texts: What do "orange" and "spindle-shanked beaux" mean in this quote?

texts:
While looking up the word "bye" I found this 18th century quotation.

  Our present race of spindle-shanked beaux had rather close with an
  orange wench at the playhouse, than engage in a bye battle at
  Tottenham Court.

Can anyone give a full translation into modern English? I understand that a bye battle is an event not in the programme.  I know where Tottenham Court is in London and I know what a wench is. But the rest is obscure to me.


texts:
Could someone help me with this sentence:
"It was an awesome weather."

Is this sentence correct?


texts: "To change the sense" vs "to alter the meaning"

texts:
A. Your modification changes the sense of the sentence.
B. Your modification alters the meaning of the sentence.

What is the difference?


texts:
From my understanding, a lunch box is food packed from home to eaten during lunch time either in school or the office.

Is there such a term as dinner box? If there is no such term, how can I describe food that is packed from home and is to be eaten during dinner time in school or at the office?


texts:
Do you have any idea for better collocation?

So I chose decided to study chemical engineering at the university to pursue my passion since at high school we just studied basic concepts.


texts: What is a word for something or someone who doesn't do what they are supposed to or what they were meant to do?

texts: I need a word for something or someone who doesn't do what it was supposed to. Like if an object was supposed to be embarrassing but instead people admire it... Idk a word for something like that or if there even is one... Suggestions??


texts:
Do I need a comma between again and so? It looks like it's a run on sentence.

  Are you going to be able to give us access to Las Vegas again so we
  can at least jump back and forth between the servers to find files?


texts:
Is there a formal term for "gotten made" or "gotten synthesized"?

To be more clear lets assume that I have a design for a special chair; I ask the carpenter to fix it for me because I don't have the tools. It won't be appropriate to say that the carpenter made/fabricated/manufactured the chair. I want to emphasize my importance in this process.

Edit: I need a term that can be used in passive voice. Something like:

  This chair was gotten-made from xyz carpentry services

Any suggestions?


texts: Synonyms of quality in the technical context

texts:
I am writing a technical specification for a product portfolio containing a series of related products, differentiated by quality, well, sort of. I am looking for a synonym of the term quality which best describes what I mean.

In everyday talk people tend to assign the term quality to how good a product is. For instance, an expensive high-end restaurant is of a higher quality than a fast-food place.

But formally in business, engineering and manufacturing, quality has a different meaning: it refers to the correspondence between the agreed and the delivered product. It's kind of related to the difference between the specifications (expectations) and the reality.

In this sense, a better restaurant does not necessarily have a higher quality. In fact, a fast-food could have a higher quality if it meets the expectations of a client better.

I am a bit confused, especially not being an English native speaker. How can I refer to as a better product? As much as quality is also an appropriate term here, I would like to avoid it because it's quite a technical and formal document conforming to the ISO 9000 terminology.

Back to my series of products, saying that one product has lower quality would not be correct. All products have high quality, but one is better than the other. What is the collective term for this?

An additional example: the iPad Air is a better product than the iPad 2 (screen, storage, etc.). But it is not of higher quality.


texts: How can I optionally pluralize the word "diagnosis" in writing?

texts:
I'm building a web form and am looking to label a check box list used to select one or more diagnoses.  I want to label this list in a way that indicates to the user that they may select one or more items.

If it were a list of cars, the label would read "Car(s)".  The 's' in parentheses indicates that they may select multiple cars but it's not necessary.

How would I do the same for the word diagnosis?  My first thought was "Diagnosis(es)".  Is this correct?


texts: Is “honest to gosh” a popular and decent English idiom?

texts:
I found the phrase “Honest to gosh” in the New York Times (April 5) article titled “Send in the Clowns, and Cheese,” in which the author, Gail Collins blames the squander that the GSA (General Services Administration’s Public Buildings Service) wasted more than $820,000 for holding a 4-day gathering to open lines of communication and improve teamwork by serving $4-apiece shrimp and an “American Artisanal Cheese Display” and employing a professional mind-reader and clown as entertainers at the M Resort Spa Casino in Las Vegas in 2010.

The article ends up with the following sentence:

  “They should have been able to find a spot, what with being the people whose job is managing government buildings. Honest to gosh, you’d think they just wanted to hang out at a resort casino spa.”

I understand “Honest to gosh” be an equivalent to “honest to God,” and simply means “honestly speaking,” but I don’t find this phrase in most of English dictionaries.

Is “Honest to gosh” more popular idiom than “honest to God”? Why is there the need to use “gosh” deliberately, instead of “God”?


texts: Is is correct to say "all the types of music"?

texts:
I'm having trouble correcting this sentence:
"All the types of the music". The definite article before "music" is not correct, I know. But I'm not sure about "the types". Can you help me?

It is a piece of a writing from a teenager. He wrote:
" I like to listen to music. That is my favourite thing in the world. All the types of music."


texts: What does it mean to be "Streets ahead"?

texts:
I'm studying in the USA and have heard my friends use this phrase often. From the context it seems to mean something is exceptional or good. I think that it may be facetious, it's often accompanied by lots of laughter. They laughed at me when I asked what it meant.

I Binged it, but only found other references to it.

Thanks.


texts:
What is correct in English, non-existing or nonexisting?

Searching sources on Google doesn't help much as both variants are widely present there.

Onelook Dictionary Search doesn't show much about either option: nonexisting is in Wordnik, which references a Wiktionary entry that defines the word as "nonexistent", and non-existing is also in Wordnik, but with no definition, just examples taken from the web (e.g. comments from beneath online news articles).

Oxford Dictionaries has an entry for "non-existing", defined as "non-existent".

But "nonexisting" and "non-existing" are both absent from some other major online dictionaries such as Merriam-Webster and the American Heritage Dictionary.


texts: A word for "who does what".  For example, "I need to understand who does what in the company".


texts: What is the difference between "safe" and "vault"?

texts:
What is the difference between safe and vault, where both the words refer to a place where to put things you want to keep safe?

As additional question, why does vault seem more frequently used in computer jargon? For example, the Mac OS X has a File vault, and vault is the word used from anti-virus programs to refer to a place where infected files are kept.


texts: What is morphological analysis of words to estimate their meaning called?

texts:
Is there a word for this?
I'll use an example to show what I mean:
Let's say you don't know what sepsis means, which is bacterial infection of blood. So, you start thinking. You break the word up into what is most likely its components. In this case, it's likely you'd recognize its stem, seps, and its nominal suffix, is. Then, looking at seps, you remember the Seps, a snake whose venom caused putrefaction in a Greek bestiary. Then, you remember your house's septic tank, and the theme of putrefaction continues. With some more medical context, adding a non-linguistic logical element to your analysis (which in other examples might not be needed), you infer that sepsis is a bacterial infection of the blood. Other parts of the analysis might include looking for clues to find out what language the word stems from, and what languages it might have been transferred to, which further informs the analysis.
So, is there a word for this kind of analysis? Morpho-semantic analysis perhaps?
Note: I asked this question on Lingusitic.SE as well.


texts: What word describes the process of conceptualizing a collection of things by giving it a name?

texts:
Around 1999, a woman told me about this sort of meta-verb (in English) which I found so magical. I've been searching for this word again but can't find it.

As an example, I could say "Look, I attached these three short wooden rods to the bottom of this flat circle of wood. I can place it so that the rods are against the floor and then rest my bottom against the circle of wood, thereby elevating me above the floor. How nice." But if instead I say, "I made a stool," I've taken that whole idea and expressed it in one word, and this word carries meaning even beyond the one stool I just made. If there were no such word, stool, this concept of wood-assisted buttocks elevation would never congeal in the same way.

What is the word for this thing that happens when a word for something is created or discovered?

Edit:  I really appreciate all of these awesome words you all have shared. I've been studying the meanings of  neologism  and reify.  And I think what I'm basically looking for  is neologistic  reification. Does anyone know of a single word synonym  for something like neologistic  reification?


texts: Adding a comma when "setting the scene/state" in a sentence

texts:
It has been my understanding that, when "setting the scene/state" in a sentence, even if doing so after the word "that", it is good grammar/punctuation to use a comma to delineate this:

This means that, within the scope of the program, we have high levels of complexity.

This means that within the scope of the program, we have high levels of complexity.

As can be seen, we can even apply this to my first sentence of this question:

It has been my understanding that, when "setting the scene/state" in a sentence, even if doing so after the word "that", it is good grammar/punctuation to use a comma to delineate this.

It has been my understanding that when "setting the scene/state" in a sentence, even if doing so after the word "that", it is good grammar/punctuation to use a comma to delineate this.

It seems to me that adding the comma "modularizes" the sentence and, in a way, adds clarity. However, it is relatively common for people to not write like this. So is it better gramamr/punctuation to write like this (that is, to include the comma), or not?


texts: Is there a word for the 'pitter patter' of speech?

texts:
Consider how you can hear the announcer of a sporting event in several languages, even those you do not know.
Or even when it is turned down too low to understand in your own language.  You still know this is a sporting event.

The same seems true for talk-radio, types of TV shows, sermons vs motivational speech, etc.

I think that The Sims' Simlish captures the differences rather well.

I just call it "pitter patter" (kind of like rain), but is there a more precise term?


texts: The Sensation of being unable to identify nigh-recognizable things?

texts:
As explored in this video, and this reddit post, this image showcases an array of objects that, although bearing general recognizable features, individually cannot be identified inducing, in some instances, a vexing feeling in observers of said image. It has been described as resembling the Vision impairment symptomatic of a stroke.
What I believe to be a related example would be a word being on the "tip of one's tongue". One can recall a "signified" that could describe, or be appropriate to the context of an event, yet cannot recall it's corresponding "signifier". This example however differs in that it can be resolved by eventually recalling the word, whereas the objects showcased in the image, fundamentally cannot (I believe the image was created via AI, blending elements of multiple images to create one anew, ultimately mixing disparate elements such that the end product is an non-identifiable mishmash)
Is there a term that describes the sensation of having a general familiarity of something, yet inability to recognize said thing's identity?


texts: Is there a word for the telling of a story within a story?

texts:
Specifically, I am thinking of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, in which there is a 3rd person narrator referring to the Ancient Mariner who is telling a story to somebody else. The whole story is basically the Ancient Mariner's but told in this fashion via a 3rd person.

