Best Of
As a result of this, this forum is now closed.
The English dictionary community team would like the opportunity to say a huge thanks to all of you who participated by posting questions and helping other community members.
We hope this forum was useful, and that you enjoyed being a part of it.
If you would like to get in touch with any OED-related queries, please write to
[email protected]
And if you would like to contribute suggestions to the OED, please do so by visiting: https://public.oed.com/contribute-to-the-oed/
Thank you very much indeed, and good bye!
The community team
Best Of
Re: Meaning of "attach a face to"
Attach = 'create a mental association'
a face = 'a memory of a person — recognised in the same way that you recognise a face'
For example, when you buy a cheese, you remember the cheesemaker. And in future, every time you see that cheese, or even think about it, it will remind you of that cheesemaker.
DavidCrosbie
Re: On the dime landing
I think this could this be a misprint for
on the dim landing
LATER
I've googled the quote. And yes, the word is indeed dim.
DavidCrosbie
Re: Off the bus
I could be wrong, but I suspect that it refers to the stereotype of a naive young girl from the country who has just arrived in the big city by bus.
In that era, few people travelled by plane. And long-distance buses were cheaper than trains.
off = 'no longer on' — in this case 'immediately after being on'
the bus = 'the long-distance bus that brought me here'
DavidCrosbie
Re: Past tenses
@ShowMoiDwae
Had you had your own office?
is asking about before you worked in your last job.
It suggests that you did have your own office in your last job.
Did you have your own office?
is asking about a DEFINITE time in the past —a time that we're already thinking about.
The only time that this could mean is when you worked at your last job.
Two changes:
- Use before instead of when before the PAST PERFECT
- Don't use UPPER CASE (CAPTAL LETTER) — had not Had, did not Did
Before you worked in your last job, had you had your own office?
= 'Was your last job the first one where you had your own office?'
When you worked in your last job, did you have your own office?
= 'Did you or didn't you have your own office in your last job?'
DavidCrosbie
Re: Located
Most English verbs produce forms called PARTICIPLES. Generally they are formed with a suffix.
-ING
Almost all English verbs have a form with this suffix.
-ED
The majority of English verbs have a form with this suffix.
An important minority have forms similar in use and meaning but not created with a suffix. For example:
known, gone, taken, written, read
PARTICIPLES may be used like ADJECTIVES in three ways
1. before a noun — a screaming child, a watched pot cf a happy child, a black pot
2. after BE — the child is screaming, the pot is watched cf the child is happy, the pot is black
3.in a phrase after a noun — a child screaming for its mother, a pot watched by the cooks cf a child happy in life, a pot black from long use
In these uses, the -ing forms are ACTIVE and the -ed forms are PASSIVE.
(This important distinction is not reflected in the traditional terms present participle and past participle.)
OK, there are some exceptions, but very few:
- Before a noun, as in an escaped prisoner, a grown boy, the retired manager and the departed guests, the -ed forms are not passive but related to PRESENT PERFECT a prisoner has escaped etc
- After BE some (not all) of these may be used — e.g. the manager is retired
Note that
- before a noun. a participle must generally stand alone as one word
- -ing forms may be used in different ways — as NOUNS or noun-like words
- some -ed forms are not participles but are created from NOUN PHRASES — eg three-legged
For these reasons we have some strange pairs
- a smoking gun (smoking= participle) vs a smoking jacket (smoking = verbal noun)
- a skinned rabbit (skinned = participle) vs a dark-skinned man (from dark skin)
Now many participles have changes to become more like adjectives.
- Some have combined with prefixes — e.g. unsurprising, disinterested although there are no verbs unsurprise, disinterest
Some have gained additional meanings. One grammar gives the examples
— She is calculating (but her husband is frank) vs She is calculating our salaries (so don't disturb her while she is doing the arithmetic)
— They were relieved (to find her at home) vs They were relieved (by the next group of sentries)
In the first sentence of each pair, the -ed/-ing word can combine with very
— very calculating (but NOT very calculating our salaries), very relieved (but NOT very relieved by the next sentries)Some other -ed/-ing words can be used with very —very very interesting, very willing, very excited, very interested
- Compounds made up another word and an -ing/-ed word can also be used with very — The story is ver heart-breaking, The egg is very hard-boiled .
