texts: Personal pronouns interacting with word order

texts:
Many will be familiar already with
the technical details of when to use 'I' and 'me' in a sentence.
I hit him, he hit me, etc.
What I'm confused about is cases such as "me and John went to the shops". Or "who went to the shops earlier? Me and John did."
It's often desirable to list one's self first, either to be emphatic about one's own role in what is being said, or to give one time to think about who else was involved.
These appears to be cases where one cannot change the word "me" to "I" without also changing the word order. For example, you can't say "I and John went to the shops", it has to be "John and I went to the shops".
Is this a formally-recognised case in which "me" can be used in place of "I" (that is, when listing a series of names where the speaker is mentioned first in the list), or does it amount to formally "incorrect" usage despite being almost universal in speech?
To be clear for those who insist this has already been answered, I'm not looking for an explanation of the general rules about I and me. In the specific case where one's self is referred to first in the list, the de facto correct formulation is to say "me and John went to the shops", not "I and John went to the shops". I think we can all agree that the former is actually correct in practice, and the latter is incorrect. My question is whether this is recognised formally as an exception to the usual rule about I and me?


texts:
Which one is correct?

statistical models for process monitoring
Statistical models for processes monitoring.


texts: I looked up OED,it says that "turn in" could mean "go to sleep",I just want to know how does that come?


texts: Difference between "can't do" and "can't be doing"

texts: What is the difference between the sentences "I can't do this" and "I can't be doing this"?


texts: What word means 'to cause to be hidden', especially of dissenting opinions?

texts:
I think I've been using the word 'occlude' incorrectly.  I had thought that one of its meanings was something like "to cause to be hidden" or "to conveniently ignore", so one might say:

  By describing the history of boxing exclusively in terms of the star athletes, Miller occludes the significant impact the surrounding cultural paradigms had upon the sport.

or else one might say

  With the changes in the court, it became convenient to the imperial narrative that the citizens of the northern province be wealthy industrialists, and so the very existence of their homelessness problem became gradually occluded in depictions of the region.

I'm pretty sure there is a word that means what I am trying to use occlude to mean here, and it probably starts with an 'o' or something, but my googled definitions for the word don't match what I remember/how I've been using it.

Is there a different word that I might have forgotten?  Whenever I try to think of what it could be I just end up with 'obviate', but I know that means something entirely different (i.e. to make unnecessary, to get rid of). Does 'occlude' actually mean what I've been using it to mean?  If so, where can I find that definition?


texts: What is the correct word to accompany " A survey..."?

texts:
As in, do we say "A survey on xyz systems" or "A survey of xyz systems"?

My initial thoughts were to use " A survey on..." because I thought "A survey of..." would refer to survey conducted by XYZ; but I ended up reminding myself that in such a case, it might be "A survey by..."


texts: Pronunciation of words starting with "a"

texts:
I am not a native speaker, and I try to pronounce words as correct possible. I am confused with this group of words:

apprehend, application (pronounced with æ)
   approve, appraisal, appreciation (pronounced with ə)

I tried to make up a rule that words beginning with appr will be pronounced with ə but then I saw apprehend which is pronounced with æ

Is there a rule or should we just memorize?


texts:
What is the most suitable way to express that a sentence/word will be "replaced by" another sentence/word, from that point (in a text, for instance)?

  Henceforth called/named...
  Hereinafter called/named...


texts:
In German, the term "Kiste", literally meaning "box", is often used as a colloquial derogatory term for electronic and mechanical devices.
It is comparable to "jalopy", which, however, seems to be restricted to automobiles (according to dict.cc).
Is there a comparable term one can put into the following sentences?

I am lucky if this [term for desktop computer] boots without blue screen of death.
Most times this [term for TV set] shows nothing but snow.


texts: "Bad weather doesn't exist" vs. "The bad weather doesn't exist"

texts:
Should it be:

  Bad weather doesn't exist.

or

  The bad weather doesn't exist.


texts: What's a word for someone who just gets other people to deal with problems

texts: What's a word for someone who, whenever there's a problem that needs to be solved, doesn't solve it and either pretends it isn't there, or gets someone else to deal with it?


texts: Do I have to use the auxiliary before all the verbs?

texts:
Which of the following is correct?

  I will dance and sing at the concert tonight.
  I will dance and will sing at the concert tonight.

Does it happen with to, too? For example:

  I like to play soccer and watch TV on weekends.
  I like to play soccer and to watch TV on weekends.


texts: Word for someone using their fame to push their personal agenda

texts:
single word to describe someone famous who uses their fame to push their personal agenda.  Example is sports or entertainment celebs pushing their political/environmental/equal rights agenda

Ed (a famous sportsman) is a xxxxxxxxxx for using his fame to promote his political views

I have done many searches revolving around one using their position to advance their personal agenda.  The closest word I've found is opportunist - although that doesn't seem to describe the extra influence that fame contributes to it.


texts:
Take the following sentence:
My idea is similar to his idea but not quite the same.

Is there a single word which means " similar but not quite the same"?


texts: What's the meaning of " a blue berserk"?

texts:
Dis married Jokul Ironback, a blue berserk.

From "The Saga of Thorstein Viking's Son" by R.B.Anderson.

It's a norse saga that I'm reading. What's the meaning of "a blue berserk", I know the word "berserk" is a Norse warrior, but "blue", I really don't know.

Thanks.


texts: What is the right word to use in this sentence: "start looking at things beyond the ( ) of judgement/criticism"?

texts:
"Let's start looking at things beyond the ____ of judgement."

What I want to say is that, let's stop looking for shortcomings in the things we see, let's stop looking at parts (of things that we see) that we could criticize. Let's stop looking at things like a quizzer (or paper-marker) who is looking for mistakes in the answer written by their student in an exam. Let's stop listening to people in order to find parts (of what they are saying) on the basis of which we could judge the person, and start empathizing with them.

How do I say that?


texts: I looked up relax in various English dictionaries and it is always listed as a verb only, the noun being relaxation. However in my mother tongue (Italian) relax is normally used as a noun. Is this just one more case of misusing a foreign term or are there situations where it is possible to use relax as a noun in English too?


texts: What is a word for a person who stands up for their rights/doesn't give up/fights for what's right

texts:
I am writing a book, and I need a name for a group of people who are standing up for what is right. At first I thought of calling them the Dreamers, but then I searched it up and dreamers meant a person who dreams or is dreaming.
a person who is unpractical or idealistic. It doesn't really suit what I am looking for. I'm wanting something more... heroic. Please answer quickly! Thank you!


texts: Is there a word for this three-pronged shape?

texts:
I'm looking for a noun to refer to this shape:

The shape is simple enough that it seems there should be an established word for it. The best I could think of would be something like "three-pronged star" but it's not exactly a star. This term would evoke the following shape for me instead:

A technical/mathematical term would be interesting, but I'm more interested in a word the average reader without that kind of background would immediately understand.


texts: Do,does, is and are with multiple subjects

texts:
i m really confused about these two things:
First this : is emma stone and sharon stone related or are emma stone and sharon stone related?
2nd question: do your girlfriend and her friends want to eat? Or does your girlfriend and her friend want to eat?

Thanks


texts: What do you call a person who loves to read?


texts: What other verbs could I use to say that the fragrance from one person "gets" onto another person?

texts: Another person can smell the same with the one that comes in close contact.


texts: Are despite and in spite of interchangeable? I prefer despite but the alternative sometimes scans better.


texts: Can I use "although" at the beginning of a paragraph?

texts:
For instance...

"Although it is hot outside, I put my jacket on. I then proceeded to take it on and off, all day long. I am not sure why I did this."


texts: Word or phrase for the ability to put yourself in the visual perspective of another?

texts:
We're all flying drones here in the office right now.

When a drone is facing us, we have to press left to go right, so we got into a discussion about how we have to imagine ourselves in the "pilot's seat" for our muscle memory to react and move in the correct direction. It doesn't seem like "putting oneself in another's shoes," as it's seems more specific or relevant to spatial awareness. Is there a word or phrase for this?

Edit: I'm not looking for synonyms for perspective, point of view, or anything like that. I'm looking for the name of the ability to do it. As an example, "spatial awareness" covers your ability to be aware of your own self in your surroundings. I'm looking for something that covers any external reference point or perspective.

It's like a combination between spatial awareness and theory of mind.


texts: How has the usage of 'should' varied over time?

texts:
Possible Duplicate:
  “Should” versus “would”

In Spring 1936, Evelyn Waugh sent a marriage proposal to Laura Herbert, in which he wrote:

  [...]

  On the other hand I think I could… reform & become quite strict about not getting drunk and I am pretty sure I should be faithful.

  [...]

Emphasis mine, of course. Now, when I read this, given its context in the rest of the letter and having seen and read films and plays from the period, I am confident in interpreting it not as meaning I'm pretty sure that it would be right for me to be faithful, but rather I'm pretty sure that I can be/will be faithful. In today's English it is very unusual to see the word should used in this way; the word would might be used with the same or very similar meaning as should has in the above quote.

Oxford Dictionaries Online gives a compatible meaning for the third definition of should:

  3, formal expressing the conditional mood:

  (in the first person) indicating the consequence of an imagined event:

  if I were to obey my first impulse, I should spend my days writing letters
  referring to a possible event or situation:

  if you should change your mind, I’ll be at the hotel should anyone arrive late, admission is likely to be refused

Any interesting thoughts or information on the history of the word would be appreciated but I imagine that's too open a request to be valid as the primary question, so I'll ask over what period was this use of should common?


texts:
I have the following context:

  Since a young age, my parents encouraged me to be technically oriented. I studied subjects like math a programming [...].

Is there a word that can replace "technically oriented"?


texts: What is the difference between "so" and "really"?

texts: I read an email. Then I started asking myself "What's the difference between so and really?" I couldn't answer my own question with my background knowledge.


texts: What do you call a spoken disclaimer on a radio/TV commercial?

texts:
The other day I was listening to the radio, and a very lengthy disclosure came on after a commercial.