Example:

  The literary work used _______ ; a method of telling a story within a story


texts:
What does it mean when someone says, "I bid you no evil"?

Does this mean may good things come your way?


texts:
I was wondering what the relation is between mother and mammals. I know mammal refers to the mammalian glands which every mammal uses for the production of milk. Now, the word mammal is very similar to Mamma - Mam/Mom/Mum - Mother.
I've read about the Proto Indo European origin of mother - but I can't find anything about the link between this and mammals...
Anyone who can help me out?


texts:
I'm scared of him. That man is her killer.
I'm scared of him. That's the man who killed her.

They can be used interchangeably, but "killer" means "one who kills" and has an implication for habitual action. Why are these sentences basically equivalents? Why is "that's the man who killed her" closer to what we want to convey rather than "that's the man who kills her" when we say "that man is her killer"? I don't see how one sentence like "that man is her killer" can imply both habitual and non-habitual actions. If you say "That man is the bathroom's cleaner" then it's implied that he cleans the bathroom habitually, but if you say "That man is the company's founder" then you don't imply he habitually founds the company where he constantly tears it down and founds it again.


texts: What do you call a person who's more focused on appearing busy than doing meaningful work?

texts:
One might think of boondoggle/boondoggling but I'm looking for something  a bit different: rather than trying to appear busy without actually being so, I'm trying to find a word or expression to describe the effort to be busy and appear to be busy for the sake of it, without that activity necessarily resulting in anything useful or meaningful. Showing off as hard working doing meaningless work, or being more concerned with being busy than being productive or helpful; doing useless work to appear hardworking, showing off work without adding to the bottom line etc.
Maybe this describes the ethos of many a corporate environment, especially in the aftermath of large companies sending their employees to work from home.


texts:
Linear adjective

  arranged in or extending along a straight or nearly straight line: linear arrangements | linear in shape | linear movement.
  consisting of or predominantly formed using lines or outlines: simple linear designs.
  involving one dimension only: linear elasticity.
  Mathematics able to be represented by a straight line on a graph; involving or exhibiting directly proportional change in two related
  quantities: linear functions | linear relationship.

If I refer to twenty linear miles, do those twenty miles need to be all in one straight line? Or does twenty linear miles simply mean twenty miles of length, whatever the route, as opposed to twenty square miles?

If linear describes the miles, collectively, it should all be in one straight line, but linear could also refer to each individual mile, like a linear foot.

The phrase may be ambiguous, but what's the primary interpretation?

Edit after first close vote:

If a twenty-mile long line is not straight, can you call it twenty linear miles?


texts: How shoud I understand these two sentences here?

texts:
The problem at this year’s conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is that developing countries – led by the BASIC group – want rich nations to commit to reducing their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under the existing Kyoto Protocol after 2012, while developed countries are making this conditional on emerging economies making legally binding commitments to reduce their emissions. “They are talking of this convergence. I cannot yet see light at the end of this tunnel,” Ms Natarajan said. “The link is very much there. That’s what is worrying us.”

The paragraph above is an excerpt from this website: https://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/4678-Climate-summit-Durban-stalemate-continues

What remains unintelligible to me, though I did refer to the dictionary, is the actual meanings of the word "convergence" and of the sentence "The link is very much there".

How should the sentence "They are talking of this convergence" be interpreted? Could someone explain why Ms Natarajan cannot see the hope for the future?

My next question is how the sentence "The link is very much there" should be interpreted? What does "link" refer to? Does it mean connection or relationship? What is it linking? Is it referring to the ties between the developed countries and the developing countries? Besides, the phrase "very much there" is also unintelligible to me. Does it mean "just there","actually there" or "to be considerably important existence"? How on the whole should the sentence be paraphrased?

Could someone please tell me how to understand these two sentences?


texts:
As I am wanting to buy one of these, I'd like to know the actual name of it.

The name for a 3-part art piece seems to be "triptych" (translated via google from "triptychon").

Through some googleing I found "pentaptych" which doesn't seem to be correct as "pentateuch" is always suggested, but that seems to be specifically for the 5 books of Moses.

So the question remains: What is the right name for pieces of art that consist of 5 parts?


texts:
I'm confused about the use of "at" or "to" in the following sentence:

  This function puts the number at/to right of the equal into a new set

I see a lot of people using "at" but I am pretty sure that it's wrong! Which is correct?


texts: Omission of "is" in "She thought the study of Latin a waste of time."

texts:
In The Elements of Style, the authors give this example:

  She thought the study of Latin a waste of time.

I cannot understand why the verb is has been omitted. Should not this sentence be as:

  She thought the study of Latin is a waste of time.


texts:
I'm writing an essay about Transport. I wrote "Nowadays there is goob public transport in a lot of countries and cities. There is bus, aircraft, train, taxi..."
Is it correct that I wrote "...bus, aircraft, train, taxi..." without the article? I mean it in the general. Thanks.


texts: Why do we ask 'isn't it/that..?' rather than 'is it/that..?' when asking for confirmation of a statement?

texts: In this question I am asking why we use the negative (isn't it/that), as if we are challenging their point of view, rather than the positive (is it/that), as if we are expecting them to agree with us, when we are asking for confirmation of a statement/asking a rhetorical question? An example of this is; 'wearing makeup everyday is pointless isn't it?' That was a bad example I admit but I think you know what I mean.


texts: What to capitalize if the title is a question

texts: If the title itself is a question, should the rules of capitalization follow those used for a sentence structure, or those for titles? Such as here, for the title of a presentation on learning to ski: "Do you want to learn to ski?" versus "Do You Want to Learn to Ski?"


texts: Something of value that is worthless in the current context?

texts:
Is there a word/metaphor/idiom for something that has value, but is worthless (or even harmful) in the current situation?

To use a couple of monetary examples:

A check for $1,000,000 has potential value, but unless you can get to a bank that value is inaccessible.
A duffel bag full of cash is also extremely valuable, but if you try to hang onto it after being thrown from your speedboat in an explosion, it will drag you to the bottom of the Long Island Sound.


texts: "I was wondering what/which are ..." or "I was wondering what/which ... are"

texts:
I can understand saying "I was wondering how is A doing?" is not grammatically correct. Instead we should say "I was wondering how A is doing?".

On the other hand, I was wondering which one or both is grammatically correct:

"I was wondering what are the
differences between A and B?"
"I was wondering what the
differences between A and B are?"

In my opinion both are correct, and the first one seems more balanced the the second, as A and B can be long.


texts: Can I use mixed conditional type 2 in any situation?

texts:
Just like the title, can I use mixed condition type 2 in any situation?
Or could it be used in some particular situation?
Ex) If you came here, you would have had snacks. These kind of sentences.


texts: A business-like, formal synonym for the term "worked out and honed” a solution

texts:
I'm an IT worker who is trying to emphasize how I have a "WORKED OUT" solution to something, but the term seems so elementary and unprofessional. I thought about "configured" or "fully configured", but none emphasized the importance of the solution being "worked out" (meaning it has gone through iterations, fixing, and amendments).

UPDATE
To emphasize my use case:
I intended this to be for a bullet point in a presentation: "- A worked out technical specification document". I wanted to emphasize that the technical document we created took a few attempts/iterations. The "extra effort" of iterations was my main point for the word "worked out"


texts:
I have heard multiple instances of "London town" in Gwen Stefani's song Rich Girl, and in a commercial for the second Garfield movie (just a TV spot, not a trailer).

I want to know what it means and the significance of it. It's confusing because London is a huge city with a monstrous airport and lots of people.

Thanks in advance!


texts:
While going over the correct prepositions to use with adjectives, I came across a situation I can't define. I'm using a Longman dictionary and a Cambridge grammar, but neither defines the difference between the two options.

'nervous about'
e.g. I'm nervous about... my exams / doing something.
'nervous of'
e.g. I'm nervous of... him / flying / dogs.

Now, I know that 'being nervous about one's exam' is not the same as 'being nervous of one's exam'. But how can I put the difference into words?  Could I say that 'about' means one's nervous because of the exam and 'of' means one's almost afraid of the exam? I can't seem to find a better explanation.

On the other hand, we can say 'I'm nervous about / of flying', so how to explain that 'nervous of' and 'nervous about' can sometimes be interchangeable?


texts:
In Israel, there is an idiom that is literally "flipping a table over" (להפוך שולחן, Lahafokh Shoolkhan) and means an overly assertive, sometimes vulgar act out of desperation that is intended to shock the other party.

It is almost always used in the context of complaining about a service that was so bad one has to "flip a table over" to get the level of service they feel is due to them.

Is there an idiom in English that is parallel to this?


texts: Is there a difference between "Would you like some more" and "Would you like any more"?

texts:
Consider the following sentences:

  Would you like any more soup?
  Would you like some more soup?

To my ears, they seem slightly different. If I'm a waiter and want to know whether to collect a client's soup bowl, I would ask the first. However, if I am simply going around the table offering soup with no plan to remove the bowl, I would use the second.

Am I imagining this or is there actually a slight difference in meaning between the two sentences? And, if so, how can we define it?


texts: What is the meaning of 'other than' in this paragraph?

texts:
I was wondering what the meaning of 'other than' would be in its context in the following paragraph.

  "If he buys the car from the company after two years, this may be a cost-effective way of financing a car purchase other than out of taxed income."

Any and all help would be appreciated.


texts:
I'm reading "The Portrait of a Lady" by Henry James, and I found the following two sentences.

  "I suppose that after a girl has refused an English lord she may do anything," her aunt rejoined. "After that one needn't stand on trifles."

