小语种学习学生作业上常见小毛病+Other topics

TheYeti - 2008-11-6 9:39:00

When to use what: A/an mountain/sea/ocean/wave/battery/army/flood/torrent/wealth/galaxy/ton/mound/pile/storm/gamut of…, and volume/fields and fields of…

An/a army/ocean/storm/host/sea/galaxy/gamut…of
Many students have learned such expressions as “an army of”, “an ocean of”, and “a sea of”, but some tend to use them indiscriminately.
There are two types of collective nouns and quantifiers. The first one is standard and fixed, e.g. a school of fish, and a flock of sheep/ a battery of guns (guns=artillery). You cannot mess around with them. ( for the uncommon and unusual kind, read : Collective nouns : http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?BoardID=11&ID=9814 . Also read hyde’s entry on 第 4 楼 : “群”的表达 )
The second type is what I call the “generic” ones. They can be used for many different nouns: a host of, an army of, a sea of, a galaxy of, and so on.
Life would be easy if you can use these indiscriminately. But life is never fair nor easy. When you have only 30 minutes to write an essay, you don’t have much time to be discriminatory, so you can do whatever you like as long as you don’t exaggerate too much (e.g. one should not say “She have had an army of husbands”, when she has only been married 4 times.)

However, if your aspiration is to be a reasonably good writer, or you think you will be using English as a tool in real life one day—or if you just want to impress the grader of your exam essay-- you should keep the following in mind.
(I) Don’t exaggerate. (Already talked about earlier.)
(II) Use the most appropriate group description.

How would you do that? Form a mental image of what you are talking about, and then choose one particular description that best describes the image.
Source of this article: 作者Yeti 出自
http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardid=8&id=16107&star=2#16107

Consider the following “group descriptions”:
A/an mountain/sea/ocean/wave/battery/army/torrent/wealth/galaxy/ton/mound/pile/storm/gamut of…, and volume/fields and fields of…
Now let me ask you this. When you read a sentence that starts with “an army of”, what comes to your mind immediately? Rows and rows of people, or a long line of them, right? How about a sea or an ocean of? Many, many all pack together sitting/standing/(milling around) there in front of you, right?

Sure, you may use “an army of books/homework”, or “a sea of marching school children”, but the mental image is all wrong. A pile of books and a mountain/ton of homework sound better than “an army of books and an ocean of homework”, does it not? In a library, you have “volumes upon volume” of books, and not a galaxy of books, but during the Cannes film festival, there is a galaxy of stars—films star, that is.

An army of marching school children gives a mental image of a long row of children walking past.

Similarly, an ocean/a sea of faces sounds better than an army of faces, and a wealth of knowledge definitely makes more sense than an army of knowledge. And a storm of protest gives the mental image of sound and fury, rather than a sea of protest.
(However, when you have the word “awash” or “formed” in the sentence, you should use “sea”:
On the memorial day of the Nanjiang Massacre, 500,000 people formed a sea of protest on the streets of Beijing. (This is one example which will not get you into trouble.) All over China, cities were awash with seas of protest.

Example of the use of a gamut of
Oh, yes. Just in case you want to ask how you can use "a gamut of" :
A gamut of is usually used for emotions, experience, and other things that are of a diverse nature.
Examples: A clown is good at expressing a gamut of emotions with his face.
As we go through life, we accumulate a gamut of experience.
In our next meeting, we will examine a gamut of issues.

Other effective metaphoric figurative for groups: some are collected from newspapers, books, magazines or heard on TV; some are written by Yeti. (The following is consolidated from 第 8 to 12 楼 at http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?boardid=8&id=16107 )

A galaxy of stars (movie stars) gathers at the Cannes festival.
An army of ants is marching along.
A fleet of warships has arrived at the entrance to the Black sea.
A pile of books
A (mountain/ton) of homework
Volumes upon volume of books
An army of marching school children
An ocean/a sea of faces
A wealth of knowledge
A storm of protest
Mountain(s) of evidence
Collected from newspapers and magazines
a bushel of scholarships (time-magazine)
a string of bomds exploded (in Iraq)
An ocean of tears

Park avenue was saved by brigades of angry volunteers. The renaming of the centry artery after the late premier Robert BVourassa was scoteched thanks to an army of residents and business people who jumped into the campaigne in mid-October; Zoubris said. (Notice the use of military metaphor for describing an organized mob.)
As heard on CNN: A reporter describing how the evacuation of New Orleans looks before the storm hits: rivers of tail-lights and waves of cars.

