texts: Must the word after a question mark be capitalised where the question mark does not terminate the sentence?

texts:
Here is a sentence:

  Before we can examine the implications of neuroscience for criminal law, we
  must address two more fundamental questions: Why do we punish
  criminals at all? and How severely should we punish them?

I understand that question marks normally terminate a sentence, and so the following word should normally be capitalised. In this case, I have a list of two questions within the same sentence, so it seems that the "and" after the first question mark should not be capitalised (since the first question mark does not terminate the sentence). The first letter of each question is capitalised to indicate where the question begins.

The sentence seems right to me, but it's a bit unusual, so I thought I would ask for others' opinion.


texts: We normally use past simple tense to talk about the past and past perfect tense to talk about the past in the past, i.e. to talk about some event that that happened before some other event. I often see that when we use past perfect tense, we use it with past simple tense,e.g. I had learned Chinese before I moved to China. What if I use a non-finite adverb clause, e.g. I had learned Chinese before moving to China? How different are these two alternatives?


texts: When does a plural end in 'es' instead of 'i'?

texts:
Take, for example, 'ignoramuses' instead of 'ignoramae', or 'cacti' over 'cactuses'?

In which cases does the plural end in 'es' instead of 'ae'? Can it be either one for any given case? Why?


texts: What is the origin of the phrase "And scene!"

texts:
I've run across this phrase a couple of times recently, and was curious about its origins. I would specifically like to know:

In what context did the phrase originally arise?
Exactly what did it originally mean?

Today, it seems to be used in various contexts; sometimes it literally means "and the scene ends there" (for example in television synopses). It can be used slightly more figuratively to mark the end of a hypothetical situation. It is also used to punctuate a story or joke, to signal both "I am done speaking/acting" and "you should stop speaking/acting now," and with other idiosyncratic implications.

It can be written plainly: And scene; or with ellipsis: And...scene; or with a bunch of extra a's: Aaaand scene (this one is easiest to search for on the web, four a's being the most popular spelling). All of these may take an exclamation mark or period/full stop. Both the And... and Aaaand versions appear to be approximating an extended drawing-out of the first vowel when the phrase is spoken. I think in all cases the emphasis in the spoken phrase would be on the first word.

I had a vague impression of a couple of different potential origins, and have found some support for both, but nothing definitive. Below are a couple of possible theories, and some of what I've found in support of each.

Theory 1: Theatre

A director or acting teacher would use the line to cut off a scene that has either reached a natural conclusion or that is rambling unproductively.

There's a fair amount of discussion about the use of this phrase in auditions and such (often combined with confusion over whether it's "and scene" or "end scene"); lots of opinions about where it comes from, but nothing definitive. The only real consensus seems to be that it's annoying/amateurish for actors to use it to end their own scenes, but it happens. See here, here, here etc.

Theory 2: Cinema

A screenwriter, pitching a script, starts with "We open on..." and finishes with "And scene." Could also be a director describing a film.

A recent short film about three scriptwriters trying to come up with a pitch was titled And Scene! There is also an online "book club, but for films" titled And Scene.
Examples of the "We open on . . . And scene!" template definitely exist, as in this description of a commercial and this episode synopsis.
Also, I'm not sure I can quantify it, but the un-ironic uses of the phrase seem to be more often of the "describing a cinematic-type scene" variety than the "ending a live-action performance" variety. Similarly, the Hollywood users don't seem to Andy about whether it should really be end scene.

It could be that the phrase is used in both contexts, but I'm specifically wondering about how it got started. Of course theatre is older than cinema, so one might expect that the term originated in the older medium and was adopted into the newer, but I'm not convinced that's the case.

Note that I'm not suggesting these two theories are the only possibilities; perhaps it is something similar, like film directors originally said it to mean "cut" or acting teachers used it to set up a scene rather than to end one, or it could be something else entirely.


texts: What's the difference between "rock" and "stone"?


texts: Confusing incorrect question in my grammar book

texts:
The workers _________ $1,000 to plant the trees in the garden.

A) paid
B) to pay
C) paying
D) were paid

Can you tell me which answer is right and explain why?

If here is not the right place for this question, please forward me to a forum / community where I can get such questions answered.


texts:
From Threat Vector, by Tom Clancy and Mark Greaney:

  He decided he would let off a little of the pressure Miss Melanie Kraft built up in him before heading back home to Chantilly to his bitchy wife and his checked-out teenagers.

While my initial thought was that to check out was being used to suggest that the teenagers had perhaps left home (vacated), I don't think that this really makes much sense in the above context.

So, what does checked-out teenagers mean?


texts: Is there a word for swear word substitutes?

texts: Is there a specific name for swear word alternatives? I know  about synonyms, but was wondering if there is a specific word to describe when a substitute is created for a swear word (e.g. "dang" or "shoot").


texts:
In the following text:

  A few congressmen might briefly speak at the rally, but most will keep a safe distance. And there will be no political price for nonattendance, because there will be little press. Covering a Falun Gong parade is the bake-sale beat.

what is the meaning of "bake-sale beat"?


texts: I have heard this phrase many times from people describing anguish, hysteria, or just plain being upset with some event in their lives. What is the correct definition and examples of it's use?


texts: Hard real time in user space with preempt_rt patch

texts:
From:  https://rt.wiki.kernel.org/articles/f/r/e/Frequently_Asked_Questions_7407.html

  Real-time only has impact on the kernel; Userspace does not notice the
  difference except for better real time behavior.

Does it mean that if we write the applications in user space, they won't get the hard real time effect?

I am not able to understand the English behind it.


texts: What does this pronoun "them" refer to here?

texts:
Lately, I stumbled across a historical source text from Victorian England (Henry Mayhew, London Labour) which had following sentence:

  'He told me, at the commencement of his statement, that he was of oppinion that his people were far more speculative than the Gentiles, and therefore the English liked better to deal with them.'

My question is what does the pronoun 'them' refer to? Is it the 'Gentiles' or 'his people'?


texts: Dissimilarity vs Difference - What is the correct usage?

texts:
I am confused as to the appropriate use of dissimilarity when the word difference means practically the exact same thing.

Are there any unique cases when dissimilarity is a preferred term over the other, or is it down to the author's personal preference?


texts:
If I want to confirm receiving payment with the sender, can I use verbs like reach and arrive? For example,

  The payment/money has reached us.

  The payment/money has arrived.

Are there better ways to say it?


texts: What do you call the art of 'proper' bearing? (French 'maintien')

texts:
An aristocrat, model, steward… will learn about walking, sitting, behaving, etc. according to a certain etiquette.

I am not talking about protocol, conversation and etiquette in general - just the physical aspects (e.g. sitting upright, balancing the body a certain way when you walk, etc.)

So if one wants to learn to do that, one takes lessons in ______.

The French word for this is maintien (as in maintien du corps) : cours de maintien, professeur de maintien…
Google and deepl suggest maintenance course or retention course but I think that's silly.
I am thinking about composure, bearing, poise, but these sound to me like qualities rather than crafts. Does it not sound weird to take "lessons in bearing" or "lessons in poise"?

Any flavour of English (US, UK…) would do for me. It could also be that there is no equivalent of the French word in English.


texts: Professional way to word option to relinquish creative discretion

texts: What would be a professional way when gathering information from a client for a design gig to phrase an option to leave the specified element up to designers creative discretion?


texts: Permission + of + gerund - Is this grammatically acceptable to modern readers?

texts:
In Jane Austen's Emma, there is such a sentence:

Harriet was to sit again the next day; and Mr. Elton, just as he
ought, entreated for the permission of attending and reading to
them again.

It seems to me very rare to see 'permission' followed by a 'of + gerund' (for example, 'permission of going', etc..). You do see usage such as 'permission for attending' or 'permission of the authorities', but I seldom see 'of' and gerund together.
I've consulted 2 dictionaries of collocations as well as 5 dictionaries, but failed to find any support for this ear-jarring usage.
Would you guys agree that it is better to avoid such usage in our writings today?


texts: Term for Values that are Separated By Periods

texts:
Examples: 12.3.2 OR 192.168.15.100

What would be the right term for the values that are separated by the periods?

E.g.: The 2nd XXX of 192.168.15.100 = 168. Or the 3rd XXX OF 12.3.2 = 2.

The idea of the word is similar to Compartment/Part/location.

Thank you for your valuable inputs.


texts: peripheral equipment - only for computers?

texts:
If I say "peripheral equipment", does this always refer to equipment attached to computers (such as printers, mice, keyboards, etc), or can it also be used for other things? For example, can I talk about "peripheral equipment" for a guitar?

Thanks,


texts: word to describe a quote often attributed to but not verified to a person

texts:
I have seen this word many times but can't for the life of me able to remember. The word refers to a quote which is often attributed to someone but no one can verify whether the person actually said so.

Let me give an example. Einstein (that word) "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tre......"

It is very likely that I am getting it mixed up. I am not quite sure I am looking for the word aphorism

Please kindly help !!


texts: Do dictionaries like Oxford and Cambridge delete words?

texts:
We all know dictionaries around the world add words to include recent words, More than 600 new words, senses, and subentries have been added to the OED in December 2018 and the last Spanish language Dictionary edition added 93 111 articles.

But, what about removing unused words?

Have Oxford and Cambridge dictionaries ever removed any word?


texts:
Recently I saw a puzzle on Facebook. A kind of a puzzle I usually don't comment, but this one was interesting, because it wasn't a mathematical puzzle, which you could think at first - it was an english puzzle.

  1 rabbit saw 6 elephants while going to the river. Every elephant saw 2 monkeys going towards the river. Every monkey holds 1 parrot in their hands. How many animals are going towards the river?

I'm interested in the particular usage of "every" in the second sentence. Most solutions to this problem think of a group of six elephant and that each one saw the same group of two monkeys. Therefore they're adding 2 to the total for the monkeys. But I would argue, that the usage of "All elephants saw [...]" would be more appropriate in that situation and that "every" is used iterative in this case and therefore indicating, that there were in fact twelve monkeys going towards the river. Another thought would be, that you could use "every" in both ways, which would mean, that there's an information missing and the solution would be somewhere from two to twelve monkeys.

