texts:
I understand that scare quotes can be used when a word is being used in a specialized, unconventional, or disputable sense:

  The census bureau encountered problems when trying to define a “normal” family.

I also understand that, when quoting a quote within a quote, the convention is to switch from double to single quotes1:

  The teller reported, “The bank robber whispered, ‘Give me all your cash,’ just before brandishing his gun.”

My concern is:

Does the switch to single quotes still apply when the inner quote marks are not quoted material, but scare quotes?

As an example, suppose I read a newspaper article that says:

  The most equitable way to solve this problem is to enact a “vice” tax.

I want to include this quote in a report I am writing. My gut tells me that the correct way to do this is:

  In an editorial published on June 4, a New York Times columnist wrote, “The most equitable way to solve this problem is to enact a ‘vice’ tax.”

However, when I looked for confirmation, I couldn’t find any. I found many sources that mentioned the quote-within-a-quote rule (switch to single quotes for the inner quote), but all the examples I ran across used cases where the inner quote was either a quote or title, not a scare quote. None of the grammar blogs or punctuation guides addressed the embedded scare quote problem.

For example:

  Use single quotation marks for quotations within quotations.

    Example: He said, “Dan cried, ‘Do not treat me that way.’ ”
    source

or:

  The convention in American usage is to use double quotation marks (except for internal quotes) and to keep commas and periods inside final quote marks. The Chicago Manual gives this example of the normal usage:

    “Admit it,” she said. “You haven’t read ‘The Simple Art of Murder.’ ”
    source

and from the Purdue OWL:

  Quotations within a Quotation

  Use single quotation marks to enclose quotes within another quotation.

    The reporter told me, "When I interviewed the quarterback, he said they simply 'played a better game.'"

  Quotation Marks Beyond Quoting

  Quotation marks may additionally be used to indicate words used ironically or with some reservation.

    The great march of "progress" has left millions impoverished and hungry.

Incidentally, I'm asking because a colleague asked me to review a report. I pointed out that the scare quotes inside her quotation should be single, not double, as she wrote them:

  In an editorial published on June 4, a New York Times columnist wrote, “The most equitable way to solve this problem is to enact a “vice” tax.”

When she published her final report, the quotes were still doubled. I tried to find just one example in an online grammar column that would back me up directly, but the closest I could find was the split guidance I've shared here.

Bottom line questions:

1) Am I right in assuming that the scare quotes should be converted to single quotes when embedded in a quotation, much like other quote marks are?

2) Can anyone provide an “authoritative” example where this specific issue is addressed explicitly?

1Unless following Fowler’s advice in BrE


texts: In "Great Expectations", what does this mean?

texts:
In Chapter 20 of Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens, what does the phrase I have bolded mean?

  Nevertheless, a hackney-coachman, who seemed to have as
  many capes to his greasy great-coat as he was years old, packed me up
  in his coach and hemmed me in with a folding and jingling barrier of
  steps, as if he were going to take me fifty miles


texts:
Example:
"The feasibility of this approach has recently been demonstrated using PET/CT technology in a small series of patients".

Should this not be:
The feasibility of this approach has recently been demonstrated by using PET/CT technology in a small series of patients.


texts:
What is more correct here?

  My telephone suddenly began to ring.

or

  My telephone suddenly started ringing.

What's the difference?


texts:
I read a story about the legend of Ethiopia. I found a confusing part at the end of the story. The sentence is below.

  Perseus immediately fell in love with Andromeda, and carried her off to be his bride. Needless to say, the joy and celebration in the kingdom of Ethiopia knew no bounds, and the figures of the Andromeda story were placed in the sky as an eternal reminder of the dangers of mortal arrogance.

In the sentence, does the highlighted word "mortal" mean 'human' or 'serious'?

If it means human , is it the case that noun modifies noun?


texts: 'Whereas' as conjunction between main clause and subordinate clause?

texts:
I am wondering if I can use 'whereas' as a conjunction between a main and a subordinate clause, with the subordinate clause following and giving a reason supporting the statement in the main clause. For example:

  As a model system we consider a mutant zombie hoard, whereas the vast majority of zombie hoards fall into this category.

I realize that there is another use of 'whereas' to contrast two things; it's the third entry in the OED Online:

  3. Introducing a statement of fact in contrast or opposition to that expressed by the principal clause: While on the contrary; the fact on the other hand being that. (The principal clause usually precedes, but sometimes follows as in 2.)

That's not what I mean. What I want is the second entry in the OED:

  2. In view or consideration of the fact that; seeing that, considering that, forasmuch as, inasmuch as. (Chiefly, now only, introducing a preamble or recital in a legal or other formal document.)

However, in the OED, all of the examples for case '2' have 'whereas' at the beginning of the sentence, not in the middle. So, is it valid English to write "As a model system..." as above, or not?


texts:
Today while speaking to a colleague of mine I said "Had you studied well, you would have cleared the exam ". I was rebuked for not using the third conditional correctly. I was told that the correct way to express this is " if you had studied well, you would have cleared the exam".

My question here is can I not use the third conditional without an "if". Even if i say had u studied well, it means the same thing.


texts: What does "Dad Joke" mean in the context of the Snowden tweet?

texts:
Edward Snowden tweeted(https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/691765987566292992) And you guys say I have dad jokes. ** to the tweet from Neil **"Mars for Ed would be the ultimate asylum, provided the Martians don’t deport him for being an illegal alien"

Is Edward disappointed by the joke made by Neil? Please explain.


texts: First use of the expression "Spandau Ballet"

texts:
Am wondering about the known history of this term. I assume that

Spandau refers to the German MG08.

The term as a whole refers to the behaviour of massed troops being hit by machine gun fire.

The term is approximately as old as the phenomenon, i.e. early 20th century colonial wars, or WW1.

But which is the first occurrence? Letter? Memoir?
Currently the earliest attested use I am aware of is the c. 1980 Berlin public restroom decoration from which the noted entertainment ensemble took the name.
For noise reduction purposes I note that alternative explanations of the term include group hangings, Rudolf Hess, and gas chambers. Am sure there are many more, but let us try to focus on the earliest occurrence of the term.


texts: One word for lover of theater or avid fan of attending plays


texts: Adjective or noun for a person who takes offence deliberately or insincerely

texts:
I'm looking an adjective that means someone is deliberately finding fault and playing up being offended.
Alice is... Quarrelsome? Captious? Fault-finding?


texts: How to decide whether to use 'that' or 'which'?

texts:
I understand the principle behind choosing either 'that' or 'which' but I still find myself struggling to know in certain situations whether to use it or not. For example, "Here is a link to the article, which can be found on the Environment section of the website". Would it be that or which? I would use assume 'which'.

Do any of you have tips/strategies for knowing when to use 'that' or 'which' when writing a sentence?

Thanks


texts: Why is a comma needed here? Before "some"

texts:
My teacher said that in this sentence: "She noticed that on one of the pages some information about the painting had been written." I should put a comma before "some".
I don't know why and I don't have a way to ask her that right now. Could someone please explain this to me? Thank you in advance.


texts: A word for passing through a tollgate, turnpike, etc

texts:
I'm looking for a noun that describes a car passing through a tollgate; it's this event I'm trying to name. A person going through a turnpike might be similar, I guess. Possible use of word would be for example:

500 cars passed through this tollgate today.

There were 500 "x"s today from this tollgate.
There were 500 car "x"s today from this tollgate.

Passage was the first word I thought of, but google doesn't seem to agree (I'm still not sure though).

Clarification: It doesn't have to be a tollgate (which guards the boundaries of a highway). Let's say, for example, a person is standing next to a road and counting the number of cars that pass. At the end of the day, he says "500 cars passed today; there were 500 x's".


texts:
Does Tony the Tiger pronounce 'Grrreat!' as /grrreɪt/  or /gəə.reɪt/?
I want to know what you think about his pronunciation in the commercial?

(1) /grrreɪt/ where the liquid becomes syllabic

(2) /gəə.reɪt/ where the epenthetic schwas are used


texts: Does "Each product is defined into final detail" have a meaning?

texts:
I was asked to proof-read an english text. The sentence "Each product is defined into final detail" caught my eyes, as I do not know if it is valid. I believe the client wants to say "Each product is defined down to the last detail."

Now I am not sure. Is the first version in any way correct or is it just plain wrong?


texts: It is strictly forbidden to play with smartphone?

texts:
Is it correct to say "It is strictly forbidden to play with smartphone"?
Should I add a the in front even though I am not talking about any definite phone at the moment.
Or should I add s at the end even though it is most likely the person has only one phone.
Context:I am writing a contract and this is one rule that I want to specify in the contract.


texts: Term or phrase (bygone era) where doodles were part and parcel to writing

texts:
I read something a while back talking about this.  It was a term or phrase I had to lookup; and it was available via Google-Bing, but not “predominant” - not a universal thing.

Not exactly back in the times of the monks: writing flamboyant first characters that take up perhaps 5% of the page (and perhaps 80% of the artistic effort), but I don't think it precludes that.

The context of what I read was more along the lines of turn of the century efforts; perhaps some kind of art nouveau fad.  Flowery flourishes. Itself perhaps an echo of 18th century penmanship – calligraphy++.

When a letter to someone was more than just text; and more than the craftsmanship of excellent handwriting.

I think of it like putting a big squiggle under a paragraph (elongated sideways “S”) with two lines through the middle like a dollar sign.  That is a minor instantiation of what I'm talking about.  The term captures that and much more.

Occasionally you'll see examples online, where the author will have an obscure dingbat glyph at the bottom that kind of captures the thing.


texts: Why use 'speedily' rather than 'quickly'?

texts:
In the last few years, I have become aware of a few people using the word 'speedily', for example 'to speedily find'.
My initial reaction has always been to wonder why they didn't use the word 'quickly' instead of what seems to be a contrived word of 'speedily'.
Am I wrong to find this word jarring and contrived?


texts:
That line comes from Kipling's famous "Smugler's song"

https://genius.com/Rudyard-kipling-a-smugglers-song-annotated

  Don't you tell where no one is, nor yet where no one's been!

