texts:
At the end of most movies I see the phrase "The end". Obviously the meaning of "end" here is clear, but I don't see a purpose for the "the" before it.

Would you elaborate why it goes before "end"?


texts:
I would like to describe the relationship between two start dates. I have been repeatedly using "start date of A precede the start date of B."

I am wondering if an alternative expression "start date of A takes precedence of the start date of B" can be used to say the A happens before B.

I've looked up the dictionary and it seems to me that A would have to be more important than B if this expression is to be used. However, A and B are equally important in my case.


texts: Question about tenses used in Seinfeld show: "what you were doing tomorrow night"

texts:
In the sentences

  "Did she even ask you what you were doing tomorrow night? If you were busy?"

occurring at about 0:42 - 0:43 in this clip, why was past tense used in "What you were doing tomorrow night", when he was speaking about the future?


texts: What's the difference between a proverb and an idiom?

texts: I think I have a notion what is what but maybe you know a good definition what is what? For example "Hindsight is always 20:20" — is that a proverb or an idiom?


texts: Would a comma go before an introductory phrase when a word such as "yesterday" goes before it?

texts:
I'm really confused about adding a comma before an introductory phrase. Here's my original sentence:

  "Yesterday I found Susan's missing cat."

I wanted to add the introductory phrase, "While I was getting the mail," after "yesterday," but I didn't know if the sentence should be written like this,

  "Yesterday while I was getting the mail, I found Susan's missing cat."

Or,

  "Yesterday, while I was getting the mail, I found Susan's missing cat."

Is a comma required after "yesterday" when an introductory phrase, such as "While I was getting the mail," or is it preference, just like how it's preference to have a comma after words such as "today," "yesterday," "now"?


texts: Is "Tsuki hits" an example of alliteration?

texts:
I understand alliteration to be "repetition of a sound in successive stressed syllables". Assuming that's correct then "Tsuki hits" should be alliterate (since stress pattern is "TSU-ki HITS"). But when I say 'hits', the 'ts' seems quieter and less forceful than the 'hi' despite being in the same syllable. While it falls under the definition, "Tsuki hits" doesn't feel like it should.

I'm wondering if this means that my understanding of alliteration is incorrect (e.g. it's not based on stressed syllables, but rather on some other word divisions) or if despite how it sounds to me, "Tsuki hits" is alliterate.


texts: Is there a term for "distinguishing between different concepts through the use of different, though synonymous, words"?

texts:
Background: A friend mentioned that he wanted to organise a board gaming tournament with 21 players. He opined that there ought to be a way to schedule seven 3-player games so that each player plays each of the seven games, and no player plays any opponent more than once. I replied that there is indeed such a way to schedule games:

ABC DEF GHI JKL MNO PQR STU
SQO ATR DBU GEC JHF MKI PNL
PKF SNI AQL DTO GBR JEU MHC
MER PHU SKC ANF DQI GTL JBO
JTI MBL PEO SHR AKU DNC GQF
GNU JQC MTF PBI SEL AHO DKR
DHL GKO JNR MQU PTC SBF AEI

My friend asked me to explain how I had come up with this scheme. I replied as follows:

"The players are arranged in three cohorts: ADGJMPS, BEHKNQT and CFILORU. The players in the first cohort appear first in each group, the players in the second cohort appear second in each group, and the players in the third cohort appear third. Each round, the players in the first cohort advance one group to the right; the players in the second cohort advance two groups to the right; and the players in the third cohort advance three groups to the right. The crucial reason why this approach works is that 7 is a prime number."

Question: The substance of my question is as follows. In my reply above, I used the words "cohort" and "group". These terms are synonymous, but I am using them to describe different things in an ad hoc fashion. I am using the term "group" to mean the sets of three letters (players) that are written with no spaces in between, representing players that are playing in the same game in that timetable slot. Meanwhile, I am using "cohort" to mean the three groups of seven players who never face one another because they move "in parallel" between the groups. Even though I am using two words that in principle mean the same thing, I am purposefully lending each of them a technical meaning and distinguishing between two concepts by choosing to describe each of them with one of those ostensibly synonymous words. Is there a term for this practice?

Another examples would be the terms "set" and "group" in pure mathematics (in general English usage these words mean the same thing, yet in mathematics a "group" is a special kind of "set").


texts: Can "an act of protest" and "a sign of protest" be used interchangeably? Are they idioms that are synonymous with each other?

texts:
Can "an act of protest" and "a sign of protest" be used interchangeably? Are there contexts where one of these phrases should be used, and not the other?

Also, are "act of protest" and "sign of protest", idioms? Are they synonymous to each other?


texts: What is a verb for trying to dodge an issue and smooth it over?

texts:
For example, you can tell your friend is furious at you, so you try to dodge their inevitable fury. You may do a nervous laugh and say "Wow, you look great!" or "Nice weather we're having!"

What would be a good way to describe that, preferably using a verb?


texts: Hypernym for individuals, organizations, possibly other things

texts:
I'm building a budgeting database application/program and I'm looking for two words as names of tables or variables in it.  This question seeks one of them:

It encompasses the following:  The table in question (that I'm looking for the name to call it) will (currently) hold 5 records: a record for myself, one for my wife, and one each for each of our three businesses.  But that list might change when say our son grows up and becomes another record in this table, or we start another business, or whatever.

Some databases text books etc. suggest the word "parties" for entities like this, but I find that word too generic.  I'm hoping to find something a little less vague, but also not quite the mouthful "PeopleAndOrganizations" might be. lol.

I'd welcome and be grateful for any suggestions!

Edit/update:  As Roger Sinasohn pointed out in the comments for my other similar question: yes, I'm looking for a countable noun.

An example sentence could be where I click a button to delete a bunch of these records, and need to pop up a confirmation warning first:

"Do you really want to delete these whatevers?"

I'd really rather not have to say "Do you really want to delete these people and organisations?" or whatever.

It doesn't have to be one word.  eg. another question asked for a hypernym for anywhere that serves food (restaurant, cafe, fast-food place, etc.).  If that's what I was looking for here, then "eating establishment" might be ok.  But if more than one word, it can't just be a string of all the words I'm trying to find the hypernym for (people and organisations).


texts: What is "someone" called when he or she "is involved in" something?

texts:
I'm looking for a word that describes a person by the activity he or she does. In Dutch we have a 'way' for a noun to be used as a description of action practitioner (eg: "betrokkene" vanuit "betrokken zijn").
In the same way as "some who uses something" is called a "user" and "someone who makes something" is called a "maker" or "creator".

Would "involver" be an actually existing word for this case or is there something better?

In more specific details: I need a semantics word for "someone that is involved in/by" (against its will/knowledge) an incident/accident. This word should describe both victims and witnesses of the incident/accident without labeling them as either victim or witness. This last is because there might be more ways to be involved in an accident/incident than simply being a victim or witness (eg: your car might be used without you driving it -> you are neither witness or victim but you might get involved in the police questioning -> you are one of "those involved" -> an "involver"?)

Many of the dictionaries do mention "in-vol-ver" as some sort of afterthought, but when you click that word it seems not an actual word that is known to the dictionary. Even a plain google search on "involver" doesn't turn up anything useful or remotely close to it in my case. (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/involver the article looks almost computer generated)


texts: “everywhere” vs. “anywhere” vs. “somewhere”

texts:
Which one is correct to use?

We usually stay home because it's more comfortable than go
everywhere/anywhere/somewhere


texts: Is there a good word for a square-rectangle relationship?

texts:
Any given square is always a rectangle, but a rectangle isn't necessarily a square, so squares and rectangles have a _ relationship. I've been noticing this sort of thing everywhere ever since I noticed that I didn't know a good word for it. I've been calling it a container relationship because one class of things is contained within a larger class of things. However, a "container" relationship doesn't sound very good and doesn't really convey the meaning on its own. A more elegant word would be helpful.

Edit:
A specific definition would be something like: a is always b. b is sometimes a.


texts:
Imagine you are talking to a coterie:

  Who will vote for Obama?
  (2 hands raise)
  I want to ask you two...

How many can follow up with "you" if there are more people to imply?

  Who will vote for Obama?
  (15 hands raise)
  I want to ask you fifteen...

It sounds weird for me. I think the maximum number is 3, cause you four starts sounding strange for me. If it is true, how should I mention the number properly?


texts:
Is there a word in American English that comes anywhere close to what British English circus encapsulates, that is,

Chiefly British An open circular place where several streets intersect. (AHDEL)
Brit. An open place, usually circular, in a town, where several streets converge. (Collins English Dictiinary)
Brit. an open circle or plaza where several streets converge. (Random House Kennerman Webster's English Dictionary)
British A usually circular area at an intersection of streets. (M-W)

Both square and plaza sort of approximate what I'm looking for. Neither appear to cover the circular aspect of the area, though...

square
An open place or area formed at the meeting of two or more streets.
plaza
A public square in a city or town.

M-W


texts: Comma in conditional sentence and in antithesis

texts:
I've got a couple questions:

Should I always put comma between condition and consequence parts, like in the following sentence:

  If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Should I always put comma in the sentences similar to the following (I may be wrong, but I think it's called antithesis):

  It rains, but children continue to play football.


texts:
I'm not entirely certain about when it is most appropriate to use with and by, respectively. An example should clarify my problem:

  We describe the input with an exponential function.

or

  We describe the input by an exponential function.

My understanding is that in this type of situation, with is used if the object is more like a tool and by if it is the active agent. This would suggest that with is more appropriate in the above example but in the following example, by is better:

  The input is best described by an exponential function.

Is this usage correct? Is there a clear grammatical or stylistic rule?


texts:
Is there a verb for replacing placeholder values with actual values in a template?

For example:

The verb for transforming "Hello FirstName LastName" to "Hello John Smith".


texts: Is the word "radial" in proper usage if I want to describe a star-like structure?

texts:
I want to describe a star-like structure as shown in the following figure. In the figure, the center object is surrounded by a number of other objects, and there are rays pointing from the center point to the surrounding objects.

