Recent Posts

1

Language Questions / too much

« Last post by Takashi on Today at 02:31:31 pm »

I'd appreciate it if you could help me with the following sentences, the latter of which is supposed to be wrong.

"Thank you so much for inviting me. I have enjoyed the party too much."

The answer key says that "too" should be replaced with "very" or "so," and I quite agree.

Could you tell me if the reason is because "too much" sounds a bit ironical here?
I'd like to know what kind of impression native speakers get when you hear sentences like "I have enjoyed the party too much."

Thank you very much.

Takashi

2

Language Questions / Re: the first weeks

« Last post by Gastomo on December 11, 2019, 09:19:34 am »

I just knew it was this. If anyone has a question I can answer it. Maybe I will know some things.

3

Café / Re: pun

« Last post by Gastomo on December 11, 2019, 09:17:11 am »

The past, I have, but find the answer alone about this. This has been known.

4

Language Questions / ---- Surely, when God looks about at their successors, He cannot be loath to

« Last post by t k on December 11, 2019, 03:16:12 am »

Any soldier can be killed by the enemy in the
heat of battle, by a weapon approved by the arbiters and rulemakers of warfare. Or by a woman in a
bedroom. But not with a shotgun, a fowling piece, in a henhouse. And so is it any wonder that this
world is peopled principally by the dead? Surely, when God looks about at their successors, He
cannot be loath to share His own with us.  (from Light in August, by William Faulkner; a larger context is here; this is a pdf file but opens as a browser window; use ctrl-f to locate the sentence)

Please explain the part in bold.  Thanks.  --- tk

5

Language Questions / to spend less time doing something

« Last post by bookworm on December 09, 2019, 06:05:23 pm »

Let's say you really enjoy doing an activity or a hobby, so you spend many hours doing it (almost every day). Eventually you spend less time on it, or you do something else.

John enjoys fishing and has the most modern fishing equipment. He used to spend a great deal of time on it (almost every day, esp. on weekends) when he was in high school and college although he had a part-time job then. Now that he has a full-time job, he does fishing only once in a while.

Jane loves cooking and baking. After her marriage, she became a full-time mom and would only bake once a month. After giving birth to her second child, she stopped baking and cooking altogether. When these two kids grow up, she will cook and bake more frequently again.

In my native language, we use a verb (very informal or slang) that sounds like lie low, but I don't think this phrase will work in this context:

   John has lied low on his hobby since he is working full time now.​
   Jane has lied low on cooking and baking since she has two kids.​

6

Language Questions / Re: to scare someone into doing something (noun)

« Last post by Darryl on December 09, 2019, 09:41:53 am »

The word 'intimidate' comes to mind, but I don't think any single word could encapsulate the whole meaning you want. Your two example sentences convey the meaning perfectly, albeit with several words.

7

Language Questions / ---- garmentworried

« Last post by t k on December 09, 2019, 04:56:43 am »

When he believed that he
had heard the call it seemed to him that he could see his future, his life, intact and on all sides
complete and inviolable, like a classic and serene vase, where the spirit could be born anew sheltered
from the harsh gale of living and die so, peacefully, with only the far sound of the circumvented
wind, with scarce even a handful of rotting dust to be disposed of. That was what the word seminary
meant: quiet and safe walls within which the hampered and garmentworried spirit could learn anew
serenity to contemplate without horror or alarm its own nakedness.  (from Light in August, by William Faulkner; a larger context is here; this is a pdf file but opens as a browser window; use ctrl-f to locate the sentence)

Please explain garmentworried.  Thanks.  --- tk

8

Language Questions / to scare someone into doing something (noun)

« Last post by bookworm on December 08, 2019, 07:17:00 pm »

In my native language, we have a noun (very informal) that is related to the verb scare, and it is applied to things or ideas that scare people into doing something. I'm not sure if there is an equivalent noun in English that will sound natural even in casual conversations.

a) For example, an unruly child is told that a monster will appear and take him somewhere if he does not behave. Later, that child will grow up and realize that it is just a foolish story made by some babysitters to scare kids into behaving.

It can also be things like a contract. Let's say a landlord has a phobia about courtrooms, judges, and lawyers; but he asks his tenants to sign a contract anyway, just to scare them into paying the rent. But, in reality, he will not sue you even if you breach the contract because of his extreme fear of the trial court and people who work there.

I think there is no noun equivalent in English, only an expression:

a) That foolish story was only invented to scare kids into behaving.
b) He only uses the contract to scare tenants into paying the rent.

Do you find these sentences natural?

9

Language Questions / ---- All the sanctimonious cuss wants anyway is somebody that can sing alto out

« Last post by t k on December 07, 2019, 03:23:17 am »

He had already bought for himself a small house two miles in the country, and his
surrey and his matched team stood before the porch waiting while he too stood, his hat tilted back
and his legs apart—a hale, bluff, rednosed man with the moustache of a brigand chief—while the
son, and the daughter-in-law whom he had never seen before, came up the path from the gate.
When he stooped and saluted her, she smelled whiskey and cigars. “I reckon you’ll do,” he said. His
eyes were bluff and bold, but kind. “All the sanctimonious cuss wants anyway is somebody that can
sing alto out of a Presbyterian hymnbook, where even the good Lord Himself couldn’t squeeze in
any music.”   (from Light in August, by William Faulkner; a larger context is here; this is a pdf file but opens as a browser window; use ctrl-f to locate the sentence)

Please explain the part in bold.  Thanks.  --- tk

10

Language Questions / Re: It won't be long

« Last post by Takashi on December 06, 2019, 03:37:40 pm »

I'm really sorry, indeed, Britta and Bertha!
I must apologize to both of you.

Takashi