texts: Is there a word or short phrase used to describe being impressed with someone's accomplishment while also clearly expressing a lack of understanding?

texts:
(This is my first time on this forum, so I apologize in advance if I fail to articulate my query effectively or break site etiquette out of ignorance. I'll endeavor to be as thorough as possible here because I feel as though my question might be quite obscure, so this post will likely be very long.)

I am in a situation where I feel the need to congratulate someone for something they recently achieved and were formally acknowledged for by others. However, the accomplishment lies in a field I am grossly unfamiliar with, and so I am unable to make any specific compliment due to my lack of knowledge and experience in that area. This also extends to the award itself in that I am unsure just how significant it is overall (my intuition and a quick internet search suggest that it is a fairly big deal).

What I am after is the most concise way (preferably a single word or short phrase) that I can express through writing as sincerely as possible that I am impressed by their achievement (and it's obvious acknowledgement by others relevant in the field), while also letting them know that, while my compliment is genuine, it holds no basis in my own understanding and that I find myself equally amazed and confused to the point where I recognize a job well done, but can't really say much else.

I was unable to find any other relevant information - it looks like I might be the first person to ask about something like this.
I do recognize that saying something to the effect of 'That's impressive, congratulations!' then just briefly explaining my ignorance might be sufficient, but I would very much like to know if there is a better way to approach this.

(Thank you for reading, I hope that was clear enough and made sense.)

EDIT: I suppose that it doesn't help that I wasn't specific enough as to the exact intended usage.
The individual I mention is a musician, and not involved in a scientific discipline as some of you have speculated. I have asked for a way to congratulate him in a way that intentionally exaggerates my position as an outsider to add a comedic overtone to an otherwise sincere compliment. The difficulty is that I have to do so in writing, and I was just after some ideas.


texts: Meaning of the sentence from Rudyard Kipling's "The Man Who Was"

texts:
Dirkovitch, who had devoted himself steadily to the brandy—the terrible brandy aforementioned—did not understand, nor did the expurgated translations offered to him at all convey the point. Decidedly the native officer’s was the speech of the evening, and the clamor might have continued to the dawn had it not been broken by the noise of a shot without that sent every man feeling at his defenseless left side.

From Rudyard Kipling's "The Man Who Was"

I am unable to unable to understand why 'without' word has been used in the sentence. If 'without' is not used, the sentence makes perfect sense to me. Could someone elaborate on this?


texts:
Is there an English word for a "product made by tinkering".
Such as "Bastel" in German, or "bricolage" in French.

If you need an example sentence:

  Das ist keine Software, das ist ein(e) Bastel(ei).  Ce n'est pas du
  logiciel, c'est un bricolage.
  (That's not software, that's a ____ )

Connotation of this is, that the quality is, shall we say, "repulsive"/quick-and-dirty.


texts: Does "this generation" associated with a calendar date identify a generation unambiguously?

texts:
This question arises from the commentspace in this question on stats.SE.

My comment was:

  Last I checked Terry Tao was the pre-eminent mathematician of this
  generation?

To which another commenter replied:

  Which generation is that?

Note that I said "this generation" as opposed to our generation. My question is: does "this generation" associated with a date (timestamp) uniquely identify a generation, particularly in the academic context? How else can I identify a generation -- through reference to a specific person?


texts: In my search for the definition for the poetry term "doggerel," which I still do not understand, I came across the term "irregular rhyme." Can someone explain the definition of these terms, and how they are used in the literary sense?


texts: Rule of English phonology that prevents /j/ and /w/ from occurring in the ends of syllables

texts:
I'm quite sure I've seen a rule in English phonology that says that /j/ (the "y" sound) and /w/ (the "w" sound) should not occur in the ends of English syllables, but I haven't had much luck finding that rule anywhere on the web.
The rules I'm talking about are called "Phonotactics rules". As per Wikipedia, "Phonotactics is a branch of phonology that deals with restrictions in a language on the permissible combinations of phonemes. Phonotactics defines permissible syllable structure, consonant clusters and vowel sequences by means of phonotactic constraints."
An example of the rules is that /ŋ/ (the "ng" sound) cannot begin a syllable, but can end one.
I search through different websites in hopes of finding the rule that restricts /w/ and /j/ at the end of syllables, but of no use. Does this "Phonotactic rule" exist in English phonology? Can anyone provide a source that confirms this?


texts: What is the word used to describe a question that demands one of two possible answers?

texts:
Politicians seem incapable of giving a straight answer when posed simple questions, sometimes because the question being asked simply cannot be dignified by a one word answer, other times because they are trying desperately to avoid revealing an ulterior motive or cock-up.
But what do you call this kind of question?

For example:

Q: Is my t-shirt white or black?
A: White

Q: Theresa, did you know about a reported failed Trident test when you addressed parliament during a debate on the renewal of Britain’s nuclear deterrent?
A: Well, errr, I believe that..... strong and  stable....


texts: How can I rephrase sentence to make it more concise?

texts:
What I am trying to say:

A farmer should provide essential food for his livestock. The failure of farmer to provide this essential food for the cattle will materially impact cattle's health. Farmer's boss is going to hold him responsible only if he does not provide the essential food that directly impacts the health of the cows and but will not hold him responsible for if essential food does not impact the health of cow (e.g. is only good for cow's fur/skin - aesthetic conditions.)

my concise version

The farmer's boss will hold the farmer responsible if farmer does not provide essential food that considerably impacts the health of a cow and does not lead to aesthetically unpleasant health.

Question

How do I frame what I am trying to say in one sentence which is better than my version above. I believe my version is not clear (esp. at the tail end of the sentence).


texts: What does “Sunshine,” when it’s placed at the end of sentence mean?

texts:
I came across a peculiar (to me) usage of the word, “sunshine” that was placed at the end of sentence in the short story, “High Heels,” written by Jeffrey Archer.
“Sunshine” appears in the following exchange of words at the last scene where the shoes trading company owner, Des Lomax who seemingly set fire to his building and Alan Penfold, training actuary of the fire insurance company who suspects him as the arsonist confront for showdown:

“I will be recommending that my client settles for two million, but it will be up to you to make the final decision, sunshine,” said Alan.
“I don’t give a damn about your recommendation, sunshine.” said Lomax.

What does “sunshine” mean in the above context? Is it an addressing word or interjection?
Is “Sunshine” casually used in this way in both British and American English, or is it peculiar to British English? And, what is the origin of this usage?


texts: What does "people of the concrete steppes" mean?

texts:
I read this on an economics blog (http://econlog.econlib.org/archives/2014/02/in_the_1930s_it.html) and tried to google it, but the results seem to just be people using it, no one explaining it.

Thanks for any help!


texts: 'Color blindness' or 'colorblindness', and 'color blind' or 'colorblind'?

texts: It seems like a lot of sources use different things. Is there a proper format for color blind/colorblind and color blindness/colorblindness?


texts: Whether to use the singular or plural form of basis?

texts:
Is it: "coming to these conclusions on the basis of this study" or "coming to these conclusions on the bases of this study"?  Do we use the singular "basis" because it is just one study or the plural "bases" because there are many conclusions?

To correctly use the plural would we have to say something like: "Coming to these conclusions, on these bases, i decided..."?


texts: What does “There is something more to life than an orange and black color scheme,” mean?

texts:
I found a phrase “There is something more to life than an orange and black color scheme,” in the following lines of Time magazine’s (April 1) article titled, “My Advice to Princeton Women Grads.” - http://ideas.time.com/2013/04/01/my-advice-to-princeton-women-grads/#ixzz2PGP6KLdF

  “Seriously. You have no idea what you have been missing. You know
  you’ve been tempted about a million times over the decades. You have
  long suspected that there is something more to life than an orange
  and black color scheme. You know there’s something unhealthy going
  on when every domestic dispute over say, that pesky budget, ends with
  “Rah!Rah! Rah! Rah! Tiger sis boom bah! And locomotives by the score.”

Is “There is something more to life than an orange and black color,” a popular saying or just the Princeton graduate author, Dominique Browning’s trope? Is ‘black and orange’ Princeton’s school color? What does it mean? What does orange and black color signify?


texts: Is it acceptable to start an emphatic sentence with "It is he who…"?

texts:
It is he who the students choose as the repersentative of their class.

Is this sentence grammatically correct? If not, why?
I would like to know whether the pronoun ‘he’ can be used in this grammar pattern.


texts: Differences among words describing someone who is expert in many things

texts:
I wonder how the following words for describing someone who knows many different things compare, and when to use which word.  Some  are adjectives, others are nouns:

renaissance
polymath
versatile
aficionado
... (possibly others if you don't hesitate to mention)

Some background:

I encountered "aficionado" and "versatile" from a personal
description here

  "It's getting harder and harder for me to believe that you're just a
  hobbyist. Aficionado would be a better term. And a damn versatile one
  at that!"

When I told some American I hoped to be polymath, he said they
would use "Renaissance" instead.


texts: How should I understand this comment from Mark Twain about Chicago?

texts:
"It is hopeless for the occasional visitor to try to keep up with
  Chicago --- she outgrows his prophecies faster than he can make them." wrote Mark Twain in 1883, when Chicago was just fifty years old.

I think "she" refers to "Chicago", and "he" refers to "the occasional visitor". But what does "outgrows his prophecies" mean? Does it mean Chicago grows very fast?


texts:
I am searching for a single word that means something is not just flawed, but innately flawed.

"More’s intentional creation of an innately flawed Utopian society shows his..."


texts: What is the meaning of this long line in this sentense?

texts:
I am reading "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen and encountered a strange dash in this sentence:
"The officers of the ---- shire were in general [...]"
---- is a long line and not four single dashes. What is the meaning of that long dash? It was repeated many times and I couldn't make out what exactly was meant.


texts: How can I find contemporary examples of 'concert' as a verb?

texts:
I like to improve my familiarity with a word by looking over a range of contemporary examples of writers using the word. Normally I use Google News to find examples from newspapers and magazines. But I'm having trouble with the following verb (quoting the OED):

  concert, v.

  a. trans. Of two or more people: to arrange or contrive (something) by mutual agreement; (of a person) to arrange or contrive (something) with another.

  b. intr. Of two or more people: to arrange a matter by mutual agreement or coordination; to work with joint action or purpose; to collude; (of a person) to work or act with another in this way.

