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Re: I Need Help From All You Native Speakers Once Again

Started by OldGit, December 14, 2014, 10:30:54 AM

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xSilverPhinx

I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


xSilverPhinx

Quick question: when talking about a survey, is it better to say "best and worst scores" or "highest and lowest scores"? :notsure:
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


Recusant

Snipped the beginning of some long-winded blather about relative meaning of "response" and "score." :)

"Highest and lowest" doesn't imply a value judgement in the way that "best and worst" does. It's purely a description of the survey result. If your intention is to convey a matter of fact rather than your evaluation of that fact, I'd say it's better to avoid even implying a value judgement.
"Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration — courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and above all, love of the truth."
— H. L. Mencken


xSilverPhinx

Quote from: Recusant on November 29, 2018, 12:15:50 AM
Snipped the beginning of some long-winded blather about relative meaning of "response" and "score." :)

"Highest and lowest" doesn't imply a value judgement in the way that "best and worst" does. It's purely a description of the survey result. If your intention is to convey a matter of fact rather than your evaluation of that fact, I'd say it's better to avoid even implying a value judgement.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking, in the case of this survey, the results are numbers and statistical outcomes, so I imagine "highest and lowest" are the better terms. :)

Thanks, Recusant!  :thumbsup:
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


xSilverPhinx

Does it make sense to say a certain factor promotes the onset of a disease? What word would it be better to use instead? :notsure:
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


jumbojak


"Amazing what chimney sweeping can teach us, no? Keep your fire hot and
your flue clean."  - Ecurb Noselrub

"I'd be incensed by your impudence were I not so impressed by your memory." - Siz

Bluenose

Promotes implies some sort of causative effect, whereas precedes merely means that it happens before.  So it depends on what you are trying to convey.
Maybe you are looking for exacerbates, which basically means that although the factor may or may not be causative, it makes the condition worse.
+++ Divide by cucumber error: please reinstall universe and reboot.  +++

GNU Terry Pratchett


xSilverPhinx

Sorry, should have added more context. I forget there's no such thing as mind-reading. ;D (As of yet. :worried:)

I'm looking for a word that implies a causative effect, such as in the case of the accumulation of a certain protein in a person which may lead to the development of a chronic condition. The onset of the disease was due to the protein.
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


jumbojak

Why not just say that it caused the disease then?

"Amazing what chimney sweeping can teach us, no? Keep your fire hot and
your flue clean."  - Ecurb Noselrub

"I'd be incensed by your impudence were I not so impressed by your memory." - Siz

xSilverPhinx

Quote from: jumbojak on December 10, 2018, 02:17:57 AM
Why not just say that it caused the disease then?

That's what I ended up putting.  ;D

I don't know why I like to complicate things.  ::)
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


hermes2015

"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames

xSilverPhinx

I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


xSilverPhinx

I have another question. :grin:

What would be a good word for devastating cancer? My aunt asked me to help with an abstract, and in it, they wrote 'violent cancer', but it's a literal translation and just doesn't seem right in English. Does 'severe cancer' work? :notsure:
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey


Sandra Craft

I think "severe" would work, also "traumatic" and for that matter "devastating".  Altho I suppose it depends on whether you're describing the cancer's physical or emotional effects.  Rapid and progressive could work for a more physical description.  I know there's a better word, but I just can't remember it.
Sandy

  

"Life is short, and it is up to you to make it sweet."  Sarah Louise Delany

xSilverPhinx

Quote from: Sandra Craft on December 13, 2018, 11:57:11 PM
I think "severe" would work, also "traumatic" and for that matter "devastating".  Altho I suppose it depends on whether you're describing the cancer's physical or emotional effects.  Rapid and progressive could work for a more physical description.  I know there's a better word, but I just can't remember it.

They're describing physical effects. 'Rapid and progressive' captures the meaning but there is a word limit so maybe it could be called 'aggressive cancer' instead? Or 'fast-growing cancer'? :notsure:
I am what survives if it's slain - Zack Hemsey