However i totally can not parse it! I understand every word per se but i can not link them together in sone meaningful in the context way.

Seems, Kipling in this poem used either outdated English, or dialectical, or just dropped half the words, dunno.

Even that "yet" - should it mean "no one yet been" or "don't you yet tell" ?

Literally, this should mean the girl should not report the locations where no person currenty is present, like every empty rooms, empty fields, abandoned ruins, etc. However such a broad and vague interpretation obviously makes no sense.

I am trying to parse this line and fail miserably.


texts: What is a word or phrase for someone who professes to know something but actually doesn't?

texts: Is there a word or phrase that describes when a person professes to know about a certain subject, but in fact knows nothing about it?


texts: How did Americans greet each other before "Hi"?

texts:
I had assumed that "hi" was a somehow abbreviated form of "hello," but though both of these words appear to have originated from a noise to attract attention, hi actually predates hello.  These words both appeared in the mid- to late 1800s, and seem to be primarily American usage.  Does anyone know what Americans used for greetings prior to this time period?

Update on 9/10/11:

Although I have come to feel that "how do ye" and its variant "howdy" are most likely the common greetings in the early days of America, part of the difficulty in assessing this is the lack of recorded everyday speech.  I was also unaware that "howdy" was used anywhere other than the US South prior to the 1800s, but the OED begs to differ (if someone has the citation for this, please feel free to link it).

There was considerable discussion in chat about the problem of researching common conversational speech, and during the course of that discussion, I realized that probably the best place to look would be plays, since they involve dialogue that might represent a "natural" conversation.

After a lot of searching through early American plays, I came across "holla" used as a greeting in the early American drama The Contrast by Royall Tyler.  It was written and performed c. 1759, and its setting is contemporaneous New York City, therefore this greeting is probably an example of natural speech.

Interestingly, I did not find any instances of any other greetings. However, finding plays that were actually set in America in the 1700s and were also written around that period proved difficult.


texts: Difference between "taking into account" and "considering" when used as conjunctions of contrast

texts:
How do I explain the difference between "taking into account" and "considering" to ESL students and can they be used interchangeably in the following sentences?

"Taking into account that my sales are the highest of anyone on our team, I feel that I should get the corner office."

"Considering how long I've worked for this company, I think I should be promoted to a managerial position."

I realize that "that" must come after "taking into account" in the first sentence, but I could also say "considering that" - correct?

Also, I'd love any other specific pointers about how to place these phrases in sentences (e.g. only before nouns etc.). Thanks!


texts: What does the noun "Hawaiian" really mean in English?

texts:
Headlines this morning (Saturday 1/13/2018) proclaimed that "Hawaiians woke up to emergency alerts" on mobile phones that a missile strike might be incoming.  But no local news source here in Hawaii would have reported it that way. The term Hawaiian is not used locally to mean "resident of the state of Hawaii", unlike other English nouns formed by adding "-an" to a place name.  Only people of Hawaiian ancestry are "Hawaiians".

So what does the noun "Hawaiian" really mean in English? "Descendants of Hawaiians" seems circular. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary is not all that helpful.  It says "a native or resident of Hawaii; especially : one of Polynesian ancestry", which ignores the fact that there are lots of people of Polynesian ancestry in the world, some of whom have even moved to Hawaii, but who didn't thereby become Hawaiians.


texts: Using "drop by", "call on" or "come round" as synonym of "make a short visit" in video game?

texts:
Is using  "drop by", "call on" or "come round" proper to a situation when I have little time for playing game so I just log in, look around at what's happening, maybe play one match and log out?
For example:

I don't play the game regularly. I just drop by/call on/come round from time to time to see what going on.


texts:
I'm trying to settle a debate with my girlfriend. She says "how quicker" is incorrect and you should always use "how much quicker".

Which of these is [more?] correct?

  See how quicker the cars flow into the city than out of the city.

Or

  See how much quicker the cars flow into the city than out of the city.

I can't find a definitive source. But Googling indicates the former is less common (5,300 results) than the latter (320,000 results). But most of the hits for "how quicker" are in Google Books, especially texts from the early 20th century.

Could this just be an archaism? Has the grammar changed? I'm assuming those old books were lectored.


texts: Is there a way to phonetically write English so that when read it is with a "British accent"?

texts:
I am going to be performing a monologue which will mostly be in a southern accent, but there is one brief part, where I quote a British person, and would like to give it a general British accent. Is there a way to phoneticize (phoneticise) English so that reading it would make it sound British? Or give a close approximation (that's all I need).

I realize that there is not a universal "British accent" any more than there is a single "[American] southern accent" - but just something that's close enough is good enough for me. If specifics are needed, the person being quoted is the Prince of Wales around 1880 or 1890.

Specifically, the quote is,

  Nice to meet you again, Mr. Twain...Why, yes, don't you remember? You were on the top of a bus and I was marching at the head of a temperance procession, and you had on that gray coat with flap pockets?

e.g., a general idea of what I mean might be:

  Noys to maet you a-gayn, Mr. Twain...Why, yes, don't you remember? You were on the tawp of a bus and I was marching at the head of a temperance pro-cession, and you had on that gry coat with flap pawkets?

...but I suss there are people here who could make a much better go of it than I can.


texts: A boy(3 years) I saw in a fun-fair was trying to play in mickey mouse bounce house(precisely speaking clambering a steep slope) suitable for kids older than him, say more than 5 years. I am trying to find a phrase which would mean that he did something which the older kids do because he was determined. I have heard of a phrase head and shoulders above his peers but that emphasizes that he is superior to his peers but I want a term which focuses on the equality between him and his seniors. Looking at him, we feel proud that as a young kid, he is doing really great and is equal to big kids playing with him.


texts: "If not for his wide, thin lips, perpetually drawn in a single disapproving line, she would have liked him too."

texts:
I am not sure about the grammatical correctness of the above sentence. I am writing a fictional short story and this sentence is part of the narrative.

My friend says it should be "If not for his wide, thin lips, which were perpetually drawn in a single disapproving line, she would have been attracted to him too."

But even that sounds a bit odd to me. Can anyone confirm which one is correct, and if neither, then how can it be framed using the same structure.


texts: Is Senator Alan Simpson’s quote – "a sparrow's belch in the midst of a typhoon" in comparing budget cuts frequently-used quote by Americans?

texts:
I found an interesting quote in former Republican senator Alan Simpson's following remark in commenting budget cuts plans proposed by Obama administration. That is 'a sparrow's belch in the midst of a typhoon.' Is this a well-used saying? We have counterpart expressions to this in our country such as 'just a drop of piss in the ocean', 'wash a grain of sesame (or a burdock – I don’t know why it’s burdock) in the Pacific.' Do you have any other tart expressions to compare a small thing with a big thing or unimportant matter with important matter?

"Former Wyoming Republican senator Alan Simpson weighed in on the country's fiscal situation, saying that anyone calling for budget cuts that did not include Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and Defense were 'issuing a sparrow's belch in the midst of a typhoon.'"


texts: Which word is correct in this sentence? (signing/signature)

texts:
Consider the following:

  The financial industry got its (22) ________ (office) start on Wall Street on May 17, 1792. On that day, New York's first stock exchange was established by the (23) ________ (sign) of the Buttonwood Agreement.'
  www.livescience.com (Link)

(from the Hungarian School Leaving Exam (MATURA), May 2017)

The task was to write the correct word formed from the word in the parentheses. The instructions were as follows

  You are going to read an article about the origins of the name of Wall Street. Some words are missing from the text.

  Use the words in brackets to form the words that fit in the gaps (18-25).
  Then write the appropriate form of these words on the dotted lines after the text.
  There might be cases when you do not have to change the word in brackets.
  Use only one word for each gap.

Naturally, we have two options for (23). Either it's signature or it's signing.

Which one is correct? Are both correct?

According to the online Oxford Dictionary, signature can be used as a mass noun, with the meaning of 'the action of signing a document.'


texts: What does "in which" mean in this sentence?

texts:
I'm unable to understand this sentence.

  In which we try to explain why we consider artificial intelligence to
  be a subject most worthy of study, and in which we try to decide what
  exactly it is, this being a good thing to decide before embarking

In the above sentence, I have two questions:

What does in which mean here?
Why is it this being ... rather than this is in the last part?


texts: Rhetoric vs. Mathematics: ellipsis/ellipse, parable/parabola, hyperbole/hyperbola

texts:
Do ellipsis, parable, and hyperbole from rhetoric have anything in common with the geometric curves ellipse, parabola, and hyperbola used in mathematics?

There are three geometric curves known as conic sections:

Ellipse: a curve on a plane surrounding two focal points such that a straight line drawn from one of the focal points to any point on the curve and then back to the other focal point has the same length for every point on the curve.
Parabola: a two-dimensional, mirror-symmetrical curve, which is approximately U-shaped when oriented as shown in the diagram.
Hyperbola: has two pieces, called connected components or branches, that are mirror images of each other and resemble two infinite bows.

There are also three terms in linguistics with analogous names (in many languages with the same names, actually):

Ellipsis: the omission from a clause of one or more words that are nevertheless understood in the context of the remaining elements.

John can play the guitar, and Mary can play the violin.

Parable: a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, which illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles.

The Emperor's New Clothes

Hyperbole: is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech.

That suitcase weighed a ton!

Do they have anything in common? Is there any etymological or other reason connecting each pair together? Does the ellipsis remind the ellipse in any way, etc.? Is there any analogy between them?


texts: "'n'" as an abbreviation for "and" as in "rock 'n' roll"

texts: I wonder if there are other cases where and is abbreviated in writing as in rock 'n' roll.


texts: What to call someone who buys only certain products (e.g. vegetables) from a certain store?

texts:
I've thought of the term "selective", but this seems to suggest that he/she picks his/her products carefully.
Instead, I'd like to place emphasis on the fact that he/she buys only a certain type of products from this store.


texts:
In sentence

  They were rescued by Joseph-Louis Liouville, the son of a captain in Napoleon's army who became a professor in the Collège de France.

who became a professor: Joseph or his father?