I know that in printed legal documents, and even on websites, the colloquialism for legal disclosures is "fine print." On TV they will often have some disclosures in "fine print" at the bottom of the screen, but just like radio, the spokesperson usually rattles off a bunch of things towards the end.

So, is there a colloquialism for the disclosures over the radio or TV commercials?

Thank you!


texts: Are "the fact of the matter" and "as a matter of fact" the same?

texts:
For a long time, I had only known the phrase "matter of fact" to be used in "as a matter of fact..." However, for quite a few days, I have also been hearing, "the fact of the matter is..." in news debates.

Are these one and the same? If not, how and where they can be used?


texts: Word for "studying a research article to get the most out of it"?

texts:
From the Word web dictionary:

  Study: Consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to
  discover essential features or meaning

Particularly, I am looking for a word (synonym of 'study') which describes reading the research literature thoroughly (e.g. in order to review it), and getting the most out of it.

Actually I am writing a proposal for a software application to search and read research literature. So I want to say that it will be designed and optimized in a way that you can get the most out of reading the research articles (because of features like highlighting terms of interest, e.g. highlighting all names of cars in an article about different automobile manufacturers).

So I want a word used in this kind of meaning/context. Any suggestions are welcome.

Edit: I just applied bold format to the part of the question which describes why it is different from the other question, i.e. a part of my question is that the word/phrase should describe that there are features available to get the most out of the reading experience.


texts: What does “you and the rest of the world” mean?

texts:
I sometimes see ‘you and …’ in English, for example “you and the other nine”, “You and your big mouth!”. This makes me sensitive to you and something.

“Okay,” said Harry slowly. “But … are you saying Karkaroff put my name in the goblet? Because if he did, he’s a really good actor. He seemed furious about it. He wanted to stop me from competing.”
“We know he’s a good actor,” said Sirius, “because he convinced the Ministry of Magic to set him free, didn’t he? Now, I’ve been keeping an eye on the Daily Prophet, Harry –“
“– you and the rest of the world,” said Harry bitterly.
“—and reading between the lines of that Skeeter woman’s article last month, Moody was attacked the night before he started at Hogwarts. (The rest is omitted.)
(p333, Harry Potter 4, US edition)

NB - Harry doesn’t like anyone to be interested in the Daily Prophet because Skeeter, a news reporter of the paper, is always inventing stories about Harry.
Does this ‘you and the rest of the world’ mean just a literal meaning? If Harry says “The other people, too”, is there any big difference in what Harry means to say?


texts: Why do I keep hearing "the human race" all the time instead of "the human species"?

texts:
Humans are a "species". Within a "species", there are "races". This ought to be agreed on as a basic, fundamental understanding of this reality. However, I keep hearing people say "the human race" all the time.

Now, I'm sure some of them have an agenda to push this bizarre idea that there is no such thing as human races, and others follow them without thinking about it, but I don't understand what the point is since you then need another word to refer to the different "sub-groups" of humans anyway. Usually, they "solve" this by using the synonym-ish word "ethnicity", but the sole reason for this seems to be to avoid the word "race", likely because they associate it with "racist", which is another concept which has also been warped completely.

Cats and dogs cannot have offspring with each other, because they are different species. However, different races or breeds of dogs (or cats) can have offspring, because they are still of the same species. (I've never heard "breeds" used for humans, and I bet it would sound even more offensive than "race" to the people who do this...)

It seems impossible to bring this up without having people assume (or pretend to think) that simply recognizing this biological/logical fact means that I must "hate" other races than my own. It's not the case; I'm simply very annoyed by how certain people try to warp the language into meaningless gibberish and dumbing it down to the point where you can no longer describe things in a way which doesn't sound like word salad.

Phrases such as "the whole human race" are nonsensical and ignore reality, regardless of what one thinks of this. Humans aren't (yet) a single race, so referring to humans in general as a "race" is objectively wrong. No matter how great one thinks it would be if there only existed one single, bland race, with zero diversity, it clearly is not the case in reality. So why pretend as if it is?

If they absolutely must avoid using the words "species" and "race", can't they at least use "humankind" instead? ("Mankind" is probably also "offensive"...)


texts: A word for the moment when you realise technology has outpaced you

texts:
Is there a word for that moment or age when you realise you can no longer keep up with technological advances?

As in: I just failed to work out how to pause a video on YouTube - I think I've hit 'that moment where technology has outpaced me'


texts: A term for: When a taste or smell of a product is being concealed by another product

texts:
Let's say, we create a smoothie and some ingredients are much stronger than others and they literally beat out the taste/smell of the other ingredients.

  a. We can't add durian because it will _______ the other flavours
  b. Nobody can smell the apricot because it is _______ by the other fruits

Is there a specific word or slang expression for it?


texts:
I'm trying to grok the phrase "now would it".  I've been using it all my life [citation needed], but I still don't 100% understand it.

I suspect if I only knew where to put the comma, I'd finally be able to wrap my brain around it!

In light of that, how shall we punctuate this sentence?  Do we need to add anything in/around "now would it" to make it grammatically correct?

  If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?


texts: How should "That's the worst of a [person]" be parsed in this context?

texts:
Having been listening to and reading Stalky and co. a bit and came across the following passage. The general context is that "Clewer" is being bullied horribly and Stalky and co. sort out the bullies ensuring him rest. I quote it with surrounding text to give context:

“I am pleased with my Tenth Legion. I make them my compliments. Clewer was throwing ink-balls in form this morning, instead of doing his work. He is now doing fifty lines for—unheard-of audacity.”
“You can’t blame us, sir,” said Beetle. “You told us to remove the—er—pressure. That’s the worst of a fag1.”
“I’ve known boys five years his senior throw ink-balls, Beetle. To such an one have I given two hundred lines—not so long ago. And now I come to think of it, were those lines ever shown up?”
“Were they, Turkey?’ said Beetle unblushingly.

Here "That's the worst of a fag." seems to be used in the meaning of either "the worst part of being" or in the sense that it brings out the worst. I'm assuming the former but am not quite sure. Of course the fact that Clewer was throwing ink-balls around is a good thing (i.e. he's not cowering in fear and utterly tired but rather being a spirited young boy).
What then is the correct meaning of that sentence and how should it be parsed/rewritten in non-colloquial English?

 Footnotes
1 fag: an English public-school boy who acts as servant to an older schoolmate
(note: in the book it seems to be used to refer to all young boys not just those that are actually fags, though Clewer is fagging for the two bullies)


texts: The difference between 'wish I will be' and 'wish to be'

texts:
For example:

  I wish I will be an Engineer.
  I wish to be an Engineer.

is there any difference between the two sentences?


texts: Is there a single word that means "on the basis of rules"?

texts:
The situation I'm thinking of is where someone is refused entry in to a country. There are existing rules for each class of entrant, but agents can also make a case-by-case judgment after applying the rules.

Is there a word that describes the first case as distinct from the second? I would like to use the word "categorically", but that word already exists with a different meaning.

Here is the sentence I would use it in:

  Such people can be denied case-by-case, but not _______.

Edit: The phrase "as a matter of rule" is exactly what I want to say, and I will just use that, but suggestions for single words are still welcome.


texts: What is another word for someone who takes out their pain on someone else?

texts: A person who takes things out on other people. They let out what they're going through on others who don't deserve it.  Not just anger or violence. Any negative emotion of sadness, fear, loneliness, insecurities, past experiences, past treatments from others..


texts: What's a word or expression for an answer that elicits its own question(s)?

texts:
I'm trying to think of a way of referring to the sort of half-ass answers you might find in response to the question: "why do we sleep at night?" Typical answers such as "we need to sleep so that our body can repair" or "we sleep to conserve energy" are really non-answers in the sense that they immediately elicit their own question(s) (namely, "why does our body need sleep in order to repair itself?" and "why do we need to conserve energy?")

Is there some word or clever turn of phrase used to refer to such answers?


texts: "That will have to" vs "Which will have to"

texts:
I am not really sure if this sentence is translated correctly into English :

  Access keys have been researched and the implementation will be done in a future sprint, that will have something to do with GUI.

Is the use of the word "that" in this sentence correct?
Can I, or should I, exchange "that" for "which"?


texts: Early Modern English: Shakespearean Insult

texts:
I think many are familiar with the famous line from Shakespeare:

  Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more
  temperate.

What I seek to do is keep the analogy but change the second sentence to an insult. I also want to keep the early-modern-english style and a few words of the original phrasing so the parody is clear. However, if I use nearly all the original words from the second sentence, it sounds too contrived:

  Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Nay, thou art much less
  lovely, let alone temperate.

Question: Can someone give me a suitable, slightly less contrived, early-modern-english insult using "Thou art more lovely and more temperate" as inspiration?


texts: What is a single word to describe a person who is quick to blame others or the system in almost any situation, regardless of whether that is legitimate or not?


texts: Meaning of 'The difference between involvement and commitment is like ham and eggs. The chicken is involved; the pig is committed'

texts:
According to M. Navratilova

"The difference between involvement and commitment is like ham and eggs. The chicken is involved; the pig is committed."

Alas, I was not able to understand the above quote, then  I consulted the ODE, which says:

Involvement: The fact or condition of being involved with or participating in something.
Commitment: The state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, etc.

But, after reading those definitions, I still don't understand.
So, what do they mean 'chicken is involved' and 'pig is committed'?


texts: What is another term for "through osmosis"?

texts:
I am looking for a single word to replace the phrase "through osmosis" with a single term, if that's even the correct phrase...

Example:

  When my daughter's project won the science fair, I too felt pride through osmosis."

I don't mean it as a synonym for empathy, more like "your success is my success".

Thanks.


texts:
Does this sentence:

"Indeed, as physicists will sometimes wearily attest, more than a normal share of oddball mystics beat a path to their doors, hoping to find evidence at last that the universe itself is not only paranormal but psychic."

mean:

"As physicists claim, every day a larger number of mystics decide to use physics to prove that the universe is not only paranormal but also psychic"?

