Sept. 13, 2024
'Catch somebody on the hop', 'the clerisy', and 'litotes'
The number of votes was low, and sometimes I had to choose the winner from the words with the highest results.
To catch somebody on the hop (informal) has nothing to do with jumping on one foot or with both feet together. Hops are 'the green female flowers of the hop plant that have been dried and used for making beer'. They have a form of cones that were picked by hand in the past. The process was time-consuming, and, according to an unverified source, men used to pick the cones instead of doing their work. Sometimes they were caught by the employer on the hop literally. I suggest another explanation: hops were not theirs, and the men were stealing them. Anyway, they were caught on the hop, which wasn't good for them.
The clerisy is less common than the literati. The clerisy are experts in a specific field, while the literati enjoy literature and arts. Both words are formal.
Litotes is an 'ironic understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary (e.g. I shan't be sorry for I shall be glad)'. If you still remember it, this word was always on the list of the means of expression on the Unified State Exam in the Russian language but never was the answer. I think we use litotes a lot in common speech.
I cannot use italics here, as I could in the original: https://t.me/english_grail/103. Please check the post before correcting the text.
TheSince the total number of votes was low, andI sometimes I had to choose the winner from amongst the words with the highest resultvotes.
"To catch somebody on the hop" (informal) has nothing to do with jumping on one foot or with both feet together.
Hops are 'the green female flowers of the hop plant that have been dried and used for making beer'in beer-making for centuries.
"have been" without some additional context (e.g. "for centuries") doesn't sound right.
Alternative, replace "have been" with "are":
"Hops are the green female flowers of the hop plant that are dried and used for making beer"
They have a form of conform into cone-shapes that were picked by hand in the past.
Alternative:
"They flower into cones that were picked by hand in the past." (we can infer that 'cone' refers to the shape in this sentence)
The process was time-consuming, and, according to an unverified source, men used to pick the cones instead of doing their work.
Sometimes they were caught by the employer literally on the hop literally.
I suggest another explanation: the hops were not theirs, and the men were stealing them.
The clerisy isare less common than the literati.
Since these refer to groups of people, we would use 'are' for the comparison.
If you are talking about the words, you would say:
"The word clerisy is less common than literati"
The clerisy are experts in a specific field, while the literati enjoy literature and the arts.
In English, we use "the arts" to cover a range of things (drawing, theatre, acting, dancing, etc.). In British English, you would often hear things like this in the news:
"This year, funding for the arts is being slashed due to budget cuts"
Example: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/jun/29/what-14-years-of-tory-rule-have-done-to-the-arts.
The use of the word "the" is rather important in this specific context.
(If you use the singular form of "art", then we typically think of paintings/drawings specifically).
Both words are formal.
If you still remember it, this word was always on the list of the means of expression on the Unified State Exam in the Russian language but was never was thethe correct answer.
Feedback
Well done.. this is some very complex language, indeed.
As a native speaker, I have never come across the word 'clerisy'. I have come across the word 'litotes' and knew vaguely what it meant but needed to look it up to. I say this as I wonder what the intention is behind your writing and have two thoughts/concerns:
[1] Unless you are writing in very specific contexts, then this type of language would not be understood by most English speakers. For example, you could not ask someone on the street anything about the 'clerisy' as they would have no idea about the word at all. Keep this in mind as you will need to explain the word every time you use it.
[2] As a language learner, you may be investing your time learning things that will have very, very low utility to you. Your English is very advanced (based on this post and others) but can't help feel concerned you might be learning things which very uncommon and, therefore, not useful. I can't imagine anyone finding many contexts to write or talk about 'litotes' or the 'cenozoic era'!
Of course, you own your language journey and I'm happy to help out with corrections and answer any questions :)
Sept. 16, 2024
Thank you once again for correcting my posts!
Concerning your concerns (no pun intended):
[1] While speaking with natives on the internet, I realised that one should indeed be accurate in using formal and rare vocabulary, so now I hone in on slight differences between different words and their appropriateness. No doubt this is one of the reasons why I started my English channel.
[2] Yes, you are right about that. I have misgivings about my approach, and the guilt of not paying enough attention to the basics haunts me. However, I often learn such rare words simultaneously in Russian and English, and that helps me to broaden my horizons. And vice versa. For example, I added 'the Cenozoic' and 'the Pleistocene' after visiting the Palaeologic Museum to help me remember the terms.
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'Catch somebody on the hop', 'the clerisy', and 'litotes' |
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The number of votes was low, and sometimes I had to choose the winner from the words with the highest results.
|
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To catch somebody on the hop (informal) has nothing to do with jumping on one foot or with both feet together. "To catch somebody on the hop" (informal) has nothing to do with jumping on one foot or with both feet together. |
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Hops are 'the green female flowers of the hop plant that have been dried and used for making beer'. Hops are "have been" without some additional context (e.g. "for centuries") doesn't sound right. Alternative, replace "have been" with "are": "Hops are the green female flowers of the hop plant that are dried and used for making beer" |
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They have a form of cones that were picked by hand in the past. They Alternative: "They flower into cones that were picked by hand in the past." (we can infer that 'cone' refers to the shape in this sentence) |
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The process was time-consuming, and, according to an unverified source, men used to pick the cones instead of doing their work. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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Sometimes they were caught by the employer on the hop literally. Sometimes they were caught by the employer literally on the hop |
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I suggest another explanation: hops were not theirs, and the men were stealing them. I suggest another explanation: the hops were not theirs, and the men were stealing them. |
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The clerisy is less common than the literati. The clerisy Since these refer to groups of people, we would use 'are' for the comparison. If you are talking about the words, you would say: "The word clerisy is less common than literati" |
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Anyway, they were caught on the hop, which wasn't good for them. |
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The clerisy are experts in a specific field, while the literati enjoy literature and arts. The clerisy are experts in a specific field, while the literati enjoy literature and the arts. In English, we use "the arts" to cover a range of things (drawing, theatre, acting, dancing, etc.). In British English, you would often hear things like this in the news: "This year, funding for the arts is being slashed due to budget cuts" Example: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/article/2024/jun/29/what-14-years-of-tory-rule-have-done-to-the-arts. The use of the word "the" is rather important in this specific context. (If you use the singular form of "art", then we typically think of paintings/drawings specifically). |
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Both words are formal. This sentence has been marked as perfect! |
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Litotes is an 'ironic understatement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its contrary (e.g. |
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I shan't be sorry for I shall be glad)'. |
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If you still remember it, this word was always on the list of the means of expression on the Unified State Exam in the Russian language but never was the answer. If you still remember |
|
I think we use litotes a lot in common speech. |
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