Figure 1

The idea is that the center object can be represented by the set of the surrounding objects due to similar appearance.

I want to name this structure as a Radial Representation of the center object. Is word radial in appropriate usage? (I am writing a technical paper, and I want give this structure a proper name.)


texts: What is the meaning of "from overwhelm to whelm".

texts:
Kindly exlpain the phrase "from overwhelm to whelm" from the following sentence.

"In future we'll have new services to help us bring that universe from overwhelm to whelm".
https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-future-of-email-as-far-as-business-communication-is-concerned

My research showed that this is not a set expression. The word "whelm" means  to turn upside down or to overcome in thought or feeling. The main definition of the verb overwhelm is to affect (someone) very strongly. But still have no glue about the sentence in general.


texts:
assuming I'm writing an email to remind about the scheduled activity that will start in one hour, which start for the email is correct:

We remind you that the scheduled activity starts in one hour.
We are reminding you that the scheduled activity starts in one hour.

P.S. I find "we would like to remind you" and "let us remind you" to be better in general, but I want to know which one of those two seems more correct.


texts:
In the room is the man,

This is grammatically correct, no doubt . "In the room" works as adverb clause and the verb and subject are inverted. In the normal way, it's written as

  In the room, the man is.

There comes my question: how about

  There's the room, in which is the man

In the sense that "In which" works as adverb clause and "the man is" is inverted. What do you think?


texts: Difference between arrange and make arrangements

texts: Can anyone tell me the difference between arrange to/for and make arrangements to? Here is the sentence: During the discussion, we’ll make arrangements to send your $50 Amazon gift card! OR During the discussion, we'll arrange to send your $50 Amazon gift card!


texts:
Context: I want to explain that users can transfer their remaining funds with one specialist between/among others. Users can transfer funds from one specialist to another in full (they can't transfer 20% to one specialist and 30% to another out of their remaining funds with the previous specialist).
Sentence(it's a title of a document): Transfer of funds between/among freelancers
I've looked it up on this resource https://www.freecollocation.com/search?word=transfer and it says that I need to use "between." Is it true because funds can be transferred from one specialist to another? Can I use "among" for a broader sense? Later in my text, I explain the mechanics of how to make a transfer. Does "among" sounds more natural in this context?


texts: "Inside of a house" versus "inside a house"

texts:
I'm confused as to when to use of. I've heard "inside of a house" and "inside a house."

Which one is correct?


texts: Is there a feminine equivalent of "emasculate"?

texts:
e·mas·cu·late

  Deprive (a man) of his male role or identity

Is there a female equivalent? I came up with efemulate but this sounds strange.


texts: Merriam Webster defines debt as "a state of owing". Is there a word for "a state of being owed"?


texts:
I'm a Korean. In a Korean textbook, there's 'He's a man of effort.'
Do you use this expression?
then


texts: Why do some words have two past tense forms (e.g. "dreamed" vs. "dreamt")?

texts:
While perusing ShreevatsaR's answer to this question, it occurred to me that my own verbal usage is out of step with what I see in current American literature. When speaking in the past tense, I prefer to use the following forms:

dreamt (past tense of to dream)
leapt (past tense of to leap)
swept (past tense of to sweep)
lit (past tense of to light)

However, when reading recently written novels, I see the more regular conjugation of the past tenses, which instead yields dreamed, leaped, sweeped, and lighted. Is it a difference of dialect (US - New England), register (university education), or (possibly) my age (early forties)? I am especially irritated by "lighted" because it takes so much more effort to say than "lit".

CLARIFICATION: Given Jon Hanna's answer below, I would just like to clarify the question a bit more. What I was originally after was why these separate verb forms exist in the same past tense. In other words, variations such as "I dreamt" vs. "I dreamed", not the variation between different forms in different pasts. I am not a linguist, so I hope that clears things up a bit.


texts:
Obviously, when I go to Google this or search virtually anywhere I get a list of state abbreviations.

But I'm curious, what would the proper way be to abbreviate the actual word state?


texts: Identifying the funtion of "There" in a sentence

texts:
What part of speech or function does the word There have in the following statement?

There is no quick way to become wealthy.

I would like to diagram this sentence but am having trouble.


texts: "Eat" is to "feed" as "drink" is to what?

texts: I can say "I feed someone". Am I forced to say "I give someone a drink", or is there a single word for this (as in "I [verb] someone")?  Unfortunately my thesaurus can't really help me.


texts: Do Britons say 'major' for 'main area of study' at university?

texts:
I was told the word 'major' is used in NZ, AUS, US and Canada but not UK. Is this true? If so, what do Britons call it? 'Speciality'?

Source: http://wikidiff.com/major/speciality


texts: A perfect use of a past participle without the auxiliary verb "have"

texts:
An article titled "Hulk Hogan lawyer tells SN: Gawker sex tape a 'massive' invasion of wrestler's privacy" has this:

Hogan's $100 million lawsuit against Gawker for posting a private video of him having sex with a friend's wife heads to trial at a Florida state court March 7. If Hogan (aka Terry Bollea) wins, Gawker could be ruined financially — or forced to sell.
Now fallen on hard times after his WWE glory days, Hogan is looking forward to his day in court with Florida jurors who might take a jaundiced eye toward a New York media outlet that traffics in gossip and rumors.

In the last sentence, the past participle "fallen" is a perfect use, and I think you can start the sentence with "having" as follows:

Having now fallen on hard times after his WWE glory days, Hogan is looking forward to...

Am I right?
Is this dropping of "having" commonplace?
Can such a dropping be done to other verbs than "fall"?
If it can, I'd like to have some examples of a perfect use of a past participle (other than "fall") without the auxiliary verb "have".


texts: What does "implications" mean in this context?

texts:
They [heralds] presided at the weddings and funerals of armigerous
  families, so as to keep straight the implications of those
  generational comings and goings for family pedigrees. (Tittler,
  Robert., Portraits, Painters, and Publics in Provincial England
  (1540-1640), p104)

What does "the implications" means in here? Is possible it refers to a genealogical concept? Honestly, I do not understand its semantic relation with whole of the sentence.


texts:
I have problem understanding this:

  Over time, this is a fragile approach.

What does "over time" mean here? Thanks!


texts:
Specifically, if I'm using it in a self-deprecating manner? As in, 'binge watching Netflix may be dumb, but it's my guilty pleasure.'

My questions are:

Has the original usage referring to deaf or mute worn off?
Am I right in thinking the common usage today refers to something that is not serious or significant?
Does dumb carry the same PC baggage that stupid or retarded carry even when they aren't used in a hurtful way?


texts: Does any native speaker of the English Language ever use oftener instead of more often?


texts: Word for people who came later after settlers

texts:
I've got a coastal town in the book I'm writing that was founded by settlers in the 1800's. Later on in the 30's, 40's and 50's it started to become more of a holiday town and a place for retirees to come and live. The sentence I have is:

  Well built white houses mingled with the rustic log cabins, constructions of the ${word} of ${town} rather than the settlers of ${town}.

So basically I'm looking for a word that describes an influx of people, who aren't migrants or "new money", that come to live at a place later after it's original purpose has changed.


texts:
If he hadn't I don't think I'd have ever watched Drive!

or

If he hadn't I don't think I'd had ever watched Drive!


texts: Is "to do something" a preposition phrase?

texts: I just learned about phrase structure, but I can't figure out how to analyse an infinitive sentence. For example, in the sentence "Mary tries to do her homework", I guess "try to do her homework" is a verb phrase, and "try" is the verb, but what about "to do her homework"? Considering that "to" belongs to preposition, is this a preposition phrase? However, I guess "to" in infinitive is not a preposition, so I think it should not be a preposition phrase. Therefore, I was thinking maybe "try to do" is the verb, and "her homework" is the noun phrase, but I'm really not sure. Could anyone help me with this question? Thank you!


texts: What is the difference, if any, between these two sentences?

texts:
What is the difference, if any, between the following two sentences?

(1) The sun sets at 9 P.M. tomorrow.
(2) The sun is setting at 9 P.M. tomorrow.


texts: has vs have for a group within parentheses

texts:
Suppose I had a sentence of the following form:

"Peter (and many of his other friends) has an apple."

I, personally, believe it is more 'correct' to say have. Is it more correct to say 'have' even though the subject is only one person? Is it the same if 'presumably' is inserted before the word 'many'?


texts: "Antarctic climate" or "antarctic climate"?

texts: When used as an adjective, can the word 'Antarctic' be spelled without a capital letter? I'm confused because 'Arctic' is always lower-cased when we use that as an adjective (e.g.: 'arctic fox', not 'Arctic fox').


texts: Name for native English inferiority to French/Latin/Greek

texts:
My question is whether there is a name for the phenomenon, and also if there is a body of literature including popular exposition about it, of which the paragraphs below exhibit examples.

"Nativity" is a fancy word for "birth", and what makes it "fancy" seems to be that it's derived from Latin.  English-speaking people tend to regard words obviously derived from Latin or Greek as more hifalutin than words of Germanic origin.  "Substance" is more dignified than "stuff"; "decay" more formal than "rotting"; "predict" more scientific than "foretell".  When Arthur C. Clarke wanted to make the names of two characters in a story set in the very distant future seem futuristic, he called them Eriston and Etania, which seem like ancient Greek names (Or do they?  I now find something on the web saying "Eriston" is of English origin and means "son of Eric", but I am doubtful).

It seems at least somewhat plausible to explain this by saying that people who spoke Latin and were familiar with books in Greek (maybe especially the New Testament?) brought civilization and literacy to British barbarians.

I have heard that something similar happens in Korea.  Korean names of numbers bigger than 1000 are Chinese words.