This leads me to my question: Is "every" iterative?

  Iterative? I'm Software Engineer, so this was the most accurate description to me. But I'm open to comments on this.


texts:
The argument about the pronunciation of scone:-

  skoʊn, skɒn
  noun
  1. a small, light, biscuitlike quick bread made of oatmeal, wheat flour, barley meal, or the like.

reappeared in the pub last night, as usual with no-one being able to produce a convincing argument about which of skoʊn or skɒn was correct. So I'd like to know, is there any historical or etymological reason for one to be preferred to the other?

In my travels up and down the country I have heard it both ways whereever I have lived, but is there a regional or geographic divide for the pronunciation? Do non-British English speakers also have this argument?


texts:
What is the question (do you think) inside the main question?
Is there any name given to this sentence (do you think)?
Is it correct to say "Whom do you think is he?"?
If not, then, why?


texts: Different words for the personal pronoun “you” in spoken AmE: who uses which?

texts:
In American English, quite informally, one will hear different words or phrases for the personal pronoun “you” in its plural form.  Perhaps it’s a way of making sure the listener understands you mean second person plural, not singular.  Among other words/phrases, some people will say “you all”, “y’all”, “yous”, “yuse”, “yins”, “you guys”, “yumob” in addition to “you”.  When there is such a variety of words with the same meaning, there must be a reason why you use one and not the other. Is one’s choice related to:

age?
region?
ethnicity?
social status?
educational background?

Or could it be that they are really no markers and people will use one word one time, and another word another time, for no evident reason?


texts: "Once upon a time" vs. "a long time ago"

texts:
How is the meaning of "once upon a time" different from "a long time ago"?

Literally, is that what it means? There seems to be repetition in once and upon a time. How is this sentence broken up?


texts: I am currently writing a paper about how neurons encode a stimuli. We would like a noun for the process of encoding, something like "encodement". However, I am not sure whether this is the best choice. Any ideas?


texts:
He built cathedrals in places where there were no cathedrals. The New Yorker
Many Medicare patients live in places where only one H.M.O. The New York Times
What is the trait you most deplore in others? Sticking chewing gum in places where other people find it. The Guardian, an interview

What is the reason to use in places where instead of just where?


texts:
Frequently I hear Americans (admittedly mainly in TV/movies) say "personal" and "regular" in the following contexts:

"Don't take it personal."
"I like that he treats me regular."

Both of these are horribly incorrect to my British ear - I have never heard either here, it would be "personally" and "regularly", ignoring the fact that the second sentence is slightly awkward anyway (we would probably say "like a regular person").

My question is, do Americans 'know' this is incorrect, i.e. would John hear Jane speaking in this manner and think "her English isn't great" or whatever, or would it sound perfectly normal - is this an accepted use, that all Americans would use?
I could easily believe it would be the latter, since 'momentarily' for example has a totally different meaning in AE. ('in a moment for undisclosed amount of time' vs. 'for a moment at an disclosed time').


texts:
I've had this on the tip of my brain for days and can't seem to come up with it. Is there a word meaning "to mark with one's name" or "to mark with a name"?

I feel like there must be something approximating this meaning with some Latin or Greek root.

"The recruit marked his name on the issued uniform with indelible ink."


texts: Should the verb be singular or plural in this sentence?

texts:
One thousand old refrigerators floating in the ocean (isn't/aren't) an issue.
Is the subject here "One thousand old refrigerators" or is it the whole phrase "One-thousand old refrigerators floating in the ocean", that is what is confusing me... should I use isn't or aren't here? The word "floating" here is a present participle right?
Thank you.


texts:
In the second line of the text, taken from 'Harry Potter',
" Yes,but it took a great deal of skilled Legilimency to coax it out of him.' said Dumbledore, 'and why should everybody delve further into Morfins mind when he had already confessed to the crime?"
What's the meaning of should here?
Can we use should in past sentences as well?


texts: Transitive/Intransitive Verbs: Strive Vs Vow

texts:
I'm struggling with some semantics around transitive/intransitive verbs. Let me give one specific example to illustrate.

The mayor vowed to reduce crime 1
We must all strive to do better 2

Both these sentences come from Merriam-Webster, but it lists the verb vow as taking an object (transitive), but strive as taking no object (intransitive). As far as I can see they're both examples of verb + infinitive, so should be treated the same. I don't see whatever grammatical difference exists.


texts: Do Americans say "don't" as often as the British?

texts:
This is really a question for Americans.

When watching US TV or films, it's often my impression that—while using all the other contractions—Americans don't seem so keen on 'don't' and use 'do not' rather more often than we Brits. I also don't think this difference only occurs when it is stressed.

Any comments?


texts:
I am using a block quote in my essay. The quote I chose ends with an em dash. When I am incorporating this quote into my essay, can I omit the em dash?  Is 1) or 2) correct? It is MLA format.
So 1)

...Blah blah blah - (Author's last name, page number)

...Blah blah blah. (Author's last name, page number)

Would I have to indicate that I changed it from an em dash to a period using brackets?


texts:
Can anyone teach me the meaning of the following expression I came across on home-for-sale websites?

The house/home is situated/sits on a city lot and a half.

I've image-searched the expression, which showed some sort of isolated-but-decent looking flat buildings (not all of them, though), but I'm not sure if the expression means like that.


texts: In Ludwig Wittgenstein's writings, I often see long dashes (both em-dash, and one even longer, shown in red circles). I can sense (at least I believe I do—perhaps, from the writer's point of view, the two thoughts are tightly-connected, yet they have to be separate sentences) their function; but is there such a usage? Never seen any punctuation guide mentioning such a usage.


texts: Phonetic understanding of tongue twisters

texts:
I like tongue twisters.

Five fine vine weevils
(plays with W, F and V)

Six sick stick insects
(plays with S, ST, KT, K and T)

Gran crams clams into clean clam cans
(plays with R and L and also with M and N)

How many more English sounds can be played with in a tongue tripping way ?


texts: English expression for "Dans la continuité de" in french

texts:
I would like to know how to say this french sentence "Ce projet ce situe dans la continuité d'un travail réalisé auparavant" in english.

Is "This project follows on a work realized before" correct ?

Thanks.


texts: can someone explain the rule for using which and that

texts: What is the correct grammar for use of the words, which and that?


texts:
The message of the sentence I want to create is, “She is my girlfriend in practice and by title.”
However, I want to substitute the word “in practice” with “de facto” and the word “by title” with “de jure.” This would create a sentence like, “She is my de facto and de jure girlfriend.”
Is this correct grammatically? I understand that de jure is more commonly used in legal matters like state affairs. However, could it be used to signify a two-way agreement of a title between two parties (my girlfriend and I) rather than simply what is written by law?


texts: A phrase for: an underhanded malicious act that appears to be done in good faith

texts:
In Polish there's a phrase "podłożyć [komuś] świnię", literally "set up pig [under somebody]". It means performing an action that - while otherwise completely legal, seemingly neutral, and not apparently malicious, is extremely undesirable to somebody affected - and was performed for that very reason, to cause trouble to the affected.

It's related to "setting somebody up (to fail)", "giving them enough rope to hang themselves", "setting them a lose-lose scenario", "digging up dirt", etc, but with a special focus on the effect of a deliberate but seemingly arbitrary decision. Also, police "sting" operations sometimes happen to be this, especially if the target was originally reluctant to perform the "criminal activity".

Some examples:

in understaffed branch of company you reserve holidays for yourself for a time for when your (disliked) co-worker planned some trip to an event they eagerly awaited; they will not be given time off with the division short-staffed by your absence.
The disliked person has a court case with unrelated third party. You provide the third party with efficient court advice.
Follow a faulty order to the dot, making sure to give credit for the disastrous outcome where it's due. Possibly even (unofficially) suggest that course of action in the first place.
Your political opponent allegedly made a bad slip of bad judgment, did something legally ambiguous sometime in the past. Report that to authorities shortly before elections.

Are there idioms/phrases to describe this kind of action?


texts: Word to refer to the person who creates something that gets reused or remixed?

texts:
I am looking for a noun to describe the role of "Person A" in the following scenario.

Person A makes a digital project (e.g. a video game, animation, video, etc).
Person B creates a digital project using Person A's project, either parts or the whole thing.

I am calling Person B's project a remix of Person A's project.
Also, I am calling Person B a remixer.

What would you call Person A? Some of the terms I've used are but that I am not 100% happy with are:

remixee. I like this one but its a bit obscure and easy to visually confuse with the term remixer.
original creator. This is easy to understand but it's two words and it has the problem that it makes it seem as if the remixer is not original, which has a subtle but negative undertone.
originator.

Other ideas?


texts: I'm drafting meeting notes from a steering committee that is attended by several c-more level executives.   What’s a better way to say “lots of discussion”


texts: "Would there be an availability" vs "Is there an availability" for appointment scheduling?

texts: It's my understanding that the first is a more formal version of the second phrase however I'm not quite certain that's the case or that they mean the exact same thing.


texts:
A female elephant is called a cow, a male elephant is called a bull. When talking about this animal we use the gender generic term, elephant. The plural of this is elephants.

Now think about cattle. A female is called a cow, the male is called a bull. The gender generic term is cattle. However, this only hold true for the plural form.

Is there a gender generic singular word for cattle?


texts: Term for deliberately gaming the preview screen of YouTube

texts:
Is there any term for gaming the preview screen of YouTube, such as by deliberately choosing a frame of the video that features cleavage or nudity as the preview screen?

  The YouTube video "Magic: The Gathering - Inside the World's Most Played Trading Card Game" ___ by choosing as its preview one of the cards which involved a large amount of cleavage.


texts:
Why does the phrase "I would like that much," sound so much weirder than "I would like that very much?"