Photo of the source:

Why beauty is truth: a history of symmetry / Ian Stewart. ISBN-13: 978-0-465-08236-0


texts: Where to use the present tense and where to use the past in this sentence?

texts:
Thus morality gave in to politics, so much so that the standard on which to judge whether an act is right or wrong and whether a person is good or bad was reduced to loyalty to the political head.

I do not know exactly where to use the past tense and where to use the present tense in this sentence. To me, "the standard on which to judge whether an act is right or wrong" in this context refers to some kind of permanent standard. If so, "is" is appropriate. But I doubt this breaking of the unity of tense is not legitimate.


texts: What would be an exact word to describe taking solace in other's misfortune, knowing one is not alone in facing it?

texts:
Schadenfreude implies deriving 'pleasure' in other's misfortune but what I am looking for is a word where one derives comfort that one's misfortune is faced by others as well. For instance, knowing at the workplace that you are not the sole employee being offered lower benefits by your employer, despite increasing workload. Another (morbid) instance is during a plane about to crash, you derive comfort from the fact that you are not the only one who's going to die.

Edit:

Below answers point to a positive connotation. I am looking for a word that carries a negative connotation. Continuing with the above example, it would be bad to take comfort that others too are being overworked, rather than quitting that job and switching over to something else. Or try to devise some sort of escape from the crashing plane.


texts: Problem in recognizing correct definite/indefinite articles out of context

texts:
I have read some grammar points about definite/indefinite articles, but I still have problems recognizing the right choice in questions requiring them.
I know sometimes I can omit articles but I don't know exactly when.(Maybe this is the most confusing point for me!)

For example:

  It would be difficult to imagine---life without---telephone.
  Answer:(zero article/the)
  Why not?(zero article/zero article)
  Why "the" is needed here?

  ---government is now insisting that --- math is taught with traditional methods.
  Answer:(The/zero article)
  Why not?(zero article/zero article)
  Why "the" is needed here?

  ---company needs to make sure that it is earning --- profit.
  Answer:(A/a)
  Why not(zero article/a)? Isn't company a general thing? Or maybe any special company?(using "the") We don't have any context here to understand what it really means.
  Same things here:
  I don't mind---airport;it's---flying that I hate.(the/the) or (the/zero article)
  During---spring semester,---chemistry will not be offered.(the/zero article) or (zero article/zero article)

  ---Microscope was invented by him.(the/zero article)
  Can someone please provide information or resources to get better answers?


texts:
I've come to understand that lateral and sideways can be used when moving a forward-facing object from one side to another (and eventually back again).

Is there a common word for forward and backward movement, without specifying which?

Example:

  A car cannot make lateral movements, only {forwards and backwards}.

(I hope I am using lateral correctly; please point it out if not.)


texts: 'a sense of' before two nouns in a sentence

texts:
May I ask if I would like to say someone is responsible and disciplined, can I put it as:

He has a sense of responsibility and discipline.

or I need to put it as:

He has the senses of responsibility and discipline.

Many thanks!!


texts: "Me knowing that he was... " Is "me" the subject?

texts:
"That was it," he told me. "Laughing at me behind their faces, about a
  woman. Me knowing that he was up there, and them knowing I knew that
  if I busted in and dragged him out and bashed his head off, I'd not
  only be cashiered, I'd be clinked for life for having infringed the
  articles of alliance by invading foreign property without warrant or
  something."

What is the subject of the sentence starting "Me knowing"? Is this grammatically correct? If it is, why?

It is from "All the Dead Pilots" by William Faulkner.


texts: Can one "decrease" or "increase" sound volume?

texts: My daughter's English teacher insists that synonyms for "turn up" and "turn down" (volume)do not include the words increase and decrease.  We wondered if we had been using increase and decrease incorrectly for years or....?


texts: Under what rule of usage does this semicolon in the example sentence fall?

texts:
I noticed the following sentence, taken from Mark Twain's "The Awful German Language:"

  Fifthly, I would do away with those long compounded words; or require the speaker to deliver them in sections, with intermissions for refreshments.

What is the grammatical function of the semicolon here? I would have expected a comma to be appropriate here, as to me it coordinates a dependent clause, and that would be solely under the jurisdiction of a comma, as I understood.

I thought semicolons were for replacing conjunctions between independent clauses or avoiding confusion with commas when writing a list that requires commas for one of the points within.

Thank you!


texts: what is it called when your fingers turn in shape after being under water for a long period

texts: Have you ever noticed when you are under water for a long time, your finger tips turn white and their skin is not as smooth as before and they change. But after a while they go back to their previous shape. I wanna know how to refer to that shape of skin. Hope I'm clear enough.


texts: What do you call an action that denotes hard work?

texts:
When you do something that requires courage they call it an heroic act or an act of courage. What about something that requires hard work?

Example:

  In this digital age, getting your ass off the seat and walking
  to a physical location of the place is considered a [...].


texts: The phrase is bring used in our office, and while I am certain it doesn't sound right, ie shouldn't it say "Would/could/will you please give me your approval" I would like an expert to tell me why.


texts: Is that an "r" in "worship" in a text from 1591?

texts:
I was trying to see how the Spanish word merced was translated into English in the 16th century, when I found this entry in a dictionary from 1591 by Richard Percyvall:

I understand that the second English word is worship, but that "r" is written in a different way from the r's in curtesie and pleasure. In a dictionary of Medieval English I found that worship was indeed a valid form for the word by then, but there were also other forms such as wurðescipe and wrþsipe, so I wonder if I am properly transliterating the word.

So, is that really an r in worship or is it another different character?


texts: English question .use of studying and pursuing

texts: Studying Masters of fashion management or pursuing master of fashion management which one is correct . When I am writing it into my resume


texts: "My work has done" vs "my work has been done"

texts:
Please tell me that what is the difference between

  My work has done

and

  My work has been done

problem is with the use of has and has been


texts: Punctuation and italics (by Google Dictionary)

texts:
If you type in Google define anaphora, it gives the following definition (original punctuation and style kept):

  the use of a word referring to or replacing a word used earlier in a
  sentence, to avoid repetition, such as do in I like it and so do
  they.

Why is there a comma after the word sentence?
Is it correct to italicize "I like it and so do they" in that sentence? Or should it be enclosed in quotation marks? (Perhaps both are correct.)

PS Please do not presume that Google Dictionary is infallible. I've observed plenty of mistakes it has.


texts: Can the word 'freed' be used as an adjective?

texts: For example: "Freed memory can be reused by another computer programs"?


texts: Causative Verb with the verb 'relax' but not 'refresh'

texts:
My Chinese student asked me a question.
Why is the first sentence incorrect but the second is fine?

Music can make me REFRESH.
Music can make me relax.

Can you help please?


texts: Is "defeating the object" an error in speech?

texts: I've been hearing this phrase used from time to time in my family when someone does something opposed to a goal that they want to achieve. Is it some sort of error? I can't find a source or explanation for the phrase. "Defeating the purpose" or even "defeating the objective" would make sense to be, but the object?


texts: Differences between "world-view" and "ideology"

texts:
These terms have slightly different nuances in meaning and connotation. Would you use world-view in an academic discussion? What is the correct context?

For example, would you say creationism is an ideology, atheism a world view? What is a simple criterion to differentiate usage?


texts: In The Island of Doctor Moreau they chant: "are we not men". So my question is: when we place not before men, not after are, what we are implementing?


texts: "I'll keep you company while you wait" or "I'll keep you company while you're waiting"

texts:
I know that while, like after, before, when, as soon as introduce time clauses, which require the present simple:

  I'll keep you company while you wait.

But so many of the students have used the present continuous on the quiz I gave them because this is taking place at the moment of speaking.

  I'll keep you company while you're waiting.

I've checked online and have seen both used. I'm certain that the present simple is the correct answer according to standard grammar rules.  And that's what I would say and write.  But the present continuous doesn't sound so bad to me, now that I see it written.

I'd appreciate other opinions on this.


texts: Single word(s) to express that something starts counting at 0 or 1?

texts:
In the context of computers there are containers, e.g. arrays that assign indexes to their elements beginning with 0 for the first element 1 for the second element, 2 for the third element, etc.

There are also containers that start counting with 1 for the first element and 2 for the second element.

Is there a single word that denotes this property?

Example:

  The coordinate array is ___ , you can access the first element with the index 0. The polygon set is ____, the first element has the index 1.


texts: Regarding Trump's "being, like, really smart" statement. What is it called when the content of statement is contradicted by its composition?

texts:
Trump's recent tweet about his mental stability and genius like intelligence, made me wonder.

What's it called when someone makes a statement that appears to be a contradiction like this:

  ....Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart. Crooked Hillary Clinton also played these cards very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star.....

in particular.

  ...and being, like, really smart.

Seems like a contradiction in terms.

I suppose a similar example:

  I am too, really smart.

or

  I'm a freakin' geneeos.

and so on.


texts: A Specific Case of Infinitive as Adjective

texts:
To see him, you would have supposed he had been doing this for years.
Having first thought that to see him was an adverb, I then noticed it wasn’t exactly doing the work of an adverb and might just as well be replaced with the participle seeing him, modifying you. Is this right, or have I missed something?
Thank you.


texts:
I need help to verify if this sentence is correct. The original sentence was:

  Please provide contact details below of a person within the organization who is legally permitted to verify your employment.

But then I was asked to add "or department" and now the sentence is:

  Please provide contact details below of a person or department within the organization who is legally permitted to verify your employment.

I'm thinking that the use of "who" is not appropriate here. It doesn't sound right.


texts: Deleting a word from the start of a quotation

texts:
If you delete a single word (or even two or three words) from the start of a quote, should you still use an ellipsis (…) or can you put the first non-deleted word in square brackets ([Word])?