(from a book titled Art and Science by Sîan Ede)


texts:
Which one of these two forms would be more appropriate in academic writing.
The text does concern The Holocaust and is being translated from Polish into English.

This is a photo presenting bodies of the murdered ones laying on a Jewish cemetery."

This is a photograph presenting bodies of the murdered ones laying on a Jewish cemetery."

Oh I forgot shouldn't it be laying in a Jewish cemetery because in is the proper preopsition for cemetery ?


texts: Is it "2-8 days" or "two to eight days"?

texts: When I am writing a book and referring to something that lasts 2-8 days, do I say "2-8 days" or "two to eight days"? Also, when referring to how much of something I would use, would I say "2-4 tablespoons" or "two to four tablespoons"?


texts: What's in-between matriarchal and patriarchal?

texts:
What is the word that describes a society or family-system where power / responsibility is shared equally among males and females?

Specifically I was wondering if it might end with -riarchal.

For example, "As an egalitarian, I don't believe in a matriarchal OR patriarchal system, but rather (blank)."


texts: When can one break the rule of using "does" instead of "do"?

texts:
Listen, Walter, because you shot Jesse James don't make you Jesse James. — Breaking Bad

Why is it don't and not doesn't?


texts: What does 'tame' mean in the following context?

texts:
As a kid, I was bullied -- for being Jewish. This was upsetting, but compared to what my parents and grandparents had faced, it felt tame. Because we truly believed that anti-Semitism was fading. And we were wrong. Over the last two years, nearly 20,000 Jews have left Europe to find higher ground. And earlier this year, I was at the Israeli embassy when President Obama stated the sad truth. He said: ‘We must confront the reality that around the world, anti-Semitism is on the rise. We cannot deny it.’

Steven Spielberg Commencement Speech, Harvard University, May 2016


texts: New Zealand pronunciation of "women" vs "woman"

texts:
I have read in a number of places that the NZ pronunciation of "women" must be rather peculiar. Quoting from just one such place:

  For some years I've noted the tendency of Kiwis to pronounce "woman" and "women" identically (as "woman").

To which an Australian replies:

  It appears there is a vowel shift going on in New Zealand (NZ) English [...] [T]he vowel in "women" which in Australian English is the same as the vowel in "hit", is often, in NZ, reduced to a schwa [...]. It makes the plural sound like our singular. I don't think the NZ pronunciation of the singular is the same as the NZ plural

A New Zealander begs to differ:

  I've noticed this trend over the last few years also. To me as a kiwi it doesn't sound anything like a mispronounced plural -- it just sounds as if the speaker is using the one word for both singular and plural. [...] I see it as part of a much larger tendency to confuse singular and plurals. [Several examples follow.]

Who's right? Who's wrong? Wikipedia has this:

  In New Zealand English the short i of KIT is a central vowel not phonologically distinct from schwa /ə/, the vowel in unstressed "the". It thus contrasts sharply with the [i] vowel heard in Australia. Recent acoustic studies featuring both Australian and New Zealand voices show that the accents were more similar before the Second World War and that the KIT vowel has undergone rapid centralisation in New Zealand English. Because of this difference in pronunciation, some New Zealanders claim that Australians say "feesh and cheeps" for fish and chips while some Australians counter that New Zealanders say "fush and chups".

So, there appears to be a vowel shift going on; but I'm not sure if there might be some truth to the people-just-stop-caring-about-certain-plurals argument as well.

I hope we have enough New Zealanders on board to shed some light on this.

Can you provide a guide to how to pronounce "women" and "woman" in NZ English? (I've done some searching for audio files or YouTube videos, but haven't found anything yet.)
Would you say that it's just the vowel shift, "a much larger tendency to confuse singular and plurals", or both?
How recent is this trend? (E.g., if you are a native speaker of NZ English, is your pronunciation of "women" different from that of your parents/grandparents?)


texts: "Keeping a distance" vs "keeping my distance."

texts:
Do both mean the same? Or there's a slight difference?

Example sentence:

  I got on the train, keeping a/my distance from Sumire (four people
  away) then got off with her (twenty minutes later).


texts: Correct usage for "all you need is/are..."

texts:
What is the correct verb tense for the phrase "all you need is", when what follows is a plural?

All you need is paintbrushes and paint.
All you need are paintbrushes and paint.

Or is neither incorrect?  Both forms sound funny to me.

Google shows an order of magnitude more hits for "all you need is two" than "all you need are two", but the latter still has ~500K hits, so it seems that both forms are in common use.  (You can also examples of both usages in Google's "News" search.)

Consider a related example:

All is good.
All are good.

Both forms are correct, but have slightly different meanings/contexts.  The first is correct if "all" refers to "everything" (singular); the second is correct if "all" refers to an implied concrete set of things, as in "all (the widgets) are good".  This line of reasoning seems to imply the latter form is correct, since "paintbrushes" are concrete things.  (And yet that seems to be the less popular form in common usage, judging by Google hits).


texts:
What is the meaning of the phrase "new strands of research" in the following sentence:

  The last two decades have also seen the emergence of new strands of
  research on multilingualism which have incorporated critical and
  poststructuralist perspective from social theory and embraced new
  epistemologies and research methods.

Is there any synonym for this phrase or for the word strand in this context?


texts:
I’ve recently erroneously used the term diffidence with the meaning of distrust.

Diffidence is one of the terms called false friend and, as a matter of fact,  the same term in French defiance and Italian diffidenza mean “distrust”.

They all derive from Latin diffidentia "mistrust, distrust, want of confidence” but, unlike in other languages, the term in English had a semantic change:

  Original sense (distrust of others) is obsolete; the modern sense is of "distrust of oneself, want of confidence in one's ability, worth, or fitness" (1650s), hence "retiring disposition, modest reserve."  (Etymonline)

Can anyone try to explain how this semantic change happened in English?


texts: "We rarely go on holiday." Can I say "Us neither"?

texts:
Since, in the first person singular, I can compare my situation, tastes, etc. to someone else's saying "Neither do I." or "Me neither."…

… is it possible to use all the other personal pronouns in the same way?

"Us neither." "Him/Her neither." "Them neither." etc.


texts: Hyphenated adjective vs non-hyphenated adjective (when saying the entity has the thing)

texts: I am still a bit confused about what the senses of these two nouns are: 1. White-tiled counter 2. White tiled counter. Does the one with no hyphen actually exist?


texts: "make them widely used" and "lead to them being widely used"

texts:
I have two alternatives in an academic paper. The first is

Additionally, the expressive logic foundations of ITPs lead to them
being widely used

The other is

Additionally, the expressive logic foundations of ITPs make them
widely used

Somebody advises me to choose "lead to them being widely used" instead of the other.
However, I can not figure out the difference.
Could you give me some help? Thanks in advance.


texts:
In Red-headed League from The adventures of Sherlock Holmes, a character named Wilson describes a weird sight of hundreds of red haired men crowding the area to Holmes. By his account he had been really shocked by this crowd, yet he says
'I should not have thought there were so many in the whole country as were brought together by that single advertisement.'
By context I think he means he wouldn't've thought it, but I don't...understand the use of 'should not have' here..


texts: Word for confusing two objects & their respective uses

texts:
I want to think there is a word for when one accidentally uses one tool in the place of another and vice versa, such as with someone using their straw to eat cereal and their spoon in the milk, or unscrewing two differently sized caps and attempting to screw them back on to the wrong containers.

Edit: I should mention that while there are a great many synonyms of "confused" or "mixed up" that could fit this, I'm looking for a fairly specific word for this scenario.


texts: Verb that goes with 'A case study has been...'?

texts:
I am submitting an abstract to a conference today, and I need to lose 1 word to stay under the 200 word limit. I'm trying to shorten this sentence, by replacing 'carried out'  with something different.

A case study has been carried out successfully.

So far I have come up with 'performed', 'conducted', 'executed', but I am not sure whether this is entirely correct. I am not entirely sure if you can conduct or perform a case study. You conduct research, but not a case study, right? Anyway, I've read it here and there but it does not look perfect to me, and even if it is right, is it common to say you have conducted or performed something successfully? Same goes for executed, which I think does not sound very scientific or at least is not often used in this context.

Because it is such a short summary I'd like to hit the nail on the head and not make any grammatical mistakes or mistakes in the exact meaning of words.


texts:
I'd like to know what the difference is between "from the 16th century downward", "from the 16th century onwards", and "since the 16th century".

  Many polyglot collections of the prayer have been published from the 16th century downward.


texts:
I'm sure some of us have heard of the Internet meme "me and who?" Strictly speaking, if no fun were allowed, shouldn't it be "me and whom" instead?
I'm a little confused though, because what would the subject, in this case, be?


texts: A word meaning "those who are plugged in"?

texts: I'm looking for a word that refers to folks who are "plugged in" or "knowledgeable and connected" to some network of people and information.  The "authorities" often connotes law enforcement and therefore doesn't fit well.


texts:
Two very similar expressions yet quite opposite connotations. Wise man is an older phrase but wise guy is a newer one.
I found two possible connections to wise man. There is the surname Wiseman which is a long-established surname of Anglo-Saxon origin, and derives from the Olde English pre 7th Century "wys", meaning "wise", and "mann", a man, and was originally given as a nickname to a wise and learned man, perhaps one who was regularly consulted by other village inhabitants on matters pertaining to law or business transactions.1
Wise men is also mentioned as another name for biblical magi who were, in the Gospel of Matthew and Christian tradition, a group of distinguished foreigners who visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.2
Opposite connotations of the words from thefreedictionary:

wise man:  a sage / a wise and trusted guide and advisor

wise guy: a smart aleck / a person who is given to making conceited, sardonic, or insolent comments

Etymonline says:

Wise man was in Old English. Wise guy is attested from 1896, American English...

How do these two phrases happen to have different connotations (one positive, other negative)?
Is it possible to find an explanation regarding to their origins?