A mountain of experience. E.g. I have accumulated a mountain of experience after working for this company.

Cash: Piles of cash. ( You can visualize in your head piles and pile of cash being stacked.) Other often used figuratives for cash are: tons of cash; truckloads of cash; and a mountain of cash.

Work : barrage of work
as in "I have a barrage of work thrown at me." (Imagine a barrage of artillery fire aimed at you. Replace the shell with "work.")

As heard on the news: (related to a communicate from terrorists) rivers of blood; volcanoes of anger. (Again you can see how the right use of "group metaphor” can make the imagery more vivid.

One station mentioned "a sea of evacuees", but I guess in the case of New Orleans, one can use the pun "a flood of evacuees" !
One of the frequently misused "a something of..." that I have encountered recently is "a slice of..." Whenever you use these "a something of...", try to conjure up the image of what you are talking about. "A slice of" is not a whole, but only a part of. Imagine "a slice of cake" : it can be a small slice, or a big slice, but not the whole cake.

A slice of the population is a "part of the population"; a slice of the economy is "a part of the economy", and a "big slice of the winning" is "a large portion of the winning." Always think of a "slice" as "carving out a part out of the whole."

You can say " a slice of the legislation is geared towards helping the poor", but you should not say "let us pass a slice of legislations" when you want to say "some legislations." (You can say, however, "let us pass a slice of the legislations" meaning " a part of the proposed legislations.")

More on "slice."

As mentioned earlier, metaphors are only effective when the mental picture makes an impact (and has to make sense too.) Thus "a slice of time" or "a slice of time and space" conjures up an image of a "period" or a "segment", whereas "a slice of years" draws a blank. In fact, if you search google you will find "a slice of time" to be quite common, but "a slice of years" is almost non-existing.

Another one is a "constellation of lights" (street lights) as in "What do you think those clusters and colonies and constellations of lights in public parks, along bridges, strewn like illuminated marbles along city streets are supposed to do?" (http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/mnlastd/?page=jullieYapDaza_jan05_2005 )

When you feel pressured, what do you feel? You feel as if a mountain is on top of you. So why not use “a mountain of pressure”, instead of some other figurative?
A wealth of information for a host of student makes a lot of sense, while a host of information for a wealth of students does not.
==
Singular or Plural verb? Usually, "a/an xxx' of " yyy" is plural if "yyy" is countable, while "the xxx" of "yyy" is singular. However, if you want to refer to the group as a whole and not as individuals, use the singular verb.

平安是福 - 2008-11-6 11:37:00

The Yeti:
我看了您的原创文章，全英文的，虽然对我来说有点难但是我觉得对我的学习有帮助！谢谢您的指点！

babymayue - 2008-11-8 15:41:00

oh god save me !

TheYeti - 2008-11-19 6:52:00

Signing off a letter.
很久以前我第一次助一位中国的年青女孩子润色一本翻译文章时，收到她的来信，信收尾(下款)她写了 “Yours, xyz". 这使我吓了一跳。为什么这个女孩子这么”先进“，对一个初次接触的老头子如此亲热。我在中学时，作文老师(英国人) 明明指出 “Yours," 是只能写亲密后数年间，看到很多的 ”请修改“ 的学生习作，到是收尾(下款)写了 “Yours, xyz” (甚至那些 "Letter to university president complaining about the clearniness of school cafeteria; complaint to a book store; job application letter...etc.), 我才知道这些人给别人误导了。

