interesting. Doing some googling I have found some variations such as "that's a you problem&...
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How prejudice affects our lives? VS how does prejudice affect our lives? [duplicate]
I'm writting an essay and I have a question...
Which one of these questions is correct?
How prejudice affects our lives?
How does prejudice affect our lives?
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Why do some people use 'It's ain't' as in "It's ain't true" with "Is + ain't"?
I found that many people use the form of 'is ain't' on the Internet.
I don't know why they use "Is" + "Ain't" whereas it doesn't make any sense?
According to Google, there are ...
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Is this correct use of "I guess"?
The following is one definition of "I guess" on Urban Dictionary:
-apathy towards something or someone
Jack: So, are you pro-life or pro-choice? Because I really feel that when you analyze ...
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What is the opposite of "a soft spot"?
If one can have a soft spot for cherished things, one can have a ________ for dreaded ones.
I've thought about words like "imperviousness" or "immunity", but they sound more formal ...
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'X' no longer or no longer 'X'
What is the difference between following sentences:
"This outpost is no longer used".
"No longer this outpost is used".
Do both of the given sentences grammatically carry the same ...
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