Obviously, a search for  “concert” won't work. And a search for “to concert” doesn't work either: I get results of headlines like “Russian pianist delayed en route to concert”. A search for “to concert *” is flat-out absurd: for some ungodly reason, Google includes results like “to the concert” and “to a concert”. Of course, “concerted” yields adjective-heavy results swimming in the fixed phrase “concerted effort”. And “concerting” yields strange errors where people seem to have mixed together “concerning” (as in cause for concern) and “disconcerting” (as in unsettling).

So I think ordinary Googling is a lost cause. Is there another way to find contemporary examples of writers using this verb?


texts: What word best means "the state of being an expert"?

texts:
In a tongue-in-cheek communique', I wish to say something to the effect of:

"But in the absence of such an actual expert, I have learned that the above is a losing battle.  I am being dragged, kicking and screaming, into widget expertcy."

But I don't think 'expertcy' is truly cromulent.  'Expertdom', maybe?


texts: lefty and righty classification question title

texts:
I am creating a survery where need to put the question about there "most used hand in general", what do we call  this behaviour combindly?

right now what I write

  Are you lefy of righty?

a) lefty b)righty c) both

Please suggest me the proper word here, and also the sentence structure.


texts: Does the sentence: "While common credence..." make sense?

texts:
If I want to argue against something commonly accepted to be true, can I say:

  While common credence dictates that eight hours of uninterrupted sleep is absolutely essential, recent studies have shown that sleeping less and more often is more beneficial.

Does the structure "While common credence dictates...it is actually..." make sense?

Because, all the example uses I have seen of the word "credence" seem to make it appear like it isn't something that is owned by someone (like common sense, which is what I'm after,) but rather it is something that an idea/theory has.

Is there a better word/phrase I can use? Or does this one after all make sense?


texts:
I can't explain why the following sentences are wrong, although I can correct them.

  (a) INCORRECT — The table shows the average amount of time advertisements on the Internet
  lasting.

  (b) CORRECT — The table shows the average amount of time advertisements on the Internet last.

  (a) INCORRECT — The graph shows what proportion of UK adolescents following a vegetarian diet.

  (b) CORRECT — The graph shows what proportion of UK  adolescents follow a vegetarian diet.

  (c) CORRECT — The graph shows the proportion of UK adolescents following a vegetarian diet.

What's the actual grammar going on here?


texts: Meaning of the phrase "opining from the rafters, a movie’s overall rating"

texts:
Can anyone kindly explain the meaning of phrase "opining from the rafters, a movie’s overall rating" in the following sentence:

Very few veteran critics tend to be enamored of the recent decade in cinema. Nonetheless, based on movie reviews many could easily come to the conclusion that the last ten years were indeed banner ones. Once the province of lettered intellectuals, a few even household names (Pauline Kael comes to mind), the role of the movie critic has been amply filled by those lacking any notable credentials. With this flood of veritable tyros opining from the rafters, a movie’s overall rating — as compiled and tabulated by popular Internet sites–often times confers a(n) patina of respectability on a film, an assessment that posterity will most likely deem specious.

From the above, what I understand is, someone's suggestion about the movie is extremely good and the movie's overall rating goes up by the virtue of such suggestions.


texts: Why did the use of "if you shall" and "if you should" dramatically decline?

texts:
Google Books statistics indicate that the use of the expression "if you should" and especially of the expression "if you shall" per unit of text length dramatically and steadily declined since the 1700s, as you can see in this graph. As compared to the 1700s, the former expression is nowadays used about 7 times less frequently, and the latter expression - about 50 times less frequently.

Why did this happen?

My question is not meant to be broad or a request for subjective opinions. Instead, I mean to ask whether there are any obvious objective factors that explain or could explain such a decline, such as a documented change in the meaning or connotation. I am not a native speaker and do see any possible factors at all, so I hope that native speakers can shed some light.

My understanding is that the expression "if you shall/should" roughly means "if you have/had a duty or obligation to," and I am puzzled as to why the expression became so much less used to express the idea. I see nothing wrong or weird in saying, "I will help you find another apartment and relocate to it if you shall vacate your current landlord's property by the end of this month."

In an attempt to find the answer, I looked at statistics for the expressions "you should" and "you shall" (i.e., without "if"). I found that although the use of the latter expression considerably declined since the 1700s (by a factor of 10), the use of the former one did not decline at all: Graph. Thus, the statistics of "you shall/should" cannot explain the magnitude of the decline of the use of "if you shall/should." And I even do not see why the expression "you shall" became less frequently used than before.

I am puzzled and humbly hope to read enlightening responses by native speakers.

Update: As pointed out by JK2 in an answer below, the statistics are different if we replace "if" by "If" (i.e., if we make the first letter capital):

The use of "If you should" (with the capital letter I in "If") is nowadays about 4 times less frequent per unit of text length as compared to the middle of the 1800s.
The use of "If you shall" (with the capital letter I in "If") is nowadays about 20 times less frequent per unit of text length than in the 1700s and 1800s.

Thus, the decline for these phrases with the capital letter I is less dramatic than for the same phrases with the small letter i, but is still very considerable.


texts: What is a term for someone who doesn't know what they haven't experienced?

texts:
I'm struggling to find a word or short term for a person or group of people who do not experience jealousy/remorse/etc. due to a lack of something. For example, people from the middle ages could not be upset about the lack of cell phones because cell phones did not exist back then and they had no idea something along those lines could exist.

It doesn't have to be the lack of a tangible thing either, the term I am looking for could represent the lack of anything. Another example would be how many young children do not understand the concept of racism. Since they have never been exposed to bigotry or prejudicial behaviour, they do not harbor negative feelings towards people who are different than them simply because they are different.

My first thoughts were naive and ignorant, but those words tend to carry a negative connotation with them. It sounds unfair to call a person from the middle ages ignorant because they didn't have a cell phone or to refer to a baby as naive for not being a racist. Is there a better term out there?


texts:
The slang term minge in the sense of quim dates from the beginning of the 20th century. However, neither the OED nor Etymonline has any idea where it came from.

Here are two of the OED’s citations:

1936 J. Curtis Gilt Kid viii. 80 — I’m going to give you a kick in the minge if you don’t shut up.
1974 New Direction IV. iv. 19/2 — They’ve all..scented and talced their minges.

Which is all very nice and all, but what is the origin of the word in this sense?


texts: What are the connotations of the word "Greetings" when used as a greeting? I am British, and I have rarely heard "Greetings!" used as a greeting in the UK. I associate it in my mind with Commander Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation, because I seem to remember he used it a lot. So to me it connotes geeky, formal and stilted. However, I appreciate this may not be accurate.


texts:
By "ashamed smile" I mean something like this:

I thought of the word sheepish, but I think it's more related to guilt? What I'm looking for is something that has more to do with shame, like when someone recognizes you but calls your nickname instead of your actual name.


texts: A word that refers to a shrill sound vibrating in someone's ears and alerting the senses

texts:
Click, click. The rapid shrill sound constantly came and went,
  _____ing in my ears.

Which word can best fit the blank in the sentence? Ringing or echoing fit, but seem too lackluster and mediocre to me.

Definition:

A word that refers to a repeating shrill sound being vibrated in someone's ears and alerting the senses because of its shrillness and the abruptness of its coming and ending.

Context:

The narrator is using a PC. The clicking of the mouse is the 'sound' in question. She is getting sleepy and the only thing that seems to keep her awake is the constant clicking sound. No, the sound isn't ear-piercingly loud and shrill. Nor is it very pleasant to the ears. What I seek to describe is the effect the sound produces, not the sound itself.

Preferences:

I'm looking for a word that's (preferably) short, simple and powerful. As I said earlier — what I seek to describe is the effect the sound produces, not the sound itself. If you choose a word that needs the sentence to be reworded a bit in order to fit, don't hesitate to share it. I won't mind, as long as the word's appropriate and the meaning isn't drastically changed.


texts:
What would be an appropriate opposite phrase for "close the distance".

Example:

  The rabbit was fast. With every leap, the rabbit {{ grew the distance }} between it and the hunter.


texts:
It occurs regularly in Devils by Dostoevsky:

1.

  These talented gentlemen of the middling sort in the decline of their venerable years usually write themselves out in the most pitiful way [...].

2.

  It happens that a writer who has been for a long time credited with extraordinary profundity, betrays such insipidity in his fundamental ideas that no one regrets that he succeeded in writing himself out so soon.


texts: Something happens because clause A, and clause B.

texts:
I wonder whether because can introduce two or even more reasons; if yes, how they are connected.

For example,

  John came late because he woke up late, and his bicycle was broken.

Is the sentence above correct?

Thanks!


texts: When you give the definition of a word, you define it, but what(if there is) is the word for giving a synonym of a word?


texts: Do I need to repeat the subject+verb a second time in a sentence?

texts:
Which of the following is correct? Do I need to repeat the "I will"?

  I will work on that list and send it to you as soon as possible.
  I will work on that list and I will send it to you as soon as possible.


texts: Expanding "science" and "diligence" usage to direct object

texts:
I seem to have seen these phrases:

  to do science
     to do due diligence

quite a bit in recent years, and they sound funny to me; I wonder whether this usage of "diligence" and "science" as direct objects of "do" is in fact new, or just a bit of ignorance on my part?

Assuming that these words have expanded their allowed functions in sentences, what is that expansion called (cf. "verbing" (probably not the technical term :))? Are there other examples? Is this a common occurrence?


texts: Examples of "ATM Machine" silly repeats?

texts: Swedes often say CD Skiva as in Compact disk disk. In English you sometimes say ATM machine as in Automated teller machine machine. What are other examples of such redundant endings?


texts: Different Meanings of 'Jumper' (Transatlantic embarassment)

texts:
I'm originally from Wales, now living in the USA, and as the cold weather is approaching I'm determined, this year, to start using the word sweater to describe the item of clothing I'm wearing, as opposed to that which comes much more naturally to me: jumper. It'll save a lot of laughter at my expense if I can manage that.