Is it incorrect to use much in this way without very, or is it just uncommon?


texts:
I am looking for a word for someone who takes care of their health and physical well-being.

For example, a person who has hobbies could be called a hobbyist. A person who learns is a learner...

I am looking for something like that.

Any ideas?

EDIT: Syntactically I am looking for a word which could fit "that person is a/an [insert word here]".

EDIT: Contextually this word will be used a bullet heading in a mission statement which outlines a person's roles and responsibilities as such:

Learner

Blah blah blah, responsibilities/activities as a learner

Educator

Responsibilities as an educator

Healthy Person (looking for a good word for here, without the use of 'person')

Exercise, diet, hygiene, etc...


texts:
I know you cannot start a sentence with a number written digitally (how do I say this?). For example I could not write:

  2013 is almost over!

Can a quotation begin with a number, though?

For example, could I write

  The man said, "2013 was the worst!"

or would I need to spell the year out?


texts: Is there a name for the practice of dropping pronouns in written speech?

texts:
I’m specifically thinking about emails I receive all day where someone will write:

  Haven’t seen it yet.  Will respond when received.

If it were spoken, we would certainly hear:

  I haven’t seen it yet.  I will respond when I receive it.

It’s mostly the dropping of I that I wonder about.  Is there a name for this phenomenon?


texts:
In the sentence

  Onlookers worried that the virus could spread like wildfire through India's slums, where residents live in cramped quarters and basic sanitation often isn't available. (cnn.com)

I understand quarters is referring to residences, but does the word imply any additional meaning? For instance, should we assume each of those houses consists of a single room?

I've seen the expression cramped quarters referring to other kinds of confined spaces besides houses, like cages, small cars and space craft chambers. But when it comes to houses, does it always mean single-room houses?

Another question: who are the onlookers here? Are they just residents who witness the problem or are they authorities, specialists sharing their view from outside the situation?

Thanks!


texts: What do you call the person you have assigned a delegate for?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  Is there an antonym for “delegate”?

Person A is a delegate (makes decisions for) for Person B while Person B is gone.  What would you call Person B?


texts: I'm curious about newscasters using the term "shot dead" in describing the death of a gun shot victim. Is this correct? They would never describe a survivor as "shot live".


texts: Is "People exercising everyday are healthy" wrong?

texts:
Can a present participle be used like present progressive adjectives to talk about general nouns? Is this sentence right?

  People exercising everyday are healthy.

or do I need to use who+conjugated verb?

  People who exercise everyday are healthy.

Can present participle be used only to talk about specific things?

  The boy eating the spaghetti is my brother.


texts: I'm looking for a term, word or phase used to describe the important, but minute, details. Something along the lines of, "it's the little things"

texts: Persons often say, "It's the little things". I'm looking for a word or term that would describe this feeling of a minute detail completing a whole.


texts: Can "to be able to" be used without preposition

texts: Can the phrase "to be able to" be used without the preposition "to". For example, can you say "I will call you back as soon as I am able?"


texts: What word can I use to describe the new or used state of a vehicle?

texts:
I am building a web page that lists vehicles for sale, and one of the criteria I would like to list is whether the vehicle is new or used. Currently the best label I can come up with is "New or Used", but there must be a better label that I can use.

Note that this word would serve as a hypernym for new and used.

Example:

  New or Used: Used


texts:
I mean, an online shopping mall company is trying to recruit some users for having an interview and research on their sales and their feeling.

In this situation, they want to give some money for them in return for their interview. What do you call this 'money'? Interview fee? Interview payment?


texts:
What is the meaning of "I can make the deadline."
Someone said "I can make it by the deadline".

Thank you in advance!


texts:
This person wrote exciting stories for teens.
[Does 'for teens' modify 'exciting stories' or 'wrote'? Is 'for teens' an adverbial phrase or an adjective phrase?]
She is a cook at a Chinese restaurant.
[Does 'at a Chinese restaurant' modify 'a cook'? Can't it modify the verb 'is'? Is 'at a Chinese restaurant' an adjective phrase? Or can it be an adverbial phrase?]


texts:
I know that switching pronouns when referring to the same subject mid-sentence is considered grammatically incorrect, as in,

  It is very easy for one to open a program in our newest operating system, all you have to do is click the corresponding icon.

where the pronoun referring to the subject changes from "one" to "you".

Are there any situations where it is appropriate to switch? For example, should the sentence,

  If it is a boy, name him Moses; if it is a girl, name her Zipporah.

be rephrased like this or not?

  If it is a boy, name it Moses; if it is a girl, name it Zipporah.


texts:
I understand that when you waive something you forego it or give it up. e.g.

I waive my [right to] free coffee.

I also understand that a waiver is a document stating that you waive your rights to something, but I read the phase waive off and I don't quite understand it.
The context was

personA: Live slugs!
personB: Waive off! Waive off! This is just a practice run!

I see that waive off means stop, or go away or something like that but I can't exactly put a specific meaning to it.
What does waive off mean?


texts:
A harmonious society is like a symphony or orchestra—each person contributes a small sound, but when_________ with other sounds, it becomes beautiful music.
A. combining B. being combined C.combined D. to be combined
The correct answer to this question is C. I wonder why I can’t choose B.
In short, what’s the difference between ‘being done’ and ‘done’.


texts:
Context: We're discussing about how we used to get penalized in school for being late to classes, many years ago.

I wanted to say:

  In my old school, it was hilarious to see my late friends get
  penalized.

Here, late friends is supposed to mean that they were not on time. But to me, it almost sounds as if I'm talking about my friends who are now deceased.

How else can I refer to a person who is late?


texts: Is there a hypernym of 'inlet' and 'outlet' whose scope is limited to those two words?

texts:
Fluids can flow into something (a chamber, pipeline, manifold, etc.) through an opening called an inlet, and out of it through an opening called an outlet. However, in some cases, the flow could be reversed, such that opening that previously served as an inlet now serves as an outlet, and vice versa.
Is there a word (or few-word phrase) that can be used to describe such an opening (which might serve as an inlet, an outlet, or both), but that could not also be used to describe something other than such an opening?
Example sentence: Gas flows into and out of the chamber through its [word needed].
Words like opening and aperture could also be applied to many things which do not serve as an inlet and/or outlet. Words like channel and pipeline could similarly be applied to other things, but also are not hypernyms of inlet and outlet (since an inlet/outlet could be a simple opening, rather than a channel). Port has an analogous meaning in computer networking and electrical circuits, but seems to be specific to those fields (such that 'fluid port' would not carry the desired meaning). Thesaurus & dictionary searches for these words (and for inlet and outlet themselves) did not yield any other suitable candidates.
A similar question (Is there a word or phrase that combines the meanings of 'inlet' and 'outlet'?) is scoped to a social network context, and the answers provided there do not seem applicable to this fluid flow context.


texts: "The supervisors can better monitor employees" vs. "supervisors can improve the monitoring of employees"

texts: Can we say "the supervisors can better monitor employees" rather than the mouthful that is "supervisors can improve the monitoring of employees"?


texts: Do these phrases require hyphens? "mock-cried" vs "mock cried"

texts:
Should the following sentences be hyphenated?
I mock cried into his shoulder.
vs.
I mock-cried into his shoulder.

He smiled at me with his old man charm.
vs.
He smiled at me with his old man-charm.


texts: A word encompassing both an IP address and the port used?

texts:
For example, if I were to connect to a service with the following address:

68.146.63.194:3609

Is there a word for this type of address? I suppose I could call it just a generic address but I was wondering if there was a word for this specific type of connection..


texts:
I want to know if there is any little difference between two given sentences.

The focus of the writers has been moved towards the use of metaphors in their writings

The focus of the writers has moved towards the use of metaphors in their writings

Which one is correct, or can the both sentences stand correct in their given grammatical structure?


texts:
I've tried to translate the lyrics of one of my favorite English-language songs into Croatian:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_plvOvyBik
A part of the lyrics is: The country that you died for, mate, you wouldn't know it now. The future that we dreamed of, mate, got all twisted up somehow.
But what does it got twisted up mean? I looked it up in several dictionaries and I couldn't find it. I translated it as izjalovila, which is the word Croatians use for a plan that turned out to be impossible to realize. It rhymes in my translation, and I guess it's correct, but I am not sure.
What do you think?


texts:
Smashing is a BrE slang which means "very good" or "impressive". Most folks might know this already, due to its use as a catch phrase by various BrE characters in media.

However, from the usual meaning of the word smash (which means breaking with violence), it's not obvious how it could come to mean "very good". Did this meaning come from a specific context, perhaps military, or sports?


texts: Using "nor" without "neither" - is "deny" a negative verb?

texts: I've just proofread something - the writer had put "She denies any change in mood nor any sweating". The "nor" just sounded wrong to me; I usually do my grammar by instinct, but when I'm unsure I check it. Most of the references I can find say that "nor" should come after a negative verb phrase. I suppose the writer's argument is that "deny" is sufficiently negative to replace "neither" in this case, but it grates my ear. Guidance, please?


texts:
What is the correct English; "one and one is two" or "one and one are two"?

Likewise for "two and three is five" or "two and three are five"?


texts:
The word "lipper" is printed in my cloth. What the word means?
This is result of search on dictionary.com.
noun Nautical.
1  a slightly rough or ripply surface on a body of water.
2  spray from small waves.
But other dictionaleis don't have the word.


texts: The person who is being rewarded is called what

texts:
How do you refer to a person who is being rewarded and the person who gives the reward?

For example, if you help me with something and I want to arrange a lunch to say thanks to you as a reward, what would someone call YOU and ME?


texts: "Italy-based company" or "Italian-based company"

texts: When referring to a company that is based in Italy, I am never sure which of the above is correct. Logically speaking, "Italy-based" seems the most appropriate (since the company is based in Italy, not Italian), but I so often see "Italian-based..." written in publications that I begin to doubt myself. Is there a "correct" way, or is it simply a style issue?


texts: "All that glitters" or "Not all that glitters"?

texts:
In the phrase finder (http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/all-that-glitters-is-not-gold.html) I found the "correct" syntax of the saying:  "All that glitters is not gold," and that's fine.  The saying trips off the tongue quite nicely, I guess, which is good in and of itself.
I've also read the OP's question at "All that is gold does not glitter", which does not really pertain to my question, which is this:

How does the logically "wrong" syntax become accepted and traditional?