For example, if I want to delete the word "to" from s.10(c) of the Canadian Charter, which goes as follows:

  (c) to have the validity of the detention determined by way of habeas corpus and to be released if the detention is not lawful.

would I write:

  '…have the validity, etc.'

or:

  '[have] the validity, etc.'

I'm fairly sure that multiple deleted words within a quotation are replaced with an ellipsis offset by a space on each side, or part of the quotation placed within square brackets if only a few words are removed or re-ordered (if someone could confirm this, please). So at the moment I'm concluding logically that a deleted word at the start of a quotation is replaced by an ellipsis also.


texts:
Bit confused about the meaning of this extract.

Information systems deliver value.

Information systems support business processes to deliver value.

An information system is a set of interwoven components that deliver meaningful information to support processes that strategically manage, coordinate and control an organisation to deliver value

Is it saying that information systems support business processes in order to deliver value, or is it saying that information systems helps business processes deliver value?

Thank you


texts: Singular or plural verb after a series connected by "or"

texts:
The following sentence refers to an apocalyptic story where money no longer has any value:

  A can of sardines, radio batteries, or a bicycle is/are more precious than money.

Should I use is or are after the series?


texts: I can't translate that sentence, “hail to the king”. I've found something like “greetings to the king” but is this correct?


texts: If I want to talk about a person, but not one in specific, should I use: "Subject", "One" or "Persons"?

texts:
I'd like to use a noun to mention a person, but not a specific one, like generalising.

Should I say it like this?

  It allows the subject to speak for themselves.

Or like this?

  It allows persons to speak for themselves.

Or this?

  It allow one to speak for themselves.

Or is there any other option I have no idea about it?


texts: Explain to me, please, yet another meaning of a word "stream"

texts:
I cannot understand the meaning of the "stream" word in the following particular usage example. In my dictionary it has a lot of translations, but all of them somehow related to the "flow" word. So I would be very grateful if anyone could have helped me with this.

This excerpt is from the wikipedia article HMS Tiger (1849):

  At around 6 a.m on the 12th she grounded on the shore about five miles south-west of Odessa. She fired guns to attract the attention of the other ships, without result. She then launched her boats and STREAMED her anchors in an attempt to re-float herself, and also jettisoned all but one of her guns to lighten the ship.

And I cannot understand what did they do with the anchors. Did they jettison them or cut off the cables or drop into a stream or simply use them as normal?

So could anyone please tell me this?

Thank you very much.


texts:
What are the types of uses of the expression "to canter through a topic or issue"? I heard it in this context:

  I don't have much time to go through this section now, so I'll canter through the next few pages and concentrate on explaining the subsequent section.

Does this use of the expression have an implication of "not being bothered" to explain something in more detail, and so, with the possibility of having a negative connotation to it?


texts: Term for men in their twenties or thirties?

texts:
Is there a term for men in their twenties and thirties?  I'm specifically asking in the context of men although I imagine there might be a gender neutral adjective.

"Young man" seems like it could encompass teenagers.
"Young adult man" seems the same
"Post-adolescent" seems again teenager-ish
"Pre-middle age"?

This is for an academic research project that describes the lives of men who are out of high-school (and maybe college) but before they marry (hopefully) in their mid-late 30s. The student is using "men in their twenties and thirties" but we were hoping there was something more succinct.


texts:
Which of the following is a grammatically correct statement?

The value of cars depreciate over time.
The values of cars depreciate over time.
The value of cars depreciates over time.

Thanks!


texts: Why do we say "eat healthy" instead of "eat healthily"?

texts:
Why do we say "eat healthy" instead of "eat healthily", even though the latter is the only "correct" one, according to the comments in

"eat healthy" or "eat healthily"

What came first: ads saying "eat healthy", or the grammatical acceptability of such a phrase?

Merriam-Webster does not consider "healthy" to be an adverb, unlike "quick":
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/healthy, and therefore this question is not a duplicate of As quick as we can?


texts: Are /t, p, k/ aspirated when they are at the start of a syllable after another syllable that ends in /s/?

texts:
In English (native speakers' speech), voiceless plosives such as /t/, /p/ and /k/ are produced with a strong burst of air when they are in the start of a syllable before a vowel. That is called "aspiration" (represented by ʰ). For example,

kill [kʰɪl]
tar [tʰɑː(r)]
pie [pʰaɪ]

But after a preceding /s/ in the same syllable, there is no aspiration:

skill [skɪl]
star [stɑː(r)]
spy [spaɪ]

Now there are words in English in which the /s/ is at the end of the first syllable and a voiceless plosive at the beginning of the next syllable:

whisper /ˈwɪs.pə(r)/
whiskey /ˈwɪs.ki/
sister /ˈsɪs.tə(r)/

It is clear that the syllable division is between the /s/ and /p/, /k/, /t/ in the above examples (from Cambridge Online Dictionary). The /p/, /k/ and /t/ are at the start of syllables and are expected to be aspirated since voiceless plosives are usually aspirated in that position. Nevertheless, whenever I aspirated those plosives, it feels like I'm overexaggerating.
My question is: are plosives at that position (in the start of a syllable after a syllable that ends with /s/) aspirated in native speakers' speech?


texts:
What's the meaning of pushing it?

  Is a 19 year old too young for a 28 year old?

  Yeah 9 years is kinda pushing it, 'specially when the delta is like half her life.


texts: As a native English speaker, I find the phrase "The hammer need not to be large for..." sounds strange to my ears.  Instead, I prefer "The hammer need not be large for...".  But what is the rule that makes the former grammatically wrong?  Or, maybe I am in error, and indeed the former is technically correct...


texts:
A friend asked me about a comma in the following sentence:

The project took place in several centers between January and February.

Should there be one between centers and between? I really am not sure...

It seems to me that in formal writing the comma is necessary as it's the project taking place in several centers that happened between January and February not the centers themselves.

However, the meaning is clear without the comma. It's not like he's saying "I had many girls between 10 and 15 OR I had many girls, between 10 and 15".


texts:
A song by the heavy metal band Manowar includes these lines:

Carry we who die in battle
Over land and sea

The "we" sounds wrong for me. I'd use "us" in this sentence. A quick google search didn't show any similar constructions with "we".
The "we" is a rather long-drawn sound in the song, so my best guess is that this wouldn't have worked with the sharp, short "us". But it is really completely wrong, or is there some way to justify this usage?
Note that all band members are born in the US, so they are native speakers.


texts: What's the best term for a cognitive state where you can't quite build the components up to achieve the solution?

texts:
Obviously we have various terms to communicate specific shared states of mind:

Déjà vu - the illusion of having previously experienced something actually being encountered for the first time...

Cognitive Dissonance - anxiety that results from simultaneously holding contradictory or otherwise incompatible attitudes...

“On the Tip of one's Tongue” - Fig. [of a thought or idea] about to be said or almost remembered....

etc.

Likewise, I'm talking about a very specific cognitive state, that I'm sure most everyone has experienced, where you are unable to link or hold together multiple conceptions in order to achieve a final result.

You're able to think through the first few steps, but the whole thing breaks down and becomes incoherent.  You can't quite reach that final outcome or solution, but it's right there almost within reach.

Then of course you run through it again, step by step, trying to 'take another run at it' – or perhaps another way to think about the problem - - but again, you just can't quite make that final iterative step to nail the solution.

I'm looking for something other than “dumb”, or “simple minded”, or anything too general or unduly pejorative – a term that can apply to anyone in such a situation, but it's pretty rare – and memorable - like Deja vu – or “tip of one's tongue”, but it's nothing to do with memory – it's specific to the building of something in your mind based on component conceptions.

A specific example I remember from years ago (but by no means limited to this) is the “Prisoners and Hats Puzzle” whereby to figure it out in your head you basically have to step through and hold present all the scenarios.  (I forget what version of the puzzle I was first given.)

I recently came across another example regarding multivariate scenarios of baseball plays.

Thanks.

Ref.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoners_and_hats_puzzle
https://sports.stackexchange.com/questions/10301/is-there-a-possible-scenario-in-which-the-first-run-counts-but-the-next-one-do


texts: Is there an opposite of "gifted" as a verb? For example when it's used such as "you are gifted with high intelligence". How would you say "you are (insert word) with poor reasoning skills".


texts: How to use apostrophe with plural object of preposition

texts:
Which apostrophe is correct? (There are multiple dogs.)

One of the dogs' tails
One of the dog's tails

I believe it is the former but I'm not 100% certain. I found absolutely no guidance on this when I searched on the internet.


texts: Is this meaning of "scurrilous" only known/understood to speakers of American English?

texts:
A few weeks ago I stumbled across the word "scurrilous", meaning "given to the use of coarse or vulgar language". I shared this word with two other people, but they had taken it to mean "scandalous".

I decided to have a look for the word in some online dictionaries, and the definition I had used only appeared in the American English versions of each dictionary; the British definition was indeed similar to "scandalous".

So, is the word commonplace/understood in Australian/British English, or do the dictionaries speak the truth?

(If it helps, I speak Australian English.)


texts:
I read this sentence from Wikipedia:

  She was noted not only for her spiritual writings, but also for founding a religious community which refused to accept becoming an enclosed religious order that it might continue her vision of caring for those in need.

I am not sure about the clause with "that". Does it mean:

  She refused to become an enclosed religious order so that her endeavor might continue her vision of caring for those in need.

or

  She refused to become an enclosed religious order that might continue her vision of caring for those in need?

In 2, my understanding is the clause with that refers to the "enclosed religious order".

The meaning in 1 is opposite.

Thanks in advance.


texts: What verb to use with the old meaning of "an execution"?

texts:
Before execution settled into its modern meanings of "running a piece of software" and "state-organised killing", it was a much more general term for acting and doing. In this now outdated context, one could "do an execution on" something or someone, meaning roughly the same as "fix it", "do a number on it" or "lick it into shape".