In the USA, a jumper is a shoulder-to-thigh girl's dress, whereas in the UK a jumper is a knitted garment worn over a shirt or tee by either sex. This question has more detailed descriptions.

My question is, how did these meanings for 'jumper' evolve so differently? Was there a point when they both referred to the same garment, or do they have two completely separate histories?


texts:
thefreedictionary.com:

  They grew up in the Sudan; hence their interest in Nubian art.

Am I right that?:

"Hence" is an adverb.
"Hence" is the head of the adverbial phrase "Hence their interest in Nubian art".
"Hence their interest in Nubian art" functions as a supplement.
"They grew up in the Sudan" is the anchor of the supplement.

Thanks!


texts:
A call to BrE speakers: A television outlet in NE US is advertising a gala fundraising event coinciding with the finale of the Downton Abbey television series in the States.

  Sunday, March 6, 2016 marks the end of an era, as Downton Abbey draws the curtain on its final episode.
  Join Vermont PBS to give the series a proper send-off at this gala finale event!
  •   Screening of the FULL final episode.
  •   Reception, hors d’oeuvres & cash bar.
  •   Jazz-era dancing to the Vermont Jazz Ensemble.
  •   Downton Abbey photo opportunity!

They've titled their event A Proper Cheerio - which sounds grating to my untutored ear.  The voiceover announcer is clearly an American making an unfortunate attempt at an RP delivery, as if the organizers are trying to sound like "poncy toffs" (an expression for which I am indebted to an EL&U guru) - and falling short.

My question: is a proper cheerio a proper Briticism?

Google and other search engines offer little encouragement.


texts:
While "expat" and "expatriate" are commonly used, I also often see "ex-pat" in news articles:

So You Think You Can Be An Ex-Pat? Forbes
Australian ex-pat writer and TV critic Clive James dead at 80 Japan Times via Reuters

What is the origin of "-" between "ex" and "pat"?
Note: When I copy/paste this character from the Forbes article into Wikipedia, I am redirected to Hyphen-minus.


texts: What do you call a noun that precedes and describes another noun?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  What is the word that denotes the words preceding these nouns?

Would it still be a noun, an adjective, or something else?

Example:

  A stone fortress


texts: What do you call a second try at a test?

texts:
At uni you can do the final test of a course twice, what do you call the second test ?

Is it a second term ? No that's the second semester isn't it ?


texts:
I am doing a persuasive essay for English. I want a word that means "not located yet", as in if you know something exists, but have not yet found the boundaries where it exists. As in genetics, where you don't know the chromosome or area that a specific gene is found, therefore you cannot genetic-test for it.

The sentence is:

  Instead of performing studies on many pairs of twins for the hope that one pair might have the [word I am looking for] gene, you could clone an individual already exhibiting the trait.


texts:
Maybe this is not a question relating to the usage of the English language. I struggle to find the explanation of "tax-derived finances".

Here is the context:
"The principal reasons for this are that rich children stay longer in school, that a year in a university is disproportionately more expensive than a year in high school, and that most private universities depend—at least indirectly—on tax- derived finances"

My guess is that it is the money exempt from being taxed by the government.


texts:
What is an alternative expression to "this"? As in:

  Medicine is very important. This
  can be ascertained from the fact
  that...

I'm looking for a "synonym".


texts:
I was reading Rainbow Six by Tom Clancy this morning, and he compares his characters to the 'pros from Dover'.

This was a phrase that I also remember hearing in the movie M*A*S*H - so it seems to be a phrase in use in 1970 (and possibly 1950s, although the historical accuracy of the movie could be put into question).

So - where is this Dover? And who are the pros and why are they held in such regard?


texts: In EModE should 'may' become 'mayest' when expressing a wish

texts:
I'm translating a text from Sanskrit, which has a singular/plural (and, actually, dual) distinction in the second person. It has long been the custom in English translation to render the 2nd singular with 'thou', etc. and the 2nd plural with 'ye/you', etc., as in Early Modern English (EModE). This creates a suitably archaic and liturgical feel to the translation.
But I've come unstuck with the phrase 'may you be covered'. If I want to replace 'you' with 'thou', should 'may' become 'mayest' or not?
My feeling is that 'may' is functioning as an auxiliary here. In Modern English, we say 'he likes it', but 'may he like it'. We do not say 'mays he like it', the 'may' is not a finite verb. So I would expect the same to apply to EModE.
However, we would also apply the same logic to 'should'. We would say 'Has he eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded him that he should not eat?', not '... that he shoulds not eat?'. And so I would have expected, applying that logic, to find '... that thou should not eat?'. And yet we have in Genesis:

And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
(Genesis 3:11)

Which leads me to question whether the may would be finite and agree with thou, or not. Should it be 'mayest thou be covered' or 'may thou be covered', and why? This, to be clear, is in the sense of an imperative: 'Be covered!' - only softer.


texts: Is this sentence correct in grammar and does it even make sense

texts:
This sentence:

  You have the right to ask for someone in the United States of America.

Does it have any grammatical errors?
Does it even make sense? I think it is usually ...to ask for someTHING ...not someONE


texts: Source of the term Munter (unattractive person)

texts:
I'm a rock climber and I live in the UK (both of these will become relevant soon).

In the UK (typically southern England) it's common to call an unattractive person a Munter.

  What a Munter

Now in rock climbing (presumably sailing before it) there is a knot called a Munter Hitch. Are these two things/word uses related? If so how and why?

It's not a particularly unattractive knot!


texts:
Is the sentence “While i was traveling i had seen beautiful buildings.” ungrammatical?

I think this sentence is grammatical using past perfect to describe multiple events in past
 but the answer says ‘while i was traveling I saw beautiful buildings’ is correct.

Why the sentence ‘while i was traveling i had seen beautiful buildings’ is incorrect?


texts: "cut the bite" - is this a common expression?

texts:
Is to cut the bite a common expression to express making something milder? As in putting lemon in the recipe cuts the bite of the garlic?

I thought it made sense but no one seems to understand what I'm trying to say!


texts: Adverbial clauses or Gerunds! Which one is this?

texts:
In my King James Bible, I have found some words which look like Gerunds but they really are not, or at least they don't make sense when they get turned into nouns. Take a look at these examples:

Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ.
But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith.

And there are many example of words like these. At first I thought they might be Adverbial clauses which have reduced subject, helping verbs and changing verbs to "-ing" form, which some of them are pretty likely to be such as:

Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily

It sounds like this:

Then Joseph her husband, because he was a just man and didn't want to make here a public example,....

Or maybe it's "being" because it just has the responsibility to accompany an adjective form of phrase which didn't have sentence form. But still, it's not clear.
What are these gerund-like words really? They cannot be nouns - that doesn't make any sense for me, maybe because I'm not a native speaker. I'm not understanding something here!
Any idea or help would be really nice, thanks!


texts: Why is it a misconception and not a misconcept?

texts:
A misconception is:

  a mistaken thought, idea, or notion; a misunderstanding: had many misconceptions about the new tax program. (AHD)

Despite the different nuances in meaning the above definition could well refer both to a mistaken concept  (a general idea or understanding of something) and a mistaken  conception (something conceived in the mind or believed by a group of people; a concept, thought, or belief).

According to etymonline the term misconception dates back to:

  1660s, from mis- (1) + conception.

By that time both concept (1550s) and conception (meaning "that which is conceived in the mind" is from 1520s) had been used by more than a century, but conception somehow was chosen to indicate a wrong idea/notion.

Question:

Is there a reason for the fact that misconception became a commonly accepted term while misconcept did not. Could it be because conception had  been  a more popular term in the past for its original meaning "in the womb sense (also with reference to Conception Day in the Church calendar)"?


texts: Can someone be "chosen voluntarily"? Does it make sense to you?

texts:
"The students were chosen voluntarily for the study". I saw this phrase in an article and it made me wonder. The author clearly means that the students voluntarily participated in the study, but has he used a correct phrase for it?

P.S. Let me elaborate more on my point. I'm thinking that voluntarily is modifying the verb chose here. If I turn the sentence into an active form, I think the result is: "The researchers voluntarily chose the students for the study", which does not seem to be the case here.


texts: What is the history of the Australian slang word "sleeps" (meaning days)?  I lived in Sydney many years ago and the term was not used then.


texts: Word that describes an argument but particularly one of a savage, uncivil nature?

texts: I'm looking for a word that means an uncivil argument. Particularly one that would evoke images of aggression and vulgar word usage with no self control. I realize that I could just describe it like the above but I was wondering if there was a specific word that meant the above.


texts:
Could anyone let me know any good umbrella term for individual and company?

I'm trying to create a form as below. And I need a word or phrase to fill the blank:

  _____: individual/company
  name: [name]
  sex: male/female
  marital status: married/single


texts: Why do the words hundred & thousand require "a" before them, where ten & ten thousand do not?

texts: Not much to say here that was not said in the title... I'm wondering about adding "a" before a quantifier, and what are the rules for it. Is somehow ten considered to be plural, where hundred / thousand considered to be a group of 100 / 1000, and as a group it's singular?


texts: Click the button "in" or "on" the window - Technical Writing

texts:
I'm writing instructions telling a user to click something in/on a computer window. I lean naturally towards "click the button in the window", but is it "click the button on the window"? (Note: this is referring to a small floating window within the larger browser window, if that makes a difference.)

I've seen it written both ways, so I'm unsure which is correct.


texts:
While I understand why USA PATRIOT is a contrived acronym, I don't understand if CAPTCHA should be considered a contrived acronym.