In other words, for other than purely stylistic reasons, is there a mini-theory which explains the phenomenon?
I realize that people prefer on purely stylistic grounds the peculiar syntax of a given saying or quotation.  As I said, sometimes the way that words come trippingly off our tongues is sufficient reason for embracing a saying exactly as worded.  I also realize that some sayings become accepted into the repertory of a culture's proverbs by simply being repeated over the span of generations.
Nevertheless, despite its seeming almost fungible with "All that glitters is not gold," "Not all that glitters is gold" is preferable, logically, is it not?  After all, if gold is NOT among all things that glitter, then why does it glitter?  I mean, it does glitter, doesn't it?
Perhaps I'm making too big a deal of this.  Perhaps it's a non-issue.  Perhaps language just evolves that way sometimes, and there is nothing necessarily illogical or irrational about it.  Even if there is something illogical or seemingly irrational about it, language is, after all, illogical (if not irrational) at times.  As the young people say today in their quasi-profound, ersatz way, "It is what it is."
To wrap things up, I've posed at least three questions:

Does the basis for an answer to my question come from people's stylistic preferences?
Does the basis for an answer to my question come from the phenomenon of perseveration? Or,
Does the basis for an answer to my question come from some other explanation (or a combination of question one and question two and some other explanation)?

If I get one down vote, I'll delete the post, but I'm really curious about this!


texts: Understanding grammatical structure of a sentence using commas

texts:
I couldn't understand the use of commas in the second sentence in the following passage and the overall meaning of it.

  This doubt and the still-harsh
  tyranny of the materialistic philosophy
  divide our soul sharply from that of the Primitives. Our soul rings cracked when we seem to
  play upon it, as does a costly vase, long buried
  in the earth, which is found to have a flaw
  when it is dug up once more.

What is the grammatical role of each comma in this sentence?
What is the meaning of soul rings and what is the overall meaning of the sentence?
How its clauses relate to each other ?
Is there any use of metaphor here ?

I would be happy to understand the grammatical structure of this sentence.


texts: what is the meaning of "spatiality" in the following context?

texts: Making the shift from the linear vertical scroll of word processing software to the spatiality and recto-verso of the codex altered the rhythm and organization of the text.


texts: What is a hypernym for "geography", "areography"?

texts:
I am looking for a hypernym for words such as geography (Earth) and areography (Mars), primarily out of curiosity.

In my workplace, we have a database and that has a column for "geo_id" which of course refers to Earth. A Friday afternoon conversation once led to a discussion of what would happen if we were to serve multiple planets.


texts: "There are more than one people" or "There is more than one people"?

texts:
Given the following two sentences.

There are more than one people.
There is more than one people.

Which one of them is grammatical, both of them, any one of them or none of them? The noun people (presumably collective) is generally plural. Therefore, the former sentence seems to be correct (this is usually the case in my local languages).

It is something similar to the case, where zero is (mostly) considered plural though intuitively it should be singular. Moreover, it should be safe to say, there is more than one person instead of saying, there are more than one person. but I'm not sure about people, when used in such constructs. Sorry for this simple question :)


texts: Grammar of "It is rarely that + (clause)"

texts:
The following question is motivated by this answer at ELL. Here, I'm not interested in the correctness (that's already been answered at ELL) but in the possibility of interpreting this construction as an it-cleft.

Clefting is a construction by which a single sentence is broken up into two clauses so that the clause moved to the front receives more emphasis.

For example, given the sentence:

  Police rarely arrest people without adequate suspicion.

Imagine that we want to emphasize people without adequate suspicion, then we would write:

  It is people without adequate suspicion that police rarely arrest.

The question I want to ask is whether I can use an it-cleft to emphasize an adverb. In the sample sentence, imagine that we want to emphasize how rarely this happens, then we would write:

  It is rarely that police arrest people without adequate suspicion.


texts: What are the differences between 'offer', 'propose', and 'suggest'?

texts: What are the differences between offer, propose, and suggest?


texts: Does the word "food' have a plural form?

texts:
I searched the net and I've found out that the word "food" doesn't have a plural form, much like furniture. So now I'm really confused. I read a lot and I've noticed that "foods" is still being used, and I still hear some native speakers of English say "foods". In addition to that, we can actually see it in food brands like "Kraft Foods" and "Best Foods". I would really appreciate it if someone can clear this for me.

It's actually a post of mine on Facebook and I'm not really sure if it's correct. It goes something like this: "Can you make processed foods healthier? The answer is you can't. There is no substitute for real and natural foods." When I said processed foods, I was pertaining to a group of processed food, not just one or generic, so is it correct?


texts:
Is there an injection or at least an onomatopoeia for a longing sigh that works in writing?
An example would be two colleagues are talking about the new member of the team on which one has a huge crush:

  [the word], he/she is soooo cute. I really should make a move.

All the positive interjections I know (oh, wow, phew, gee, awww) don't seem to work... at least for me (not a native speaker of English) To my perception, they are either too surprised, too amazed, to exhausted or too relieved. They are all not longing enough.

Is there anything or is the only way *sigh *?
Could I use sigh in spoken English or does it only work in writing?


texts:
I wonder why we say "down to earth" when referring to someone who is not deceitful.
What's the logic behind it?
I searched its origin but I didn't get much information.
The origin only gives this:

Origin:
This idiom may allude to angels or other celestial creatures coming down to Earth or being ‘cast down’ to join mortal humans. It also may derive from the notion of the word of God being ‘brought down to Earth’ so that humans could understand it.

Down-to-earth (adjective) meaning:
If you say that someone is down-to-earth, you approve of the fact that they concern themselves with practical things and actions, rather than with abstract theories.

Could you please tell me why we use down-to-earth?
Thanks a lot.


texts: What's a word meaning "related to pressure"?

texts:
Is there an analog to "electrically isolated" but related to pressure (or more specifically, air pressure) instead of electricity? Perhaps "pneumatically isolated"? I don't think "hermetically isolated" has the proper meaning. I also considered "manometrically isolated", but I think that seems to refer too much to manometry. I just want to express that two different rooms are not isolated from each other in terms of air pressure.

Perhaps "piezo-isolated"? I can't find any precedence for this specific phrase, but it seems to express the correct meaning.


texts: What is the meaning of "you has the wind of me"?

texts:
I ran into this excerpt from the book Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson:

  I can see, can't I? I've tried my fling, I have, and I've lost, and it's you has the wind of me.

Source: Google Books

I tried googling but was able to find only the meaning of 'to get wind of something' (The Free Dictionary) which I think doesn't fit  here.

So I have two questions:

What is the meaning of the phrase 'to have the wind of someone'?
How 'wind' is pronounced in this phrase: [wɪnd] or [waɪnd]?

Thank you.


texts: What is a very large room in a building called?

texts: In our university there are a few very large spaces in a building. In each of these large rooms, something about 100 people work. Each room is partitioned using 1.5 metre high fiberglass walls and has many cubicles in it. What are these large rooms called? Salons, halls or just "very very large rooms"?


texts:
For example, someone has a warrant for arrest.
What is the word to describe the state or condition of being wanted?
Jacques is wanted by the police.

Because of his ______, he has gone into hiding.

or

Jacques is ______ / a _______ man.

Obviously, I am looking for another word than 'wanted'.


texts: Phrase Encompassing Pancakes, Waffles and French Toast

texts:
I'm looking for a phrase that suggests and encompasses such breakfast items as pancakes/crêpes, waffles, and French toast. Essentially any batter- or dough-based foods typically associated with breakfast.

I can't think of much that would be appropriate here. "Fried breakfast food" could refer to fried eggs or sausages, and "fried dough breakfast" just sounds bizarre.

I am aware that the vast majority of people will simply fall back to "pancakes, waffles and french toast", but I'm wondering if there's anything better I can use.


texts: Uniformly at random vs. randomly uniformly

texts:
In their paper "Handling Churn in a DHT", the
authors use the following sentence:

  For each event we select a node to die uniformly at random[...]

Do you think this sentence is unprecise? Or is it even grammatically wrong? I argued with
a friend wether someone could misinterpret this sentence (e.g. that nodes are dying
uniformly) or if the sentence is as precise as needed.

An alternate form could be

  For each event we randomly uniformly select a node to die [...]

We believe the syntax of this sentence to be correct and that it is more precise than the
first version, but IMHO it lacks readability.

Is one of the forms above to be preferred over the other, or would you say that both
aren't optimal and that there are better ways?


texts: What does "Well, no more" mean in this paragraph?

texts:
English has many complicated expressions. Can you explain to me the expression "Well, no more" in this paragraph? Thank you so much!

  What women want is supposed to be some sort of unsolved mystery that has haunted males, and even females, since the dawn of civilization. Well, no more


texts: Where does the response "Anytime" come from?

texts:
When someone says "Thank you" whenever I have helped them out, I naturally respond with "Anytime". I recently started thinking about this and couldn't quite figure out where this word originates from. So I thought I would see if I could find anything online, but found little or nothing to do with this.

So, where does the word/phrase "Anytime" come from when giving a response to "Thank you"'s?


texts:
How is this grammar works?

In resume:

I lead a group of three developers and ...

→ Led group of three developers and ...

Is this a past participle or Ellipsis (it just omits subject)?

Is it just omits subject?

I was led group of three developers and ...

becomes

Led group of three developers and ...

And a example likes this in Google Play:

Added reading progress bar

Is this a telegram style?


texts: What preposition to use with file extensions?

texts:
Basically, should I mentally decode file extension abbreviations, and thus:

  Documents in PDF (in format)
  Photos according to JPEG (... group)

Alternatives:

  Shall I keep it as PDF?
  Could it be that document is PDF, or a PDF?


texts: Ambiguity in the statement of an Indian politician.

texts:
Derek O' Brien is celebrity turned politician in India. Recently in a TV debate on a National TV channel he was recorded saying that he was a Christian first, before that an Indian. (Watch the video linked, for the actual speech.)