- Some -ing/-ed words can combine with the suffix -ly to form ADVERBS —willingly, excitedly
I think it's safe to classify any -ing/-ed word that combines with very or -ly as an ADJECTIVE
Now located has not become completely like an an adjective. We can't say very located or locatedly
But there's some difference between The lost city has been located and a small town located 30 miles south of Chicago.
In the first, somebody has searched for and found the city. In the second the small town didn't need to be found; it's where it always was. That difference in meaning must be why the Advanced Learner's Dictionary classifies located as an adjective.
The meaning of be located is 'be (geographically speaking)'.
Both located and the near-synonym situated must be followed by a phrase which is an expression of place. So
- The adjective south may be followed by by a phrase — south of Chicago
- This phrase may be preceded by a phrase expressing distance — 30 miles south of Chicago
- This phrase in turn may follow the word located — located 30 miles south of Chicago
- And finally this phrase can follow a NOUN within a NOUN PHRASE — a small town located 30 miles south of Chicago
DavidCrosbie
Re: Is this grammar correct?
@boi_345, It's just not English to say
The duration will last
for much the dame reason as it's not English to say
The duration will enjoy a cup of tea
I wouldn't describe this as a grammar problem. It's just that the words don't go together.
We don't say
The length measures one metre.
The circumference circles the pond.
The weight of it weighs half a kilo.
Length, circumference, weight and duration are properties.
Duration is the property of lasting. So we don't say
The extent of lasting will last
DavidCrosbie
Re: Oxford of English Dictionary (OED) Query
@SalamFaridAazam, I expect there are online explanations somewhere. I can't find them, but I think I do understand.
The term form applies to visible variation. As it's a written work, the dictionary has to rely on spellings — even if the editors think that they reflect pronunciations.
The editors have divided the early spellings into three groups:
- one set with spellings in U or V rather than F, many of them also with H
- one set with spellings in F or FF and ending in A
- one set with spellings in F or FF and ending in E or I or Y or a combination IE or EY or EA
This suggests that there were three groups of early pronunciations:
- one set close to the Turkish kahveh
- one set with an F-sound and ending in some sort of A-sound
- one set with an F-sound and ending with some sort of I-sound or E-sound
They identify these three groups in the Forms section so that we can refer back. It would be confusing to use numbers 1, 2 ,3 or letters a, b, c because they are used for divisions and subdivisions of the meaning. So they use letters of the Greek alphabet α, β, γ.
They divide the meanings into 1, 2, 3, 4.
They subdivide 1 into a, b, c.
They show the history of 1a as the histories of the three groups of spellings α, β, γ.
As you spotted, none of the quotes are from the fifteenth century. It follows that 15 must mean the fifteen hundreds, the sixteenth century.
The spelling coffi(e is a short way of writing the two variants coffi and coffie.
DavidCrosbie
Re: Nouns that can be used as countable and uncountable.
Look up memory in the Dictionary part of this website. Various senses are countable; others uncountable (mass). The first section is
1The faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information.
‘I've a great memory for faces’
mass noun ‘the brain regions responsible for memory’1.1 The mind regarded as a store of things remembered.
‘he searched his memory frantically for an answer’
DavidCrosbie
How have you used the OED in your lessons?
We would love to know how you have used the Oxford English Dictionary in classroom activities.
These activities might cover topics like:
- Etymology
- Using the synonym function to improve vocabulary
- Using the OED as part of revision, or to help with exams
- Using the OED in a research project, or essay
- Pronunciation
- Using the OED properly
- How words are added to the OED
- Anything students have requested help with
You might choose to post lesson plans, worksheets, games, and various other resources you have used. Or you might want to ask for inspiration on how to incorporate a certain topic into your lessons.
We are giving free OED access to all public schools in the UK, US and Canada who are not already subscribed. You can find more information here.
ccrouch1996
"native American"
I'm elderly and recall that the expression "native American" use to mean anyone born in America, as opposed to having been born elsewhere and then moving to America. I don't recall it as an expression of strong significance as it is today in its current meaning, but rather being just the simple placement of "native" in front of "American" to form a short phrase that meant "born in America." I'd like to find some occurrences of the phrase in old books, newspapers, anything that I can give online links to, if anyone reading this would know of some examples or have good ideas for searching for examples. Thanks!
jbeard464