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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So, for a last name like “Stachewicz”...would it be The Stachewiczs or the The Stachewiczes?
A friend and I were having a discussion. The question asked was: what is the meaning of “I haven’t known?” If it’s even correct to say such a thing, which I suspect it is. I have a vague notion in older English usage of “I have known various women” and the negative of that, etc.
My friend was trying to ask me if it’s possible with that statement to indicate that something was not known at a point in the past, but is known in the present.
The example: Person A: Did you hear that Henry’s car is broken? Person B: I haven’t known.
Does such a thing make sense? Why or why not?
Any help in the explanation of this would be appreciated.
How much space should be given after a period in Word documents and in PDF’s?
I feel a bit offended when someone uses “resource” when referring to an individual. I find this use quite popular especially in the IT world. I know that American Heritage Dictionary defines, among others, a resource as:
[...] 2. resources The total means available to a company for increasing production or profit, including plant, labor, and raw material; assets. 3. Such means considered individually.
Is using “a resource” when referring to a person a bad style? Am I overreacting?
Is it appropriate to use a bulleted list in a question? Example:
Which type of flour would you use for the following items: - bread - cake - cookies
Would you put a question mark at the end of each bullet? Would you only use a question mark at the end of the last bullet? Does the sentence need to be re-worded?
I have now found the phrase “pi the type” in two different books and have an idea of the meaning from the context. I would hope to learn more about the meaning and how it might have originated.
If our organization is called Help for Kids and we want to use the abbreviation HFK . . . is this correct usage in this sentence: HFK’ activities will start in the summer. With the K standing for Kids and Kids being plural, would this be correct use of the apostrophe at the end of HFK’?
I have a sentence with which I am struggling because I am not sure if I can use both a colon and semi-colon in it. However, I want everything in one sentence and cannot figure out what other punctuation I should use. Here’s the sentence with names and details altered for anonymity.
“I am indebted to my family, especially my cousins: Jane Smith, my first teacher, without whom I would not be where I am today; and John Smith, my second teacher, who taught me more than he could have possibly imagined.”
The colon is setting up a list and the semi-colon is separating items in the list that contain commas. Thoughts? Thanks in advance.
Am I correct when I teach my students that “as long as” means you’re measuring time, and “so long as” means you’re using it as a conditional?
Hence, “I was here as long as he was” (meaning we were there for the same length of time) and “I will love you so long as you don’t cheat on me” (used for cause and effect situations)
Isn’t it redundant to say That is the REASON WHY I am here.
Isn’t the ‘reason’ the ‘why’ as well? But how come many people use it?