The link to the video:  Derek O' Brien on National TV (youtube 20 seconds)

Due to lack of explicit punctuation in English while being spoken, IMO, his statement can be deciphered to mean two quite different things. One of them paints the celeb communal and the other a patriot!

The possible meanings, IMO:

That he considers his faith and its interests to be above the nation and her interests!
That he considers his faith to be of great importance to him, but before it(the faith), he puts the nation and her interests.

What he actually meant is of great controversy, because, if he did indeed mean the first thing, he was being communal and that is a taboo in India (a secular nation by constitution), as great as being a racist is in the US.

What in your opinion did he actually mean and why?


texts:
In the sentence below, should we use the preposition "of"? Or rather nothing at all? Thank you.

  In the video, we present one possible solution of how you could go back to...

Context:

  We’d like to present you our idea for a possible campaign. A campaign which shows that mistakes were also being made at the top management level. However, the important thing here is how we handle those mistakes. In the video, we present one possible solution of how COMPANY could go back to their goal.


texts:
My tailor is rich.
Why your tailor it is not yet?
Sounds like grammatically incorrect to me, but putting in context and followed to the previous sentence, would it be correct to say this?


texts: When is it ok to create a contraction of words followed by “s”?

texts: When is it correct to create a contraction of words followed by is? For instance is who’s a correct short form of who is?


texts: “Two parts to it” versus “two parts of it”

texts:
What's the difference between “there are two parts of it” and “there are two parts to it”?

My student asked me this question and I'm not quite sure what the correct answer is. Any advice would be hugely appreciated.


texts:
I am not sure if I could use the word predict in the context of a scientific forecast.

Does this word have a connotation of guessing, transcendental belief, or some kind of humbug?

And if so, what to use instead?


texts: Is this girl "piling on agony" or " throwing a pity party" or what?

texts:
Is this girl"piling on agony"? ( I mean she is trying to draw attentions, while her situation is not that bad and scary, she is shedding fake tears , and reacting so exaggeratedly )

What is the exact idiom or expression for describing such false (?) exaggerated reactions just for gaining others' attentions or sympathy?
"pile on agony " or "to throw pity party" or " to be drama queen" or what?

http://youtu.be/MZIBz-9J1o4


texts:
I've asked How does one dogleg from Florida to a sun-synchronous orbit? in Space Exploration SE about the path that a rocket takes during launch, or actually the ground-track of its path.
If the rocket launching from Florida were to go into a polar orbit, it would have to do some kind of dogleg maneuver. I'm still waiting to see exactly what this means.
If I look in Wikipedia's Dogleg disambiguation page, I see three spellings now see two spellings; dog-leg, dogleg. I'm pretty sure I've seen "dog leg" in other places as well. I'm using dogleg in the following:
A dogleg maneuver is when a satellite doglegs, executing one dogleg after another, following along a doglegged or dogleg-shaped path...
but can I just use any spelling I want, or are there preferred ways to do this?


texts:
I need to rewrite a sentence by using the past modals.

"Luke's given that watch away to a friend" (standard sentence)
"Clearly he didn't like it then". (the sentence I have to rewrite with a modal verb)

Any ideas?
Thanks


texts: Should I use plural or singular form in the following sentence?

texts:
The sincerity of pronouncements by multinationals is/are anybody's
  guess.

My understanding is "sincerity" is an uncountable noun, and should be followed by "is",  but it does feel a little weird to use the singular form when it is modified by "multinationals" which is clearly plural.

I feel like this is a very basic grammar question and I am sure I have studied about it in my high school English class. But I don't know how to search for it since I don't know what specific grammar rules I am looking for. Thanks for the help in advance.


texts:
Everything is in the title... I'm writing a technical report (Master of Engineering) and I wonder which term is the correct one : accelerometer or g-sensor

I've seen both in the litterature, but I thought maybe there is  a slight difference bewteen them.

I don't know if I should post this here or on a more oriented SO forum (Electricial Engineering), but I'm sure a Mod will move it if not.


texts: Can I use "our" and "we" in a formal essay?

texts:
I am writing a formal essay, based on the following prompt

  Differing points of view make life interesting.

I am finding it hard to avoid using "our" and "we" in the essay. For example, in the following context:

  Humans have a wide range of interests and hobbies; we read different books, play different sports, engage in different conversations, and ultimately posses different convictions.

and

  Diversity is the catalyst for invention and innovation; it is absolutely necessary, and a vital part of the world we live in.

How can I avoid this in my essay? Or, is it fine to leave it that way?

Is it incorrect to use "we" and/or "our" in a formal essay?


texts: Is there a word for a person with only one head?

texts:
Reading this article by the fantastic Douglas Adams I came across this interesting quote:

  ‘[I]nteractivity’ is one of those neologisms that Mr Humphrys likes to dangle between a pair of verbal tweezers, but the reason we suddenly need such a word is that during this century we have for the first time been dominated by non-interactive forms of entertainment: cinema, radio, recorded music and television... We didn’t need a special word for interactivity in the same way that we don’t (yet) need a special word for people with only one head.

This got me thinking — not just about what that word might be (unikef? monocap?), but also how new words are constructed.

My two first thoughts above were that the word would be constructed from either Greek or Latin roots (mono and uni, respectively), and I assume that most newly constructed words would follow a similar structure. That is - they would take previously prescribed pieces of a language (classical or otherwise) and shape those pieces to fit the needs of the new word.

But which language would be more likely? Greek? Or Latin? Or, since the concept of having to describe someone with only one head antedates both of these languages by so much, would it be inappropriate for a new word to have a classical root?

I would appreciate it if any readers who do have multiple heads could let us know authoritatively how you refer to us one-headed folks.


texts:
I'm trying to understand if this sentence is right, if so, why.

  The problem is trying to learn without practicing

I've been looking for the answer to this question in sites and grammars. I didn't find what we use after to be verb, the infinitive or the gerund (ing-form). The grammars don't say anything about this important verb, that's weird.


texts: What do you call someone who bears a group of people ill-will?

texts:
Let's say that there is a person who bears a certain group of people ill-will, wishes something bad to happen to them. The group of people is not of any specific ethnicity or group. They just reside in a specific place. What would you call such a person ?

e.g. sentence - From the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were a/an _________ who bears us nothing but ill-will.


texts: What is the opposite of 'generously' in reference to credit-given or leniency?

texts:
'Generous' can be used to describe an amount of credit-given or leniency. When used in this way, what is the counterpart word that would imply a lack of leniency? The closest word I have is 'austere', but I'm not convinced 'austerely' is a word.

The phrase that sparked this was:

  "... tells us the nature of humanity is, generously, rebellion or, ____ly, malice".

I was trying to illustrate my point and that was the phrase that came out; I stumbled over the blank space. We checked Thesaurus.com and Merriam-Webster with the best suggestions being 'parsimoniously' or 'miserly', but both have monetary connotations.


texts: What is the meaning of "I've gotten over __ recently"?

texts: I came across the phrase "I've gotten over [tool] recently" in an article written by someone who had tested the tool. From the article's context, it seemed that the author was not particularly fond of the tool and that therefore the phrase means something like "I stopped using [tool] recently". Is that correct, or is there another meaning behind the phrase?


texts: How do I find Oxford/Merriam Words by Year?

texts:
Is there a way to search for when a word become a recognized word? My guess is that words that have been around "forever" were part of early unabridged English dictionaries. For modern history though, how can we see when a word became recognized, perhaps by a dictionary?

What would be ideal is to see something like this by year.  For example, we know Oxford added bromance at some point. What year?


texts: Can the grammar terms, the words 'subject' and 'object', be used as uncountable nouns?

texts:
I thought the grammar terms such as 'subject' and 'object' were countable. But I notice that they can sometimes be used without any determiner.
For example, here's the first sentence of a linguistics paper (Prepositional phrases as subjects and objects):

The positions of subject and object in simple active sentences, and object of a preposition are normally filled by NP's but they can also be filled by PP's.

Does this mean that these terms can be uncountable nouns?

I have received these notable comments below:

It's the same as saying "The lion is (the) king of the jungle". A kind of generic use, I suppose. Notice the relational meaning conveyed by the of PP. Same with "Ed is (the) subject (of the clause)". – BillJ
@BillJ It think that both in your example, and in OP's, the word subject is a bare role NP. Same goes for King of the jungle. The preposition in the OP's role of subject seems to me to take a PC, not an Object (the 'role' and the title/moniker are the same thing). Note that we cannot freely use subject as an actual subject without a determiner. For example, "Subject is the phrase the man" won't work. What do you think? – Araucaria
It's not specific to these grammar terms. The position of Vice President is mostly ceremonial. – Barmar

The consensus of the comments seems to be that grammar terms are not peculiar in that they might belong to what @Araucaria calls "a bare role NP". I do see how the sentence "Subject is the phrase the man." doesn't work without any determiner for the word "Subject". But I also see that you can add either the definite or indefinite article in this modified example. (In order to simplify the issue, I have modified the original quote.):

a. The position of subject in a simple active sentence is normally filled by an NP but it can also be filled by a PP. [modified original]
b. The position of a subject in a simple active sentence is normally filled by an NP but it can also be filled by a PP.
c. The position of the subject in a simple active sentence is normally filled by an NP but it can also be filled by a PP.

Can the bare role NP normally be allowed to take the indefinite article as well as the definite article?


texts: How do you say "headbutt" in American English?

texts: Headbutt is a British term, how do you say the same thing in American English? I am interested in both the verb and the noun.


texts: What do you call this mechanical device?

texts: This device usually consists of sequences of different objects, one triggering the action of the next. For example, several domino tiles placed upright. The first one falls and that makes all the others fall down too. The last tile releases an iron ball down a spiral whatchamacallit only to trigger the action of another piece, and so on. A friend of mine made a miniature version of something like it and we were wondering what it is called.  Unfortunately, without knowing its name, I can't provide a picture.


texts: Is it correct to use "their" when referring to a single person when the gender is known?

texts:
I have come accross this sentence:

  There is a 2.5% probability that whenever we measure a woman, their height will be less than 142 centimeters.