I know enough about Swahili to know that it's pretty easy to tell which words in that language are derived from Arabic, and among those are all words that would be known only to literate people and unknown only in non-literate communities.  The word "kitabu", meaning "book" is obviously of Arabic origin, although its way of being used in Swahili is completely adapted to that Bantu language, as seen in the fact that its plural is "vitabu" (it is one of a class of nouns in Swahili whose singular (in most instances) begins with "ki-" and whose plural begins with "vi-").  I don't know whether Swahili-speaking people feel the same way about Arabic-versus-Bantu as English-speaking people do about Latin/Greek-versus-Germanic-or-otherwise-barbarian.

Is there a name for this phenomenon, whereby even after centuries of development into erudite thinking, people feel that words that come from formerly more civilized foreigners are more civilized, literate, dignified, or formal than native words?  What other instances of it exist than English and Korean?


texts: What is the difference between someone and one?

texts:
I ran into this sentence written by a student:

This is an ordinary anxiety that comes and goes and does not interfere with someone’s life.

I feel that "someone's" should be replaced with one's, but I don't know the rule. When do we say someone and when one?


texts:
Joseph Conrad, "Karain, a Memory":

  His smallest acts were prepared and unexpected, his speeches grave, his sentences ominous like hints and complicated like arabesques. He was treated with a solemn respect accorded in the irreverent West only to the monarchs of the stage, and he accepted the profound homage with a sustained dignity seen nowhere else but behind the footlights and in the condensed falseness of some grossly tragic situation.

This is about a ruler in the East called Karain. He is given a lot of respect by his subordinates. Conrad compares such respect with some "monarchs of the stage."

I can't find an explanation of this phrase. Does he mean those ones best on the stage like singers, poets, movie stars (I get it that they've appeared later, it's just an example) or is there a saying like this meaning something else?


texts: Where can I find statistics about count of words starting by letter?

texts:
I have found only this statistic:

Words by Length
Words by First and Second Letter

But I want to find words count which start by z and x (or any other letter)

Does anybody know such stat?


texts: Is there a well-known secular sentence that uses all three of the imperative, indicative, and subjunctive moods?

texts:
The following English sentence, a 19ᵗʰtranslation from a medieval Latin hymn from the 12ᵗʰ or 13ᵗʰ century, is well known, at least among Christians:

  O come O come Emmanuel,
  And ransom captive Israel,
  That mourns in lonely exile here
  Until the Son of God appear.

It uses the imperative mood (come, come, ransom), the indicative mood (mourns) and the subjunctive mood (appear).

This sentence uses three moods, but it also packs in a good deal of Christian theology, which makes it problematic in an English class, so is there a well-known secular sentence that uses all three of the imperative, indicative, and subjunctive moods?


texts: How can this sentence be written correctly?

texts:
Our interactive products are fun to use on desktop, mobile and touchscreen devices, just look awesome and are driven by the latest technology.

The commas don't seem right to me. Shouldn't there be some semicolons in there?


texts: Word for the action of talking loudly with the people from your past in your imagination

texts:
Example:

  Someone talks loudly with the people from her past while "imagining" them to be present in the current situation when they actually aren't.
  This person does it consciously and gets instant gratification from it.

What is this action called?


texts:
Would anybody please help me understanding the following sentence?

  On what do you think those choicely flavored yeast cakes that we eat to lend spice to our frozen staples grow?

It was taken from Foundation and Earth, Asimov. I didn't catch the meaning.


texts: Alternates for "If quoted the words of ..."

texts:
Today, I have been doing an 'as-it-is' translation of a non-English text. I have asked the same question before but I think that then I was unable to provide a context for my question to the answerers. Actually, some doctrinal quotations are given there and the original writer or researcher, before quoting them, has written many times sentences like "If said in the words of ..." or "If quoted the words of ..."

It was suggested to me here that, as such sentences may show that something was already said and I'm going to quote them, I am better to use sentences like "In the words of ..." or "... says" etc. One of my friends, not here, suggested to me "According to the words of ..." or "As per the quoted words of ..." I got confused with "As per the quoted words of ..." As it is an as-it-is translation, I might have chosen to do it my own way, but I want to consider this seriously. I am still wondering whether "If quoted the words of ..." will be considered wrong. And I think "quoted words" means "the original writer has quoted it from somewhere else." In short, I've been looking for a lot of alternates for "If quoted the words of ..."


texts: Difference between "indefinite" and "indecisive"

texts: What is the difference between indefinite and indecisive, and when do you use each one of them?


texts: Is the phrase "congenital birth defect" redundant?

texts:
con-gen-i-tal: (m-w.com)

existing at or dating from birth [congenital deafness]
acquired during development in the uterus and not through heredity [congenital syphilis]

I ran across the  phrase congenital birth defect in a paper, and given the definition above it seems to be redundant.

Yet a simple google search reveals a wide number of uses. Can anyone provide an authoritative explanation about this?


texts: Word for mixing a dish with a fork or spoon

texts:
I am looking for a word that can serve in the following context:

  After the pasta  is cooked, put some sauce on top of it and use a spoon to mix it together.

Mix seems to be too general, I am looking for something that is related to mixing with the use of a spoon or fork.


texts:
In a journal, the following statement is a condition for submitting a paper. Does this statement mean that I must pay in order to publish my paper? If not, what is its meaning?

  If desired, 25 free offprints of the article will be sent to the corresponding author. Additional offprints can be ordered when sending the proof corrections. The article can also be published in Open Access (that is, with the final print file also freely downloadable) upon paying a fee of 300 euros. The decision should be communicated at the proof stage; the appropriate invoice will then be sent to the author.

If it is possible, please clarify the meaning.


texts: What's another way of saying "I failed to mention"

texts: I failed to mention I faced a similar situation with... I don't like the message I'm presenting


texts: Statement complementarily reverse to given

texts:
Person A stated some noble motives behind actions person B found suspicious.

  [Person B] answered with very measured words, her smile not quite reaching to her eyes. "If what you claim is true, then you can count me as your friend." The unsaid counterpart of the sentence hung heavily in the air.

I'm not quite sure if counterpart conveys the meaning well. Is there a better phrase to fit that meaning? How would you call the sentence: "If what you claim is a lie, then you can count me as your enemy." in relation to the one given in the quote?


texts: Are there other variations of "slow and steady wins the race"?

texts: We know the hare and tortoise story but are there other variants of "slow and steady wins the race"?


texts:
I've seen references to the American Midwest as being the home of the least accented form of American English.  I always think of the Northern Midwest as having an accent that I associate with Canadians and that the West Coast (California, Oregon, Washington) is the closest to "Standard American English."

What are the features of the "West Coast" accent (if any)?


texts:
It means "a pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather" according to my Oxford Dictionary of English.

But if it is broken down or traced, what is the etymology of "petrichor"?


texts: Do we need to explicitly mention the antecedent in an attributive clause inside another one, both describing the same antecedent?

texts:
A sudden question popped up in my head just now: which of these two sentences are correct, or are they both wrong?

I write books that nobody reads or even knows that they exist.
I write books that nobody reads or even knows that exist.

I think what I am trying to express with these sentences should be pretty clear: that this person writes books, but their books do not sell, and moreover no one even knows about these books' existence.


texts: Can I drop the second "let" from “Let me let Secretary Clinton get in here”?

texts:
In the first Presidential discussion held on September 2, the moderator, Lester Holt let Hillary Clinton to counter with Donald Trump’s statement as follows:

  Trump: ….And once you say you’re going to have to tax them coming in,
  and our politicians never do this, because they have special interests
  and the special interests want those companies to leave. So what I’m
  saying is, we can stop them from leaving. We have to stop them from
  leaving. …

  HOLT: Let me let Secretary Clinton get in here.

  CLINTON: Well, let’s stop for a second and remember where we were
  eight years ago. We had the worst financial crisis, the Great
  Recession, the worst since the 1930s. …

Can I drop the second 'let' from “Let me let Secretary Clinton get in here” and say "Let me get Secretary Clinton in here"? What difference does it make, when I said so?


texts: What could be an idiom describing the action of looking for something in the wrong place?

texts: If I had to tell someone that they are searching for something (could be objects or answers to a question) in the wrong place, what idiom could be useful?


texts: Can you use "crime scene" for a suicide?

texts:
Example:

  The detectives assigned to Kevin's suicide left the house. I took the opportunity to investigate the
  crime scene.

I'm not sure if this is correct. Since suicide isn't a crime. Or maybe crime scene in this case means "a place where a death happened"?

If I can't use the phrase, which other is available?


texts:
Please explain me the meaning and usage of "being+past particle" when we use with "preposition" ?

I don't know what kind of meanings it would conveys

1)
She was afraid of being accused of a crime which she did not commit. (What does "being accused of" mean?)

2)
Members must have the ability to organize without being challenged by external government authorities.


texts: "When we worked together" vs "when we were working together" or can I use "when" with continous tenses?

texts:
In one Russian discussion group devoted to ESL, I was advised that using when with continuous tenses is incorrect in English.

To be exact, we were discussing how to translate a phrase about one’s former collegue. So two possible translations were:

  When we worked together she was (used to be) nice.
  When we were working together she was nice (to me).

I do agree that using simple tenses might be a better choice here. The question is whether the use of continuous tenses is always a mistake — is it?


texts: Do we always use zero article before jobs, titles, honors?

texts:
Donald Trump, a 71 year old businessman, was chosen ____ President of the United States.
The answer is zero article, and the justification is that we should use zero article before job, title and honor. But if I listened correctly, in 2:53 ofthis Youtube video where  President Obama addressed the British Parliament, it is clear that Speaker Bercow said "the" President of the United States instead.
So please can anyone help me out here?


texts: Is "tell neither X nor Y" equivalent to "not tell both X and Y" or "not tell either X and Y"?

texts:
Given the sentence "John told neither the boss nor the secretary.", which of the following has the same meaning?