What does "one needn't stand on trifles" mean?


texts: Tenses: Please explain grammatical tenses, their names and uses

texts: I need a full explanation of tenses and how/why they are named as they are.  There used to be only three, past, present and future.  Now apparently there are levels in each of these like present perfect, past perfect etc.  I need to understand the mechanics of these and how to remember them? Please.


texts:
I am French and have a question regarding a plural form of some words.

I work on an English language website and want to list "the weirdests" issues I have discovered.

  This link title would be "The Weirdests". Is it right ?

I want to do the same thing with "the most normal" (in plural) issues I will find.

  The link title would be "The most normal" ? Or "the most normals" ?

Or is it a one-word form (synonym) to say "The most normal(s)" ?

Thank you very much for your help!


texts:
It's often said that Latin and French each contribute about 29% of the English lexicon, with Germanic words an additional 26%. Wikipedia has a list of English words derived from Latin, however, a random spot check of many words shows that they have often come via French (I can't check 29% of all English words myself). Also, many of the words on that list are quite obscure, compared to the many French derived words that are in everyday use.

I like looking up the etymologies of words, and in my experience, it's very rare to find a word that's come directly from Latin. Some words like ad hoc don't seem fully naturalised into English. I know scientific language is very highly influenced by Latin, but I consider that to be specialised terminology, as is legal terminology which quite often uses Latin phrases.

If Latin and French really each contributed 29% of our modern lexicon, with French words not counting towards Latin words, why are Latin-only derived words so difficult to find?


texts: Word for the occurence of people talking over one another

texts:
I am evaluating lessons that take place over video conferencing platforms. One frequent problem is multiple students talking at the same time.
I want a word to describe this phenomenon in my reports:

"a lot of [x]"

So far, I am settling for coining the term 'overtalk'

"a lot of [overtalk]"

A search for this term suggests that it is used to refer to the act of talking uncontrollably as a function of anxiety.
This is not a problem, as that use is also somewhat uncommon and field-specific, so I'm comfortable coopting the term for this new context.
However, is there a better word already in use for this?
I don't want 'interrupting' as this suggests awareness and disregard on the part of the interrupter that somebody is already talking. I am looking to describe the occurence when multiple speakers happen, unintentionally, to be speaking at the same time.


texts:
Please consider the following:

  There are four seasons IN a year
  I do it five times IN a year
  The girls meet me twice a month
  He smoked five cigarettes IN a day
  They finish five books a day

Which of those (is/are) clunky?


texts: Is it correct to say "Til death do us apart"?

texts:
I like the sound of the phrase and I wanted to make a shirt design with it. But as soon as I started googling for some existing ideas, I found that google and duckduckgo just refuse to search for "Til death do us apart" without quotations and change it to "Til death do us part". So I wonder if its grammatically correct to say "Apart" in this context.

Proves that it is correct are: movie "Til death do us apart" (2018) and various songs titled with "Apart".

Proves that "Part" is correct: the actual oath, wiki and various songs titled with "Part".

The problem with "Part" is it does not sounds as "cool" as "Apart" for me (personal preference), but at the same time I wouldn't do a shirt with incorrect spelling either.

UPD: The rewording of the phrase to "Until Death parts us" explains a lot. Thanks!


texts: What did the English call alcohol before they had the word alcohol?

texts: Presumably the English knew that there existed a compound common to fermented or distilled liquids that caused intoxication, but before they had the word alcohol, what did they call this chemical compound?


texts:
Could anyone explain why should we use The in the sentence: Look at the four pictures..? If this is correct, of course.
Thank you in Advance!


texts: Why is there no present tense of unassigned?  We have assign and assigned, so why is unassign not a proper word when we have unassigned?


texts: They are not merely , they are  to health

texts:
This Guardian article titled "William Wordsworth review – inspiration and smoking chimneys" has this passage:

  It is 14 years since the publication of Lyrical Ballads. Wordsworth’s
  income from writing scarcely sustains his Grasmere household: sister
  Dorothy; sister-in-law Sara; wife Mary (who never appears) and their
  five children. Smoking chimneys and cold rooms are not merely
  inconveniences, they are dangers to health. Two of the children die.

  ...

In the boldfaced sentence, can inconveniences and dangers be replaced with their respective singular counterparts as follows?

  Smoking chimneys and cold rooms are not merely an inconvenience, they are a danger to health.

If that's possible, which is more natural, the plural forms or the singular forms?


texts: Is this considered an introductory clause? "as the lightning struck the tree, the people ran."


texts: How can I derive the word "API" to a verb?

texts:
The word API stands for Application Programming Interface.

Normally I would say:

I developed an API of something.
I designed a set of APIs of something.

Since the word API is so common in the programmer's society. So I'm wondering if I can create a new verb derived from API so that the above sentences can be re-write like this:

I APIfied something.


texts: Does "unioned" exist in the context of math?

texts:
In mathematics, if you have the sets A and B, you can build a new set C which is the union of A and B.
I would like to say, something like

  Set C consists of the unioned sets A and B.

but the form "unioned" doesn't seem to exist. But what do I say then? united? Sounds so strange in that context...


texts: When should I use the verb "work" over "working"?

texts:
What is the difference between:

  I am working today

and

  I work today

What is the right form?


texts: One who expresses (or the act of) feigned sympathy/interest in hopes of being recognized for it

texts:
I'm trying to find a word that encompasses both these ideas. I thought pharisaic would be a bark up the right tree, but it appears to pertain more to hypocrisy and legalism.

Ideally the word should encapsulate the idea that some form of good is being displayed for the primary purpose of self-gain.

I understand that such an action could be hypocritical, but that word does not necessarily imply the act of doing good only for the praise it brings.

The Pharisees are a great example of this (with their ostentatious tithing), but the word named after them doesn't seem to have been applied to that aspect of their character.


texts:
Except from an email received from tech support:

  I do show that the account has been updated

What is the meaning of "I do show"? To whom or what does "I" refer?


texts: "Don't you think?" vs "don't you think so"?

texts:
Life would be a lot less painful without love, don't you think?"

  Life would be a lot less painful without love, don't you think so?"

Do they mean the same? Or they have slightly different meanings?


texts:
I like to say -1 as negative one. So, should I say "negative oneth index" or "negative first index"? Which one is grammatical?

Is there a way to avoid this problem altogether.


texts: Is “Hissable” a well-received English word?

texts:
I posted a question about the receptivity of the word, “non-view” in “views and non-view” a few days ago. One answerer responded me that though “non-view” is not registered in any (or most) of dictionaries, authors and journalists have freedom of coining neologism.

I understand the view – words evolve along with time. But when I come across an unfamiliar word that I cannot find its heading in any dictionary, I feel uneasy, and start to suspect if that particular coinage of the word is really meaningful, does it really achieve the writer's purpose of inventing word, isn’t it too much for his own good?

With that said, I found the word, “hissable” in the following sentence of a review of the latest movie, “Margin Call,” appearing in today’s New York Times (October 20) under the title, “Number Crunching at the Apocalypse.”

  “There are no hissable villains here, no operatic speeches condemning or celebrating greed. Just a bunch of guys (and one woman, Demi Moore) in well-tailored clothes and a state of quiet panic trying to save themselves from a global catastrophe of their own making.”

I looked for “hissable” in Oxford, Cambridge, Merriam-Webster and other online dictionaries, none of which carries the word, “hissable,” though I could find “kissable.”

I guess “hissable” means to be reproached or damned. But is “hiss-able” a received English usage? If it isn’t, I wonder what was the additional value or gain of the author’s deliberately coining “hissable,” or using the word that is not contained in dictionaries at hand, instead of simply using plain English such as reproachful, damnable or whatever well-received. Am I too conservative?

PS. I checked Google Ngram after posting this question, and found that the use of “hissable” has started to rise around 1920 after a hiatus of a brief emergence and quick demise around 1860. It seems to have gained currency though dictionaries cannot catch up it. I tried to find currency of “cryable,” “scoldable,” “tearable,” “shortendable,” “lengthendable” at randam just for fun on Ngram, without success.
I still wonder if I can say “you are not coughable during piano concert / pissable on street,” instead of saying “you should refrain from coughing during piano concert / urinating on street.”


texts: What are common word sets for describing ranks in a profession?

texts:
What are some sets of words used to describe rank in different professions (music, engineering, science)?

I'm thinking about words similar to novice, amateur, and professional. In the European guild system there were apprentices, journeymen, and master craftsmen.


texts: Does "plain Jane" really mean ugly Jane? If so, why?

texts:
When it comes to esthetics, "plain" usually means bland or unexciting.  A "plain sofa" means a sofa that no one will get really excited about, neither positively nor negatively.  Ditto a dress.  "Plain vanilla" doesn't mean it's bad ice cream either, just one without extra features.

However, when it comes to people, even more so with women, "plain" is often used in a way that implies ugly as in "plain Jane".  It seems, to me, as if it is not meant to describe the person as average looking, but rather as ugly.  A synonym, in this context would be "homely".

Is my perception correct?  How did "plain" end up with an extra negative connotation, but really only when describing people?  Was it originally a euphemism for ugly but has now just taken on that meaning directly?

As regards examples, here's what a sample of what a google search "plain jane" ugly returns:

  Louise Roe Gives an Ugly Duckling New Feathers on CW ...www.nytimes.com › 2010/07/28 › arts › television
  Jul 28, 2010 - “Plain Jane” borrows from the annals of generic self-help as freely as it borrows from “What Not to Wear,” though it rejects that series's snarky ...

  Pretty Ugly Love (Plain Jane Love Stories Book 1) eBook ...www.amazon.ca › Pretty-Ugly-Love-Plain-Stories-ebook
  Jane is an unattractive girl with low self esteem and secretly hides the pure envy and resentment she feels towards her two stunningly beautiful best friends.

  What It's Like Being The Unattractive Girl | Thought Catalogthoughtcatalog.com › stella-hui › 2014/09 › what-its-like-being-the-u...
  Sep 25, 2014 - I've come to terms with being a Plain Jane, but for most of my life I've felt flat-out ugly. My mother always told me that there are no ugly women, ...

Basically, I highly doubt any woman aware of the term would take plain Jane as a compliment.  Or even as a neutral statement.

