New answers tagged idiomatic-language
4
votes
I must be off if I want to make the next bus. (why 'make' is used?)
The verb make has many quite varied senses, as consulting any dictionary will confirm. In this case it means catch, or arrive at in time to board and then in fact board. We speak of making a plane, ...
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0
votes
Difference between "the number of people you would have thought" OR "the number of people you would think"?
what I think is that:
you would have thought➡️the thing you once thought of, and it is not what you are thinking of now.( you changed your mind)
you would think➡️what you are thinking of at the very ...
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2
votes
Politicians talk too much
As @James K explains, it is a play on Chicago’s nickname, The Windy City, based on its particular weather, and on the metaphor of wind for (excessive) talk.
Some other examples of this metaphor, which ...
- 5,841
4
votes
Accepted
Politicians talk too much
This is a joke.
"Politicians" are people who have an elected office in a legislature or senate (for example). Their job involves lots of discussion. So they have to talk a lot. Some people ...
- 203k
2
votes
Accepted
Do English speakers never say "snow won't fall"?
To turn this around, do Korean people never say "It won't snow"? Why not?
In Korean (as I understand it) there is no verb "to snow". So in Korean you need to use a verb like "...
- 203k
2
votes
"The layer of haze starts out tenuous": why not "tenuously"?
The most common situation where an adjective following a verb should not be changed into an adverb is when the adjective is the subject complement of a linking verb. You can tell this case because ...
- 1,199
2
votes
Do English speakers never say "snow won't fall"?
"It won't snow today" OK
"It's not going to snow today" OK
By definition snow is frozen water that falls from the sky. When it snows (verb), it implies that the snow (noun) is ...
- 26.2k
1
vote
Do English speakers never say "snow won't fall"?
Snow won't fall would be very strange. No native speaker of English who is engaged in an informal conversation with another native speaker would choose that way to say "We are not going to get ...
- 121k
2
votes
"The layer of haze starts out tenuous": why not "tenuously"?
The sentence is parallel to
This morning I awoke hungry,
A week after the accident, his memory returned intact,
Having spent the day digging ditches, she arrived home exhausted,
and even
The soup ...
- 5,841
4
votes
Accepted
"The layer of haze starts out tenuous": why not "tenuously"?
An adjective can be a "subject complement". If I say "The elephant looks big," then big tells us something about the elephant, not its eyesight. In this case, "tenuous" ...
- 10.5k
0
votes
Is the use of the construction 'May I have you...' to begin a request unnatural?
While it's not unheard of, it's not the most natural usage. And if one were to choose it, it has some connotation of being a gentle way of compelling someone rather than entreating a favor. A ...
- 10.5k
3
votes
Is the use of the construction 'May I have you...' to begin a request unnatural?
These are not impossible (but odd, especially #2), but the simplest (and so best) way to make request is the word "Please":
Please rise so you may be sworn
Please come and look at it...
...
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