Is the use of their correct here? Shouldn't it be rather her?


texts:
What does "data pooling" actually mean?

  The program Distance enables pooling of data across sites and derivation of density estimates at those sites (strata) where there are too few records to fit separate detection function.


texts:
suppose that someone at top echelon of an institution delivers a statement. I doubt whether the statement is a fact or not. Do I say "I question it" or anything else? what is the short laconic phrase or word for it?

if I say "I question it", the speaker might think I am doubting his authority rather than the statement he made. what is a better way of doing it? I don't want to use the word question to avoid ambiguity.

also, I am questioning his statement in an affirmative tone, assuming that he is wrong or might be wrong.


texts:
Virtuosity intended as the ability of performing a difficult task and making it appear smooth and easy from the outside.
So how would you define the inability of making something hard look very simple?


texts: What is the proper prefix meaning "bone" or "skeleton"?

texts:
There are many borrowed words from Greek and Latin that are used as prefixes in English.

Examples: pyro- relating to fire, hydro- relating to water, geo- relating to the earth etc.

What is the equivalent prefix to mean bone or skeleton?

Specifically, someone who performs divination with bones by way of combining it with the suffix -mancer/-mancy.

For example: pyromancer/pyromancy.

There are words for "bone" in both Greek and Latin, but unsure of which is the proper way to use it as a prefix.


texts: Word for brands that mass produce cheap goods too?

texts: I can't remember where I read this term/word. It's a name given to those brands that also produce goods that are cheap along with expensive ones, therefore still allowing people to hold on to the 'brand name'. Does anyone know this?


texts: Is it appropriate to say "just checking in and see if there is anything that I can help with" to your boss in an email?

texts: Is the phrase "check in" too informal to say to anyone other than your friend?  And the same question for "check back".  In addition, is there any other way to say "reach out" in a work email?


texts: "She must have done that, mustn't she?" (Tail/tag questions with "Can/may/must + Present Perfect")

texts:
How often can you hear an educated native speaker say

She can't have done that, can she?
She can have done that, can't she?

She mustn't have done that, must she?
She must have done that, mustn't she?

She may not have done that, may she?
She may have done that, may she not?


texts:
We will have to go into hock to buy a house.

What is the origin of the idiom?


texts:
Which, believe me, is frustrating when you have word counts to stay within.

Word counts to stay within makes no sense to me. Am I dealing with an idiom here? Because if I am, I would like to know which that idiom is. Hard as I tried, I could find no such idiom anywhere I could look it up in.


texts: Use of “as” in adverbial introductory phrase

texts:
Isn't this incorrect:

  As a young boy his family moved …

Isn't this saying the the family moved as (when) it was young. A comma after boy fixes it, I believe, but it still seems a misplaced or faulty modifier.


texts: Is "most" equivalent to "a majority of"?

texts:
In sentences such as the following, how is most best understood?

  1) Most children do not like cauliflower.

  2) Most of the balls in the bucket are red.

I suppose there are three or more possible interpretations for most in these sentences.

  A) a plurality (at least one more than any other alternative)

  B) a majority (more than half, even if barely more)

  C) a comfortable majority (well more than half)

For sentence 1, interpretations A and B would be equivalent since there are only two alternatives.


texts:
We use "the news is good" instead of "the news are good."

What is the rationale behind this? Are there similar situations in English?


texts: what's a word/phrase that describes unwillingness to share advice (such as strategy on how to improve in a sports match)?

texts:
I'm having trouble coming up with a word/two-word phrase describing unwillingness to share advice (such as strategy on how to improve in a sports match)? May someone help?

I'm hoping that this would either be one word or two words.


texts: Where does the term 'circuit breaker' come from?

texts: Per the BBC, the United Kingdom discussed implementing a 'circuit breaker' in October. Israel, New Zealand, and Singapore have used 'circuit breakers', and it seems that Singapore was the first to use the term. Are there any earlier instances of 'circuit breaker' used in an epidemiological context?


texts: Adjective for an activity that is not condoned

texts:
I'm looking for an adjective that could be used to describe an activity that is generally frowned upon, although not necessarily illegal. Or if it is indeed unlawful, then it should be a "soft" illegality, in the sense that people enforcing the law would recognize such activity as illegal but would probably "let it slide."

The closest word I have found is illicit, but it does not entirely reflect what I'm trying to get across.


texts:
Looking for examples of prepositional phrases that function as nouns. This example has been given:

'After three o'clock would be more convenient for me.' 'After three o'clock' serves as the subject.

Is the prepositional phrase in the sentence below another example of use as a noun?

'I forgot about eating dinner because I was so distraught.'

Is it correct to say that 'about eating dinner' serves as the direct object?


texts: Can I use "harm" for "electrical contact failure"?

texts:
I working like to explain that rusty steel causes electrical contact failure and the lead to a systematic failure.
Can I use harm for this context as follows?

The rusty surface of the steel structure harms the electrical contact which might cause serious systematic failure.

Thank you for your advice.


texts: What are the alternatives for "You've gone too far"?

texts:
Please let me know.

What are the alternatives for "You've gone too far" ?

Thanks in advance.


texts:
I'm not sure whether I'm using the word manifest correctly. For example, today at work my work mate said he only sees me when it's getting busy and I said jokingly:

  I just manifest when you need me.

Is this wrong?


texts:
In rewriting the following sentence with an infinitive or a gerund, what happens to the when?

Mary hates it when she is enclosed in small spaces.

Mary hates being (to be) enclosed in small spaces.


texts: More polite way of saying "don't disturb me"

texts: How can I say "don't disturb me" in more polite way when I am busy


texts: What is the exact meaning of "to start the year"?

texts:
After ending 2018 in freefall, oil prices have rallied approximately 25% to start the year, boosted by efforts by global producers to cut supply.

what is the exact meaning of “to start the year”?

I don’t understand “rally 00% to start the year”


texts: What does Darwin mean by the sentence below?

texts:
In Origin of the Species, Darwin writes

"A group does not reappear after it has once disappeared; or its existence, as long as it lasts, is continuous .”

I can't tease out the meaning of the second clause. Elsewhere in the book Darwin writes

"When a species has once disappeared from  the face of the earth, we have reason to believe that the same identical form never reappears." This is close to the first statement, but perfectly clear.


texts: A word for something impossible or near impossible to do but fun to try

texts: A word that describes something impossible or near impossible to do but fun to try. One example I can think of is trying to lick one's elbow. A contortionist can do it but not everyone else. We sure give it a try despite knowing we can't do it.


texts: Which is the correct form: "ten euro" or "ten euros"?


texts:
What would be a correct way to say this:

  If you rather not wait, you can always do sth else.

or

  If you'd rather not wait, you can always do sth else.

And what about the comma? Is it needed here?


texts: Grammaticality of "On which hand it is worn should not make the slightest difference"

texts:
We are essentially creatures of habit. If you have any question about this, just transfer your wristwatch to the other hand. Even though it should not make the slightest difference on which hand it is worn, you will soon find that you are very aware of the change.

This is the context. Let's consider this part:

  It should not make the slightest difference on which hand it is worn.

An ELL user has asked about the function of the it in this sentence, and I'd like to answer their question. As far as I know, this phenomenon is called extraposition. The clause on which hand it is worn has been moved to the end of the sentence, with the dummy it taking its place as the subject. To show how this phenomenon works, I'd like to use this sentence:

  On which hand it is worn should not make the slightest difference.

I'm not a native speaker. I asked about my paraphrase on a couple of ELL websites, and everyone who answered said it was grammatical. However, here is an excerpt from The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language, Chapter 12, 6.1d:

[7]         FUSED RELATIVE                         INTEGRATED RELATIVE
i  a. What she referred to was Riga.  b. The city which she referred to was Riga.
ii a. *To what she referred was Riga. b. The city to which she referred was Riga.

  When the relativised element is complement of a preposition the fused construction requires that the preposition be stranded, as in [ia]: it cannot be fronted along with its complement, as it can in the integrated relative construction [iib]. The difference in grammaticality here reflects the fact that which she referred to is a clause while what she referred to is an NP. Fronting the preposition in the integrated construction places it at the beginning of the clause, while fronting it in the fused construction places it before the NP. The deviance of [iia] is thus comparable to that of *To the city which she referred was Riga. In the integrated case the antecedent city and the relative pronoun which are distinct and the preposition can come between them, but in the fused case the antecedent and relative pronoun are not distinct and hence there is no place for a fronted preposition to occupy.

Example [iia] has the same structure as my paraphrase above — both have a preposition before a relative pronoun — yet [iia] is ungrammatical.

I asked about [iia] and got mixed answers: some said it was grammatical, some said it wasn't. I didn't ask why because I didn't expect those people to be linguists or teachers.

Is the clause in my example also a fused relative?
Why is my example correct while the CGEL one is not?


texts:
The word "observant" means "watchful" or "perceptive":

  A particularly observant child, he noticed even the slightest changes in the classroom.

is the example given by M-W.  Specifically excepting the definition of "observant" that relates to following customs, is "observant" strictly visual?

I ask because I was having a couple of pints with a friend of mine who is blind.  We were discussing expressions related to vision that people use without thinking, and then apologize to him for.  For instance, "Can you look over this paper for me?"

He said that these expressions didn't bother him in the least, and thought it was amusing that people would trip themselves up over it. When I commented on his "observations", he remarked that that didn't bother him either, and further indicated that a person cannot be observant without vision. An increasingly drunken discussion of the origins and meaning of "observe" ensued, and now I have no idea which side either of us ended up on.