Now, I might be wrong on my perception of English North American usage, which is what this question is about, but this is the type of connotation that motivated my question.


texts: Should the word representation be used in the following sentence?

texts:
In the following sentence what should be used in the blank
'representation / array' and why ?

In devising such scenarios and filling in the human family bush, researchers must consult a large and diverse ________ of fossils, and they must also employ refined excavation methods and records.


texts: What is the word for talking to someone as if they don't know anything

texts: This is noticeable in conversation when person A keeps trying to educate the person B. Person A automatically assumes a position of higher knowledge. What is person A doing to person B? It's not patronizing is it, because he isn't necessarily trying to talk to the other person in a condescending manner.


texts: A word for a common statement, "I don't want to do it."

texts: I'm not sure if this is a platitude, an adage, or what, but I'm looking for an accurate word for common phrases that aren't necessarily a proverb, like, "I don't want to do it."


texts: "all but one refused to do" means everyone do it or only one did it?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “all but at most one” - What does it mean?

When a sentence has this phrase: "....which all but one refused to do."

Does it mean all refused to do and only one did it? Or does it mean everyone did it, except one didn't?


texts:
Which is the correct form:

  A very few studies addressed these issues.

or

  Very few studies addressed these issues.

I was pretty sure that a few is the correct form but then I noticed that in some academic articles very few is used more often. Can someone explain the difference?


texts: Is it correct to say "don't have to care about"? (why/why not)

texts: I came across the sentence "You don't have to care about your appearance." This sounds wrong to me ("You don't have to think/worry about your appearance" sounds much more natural), but since "You care about your appearance" sounds perfectly normal, I'm wondering if I'm wrong about the first sentence. Can anyone help me suss out what's going on here?


texts:
This answer on the ELL SE says that "give a party" is interchangeable with "throw/hold a party:"

What is the difference between "hold a party", "have a party", "give a party" and "throw a party"?

I think they're all pretty much interchangeable.

Everyone on this forum thread takes the phrase in stride:

You might give a formal tea party, but you would not throw a formal tea party - even if you were discussing it informally.

I haven't heard "give a party" used before. Is it regional (or have I just missed it somehow)? If so, where's it most used? (I'm in Colorado)


texts: What does "be ground down to" mean here?

texts:
Here’s the context:
The Great Plains have been ground down to almost nothing here, to wind and dirt and trash on the shoulder of the highway, to Walgreens and Arby’s and AutoZone.
Is it like the author thinks the Great Plains are prosperous but the area in question is quite stagnant？


texts: I am looking for a word to represent a mechanism for uniting similar, yet potentially disparate, operations

texts:
In my workplace, I am trying to align multiple teams toward a common goal.  Today, we may be doing very similar functions, but with a tilt towards what each unit can directly control, as well as operating what is in each team's own interest.  All told, we may be unintentionally working against each other, diluting the final result.

Consider this example: We have a team with the goal of making the world's best sandwich.  However, each person is accountable for one of the ingredients.  We need each team to consider the other to get the best outcome.

If you were going to create a tool that describes bringing those different perspectives together, and aligns them to the best result, what would you call it?

I've considered:  orchestrator, consolidator, unifier, governor, transmorgifier (a la Calvin and Hobbes), etc.  However, none of those words appeal to me since they don't demonstrate unification across disparate decisions.

Thoughts?

Thanks for your consideration!


texts:
Apparently, I may not be using apparently correctly!

Here's my question: Can I use apparently at the end of a sentence for effect (or affect!):

  I already told you what I was doing for Thanksgiving. You don't ever listen to me, apparently.

Thinking:

  Apparently, you really don't ever listen to me.

Is the first example ungrammatical?


texts: What do you call a guy who talks so elegantly, when he talks he knows what he is saying; he takes care of each word out of his mouth, his words shows his high personality etc ... and what would be the adjective for such words said? e.g. "thoughtfully put", " elegantly said" etc ..


texts: What does the phrase “flip flop” bring to mind?

texts:
I need help with the connotation of the phrase flip flop. Let me explain – I am working on a small project that is meant to promote travelling and education through travelling and getting to know other cultures. I have to come up with a catchy name for it. “Flip-flop nation” came to mind but I was wondering if used in this way the phrase carries the right emotional association. I know that flip flop also has several negative meanings.

I would appreciate any insight on this subject.


texts: Contrary vs Converse when used as a noun

texts:
Q: Which is the better word to be used in the following sentence?

  My history seems to indicate the contrary in that my hypertension was the cause of my anger & stress.

...or...

  My history seems to indicate the converse in that my hypertension was the cause of my anger & stress.

This question stems from an edit of another stackexchange question where someone updated my text from the term "contrary" to "converse". I changed it back, but now am second guessing myself.

When I looked up "converse" it is defined as:

noun archaic
ˈkänˌvərs/
    conversation.

...but it seems there are some mathematical uses for the term "converse" in terms of logic.

  In logic, the converse of a categorical or implicational statement is the result of reversing its two parts.

Which is the better word in this context?


texts: Does the word "discussion" imply any length?

texts:
Does a discussion among two or more people have to have a certain amount of words or sentences or people involved? I'm interested in both the technically correct definition and the way people use the word.

I always thought that every person said to be involved in the discussion must speak more than one sentence for it to be considered a discussion. Is this right or could a person asking a question and another replying constitute a discussion?

The dictionary definitions I read didn't say anything about length. This is why I ask about common use. I presume most people would agree one person saying to another "we need more chairs" without the other person giving a response, is not a discussion, though it seems to fit the dictionary definition.

Edit: so then where is the distinction between speech and discussion or a speech with a question period at the end? For example in school you wouldn't say a class is a discusion with the teacher just because the students have the opertunity to ask a question.


texts: What is the English Equivalent of Telugu proverb: ఊళ్ళో పెళ్ళి కి కుక్కల హడావిడి

texts:
It means "For somebody's marriage street dogs are busy"

It means your sister/brother/children marriages, outsiders in marriage are too busy or behave like their own marriage which is unnecessary for them.

Examples:

Where someone is paying a lot of attention to something that has nothing to do with them.
Suppose you won something, but your friend doing more RANTING than you do. Actually which in unnecessary for him to do it.

Note: while posting an English Proverb, no need to include dog, it is just saying in our language. But please make proverb which is equivalent to examples. Just forget about dog here.


texts: Adjective for something that increases in difficulty

texts: I'm creating a game and in the name I want to include an adjective that shows something that increases in difficulty. The problem is that I don't have that great of a vocabulary and the internet didn't seem to help. I don't even think there is such a word that can explain that. If there is no such word than I would appreciate it if you gave me words that have a similar meaning to what I am asking for.


texts: Common word for a room like 'office' or 'study'

texts:
What do people commonly call a room (in a residential detached house) with a desk, a chair, a computer, pen and paper, maybe a few bookshelves, etc.?  You know, a quiet place an individual generally goes alone, to read, do work/homework or use the computer.

English is not my native language, and all the usual words seem wrong somehow.

Office sounds too professional/clerical.  "Step into my office..."
Study sounds too academic / Sherlock Holmes.
Not enough books to be a library.
Not enough couches to be a den.
Not public enough to be a lounge.
Not enough mini-fridges to be a man-cave.
Only goes downhill from there...

I realize I'm probably overthinking this and I should just go with office, but I'm curious what everyone will think/answer.

Thanks.


texts:
In German, there's a term "Reizblase" which describes the bladder of someone who has to hit the bathroom every ten minutes. The dictionaries suggested "irritable bladder" as a translation which - seeing how other "Reiz-" organs are also called "irritable" - makes sense.
The thing is, the German word holds up nicely in a highly colloquial sentence.
I'll try to emulate that in English.

  Dude, again? WTF? You really got yourself one irritable bladder right there.

I am not a native speaker but I feel like "irritable bladder" doesn't fit in with the rest of this sentence because it is a different register.

Is there a more colloquial term?
If not, would people say a sentence like the one in the example?


texts:
Olivia’s mother and her friends thank you for any and all contributions, and we hope to continue raising money for families like Olivia’s. Thank you, and God bless!

  “What’s it say?”
  I jumped. I didn’t realize Emma had followed me to the table.

This text is from book Fire in Frost.

My question here is, is it correct to ask this way, or it should be like "What does it say?"


texts:
What is the name of the emotion that you feel when you accidentally make a mistake? Such as when you clumsily drop a bowl and it shatters? In the Simpsons, Homer says "D'oh!" when this sort of thing happens.

I don't think it's "regret", because you didn't do it on purpose. "Chagrined", perhaps? Is there a more common word for this emotion?


texts: Definite article before schools, colleges, and universities

texts: Is the always used before the name of a school, college, or university?


texts:
Here's a harsh remark on Kerouac by Norman Mailer:

  His rhythms are erratic, his sense of character is nil, and he is as pretentious as a rich whore, sentimental as a lollypop.

I like the sound of it and I get the meaning. However, here is the question - when you read it, do you perceive it as an idiom or as an unusual way of expression? I'm asking because I'd like to keep the same wording, do a word-for-word translation.


texts: Term similar to feminist but focused on unfair prejudices against *either* gender?

texts:
I hate gender stereotypes and prejudices in general, and I am a definite believer in many so called 'feminist issues'.  However, I feel a small minority of feminists  have gone too far, past fixing unjust treatment and harmful stereotypes against females and going further to a pro-female viewpoint that implies that males/masculinity/testosterone is inherently harmful or wrong; basically arguing females are inherently superior and thus encouraging genderist polices so long as they are pro-female.  While this is the minority of feminist they can sometimes be the most vocal and thus I feel slightly tainted the term by causing some to associate the term with the more extreme pro-female viewpoint.

Meanwhile, I also hate gender roles and stereotypes that harm males as well.  I don't claim for a second that males have it worse then females on average, but I do believe there are gender stereotypes harmful to males exist and should also be addressed.   However, I definitely don't want to refer to myself as a Men's Rights Activist, who are even more notorious in cultural perception for going beyond trying to fix actual inequalities that affect men towards pro-male genderist view points.