I'm just not sure that doing is the right verb. Does one "do an execution" on something, "work an execution" on something, "wreak an execution" on something, or should it be some other verb I haven't thought of?


texts: Is a comma appropriate before " finishing with" in this sentence?

texts:
A friend was editing an essay of mine, and took issue with this sentence:

  Bob gave Alice some instructions, finishing with, "and then you're good to go!"

My friend doesn't think the comma immediately following "instructions" is necessary. I can't think of I rule I've learned that means the comma is required, but I still feel like the sentence needs it. I would appreciate any input.


texts: What would be a formal reply to "I need your help"?

texts:
A colleague emailed me saying

  I need your help

but offering no further details. Now, what what be a formal reply to this which doesn't promise too much nor seem cold or unhelpful?

  a) Sure. How can I help?
  b) Tell me?
  c) Regarding?

Which one of the above seems most appropriate? Or there is some other sentence or phrase more appropriate for this kind of situation?


texts:
In a discussion on car wheels, someone commented that "Stock wheels are usually more expensive than aftermarket."

When I looked up aftermarket on Google definition states that, it is

  The market for spare parts, accessories, and components, esp. for motor vehicles.

However, I'm confused as to which sense of market it applies here to the definition, for example one of the sources I searched was AHDE:

  A public gathering held for buying and selling merchandise.
  A place where goods are offered for sale.
  A store or shop that sells a particular type of merchandise: a vegetable market.
  (a) The business of buying and selling a specified commodity: the soybean market.

  (b) A market price.

  (c) A geographic region considered as a place for sales: grain for the foreign market; the West Coast market.

  (d) A subdivision of a population considered as buyers: cosmetics for the upscale market.
  The opportunity to buy or sell; extent of demand for merchandise: a big market for gourmet foods.
  (a) An exchange for buying and selling stocks or commodities: securities sold on the New York market.

  (b) The entire enterprise of buying and selling commodities and securities: The market has been slow recently.

Or is there another suitable definition that's not on this list?


texts: Word for relative movement of inner and outer

texts:
I want to describe the movement or position of an inner material inside an outer sheath, as the inner moves through the outer. Can anyone think of some kind of verb, spatial preposition or any other word or phrase?

For example, I'd like to describe the relative position of a cob of corn inside a bun, or the movement of a worm inside its tunnel.

In particular, I have something like an infinitely-long core of lego-bricks inside an infinitely long tube of different-sized lego-bricks, and I want to talk about the movement of the core along the tube. I can't talk about the absolute position, as there's no end-points to compare to, so I have to refer only to the relative positions of the bricks themselves.

Thanks for any help.


texts: Should "whom" be capitalized in a title?

texts:
As in the title of the book For whom the Bells Toll, should the word "whom" be capitalized?

Also, any advice on when to capitalize within a title would be appreciated.


texts: Problem remembering the exact name/word/term

texts:
I'm looking for a name/word for when someone asks and seeks advice for a problem but, instead of telling you the real issue or the problem, s/he attempts to seek help to make her own solution work.
For example:  "I need to tie a rope around a building so it won't tip over.  How can I make it strong enough?" [Real problem is the building foundation]
I'm from the computer programming background and I use to see that a lot in StackOverflow Q/A ...but I can't remember the name of it...something like A-B problem. Does anyone know the exact name?


texts:
Medieval punctuation was different from the one we use now; for example, Medieval punctuation included punctus, punctus versus, and punctus flexus.

When did their equivalent in modern English emerge?


texts:
What is wrong with the following sentence?

  "Today, we have to be complacent with pasta."


texts: By the term x y means z, what is the meaning of the word by in this context

texts:
The standard definitions of By says "agent performing the action", "do something before a certain time" etc.. but I am not able to understand what by means in this context.

Usage example in Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, "By the term 'knowledge a priori' therefore, we shall in the sequel understand...."

Thanks.


texts:
I can ask any of:

  Do you know a breakfast place nearby?
  Do you know a nearby breakfast place?
  Do you know a good breakfast place?

but I really can't ask:

  Do you know a breakfast place good?

Is there a general rule for determining whether an adjective must come before the noun or may come, Spanish-style, after it?


texts: Why were square brackets used to contain these words?

texts:
It is easy for guys
like [Stuart] Broad and [Ben] Stokes who have been
doing it for years. I don't think Shafiul [Islam] and Kamrul
[Islam Rabbi] bowled that badly. (Collected from a national daily)

Consider those sentences and tell me why the writer has used square bracket in the name of those player?  And Why not always first part of a name or second part? why sometimes first and sometimes second part?


texts: Could 'otwards' or even 'hotwards' ever be accepted into the language?

texts: I've just woken early from a vivid dream. (must be the local ale - we are in Yorkshire at the moment). I was in an inferno of an industrial kitchen where they were manufacturing 'ready-meals'. One large individual with rolled up sleeves and sweat pouring down his arms was shouting above the din. Portion-sized food was going past on conveyors. Some was going toward ovens and some away from them. The noisy director of operations was shouting instructions for all he was worth. One word that he kept saying baffled me and, I couldn't fathom its meaning. It sounded like 'otwards'. Then I realised that what he was saying was 'hotwards'  (he had a Cockney accent so it sounded like 'otwards) meaning in the direction of heat, or the ovens. When I awoke it occurred to me that this might be a good question for you folk. Is 'hotwards' an acceptable word in the English language?


texts: Active voice in mathematical physics derivation

texts:
Im currently writing an undergraduate physics report, collaborating with a large group of people. One of our sections requires some LONG lagrangian derivations for various systems. Now, everyone always seems to insist on using the passive voice for physics reports, but in my opinion, in a long derivation it is incredibly clumsy. I'd like some  professional opinion on this matter, thank you.

example sentence:

active:
"we now write the lagrangian in terms of the generalised coordinates alpha and phi"

passive:
"the lagrangian was written in terms of the generalised coordinates...."


texts: "You mentioned that you want" vs. "You mentioned that you wanted"

texts:
Which is correct in this scenario?

"When you mentioned that you wanted this book, I knew I had to get it for you."
"When you mentioned that you want this book, I knew I had to get it for you."

The first sentence sounds more accurate to me, but the desire for the book has not gone away. She mentioned that she wanted it at the time, but she still wants the book.


texts: Is "A Project Guide to UX Design" correct grammar?

texts:
A Project Guide to UX Design.

This is the title of a book I got from Amazon. But I dont think the title makes sense. I did a Google search for the exact term "a project guide" and got very few results. Maybe a Project managers' guide, or a project guideline. UX stands for User Experience, by the way. But 'A project guide to' anything seems incorrect to me.
Any thoughts?


texts: Schema appears to have two plural forms that are both valid: schemata and schemas. Are they completely interchangeable; or are there any guidelines on which one is appropriate for particular contexts?


texts: Do I have a couple of questions or a few?

texts:
I know what the dictionary definitions are for few and couple.  Not looking for reciting the definition or etymology.

I would like someone to tell me in common usage is it appropriate to call 3 of something a couple or to call 2 of something a few?

This comes from my workplace.  I work in a very global setting.  In emails and on conference calls often people will say "a few" when they are talking about two things.  Or "a couple" when they are talking about three things and sometimes more.

Are there any regional/social/demographic based differences?

For instance my grandma often uses the terms interchangeably and might go back and forth with the two words about the exact same topic. What is the cutoff point for couple and a few?


texts: Word or phrase for 'a much hyped discovery which later turns out to be insignificant or of no value'

texts:
In the company where I worked before, the team of specialists which handled customer dissatisfaction issues often came up with seemingly brilliant solutions which would initially appear to be key breakthroughs but would later turn out to be no more brilliant than those which had been tried and abandoned before.

Along those lines, let's suppose, someone is working on a big scientific discovery or breakthrough, it's got big hype and everything, but once it is made known to public and its applications are discussed, people notice nothing useful about it and dismiss it as nonconstructive or nonfunctional.

I am interested in knowing if there is a word or phrase to describe the idea.

(Edits made to rephrase some sentences)


texts:
I have a survey and I need to translate it into another language.
There is a question in the survey - "American products, first, last, and foremost.". Users have to answer using scale from 1 to 7, where is fully agree, but 7 is fully disagree.

I cannot translate this question as I do not understand it. Can you, please, somehow describe what it means?
I have found out that there is an idiom "first and formest". It means something like "at the beginning", "first" or "very important". Right?
But what means "first, last and foremost"?


texts: Meaning of "level a gap in the middle for the trains connection point to make contact"

texts:
What's the meaning of level in level a gap, and connection point?

  Why can't they put a protective sleeve of the power rail, that the train can still access through. But make it hard for a person to accidentally fall on. For such a sue friend society, I find it strange many people have sued the transit system for accidental deaths

  Because insulating a conductor so it doesn't conduct defeats the entire purpose of having a conductor in the first place.

  You can have two support structures on either side that are higher than the rail and still level a gap in the middle for the trains connection point to make contact. Then if you fail on it, you shouldn't make accidental contact.


texts: "Upper-case" is to "capital" as "lowercase" is to what?

texts: Is there a corresponding word to go with capital to mean lower-case?


texts:
Which is correct?

  I am planning to buy some property at the end of 2011.

  I am planning to buy some property in the end of 2011.


texts:
In the Chris Medina song "What are words", he sings "what are words if you really don't mean them when you say them?". I am a non-native English speaker, but to my ears that doesn't sound good. Had I written that song, I would have let "really" and "don't" switch places. I discussed this with my wife who insists the meaning would be exactly the same, but in my mind there's a difference.

I feel that "really don't mean them" conveys that the person uttering the words doesn't mean them, with an emphasis. He really doesn't mean what he's saying. The words go against everything he stands for.
The other way around, "don't really mean them", to me means that he says something that he could very well stand behind, but in secrecy he doesn't.

Am I correct in asserting the above? If I am, what could be the reason mr. Medina chose this particular wording, as it doesn't fit very well with what the rest of the song lyrics express?


texts: Is "We all know running has health benefits" correct English?

texts: "We all know running has health benefits" isn't how I would write the sentence (I'd probably say "We all know that running offers many health benefits"), but is it formally incorrect?  I want to say that you really need the "that" after "we all know," but I'm not sure.


texts: What should we call a part of a sentence which is neither a word nor a phrase?

texts:
I would like to refer to a part of a sentence which is neither a word nor a phrase, e.g., "I will recognize" in "I will recognize you".

