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Re: Smallwhite needs help with English expressions

Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2018 8:12 am
by rdearman
Yes you can, but they will rarely give up that easy and you'll get follow-up questions.

Re: Smallwhite needs help with English expressions

Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2018 8:15 am
by kulaputra
smallwhite wrote:
Adrianslont wrote:
If people are using the second example NON-sarcastically, that’s new to me.

That's what I've been seeing:
"Feel free to correct my English/French/etc".

Thanks for the answer!


The term is used here to let people know you wouldn't be offended if your English/French/etc. were corrected, without the abrupt rudeness of straight up saying "Correct my English/French/etc." It has a suggestive quality to it, kind of like adding 吧 to sentences in Mandarin.

Re: Smallwhite needs help with English expressions

Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2018 8:18 am
by kulaputra
smallwhite wrote:I think you can answer people like this when you don't want to state your reasons:

A: Why didn't you go?
B: Because.

Question: You can also answer like this, can't you?

A: Why didn't you go?
B: Reasons.

Thanks!


Using "reasons" like this is a very new thing AFAIK. Basically started with the internet generation. While both "because" and "reasons" are a little brusque, "reasons" is somewhat more youthful and casual sounding and would not be appropriate in formal circumstances. "I have my reasons" would work fine in such situations though.

Re: Smallwhite needs help with English expressions

Posted: Sat Jun 30, 2018 12:05 pm
by smallwhite
Thank you for the responses! I'll make sure I don't go:

Interviewer: Miss White, why do you want to join our company?
Smallwhite: Because.
Interviewer: I see. And why did you leave your previous company?
Smallwhite: Reasons.

Re: Smallwhite needs help with English expressions

Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2020 9:05 am
by smallwhite
Hi!

I'm wondering if you use the word "stomach ache" to refer to both pain in the stomach itself and pain in the tummy around the intestines? How would you more clearly distinguish between the two? Or you simply don't?

In my L1 Cantonese, "胃痛 stomach ache" and "肚痛 belly ache" are two distinct words that we don't mix up in usage.

Thanks!

Re: Smallwhite needs help with English expressions

Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2020 9:30 am
by rdearman
smallwhite wrote:Hi!

I'm wondering if you use the word "stomach ache" to refer to both pain in the stomach itself and pain in the tummy around the intestines? How would you more clearly distinguish between the two? Or you simply don't?

In my L1 Cantonese, "胃痛 stomach ache" and "肚痛 belly ache" are two distinct words that we don't mix up in usage.

Thanks!

I don't believe the majority of English speakers differentiate between the two. Stomach & belly are the entire region of the torso. (This is just my opinion, your mileage may vary.)

Re: Smallwhite needs help with English expressions

Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2020 9:55 am
by Cenwalh
smallwhite wrote:Hi!

I'm wondering if you use the word "stomach ache" to refer to both pain in the stomach itself and pain in the tummy around the intestines? How would you more clearly distinguish between the two? Or you simply don't?

In my L1 Cantonese, "胃痛 stomach ache" and "肚痛 belly ache" are two distinct words that we don't mix up in usage.

Thanks!


To me stomach ache = tummy ache = belly ache (but I don't really say that last one). Indeed the national health service in my country under "stomach ache" on their website lists a variety of conditions that could give discomfort anywhere between the top of the stomach and the bottom of the bowels. Interestingly Collins Dictionary gives the normal definition of "stomach ache" as pain in the stomach, but it also gives a British English definition of "pain in the stomach or abdominal region...". As a British person I can attest to the British definition, but I wouldn't know if other dialects are more specific.

Re: Smallwhite needs help with English expressions

Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2020 12:13 pm
by teapot
smallwhite wrote:Hi!

I'm wondering if you use the word "stomach ache" to refer to both pain in the stomach itself and pain in the tummy around the intestines? How would you more clearly distinguish between the two? Or you simply don't?

In my L1 Cantonese, "胃痛 stomach ache" and "肚痛 belly ache" are two distinct words that we don't mix up in usage.

Thanks!

I don’t think I’ve ever heard a BrE speaker use bellyache as a noun, even though it is in the dictionary. In my experience it is most commonly used as a verb meaning to complain noisily or persistently. Anyone would understand if you used it to describe a pain, but it would probably seem a curious choice of words.

Curious that stomach ache is two words, but bellyache is just one. I wonder if that is because it appears most as a verb.

Re: Smallwhite needs help with English expressions

Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2020 1:16 am
by IronMike
They both are stomach ache to me. I wouldn't use belly ache except with a young child.

Re: Smallwhite needs help with English expressions

Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2020 11:37 am
by smallwhite
Hi!

I texted this the other day: "I'm sorry, it's actually 4. I just silly wrote 7 because xxx".

"I just silly wrote" means "I just wrote sillily" :D I know the expression is used, I can google it, but it seems rare. Is it maybe regional or, er... old-fashioned...? Do you use it?

Thanks!