*I'm speaking only to culture perceptions I've seen, I am not making any generalized statement about actual mindset or intent of feminists or men's right activists here!

I believe stereotypes and genderism should be removed, rather they are harmful to males or females (or in many cases both at once).  I also don't believe there is any reason that addressing gender issues for one sex should limit the ability to address issues for the other sex.  Is there a good term for someone with this view.  A sort of gender-neutral version of feminists/MRA that is looking to address sexism of any manner without prioritizing one sex's issues over another; and definitely not encouraging unfair treatment in favor of one sex over the other.


texts:
Would any of you be able to advise me which sentence could be correct? I am a bit confused.

Administrative support at the Project Management level?
Administrative support on the Project Management level?

Project Management is a Business Unit/ Department in this sentence.


texts:
I've had a question from an English language student who is reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

He has a problem understanding what 'well-a-well' means in the following quote. I've searched and can't find anything online.

Has anyone come across this before?  Do we interpret is as just a colloquial form of 'well' as introducing a point. Is it used in contemporary US? (I'm British). I did say to the student that maybe it would be better to read a book from the 20th or 21st century but I would still like to go back to him with some information if possible.

  Every time I let him off, my conscience does hurt me so, and every time I hit him my old heart almost breaks. Well-a-well, man that is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble, as the Scripture says, and I reckon it's so.

Thank you.


texts: What do You Call Two Siblings That Are Born on The Same Day, But Different Years?

texts: My brother and I were both born on March 18, but he was born in 2000, and I was born in 2002. What do you call that?


texts: Is there any difference between these two sentences?

texts:
Is there any difference between these sentences apart from structure?

The tiger is a ferocious animal.
Tigers are ferocious animals.


texts: Is there a word that describes this particular sneaky play on words?

texts:
I'm wondering if there's a word that describes this type of language sneakiness:

  I asked my boyfriend to stop talking to his ex-girlfriend, or I would break up with him. He agreed to stop talking to her. A week later, I find out he's been texting her all along, and when I confronted him, he said, "I said I'd stop talking to her, I didn't say I wouldn't text her."

This is just a made-up story, but I am wondering if there is a word in English that describes precisely this kind of deception.

Kind of like using semantics to get over on someone. Like a bad (or good?) lawyer, I guess.

Anyone have any ideas?


texts: Is there a formal spelling for the English letter names?

texts:
The English alphabet has a common pronunciation. For example, the letter b is pronounced like the word bee, the letter c like the word see, and the letter i like the word aye.

Is there a formal spelling for the letter names?


texts: How to express "I hope" in "it is" sentence pattern?

texts:
I want to use "it is...that" sentence pattern to express the same meaning as "I hope that..". The first thing to come to my mind is "it is my hope/wish that ...", but that sounds quite weird.
So how am I supposed to alter "I hope that.." into the "it is..that.." pattern? What word should I choose? As far as I can imagine the candidates are "hope", "wish" and "expectation", but none of them seems to sound right.


texts:
The context is as follows.

  The buffer is now unpinned and is a candidate for immediate aging out, if the current contents (data block) are not referenced again.


texts: were supposed to have come [or] had been supposed to come

texts:
Just wondering which one is correct. The book is written in past tense, and this refers to events in the story's past, in the previous book:

The pair were supposed to have come with them, but they'd gotten trapped inside the dome.

The pair had been supposed to come with them, but they'd gotten trapped inside the dome.

Thank you for any help!


texts: Adjectives used as adverbs/ verbs used as adjectives/ verbs used as adverbs

texts:
First question: I have been reading English: An Essential Grammar by Gerald Nelson and it gives an example of the words 'hard' and 'fast' being used as both adjectives and adverbs:

Adverb:

  John works hard.

  Peter drives fast.

Adjective:

  John is used to hard work.

  Peter drives a fast car.

I was wondering, can all adjectives be used as adverbs in this manner?

E.g.

Adjective:

  Small girl.

Are these adverbs???

  She is small.

  She was small.

  She looked small.

Second question: Can present participle verbs be considered as adjectives?

E.g. Are these adjectives or are they still considered as verbs?

  The singing lady.

  The growing crowd.

  The advancing army.

Third question: Can all past participle verbs be considered adjectives?

E.g.

  The written book.

  The cooked fish.

  The bitten apple.

And lastly: Can all past participle verbs be considered as adverbs?

E.g.

  The book was written in black ink.

  The fish seemed to be cooked.


texts: Difference between "focus" and "focus on" in "My main focus is Spanish."

texts:
This question is originally posted on WordReference forum. My friend suggested me to post here to get more opinions on this question. I don't know if I am allowed to link to other site, so I am going to rephrase the question.

The original sentence is:  My main focus is Spanish.

Someone corrected it with:
My main focus is on Spanish.

Context:
The person is learning multiple languages, but he/she is focusing on learning Spanish.

Is there any difference between the two?

Thank you in advance.

I did search on the site first as well. I found this response but the examples given use "focus" as a verb instead of a noun.


texts: If 'shone' is a verb here, why is it modified by 'gentle' rather than 'gently'?

texts:
What is the function of the word 'shone'and 'gentle' in the following sentences taken from Witches' Loaves written by O. Henry and Dylan Thomas's poem? Why is 'gentle', an adjective, used in this sentence? if 'shone' is a verb, why didn't he use 'gently' instead to modify the verb? In other words, when 'kindly' is used as an adverb, why didn't the author use 'gently'?

  "How gentle and kindly his eyes shone behind his spectacles!"

–  O. Henry

  "Do not go gentle into that good night"

– Dylan Thomas


texts: "book available at" or "book available on?"

texts:
What's the correct way of saying it?

"X book is available at Amazon" or "X book is available on Amazon?"


texts:
I think that this might be a stupid question, but I never figured this out.
I think this might be a stupid question.
If I get rid of the that, is it a run on? I see it a lot, so I think that it is right, but I can't figure out what it's called or the exact rules of it since "I think" and "This might be a stupid question" both seem like independent clauses, so why can they go together? I remember also seeing the following sentence in a book too.
I want to tell her I would've known.
Thank you! This is my first time using Stack Exchange, so please tell me if I did something wrong.


texts: Does the word "unnoticed" act as an adverb or an adjective in the phrase "go unnoticed"?

texts:
In the sentence

  Steve went unnoticed by the crowd.

Does unnoticed modify went, making it an adverb or Steve, making it an adjective?


texts: Is it past tense or present tense after the word "could"?

texts:
There is yet a law that regulates it, which then could backfire and put him in danger.
There is yet a law that regulates it, which then could backfired and put him in danger.


texts:
What is another way to phrase the following:

  I feel cheated!


texts:
Kindly tell me whether I used the superlative degree correctly in these two sentences:

He enjoyed all the sweetest and         most charming scenery.
He enjoyed all the sweetest and the most charming scenery.


texts: How to write a period of time in formal writing?

texts:
I'm working on my thesis and i want to ask whether these formats of dates are correct:

1_ IT lasts from the 8th to the 15th of December, 2019.

2_ From January 26th to Fabruary 2nd, 2020

I also want to know whether i can use the verb "lasts" ( present simple) when talking about these periods which were in the past?


texts: Is it necessary to use "the" multiple times?

texts:
It seems that the question has eventually become a series of questions....

An example goes as:

  The 1st and (the) 2nd paragraphs of the article are extremely long.

Another example:

  What are the situation, (the) task and (the) result of your story?

Is it necessary to use the in ()?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Usage of italics in writing

  “But I was patient. I wrote back. I was sympathetic, I was kind. Ginny simply loved me. No one’s ever understood me like you, Tom...I’m so glad I’ve got this diary to confide in...It’s like having a friend I can carry around in my pocket...” Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (p.309, US edition).

The speaker, Tom Riddle, is a villain in this story. He is boasting how well he could win Ginny’s heart by becoming a kind of pen pal with her.

I understand the latter part is italicized because Tom is mimicking Ginny’s comment. But why is “loved” written in italics? Or, if you were the writer, how would you express the same meaning without italics?


texts: What is the difference between efficiency and efficacy?

texts: What is the difference in meaning between the above words? Are they interchangable? I have seen several instances where efficacy has been used where it seems that efficiency is the correct term. Please forgive me if this question has been asked elsewhere. If anyone could point me in the direction of an explanation I'd be very grateful.


texts: Idiom for trying to cover up defects in one's work

texts:
Is there any idiom for someone trying to hide or to gloss over or to understate the defects in their work as opposed to covering up to make themselves not look bad?

By "covering up" I mean do something superficial or nominal to pacify the person who pointed out the error but do not actually address the problem (admittedly not precise). By "hide" I mean not acknowledge the problem at all or just disregard the problem or pretend as if there is no problem.


texts:
Is there a term for the phenomenon when you can replace one word in a sentence with a typically opposing meaning word and maintain the meaning of the sentence?

Examples:

  I'm down for that!
  I'm up for that!

or

  Slim chance.
  Fat chance.

Admittedly, "fat chance" probably originated as a sarcastic derivation of "slim chance", but in practice, they convey the same thing.

This is slightly related to this question, but that one's asking about a specific case (which may or may not fall into the phenomenon I'm asking about). I'm just looking to see if there is an established term I can use to search for more examples.


texts:
I used the phrase "pore over" the other day and realized that I have no idea where it came from (or how to spell it - I originally thought it was "pour over").

After looking it up, Merriam Webster says to pore means, "to read or study attentively —usually used with over" from the Middle English "pouren", first used in the 13th century.

What type of origin does pouren have and what does it mean?


texts: What is the difference between words explorer and explorator? (Both seem to mean one who explores something.)


texts: What word describes random unfitting judgements?

texts:
Example 1:

Person: Why are healthcare workers wearing masks if it wont protect us?

Me: Proper fitting N95 masks provide protection, others do not.

Person: Wow, why are you so rude?

Rudeness was not exchanged whatsoever.

Example 2:

Person: Hey can you grab me the tool?

