Thread: Foreign language bar

Hi everyone:
I am a guy whosefirst language is not English. Sometimes I feel hard to understand what anEnglish word means exactly even resorting to dictionary or machine. So, I startthis thread to learn English. Any help will be appreciated.
Thank you.

Liqiang Chen 陈力强
Sept 27, 2020

In the prelude of the Star Wars Episode 7, there is a sentence “Luke skywalker has vanished”. I know that there is an English word “miss” which is similar to “vanish”. My first question here is that if the above sentence can be written as “Luke skywalker has missed”? Anyone can help? Thanks.

You could say "Luke Skywalker is missing "

Almost the same.

@ geordief:
Thank you. I got it.
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If I haven’t seen an oldfriend for quite a long time and hope to see him, then, I say: “I miss him”. Ioften feel confusing because it sounds “I lost him”…

You can mislay your keys.

To miss an old friend means the separation hurts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuRxXRuAz-I

@ geordief:
Thank you. I got it: "mislay" is similar to "lost"

Originally Posted by htam9876

@ geordief:
Thank you. I got it: "mislay" is similar to "lost"

It is like when you leave your keys somewhere and you can't remember where it was you put them.

They are mislaid and when you give up searching you admit they are lost.

What’s the subtle difference between the word “image”, “photo”, “picture”, “portrait” in English?
Anyone can help? Thanks.

Well a photo is an image taken by a camera.

A portrait is a particular kind of a painting. (often of a person)

Every word has its own shades of meaning .

An image (and a picture) can be physical or in the mind.

@ geordief:
Thank you.
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And what does "gravition" mean exactly in English?

"Gravition" is a misspelling.

Do you mean "gravitation" or "graviton" or something else?

@ geordief:
Oh, I misspelled. We are habitual to read Chinese. The Chinese characters are just small squares and easy to read while English words are so long and hard to read / spell. I know what gravitation or graviton mean in English. Thank you.
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What does "upstate" mean in English?

New York State is one of the USA's 52 (I think) States.

It is composed of the City of New York ,which is the capital and its largest city and,

in addition there are ,of course other smaller towns as well as rural areas .

Upstate New York seems to refer to these areas that are outside the City of New York itself but within the geographical region of New York State.

Possibly (I cannot say for sure) it refers to the regions at some distance from New York City itself.

I have visited it once ,about 40 years ago and it is extremely beautiful as well as being,at that time one of the wealthiest parts of the USA .

@ geordief:
Thank you.
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There is another word “diagram” similar to “picture”. Does the word “diagram” specially mean “sketch” which try to demonstrate what to say?

Originally Posted by htam9876

@ geordief:
Thank you.
…………………………….
There is another word “diagram” similar to “picture”. Does the word “diagram” specially mean “sketch” which try to demonstrate what to say?

Yes ,that is it.A diagram of the human body would probably show and name all the important features whereas a picture of a human body might just be a picture .

@ geordief:
Thank you. Your explanation is very clear and useful.
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A bit regrettable, I failed to attach any "diagram"...

What's " mining physicists " mean exactly in English? Anyone can help? Thanks.

The term I used was "quote mining". It means taking isolated quotes out of context to support a position proposed by a fool that the quoted author does not hold or support.

"isolated quotes out of context"?
https://physicshelpforum.com/threads...291/post-49254
@ phdemon:
Thank you for your praise of "physicist". In fact, I am just a tramp in cosmos.