最近我在网上看到一些母语人士所写有关写信收尾用词的文章，也没有对非亲密人用 "Yours," 结尾的。只有看到一篇有关 Jane Austen 喜欢用 "Yours," 来写信收尾，想起中国大陆喜欢用这本书来做读品，是不是学生(或一小部份的老师)以为是普通用法? Let me assure you that is NOT standard usage!
===================================
Here are the rules:
1. Start with a capitalized letter and ends with a comma. The comma is very important. It is part of grammar.
2. For causual acquaintaines and friend:
Yours sincerely,
Sincerely,
Sincerely yours,
3. For close friends, relatives etc.
Yours affectionately,
Affectionatel yours,
Yours faithfully, (*please note: "Yours Faithfully," can be used in certain occasions in correspondences in certain business or formal corrrespondences.)
(Occasionally: Yours,)
4. For business and other formal letters,
Yours Truly,
Yours Sincerely,
Very truly yours,
Respectfully,
Yours truly,
Sincerely yours,
Sincerely,
Yours Cordially,
6. For intimate friends,
Yours,
Yours affectionately,
Yours Faithfully,
===
Here are some reference materials for you.
http://www.businesswritingblog.com/business_writing/2006/01/with_best_wishe.html
With Best Wishes
Many people are visiting this site in search of answers to their etiquette questions. One popular query is "How do I end a letter?" Another is "Is Best regards acceptable?"
It's the "complimentary close" or "complimentary closing" that business writers are wondering about, those phrases that come before the signature in a letter:
Very truly yours,
Respectfully,
Yours truly,
Sincerely yours,
Sincerely,
Best regards,
Regards,
Cordially,
With many thanks,
Warm wishes,
All of the complimentary closes above are perfectly acceptable, and choosing one is a matter of taste and fit. The first three are reserved for formal situations. The next, "Sincerely yours," is a bit formal, but it's also a standard close. Number 5, "Sincerely," is the most common close used. If you're not sure which close fits, choose "Sincerely."
"Best regards" has become more and more common, and it may soon eclipse "Sincerely" in popularity. "Regards" is the minimalist version of it. I don't like "Regards," since I prefer that people's regard for me be their "best" or at least "warm."
"Cordially" means "warmly" and "sincerely," but the word feels too reserved to me. I prefer "Warm wishes" or "Sincerely," which both feel warmer. But it's a question of preference--not appropriateness. I simply don't prefer "Cordially."
"With many thanks" has its proper place. However, the words "Thank you" are not a complimentary close--they are a sentence. They belong in the body of the letter with a period at the end.
The proper close for a letter of sympathy or condolence is one of these, or something similar:
With deepest sympathy,
With condolences,
In sympathy,
Sincerely yours,
As you have probably noticed, only the first word of the complimentary close is capitalized, despite the title of this post.
In business writing classes, people have asked, "Do I have to write Sincerely if I can't stand the person and I don't feel sincere?" The answer is yes. "Sincerely" is a much more gracious close than "Spitefully" or "With strong malice." (Note: I am joking. The two previous closes would never be used in a business letter.) Besides, "Sincerely" communicates positive energy and a knowledge of proper etiquette.
Warm regards,
Lynn
==
http://www.aenglish.net/writing-letters/complimentary-closings
Writing Letters - Complimentary Closings
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Always begin the complementary closing with a capital letter and conclude with a comma.
An honest and serious note - Yours sincerely, / Sincerely yours, / Sincerely,
To an older person - Respectfully yours, / Yours respectfully,
An informal letter - With regards, / Best regards,
Good luck letter - Best wishes,
Strong friendship of trust - Faithfully yours, / Yours faithfully,
Wanting something - Yours hopefully,
Expecting a quick reply - Hoping to hear from you.
Appreciative letter - Many thanks,
Strong friendship of devotion - Yours truly,

TheYeti - 2008-11-25 12:03:00

The topic in the essay writing part of a recent CET test was about the trend of Chinese celebrating "外国节日". Many students used the phrase "western festivals" for "外国节日". That is incorrect.
If you bump into an American or an Englishman on the street and you asked him/her what festivals he/she has in his/her countries, chances are he/she will say, " Music festivals, film festivals, folk art festivals...", but he/she will not say "Thanksgiving, Valentine's day..etc.", because those are not considered as "festivals.
In English. Christmas, New Year, and Thanksgiving are not called "festivals." They are "public holidays." In fact, the last week of December is usually referred to as "the Holiday Season."