Is CAPTCHA a contrived acronym? Why?


texts: Is there an expression for a principle that is only a first approximation?

texts:
Is there an expression for a principle that is a close approximation to the truth, but quite possibly has exceptions? For example, "Do not kill". This is a good first approximation, but almost everyone would make allow except for self defense.

I don't like the word "general", because it is often used in the sense of meaning universal, such as "The general theory of relativity".

I don't like "first approximation" or "heuristic", as they could be unfamiliar to people without a scientific background.

UPDATE: Another word I though of is "preliminary"


texts:
I was reading Ivan Klima's No Saints Or Angels and found the highlighted part in the following sentence not quite clear:

  When Karel1 left me, I tried to give her2 that love, but it’s impossible just to go on giving; well I wasn’t able to, at least. There were moments when my loneliness weighed heavily on me; the sand scrunched beneath my feet and I thirsted. I yearned for a loving man; I yearned for him so much that lovers would come to me in my dreams...

1: Karel is the ex-husband of the female protagonist in the story;
2: "Her" here refers to the female protagonist's daughter.

I cannot quite make out why the feeling of sand spreading and thinning (not sure if it is the right interpretation for scrunching) is associated with loneliness and yearning for love.


texts: What does ‘regimen’ mean in English grammar?

texts:
I happened to find that definition of the word, ‘regimen’ has the meaning of ‘governing word’ such as prepositions (sic from Reader’s English Japanese Dictionary) besides a popular notion of ‘a set of rules about food and exercise or medical treatment to stay healthy, or improve one’s health.’

What does ‘regimen’ as a grammatical term mean? What are they? How do they function? Are they different from simple modifiers such as adjectives and subordinate clauses?


texts:
I would like to know if this sentence is right – or are there too many commas?

  His father, Sandul, clad in his brown loose-fitting, collarless,
  ankle-length traditional jalabiya walked through the entrance,
  followed by his herd of goats, sheep and two cattle.

This seems to have too many commas to me but I may be wrong.


texts: I KNOW the rule is to put a comma after full dates, but in this case, it seems to be a bit much: "...the contract runs from July 1, 2015 through July 31, 2016, and should be amended as such. Because it's "x" through "y" it seems to put a comma after 2015 is too many commas. Thoughts?


texts: Job title of a person who checks invitations at a gala function such as a ball.

texts: They might also announce a guest's arrival. Not security, although they may have security working for them. Not uniformed but rather dressed appropriately to the function eg black tie.


texts:
Possible Duplicates:
  What is the correct way to pluralize an acronym?
  Plural form of the acronym LASER

I was just writing an email asking a supervisor about downloading multiple dynamic-link library files. The acronym for these is DLL, and the full spelling, dynamic-link library, is never used. How would this be pluralized, because normally I would just add an s, but DLLs is difficult to understand. Sometimes I add an apostrophe to make it DLL's, but I know this isn't grammatically correct. So my question is, how do I make the acronym DLL (and acronyms in general) plural?


texts:
Are the following 2 sentences correct?

Have the phone interviews gotten under way?
Have the phone interviews got under way?

My question is, is it correct to use "got/gotten" with "under way"?

Or should it be:
Are the phone interviews under way?

Cheers,
Chris


texts: What's an adjective to describe something "Of or relating to a row"?

texts:
Columnal: "Columnar"

Columnar: "of, relating to, resembling, or characterized by columns"

Tabular: "of, relating to, or arranged in a table"


texts:
When I write short stories, I often use the phrase "As time passed" to start a sentence.  The topics I'm covering in the story do not happen one right after the other, so I use the phrase to show continuity in time...I guess.  E.g. "Bob graduated from college and met Daisy at work.  As time passed, Bob and Daisy started dating."  In this example, it could have been two years between Bob meeting Daisy and Bob starting to date Daisy, hence, why I use "As time passed."

I was wondering if anybody knew of other words/phrases that can be used to achieve the same objective because I do not like to use "As time passed" multiple times in a story.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

P.s.  Please forgive anything I butchered when writing this question, as language/grammar has never been my strong suit.

THANK YOU!


texts: What do you call a question you know the answer to, but you want an answer?

texts:
Consider this hypothetical scenario:

You make plans with a significant other
They bail on you because they are too tired
You find out they went out with someone else
You ask, despite knowing the answer, "did you end up going to sleep early last night?"
They respond, "Ya"
You respond, "That was a(n) _________ question"

I don't think it's rhetorical because you're expecting an answer. However, the question is asked for a different purpose than a traditional question since it's a test to see if the friend (or whomever) will lie or tell the truth. Is there a name for this type of question? Like... "unveiling question" or "truth-seeking question" lol?

EDIT:

The goal of this question is to determine whether the other party will speak the known truth. With that said, it is not a:

trick question. There is a correct and obvious answer
loaded question. There is no assumption - it is factual
trap question. The question can't expose ignorance since both parties know the answer.
interrogation. This is too generalized for what I'm looking for. "To question thoroughly"
prompt. This isn't a means to encourage a hesitant speaker

I'm unsure of whether "leading" is correct. To me, a leading question is one where the questioner doesn't actually have an answer to the question, and also needs to make the question specific for legal reasons. Whereas the questioner in my scenario above knows the answer, and doesn't necessarily have to ask a specific question, but rather uses it to expedite the unveiling process since the question in itself is a guise for an ulterior goal.

Also, I'm not looking for a general saying, nor an idiom - I'm looking to fill the blank in my scenario. Similar to how one would ask a rhetorical question where the questioned party answers, you would respond stating, "That was a rhetorical question."

EDIT EDIT:

I'm not looking for a word to describe the question (appending a word to "question"), but rather a word that is the type of question, but also flows well with the sentence and atmosphere. I'm essentially hoping/looking for something like "rhetorical question," but for this context.

If someone asks a rhetorical question and someone answers it, you can state that it's a rhetorical question, which is both the type of question, as well as a standalone explanation where the other party immediately understands that the question was unneeded. However, in this context, I want this type of question to make the other party immediately understand that they made a mistake and are in trouble, without having to add additional explanation.


texts: Expression for a situation where most prominent stakeholders give up

texts:
I am a Tango for D adopter and appreciate it very much but I am very concerned with a threatening trend.

I noticed that many prominent early members leave it.

I perceive that as a strong vulnerability signal to the community because it's not outweighed by new entries.

I am looking for an appropriate idiomatic way to convey the fact that they abandon/leave/quit with emphasis on the threat that it involves (Something akin to the French: "Ils quittent/abandonnent le navire").


texts: What are those non-glass/non-transparent window called? just wooden doors for windows?

texts:
Do you guys know what those windows (like the ones on medieval castles) are called?  They are non-glass, non-transparent, wooden-doors pretty much; in other words, there are wooden doors on the opening of the wall... I've been looking around for awhile, but can't find the word.
The picture is here
Thanks for taking the time to assist.


texts: Why did the vowel in "Christ" become long in moving from Old English to Middle English?

texts:
I have read the following question and all the answers, and they do not answer my question, so it is not a duplicate:
Why are the vowels in Christ and Christmas different? (and other strange diphthong behaviour)

From wikitionary:

From Middle English Crist, from Old English Crist

Middle English Crist:  /kriːst/, /krist/
Old English: /krist/

The vowel in Old English was a short vowel /i/ but in Middle English, it became /i:/.
I read Homorganic Lengthening in this excellent answer by Janus Bahs Jacquet according to which vowels were lengthened before /mb nd ld rd ŋg/, but /st/ is voiceless.
Were vowels also lengthened before voiceless pairs? Why is this change in "christ"?


texts:
Either Pronunciation is OK? or not OK? My wife is learning English and she came up with the “either problem”. What to reply? I had always used both pronunciations but in a specific way and seem to remember being taught that way. However, when I went to check this on the net this did not seem to be the case until I saw the comment posted below which was originally posted on this site. This fits with my usage. My Question; Are we correct? is this just an old rule that has become forgot with time? P.S. I am from the UK, Midlands.
Original post: I found that I tend to use "eye-ther" before words beginning with a consonant sound and "ee-ther" before words beginning with a vowel sound. The same applies when I use neither.
E.g. "eye-ther this or that", "eye-ther him or her", "ee-ther a pineapple or a grape", "ee-ther orange or black"


texts: "She left small pins in the shoes he wore to injure his feet" – is this ambiguous?

texts:
She left small pins in all the shoes he wore to injure his feet.

I wrote this sentence and I thought it was fine. When I re-read it, the meaning became unclear to me. I want it to mean that she put pins in his shoes in order to cut his feet, but it also sounds like I mean she left pins in the shoes that he wore when he wanted to injure himself.

Am I completely over-thinking this sentence? Does my intended meaning come across?


texts: I am not a native speaker, and I find it very interesting that night is written with gh. Why is it spelled this way?


texts: A single word for a person who suffers great loss

texts:
Can anybody give me a single word for a person who suffers great loss as in the context below. The word loser is not appropriate:

  Mike lost everything after his failed
  business venture.

  Phillip suffered great loss due to
  the flood.


texts: Are these the same " In five of the six disciplines" and "in five out of the six diciplines"

texts:
As in the title mentioned above

Are these are the same?

  In five of the six disciplines

and

  In five out of the six disciplines

Are these of the same meaning? Otherwise, which phrase is correct?


texts: Reported Speech: preference for using that after say/tell

texts:
A student of mine has stated (based on her experience watching films and TV shows) that, when using Reported Speech, Americans will more often use 'he said that X' or 'he told us that X' whereas British people prefer to use 'he said X' or 'he told us X'.

I admit I have never noticed such a thing, nor have I heard of such a preference. Is my student on to something?


texts:
I am confused in whether to use a "?" or"." in this sentence.

Original question:

  Did you take the last test, and yes understood the question that I asked correctly.

Revised question:

  Did you take the test yesterday, and yes did interpret the question that
      I asked correctly.

Is the sentence correct? Is a comma the incorrect punctuation to use to combine the question and statement?