Should I call it an expression, a part of a sentence or something else?


texts:
I was reading this n+1 article and it uses the word "kallocratic" in this context:

  ... ascending Diotima’s ladder from the lower rung of desire for the sun-kissed body of the swimsuit model to the kallocratic worldview of beautiful actions based on knowledge of the eternal and beautiful forms ...

A Google search of the word only returns the article (and presumably now this question too).


texts: What's the difference in meaning between "cartography" and "cartology"? Many sources on the internet would suggest that these words are synonyms but I'm sure they're not. I thought cartography is the process of making maps and cartology is the study of maps. As a supplemental question, what do you call someone who collects maps?


texts: Idioms/phrases for "I won't get in the way?"

texts:
Example:

  "Me and Jake? Don't worry I'm a lesbian. You have [...]."

(Meaning she's not going to get in the way).

I can only thing of having a clear track. Not sure if it's common, though, since I'm not a native English speaker.


texts: single word for one who eats the same food all the time

texts:
Is there a single word for someone who always eats the same food?

E.g. Hard boiled egg for breakfast, tuna fish for lunch, chicken breast for dinner. Every day.


texts: Usage of But in "Never a trouble but brought profit to somebody."

texts:
I read the following in a book (A Crown of Swords by Robert Jordan):

Refugees filled the city, and merchants and traders of every sort. Never a trouble but brought profit to somebody.

What does that mean? I think it's one of two things, but I can't work out which (not a native speaker):

The refugees and traders are never a problem but somebody will profit from them.

There is never a sort of trouble that people will not make a profit out of.

The subtlety is lost on me, so can a more skilled English speaker (or writer) help me out?


texts: Is there a word for "conjugating" an adjective?

texts:
Verbs can be conjugated to past/future tenses. Nouns can be pluralized. Adjectives also have comparative and superlative forms. For example fast, faster, and fastest.

What is the word that describes converting between the base form and the comparative and superlative forms?


texts: Does anyone write "noöne" with a diaeresis?

texts:
Related: "Whereäs" as an alternative spelling of "whereas"

Does anyone write "no-one" as "noöne", with the diaeresis (double-dot) serving to separate the syllables?


texts: An adjective or noun for someone who "has a lot of gall"?

texts:
What would be a suitable term for someone who has a lot of gall or has the gall to? Specifically someone who has wronged you or yours, or taken something from you, and should be repentant (and perhaps, absent), but shows up and shows no remorse or shame.  I’m thinking of something more specific than shameless (because that can have such varied applications, terms like like shameless self-promotion wouldn’t really apply).

A better example might be someone who has borrowed from you repeatedly, even stolen some money from you — and then comes back asking for a loan, with a smile.   Is there a spot-on adjective for that person?  Or a noun? (“He’s a ____; he asked me for another $100!”).


texts: Do you use both my home and our home to your friends?

texts:
I want to hear about your first week. Send us an answer back with
  Hedwig [Harry's owl]. (A note from Hagrid to Harry, Harry Potter and the
  Sorcerer's Stone)

  Oxford(British English, informal) me : Give us the newspaper,
  will you?

Hagrid uses ‘us’ instead of ‘me,’ and the dictionary says it’s not only Hagrid’s expression. Then when you say to your friend that ‘would you like to come my home?’, do you also say ‘would you like to come our home?’? (In Korean, I can say even 'our mother' to my friend, indicating mine. Is it also proper in English?)


texts:
Which of the followings sentences would be the best choice?

  The victim explained how he became addicted five years ago...

  His addiction is so bad that he is unable to keep a steady relationship.
  His addiction has been so bad that he has been unable to keep a steady relationship.
  His addiction has been so bad that he is unable to keep a steady relationship.
  His addiction had been so bad that he was unable to keep a steady relationship.
  His addiction had been so bad that he had been unable to keep a steady relationship.

He hasn't treated his addiction yet.


texts:
Being Swedish but living in Kenya for many years I initially reacted when at the local market I was offered a paper bag (verbally) but given a plastic bag (physically).

This is always the case and was not a single incident.

I thought paper bag had become a common word for all kinds of bags in Kenya but it seems like this is also common in other English speaking countries?

Can anyone confirm and maybe add a bit of history to explain?

For reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_bag

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_shopping_bag

Edit:
A US citizen living in Kenya has made the observation as well and claims it to be British English. http://chattynicol.wordpress.com/2011/01/10/fun-facts-about-kenya/


texts: Should one italicise an italicised phase within a book title?

texts:
In UK/Commonwealth styles, is there a generally accepted convention for whether or not one italicises or renders roman an italicised phrase within the title of a book?
My specific example, which may add clarity: When writing the Latin legal phrase forum non conveniens, I italicise it because convention dictates that foreign phrases are italicised. (Some legal style guides advise against italicising legal Latin, but that is inapplicable in my specific case)
I also italicise the titles of books.  How then, should I correctly write the title of Dr A Arzandeh's book Forum (Non) Conveniens in England:  Past, Present, and Future (Hart 2018)?
I realise that logic would require me to set the Latin phrase at the beginning of the book in roman text, because it is doubly emphasised.  Yet, writing the sentence:

One of the most valuable works on this topic is the recent book Forum (Non) Conveniens in England:
Past, Present, and Future.

looks awkward because the italicising changes abruptly mid-title, and it isn't clear where the book title (defeating the point of italics).
Yet, if I italicise the entire title, this seems inconsistent with the accepted rules on double-emphasis (ie double-emphasis renders text roman).
What is the best solution?


texts: What does “not as [adjective] as him” imply?

texts: If it is written that X is not as tall as Y, it indicates that X and Y have unequal heights. But does this necessarily imply that X is shorter than Y?


texts:
If I am writing about a historical figure such as a king (or governor or prince), am I supposed to capitalize the word "king" throughout my discussion of him? For instance:
"King James initially made efforts to reform and modernize the country. However, the king later revoked his efforts and returned to his former ways."

Is "the king" correct here, or should it be "the King" and why?

Also, what are these type of words called? Honors? Titles? Epithets?

Thanks!


texts: What's more than a girlfriend but less than a wife?

texts:
Let's say I am in a committed relationship with a woman, but we are not married; talking about her as "my girlfriend" seems a bit silly, as it conveys the idea of something juvenile, and 1) our relationship is serious and stable and 2) while she's not old, she is definitely not a "girl" anymore.

However, we are not married, thus "my wife" would be an exaggeration; "my woman" could do, but I don't really like it, as it seems to imply an idea of possession rather than companionship. There also are "companion" and "partner", but they don't necessarily mean a romantic relationship. And, of course, "lover" seems more appropriate for a sex affair than a stable relation.

What is the right word to use here?

Also, the inverse variant (being in a committed relationship with a man who is not your husband, and calling him your "boyfriend" doesn't seem right).


texts: Why is a "cowardly" person referred to as "yellow"?

texts:
Yellow not only designates a kind of color, but also describes cowardice. But why? Where does the reference come from?
OED (paywalled) notes, about sense 3b of 'yellow' ["colloquial (originally U.S.). Lacking in courage; faint-hearted; cowardly", updated January, 2018], that

…the origin of the specific association of the colour with cowardice, which seems to have arisen in American contexts in the later 19th cent., is unclear.


texts: What (if anything) is the difference between bullsh— and horsesh—?

texts:
Both bullshit and horseshit are used to mean nonsense or waffle, especially to cover up a lack of knowledge or unwillingness to inform.

An old answer here describes them as near synonyms. If they're not exact synonyms, what's the difference in meaning or usage?

While bullshit may be shortened to bull, I've never seen horse used to mean nonsense. Perhaps this is just that horseshit isn't common enough to be obvious when the shit is elided. If the horse variant is just variation for added colour, are there others in regular use with very similar meanings? They're certainly not common if so.

In British English, bullshit, as well as being a noun, can be a verb (and occasionally an adjective as in a bullshit excuse). Horseshit on the other hand only appears as a noun (I inadvertently gave an example in the comments).

By coincidence, the blog Strong Language posted "a matrix of shits" since I wrote this.  It doesn't answer my question, but does illustrate it.


texts:
This is a comprehension cloze question for 11 year olds:
"His only hope for cure was a bone marrow transplant. His brother was chosen to donate some of his bone marrow. The ________ would  take place in the States.

Was told that 'transplant' and 'procedure' can be accepted but 'operation' cannot because patient won't be cut.

Is it really so?


texts: Valid ways of saying a fraction using (saying) cardinal number as its denominator

texts:
Suppose we have a fraction: 23 / 100.
Using cardinal way of saying a fraction, which of the following is spoken colloquially?
I believe I listed all possible ways (valid and invalid) of saying a fraction using cardinal numbers.

[a] twenty three hundredth
[b] twenty three hundredths
[c] twenty three one hundredth
[d] twenty three one hundredths
[e] twenty three a hundredth
[f] twenty three a hundredths

Note: These are permutations of using ("", "one", "a") and (singular vs plural form of the denominator).
I believe, without a or one in the denominator leads to confusion:

case [a] with 2300th
case [b] with 20 / 300

Lastly the plural form of the denominator is used only when the numerator itself is plural (> 1).
It does not matter what the denominator is (i.e. x / 100, x / 123, x / 200, x / 234 ...).
I greatly appreciate it if someone could clarify.


texts: What is the best antonym for "Approve" in the context of approving a business-related application

texts: I work a lot with business applications and traditionally I've used the word "disapprove" as the counterpart to application approvals (e.g. disapprove leave application, disapprove waiver). But I've the sudden realization that in real life, the only times I've ever used the word "disapprove" is in the context of expressing negativity towards someone's actions and in more formal applications I would use the words "deny" or "reject" instead. Which is the best fit for business applications in this case? Is this a reasonable use for the word "disapprove"?


texts: I use "man" referring to male friends...what should I use when talking with a girl?

texts: Just like I asked in the subject line, I'm pretty lost in this, as I wouldn't know how to say a sentence like the following, speaking with a fem


texts: Word/phrase meaning fatal blow (in an argument)

texts:
I'm searching for a word, phrase or term that means the fatal blow, something along the lines of coup de grace.   However, that term has implies a merciful killing.  I'm looking for something that connotes a savagery; a complete evisceration.