Days such as Father's Day, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, Halloween,...have no special designates; they are just "special days" in the calendar.

The word 节日 and festival do not carry the same meaning in both languages.

A festival in English is an event, or a set of events hosted specially for an occasion, or presented under a certain theme: the Jazz Festival, the Hot Air Balloon Festival, the Dragon Boat (race) Festival (yes, dear readers, Dragon Boat Race has become quite popular in some major western cities.)

One can talk about "the festivities" over the holiday season, such as " Christmas Holiday festivities", but one does not refer to Christmas or New Year Day itself as a "festival."
***Please note: western media reports Chinese public holidays in the same way Chinese media reports them in English, i.e. using the word "Festival."
Update 1:A week ago I heard on the TV business news channel an anchorman mentioning that "Japan has a lot more public holidays than the United States", and he when on to mention a few, all of which would have been called节日 in Chinese.
Update II: In French, however 节日, both public holidays and festivals are called "Fête".
The French word "Fête" means both a festival and a public holiday. 节日 can, therefore, be translated as Fête in French.
A week ago I notice two bilingual (Fr and Eng) store signs that shows the difference between the use of Fête and public holidays.
Sign #1. Exclusivment pour les fête
Exclusive for the holidays.
Sign #2
Nous aussi, on aime les fête!
We love the holidays too!

天使之泪 - 2008-11-25 13:19:00

[onion1] 学习了，您的知识真的是很渊博啊！请多多来我们这里赐教啊！感激感激！

TheYeti - 2008-12-17 3:29:00

作业上常见大毛病: 冗长累赘的句子
As this is a rather important topic, and that the article is quite long, I put it down as a separate topic in a thread of its own: http://bbs.veduchina.com/showtopic-48351-1.aspx#139517

好好爱 - 2008-12-20 20:08:00

很棒啦·~~:Z

TheYeti - 2008-12-21 4:20:00

A few years ago when I helped someone with his translation in another forum I used the term "guest" for "hotel customers". This person immediately objected, saying that these are not "guests", they are paying customers. Well, I had to explain to him that paying or not, hotels call their customerss guests.
Customers in the hospitality trade ( hotels, resorts) are "guests." (Jjust visit any hotel web site and you will see that they call their customers guests.)
Customers to bars and restaurants are "patrons." (Patron to bars and other favourite "watering holes.") Concert, theatre (live theatre, not movie theatres), operas...goers are "patrons" of the arts.
Clients are customers of professional such as lawyers, accountants, real estate agents, banks, investment brokers...(Except for doctors, who, of course, have "patients") However, in recent decades, there is a tendency for many "upscale" establishments to call their customers "clients" (Beauty salons, auction houses e.g.) . Many big businesses (e.g. Engineering firms) have "clients", and most of the service industry also have "clients."
Ahem...Customers for ladies of the nights (street walkers) are call Johns. The satirical expression is "client" because prostitution is known as "the oldest profession in the world." (作者: Yeti 2005-7-30 14:24:41 出处http://www.rainlane.com/dispbbs.asp?BoardID=11&ID=16853 )
=
Clientele is a collection of clients, customers or both (see difference between clients and customers.) E.g. Our clientele is the jet set. =The segment of clients and customers we cater to are the well-off. (Jet set means the upper middle class, frequently travelling, world smart class of people. In the old days, before the advent of mass travels, only the "well-heeled" can afford to travel by jet.)
A consumer is anyone who spends money buying a good or a service.
Buyer refers to people who buy an object. Technically, when you go to see a lawyer or an accountant, you are "buying his service." But in everyday use, the "you" in this context is referred to as a consumer in the "service industry."

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