Is this a more clear statement:

  Did you take the test yesterday? Also, yes you did interpret the question
      that I asked correctly.


texts: Can anyone explain the use of determiners in this passage?

texts:
Can someone explain the use of determiners (words like some or the) for the word beans in the following dialogue:

  Aki: Lisa, here're some beans.

  Lisa: Why are you giving me beans?

  Aki: Because it's Setsubun today.  It means the "Coming of Spring".

  Lisa: OK, but why the beans?

  Aki: We throw beans on this day so that bad luck will leave and good luck will come in.

In particular, I'd like to know:

Why does Lisa drop the determiner (why are you giving me ø beans) when she asks her first question?
Why does Lisa then introduce a determiner (why the beans) when she repeats her question?
Aki also drops the determiner (we throw ø beans) when she explains the custom.  Is it for the same reason as 1, or for an entirely different reason?


texts: The files are "ready to download" or "ready to be downloaded"?

texts: Both ways seem to be used quite interchangeably even though the first one doesn't seem grammatical to me (English is, however, my second language so I could be miles off here). What do you think?


texts: Word for transportation of only people and goods and not data?

texts:
Is there a word for transportation of only people and goods, and explicitly not data?

Example: "On the internet you can't transport physical and material payload like passengers and cargo."


texts: Does "ostensibly " make sense in this sentence?

texts:
Does ostensibly make sense in this sentence?

  An ostensibly perfect world destroys itself

What I'm trying to convey is

  A so-called perfect world destroyed itself

But so-called is not very academic.

Thanks in advance!


texts: Grammar question: Which one does "as A as B" part modify?

texts:
Renewal and reform always depend on a capacity for going backwards to go forward. Key to this process is a search within one’s own mind for a model according to which reformed practice can be organized. Architects have long appealed to a primitive hut as just such a model. It is a structure thought to provide access as close to the first principles of architecture as it is possible to get, yet traces of this structure exist nowhere other than in the mind’s eye of the architect searching for it.

I understand the context of the above, but I am not quite sure whether the bold "close" is used as an adjective or an adverb.

If an adverb, the bold part should modify the verb in the clause, "(is thought)" or "provide", if not, the noun, "access." At first, I simply thought "close" is used as an adjective, but soon realized that it does not seem right in grammar, and "close" in the bold part must be an adverb in that sentence. I guess, depending on which one it is, the meaning of the sentence also alters significantly. I would like to know which part of speech "close" is in the sentence above.

Also, I would like to know how I can paraphrase the sentence "Architects have long appealed to a primitive hut as just such a model." I am not sure how I should understand "appeal to" part.

Thank you in advance.


texts: Word for "cannot bring oneself to do something."

texts:
I'm writing a battle scene where one of the characters can't bring himself to attack the enemy. I want to describe the feeling when he lies on the ground, surrounded by the carnage of war, when he knows that he can engage in it, but he can't bring himself to do so out of pure human decency. For example:

  John paused as he saw Marcus lying on the ground in the distance. Was he injured? No, he can't bring himself to do it.

I thought of words like "unmotivated", "apathy", etc., but they seem to imply a degree of laziness, which isn't present here.
Are there any words like what I'm looking for?


texts: "hold on I'll put you through" or "hang on I'll put you through"

texts:
Hello, this is Melanie Brown from Central Bank. Can I speak to Mr. Clark?
  Please (hold on / hang on) I'll put you through.

Which one - hold on or hang on - is the more appropriate, frequently used, or correct? Are they interchangeable in British and American English?


texts: Does "cease" express a temporary interruption or a permanent termination of an action?

texts:
In this blog there is a sentence:

  The failure of the "I Surrender" leaflets led the American PSYOP specialists to carefully construct a leaflet with the words "I Cease Resistance."

Does "cease" more often express the idea of temporarily stopping doing something, or is it more likely to imply a permanent stoppage? The dictionary doesn't explicitly mention this point.

  transitive verb
  to cause to come to an end especially gradually : no longer continue
  intransitive verb
  a:  to come to an end
  b:  to bring an activity or action to an end : discontinue
  Merriam-Webster


texts: What is a term for "modern" technology that doesn't imply up-to-date?

texts:
I am working on a game where the player is one of very very few people who own spaceships capable of jumping between planetary systems. Different planets have vastly different technology, but roughly 50% of them are just slightly beyond the technology level we possess in real life right now. Others only possess older technology level anywhere from "modern" to stone-age.

I need a term for planets with our current technology level without implying it's the most up-to-date. I could just name them something abstract, but I want players to understand what the term means without having to be told.

What is a term I could use here that doesn't imply the planet's technology is up-to-date and that players would understand intuitively?


texts:
The Wiktionary definition of sesquipedalianism, usage (2), is given as follows:

(countable) A very long word.

And wouldn't you know it, sesquipedalianism is a very long word!
Sesquipedalianism is a sesquipedalianism.
This observations brings me to the peculiar but fascinating question of whether  a word that literally describes itself has been identified by some general category of words, which may itself have been given a term.


texts: Is there a word for someone who is, sooner or later, about to make a (potentially critical) decision? (I am trying to construct a headline as "Letter to X" where X is the word I am looking for.)


texts: Do Old English dialects correspond well with modern English ones?

texts:
I came across this article the other day. At the bottom there's a family tree of English dialects, both extant and extinct ones. It makes it out that southern English dialects came from Wessax English, Standard English came from Mercian and Kentish English, etc.

I wonder how they came to this? Did they take a look at features of Standard English and conclude that "yes, such and such feature is obviously a Mercian innovation", or did they say "Received Pronunciation came from East Midlands; East Midlands was in Mercia; therefore, Received Pronunciation descended from medieval English of Mercia"?

What are some examples of Old English dialectal features that survived in modern English variants which allow people to make a family tree like that?


texts:
Does anyone have any insight into the actual origin of the term red cent?

I've heard several timelines and possible origins, including cardboard 1/10-of-a-penny coins early in the 20th century, the possibility of "red" meaning "Native (or First) American," and it having been literal in relation to the color of a pure-copper coin.


texts: What punctuation mark should I use here?

texts:
Eventually we're hoping to compile a
  list of schools[?] ones that would
  benefit considerably from ...

Where [?] is, would a semi-colon suit? What punctuation mark would be correct here and why?

A simple comma perhaps?


texts:
In some movie I heard someone say "I am hitting now" when he was leaving. Did he use "hit" instead of "go"?

edit: "I am hitting it" is what I exactly heard in the movie. Two guys were sitting on a bench and one of them decided to leave.


texts:
We have a joke about a foreigner that went to a wet market in zone 1 and saw a farmer selling live frogs in an open basket.
As we all know, frogs jump. Actually, they jump about quite a bit when in a confined space.
When the foreigner pointed that out and asked, "Aren't you worried these frogs will escape?" The farmer replied,

"No, sir. These are Mixcoan frogs, and if one looks like he is going to escape, well the rest pull him back in."

Another example could be seen in traffic.
Few drivers here use the directional signals when changing lanes. Why? Although covered ad nauseam on the Driver's test, it has become a "cultural" thing:  basically people here do not like other people getting in front of them.  It becomes a competition to see who can occupy that space first, and it turns into a Mario Andretti situation. Too often  it ends when neither one can occupy the space and both drivers have actually missed their turn.
From halfway around the world, in Saudi Arabia,  another example.
A local merc †  once told me about an experience he had had in Jeddah. He was  waiting for someone on the main concourse, and positioned himself nicely near one of the columns in order to to protect his gun  hand. A Saudi (local security) decided he also wanted to occupy that advantageous spot, and walked right up to my friend and tried to do a "face-off". They were pretty much nose-to-nose, and neither one backed down.
The result was they both missed their arriving pick-ups.

"cutting off a nose to spite a face"

...is too broad.
So, is there an expression that means...

If I cannot win, then I will make it impossible for you to win?

Edits:

Dog in a manger

was suggested: however that means something else.

Interpreted variously over the centuries, the metaphor is now used to speak of one who spitefully prevents others from having something for which one has no use.

My examples exclude "having something for which one has no use."
All the frogs want to escape. All the drivers want to get ahead. All couriers want to do their pick-up.
It is their overly-competitive attitude towards each other that prevents them from winning.


texts:
I have often seen people writing a line like this in emails:

  I have copied xyz on this email.

This reads funny to me. I always thought it should be "I have copied this email to xyz". That makes more sense to me.

Is the first usage correct? How did it come into being?


texts: A word for non-physical forces that affect the physical world

texts: I'm looking for a word that can be used to classify all forces that are attached to some sort of physical entity and affect the world around them. Forces in this sense is like Gravity, like it is intrinsic to an object and can impart some sort of change on it's surroundings. Examples of these forces would be Gravity, Heat, Light, basically anything with a physical source. Including things like Forces that affect objects because they exist like time (or like the ability to decay) Really just a synonym of force that is specifically non-physical the rest is just in case there is some word in physics for these things.


texts: Are there terms for referring to the different parts of a country's full title?

texts:
Take "People's Republic of China" or "Kingdom of Norway", for example. I can refer to "China" or "Norway" part of the title as the country name (or geographical name). But if I want to talk about the political system, i.e., "People's Republic of" or "Kingdom of" part of the titles, what is a word/phrase that I can use to refer to it?
If not, how can a new word for this be created using the '-nym' suffix? What would be appropriate root word to use in this context?
(I know some countries don't follow the above format, like UAE, but let's ignore that for now)


texts: This doesn't sound quite right to me, but I can't explain why. I can understand an extreme sense of mediocrity one can get from something but does that justify the usage of "extreme" with "mediocre"?


texts: what are the terminologies for different types of homework?

texts:
There are different types of homework for students:

  they are asked to solve problems in theory
  Write composition
  make handicrafts

What certain vocabulary can be used for each one of these tasks?


texts:
Does the verb “skid” take an object? So is it OK to say:

  He skidded his car on the road.


texts: Idiom for expressing feeling of not willing to talk to a person who always replies in a disrespectful manner?

texts: Is there an idiom for expressing the feeling of not willing to talk to a person who always replies in disdain or have such attitude or replies back in a disrespectful manner?


texts: What is the correct punctuation to use in this case?

texts:
If I have a sentence like:

  The royal family is extremely rich: The sled that pulls the princess
  is shaped like a golden swan, the celebrations last 3 days, and the
  bride and groom walk under a canopy made of purple velvet embroidered
  with pearls.

