Job Discussion Forums

[sheeba]

So my ex Chinese co-worker mailed me today with one of her grammar problems. I�m a little confused myself. Please criticise my reply as I am not confident I gave her the correct advice.

Her email was �

and here i got a question in my textbook, hope that you can give me a help.
this is a multiple choice.
The online _______ consists of recently-taken photographs from six Jewish communities in Arab lands.
A. display B. exhibition C.exposition
The correct answer is B, but i wonder why A is wrong, for display also means exhibition according to the dictionary. i feel a little puzzled.

could you give me an explanation? Great thanks!


Eileen




My reply �(which probably confused the pants off her!)


I must admit the textbook you use often confuses me with its finicky discrepancies of English words. I too would originally see nothing wrong with display. I think exhibition is probably is a more exaggerated way of expressing display. Exhibition is clearly stating something that is publicly displayed but with a larger emphasis. Anything online is publicly displayed to a huge audience on the internet. I have seen English usage of online display but I guess exhibition just assures the reader of its publicity on a larger scale - You can't get larger than the internet for public displays!!

My girlfriend used to say to me when I was drunk and loud - 'Stop making an exhibition of yourself' - She also has said 'stop making a display of yourself' but 'exhibition' is a more exaggerated expression - Like I am showing myself up to a wider audience than that of just 'displaying ' myself. If she wanted to exaggerate 'display' she could say 'he made a huge display of himself last night.' That to me sounds as exaggerated as 'Exhibition ' on its own. Of course you can also say 'He made a huge exhibition ' which is even more emphatic.

[Spiderman Too]

Firstly I will tell you that my instinctive choice was B. exhibition.

My Wordweb computer dictionary offers the following definitions;

exhibition - a collection of things for public display

exposition - a collection of things for public display

display - exhibiting openly in public view

So, it would seem that any of the words could be correct for the sentence.

However, based on the little knowledge I have about Chinese exams, the student was probably asked to choose the BEST answer.

Which word would be the best answer? My guess is the most commonly used word, and that's the explanation I would have offered to Eileen. That is to say, Eileen was being asked to choose the word that she thinks most people would use/say. Right or wrong, this explanation sounds feasible, yes?

Returning to the exam question, I originally thought that exhibition would have been the most commonly used word.

A 'Google' search revealed the following;

online exhibition - 43,000,000 results
online display - 213,000,000 results
online exposition - 5,520,000 results

I would use the expression 'online exhibition' but most people apparently would use the term 'online display'.

Nothwithstanding the popularity of 'online display' I still would have told Eilleen that B. exhibition is correct because it's the word most native English speakers would use. It's an explanation that she can probably understand and accept.

[MoggIntellect]

According to www.m-w.com (Merriam-Webster), diplay has one meaning of "exhibit ostentaiously", and all the other meanings do not hint at the public nature of an exhibit.

Also, an exhibition seems to be of more importance than display. Exhibition: a public showing (as of works of art, objects of manufacture, or athletic skill)

[Spiderman Too]

MoggIntellect you need to revisit www.m-w.com and look at the definition of display as a noun, not a verb.

[Sextus]

Surely the point is the photos; photos are normally collected in exhibitions; therefore what was to be shown on the website was an exhibition (in a transferred and figurative sense?)-- not just because of what it did, i.e., put something on public view; but because of what was put on public view: id est, photographs.

Am I wrong or what?

[Brian Caulfield]

It must be exhibition because Jewish people are very against having any displays made of their culture.

[latefordinner]

Silly me, I thought the point of the exercise was the uselessness of the Chinese exam question. Or should that be the futility, or the absence of utility?
What's the difference between a Chinese professor of linguistics setting an exam and a monkey examining a watch? One day a monkey will learn to tell time

[Brian Caulfield]

I have found that the best policy here is not to look at the Chinese English Exams . They try to make an art into a science . I just try to provide an atmosphere where students can use the language without fear of being punished for making mistakes . Another problem with the listening parts of exams is the tone of the speakers . Many of these tests you must hear the tone of the voice of the speaker to understand the correct response .

[erinyes]

Can i take over the thread?

What whould you say...

The time and location of the holiday "has" not been decided yet.
The time and location of the holiday "have" not been decided yet.

I really think I would say 'has' but according the the rules of grammar two things 'have' not been decided.

[MoggIntellect]

[Calories]

'has' is probably what most people would say but, have is the correct. Imagine saying 'these things has not been...' sounds wrong. When two things are labelled seperately people often think of the last noun and not the list of nouns.

I would have picked exhibition because display makes me think of a grocery store stocked with soup.