1 http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Wiseman
2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_Magi


texts:
Can an American English speaker confirm whether the Simple Past tense is possible in the following sentences?

I didn't have so much fun for a long time.

You don't need to call him. He lost his phone.

I believe only the Present Perfect tense is possible here in British English:

I haven't had so much fun for a long time.
You don't need to call him. He has lost his phone.

Thank you.


texts: Why is it sometimes 'most' and sometimes '-est'?

texts:
There are various rules about whether an adjective takes '-er/-est' or 'more/most', but they're based on syllable count and don't give an etymological rationale.

Does anyone know? Is it based on whether the word was Saxon in origin?


texts: Is there a word for a word (ex of ‘word’:near rhyme) that has a rhyme with the middle of a word?

texts:
For example, I reaLIzed that you are a LIE

The caps are the rhyming part


texts: Single word for a person who hates their birthday

texts: Is there a word for a person who hates their own birthday?


texts:
I'm picturing 'energy' here in the context of holding a physical ball of siphoned energy. What is a good verb to encapsulate the overall, general concept of turning, or processing that vibrant energy, into something else? 'Combust' has too much of a fiery feel. 'Transform' and 'process' feel a little vague and lacklustre: they don't quite capture the sense that we're dealing with energy as opposed to something a little less intense. Are there some more abstract verbs that readily capture this idea, or perhaps some more common ones I'm forgetting?

In an example sentence: "Joseph _____ the energy he had gathered into something new."


texts: What are the differences between "can not V", "could not V", "can not have V-ed", & "could not have V-ed"?

texts:
It is too hard to understand modal verbs because different sites say different things, or maybe they say the same things but using different terms.

Here is what I think, but I am not sure I am right.

According to this site:

  1-1 We use the negative "can’t or cannot" to show that something is
  impossible:

  That can’t be true.

  You cannot be serious.

  1-2 We use "couldn’t/could not" to talk about the past:

  We knew it could not be true.

  He was obviously joking. He could not be serious.

According to this site,

  2- "can't have + Ved" expresses impossibility in the past. "can't have + Ved" is the opposite of "must have + V-ed"

  She can't have stayed at home. (it is impossible that she stayed at home)

  She must have stayed at home. (it is highly possible (95-99%) that she stayed at home)

The question is that:

Are (2) & (1-2) the same?

Is "She can't have stayed at home."="She couldn't stay at home"?

This site says:

  3- Couldn't have + past participle means that something wasn't possible in the past, even if you had wanted to do it. This structure
  is used hypothetically, to talk about things that didn't really happen
  in the past.

  He couldn't have passed the exam, even if he had studied harder. It's
  a really, really difficult exam. (we just gave this hypothesis, 95% sure but not 100% sure)

Are (3) & (1-2) the same?

"He couldn't have passed the exam" vs "He couldn't pass the exam"?

I would think "He couldn't have passed the exam" is a hypothetical statement while "He couldn't pass the exam" is a fact in the past.

This site says

  4- Couldn't have + past participle can be used in unreal
  condition.

  He couldn't have passed the exam if he hadn't looked at your notes

This site says:

  5-1 couldn't (for general ability)

  My grandfather couldn't swim.

  5-2 couldn't (for specific ability)

  I couldn't open the window.

The question is:

is (5-2) (inability) the same as (1-2) (impossible)?

This is what I think but I am not sure I am right!!


texts: How offensive is it to call someone a "slag" in British English? (NSFW)

texts:
One more colorful slang term I gleaned from the British movie I recently watched is slag.  In the movie, it was used in curses like, "Fuck-ing dogs! Slags." "Right slag, that one."

Now I know via dictionaries that slag means "a loose, promiscuous woman."   But there are multiple slang terms for such a woman in American English that have varying levels of vulgarity -- here's how I would rank a couple of them, from least to greatest in vulgarity:

  skank < slut < ho < bitch < cunt

So where does slag fit on this spectrum?  Of course, I imagine you'd never hear it on proper television, but is slag barely elided over when someone goofs and says it, kind of how the word bitch is in American English?  Or is it a word that a rough group of friends might use around each other casually, sort of how the word motherfucker is in American English, and apparently cunt is in British English? Or perhaps slag is a word that one should prepare for a fight over if one uses it, like cunt in American English?


texts: What's a word or phrase that means 'take advantage of someone's psychological weaknesses'?

texts:
I'm looking for something that's catchy and succinct. 'Exploit' is a good word for 'take advantage of' but it doesn't take into account someone's psychological weaknesses.

example sentences:

  "By taking advantage of her substance abuse in order to get sex, he was _________ her."

or

  "She took advantage of his bad memory by repeatedly getting him to wash the dishes more often than not. She was _________ him."


texts:
I am wiring a letter for a company and it said it should be signed at the back flap.
Can anyone tell me what the back flap of an envelope is?


texts:
I've noted that some US companies call people working for them "associates," rather than "employees." (I've seen that term in less-than-stellar retail and fast-food chains)

What would be the difference in meaning? And what is the origin this nomenclature shift?


texts: So do I ( what word type is "so" functioning as?

texts:
In the following example:
I like cakes. So do I.

What word type is "so" taking the role of? Verb, adverb?

I understand that there is some ellipsis happening and the sentences could be re-written:

I like cakes. So do I like cakes.

Apologies if this is a very basic question, but I appreciate your help.


texts: What is the origin of the idiom "pull yourself together"?

texts: I understand that its meaning is to regain control of one's composure.  However, I cannot find any information about its origin.


texts: How to understand these english sentences?

texts:
I learn english with free bbc courses. Now I am on unit 11 http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/upper-intermediate/unit-11/session-2.

I really don't understand these sentences:

  Taylor Swift opened the show and by the time it ended she had three Grammys, including album of the year, for 1989.

I can't make out for 1989. What it means?

Next sentence I can't translate is:

  She told young women in the music business to persevere and take credit for their own talents.

What means phrase to persevere and take credit for their own talents?


texts: Is "He was arrested because he murdered his neighbour." a simplification of "He was arrested because he had murdered his neighbour."?

texts:
I am familiar with tense simplification in subordinate clauses:

  He went out after he put on his coat.

instead of had put, because the conjunction after makes it clear that the action of putting on the coat happened earlier, so it is redundant to also indicate it by using the perfect instead of the simple aspect of the tense (past perfect rather than a past simple).

Does the same line of reasoning apply to

  He was arrested because he murdered his neighbour.

instead of had murdered, as the conjunction because establishes a reason-result relationship between the main clause and the subordinate clause, and it should go without saying that reason precedes result, or doesn't it? Isn't it obvious that, at the time of the arrest, the murder had already happened?


texts:
In company XYZ people can get a certificate called 'XYZ certified professional'. This certificate has a date and the certificate is valid for a number of years from that date onwards.

Which is the best description for this date?

  Certification date
  Certificate date

I would intuitively choose 1, but 2 has the advantage of being shorter.

Thanks for answers.


texts: What is a word to describe inefficient communication?

texts:
Example 1 - When reviewing résumés I don't want someone to use 1.5 pages to describe one job.

Example 2 - When a person uses excessive description to answer a simple question.


texts: Is there a specific word for adult offspring? If all of your "children" are now in their adulthood, is there a specific word to refer to them?


texts: I'm searching for the meaning of "Up to"

texts:
If we substitute this infinitesimal matrix A into orthogonality condition A^{t}A = 1 defined in chapter 1, we will get (1 + x A')^{t}(1 + A'J) =
(1 + x J^{t})(1 + x J) = 1, which is same as x J^{t} = -x J UP TO first order of x.


texts:
From google dictionary: /əˈkəlt/
From my textbook: ['ɔkʌlt, ɔ'kʌlt, ə-]

The difference of those two is HUGE, Could you give me an explanation ?


texts: "[a/the] equivalent of" vs. "[a/the] equivalent for" vs. "[a/the] equivalent to"

texts:
Which of the following constructs sound more idiomatic to you?

Is there any British/American equivalent to the French phrase "broyer du noir"?
Is there any British/American equivalent for the French phrase "broyer du noir"?
Is there any British/American equivalent of the French phrase "broyer du noir"?

If all three are acceptable options, how do these differ from each other?
Ngram AmEng
Ngram BrEng
Ngram "an equivalent"


texts: Is "sign up to" an acceptable alternative to "sign up for" on websites?

texts:
I generally see "sign up for" online, but I've noticed "sign up to" in a few places. Is that an acceptable alternative when talking about signing up for a service?

For example, PayPal says "It's free to sign up to PayPal." Is "PayPal" serving as a verb in that case?

The same for the title of the Airbnb sign up page: "log in/sign up to Airbnb".


texts: Which of these is grammatically correct?

texts:
"Stop smoking until it's too late"
                       Or
"Stop smoking before it's too late"


texts: How do we pronounce the camera company name "Canon"?

texts: How do we say Canon - the camera company name? Is it Keh-nun or Keh-non?


texts: Grammar questions regarding an excerpt from The Giver

texts:
I've been reading Lois Lowry's The Giver recently, and have questions regarding a sentence from her book. I know that some sentences in literature, like The Giver, do not always follow strict grammar rules and do not need to follow them, but I still can't understand the exact meaning of the sentence:

  They(Jonas and Gabriel) saw deer; and once, beside the road, looking at them curious and unafraid, a small reddish-brown creature with a thick tail, whose name Jonas did not know.

In this excerpt,

How does the adjective phrase, "curious and unafraid," work in the sentence? Does it modify the verb "looking at"? To be grammatically correct, should it be changed to "curiously and unafraidly"?
Where does "a small reddish-brown creature with a thick tail, whose name Jonas did not know" belong to? Why is the noun phrase placed at the end if it modifies the "deer" in the first clause?

I absolutely don't consider it is wrong and this is not necessary to understand the whole story, but I can't help myself wondering how this sentence works.