Is a colon the proper punctuation to use after rich, or would a semicolon be more suitable? Why?


texts: Is "et al." acceptable for citations with exactly two authors?

texts:
I have a bunch of information from a source, but the authors names are particularly long; is it acceptable (in MLA) to use "et al." for exactly two authors, e.g.,

  “The Corpus juris not only preserved Roman law for later generations but, after the twelfth century when it came to be known and studied in western Europe, provided inspiration for most European legal systems.”  (Lehman et al. 4)


texts: Is he "making a play" for her or is he "making a pass" at her?

texts:
to make a play for someone - to attempt to attract the romantic interest of someone.
  to make a pass at someone - to  make a romantic advance at someone.

To a non-native speaker, the difference seems to be "the subtlety of one's action" in "make a play for" whereas, in the second case, "to make a pass" would imply a more active or aggressive approach.  Am I right?


texts: Do you use he/she or it to refer to ghost?

texts:
If I have a sentence:

  There are many stories which have been told about a ghost that haunted this castle.
  Strangely, ... (the ghost) has never appeared in front of my face for 10 years.

I notice that when it comes to "spirit, dark force", many people use "it" instead of making it personalized by using "she/he" as the subject pronoun.

Should I use the subject pronoun "he/she" or "it" to refer to the ghost?


texts: Where does the phrase "holy crap on a cracker" come from?


texts:
Is there a word or an insult for a person who is stubborn?

Usage:

  Tiresias is after all the only one that can force Creon, a king and a ____ to see reason

  Jade was called a _____ because she continued arguing for three days after she realized her opinion was scientifically wrong.

Connotations:

Negative or neutral preferable but not necessary.

Would also prefer a formal word but as long as it's not profanity it should be ok.

I am looking specifically for a noun used to refer to a stubborn person. For example one of the words used to refer to someone who is not bright would be idiot.


texts: Can I call a film actor a thespian, or does this term exclusively relate to acting on a theater stage?


texts: The recent release of Avengers' Trailer reminds me of an old question which has puzzled me for long. What is the difference between avenge and revenge? The translations in my language (Mandarin) for the two words are exactly the same.


texts: What is the name of the category that describes all the ways a number can be read?

texts:
Written numbers can be read aloud in multiple different ways:

Nominal numbers can be read by pronouncing each digit individually: "My phone number is 123456" read as "one, two, three..."
Nominal numbers can also be read by chunking digits together where each chunk is read as a separate whole number: "123456" read as "twelve, thirty-four, fifty-six"
Cardinal numbers can be read as whole numbers: "I'm 40 years old" read as "Forty"
Ordinal number where digits are read as a single number but in a way that is different from cardinal numbers: "February 25, 1991" read as "Twenty-fifth"

What is the name of the linguistic or phonetic category that describes all the different ways a number can be read?


texts: I know that "Morphosyntax is the study of the interaction of morphology and syntax" but by this defination am not getting the meaning so please can anyone tell me what is morphosyntax with examples?


texts:
I know that many questions on topics similar to this one have been asked before, but I have read many of them and still not able to solve my problem. You could attribute it to my poor command of English. My question relates to two weird sentences, and I want to know which sentence is correct:

  I am so hungry, it feels like my tummy is eating myself.

or

  I am so hungry, it feels like my tummy is eating me.


texts: In what context(s) can "said" (in the sense of "mentioned earlier") be used?

texts:
For example, "The crime was committed at 7:42pm. The suspect was in the area at said time" or "I hereby give notice to end my tenancy at 1234 Fake Street. I will no longer be living at said address next year".

Is this word used primarily in legalese?


texts:
What are the differences between each?

Someone is planning for another element's presence.
Someone is planning around another element's presence.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that, if somebody was planning around something, it would be more important to the person doing the planning than if it was planning for that same something.


texts: "Traffic rules" vs. "traffic regulations"

texts:
Which one is correct, "traffic rules" or "traffic regulations"?

If both are correct, what is the difference between them?


texts: Difference in [ə] pronunciation at the end of a word in British and American English

texts:
I grew up speaking American English (San Diego to be specific).  When I hear someone who speaks British English say a word that ends in [ə], like banana, I hear a weak but distinct 'r' sound attached to the end of the word.  I have heard this from people from both London and Manchester, and friends of mine from other parts of the US also say they can hear it.

What causes that sound?  Which way is the correct way to pronounce it?


texts:
I'm not a native english speaker, so forgive me in advance if the question sounds very simple.

In one of the sentences of my application letter I want to say:

My professional experience includes a full spectrum of technologies including:
  - ...
  - ...

Here I'm using "include" twice, which of course should be avoided.
I'm not even sure "include" is the correct word for any of the two spots where it's used.

I was thinking about alternatives such as:

My professional experience includes a full spectrum of technologies, to name a few:

My professional experience involves a full spectrum of technologies including:

But I'm not really happy about any of those options.
How should I phrase this sentence so it avoids repeating words and looks professional?

Thanks


texts: Adjectival form of "collide"—"collideable" or "collidable"?

texts: I need to name an interface in a program I'm writing as being able to collide, but I've seen use of both collideable and collidable in projects with a similar type. Both of them look right in some ways, and wrong in others. Which spelling is more correct?


texts: Has anyone here ever used the word "professionality"? (Or is it even a word?)

texts:
I've heard the owner of our school say the word twice. Urban Dictionary even has a definition for it:

Professionality: The art of maintaining a professional appearance and attitude while projecting a tremendous amount of personality.
e.g.
Jason has the professionality to meet with clients and still be the life of the office. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=professionality

An academic from the University of Leeds has even used the term in a journal article: Evans, Linda (2008) Professionalism, professionality and the development of education professionals. British Journal of Educational Studies, 56 (1). pp. 20-38.

Yet, the word isn't entered in any of the major dictionaries.

What do you think about this word? Do you ever use it? Do many people use it?


texts: Geographically, there are voting districts, taxing districts, and school districts. There are also subdistricts. I have found different spellings of this word (subdistrict, sub district, sub-district). Which one is correct for the USA?


texts:
Can someone please explain this joke to me http://bash.org/?5300 ? I don't get it, probably because of low english skills.

[Spoiler used so it doesn't appear on the front page.]

  <tatclass> YOU ALL SUCK DICK
<tatclass> er.
<tatclass> hi.
<andy\code> A common typo.
<tatclass> the keys are like right next to each other.


texts:
I'm learning English in recent days and I read something made me really confused. The sentence is:

  π[q] is the length of the longest prefix of P that is a proper suffix of Pq.

I see that "that is a proper suffix of Pq" is a relative clause, but I don't understand what the proper suffix of Pq is, is it π[q] or something else?


texts: Is there one word for last week, in a similar way that two weeks is a fortnight?

texts: I'm specifically looking for last week as one word, but all answers might be interesting.


texts: What is the correct plural of "octopus"?

texts:
What is the correct plural of octopus:

Octopi?
Octopodes?
Octopuses?
Something else?


texts: Is "fare you well" still used in Norfolk?

texts:
Jean Rhys's story "Till September Petronella" contains the following passage:

'Fare you well,' he said. 'That's what they say in Norfolk, where I come from.'
'Good-bye.'
'No, say fare you well.'

The story was published in 1968 in the collection Tigers Are Better-Looking but written in the 1950s. I suspect the stories in that volume actually reflect an earlier time period.
Some people on the WordReference forum also found the phrase in a novel about the last days of Anne Boleyn and appear to assume it may have been in use at the time of Henry VIII.
However, I was wondering if the phrase "fare you well" is still in use in Norfolk. (Not necessarily by everybody; it might sound old-fashioned to younger generations.)


texts: What is a word processor and a type setter? (and a "powerpoint" type program)

texts:
What would you call:

latex (a type setter)
MS Word (a word processor)
iWork Pages (a word processor)

What about:

latex
MS Word
iWork Pages
Powerpoint
Excel

Is there a term for these programs?


texts:
In biology, hierarchical clustering is used to separate studied samples into different groups, thus if successful, the clustering criteria can be seen to "discriminate" between group A vs. B.

I am stuck trying to find an appropriate word to convey that two samples are so similar that they are "indiscriminable". It appears as that's not a word featured in dictionaries. I have tried "indiscernable" and that doesn't sound right either, neither does "inseparable".

What is a good adjective to use in this case? Should I try to rephrase my sentence?

PS: Please consider that this question refers to academic writing (in other words, "formal register" only).


texts: What is the origin of the phrase "The knives are out for.."

texts:
What is the origin, or at least first use, of the phrase "the knives are out for...?"

Definition from Merriam-Webster:

  used to say that people are ready to blame or punish someone for something often in a way that is unfair. "They lost yet another important game, and now the knives are out for their coach."


texts:
I don't understand the second part of this sentence:

  The Berlin Congress of 1878 and the first set of frontiers drawn on
  maps ignored key components of local life, and yet they were drawn as
  if they represented territorial definitions on the map in human terms


texts: what is the difference between the words "tall" and "high"?

texts:
Are there any differences between the words "tall" and "high" ?

For instance, tall building  and  high building
I'm not sure what are the differences between them.


texts: Difference between "movie", "film" and "motion picture"

texts: What is the difference between movie, film and motion picture? In school I learned that a movie is played in a cinema, but film is also used to describe this.


texts: "Have you got a chance to" vs "Did you get a chance to"

texts:
What is the difference between following two statements?

  Have you got a chance to look into this?
  Did you get a chance to look into this?


texts:
"There are still a lot of features to add to this project which I will consistently do in whatever free time I get. "

The way this sentence sounds doesn't seem right to me.

