35
votes
Accepted
Can I pay my credit card?
Weird. I would think they meant credit card bill but you say that’s not what they meant. Maybe my was a typo of by - “Can I pay by credit card?” This is the only way I could see them meaning they ...
- 8,707
21
votes
Can I pay my credit card?
It doesn't sound correct.
Pay by credit card means pay the shop
Pay with my credit card means pay the shop
Pay my credit card bill means pay the bank
Pay my credit card might be understood as paying ...
- 7,603
12
votes
When can't we shorten It is to It's
The contraction of "is" in "it's" can only occur if the "is" is relatively unstressed, which cannot be the case when it is final in a sentence or clause. Consequently, contractions like "it's" and "I'...
- 77.1k
12
votes
Accepted
Why don't foreign phrases such as "mot juste" get anglicized when used in English?
I think you have some selection bias in your observation. For example, none of your example loanwords were added to English "nowadays", but rather during the 1700s and early 1800s, per quick ...
- 1,991
11
votes
Accepted
Is ball-park figure formal or informal?
There is no single authority to which one would turn to determine whether phrasing is "formal" enough for a situation; sometimes, even in an academic paper or a public address, colloquial ...
- 17.8k
10
votes
Is "steer clear of" formal or informal?
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, "steer clear of" is neither informal or formal: it's just a normal expression. The register is therefore appropriate for any situation.
It is not, ...
- 61.4k
9
votes
Accepted
Would you use "youngsters" to refer to "young people" in a data report?
"Youngster" is a pretty dated thing to say and usually tinged with irony. I'd leave that one out of your vocabulary until you see it used a few times.
The other problem is that a "...
- 8,495
8
votes
Does using quotes around an informal word make it acceptable in academic writing?
If you need to use a word from the jargon of a particular activity which has a specific definition within that activity, by all means use it. The quotation marks show, not so much that it is 'informal'...
- 61.4k
7
votes
Is "steer clear of" formal or informal?
It's difficult to say with little context if "steer clear" is used properly in regard to formality. If this is an academic paper, however, as this sounds as if it could be, I suggest ...
- 2,160
7
votes
Accepted
Should 'got' be used instead of 'was' in formal reports?
We should use was in both cases in formal writing.
get in Wiktionary sense 17 is stated as informal:
(auxiliary, informal) Used with the past participle to form the dynamic passive voice of a dynamic ...
- 22.2k
7
votes
Accepted
Are "turn out" and "end up" too informal for academic writing?
I would say these are too informal for a data report. I would use something a bit plainer. If you really want to put emphasis on it, you can use an adverb like "actually" or similar.
e.g.
.....
- 337
6
votes
Accepted
Is it informal to use "so on " in the article?
So on is not super formal, but will be found in a lot of relatively formal writing. I would not avoid it without having some specific reason to expect that it would be rejected. I've seen it in legal ...
- 22.9k
6
votes
Accepted
Are contractions discouraged in formal writing?
In general contractions are avoided in formal writing. But this is a matter of style, not a rule. As for the cases you list in the question:
(1) Academic literature,
Contractions are generally ...
- 41.4k
6
votes
Would you use "youngsters" to refer to "young people" in a data report?
The word "youngster" is too informal for a data report. It's a very folksy, conversational term.
Everything that the-baby-is-you said is also true.
- 51.1k
6
votes
Is “loo roll” a common term for a roll of bath tissue?
In BrE, "loo" is a familiar term for "toilet" (both to refer to the fixture with pan and cistern, and to refer to the room containing it). Toilet paper is sold in rolls, called &...
- 633
5
votes
Can I pay my credit card?
To add to Mixolydian's answer, they are probably using a swipe-style phone keyboard (you just run your fingers over the letters rather than typing each letter) and if so it would be very easy to get ...
- 881
5
votes
Is ball-park figure formal or informal?
If i read this in an academic article which i was reviewing for a scientific journal I suspect I might raise one or more of the following points.
1- Is it suitable for an international audience since ...
- 4,623
4
votes
Accepted
When saying fractions in English, is it necessary to include ‘of’
There are two different constructions:
Proportion of a whole: "One half of the prisoners"; "two thirds of houses". This form requires 'of', except for "half", where it can be omitted; but for me, it ...
- 77.1k
4
votes
Can use 'NO' instead of 'NOT'?
The first sentence is correct:
No valid account number was specified.
The second sentence needs an indefinite article at the beginning to make it correct:
A valid account number was not ...
- 9,267
4
votes
Accepted
How should I write a sentence that has multiple questions?
There is nothing really incorrect in your example.
People use that form all the time in different circumstances.
How was your vacation? Interesting? Fun? Good weather?
What's she like? Tall? Thin?...
- 66.4k
4
votes
Accepted
Using 'you' in scientific papers
Well, in scientific register, the "passive voice" is preferred rather than the active voice. Hence, if you take a look at credible scientific journals, you see there's no need to use "you", whilst in ...
- 330
4
votes
It's a book of my mother's
The meaning there is entirely equivalent to "It's my mother's book". We don't usually use of-constructions for personal possessions in English, and when we do we usually use genitives for the ...
- 22.9k
4
votes
Do we say “given” or “given that“?
The issue is not formal speech/writing versus casual speech/writing; the issue is how given or given that is functioning grammatically in the sentence.
Given is a preposition -- a word that typically ...
- 51
4
votes
Is ball-park figure formal or informal?
I consider it somewhat informal. You could replace it with estimated or approximate.
If you need to stress that they are very inaccurate, you could use rough approximation or very rough approximation, ...
- 2,256
4
votes
Accepted
"Very well so" correctness and formality?
"Very well so" is not idiomatic. You are possibly confusing it with the idiomatic "very much so", which is an emphatic way of answering a question to which the answer could simply ...
- 111k
4
votes
Would you use "youngsters" to refer to "young people" in a data report?
You could say something like:
People in their twenties...
People in their thirties...
That's in a fairly neutral register, neither formal nor informal.
Something you could put in an article in, say, ...
- 137k
3
votes
Accepted
Correct word order of “An article you are a co-writer of”?
It's fine, but some people still complain, particularly in formal writing, about ending a sentence with a preposition. (The injunction against doing so was made up out of nowhere a couple of centuries ...
- 77.1k
3
votes
Accepted
When can't we shorten It is to It's
Contractions can be used in any position in a sentence; however, homophone contractions such as "it's" and "they're" sound better when followed by another word or phrase. The reason is that the sounds ...
- 960
3
votes
Usage of "on cloud nine"?
The origin of the phrase is not clear.
In any case, it's a somewhat old-fashioned expression. I don't hear it all that often anymore, although it might appear as a reference, like the name of a ...
- 88.5k
3
votes
Accepted
Usage of "on cloud nine"?
Is it a common expression?
In my experience of 30 years living in the UK, yes, somewhat common. You'd certainly be understood by the majority of UK residents if you used it.
Would it sound old or ...
- 1,643
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible