The English Language

[soheil_hooshdaran]

Thanks

[soheil_hooshdaran]

What's the difference between elementary, beginner, and novice?

[David Sedgwick]

What's the difference between elementary, beginner, and novice?

Elementary is an adjective. Beginner and novice are nouns.

There is little if any difference between beginner and novice. You may recall that many months ago I explained that for historical reasons the English language often has several words which mean much the same thing. This is an example of that.

[soheil_hooshdaran]

What does it mean if an exercise resists you?

[Nick Ivell]

It probably means that you're lazy and don't want to do the exercise!

A common problem in chess. How many of us need to improve our endgame? And how many of us avoid doing anything about it?

[Nick Ivell]

It probably means that you're lazy and don't want to do the exercise!

A common problem in chess. How many of us need to improve our endgame? And how many of us avoid doing anything about it?

[MJMcCready]

Everyone on the planet needs to improve their endgame play, at best 1% bother to.

[soheil_hooshdaran]

Thanks
It is a mistake to expect the music of fear to be like the soundtrack of a bad horror movie, door creaking, bat wings flapping, and the backward whispers of ancient Greek.
What's "backward whisper?

[soheil_hooshdaran]

Thanks
It is a mistake to expect the music of fear to be like the soundtrack of a bad horror movie, door creaking, bat wings flapping, and the backward whispers of ancient Greek.
What's "backward whisper?

[John McKenna]

"Blunder I do and win shall thee. Blunder I not toil away thou bonelocker's brain go be do."

Why "thou bonelocker's brain"?

Why not - thine bonelocker's brain?

Thanks
It is a mistake to expect the music of fear to be like the soundtrack of a bad horror movie, door creaking, bat wings flapping, and the backward whispers of ancient Greek.
What's "backward whisper?

Sounds like another unattributed quotation.

I'd say "backward whispers of ancient Greek" are an old incantation of some kind - probably of a religious nature.

"Backward whispers" probably means words that are just audible that originate back in time - hence they are in the "ancient" as opposed to the modern Greek language. (It is possible that the whispered words are actually being pronounced backwards, in some form, but that is unlikely.)

Usually in horror films such "backward whispers" are in the Latin language, which like "ancient Greek" is an old dead language and therefore suitable for the horror movie genre.

[soheil_hooshdaran]

And why did he say backward, not old or past?

[John McKenna]

It would seem that the "backwards whispers " may indeed be pronounced backwards in horror movies because -

The Black Mass: The entire Roman Catholic litergy of the Mass is performed backwards, or in reverse. Everything is read backwards, or in reversed speech.

Therefore "backward", in your original quotation, is probably meant to invoke the ritual world of the occult.

I've never been a fan of such films, but they are very popular in N. America, so if I was going to watch one these days I'd try this -

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bone_Eater

[soheil_hooshdaran]

Thanks.

What does retract mean in:

each time my mind goes there, I stop myself, and though it is not clear where my thoughts retract to, there is often a lull;

[John McKenna]

Think of the thoughts being withdrawn (retracted) into some other area of the mind - in a similar way to the head and legs of a tortoise being withdrawn into its shell.

[soheil_hooshdaran]

Thanks.
What does determined mean in:
It is responsible for the hesitation that delays some free-soloing rock climbers hundreds of feet above the ground from grabbing a tiny handhold during a crux move; it is determined to prevent them from continuing their ascent