I looked for other synonyms of consistently like constantly continually but they also didn't sound right.


texts: What's the term for fallaciously including an assumption in a question?

texts: For example, if I ask someone "What does it feel like to be a gay Christian?" I'm suggesting that the person to whom I'm asking is gay and Christian, neither of which may be true.


texts: Is the expression 'too much, too young' grammatically acceptable?

texts:
I'm happy to see that grammar is being seen as important enough to be taught in English schools ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22403731 ) again. I think. At least it might improve some people's dating prospects, according to the article.

In the above article appears:

  The Idler magazine's Bad Grammar Awards recently named and shamed a
  letter by academics for saying that the national curriculum demanded
  "too much, too young" - thus confusing an adjective and an adverb.

There is a reasonable amount of evidence online that the expression is acceptable, however, and one could argue that "too much, too young" could be considered a shortened (and punchier) form of "[they are (being) expected to do] too much [(-/,) while they are still] too young".

'They married young' is quite widely used and sounds acceptable to me - of course, this expression can fairly be analysed as 'link-like verb + adjective' without having to consider young as a flat adverb.

When expressions achieve idiomatic status, of course, traditional grammar is no longer a controlling factor - by and large coordinates a preposition and an adjective.

Is the Idler's criticism justified here?


texts: Do any style guides recommend an apostrophe at the end for double possessors? (John and Jacks' house)

texts:
I am aware that the universally accepted style is to put an apostrophe-s at the end of the second possessor's name.

Example: Amy and Steve's car

My question is not whether that is the common rule; I know it is.

My question is whether anyone knows of a style guide, grammar, or other authority that condones writing this in the usual style of a plural possessor; that is, with an apostrophe on the end of the compound/plural owner's name:

John and Jacks' house

John Merrill, Stephen Arthur, Chuck Williams, and Donald Smiths' law firm

Thanks!


texts: Is this a proper way for using "providing"?

texts:
This sentence sounds funny to me. The part that is bothering me is where it states "thus providing." Is this a correct use of "thus providing"?

  The reader obtains a better “feel” for the way Dillard interprets the
  natural world, thus providing background and a foundation for the rest
  of the novel.


texts: Is this "to be" a loose usage link verb?

texts:
Listening to your speech itself is enough to be a pleasure.
  Listening to your speech itself is enough to bring me a pleasure. (self-made)

I wonder which one is better. The first “to be” might be vague. Also we should avoid the use of “be”, if it is not necessary, right?


texts: Can an objective relative pronoun replace a subjective relative pronoun?

texts:
I quite often find in New York Times that American writers often use an objective relative pronoun--or omitted it all together--where, I strongly believe, a subjective relative pronoun should be present.

Example 1

  thanks to well-publicized remarks about the women he suggested weren’t attractive enough for him to have assaulted

Here, the original two chunks are "Thanks to well publicized remarks about the women" and "he suggested the women weren't attractive enough for him to have assaulted." And, as we can obviously see, "the women" is the subject of a noun clause embedded in the second chunk; thus when the two were combined, it should have been "Thanks to well publicized remarks about the women who he suggested weren't attractive enough for him to have assaulted." And since it is a subjective relative pronoun, it should not have been omitted.

Example 2

  from the arrival of the soldiers, whom they believed had been sent to help them.

Here, the original two chunks are "from the arrival of the soldiers" and "they believed the soldiers had been sent to help them." Again, as we can see, "the soldiers" is the subject of a noun clause embedded in the second chunk; thus when the two were combined, it should have been "from the arrival of the soldiers who they believed had been sent to help them." And since it is a subjective relative pronoun, it should not have been omitted.

I understand that languages change with time and according to the usage of native speakers, or writers in this case, not vice versa. Is this why objective relative pronouns are replacing subjective ones?


texts:
As a non-native speaker I try to get myself to accept they as gender-neutral third person singular as this is new to me. To achieve this I would like to have a better understanding on the usage and history.

So when speaking in singular would I say 'they are' or 'they is' and respecively 'they sit' or 'they sits'.
The second sounds strange but would be more logical as third person singular has this special case.

Or does this stem from the "pluralisation" (would honorific be the correct word?) of higher ups /royals that it is in fact a plural that is used for a "respected" person and was repurposed for the common use.

According to wikipedia it is "they are", and "they sit" accordingly.


texts:
As is commonly known, English is quite notorious for having a writing system that is far removed from the actual way it is most commonly pronounced. I understand that there are important historical reasons dating back to the Norman invasions, and the influence of French in medieval English courts and elites.

My question is historical. Was there ever a movement or attempt at reforming the spelling system in order to bring it closer to phonetics?


texts: Why the word "fine" is often used as "just satisfying" instead of "very high quality"?

texts:
The definition still says,

of high quality.
"this was a fine piece of filmmaking" · "fine wines"

But too many times, we see people using the word to describe a so-so state, like "I'm doing just fine in the exam."
I heard people say, "that restaurant is fine." Does it mean "just okay", "mediocre", "at least not bad", or "top-notched" like "fine dining"?


texts: A sentence from Joyce ("The Dead" in Dubliners, not Ulysses)

texts:
The following sentence from James Joyce's "The Dead" is giving me trouble (as in, I can't seem to parse it in my head).

  He set to his supper and took no part in the conversation with which the table covered Lily's removal of the plates.

When "with which" (or "in which" or "for which", etc.) is used, my understanding is that there must be something that another thing is with. For instance, in "The example with which I am concerned is X", the word "example" is with  the example X.

However, in Joyce's sentence I cannot tell with what the "conversation" is.  "[T]he table covered Lily's removal of the plates" isn't a noun phrase(?), which I think is causing the trouble in my understanding.  My guess is that "conversation" is with "Lily's removal of the plates", but I still can't seem to fully parse the sentence.

So my question is: Is the above sentence grammatical? Could it be a regional variation in phrasing (Joyce was Irish; I live in the US)?


texts: How did "-able" semantically shift to mean "requiring"?

texts:
Etymonline on "-able" doesn't expound the origin of "requiring".

-able
common termination and word-forming element of English adjectives (typically based on verbs) and generally adding a notion of "capable of; allowed; worthy of; requiring; to be ______ed," sometimes "full of, causing," from French -able and directly from Latin -abilis. It is properly -ble, from Latin -bilis (the vowel being generally from the stem ending of the verb being suffixed), and it represents PIE *-tro, a suffix used to form nouns of instrument, cognate with the second syllables of English rudder and saddle (n.).

For example, "payABLE" literally means ABLE to pay. Ability differs from requirement. How did "payable" semantically shift to meaning 1 below?

1. (of money) required to be paid; due.

Able to be paid.

payables     Debts owed by a business; liabilities.

payable (adj.) on Etymonline

late 14c., paiable, "to be paid, that can be or is to be paid,"
from pay (v.) + -able or from Old French paiable. From late 13c. as a surname, from the Old French word in its other sense, "of good quality."


texts: Is it correct to ask "Where are we holding in regards to that" when asking about the status of an application or the like?

texts:
I was asking a banking rep about a recently submitted application for financing.

Is "Where are we holding?" grammatically correct? For example, I would ask the question "At what stage is the processing holding at?" To shorten that I would say to the rep:

  Hello. This is ____ . Yes I am calling about my application. Where are we holding?

Or if I called as the rep to see where the costumer is holding in the process:

  Hi ____ . This is ____ from ____ . I'm calling about your application. So, where are we holding?


texts: How to list a small group of people with short descriptions?

texts:
I was wondering how to list a small group of people, giving each of them a short description/introduction in a single sentence? (Or if that's bad practice, in multiple sentences?)

Example:

  The A-Team consists of four members: John "Hannibal" Smith, their
  charismatic leader and master of disguise; Howling Mad Murdock, an
  insane pilot that can fly pretty much anything that has wings; B. A.
  Baracus, a mechanical genius and the team's muscle and Templeton
  "Face" Peck, the team's con man and scrounger, able to get his hands on
  just about anything they need.

(I've marked the and because I wasn't sure if it could be replaced by another ";")

I just picked the A-Team as an example since they already have a diverse group of people. What is a good technique (or norm) to summarize the names, roles and perhaps certain traits of 4-6 people? Especially while trying to avoid confusing comma placements or too many repetitions of and?

I'm also not sure if the usage of ";" is allowed in a case like this.


texts:
I live and work in Taiwan but my son has a question regarding grammar in his test. I don't quite know how to answer this or to help him, so I would like some advice, if possible:

"Despite the fact that a large number of foods made from these beans are sweet, the first chocolate drink actually tasted bitter and _____ created by the Mayan people."

A) was believed to be
B) was believed to have been
C) is believed to be
D) is believed to have been

I'm not sure. Could someone please help me and explain what the answer is and why?

Thank you!


texts:
I have a question about "fair".

Boss: Why you left your previous workplace?
Interviewer: That's a "fair" question...

What does "fair" mean? Does it mean good, reasonable, agreeable, or others?
Does it mean that the interviewer think this is a good question?
Or, does the interviewer think this question should be known by the boss?

Thank you.


texts: Is 'verse' (or a homonym of 'verse') another word for 'versus'?

texts:
I have heard a television news figure say what sounds like verse when it seems he means to say versus. Is this an alternate pronunciation, or is it a different word? If it's a different word, what is the spelling?

I suspect it's a mistake, but it is MSNBC news talk show host, Chris Hayes, who generally seems to speak in standard English in a way that indicates he is highly educated, who I've repeatedly heard use this word.

For instance, he might say what sounds like, "Consider policy A 'verse' policy B."

There is a very similar question here on ELU asking about using verse as a verb to mean challenge, which I believe is related but not the same as my question.


texts:
Dogs can walk, but can't fly.
  Dogs can walk, but they can't fly.

Which sentence is correct? Is the "they" required?


texts: I wanted to discuss the relationship between air quality and lung function, and the relationship between air quality and sleep disorders, in one sentence. Is there any efficient way to combine the phrases? If I use "Relationship between air pollution and lung function and sleep disorders" is it understandable?


texts: Is it correct to say "other alternatives"?

texts:
We often see people writing:

  I have other alternatives for you.