  John did not tell both the boss and the secretary.
  John did not tell either the boss and the secretary.


texts: What's the little number on the top of a number w/ unit?

texts: I want to ask what is the little numbers on top/over any random number? For example, 75 in² and 125 ft3. What is it called and what does it mean is my question. I couldn't find anything online since I don't know what it is called.


texts:
I came across the following sentence:
The clocks will be going back this weekend, but so are the temperatures.
My question is: why do we say ‘but so are the temperatures’ as if it is a question and not ‘but so the temperatures are’?  Is there a grammar rule here? I can’t remember.

Thanks


texts: Can I call a recorded audio as "Recording"?

texts:
The way I see things - 'Recording' is a process, and a 'Record' is a result of the recording. But I heard some people call an audio file that was just recorded 'Recording'.

Is calling a recorded audio 'Recording' correct?
Am I correct assuming that it's better to call the recorded file as a 'Record' rather than 'Recording'?


texts:
I've had comments that the sentence below seems awkward and clunky. Can anyone help me clarify what it is that is off about it. Background being:
"An issue has been found but not correcting in this report (piece of work). Thus, ..."

It is my recommendation that a future work look at this.

These alternatives were suggested, however I can't shake that the above sentence is OK.

It is my recommendation that a future piece of work looks at this.
It is my recommendation that future work looks at this.

Thanks for the help


texts: What's a word for a positive kind of "envy" without the sense of resentment?

texts:
Imagine your college buddy is now running a multi-billion dollar company, while you're still stuck at the same white-collar day job 5 years after graduation. You chat with him and want to express the idea that you're happy for him and fancy having his lifestyle--something like "I wish I could buy a yacht and cruise around the world like you do; I'm glad you're doing really well!"

Basically, it's the feeling of envy when you take out the resentment from it. Is there a word for it?

(I thought about "admire", but found it too strong and broad)


texts: Use of 'or' to indicate the consequence of an action

texts:
I have recently come across this (to me) strange usage of 'or':

Given an option to do some action X with a consequence Y

  Do I want to do X or do I want to risk Y?

Specifically, this appears in this article as

  do I want the glass of wine or do I want to raise my own risk of breast cancer?

I believe this is simply a mistake and the right connector to be used here should've been and, but it has been suggested to me that this usage is correct. Is that actually the case?

Regarding the duplicate flag

This does not appear to be the same question as the one this is marked a duplicate of. I know about inclusive and exclusive or. This doesn't appear to be either an inclusive or an exclusive or though (if it was,  I'd be interested to hear how, however). Note that the statement neither means X or Y or both, nor does it mean X or Y and not both, it means if X then Y.


texts: What's the word for when water smashes against an obstacle and is forced around it?

texts:
I know there probably isn’t one word that covers that entire experience (although if there is, I’m definitely interested). I mainly want to know what the word is for when water is forced around. For example, when you hit water with your hand and it splashes water out. What is that splashing called? The best I can come up with is scattering, but I don’t like it.

Example sentence: The water smashed against the rock and scattered around it.

Is there a better word than scatter?

I know I'm going to be asked if I did any research. I tried, but because I can't figure out the word I'm looking for--although it's on the tip of my tongue--I can't figure out what to search for.


texts: Present perfect Question framed with "What is...?"

texts:
In the following  question the verb is present perfect but the question is framed with "What is..."  Can anyone explain the grammar to me?

"What is the most beautiful place you have ever visited?...."


texts: Non-scientific word for "Saturation point"?

texts:
What is a word that describes the phenomenon that happens when something collects up to the point that it precipitates an event?  If "saturation point" is in sufficient common usage, that would be nice too.  (Not even sure that "precipitates" is in common usage here)

For example:

  In all of these books, the unity the characters experience is muddled by factions which swell and waver until they reach the ______ and precipitate a catastrophe.


texts: What would be the opposite phrase for "Drawee Bank"?

texts:
Drawee bank is the bank, who will pay the cheque/draft. Then what would we call the bank in which the cheque/draft will be deposited?

I did some search over the internet and found this link. Is it correct to call it "Payee Bank" or some other phrase is more suitable?


texts: A Sequences order cannot be predicted beforehand, but is deterministic

texts:
I need a single word or short phrase that describes the following behavior:

  If I, without any further information, ask for the sequence, its order will look random and cannot be predicted.
  But if I ask a second time I will get the same order as the first time.

My current explanation is that "the lists order is essentially random, but will stay the same over multiple runs" (coming from an IT-background). This is a bit long and unwieldy and I wonder if there is a shorter version to express this.

Ideally I could say "the lists order is <...>"


texts: Whats the difference between "-ist" and "-er"

texts:
The suffixes -ist, and -er are added to a base word to name a person who
does an action: pitch, pitcher.

Some more examples:

carpenter      artist
painter        nationalist
banker         dentist

These all seem to be professions, but is there a conceptual difference between names ending with "-ist" and those ending with "-er"?
Any history behind it?


texts:
India has lost over 2,000 soldiers in the last  three decades, most of them  to extreme and unpre-dictable weather events.

Large laundries face rapid changes most of them due to rising utility costs.

Most of them due to /most of them to, how to identify what to use in a sentence


texts: Meaning and etymology of "to have a flag day"

texts:
I've come across the phrase "to have a flag day." From context it's clear that it's not talking about any kind of celebration of a literal flag, rather, it seems to refer to a synchronization point for a process or community; at a pre-arranged time, everyone agrees to make a coordinated change.

Is this correct? If so, how did it come to mean this?


texts: The Opposite of Truth (in the broad sense of the term; not "lies")

texts:
If you say something that isn't true, you are broadcasting a lie.

But I'm searching for a term that can be used in a broader, largely political context. To put it in perspective, we might ask what the enemies of truth are. They include...

lies (e.g. Fukushima radiation is harmless)

lies of omission (e.g. WHAT radiation?)

propaganda (e.g. Fukushima radiation off the U.S. Pacific Coast is well below levels that meet government guidelines)

diversion (e.g. California's biggest problem has to be Bruce Jenner!)

So if all the factual information about Fukushima radiation (or any other topic) can be characterized as TRUTH, what would you call the sum of all the lies, propaganda and lies of omission?

If you can't think of a good term, I welcome suggestions for such a term (note the coin-a-term tag, which I created recently).

In fact, if it's allowed, I would tentatively like to accept TWO correct answers. If anyone suggests a really good existing term, that's the correct answer. But if anyone can also suggest a really cool new term, I'll give them 25 bonus points, if that's allowed. Actually, I've never offered bonus points before, so I'm not sure how it works, but I'm sure someone will help me figure it out ;)

P.S. I posted two tags - term and coin-a-term - but it rejected both, instead listing neologisms.


texts: I am looking for a word similar to pompous or haughty. I thought of it for a while, and could not find a word that fit that description. It's also similar to tooting your own horn too much.


texts: Why is "to" not appropriate before "be" in this situation?

texts:
Consider the following two phrases:

It's better to be <X> than <Y>.

Why be <X> when you can be <Y>?

I recently got in an argument with a friend about if (and why) there shouldn't be a "to" before the first "be" in the second one; it strikes me as odd and unsound to place a "to" in that position, but I'm unable to pinpoint the specific reason why it shouldn't be used.

Is it correct to not use "to be" in the second phrase?
How are these two phrases broken down and classified, and what are the grammatical rules governing them?

N.B. We are both non-native English speakers, and in our language (Italian) both phrases would use the same infinitive verb ("essere"), although they are logically different; hence the doubts about the proper English equivalent.


texts:
I am writing a chess computer program, and I call the Bishop a "Diagonal Piece", because it can attack diagonally and anti-diagonally.

How can I call the Rook which can attack vertically or horizontally?

I called it "Diametrical Piece" but I think it is very wrong.

Thanks,


texts:
The preposition suitable for this noun is quite a headache to me. Please consider the following: I finished those programs with flying colors. The GPAs for/in/of the two programs were outstanding
Which preposition is right here?


texts:
I am trying to rephrase a sentence :

  I believe that life is like a “signed, blank check” and therefore, the beneficiary should make the decisions that revolve around his/her self-satisfaction and happiness otherwise; it would lead to a “bounced check”.

What I mean from the above statement is one should work in the area that keeps him happy and satisfied. I am not having a good feeling about the above statement but I kind of like the idea.

Do you think it is too vague or am I trying to forcefully put across an idea?


texts: Would "What he did, he started these buisiness" be correct?

texts:
I was reading the Catcher in the Rye, and I have seen some expressions like this.

Where I lived at Pencey, I lived in the Ossenburger Memoial Wing of the new dorms.

What he did, he started these undertaking parlors all over the country.... five buks apiece.

I have never seen sentences with this type of structure and I think changing it to this will be more grammatical.

Where I lived at Pencey was Osseburger...dorms.

What he did was starting these...apiece

So which one is correct?

I know that it's arrogant of me to suggest changes to a prominent author's work, but I have realized that author used lots of slangs and profanities to make his work look more realistic, so I just had doubts. Thanks.


texts: "Vegetation changes" vs. "changes in vegetation" vs. "vegetative changes" vs...?

texts: When referring to changes in the amount and/or quality of vegetation on the ground, which is more appropriate between "vegetation changes", "changes in vegetation" or "vegetative changes"? Any other option?


texts:
Why is "duh" the word chosen to represent ignorance? Merriam Webster defines "duh" as "used derisively to indicate that something just stated is all too obvious or self-evident." But a derivation isn't given. Why "duh"?

I've checked out the answers to the previous duh question, and I get no satisfaction. The Wikipedia entry on the universality of "mama" and "papa" provides an analogy.

Why do babies first say "mama" and "papa?"

