Discussion Forum
This is a forum to discuss the gray areas of the English language for which you would not find answers easily in dictionaries or other reference books.
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Latest Posts : Usage
Could somebody please explain the problem with “as such”? I understand the frustration with its incorrect usage as a synonym for “therefore” or “thus”, but the response thereagainst wants to banish its usage entirely. I am confident that I am using it correctly, but I am constantly being directed to remove it from my papers nevertheless. Could you explain its proper usage?
I noticed in reports of the recent GOP debate a number of instances where the phrase “Person A debated Person B.” was used rather than “Person A debated with Person B.” Is this common in USA?
Is it escaped prison or escaped from prison?
From my local medical centre’s web page:-
“The carpark at xxxxxx Health & Wellness Centre is now limited to 180 minutes. Cars parked longer than this and not displaying an exemption permit will be infringed with a $65 parking fine. This is intended to keep the carpark free for patients and customers of the building only. Unauthorised parkers leaving their vehicles in our carpark all day will be infringed.”
“I’ve lived many years in Kentucky.”
How comfortable are you with this grammar in writing?
Would you prefer “I’ve lived in Kentucky for many years” ?
Is this just an Americanism?
How widespread is this pattern?
A colleague of mine claimed that you can say “In the long term” instead of “In the long run”. Is that correct?
Could you please explain the difference in the following sentences?
1. The instruments used are very reliable.
2. The instruments being used are very reliable.
Are participle 2 “used” and passive participle 1 “being used” interchangeable in this context?
I’m new here, and am wondering what all you experts think about the use of the word “leverage” as a verb. It seems it’s being used more often recently. Personally I feel that “leverage” is a noun, as defined by Merriam-Webster’s as “the action of a lever or the mechanical advantage gained by it”. However it seems that mainly financial and managerial types seem to like using is as a verb - “Hey, let’s leverage the unfortunate circumstances of these people that can’t pay their bonds, and get their homes for free”.
What does it mean? Although MW does give it as a verb as well, it’s interesting that investopedia.com gives it as “1 The use of various financial instruments or borrowed capital, such as margin, to increase the potential return of an investment.”, i.e. it lists the verb first. Other sources give different meanings, suggesting that the meaning of “leverage” as a verb is not very clear. I wonder what these people do when their roof leakages, or the engines of their cars failure?
Just for interest, over the years I’ve bookmarked the following in my web browser (under info / language / English):
(please excuse the language there where not appropriate :)
Oh yes, and a quote from Seth Godin’s blog (although I’m not sure who he is quoting):
“leveraging” , - comment: i asked everyone on my team not to use those words. the frequency of use of words like “leverage” is inversely proportionate to the amount of original thought. the more you say “leverage”, the less you’ve probably thought about what you’re saying.
(Seth is an American marketer, motivational speaker and author)
Recently saw this headline in Time:-
“Katy Perry Admits She’s Nervous to Perform at the Super Bowl”.
To me “nervous to perform” sounds a bit strange.
My feeling is that “nervous of performing” sounds better.
I had always believed that saying “thanks for that” without a following noun or phrase was intended as something of a put down.
I’m not referring to its use in the form “Thanks for that information” or “Thanks for that wine you sent”, but to the situation(s) where someone had said something inane or pointless, or had told an uninteresting story or a somewhat obscure joke.
One would then say “Thanks for that” followed by the person’s name.
eg:
Tim: “This one time, I broke a pen and then fixed it again.”
Me: “Thanks for that, Tim.”
But now the phrase seems to be in general use with no irony attached.
Instead of just saying “Thank you” some people are now saying “Thanks for that” with no further qualification.