Could you help me parse this sentence?


texts: Word for the category of "of, relating to, or resembling" adjectives

texts:
There is a category of adjectives that describe the nature of an item, for example:

arborial: of, relating to, or resembling a tree
leporine: of, relating to, or resembling a rabbit
crepuscular: of, relating to, or resembling twilight

However, I have been unsuccessful in finding a word that describes this category of words. Is there a name for this type of adjective?


texts:
What is the general term for the locks in these photos?

The trademark name is Codelock, and I would call them electronic locks or keyless locks, but is there another term, especially for the kind that operates by mechanical rather than electronic means?


texts: Word describing the law itself as opposed to its intended subjects

texts:
When analyzing a law, one can discuss the "subjects" of the law; e.g., the subjects of a law that imposes a sales tax will be the merchants and/or buyers. But how would one refer to the substance of the law itself as a distinct entity? Using my previous example, I'm looking for a word that would complete this sentence: "The __ of this law is the imposition of a sales tax." The word "substance" seems a little too broad for this purpose, as the subjects of the law are also part of its substance.

[Note: I'm well aware that the above sentence could easily be reworded as something like "The law imposes a sales tax"; it's just an example to explain what kind of technical term I'm trying to find.]


texts: Best choice of word for the opposite of acknowledge

texts:
The most common word for the opposite of acknowledge is either ignore or deny.

Can I use the word disregard as the opposite of acknowledge?

I have a form that have the following options:

acknowledge
pending
X

where X is the word that I am thinking and will be a suitable word as the opposite of acknowledge.

A friend of mine suggest that I use the word reject as the opposite of acknowledge. What is the most suitable word?


texts: Were contractions less common in olden days?

texts: We just viewed the new movie True Grit. The language of the characters was more formal sounding than we are used to, largely because of the absence of contractions. Is this historically accurate? Do Americans use contractions more liberally now than in the 19th century?


texts: What do you call the process of reducing inflammation or the state that inflammation has been cured?

texts: At First I was searching the  antonyms for inflammation, concerning that one of  the antonyms for the word  "inflate" is "deflate" , but now  I don't think this is the correct way,I am unable to find the word please help me out.


texts: Here is the place where I saw this: http://feltron.com/ar11_04.html (in the right-bottom corner of the first page).


texts: Why do people sometimes apologize when there is no need to?

texts:
An example that comes to mind would be

I'm sorry, I just don't agree with you.

There are better examples which I can't remember at the moment.


texts: What is a work-appropriate "small" object for a joke?

texts:
Trying to think of a way to make this joke work-appropriate.

"If we store GPS coordinates to a precision of 10 decimal points, we could even measure the size of your [expletive deleted]."

What is something funnily small, yet work appropriate?

I've tried a few, but doesn't have the same impact:

my pension
your remaining hairline
my post-divorce bank account
quarks


texts: When should I use "can" and when should I use "will"?

texts:
This sentence talks about capability.

  I can never do that.

This sentence talks about a choice. A personal preference maybe?

  I will never do that.

Is this correct or can we use it interchangeably?


texts: Subject-Verb Agreement: "A selection of"

texts:
I was okay with the following sentence the first time I read it:

"...a selection of films that explore..."

Then I realized that the subject of this sentence is probably "a selection" and not "films". However, "...a selection of films that explores" sounds klunky to me.

Which is correct (or more correct)?


texts: Is there a verb that concisely describes this facial expression?

texts:
What's a word that describes that face you make when you're worried or appealing to someone, where the insides of your eyebrows curve up towards your hairline? The sort of face that Puss makes in the Shrek films when he's begging for something.

Is there a one-word way of communicating that on the page? A "she Xed at him" sort of thing, like frown or scowl. (Of course, frown and scowl mean the eyebrows go down in the middle. What's the opposite movement called?)


texts: All of the + collective grammatically correct?

texts:
Is this phrase grammatically correct:
“I love all of her album”.
I’m referring to an artist who’s only come out with one album and want to say that I like all the songs in the album. But the phrase “all of the” seemed to be used with plurals, such as “I love all of her albums” or “I love all of her songs”. Is it grammatically correct to use “all of the” with a singular collective noun? It seems as if “I lover her whole album” is more grammatically correct than “I love all of her album”


texts:
What is the difference between questioned and asked?

  I asked him how are you?

  I questioned him how are you?

Will the two sentences have a different meaning if I use questioned instead of asked?

I think the difference may be in politeness because asked looks more polite than questioned.


texts: Word for unverified confidence without ambition

texts:
I'm looking for a word or phrase to describe the condition of someone who is fairly certain he could do _______ if he were to set his mind to it, but who has absolutely no intention of ever doing so.

It's a sort of confidence that feeds on inexperience, which you get a lot of, for example, in the viewers of popular sporting events.

Possibly related to the Dunning–Kruger effect


texts: French speaker here — How to pronounce "r" and "l"?

texts: I'm a French speaker and actually I have some problems with the sounds l , r and o in lawyer. Do you have any advice for me on how to place the tongue and so on?


texts: News headline for "children catch thief"

texts:
If a couple of kids managed to provide the evidence that allowed the police to convict a thief (as in the Famous Five), what would a UK newspaper headline be? "Kids catch thief"? "Children catch thief"? "Children convict thief"? ... ?

I couldn't find any real news headlines where children solved a crime case and don't know:

if children would be referred to as "kids" or as "children"
what a common phrase would be for "X caught / helped catch a criminal"

I'm specifically after British English.


texts: Someone who is sexually turned on by people with disabillities

texts: What would be a good term for a person who has a fetish for people with disabilities?  Eg, they are sexually turned on by someone with an amputated leg.  Elsewhere on the Interweb someone is calling this a "devotee", but that seems to be a very poor term.


texts: What does it mean: think “table” and not “kill"?

texts:
The following is from Designing for Growth: A Design Thinking Toolkit for Managers:

  Ultimately, learning launches need to result in decisions. If you have tested key assumptions, you should also be able to make concrete decisions about if and how to move ahead with the growth project. If you decide not to move ahead, think “table” and not “kill.” Chances are, if a concept is strong enough to get to the learning launch stage, its problems may be temporary. Times change and so do enabling technologies, customer readiness, and so forth.

What does the expression, think “table” and not “kill”, mean?


texts: Formal replacement for the phrase "ties back to"?

texts:
The phrase "ties back to" is used frequently, but it feels awkward in a formal paper. I'm seeking a word or phrase which means the same thing, but has a more appropriate sound.

An example sentence is:

  This fact ties back to my initial interest in the subject.


texts:
When someone is lying down, you say sit up.
When someone is standing in an upright position, you say sit down.

What in the situation when you want to ask a very small kid to sit down to a chair, but the chair is too high for him so he has to climb up the chair to sit down on it?

(source: voiceboks.com)

Sit down sounds like not matching the context. Would you still use sit down?

What I want to find is if for the native English speaker the phrase sit down is stronger than the idea of the logical direction as in sit up (which seems more natural to me as the non-native speaker). So if you really had to choose and you had no other options, what would you select.

(I believe this is not a duplicate of lying down and then sit up/down?)


texts: Full stop or colon to describe a number of choices?

texts:
Which example is better?

There are three reasons for this: One, two, finally.
There are three reasons for this. One, two, finally.


texts: Is the meaning of "support" in " supports " commonly understood?

texts:
There are numerous examples of the verb support meaning "to be capable of":

IE9 supports HTML5.
The database doesn’t support transactions.
The GPS navigator supports spoken voice directions.

I wonder if this use is understood by a less techy audience. Could you say, for example:

The vacuum cleaner supports HEPA filters.
Volvo cars support ABS.
The dishwasher supports water temperatures between 30 and 60 °C.


texts: Is there an informal, singular equivalent of "Guy" to refer to women?

texts:
Suppose I wanted to refer to a colleague of mine, a young man aged between his teens and maybe his 30s - I would use the phrase:

So there's this guy at work who...

However I am struggling to determine an equivalent for a young woman that retains it's informality and gendered connotation. Here are some possibilities I have thought of:

Young Woman: By specifying the age it resolves one of the problems above but it seems to make it even more formal.
Girl: This could work if I was referring to a woman below the age of 18, but it would be very condescending to refer to an adult woman as a girl.
Female: Far too formal - it sounds like something a doctor would say, and what's more appears to be a phrasing that online misogynists favour. It seems preferable to use "female" as an adjective only
Chick: Very condescending; possibly bordering on misogynistic.
Gal: It suffers similar problems to chick, and - though this may be regional - it seems to be quite an antiquated word
Woman: Too formal, and (at least to me) would conjure an image of a middle aged woman rather than a young woman. This does, however, seem to me to be the best option because it doesn't come off as condescending.


texts: I'm looking for some words to denote pre-modernistic old-fashioned theater tradition with wigs, bombastic style of expression and so on. This kind of theater we can still observe at the provinces. In Russian, for this purpose we use expressions which can be translated as naphthalene/cardboard performance, so I'm looking for some words like that.


texts: Many people call it "Rush-hour" when there is a lot of traffic on roads in the morning or evening. Should not it be called "Rush-hours" because the huge traffic continues for many hours during that time??


texts: Etymology of "Buff" and "Nerf" as used in video-game slang

texts:
In video games, when the makers increase the power of something, it is sometimes referred to as a buff.  If they decrease the power of something, it is called a nerf or a de-buff.  This also applies to player abilities to temporarily increase or decrease their power.

Where do these terms come from?


texts: The difference between "Many a man" and "Many men"

texts:
Many a man died in that battle.

My understanding of many mean more than 2 and a man mean 1.
But in the sentence above, these two words are put together and I wonder what does it really mean?
How can you have many one man died in that battle?


texts: Where is this +y-izing habit coming from?

texts:
Like laptop -> lappy, napkin -> nappy, football -> footy

Is this just an Aussie thingy?


texts:
I was reading an article and found the below sentence:

  I met Ruhail through Facebook last year but I hadn’t saved his number as I didn’t want my parents to know.