"These terms are built up from speech sounds that are easiest to produce (bilabials like m, p, and b and the open vowel a." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mama_and_papa

The babies, of course, initially have no idea that these sounds mean mother and father, but the reaction of the mother and father will attach the meaning to those sounds. Is "duh" a variation on "uh?" Is "uh" a sound that a human might first utter when in need? Open-mouthed. Simply formed. A grunt really. Food! Food! But someone who has to beg for food may be flawed. Too stupid to find their own food.


texts: What is the difference between a variant and a variation?

texts: I designed a logo for a client. He liked the idea it presented, but wanted to see alternative ways to represent its idea, so I came up with several new designs of similar concept. I now have to package the new designs into a presentation document, and when it came to titling its sections, I wondered: are the new designs variants of the initial one, or are they variations?


texts: How do you commonly syllabicate words that end with -ism?   When I pronounce -ism, it sounds like two syllables, (feudalism sounds like 4 syllables, racism sounds like 3 syllables), but in general, a syllable requires a vowel, which we don't have in this case. So technically speaking, does the -ism suffix have 1 syllable or 2 syllables?


texts: Term for word used at end of sentence that can be combined with first word of next sentence

texts:
Example: You do not get a free pass. Words will be your downfall.

Notice how the end of the sentence, pass, can be combined with the first word of the next sentence, words, to form: passwords.

What is the literary term for this?

I did some searching and found plenty on repetition, zeugma, and word association football, none of which correctly describe my example.

See here, where the question is more about the meaning of the words and how they relate to each other.


texts:
Raw liver has a distinctive reddish-brown almost purple colour. It is also completely opaque.

Is there a name for this sort of colour? My first instinct is mauve, but that's not quite right.

Edit: To put this in context, I would like to describe a chunk of raw liver in a way understandable by a twelve-year-old. To artificially narrow the audience, suppose the reader is aware that the liver is an internal organ, but they are not necessarily aware of what it does or looks like. After the description, they should be no more aware of the liver's function in the body, but have some idea what colour it is.

"Mary pushed the _______ lump of raw liver around her plate."


texts: What is the meaning of "kick off a row"? Is it the same as "kick up a row"?

texts:
The original sentence is:

The arrest of the men, who had not yet ordered and were waiting for a friend, kicked off a row over racial profiling.

I search for the "kick off a row", but it only shows "kick up a row", and they seem similar, are they?


texts: Word for "being overly protective of petty things"

texts:
Is there a word (noun, verb, adjective -- I don't care which) that describes the quality of being overly defensive of little things?

For example...

Dave: God, Alicia gets hostile when I ask for a little piece of candy, and she guards her stash of pencils like a bulldog.

Jane: Yeah, and she has so much candy and so many pencils anyways!

Dave: She really is ___________.

Thanks so much!


texts:
I'm developing an application which has an "Event" system that basically allows application extensions to attach events to a certain "context". When the application reaches a context, it will fire events that are attached to it.

Anyway, I don't like the word context; it sounds weird.  What alternatives do I have?


texts:
Drunk is a word used for to describe getting high on alcohol.

Similarly stoned is used when you are high on weed.

What other words are there to get high on different things
i.e. Love, friendship, bond, etc. ?


texts: What is the meaning of 'passed that' placed at the end of a sentence?

texts:
Given I have a statement in 1 sentence and next one says 'It seems well passed that'. What does 'passed that' mean?

Adding full message.
In your initial application provided we stated with fixed price. The proposal seems to be going well passed that.


texts: Structure and meaning of 'having a just a few' in the following paragraph?

texts:
What is the structure and meaning of 'having a just a few' in this paragraph?

  The major shift here is that we treat both entities and users groups as very cheap resources. Instead of having a just a few and structuring around them, we define what we want and then structure the groups around them. The burden them moves from complex code to maintaining the structure. I find this a very reasonable tradeoff for a simple security model and the flexibility that it gives me.

This paragraph is extracted from a blog post.


texts:
what does drive a spike mean in this sentence :

It's like driving a spike through my heart


texts: Is English 'issue' etymologically related to Russian 'ищу'?

texts:
I've noted that English word issue sounds like Russian word ищу, which means "I search for".

Issue is something for which a solution needs to be found. So having an issue is closely related with searching for the way to solve it.

Is it an accident only or have those words some common ancestor deeply in etymological history (maybe even dating to PIE)?


texts:
What is the difference between the following sentences:

This product is sold very well.
This product sells very well.

If the meaning is the same, what pragmatic difference is there?


texts: Proverb to use when regretting something

texts:
In Ukrainian there is a proverb which says, "She didn't have a problem until she bought a piglet". "She" must be a female farm worker. But the proverb can be used to talk not only about these ladies but everyone (especially women, since "she" is used) who got involved in something and then regretted it. For example:

  -How is your charity project?
  - Oh, don't ask! ... (the proverb)
  - Poor you! It must have been a bad idea! - You're right! I shouldn't have started it! Now I've got so many problems!

Is there a proverb like this in English?


texts: In a sentence "What's up, my friends?" should I put a comma between "what's up" and "friends"?

texts: In a sentence "What's up, my friends?" and "Hey, everyone!" should I put a comma between "What's up" and "friends" and "Hey" and "everyone" respectively? Is there a particular set of rules?


texts: Non-standard "because" usage - is it valid?

texts:
I've currently reading Neal Stephenson's book "The System of the World", and there have been multiple instances of him using a sentence structure with "because" that seems strange.

As an example, one sentence of the form in question is:

  Jack was silent for a while, because alert.

I would normally expect to see this written something like:

  Jack was silent for a while, because he was alert.

That is, he seems to omit repeating the subject. Is this structure valid? I read quite a bit, but can't recall ever seeing anyone else do this.

Editing to add another example of this structure, which I believe is now the third or fourth time I've seen it in this book:

  Upon entering the Chapel, every denizen of Newgate stops in his tracks for a few moments because staggered by a blast of light, a sort of optical fanfare.


texts:
I stumbled upon a video having this phrase in its narration, "[The university] has been equipped with computer network, electric systems, and internet".

Personally, I never use "network" as a mass noun like the above usage. If it were me, I would rather use "equipped with computer networks", or "equipped with computer network access".

Anyway, it made me curious...

Is such a usage good English?


texts: confusing Subject-Verb Agreement in one quote

texts:
what though life conspire to cheat you

I think this quote has a wrong part.
I know Singular subjects need singular verbs; so should the verb "conspire" agree to the subject "life" like "conspires"?


texts: Which noun does an Adjective associate with of

texts:
I read the Adjective Association question but I'm wondering how it applies to the following sentence:

  Here is a really old picture of me.

It appears that really old, and picture are associated to me, but it could also be assumed that really old associated to picture.  Seems ambiguous.

Slightly changing the sentence:

  Here is a blurry old picture of me.

Seems to indicate the picture, whereas I cannot come up with an adjective that would associate to me (might exist).


texts:
In computer science, pipelining is a common technique used to increase the throughput of processing units, both in the context of hardware and software.
When describing a context that are amenable to pipelining, we would say that is is pipelinable/pipelineable.

I have found neither pipelinable nor pipelineable in any dictionary, so I assume this form (along with pipelining?) has been invented by researchers/engineers. When I search Google scholar, I find 659 results for pipelinable, and 1550 results for pipelineable, leading me to believe that there is also no clear consensus in the scientific community.

Are there any arguments for using one over the other when it's not a dictionary word, or is it truly arbitrary?


texts: Who is the person in charge of the vehicles within a company?

texts: What do you call the person who is in charge of the vehicles within a company?


texts: Difference between "vanish" and "disappear"

texts:
What is the difference between these words, exactly? Both mean to stop existing or to become invisible.
vanish

He turned around and vanished into the house.
My glasses seem to have vanished.
All hopes of a peaceful settlement had now vanished.

disappear

The plane disappeared behind a cloud.
Her nervousness quickly disappeared once she was on stage.


texts: Is there an idiom for "People very quickly get used to good things"

texts: Is there an idiom for "People quickly get used to good things"?


texts: A word to describe a couple conjoined at the earbud

texts:
Considering how common it is, I would think that we need to create a word for a couple that is conjoined at the earbuds, as in

I couldn't find an appropriate word in the Urban Dictionary.


texts:
As a non-native speaker, I found some context in movies or general speaking, they make a questions without an auxiliary verb for example

Who knows the answer?
Who wants to go to Thailand ?

Why those questions above do not need an auxiliary verb?  (Or actually they do ?)

Then, how do we identify when we must use an auxiliary verb to make a question ?


texts: The term when a person working in a hospital ask you what you want to eat?

texts:
What do you call it when an aide or nurse or other person working in a hospital
takes your meal order.

For example I want a better term or the verb for

"..hands out and collects the menus and records what patients want to eat."


texts:
Is there a word for permanent solution?
I would prefer a positive connotation.


texts:
Is it correct to say,

  James could see his mother look very tired from all the chores.

The options in the test paper were the following:

1) looks 2) look 3) looked  4) had looked

I would have thought 'looking' would be the best answer but there was no such option. I read somewhere on this site that with 'can/could see', only 'looking' can be used. Not 'look'.


texts: what is the word for using a thing without the other person's consent

texts:
I seem to require a verb for using a person's thing without his consent.
Maybe hijack or something.


texts: A word for saying things indirectly because you do not know the correct word

texts:
Is there a word that describes the act, common of language learners, of using a cumbersome way to say something because they do not know a concise word (almost like I am doing here...).

For example:

That woman is the sister of my father.

Could be more efficiently said as

That woman is my aunt.

But the speaker may not know the word aunt even though they know father and sister.


texts: Word meaning unable to empathize because of hindsight

texts:
A few years ago, I heard a word that I now don't remember. It seems to be related to the "curse of knowledge" -- being unable to see things from the perspective of people with less knowledge.

The word I'm thinking of applies when you are unable to empathize with someone (say, a book character) going through a difficult time, because you know how the story ends.