Me: Yes, here you are. Gives tool without problem

Person: Whats your problem today?!?

The situation did not have any acts of aggression.

Person is genuinely suddenly under an irrational belief that another is being rude with no supporting evidence presenting as rude or being a problem. I am looking for a word that describes a random unfitting judgement or claim that doesnt make sense. Imagine youre having a conversation with someone, and they respond with something completely unrelated leaving you scratching your head.

Not slander because they arent intentionally trying to demean you.
Not ad hominem because they arent attacking you instead of the conversation.


texts: "I saw him run" -- Why doesn't this require the past tense of "run"?

texts: In a sentence like, "I saw him run," what is the rule that explains why "run" is in the present tense when "saw" is in the past tense? A similar construction, "She said he swam," requires past tense for both. I suspect the pronoun is governing verb tense. Is there a term for this?


texts: What is the name of the audio clip used at the start and end of a podcast?

texts: The bit of a podcast at the beginning and usually the very end too with the branding/title+description+jingle that is always the same? Probably the same word describes what is used for the branding of broadcast audio (uh, radio) too. Bookends? Lead-in/outs?


texts: Reported speech: unnecessary past tense?

texts:
The following is an excerpt from a textbook in Korea. I'm wondering if this is an unnecessary past tense for the reported speech--or possibly wrong.

  When I moved to Korea, one of the first things my coworker taught me
  was how to say my address. I didn't understand why it was so
  important. They explained that I'd often give it over the phone when I
  ordered things to be delivered.

Is the past tense necessary at all? Ordering food over the phone is not a one-time event and there is all likelihood that the writer will order more food in the future--not to mention that I'd never explain it like that. (I'd just say "You'll need it when you order food.)

What do you guys think?


texts:
Can "made up my mind be used" in context like:

  I made up my mind about quitting smoking.

I am being persuaded that resolved should be used instead, but it seems to me that both versions are correct but differ in a level of resolution of speaker.


texts:
I am trying to come up with the names for the following two classes
1) Design-specification-specific
2) Design-specification-agnostic

Somehow I feel that these can be named better. You can help with the names or with the synonyms and antonyms of the word "specific" in the above mentioned context.


texts:
I found this text on the internet:

  We must polish the Polish furniture.
  He could lead if he would get the lead out.
  The farm was used to produce produce.
  ...
  There was a bow tied in the ropes on the bow of the ship.
  You should spring that on us next spring!

http://www.corsinet.com/braincandy/hlanguage2.html

Could you clarify the difference in pronunciation of the word spring in the last line?


texts: What does "the rates may be adjusted by the greater of 2%" mean in a contractual context?

texts:
The context is as follows:

  All rates set out in this contract may be adjusted by our company on each anniversary of the start date by the greater of 2%.

If I understand it correctly they mean that the rates may be increased or reduced by not more than 2%...but actually they've just increased it by 4%. Strange. Is the problem in my understanding or is the company trying to cheat?


texts:
Tomorrow then. Let's see what happens.

How would this be punctuated?


texts: Idiom : What is the idiom for leaving the one thing because you see a new one? In my language (Burmese), we say leaving a grilled fish because we saw a raw one, which means that people want the things that they don't have, even though the one they currently have is better.  I couldn't find a similar idiom in English.


texts:
There is a term for it, I forget.  Not=[Island mad, Island cramped, Coconut crazy, Bonkers Island]

Say, living on Hawaii for a couple years.  Plenty of people, but you still might get XXX?


texts: Can you end one sentence with a word like 'biodiversity' and start the next sentence with the very same word, 'biodiversity'?

texts:
Is it possible to end a sentence with some word and then begin the next sentence with the same  word?

For example,

  The health of the environment is measured by its biodiversity. Biodiversity is ..

The repetition of the word in question, e.g. biodiversity: is it grammatically possible? Is there some rule against it?

Could you please provide a reference or some evidence to support your answer?


texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Irregular plurality situations in English

'sheep, deer, fish' are some of a row of animals where singular and plural have the same form, i.e. the plural (normally) has no -s. But of course there are cases when the normal plural with -s can be used.

Is there any information why there is such a peculiarity?


texts: How to interpret "as of" in "violent or brutal acts as of thugs"

texts:
Definition of "thuggery" @ vocabulary.com: violent or brutal acts as of thugs.

"as" is a preposition? "of" is a preposition? What does "as of" mean?

thanks.


texts: What do you call a pathway or hole made in a hedge or undergrowth by the track of an animal?

texts: What is the word for a hole of pathway made by an animal in the hedgerow or undergrowth?


texts: What does the "Swiss heroes" phrase allude to?

texts:
While translating an article about innovative design tools, I came across the "Swiss heroes" phrase. I'm pretty much sure it isn't used literally and the author refers to some well-known object or circumstance. Please assist!

Here's the excerpt:

  "This is a marvelous feat! We have a direct mapping between design in our heads and design on screen. Given the requisite technical skills, we can bargain with our computers to produce our wildest creative visions. Rather than speccing out an idea for a poster and waiting days or weeks for a printer—a person, not temperamental inkjet contraption—to realize it (like our Swiss heroes had to), we have a near-instant feedback loop."

UPD: Just had a thought it might relate to the fact that recently an old Swiss newspaper moved from the offset to digital printing. Might that be the case?


texts:
I'm searching for an adjective that is between rare and common - e.g. something that is everyday, or ordinary, or not remarkable.

Can anyone help suggest some words I might try?

Thank you,


texts: How to phrase "two companies being the most successful one in their respective countries" as a noun-phrase?

texts:
How to express this in one sentence: there are two companies, one is the most successful in America, and the other the most successful in Canada.

Can we say it like this?

  they are the most successful two companies in Canada and America.

or is it like this?

  they are the two most successful companies in Canada and America.

If both of the above sentences are wrong, how to express it?


texts: Is "then" considered as informal in a technical report?

texts:
It is correct to use "then" in a formal sentence?

Here is an example sentence:

"In case that a cylinder is not at end position then the operator has to move manually the cylinder in order to meet this prerequisite"


texts:
I was reading about readability tests and it says

  The sentence "The Australian platypus is seemingly a hybrid of a mammal and reptilian creature." scores 37.5 as it has 24 syllables and 13 words.

Word count:

 1    2          3       4     5     6   7     8 9   10    11    12
The Australian platypus is seemingly a hybrid of a mammal and reptilian

  13
creature.

Syllables count:

 1   2   3   4    5  6   7   8  9   10  11 12 13  14  15 16 17  18  19  20  21
The Aus tra lian pla ty pus is see ming ly  a hy brid of a  ma mmal and rep ti

22 23  24  25 26
li an crea tu re.

I think that 22 and 23 are making diphtongue  so they should be counted as one and 25 is an affricate vowel

so.. why do I count 25 instead of 24?


texts: A word drawn such that it describes itself?

texts:
I am looking for a word that describes a drawing of a word which looks like itself – almost like an autological word, but different because the word describes the image it is drawn within rather than itself.

E.g., drawing "fire" in a fiery blaze.

Here are some example picture that this word should be able to describe:

  As you can see, both these drawings are _________


texts: Word for describing process of walking, going on foot

texts:
I’m translating an article about a wax-doll museum, and I got trapped on a phrase:

  This wax doll has a mechanism, which simulates {insert: process of going on foot, walking — something like that}.

I know this is a rather strange construction, but is there a good, maybe a little bit scientific term for describing such an activity?

I was adviced with the word gait, but I don't think it suits. Does it describe only a manner of a human walking (or that of a dog, horse), or it can also be used to mean walking itself?


texts: Is "What a pity" only used for feeling sorry for others?

texts:
Could I use it for feeling sorry for myself? like:

"What a pity, I could not have dinner with you tonight!"


texts: "less of" and "lesser" with uncountable nouns

texts:
1. She spends less of her time playing tennis now. - correct example
2. She had less of reason to complain than I. - incorrect example (I know we can make "reason" countable and write "less of a reason")

In both 1. and 2. we have the uncountable nouns "time" and "reason" after "less of". Why, then, is 1. correct but 2. incorrect?

3. people of lesser importance. - correct example
4. She had lesser reason to complain than I. - incorrect example (I know we can make "reason" countable and write "a lesser reason")

In both 3. and 4. we have the uncountable nouns "importance" and "reason" after "lesser". Why, then, is 3. correct but 4. incorrect?
Thanks!


texts: Where did the pronunciation of "knowledge" as "now-ledge" come from?

texts:
My father, was an educated, scholarly American gentleman raised in Colorado.  He spoke, read and wrote in English and German, and could read and write in Greek, Latin and Hebrew.  He always pronounced the word knowledge as now-ledge.  He said he grew up pronouncing it that way.

Has anyone else ever heard this? Does anyone know where it comes from?


texts: Is there a situation where an accepted uninflected plural variant is not available?

texts:
When would you use fishes instead of fish? The same goes for fruits and any other word where a different plural form exists but the singular is most commonly used for plural. I am looking for a sentence where the singular form would be wrong and the explicit plural form must be used instead.

The following pages do not answer my question:

Irregular plurality situations in English

When is it correct to not use the irregular form for a plural? e.g. mouses vs. mice (fish & fishes)


texts: Can we use past perfect progressive in the context where present tense is predominantly used?

texts:
As I understand, past perfect is used to express an action that had happened before something else in the past.  But in the paragraph I came across, there appeared past perfect progressive in the middle of nowhere.  Please refer to the paragraph below.

In the popular movie Good Will Hunting, a janitor working at MIT, one of the best universities in America, solves a complicated math problem that was written on a board by a professor. The janitor, Will Hunting, had been studying mathematics on his own. The professor, Gerald Lambeau, realizes that Will has a very special talent. In the following scene, he explains the situation to another professor, Sean.

To me, it sounds more right to say "has been studying" because it is describing something that started in the past and extends to the present point("solves").  Can anybody explain how past perfect progressive is possible in this paragraph?


texts: What's the word for saying that you're bad at something so you won't have to do it?

texts:
A term for getting out of a task by claiming your inability to do it.
If I remember correctly the word has 'impotence' in it.
For example:

"John could you cook us dinner?"
"Me? No, I'm really bad at cooking.. you want Anny to do it"
"John, stop {claiming inability} and get on with it!"

