The English Language

A section to discuss matters not related to Chess in particular.
soheil_hooshdaran
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Re: The English Language

Post by soheil_hooshdaran » Sat Nov 28, 2020 2:24 pm

David Sedgwick wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 12:43 pm
soheil_hooshdaran wrote:
Sat Nov 28, 2020 12:24 pm
What does it mean if banks pull back on lending?
It means that they restrict lending. This happened after the 2008 financial crisis, when banks were required to strengthen their balance sheet by regulators across the world. Are you referring to Obama's memoirs of that period?
Yes

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IM Jack Rudd
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Re: The English Language

Post by IM Jack Rudd » Sat Nov 28, 2020 10:26 pm

"The sheer amount of X..." is probably best translated as "The amount of X was so large that it...", but I'd need to see the full sentence to be sure.

soheil_hooshdaran
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Re: The English Language

Post by soheil_hooshdaran » Sun Nov 29, 2020 8:14 am

, and because of the seer amount of money involved, the result could be an economic crisis the likes of which we hadn't seen in our lifetimes.

Reg Clucas
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Re: The English Language

Post by Reg Clucas » Sun Nov 29, 2020 9:13 pm

soheil_hooshdaran wrote:
Sun Nov 29, 2020 8:14 am
, and because of the seer amount of money involved, the result could be an economic crisis the likes of which we hadn't seen in our lifetimes.
In this context it means "..only because of the amount of money...", i.e. not because of any other reason. It is not necessarily a reference to size when used like this.

soheil_hooshdaran
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Re: The English Language

Post by soheil_hooshdaran » Mon Nov 30, 2020 7:56 pm

Thanks.
What's the difference between
This may have put me ahead of the curve compared to other presidential candidates
and
This may have put ahead of other presidential candidates
?

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IM Jack Rudd
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Re: The English Language

Post by IM Jack Rudd » Tue Dec 01, 2020 12:32 am

They're different concepts. Ahead on its own here would refer to leads in the election itself, or in the polling of the upcoming election. Ahead of the curve refers to having better knowledge of how things were likely to pan out.

soheil_hooshdaran
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Re: The English Language

Post by soheil_hooshdaran » Sun Dec 06, 2020 8:29 am

Thanks.
What's a quick smile?

John McKenna

Re: The English Language

Post by John McKenna » Sun Dec 06, 2020 4:44 pm

Here's an example in the context of breaking the ice in the cold war when smiles between adversaries were few, far between and fleeting -

"Chou gave me a quick smile and took it. It was the first step in putting
the legacy of the past behind us. Unlike Mao, Chou had lived abroad..." (Henry Kissinger)

soheil_hooshdaran
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Re: The English Language

Post by soheil_hooshdaran » Tue Dec 08, 2020 7:34 am

What is a "crisp" uniform?

soheil_hooshdaran
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Re: The English Language

Post by soheil_hooshdaran » Wed Dec 09, 2020 11:49 am

What does "so often" mean?
", which so often felt like an elaborate game,"

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Matt Mackenzie
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Re: The English Language

Post by Matt Mackenzie » Wed Dec 09, 2020 1:43 pm

"so often" = "frequently" or "regularly".
"Set up your attacks so that when the fire is out, it isn't out!" (H N Pillsbury)

Reg Clucas
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Re: The English Language

Post by Reg Clucas » Wed Dec 09, 2020 4:50 pm

Matt Mackenzie wrote:
Wed Dec 09, 2020 1:43 pm
"so often" = "frequently" or "regularly".
In fact it really just means 'often'. The 'so' is not necessary.

soheil_hooshdaran
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Re: The English Language

Post by soheil_hooshdaran » Thu Dec 10, 2020 2:01 am

Thanks

soheil_hooshdaran
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Re: The English Language

Post by soheil_hooshdaran » Thu Dec 10, 2020 4:39 pm

What is the horse-race aspect of something?
Last edited by soheil_hooshdaran on Fri Dec 11, 2020 1:51 am, edited 1 time in total.

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IM Jack Rudd
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Re: The English Language

Post by IM Jack Rudd » Thu Dec 10, 2020 5:50 pm

In the context of politics, it means the coverage of politics in terms of election results and polling, as opposed to coverage of issues and policy positions.