time to be true to my username once again

[howsmyenglish]

I am looking forward to the moment I'll say: OK, that's it, now this dissertation can be sent for proof-reading. I am so looking forward to that moment. It's not here yet, but I can almost smell it. Still, I can not leave everything for that moment, it will be too much. Some things need to be resolved right now. And this is one of them.

I'm translating from a South-Asian language. We have a boy, the boy had smallpox as a child, his face bears traces of it. And he says: "They hated me for my smallpox afflicted face and my one blind eye".

"smallpox afflicted face"? It sounded OK before, it doesn't now... What do you say? "face that was afflicted with smallpox"? by smallpox? words start to lose all meaning... *faints*

Comments

[smallhobbit]

Possibly 'They hated me for my pockmarked face from having smallpox and my one blind eye'

[howsmyenglish]

Pockmarked, yes! Thank you!

[havocthecat]

Smallpox-afflicted face is right! The only thing I'd do is stick a hyphen between "smallpox" and "afflicted" (as I did in order to demonstrate) if you're being a huge, huge stickler on English grammar. There's a specific rule that I can't quote off the top of my head, but I could look it up if you want me to.

You're worrying too much, you're fine. Your English is fine.

I'm so excited that you're almost done with your dissertation! That's a huge moment for you!

[howsmyenglish]

I do have this tendency to read a comment, reply to it in my head and consider the matter closed. But I just had to return to this one.
Thank you so much! It took me some time to understand why your words sounded so mind-blowing, considering that my husband has been saying the same for years. But then I got it: you are objective, you know the language, you see me use it. He has no idea about my field and does not know what and how I write. Anyhow, you are both right and your comment somehow came at exactly the time I needed to hear it to actually hear it. I am very grateful! :D

And yes, the hyphen made it clear to me. I sometimes mix up my languages and don't know in which one of them a thing is said and in which it isn't.

[havocthecat]

It's all good, life is busy and you're getting a PhD. Everyone I know in that field has their entire life taken over by that particular project. Goal. Both!

You're very welcome! I'm so glad I could help! English is both a delightful language (so many words!) and a colossal pain in the ass (so many words! so many rules!) and it's hard to know when to apply which rule (and you have pains in the ass like me who break them just now by putting exclamation marks in parentheticals, I'm sorry, but it was for legit emphasis in casual speech). Hugs if you want them!

I enjoy when you can post and comment, though, I think you're an amazing person and I know you're going to do amazing things when you finish your latest degree.

[howsmyenglish]

Did I already thank you? it doesn't feel like it was enough!
Hugs are always welcome! Hugs back!

[thanatos_kalos]

Smallpox-afflicted is fine; you could also say pockmarked (as noted above) or scarred or smallpox-scarred. The hyphen is there to show that both parts of the term are connected and functioning as an adjective ('scarred' is the past tense of 'scar' as well as an adjective...English is stupid, as I often tell my students :P).

I'm so happy you're nearly finished! Remember the saying: a dissertation can be perfect or it can be done. Always choose done. :)

[howsmyenglish]

Yes, yes. Oh, be done, you stupid dissertation!
Thank you for cheering me on all these years! (right??)
I am going to make it.

[thanatos_kalos]

<3 The feeling when it's done and submitted is amazing. It's a combination of elation and confusion (i.e., 'Why do I suddenly have s much free time?'). You're almost there!

[loganberrybunny]

Personally I would go with "my smallpox-scarred face" if you want the reader to glide across it. "Pockmarked", being a less common word, will stand out much more. So I suppose it depends what effect you want to have on your reader.

[howsmyenglish]

Thank you. Scarred is good, too. I think, I liked the "pockmarked" so much, because it sounds very familiar... what books have I been reading..?

[halfshellvenus]

"smallpox-afflicted face" is correct.

My rule for hyphenation for something like that is that if a phrase is a 'compound modifier', then it should be hyphenated. Otherwise, you have something like a string of nouns or adjectives and it's hard to see how they tie together.

'Pockmarked' is sometimes used to describe acne scars, so it's not quite the same connotation as the original, but I think the other kids' reaction to it would be the same, regardless.

[howsmyenglish]

I didn't expect anyone to go this far back in their reading list))) Thank you for commenting!
I just realized I don't know any hyphenation rules, I just sometimes feel that I need a hyphen. No idea, how right or wrong I am,. But this load of text is going to be proof-read, so I'll see then, I guess...

[havocthecat]

If you go and search up "Purdue OWL" that's a US uni grammar site that everyone uses because it's just that good and that will have the hyphenation rules for you. Well. You'll want to look up hyphenated adjectives, probably? I think that's where it's found?

ETA: Here, if you want to read up on the nitty-gritty of it:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/hyphen_use.html

[howsmyenglish]

Thanks again! :D
(I just realized yesterday that I still need to talk my German adviser into allowing me to use American English - and not British, which is common in European scholarly works...)