I'm looking for a word that describes what John just did.


texts: What is the origin and meaning of the idiom lay an egg? I believe the phrase is usually used for when a team goes out and plays really badly, but I am not certain why.


texts: How should I understand this sentence in the movie Bridgerton?

texts:
I just watched Bridgerton Season 1 Ep. 2 at scene 14.47 and the old lady goes

"You ate but not one bite at tea, my dear!"

The context is that 3 people were having tea together and the old lady complained about the young lady being not well fed.
What stucture is that?
Normally we have [verb] + [not] + [NP1] + [but] + [NP2] , meaning [verb NP2 only].
He scored not one goal, but 3 = He scored 3 goals.
But with this sentence, I'm completely in the dark.


texts: What do you infer from this sentence "X is not Y or Z"?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Is “not eating or drinking” equal to “not eating or not drinking”?

I am confused in inferring a sentence of pattern "X is not Y or Z".

Is it the same as "X is not Y or X is not Z" ?

OR

Is it the same as "X is not Y or X is Z" ?


texts: Americanism "to care SOME about something"

texts:
I just spotted in a Pew report on climate change opinion the poll question "How much do you, personally, care about the issue of global climate change?", with one of the optional responses being "some".  Hmmm "I care some about Climate Change"..?

Of course we hear this sort of construct a fair bit on American TV, but I always thought it a Southern colloquialism, and didn't know it had become accepted US grammar.  Views?


texts:
Can I say "Our school rugby team is good"? or should I say "Our school's rugby team is good?"
Is there a difference?


texts: What is the correct way to punctuate a sentence with a laughter interjection?

texts:
I would like to know your thoughts on how to correctly punctuate this sentence:

When people comment how sipag or consistent I am working out during this time, I shrug it off because a. I don’t take compliments well teehee and b. I’ve been working out everyday for years so it wasn’t a chore, it has simply become a habit.

(This is from a blog post, which you can read from this link: http://gojackiego.com/quarantine-life/)

I'd like to point out 5 things:

First, "sipag" is a Filipino word, which here means "diligent." You don't have to comment that it should have been enclosed in quotation marks because it's italicized. No need for quotes.

Second, should "a." & "b." be enclosed in parentheses? Does each of them need to have a period after it?

Third, should "teehee" be enclosed in commas, parentheses, or dashes? I would prefer an answer that explains well how using commas is best because I would like my research to focus on commas. I am a college student taking up Bachelor of Arts in English and my somewhat approved Research title is "Metro Manila Bloggers on the Mastery of Punctuation in Writing." I'm going to make it narrower by focusing on commas. Out of all these 5 points, I would like this third one to be given full consideration.

Fourth, "everyday" should be separated with a space.

Fifth, the comma after "chore" should have been a semicolon.

Thank you!


texts: Term for a legislative bill not intended to pass?

texts:
Is there a term for a bill that is introduced in a legislative body with no intent of it actually being passed, but more as a form of protest or a game of oneupmanship or legal chicken?

For example, there's a bunch of gun control stuff going on in Virginia. One of the bills that was proposed in this session would basically prohibit the governor's security detail from carrying weapons in certain places where they are prohibited to others. I'm assuming the patron of the bill has no actual intent of seeing it pass; he just wants to highlight the hypocrisy of certain other stuff going on.


texts: Are there any word types in English that don't fall into one of these 5 functional categories?

texts:
(And I suppose the logical follow-up question is - are there any functions words take that are not included in these 5 categories?)

1) deliver specific content/ meaning

adjective
adverb
noun
verb

2) establish relationships between other words, phrases and parts of sentences

conjunction
wh-word
pronoun
prepositions
copulas (link verbs)

3) modify or refine the meaning of another word, phrase or sentence

adjective
adverb
determiner
numeral
negative
noun
preposition
modals

4) frame a question

wh-word
modals
be, do and have (??)

5) Establish verb tense and time reference

adverbs
nouns
prepositions
auxiliaries
verb participles

Maybe interjections, particles, lexemes (but it seems that once these words find context in a sentence they would fall into one of the above functional categories)?


texts:
I am required to use: The fact that...., One of the major advantage is that...., A key problem with this definition is that....,The observation that...., The reason why it accounted for x is that.....

As you can see all of the above sentences have the word that. I have used these sentences and a lot more sentences that have that in them, in a report. I feel it would be better not to use the word that these many times. Can these sentences be re framed without the word that? By any chance is there a general solution for this?


texts: What is the proper word to describe the co-occurrence of an increase of one thing and an decrease of another thing in popularity

texts:
I am trying to disambiguate some concepts, and I wonder if there is such a word (better as familiar as possible to the general public) to describe the situation in the title. It can be a more than one words, 2 is ok, too.

The two things are related. For example, they can be apple and orange, both are fruits. The scenario could be apple is more popular in populationA than in populationB, while orange is more popular in populationB than in population A.

Also, is there a more scientific word for popularity?


texts: I heard a voice mail message in the evening. What should I say: "You had left a message for me" or "you left a message for me"?


texts: What's a good name for different salary types?

texts:
In the model I'm creating, we've got four different kinds of salary. I'd like a confirmation on the correct taxonomy of these.

The normal amount one gets every month. Should it be called fix salary or base salary?
The variable amount that depends on how much work one has billed to the customers. Should it be called prestation salary or provision salary?
The freebies as phone, car, representation etc. Should it be called benefit salary or extra salary?
The additional amount one gets when working nights, weekends etc. Should it be called supplement salary or extra salary?

Please, feel free to suggest other terms.


texts:
Is it correct to say, "Please feel free to change anything and everything in the draft"? I want to mean the reviewer can change as much as he wants (but want to say that more emphatically).

What would be a better expression?


texts:
I have 2 sentences:

  The girl gave me a dictionary. She is very beautiful.

Can I use the relative clause as follow?

  "The girl who is beautiful gave me a dictionary"

or can I write like this:

  The girl who gave me a dictionary is beautiful.

Thanks for your help!


texts: let sand run between/through my fingers?

texts: How do I describe that I let sand run between my fingertips?


texts: Good decision I "made" / "have made" today

texts:
As a non-native English speaker, I'm a little bit confused. Should I say:

  The only good decision I made today was to ...

or

  The only good decision I have made today was to ...

What is the difference between the two sentences?


texts: Which position does "really" and "quite" go?

texts:
I know really is an adverb, and one that intensifies the verb.  I also know that some adverbs go only in the beginning; in the middle or at the end of a sentence, and some can be placed in all three positions.

Take for example the phrase: I don't care

I really don't care
I don't really care
I don't care really

These three sound OK, but maybe I'm wrong? Could someone please describe the differences in meaning?

Ws2 suggested using don't know with quite in the comments below.

I quite don't know
I don't quite know
I don't know quite

Only the second one sounds acceptable. Why is that?


texts: Clarification on an example contrasting the “BE going to ɪɴꜰɪɴɪᴛɪᴠᴇ” future with the “BE ᴠᴇʀʙ‑ing” future

texts:
I’ve been looking at the difference in sentences that express
future events: those using “BE going to
ɪɴꜰɪɴɪᴛɪᴠᴇ” versus those using “BE ᴠᴇʀʙ-ing”
(sometimes called the present continuous or present progressive).
If I understand correctly, the difference is:

The BE going to ɪɴꜰɪɴɪᴛɪᴠᴇ form is used for future plans (or events) that are certain:
I am going to study physics.

The BE ᴠᴇʀʙ‑ing (present continuous) form is used for future appointments or arrangements:
I am meeting Jane on Tuesday.

One of the comparison examples I found in a video is the following:

№
Future using “BE going to ɪɴꜰɪɴɪᴛɪᴠᴇ”
Future using “BE ᴠᴇʀʙ‑ing”

1
I am going to show her around the town.
I am showing her around the town this afternoon.

2
She is going to study Psychology.
She is studying Psychology at college next year.

3
He is going to see his lawyer next week.
He is meeting his lawyer on Tuesday.

4
They are going to meet again soon.
They are meeting at 1 o’clock tomorrow.

My problem with that table is in the third example:

He is going to see his lawyer next week.

Why did the presenter use the BE going to ɪɴꜰɪɴɪᴛɪᴠᴇ future
in example ⑶  instead of the BE ᴠᴇʀʙ‑ing future?
Isn’t this a meeting at a specific date (next week)?
If that sentence is correct, then why does She is studying Psychology
at college next year. use the BE ᴠᴇʀʙ‑ing present continuous
form?  How does next week differ from next year?
Another quick question
I assume that in They are going to meet again soon, it is expressing
the future using BE going to ɪɴꜰɪɴɪᴛɪᴠᴇ future because soon is
not a specific date to license the BE ᴠᴇʀʙ‑ing way of expressing it.
Am I correct?


texts: Is there an acceptable corresponding negative to "well off"?

texts:
When we wish to refer to people who are living an affluent lifestyle or simply enjoying favorable circumstances in any particular area, we often say they are well off.
So far so good.
But listening to a podcast this afternoon, I heard the host try to express the opposite condition, and the term he used ("badly off") clanged in my ear. It just doesn't sound right.
Still, if we look at the positive expression "well off" we might judge that well functions as an adverb and off as an adjective. So if you want to introduce the negative condition, the corresponding adverb is badly (or poorly, etc.). But it still sounds awful.
Funnily enough, my ear's inner alarm remains silent when I hear someone say bad off, as in "They were pretty bad off in those days." So is that the answer? If so, why doesn't it yield to my immediate grammatical analysis? Why should bad off sound acceptable in that context but not poor off or some other combination of adjective/adjective? And it's not as if I'm trying to force-fit the corresponding negative construction: those already exist, and are heard all the time. What gives?
Note that I mean this question in the very narrow scope described above. I am not looking for synonyms of the negative. I don't want destitute or unfortunate or any of the others, and I will scowl at those who attempt to run me through with a thesaurus.
Well, well
I like J.R.'s contention that the word well is problematic in and of itself. Still, I'm not sure the other part of the team, off, should get off scot free. It has been overloaded in meaning for centuries. It can mean apart from, in a state of disuse, rusty ["His game was off due to a hangover"], not operational at this time ["The oven was off"], inaccurate ["The figures are off"], extending from, abstaining from ["He's been off alcohol for years"], and so on. Which is why when I hear "badly off" it makes me feel that off is being emphasized when it is not meant to carry the semantic freight with respect to positive or negative values.
Off with their heads!
Additionally, and with respect to the latter point, I see in the comments that some of you are trotting out Google word and book searches, which may or may not apply here. (Full disclosure: I have mixed feelings about the use of such sources.) So it is worth pointing out that, taken out of context, the terms "bad off" and "badly off" do not always refer to the purported opposite of "well off":

He aimed for the target, but was badly off the mark.
They were badly off in their estimate of how much time the project would take.
Her performance was bad off the get-go.

