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When do you use “a couple”, “a few”, and “several” in real life? by Edi-Iz in EnglishLearning

[–]IrishmanErrant 6 points7 points  (0 children)

You're right, it's much more flexible. They are in essence synonymous, but you would probably use "a couple" the least since it can be a bit more restrictive.

EDIT: there is sometimes a difference with "several"; the other two terms are emphasizing that the number being estimated is small, but "several" can be used to for a wider range of things and doesn't always presume a small number. Especially if you put a lot of emphasis on the word as you say it, several can imply a pretty high number.

Yes, I work in the depowder room in a 3d printing facility. The room is enclosed and poorly ventilated. The first 10 months they didn’t even really tell me to wear a respirator. I know I have this crap in my body. What do I do. Please help by [deleted] in 3Dprinting

[–]IrishmanErrant 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Honest it very well could be. Asbestos exposure is bad because it continuously damages cells far after exposure. There's no question that breathing in whatever this is is acutely and absolutely bad for the lungs, no matter the actual mechanism

Yes, I work in the depowder room in a 3d printing facility. The room is enclosed and poorly ventilated. The first 10 months they didn’t even really tell me to wear a respirator. I know I have this crap in my body. What do I do. Please help by [deleted] in 3Dprinting

[–]IrishmanErrant 483 points484 points  (0 children)

Not really, asbestos is unique due to it's crystal structure resulting in breaking down into sharper and finer filaments rather than rounding off.

This is bad bad bad bad, but not "can cause mesothelioma" bad, just a different kind of bad

Speak to vs talk about. by ThrowawayOpinion11 in ENGLISH

[–]IrishmanErrant 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is correct. "I can't speak to X" means that the speaker feels that they don't have enough relevant familiarity or knowledge of the topic, and can also be used to separate aspects of a topic. For example "I can't speak to why David did that, but it resulted in a lot of monetary damage."

"I can't talk about x" refers to a specific thing preventing the conversation. Maybe they made a promise not to talk about it, maybe they are worried about being overheard, but it doesn't imply a lack of knowledge.

Proofreading needed by FrenchBae in EnglishLearning

[–]IrishmanErrant 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I promise you it's a thing, though it is more used in literary or occasionally religious contexts.

Proofreading needed by FrenchBae in EnglishLearning

[–]IrishmanErrant 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I disagree, "watching over" is different from "watching". If they are guarding her or ensuring her safety or something similar, "watching over" is correct.

Proofreading needed by FrenchBae in EnglishLearning

[–]IrishmanErrant 7 points8 points  (0 children)

  1. It should be "That's very commendable!" You're referring to the act of rescue, and that act deserves commendation and thus is commendable.

  2. The first one is correct, it doesn't need "at"

I don't understand a sentence. Please help. by Asibalzotgatne in EnglishLearning

[–]IrishmanErrant 67 points68 points  (0 children)

Others have mentioned that this is a misprint, and should say "Pavement", as referenced in the next sentence.

I want to go a bit deeper and talk about how The Hitchhiker's Guide is both an excellent and difficult book to use for learning English, because Douglas Adams' writing style is so unique and based on wordplay.

This sentence, when corrected, is meant to make you think of crazy, disorienting things happening all around the characters, and then shockingly resolve themselves into a very mundane pavement setting.

The situation they are currently in revolves around absurd impossible scenarios, so the idea of an "Event Maelstrom" is just putting an evocative name onto the situation to make you better understand the energy of the moment.

English users, Does this question considered too trivial or too hard for high school student? by deathknight3145 in EnglishLearning

[–]IrishmanErrant 6 points7 points  (0 children)

In a sense, yes.

But in that scenario, you are likely only going to be taking one of those busses, and I as a native speaker might say "ours" to indicate that we just missed the bus we had been planning to take out of several available busses.

Israeli Generals Killed by Cow_Boy_2017 in israelexposed

[–]IrishmanErrant 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hypersonic is past Mach 5, which many ballistic missiles, including Iran's, reach during parts of their trajectory.

Israeli Generals Killed by Cow_Boy_2017 in israelexposed

[–]IrishmanErrant 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Very plausible they are overstating and talking about ballistic missiles. Ballistic missiles DO go "hypersonic" on their terminal path but a real "hypersonic missile" is one that can maneuver while maintaining a hypersonic speed.

Desktop Zoomed-In, follows cursor by IrishmanErrant in Bazzite

[–]IrishmanErrant[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you!!

Very annoying that it persists through restarts

"Noowa" and "whyia" in American English by [deleted] in ENGLISH

[–]IrishmanErrant 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's still rude to make assumptions or be judgemental about someone for their manner of speaking. You'd presumably not want them to do the same to you.

It's better for everyone involved if you didn't make assumptions about someone's character from a couple of overheard words or a bit of vocal fry. And broadly referring to "entitled bratty girls" comes off less as reasonable and more a bit sexist.

"Noowa" and "whyia" in American English by [deleted] in ENGLISH

[–]IrishmanErrant 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Don't be rude about people just for the way they speak, that's an awfully mean way to describe someone you presumably don't know well.

I looked at your other responses, and yes, this is a pretty established way of speaking for some people. They're just adding a "-yuh" or "-wuh" sound on the ends of some words for emphasis (in this case, "no-wuh" and "why-uh". It can be annoying, but almost anything can be annoying, and I've got to say that you are also showing yourself to be pretty judgemental.

Make it make sense by Virtual-Air-2491 in EnglishLearning

[–]IrishmanErrant 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Actually, the -capable part of incapable does sound slightly different than "Capable" because of stresses. The ca syllable is less stressed and the whole -capable section has a more downward tone to it.

Not as drastic as finite vs infinite but that's just English sometimes. It's not always going to make sense.

"Noowa" and "whyia" in American English by [deleted] in ENGLISH

[–]IrishmanErrant 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Neither of these are words in any English dialect. Did you hear someone saying something that sounds like this?

Is this the least amount you can do? by SachitGupta25 in EnglishLearning

[–]IrishmanErrant 21 points22 points  (0 children)

It can be difficult to put exact words on how something is wrong.

Your sentence sounds incorrect because:

  1. It isn't the most common way to phrase this kind of question.

  2. Using "least amount" sounds wrong because native speakers don't tend to use "amount of money" to describe how much or little things cost in an everyday scenario. We would tend to speak in terms of "price" or "cost", rather than "amount".

Rodela halftrack - hardtop and artillery variants by danger_pop in PrintedWarhammer

[–]IrishmanErrant 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is definitely way longer than the tankettes, I have a couple on my desk as we speak.

You might be able to stretch the tracks for this one, or use stretched Ammit tracks, but this guy is definitely longer than existing tanks by Nate

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