What is this word?


texts: A verb for not knowing the source of something because it is so "indirect"?

texts:
In the media age, we are bombarded with information. Most of the time we do not know the original source of this information. For example, the BBC broadcasts a news item, a local news agency takes it from the BBC and in turn broadcasts it, someone hears it and shares in on Facebook, her friend reads it and tells my friend who then puts it on Twitter and then I see it. Sometimes I simply acknowledge the information, other times I consider it critically but I am not able to find the original source. I am looking for a verb/phrasal verb to say that inability to find the original source.

Sentence example:

  The Media operate in such indirect ways that we usually _______ where the original source is.

Clearly, I am not looking for such obvious answers like "do not know" or "can't find out".


texts: Can I replace "that is/are (supposed) to" with just "to"?

texts:
Is this sentence grammatically correct?

  [This method] binds a handler to one or more events to be executed once
  for each matched element.

source

Is it just a contraction of the following sentence?

  This method binds a handler to one or more events, that is (supposed) to be executed once
  for each matched element.


texts: More than an intermediate but less so than an expert

texts: What is a word for a person with more expertise (in certain field) than an intermediate but less so than an expert?


texts:
Grammarly corrects sentences like "He argued that sickness was a problem." and wants "be" instead of "was".

Seemingly, the rule is that as long as there is a noun phrase before that and after was, it requests a subjunctive ("be").  It is even flagged as a critical error and not a recommendation.

For me, this seems strange. It is not necessarily hypothetical (the arguer could well be right) and just sounds wrong to me. Is there a good delineation of the necessity of a subjunctive out there?


texts: Why is a judge or magistrate called "the beak"?

texts: Does anyone know why a judge or magistrate is referred to in less reverent circles as "the beak", especially in the phrase "up in front of the beak"?


texts: I need a section title for a section that describes how a piece of software works

texts: Currently I'm using "How it works" as the title, but I want to replace that with something short and meaningful, most of my other section titles are one word long. The whole document is about a piece of software I developed. This section describes in detail how it actually works.


texts: CaGEL equivalent to obligatory adverbial?

texts:
When I learnt grammar in school, I was taught that there are optional and obligatory adverbials. Trying to understand grammar in the form presented by Huddleston and Pullum (e.g. the Cambridge Grammar of the English Language and A Student's Introduction to English Grammar), I'm wondering how to deal with "obligatory adverbials" such as the following:

(1) He is in the garden.

(2) He was on his way.

(3) He went there.

(4) His birthday is today.

If I'm not completely mistaken, the PPs in (1) and (2) would simply be called PP complements, but what about the phrases in (3) and (4)? Are they too PP complements, in line with the rather drastic re-analysis the authors suggest for adverbs/prepositions/subordinators?


texts:
“They never pay interest and reap whatever rewards their credit card offers, whether it’s miles, cash back, or a free pony.”

In this context, what is the meaning of the expression “a free pony?”


texts: Why ; is called semicolon and what is its history?

texts:
Semi- is a Latin prefix meaning "half" and colon is another punctuation.
Should I therefore say that semicolon is a halved colon?


texts: A word for a person that is expected to respond (to a message)

texts:
I am really struggling to shorten and rephrase the following:
"The person who is expected to respond to the message"

The person invited is A, the person that will respond could be either A or B(someone on behalf of A), depending on the users choice. The response will be either an accept or reject.

It will be seen on a webpage and will need to be self-explanatory for the majority.

Thanks in advance! (as I have just given up after coming up with "respondee")


texts: Which one is correct "I have a lot of free time." OR "I have much free time."

texts: Which one is correct and should be used  I have a lot of free time. OR I have much free time.


texts:
Consider this paragraph from 'The Elements of Programming':

  This uses the special form if, a restricted type of conditional that
  can be used when there are precisely two cases in the case analysis.
  The general form of an if expression is

  (if ⟨predicate⟩ ⟨consequent⟩ ⟨alternative⟩)

  To evaluate an if expression, the interpreter starts by evaluating the
  ⟨predicate⟩ part of the expression. If the ⟨predicate⟩ evaluates to a
  true value, the interpreter then evaluates the ⟨consequent⟩ and
  returns its value. Otherwise it evaluates the ⟨alternative⟩ and
  returns its value.

I understand that "precisely" means "exactly". But I got confused when it is asociated with the phrase "can be used".

What does the phrase "can be used when there are precisely two cases" mean exactly? Could it be:

I can only use this conditional only if I have two cases, nothing less?
I can use this conditional if I have two cases, but I can still use it even though I only have one case?


texts: Term for a word that refers to a gender of a species

texts:
Is there a term for a word, such as cow, ewe, or ram, that refers to a specific gender of a species?

For example:

"I" is a pronoun
"Spaniard" is a demonym
A firefighter named Les McBurny would be an aptonym (or aptronym)
"Doe" is a ____?


texts: Please clarify this guideline "You use a plural count noun with no article if you mean all or any of that thing."?

texts:
Frankfurt International School's ESL website says:

  You use a plural count noun with no article if you mean all or any of that thing.

  I don't like dogs.
  Do they have children?
  I don't need questions. Give me answers!

I don't understand what "all or any of that thing" means.

The above guideline makes sense in general sentences such as

"He likes apples" (He likes all the apples in the world) or
"He doesn't eat apples" (He doesn't eat all the apples in the world).

But, what about specific sentences?

Let say, there is a man. He has 3 apples with him,  he is holding an apple and eating that apple. The other 2 apples are on the table. We can say:

"He is eating some apples" This sounds ok.
"He is eating 3 apples"
This could be wrong because he may eat up to 3 apples but he may eat only 1 and then stop eating.
"He is eating apples"
This could mean "He is eating all apples in the world"

The above rule is ok for sentences that refer to general things such as "He likes apples" or "He doesn't eat apples". But is that rule ok for sentences that refer to specific things such as;
"He is eating apples." (not pears, or oranges) and "I ate apples yesterday"?

Does the above rule only apply to certain sentences?


texts: Semantic Field (Hyponym/Hyperonym) for movies, books, tv shows, etc

texts:
I'm currently reorganizing my Pinterest account. I'm combining and separating boards to more efficiently sort my pins. I want to have a group of boards that will include movies, books, and tv shows. However, I would like the title of the group to be only one or two words. An example of how it is currently titled (with "Movies/Books" being the group title):

Movies/Books – Fault in Our Stars

Movies/Books – Hunger Games

Movies/Books – Lord of the Rings

Movies/Books – Star Wars

Movies/Books – Spongebob

Movies/Books – Star vs. Forces of Evil

Movies/Books – Star Trek

What I'm looking for is to replace the "Movie/Books" part of the title, so as to describe the overall grouping a little easier. (as a side note: I use the same title before the "Fault in our stars" and such so that when the pins are shown in alphabetical order, they are all together as "Movies/Books" will always start with the letter M).


texts: What's the meaning of "Acme developers for IPhone"?

texts:
I have recently heard the term "Acme developer of IPhone." I was just wondering what it stands for?

I think I know the meaning: Is it when a developer goes to a client and presents his/her ideas for the app?


texts: What is the grammatical term for the word for someone who does something?

texts:
What is the name for the type of word that describes a ‘doer’ of the activity?  For instance, someone who takes photos is called a photographer, someone who sculpts is a sculpter, someone who robs is a robber, someone who runs from the police is a runner, someone who hides for three days is a wanted fugitive but also a hider.

What do you call those ‘-er’ words?  Kind of similar in ways to demonyms but not quite.


texts: What kind of figurative language is this phrase?

texts:
What figurative language is "to drive the idea out of my mind"? Is it an idiom or personification? Or something else? I have tried to figure it out but I can't.

The full sentence is:

  He wanted to drive the idea of studying Kabbalah from my mind.

(From Night by Elie Wiesel)


texts:
Which of the following is right?

I am reading a paper (math) where it says:

Demanding that A is a Lorentz scalar, ...

But I feel like it should be

Demanding that A be a Lorentz scalar, ...

I'd be grateful for help and would appreciate if someone could point out what kind of grammatical construction this actually is.


texts:
So I heard this in a movie and I'm not sure if it's grammatically correct . . .

Should it be:

1.) "Did you like what you saw?"

or

2.) "Did you like what you see?"

Which one is right, you guys? I'm getting a bit rusty I'm afraid.


texts: Word meaning "to convert into a numerical form"?

texts:
Let's say that one possesses some data or information that one wishes to map to some kind of numerical representation. I can't seem to come up with a word or phrase that describes it well.

As an example, it could be used when converting something like a date string ("2014-01-02") to a UNIX timestamp (1388620800).

Generally, I would imagine such a word would be used when the data has some kind of inherent ordering, but perhaps isn't directly usable with other numbers. I thought of "quantize", but this seems to imply that the data is somehow discrete, i.e. not continuous, which would (arguably) be inaccurate when referring to time.


texts: Is there any difference between "endure + gerund" and "endure + infinitive"?

texts:
Many if not all sources state that to endure is followed by a gerund.

In OALD, however, there's an example for both:

  endure doing something He can't endure being defeated.
  endure to do something He can't endure to be defeated.

I search the Internet but didn't find any other reliable sources that second this.

I checked COCA and found out the use of infinitive has indeed less frequency, but actually the results for both are so little (47:25) that I wouldn't say that this gives any conclusion.

Anyhow, my question is if there's a subtle difference between using gerund or infinitive?
And can anyone explain why all sources (that discuss gerund vs infinitive) state that endure is followed by a gerund, although infinitive is possible as well?


texts: Is the usage sincerest gratitude wrong?Can we use such in acknowledgements?


texts: What's the word for when something randomly becomes super popular? I have heard that sometimes YouTube will make a random video super popular (super popular as in the YouTuber gets way more views than normal on the video). Is there a "special" word to describe this?


texts: Concise way of saying "risks that came into fruition"

texts:
What is a better way of saying "Risks that came to fruition"?

Context:

I've written about the risks that may occur in a project
I've written about the project work itself
I need to reflect upon the risks that could have happened (discussed in the first part) and did.

