how to describe/what is it called

Thank you~

If someone is wearing a mask, clearly in a state of sickness, can we say this to him?:

-Take care.
==============
What natural English can that person say in reply?

1 Reply

@WBYeats,

Thanks//Thank you//I'm hanging in there//Thanks for your concern/kind thoughts

1 Reply

@JTT,

Thank you~

Quote:I'm hanging in there

Is it a humorous way of saying I'm on the verge of death? Someone would be hung!

2 Replies

@WBYeats,

Not on the verge of death, WB, just coping.

Quote:

Someone would be hung!

(See definition 1b at,)

http://i.word.com/idictionary/hang

usage For both transitive and intransitive senses 1b the past and past participle hung, as well as hanged, is standard. Hanged is most appropriate for official executions <he was to be hanged, cut down whilst still alive … and his bowels torn out — Louis Allen> but hung is also used <gave orders that she should be hung — Peter Quennell>. Hung is more appropriate for less formal hangings <by morning I'll be hung in effigy — Ronald Reagan>.

1 Reply

@JTT,

Thank you~
======================
eg Be careful with the washing powder; it might __ if not properly positioned.

I thought of SPILL OVER, but washing powder is not liquid. POUR OVER is wrong. What verb do I need?

2 Replies

@WBYeats,

SPILL will work.

SPILL OVER if you were say, pouring the contents of two boxes into one and you weren't paying close enough attention.

POUR OVER could see use if you were pouring it into a detergent cup or receptacle on the washer.

0 Replies

@WBYeats,

Quote:

Someone would be hung!

Pictures are hung. People are hanged.

1 Reply

@WBYeats,

WBYeats wrote:

Thank you~
======================
eg Be cpareful with the washing powder; it might __ if not properly positioned.

I thought of SPILL OVER, but washing powder is not liquid. POUR OVER is wrong. What verb do I need?

Spill is fine. Any loose solid materials such as powders, grains, dust, sand, stones, small objects in bulk, etc, can behave like liquids and it is appropriate to use words like spill, flow, etc.

0 Replies

Thank you~

For Mctag, do you not think HUNG is less common but possible? I used HUNG because of the usage from A Study in Scarlet, Chap 1.
==========================
situation:

John has just made the acquaintance of an American student. When John knows this student, being a business major, has to take a literature course, he is surprised. Can he say these?:

-How come you have to take such a course? Literature is a far cry from business/Literature does not dovetail well with business/Literature doesn't sit well with business./Literature cuts no ice with business.

3 Replies

@WBYeats,

Quote:

For Mctag, do you not think HUNG is less common but possible?

Yes. The meaning is clear. And fewer native speakers seem to make the distinction nowadays. What does your dictionary say?

0 Replies

@WBYeats,

Quote:

John has just made the acquaintance of an American student. When John knows this student, being a business major, has to take a literature course, he is surprised. Can he say these?:

-How come you have to take such a course? Literature is a far cry from business/Literature does not dovetail well with business/Literature doesn't sit well with business./Literature cuts no ice with business.

This is a jumble. "How come...?" is slang. This raises more questions than perhaps you are aware of. It reads like an exam question composed by a non-native speaker. I'd ignore it. Or maybe you'd like to re-state the question, to get the answer you're looking for.

2 Replies

@McTag,

Quote:

Pictures are hung. People are hanged.

The idiot McTag can't even read.

0 Replies

@WBYeats,

Quote:

John has just made the acquaintance of an American student. When John knows this student, being a business major, has to take a literature course, he is surprised. Can he say these?:

-How come you have to take such a course? Literature is a far cry from business/Literature does not dovetail well with business/Literature doesn't sit well with business./Literature cuts no ice with business.

Those are all possible, WB.

1 Reply

@JTT,

Spiteful, then useless.

1 Reply

@McTag,

It's not spiteful to point out that you can't even read what's in the thread.

---------------------------------------
(See definition 1b at,)

http://i.word.com/idictionary/hang

usage For both transitive and intransitive senses 1b the past and past participle hung, as well as hanged, is standard. Hanged is most appropriate for official executions <he was to be hanged, cut down whilst still alive … and his bowels torn out — Louis Allen> but hung is also used <gave orders that she should be hung — Peter Quennell>. Hung is more appropriate for less formal hangings <by morning I'll be hung in effigy — Ronald Reagan>.

-----------------------

What else could you be but an idiot for either truly missing it or pretending to miss it.

Then you did exactly what you like to accuse me of. It's a convenient way for an idiot like you to avoid discussing the language issues.

1 Reply

@JTT,

Oh, a Ronald Reagan quotation used as a source. Now there's a novelty. What's next, Dubya?
I refer serious readers to my earlier remarks.

1 Reply

@McTag,

Quote:

Oh, a Ronald Reagan post used as a source. Now there's a novelty. What's next, Dubya?

Now your problem becomes apparent, McTag. You don't have the ability to discern the material presented to you. And heaven forbid that you might actually go to the source to see what it was before you ignorantly, yet again, shoot your mouth off.

Or, what could equally be true, you are lying.

Quote:

I refer readers to my earlier remarks.

Which, need I point it out again, never contain anything addressing the language issues.

0 Replies

@McTag,

Quote:

How come...?" is slang.

One might then wonder how it has come to be used so frequently in newspapers like the New York Times.

1 Reply

@JTT,

JTT wrote:

One might then wonder how it has come to be used so frequently in newspapers like the New York Times.

Are you being disingenuous? That is an American paper! Their style guide probably says that "Sho' nuff" is excessively formal.

1 Reply

@contrex,

0 Replies

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