Isn't it redundant to use the word "other" with alternatives as the word "alternative" itself implies other options or ways?


texts: The use of "should" and "but" in "who should he see but Whillie"

texts:
He came to the corner where the carton was, and who should he see but
  Whillie.

What is the meaning of should and but here?


texts: Term for a television event that causes you to be awake during sleeping hours

texts:
Sometimes people are awake during hours that they'd normally be asleep because they're watching an event live on tv. For example, people in Australia watching the Tour de France live would be watching it when they're normally sleeping.

Is there a term for this kind of thing?


texts: it’s important that all of that body  supported by acid, tannins, or both

texts:
A Forbes article -- apparently written by an American -- titled "How To Tell If A Wine Will Age" has this passage:

  The other structural elements of body, alcohol, and sugar can also point to an age-worthy wine. Full-bodied wines, which also tend to be high in alcohol, are more likely to age well, but it’s important that all of that body is supported by acid, tannins, or both. That rich, soft $10 red purchased at the supermarket is easy-drinking now, but without firm tannins or bright acidity, it will not improve at all over time. Sugar can also help a wine age, though the perception of sweetness will diminish through the years.

Assuming this is American English, is there any reason why the verb in the that-clause is not "be" but "is"?

I thought it was only informal BE that would allow "is" in this type of clause.

EDIT

Here, the writer is saying that some cheap reds may lack in tannin or acidity, in which case the strong flavor of such cheap wines is going to diminish over time.

So, I don't think the writer is making a factual statement in the bold clause, but rather is presenting a condition under which full-bodied wines can age well without losing the full-bodiedness over time.


texts:
'Advanced Grammar In Use' (AGU) by Martin Hewings, UNIT 37 C, says:

The verbs could, would, should, might, needn't, ought to, used to, and could have, should have, etc. don't change in the report:
'I could meet you at the airport.' --> He said that he could meet us at the airport.
'You should have contacted me earlier.' --> She said I should have contacted her earlier.

Is it possible, though, to have these pairs instead? (These are not from AGU but are made up by myself.)

'I could meet you at the airport.' --> He said that he could have met us at the airport.
'You should contact me.' --> She said I should have contacted her.

If these made-up pairs are possible, contrary to what 'Advanced Grammar In Use' claims, is it possible in general that the verbs could, would, should, might, etc. do change in the report?
If so, is 'Advanced Grammar In Use' wrong about this?


texts: I am trying to describe a situation where a particular color is too bright or harsh. But I don't think 'bright' and 'harsh' are the right words to use here. Is it right to replace the phrase 'too bright' with 'shouty'?


texts: Difference yea/nay and yes/no - four-form system

texts:
So, my brother is watching on tv a vote a in the American Congress.
He says that the members are asked to vote with yea/nay (I have heard that from the Chamber of Commons in the UK as well).
Now we are trying to figure our whether there might be an actual difference between yea/nay and yes/no, that might have gone lost with time.
In particular, a person on Quora gave an interesting explanation: "English used to use what’s called a “four-form” system. “Yea” and “nay” were only used to answer positive questions, while “yes” and “no” were only used to answer negative questions."
However, I cannot find confirmation of what is said.

On a side note, an aspect of this answer that is intriguing me is that I have never heard of a "four-form" system. As I have studied French and German, I am know of the existence of three-form systems (in German, ja/doch and nein, and in French, oui/si and non), but four??

Can anybody confirm/refute the theory of the "four-form system"?

If you are going to confirm it, could you please provide the source of your information?

(I have looked on stackexchange for answers, but, to the best of my knowledge, questions on yay/nay never wonder about the comparison with yes/no)


texts:
Everybody knows Grexit is an amalgamation of Greece and exit, which was later adapted into Brexit, but what are the earliest recorded instances of these words? A generation or two down the line people will want to know, and then it would be a lot harder to find out.

The Wikipedia article on Grexit says “the term was coined by the Citigroup economist Ebrahim Rahbari and was introduced by Rahbari and Citigroup's Global Chief Economist Willem H. Buiter on 6 February 2012”, but does not provide the actual quote.

The Wikipedia article on Brexit does not even give a date for the word first appearance.

So what are the earliest recorded instances of these words, and when did they happen?


texts: I'm working on a sort of diary app with which users will rate different aspects of their day.  One of the metrics being measured is the overall quality of the user's day.  Currently I'm just calling this a "rating," but I don't think that's the best word to indicate what's being measured.  I just can't think of a better one.


texts: Can we use "off-chance" in a scientific paper?

texts:
In an article that I'm writing, I would like to say that some special ideas are at a disadvantage concerning their consistency in producing results. In other words, we use those approaches in the hope of getting a reasonable result, but the methods are presently poorly understood, so we can only hope for a good result. So please help me to correct any grammatical deficiencies in the quoted sentence:

  The main disadvantage to these approaches is that they tend to be on the off chance.

"These" refers to the mentioned approaches in a previous sentence. Is off chance correct here? Is it OK to use in a scientific paper?


texts:
I told her I have already finished my essay.

Can you think of any situation that makes the above sentence correct? Or is it only okay if we use the past perfect tense instead of the present perfect?


texts:
I've often heard, especially in songs where slang is commonly used (pop, rap, etc.), people use a weird structure: something like "A to the B to the C...", where A, B, C, etc. are usually letters of the alphabet that make up some word. To me it sounds like the speaker is spelling out a word, for example "YOU" would be Y to the O to the U.
What is the real meaning of that structure? Where does it come from? Does it have anything to do powers and exponents (say, n to the third power), is it short for "moving over to the next letter", or is it related to something else?
Edited to add examples
I didn't expect people here to not recognize this pattern. I see there are already 3 close votes, this is crazy. If you search for "x to the y" on Google, and replace x and y with various letters, you will find several examples, although the vast majority of them seem to be related to rap and hip hop. Some examples:
Fergie - Fergalicious
According to Wikipedia, "Fergalicious was a commercial success in the United States and moderately so in several other countries. In the United States, it peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number one on the Pop Songs chart. "Fergalicious" was certified 4× platinum". In this song, you can hear "T to the A to the S T E Y, girl, you tasty", and the same goes for the word "delicious".
Eminem ft. Nate Dogg - Shake that
In this song you can hear "Two to the one from the one to the three", with numbers, so I'm not sure it has exactly the same purpose, but it definitely looks like the same pattern. I have no idea what it could mean though, and I can't find any info online.
Title of Reddit post
The title of this reddit post reads "M to the E to the M to the E", which spells out the word "meme", and apparently is used to introduce some kind of meme related to a show.
Modern Family (TV show)
In this video taken from an American sitcom, at 0:43, you can hear the man say "D to the Y to the L" to refer to Dylan, probably just as a way to appear "cool" and speak like younger people (I don't really know much about the context, I haven't watched the show, I just stumbled upon this example on the web).
Cheerleaders
Searching for "L to the E" (using two letters more or less at random), I found this video on YouTube where you can hear some cheerleaders say "L to the E T S G O" (let's go).


texts: Appropriate usage of articles for the same words in different sentences

texts:
When writing about the same thing in several sentences, mainly in definitions, I am often confused about when to switch from the indefinite article to the definite article. Which rule can be applied to this?

Consider this example:

  Suppose we have a tree T and a vertex v in T.
  We say that the vertex v is a leaf in the tree T if its degree is 1.

In the first sentence, I would use the indefinite articles, because I only introduce the terms to the reader.

In the second sentence, however, I would prefer to use "the vertex v", since I have already introduced it and it is clear for both me and the reader what we are talking about.
Similarly, I would prefer to use "the tree T".
On the other hand, I would use "a leaf", because this term has not been mentioned before.

Is that correct?
Or maybe I am just overusing the articles?

This is just a minimum example, maybe trying to be a little too expressive.
But I am sure there are real-world situations, where such a switch from the indefinite articles to the definite ones must be made.
And I am just wondering how to do it properly.


texts: I would have expected that you notified me / would have expected + action in the PAST

texts:
"I would have expected that you notified me"  Is this sentence correct?

I expected that the person notified me in a opportunity that already passed. This is why I would use "notified" in subjunctive form.

I have the doubt if the correct way would be to say: "I would have expected you to notify me" because this doesn't convey the sense of an opportunity that already happened.  This last sentence would mean that I expected that the person notifies me in future opportunities.

I have just read that "expect" always takes an infinitive complement.  If this is so then how can one indicate that one would have expected the person to do something in the past?


texts: What is the origin / history of "can't seem"?

texts:
The construct "I can't seem to X" is widely used and considered normal, as far as I know. However, looking at the meanings of the verb "to seem", I can't find any that would fit the use in this phrase.

Has "to seem" ever meant something else? Is this phrase a contraction of a longer phrase?


texts: Do I include the possessive apostrophe in the parentheses after defining an acronym

texts: If I use a possessive apostrophe and then denote a term as an acronym i.e. "the US Government's (USG's)," I don't include the apostrophe after "USG," right? It just feels a bit odd when I don't, as if a term is plural one generally includes the 2nd "s" if denoting an acronym (i.e. Project Managers (PMs).


texts: How did "womanizer" develop its current meaning?

texts:
A womanizer is:

  a man who always seems to have a new girlfriend, and who has no hesitation about starting up a new relationship before he's ended the last one. Usually, these relationships are sexual and don't last long. The noun womanizer comes from the verb womanize. (Vocabulary.com)

to womanize:

  1590s, "to make effeminate," from woman + -ize. Sense of "to chase women, to go wenching" is attested from 1893. (Etymonline)

I couldn't find the reason  why the term changed its meaning but I guessed it was probably influenced by the increase in popularity in England in the late 19th c. of a character like Casanova, a most famous womanizer:

  "man of carnal adventures, connoisseur of seduction," 1888, from Giacomo Girolamo Casanova de Seignalt (1725-1798), the infamous debaucher.

Question:

Can anybody provide more information about the change in usage of the term womanize?