I know that "perceptive" is one definition of "observant", so I suppose it may generalize to all senses.  If that is the case, are there specific words to describe being (the equivalent of) observant in other modalities (hearing, touch, taste, etc.)?

EDIT:
I should emphasize that of central importance in the debate was the origin of the word itself: "ob" meaning over and "servare" meaning to watch, i.e., "to watch over".  This origin ought to imply that observe at its root is related to vision, but the counter-claim to that argument is that "servare" itself is derived from PIE "ser" meaning to protect, which would not necessarily have anything to do with vision.

So if we're in agreement that observe can be used for the other senses, has anyone found other words to describe "observant hearing" (for instance)?  Maybe derived from "to listen over" or something like that?


texts:
I understand that "stripped-down" and "bare-bones" probably mean the same thing for most people, but are there nuances that make them different?

I tend to feel that "bare-bones" has all the essentials (or standard features) but not more, while "stripped-down" can be even less than that, possibly to the point of having the very minimal set of functions that a specific use case needs, and that doesn't even provide very basic/standard features that are not essential for its functioning (e.g. standard-compliant safety features). Does this make any sense?


texts: Are probable and possible scenarios the same?

texts: When someone says "If X happens then Y may/can happen" what does he mean? He means what are the possible scenarios or the probable scenarios? Should we use may or can interchangeable in such sentences?


texts: What does 'lift up' mean in a religious context?

texts:
I came across this tweet from Sen Rob Portman from Ohio, referring to the death of Otto Warmbier,

  His passing today is a loss for Ohio and for all of us. Jane and I are lifting up the Warmbier family in our prayers at this difficult time.

I have tried both the Dictionary.com and Collins dictionary, but the closest meaning of this phrase I could find is 'raise up, hoist'. But I think it's somehow off the mark in the mentioned context, as we can't literally raise up people in the prayer. Unless it means figuratively to 'hoist' people to heaven, which I can find no source to bear out. Therefore, I was curious about people's take on this question.


texts: Does one say "to ring stupid" or what are appropriate alternatives?

texts:
If you want to express that something is true even if it is actually dumb, in German we can say something along

So blöd es auch klingt, aber es ist wahr.

Literally it's As stupid it also rings, but it is true.
I guess that to ring stupid isn't a proper term in English, especially not as shown in the literally translation, but I'm looking for a term that is quite similar to the German one.
The phrase So blöd es auch klingt is used when you tell:

really strange and unbelievable happenings,
unusual feelings, occasions, etc. in which you e.g. do or want have the opposite of what is considered as being normal, or
actions that are self-evident and actually not need to be said

Consider the following examples in which I replaced the German saying by I know it sounds weird (which actually is in German Ich weiß, dass es sich ungewöhnlich anhört), although it sounds indeed weird in the last sentence.

I know it sounds weird but I've really seen a ghost that night.
I know it sounds weird but I'm scared of being happy.
I know it sounds weird but you should always warm-up before sports.

I am looking for one ore more phrases having the same connotation[*] and using a sentence structure that is as close as possible to the German one.

[*]Regarding connotations:
Although in all three sentences the connotations are a bit differently from each others, I guess that the appropriate connotations are obviously. If I'm wrong please comment and I will add an explanation what is denoted by the phrasing.


texts:
A common translation of the Latin hortative memento mori is "Remember thou shalt die."

I am not interested in a discussion of the Latin, nor of what the expression actually means in English. I am more interested in why English speakers chose the formulation "Remember thou shalt die" over "Remember thou wilt die," considering the implications of "shall" and "will" in English.

This thoroughly correct answer to a similar question definitely implies that "will" would be the right choice. --And yet Google has almost three thousand results for "Remember thou shalt die" (in quotes), and a mere two for "Remember thou wilt die."

Can anyone explain why this is? And: Which form is correct?

Related: The use of "will" in assumptions

--

N.B.: Mentions of "will" in this question refer to the future auxiliary, not to the verb "to will." Separately: I am not interested in answers which assert that "shall" and "will" are practically interchangeable these days.


texts: I don't understand what Kipling means by "Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”". Could you please explain it to me?


texts: Is there a hidden meaning to the name "Coraline Cake" from the suffragette cook book?

texts:
According to NPR, the suffragette movement included politically subversive recipe books.

  Chicago obstetrician and gynecologist Alice Bunker Stockham, the fifth woman to become a licensed doctor in the U.S., sent in an elaborate recipe for Coraline Cake, which called for the cake to be split and infused with strawberry or raspberry juice, then filled with boiled custard to make a sort of "French pie."

  Dr. Stockham was anti-alcohol and anti-corset but — extraordinarily for her time – pro-masturbation. She publicly endorsed it as healthy for both men and women. Her unorthodox stand positioned her as the antithesis to Sylvester Graham, the Presbyterian reformer who believed rich food inflamed sexual appetite, and who invented the Graham cracker (made with unrefined flour) to help Americans tame their sexual desires. By the Rev. Graham's standards, the Coraline Cake was positively orgiastic.

Why "Coraline"? Is there a hidden meaning to the name?


texts: Word for someone who knows what a person is going through but just doesn’t care

texts: I am writing about an injustice for my English class and I need help figuring out a word to match this definition - someone who knows what a person is going through but just doesn’t care


texts: What is the origin of "grapes" meaning the percent sign (%)?

texts:
While browsing through the Wikipedia article on the percent sign (%), I came across this interesting statement (emphasis mine):

  Names for the percent sign include percent sign (in ITU-T), mod, grapes (in hacker jargon), and the humorous double-oh-seven (in INTERCAL).

Since the claim had a "citation needed" tag, I originally assumed it was a random fact found through original research. However, after a quick Google search, I found this entry from a book titled The New Hacker's Dictionary, compiled by Eric S. Raymond and originally published in 1996 (emphasis mine):

  %       Common: percent; <percent sign>; mod; grapes. Rare: [double-oh-seven].

Further searching only produced more books with almost the exact same entry as the one above, and I could not find a source that documented how and why "grapes" came to be associated with the percent sign. So my question is: what is the origin of "grapes" meaning the percent sign?


texts: Why does "keep tabs on" mean what it means

texts:
Keep tabs on sth/sb means "to watch something or someone carefully". Why is that?

Can somebody analyze and explain this idiom, please? What does "tabs" mean here, and how does the whole phrase communicate the above meaning?


texts:
Well, a letter that I wrote to a school included a sentence like this:

  I got accepted with a full scholarship...

Then, a friend of mine from America changed it to:

  I was accepted with a full scholarship...

First of all, was the change necessary? If so, why?

Thank you in advance!


texts: How could I correctly label the following diagram?


texts: the meaning of these reading (Neither and Nor)

texts:
What is the meaning of the sentence in bold?

How might this inability to recall early experiences be explained? The
sheer passage of time does not account for it; adults have excellent
recognition of pictures of people who attended high school with them 35
years earlier. Another seemingly plausible explanation—that infants do not
form enduring memories at this point in development—also is incorrect.
Children two and a half to three years old remember experiences that
occurred in their first year, and eleven month olds remember some events
a year later. Nor does the hypothesis that infantile amnesia reflects
repression—or holding back—of sexually charged episodes explain the
phenomenon. While such repression may occur, people cannot remember
ordinary events from the infant and toddler periods either.

And my second question is why Nor is used without Neither.


texts:
Could when people please help me with the following definition?

I would like to know what the technical definition is when an individual uses the language of others or they adapt their language to a particular audience. E.g. When a person uses a word only when with a particular group of people.

Many thanks.


texts: Grammaticality of "could you please, let us know when this issue is fixed?"

texts:
Could you please, let us know when this issue is fixed?

Is this sentence grammatical?
I would like to ask someone to let me know when the issue is fixed


texts: Grammaticality of "help someone something"

texts: A few times I've encountered phrases of the form "help yourself [something]", for example "help yourself some water". I consider this form to be ungrammatical, but I am not a native speaker. Is it correct to say so?


texts: Is "Englishnization" an acceptable term?

texts:
There's a company named Rakuten in Japan, which introduced "Englishnization" a couple of years ago. They adopted an internal policy where all the employees are expected to speak English as an official language. They coined this somewhat bold move as "Englishnization".

My question is whether this new term is acceptable or not. Some people say that the "n" in the middle is quite awkward, and it should have been "Englishization" (without n).

I understand that neither:

Englishization
Englishnization

is broadly accepted broadly. I am just wondering which makes more sense to coin as a new term. IMHO, the fact that Englishization has an entry on Wiktionary does not make this one more acceptable.


texts: What is the meaning of the sentence "Hopes dashed through" and what is the use of Through" as an adverb?

texts:
I'm reading E.A.Poe Complete tales and Poems and I found out this interesting phrase In which a have a question.

  ... was caracterized by a dramatic stories, Breakdowns and
  recoveries, personal gains and hopes dashed through".

I see that the meaning of the last part Is that Poe had a lot of hopes that he had to throw away. Is that correct? Is there a phrasal verb or an idiom that I may check to understand this sentence a slightly better?

Thanks!


texts: *free of charge* used with other adjectives and a noun

texts:
Do you write or say other adjectives before or after the adjective free of charge used together with a noun? Is it better to put other adjectives before or after free of charge? Do you put an indefinite article before free of charge? How often is free of charge used with an indefinite article?

  The free of charge financial aid should be explicitly specified in the source documents supporting a certain type of income received by a  company.


texts: A word for "when you are looking at somebody but thinking something else"?

texts:
Is there a word for "when you are looking at somebody but thinking something else"?

Like when you stare at somebody but you are thinking of something else.


texts: Emotions: "running high" or "riding high"?

texts: Quickly Googling both phrases brings up a number of results (mostly from sports websites) for each phrase; is one of the two in wider use and/or more correct?


texts: you have confused me or you have got me confused?

texts:
You have confused me by staying quiet about it or you have got me confused by staying quiet about it?