Examples: (but not quite right)

Manifested Risks
Risks Outcome


texts: Word for something which is part of a problem, blamed/feared/thought to be its cause, but isn't?

texts:
Question.

What English word do you recommend for

something which is thought or even openly blamed to be the reason for a real problem, but is at most a part or result of said problem, not its cause

?

Of course,

scapegoat
red herring
EDIT: and also strawman

come to mind, but are, respectively, too harsh, too unspecific, and too much blaming-the-blamer-for-having-set-up-the-perceived-reason.

Do you recommend references in Linguistics or Psychology journals on this topic?


texts: Subordinating conjunction following conjunctive adverb

texts:
Dogs are usually friendly; however, while eating some are unpredictable.

Does "eating" need to be followed by a comma? It appears to me that a comma is necessary because "while eating" functions as a subordinating conjunction, but I want to be 100% certain.


texts: Is there an idiom or expression to say "when something is beyond your understanding, you think very little of it"?

texts:
For example:
A: Your taste in movies sucks, Jared.
B: ... (that idiom/expression)
Maybe something like "you can't expect a ... to appreciate the greatness of a ..."


texts: Would it be correct to use the term ice-jam, meaning ice formations in the water, in British English?


texts: What's the meaning of the phrase "take a stand on"?

texts: The object model and relational model are different schemas and as such compromises have to happen. NHibernate makes a very good job in hiding those compromises in most cases, but when it comes to inverse management you the developer need to take a stand on what compromise is the right one for your solution. Now you know your options, choose wisely.


texts: Can you begin a sentence with an emotion?

texts:
Is it incorrect to begin a sentence with an emotion?

For example:

  "Afraid and alone, he no longer wished to continue on."

I'm translating some work from a foreign language into English, but I would like to keep the original sentence structure if possible. Starting the sentence with "being" or "as he was", just doesn't seem to give the same feel.


texts: A predicative adjective in an atributive clause OR a postpositive adjective?

texts:
Example: These are/were the images presented by us.

Is "presented" in this case a postpositive adjective or a predicative adjective in an attributive clause?

In case "presented" is a verb here, can I use it without using subject, like in the example above?


texts: If- conditional construct using future events

texts:
A friend invited me to his summer house later this summer, so I told him I would if it doesn't overlap with my plans. This is how I stated it:

  I’d come, if it doesn't overlap with my scheduled trips. I have a trip to South Korea tentatively planned for the end of August.

Please advise.


texts:
I am confused as to when commas are supposed to be used before the conjunction and.

This question answers it but I am still a bit confused.

For instance the following two sentences:

  I am going to buy apples, oranges, and bananas at the store.
  I am going to buy apples, oranges and bananas at the store.

Which of the above sentences is the correct usage of a comma?


texts:
I suspect that the verb to belie here is used to mean to betray. Is that true?

  You don’t get a pat on the back for ratcheting down from rabid after
  exploiting that very radicalism to your advantage. Unrepentant
  opportunism belies a staggering lack of character and caring that
  can’t simply be vanquished from memory. You did real harm to this
  country and many of its citizens, and I will never — never — forget
  that.

No, Trump, We Can’t Just Get Along

However, doesn't belie mean, at its core, to contradict. Here's what COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary has to say about belie.

If one thing belies another, it hides the true situation and so creates a false idea or image of someone or something. [V n] ⇒ Her looks belie her 50 years.
If one thing belies another, it proves that the other thing is not true or genuine. [V n] ⇒ The facts of the situation belie his testimony.

I am struggling to align the definitions in the dictionary with the way the verb is used by the NY Times article.


texts:
I want to know what does "hard copy subscription" mean ?

full sentence :
where payment is primarily for physical goods or services (e.g., buying movie tickets, or buying a publication where the price also includes a hard copy subscription).

reference : paid and free apps

thank you


texts: What do you call the home in which you grew up and spent most of your childhood: father home, mother home or what?

texts:
Your native country is your "motherland"/ "fatherland",  the land of your ancestors is your "fatherland" and your first language is your "mother tongue".
What do you call the home in which you grew up and spent most of your childhood (any other mother/father-containing word or phrase such as father home, mother home, maternal home, paternal home, or ___)?
I want to use it in sentences like these:

"When I was single and still living in my ___, I didn't eat meat food at all, but after getting married I stared to change my habit."

After their parents' death, they sold their house and went to another city and took all of the memories of that ___ with them."

PS:
In my country we call it "fatherhome".


texts:
In a table top RPG there exists a spell which forces the target to do what is commanded but the word count available is one. For example, "Rampage" would cause the target to see everyone as a foe. Also, "Cower" causes the target to go into the fetal position.

I am looking to turn one target into my personal bodyguard, or ally with a single word. In the example "Attack" would not work because it would require a second word as a target, like "Attack them" or "Attack humans".

Is there a single word that effectively states a "180 degree change in view" (morally) or to state "your enemies are my enemies"?


texts:
Does in the following sentence "images of the world we have at our disposal" refer to our understanding of the world or our photographs of the world? I think the former should be OK. Am I right?

  Such mild delight in detritus is in direct contradiction to the ever
  more sophisticated, clean and perfect images of the world we have at
  our disposal as a result of the widespread application of digital
  technologies that now seem essential to all human production, in art
  and, of course, in science, images which seem to present an ideal
  rather than a messy reality.


texts:
What's another way of saying "what could/should have been?"

Ex. She reminisced of what could have been.

Preferably short


texts: Number of mass nouns when used with mutually exclusive coordinate adjectives

texts:
My question concerns the number attached to mass nouns when modified by multiple adjectives meant to imply different versions of a common type. An illustrative case follows:

  Belgian and Swiss chocolate differ from American chocolate.

vs.

  Belgian and Swiss chocolate differs from American chocolate.

The first version is far clearer than the second version, since it is most natural to interpret the subject as elliptically referring to the compound "Belgian chocolate and Swiss chocolate" rather than to any chocolate that is Belgian and Swiss at the same time. But the second version accords more with the rote assignment of singular number to mass nouns in American English.

Can anyone recommend an authority that settles this question? I mainly refer to The Chicago Manual of Style as often as possible for the writing I edit, but of course it is only a starting point.


texts:
Is this the correct way to use a semicolon?

  I sent my samples to UC Berkley; I was not given the opportunity to actually collect data.


texts: When should I use "by" in present participle?

texts:
I often encounter a problem when writing sentences in mathematical contexts, where one "does something" in order to "obtain something." These sentences typically have the form "using X, one can do Y," where generally X is a mathematical rule or function, and Y is its result. I never know if I should put "by" before the present participle. I have this problem mainly with the verb "using," but this is not the only verb that gives me trouble.

Here are some examples:

(by) using Theorem 2, one can prove that...
We obtain the result (by) expanding the function ...
(by) differentiating w.r.t. the 2nd variable, we obtain ...
(by) taking the integer part of F, one can compute...


texts:
Is there a difference in the meanings of to prepare for and to prepare against something?

To my ears, to prepare against sounds as though one is expecting something challenging or negative, whereas to prepare for sounds more neutral. But, I am not so sure.


texts:
Declare - declaration. Proclaim - proclamation. Why isn't compare - comparation? For the 3 years that i've been studying the language intensively i've been always intuitively reading "comparison" as "comparsion", thus pronouncing it like "compartion" (sort of short of "proper" "comparation"). Today i found out that it is actually "comparison". That's the weirdest thing that's happened to me since i started learning English. Why is it such a weird word? It sounds so French. Can you give any other examples of similar noun formation?

From the web: "Definition of "ison" [ison] A suffix, really -son, with an element (-i-) belonging to the stem in some nouns coming from Latin through the Old French. It is equivalent to -ation, -etion, -ition, in nouns originally abstract. Examples are comparison, fermison, garrison, jettison, orison, venison, warnison."

But i don't really know any of these words, they all seem to be loanwords, while "comparison" is ("from Old French comparesoun, from Latin comparatio(n- ), from comparare ‘to pair, match’") initially originated from Latin. So "comparation" or "compartion" would be a word more suitable for the English, would it be not?

Just a discussion, not trying to prove anything. Would appreciate if someone points out any mistakes i have in the question body :)


texts: Is there English proverb equivalent to Japanese and Korean one, “The ground becomes solid after a heavy rain”?

texts:
In the speech after toasting at the dinner party hosted by President of the Republic of Korea subsequent to the Meeting of Three-country (China, Japan and Korea - in Alphabetic order) Leaders held in Seoul on November 1st, President Park of the Republic of Korea addressed that three countries can establish closer relationship by promoting mutual trust and cooperation as a common Oriental proverb, “the ground becomes more solid after going through a heavy rainfall” goes.

“雨降って地固まる ‐ the ground becomes solid after a heavy rain” is a very popular saying in Japan, and possibly both in China and Korea, to describe the familiar fact that things turn out better and relationship becomes much closer after going through a span of discords and quarrels like a married couple.

Are there counterpart proverbs in English to “the ground becomes solid after a heavy rain”?


texts: What is the proper apostrophe placement when using the letter N in place of the word "and"?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  What rules determine the apostrophe placement in “ham 'n eggs” and similar expressions?

What is the proper apostrophe placement for using the letter N in place of the word "and"?


texts: Difference between "so", "very", "extremely" and "really"

texts:
What is the difference between so, very, extremely and really? For example,

  We're so/very/extremely/really glad you could come!


texts: Usage of "For" in "How long are you trapped FOR?"

texts: What's the difference between "How long are you trapped FOR the last time?" versus "How long are you trapped the last time?" This is a question from a dialogue between two persons who are stuck in an elevator. I can't seem to understand why FOR was added after trapped...


texts: What public domain thesauruses are available?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  English synonym online database?