That last is colloquial, and may be straining the issue, but even if the search fails on account of the ambiguity of one term, it nevertheless fails for both.


texts: Name for a verb that switches meaning depending on whether it has an object

texts:
Consider the sentences:

  The door closes.

  Emily closes the door.

In both cases, it's the door that's being closed, even though "the door" is the subject of the first sentence and the object of the second.

Some verbs, like "close", behave like this and switch their meaning according to whether they're used intransitively or transitively. Another good example might be "fly". A few years ago, I was told a name for this type of verb, but I can't for the life of me remember it now. What are these verbs called?


texts: help translating automated call for registration

texts:
I would like to register to Amazon web services and the during the verification's phone call I need to type 4 digit on my phone.
But the registration always fails, the truth is that i dont understand well the end of the instructions from "displayed on your screen ..."

the recorded call is here:
https://goo.gl/0kx18z

Can somebody help me to explain what it means the end of the call ?

Thanks in advance.

Cs.

I can turn to the Amazon support but I think they too busy to give answer in short term.


texts:
Wiktionary defines a hobby as

  An activity that one enjoys doing in one's spare time.

Other dictionaries tend to have similar definitions.

Viewpoint 1

Some people believe that the word hobby can be used for any regularly practiced leisure activity, such as watching TV, or listening to music.

Viewpoint 2

On the other hand, others believe use of the word is not appropriate for passive activities such as watching TV. If watching TV were a hobby, one could argue that watching the wall could also be technically a hobby.

Also, by Wiktionary's definition, having sex would fall under 'hobby'. It is not commonplace to refer to having sex as a hobby so another logical criterion to refer to something by the word 'hobby' could be that the activity (or interest in it) should not be too universal.

Question

So, what constitutes correct usage of the word 'hobby'?

Does any pastime (watching TV, having sex...) qualify to be called a hobby or are there one or more criteria such as:

Shouldn't be too universal
Shouldn't be a passive activity
Should be a productive or developmental activity

Edit: Please let us not get carried away with sex-related jokes and discussions but focus on the definition of the word hobby


texts: Why is “disabled“ preferred over “handicapped”?

texts:
The question may be too opinion based and highly contentious.
However, as a non native speaker with a serious disability, I have great trouble grasping why “disabled“ is supposed to be much better than “handicapped“. When I hear “handicapped“ I think of someone on the gym taking a position that makes the exercise harder and ideally still pulling it off (incidentally, this is what I think my disability does; it makes my life a hell of a lot harder, but in the end I still prevail).
When I hear “disabled“ I think of a machine completely switched off or an opponent immobilised (this is what I never want my disability to achieve: to make me feel utterly powerless).
Is it just a random effect of history that made “handicapped“ so much worse (because people have simply had more time abusing the word) or can it be understood from the connotations of the two words outside medicine?

Sources that attest to the preferability of “disabled“ are quite easy to find, but they don’t explain why this preference came about. Examples: 1.
Another, which states that the connotation is opposite from what I expect, but not why: 2.
Here we have a comparison of the two including a summary table, but again “disabled“ would strike me as the much more negative, except for the disputed hand-in-cap etymology, which I understand could make the term undesirable: 3
Here, “handicap“ is connected to “Hand in Cap“ through a game of chance unrelated to begging: 4


texts: I am non-native in English, so this question may be a meaningless one or even a silly one. Why do we need a stress on one or more letters in a word? Indeed, a native person can read a word containing stress; even I omit duplicated letters. Is this just a heritage from the historical times, or not?


texts: What's the -nym for describing a time of day or a period of time?

texts:
We have these...

Morning, afternoon, evening, night, day, and it's like night and day
Midnight and noon, and high noon
Yesterday, today, and tomorrow
Earlier, later, and now
Four O'Clock
2300 hours
Yesteryear
October, Wednesday, 1982
The Age of Wonder, The Pleistocene Era
Once upon a time, never, forever, forever and a day
You get the idea...

Is there a word for named moments or periods of time—one of the -nym suffixed words? I did a search and can't seem to find a word in reasonably wide usage.

This Q&A doesn't address my question (completely). A search on a term that made sense to me in the family of Latin-derived terms like demonym (which is fully documented) and retronym is temponym, which has been coined in technical circles.

At the least, it doesn't seem to have a dictionary definition yet.


texts: Is 'honest' a suitable synonym for 'sincere'?


texts:
Most often used is "independence" as far as I know, however what is the difference?

I only found a question about "dependence vs. dependency" where is said that "dependence" describes the quality (also abstract) and "dependency" describes the state. Is this the same for the opposites? It was mentioned in the original question, but not answered.


texts: Difference/usage of "contributor" vs. "donator"

texts:
I am not a native English speaker, so forgive if I ask a trivial question for native English speakers.

When someone donates money for charity, is such a person called a donator or a contributor?

I thought contributing had to do with adding actual service/work to something (as opposed to supporting with money). But the generic (free) translator I use says the English translation for the Dutch word donateur (which has the connotation of donating money) is contributor.


texts: What is the origin of "six" as a word to refer to the toilet?

texts:
A common euphemism for the toilet in the spoken Welsh of north Wales is "lle chwech", literally "six place" ("chwech" being "six" in Welsh). Note this refers mainly to the room rather than the porcelain throne itself.

Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru (the Welsh equivalent of the Oxford English Dictionary) states here that this is a borrowing from the English slang six "a privy".

There is a reference to six with this meaning in The Routledge Dictionary of Historical Slang here. It states:

  six A privy: Oxford University: ca 1870-1915. ?origin

I'm not sure to which Oxford publication the date range above refers. I've looked in the New English Dictionary ... under six and found nothing relevant.

In conversation, someone has suggested a link to the French "sis" from "soeir" meaning "to sit", which seems plausible semantically but I'm no expert on French.

Another possibility is that it may have cost sixpence to visit a toilet at some point. However, this seems expensive considering "spend a penny" is apparently from the 1850s and that it was only 2p to visit the lavatory in 1977 according to A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English.

Any thoughts on the origin of six in this context?


texts: Correct preposition for dates written YYYY-MM-DD

texts:
What is the correct preposition when writing dates in the numerical format YYYY-MM-DD? I would argue that there are two possibilities, "on" or no preposition at all, but then again I'm not a native English speaker.

So which if these would you consider (most) correct:

  "The experiemnt was carried out on 2019-05-21."

or

  "The experiemnt was carried out 2019-05-21."

?


texts: What is the origin and meaning of the phrase “bane of my existence”?

texts: A friend recently used the phrase bane of my existence, and while I’m familiar with the phrase, I would like to know its origin and meaning.


texts: "moment zero" as a way to describe the beginning of a process?

texts:
I am a non-native English speaker.
In my language, I could use the expression "moment zero," or "zero moment" to describe the very beginning of a process.
I have googled this and it does not seem like something that English speakers would regularly use.
(It has a reference to physics, when you describe the zero moment prior to setting a force in motion.)
what would be a good equivalent in English?
thanks so much for your input!


texts: In Edsger Dijkstra's quote, meaning of 'the plague'

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"The competent programmer is fully aware of the limited size of his own skull. He therefore approaches his task with full humility, and avoids clever tricks like the plague."

I am trying to understand this quote of Edsger W. Dijkstra. I understand that he emphasize to be a good programmer. However, I don't understand the meaning of 'the plague'. General meaning of 'the plague' is ill, but this context says it couldn't be.


texts: Why does an adjective not exist in "-ing" form when it already has an "-ive" form and vice versa?

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In other words, why is there impressive but no impressing and haunting but no hauntive?

Thanks a lot.


texts: What would you call a person who clarifies matters?

texts:
A person who can put things, problems in a new light.
Makes you see things differently.
Helps you figure out things, solve problems.
Map complex issues etc.


texts:
When Chinese, Koreans, and possibly other Asians migrate into countries like the UK or the US, they often take on a "western" or "anglicised" name for a number of reasons. For example, the director Justin Lin's Chinese (well, Taiwanese) name is Yipin Lin. I'd like to know how to refer to the two variants:

Yipin Lin is his ____ name while Justin Lin is his ____ name.

Ideally, I'd like to avoid nationalities (Chinese/Korean) and regions/languages ("western"/"anglicised") in preference to generic terms.

P.S. I want to avoid connotations of replacement as both names are often equally valid and current.


texts: What is the difference between 'speculative', 'hypothetical' and 'conjectural'?


texts: Position of 'was' at the end of a nominal clause

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Can somebody help me categorise the meaning/purpose of the following sentence, and explain why the verb 'was' is at the end of what I hope is a nominal clause?

I was shocked by how blue the sky was.

'How blue the sky was', is the nominal clause functioning as an object,no?

It appears to replicate reported speech structure: E.g.  He told me how sad he was.

But this   How + adjective + s + v looks like an exclamation.

E.g How beautiful you are!

Is there a name, or a good resource for identifying nominal clauses that start with interrogatives?

Help would be much appreciated. :)