Two characters, Scythe Master and Claudia, are having a conversation in this book I’m translating. The first speaker is Scythe. (Bolded part is what I’m 87% sure is a rhetorical question, based on what comes before and after it’s said.) “Already arrangements to locate his immigration documents are underway, in addition to a method of … Read more
I was wondering if saying “book accommodation at your hotel” is right or should I say, “book the hotel” or something like that. thanks Answer “Book accommodation at your hotel” sounds a little strange. Perhaps you could phrase it as: “I would like to reserve a (family/single/double) room for three nights.” “I would like to … Read more
What does the phrase in bold mean? This is given in the book “David Copperfield” by Charles Dickens. The sentence: He was quite bald. His clothes were shabby but he had an air of great importance. His name was Mr Micawber. Answer It means that other people perceive him as important. He gives that impression, … Read more
“It was papa made me leave. I am a boy and I must obey him.” “I know,” the old man said. “It is quite normal.” “He hasn’t much faith.” “No,” the old man said. “But we have. Haven’t we?” Hemingway, Ernest. The Old Man and the Sea (p. 2). Green Light. Kindle Edition. Does “No,” … Read more
Writing a novel. Are the names of statues italicized in a books? Answer Style guides seem to be all over the place on this question. For example, The Oxford Guide to Style (2002), at section 6.3, comes out four-square for italics: Use italics for the titles of paintings, sculptures, and other works of art: [Relevant … Read more
The quote is: But we should have been wary of answering back (to the questions of aliens), until we have develop a bit further. Meeting a more advanced civilisation (aliens from other planets), at our present stage (at the current stage of the human beings), might be a bit like the original inhabitants of America … Read more
Can you please explain to me, why sometimes there’s no article in the movie or book titles, even if these titles are singular count nouns. For example: “Junky” by William S. Burroughs or “Alien” by Ridley Scott. Edit: I know they could also be titled: “A Junky”, “The Junky”, “An Alien” and “The Alien”. Would … Read more
In writing, mainly seen in novel writing, how should we put a word that doesn’t exist? for example, “We’re screwed beyond levels of screwedness.” Please don’t tell me that’s too unprofessional and I need to change the sentence with a substitute word that exists. I’ve seen made up words in some novels, but I can’t … Read more
I know that you underline – or if you’re typing, you put the words in italics – the titles of books, and that you put chapters or quotations from a book in “quotes,” but do you do anything to the font of a series of books; for example, Ranger’s Apprentice? I’m using this in an … Read more
Sometimes there are marginal letters in old books that serve as sort of an indexing mechanism. An example is shown in the detail below: What are these elements of the book called? Answer Hans H. Wellisch, librarian, scholar, and one-time president of the American Society of Indexers, uses the term locator or index locator to … Read more