I believe the author missed commas at two places- one before but and second before as.

I met Ruhail through Facebook last year : This is an independent clause followed by this sentence, "I hadn’t saved his number as I didn’t want my parents to know.", which has two independent sentences and a comma should be placed before as.

In my view the correct sentence should be this one:

    I met Ruhail through Facebook last year, but I hadn’t saved his number, as I didn’t want my parents to know.

Secondly, what type of sentence is this? Can I call it a compound sentence ?


texts: Other expressions for 'be down on someone'

texts: I'm looking for other expressions or saying to describe  when someone is ill-disposed  towards someone else,  but mainly on a prejudice rather than for objective reasons.


texts: Does a pronoun usually refer to the nearest preceding person(s)?

texts:
See the following paragraph:
Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh.” And his brothers listened to him. Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. They took Joseph to Egypt.
Here I am asking about the pronoun "they" in the sentences *Then Midianite traders passed by. And they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver.
*
Does "they" refer to "some Midianite traders" as those are the nearest preceding persons?


texts: How to reply to a status update for a job application?

texts:
I received an email today telling me that I will be notified about next steps for my job application by mid next week. I want to be polite and respond something brief, but since I'm not a native English speaker, I often have trouble with simple greetings and formalities. So far I've come up with this, but I think it sounds a bit awkward and redundant:

  Thank you for keeping me up to date. I will be looking forward to hearing about the status of my application.

What do you think? Any suggestions are welcome.


texts: Word/phrase used to describe the search for something specific

texts:
I trying to find a word or phrase to describe the process of looking for something specific.

So for example, if I am exploring the world in search of stamps, I am on a ......... for stamps.

Does such a word even exist??

Thanks


texts:
When I look up the definition for Metronym or Metronymic, the definition says that it's an alternative form of Matronym, which is a name taken from a person's mother.

From Wictionary

  metronymic - English. Alternative forms · matronym. Etymology. From Ancient Greek μήτηρ (mḗtēr, “mother”) + ὄνυμα (ónuma, “name”).

thefreedictionary.com/Metronym

  mat·ro·nym·ic  (măt′rə-nĭm′ĭk) also me·tro·nym·ic (mē′trə-, mĕt′rə-)
  adj.
  Of, relating to, or derived from the name of one's mother or maternal ancestor.
  n. A name so derived.

However, Metro is related to a French word for a major city or metropolitan area, so Metronym would seem to be a name taken from a person's place of birth, or a family seat like Leonardo Da Vinci or Catherine of Aragon.

Merriam Webster

  metro - Noun. French métro, short for (chemin de fer) métropolitain metropolitan railroad

however, it's also related (at least phonetically) to Metropolis or Metropolitan which Webster defines thusly:

  metropolitan - noun. 1. the primate of an ecclesiastical province 2. one who lives in a metropolis or displays metropolitan manners or customs

  metropolitan - adjective
  Definition of metropolitan (Entry 2 of 2)
  1 : of or constituting a metropolitan or his see
  2 : of, relating to, or characteristic of a metropolis and sometimes including its suburbs
  3 : of, relating to, or constituting a mother country as distinguished from a colony

  History and Etymology for metropolitanz:
  Adjective -
  Middle English, from Late Latin metropolitanus of the see of a metropolitan, from metropolita, noun, metropolitan, from Late Greek mētropolitēs, from mētropolis see of a metropolitan, from Greek, capital

I've seen the word used in the latter sense by Jim Butcher in Captain's Fury (chapter 55) when describing those who belonged to the common House of the city they were born in (e.g. illegitimate children of nobles) such as Antillar Maximus and Phrygiar Navaris.

From "Captain's Fury by Jim Butcher, Chapter 55

  The name Phrygiar, like every other metronym in the Realm, was an indicator of illegitimacy. Children who were not recognized by their fathers and admitted into their Houses legally became members of the "city-house" of whichever High Lord held authority over their birthplace.

So the question is: is Butcher using the word wrong, or is this a very uncommon definition that dictionaries don't bother mentioning?

honestly, the in-context reading of the definition would seem more logical.


texts:
What terms I can use to say the something is very easy to do, to learn, etc?

I have thought about easy-peasy, like "this is easy-peasy to do", or "a piece of cake".

So, in general,

  Assembling this furniture is _________ [to do].

Is there a fun/cool way to say that?
Some slang that is universally understood or something?
Informal, light-hearted idioms are preferred.
I don’t want technical bureaucratese
like “This should require only 20 minutes of your time”,
and things like “so easy that a caveman could do it”
seem unnecessarily pejorative.


texts: Parallel sentence construction: "I have, and always will trust you"

texts:
I have, and always will trust you.

Do you read this as

  I have trusted you and I always will trust you

The following is suggested by another member on SE:

  I have, and always will... trust you.

I'm trying to express that I have always trusted and hopefully will always trust you.

Seems redundant. Any suggestions?


texts: Word for missing out/losing someone's employeeship

texts:
If you choose to leave a store/restaurant, you say they lost your business/service. How would you say the same for employment? Take, for instance:

  The interview went great, yet they still did not hire me. I guess they lost my _______.

Would employeeship or employment be correct? Both of them sound rather odd in this context.


texts: What word(s) combine the meaning of 'faith' and 'discernment'?

texts:
I need a single word, a noun, that combines the meaning of the words 'faith' (in the religious sense) and 'discernment'. The word needs to fit in the sentence "Bob wants to have [insert word here]".

Basically, I want a word that says "this individual is careful about placing his loyalty in the correct truths". So he has discernment about where he places his faith.

I feel like there has to be a word for this. It's a very specific meaning, but in all the long history of all religion I feel like SOMEBODY has to have come up with an English word for this. The closest I've gotten so far is "wisdom" and just allowing the religious context give the word some religious connotation. Maybe you can help?


texts: Can the word "line" be used as a substitute for for "sentence" when referencing text?

texts:
Does "line" always mean row, or can it be used as a substitute for "sentence" when referencing text?

Dictionary definitions seem to define "line" as one row of text. This seems a bit restrictive to me, though ... For example, actors can partake in the activity of "reading lines". In that case it seems to be referring to reading sentences.

I am asking because I am trying to have a nice reference structure when referring to specific parts of a scientific paper. To write "methods/statistics/, paragraph 2, lines 4-5" seems more aesthetically pleasing than "methods/statistics/, paragraph 2, sentences 4-5". Is the usage of "lines" (to mean the fourth and the fifth sentence) correct here?

If I am completely in the wrong, what is the nicest way to refer to specific portions of text without using the page/row style? I want to avoid page/row, because it is too much busy work to edit page numbers if you change something major early in the text.


texts:
I came across a word in an chemistry lecture which appears in plenty of places but none explaining where the word came from. The word in question is 'galligu'

From wiktionary,

  Galligu
  1. The insoluble waste products of the Leblanc process.

It seems as if the word appeared out of nowhere and nobody questioned it, which is somewhat strange (though if I try hard enough I'll probably find it's not unheard of) for a science-related term. I have a hunch it may be somehow related to French, but nary a source to be found. Any help?

Example usage -
http://www.nce.co.uk/the-perils-of-galligu/1228052.article


texts:
I came across the following construction in an exercise book written by a non-native speaker of English, who asked the students to replace the word 'much' with a more suitable one:

I know that the furniture of my flat is 'much'.

The first answer came to my thought was 'a lot'. But l feel that the whole construction is not very common in English. Right?  I'm sorry if my question seems so silly.


texts:
Can someone give me a brief explanation on the difference between "sound" and "robust"? I was asked to explain if "robustness" and/or "soundness" of an IT system is given. I conclude from the way the question is asked, that there must be a difference.

I guess just a few sample sentences, where the sense changes depending on what word one uses, will help me out. Context does not matter.


texts:
Source: p 105, The Law of Contract, 5 ed (2012), by O’Sullivan and Hilliard

  It is encapsulated in the difficult seventeenth-century language of
  Lampleigh v Braithwait (1615):

    A mere voluntary courtesie will not have a consideration to uphold an assumpsit. But
    if that courtesie were moved by a suit or request of the party that gives the assumpsit,
    it will bind,
    for the promise, though it follows, yet it is not naked,
    but couples itself with the suit before [] and the merits of the party procured by that suit,
    which is the difference.

  This means, if A asks B to do something for him and later promises to pay for it or do
  something in return, A’s promise will be enforceable because it is supported by consideration,
  namely what B did at A’s request.

1. Am I right in guessing that Definition 2.1 applies? But how does it make sense for a suit to procure 'merits of the party'? What did I misinterpret?

  2.1 = (archaic or Law) Cause (something) to happen:

2. What's the antecedent of which? Which 'difference' does it concern?
Is it whether a 'courtesie' has consideration or not?


texts:
Everybody wonders who is on his way down or out within a company.

Does on his way down and on his way out have the same meaning? The dictionary definition of on the/your way out is no longer being successful, popular or effective but I can not find the definition of on the/your way down.

Thanks,

fate


texts: What are some proper ways to say in the following situation?

texts:
I was wondering if there are any considerate and polite ways to express something like "I shouldn't have shared my negative emotion with you" after talking about some bad experience with your friend that you don't think he/she cares even though you want to have a listener.

Or is it even a thing in American culture?


texts: To use a participle or an infinitive? That's the question

texts:
Would native speakers use "to harm" in this one? Thanks.

  The elephant king agreed. He ordered that the elephants stop stepping on a single mouse. From then on, the elephants paid attention and lifted their huge legs carefully, never ___ their tiny friends.

harm
harmed
harming
to harm


texts: What expression ironically says that something new is better or improved?

texts:
In French, we have the Expression X lave plus blanc which translates word for word as X washes whiter. It comes from old TV advertisements where it was the typical argument to show that a new laundry detergent was better than others. It's now used in every possible way to ironically convey the idea that X is new so it's better.

