slangusageword-choice
I just saw the movie Diary of a Wimpy Kid. The wide boy said, "Do you want to come to my home and play?" But the main character wanted him to say "hang out," and people around them jeered at the wide boy.
So, what's the difference between hang out and play?
The format what a [positively/negatively-qualified] noun is/are + [pronoun] is hopelessly archaic. Native speakers are familiar with it from an early age, because it survives in nursery rhymes...
The same non-standard "verb + subject" order is also "mocked" by Yoda's grammar in Star Wars...
In modern English they'd always be expressed as What a good boy I am!, Vader is strong, I am strong.
It's also worth noting that "Isn't it a good song?" would never be expanded to "Is not it a good song?". This particular contracted format (and the "tag question" version "It's a good song, isn't it?") are very common today, but if a native speaker had to avoid contractions, they'd switch the order to is it not?
The "verb + [pro]noun" reversal of "It's a good song, isn't it?" is standard for tag questions (or indeed, any question of the general form "Is it a good song?"), but it's no longer current in many other contexts.
I see OP's second alternative "Isn't it a good song?" as a reordering of "It's a good song, isn't it?". It's not likely to be a genuine question - almost certainly the speaker thinks it is a good song, and doesn't expect an answer in the negative.
Because of potential conflation with the rhetorical/tag question form, if the speaker really didn't know, and was asking whether the song was in fact "not good", he'd probably say "Is it not a good song?"
Sure, we can say that.
Stop making so much noise out there! I'm trying to take a nap. Let me rest in peace.
Of course, rest in peace is an idiom often applied to the deceased, so such a request may be met with a few giggles. However, there's nothing grammatically or semantically wrong with that request, and its meaning seems clear from the context.
As to how to avoid conjuring up the dead (pun intended), a common idiom is do not disturb, which is how many hotels opt to word it.
So, one alternative might be:
Stop making so much noise out there! I'm trying to take a nap – please don't disturb me.
Or, the peacefully part can simply be inferred from context:
Stop making so much noise out there! I'm trying to take a nap. Please stay quiet, so I can rest.
After all, how else would we want to rest?
Best Answer
As other answers already say, hanging out sounds less childish than play.
There's a slight difference in meaning, though, too.
The word play often connotes playing around with some toy or game: playing marbles, playing with dolls, playing with Legos, etc.
The term hang out refers to spending time together, but not necessarily doing anything in particular: hanging out at the mall, hanging out after school.
When kids are hanging out, they are probably just standing and talking – usually at some location away from home. If they are playing, then that gets associated with playing some game or sport.
Another key is that play sounds childish by itself. Much like in the movie, a teenager is susceptible to being mocked if he says, "Anybody wanna play?" However, that same teen could probably get away with something like, "Anybody wanna play basketball?"