For example, you're describing the arguments an attorney is making to a court.  The attorney is hammering the adversary.  Then s/he makes this [coup de grace] argument to just drive it home. There's nothing merciful about it (that's why I don't like coup de grace in this context).

Thank you.


texts: Good english translation for construction term "Obra Negra"

texts:
I often find the spanish term "Obra Negra" which is a construction and masonry domain-specific term translated as "Black Work".

Although that is in fact, a valid literal translation I am sure there is an equivalent domain-specific term in english, rendering "Black Work" as a "false-friend" translation

The meaning of Obra Negra is of an unfinished or barely started construction. A house or office is considered obra negra until interior finishes and fixtures are applied.

Bare cement and bricks, no flooring tiles, exposed ducting and cabling all belong in obra negra

Please, enlighten me.


texts: Do I have to use "I" or "we" when orally presenting my scientific thesis written by a single author?

texts:
I know that in a scientific paper or thesis made by a single author, it is common to use we. (This is also recommended at our university.)

But what about when you alone are presenting a thesis work orally?

At first glance, it is quite odd to use we when the work is written only by you yourself and you are presenting it alone.

For example, saying:

  We will present you my machine learning model...

while at the same time you stand alone in front of the examiners seems very strange to me.

Is this style of presentation expected, tolerated, or forbidden?


texts: What is the difference between the sentences "I only eat spaghetti" vs "I can only eat spaghetti"? Does the first sentence means that there is at least 1 time I eat spaghetti?


texts: Is there an idiomatic expression to refer to an “ambush” journalist?

texts:
Ambush journalism is an expression from the early ‘80s that refers to:

  aggressive tactics practiced by journalists to suddenly confront and question people who otherwise do not wish to speak to a journalist, in places such as homes, vacation spots, hallways, and parking lots.

Steve Weinberg, an investigative reporter of the Missouri School of Journalism describes "ambush interview" as:

  a loaded shorthand term describing the practice of reporters "catching source unaware, usually in a public place, then acting rudely.”

(Wikipedia)

I am looking for the expression commonly used to refer to a journalist who practices ambush journalism. “Ambush journalist” doesn’t  appear to be used. I’ve found some usage instances of aggressive journalist but it is a too a generic definition.

So, what are the expressions  (also slang ones) used to describe such journalists?


texts: Using "reason for" without using "having" after "for"

texts:
I have this phrase:

  Another reason for having poor performance earlier but better
  performance in later sessions...

I just wonder if there is a way to get rid of "having" or is it necessary? How about something like this:

  Another reason for the poor performance initially and better performances in subsequent sessions...

I feel like in this case initially does not fit well. Any suggestions for building this sentence correctly and concisely?


texts: Escorting a guest before saying goodbye as a sign of respect or caring

texts:
In the two cases below, what is the host doing to the guest?

First example: When you go to someone's home for dinner, after the party, the host walks you out and says goodbye in the street rather than in the living room. The host does this out of respect for his guest.

Second example: If you go to another city and stay with a friend for a few days, when you are leaving, they accompany you to the airport or the train station instead of parting at their own doorstep. The host's intention is to show his caring for the guest.

What are acts like these two examples called? I've come across "escort" and "convoy", but these two mean travelling with someone to protect them which implies a different intention. In my first language there is a specific verb for this act. I was wondering if there is an equivalent phrase or word in English or not.


texts: Alternative to "Overreaching her mandate" for non-elected people

texts:
The way I see it, 'overreaching his mandate' is used when someone elected to a position or answering to someone else does things that are 'out of line' (negative connotation) for him. There is an element of malice involved.

My questions are:

1) Is there a phrase that conveys a similar meaning BUT for non-elected/not-answerable-to-someone people without the sense of malice but the actions being wrong nevertheless, maybe out of stupidity? E.g. A father may try to care for his child by standing by his bed all night so that if the child is afraid, he'll find his father awake protecting him. However, the child privately finds this scary and is upset by it.

2) What other similar phrases are there for such actions, for people who may or may not be answerable to someone else and with varying intentions? e.g. (one phrase for one of such situations): My father went out of the way to make sure that my commute to school was comfortable by delaying his office even though there was a school bus available. There is no malice and the child gains from the action but the father is majorly inconvenienced. I think the same phrase can be used for elected people. What other phrases for different situations are there?

EDIT: Also: Going overboard has negative connotation along the same lines.


texts: Difference between cafeteria and lunchroom

texts: Do these two words mean the same thing? I tried googling  but had no luck. I searched lunchroom in the wikipedia website, but it jumped to the page explaining the cafeteria.


texts: Is there a saying that means delayed gratification increases the eventual gratification?


texts: Why is a disastrous mess called a "pig's ear"?

texts:
Looking at the results of yesterday's programming effort, I concluded that "I have made a right pig's ear of this."

I then wondered, why a pig's ear? Does anyone know why pig's ear is used to mean something messy and useless?


texts: The book one receives upon graduation to cherish the times spent at school

texts:
The word candidates I can come up with are:

Scrapbook. A conglomeration of photos and short texts that aren't necessarily related to one another.
Album. Same as photo book.
Memento book. Different from memento mori, it is life not death that should be conveyed to the reader, who then needs to answer the question "Are you now living your life as fully as you have had during your school years?"
Memoirs. Same as autobiographies.

Edit: While yearbook comes close to what I am looking for, the book should be a highlight of the things done by a student throughout ALL his/her years at the school. Maybe "yearsbook"? But as @vidget suggested, there is no such word in the dictionary, so I'll accept yearbook.


texts: I “am flying” or I “will be flying” to Paris later this morning?

texts:
Got this sentence in a multiple choice question exam

"I'm going to the airport in a minute. I _____ to Paris later this Morning"

A) will be flying
B) am flying
C) will fly
D) am going to fly

I am in two minds here. I know that it's either A or B but how can I know which one it is?


texts: Why is the “o’ in “clover”, “cove” and “over’ pronounced differently in “cover”?

texts:
Etymonline tells me that cover is derived from Old French and Late Latin.

  mid-12c., from Old French covrir (12c., Modern French couvrir) "to cover, protect, conceal, dissemble," from Late Latin coperire, from Latin cooperire "to cover over, overwhelm, bury," from com-, intensive prefix, + operire "to close, cover," from PIE compound *op-wer-yo-, from *op- "over" + root *wer- (4) "to cover."

In Italian, the letter “o” in coprire [koˈprire] is pronounced /ɒ/ as in rock whether this is also true for OF covrir I don't know.

Meanwhile, Etymonline says that the preposition over is Old English

  Old English ofer "beyond, above, upon, in, across, past; on high," from Proto-Germanic *uberi (source also of Old Saxon obar, Old Frisian over, Old Norse yfir, Old High German ubar, German über, Gothic ufar "over, above"), from PIE root *uper "over."

Until this day, if anyone had asked whether cover and over had the same origins, I would have replied "probably", not only do they look alike but their meanings share some common ground too.

I would have said that cover is the verb that explains something is positioned over something or someone, e.g. you lay a tablecloth over the table = you cover a table with a tablecloth, but perhaps that is just coincidental. Is it?
If cover is pronounced  /ˈkʌvə/ [kuhv-er] why is over pronounced /ˈəʊvə/ [oh-ver]
but not /ʌvə/ [uhv-er]?
If the letter “o” in cove [kohv], clover [kloh-ver], and over [oh-ver] are pronounced /əʊ/ [oh], why does the sound shift to /ʌ/ [uh] in cover?
What happened?


texts: I'm looking for a specific quote that expresses this sentiment: "money isn't everything"

texts:
I read an interesting quote years ago that went something like:"What am I if I am rich but stupid, wicked, etc". I can't remember the quote exactly nor the author.

Can you guys help me?


texts: What are the differences between these two abbreviations? What are the appropriate situations to use each?


texts: How do I find examples where phonetic spelling is useful?

texts:
My son is learning English as a second language. Of course the phonetic alphabet is something they have to learn. Now he keeps telling me that it is a completely pointless endeavour, because he knows how to pronounce English words by instinct.

Of course, I want to prove him wrong. How do I find words which are hard to pronounce if you have never heard them ?


texts: Is there a word or term to describe a statement that implies a question so sufficiently that the question is not actually included?

texts:
I have often noticed people who make statements, actually ending with a question mark when written, but where there is no actual question asked.

The question is implied sufficiently enough in the context of the statement, and/or the previous statement that the question portion can be omitted.  Some examples:

  Sandra: I'm not walking to the theatre as I didn't bring a jacket.Julie: I have a spare jacket?

In the above, it is clear that Julie is asking "would you like to borrow my spare jacket so that we can walk to the theatre".

  Paul: We aren't going to Pizza Hut at lunch as it's too far to walk in an hour.Dave: I have my car today?

Again, it is clear that Dave is offering to drive and asking if that is an option.

Is there a term to describe this?


texts: "I’m afraid that they will call me when I will be doing my homework" Is that correct?

texts:
dear stackexchangers, need your help.

As you sure know there is a rule about using Present Simple instead of Future Simple after words "when", "before", "if", etc. But what about my sentence? Can we use Future Continuos after "WHEN"? My sentence seems logical to me.

Thanks for considering my request :)


texts:
I have a question about Past continuous from this following example.

" I was thinking that I wouldn't have any friends when I came here. "
" I was thinking that I wouldn't have any friends when I come here. "

Which one is correct? I'm wondering that when I use Past continuous, do I have to change all the verbs in the sentence to  V2?