I don't know an English expression that translates that idea with the same pinch of irony; can someone suggest one?


texts: Difference between spine-tingling and spine-chilling?

texts:
I've learned the word 'spine-tingling' in an Oxford book. While when I look up that word in the Websters dictionary,there only comes out 'spine-chilling'.
I perceived them as synonyms but no evidence suggests that.
So what's the difference between them and what are their usage?


texts: Explanations on the tense of the expression, "XX said that..."

texts:
Here's the example that triggered me to ask this question

  Sony Corp. said Thursday it wants to become the biggest player in Japan's growing Android tablet market by changing the way the devices are used.

If we take a look at the use of tense in the above sentence, we can see the past tense was used for the main sentence, "Sony Corp. said Thursday." I am happy with that.

But when it comes to its objective clause (hopefully that's the right term here), the tense somehow is not consistent with the main sentence, indicating the present tense by using the verb wants. Is it grammatically correct or not? I'd appreciate if someone can explain it to me.


texts:
Let's say I look up to Alice and Bob. Can I convey this fact about Bob in a comma-delimited clause like this?

"This is Bob, up to Alice and whom I look."

or similarly

"My couch, on my bed and which I often sleep, is brown."

Of course I'd avoid this awkward phrasing in practice, but I'm curious whether it's considered technically valid.


texts: "In extensive grounds" vs. "on extensive grounds"

texts:
If there is a large house, can I say either of the following?

  The house stands in extensive grounds.
  The house stands on extensive grounds.

Which one makes sense?


texts: What is the difference between "fill" and "fill in"?

texts:
I am confused by fill and fill in. I checked online, and both forms are used in

fill a hole
fill in a hole

So I am wondering is there any difference in meaning between them? If not, what's the meaning of in? What is the function of in "fill in"?


texts: Why is the order "is not" instead of the more rationally intuitive "not is"?

texts:
He not is.

He is not.

Using the second method, you have to listen to the third word 100% of the time, instead of only when "not" is used.


texts:
The name of the building is [opposite of engraved] above the entrance.

I'm looking for a word to describe characters that are raised above the surface - the opposite of engraved or sunken text


texts:
In a test, there is a question I need to translate. "People of the opposite gender need to be treated with respect just as much as I do". What is the correct word for it - "the opposite gender" or "the opposite sex"? Does it have the same meaning?

This psychological test is for children


texts: Name of application that works, but does not validate anything

texts:
This question is about programming (web development to be more specific).

I've been trying to find a word to describe a website that completely works from the frontend users perspective. But on the backend, nothing is actually being validated. So the application/website would be very easy for someone to screw around with (like deleting other users posts).

Best I've got at the moment is that it's "loosely built". But still requires a lot of explaining to make sense.

Has anyone heard of a expression/word for this? It doesn't have to be related to programming. You could also think of this as a building made out of paper mache, it might look solid and sturdy but it would very easily break.

Thanks!

Edit/Clarification:
Just to make it more clear. I mean that the website as mentioned above actually is intended to be complete and is currently a work in progress. Lets say this is a project for a client. He sees the website as 100% complete. But it might actually only be 20% complete (because nothing is validating on the backend, etc). So there is a lot more work to finish the project that it seems to be for outsiders.


texts:
Folk-blues artist Richie Havens, in his 1972 album "Live at the Cellar Door," made a comment about the Superman introduction which said that the Man of Steel fought for "Truth, Justice and the American Way."  Havans rephrased it as a question:  "'Truth, Justice AND the American Way'?  I always thought that Truth and Justice WAS the American Way."  He implies that the phrase was an accidental revelation by Society and the Government that pursuance of the American Way did not necessarily require the powers that be to include "Truth and Justice" -- those values could be left to aliens from another planet, like Superman, to pursue.

So does the word "and" really exclude "Truth and Justice" from being the "American Way"?


texts: British placement of punctuation relative to inverted commas

texts:
I already found many related questions, but no sourced and exactly fitting answers, so I have to ask again.

I know there are different standards. I am interested in the British one. I was under the impression that punctuation was to be enclosed within the inverted commas, if and only if it formed part of the utterance. To my understanding, the following sources corroborate my statement (please note the position of the bold face comma):

style guide

Example from it:

  ‘Economic systems’, according to Professor White, ‘are an inevitable byproduct of civilization, and are, as John Doe said, “with us whether we want them or not”’.

American and British punctuation, by Tim North

Edit:
This one seems to be wrong. Unfortunately, I followed it for months.

Example from it:

  "Hello", he said. "How are you today?"

Shockingly, it appears that the following contradicts my interpretation:
living oxford dictionaries

namely in the examples:

  ‘You’re right,’ he said.

and

  ‘I don’t agree,’ I replied.

Am I overlooking something? Is the standard changing? I am very confused!


texts: I'm looking for a word that is the noun-form of "poorly-constructed" and ends with the -ation suffiix

texts:
I'm going for some alliteration in a paper I'm writing discussing the history and once-current state of a particular navy, and one of the three things I want to talk about is the possibility of poorly-constructed ships. The other two are appropriation (some ships were appropriated from conquered peoples) and reparation (many ships had seen multiple battles and had undergone numerous repairs). I want to be able to say something to the effect of, "The history of appropriation, reparation, and ---ation in the fleet significantly influenced the outcome of this battle."

I've toyed with 'ill-formation', but that doesn't sound right to me; it brings to mind poorly-constructed syntactic objects, not large physical ones.

Thoughts or suggestions?


texts:
I was translating a text, but then the author quoted an old poem by an author named John Ball.

I have seen it written in two different forms:

"Be war or ye be wo; Knoweth your frend from your foo"
"Be ware ere ye be woo; Know your friend from your foe."

Know, I think I would be right in saying that the second verse means "Know your friend from your foe", as in the second spelling, and that "be war" or "be ware" means "beware".

How would "or ye be wo"/"ere ye be woo" be written in modern English? I don't know if the fact that I'm not a native speaker makes it harder, but I can't quite understand what that's supposed to mean. Is woo "wooed"? "Beware when you're wooed"? or what?


texts:
Granted, this looks french, I've seen this used and referenced in English. I see it used a lot with dog walking businesses or pet sitting companies, although I have no idea what it means.

Google translates it to "pet au pair" in English (doesn't translate anything) and Googling the phrase only brings up more pet sitting websites.


texts: Summarizing Term for "Structured Data" and "Unstructured Data"

texts: I am currently writing a survey paper in the computer science domain. At one point, I distinguish between "structured data" and "unstructured data". I need a summarizing term for both (to name the dimension, "data" would be too broad). Is there a better term than "structuredness" (in case that even exists...)?


texts: Idioms or metaphors for "I'm curious to know why, but it seems I'll never know"

texts:
I had a technical issue and no one from customer service had any idea why it happened. But after a few days, my computer problem just got resolved mysteriously. I got too invested into the problem and now want to know why it happened, and why it got resolved. But there's no way to find out why, so I just have to live with that unsatisfied curiosity.
What are some ways to describe the feeling that I'll never know why? (not limited to only idioms or metaphors although it is preferred)
Thanks.


texts: Correct tense for "I wish I had more time so i could've baked some cookies"

texts:
Whats the correct way of saying this?

I wish I had more time so i could've baked some cookies
I wish I've had more time so i could've baked some cookies


texts: Idiom for something cheap that is expensive to replace

texts:
For example, a great pair of sunglasses which i paid a bargain for, but if they get lost or broken, I'll have to pay a lot to get as good a pair.

EDIT: I'm looking for the word that describes the current state of the sunglasses (from the example), not one that describes the initial purchase. Also, it could be something I found and didn't buy.


texts: When should end punctuation go inside quotes?

texts:
I have been/am being taught that end punctuation should always go inside quotes. For example, you are supposed to write:

  Marvin thought it was "awful."

The problem is I do not see how does this make sense. Intuitively, I always wrote:

  Marvin thought it was "awful".

as that makes more logical sense — you want a quote to be an exact replication of what somebody else said, so why should you add punctuation inside?

I always thought it made more sense to not touch the quote and add anything after or before if it must be added.

So, why should I put end punctuation inside quotes?


texts: can two conj.(but and because ) be used together?

texts:
I confused with this sentence : "The Emplyee class is a superclass, but not because it is superior to its subclass"

I know both "but" and "because" can be conj. for connecting two sentences. But here the sentence use both of them to connect two sentences. My question is this situation can be allowe? and why? and also there is a "not" between the "but" and "because" to represent a negative meaning, so if I want to negate a conj., just directly add a "not" in front of it? can anyone tell me more about how to use "not" here?


texts:
Can I say as follows?

  I saw him in life, not on TV.

Is there any other special expression in English that means that the experience is actual, hands-on, direct?


texts: what is the difference in the usage of the following?

texts: What is the difference in the usage of "whom" and "who"? please also tell me the rules behind their usage and some examples to clarify their difference.


texts: Why do we use the article "the" with the Matterhorn (a mountain)?

texts:
The rule is that we don't use an article before the name of an individual mountain, only with the name of a mountain range.

So why do we say "the Matterhorn" (a mountain in the Pennine Alps)?


texts: The word "mine": Anyone else use a velar nasal /maiŋ/ for "belongs to me" meaning, but still /main/ for "explosive"/"coal mine"?

texts:
I think I naturally distinguish these words:

mine (ie "belongs to me")
/maiŋ/

mine (ie "explosive" or "coal mine")
/main/

I vaguely remember noticing this years ago, but I was only just reminded of it by my German boyfriend, who noticed me saying /maiŋ/ in some natural sentence, and pointed it out to me, thinking I was making a deliberate joke-pronunciation.

And I'm pretty sure I naturally use /main/ for the explosive/industrial site meaning, although now that I'm watching my own speech I obviously can't be completely sure that's my unmonitored pronunciation, of course. I feel like /ˈmaɪŋswiːpəɹ/ would sound ridiculous to me.

