Answers to Questions About Usage #3

Answers to Questions About Usage #3 Answers to Questions About Usage #3 Answers to Questions About Usage #3 By Mark Nichol Here are several questions from DailyWritingTips.com readers about the wording of various phrases, followed by my responses. 1. In a book I just read, the author twice uses the expression â€Å"least worse.† I understand what he means, but this strikes me as a lousy neologism, and I sense that it is unjustifiable under â€Å"the rules† yet I am unable to devise an alternative that isn’t wordy or top-heavy. Can you suggest something? I came up with several more specific analogues: â€Å"least onerous,† â€Å"least egregious,† and â€Å"least unfortunate.† I suppose the reason these are acceptable and â€Å"least worse† isn’t is that worse, unlike the others, is a comparative adjective (â€Å"least bad† is better but still awkward) linked with a word denoting the most minimal amount. I’d use an appropriate noncomparative adjective such as the three I listed in the first sentence of this paragraph in place of worse. 2. What does very really mean? In â€Å"John held up a very full bucket,† if a bucket is full, then how is a very full bucket any more full? Even worse is â€Å"very, very†: A very, very full bucket must be even â€Å"fuller† than the very full one. In formal, straightforward usage, very is almost invariably superfluous, but it has its place in more colloquial language. For example, it’s appropriate in a remark about a bucket containing an overflowing liquid or a heaped solid substance: â€Å"That’s a very full bucket!† 3. I have a question about the phrase â€Å"graduating high school† (or college). I have always thought that high schools and colleges were already graduated- with, for example, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades. Should the construction be â€Å"graduated from† rather than simply graduated? Yes. â€Å"Graduated high school† and similar phrases are holdovers from a twentieth-century effort to truncate the earlier usage â€Å"was graduated from,† but the effort was taken too far. â€Å"Graduated high school† occurs at times, but â€Å"graduated from high school† is standard. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:70 Idioms with HeartTaser or Tazer? Tazing or Tasering?25 Idioms with Clean

Class Representations essays

Class Representations essays Class is a way of life. Class structure is just what you live by. It is an accepted way of how we live. Some people live their lives by planning for the future, while others are worried about what they are going to do about paying their landlords. People are looked upon as poor class, middle class, and upper class. Each person in society knows where he or she stands in terms of how much money they have. This ideal is shown everywhere in life. Take for example a couple of friends. These friends have known each other for a very long time. They know each other so well that they know how well off they are or how the other is living paycheck by paycheck. Society has always shown off the high class in magazines, movies, and television. They are shown to be important; how everyone should be like. For example, Entertainment Tonight and Extra are shows on television that only feature stories on rich celebrities. These people are raised on a pedestal; put into the limelight and are shown as what everyone wants to be. It is portrayed as the best way you can live your life. Society shockingly accepts this and society admires this ideal of becoming someone that is rich. Culture in the U.S. is all about materialism and its rating of how cool someone is by how much material possession one has. Being low class and poor is looked down upon and discriminated against in society. Another example is the stereotypical name, F.O.B. This is widely used among Asians to describe a poor person freshly off the boat. People that are labeled F.O.B. are considered low class and not cool. ...

The history of the Muslim world in the period between the early 15th Research Paper

The history of the Muslim world in the period between the early 15th and early 20 centuries - Research Paper Example Islam is perceived to be among the oldest and the most widely followed religion of the world. Where on one hand, with the rise and expansion of new religions such as Judaism and Christianity, the Muslim world had to witness a fall in its political and social magnitude; on the other hand, benefited by the advent of successful trade relationships of Muslim community with the non-Islamic nations, the community was able to strengthen its foothold in global politics of the modern world. Some of the noteworthy events that can be remarked as best illustrations of the alterations witnessed by the Muslim world since the early 15th century till the early 20th century or the modern era include the rise of Mughals, Ottomans and Safavids, repeat clashes of the Muslim world with other religious communities as well as trade expansion of the Muslims in the global plethora. Historians have often argued that these events have led towards immense alterations in the religious beliefs as well as social s tructures of the Muslim world playing the key role in developing its advanced post-modern shape. However, these events, as argued by historians, imposed varying impacts on the Muslim world, some being strong enough to permanently change few aspects of this particular assemblage while the others having a short term influence Concerning these aforementioned aspects, this thesis will be focused on discussing about the various events which have been witnessed within the Muslim world during its experiences within the period from 15th century to 20th century. Correspondingly, the ultimate aim of the study will be to identify particular events and encounters which have been most influential in shaping the modern Muslim world. DISCUSSION The Muslim World during early 15th and 16th Centuries The most significant event which has often attracted intellectuals arguing on the historic transformations of the Muslim world during the 15th century was the fall of Constantinople after being conquered by the Ottoman Empire sultan Mehmed II. It was during this tenure of Muslim world history that Ottomans were emerging as the major Islamic dynasty to rule to Arab-Muslim nations. It was during the mid 15th century that Mehmed II acquired the throne of the Ottoman dynasty when the Muslim world was focused primarily on trade as well as political expansion, based on the notion of imperialism to gain superiority over other non-Muslim communities. In such circumstance, Constantinopolis (Kostantiniyye) was the most appropriate geographical area to expand trade and also to gain control on the activities of the neighboring continents, i.e. Asia and Europe. Both Asia and Europe, during this period was undergoing tremendous alterations being politically weak, but economically enriched with natural resources and flow of international commodities. Thus, conquering Constantinople was a golden opportunity for Mehmed II to expand the Ottoman Empire and almost effortlessly, obtain the benefits of an equipped trade relation between Constantinopolis and European as well as Asian dynasties. On the social forefront, the defeat of Constantinople further contributed towards the enrichment of the artistic patronage of the medieval Muslim world which is still considered to be enviable. Not only in terms of its artistic patronage, but also with respect to the political structure and policy concerns, the Muslim world