I know the latter is correct, but is the former sentence correct as well and convey the same thing?


texts: Is this a Fallacy: "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right"?

texts:
This is in my quote collection and said by some Salvor Hardin. I forgot when and why I had added it to the collection, but now that I was randomly going through it, this quote has just stumped me.

I think this statement is totally conflicting and a logical fallacy in itself. How can you stop your sense of morals from preventing you from doing what is right, when the moral sense itself determines what is right and wrong? To be more clear, it is our sense of morality that determines what is right and wrong. So, its like saying "jump from this table, and at the same time don't jump". Am I not understanding something?


texts: How to use in-text citation for a sentence in an article that also uses in-text citation?

texts: I want to use in-text citation about a sentence I'm borrowing from a journal article. But I'm confused on how to properly use it because the journal article also uses in-text citations on the same sentence I want to use in my paper. How solve this issue?


texts: "black sign" sounds like an idiom which people uses it to refer something bad likely going to be happen. Is it a common idiom and does it have a place in a daily talk?


texts:
Can somebody please explain this expression from a Mark Twain story:
'Sedgemoor trade-mark, white sleeve badge'?

Here is the context:

Among other things he said that my character was written in my face; that I was treacherous, a dissembler, a coward, and a brute without sense of pity or compassion: the 'Sedgemoor trade-mark,' he called it—and 'white-sleeve badge.'

Thank you...


texts: How to express: a PC that has no role OR no user

texts:
When I say: a PC that has no role or user.
The meaning seems to be: the PC has no role, and the PC has no user.

But my intention is: the PC has no role, or the PC has no user.

How can I express that conveniently?


texts: Difference between "valuable" and "invaluable"

texts:
Invaluable intuitively seems to imply a higher degree of importance.

Please explain the difference between valuable and invaluable and in what context you'd use one or the other.


texts: Literary devices and sentence structure in Matthew 7:1 (KJV)

texts:
I am a student who is looking for help on a specific portion of my discussion. I have been asked the following questions with respect to this KJV verse:

  Judge not, that ye be not judged.
  -- Matthew 7:1kjv

What specific literary devices are used in this scripture?
What is the order of the sentence structure?

In particular for this second question, I have been up for the past few hours attempting to determine if judge not is being used as a transitive verb.


texts:
I'm confused beetween two words when i tried to conplete this sentence :
 Sales of the TX 20 digital camera recently .... 10.000 in total
  A.Surpassed
  B.Exceeded
The key gives A , but i don't know why
please help me , thanks


texts: What does the word 'penumbra' mean in this sentence?

texts:
The following is an extract from the book The Road to Serfdom. I was wondering what 'penumbra' is used to convey in the sentence.

  There is no restrictive penumbra of individual rights that can never
  be touched by government in administrative matters whatever the
  circumstances.

A quick Google search defines penumbra as:

  the partially shaded outer region of the shadow cast by an opaque
  object.

Astronomy
the shadow cast by the earth or moon over an area experiencing a partial eclipse.
Astronomy
the less dark outer part of a sunspot, surrounding the core.

  a peripheral or indeterminate area or group. "an immense penumbra of theory surrounds any observation"


texts: the meaning of "do damage" in baseball context

texts:
What does do damage mean in the baseball context as in the following excerpt from the Japan Times?

  [Tanaka and Kikuchi] are a formidable combination at the top of the order, each able to do damage with their bats and their legs. As if that wasn’t enough, they’re all very good fielders as well.


texts: Can because appear in the start of a sentence?

texts: I am usually used to writing because in the middle of a sentence during my school days. But nowadays I find that because also appears in the start of a sentence. Even if because is used in the start of a sentence, should there be a comma? For example: Because he was so attached to this book, he didn't get the mindset to lend it to anyone. Or is it fine if there is no comma in the example? Kindly guide me.


texts:
11) Don't just sit there and introduce yourself!

12) Don't just sit around and eat!

Is it right that those two sentences eventually convey Don't sit and also don't introduce in #11 and "don't sit and also don't eat" in #12?

If there were commas in front of "and" as follows, then could they change the meanings and the sentences eventually say that you have to introduce, not sitting there in #21, and you have to eat, not sitting around in #22?

21) **Don't just sit there, and introduce yourself!

22) Don't just sit around, and eat!

Then if the two commas should be left out, you can't still understand them just as there were commas?


texts:
Is there any similar words/phrases with the same meaning that I can use in my sentences in order to avoid tautology. Except in this example.

I would be grateful for any variants.


texts: Can a program name be possessive? (i.e. Notepad++'s plugin manager)

texts:
On Stack Overflow, I found a question with the following title:

  what is the notepad++ plugin manager server url

While editing the question for readability, I changed the title to:

  What is the server URL for Notepad++'s Plugin Manager?

According to Google Chrome's spell checker, Notepad++'s is not a proper word.

A similar question established that inanimate objects like 'car' could be possessive, but I'm not sure whether this also applies to program names. (Not to mention the grammatical syntax of ++'s)

Can a program name be possessive? Or is this improper spelling/grammar?


texts: Translation of the Russian term "распорядок дня"

texts:
Russian has the term "Распорядок дня." It means a to-do list of things that you do every day or your "order of life" (routine). For example:

  Get up at 7:00
  Work from 9:00 to 15:00
  Go to sleep at 22:00

A similar term is "schedule," but a schedule may be different every day. "Распорядок дня" is always alone.
Is there such a term in English?


texts: What is the name for the male version of a nymphomaniac?

texts: A nymphomaniac is the word which signifies a woman with uncontrolled sexual desires. What is the best word to describe a man who demonstrates similar characteristics?


texts: Word for "something that is required but cannot be achieved"?

texts:
Alternative definition: "something that is needed but cannot be done"

Impossible is the best I could find, but it doesn't imply that the subject is required; only that it can't be done.


texts:
In English, there are three suppletive adjectives: good, bad and far. Their comparative and superlative forms derive from different stems, i.e., we have best instead of *goodest, worse instead of *badder and so on. Do linguists have an explanation for why suppletion occurred only for these three adjectives? And, more specifically, why good and bad?

It seems that there is something special about good and bad, because in other European languages, the corresponding adjectives are also suppletive. But, since the comparative and superlative forms are not cognate across the subfamilies, the process must have occurred independently in each one.


texts: Where do you place words such as certainly, surely in a sentence?

texts:
I struggle constantly or is it I constantly struggle with the usage of such words. I don't even what they are called in English grammar.

My question: how do I know whether I'm grammatically correct when using such words?

Examples:
Is it

  I certainly will complete the report

or

  I will certainly complete the report

Is it

  I struggle constantly with English

or

  I constantly struggle with English

Is it

  Am I grammatically correct?

or

  Am I correct grammatically?

I hope you get the idea.


texts: “cloud” or "cloud" - is the quotation mark same?

texts: I found two different quotation marks, "cloud" and “cloud”. What's the difference between these? Should I always use "" or “”.


texts:
Hello I was concerned about this.

Is this a correct proper formal English?

There shouldn't be any issue, should it?


texts: bobbing their hats at the chapel doors (author's use of the word)

texts:
I'm having a really hard time understanding this phrase (from Iris Murdoch's story "Something Special"):

“Don’t start on that thing again,” said her mother. “Sam’s a nice young fellow, and not like the run of the Jew-boys at all. He’d bring the children up Church of Ireland.”

“At that,” said her uncle, “it’s better than the other lot with the little priest after them the whole time and bobbing their hats at the chapel doors so you can’t even have a peaceful ride on the tram. I’ve nothing against the Jews.”

“Our Lord was a Jew,” said Yvonne.

“Don’t be saying bold things like that!” said her mother.

First of all, what are they doing with their hats? Tipping them off? And most importantly, what does 'at the chapel doors' mean - in the direction of the church or near the church entrance?
Thanks!


texts: Questions about specific American English vocabulary

texts:
I was wondering if any American writers could give me some advice as to whether the following expressions/vocab are used and understood in the US:

(words in bold are the ones I'm asking about. Some words are also in inverted commas)

The living room of a house - is this expression ok? Do you ever say "front room" or "sitting room"? If it's a massive house with a huge entertainment area, can you say "living area"?
I was tickled - is this expression ok? It means happy.
"My college mate wants to hang out at my digs" - meaning my place, or college dorm. Would digs be used? Is college mate an ok expression for someone you go to college with?
In the real world, do people stop on the shoulder or the hard shoulder of a highway or is either fine?
Is median strip used for the partition between 2 lanes of a highway going in different directions?
"He takes the piss out of every banker he meets" - meaning he mocks them. Is this used?
Can you say "I'm pissed off at him" (angry) or does it have to be: "I'm pissed at him."
"I called my parents' landline (fixed home phone)." Is landline ok?
"I tried on the jeans in the changing room." Is this ok or does it have to be fitting room or something else?
Is the word "thingamajig" used in American English?
"I can't walk on my ropey leg" - meaning damaged or injured or tired. Can ropey be used?
Security guards are surveilling the place. This verb is showing up as misspelt but I see it sometimes. Is there another spelling or verb?

13.In the real world, do people in the US use MPH or KPH as the unit of speed when driving?

Is the expression "Calm my jitters" acceptable? (calm my nerves)
If you pull up to a mansion surrounded by a fence with very thick metal bars all around it, is the word "fence" appropriate or is there a better word. I think that gate would only be for a door in a fence or something?
Is the expression "It cost a pretty penny" ever used in the US?
Is the expression "It took every ounce of strength" used in the US?
Can the word "skiff" be used in the US for a sort of flat-bottomed row boat?

Thank you so much to anyone willing to give advice about these points. Though I appreciate any input, I think it would be most useful to hear from actual American writers to avoid possible confusion.

Many thanks!


texts: "And I you" with "you" as an indirect object

texts:
If someone says, "I want to sit with you," is the response, "And I you," acceptable? I believe a better choice would be, "And I with you," but is "with" strictly necessary or does it just add clarity?

An existing question covers the correctness of the general use of "And I you," but in those examples "you" is the direct object. If omission of the verb is acceptable, can the preposition be omitted as well?