Is this a known distinction in any dialect? (I'm from British Columbia lower-mainland/Vancouver Island. ie, I've never heard anybody do that "Canadian raising" thing they supposedly have up north.)


texts: What is a word for a character who incites the conflict in a plot?

texts: I realize you can use 'antagonist' but I'd prefer a stronger word with virtually the same meaning. I want to use it to describe Nils Krogstad of A Dollhouse.


texts: Word for (feeling) a really strong visceral impulse that draws you to something

texts:
I need a word for when a person feels very drawn to something in a way that the object itself is calling out to you and as a result, you feel drawn to it.
I'm trying to write an essay on the first chapter of Helen Keller's Story of my Life, and in one account, she recounts looking at the shadows of leaves on the wall of her bathroom when she was only a year old and getting so excited by looking at them that she walked towards them. I need to describe how she was drawn to nature...but I can't find the word.


texts: Is there a semantic difference between the nouns "pack", " pac", and "pak"?

texts:
The other day when loading the dishwasher with one of those all-in-one, plastic-wrapped detergent balls, I noticed that the individual balls were referred to as "pacs". I've also seen "packs" and "paks" of items, and that got me thinking about similar words.

There's a difference between a disc and a disk, a block and a bloc, and a sack and a sac...

Is there a semantic difference between packs, pacs, and paks? Or is it just the result of creative liberties in the marketing department when labeling consumer goods?

Note: I know there is an acronym "PAC" (political action committee) but I'm talking about the noun pack as in "something containing multiple individual items"


texts:
We know that woof is the sound a dog makes when barking. It is used both as a noun and a verb. The word is  onomatopoeic but it is also used as an interjection. People woof too when they are attracted to someone. Wiktionary defines the interjectional sense as:

  (humorous) Expression of strong physical attraction for someone.

It is, of course, listed in urbandictionary also but it is mentioned as a term in gay slang; and interestingly it is also used in a negative sense. Here are the top two entries for the positive and the negative sense in Urbandictionary:

  In the gay community, it's an adjective used to describe a sexy guy, but not the feminine kind of guy, but a more masculine guy; one who you wouldn't identify as being gay if you saw him on the street.

  1) If you see a hot guy, you say: "Woof!"
  2) He's woofy!

  word that is used to describe someone (usually a girl) who is ugly or unattractive

  "buzz...your girlfriend... woof!" - kevin, from Home Alone

Another version is the duplication of the word: Woof woof! It is also listed in Urbandictionary and the top two entries are again the positive and the negative sense:

  Woof woof is very similar to grrr as in it means whoever is on the receiving end of it is looking mighty fine. You are also very likely to get laid a lot if people say woof woof to you. It's probably best used towards men however as you dont want the woman to think you mean she is dog which is completely different

  An expression of negativity. An exclaimation of disapproval of the current situation at hand.

OED lists the interjectional and the second noun sense together and the earliest example is the sound of a collie:

  Imitation of a gruff abrupt bark of a dog; also transf. (Cf. whoof int.)

  Pronunciation: /wʊf/
  Forms:  Also wouf, wowff.

  1839      J. Ballantine in Whistle-Binkie 2nd Ser. 26     The wowff o' the colley.

But Etymonline mentions an earlier year:

  dog bark noise, first recorded 1804, echoic.

Questions: (all related)

How do these different senses interrelate? How did the dog woof originate and evolve into human woof?
When did people start woofing?
How does woof have both a positive and a negative sense (as an interjection)?


texts: a conditional sentence with "had + past participle" in both the apodosis and the protasis

texts:
In older texts one finds this construction, which one may be tempted to call the past conditional second form (after the example of le conditionnel passé deuxième forme):

  If you had lied to me, I had known.
  (Si vous m’aviez menti, j’eusse su.)

The first form, as it were, would of course go like this:

  If you had lied to me, I would have known.
  (Si vous m’aviez menti, j’aurais su.)

Here is an example from The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, book 11 chapter 4:

  And here I cannot omit expressing my gratitude to the kindness intended me by Mr Nash, who took me one day aside, and gave me advice, which if I had followed, I had been a happy woman.

There is also a construction that one might call the present conditional second form, which goes like:

  If you were here, I were happy.

Here is an example from Crime and Punishment, chapter 6 (as translated by Constance Garnett):

  Where is it I’ve read that someone condemned to death says or thinks, an hour before his death, that if he had to live on some high rock, on such a narrow ledge that he’d only room to stand, and the ocean, everlasting darkness, everlasting solitude, everlasting tempest around him, if he had to remain standing on a square yard of space all his life, a thousand years, eternity, it were better to live so than to die at once!

QUESTIONS

What are the proper terms for the second forms as I have called them above? (By "proper" I just mean terms that grammarians and linguists might have already used, or terms that might facilitate a Web search.)
When did the second forms peak in terms of time period, well-known authors or works?
What would be standard (or indeed any) grammatical treatments (or treatments in historical linguistics) of the second form (i.e. books, essays or Web pages on the topic)?

Please don't feel you have to answer all three questions.


texts:
I used this sentence in a motivational letter, and I am worried if the usage of (was) in this sentence is right or wrong because I discovered the problem very late:

  I have been fascinated by the way electrical circuits function, and how companies make devices and machines with sophisticated electronic systems which was a sort of magic for me.

Note: I meant that the whole thing about electricity was a sort of magic for me.


texts:
Should I use life or lives in the following question?

I would promote prayer as a part of the pupils' everyday life
I would promote prayer as a part of the pupils' everyday lives


texts: Is there a word for returning to unpreparedness?

texts:
I'm trying to describe a situation in which a person prepares for an event, then realises the event won't happen, and so they undo their preparations, returning to a state of unpreparedness.

Whenever I search for the opposite of "prepare", I get words that describe a failure to prepare in the first place, or at best words that describe what happens to the preparations, not words that describe what happens to the person.

Is there a word that captures what happens to the person as they return to a state of unpreparedness?


texts:
The operator of a machine solely needs to be in control of the machine controls. Thus, they need to be physically in a location near the control panel, and in order to make sure nobody else pushes the button that would fry said operator, they need "visuals" of the area.

Do they observe the control panel or do they oversee it?

I'm afraid that to oversee is (visually) controlling an act carried out by another party — true?


texts: Would you regret "of" not doing something?

texts:
"Would you regret of not doing something?"

Is this sentence ok? using "of" is correct? or using "for" or nothing?

Please help :)


texts:
Are the slang usages of "bud" (mainly meaning cannabis, and occasionally clitoris, from what I understood) prevalent enough that I should avoid using them in a product intended for international availability?
Example sentences which could be printed:

"John has created a bud here!"
"Share this bud!" (ouch)
"Create bud"

I would appreciate very much if you could state which part of the world you're from when answering this question.
Some context:
The lexical field surrounding a service I'm designing revolves around trees, plants, and nature in general.
My team and I are in the process of selecting names for the various parts of the service, and we are struggling with one:
It should depict something with potential, which is not yet fully developed, but holds the bases for future interactions.
Seed would not be relevant, as this part of the service is sprouting from something we called a Tree, and I feel it would generate confusion about which one generates the other.
Bud came to mind, and seems a good choice. it fits wery well with the rest of our service part's names. However, it does not seem to be a very commonly used word (much less than "tree", "branches", "leaves", "roots" and so on), and I'm afraid this could heighten the chances of it to be read in an alternate meaning.
This item could be named a Leaf as well, which conveys a less accurate meaning, but possibly avoids this problem.


texts: Words and phrases to express approximations

texts:
I would like to know the distinctions between these following words and phrases when they express approximations.

  I will be there in about an hour.
  I will be there in around an hour.
  I will be there in more or less an hour.
  I will be there in an hour or so.

After writing these down, I find the second one and the third one somewhat unnatural. But they are only for demonstrative purpose.
What is the difference in terms of meaning?
Do they have any differences in other aspects? like the kind of object they approximate or something else.


texts: What's the meaning of "clothing as meat bags"?

texts: I'd like to know the meaning of clothing as meat bags as used in the second box of this comic strips.


texts: Articles and Prepositions: “At/The mountain of…” and "…descended in/on her head"

texts:
The/A mountain of family responsibilities had already descended
  in/on her head.

According to me, it is in her head.

But I am not 100% sure about the answer because in the net various answers are given.


texts: Is "What is your email?" acceptable for a sign up form?

texts:
Someone says that a sign up form with the label What is your email? is correct, and I'd argue that, since "email" is only a "method of exchanging messages", it makes that text incorrect, and that What is your email address? should be used instead.
Can the first text be considered a mistake, as I believe, or it's an accepted expression?


texts: analogue for "infantilize" at the other end of life

texts:
As children grow you should be careful not to infantilize them when they may need some help - it's important to let them struggle with things they are just becoming capable of, so that they become more capable.

When helping someone at the other end of life it's important not to help them so much that they lose life skills more quickly than they might if they were allowed to struggle some.

Is there a word (or short phrase) for what you shouldn't do?   Senilitize doesn't seem to exist.


texts: What do British and American post boxes say when they don't want any advertising?

texts:
Advertising leaflets shoved en masse into mail boxes are one of the banes of modern society.

In Germany, putting a note saying "Bitte keine Werbung" ("No advertising please") on your box protects you from them - advertisers who repeatedly ignore the note face heavy fines.

Is there a standard English phrase that is widely used in this specific context?


texts: "Photo playback" — can photos be played?

texts:
The phrase "photo playback" has about 35k Google hits, especially in production descriptions, but is it correct English?

It seems that “playback” can be used with video and audio, because we can play a video or play a record, cassette, CD, etc. However, we cannot “play” a photo, and therefore cannot play JPEG etc.

If “photo playback” is incorrect as a description of the function, what expression would be better?


texts: Different word other than "rude" for describing ellipsis usage

texts:
I am having trouble thinking of a word that can describe this type of situation.

Just as an example, over text, explaining something in detail to someone only to have them give a response such as, "Yeah... I see." It's not really "rude" but it almost feels as if they have more to say about it.

What would be a better way to describe this? Is there a word for it?