I am working on a project which needs access to the database of a English synonyms, preferably as a raw text file. Are there any public domain, open source, or similarly licensed thesauruses which have a downloadable database and in a simple syntax.


texts: difference between to be related to and to relate to

texts:
What is the correct way to say? Are both variants possible?

Basque, the language which is spoken in northwestern Spain and southwestern France, does not relate to any other language in the world.
Basque, the language which is spoken in northwestern Spain and southwestern France, is not related to any other language in the world.


texts: How would you pronounce N.B. (nota bene) when reading aloud?

texts: I know how to pronounce nota bene (YouTube can help if your Italian is rusty), but if you were reading an academic paper aloud (or something else that would contain notate bene), how would you go about saying "N.B." before continuing to read the note? Simply "note", or the proper "nota bene"?


texts:
Consider:

  I would have played football tomorrow.

Is it correct?


texts: “I am looking for soaps” or “I am looking for soap” - which one is better?

texts:
I think that if I want to ask for something or discuss something an ”s” is needed at the end of a noun, but I don’t know why a singular noun is not sufficient?

Every time I have asked a shop employee, for example, "where do you have soap?", they respond "soaps?".

That is why I've been thinking that perhaps that I have to put an "s" at the end of the noun when I ask them.

Is that correct?


texts: meaning of 'couldn't be less' in this context

texts:
Well, — in King James’s golden days, —

  For the days were golden then, —

  They could not be less, for good Queen Bess

  Had died aged threescore and ten,

  And her days, we know,

  Were all of them so;

  While the Court poets sung, and the Court gallants swore

  That the days were as golden still as before.

This sounds to me like King James's days were couldn't be less because Queen Elizabeth's days were always golden. Is it right?


texts: What do you call the question type in a quiz game where you have to order the answers?

texts:
What is the proper name for these type of questions? These are the questions like the 'Fastest Fingers First' questions in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

Can you call them 'ordering' questions or 'order the answers' questions or is there a proper name?

I found the following names for other types:

Simple answer: when you have no choices, you have to type or tell.
Multiple Choice: when you have to choose one.
True/False: when you have to decide if the information given is right or wrong.


texts: Why "science fiction" and not "scientific fiction"?

texts:
Everybody knows the term "science fiction"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction

But I am wondering why "science fiction" and not grammatically more correct form "scientific fiction"?

Consider similar case:

"nucleus reaction" vs "nuclear reaction"

I am sure that "nuclear reaction" is the correct one.

So, why "science fiction" is more used than "scientific fiction" if "scientific fiction" is the more correct form when considering grammar?


texts: What's the difference between "anesthesia" and "anesthetic"?

texts: What's the difference between the words "anesthesia" and "anesthetic"?


texts: How to negate the double modal construction "might could" (and others)?

texts:
I have relatives from the southern U.S., and they often use double modal verbs in their speech, like "I might could go to the market". I understand that this isn't considered standard, but it got me interested. I wondered, how would one negate this phrase?

Example: "I might could go to the market"

"I mightn't could go to the market"

"I might couldn't go to the market"

"I mightn't couldn't go to the market"

"I might could not go to the market"

Or something else? Is this phrase or any similar phrase ("might should", "might oughta") ever used in the negative? If so, how?

I would like the negated phrase to mean "I might not go to the market" in Standard English.


texts:
I know that "credits" is a plural noun when referring to a list of staff members, but are there situations where it is acceptable or preferable to use the singular form?

Cases I have in mind:

Post-credit scene. (The scene after the credits)
Display the current credit name. (One name from the credits)
Graphics for credit scenes. (Graphics shared by all of the scenes that involve credits)
Start the current credit scene. (A scene displaying a number of credited people. )

Assume that rewriting these sentences is not option.


texts: Matrix A of shape (5, 9) or with shape(5, 9)?

texts:
When a matrix has a shape (5, 9), is it of shape(5, 9) or with shape(5,9)?
As the shape is an attribute of the matrix, I suppose it is with? Or something else e.g. having?
Which one is appropriate?

a matrix of shape (5, 9)
a matrix with shape (5, 9)
a matrix having shape (5, 9)
Else?


texts: Why is "Martenot" in “ondes Martenot” capitalised but not “theremin”?

texts:
Usage including that in the respective Wikipedia pages shows "Martenot" in "ondes Martenot" and "theremin" are capitalised differently.
Léon Theremin developed the theremin in 1918, and Maurice Martenot invented the ondes Martenot in 1928. "Ondes" is “waves” in French.
Why does one keep the capitalisation of its creator's name but not the other?


texts: May I use a singular form or a plural form before a clause starting with "for each"?

texts:
In this sentence, may I use the singular "due date" or the plural "due dates"?

Please let us know your earliest possible due dates for each product.

Each product should have only one due date. But as a whole, there should be multiple due dates as we have multiple products.


texts:
Gel and jel are homophones,
but why g sounds as j in that case (and similar words as gelatin)?
Is it related to word origin?

Borrowed from French gélatine (“jelly, gel”), from Italian gelatina (“jelly, gel”)

It was decided to support both options as French/Italian?


texts: Elegant way of conveying one is wholly immersed in a certain mental/psychological experience?

texts:
I've been reading poetry in which the poet is grappling with their human experience and was clearly all immersed in thinking about this at the time. This was likely the sole thing that occupied their mind.

Is there a good way of expressing the idea of one's mind being consistently  captivated/immersed/engulfed by some idea/thought.

Example usage:

  Jake's pursuit of deciphering the code completely ________ him.


texts:
Which is the proper word to use to indicate a large amount of something - "slough" or "slew"?  Eg:

StackExchange now has a slough of potential new sites in Area51.

English.stackexchange.com has a slew of questions about pronunciation.

Google indicates "a slew of" is more popular than "a slough of", but isn't slew the past tense of slay?  It seems that slough, as in a slow moving channel of water, would be a better metaphor.  No?


texts: My friend used "but due to" in this sentence: "She wants to work harder but due to her health condition is not allowed to do so". Is this sentence grammatically correct?


texts: Word to describes the money that you lend to somebody?

texts:
I am confused about using words related to money.

I have looked up in Oxford Learner's dictionaries. The word "loan" has the meaning: money that an organization lends and somebody borrows.

On the contrary, which word (or a phrase) describes "money that you lend somebody"?

I have a project about finance. It includes a lot of financial English words. I have to describe "the amount of money that you earn", "the amount of money that you pay", "the amount of money that you borrow from somebody" and "the amount of money that you lend to somebody"

Edited: Finally, I decided to choose the word income/expenditure/debt/loan for my purpose. I am so sorry for my inconsistency. Thank you for all your attention. Thank you!


texts:
What does "walk full length of the counter " mean?
The original sentence is:

  Where all these technologies in looking for the ideal
  partner err is in having to make one’s selection before walking the
  full length of the counter. Internet romance increases access to a
  longer counter.


texts: What are two words to describe an attribute that is measured or observed vs. one that are calculated from such an attribute?

texts:
I am looking for two words.
I am collecting financial stock exchange data into a database, and I want to distinguish between two classifications of attributes:

Those which just exist and are retrieved and stored as-is, such as stock prices
Those which must be calculated from the above attributes

What are two words to describe these two classifications of data?


texts:
If there is this:

  source
  He is scheduled to a confirmation hearing on January 24, 2013 before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, the same panel where he first testified in 1971, and of which he is currently the head; he must then be confirmed by the full Senate.

Could "scheduled to" be an error?  Should it be replaced by "scheduled for"?


texts: “Since” without present perfect due to cleft sentence?

texts:
I am trying to explain why the use of present / simple past with since (when used to introduce a starting time, not to mean because) is fine in the following sentences.

The quality of air is at its lowest since 1990.
Yesterday was their first free concert since 2003.

I think the reason is that we are in presence of cleft sentences:

The quality of air is the lowest it has been since 1990.
Yesterday was the first free concert they have played since 2003.

Is my understanding correct? If not how could we justify this usage of since with a tense other than the present perfect?


texts: Why should an article be placed before "business lunch or dinner?"

texts:
I was telling someone earlier that her sentence, "I will attend business dinner." needs to have an article before "business" so it should be "I will attend a business dinner."

She got upset and told me that her old English teacher told her that adding an article before "lunch" or "dinner" is incorrect.

I told her in this situation, she would need it but it was rather difficult to explain because I personally didn't know either. Could anyone help me simplify it for her? She's an ESL student and she is a bit stubborn and hates differing opinions. She doesn't like it when someone challenges anything she's learned in the past.


texts: To hit one's leg on the ground as to scare a rat?

texts:
I have the following options in mind:

stamp the foot on the ground
hit the foot on the ground
bang the foot on the ground
stomp the foot on the ground

which of these is "most correct"?

The context:

My character is looking at this huge rat that's fearlessly gnawing at his fruit lying on the ground. He wants to scare it off, so he does this act with his right foot...


texts:
What conjunction is used with the word "asynchronously"
A is running asynchronously [conjunction] B

I am aware asynchronous is running at the same time  as  something else
However, something occurs  with  something else

So what conjunction or otherwise, joins asynchronously and a noun:
A is running asynchronously with B
A is running asynchronously, as is B
A is running asynchronously parallel to B
Or otherwise?

 I may be using the word conjunction wrongly, if so, I am sorry :P


texts:
Pronouncing asterisk as asterix /æstərɪks/ is called metathesis.

Some common examples of this phenomenon that I have heard are ask -> aks and introduce -> interduce /ɪntərˈdjuːs/.

So this phenomenon has a fancy name. But is it correct to say asterisk as asterix? How does one decide whether it's metathesis or just a mispronounced word?


texts: meaning of as - as in following sentence

texts:
"The Plaza hotel is as near as it gets to the best shopping along New York's famous Fifth Avenue."
Whats the meaning of this sentence?and what does as-as means here?


texts:
How do you make the last name Woods plural possessive?
example:  a friend of the Woods (2 people)
I assume it is Woodses, but have been "corrected" by someone.