The second question is:

" I was thinking about calling her when you came. "
" I had been thinking about calling her when you came. "

What's the difference between these two examples and how can I choose them?


texts: An over-the-top, gauntlets-thrown, when-is-it-appropriate-to-hyphenate debate

texts:
An eye-glazingly, mind-numbingly boring debate is raging on usmessageboard.com over hyphenation. One user posted

  full-throttle, out-of-the-gate, naked attempt by the press

to which another user responded

  Has any other POTUS " out-of-the-gate" [sic] preceded and commenced their presidency

which the first user took as an attack on his grammar, and, well, the to-hyphenate-or-not-to-hyphenate debate has raged ever since.

In an attempt to restore the tranquility of the board and its usual civil tone, I offered to submit an appeal for arbitration here.

The question mentioned of which mine may be a duplicate does indeed answer many of the points raised in the battle raging elsewhere, but doesn't address others, which I will try to list below. Nor does it cover the [sic] aspect of our controversy. I realize the question could be split into two separate questions, but that would reduce the chance our community would receive the fairest possible judgment from our community.

And that brings up the objection below to the appeal for arbitration. I imagine there are any number of reasons someone might post a question here. Some, I suppose, are composing an email at work their boss will see, and they want to be as precise as possible so that they make a good impression. Others may be working on a thesis they are going to present and want to be sure of their lingual footing during the orals. Another might be composing a letter to a cheating lover and she wants to express her broken heart in a crystal clear voice free of any quaver an ungrammatical sentence would give it. We neither ask them the reason, nor sanction them if they offer the reason.

I offered the reason because I thought it was a light-hearted and inoffensive addition to my question without detracting from it.

The aspects of this question that weren't addressed in the other's answer, thorough as it was:

Since hyphenation is to be used to form a compound word immediately preceding a noun, out-of-the-gate should not have been hyphenated because of the interposition of the word "naked" between the adjectival phrase and the modified noun, "attempt". The OP responded that the stack of adjectives all qualified as immediately preceding the noun;
The temporal quality of "out of the gate" made it adverbial and thus undeserving of a hyphen. In response, the OP maintained "out-of-the-gate" was indeed adjectival;
The [sic] was not a criticism of the OP's grammar, but a defense against the possibility the OP's mistake would be imputed to the respondent.

So there you have it. Was this a mistake?

  full-throttle, out-of-the-gate, naked attempt by the press


texts:
We were discussing humbugs in the office the other day (principally arguing over whether the ones with brown stripes were real humbugs), so I looked up the etymology and found plenty of information about the origin of the word humbug to mean deception or dishonesty (see Wikipedia).

One might argue that in this context lots of explanations are the same as no explanations, but none of them mention the minty meaning. So I was wondering if anyone knew how a word that used to mean what is reported by the Online Etymology Dictionary also came to mean a black-and-white striped peppermint sweet:

  1751, student slang, "trick, jest, hoax, deception," also as a verb, of unknown origin. A vogue word of the early 1750s; its origin was a subject of much whimsical speculation even then.


texts:
People who are inspired by me might say "Imray is my inspiration".

But what word can I use to describe the people whom I inspire?


texts: What is the word for air we release while speaking a word?

texts: While speaking we release air, sometimes more than other times (while pronouncing the'f' sound). Is there a word for this air that is released?


texts:
How is the meaning of a sentences affected by chosing one of those words?

For instance, what's the different between

  The screech cicadas reverberated through the forest.

and

  The screech cicadas reverberated throughout the forest.


texts: cleft sentences with base form of the verb and infinitives

texts:
Are we supposed to use the base form of the verb in a cleft sentence or an infinitive? or a gerund? or maybe it's a matter of personal choice?

"What I really hate is _____ out."
a. go     b.    to go     c. going

"All you need to do is trust me." is obviously the correct form. But is it because of "all" that we use the base form "trust"? What about cleft sentences with "what"?

"what you need right now is ___________."?
a. to calm down        b. calm down         c. calming down

Thanks in advance


texts: Is this sentence correct? If wrong what is the correct form?

texts:
I lie certain times(1) but not all the time(2).

Should (1) be times or time?

and

Should (2) be time or times?

What is the correct form of the sentence and why?


texts: What’s the difference of ‘Truth with capital T” from truth with small t?

texts:
In New York Times (November 1) article titled “A cup of G.I Joe,” Maureen Dowd introduces the following remarks from Howard Schultz, the C.E.O. of Starbucks about Leadership. Dowd suspects if Shultz is partly motivated by a desire to run for president.

  “The government does a very good job of sending people to war,”
  Schultz told me in New York this past week, “and a very poor job of
  bringing  them home.”

  “I have an interest in trying to make a difference,” he said. “I don’t
  know where that’s going to lead.” He believes that “the country is
  longing for leadership and for truth with a capital T.”

  “We’ve lost our collective and individual responsibility, and our
  conscience, and that has to be addressed. And that is linked to a
  dysfunctional government and a lack of authentic, truthful
  leadership.”

  http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/opinion/sunday/maureen-dowd-a-cup-of-gi-joe.html?hp&action

What does “truth with a capital T” mean? How different is it from truth with a lowercase t? Is this expression in fashion?


texts: Are there any alternatives to the pair of words "referrer" and "referee"?

texts:
We are a designing a referral system where one user A can send a code to another user B (referring or recommending user B to join our service). When user B creates an account with the code sent by A and completes his first task, we send the reward to user A.

What does the code do?

The code is just used for user B to inform the system that he is creating an account because he got referred by user A. It's an invite code similar to what Uber does:

  Everyone with an Uber account has a personal invite code that you can share with friends interested in creating a rider or driver account.

Is it a person who somehow referred something to someone (What?)

User A refers user B to use our system. So user A is referring the system itself to user B.

Is it a variable that's doing something (What)?

The code is always the same for the same user A. User A can refer other users C, D or E with that same code. This way, when these users sign up with that code, the system knows to reward user A because they used user A's  code. This is again similar to Uber's system:

  You are only eligible for one referral reward per individual. If your referral has already signed up to drive or deliver before, you may not be eligible for a reward.

What do the users do that distinguish one from the other that would make you want to use the terminology?

One user (user A in the above examples) is giving the code to others and the other (user B) is creating an account in our system with that code. We need to store this relationship between the two users to know who gave the code and who used it.

In the link from Uber, Uber is addressing user A to explain their system. They refer to user B as user A's "referral" or "invitee".

Problem

In this context we are struggling to find terms that are both clear and unambiguous for the user who refers someone and the user who gets referred. Discussions here [1] [2] suggest the use of referrer and referee but these have at least the following two problems for us:

Not all of us are native English speakers so "referrer" and "referee" can be confusing;
Both words are very similar which can lead to misspellings or, worse, them being used interchangeably when writing computer code.

So, instead, we are considering one of the following pairs:

"referrer" and "referred";
"referrer" and "redeemer;
"sponsor" and "referral"; or
"sponsor" and "affiliate"

Can "sponsor" be used for the person referring (or recommending) another? Can "affiliate" be used for the person that has been recommended by another? Do you have any other suggestions that are more applicable?

Note that these words are meant to be used internally when writing the computer code of our system. The terms the users will see will be written differently. But internally we need to be specific about these two terms to be able to clearly distinguish between the two types of users.


texts: Antonym for "courtesy" in the sense of a polite custom?

texts:
For example, it's considered a courtesy for men to lower the toilet seat if they share a bathroom with women. In chess and many other games, it's considered a courtesy to resign once you've reached a practically unwinnable position instead of dragging the game out until the end, hoping for your opponent to stumble.

I'm looking for a word for a behavior similar in scope but intentionally rude. Something that would describe, say, ignoring messages from a friend, or tipping significantly below the standard rate at a restaurant when the service was fine, or the opposite of the examples in the first paragraph. Faux pas came to mind, but it suggests ignorance, not purposeful rudeness.

Thanks!


texts: Is there room for improvement in this sentence? Complex sentence

texts:
The sentence is the following:

  Along the years, I've developed a keen computational thinking which in
  addition to my sharp aesthetic judgment made me a really valuable
  player for any cross-functional agile team.

Is there room for improvement in this sentence? Is there any grammatical error? Is the sentence to complex?

Thank you very much for your time.


texts: How do I correctly phrase the sentence "X myself, I do/don't have a problem with Y"?

texts:
In this sentence, X and Y are popularly seen as contradicting.
For example,

1.Even though I'm a vegetarian, I don't have a problem with people killing animals for food.

2.Even though I'm American, I have a problem with Americans I meet abroad.

Can i say "A vegetarian myself, I (still?) don't have a problem with people killing for meat"? I know I've heard this type of expression many times.


texts:
Today I ran into the phrase medico-media material, and I don't know what it means. I tried to look it up on Google, but have had no luck so far.

It comes from a 2005 letter to the editor in The Age (Melbourne) regarding organ donation:

  In the last few years we have been subjected to a barrage of medico-media material that chides Australians for our low donation rates and implies consent to donation is the only morally or socially correct decision


texts: What are some alternative phrases to say "for more information"?

texts:
Lets say, I have written a answer on SE and I have added some citations at the end of it. What words should I use to refer to it (except for more information)? I generally use the following:

  For more information, refer to:

  [citation]
  [citation]

What other words or phrases may I use to express the same meaning?


texts:
I have the followin sentence and I need your help:

"Thus, heat pumps can(,) for instance(,) run whenever there is a high generation of PV electricity(,) or there is a need to increase the electical load in the grid"

So basically there are three commas that I am unsure about. I would tend to use them. What is your take on that? I'd appreciate every comment.


texts: What is a word for positively learning from the mistakes of others?

texts:
Is there a word for positively learning from the mistakes of others?

Vicarious meaning:

  experienced or felt by watching, hearing about, or reading about someone else rather than by doing something yourself MW

is the closest thing I know, but I am looking for a word that is distinctly positive.

Similar question but not an exact match: One word for “someone who learns from others' mistakes"